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Tag: seeks

  • Fed Govt seeks to file defence in Lekki-Ikoyi Bridge suit

    The Federal Government has sought to file its defence in the suit challenging the imposition of toll on the Lekki-Ikoyi Suspended Bridge in Lagos.

    The National Inland Waterway Authority (NIWA) was joined as a defendant in the action filed by activist-lawyer Ebun Olu Adegboruwa.

    The Federal Government’s request for more time stalled the judgment billed to be delivered in the suit this week.

    Justice Saliu Seidu, who granted the government’s request, fixed November 4 for mention.

    Adegboruwa is urging the court to declare unconstitutional Lagos State government’s construction of a bridge on a federal waterway and imposition of tolls on its users.

    While the state government and its Attorney-General, Mr. Ade Ipaye, both defendants in the suit, participated in the hearing of the suit on April 30, the Federal Government failed to attend.

    But its counsel, Mrs Queen Uba, appeared in court on July 5 pleading with the court for more time to file their papers in respect of the case.

    Uba also noted that her client had not been served with the processes of the state government and the state’s Attorney General, a claim which the court confirmed to be true.

    The court also heard argument on the request by Adegboruwa seeking the court to allow him to file additional facts, which were not available as of April 30, 2013 when the matter was heard and adjourned till July 9 for judgment.

    Ipaye, who appeared for his office and the state, opposed Adegboruwa’s fresh application.

    After the court adjourned till July 5 for judgment, Governor Babatunde Fashola on May 29 inaugurated the bridge, declaring it as a toll bridge.

    Adegboruwa subsequently filed the application seeking the court to permit him file additional affidavit to show that toll collection had commenced on the bridge while judgment on its properiety was being awaited.

    He, in an affidavit supporting the application to file additional evidence, stated that the inauguration of the bridge and the subsequent commencement of toll collection on it, was meant to “undermine and over-reach” the case.?

    But Lagos said as a responsible government, it has an obligation to address the perennial traffic problems associated with the Lekki-Ikoyi axis by reducing the man-hours that would have been wasted in traffic gridlock, with its attendant cost in terms of resources, time and health.

    “Many of such projects are still required in the Lekki-Epe axis to make life easier for all who go to that area and government resources are seriously overstretched,” the state said.

    The state said the inclusion of the toll option in the bridge design is to give the state a cash flow option to pay back the borrowed part of the construction cost, keep the toll infrastructure in good repair and enhance the government’s financial capacity to replicate such infrastructure in other parts of the state.

    The state said Adegboruwa is not compelled to commute across the bridge as he has always made the journey without it. Besides, there are alternative routes to Lekki and Ikoyi, it added.

    “In the circumstance, the applicant has no cause of action as his case is premature and inchoate,” the state said.

     

  • Tambuwal seeks prayers for peace, security

    Nigerians should pray for peace, unity and progress of Nigeria during Ramadan, Speaker of the House of Representatives, Aminu Waziri Tambuwal, has said.

    Tambuwal said in accordance with the virtues of the month, Nigerians should increase their worship by abstaining from the physical pleasures of this life, and seek blessings from the Almighty God and sharing with neighbours and the needy.

    Tambuwal said the ideals of service and good governance can only make meaning when those in authority see themselves as leaders with responsibility to serve the people.

    According to him, the Holy Month provides opportunity for Nigerians, especially the Muslim faithful, to rededicate themselves to the pursuit of what is just and right.

    “Unless and until we insist on what is right for the overall good of our people, our quest for good governance and its derivatives may remain elusive to us a nation,” Tambuwal said.

    He urged Nigerians to dedicate their time to of worship in order to enjoy favour from God.

    “We must use this Holy period to love one another, sacrifice for the overall growth and development of the nation, and cooperate with constituted authorities for the attainment of our national goals,” he said.

     

  • Cleric seeks truth of Suntai’s health

    A top Catholic cleric in Jalingo, the Taraba State capital, Rev. Charles Nyameh, has urged the House of Assembly and the State Executive Council (Exco) to tell the world the truth about the state of health of Governor Danbaba Suntai.

    In a statement at the weekend, the cleric accused politicians in the state of spreading lies about the health of the governor.

