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Probe: It is absurd Wike shields Fubara, witch-hunts Amaechi says HURIWA 

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Civil rights advocacy group, Human Rights Writers Association of Nigeria, (HURIWA) on Sunday, described as an absurdity, the obsession of Rivers State Governor, Nyesom Wike, to probe his predecessor, Rotimi Amaechi, over an alleged N96 billion fraud.

HURIWA’s National Coordinator, Comrade Emmanuel Onwubiko, in a statement on Sunday, stressed that Wike of the Peoples Democratic Party is on a mission to witch-hunt and embarrass Amaechi because he is a member of the opposition in the state, the All Progressives Congress.

The group also said it was an irony how that Wike has been hell-bent to humiliate Amaechi through a phantom probe of Amaechi’s eight-year term as Rivers governor but the same Wike has allegedly been shielding the 2023 PDP governorship candidate in Rivers, Siminialayi Fubara, from being arrested by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission despite that Fubara, the immediate past Accountant General of Rivers, and three other top state government officials, had been declared wanted by the anti-graft agency for alleged N117 billion fraud.

HURIWA frowns upon this double standards by Wike and called the governor to act in the interest of justice, fairness and equity and not to be moved by political animosity and hatred.

Recall that the Supreme Court dismissed an appeal filed by Amaechi, an ex-Minister of Transportation, seeking to stop his probe over an alleged N96 billion fraud but the nation’s Apex court categorically ruled that the Commission of Inquiry set up by the Rivers State’s governor Mr. Nyesom Wike has no power in law to make indictment because it has no prosecutorial powers.

The Commission of Inquiry hurriedly set up by Wike has an agenda to look into the lawfulness or otherwise of the alleged sale of Rivers State’s valuable assets, such as Omoku Gas Turbine, Afam Gas Turbine, Trans Amadi Gas Turbine, Eleme Gas Turbine, Olympia Hotel and the award of contract for the execution of the Mono Rail project.

Reacting, HURIWA’s Onwubiko said, “Whilst we do not support any form of unaccountability and transparency just as we believe that the probe of any serving or past government officials is sacrosanct, HURIWA frowns upon double standards by Governor Nyesom Wike.

“It is an eyesore that the governor is pursuing a witch-hunt agenda against his predecessor, Rotimi Amaechi, for obvious reasons and he (Wike) failed to reckon that he has been allegedly shielding the 2023 PDP governorship candidate, Siminialayi Fubara, from being picked by the EFCC.

“Wike has not also deemed it fit to advise Fubara to surrender himself to the anti-graft agency but continue to watch on as the governorship candidate evade arrests brazenly.

“Fighting corruption must be entire and not selective. Wike should stop his clandestine agenda and ensure what is good for the goose is good for the gander.”

HURIWA said the decision to drag Mr.Rotimi Chibuike Amaechi to the Rivers State High Court few hours after the Supreme Court’s verdict that stated that the board of Inquiry by Governor Nyesom Wike has no power to indict anybody and then Nyesom Wike said that Rivers State’s elders will decide if his Administration will sue Mr Rotimi Amaechi the immediate past Rivers State Governor,  shows that the reason for this sham prosecution of the former Transportation Minister is just a show of shame and a misapplication of the judicial powers to achieve predetermined politically tainted end. “When did the Rivers State’s elders voted to compel Nyesom Wike to go to court? Who were the elders that voted and why subject the court system in Rivers to ridiculous manipulation? If the Rivers State’s governor has convincing evidence of committal of any crime by the immediate past administration in Rivers State, is it for the elders to decide whether going to court was right or wrong? What all the dramas show is that the ongoing legal action against Rotimi Amaechi is spurious, politically motivated,  unnecessary and is a product of hate politics and politics of animosity. We are asking Governor Nyesom Wike to stop stoking up tension in his own State and follow due process of the law by surrendering his officials wanted by EFCC for alleged heist of humonguous amount of public fund right under his nose.”

 

Certificate Controversy: Arrest Tinubu within 48hrs, CSO tells IGP

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More trouble for All Progressives Party(APC) Presidential Flagbearer, Ahmed Tinubu as a civil rights organization, Center for Reform and Public Advocacy(CRPA), has given the Inspector-General of Police a 48- hour ultimatum within which he should arrest and initiate criminal prosecution against him, for allegedly supplying false academic qualifications to secure the nomination.

