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Tag: pay

  • Senators under fire for rejecting pay cut

    Nigerians are outraged by the decision of Senators to reject a pay cut as recommended by the James Manager Committee on Finance.

    The Senate suspended consideration of the committee report on Wednesday as members disagreed sharply on the recommendation that members’ salary and allowances be cut.

    But reacting to the action of the Senators, some prominent opinion leaders expressed shock that the lawmakers are not showing concern for the state of the national economy and the well being of the generality of Nigerians.

    First Republic Minister, Chief Mbazulike Amaechi, likened   the stance of the Senators to legalization of looting.

    “I have always been critical of the outrageous and exorbitant allowances being collected by members of the National Assembly. As far as I am concerned, it is legalizing stealing and looting,” he told The Nation by phone.

    He added: “though the reduction of their allowances may not have much effect on the economy, it is desirable that they reduce it in the interest   of the country.  It is highly ridiculous that a university professor who has spent a good part of his life contributing to the body of knowledge does not earn up to 20 percent of what these people are earning.

    “The issue here is that I don’t know what they are doing there on full time basis and earning these bogus allowances. During our days in the First Republic, we worked  part time.

    “I think the solution to this problem lies in the executive. The president should not assent to any bills they present to him if they refuse to cut their allowances. If this is done and they go ahead to use two third majority to pass the bill into law, then it would be glaring that they are unpatriotic. Nigerians would then see that they out to achieve their selfish agenda and not there to serve the people.”

    Constitutional lawyer, Professor Itse Sagay, branded the rejection of the pay cut as selfish .

    “Members of the National Assembly have been consistent in their attitude of not being concerned about the interest of the country. They are only there to serve their own interests.

    “There has been so much talk about their allowances and one should ordinarily expect them to do something about it.

    “There are about six to seven items on their list of allowances that they should remove. For instance, the wardrobe allowance. As a man with a wife and children, is it not an embarrassment for me to be waiting for the government to clothe me?

    “Their actions are tantamount to exploiting and squeezing blood out of the nation.  As I have suggested before, we may need to have our National Assembly working on part time and paid allowances based on the number of times they sit as it was the case during the First Republic.

    “The allowances they are collecting are unrealistic in a developing country like Nigeria. If we cannot have that done immediately, we can embark on it in the next political dispensation. It should be part of the campaign in the next election.”

    Second Republic lawmaker, Mohammed Junaid, put the senators’ action down to a lack of the understanding of law.

    “I am not surprised because the PDP members in the National Assembly have a perverted understanding  of the law.  Because the constitution allows them to take these allowances, they have always stood their ground that it should remain so.

    “This is not right when you need to consider the larger interest of the country and the masses that voted for you. If you even look at what they are earning in relation to what they are collecting, you will agree that it is not worth it.

    “It is unfortunate that in spite of the huge salaries and allowances they are collecting, they still are still corrupt.

    “The solution, in my opinion is to reverse the aspect of the constitution that allows them to take all these allowances. The Revenue Allocation and Mobilization Commission should also be empowered to fix their salaries and allowances in relation to the reality of the economic situation of the country and their participation in the law making job they are saddled with.”

    Former Commissioner of Police in Lagos, Abubakar Tsav, urged the senators to emulate the president and the vice president, and accept a pay cut.

    “The truth is that these people are not there to serve Nigeria and the masses. They should follow the examples of the president and the vice president and slash their allowances and salaries.

    “They should be considerate enough to look at the economic situation in the country without anybody pushing or mounting pressure on them to do that. The challenge here is that there is little anybody can do to compel them to accept a pay cut because this is democracy and everything would have to go through law making which is their primary occupation.

    “You can’t amend the constitution without them and cannot make anything to be in force without going through them. The moment they are not prepared to have their salaries slashed, they would frustrate everything that is against their interest. They should be civilized enough to slash these allowances and if they would not do so, I would suggest that Nigerians should march to the National Assembly to compel them to do so. I think this is the only way to compel them to slash the huge allowances they have put up for themselves.”

    The President of  Aka Ikenga, an Igbo  social political group, Chief Goddy Uwazurike,is of the view that Senators and others in  public offices  should follow the path of honour and slash their salaries.

