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  • Governors seeking second term

    Some first term governors will be seeking re-election next year. Assistant Editor LEKE SALAUDEEN examines their chances of winning their party’s primary and the election.

    Bello (Niger)

    Governor Sani Bello does not relish publicity. He hardly meets with the media. Thus, his government has been under reported. During the last Democracy Day Celebrations, however, he hosted a media parley, where he made a profound statement that, during the 2015 electioneering campaign, he never promised the people anything. Observers have tried to rationalise the governor’s statement by saying that it was strange that a person seeking to hold office as governor of a state had no programmes to persuade voters and yet, he was elected. But, they acknowledged that he only honestly stated the truth. As a result, no one can accuse him of non-performance, as there was a zero yardstick for assessing him. It can be therefore, concluded that he could be re-elected in 2019, if the electorate behave as they did in 2015.

    When he assumed office in 2015, he was unable to determine which of his supporters should be appointed commissioners. When he eventually did, he directed each commissioner at the inaugural meeting of the state executive council to submit his or her vision statement to enable the deputy governor work out the vision of the government. It appears Bello did not prepare a blueprint on how he would govern the state.

    Nevertheless, Bello has been applauded for reversing the old order of abandoned projects in the state. For instance, he has rehabilitated many schools with perimeter fencing, well-furnished dormitories, new classrooms, laboratories, workshops, libraries and staff quarters. The schools had not been touched since they were built in the last 40 years. The governor had also outlined plans to tackle the issue of lead poisoning for which Niger State was the second state to be affected in the country. There is also plan to establish a mining city in the state.

    He has formally declared his intention to run for a second term. There is no challenger within the APC for now. But, the major threat to his re-election bid is the defection of Ambassador Ahmed Ibeto from the APC to the PDP. The former ambassador to South Africa was deputy to former Governor Babangida Aliyu on the platform of the PDP. He joined the APC in 2015, after he failed to secure the party’s governorship ticket. It was gathered that Ibeto would likely emerge the PDP governorship candidate this time around. It was chieftains of the party, it was said, that put pressure on him to resign his appointment and renounce his APC membership, so that he could be the PDP governorship flag bearer in 2019.

    The former ambassador was a member of the PDP until the primary election in November 2014; he lost the governorship ticket to Umar Nasko, a former Chief of Staff to Aliyu. He resigned his membership of the PDP along with thousands of his supporters after complaining about the injustice meted to him by the PDP. Ibeto was the vehicle on which the incumbent APC governor rode to victory in 2015 leading his campaign to all the 274 wards in the state.

    Ambode (Lagos)

    Governor Akinwunmi Ambode’s first term would lapse on May 29, 2019. He has the right to seek for second term in line with the 1999 Constitution, which prescribes a maximum of two terms for governors. Ambode is a tested administrator with a clear vision to make Lagos State the envy of all. The clamour by various interest groups for his re-election bears eloquent testimony to his excellent performance.

    Immediately he assumed office in 2015, he hit the ground running. In his effort to make Lagos work for everybody, he adopted an all-inclusive governance approach, realising the peculiar needs of a complex state.

    He rejuvenated the town hall meetings, where individuals are free to express their minds during the question and answers sessions. Such meetings allow the governor to feel the pulse of the people and respond appropriately; taking decisions on the spot and proffering solutions to problems and challenges facing the people. With this approach, projects are demand-driven and with the regular interactions from zone to zone no community or local government is left out.

    The governor came up with a blueprint to solve the problem of traffic gridlocks that had defied solutions in the past. He embarked on construction of intra-city roads, fly-overs pedestrian bridges and lay-bys. During the recent state visit by President Muhammadu Buhari, Ambode commissioned 21 border roads that link Lagos and Ogun States. This is in addition to 114 roads he constructed in the 56 local governments and local council development areas last year. He has awarded contracts for the construction of additional 181 intra-city roads to ease transportation in the state.  Most of these roads were selected by the Community Development Associations (CDAs). The Oshodi transport inter-change equipped with pedestrian bridges, shopping malls and closed circuit television (CCTV) cameras is nearing completion. With this, Oshodi will be elevated to a first class business district. The Agege Pen Cinema fly-over is scheduled for completion in nine months.

    Ortom (Benue)

    The chances of Benue State Governor Samuel Ortom clinching the ticket of the PDP to realise his second term ambition are hanging in the balance. One of the governorship aspirants on the platform of the party, Tehemen Tarzoor, said he would vehemently resist any move to give preferential treatment to the incumbent governor who recently defected to the PDP from the APC.

