The Nation Newspaper

Tag: Petition

  • Row in Ondo varsity over petition against VC

    There is a dispute among academic workers of Adekunle Ajasin University at Akungba Akoko (AAAU) following a petition allegedly written against the Vice Chancellor (VC), Prof Igbekele Ajibefun, by the Chairman of the institution’s branch of Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU), Dr Sola Fayose.

    It was learnt the petition, sent to its Visitor, Governor Olurotimi Akeredolu, raised some allegations against the VC.

    It called for his removal and the setting up of Visitation Panel.

    But majority members of ASUU said there was no congress (meeting) where such a decision was taken.

    They said Dr Fayose did not have the mandate of members to write such a petition.

    Prof C. A. Daramola, Dean of Post Graduate School and Director of University/Community Relations; Prof Victor Olumekun, former Dean, Faculty of Science and incumbent Director, Centre for Research and Development as well as Dr F. A. Gbore, Dr O. Olusola and Dr Posi Omotuyi, among others, denied knowledge of the petition.

    They said no congress was held where such a decision was taken, as stipulated by ASUU constitution.

    The academics said the petition was not supported by academic workers.

    According to Prof Olumekun, the ASUU chairman must have acted as an individual and not as leader of the union, because no Exco member of ASUU had the right to take any action on behalf of the union without first intimating and getting the permission of other union members.

    He said: “I am a financial member of ASUU and I am deeply embarrassed that the chairman could cloak a personal action in the garb of unionism. There was no forum where members were intimated and their approval sought, as stipulated in ASUU rules.

    “Let me add that most of the allegations raised in the petition, which I never saw but have read about, are issues that the VC has nothing to do with.

    “That he allegedly bought science equipment that is obsolete is a bundle of lies. I was Dean of Science when the equipment was bought and supplied. It was a TETFund project over which the university has little control. They were bought and supplied in 2014 before Prof Ajibefun became VC.

    “Other allegations are spurious, at best, as they are issues that have been trashed out at different fora. I believe the ASUU chairman has a personal agenda or an axe to grind with the VC. I don’t think he should use his position to cloak his intentions.”

  • Obaseki, APC urge tribunal to throw out YDP’s petition

    Obaseki, APC urge tribunal to throw out YDP’s petition

    Edo State Governor Godwin Obaseki and All Progressives Congress (APC) have urged the state’s Election Petitions Tribunal sitting in Benin, the state capital, to throw out the petition filed by the Young Democratic Party (YDP) and its governorship candidate, Nurudeen Inwanfero, for lack of merit.

    Inwanfero is praying the tribunal to cancel the September 28 governorship election on the grounds that YDP’s logo was not on the ballot papers used for the election.

    At the resumed pre-hearing session, lead counsel to APC, Lateef Fagbemi, urged the tribunal to dismiss the petition and “give it a decent burial” because there was no reasonable cause of action.

    The lawyer averred that the petitioners filed two petitions at the tribunal as well as a notice of discontinuance on one of the petitions without complying with the Electoral Act.

    He said the issues were pre-election matters, which were not within the purview of the tribunal to decide – whether Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) was right or wrong.

    Fagbemi argued that the petitioner was wrong to use the words “lawfully excluded and corrupt practices” in the petition when he did not participate in the election.

    He said: “Having regard to the electoral laws, has the petition complied with the Electoral Act? All decisions referred to are not relevant and do not apply to election matters. The law has prescribed what is to be done. Withdrawal is not automatic.

    “This tribunal is not to deal with pre-election matters. Whether INEC is wrong or right not to recognise the petitioner’s logo is not within the purview of the tribunal. I urged your lordship to give the petition a decent burial. It is dead on arrival.”

    INEC’s lead counsel Onyebuchi Ikpeazu said there was no reason to oppose Fagbemi’s application because he found no justification for the petition.

    Obaseki’s lead counsel Wole Olanipekun said it would be hypocritical to oppose the application.

    YDP’s lawyer Ugo Nwofor opposed the application, describing it as an abuse of court process.

    Nwofor noted that the arguments in the application were already dealing with the substantive matter.

    Chairman of the three-man panel, Justice Ahmed Badamasi, adjourned till December 8 for ruling on the application.

  • Fayemi: APC lambasts Ekiti Assembly over petition

    Fayemi: APC lambasts Ekiti Assembly over petition

    The All Progressives Congress (APC) in Ekiti State has condemned members of the House of Assembly for their petition to the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), accusing former Governor Kayode Fayemi of N40 billion fraud.