    He said: Ït is time the truth is known so that the state can move forward.

    “I strongly call and urge, in the name of God, the Taraba State Executive Council and Taraba State House of Assembly to do what is necessary and within their constitutional powers to make Taraba State have a substantive governor. We cannot continue in this situation indefinitely. We should tell ourselves the truth and do what is necessary for the state to move forward.

    “If it is in our position or power to make the governor well and bring him back to continue his work, we would have done it since. We have prayed and are still praying, but it is not our decision to make.

    “We have to come to terms eventually with certain realities, which are not in our power to determine. It is a common factor in Nigeria that we often don’t want to say the truth, if it affects our interests, which are often selfish. But we have to face the reality as it is. If we don’t speak because we think we might be at a disadvantaged position, when a similar incident occurs when we might be in an advantaged position, we must be prepared to also remain silent.”

    The cleric noted that the governor would be remembered for several positive things he did, adding: “Taraba State existed before the administration of Danbaba Suntai and will continue to exist after his administration, adding that there are limits to what an acting governor can do.

    “We have played so much politics with the issues of the governor’s health and have created so much divide in the camps of those who are either for or against him. We pray God to heal him to come back and continue his life, but the governance of the state must continue according to the tenets of our sovereign national constitution,” he said.

    The cleric, who hailed the Assembly for its conduct so far, also affirmed that “the truth must be said, even if a price has to be paid for it”.

    “It is an honour to be identified with the truth in life or in death,” he added.

     

  • Expectant woman seeks justice over husband’s murder

    A widow whose husband was allegedly murdered last month by a spy police officer attached toAgip Oil Company has cried out for justice.

    The late Nwachukwu, a welder, was the Public Relation Officer of Ogbegene Community Development Committee (CDC) in Ogba/Egbema Local Government of Rivers State where company is located.

    Mrs. Evidence Nwachukwu who is expectant told The Nation that her late husband was shot by an officer attached to the oil giant. The alleged killer was simply identified as Mallam. He was shot while on his way back from a site at the community where he was supervising a water project.

    The widow and mother of three, who has taken the matter to human rights advocates, said the police have done their best in the matter to ensure that she and her children are not abandoned by the Agip Company, adding that they should do more for the sake of justice.

    She said: “I am a poor widow, my husband was shot dead by one police officer attached to Agip Company, the man was simply identified as Malam, when the incident took place last month, we made all efforts through the assistance of the Police for the company to come to our aid but they refused.”

    Nwachukwu who battled to control her tears also addded: “The oil company has abandoned me and my children that is why we took the matter to human right organization for justice to be done, they have made me a widow overnight and I am calling on Nigerians and Police Authority to assist me and my children to address this injustice.”

    The chairman of Ogbegene Community Development committee (CDC), Mr. Ishmael Odili promised that the community where the deceased served as the PRO will ensure that justice is done on the matter.

    “When the deseased was shot, I was the first person they called and he died after the police rushed him to Deye Hospital, Omoku. He was coming back from the site one morning when a police officer stopped him and shot him to death. He commited no crime that is why the company is afraid to come up, but I know we will get justice over the matter.”

    When contacted Rivers State Police Public Relation Officer PPRO, Mrs. Angela Agabe confirmed the report. “The police are still investigating the matter, as I am talking to you now a lawyer just left my office in respect of that. But I want the press to always differentiate between the spy police and the Nigerian police because the suspect is a spy police”

  • NLNG v NIMASA: Fed Govt seeks to discharge order

    The Federal Government has asked a Federal High Court, Lagos, to vacate an exparte order made against it in the dispute between Nigeria Liqufied Natural Gas (NLNG) and the Nigeria Maritime Administration and Safety Agency (NIMASA).

    Through its lawyer, Fabian Ajogwu (SAN), it filed a Motion on Notice dated June 27 asking the court to vacate or discharge the exparte order on the ground that it was made against NIMASA, which was not joined in the suit.

    The order was made against the Attorney-General of the Federation, Mohammed Adoke (SAN), Global West Vessel Specialists Nigeria Limited and its Managing Director, Romeo Itima.

    NLNG alleged they disobeyed an order made on June 18 by Justice Mohammed Idris and filed a contempt charge against them.

