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Tag: Ozekhome

  • Ozekhome writes Anambra again

    Ozekhome writes Anambra again

    A lawyer, Mike Ozekhome, has again written the Anambra State government on the consequences of continuous contempt proceedings on the land allegedly owned by the Federal Government in the state.

    The Federal Government had instituted the suit, following the state’s purported revocation of the 148.337 hectares of land at Amansea, Awka for Federal Government Sites and Services Scheme.

    Ozekhome said the first letter he wrote to the government was on June 16, last year,.

    He added that the plaintiff (attorney general of the federation) on February 3, filed an affidavit that parties in the suit should desist from doing anything that would negatively affect the land.

    This, according to him, was by maintaining the status quo, the state willfully, in defiance of the present proceedings, proceeded to start carrying out construction on the said land in dispute.

    “This letter is to update you on the danger of permitting your government from continuing any further works on the site.

    “We must emphasise to you also, the hallowed principle of “quic quid plantatur solo solo cedit”, which means “he who owns the land, owns everything thereon”.

  • Court orders freezing of Ozekhome’s N75m account

    Court orders freezing of Ozekhome’s N75m account

    •Lawyer: it’s part payment of legal fees from Fayose

    A Federal High Court in Lagos has ordered the temporary forfeiture of the sum of N75million in the account of a Senior Advocate of Nigeria, Chief Mike Ozekhome, domiciled with Guaranty Trust Bank (GTB).
    Justice Abdulaziz Anka gave the order while ruling on a motion ex-parte filed by the anti-graft agency seeking that Ozakhome’s account be temporarily frozen.
    The sum is said to have been uncovered by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC).
    EFCC’s prayer is on the ground that the N75 million deposited in the said account on December 15, 2016, is suspected to be proceeds of crime.
    Arguing the application which was filed by Mr. Rotimi Oyedepo, counsel to the EFCC, Mr. Idris Mohammed, informed the court that the application was brought pursuant to Section 29 of the EFCC Act.
    Mohammed informed the court that three exhibits marked 01, 02 and 03 were attached to the motion ex-parte.
    He said an affidavit of urgency, sworn to by an investigator of the agency, Tosin Owobo, was also attached to the application.
    Mohammed, therefore, urged the court to grant the motion ex-parte and order a temporary forfeiture of funds in the account for 120 days.
    Delivering a bench ruling on the motion, Justice Anka ordered that Ozekhome’s account with the N75 million be forfeited for 120 days.
    The judge, however, said any party, dissatisfied with the ruling, could file an appeal.
    Ozekhome yesterday said the N75 million frozen by EFCC) was a part payment of legal fees by Ekiti State Governor Ayo Fayose.
    He said it was for legal services he rendered to the governor in his personal capacity, and to his aides.
    “For the records, the N75 million was paid into my account by my client, Governor Fayose as part payment of professional fees for the numerous cases my chambers is currently handling for him (in his personal capacity) and his aides across Nigeria. The money is neither ‘suspected proceeds of crime’ or of money laundering,” he said in a statement.
    Ozekhome said he represented Fayose against EFCC before Justice Taiwo Taiwo of the Federal High Court in Ekiti.
    He said the judge on January 31 dismissed EFCC’s motion seeking to restrain Fayose from withdrawing the remaining balance from his account that was earlier frozen by EFCC but was de-frozen by the judge. EFCC has appealed the ruling.
    The senior advocate said: “The present action of EFCC is clearly calculated to overreach Governor Fayose. This will never happen. I will continue to defend beleaguered and oppressed Nigerians from the antics and highhandedness of publicly-funded government institutions that breach their fundamental rights.
    “It is sickening and inconceivable that money legitimately and legally paid by a client to his solicitor from an unencumbered account wholly and totally de-frozen and unblocked by the judgment of a competent court of law can be termed ‘suspected proceeds of crime or money laundering’.
    “I am a practicing lawyer, not a government employee, contractor or a businessman. I have never laundered and will never launder any money in my life.”

  • Ozekhome’s vilification of EFCC

    SIR: Chief Mike Ozekhome in an attempt to secure a public sympathy for his client, Chief Raymond Dokpesi had said that the EFCC was not empowered by law to be “a debt collecting agency”.

    While Ozekhome is within his right to explore all the wisecracks in the legal books to win his case, resorting to subtle blackmail or legal red herring may be injurious to his public perception.