    The party described the petition as “Governor Ayo Fayose’s attempt to divert attention from his probe by the EFCC on the alleged use of arms cash to fund his 2014 governorship campaign and revelations from witnesses in the courts.’’

    The lawmakers, last Thursday, submitted a petition to the EFCC, alleging that Fayose misappropriated N40 billion in projects execution during his four-year tenure as governor.

    In a statement yesterday by its Publicity Secretary, Taiwo Olatunbosun, the APC maintained that the lawmakers lack the constitutional powers to act as petitioners in a matter that concerns only the executive.

    Olatunbosun described the lawmakers as “slave boys of a reckless and lawless governor wondering why it took more than two years before Fayose realised that the House of Assembly was the vehicle through which he could transmit a petition to the EFCC.

    He said: “These lawmakers are  pitiable sights on television speaking to reporters on an issue they have no competence and you can see their mediocrity as a bunch of slave boys to a reckless, lawless governor desperately seeking to divert the attention of Nigerians from the revelations in court over his seamless infractions on the law to stay in power.

    “Besides not having constitutional powers to act as petitioners in a matter that concerns only the executive, majority of the members do not possess educational qualifications that can prepare them for the duties they were elected to perform, hence their directionless conduct and acting as tools of the governor while they suffer in penury.

    “We don’t know when the House of Assembly conducted their investigation to arrive at this petition, as what they have in the petition are the same allegations that Fayose has been bandying around to deceive workers.

    “This is besides the fact that they have the constitutional power to conduct investigation into any allegation and ask the governor to set up administrative panel to investigate the allegations, but because they lack capacity to do the job they were elected to do.

    “They are prepared to line the streets to protect the interest of the governor as they did when they occupied Ado-Ekiti streets over EFCC investigation into Fayose’s allies’ involvement in alleged fraud.”

  • Egba chiefs petition Amosun

    Egba chiefs petition Amosun

    The Ilugun Traditional Council of Chiefs, under the Osile Oke-Ona Egba, Oba Adedapo Tejuoso, have petitioned Ogun State Governor Ibikunle Amosun on the alleged harassment, victimisation and threat to life and property by the Baale of Bakatari, Chief Yekini Ayodele.

    The chiefs accused five others, including Alhaji Wahab Olabanji, Olalere Ajao and Oodua People’s Congress (OPC) leader, Muri, of persistent oppression against the Egba people living at the boundary town between Ibadan and Abeokuta.

    But Ayodele described the allegations as false and an attempt to breach the peace in the community.

    The petition, which was copied to the Department of State Services (DSS), Ogun State Police Commissioner and Alake of Egbaland, Oba Adedotun Gbadebo, alleged that Olabanji and others have been making life difficult for the people of Egba.

    “We seek your intervention in this matter in order to forestall the looming trouble, which can lead to a breakdown of law and order and breach of public peace.”

  • Onjeh V Mark: My Petition still on course, says APC candidate

    The All Progressive Congress (APC) senatorial candidate for Benue south Comrade Daniel Onjeh has said his petition against former Senate President David Mark is still on course.

    Onjeh dismissed media reports that he filed his petition out of time and it was going to be struck out soon.

    In a statement in Makurdi, the former president of the National Association of Nigerian Students (NANS) stated despite delay and frustration he got from Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) in receiving the Certified True Copies (CTC) of electoral materials used for the election, he was still able to file his petition within the time required by law.

    He said: “Under the new electoral regime, I have within 21 days after the date declaration of the Benue South result, the election took place on February 20 the result was declared the next day, February 21 and I filled my petition on the March 13th.

  • Alleged child trafficking: Delta Assembly dismisses petition against ministry

    The Delta House of Assembly on Wednesday dismissed a petition on an alleged child trafficking and gross violation of the Child Rights Law brought before it by Mr Ighorhiowumu Aghogho against the state Ministry of Women Affairs.

    The Assembly dismissed the petition which accused the ministry of gross violations of the law for lack of merit.

    The petition was rejected sequel to a report presented by the Chairman, House Committee on Public Petitions, Mrs Orezi Esiovo, during the plenary.

    Esiovo noted that the petitioner, Aghogho who is the proprietor of Explosive Academy Hope Independent School in Abraka, Ethiope East Local Government Area of the state had appealed to the state House of Assembly to investigate the allegations.