    Tarzoor said he would resist imposition of Ortom. He said: “The issue of bringing a sitting governor and imposing him on us will not work. Let the governor come and struggle with other governorship aspirants. But, if you say go and adopt him, we will go to court. If we are treated as commoners, then we will show our nuisance value to the party; then we will see how it goes.”

    An elder statesman in Benue State and retired Commissioner of Police, Abubakar Tsav, has said that nothing and nobody can save Governor Ortom from losing re-election in 2019, because of the magnitude of his failure in the last three and half years that he has been in office. He said: “Head or tail, Ortom is bound to lose re-election, considering his abysmal performance and silly arrogance.”

    Tsav does not believe that jumping ship from APC to the PDP will make Ortom win his re-election. He added: “Within three years of his administration, Governor Ortom has not been able to pay full salaries and pensions, despite several interventions by the Federal Government and bank loans. He has not initiated, completed nor commissioned any project. His several visits to China have not impacted on the development and advancement of Benue State. Rather, his private businesses and farms are expanding and developing astronomically.”

    The retired police officer said Ortom’s conflict with Senator George Akume, his godfather that made him governor in 2015, was a divine intervention to ease the governor out of power. His words: “His clash with his godfather was ordained by God to get Benue State out of the clutches of deceit and evil and we welcome this.

    “In 2014, when Senator Akume transferred Emmanuel Jime’s mandate to Ortom, he saw Akume as a good and caring leader. Now, Akume is appalled by Ortom’s performance and wants to correct his mistakes by returning Jime’s mandate to him. But, Ortom now sees Akume as a villain. To us, Akume is not a villain, but a good, fair and just leader.

    “Ortom should stop running from pillar to post, but should be prepared to be an inmate to a federal VIP house to join his anti-social, cum deviant colleagues.”

    Lalong (Plateau)

    Plateau State Governor Simon Lalong has bowed to pressure by his supporters to seek a second term mandate. His bid followed a motion by Edward Pwajok to compel the governor to seek a second term at a meeting of the APC stakeholders held in Jos, the state capital.  Since then, senior party members have been expressing solidarity for the governor.

    At the said meeting, various speakers, including a former Deputy Governor Dame Pauline Tallen, former governorship aspirant, Mr Pam Gyang; former Chairman National Population Commission (NPC), Samaila Makama, paid tribute to Governor Lalong for successfully steering the party away from crisis, following his committee report which gave an amicable solution to the crisis at the national level.

    Makama observed that Lalong’s integrity and character has endeared him to the leadership at the national level as a credible leader, stressing that “Governor Lalong represents humility, openness, simplicity and character to demonstrate honesty at all times which has endeared him to Mr President”.

    A youth activist, Mr Chikas Kumle, justified Lalong’s second term bid, “because Lalong is responding to the popular demands of Plateau people”. He described Lalong as a listening governor who is passionate about the youths. He commended the governor for sustaining the relative peace in the state, and for employment of teachers, improved infrastructure and promotion of agriculture. He said Lalong’s second term would make the state to fully return to the path of development.

    He said: “We the youth leaders from all the ethnic groups in Plateau have come out to unanimously endorse Governor Simon Lalong for another term of four years. This endorsement is premised on 10 key areas of education, welfare, peace and security, youth development, human capital development, agriculture, tourism, health and infrastructure. The governor has demonstrated good leadership qualities, if given another term in office, Plateau will fully return to the state where peace, justice, equity and development will be the order of the day.”

    However, leaders of the PDP are said to be putting its house in order to avoid the division that led to the defeat of the party by the APC in 2015.  The party is shopping for a strong candidate that could match Governor Lalong in 2019 either from Plateau Central or South.

    Okowa (Delta)

    Governor Ifeanyi Okowa is the first governor from Delta North Senatorial District since the state was created about three decades ago. He rode to power on the crest of the political influence of the former Governor James Ibori’s. Ibori who hails from the central senatorial district has built a political empire code-named Odidigborigbo, a political dynasty with membership across ethnic, political and regional divide in Delta State. In fact membership of this political group is pre-requisite for those seeking to hold political office in the state. Okowa, his predecessor, Dr Emmanuel Uduaghan, and many political big wigs in Delta are said to be members of the dynasty.

    Analysts believe that Okowa’s re-election bid will put to test the popularity and political influence of Ibori after his sentence by a court in United Kingdom for money laundering. Against the backdrop that the Delta State chapter of the PDP had lost many party chieftains to opposition parties. The threat to Okowa’s re-election is not within but from outside. There is no doubt that the governor would scale the primaries but the governorship election is in contention.