The organisation threatened that should the IGP fail to act, court action would be instituted against him for an order of mandamus to compel him to effect the arrest of Tinubu at the end of the ultimatum.

The Legal Adviser of the CRPA and human rights lawyer, Agu Kalu, issued the threat during a press conference in Abuja on Saturday.
But when contacted, the Director (Legal Directorate), Tinubu Campaign Organisation, Babatunde Ogala (SAN), told our correspondent that they were ready to defend against the threats and allegations.

He clarified that the APC presidential candidate has complied fully with the provisions of the Electoral Act.
He said, “There is nothing to respond to them, the Electoral Act is clear. We are waiting, let them go, let them bring the writ, we will defend it. I think we have gone past this stage of some people on social media, for whatever reason in the media, issuing threats.
“If they have anything, let them bring it. As far as we are concerned, our candidate has complied fully with the provisions of the Electoral Act. If they want to go to court, let them go to court. But we must also let them know that we are not unconscious of the laws of defamation in the country. We know the difference between a court process that is privileged and making unfounded allegations in the Newspapers like they are doing now.

“But honestly, our candidate is not perturbed, he can’t be bothered by all these threats. If they want to go to court, let them go to court. When they come, we will react appropriately to the court process. What we know, we have complied fully with the provisions of the law and we will not be blackmailed and intimidated.”

Kalu alleged that the former Lagos State governor was not legally qualified to become the next President of Nigeria in 2023 on grounds of supplying false information on oath in his form EC 9 submitted to the Independent National Electoral Commission.

Amongst others, the legal practitioner alleged that in 1999 Bola Tinubu claimed to have attended Saint Paul Aroloya Children Home School, Ibadan between 1958 and 1964 and Government College, Ibadan between 1965 and 1969, only to turn around in 2022 that he never attended any primary or secondary school in his EC9 form.

He said, “We wrote a petition to the IG on June 16, demanding the prosecution of Tinubu for providing false information on oath in his INEC form CF 001 which he submitted in 1999

Since the IG is yet to act on the petition, we are using this press conference to call on the IG to do the needful, he is not above the law, nobody is above the law, Sections 191 and 192 makes it a criminal offence to provide false information on oath.

“We are also calling on President Buhari to direct the IG to arrest and prosecute Tinubu for perjury, it is a very serious issue.”

He added that in the event Buhari and IG failed to do the needful, the group in conjunction with other civil groups will approach a court of law for judicial review and order of mandamus to order the IG to do the needful.

Since the IG is yet to act on the petition, we are using this press conference to call on the IG to do the needful, he is not above the law, nobody is above the law, Sections 191 and 192 makes it a criminal offence to provide false information on oath.

“We are also calling on President Buhari to direct the IG to arrest and prosecute Tinubu for perjury, it is a very serious issue.”

He added that in the event Buhari and IG failed to do the needful, the group in conjunction with other civil groups will approach a court of law for judicial review and order of mandamus to order the IG to do the needful.

Kalu who presented a Certified True Copy ad-hoc report of the Lagos State House of Assembly, which investigated the former governor in 1999 said that Tinubu clearly admitted discrepancies in his academic qualifications.

He said that the investigation of Tinubu’s academic qualification in 1999 was the aftermath of a petition written by a foremost legal luminary and social crusader, late Chief Gani Fawehinmi (SAN).

According to him, CRPA’s petition calling for arrest and prosecution of Tinubu was submitted to the IGP since June 16 and lamented that up till now, the police authority had not deemed it fit to effect his arrest.

Kalu emphasized that nobody was above the law under the constitution and demanded that the police must perform its constitutional role without fear or favour.

The activist said that in the event that he was found to have made false allegations against Tinubu, the Police should arrest him and charge him to court appropriately.

The Abuja lawyer explained that the position of his group for the arrest of Tinubu was not politically motivated but predicated on the need for good governance and transparent leadership Nigeria deserved in the 2023 general election.