    Esiovo said that the petitioner said he observed a continuous and deliberate abuse of the Child Rights Law by the ministry since June 2015 when he applied to the ministry for approval to allow him operate a correctional facility institution for children beyond parental control and exploited children in the state.

    She said that the committee in carrying out the investigation invited the state Commissioner for Women Affairs, Mrs Omatsola Williams, who represented the ministry.

    According to Esiovo, the commissioner told the committee that all the allegations were intended to undermine the efforts of the ministry and the present administration.

    Esiovo also said that the commissioner informed the committee that the ministry had never indulged in any form of child trafficking and illegal adoptions of children as alleged by the petitioner.

    She also said that the commissioner stressed that the ministry had never promoted any child labour rather than embarking on enlightenment programmes such as “Children’s Day celebration’’ and “Day of the African Child’’, among others.

    Esiovo said that the committee in its findings observed that the petitioner was not able to prove his allegations and therefore recommended that the petition be dismissed for lack of merit.

    Consequently, the Majority Leader of the House, Mr Tim Owhefere, moved a motion for the consideration of the report which was unanimously adopted by the House.

  • Falana’s petition to ICC

    SIR: Renowned Human Rights Lawyer and Senior Advocate of Nigeria, Femi Falana was recently reported to have dragged certain personalities to the International Criminal Court, on the account of their involvements in what is now dubbed ‘Dasukigate’.  While the development is never unexpected of the respected learned silk who has overtime carved a niche for himself in the area of advocacy for the entrenchment of human rights, it would equally have been a commendable complement to the ongoing fight against corruption.

    However, as impressive as the audacity may seem, it only takes an in-depth study of international criminal law for one to accord a proper appraisal to the circumstance. To this end, it is essential for us to tarry a while, while we consider the propriety or otherwise of the action. The International Criminal Court was created by the Rome Statute as a permanent institution with the power to exercise its jurisdiction over persons alleged of the most serious crimes of international concern; playing a complementary role to the criminal jurisdictions of local judiciaries of member states. The court, being one of a limited criminal jurisdiction, has the extent of its jurisdiction spelt out in clear terms by the Rome Statute. It is expressly limited to the crimes of genocide, Crimes against humanity, War crimes, and the crime of aggression.

    To state the already known, Dasukigate involves an allegation that the erstwhile National Security Adviser in his magnanimity, distributed funds earmarked for arms to prosecute the fight against insurgency, among some political cronies. Now, assuming without the slightest concession that it is the position that criminal diversion of funds can be  so elasticated to fall within any of the definitions of ‘crime against humanity’, the fact of the sovereignty of member states further limits the extent of the Court’s ability to assume jurisdiction unrestrained. This informs the provision of the preamble in its paragraph 10, emphasizing that the court shall only be complementary to national criminal jurisdictions. This is further expressed in Article 17 (a) of the Statute where it states that “a case shall not be admissible by the Court where the case is being investigated or prosecuted by a state which has jurisdiction over it, unless the State is unwilling or unable genuinely to carry out the investigation or prosecution”.

    Clearly, the above provision essentially hinges the assumption of jurisdiction by the ICC on the inability or unwillingness of the municipal system to put prosecution in motion. However, unlike itself, the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) has been up on its toes in the investigation and trial of all persons they deem deserving. This fact alone, reasonably expels all elements of unwillingness and inability on the part of Nigerian state to try the persons concerned. It is therefore wondered how the compliant under consideration can find its way into the ambit of the ICC’s jurisdiction.

    The rate at which attempts are made by compatriots to stretch the jurisdiction of the court to entertain matters having no nexus with the purpose for which the court was created is to say the least, disturbing. In 2015, the then opposition had in the build up to the elections, threatened to petition the ICC prosecutor over some hate speech credited to  the wife of the then President.

    The learned silk is one who has the respect of all for his industry and passion in the advancement of human rights. His integrity and character is in no way impeachable. But then, on this, like no other, I, respectfully argue, that it appears the radical senior counsel is beginning to treat a leprosy patient with herbs meant for the treatment of guinea worm. He is therefore advised to save the sledgehammer for some creatures other than the mosquito.

     

    • Akintola Makinde,

    Abuja.

  • PENCOM: Retired police officers petition FG

    PENCOM: Retired police officers petition FG

    The Association of Retired Police Officers in Kogi State has appealed to the Federal Government and police authorities to discontinue them from the contributory pension scheme, saying it is retrogressive.