    A group known as Indomitable Youth Ambassadors for Delta (IYAD) have assured that Okowa would get second term in office. The group’s chairman, who is also the Special Assistant to the governor on youth mobilisation, Mr Kennedy Ochei said: “From all visible analysis and works which the governor has done in his first tenure as the governor of Delta State, it is a thing of pleasure to declare that he is the best man for the office”.

    Ochei listed Okowa’s achievements to include public schools renovations, free healthcare, provision of power supply in most local governments in the state, road construction, empowerment programme and financial mobilisation for the youth. He said all these achievements just in a few years in office, has given IYAD a driving force and a positive hope for the future of all Deltans.

    Similarly, the Delta State chapter of the Association of Local Government of Nigeria (ALGON) has thrown its weight behind behind the second term bid of Governor Okowa. ALGON’s Chairman, Mr Itiako Ikpokpo said the decision to endorse Okowa was informed by his track records since he took over the leadership of the state in the last three years.

    He said Okowa has displayed immeasurable magnanimity and sufficient fatherly disposition towards the plight of the local government workers through constant augmentation of local government allocation to enable them pay staff salaries.

    However, it may not be an easy ride for Governor Okowa in 2019 because of notable politicians that have left the PDP for the APC in the state, the recent being Uduagha, the immediate past governor of Delta State. The combination of Uduaghan from Delta South and Senator Ovie Omo-Agege and Great Ogboru from Delta Central would enhance the performance of the APC at the polls.

    A former spokesman to ex- President Goodluck Jonathan, Mr Ima Niboro, predicted the fall of PDP in Delta State. He said APC would pull off a major upset in the state, where he said millions were yearning for genuine change and were increasingly finding the APC a realistic alternative platform to effect that change.

    To the Delta State Chairman of the Social Democratic Party (SDP), Mr Oke Idenwe, Okowa is a failure; he has not executed major projects since he assumed office in the past three years. He said “if you compare Akwa Ibom, Cross River, Anambra and Rivers, we have no governor in Delta State because the governor has not performed.

    “When he came to office in 2015, the first thing he did was to increase the contract limit which Ibori and Uduaghan maintained during their tenures. Under Ibori and Uduaghan, any project above N50 million must be approved by the state executive council but when Okowa came he increased it from N50 million to N250 million.

    “Okowa is running Delta not as an elected governor but as a monarch. The Internally Generated Revenue (IGR) of the state is shrouded in secrecy. Nobody knows how much is generated in the state. I thought he came to lead but he came to rule. We are part of the people that brought him to power. I regret and apologise to all Deltans for supporting him.

    Wike (Rivers)

    Governor Nyesom Wike of Rivers State has been overwhelmed by the gale of endorsements for his re-election by different political groups and ethnic nationalities in the state. He is now addressed as “Mr Project” in acknowledge of numerous projects he had embarked on across the state in the past three years.

    The leader of Rivers State ex-legislators,Senator Adawari Pepple said the governor deserved second term based on the massive infrastructural development being witnessed by the people of the state. He said “we are convinced by the Governor’s excellent performance and that he should continue to lead Rivers State beyond 2019.

    “As a forum, we call on the governor to re-present himself to contest the 2019 governorship election. We believe, he deserves a second term”, Pepple said.

    Similarly, the Ijaws in Rivers State have endorsed Wike for a second term in office in line with his pro-Ijaw disposition. A spokesperson of the Ijaw people, Madam Ankio Briggs said Wike deserves another term in office to consolidate on the gains of his first term.

    But, the former Rivers State Governor and Minister of Transport, Rotimi Amaechi, has described as superfluous the popularity claim of Wike in the state. He said PDP won in Rivers in 2015 because they rigged everywhere wrote results and brought army and police to chase APC supporters away. He accused Wike of masterminding election mal-practices under Goodluck Jonathan-led administration.

    Amaechi said:  “We are sure of winning Rivers State in 2019 because President Buhari will not allow that happen. He will not allow any police man to stop any one from voting.”

    Ugwuanyi (Enugu)

    He was elected governor in 2015 on the platform of PDP.  The people of Enugu State have unanimously  endorsed  him for 2019 governorship poll based on his performance. All the traditional rulers of the 450 autonomous communities in Enugu State have endorsed him. The royal fathers said their decision was in line with their peoples assessment and endorsement of the governor’s re-election in 2019.

    The monarchs said “without a dissenting voice, all especially the religious and members of ecclesiastical orders; the elders; the political class; the professionals; the academic; the self-employed; the pensioners; the working class; the traders; artisans and the youths have continued to extol Ugwuanyi’s virtues and performance in the discharge of his duties.

    “All groups of people in Enugu State across political divides have separately approved the performance of Governor Ugwuanyi and have declared him their candidate for the 2019 gubernatorial election.”