Among vital documents attached to the petition delivered to the IGP and acknowledged by his office included the forms submitted to INEC by Tinubu in 1999 and 2022 for verification.

2023: Knocks trail Joe Igbokwe criticism of Peter Obi

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Chieftain of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in Lagos State, Joe Igbokwe has received knocks over his comment describing the Labour Party(LP) the presidential flagbearer, Peter Obi as “overrated presidential candidate and a mere ‘trader’.

Joe stated this while recounting a recent comment by Obi where he condemned President Muhammadu Buhari’s system of stimulating the economy through infrastructure.

EarlierThe former Anambra State governor had said:

“You can’t use infrastructure to drive economic growth.

“You invest in education and the SME (Small, Medium Enterprises) sector instead to deal with poverty.”

Criticism the comment, Igbokwe advised Nigerians not to take Obi as a serious presidential contender.

In his Facebook post, Igbokwe wrote: “Somebody who wants to be the President of Nigeria is telling you that infrastructure does not drive the economy in the 21st Century and you are taking that person seriously. Peter [Obi] is overrated in Nigeria. He is just a trader.

In response, a group Labour Party Tribune wrote on it official twitter handle:

“We are happy Joe Igbokwe said our Principal HE Peter Obi is a trader .

“We don’t need a politician as president in Nigeria right now. We need an overrated trader

“If you are in support please hit like and follow us”.

Peter Obi’s Massuse:

“I will rather vote for a trader than a fraudster”.

2023:INEC lists withdrawal, dead as conditions for running mate replacement of party’s Presidential Flagbearer

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The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), listed candidate’s withdrawal, dead as conditions for replacing running mate of partiers presidential flagbearer in the forthcoming elections.

This comes amid reports that some political parties, including the All Progressives Congress (APC) and Labour Party, nominated their vice-presidential candidates as ‘placeholders’, pending the conclusion of talks for a substantive candidate to be picked.

While APC forwarded the name of Ibrahim Kabiru Masari as its vice-presidential candidate, LP had nominated Doyin Okupe for the same position.

Reacting to the development, INEC National Commissioner, Festus Okoye, said the electoral body would take a decision in accordance with the Electoral Act.

Okoye explained further, “There is a provision in the Electoral Act for withdrawal of candidates validly nominated and the law provides that a political party cannot substitute a candidate that has been validly nominated except in two instances; if the nominated candidate dies or if the nominated candidate withdraws from the race.

“And in terms of withdrawal, the nominated candidate shall – in his own writing – write a letter to the political party that nominated him, indicating that he has withdrawn from the race and that must also be accompanied by an affidavit duly sworn to by the said candidate.

“Then the political party that nominated the candidate will now forward same to the Independent National Electoral Commission saying that our presidential candidate has withdrawn, or our vice-presidential candidate has withdrawn, and these are the documents of withdrawal and this is the person we are using to replace.

“But as of today, the political parties nominated their presidential candidates and nominated their vice-presidential candidates, so the issue of withdrawal is at the absolute discretion of the duly nominated candidate and no one else.”

According to Okoye who is also INEC’s Chairman of Information and Voter Education Committee, the political parties submitted forms containing the names of their presidential and vice-presidential candidates, as well as their particulars and sworn affidavits.
He stressed that none of the political parties neither indicate that they were submitting the document or name of a candidate as a placeholder.

“All the political parties that submitted list and particulars of their candidates said they were submitting the list of their presidential candidates and vice-presidential candidates; the issue of submitting a name in lieu, or submitting a name as a placeholder did not even arise,” the INEC official stated.

Liverpool ready to sell Mo Salah over whooping €400,000 new contract demand

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English Premier side, Liverpool are prepared to lose another top forward this summer just a few days after selling off Sadio Mane to Bayern Munich after six years at the Premier League club. The Reds are reportedly frustrated with Mohamed Salah’s new contract demands are willing to receive offers for the Egyptian forward this summer.

According to a report via the Daily Mail, Salah is demanding wages of £400,000 a week if he is to remain at Liverpool as he enters the final year of his present deal with the club.

