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  • ‘New Olowo a round peg in a round hole’

    Ondo State Governor Oluwarotimi Akeredolu has said the ancient town of Owo in Owo Local Government did not make a mistake with the choice of Oba Ajibade Gbadegesin Ogunoye as the new Olowo of Owo Kingdom.

    Governor Akeredolu, who described Oba Ogunoye as the monarch the people of Owo have always yearned for, hailed the people for making a great choice.

    He spoke at the coronation of Oba Ogunoye III, held at the Olowo’s Palace in Owo.

    The governor, who said he was at the event as an indigene of the town, described the coronation as remarkable for the people of the town.

    He thanked the ‘Omolowos’ and other chiefs involved in the selection of the new King and the youth for standing by their choice.

    Read Also: New Olowo, Ogunoye installed

    Akeredolu said: “Let us thank the Lord. I thank the ‘Omolowos’ and the chiefs involved in the selection. I thank Owo people for the peaceful exercise. I thank the youth for standing by the monarch.

    “We respect the memories of our past kings. The Olagbegi first, Olagbegi second and Olagbegi the third. Also, Ogunoye first, Ogunoye second and now we have Ogunoye the third. We also respect the memory of the late Oba Ajike.  Particularly, we respect the memory of Oba Victor Folagbade Olateru-Olagbegi the III.

    “Our immediate past Oba has done his best. Let me acknowledge others who contested the throne with Oba Ogunoye. Kabiyesi, please bring them together.”

    The governor disclosed that it is a deliberate policy of his administration not to intervene in chieftaincy matters of any town, stressing that the people must make their choice themselves.

    “We have a policy on chieftaincy. This government decided deliberately that we would not intervene in chieftaincy. Let the people make their choice. Today gives us sign that Owo has made the best decision ever.”

    He assured the people that the developmental project ongoing across the state would not be limited to any area, saying it would cover the whole state.

    Akeredolu urged the new Olowo to sustain the peace in the town.

  • Lagos legal year begins September 23

    The Chief Judge of Lagos State, Justice Kazeem Alogba, has fixed September 23 to 27 for the inauguration of the Legal Year 2019/2020.

    This followed the resumption of the judges of the high courts of Lagos State from a seven-week vacation, which ended on Monday.

    In a statement, the chief judge said the new legal year would begin with a special prayer service scheduled to simultaneously hold at the Cathedral Church of Christ, Marina and Lagos State Central Mosque, Nnamdi Azikwe Street, Lagos on September 23.

    Read Also: Lagos, Ogun to take over critical roads

    The statement said a ‘Summit on Criminal Justice Sector’ will hold the next day at the City Hall, Lagos.

    There will be medical screening exercise for judges and workers of the Lagos Judiciary simultaneously at the Ikeja and Igbosere high courts on September 25 and 26.

    The new legal year week will be rounded off on September 27 with a legal year ball scheduled for the City Hall.

  • Tribunal sacks Ogun APC Rep

    The National Assembly Election Petition Tribunal sitting in Abeokuta, the Ogun State capital, has nullified the election of Hon. Kolapo Osunsanya representing Ijebu Central Federal Constituency in the House of Representatives.

    The tribunal’s Chairman, Justice Wakkil Gana, on Monday declared the election inconclusive.

    The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) had declared Osunsanya of the All Progressives Congress (APC) winner of the February 23 poll in the constituency.

    But the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) candidate in the election,  Taiwo Shote, challenged the declaration before the tribunal.

    Gana, in his judgement, noted that the elections were cancelled in Ward 5, Unit 5 of Ijebu Ode council area ; Ward 10 , Unit 3 in Odogbolu council area and the entire Ward 8 of Ijebu /North- East council area of the federal constituency.

    Read Also: Tribunal affirms Tinubu’s election for Lagos Central

    He said since the margin of lead between the petitioner, Shote, and the first respondent, Osunsanya, was less than 4,000, while the total number of cancelled votes in the affected areas was 8,800, INEC should not have declared Osunsanya the winner of the poll.