    The judge had made the order of interim injunction restraining the defendants, either acting for or deriving authority from the Federal Government, including NIMASA, from charging three per cent of gross freight earnings, tax, charges or dues on all of NLNG’s international-bound and out-bound cargo, owned by it or its contractors or subsidiaries, pending the hearing and determination of the motion for interlocutory injunction.

    Adoke contends that NIMASA, being a body corporate with statutory powers to sue and be sued in its own name, should have been joined in the suit.

    He said its non-inclusion as a party was a violation of the principles of fair hearing, which is that the other side should be heard.

    The Federal Government argues that an order cannot be made against a person who is not a party to a suit as it is necessary that such party must be given the opportunity to present his case.

    Adoke said the dispute that gave rise to the suit was essentially between NLNG and NIMASA, and the non-inclusion of NIMASA was deliberate move by NLNG to circumvent the provision of Section 53(2) the Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency Act of 2007.

    The section, the applicant said, makes it mandatory for an intending plaintiff to give the statutory body a 30-day pre-action notice.

    Adoke said: “The reliefs granted the plaintiffs ex-parte are indeed, in form and substance essentially the reliefs being sought in the substantive suit.”

    He said the court would not have granted the ex-parte order if not for an alleged misrepresentation, concealment and non-disclosure of material facts by NLNG.

    The government said there was no urgency whatsoever shown by NLNG, let alone extreme urgency, warranting the granting of the exparte orders against the defendants and NIMASA.

    The court had restrained the defendants from further detaining or preventing NLNG’s chartered vessels from carrying out import and export of gas through the Bonny channel or elsewhere in Nigeria.

  • Slain policeman’s sibling seeks justice

    One month after about 90 policemen were gruesomely murdered by the Ombatse Cult in Nasarawa State, relations of one of the victims have remained traumatised. Now, they are worried that justice has been delayed over the matter.

    Christian Ibekwe was among the victims, who were cut down in their prime. His 22-year-old brother, Nicholas, a journalist, sobbed while narrating the trauma of the deceased kinsmen, including his 65-year-old mother, Mrs. Christiana Ibekwe.

    Nicholas told The Nation that the absence of justice over the case “has tormented me and every member of our bereaved family like a sore toe in an ill-fitting shoe.”

    Christian, an Inspector attached to the Criminal Investigation Department (CID), Nasarawa, was 45 when he was killed, leaving behind, his young wife, two kids and his aged mother.

    Nicholas said: “I’ve only succeeded in switching from one level of depression to another like a danfo driver switching lanes in Lagos rush-hour traffic. Even when I manage to sleep, it’s often in snatches – I’m violently roused to reality by frightful nightmares as I sweat as if I took a dive in the devil’s pool. Leaving the house is terribly becoming unexciting these days. I’m badly beaten and bruised all over by dejection.

    “One might argue that these are signs of intense grieving. True. I haven’t known grief this deep. The pain I felt at the passing of my old man was nothing compared to this. However, I’m traumatised more by my helplessness at bringing the perpetrators of this heinous crime to justice. It disturbs me greatly that 10 years from now, I might have to tell my two nephews that the savages that killed their father were never arrested or prosecuted.”

    He spoke further: “Worse, the government and police authorities have made only a feeble, or honestly, no attempt whatsoever to make them pay. They haven’t even bothered to tell the truth of how these men were led to their death. It breaks my heart that the founder of this cult group still talks freely to the media and brags about how “his gods sent fire from above to kill the policemen.”

    “I want to express how brazen we have become at the brutal waste of human lives and the impunity around it. Further, I hope by sharing the trauma my family endured this past month, we can begin to, at least, imagine the suffering of thousands of families that lost loved ones in the convulsing madness that has darkened the soul of the country. I also intend that this will serve as a wake-up call for those of us in our little bubbles outside the north that evil is roaming just down the street.”

    Nicholas added: “Many of the murdered policemen would still be alive today if the police authorities had done basic checks before hurriedly deploying them to death. They were not properly briefed.