Salah who currently earns just under the £240,000 a week received by the club’s top earner Virgil van Dijk and wants a significant increase in his take-home pay following his brilliant performances in recent seasons. Last season Salah won the Premier League Golden Boot award and also scored 31 goals and provided 16 assists for Liverpool across 51 appearances in all competitions.

Meanwhile, UEFA Champions League holders, Real Madrid could swoop in to sign Mohamed Salah from Liverpool this summer following the Egyptian’s contract standoff with the Reds.

Liverpool could let Mo Salah leave Anfield for £60million The Sun reports and Los Blancos are among the few clubs monitoring Salah’s delicate situation. The Reds are not willing to shatter their wage structure to keep Salah at Anfield and Real Madrid could take advantage of the contract deadlock to seal a move for Premier League Golden Boot winner this summer.

Why we excluded Lawan, Akpabio, Umahi from APC senatorial list- INEC

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The names of the Senate President, Ahmad Lawan, former Minister of Niger Delta, Godswill Akpabio, and Governor of Ebonyi State, David Umahi have been purportedly excluded from the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) successful All Progressives Party senatorial candidates released on Friday.

For the purposes of claims and objections, forms and particulars of presidential candidates were slated to be published on Friday, at the INEC headquarters in Abuja while those of senatorial candidates were pasted at its offices across the federation.

With the exception of presidential candidates’ particulars missing on the INEC notice board in Abuja as scheduled, names of senatorial candidates nominated by parties were confirmed and published at the state level by Newssphere.

Despite not participating in the senatorial primaries of the All Progressives Congress (APC) held in May, Messrs Lawan and Akpabio, Umahi were controversially nominated as its candidates for Yobe North, Akwa-Ibom North, Ebonyi South ahead of the 2023 poll.

In place of the duo who were then entwined in the race for the APC presidential ticket, Bashir Machina, Udom Ekpoudom and Autin Umahi had emerged for the Yobe North, Akwa-Ibom Northwest and Ebonyi South in primaries respectively supervised by INEC officials.

While there have been some controversies around Mr Akpabio’s ‘backdoor’ emergence, Mr Machina has continuously vowed not to step down for the Senate President, Mr Lawan.

Reacting to the matter on Channels Television’s Politics Today on Friday, an INEC National Commissioner, Festus Okoye, said the commission is not obligated to publish the name of candidates that did not emerge from valid party primaries.

“If a political party submits to the Independent National Electoral Commission the name of a candidate that did not emerge from party primaries or did not emerge from valid party primaries, the commission is not obligated to publish the name of such a candidate,” he said.

However, Mr Okoye noted that INEC has not published the final list of validly nominated candidates.

“The final list of validly nominated candidates will be published by the Independent National Electoral Commission on the 20th day of September, 2022. And that is for presidential and national assembly candidates.

“What the Commission has published, as of today, complies with Section 29(3) of the electoral act which says that the moment political parties comply with the provision of Section 29 (1) of the electoral act in terms of the submission of its validly nominated candidates, that the Commission shall publish the personal particulars of such candidates in the constituencies where the candidates intend to contest election.

“In other words, for instance for a senatorial candidate, if a senatorial district covers four local governments, we will publish the personal particulars of such a candidate in the four local governments.

“So that is exactly what we have done. And we published the personal particulrs of candidates that emerged from valid party primaries. And that’s what the law says we should do.

“So, if the name of any candidate was not published, or if the personal particulars of any candidate was not published today, the implication is that such a candidate did not emerge from valid party primaries.”

 

Why Supreme Court rejected Buhari’s suit challenging 84(12) of Electoral Act

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The Supreme Court in a unanimous judgement delivered by Justice Emmanuel Agim on Friday struck out President Muhammadu Buhari and the Attorney General of the Federation’s suit challenging Section 84(12) of the Electoral Act.

The case was expunged on the grounds that it lacks the jurisdiction to entertain the suit and is an abuse of court process.

The Court explained that President Buhari who assented the bill on 25th February, 2022 cannot turn around and challenge it.

Earlier, a notice for the judgment delivery was served on President Buhari and the National Assembly on Thursday, inviting them to appear before the court today for the judgment.

The President and his Minister of Justice, Abubakar Malami, had filed a suit at the Supreme Court, seeking an interpretation of the controversial clause in the Electoral Amendment Act 2022.

