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Tag: sack

  • Court confirms Bayelsa Speaker’s sack

    The Court of Appeal sitting in Port Harcourt, Rivers State, has confirmed that it nullified the election of the Bayelsa State House of Assembly Speaker, Mr. Kombowei Benson.

    The court’s affirmation put paid to weeks of denials by Benson that the December 9 judgment in a case filed by the candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Mr. Ebifaghe Orunimighe, declared his election null and void.

    Benson refused to relinquish the Southern Ijaw Constituency 4 seat and his speakership position, insisting that the written judgment was different from the court’s records of proceedings, which dismissed the appeal.

    He continued to retain his seat and presided over the 2016 Appropriation Bill sent by Governor Seriake Dickson.

    But on February 10, the court, ruling on a fresh application filed by Benson, validated its judgment, which nullified the election of the former speaker.

    The court, presided over by a new panel of five justices, admitted that the December 9 lead judgment was prepared by Justice Ejembi Eko in agreement with Justices Mohammed Garba and Stephen Adah.

    The justices are Abdu Aboki, Sidi Bage, Samuel Oseji, Ibrahim Bdliya and Misitura Bolaji-Yusuf.

    Aboki, who delivered the ruling on Benson’s application, explained that the judgment was delivered by Garba because Eko, who prepared it, was on assignment.

    On making entries in the record of proceedings, Aboki said Garba erroneously indicated that the lead judgment of Eko dismissed the appeal contrary to the conclusion that the appeal was allowed.

    But he said: “It is my view that a different entry made in a court record albeit erroneously does not alter the effect of judgment of the court in which the rights of the party are determined one way or the other.

    “The judgment of a court consists of the collation and analysis of evidence as presented before the court and making of findings, reasoning and the conclusion. This can be seen to exist in exhibit A, the lead judgment prepared by Ejembi Eko.

    “It forms the only source of drawing up an enrolment of the order of this court and not from the notes made during a court proceeding”.

    Aboki added that the argument of Benson that two judgments emanated from the court on the same case could not hold since he (Benson) failed to present to the court a proof of another ruling.

    “The onus, therefore, is on the applicants, who are alleging that there are two different judgments emanating from this court with respect to the appeal, to prove same which they have failed to do.

    “The lead judgment of Justice Ejembi Eko is the judgment of this court. It is obvious that in the process of making entry of the judgment in the record, Justice Mohammed Garba made a mistake when he stated that the appeal was dismissed.

    “The entry in the record of book does not constitute the judgment of the court. If the judgment is read, it will be obvious and clear to any unbiased and dispassionate reader that the entry in the record is a mistake,” he said.

    Quoting the Supreme Court in the case between Ibe vs Onuora, Aboki added: “The courts are presided over by human beings and being human, they are prone to mistakes and slips in the course of execution of their judicial functions.”

  • Sack threat: Oliseh to claim hefty pay-off

    Sack threat: Oliseh to claim hefty pay-off

    Broke Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) will have to be ready with a handsome pay-off should they fire the country’s coach Sunday Oliseh.

    Oliseh’s future as Super Eagles coach is shaky after the country’s disappointing show at CHAN 2016 in Rwanda and his unguarded utterances ever since.

    However, top officials have now said going by the contract he signed with the NFF in July, the former Nigeria skipper will be entitled to a big pay-off should he now be sacked just seven months into a three-year contract.

    Another source even hinted that the pay-off could be as much as his pay for three years, which could come down to as much as 180 million Naira.

    “Sunday knows they want to sack him, but he will be waiting for them at FIFA. They have to be ready to pay out his contract sum,” said the source.

    The technical committee of the NFF was inaugurated on Friday in Uyo, but their deliberations at their first meeting have remained top secret to further raise doubts about Oliseh’s future as Nigeria coach.

    “Oliseh was one of the two major items on the agenda of the committee, but very little has been heard about the direction the committee has taken on this matter,” another official disclosed.

    It is now expected that the NFF executive committee will meet soon to discuss the recommendations of this committee.

