The Nation Newspaper

Tag: judgment

  • Osun monarch’s application stalls judgment in rape case

    The Alowa of Ilowa in Obokun Local Government Area of Osun State, Oba Adebukola Alli, who is on trial for allegedly raping a corps member, yesterday applied for more time to defend the allegation.

    Justice Jide Falola of the State High Court, Osogbo, the state capital, fixed yesterday for judgment.

    Alli’s counsel, Mr. Taofeeq Tewogbade, said defence is very important in law and urged the court to allow his client put up more defence before his fate is determined.

    He said his client has new issues to raise in his defence.

    According to Tewogbade, Section 36 (CB) of the 1999 Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria allows for proper defence in any case and provides for extension of time for judgment.

    He said: “We are seeking extension of time on the case to allow us defend the case better. There are questions the plaintiff needs to answer. Was the lady in question a virgin before she claimed that she was raped? We also need to know if any exhibit has so far been presented by medical practitioners. These and other questions need to be answered.”

    A Senior State Counsel from the Ministry of Justice, Mr. M. O. Adedokun, who represented the Director of Public Prosecution, urged the court to ignore the application and deliver judgment.

    He said the case had gone through series of adjournment, recalling that the defence counsel had, on April 15, asked for more time when the court asked for his position on its decision to deliver judgment on June 4.

    Adedokun, who filed a counter affidavit, said: “The attitude of the defence counsel is an attempt to frustrate the judgment”.

    He urged the court to dismiss the application in the interest of justice and fairness.

    Justice Falola fixed July 2 for ruling on the application.

  • Ondo Election Petition Tribunal adjourns for judgment

    Ondo Election Petition Tribunal adjourns for judgment

    •Date to be communicated to parties

    The Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN) and its governorship candidate, Mr. Rotimi Akeredolu (SAN), yesterday adopted their final written addresses on their petitions at the Ondo State Governorship Election Tribunal sitting in Akure, the state capital.

    Counsel to ACN and Akeredolu, Akin Olujimi (SAN), said the petitioners have proved that the October 20, last year, election was marred by irregularities.

    He said the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) could not defend any of the allegations against it, especially the illegal injection of names into the 2012 voters’ register, even though it admitted injecting over 100,000 names into it in its reply.

    The ACN’s counsel urged the tribunal to nullify the election because it was conducted with a compromised voters’ register.

    Olujimi said Governor Olusegun Mimiko’s witnesses confirmed that there were multiple registration and persons whose fingerprints were not captured were allowed to vote.

    He said INEC could not explain how some names appeared four times in the register and all the people laying claims to the name voted.

    Olujimi reminded the tribunal of the ACN’s expert’s report, which showed areas where INEC registered human hands as voters.

    He said the irregularities were widespread and substantial to invalidate the election.

    Olujimi urged the tribunal to disregard Mimiko’s reply to the ACN’s written address on the grounds that some issues raised in it were not contained in the respondent’s main address before the tribunal.

    He said to rely on the said reply would be a breach of fair hearing because, according to the tribunal’s rules, the petitioners can no longer file an address to respond to the reply.

    Mimiko’s counsel Chief Wole Olanipekun urged the tribunal to disregard all the INEC documents tendered by the ACN because they were not properly certified, based on the judgment of the Court of Appeal.

    INEC distanced itself from Olanipekun’s submission. It said the documents were duly certified by the commission and tendered with the consent of all parties to the petition.

    INEC said it did not call any witness because the documents used in the election had been tendered by the ACN.

    The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) objected to the Labour Party’s (LP’s) argument that the illegal injection of names into the’ register was a pre-election matter.

    It said the register was part of the election process and germane in determining the poll’s credibility.

    PDP urged the tribunal to either declare its candidate, Mr. Olusola Oke, winner of the election or conduct a fresh one.

    For the first time since the tribunal began sitting, Mimiko was present.

    The tribunal Chairman, Justice Andova Kaka’n, thanked the lawyers for their good conduct.

    He said the date for the judgment would be communicated to the parties and adjourned the sitting.

  • We will appeal judgment, says ousted chairman

    The sacked Chairman of the Rivers State Chapter of Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Rivers State chapter, Chief Godspower Ake, yesterday spoke of a plan to appeal the sack of his committee by an Abuja High Court on Monday.

    He also expressed optimism that members of the PDP in Rivers State would come out of the crisis stronger and more united.