In the suit filed on April 29, Buhari and Malami, who are the plaintiffs, listed the National Assembly as the sole defendant.

There have been several debates regarding Section 84(12) of the amended Electoral Act 2022 which was assented to in February.
Upon assenting to the act, President Buhari had asked the National Assembly to delete the contended clause, however, the parliament declined the president’s request.

Section 84 (12) of the legislation holds that, “no political appointee at any level shall be a voting delegate or be voted for at the convention or congress of any political party for the purpose of the nomination of candidates for any election.”

In their suit marked SC/CV/504/2022 and filed on April 29, 2022, President Buhari and Malami sought an order of the apex court to strike out the section of the Electoral Act, which they argue was inconsistent with the nation’s constitution.
According to the court document, the plaintiffs contend that the Section 84(12) of the Electoral (Amendment) Act, 2022 is inconsistent with the provisions of sections 42, 65, 66, 106, 107, 131, 137, 147, 151, 177, 182, 192 and 196 of the Constitution of Federal Republic of Nigeria, 1999, (as amended), as well Article 2 of the African Charter on Human and People and Peoples Rights.
The plaintiffs further contended that the constitution already makes provisions for qualification and disqualification for the offices of the President and Vice President, Governor and Deputy Governor, Senate and House of Representatives, House of Assembly, Ministers, Commissioners and Special Advisers.

They urged the Supreme Court to make: “A declaration that the joint and or combined reading of the section 65, 66, 106, 107, 131, 137, 147, 151, 177, 182, 192 and 196 of the constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, 1999, (as amended), the provision of Section 84 (12) of the Electoral Act, 2022 which also ignores Section 84(3) of the same Act, is an additional qualifying and/or disqualifying factors for the National Assembly, House of Assembly, Gubernatorial and Presidential elections as enshrined in the said constitution, hence unconstitutional, unlawful, null and void”.

In a unanimous judgement delivered by Justice Emmanuel Agim the court said allowing the suit to have it’s way will amount to approbating and reprobating at the same time and no court of law shall allow that.

The Apex Court unanimously agreed that President Buhari lacked the jurisdiction to bring the suit before it because of the nature of the reliefs sought.

 

ICPC clarifies on media report of Abuja Property’s raid, seizure

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The attention of the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC) has been drawn to some inaccurate and concocted reports in the media about the seizure of multibillion-naira cash, dollars, Rolex watches stockpiled in an Abuja property.

2.  The Commission wishes to state that ICPC operatives raided a property in Wuse 2 of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Abuja, on Thursday, 16th June, 2022 between 5:00pm and 12:00am in suspicion of money laundering . Facts available for the time being indicates that the property is owned by owner of K Salam Construction Company, a military contractor.

3.  The Commission recovered money and other items from the property viz. N175,706,500; $220,965; G-Wagon; 2022 editions of BMW and Mercedes Benz cars; customized mobile phones; several designer wrist watches, including three Rolexes, and some property documents.

4. The Commission arrested the Managing Director of K Salam Construction Company Nigeria Limited, Mr. Kabiru Sallau and investigation is ongoing.

5.  The Commission is yet to conclude its investigation and prefers not to preempt its outcome and also avoid the frenzy of a media trial.

Document shows Ekweremadu informed UK high commission about daughter’s kidney donor

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…10 Facts about Ike Ekweremadu’s Organ harvest Charge in Uk- Chidi Cali

The former deputy senate president, Ike Ekweremadu, had in December 2021, written a letter to the British high commission about a kidney donation for his daughter.

This is according to a copy of an official letter written by Ekweremadu to the UK high commission, seen by Nigerian NewsDirect Newspaper on Thursday.

In the letter, the former deputy senate president said he was writing in support of a visa applicant who was scheduled for “medical investigations for a kidney donation to Ms Sonia Ekweremadu”.

He said the donor and his daughter “will be at the Royal Free Hospital London”, adding that he would “be providing the necessary funding”.

“I have enclosed a statement of my bank account,” he added.
“Please do not hesitate to contact me if you require additional information.

Please accept the assurances of my highest regards.”