    “There was basically no planning whatsoever. Their convoy was easily ambushed and the men butchered in the most cold-blooded manner. Many of the bodies recovered were sprayed with bullets, butchered with cutlasses and deliberately burnt beyond recognition. The Assistant Commissioner that led the team was discovered in an abandoned well, bloated, with one of his legs missing.”

    Though he said the shock of his brother’s killing was gradually subsiding, he reiterated his call on police authorities to ensure justice.

  • Imo contract fraud: Detained Spanish tycoon seeks IGP, EFCC probe

    Jose Lopez-Pepe, a Spanish businessman, who is being held by the police for allegedly defrauding Imo State Government, has urged the Inspector-General of Police (IGP) and Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) to examine the allegation against him.

    Lopez-Pepe, who was accused of absconding with about 1.6 million Euros (N1.2 billion) part of an initial payment for N3.6 billion contract awarded to his company, was reportedly arrested in Abuja last week and handed over to the police in Imo State.

    In a petition by his lawyers – Abiodun Oduwole and David Ashaolu – addressed to the EFCC Chairman and IGP, Lopez-Pepe accused the Imo State Government and his Nigerian partner of allegedly misrepresenting facts.

    The arrest of Lopez-Pepe, the manager of New International FPS SL, was said to have followed a petition by his Nigerian partner and Managing Director of Hormipresa Nigeria Limited, Benjamin Emenike.

    The Nigerian businessman allegedly accused his Spanish partner of diverting funds for the supply of equipment for a contract awarded to them by the state.

    But Lopez-Pepe denied receiving any part-payment for the project from the state government.

    He urged the IGP and the EFCC to jointly investigate Emenike and some officials of the Imo State Government to unravel the mystery behind the missing funds.

    Lopez-Pepe said his company partnered Emenike’s Hormipresa, being an indigenous agent, for the project awarded on November 8, 2011, at N3.6 billion. He explained that this is because his company was not registered in Nigeria.

    The Spaniard added that while he returned to his country for technical drawings and other equipment for the project, Emenike allegedly failed to transfer to him the N1.2 billion, being 30 per cent part-payment of the total contract cost.

    Lopez-Pepe accused Emenike of insincerity in handling his part of the transaction. He wondered why he (Emenike) was also not arrested.

  • SNG seeks honour for June 12 heroes

    The Save Nigeria Group (SNG) has urged the Federal Government to immortalise the late Chief MKO Abiola, winner of the June 12, 1993 presidential election and other June 12 heroes.

    It spoke during the 20th anniversary of the annulment of the election. The group said the event was held to assess democratic practices.

    The programme, which took place in Lagos, was tagged: ‘Democracy Audit 2013’. It had in attendance former Abia State governor, Dr. Orji Uzor Kalu, former member, House of Representatives, Dino Melaye, Abiola’s eldest son, Kola, Mr. Jimmy Agbaje, among others.

    The Federal Government was represented by the Minister of Information, Labaran Maku.

    SNG’s spokesman, Mr. Yinka Odumakin, said the democratic audit became necessary “to access our democracy 20 years after MKO Abiola was denied his mandate.”

    He said the uninterrupted 14 years of democracy “has not moved us far because the operators have not bought into the dreams the late Abiola had for the country.”

    The convener of the group, Pastor Tunde Bakare, said from the available record, the present day Nigeria is far from the Nigeria Abiola died for.

    Said he: “We are yet to enjoy uninterrupted electricity supply after $16 billion was wasted by the Olusegun Obasanjo administration. More money is still being spent on power. The road network is in a bad state. Nigerians are going to bed hungry.”

    Odumakin said for the majority, there is no hope, adding that the hospitals are not equipped and politicians, who are the beneficiaries of June 12, travel abroad for medical treatment.

    Bakare said corruption has become endemic and the government seems overwhelmed or does not have the will power to challenge it.

    According to him, unemployment, insecurity and failed or non-existent infrastructures are threatening the existence of the nation.

    He said the democratic audit became necessary “to examine where we are, compared to where we were 20 years ago when Abiola was denied his mandate.

    Maku said Abiola’s death was everybody’s problem, as it affected all Nigerians.

    He said Nigeria’s case was complicated and pleaded for understanding as the President Goodluck Jonathan administration was doing everything to transform the country.