    The Eagles coaching situation has to be resolved soon because Nigeria face two crucial AFCON 2017 qualifiers against group leaders Egypt in March and the results could well make or mar their qualification chances to Gabon.

  • Controversy in Bayelsa over Speaker’s sack

    Controversy in Bayelsa over Speaker’s sack

    The Speaker of the Bayelsa State House of Assembly, Mr. Kombowei Benson, Saturday, said he would not vacate the Southern Ijaw Constituency 4 seat following controversies surrounding the Court of Appeal judgement that declared his April 11, 2015 election null and void.

    Benson remained adamant insisting that the purported written judgement was different from the record of court’s proceeding on December 9, 2015.

    The Court of Appeal sitting in Port-Harcourt, Rivers State, in a written judgement delivered on December 9, 2015 nullified the April 2015 election that returned Benson.

    The court in a copy of the ruling, ordered the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to conduct a fresh poll within 90 days to fill the seat.

    The Speaker was sacked in a case filed by Mr. Ebifaghe Orunimighe, the candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC) for the seat of the House of Assembly in Southern Ijaw Constituency 4.

    According to a copy of the judgement, Justices Mohammed Lawal Garba, Ejembi Eko and Stephen Jonah Adah, sat on the three-man panel that nullified Benson’s election.

    The judgement which resolved issues 1,2 and 3 in favour of the APC candidate, was delivered by Justice Ejembi Eko and signed by other justices on the panel.

    Eko said: “I allow the appeal in substantial part. My findings on issues 1, 2 and 3 justify the declaration that the election/return of the first respondent Hon. Benson Friday Kombowei, as the purported winner of the Bayelsa State House of Assembly seat for Southern Ijaw Constituency 4 elections held on April 11, 2015 was null and void.

    But about 60 days after, Benson faulted the authenticity of the written judgement saying the record of proceeding on that day showed that the appeal of the APC candidate was dismissed in the open court.

    Addressing journalists in his office at the House of Assembly complex Yenagoa, Benson insisted that the ruling of 9th December upheld his election and dismissed the appeal filed by the APC candidate.

    He said: “On the 9th of December, the appeal court dismissed the appeal by Orunimighe challenging my election. On January 14th, a purported judgement alleging that my election has been declared null and void emerged. This is strange and untrue.

    “What transpired in the open court in the presence of lawyers was outright dismissal of the appeal brought by my opponent. The judgement was delivered in the open court thereby upholding my election in the House of Assembly.”

    Benson said to further clarify the issues and put the record straight, he had through his team of lawyers filed a motion on notice praying the Appeal Court to set aside the judgement that was not in conformity with its declaration in the open court on December 9.

    He said the motion on notice further prayed the court to make an order directing the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to stay execution on the judgment pending the determination of the motion on notice.

    “This motion has been served on the National Judicial Commission (NJC), President of the Appeal Court, the Department of Security Service (DSS), Commissioner of Police, Clerk of the House and other officers and some important personalities.

    “My team of lawyers and other lawyers who were in court have also in the same vein have also sworn to the affidavit to the fact that the judgement delivered in the open court was dismissed,” he said.

    Benson said he remained the speaker and would continue to preside over the affairs of the House of Assembly pending the resolution if the case.

    But the APC candidate for Southern Ijaw Constituency 4 accompanied by his Media Aide, Bodmas Debekeme and his lawyer, in a separate press briefing, called on Benson to respect the judgment of the Court of Appeal and stop playing to the gallery.

    Oruminighe warned Benson to stop parading himself as Speaker or risk going to prison for contempt.

    At the news conference entitled, ‘Contemptuous conduct of Kombowei Benson – former Speaker’, Oruminighe noted that his lawyers had begun a process of filling a contempt suit against Benson.

    He said: “Our attention has been drawn to recent reports credited to Kombowei Benson where he unequivocally stated that he still remained the Speaker of the Bayelsa State House of Assembly because the judgement declared by the Court of Appeal in open court on December 9, 2015 affirmed his victory.

    “Ordinarily, we should not have reacted to such fallacious publications, but our reticence may mislead the unseeming minds from discerning between reality and fiction.

