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Tag: President Muhammadu Buhari

  • 2019: Buhari not jittery over Atiku, APC govs declare 

    Governors of the All Progressives Congress (APC), on Wednesday declared that President Muhammadu Buhari and the party are not jittery over the emergence of former Vice President Atiku Abubakar as the main opposition Presidential candidate in 2019 election.

    Atiku was elected by the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) as its Presidential flag bearer during the party’s national convention in Port Harcourt, Rivers State on Sunday.

    Speaking with State House correspondents after leading four governors of the party to a closed-door meeting with President Buhari over the just concluded party’s primaries, Chairman of the APC Governors Forum and Imo State governor, Rochas Okorocha, was optimistic that Buhari would be reelected in 2019.

    Other governors at the meeting attended by the Vice President, Yemi Osinbajo, included Mohammed Abubakar (Bauchi); Abdullahi Gamduje (Kano); Kashim Shettima (Borno); and Akinwunmi Ambode (Lagos)

    Also at the meeting was the Secretary to the Government of the Federation, Boss Mustapha.

    Okorocha said that the party had no reason to lose sleep over Atiku’s emergence.

    According to him, the party has concluded not to engage in any verbal attacks with any candidate in the forthcoming election.

    He said that the APC governors were at the State House not only to congratulate Buhari for being elected as the party’s presidential candidate, but to also request for a date when they would bring all the party’s governorship candidates to him to show their readiness for the 2019 political battles.

    He added “For the Governors to come together with our followers and supporters to further inform the world for our readiness to deliver him in 2019 election.

    “This is just basically the message we have come and to say that Mr. President is more than ever ready for the entire exercise.

    “Our election this time will not engage on castigations or talking. We will be taking on issues, Nigerians are tired of political abuses, what we want to be talking about is issues, the tract records of people involved in our elections.

    “Nigerians are very wise now, before they elect anybody they will ask questions, what has been your tract records, who were you before, who are you now and everything about you. And for that reason we are confident that in 2019, APC will go through.

    “We have also looked at the issues concerning our primaries, in every democracy, you should expect a kind of disagreement and we have kindly requested that something be done to bring warring factions together so that we can have a united party to face the challenges ahead and we are happy that will soon take place.

    “Most of the problems have been resolved except for one or two states where we have issues and where it becomes more difficult, we ask for Mr. President’s intervention in the matter.

    “We are talking about reconciliation, what is important to us is that we must never go into this battle, a divided family and we want to make sure that all governors are intact, all national assembly members are intact while going into this battle. We will never speak differently, we will speak as members of the party.” he said

    On whether the controversy surrounding the Zamfara State APC primaries was part of the discussion, he said, “Zamfara is one of the issues that we have addressed also.”

    Asked whether the APC was jittery because of the emergence of for Vice President Atiku Abubakar as the Presidential candidate of the PDP and his tough stance since he emerged, he said that the party was not jittery at all.

    He said, “I don’t know about talking tough, we can’t be jittery and history is there to speak, history is very important and it is there to speak so like I said we are not going to engage in this verbal war with anybody, we will be talking about issues. If we say look, you are not good, we tell you what we can do and we cannot do and what others cannot do.

    “APC is not going to join in those talk shop but right we are discussing issues of what our party can for our people.”

    On what was the President’s response, he said, “The President is quite happy with the whole outing and he is looking for a date to invite the governors, in fact, he will give us a date to celebrate him and tell the world our joy and happiness that he emerged as our Presidential flag bearer which is victory assured 2019.”

    The Secretary to the Government of the Federation, Boss Mustapha described the APC governors meeting with the President as a welcome development.

    He said, “It is a welcome development, we are one big family in a contest there is bound to be winners and losers but in the spirit of the game of politics which is like any other sports, after the game is over, whoever has emerged victorious must be magnanimous and gracious in his victory and whoever has lost out will also accept it in the spirit of sportsmanship.

    “So, this is a welcome move, our governor who is the Chairman of Progressives Governors Forum, has spoken rightly all the things that are in motion to ensure that we quickly heal the wounds and bring the family together for a greater task ahead.