    The Information Minister said government is taking steps to rid the country of corruption.

    Kola Abiola enjoined the citizens to believe in one Nigeria as they did during his father’s time and work towards achieving it. He urged the leaders to show leadership qualities in all aspects of national life.

    Melaye said corruption is worse than Boko Haram insurgency. He asked why the Petroleum Minister should remain in office after she had been indicted six times by six bodies.

    Agbaje urged civil society groups to rise up and engage the government more positively. “The people need to do more, it is wrong for us to always accuse,” he added.

  • Federal Govt seeks more investment in oil refining

    Federal Govt seeks more investment in oil refining

    Vice President Namadi Sambo said at the weekend that decreasing oil sales to the United States have provided the opportunity to create jobs by building refineries and developing markets closer home.

    Nigeria, a major member of the Organisation of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC), lacks refining capacity and depends on imported fuel to meet domestic demand.

    Nigeria’s position as Africa’s biggest crude producer is threatened by Angola whose oil output is at par with what Nigeria produces.

    For the first time since 2009, Nigeria’s shipments to the U.S. slid to 194,000 barrels a day in February, the lowest in more than 18 years, according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration.

    “Part of our policy now, as a result of this, is that we’re attracting more foreign direct investment in processing the crude oil in Nigeria,” Sambo said told reporters in Yokohama, Japan. “That creates more jobs, and it creates wealth within the country.”

    The U.S. is Nigeria’s biggest crude buyer, importing cargoes valued at 724 billion naira ($4.6 billion) in the fourth quarter of last year stated the National Bureau of Statistics. The U.S. imports from Nigeria rebounded in March to 376,000 barrels a day, according to EIA data published May 30.

    Sambo is in Japan for the Tokyo International Conference on African Development, the largest African development forum outside the continent.

    Angola is poised to overtake Nigeria as the continent’s top producer of crude as oil thieves sabotage pipelines in the oil-rich Niger River delta. Nigeria pumped 1.87 million barrels a day in May, the same as Angola, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. Both belong to the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries.

    International producers including Royal Dutch Shell Plc (RDSA), Exxon Mobil Corp., Chevron Corp. (CVX), Total SA (FP) and Eni SpA (ENI) — in joint ventures with the state-owned Nigerian National Petroleum Corp. – pump about 90 per cent of the country’s output.

  • Woman seeks justice over son’s killing

    An employee of the Edo State Centre for Community Development, Mrs. Osas Okungbowa Momodu, has petitioned the Inspector General of Police, Mohammed Abubakar to investigate the alleged killing of her only son by some policemen.

    Her son, Ibrahim Momodu, a 500-level student in the department of Science Laboratory Technology of the University of Benin, was reportedly shot dead by the police last Wednesday night along Textile Mill Road, Benin City.

    In the petition, mother of the victim urged the police boss to urgently look into the killing and bring those responsible to justice.

    She said her son was shot dead by policemen attached to Ogida Police Station on trumped-up allegation of armed robbery.”

    The petition read: “It might suffice you to know that when I went to the station after I called my son’s GSM number on that fateful day, the police gave a conflicting version of how he was killed”.

    “The police referred to my son as a commercial bus driver while my son could not even drive a car. The motorcycle which my son boarded was impounded, while the whereabouts of the motorcyclist remain unknown.”

    “It is my candid prayer that you launch an unbiased investigation into the killing of Ibrahim Momodu and bring the culprits to justice,” she said.

    In a chat with The Nation, Mrs. Momodu said she was told by sympathisers at the scene that the police ran away after killing her son, only to return the following morning to collect his corpse for burial.

    She said a policeman told her at the State Police Headquarters that her son was killed during a shoot-out and that the motorcyclist escaped with bullet wounds.

    Meanwhile, students and members of civil societies in the state have mobilised to protest the killing in major streets of Benin City today.

    Executive Director of African Network for Environment and Economic Justice, Rev David Ugolor, who condemned the killing, said a formal petition would be written for a panel of inquiry to be set up to investigate where the victim allegedly robbed and for the police to release the pathology report.

    State Police spokesman, DSP Moses Eguaveon, a Deputy Suprentendet (DSP), could not be reached for comments at press time.