    In spite of Ugwuanyi’s endorsement,  the immediate past governor of Enugu State, Mr Sullivan Chime has said that the APC would win the 2019 elections in the state. Chime boasted that his former party, PDP will be part of history in Enugu State. He said the once vibrant PDP was now dead following the national leadership crisis that engulfed it.

    He expressed satisfaction over the defection of notable politicians like former Senate President, Ken Nnamani, Senators Jim Nwobodo and Ayogu Eze to APC.  He insists that APC is the party to beat in Enugu State in 2019.

    Bagudu (Kebbi)

    The Kebbi State chapter of APC has endorsed Governor Atiku Bagudu for a second term in office. The state chairman of the party, Alhaji Sani Zauro has re-affirmed the commitment of party members to re-election bid of the governor.

    According to Zauro, the endorsement was based on the fact that Atiku has fulfilled his campaign promises to the people of Kebbi State. He vowed that nothing would stop them from re-electing Governor Atiku  for second term in office, adding that his achievements speak volume to warrant his re-election.

    “I speak on behalf of all the party leaders in the state. We have four emirate council in the state and Governor Atiku  has touched all emirates in terms of developmental projects. He constructed roads in Yauri, Argungu, Zuru and Gwandu emirates; he renovated schools and health institutions; he created job opportunities through the rice anchor borrower for the teeming unemployed youths.”

    Observers noted that the PDP is very weak in Kebbi state following the defection of the former Governor Sa’idu Dakingari and other leaders to the APC.  PDP has been in coma in Kebbi.

    Umahi (Ebonyi)

    Governor David Umahi of Ebonyi State has boasted that he would be re-elected in 2019. He said 29 political parties have adopted him as their sole candidate for the 2019 polls. He said: “Anyone who tries us would be injured because if the person falls on us, he will be grinded into granite and if we fall on him, he will be grinded into ashes. I and my deputy have accepted to continue this divine work and anyone who tries to terminate it would face God’s anger and might not be there during my swearing-in ceremony.

    “No party would take Ebonyi because God has taken it for the People’s Democratic Party (PDP). Ebonyi would record more than one million votes during the elections as I challenge our opponents to even organise rallies and stop deceiving the people.”

    Umahi’s chances have been consolidated by the endorsement of the former Secretary to the Government of the Federation, Senator  Anyim Pius Anyim. The endorsement has laid to rest the rumours making the rounds that the duo had fallen apart which could threaten Umahi’s chances of re-election in 2019.

    At a point, it was rumoured that Anyim had concluded plans with the leaders of the PDP to snatch the governorship ticket from Umahi while in some quarters, it was said that the former Senate President would sponsor another candidate from the opposition party for a total showdown with the governor.

    Anyim insisted that Umahi has done well and his second tenure was already guaranteed, noting that the other two zones from the state have taken their turn of eight years each which meant that Ebonyi South would complete their remaining four years.

    Analysts say that contrary to Umahi’s pronouncement that there is no strong opposition in the state, his second term bid may face tough opposition from the APC.

  • Court strikes out suit seeking to remove Tambuwal

    Court strikes out suit seeking to remove Tambuwal

    Justice Gabriel Kolawole of the Federal High Court, Abuja, has struck out suit filed by Senator Umaru Dahiru which sought to remove Governor Aminu Waziri Tambuwal of Sokoto State on the ground that the primary elections which produced the defendant as the candidate of the All Progressives Congress was faulty and marred by irregularities.

    The ruling took all those at the court by surprise because today’s sitting was for a ruling on an application to amend the originating summons which the court was mandated to seat over by the Supreme Court.

    Justice Gabriel Kolawole struck out the suit after declaring that the original suit was not found in the file, adding that the applicant did not make them available.

    At the last sitting of the court on February 28, counsel to Dahiru, Mr Ikoro I. Ikoro, argued and sought to amend the originating summon filed against Tambuwal, the APC and the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) before the April 11, 2015 governorship election.

    In the amendment Dahiru prayed to court to remove Tambuwal from office and declare him as the winner of the December 2014 APC Primary Election.

    He also asked the court for an order compelling INEC to withdraw the certificate of return issued to the governor present it to him on the grounds that he was the lawfully elected candidate of the APC at the primary election.

    However, in his objection to the application, Counsel to APC, Mr Jubrin Okutepa (SAN), asked the court to dismiss the request for the amendment. He said his objection was on grounds that it is not in compliance with the Supreme Court Judgment of Dec. 9, 2016, which ordered a retrial of the plaintiff’s case.

    Okutepa argued that the applicant (Dahiru) had changed the character and direction of his earlier originating summon. He also said that the applicant sought to amend the originating summon because of his sudden discovery that event had overtaken the initial originating summon.