    “We are a government that has credibly performed this morning I had the privilege of laying before the council a compendium of the policies, the programmes and the projects initiated and implemented by this government in two and half years. A total of one thousand and forty two page documents, not stories, facts of what we have been able to achieve.

    “I think we are set to record, this campaign will be driven by issues, this campaign must be predicated on what you are able to bring to the table for the people of Nigeria. It is not going to be a noisy campaign, anybody that is preparing for noise should be prepared to receive defeat in February of 2019,” he said.

  • Bindow embraces Buhari as Atiku’s victory divides Adamawa

    Governor Mohammed Umar Jibrilla Bindow of Adamawa State has declared his loyalty to President Muhammadu Buhari’s candidacy for the 2019 presidential election.

    The declaration came against the background of the emergence of a son of the state,  Alhaji Atiku Abubakar,  as the presidential candidate of opposition Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), a development which has devided an Adamawa State that was otherwise solidly behind Buhari.

    The state Commissioner of Information and Strategy, Mr Sajoh Ahmed, who spoke for Bindow at a press conference in the Government House in  Yola Monday, condemned what he described as a looming blackmail by elements who he said were planning to design a poster pairing Bindow with ‘the presidential candidate of another party’,  a ploy which he said was wicked and baseless.

    “Bindow is an APC governor working for APC and has no intention to support or canvass support for any presidential candidate outside APC. He has no support for any candidate other than Buhari,” he asserted,  adding that  anybody who prints any document to portray anything to the contrary should be disregarded.

    The commissioner who refrained from specifically mentioning Atiku’s name in his initial address,  submitted at the question and answer session of the press conference that Atiku as an Adamawa man winning the presidential ticket of a major opposition party was ‘a factor’ but that Bindow already had the candidate of his party and that Adamawa would always choose reality rather than promises.

    He said Buhari had done enough for Adamawa State since he became president to make the people prefer him to any other candidate.

  • 2019: Why Atiku can’t be president – Group 

    A group identified as Buhari National Votes Guards and Awareness on Monday reacted to the emergence of the former Vice President, Alhaji Atiku Abubakar as the presidential candidate of the People’s Democratic Party (PDP), saying that, Atiku cannot rule Nigeria.

    The group said the former Vice President is no match for President Muhammadu Buhari, as they opined that, his political background has been marred with corruption allegations.

    The Coordinator of the group, Engineer Kailani Muhammad at a press conference in Kaduna on Monday however described Atiku’s emergence as a good omen for President Buhari.

    Kailani said “the main fact however, according to the majority of Nigerians is that for a certainty, Atiku Abubakar is no match for president Muhammadu Buhari in the presidential election of 2019 because of his alleged political corrupt marred background and President Muhammadu Buhari’s antecedent as a man of impeccable pedigree that is focused towards building a socio-political and economic development.

    He explained that the former Vice President before securing his ticket under PDP has made four unsuccessful attempts to get a party ticket to contest for the presidency, but “he is not suitable to lead Nigeria at this moment,” as Nigerians have made their stand.

    Kailani explained that, “Politics in our country today is big-time business. The only impediment for actualization of aspirations in the space in our mother Nigeria is the financial capacity and muscle. It is in no doubt either that Atiku has both in abundance. Nigerians are aware that those with the financial muscle to procure the venture hope to reap a million fold.

    He said the Buhari’s government has achieved in 3 years, what previous administrations failed to achieve in 16 years, which includes rapid economic growth, transformation in power sector, education, empowerment of Nigerians and among others.

    While commending the president’s achievements so far in the fight against corruption and insecurity, Kailani also remarked that “Mr President has taken a giant stride to improve the image of the country at the global stage. This are the glaring evidences on ground that some politicians refused to acknowledge,” he said.

  • FG set to announce new Minimum Wage – Labour

    …as Tripartite Committee completes assignment

     

    The Federal Government is set to announce the new minimum wage as the Tripartite Committee completes its assignment for onward submission to President Muhammadu Buhari.

    Mr Ayuba Wabba, NLC President, made this known while speaking with newsmen on Monday in Abuja.