    “It is based on this realisation that we are indeed compelled to react. It is unfortunate that Kombowei Benson is accentuated by greed and desperation to disseminate such deliberate falsehood to mislead members of the society including his pastors and church members.

    “Elementary intelligence, logic and commonsense suggests that a person who claims to win a case should produce the judgement of the court confirming his victory. Where is the judgement delivered on December 9, 2015, where Konbowei claimed victory?

    “For the avoidance of doubt, let it be established right away that the unanimous judgement of the court of appeal delivered by Justice Ejembi Eko, JCA on December 9, 2015 declared the election of Benson as the purported winner of the House of Assembly seat for southern Ijaw Constituency 4, held on the 11th April, 2015 as null and void.

    “Therefore, the Appeal Court ordered the Independent National Electoral Commission to conduct elections within 90 days from the date of judgement.”

    He noted that the Court of Appeal did not give two conflicting judgements as falsely claimed by Benson.

    He said that the judgement which sacked Benson was the only subsisting judgement adding that speaker, his team of lawyers, had copies of the same ruling.

    According to him Benson in utter defiance to the judgement of the Court of Appeal, presided over the 2016 budget presented on the floor of the House by Governor Seriake Dickson on January 15, 2016.

    Orunimighe said: “It is worrisome that the conduct of Benson borders on contempt of court and wanton disregard for the rule of Law.

    “As you are aware, the illegality perpetrated by the ex-Speaker of the Bayelsa State House of Assembly and members of the PDP-led Government is an absolute display of lawlessness reminiscence of the Hobberisan state of nature.”

    He urged the members of the public to disregard the innuendoes of Benson and advised the embattled Speaker to stop engaging in acts that were tantamount to disobeying the lawful and valid judgement of the Court of Appeal.

  • We won’t sack civil servants, says Dickson

    The Governor of Bayelsa State, Mr. Seriake Dickson, yesterday, said his administration had no plans to sack civil servants in the state.

    Dickson, who spoke through his deputy, Rear Admiral John Jonah (retd), also denied allegations that his government had penciled down over 500 civil servants accused of supporting the All Progressives Congress (APC) in the just-concluded governorship election, for sanction.

    Speaking during the monthly Transparency Briefing in Yenagoa, Dickson said the ongoing workers’ verification in the state was not designed to sack civil servants for their stand during the election.

    The governor, however, condemned the action of some civil servants, who he said openly campaigned for political parties during the election.

    While describing such action as wrong and against civil service rule, the governor said that his administration never gave any directive to sanction and stop the salaries of civil servants.

    He said the ongoing verification exercise by an Establishment Committee and the delay in the payment of salaries arose from the continued financial deficit experienced by the government in the payment of salaries.

    He said: “On the issue raised by some 500 workers in the state, to the best of my knowledge and due discussion with Governor Seriake Dickson, there is no plan by the government to retrench any worker.

    “However, we must add that although the partisan posture of some workers during the election was wrong, there is no plan to sanction or retrench anyone over that.

    “The verification being conducted by the Establishment committee is to look inward and examine ourselves as an administration. We are doing this due to the consistent deficit we are experiencing. This is why there is no government official on the committee.

    “We have asked them to help check and also find other ways of raising revenues. If they come out to say, the figures we have is correct, so be it. If they say we have some addition, we will check again. Things at the moment are hard and it is a challenging moment for us as a state.”

    Dickson also announced a deficit spending of N1.713bn in November 2015, saying a total of N4.804bn accrued to the state.

    He noted that over N6.518bn was spent on the payment of salaries for workers and political appointees, overhead costs and loan repayment.

    He said that the deficit and the reluctance of some banks to provide loan facilities to the state because of the governorship election were factors responsible for the delay in the payment of workers’ salaries.

  • CHAN disaster: Oliseh escapes sack

    CHAN disaster: Oliseh escapes sack

    First Vice President of the Nigeria Football Federation (NFF), Seyi Akinwunmi has poured cold water on rumours of the uncertain future of coach Sunday Oliseh following the team’s poor outing at the CHAN 2016 in Rwanda.