    Gana held that INEC should have declared the election inconclusive and organised a rerun election in the affected areas.

    He said Osunsanya was not duly elected and ordered that a rerun poll be conducted within 90 days in the affected wards and units.

    Shote described the judgment as victory for the rule of law.

    “I am very delighted at the judgment just delivered. I am happy that justice has been served.

    “Although the wheel of justice grinds slowly, it grinds steadily and surely. It is a victory for the rule of law and the good people of the federal constituency.

    “I thank God and the good people of Ijebu Federal Constituency comprising Ijebu-Ode, Ijebu/ North-East and Odogbolu local government areas for their unflinching support thus far, and I promise not to disappoint them,” he said.

    Osunsanya, however, declined to comment on the judgment.

  • Security man in court for ‘stabbing’ female colleague

    A 26-year-old security guard, Joshua Habila, on Monday appeared before a Tinubu Magistrates’ Court for allegedly stabbing a female co-worker with a broken bottle during an argument.

    The police charged Habila with assault before Magistrate T. A. Anjorin-Ajose.

    The prosecutor, Inspector Ajaga Agboko, told the court that defendant committed the offence on August 29, at about 8.30a.m at their work place, located at Bibby Crest Ltd, Addo Road, Eti-Osa Lagos.

    He said that the defendant stabbed his co-worker, a female office assistant, Tope Abubakar, with a broken bottle on the right side of her face during an argument.

    Read Also: Police arraign two for stabbing neighbour

    He said the defendant was watching Television at the reception when the incident happened.

    He said Tope chided him for watching TV early in the morning  when he should be at his duty post.

    “Habila got angry and picked up a bottle, smashed it on the wall and stabbed her on the right side of her face causing her serious injury.

    He pleaded not guilty.

    Magistrate Anjorin-Ajose granted the defendant bail in the sum of N200,000 with two sureties in like sum.

    He ordered that the sureties must tender their bank statements which must contain up to N200,000 cash deposit.

    He adjourned the case until October 10.

  • C’River Central: I will appeal tribunal verdict, says Ndoma-Egba

    Former Senate Leader Victor Ndoma-Egba has vowed to appeal the judgement of the tribunal dismissing his petition challenging the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) for excluding him from participating in the Cross River Central senatorial election.

    The National Assembly Election Petition Tribunal sitting in Calabar had struck out Ndoma-Egba’s petition on the ground that “the issues brought before the tribunal were pre-election matters and as such the tribunal lacked the jurisdiction to entertain the matters.”

    The tribunal refused to grant the ex-Senate Leader’s request for a fresh senatorial poll, thereby affirming the election of Senator Sandy Onor of Peoples Democratic Party (PDP).

    However, in a statement, he urged his supporters to remain calm and not be discouraged. The Director of Media and Communication of Ndoma-Egba Campaign Organisation, Sunny Udeh, said: “Without doubt the decision of the tribunal is a huge disappointment to all our supporters and indeed members of the All Progressives Congress in Cross River State.

  • Lawmaker to Sanwo-Olu: Be focused

    The Chief Whip of Lagos State House of Assembly, Rotimi Abiru, has urged Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu to prioritise the needs of Lagosians within the available resources.

    This, according to the lawmaker, will make the people feel the impact of government.

    Abiru, who represents Shomolu Constituency Two at the Lagos Assembly, made the call on a live television programme in Ikeja.

    The lawmaker said: “Meeting the demands of Lagos state residents is challenging due to the growing population of the state.”

    He aaded: “Lagos is the microcosm of the nation where all tribes or even families are represented”  the lawmaker emphasised.

    Abiru appealed to Sanwo-Olu to implement of the outcome of town hall meetings to be organised by the Lagos Assembly in the constituencies in Lagos state.