    Read Also:http://staging.thenationonlineng.net/nlc-minimum-wage-and-politico-economic-illogic/

    According to him, the committee used the two-day to reconvene and deliberate on a new minimum wage figure that was acceptable to all employers of labour in the country.

    “I want to assure workers that all has been concluded and will be passed for signing within the week.

    “I also want to appreciate the Organised Private Sector, Manufacturers Association of Nigeria and Nigeria Employers Consultative Association (NECA) for their resolve to pay the new minimum wage when it is signed into law,” he said.

    The NLC president, however, refused to disclose the figure arrived at by the Tripartite Committee on the new National Minimum Wage.

    Wabba said the presidency would make it public after deliberation by the National Economic Council meeting.

    The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) recalls that the organised labour, comprising the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC), Trade Union Congress (TUC) and the United Labour Congress (ULC), on Sept. 30, suspended its warning strike on a new minimum wage embarked upon on Sept. 26.

    The organised labour had embarked on the strike after a 14-day ultimatum to the Federal Government for failing to reconvene meeting to come out with its own figure on the new minimum wage.

    The three unions had demanded N65, 500 as new minimum wage for workers, while the private employers and some state governors were proposing N25,000.

  • APC and Oshiomhole’s many headaches

    On Thursday, some eight or nine All Progressives Congress (APC) governors met with President Muhammadu Buhari over the stalemated and deeply divisive governorship and legislative primaries in their states. Some of the governors complained about the omission of their loyalists from the list of screened legislative aspirants, and others bitterly resented the national APC’s role in, and even conduct of, their states’ governorship primaries. There is deep dissatisfaction in some of the states with the role being played by the party’s national chairman, Adams Oshiomhole, who is regarded as dictatorial and meddlesome. The visit to Aso Villa followed the lingering inability of the party at the national level to resolve the crises-ridden state primaries.

    But whether the presidency can placate the aggrieved governors  is anybody’s guess. For a long time, the presidency restrained itself from interfering in the affairs of the party at both the state and national levels. Inspired by the president who initially argued that it was undemocratic to meddle in the affairs of the party, just as it naively hoped the party would not meddle in the business of the presidency and the executive, the presidency put a huge gulf between itself and the party until major fissures, albeit contrived, began to appear and vested interests plotted the usurpation of offices and power in the party and particularly the national legislature. By the time the presidency experienced the epiphany of involving itself in the affairs of the party, incalculable damage had been done, and cracks had widened and ossified.

    The governors were not as squeamish about getting involved in the affairs of the party in their states as the presidency was. They not only meddled in the running of the party, in many instances, they virtually reduced the party to a department of the state government, and chairmen were turned into glorified errand boys. Unfortunately, the incongruous relationship between the party and the executive was instituted right from the beginning of the Fourth Republic when the then president, Olusegun Obasanjo, unadvisedly took strong-arm measures to subordinate the party to the executive. Observing what was being done at the federal level, the states quite eagerly took extraordinary measures to also subjugate the party in their states.

    While the presidency has not witnessed any revolt of any kind in the party at the national level, with the party still deferring by and large to Aso Villa, the states for the first time are witnessing terrible unease and stirrings in their territories. The battle for succession and the struggle for nominations have pitted powerful individuals against either their party leaders or their apparently overbearing governors. Ambitious politicians are not afraid to dare meddlesome governors determined to write the future of their states. In the past, governors largely determined who took the tickets; now, the situation appears to be morphing in ways that challenge the status quo and the conventional wisdom of monarchical governors, a dire process revolutionarily given fillip by the iconoclastic Mr Oshiomhole, himself a former governor.

    The public and the ruling party may be alarmed by what is happening, particularly the dissension in the APC, fearing that the confusion might affect the party’s electoral chances as indeed it affected the fortunes of the former ruling party, the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP). But they should be grateful that the schisms are manifesting now, and they must hope that they can sort out the mess integral to their founding. The PDP came to grief over imposition of candidates and the associated confusion and rebellion that accompanied that patently undemocratic style. It is not a bequest anyone should embrace.