    Professor Itse Sagay while differing threw light into the relevant constitutional section that empowered EFCC to recover funds, freeze assets and accounts.

    Quoting the EFCC Act Section 71(B) – “Where a person is arrested for an offence under this act, the commission shall immediately trace and attach all the assets and properties of the person acquired as result of such economic or financial crime and shall thereafter caused to be obtained an interim attachment order from the court”.

    He further opined that section 29 permits the assets of a person arrested under section 28 to be seized by the state.

    I think rather than taking the matter outside the confines of judicial parameters where it is listed for adjudication and put same in public domain, Chief Ozekhome’s attempt to discredit EFCC has opened him and his client to the orbit of public inquiries.

    Patriotism makes it incumbent on our senior lawyers to insulate dispassionate public institutions like EFCC from vitriolic vilifications devoid of legal imprimatur. Hardly would a lawyer of Chief Ozekhome’s standing take a swipe at FBI in America on a case still pending in court.

    • Bukola Ajisola,

    Victoria Island, Lagos.

  • IGP’s action, ill wind that blows no good —Ozekhome

    IGP’s action, ill wind that blows no good —Ozekhome

    Constitutional lawyer and human rights activist, Mike Ozekhome, SAN, has said that the withdrawal of the security details of the Speaker of House of Representatives, Hon. Aminu Tambuwal, amounts to setting a bad precedent for the country’s democracy.

    He, however, implored Tambuwal to explore judicial interpretation of his defection to counter the withdrawal of his security aides by the Acting Inspector General of Police (IGP), Mr Abba Suleiman.

    According to him, the section of the 1999 Constitution which the Acting IGP premised his action of withdrawing the security details of the Speaker on has a window of exemption for such action taken by the Speaker.

    He told The Nation yesterday in Abuja that the Speaker can prove his defection right if certain events were taken into perspective.

    Section 68 (1) (g) of the 1999 Constitution as altered, merely prohibits carpet crossing or defection from the original sponsoring political party to another. Where that happens, a member of the Senate or House of Representatives is to vacate his seat.

    “Though the Speaker, Tambuwal, has defected from PDP to APC, he has not yet been pronounced upon as having lost his seat in the House.

    “For now, it is presumptuous. Even at that, we should rise above the level of petty politics and do the right thing by not desecrating our institutions and the quintessence of our democratic culture through actions that call to question the institutions of the Nigeria Police and the National Assembly.

    “Tambuwal remains the speaker of the House, at least till December 3, when the House resumes Plenary. He has not been impeached.

    “He remains the number four person in Nigeria. He therefore deserves full complement of security, not because of his person as an ordinary Nigerian, but as the Speaker of the lower House, the 4th person in order of protocol.

    “If the Speaker can show that his defection is as a result of a division in PDP, or that PDP has lost its identity because of its merger with another political party, he will be excused by the proviso to Section 68 (1) (g) of the Constitution.

    “For now, the Police should immediately restore his security aids without much ado”.

  • IGP’s action on Tambuwal unacceptable – Ozekhome

    IGP’s action on Tambuwal unacceptable – Ozekhome

    Constitutional lawyer, Mike Ozekhome (SAN) has condemned the withdrawal of the Speaker of House of Representatives, Aminu Tambuwal’s security details, saying the act is capable of setting a bad precedence for the country’s democracy.

    He implored Tambuwal to explore judicial interpretation of his defection to counter the withdrawal of his security aides by the Acting Inspector General of Police, Mr. Abba Suleiman.

    According to him, the section of the 1999 Constitution which the Acting IGP premised his action on has a window of exemption for such action taken by the Speaker.

    He told The Nation on Friday in Abuja that the Speaker can prove his defection right if certain events were taken into perspective.

    Section 68 (1) (g) of the 1999 Constitution as altered, merely prohibits carpet crossing or defection from the original sponsoring political party to another. And where that happens, a member of the Senate or House of Representatives is expected to vacate his seat.

    Ozekhome said, “Though the Speaker, Tambuwal has decamped from PDP to APC, he has not yet been pronounced upon as having lost his seat in the House.

    “For now, it is presumptuous. Even at that, we should rise above the level of petty politics and do the right thing by not desecrating our institutions and the quintessence of our democratic culture through actions that call to question the institutions of the Nigeria Police and the National Assembly.