    The counsel added that any attempt to allow the amendment will amount to an affront to the Supreme Court Judgment of December last year.

    Okutepa further argued that the applicant was not consistent in the reliefs been sought in the proposed amendment as in the originating summon, the applicant had asked the court to nullify the APC primary election.

    He said this was on grounds that it was unlawfully conducted and that the same applicant cannot seek to be declared winner of the said unlawfully conducted primary election. The counsel therefore urged the court to refuse the amendment and allow hearing in the initial originating summon as directed by the Supreme Court.

    Counsel to Tambuwal Sunday Ameh (SAN) aligned himself with the submission of the APC and urged the court to hold that the amendment been sought by the governorship aspirant is unmeritorious.

    The counsel insisted that it is too late in the day for the applicant to seek the relief after the governorship election had been conducted, adding that the proper place for the applicant to ventilate his anger is the election petition tribunal.

    Ameh also submitted that the applicant cannot even go to any election petition tribunal because the 21 day required by law under which a petition can be filed to challenge the election of any declared winner had lapsed since 2015.

    He also prayed the court to refuse the temptation of turning itself to an election petition tribunal as there is no law for such an action.

    Justice Gabriel Kolawole after taken arguments from both parties fixed March 10 to give ruling on whether to allow or refuse the proposed amendment sought by the former governorship aspirant.

    In his ruling Friday, the judge said the amendment being sought could not stand because the court was not in possession of the original case file.

    He therefore struck it out accordingly.

  • Falana appears in suit seeking Mbu’s removal

    Falana appears in suit seeking Mbu’s removal

    A ctivist-lawyer Mr Femi Falana (SAN) has offered to represent a lawyer, Mr. Tope Alabi, who is praying the Federal High Court in Lagos to strip Assistant Inspector-General of Police (AIG) Mbu Joseph Mbu of his rank and declare his office vacant for allegedly abusing his powers.

    At yesterday’s hearing, Falana announced appearance for the plaintiff and moved an ex-parte application on his client’s behalf.

    The application was for leave to serve the Police Service Commission with the suit in Abuja.

    “We have a motion for leave to serve the third respondent outside jurisdiction,” Falana said.

    Justice Ibrahim Buba granted the application.

    The plaintiff also filed three other applications which have not been heard.

    They are a motion for interim injunction restraining Mbu from giving any orders to officers under him during the general elections pending the hearing of the plaintiff’s motion for interlocutory injunction.

    The motion for interlocutory injunction is seeking to restrain Mbu from giving any orders pending the hearing of the substantive suit.

    The plaintiff also has a pending application seeking to abridge the time within which the suit will be heard and determined in view of its urgency.

    In the substantive suit, the plaintiff is seeking a declaration that the first defendant (Mbu) “is unfit to be a police officer in Nigeria”.

    Mbu, the newly posted AIG in charge of Zone 2, rose to infamy for his unguarded utterances as well as his recent clashes with politicians, civil society activists, and journalists.

    Last year, the #BringBackOurGirls protesters in Abuja slammed a N200 million damage suit against the Nigeria Police after Mbu banned their daily sit-ins to demand the release of the kidnapped Chibok girls.

    The police hierarchy promptly reversed the ban and the suit was dropped.

    Also last year, Mbu detained and arraigned a journalist before a Magistrate for branding him ‘controversial’ during a TV programme. The magistrate struck out the charges.

    Justice Buba adjourned till March 16.

  • PwC faults bill seeking compulsory listing on NSE

    PwC faults bill seeking compulsory listing on NSE

    A Bill known as Private Companies Conversion and Listing Bill, 2013, is undergoing legislative proceedings at the National Assembly, Head of Tax at PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) Nigeria, Taiwo Oyedele, has said.

    In an emailed report, the tax expert, said the Bill seeks to compel private companies to convert to public companies by listing on the Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE). The thresholds for the mandatory conversion are shareholders fund in excess of N40 billion turnover, or total assets of N80 billion, he explained.

    He said that compelling private companies to list their securities, contradicts extant laws, such as Section 25 of the Nigerian Investment Promotion Commission Act which states unequivocally, that “no person who owns, whether wholly or in part, the capital of any enterprise shall be compelled by law to surrender his interest in the capital to any other person.”

    Oyedele said that on its face value, the Bill looks like a good initiative, but a careful analysis suggests otherwise. “Nigeria with a Gross Domestic Product of $510 billion, is the largest economy in Africa, but the country’s capital market with a total capitalisation of about $80 billion is dwarfed by the Johannesburg Stock Exchange with market capitalisation of over $1 trillion, as at the end of 2013.