    The APC, particularly its governors, has not learnt any lesson from the debacle that confronted and sundered the PDP. But circumstances are now conspiring to help them confront their inbuilt and orchestrated monsters. Those circumstances are indeed quaint and unique. First is the presence in office in Aso Villa of an apathetic president who seems not fully persuaded about meddling in the day-to-day running of the party, unlike Chief Obasanjo. President Buhari is thus likely to be highly amenable in his involvement in the misunderstanding within the APC. He will genuinely seek peace once he is convinced of the course of action the party should pursue. Had President Buhari been seized by the itch to control things, he would be more interested in demonstrating power and getting his way than coaxing the combatants to reach some accommodation. Second is the election of the charismatic though somewhat flawed Mr Oshiomhole as chairman. Not only was he a governor, but having also ruled Edo State for two terms, he knows a thing or two about deploying and projecting power, and embracing every propaganda measure possible. He knows the tricks governors are capable of, and he knows just how elastic their bluff is. He will counter their bluff and also defang their blusters until he forces a rapprochement.

    But more importantly, both the president and Mr Oshiomhole are unlikely to feel apocalyptic about the dissension quaking in the APC for the simple reason that they fairly anticipated the crisis and believe sensibly that it is much better to endure that danger than the flaky peace governors and the former party chairman had tried to confect. Beginning from last year, and running through the early parts of this year, the former chairman, John Odigie-Oyegun, and the governors had attempted to circumvent what they feared was a potentially acrimonious and explosive elective convention. They voted for managed congresses, controlled convention, tenure extension and consensus candidates. Regardless of the provisions of their party constitution, they loaded these dramatic measures under the so-called doctrine of necessity, and felt absolutely certain that the foretold implosion many feared would course through the party could thereby be deflected.

    The party must indeed be thankful to naysayers who insisted that no matter how tumultuous and damaging a revalidation process might be, the party must periodically subject itself to that carnival enjoyed by its members. That process of revalidation may open up unhealed sores within the party and create fresh wounds and fissures, but, argued the critics and dissenters within the party, it was better for such problems to be ventilated, no matter how searing the molten magma flowing from its bowels, than to be repressed with the possibility of later triggering conflagrations of untold consequences. The controversy over direct or indirect primaries, or elected or consensus candidates, for instance, are all indicators of the cracks existing deep down in the party’s tectonic plates. Had these problems not manifested now, a future earthquake deep under its crust would probably have unleashed an unmanageable Tsunami.

    Party members, including recalcitrant governors, must not harbour the dangerous illusion that the refusal to endorse Mr Odigie-Oyegun’s continuation in office or their preferred  candidates and mode of primaries were the causes of the terrible dissension unsettling the party. No, these cracks were intrinsic to the party and its founding, and they were bound sooner or later to manifest. The party now has an opportunity to address these foundational issues. What will determine how successful they are, and whether the party would stabilise or not, especially going into the future, will depend on the administrative acumen of their leaders and the president, and the subtlety with which those saddled with the responsibility of reconciling the combatants and forging peace go about their onerous task.

    The APC may cast wary glances at the PDP, fearing that the opposition could take advantage of the distress in the ruling party, but the PDP is also battling its own demons, and is even more fearful of the magnitude and intractability of its existential troubles. They have now been out of office for four years; they are anxious that eight years in the wilderness could weaken the resolve of their members to summon the gumption and fortitude to stay the course and take the battle to the cantankerous ruling party. It is crucial for the PDP to regain its composure and cobble together the right and potent winning platforms and formulae. This would be good for the country’s democratic health. But it is also apposite for the ruling APC to eschew the paranoia buffeting its processes, particularly in conceiving and sustaining a durable and pragmatic democratic ethos. They can surmount their troubles if they try hard enough. But they can also fail if they give in to fear and desperation. The choice is really theirs to make.

  • APC now a formidable party, Says Uduaghan 

    …Says present APC crises not unusual

     

    Former Delta State Governor, Emmanuel Uduaghan on Friday said that the crises rocking the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC), including irregularities in primary elections, showed that it has become a strong and formidable party.