    “Tambuwal remains the speaker of the House, at least till December 3, when the House resumes Plenary. He has not been impeached.

    “He remains the number four person in Nigeria. He therefore deserves full complement of security, not because of his person as an ordinary Nigerian, but as the Speaker of the lower House, the 4th person in order of protocol.

    “If the Speaker can show that his defection is as a result of a division in PDP, or that PDP has lost  its identity because of its  merger with another political party, he will be excused by the proviso to Section 68 (1) (g) of the Constitution.

    “For now, the police should immediately restore his security aids without much ado.”

  • Sanusi’s suspension in order —Ozekhome, OCJ Okocha

    Sanusi’s suspension in order —Ozekhome, OCJ Okocha

    Two Senior Advocates of Nigeria, Chief Mike Ozekhome and Chief OCJ Okocha, have expressed support for President Goodluck Jonathan’s decision to suspend the Governor of Central bank, Alhaji Sanusi Lamido Sanusi.

    In different interviews with our correspondents yesterday, the legal luminaries said the suspension of the CBN governor was legally, morally and constitutionally in order.

    Chief Ozekhome said that not to have done so would have amounted to creating a sacred cow out of “a non-conforming government employee with an over-bloated ego and who fights his own government with joy.

     “All that is required for dismissal is two-thirds majority vote of the Senate. But the President has to first remove him from office before he can request the Senate to approve the removal.

    “What the CBN Act provisions therefore boil down to is that the President can remove Sanusi from office following due process or suspend him, following no process at all since the Act suffers a lacuna in this regard.

    “If  Sanusi is unhappy with his suspension by President Jonathan, he has two options: go to Court for adjudication or appeal to the National Assembly to amend the CBN Act.”

     On his part, Okocha said: “There is nothing irregular or unlawful about the suspension of the CBN governor. Suspension from office is part of the normal process of employment, and it does not mean that he has been removed.

    “It does not mean that he has been dismissed or retired.

    “Suspension is just a normal thing in the service and it applies to both public and private service.

    “When you look at the Central Bank Act, it actually provided that the president can remove the CBN governor from office.

    “The only limitation to it is that it is subject to two thirds majority approval by the Senate of the Federal Republic of Nigeria.

    “An approval can come before or after. I don’t know the reason for all the brouhaha about his suspension.

    “If you are working under somebody and there is a problem, he is entitled to suspend you and look into the problem until it is properly sorted out.

    “I am sure that there are issues that are being looked into that brought about the suspension.”

  • Sanusi’s suspension in order – Ozekhome

    Sanusi’s suspension in order – Ozekhome

    Mr. Mike Ozekhome, a Senior Advocate of Nigeria (SAN), on Friday said President Goodluck Jonathan’s suspension of Lamido Sanusi as Governor of Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) was legally right.

    Ozekhome, who is also a constitutional lawyer and human rights activist, said this in a chat with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Abuja.

    “Constitutionally and legally, what President Jonathan did was correct. He does not require the consent of the National Assembly to do so.

    “Anyone who is an employee has to know that he is answerable to his employer. You cannot bite the finger that feeds you.

    “The Nigerian Constitution and the CBN Act give the President the authority to suspend or remove the Governor of the CBN,’’ he said.

    Ozekhome claimed that Sanusi had deviated from his primary duty of leading the apex bank to the path of monetary stability.

    “A governor of a Central Bank in any part of the world should be seen and not heard.

    “When he should be heard, he should only be discussing monetary policies which will uplift the economy of his country.

    “In Nigeria, what we have is a CBN governor that has been fighting the government of his country,’’ he said.

    Ozekhome alleged that Sanusi had been making very provocative and highly derogatory statements even about the monetary policies of his own country.

    “When you say all that, then how do you want international investors to come to the country, when a very reliable figure is saying all these negative things about his country,’’ he claimed.

    The lawyer alleged that the ex-CBN governor had been acting like a political leader or traditional ruler by donating public funds to universities, political aides and at other functions.

    He said Sanusi was not versatile and had made six mistakes on the missing funds from the Nigeria National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) within the last two months.

    “This variation in figures of the missing funds has caused chaos in the country, which is not supposed to be so,’’ Ozekhome said.

     

  • Ozekhome : My abductors were angry graduates

    Ozekhome : My abductors were angry graduates

    Chief Mike Ozekhome (SAN), who regained his freedom on Thursday after three weeks of his abduction, has appealed to the Federal Government to grant amnesty to kidnappers in the country.