    “Members of the National Assembly need to cut their allowances. They know the relevant areas they need to cut and should go ahead to do so. Aside from the National Assembly, every public office holder in the country from top to the bottom should have their allowances slashed,” he said.

    Several groups are threatening to storm the National Assembly to show their anger at the Senators.

    The President of Arewa Youth Consultative Forum, Comrade Shetimma Yerima, said it appears the Senators are not working for Nigerians.

    His words: ”their refusal to accept pay cut shows they are not working for the interest of the nation.  They are only working for their personal aggrandizement and that is regrettable.

    “We would not hesitate to stage a protest at the National Assembly if they would not agree to slash their allowances. I would personally be in the forefront of such protest that is geared towards liberating our country from those who are bent on holding us to ransom.

    “But before we do that, we would give them benefit of the doubt because we know that there are  a few credible people in the two chambers who would be reasonable enough to consider the interest of the people and the nation above their personal and selfish interest.”

    Also speaking, the President, Ohanaeze Ndigbo Youth wing, Mazi Okechukwu Iziguzoro, called on the senators to cut their salaries in the interest of the country.

    “They should be patriotic enough to cut their allowances in the interest of the country. It is crystal clear that the economy of the nation is in a shambles and it behoves every one of us, especially those holding public offices to make sacrifices in one way or the order to redeem our father land.

    “This is an era of change and it is expected that the former ways of doing things because of selfish benefits should be jettisoned for the overall well being of the nation, the poor masses in particular.

    “If they would not agree to cut their allowances, we would not hesitate to embark on protest to ensure they do that.”

  • Presidential pay slash

    Presidential pay slash

    •What is more important is discipline and curbing extravagant lifestyle

    President Muhammadu Buhari and Vice President Yemi Osinbajo recently declared their intention through an official memo with reference number PRES/81/SGF/17 to voluntarily slash their salaries by 50 per cent of what the Revenue Mobilisation, Allocation and Fiscal Commission (RMAFC) statutorily allotted to their posts. This is to us a glib approach to an endemic problem of waste in public life.

    President Buhari’s current annual remuneration as approved by RMAFC is put at N14, 058,820.00. By halving his salary, Buhari will be earning in each year of his four-year administration tenure life span, the sum of N7m. The same applies to Osinbajo who earns N12,126,289.8 per year, which at half salary translates to N6,063,144.9 per year. Apart from these remunerations, the president and his deputy are entitled to various regular allowances like: hardship allowance which translates to 50 per cent of their basic salaries and consistency allowance which amounts to 250 per cent of same basic salaries.

    But the important question at this juncture is who determines whether the president/deputy is consistent in the discharge of their duties; and also what type of hardships are the president and his deputy faced with in the discharge of their duties? This is one fundamental dilemma faced by a country in search of a realistic remuneration package not only for her executive arm of government but the legislative and other appointive positions in the land.

    This season of salary slashing calls back to former President Goodluck Jonathan at a point during his administration when the price of crude oil slumped. He reduced his salary by 30 percent. This he did despite the fact that his administration witnessed the highest level of crude oil theft and other extreme corrupt practices without any known significant attempt to nip such in the bud. In the end, such publicity stunt stands for its symbolism and not substance because nothing really changed. Under the current dispensation, it is also on record that the governors of Abia, Kaduna and Kano states, amongst others, reduced their salaries but the public sees that as another publicity trick that would not positively impact on the lives of the common man.

    Sadly, the executive and the legislative arms of government are only able to maintain a greedy and ostentatious lifestyle of buying private jets and building grandiose houses of opulence and procurement of bullet-proof vehicles because of the odious slush funds at their disposal. What ought to be done is for them to slash the diverse allowances like security vote, hardship and consistency allowances, including travelling estacode, amongst others, such that the wage bills of the states and the centre government would drastically be brought down. So far, public officers’ allowances account for the bulk of their financial entitlements, creating in the process a heavy toll on public till.