    South Africa did not achieve this by forcing private companies to list, but rather through impeccable regulatory enforcement. The country is ranked first in the world in terms of regulation of securities exchanges in the World Economic Forum’s Global Competitiveness Survey for 2013 to 2014,” he said.

    He said a private company that meets any of the thresholds, must be converted to a public company and be listed on the NSE within 12 months. As stated in the Bill, the conversion is aimed at promoting growth for both the company and the Nigerian capital market.

    But Oyedele said it is counterintuitive for the sponsors of the Bill to expect an increase in tax revenue by granting tax waivers that do not necessarily increase the country’s tax base.

    He said the Bill indicates that asset value of a company is based on the gross value of the company’s assets as recorded in its balance sheet at the end of the last audited financial year; and annual turnover is based on the gross revenue of the company arising from the sale and rendering of goods and services; and the use of the company’s assets in a manner that yields interest, royalties and dividends.

    Also, the Bill extends the definition of private companies beyond the provisions of the Companies and Allied Matters Act (CAMA) to cover any body corporate, firm or partnership or any other entity. A fine of 10 per cent of annual turnover and imprisonment of at least two years may be imposed for non-compliance.

  • Obiano, APGA, commissioner stall suit seeking governor’s sack

    PRoceedings were stalled yesterday in a suit challenging Anambra State Governor Willie Obiano ‘s competence to contest the November 16 last year’s election, following his lawyer’s request for time..

    Justice Onyechi Ikpeazu (SAN) sought time to study all the applications filed in the suit at an Abuja Federal High Court.

    Justice Ahmed Mohammed on Tuesday, after refusing Sports Commissioner Tony Nnacheta’s application to be made a plaintiff, said he would hear the pending applications along with the substatitive case to prevent delay.

    Yesterday, parties were expected to argue their pending applications and the substantive suit, only for counsel to Nnacheta, the All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA) and Obiano to stall the proceedings through what seemed a well-planned strategy.

    Shortly after lawyers announced their appearances, counsel to Nnacheta, Smart Iheanzor, told the court that he had filed an affidavit of facts intended to inform the court about the steps he had taken in respect of the court’s decision the previous day.

    He told the court that the affidavit contained information that his client appealed the court’s refusal to make him a party in the case and that he also filed an application for stay of proceedings pending an appeal. He said the application was filed shortly before the court began proceedings.

    APGA’s lawyer, C. T. Mbaeri, equally informed the court about an application filed by his client, shortly before the court sat, urging it to reverse its earlier decision to hear pending applications in the substantive suit.

    Sensing that the applications by Nnacheta and APGA were intended to stall the court’s business for the day, the plaintiffs’ lawyer, Olusola Oke, urged the court to allow him reply orally if the applicants were ready to proceed with the applications they filed shortly before the court began sitting.

    When asked if he was also ready for the hearing of the fresh applications, Obiano’s lawyer, Onyechi Ikpeazu (SAN), said he needed time to study the new applications.

    He urged the court to adjourn the case.

    The judge later discovered that the applications referred to by Iheanzor and Mbaeri were not yet in the court’s file. He, however, agreed to hear the applications since parties did not dispute that they have been filed. He adjourned till June 11.

    The plaintiffs, Ugochukwu Ikegwuonu and Keneth Moneke, filed the suit before the governorship election held on November 16 last year asking the court to disqualify Obiano as a candidate in the poll for being in possession of two valid voter registration cards.

    Before hearing began, Nnacheta, who claimed to have participated in the governorship primaries as an aspirant and lost to Obiano, sought to be added as a plaintiff.

    Ruling on Tuesday, Justice Mohammed upheld the argument by Oke, who opposed Nnacheta’s application, on the grounds that the case had nothing to do with APGA’s primary election.

    The judge held that there was “an apparent conflict of interest” between the existing plaintiffs and the party seeking to be joined as a plaintiff.

    “Conflict of interest with the plaintiffs on record is being played out in this suit. A plaintiff seeking to be joined as a plaintiff must not have conflicting interests with the plaintiff on record,” he further held.

    Justice Mohammed noted that Nnacheta would become “a strange bedfellow” with the existing plaintiffs if his application to be made a co-plaintiff was granted.

    “I am of the view that the application for joinder, if granted, will only make the plaintiffs strange bedfellows. They are being represented by different counsel and the causes of action or interests are fundamentally different.

    “I find no merit in the application for joinder dated May 6 and same is accordingly dismissed,” the judge held.