    Ake, who is also a former National Vice Chairman, Southsouth of the PDP, spoke yesterday in Port Harcourt, the state capital, through the party’s Publicity Secretary, George Ukwuoma-Nwogba.

    The Ake-led executive, which enjoys the backing of Governor Rotimi Amaechi, was sacked on Monday by an Abuja High Court judge, Justice Ishaq Bello.

    The court gave recognition to the Felix Obuah–led executive, being supported by the Minister of State for Education, Chief Nyesom Wike.

    Obuah, who hails from Ogba/Egbema/Ndoni Local government Area, the political constituency of Rivers’ former Governor Dr. Peter Odili, approached the court to challenge the emergence of Ake, who was elected PDP chairman in February 2011, alleging that the elections of Ake and members of his executive were not democratically conducted.

    In the judgment, Justice Bello declared that his court had jurisdiction over the matter and adopted the affidavit of the Chairman of the PDP, Edo State chapter, Dan Orbih, who stated that the results being paraded by Ake did not emanate from the congress that he conducted in Rivers State.

    Justice Bello also overruled the video evidence to prove that Ake was the duly-elected chairman of PDP, through the congress.

    Ake, in his reaction to the judgment, said: “We should hold on and allow the full process of the law. We will appeal the judgment.

    “We strongly believe that at the end of the day, justice will be done and done properly. The PDP is one. We will come out of this stronger and more united as a family.”

    Amaechi, an Ikwerre from Ubima in Ikwerre Local Government Area, who is also the Chairman of the Nigerian Governors’ Forum (NGF), stirred the hornet’s nest, when he declared that it would not be fair for his kinsmen to succeed him in 2015.

    The statement did not go down well with the minister of state for education, also an Ikwerre, from Rumuepirikom community, who intends to either run for governor or the Senator race in 2015. The ambition is said to have propelled him to lead the opposition within the ruling PDP in Rivers.

    Wike, according to sources, has the backing of President Goodluck Jonathan, who is believed to be uncomfortable with Amaechi’s leadership of the NGF.

     

  • Judicial workers’ strike stalls judgment in Salami’s suit

    Judicial workers’ strike stalls judgment in Salami’s suit

    •Govt meets with workers today

    Ruling in the suit seeking the reinstatement of the suspended President of the Court of Appeal (PCA), Justice Isa Ayo Salami, could not be delivered yesterday– no thanks to the judicial workers’ strike.

    The plaintiffs are Mr. Jitobo Akanike, Idris Musa, Allens Agbaka, Ibrahim Bawa , Princewill Akpakpa, Obruche Ayeteni, Nosa Ihaza, Timothy Odumosu, Stewart Salomi, Egogo Lawrence and Maxwell Adeniran.

    They sued for themselves and on behalf of the Registered Trustees of the Centre for the Promotion of Arbitration.

    The defendants are President Goodluck Jonathan, the Attorney General of the Federation and Justice Minister, Mohammed Adoke (SAN), the National Judicial Council (NJC) and Justice Salami.

    In the suit, the plaintiffs, who are human rights activists, are seeking an order of mandamus to compel the defendants to recall Justice Salami from his suspension.

    The plaintiffs are contending that Jonathan breached the Constitution when he disregarded the recommendation of the NJC.

    In the Originating Summons, the plaintiffs are seeking

    They are seeking also a declaration that the NJC is the only body that can discipline the justices of the Court of Appeal and/or the President of the court .

    They want the court to rule that the refusal of the third defendant to implement the recommendation of its three man panel headed by Justice Aloma Mariam Muhktar (JSC), urging the recall of Justice Salami constituted a breach of the constitution.

    The other requests are: an order of mandamus directing the third defendant to implement the recommendation of its three man panel urging the recall of Justice Salami (PCA) as President of the Court ; an order directing the third defendant to recall thefourth defendant to resume his duties as the President of the Court; and a declaration that the President has no power whatsoever and/or howsoever to exercise disciplinary functions over the justices of the Court and or Justice Salami, among others.

    The Federal Government and the striking Judiciary Staff Union of Nigeria (JUSUN) are to meet today to forge a way forward.

    Members of the union in federal courts and all FCT courts yesterday began an indefinite nationwide strike.

    The strike paralysed activities at all the courts in Abuja, including the Magistrate courts, shariah court, area courts, the Federal High Court, the Court of Appeal and the Supreme Court.