    Mr Alex Yusuf, Kogi chairman of the association made known their position yesterday at a press conference in Lokoja. He said that rather than improving the status of the pensioners, the scheme had further impoverished them.

    He said that the decision to opt out of the contributory pension scheme of the National Pension Commission (PENCOM) was reached at theAugust 28 meeting of the association and reinforced in subsequent ones.

    He stated: “It is highly pathetic to note that after 35 years of meritorious service to the fatherland, the officers who retired under the scheme who also co-paid their own retirement benefits are all languishing in abject poverty.

    “Before this category of retirees who are now chained to PENCOM, the Nigeria Police retirees were normally paid by the Federal Government in line with section 173(2)(3) and (4) of the 1999 Constitution, as amended”.

    According to him, the periodic salary and pension reviews of federal public officers ought to benefit all, including serving and retired police officers.

    He expressed regret that PENCOM retirees who started disengaging from July 1, 2007 were being denied. He said: “It seems that we are unjustly and of course totally cut off from such benefits that are supposed to be accruing to us. It is as if transferring to the PFA vendors and their agents via PENCOM was meant to sever us on punishment ground from the main body of the Nigeria Police Force.

    “A situation where an officer who while serving earned between N130,000 and N140,000 end up receiving between N20,000 and N30,000 as monthly pension negate the provisions of the constitution. “For added example, an officer who retired in 2011 on a contributory scheme received a little above N5 million as lump sum and was only given little above N1 million from the so-called lump as gratuity and monthly pension of between N20,000 to N30,000.”

    He said that while pension to retired officers was for life, pre-PENCOM retirees had theirs tied to 15 years. He appealed to the federal government to pay the 53.37 per cent pension increase which took effect from 1st June 2010, as well as the pension increase of 15 and 33 per cent of 2007and 2014 respectively.

    He urged the government to revert to the old pension system and bring police retirees back to the main body of Nigeria Police, for uniformity.

     

  • ‘Ladoja’s petition, an exercise in futility’

    ‘Ladoja’s petition, an exercise in futility’

    •Verdict expected next week

    A chieftain of the All Progressive Congress (APC) in Oyo State, Prof Joseph Olowofela, has described as “an exercise in futility” the petition filed by Accord governorship candidate Rashidi Ladoja against the victory of Governor Abiola Ajimobi.

    Olowofela, in an interview yesterday, said the party’s action was a legal exercise.

    He opined that Accord could have earned more honour and glory if it had accepted defeat and congratulated the winner.

    The professor of Physics explained that Ladoja was afraid of losing his followers.

    He said: “If what is going on in court is something to go by, then I will say that Accord is pursuing an exercise in futility.

    “If you accuse someone you have the moral burden to prove or establish your case.

    “So that means that the statement of your witnesses must be very solid. Ajimobi will come out victorious. APC won that election.”

    The APC chieftain said the two areas contested in the tribunal are Oke-Ogun and Ogbomoso.

    “In Ogbomoso, there was an election and it was free and fair.

    “Labour Party won in the area and yet the party was not joined in the petition.

    “When you consider Oke Ogun, the APC won.

    “It is general knowledge that the election in Oke Ogun was peaceful, free and fair.

    “Nobody has come forward to say there was no election, there was election, it was credible, free and fair.”

     

  • Tribunal upholds APC Rep member’s election, dismisses PDP petition

    Tribunal upholds APC Rep member’s election, dismisses PDP petition

    The Lagos  State National and State Houses of Assembly Elections Petition Tribunal sitting in Ikeja has upheld INEC’s return of Barrister Jimi Benson of the All Progressives Congress (APC) as House of Representatives member.

    Benson’s victory at the March 28 National Assembly election into Ikorodu Federal Constituency seat in the House of Reps was challenged by Mr. Ola Animashaun of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP).

    Respondents in the matter are Jimi Benson, APC and INEC.The petitioner had alleged that INEC was wrong to have returned Benson as the lawful winner of the said poll.

    In its judgement, the tribunal held that the petitioner failed to prove his case beyond all reasonable doubt. It said the petitioner made allegations and the onus of proof rested on him but he failed to lead evidence to prove his case. Counsel to the respondent had earlier questioned the basis of the petition.

    The legal practitioner cited Sections 47 and 53 of the first schedule to the Electoral Act 2010 in his defence. According to him, the petitioner made allegations on individuals, who are not parties in the matter. He then urged the tribunal to strike out the petition.