  • Seeking compromise, not chaos, in Egypt

    Seeking compromise, not chaos, in Egypt

    AFTER A YEAR of misrule by its first democratically elected government, Egypt is hurtling toward a potentially catastrophic political conflict. It’s a confrontation that is unlikely to benefit either the Islamist government or its mostly secular opposition, but it could destroy Egypt’s hopes for consolidating a stable democracy or addressing its profound economic problems.

    The Tamarod or “rebel” movement called on Egyptians to take to the streets Sunday, the anniversary of President Mohamed Morsi’s government, in order to force it from office. The movement claims to have collected more than 15 million signatures on a petition calling for new presidential elections. The problem with this agenda is that there is no legal or constitutional mechanism for carrying it out; Tamarod’s leaders are hoping for what would amount to a new revolution or perhaps a military coup.

    The Morsi government has done much to generate this ill-advised militancy. Breaking promises to seek consensus with secular and opposition forces, it forced through a new constitution and has been trying to impose its control over the judiciary, media and civil society groups. It has devised laws that would tilt future elections in its favor and passed up opportunities to strike deals with moderate opponents.

    Perhaps more significantly, the government has infuriated average Egyptians with its poor management. Cities are plagued with power outages and fuel shortages, inflation and unemployment are growing and investment is dormant. A long-promised deal with the International Monetary Fund has never been completed, and only bailouts from Qatar and Libya have kept Egypt from exhausting its reserves of hard currency.

    As we have written previously, there are substantial grounds for concern that Mr. Morsi and the Muslim Brotherhood movement are seeking to monopolize power. But the opposition’s undemocratic answer offers little prospect of a good outcome. If mass protests succeed in prompting the government’s downfall or a military coup, any future elected government will be subject to the same tactics. And no administration will be able to tackle Egypt’s economic dysfunction, which will require painful reform measures, as long as the country remains polarized.

    The only workable way forward is a bargain in which Mr. Morsi agrees to major compromises with the opposition, including constitutional reforms, the withdrawal of harmful legislation concerning the judiciary and nongovernmental organizations and an end to the prosecution of opponents. In exchange, opposition leaders should stop trying to overthrow the government and begin working to win the next election.

    The United States has tried to push the sides toward such a compromise, but weakly. It has held back from using its economic leverage to curb Mr. Morsi’s excesses and even from speaking up against them forcefully, thereby convincing many Egyptians that it is propping up the Islamist government.

    U.S. relations with the Egyptian military, which has walled itself off from the government, remain strong, which offers another opportunity. Last Sunday the armed forces commander declared that the military has “the obligation to intervene to stop Egypt from plunging into a dark tunnel of civil fighting and killing or sectarianism or the collapse of state institutions.” Washington should make clear that while the military may have a role in preventing bloodshed and pushing for compromise, a forcible interruption of constitutional order is unacceptable.

     

    • Washington Post

  • Court stops Akingbola from seeking medical treatment abroad

    A Lagos High Court in Ikeja, Lagos, yesterday turned down the application of the former Managing Director of the defunct Intercontinental Bank (now Access Bank) Plc, Dr. Erastus Akingbola, to travel abroad for medical treatment.

    Justice Adeniyi Onigbanjo said Akingbola might run from trial, having known the weight of evidence against him while his trial lasted before Justice Habeeb Abiru, who could not conclude the case before he was elevated to the Court of Appeal. The judge, however, granted the banker’s application and that of his aide and co-defendant, Bayo Dada, for the variation of their bail conditions.

    Akingbola and Dada, the General Manager of Tropics Finance Limited, are on trial for allegedly stealing N47.1 billion belonging to the defunct Intercontinental Bank.

    In an application on March 19, which was filed by his counsel, Mr. Mike Igbokwe (SAN), the former bank chief sought leave of the court to travel abroad for medical treatment.

    Akingbola said he needed to keep a medical appointment fixed for April 15 at Harley Street Hospital in London, the United Kingdom.

    His counsel, Wole Olanipekun (SAN), who moved the application on Wednesday, referred the judge to some of his recent rulings, including that of Abdulahi Alao, Mahmud Tukur and Olawale Babalakin (SAN), whose similar applications were granted.

    The lawyer said there was no reason a similar application by Akingbola should not be granted.

    But Justice Onigbanjo said the authorities cited by the learned counsel were not binding since the circumstances of the cases were different.

    The judge held that Akingbola did not bring any evidence before the court to show that no medical institution in the country could treat him.

    He said there was also no evidence before the court that the banker had made any effort to contact for treatment any hospital in Nigeria.

    The judge, in separate rulings, varied the bail conditions for Akingbola and Dada.

    He held that it was no longer necessary for the defendants to report at the office of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) on the first work day of every week.