    Akinwunmi told footballlive.ng that  sacking a coach when his team falls short of expectations is not a culture the NFF was hoping to enshrine.

    The football chief thereafter said the federation will however wait for the technical report from the Super Eagles handlers before the next line of action will be taken.

  • Bayelsa Speaker remains in office after court’s sack

    •Receives budget from Dickson

    The Court of Appeal, sitting in Port-Harcourt, the Rivers State capital, has sacked Bayelsa State House of Assembly Speaker Kombowei Benson.

    A copy of the court’s judgment, which our correspondent obtained at the weekend, indicated that the April 2015 election, which returned Benson to the Assembly, was nullified on December 9, last year.

    But our correspondent observed that despite the court’s order, Kombowei has remained in office and, last Friday, about 40 days after the judgment, he chaired the Assembly when it received this year’s state Appropriation Bill from Governor Seriake Dickson.

    The Speaker was sacked in a case filed by Mr. Ebifaghe Orunimighe, the candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC) for Southern Ijaw Constituency 4.

    Orunimighe challenged Kombowei’s victory on the grounds that an election did not take place in four wards.

    According to him, even where elections were held, there was over-voting.

    Oruminighe averred that there was no election in Olodiama Ward 3, Apoi Ward 15, Forupa Ward 14 and Ukubie Ward 16.

    On October 16, last year, the House of Assembly Election Petitions Tribunal, presided over by Justice Ononnaeze Madu, dismissed Orunimighe’s petition for lack of proof.

    But justices Mohammed Garba, Ejembi Eko and Stephen Adah, who sat on the appeal panel which delivered the judgment, set aside the decision of the tribunal and upheld Oruminighe’s prayers.

    In the judgment delivered by Justice Eko, the panel decided that the appellants had proved with their evidence that there was no election at Appoi Ward; yet, results were posted on the result sheets that were earlier snatched and collated into the overall results in the constituency.

    The panel, which also held that there was an inexplicable over-voting added: “The line of attack by the appellants under issue 2 is that upon proper evaluation of Exhibit P viz-a-viz the total number of vote cast at the election put at 34,985 as announced by INEC. There was an inexplicable over voting.

    “Out of these 34,985 votes, 6038 from Olodiama Ward 4 and polling units 20-30 of Forupa Ward are not in contention as submitted by the appellants. Thus, 28,849 votes are suspect or disputed votes.

    “Had the trial tribunal properly evaluated exhibit P it would have come to a conclusion that there was over voting in the constituency. Clearly there is an electoral malpractice where the number of votes cast is in excess of the total number of voters accredited to vote.

    “The trial tribunal failed, neglected and refused to evaluate the critical evidential materials contained in the documents tendered and admitted in evidence by the appellants.”

    Resolving issues One, Two and Three raised in the appeal in favour of the APC candidate, the tribunal declared the election that returned the Bayelsa Speaker null and void.

    Justice Eko said: “I allow the appeal in substantial part. My findings on issues One, Two and Three justify the declaration that the election/return of the first respondent, Benson Friday Kombowei, as the purported winner of the Bayelsa State House of Assembly seat for Southern Ijaw Constituency 4 elections on April 11, 2015, was null and void.

    “It is hereby ordered that a fresh election shall be conducted in all the wards in the constituency within 90 days from today, except in Olodiama Ward 4 and the polling units 20-30 in Foropa Ward 4.

    “The results from the Olodiama Ward 4 and polling units 29-30 in Foropa Ward 4 shall, upon the fresh elections in other wards, as ordered, thereafter, be duly collated and final declaration and return made.”

     

  • Sack: Osun schools exonerate govt

    Sack: Osun schools exonerate govt

    •Assembly calls for workers’ files

    Management of Osun State-owned tertiary institutions have said the government has no hand in the sack of some workers.

    Responding to questions at a meeting called by the House of Assembly in Osogbo yesterday, they said the workers were retrenched at their discretion.

    Speaker Najeem Salaam called for the files of the affected workers for the Assembly to investigate.