    He spoke with State House correspondents after meeting with President Muhammadu Buhari at the Presidential Villa, Abuja.

    According to him, the present APC crises are not unusual.

    Read Also:‘APC risks not fielding governorship candidate in Zamfara’

    He noted that the practice is the same with any government in power since majority of aspirants will naturally want to align with a ruling party.

    He said “The crisis in the party shows that the APC have become a formidable party. It is only when a party is strong and formidable that everybody will be showing interest in it.

    “That we have this kind of issues that are going on. But I also know that the leadership is doing a lot to resolve the issues and with time the issues will be settled and everybody will move forward and move the party forward.

    “It is not unusual, what is happening is not unusual with a party that is growing and has become very strong,” he added.

    On alleged parallel primaries in Delta, he said it only existed in the imagination of many as nothing of such took place.

    He said “There is nothing of such, some people gathered somewhere and said they were doing primaries. If you notice, the person they declared winner has already disowned them.”

    The purpose of his visit to the Villa, he said, was to appeal to President Buhari to reopen the Osubi Airport.

    According to him, the continuous closure of the airport was rubbing off negatively on the state economy.

    “I also came to appeal to the President about the Osubi airport which is close to Warri, it has been closed for more than one month because of crisis between NAMA and a private firm handling the airport.

    “I appealed to him to give an order that they open it while the engagement process is going on between NAMA and the private firm and the line that is supposed to be handling the airport because right now most people travelling to Warri have to go through Benin and even Owerri and that is very discomforting.

    “For those of us who work in that area and you know that there are a lot of oil companies there and the workers have to travel by road from Benin so that’s why I came to appeal to him if they can quickly open it while discussions are going on whatever issues,” he stated.

     

  • NJC seeks elevation of Justice Abbaji Aji to Supreme Court

    …Recommends appointment of Chief Judges for Abia, Benue, Ogun

     

    …Okays 3 new judges for Ogun High Court

     

    The National Judicial Council (NJC) has recommended Justice Uwani Musa Abba Aji to President Muhammadu Buhari, for appointment as Justice of the Supreme Court.

    The recommendation formed part of the decisions taken at the 87th meeting of the NJC held in Abuja between October 3 and 4 this year.

    Justice Abba Aji, currently of the Enugu division of the Court of Appeal, is from Yobe State.

    He was one of the eight judicial officers, who were directed by the NJC, to excuse themselves from duties, effective from November 2, 2016 on the request of the Attorney-General of the Federation (AGF) pending the outcome of their investigation by the Department of State Services (DSS), on corruption allegation.

    Justice Abba Aji was among those the NJC, at its 82nd meeting held between May 31 and June 1, 2017, directed to resume their duties on June 7, 2017 on the grounds that no charges were brought against them by the AGF at the conclusion of their investigation.

    NJC, in its June 2, 2017 statement, directing Justice Abba Aji and others to resume duties, said: “To maintain the integrity and sanctity of the judiciary and sustain public confidence, the judicial officers were directed to excuse themselves from office with effect from 2nd November, 2016.

    “After deliberation, NJC noted that, out of the judicial officers directed to excuse themselves from performing their official duties, only three have been charged to court.”

    NJC’s Director, Information, Soji Oye said, in a statement on Friday that the council also, at the 87th meeting, recommended the appointment of Chief Judges for Abia, Benue and Ogun states.

    He said the council equally recommended the appointment of three judges for the High Court of Ogun State; President of the Customary Court of Appeal, Oyo State and the appointment of a Grand Kadi for the Sharia Court of Appeal, Kwara State.

    For the post of the Chief Judge of Abia State, NJC recommended Justice Onuoha Arisa Kalu Ogwe; it also recommended Justice Aondover Kaka’an as the Chief Judge of Benue State and Justice Mosunmola Arinola Dipeolu as Chief Judge of Ogun State.

    The NJC recommended the appointment of Justices Oludayo Olubamise Osunfisan, Olusola Stephen Oloyede and Olatunde Hassan Oyajinmi as judges of the High Court of Ogun State.