    The RMAFC is statutorily empowered by Section 32 (d) of Part 1 of the Third Schedule of the Constitution to determine the appropriate remuneration for political office holders. Consequently, we call on this statutory body to come up with a pay package for all arms of government, which reflects the economic reality in the polity. We do not subscribe to perquisites of office that are adhoc or individualistic like the current executive/presidential salary cut initiatives. We want realistic meaningful salary structure for elective and appointive officers of state but we abhor remuneration excesses and ostentation that are insensitive to the prevailing economic realities. That is what RMAFC should curtail without further delay. The Buhari administration may mean well by the salary slash, but we need greater show of discipline in public life.

  • NLC vows to resist cut in wokers’ pay

    NLC vows to resist cut in wokers’ pay

    The Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) yesterday vowed to resist any cut in workers’  pay.

    Its President, Comrade Ayuba Wabba and   General Secretary,  Comrade Peter Ozo-Eson, in a communique after the National Administrative Council (NAC) meeting of July 1 in Abuja,  accusedsome governors of mismanagement of state finances.

    It said it would not tolerate the cut of the token pay of workers.

    The NLC described the situation as unacceptable, and  vowed to stop the governors from effecting any pay cut.

    They said: “The Congress is amazed that having come out in the brazen way to mismanage the finances of their respective states, some governors are contemplating the cutting of workers’ salaries, as a way out of the financial mess they have found themselves. This will be completely unacceptable to organised labour, and we will do everything within our means to stop this from happening.

    “The token of temporary reduction of political officers salaries, as a bait to force cuts in the wages of workers in the states will be unacceptable, because these political office holders hardly depend on their wages for their day-to-day survival. They do not use their wages to pay for their feeding, healthcare and other essential needs which are most times provided free for them by the state.”

    Waba and Ozo -Eson attributed the non-payment of salaries to  the irresponsible inclination of the country’s political elite on its insistence on maintaining a clearly unsustainable lifestyle and earnings at the expense of the growth and development of the country.

    The communique said the NLC drew attention to the problem of many states  which spent billions of naira on electioneering campaigns rather than pay the wages and pensions of workers.

    NLC said it also drew the attention of relevant authorities to the crisis of non-payment of workers’ wages, and the establishment of task teams to force the affected states to pay.

    The congress said while these states expended hundreds of millions of naira to pay bloated severance allowances and benefits of political office holders in the states, workers’ wages have remained unpaid.

    The communique also noted that: “Congress will not fold its arms and watch this manifest injustice against Nigerian workers and pensioners being endlessly perpetuated. It therefore resolved to mobilise Nigerian working people and Nigerian masses against the continuing excesses of our political elite at all levels of our polity.

    “NAC-in-Session further resolved to support and cooperate with President Muhammadu Buhari’s anti-corruption policy and call on its members in all agencies of the public sector to provide any information at their disposal that might lead to the recovery of public funds stolen from the treasury.”

    The congress, according to the communique, also reviewed  the leadership crisis in the National Assembly and urged the All Progressives Congress ( APC) to call its members in the two chambers to order.

    NLC added that Nigerians voted the APC into power with the hope that the party would bring about the “change” it promised by addressing the country’s socio-economic challenges.

     

  • Legislators’ pay and other matters

    Renewed public interest in the salaries and allowances of lawmakers and political office holders should not be surprising. With the grim state of the nation’s economy; mounting arrears of salaries by governments and high cost of governance, it is difficult for the seemingly huge pay of legislators and other political office holders to continue to evade the prying eyes of the public.

    This interest is not entirely new. It was a subject of heated debate around 2013. Then, there arose public outcry against the wide gulf between what was seen as the jumbo pay of federal legislators, vis-à-vis extant wage regime in the country.  The actual pay of the lawmakers generated so much speculation that the Revenue Mobilization, Allocation and Fiscal Commission (RMAFC) had to come out with the schedule of salaries and allowances of members. Even with that, their actual salaries and allowances have since remained a highly misunderstood issue, often leading to opaque interpretations.

    According to that schedule, the annual salaries and allowances of a senator amounted to N12.9 million. This is in addition to N24 million paid once in their tenure of four years. In this category fall such items as car loan, housing loan, terminal benefits etc.

    For a member of the House of Representatives, his annual salaries and allowances amounted to N9.5 million in addition to N23.8 million paid once in four years for other loans and benefits.