    He directed the management to suspend the action, until the investigation is concluded.

    State Polytechnic Iree Rector Dr  Sola Agboola; his College of Technology, Esa-Oke counterpart Dr Augustus Oke; College of Education, Ilesa Provost Dr. Kadiri Adegoke and his Ila-Orangun counterpart Prof Isaac Oyewole said none of the workers was unjustifiably sacked.

    One after the other, they identified redundancy, inappropriate qualifications, poor academic development, declining productivity, questionable certificates and disciplinary matters, among others as parts of the criteria for the disengagement.

    But Salaam wondered why the management had to wait till now to carry out the action.

    “If somebody has a questionable certificate, you must have known before now; and if a person is indisciplined, you must have had the hint. Why do you have to wait till now to make noise?” he said.

  • Kano Pillars sack 10 players

    Kano Pillars sack 10 players

    The management of Kano Pillars Football Club has fired 10 of its players ahead of the 2015/2016 Glo Premier League season.

    Idris Malikawa, Media Officer of the club made this known in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) on Tuesday in Kano.

    Malikawa said the 10 players were sacked based on medical ground and poor performance.

    “The management of the club felt the only way to make headway in the plan to have a good season in the NPFL is to weed out 10 aged and unproductive players.

    “This is to make way for new boys that will strengthen the team,’’ Malikawa said.

    The media officer disclosed that the club would recruit new players “to beef up the team in some critical areas.’’

    He said the team had already resumed training ahead of this year’s campaign, assuring that the transfer formalities would be completed on time.

  • Tambuwal: I won’t sack teachers

    Tambuwal: I won’t sack teachers

    Governor Aminu Tambuwal of Sokoto State, has promised that his administration will not sack any teacher from the state civil service.

    “But we will not fail to reassign any teacher that does not have the requisite qualifications to be in the classroom,” Tambuwal said on Monday in Dogon-Daji, Tambuwal Local Government Area.

    The governor made the promise in his address at the annual national congress of the old Boys’ association of his Alma-mater, Government Secondary School, Dogon Daji.

    He said: “Beginning from the next budget, government will ensure continuous training and retraining of teachers to update their knowledge and make them conform to modern teaching techniques.

    “Huge sums of money have been budgeted for that purpose.

    “Let me announce it here that we do not plan to retrench any teacher working with the state government.

    “In fact we need qualified teachers to address shortfall in numbers.

    “What we will not condone in our schools are unqualified teachers who have nothing to offer our children.

    “If after giving you the necessary training, we discovered that you do not have the capacity or enthusiasm to teach, we will reassign you to where your expertise if most needed.”

    While commending the executive of the association for its diligence in the face of mounting challenges, Tambuwal solicited its support in government’s efforts to take Sokoto state to greater heights.

    The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that at the end of the congress, Alhaji Nasiru Idris was elected national President of the association while Abdullahi Muhammed was elected Secretary.

  • NUPENG to protest sack in NNPC

    NUPENG to protest sack in NNPC

    The Nigeria Union of Petroleum and Natural Gas Workers (NUPENG) has vowed to resist the move by the Nigeria National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) to sack its 1,100 workers.

    Its President, Comrade Igwe Achese, who spoke  in Lagos, said it was embarrassing that the Minister of State, Petroleum Resources Dr. Ibe Kachikwu would sack workers at the corporation without consulting NUPENG and PENGASSAN – the two unions in the oil and gas sector.

    He said: “The unbundling of the firm into four companies and intended restructuring should not have anything to do with sack of workers. We call on the management of the NNPC to tread with caution and jettison its plans on the impending sack of 1,100 workers of the corporation.”

    He said the union cannot fold its arms and watch its members who had served for years to be thrown into the employment market because of the inconsistent policies of the government.

    He advised the Federal Government to convene a major stakeholders’meeting to x-ray the challenges facing the sector and proffer solutions, rather than chasing the shadows.

    Achese said the policy of the NNPC to engage casual workers is illegal and that it should be condemned.

    The impending retrenchment would be counter productive, he said, adding that its members would protest the action if the two oil unions were not consulted.