    For the position of the President, Customary Court of Appeal, Oyo State, the NJC recommended Justice Eni Esan, while it recommended Zakariyah Abdulrasaq for the post of Grand Kadi, Sharia Court of Appeal, Kwara State.

    Oye said: “the newly appointed candidates will be sworn-in after the approval of the President and their respective state governors, as the case may be.”

     

     

  • Edo APC: Obaseki congratulates winners of primary elections

    The Edo State Governor, Mr. Godwin Obaseki, has congratulated all the candidates that emerged from the peaceful October 4, National and State Assemblies’ primary elections of the All Progressives Congress (APC) held across the state.

    Read Also:Obaseki assures of sound environmental governance in Edo

    He called on all members of the party to come together and work as a team to ensure the party triumphs in the 2019 general elections.

    He expressed his gratitude to the organisers of the primary elections for the orderly and peaceful process that produced the candidates that have been adjudged worthy of flying the party’s flag at the next general elections, and can mobilise their followers for the emphatic triumph of President Muhammadu Buhari and other candidates of the party in next year’s elections.

    Obaseki urged members of the party to ignore media publications attempting to cast aspersions on the primary elections that were declared peaceful, free and fair across the state.

  • Buhari, Mbeki meet in Aso Rock 

    President Muhammadu Buhari on Thursday met behind closed doors with the former South African President, Thabo Mbeki at the Presidential Villa, Abuja.

    Mbeki arrived the forecourt of the State House around 2.30pm.

    Read Also:Buhari, nine APC governors meet in Aso Rock

    He was led straight to the President’s office.

    The meeting was still in progress at the time of filing this report.

     

    Details Later…

  • Breaking: NJC recommends dismissal of two judges

    …Directs one to refund two years’ pay

    …Dismisses petitions against Justice Kafarati, others

     

    The National Judicial Council (NJC) has recommended the dismal of two judges to President Muhammadu Buhari having been found guilty of misconduct.

    The judges are Justices Rita N. Ofili-Ajumogobia (of the Federal High Court) and James T. Agbadu-Fishim (of the National Industrial Court of Nigeria).

    This is the first time, in recent time that the NJC would recommend the dismissal of an erring judge.

    Past recommendations had always been for compulsory retirement.

    Rising from its 87th meeting held on Wednesday, the NJC also directed Justice Joshua E. Ikede of the Delta State High Court to refund what he earned as salary and other entitlements since October 2016.

    Read Also:How to stop corruption trial delays, by NJC panel

    The NJC said it found that Justice Ikede altered his age. It rejected the retirement letter sent to it on October 1 this year by the judge.

    NJC’s Director, Information, Soji Oye said in a statement Thursday that the investigation of Justices Ofili-Ajumogobia and Agbadu-Fishim was based on petitions written against them by the Acting Chairman of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), Ibrahim Magu.

    The NJC said the petitioner alleged that Justice Ofili-Ajumogobia is a Director/Chief Executive Officer and sole signatory to Nigel and Colive Company contrary to the Code of Conduct for Judicial Officers of the Federal Republic of Nigeria.

    It said there was also allegation that several personalities, individuals, government officials and business partners lodged funds into various accounts belonging to the judge.

    The NJC said it was also alleged that there was an ex-parte communication between the judge and Mr. Godwin Oblah, SAN, during the pendency of his matter before the judge.

    The council said it could not consider other allegations in the petition because they are already before a court where the judge is standing trial. It left those matters for the trial to take its legal course.

    Oye said Justice Agbadu-Fishim  “was also recommended for removal by dismissal from office sequel to the findings of the council on the allegations contained in another petition by the Acting Chairman of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) alleging that the Hon. Judge received various sums of money from litigants and lawyers that had cases before him, and some influential Nigerians, under the false pretence that he was bereaved or that there was delay in the payment of his salary.

    “This is contrary to the Code of Conduct for Judicial Officers of the Federal Republic of Nigeria.