    With the change of government and dwindling national revenue resulting in backlog of salaries; it did not take time before the matter resurfaced. It has resurged with such momentum and frenzy that the impression now gaining ground is that the cut is a major step towards plugging the drain in our national revenue chain.

    Not unexpectedly, governments, persons and institutions have bought into the idea as given fillip by emerging reactions to it. Central to all these, is the impression that by slashing these salaries and allowances, more money would be freed for national development. Kano State Governor Abdullahi Gunduje took the lead by slashing the salaries and allowances of political appointees by 50 per cent ostensibly to enable the state get enough funds for development. Governor Okezie Ikpeazu of Abia State placed himself on half salary and cut his travelling allowances by 50 per cent until salaries and allowance owed workers are paid.

    This is as the RMAFC has set up a committee to begin a downward review of salaries and allowances for political, public and judicial office holders. The bug seems to have caught up with everybody with the outlawed Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta MEND threatening to resume hostilities should members of the National Assembly refuse to reduce the huge salaries and allowances that accrue to them. As if responding to this threat, the Senate has also floated a committee to arrive at the same purpose.

    All these concerns can be understood given their convergence on the common ground that we need to make some sacrifice for the country to come out of the woods. If these stem from genuine concerns for attitudinal change in the way our citizens hitherto conceived affairs of the public realm, this would amount to significant progress.

    Before now, the tendency was to fleece and impoverish the government for the benefit of the individual and his primordial unit. That has been the basis for the unmitigated corruption that virtually brought this nation to its knees. Political offices are seen as avenues for self-enrichment rather than service to the humanity.

    If emerging concerns for behavioural shift represent real commitment to prudence, selfless services and patriotism, then we have every reason to hope there will be light at the end of the tunnel. There is a glimmer of hope that we are beginning to enthrone a common bound of selfless services.

    That should be something to cheer.

    No doubt, a reduction in salaries and allowances in the proportion that has been proposed, will free some fund for the development of the states and the nation as the case may be. But it remains to be imagined the positive difference it will make in our overall national development matrix given the figures above.

    It is not certain what constitutes the salaries and allowances of political office holders in the states. But if my little stint in that capacity some years back is any thing to go by, not much savings would be made out of such salary cuts. It will even result in the negative by impoverishing the appointees thereby laying them vulnerable to thievery in the most daring manner. The effect will turn out counterproductive. It would appear the entire idea is propelled more by political expediency rather than sound economic calculations. They promise very little in their overall contributions to the economic health of governments both state and federal.

    But like ever Nigerian thing, every body has bought into the frenzy and wants to make political capital of it. The key thing is that all manner of groups want these salaries and allowances reduced. Once that has been achieved, its teleological purpose has been served. And nothing more!

    More fundamentally, all the noise about pay cut is premised on the flawed thinking they constitute the real avenues for fleecing the nation. One is afraid this view is a highly misplaced one. It cannot stand the weight of evidence in the face of the stupendous wealth lawmakers and political office-holders are known be flaunting around town. They cannot account for the scandalous display of opulence by legislators and political office holders in and out of office.

    They count for little in terms of the funds to run elections in many parts of the country. Worries have been expressed on why people still seek legislative offices in the face of the prohibitive cost of running elections. In some states, it runs into billions to run for a senatorial seat. What is the fraction of the salaries and allowances of a senator to N1billion for instance, to expect it is the main source of recouping his electoral investments?

    It amounts to chasing shadows to nurse the feeling that these salaries and allowances are the real avenues for fleecing the government. They only constitute legitimate and known sources. Nothing has been said of the illegitimate and unknown sources. These are the areas the prying eyes of a government of change should focus. There is so much corruption in the exercise of legislators’ oversight functions. President Buhari captured it succinctly when he spoke of financial recklessness and lack of accountability due to the official abandonment of all financial and administrative instructions in parastatals and agencies. All these avenues must be plugged for real progress to be made.

    But then, the larger public must queue into this change mantra for it to be meaningful. Much of those making noise about jumbo pay, are the same people that at every level of the electoral process, ask for money before discharging their civic duties. You cannot take money in lieu of your votes or support and expect sanity from the system. The sacrifice expected of lawmakers can only endure if there is positive and permanent change of attitude on electoral matters from the larger society.