    Justice Onigbanjo held that a particular condition had outlived its usefulness since the EFCC had concluded its investigation of the alleged offence preferred against the accused.

    Justice Onigbanjo adjourned further trial in the matter till July 10.

  • Judgment today in suit seeking Justice Salami’s reinstatement

    Judgment today in suit seeking Justice Salami’s reinstatement

    A Federal High Court, Abuja, will today deliver judgment in a suit seeking the reinstatement of the suspended President of the Court of Appeal (PCA), Justice Isa Ayo Salami.

    Justice Adamu Bello could not deliver the judgment last Monday due to the strike embarked by the Judiciary Staff Union of Nigeria (JUSUN).

    The plaintiffs are Mr. Jitobo Akanike, Idris Musa, Allens Agbaka, Ibrahim Bawa, Princewill Akpakpan, Obruche Ayeteni, Nosa Ihaza, Timothy Odumosu, Stewart Salomi, Egogo Lawrence and Maxwell Adeniran.

    They sued for themselves and on behalf of the Registered Trustees of Centre for the Promotion of Arbitration.

    The Defendants are President Goodluck Jonathan, the Attorney General of the Federation and Justice Minister, Mohammed Adoke (SAN), the National Judicial Council (NJC) and Justice Salami.

    In the suit, the Plaintiffs who are human right activists, are seeking an order of mandamus to compel them to recall Justice Salami from his suspension.

    The plaintiffs are contending that Jonathan has breached the Constitution for disregarding the recommendation of the National Judicial Council (NJC).

    In the Originating Summons, the Plaintiffs are seeking • a declaration that the national judicial council is the only body that has the sole functions to exercise disciplinary powers over the justices of the court of appeal and/or the president of the court of appeal.

    •a declaration that the refusal of the 3rd defendant to implement the recommendation of its three man panel headed by honourable Justice Aloma Mariam Muhktar (JSC) urging the recall of honourable justice Isa Ayo salami (PCA) as president of the court of appeal constitute a breach of the constitution of the federal republic of Nigeria as amended.

    •An order of mandamus directing the 3rd defendant to implement the recommendation of its three man panel urging the recall of honourable Justice Isa Ayo Salami (PCA) as president of the court of appeal forthwith.

    •An order of this honourable court directing the 3rd defendant to recall the 4th defendant to resume his duties as the president of the court of appeal forthwith.

    •A declaration that the president of the federal republic of Nigeria has no power whatsoever and/or howsoever to exercise disciplinary functions over the justices of the court of appeal and or honourable justice Isa Ayo Salami (PCA) the president of the court of appeal

    •A declaration that the further reappointment and/or approval of the extension of the tenure of the 5th defendant as the acting president of the court of appeal by the 1st defendant is unconstitutional illegal null and void.

    •A declaration that any further recommendation made by the 3rd defendant to the 1st defendant for any further appointment of the 5th defendant as the acting president of the court of appeal is in conflict with relevant constitutional provisions.

    •An order of this honourable court restraining the 5th defendant from further acting as the president of the court of appeal.

    •An order of perpetual injunction restraining the 1st defendant from further re-appointing the 5th defendant as the acting president of the court of appeal.

    •A perpetual injunction restraining the 3rd defendant from further recommending to the 1st defendant the extension or re-appointment of the 5th defendant as the acting president of the court of appeal.

    The Plaintiffs want the court to determine

    •whether the president (1st defendant) by law has any disciplinary power over the justices of the court of appeal including (4th defendant) honourable justice Isa Ayo Salami (PCA), the president of the court of appeal under section153 and s.21 third schedule of the 1999 constitution.

    •whether it is within the constitutional function of the (3rd defendant) national judicial council to recall the president of the court of appeal honourable justice isa ayo salami (pca) (4th defendant) from a disciplinary suspension in compliance with sections 153 and s.21 of the third schedule of the 1999 constitution.

    •whether the president (1st defendant) of the federal republic of Nigeria has any step to take within the provisions of sections 153 and s. 21 third schedule of the 1999 constitution of the federal republic of Nigeria as amended in relation to the recall of honourable Justice Isa Ayo Salami (PCA) as recommended by the national judicial council (3rd defendant).

    •Whether the 3rd defendant three man panel recommendation for the recall of honourable justice Ayo Isa Salami (PCA) has not put an end to all disputes relation to his suspension/recall.

    •Whether the national judicial council (3rd defendant) solely has the powers to exercise disciplinary functions over the justices of court of appeal and/or the president of court of appeal in the circumstances of this case as it affects honourable justice Ayo Isa Salami (PCA) (4th defendant) under sections 153 and s.21 of the third schedule of the 1999 constitution.