    He stressed that the constituencies’ town hall meetings was initiated by the leadership of the House of Assembly to get the feedback of people the lawmakers represent.

    Abiru called on Lagosians to support the government by paying their taxes, dispose their refuse properly and obey traffic rules among other civic obligations.

  • SAN blames contract scandals on non-involvement of arbitrators

    A Senior Advocate of Nigeria (SAN), Chief Niyi Akintola, has advised the Federal Government and states to hire the services of professional Nigerian arbitrators before entering arbitration agreements, expecially with multinational firms.

    He warned that another contract judgment of about $1billion may be hanging over the country as a result of the sale of the defunct Nigeria Telecommunications (NITEL).

    The lawyer urged the Federal Government to brace up for more judgment debts already entered against the country on account of contracts awarded but later cancelled.

    Akintola stated this on Saturday on Fresh FM’s Political Circuit, a live interview programme monitored in Ibadan, the Oyo State capital.

    His comments followed the $9.6 billion judgment debt hanging over the country in a case instituted by P&ID against the Federal Government.

    He stated that a $237 million judgment was entered against Nigeria by an arbitration panel in the United Kingdom in 2003 in a case brought before it by an Ibadan-born entrepreneurial icon, Chief Bode Akindele, against the Federal Government over the cancellation of the contract for the purchase of the defunct NITEL.

    In a chat with The Nation, Akintola blamed the poor handling of the country’s contractual obligation on some civil servants who, according to him, were more interested in travelling and collecting estacodes than the real business of contract execution.

    He said: “Some of those civil servants were more interested in travelling and collecting estacodes without recourse to the cost on the country. Most of them don’t even go to the venue where those contracts are signed, they would remain in their hotel rooms and those contract papers were brought to them to append their signature.

    “Nigeria has the greatest number of international arbitrators who are good, competent and capable of signing and executing those arbitration provisions in contracts, but they won’t involve our arbitrators when signing those contracts

    “Who has seen the contract documents with the Chinese companies doing our Railway contracts? Nobody. And most of those contract documents have arbitration clauses which do not contain the UNCITRAL Rules, that is the UNCITRAL Arbitration Rules which provide a comprehensive set of procedural rules upon which parties may agree for the conduct of arbitral proceedings arising out of their commercial relationship and are widely used in ad hoc arbitrations as well as administered arbitrations.”

    Chief Akindele, according to Akintola, who described Nigeria as “a country where anything goes” successfully bought NITEL from the Federal Government for a sum of $237million and paid one third of the sum.

    He claimed that Akindele’s refusal to “play ball” and part with some shareholding for some interests in government at that time led to the contract being called off, prompting the legal battle before the arbitration panel.

    Akintola said further that accumulation of interest since 2003 when the judgment was given would have shot the debt up to about $1 or $2 billion.

    “We are shouting about judgment debt from P&ID, more judgment debts are coming. Our own Chief Bode Akindele bought NITEL in 2003 for $237 million and he paid one third of the sum. But somewhere along the line, the contract was aborted because he was not ready ‘to play ball’ with the powers-that-be at that time.

    “He was not ready to part with some of the shares and so the contract was taken away from him. He went to the arbitration tribunal. Late Justice Kayode Eso was one of the judges on the arbitration panel.

    “As I speak with you, judgment has been obtained against Nigeria to the tune of $237 million since 2003 and interest has been mounting. If you do the calculation now, it would have been more than $1 or $2 billion. So, more debts are coming for Nigeria.

    “Nigeria is a country where anything goes. 98 per cent of the contracts we sign in Nigeria have arbitration clauses and these clauses, our civil servants do not read them. When they are signing, they stay in a hotel and are only interested in the estacode they will get during such trips.

    “In fact, one of the ministers that just left was dubbed estacode minister because that is what he was doing as minister. Also, they don’t read.