     

  • Pay up

    • FG should get NEPC to pay what it owes non-oil exporters

    The ruckus over the disbursement of Export Expansion Grant (EEG) which has pitted the Federal Government against operators in the non-oil sector merely indicates how little has changed in spite of official posturing about boosting the non-oil sector. At stake is the N125 billion worth of promissory notes – the Negotiable Duty Credit Certificates (NDCC) issued by the Ministry of Finance under the EEG scheme, but which the Federal Government has either neglected or refused to honour.

    Under the scheme introduced by the immediate past administration to boost non-oil exports, beneficiaries were granted subsidies of up to 40 percent based on the value of local content. The Federal Government would later suspend the scheme in August 2013 for the reason that the EEG scheme has become unsustainable. By this time, the exporters had in all, amassed NDCC’s worth N125 billion.

    Victor Iyama, President of the Federation of Agricultural Commodity Association of Nigeria (FACAN) puts the dilemma of the exporters this way: “Exporters have NDCC of over N125 billion in their hands. They have been stuck with it for several years now. Many exporters are now wondering if they have been handed a dud cheque by the Ministry of Finance”.

    The response of his counterpart, Chairman of Cashew Association of Nigeria, Babatola Faseru, was one of grim resignation: “They (NDCCs) are like cheques issued by the government. If the government says that people should not issue dud cheques, then they should honour the certificates”.

    We agree with the duo. Clearly, the failure to honour the NDCC injures the credibility of the Federal Government. The issue here is not so much the Federal Government’s prerogative to review the scheme as it deems, fit but whether such can be said to vitiate outstanding commitments to holders of its credit notes.

    Moreover, if the statement credited to the chief executive of the Nigerian Export Promotion Council, the agency which implements the EEG scheme, that the claims were being looked into with a view to restructuring a payment system for the beneficiaries is any reassuring, it is only to the extent that the statement does not deny that the NDCCs are valid instruments. Beyond that however, mere offer of bland assurances cannot be described as good enough.

    Given our understanding of how things work in the bureaucracy, such generalised statements, offer at best, cold comfort. Indeed, it could mean an interminable wait for payments that may or may not come. We think that the exporters deserve more.

    We expect the NEPC to commit to specific timelines for clearing the obligations. The path of honour lies in settling those obligations without further delay.

    Beyond that, one immediate question that arises is whether the EEG was actually budgeted for. If yes, what happened to the funds earmarked for it? And if no, how did the agency plan to meet the obligation to the exporters whenever they fell due? While the agency undertakes the review process, it will also do well to address these questions.

    At a time of shrinking oil revenues and heightened uncertainties in global demand for oil, we expect the Federal Government to be doing all within its power to boost activities in the non-oil sector. If merely to ameliorate the impregnable odds in the Nigerian operating environment – the very factors underlying the legendary non-competitiveness of our domestic products – a more rigorous effort to curb abuse of export incentives would seem to us better strategy to help the sector and indeed the economy than outright abrogation of incentives.

    We see a lot that the N125 billion can do to a sector with such proven potentials. The NEPC should find the funds to pay. If there are abuses in the process, the government should not hesitate to isolate these and deal decisively with the perpetrators. That is better than using the abuses as excuse to renege on an obligation.

  • Asaba residents pay N10 to read newspapers

    Newspaper vendors in Asaba, the Delta State capital, now collect N10 from readers who prefer to read papers at the newsstands.

    Mr. Azuibuike Emmanuel, who sells newspapers at the Ibusa junction, said most readers preferred paying N10 and reading the newspapers to buying them.

    He said he introduced the levy since the readers, most of who were unemployed, wanted information but could not buy newspapers.

    Azubuike said he could no longer tolerate their reading the papers free because he was no longer making huge sales.

    Another vendor, Miss Abigail Onwuzulike, said she also charged each reader N10 to read the headlines, since they did not want to buy.

    Miss Onwuzulike said some of them even preferred pairing with others to pay the amount.

    She added that she realised money from the levy to augment her income.

