The Nation Newspaper

Tag: Oghenejabor Ikimi

  • Justice Minister urged to commence action against defecting lawmakers

    The Minister of Justice and Attorney General of the federation, Mr. Abubakar Malami, has been urged to commence action to declare seats of defecting legislators in the National Assembly vacant.

    Rights activist and social crusader in Delta state, Oghenejabor Ikimi, said in a statement in Warri on Friday that said this was necessary to strengthen the country’s “fledgling” democracy.

    Citing the Supreme Court’s case of Abegunde vs. Ondo State House of Assembly & Ors (2015) LPELR-24588 Ikimi called for vigilance on the part of the electorate against supporting greedy politicians for the 2019 polls.

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    Ikimi said: “I am not oblivious of the civic duty we owe the Nigerian nation as citizens in protecting and defending her fledgling democracy, hence my call to the federal and states’ attorneys general to unseat all erring federal and state legislators vide the law courts.

    “Nigerians especially her electorate must shun greedy politicians and must not allow them to truncate our democracy or turn same into a tool for seizing power illegally or to cause disunity and disaffection in our polity.

    “The Nigerian electorate must resist all political mercenaries masquerading themselves as politicians by all lawfully means through the ballot box.”

  • Niger Delta group faults Jonathan on poverty reduction claims

    The Centre for the Vulnerable and the Underprivileged (Centrep) has described the claims by President Goodluck Jonathan that his administration has reduced poverty by 50 per cent as laughable and distortion of facts.

    The Niger Delta-based group said the claim, which Jonathan reportedly made at the South-South Peoples Democratic Party’s rally in Benin, Edo State, was an indication that his administration was far from the people.

    The National Coordinator of the group, Mr. Oghenejabor Ikimi, over the weekend said that poverty has assumed a pandemic level in the country.

    Reminding the President of the position of Nigeria in the global poverty index, he said: “Poverty in Nigeria has assumed a pandemic status as millions of Nigerians now live in extreme abject poverty.

    “This is such that the United Nations in one of her report in 2013 placed Nigeria as the fifth poorest Nation on earth with 100 million of her population living as destitute courtesy of an earth quaking level of official corruption despite being the sixth largest producer of crude oil in the world.

    “The United Nations report above mentioned is corroborated by the volume of official corruption, massive unemployment, frightening level of public infrastructural decay, pandemic poverty and hunger, and a worsening level insecurity nationwide.”

  • Niger Delta group optimistic court will upturn Nyako’s impeachment

    Niger Delta group optimistic court will upturn Nyako’s impeachment

    Niger Delta-based group, the Centre for the Vulnerable and the Underprivileged (CENTREP) was confident yesterday that the court would reverse the impeachment of the former governor of Adamawa State, Murtala Nyako.

    The group’s Executive Director, Mr. Oghenejabor Ikimi, described the entire process that led to Nyako’s impeachment as faulty and a product of a militarised democracy.

    Ikimi, a lawyer, advised the former governor not to relent in his decision to seek redress for the wrong done him by the lawmakers.

    Explaining further, Ikimi said: “We are aware that Governor Nyako was never served personally with any impeachment notice by the Clerk of the Adamawa House of Assembly.

    “The Acting Chief Judge of the State and the seven-man panel that investigated all the charges leveled against Governor Nyako and his deputy was giving military cover throughout the impeachment process.

    “The impeachment was evidently stage-managed by the Presidency as the entire proces s was a case of the voice of Jacob and the hands of Esau.

    “We call on all Nigerians to stand up to condemn this dangerous brand of democracy being smuggled into our polity by political marauders as same could spell doom to our fledgling democracy”, he stressed.

  • Controversy trails demolition of houses in Warri

    Controversy trails demolition of houses in Warri

    Controversy has continued to trail the demolition of 65 residential buildings in Ifiekporo community in Warri South Local Government Area of Delta State by the government.

    The special sanitation committee set up to rid Warri, Uvwie and Udu local governments of filth and illegal structures, led by Commissioner for Environment Frank Omare, pulled down the buildings, which it alleged had been built on government land.

    An activist, who is Executive Director of the Centre for the Vulnerable and Underprivileged (CENTREP), Oghenejabor Ikimi, described the government’s action as oppressive and a failure of its responsibilities to the people.

    Ikimi said the government did not inform the people of its intentions, adding that it has not compensated the people.

    He said  most of the victims obtained approvals from the Ministry of Lands and Survey before developing their property.

    His words: “We are not oblivious of the fact that over 200 families were rendered homeless without notice or due process as a result of the above inaction of the government.

    “We call on the government to adequately compensate the victims without delay as the demolished structures were duly covered with approved building plans.”

    The commissioner said only Certificates of Occupancy (C of O) could authenticate anybody as a genuine property owner, who would be considered for compensation.

    Omare said more houses standing illegally on any government land would suffer the same fate.

    He debunked Ikimi’s claim that no notice was given to the people before their houses were brought down.