    “We have a chapter of the arbitration chapter of the UK in Nigeria and even in Ibadan. If my calculation is correct, there are about 23 international arbitrators of Oyo State origin. I don’t know of any governor in Oyo that has called any of us to vet contracts. In fact, the president of the Nigerian chapter of the International Arbitration of the UK is from Ibadan, Mrs Doyin Rhodes. She sits at the apex of the world body and she is a daughter of the Ekerin Olubadan,” he said.

    He advised the Federal Government to tread softly in its contractual and other engagements with China, explaining that African countries were not finding it easy repaying their indebtedness to the Asian country.

  • Group condemns attacks on Ondo governorship aspirants

    A Group, the Congress for Rights of Ondo Southern Nationalities (CROSN), has condemned a statement credited to the Ondo State All Progressives Congress Youth for Good Governance (OSAPCYGG) that power should not shift to the South District in next year’s election.

    It said the call on the APC national leadership not to pick its governorship candidate from the zone was in bad faith. The pro-North group, led by Adeola Ajayi, launched an un-provoked attack on  Ife Oyedele, a director in the Niger Delta Power Holdings, and Olusola Oke, a former governorship candidate. The duo are governorship aspirants from the South.

    CROSN, in a statement by its National Chairman, Abiodun Fanoro, and National Secretary, Tunde Aiyenumelo, described the attack as unnecessary and ill-motivated.

    The group said: “We of Congress for Rights of Ondo Southern Nationalities concede the democratic right of OSAPCYGG or any group to assess the performance of elected public officers, including the Ondo State Governor, Rotimi Akeredolu (SAN), hold its verdict and even take democratic steps against them.

    “This right should and must not be exercised in a manner that it maliciously undermines the rights of the numerous ethnic nationalities in Ondo Southern Senatorial Zone, insult their well cherished integrity, their awesome political strength and their un-equalled contributions to the wealth of the state.”

    CROSN added: “If in the opinion of OSAPCYGG, Akeredolu has not represented Ondo north well, which the group is speaking as implied in its publication, it should be courageous insinuation enough to do the needful by taking measures to recall him and not to be hoping and waiting for a second chance which Ondo South has a more legitimate right to than other zones.”

    The group urged the party leadership to ignore the bad advice.

    It added: “ The APC and President Muhammadu Buhari know those who genuinely worked for them in Ondo State in the last general elections. Ife Oyedele and Olusola Oke genuinely worked for the victory of APC in the last election as against the by OSAPCYGG that the opposition party won in Governor Akeredolu’s ward in the same Ondo North.

  • IBA Conference: NBA partners Korean Embassy over visa

    Less than two weeks to the commencement of the International Bar Association (IBA) conference in Soul, South Korea, the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA) has partnered the South Korean Embassy to facilitate speedy issuance of Visa to Nigerian lawyers attending the conference.

    A statement by the National Publicity Secretary of the NBA, Mr. Kunle Edun said: “Preparatory to the International Bar Association Conference holding in South from  September 22, 2019, the leadership of the Nigerian Bar Association paid  a courtesy call on the South Korean Ambassador to Nigeria, Mr. Lee In Tae at his office in Abuja’’.

    The delegation which was led by the General Secretary of the Nigerian Bar Association, Jonathan Gunu Taidi included: Chris Uche (SAN); former General Secretary of the NBA Lawal Rabana (SAN); the National Publicity Secretary, Kunle Edun and head of the NBA Protocol Unit, Mr. Nasiru Kazeem.

    NBA President, Mr. Paul Usoro (SAN) had informed members that: “ The NBA would intervene and seek engagement with the South Korean Embassy, so that our members who have registered for the IBA Conference would have no visa challenge’’

  • When Fed Govt’s roads fail, Anambra people suffer

    Deplorable federal roads in Anambra State are making life difficult for road users, writes Nwanosike Onu

    Mr. Chimaobi Osita, a driver with Sunny Star Transport Company in Awka, the Anambra State capital, smiles less these days. Most times when he is plying the Onitsha-Awka Expressway, his joy is suspended. The road, he said, has become unbearable for its users. He said accidents happen on the expressway almost daily as a result of the dilapidation of road.