  • Lazio to Suitors: Pay N2.2b, get Onazi

    Lazio to Suitors: Pay N2.2b, get Onazi

    • Liverpool, Everton battle Southampton for his signature
    • Nigerian’s agent meets Lazio next week

    Lazio would be willing to do business with would-be buyers for Super Eagles midfielder Ogenyi Onazi if they receive a bid in the region of £8m (N2.2b).

    Reports in Italy suggest that the Premier League trio of Liverpool, Everton and Southampton are locked in a three-way battle for Onazi.

    The 21-year-old Nigerian has impressed at Lazio since joining in 2011 and could be set for a move away from Serie A this summer.

    The trio are all keeping tabs on Onazi’s situation and could make a move before the end of the current window.

    Both Liverpool and Everton were linked with a move for Onazi in the lead up to the January transfer window and it seems their interest may now have been rekindled.

    The player’s agent is set to fly to Italy next week and hold talks with Lazio, with a possible outcome being that the Rome side decide to offload the player.

    It is understood that the Serie A club is ready to listen to offers for the Nigeria international but only if one of his suitors cough up the £8 million required to sign him.

    Whether any of the trio are willing to fork out that amount for Onazi remains to be seen, but it would appear the player has a preference for a move to Anfield.

  • Former colleagues pay tribute to Godwin Eke

    Former Flying Eagles’ and Green Eagles’ defender, Godwin Eke who died on Monday has been described as humble and very efficient  in the discharge of his job as an active footballer and coach.

    The  right full back, who was in Nigeria’s U-20 squad to USSR 85 where the country grabbed a historic bronze medal died of suspected heart failure on Monday morning as he had no ailment and even attended church service  a day before his death.

    Most of his team mates have been commenting on his death and they have described him as a person whose death would be sadly missed by Nigeria and Imo State.

    First to speak was his friend with whom he attended church  on Sunday, Mike Obi who also played for the Green Eagles before his retirement.

    He said Eke gave no account of any ailment and was hale and hearty when they attended church together and even added that they discussed  business and other facets of human endeavour before they departed and promised to meet the following morning.

    Obi said he  has been in  a state of shock ever since he got the news on Monday.

    Obi told SportingLife:”It is sad news to me because this was a man we attended the same church together on Sunday. We chatted freely after the church service and agreed to meet on Monday at work only to be told he died barely 24 hours later.”

    A colleague of the late Eagles’ defender at USSR FIFA U-20 World Cup and in the senior national team, Christian Obi said he was shocked when the news got to him at his stable in Jalingo that Eke had died.

    He said the former international was very humble and humane and that during his  playing days he was a rock at the right full back.

    Oladunni Oyekale of the Saudi Arabia 1989 FIFA U-20 World Cup fame among others have also paid tributes to the late Eagles’ star whose death came to them as a surprise.

    Eke was born on June 1, 1968 at Isiekenesi in Ideato South area of Imo State and he played and captained Spartans FC of Owerri. He also played for Inwuanyanwu Nationale and First Bank of Lagos and his crucial tackles helped the Flying Eagles to the bronze medal at the USSR 1985 FIFA U-20 World Cup.

    No burial arrangement has been made public by his family.

  • Amputated cyclist: LASTMA to pay N10m damages

    Justice Doris Okuwobi of an Ikeja High Court has awarded N10milion damages against the Lagos State Traffic Management Agency (LASTMA), and one of its officials, Mr Aidelebe Sunday, for causing bodily injury and amputation to a student, Samson Dibie, in 2011.

    Dibie, who was attacked at Abule Egba with stick by the LASTMA official on December 1, 2011, while attempting to escape arrest with his motorcycle, had dragged the official, LASTMA and the state Ministry of Transport to court through his lawyer, Mrs Funmi Falana.  He had asked the court for N200 million as general damages for his injury and the infringement of his fundamental human rights.

    He had also prayed the court to declare that the action of the LASTMA official, was unconstitutional and illegal, saying it violated his rights to dignity.

    Mrs Falana had told the court the action of the first respondent in the case had almost resulted in the death of the applicant, adding that while he was in hospital, the incident eventually led to the amputation of his right hand, in a bid to save his life.