    “In the interim, the Council, in exercise of its disciplinary powers under paragraph 21 (d) of the Third Schedule of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, 1999, as amended, has suspended Hon. Mr. Justices R. N. Ofili-Ajumogobia and James T. Agbadu-Fishim with immediate effect pending their removal from office by the President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria.”

    On Justice Ikede, Oye said: “Council rejected the letter of voluntary retirement, purported to be with effect from the 1st of October 2018, submitted to it by Hon. Mr. Justice Joshua E. Ikede of the Delta State High Court.

    “This followed the findings on an allegation of falsification of age contained in a petition written by Zik Gbemre, National Co-ordinator of Niger Delta Peace Coalition. Council found that the Hon. Judge ought to have retired since 1st October 2016.

    “Consequently, it backdated his retirement to 2016 and recommended to the Government of Delta State to deduct from the retirement benefits of the judge, all salaries received by him from October, 2016 till date and remit it to NJC which pays salaries of all Judicial Officers in the federation.

    “Council also decided to issue a letter of advice to Hon. Mr. Justice K. C. Nwakpa of High Court of Abia State to guard against unwarranted utterances in matters before him.

    “This was as a result of a complaint to the council by one Princewill Ukegbu.

    “Council considered the reports of various Investigation Committees and dismissed the petitions written against Hon. Mr. Justice Yusuf Halilu of the High Court of the Federal Capital Territory; Hon. Mr. Justice E. O. Osinuga of the High Court of Ogun State, and Hon. Mr. Justice E. O. Ononeze-Madu of the High Court of Imo State.

    “The petition by Wema Bank against Hon. Mr. Justice Yusuf Halilu of the FCT High Court was dismissed because the allegation of misconduct was not established.

    “The judge’s handling of the related matter did not amount to the alleged misconduct.

    “The petition on allegation of inducement, bias and alteration of ruling written by David Olawepo Efunwape, Esq. against Hon. Mr. Justice E. O. Osinuga of High Court, Ogun State was found to be false.

    “Council, therefore, decided to report David Olawepo Efunwape, Esq., to the Legal Practitioners Disciplinary Committee (LPDC) for appropriate sanctions for making false allegations against a judge.

    “The petition written by Hon. Eugene Okechukwu Dibiagwu against Hon. Mr. Justice E. O. Ononeze Madu was dismissed by the council for lack of merit. “Council also decided to warn the petitioner and asked him to apologise to the Hon. Judge for the false allegation of inducement.

    “New petitions written against twenty-six (26) judicial officers from the Federal and State High Courts were considered by council, after which it resolved to empanel four (4) Committees to investigate.

    “The remaining petitions were summarily dismissed for obvious and manifest lack of merit, being subjudice, concerning administrative matters, or that such petitions were matters for appeal.

    “The dismissed petitions were against Hon. Mr. Justice J. O. Bada, Presiding Justice, Court of Appeal, Benin Division, Hon. Mr. Justice Abdul-Kafarati, Chief Judge, Federal High Court and Hon. Mr. Justices I. N. Buba, H. R. Shagari, R. M. Aikawa, O. E. Abang (all of the Federal High Court) and  Hon. Mr. Justice Marshal Umukoro, Chief Judge, Delta State.

    “Others are  Hon. Mr. Justice E. G. Timi also of the Delta State High Court; Hon. Mr. Justice S. U. Dikko, Chief Judge, Nasarawa State; Hon. Mr. Justice P. N. C. Umeadi, Chief Judge, Anambra State, Hon. Mr. Justices A. O. Opesanwo and A. J. Coker (both of Lagos State High Court); Hon. Mr. Justice C. I. Gabriel Nwankwo, President, Customary Court of Appeal, River State, Hon. Mr. Justices C. A. Okirie and G. O. Omeji both of River State High Court, Hon. Mr. Justice Iniabasi Udobong of High Court, Akwa-Ibom State, Hon. Mr. Justice S. O. Falola of High Court, Osun State, Hon. Grand Kadi, Sokoto State, Hon. Mr. Justice I. B. Ahmed of Katsina State High Court and Hon. Mr. Justice Patricia Mahmoud formerly of the Kano State High Court before her elevation to the Court of Appeal.”