    Ozekhome made the call on Thursday while recounting his ordeal to newsmen at his residence in Lagos, after he was released by his abductors on Thursday morning.
    The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that Ozekhome was abducted on Aug.23 at Ehor near Benin City in Edo.
    Ozekhome said his son, Ilugbeka, and a lawyer in his chambers, Mr Dominic Ezerioha, were also abducted by the same kidnappers on Sept. 6, while negotiating for his release.
    According to him, the kidnappers eventually released him and 12 others about 7 a.m. on Thursday.
    The lawyer, however, said he was not aware if any ransom was paid to secure their freedom.
    He said the security situation in the country was a national calamity which demanded urgent attention.
    Ozekhome described his abductors as ”angry and desperate well-read graduates” who had a network of cells across the country.
    He said during his interactions with them, they told him that they were pushed into kidnapping due to unemployment and poverty.
    The human rights lawyer said he fell sick twice during his three-week ordeal, adding that his abductors brought a doctor who treated him for malaria and typhoid.
    “As a matter of extreme urgency, I want the Federal Government to immediately grant amnesty to all kidnappers and institute an amnesty programme for all kidnappers.
    “They told me that if they are given assurance that they will not be killed, they are ready to agree to the deal.”
    He urged the government to declare a national state of emergency on youth unemployment and infrastructure decay.
    Ozekhome appealed to the government not to neglect the families of the four policemen who were killed while trying to rescue him from his abductors.
    “It was this morning that I was briefed that those gallant officers died while trying to rescue us from our abductors.
     “Let me hereby call upon the Federal Government to set up a special foundation to cater for the welfare of the wives and children of these officers.”
    He also urged the National Assembly to allow for state police in the ongoing amendment of the 1999 Constitution.
    Ozekhome also called for the convocation of a national conference to address some of the problems bedevilling the country.
    “As Nigerians, we need to sit down and renegotiate our existence as a country.
    “We need to practice true federalism. We need to retool Nigeria.”
    Ozekhome said the government should also tackle the problem of corruption in the country.
    The human rights activist, while thanking Nigerians for their concern during his ordeal, debunked insinuations that his abduction was politically motivated.
    “We were never profiled or targeted. It could have happened to anybody,” he said
  • Ozekhome set free by his abductors

    Ozekhome set free by his abductors

    The Legal luminary and civil rights crusader, Chief Mike Ozekhome, SAN who was abducted by gun men three weeks has regained his freedom.

    He was set free by the gun men who took him at gun point at Ehor near Benin City while traveling along the Benin City – Abuja Expressway  last month.

    It was gathered that the lawyer was set free along with his driver and children late on Thursday night after an undisclosed sum was reportedly paid out as ransom.

    Confirming the release of the lawyer in a telephone interview, the Edo state Police commissioner Mr Foluso Adebanjo said , “He has been released, I will give you details later”.

    The release of Ozekhome coincides with the abduction of a prominent traditional ruler, Chief Uwangue, who is the traditional ruler or Iyase of Udo in Ovia West local government area of the state.

    The abduction of Ozekhome and his being held up for three whole weeks makes him the first kidnap victim in Edo to be held for such a long period of time.

  • Military presence in Etsako over Ozekhome’s kidnap

    Military presence in Etsako over Ozekhome’s kidnap

    SOLDIERS have taken over the security in major streets of Auchi in Estako West council area of Edo State.

    Motorists and commercial motorcycle operators popularly known as Okada are now subjected to stop-and-search by the men of the Nigeria Army.

    This followed the kidnap penultimate Friday of Lagos-based lawyer, Mike Ozekhoime (SAN), his driver and Athanius Ugbome.

    It was gathered yesterday that the kidnappers made a distress call to the police at the weekend to get more arms for their operations.

    The hoodlums, who reportedly laid an ambush for the policemen who responded to the call, allegedly swooped on them.

    It also emerged yesterday that an official of the Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS) believed to be a woman was also picked up at the kidnap scene.

    This was because a blue car with FIRS inscription and an Audi car were discovered at the scene.

    It was, however, not clear whether the abductors had opened talks with Ozekhome’s family as at yesterday’s evening.

    “We believe God for miracle,” his elder brother, Pius, simply told our correspondent.