    Staff of the courts were not allowed entry into the court premises by the union leaders.

    Since they could not gain access, staff of the Federal High Court, Abuja, were dismissed arround 10 a.m by a senior official.

    The union is protesting the non-implementation of the Consolidated Judicial Salary Structure (CONJUSS) since 2009.

    It accused the office of the Secretary to the Government of the Federation (SGF), Anyim Pius Anyim of foot-dragging on a circular from the office of the National Salaries, Income and Wages Commission seeking implementation of the CONJUSS.

    In a telephone interview with The Nation, the JUSUN President, Comrade Marwan Mustapha Adamu said the union had exhausted all avenues to get the attention of government with no result.

    He said the 21-day-ultimatum issued elapsed about 11 days ago with no response from government.

    The Minister of Labour, Emeka Wogu, has invited the union to a meeting today.

  • Judgment in arms importation case fixed for April 30

    Judgment in arms importation case fixed for April 30

    Fani-Kayode’s trial stalled

    A Federal High Court in Lagos has fixed April 30 for judgment in the trial of Azim Aghajani (an Iranian) and a Nigerian clearing agent, Ali Abbas Usman Jega over their alleged complicity in the 2010 illegal importation of 13 containers laden with firearms.

    Justice Okechukwu Okeke picked the date yesterday after parties adopted their final written addresses. The accused are facing a four-count charge brought against them by the Federal Government, to which they pleaded not guilty.

    The duo is, in count one, accused of importing 13 container loads of firearms, which was prohibited under Part 1 of the Schedule to the Firearms Act, Cap F.28, laws of the Federation, 2004.

    In count two, they are alleged to have, between June and October 2010, without licence “been in control of bombs and grenade categorised as prohibited firearms under Item 4 of Part 1 of the Schedule to the Firearms Act, Cap F28, Laws of the Federation of Nigeria, 2004 and contrary to Section 3 of the Constitution.

    They are, in count three, said to have been in control of rockets categorised as prohibited firearms without licence.

    In count four, they are said to have recklessly made false declaration of the 13 containers containing the firearms to be glass of wool and pallets of stone on the original bill of lading number 1121253855.

    Meanwhile, the trial of former Minister of Aviation, Femi Fani-Kayode was stalled yesterday, due to the absence of Justice Rita Ofili-Ajumogobia. She was said to have travelled for a conference.

    Fani-Kayode was on February 11 re-arraigned before Justice Ofili-Ajumogobia on a 47-count charge of money laundering brought against him by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), to which he pleaded not guilty and had been allowed on bail.

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

  • Beyond the Odi judgment

    Beyond the Odi judgment

    All lovers of freedom and fair play must welcome the news that a Federal High Court sitting in Port Harcourt has awarded N37.6bn compensation to the people of Odi, a community in Kolokuma/Opokuma Local Government Area of Bayelsa State, for the destruction of their community and the killing of scores of inhabitants. Odi had been invaded by soldiers on November 20, 1999 to avenge seven policemen murdered by Ijaw militants. The attack, which many human rights groups described as genocide, came barely six months into the presidency of Chief Olusegun Obasanjo. The former president in fact recently boasted that he ordered the attack in order to send a message to militants and other likeminded criminals that the government would make it expensive for anyone to attack security agents. He went as far as recommending the same indiscriminate tactics executed upon Odi to President Goodluck Jonathan as the latter strives to curb the activities of the Islamist sect, Boko Haram.

    In his judgement, Justice Lambi Akanbi said: “The destruction of Odi was comprehensive and complete; no aspect of the community was spared by what I saw in the pictures showed here. The respondents violated the fundamental human rights of the people of Odi, by the massacre. The people are entitled to fundamental rights to life, dignity and fair play. The destruction of Odi was not as a result of gun battle but clear bombardment; the destruction was malicious.” Relying also on Jonathan’s statement that no militant was killed but innocent citizens, the judge dismissed the arguments and evidence of the defence as worthless.

    In the Odi attack, some human rights groups estimated those killed by the invading soldiers to be about 2,500, while the government itself estimated the dead to be about 45. Documentary proof was presented in court to show that only three buildings were left standing in the town after the massacre. It was, to the judge and all men of goodwill, a perversion of the law and morality that Obasanjo could use Odi’s destruction as an example of firmness and decisiveness worthy of the Nigerian presidency.