    She told the court that on December 1, 2011 at about 8:45 am on his way to school, while on his motorbike at Oja Oba, Abule Egba bus stop, the applicant noticed some LASTMA officers arresting motorcyclists, and stopped at the Total Filling Station near the bus stop.

    However, Mrs Falana said while Dibie was trying to escape from the filling station, the LASTMA official named Aidelebe S. in uniform, rushed at him and hit him with a stick on his right arm.

    She submitted that the applicant managed to escape from the scene, but later observed that the arm had swollen up, while he was also unconscious and dizzy.

    Mrs. Falana told the court that the applicant later discovered after medical examination that the bone in his right arm had been fractured, but was advised to amputate the arm to survive. He, therefore, prayed the court to grant his prayers.

    The state government denied the incident, insisting that on the said date, none of his officials participated in arrest of bike riders as alleged by the applicant.

    In a counter affidavit, Sunday said: “There was no fracas between the 2nd respondent officers including me and the motor bike riders on that particular day.”

    He denied the existence of a Total Filling Station at Oja Oba as claimed by the applicant and that the agency never operated with buses, except IN its Toyota Hilux pick-up, adding that the claimed that the applicant instituted the case in bad faith.

    Two years after the case was argued by Mrs Falana and the respondents defended the case through their lawyers from the Ministry of Justice, Justice Okuwobi held that the action of the official was unconstitutional and subsequently illegal.

    She held the action of the LASTMA official violated the applicant’s rights to dignity of human person as guaranteed by Section 34 of the 1999 Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria.

    The court further declared that the assault and physical attack on the applicant by Sunday on the fateful day, which eventually led to the amputation of his right hand, is illegal, unconstitutional and a threat to his right to life as guaranteed in Section 33 of the 1999 Constitution.

    The trial judge also held that the act violated Article 4 of the Human and Peoples’ Rights (Ratification and Enforcement) Act (Cap A9) Laws of the Federal Republic of Nigeria.

    Justice Okuwobi awarded the sum of N10 million in favour of the applicant as damages for the infringement of his fundamental rights to life and dignity of person.

  • Power: Eurafric gets three months to pay for Sapele Power Plant

    Power: Eurafric gets three months to pay for Sapele Power Plant

    The Federal Government yesterday granted three months grace for the preferred bidder of Sapele Power Plant, Phase 1, Eurafric Limited to pay up its balance of $21 million.

    Speaking with State House correspondents in Abuja, yesterday, the Minister of State for Trade and Investment, Dr Samuel Ortom, said the National Council on Privatization (NCP) decided to grant the extention since the company has already paid $180 million out of $201 million before expiration of the time fixed for payments, adding that the decision, was taken after consultations with the Attorney-General of the Federation and the Legal Committee of the NCP.

    He said: “NCP also approved the application of CMEC/ Eurafric Limited, the preferred bidder for Sapele for the extension of time to complete the payment of the bid price.”

    “You will recall that at the last meeting of the NCP where decisions of the payment of the preferred bidder was referred to the Attorney General of the Federation and the Legal Committee of the NCP for advice, NCP received the unanimous opinion of the two applications for extension. The NCP subsequently granted the request of the company.”

    He the NCP, chaired by Vice President Namadi Sambo, also inaugurated the Board of the Nigeria Electricity Liability Company, headed by the Minister of Finance and Coordinating Minister of Economy (CME), Dr Ngozi Okonjo Iweala.

    On the time extension for Eurafric, the Chairman of NCP legal committee, Yunus Ustaz Usman, said: “Eurafric was the highest bidder and the reserved bidder bided only $106 million . Eurafric had paid about $180 million but it could not pay the balance before the expiration of the time fixed for it.”

    “So, the problem was brought to us to advise the NCP as to whether we should extend the time, or give it to the reserved bidder. We looked at all the clauses in the agreement and came to the conclusion that there are clauses for waiver that says that the NCP, can extend the time when the highest bidder fails to pay within time.”

    He went on: “We also considered this issue that the highest bidder bided $201 million, the reserved bidder bided $106 million. The highest bidder has paid about $180 million. Our legal standpoint, since we have the right to extend at any time and since the highest bidder has paid about $180 million, then it is safer and in the interest of the public to so extend.”