    Osita lamented that the Umunya-Awkuzu axis of the road, which  has been fixed by the government, was blocked, adding that they are now forced to go through Nteje in Oyi Local Government Area daily.

    He appealed to the Federal Government to end commuters’ and residents’ woes by hastening up work on the road.

    The Onitsha-Awka Expressway is not the only federal road in the state that has not been fixed. The Nnewi -Okigwe Road, which had been fixed halfway, is also a source of pain.

    Obi Ochije, who is the Special Assistant to Anambra State Governor Willie Obiano on Community Development, believed that the Muhammadu Buhari administration is doing its best on the roads to alleviate the sufferings of the masses.

    He blamed the delay in fixing the road on the contractor handling the projects, adding that they are too slow.

    Ochije said another factor slowing down the pace of work on those roads was lack of commitment on the part of the people supervising the roads.

    The lawmaker representing Anambra West Constituency in the Anambra State House of Assembly, Patrick Udoba,  expressed his dissatisfaction over the deplorable nature of the road.

    Udoba, who is the Chairman, House Committee on Transportation, said something urgent should be done to ameliorate the sufferings of the people.

    Speaking in Awka, Udoba lamented the deplorable conditions of most federal roads in the state, even as he urged President Mohammadu Buhari, the Federal Ministry of Works and other relevant agencies to expedite action on rehabilitating the roads.

    He said their quick intervention would help to save lives and the untold hardship the people of the state and the neighbouring states were passing through.

    Udoba added that most federal roads in the state were in a deplorable state as accidents claim the lives of the citizen in large proportion almost daily.

    The lawmaker listed such roads to include Enugu- Awka-Onitsha Expressway, especially at Awkwuzu-Odumodu axis, Onitsha-Owerri Road, Onitsha-Ayamelum and Umueze-Anam-Nzam-Kogi-Abuja Road.

    He said the roads had become death traps to motorists and residents. He urged President Buhari to come to their aid.

    He explained that people passing through Anambra roads could get to Abuja in two hours, noting that Igala and Kogi-speaking areas were their neighbouring communities hence, the need for urgent intervention on the roads.

    The lawmaker noted that Anambra West was the food basket of the state, stressing the importance of having a federal budget yearly on the road for its completion.

    The members of the Assembly, Udoba said, have moved several motions to that effect while appealing to President Buhari to rehabilitate the roads to ease the untold hardships the people go through daily.

    A human rights activist, Comrade Osita Obi, said he so much believed in the leadership style of President Buhari, adding that the people should be patient.

    “I know those roads will soon be fixed, the only thing I think that has slowed down the pace of work on those roads is the rain.

    “I believe so much in this present administration led by Buhari no matter how others see it. One lane of the road had been fixed while work is ongoing in so many other places.

    “I don’t like the way our people behave at times, we are always quick in judging people. We should be happy that Daniel has come to judgement. After the rains, work will start on the roads again,” he said.

    The Anambra State government undertook the rehabilitation of some federal roads across the state. But despite the ongoing rehabilitation works on the roads, road users say they still suffer on the roads.

    According to some motorists, the condition of the roads has jerked up transport fare from Onitsha to Awka and to Enugu states.

    Besides, a journey that should take 30 minutes now takes one hour. A journey from Onitsha to Enugu, which usually lasts for one hour, now lasts about three hours.

    The Project Supervisor in charge of Awka Expressway, Chidi Ezeala, noted that he had embarked on the inspection of the project. He said the Federal Ministry of Works would ensure the roads were fixed.

    He said work had not stopped on any of the roads, noting that the only impediment the construction work was the rain.

    Ezeala maintained that work was likely to begin on the other lane of the Awka expressway after the rains, while work would continue on the other lane.