    This leads precisely to the most important implication of the Justice Akanbi decision. Though the government is expected to appeal the case even up to the Supreme Court, it is anticipated that the Federal High Court decision will not be overturned. After the legal fireworks finally come to an end, it will be time, based on the judgement, to drag Obasanjo and his military commanders before an appropriate court to be punished most severely.

    The International Criminal Court (ICC) would have sufficed but for the fact that only crimes committed on or after July 2002, when the Rome statute of the ICC came into effect, can be heard. But since it is imperative to punish the crimes against the people of Odi, it should be possible to find relevant provisions in our laws to make an example of Obasanjo and his commanders and to prove once and for all that in Nigeria, no one is above the law, no matter how highly placed.

  • BFIG slams $2.8b suit on RUSSAL over Supreme Court judgment

    BFIG slams $2.8b suit on RUSSAL over Supreme Court judgment

    BFIGroup Corporation,the Nigerian-American Consortium, has started the enforcement of the Supreme Court order with a $2.8 billion suit against RUSSAL and Dayson Holden Limited at the Federal High Court, Abuja.

    The law suit was instituted by the firm following government’s inability to kick RUSSAL out of the Aluminum Smelter Company of Nigeria (ALSCON) after the Supreme Court judgment last year.

    The President of DFIG Group, Dr Reuben Jaja, told The Nation that his firm was fed up with RUSSAL’s contempt for the Supreme Court judgment, and as such, “will challenge anybody not willing to obey the judgment of the Supreme Court and will ensure that the judgment is obeyed and enforced.”

    As part of the ligation, BFIG had sought and secured a court order in the country, to serve RUSSAL with the suit by mail, and on January 31, this year, it was served on RUSSAL accordingly.

    Jaja said: “They have received it, the case has been scheduled for March 25, 2013, adding  that BFIG was prepared to fight a battle with RUSSAL. “This case is for the pain and insult inflicted on the Nigerian  body by RUSSAL.”

    He said the group has “already notified the police, demanding enforcement and expects the signed copy of the Share Purchase Agreement  (SPA) from the Bureau of Public Enterprises (BPE) in five days. Thereafter, we will commence enforcement by using enforcement infrastructure.”

    Jaja said the suit started in the United States against RUSSAL, “for interference in contractual relations, in our prospective business advantage in ALSCON, conspiracy to defraud us and unfair competition,” stating that BFIG was further angered when RUSSAL questioned the list of those to visit the plant after the Supreme Court judgment vacated their hold on ALSCON, and Nigerian government could not do anything about it.

    He insisted that the Federal Government “was supposed to step in the next day after the Supreme Court judgement to boot them out and institute an interim management.”

    To ensure that the case is quickly dispensed with, Jaja said: “The $2.8 billion is now a contingent liability on the balance sheet of ALSCON/RUSSAL, and nobody, especially bankers will deal with them with such a liability, until the case is resolved. It is a slam dunk case.”

    He said BFIG is not blackmailing or challenging the government, but is interested in executing the Supreme Court order which handed ALSCON over to it. He was angry that RUSSAL, “is still there managing the plant, and the government has not stepped in to ask them to leave.”

    Jaja disclosed that the BFIG has delivered a mutually agreed SPA to BPE, which was validated by the court, lamenting, however, that the group has asked the BPE for a meeting on the discrepancies in the SPA, on February 8, 2013, but that the BPE declined.

     

     

  • How Edo savoured Supreme Court judgment

    How Edo savoured Supreme Court judgment

    Joy was bold on the faces of the people. Youths invaded the streets of Benin, the capital of Edo State to rejoice with Governor Adams Oshiomhole, following the affirmation of his victory at the polls.

    They hailed the Spreme Court, which set aside the ruling of the Appeal Court, which had ordered the Edo State Election Petitions Tribunal to revisit the complaints of the non-qualification of the governor previously brought before it by the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) challenger, Major General Charles Airhiavbere.

    Justice Bode Rhodes-Vivour, who delivered the judgement said the Appeal Court erred in its ruling, as the Edo Election Petitions Tribunal, which earlier struck out the paragraphs relating to non-qualification, was correct in doing so.

    The Supreme Court maintained that the respondent, Airhiavbere, committed an unpardonable blunder by not including the ground of non-qualification in the original pleadings at the tribunal. The apex court maintained that the court is not a father Christmas who dishes out what is not asked for, stressing that a party is bound by his pleadings.