The NewsDirect reports that on Thursday, the UK metropolitan police announced that Ekweremadu and his wife were charged to court over the allegation of bringing a child to the UK for organ harvesting.

10 Facts about Ike Ekweremadu’s Organ harvest Charge in Uk- Chidi Cali

1) UK Authorities Confirmed the Arrest of the Senator and his Wife.

2) Ekweremadu’s Daugther, Sonia has a Kidney problem & undergoing Dialysis in the UK.

3) Ekweremadu contracted a willing organ donor in Nigeria.

4) Donor’s Age on his passport is 21.

5) Visa was processed with the British High Commission and it was reported that the 21-year-old was going to donate a kidney to a UK Resident.

6) Test revealed that the donor’s organ is not a good match.

7) As reportedly agreed, the donor was told that he has to go back to Nigeria and he refused.
😎 The Donor made a complaint that he is a Minor, aged 15 and he promised a better life, but in turn, the Ekweremadu decides to use his organ for their sick daughter.

8) The UK authority is treating the alleged donor as a Minor (15).

9) The donor is being protected based on his age and the nature of the allegation.

10) Ekweremandu and his wife were refused Bail this afternoon as the investigation is ongoing.

 

Collaboration is success path to 5G deployment in Nigeria, says Danbatta

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Industry collaboration is very essential to successful deployment of 5G Services in Nigeria, so says the Executive Vice Chairman (EVC) of the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC), Prof. Umar Garba Danbatta, who in Lagos earlier today, urged industry stakeholders to stand with the Commission to explore the prospects and potentials of the new technology, which is enormous.

Prof. Danbatta, who spoke at the 90th Edition of the Telecom Consumer Parliament (TCP) hosted by the Consumer Affairs Bureau of the Commission, said the policy framework for the deployment has come into place and will facilitate deployment of services by the recent winners of the 3.5GHz spectrum auction, MTN Nigeria Communications Ltd and MAFAB Communications Ltd.

He said the Commission has set out the regulatory instruments needed for fast deployment of the new versatile technology for the benefit of the consumers and the stakeholders.

Prof. Danbatta, therefore, invited the support of all stakeholders to ensure that 5G technology is deployed in Nigeria in a manner beneficial to all telecom consumers and to support the emergent Digital Economy Policy of the Federal Government of Nigeria.

He highlighted the potential use cases for 5G networks as broadly categorised by the International Telecommunication Union (ITU) to include Enhanced Mobile broadband (eMBB), Massive Machine-type Communications (mMTC), as well as Ultra-reliable and Low-latency Communications (uLLC)

“We will continue to collaborate with stakeholders across sectors to ensure faster deployment of 5G services, and accelerate the growth of Nigeria’s broadband infrastructure,” he said.

He identified some challenges in the deployment to include limited frequencies with the required spectral efficiency, skilled professionals with requisite knowledge of the technology, fewer number of 5G-enabled devices, and cost of deployment but stated that the industry must work to turn the challenges into opportunities rather than seeing them as obstacles.

Prof. Danbatta said the issues that should militate against or slow down the deployment of 5G technology are themselves opportunities that can potentially create new revenue streams or new subsectors in the industry.

In the panel discussion on the presentation titled “5G Networks: Opportunities and Challenges” by Director, Technical Standards and Network Integrity, Bako Wakil, the Executive Commissioner, Stakeholder Management of NCC, Adeleke Adewolu, who chaired the panel session, urged all participants to exploit the opportunities offered by the 90th TCP to contribute to the deployment of 5G Network in Nigeria.

“We must conclude this Telecom Consumer Parliament with solutions to challenges that are associated with 5G deployment in countries that had deployed the services ahead of Nigeria. We must also have a clear roadmap on how the opportunities offered by the technology can be maximized for the benefit of Nigerians” Adewolu said.

The event was attended by representatives of Mobile Networks Operators (MNOs), the Association of Licensed Telecoms Operators of Nigeria (ALTON), Association of Telecom Companies of Nigeria (ATCON), Consumer Advocacy and Empowerment Foundation (CADEF), Association of Telecoms Cable TV and Internet Subscribers (ATCIS), and other key stakeholders in the telecom industry.

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