    The judgment doused the tension in the state. There was jubilation across the three senatorial districts. In Benin, youths under the umbrella of Edo Is In Safe Hands, had stormed the popular KingSquare/ Sapele/Airport/Akpakpava/ Sokponba/ Oba Market Road. They were led by two associates of the governor, Mr Osarodion Ogie, a lawyer, and Hon. Philip Shuaibu.

    The victory gave the governor another opportunity for a popularity ride on the street. Accompanied by the Southsouth ACN leader, Pastor Ize Iyamu, Oshiomhole was excited at the crowd. He waved his hands at the people , in appreciation of their support.

    The governor reflected on the poll and the litigation, saying that PDP wanted to manipulate the court to get victory through the back door.

    Oshiomhole said, with the judgment, the petitioner has been made to swallow a bitter pill. He however, lamented that his opponent wasted the time of the court and the ACN.

    The import of the judicial victory was not lost on the governor. He said, with the case over, the ACN government will work harder to give the dividends of democracy to the people. “The people voted freely and I won 75 per cent of the votes cast in the election. The judiciary has always demonstrated the courage, commitment to the rule of law and today, they have again demonstrated that and I can only say we give thank to God”, he said.

    Oshiomhole however, extended a hand of friendship to Airhiavbere. He said:“I want to remind the petitioner that we are friends and brothers and that, in a multi-party democracy, more than one person are entitled to contest, and that is the beauty of multi-party democracy. And when more than one person contest an election, no matter what happens, only one person must win. There is no way two persons can win at the same time.

    “Edo people have spoken. Now that is all over, we ask him to join us as an Edo person, so that together we can take the state to the next level.”

     

  • A most outrageous judgment

    A most outrageous judgment

    SIR: The option of fine of N750, 000 for a criminal crime of N23 billion fraud by Justice Mohammed Talba of the FCT high court against John Yakubu Yusufu of the office of the Police Pension Funds is worrisome.

    Yusufu is one of the eight civil servants accused of diverting about N32.8 billion.  Certainly, this sentence does not weigh balance with the offence committed.

    We all must realise that corruption is a monster that should be fought by all and sundry in this country. The message from Justice Talba is that corruption pays. If you must steal, steal handsomely.

    It is quite unfortunate that people still steal public funds with impunity without stiff penalty under the laws whereas somebody will steal a handset for instance and would be sent to jail for 10 years with hard labour.

    As in the case under reference, imagine the feelings of the Nigerian public especially the affected pensioners who have greatly suffered and some even died while waiting for their pittance pension after many years of meritorious service to the nation before their retirement.

    It is injustice! No doubt, our laws are defective just as our judiciary is questionable. There is an urgent need to amend the laws in such a way that the punishment will always be commensurate with the offence committed and in all other areas where amendment is necessary. The judiciary should also step up effort in the fight against economic and financial crimes or else…….

     

    • Alani Ayo

    Abuja.

  • A judgment so bizarre, a Daniel could not have done it

    A judgment so bizarre, a Daniel could not have done it

    Some court adjudications, the last bastion of social hope for the average citizen, are so right on the mark that one can shriek with delight and exclaim like Shakespeare’s Shylock that indeed, a Daniel has come to judgment! On another hand, some are so incredible they can make one hiss and spit in disgust and exclaim that indeed, the law is such an ass! On a third hand, there are some judgements that are so bizarre they leave everyone’s mouth agape for the first five minutes. Then, the words start rolling out in gabbles as people go ‘gabble, gabble, judgement, gabble, bizarre gabble, gabble …’ The whole world, err, country is gabbling right now about the judgement of some seven hundred thousand Naira handed down against someone alleged to have pilfered over twenty billion Naira. It has me fair whistling now, and I tell you, I don’t whistle easily; I do it through the nose. That is also how I speak English.

    Now, if we remember anything about Shylock, it is the fact that the man was difficult to please. First, he drew a contract so tight that literally required that his debtor would not be able to wriggle out of it without shedding some of his precious blood. Next, he wound his daughter up in a domestic wreath so carefully woven with starvation that the poor girl could not legally get out of it without resorting to elopement. And that was what she did, with his lucre and diamonds. And that had him crying for his daughter and, yes, his lucre too. In the midst of his woes, he remembered a very comforting thought: the contract he had drawn up would at least give him the much needed respite of being able to obtain a pint of blood or two, just for the satisfaction of seeing someone shed some blood. The judge said yes, he was entitled, and so he enthused ‘… A Daniel come to judgement!’ Why am I giving you this long story in its entire height and breadth? I honestly don’t know except perhaps to give you the background of how Daniel, the biblical prophet, came to be associated with Judge Advocacy Duties (JAD).

    Good judgements are getting increasingly rare in Nigeria, perhaps because good judges are getting increasingly rare. Good judges are getting increasingly rare because, let’s face it, there aren’t many Daniels around anymore. (Don’t get me wrong; there are many people called Daniel but obviously, they are not necessarily judges.) So, good people are getting increasingly rare in Nigeria. Just to buttress that last point, I heard the other day that a couple in this country employed a supposed house girl; only to find the next day that their house had been swept clean of both goods and girl while they were at work. In English, this means that the girl disappeared with all their worldly goods before the good people came back from work the next day. What dangerous times we live in.

    And how’s this for a horror story? Someone recounted how the commercial vehicle he travelled in was waylaid on a Nigerian highway by the Nigerian highwaymen who demanded everything everyone had. After the robbers left, everyone was relieved to find that the only things they lost were material things, all that is, except one person who had cleverly quipped to the highway men that all fingers were not equal, that was why he could not give more than he did. They then made his fingers equal with their cutlass. I tell you, things are so bad in the country now you do not go around testing your wit against anybody’s anyhow. Now, where was I?

    Ok, like I said, everyone is gabbling about that judgement. People are wondering how on earth anyone can be said to embezzle something in the region of twenty billion Naira, and the court hands down a judgement that finds him guilty but awards only seven hundred and something thousand naira against him? That judgement stinks. It is laughable. It will encourage us all to steal and damn the consequences. That’s as good as throwing the judiciary into the dustbin of history like a discarded appendix.

    To start with, it has us all wondering what the role of the judiciary is in this world. I had always thought the judiciary was supposed to serve the purpose of arbitrating between two contending sides such as my dog and I. If I fulfil my contract of feeding, sheltering and clothing it (I brush his coat, don’t I?), then he should please bark to assure me he can guard the house. Now, when, rather than bark, he prefers to lick visitors’ feet, I have the right to call in the courts, don’t I?

    The judiciary should mediate between ‘We the People’ and anyone who decides he/she wants to go buy Italian villas adorned with swimming pools with the hard earned money of pensioners. We should expect the judiciary to hang such people for us by going after him/her, guns blazing and daggers drawn, on the side of The People against the corroding insect.

    But that’s just silly us talking. We must have thought we were in this normal country where everything runs as it should. Instead, we find ourselves in another country where the abnormal is not only common place but quite the norm because ‘friend, this is Nigeria’. Come, it is only in Nigeria that one can loot any number of billions and all you get is a tweak of your nose and a playful twist of your earlobe by the equally playful court. It is only in Nigeria that a major airport can be put in total darkness on the orders of a minion while his superiors are literally in the dark about it all. And all we do about these things is grumble silently.

    Really, I don’t begin to know the role of the judiciary any more, given their antecedents. Together with the police and the press, the judiciary is supposed to work for the progress and good of the society by punishing the bad and rewarding the good. Now, all that the judgement has done is show that the judiciary is crumbling. So, should these courts continue to adjudicate for us or should we look for another?

    Perhaps, we should look out for some wise men in our midst and set them up with all the paraphernalia of office without the wig, for I am beginning to suspect that wig. Just look at the colour. Ugh! That’s right, let us look for some hard-nosed, white-haired wise men who would come to judgements with only one thing on their mind: the good of the society. Forget your school-trained judges: they seem to be more preoccupied with wanting to be like the politicians – interested only in filling their offshore accounts that cannot be traced and which they will never spend. Believe me, I know; there are too many examples of Nigerians who did not spend theirs. Forget the law also: it is an ass anyway.

    Look, I believe that people are really not interested in the law being an ass any longer in Nigeria. The sanctity of the law is the progress and sanity of the society. I therefore recommend that the country should reject that judgement and ask that it be reviewed. It is too bizarre to believe. Indeed, one should not even let it stay in the records because someday, if the Martians succeed in colonising the earth and they come across that judgement, it will give a very bad image of the country and leave a sour taste in their mouths, if they have any.