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Category: Governance

  • New Jersey To Return $8.9m Looted Under Jonathan To Nigeria

    New Jersey To Return $8.9m Looted Under Jonathan To Nigeria

    Jersey’s Royal Court has ruled in favour of returning stolen assets valued at £6.9 million ($8.9 million) to Nigeria.

    The decision comes after Jersey’s Attorney General issued a forfeiture notice in November, asserting that the funds, deposited in a Jersey bank account, were likely misappropriated by Nigerian government officials in 2014.

    The illicit transfer of funds was reportedly disguised as government-sanctioned contracts for arms purchases during Boko Haram incursions in Nigeria between 2009 and 2015.

    Former President Goodluck Jonathan of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) was in power between 2010 and 2015. It will also be recalled that a lot of controversy had surrounded the purchase of weapons in the fight against insurgency with the then National Security Adviser (NSA), Sambo Dasuki, being accused of diverting funds meant for security equipment.

    Also in late 2014, a private jet belonging to the-then President of the Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN), Pastor Ayo Oritsejafor, was arrested in South Africa with $10m cash, which was allegedly meant for the purchase of military weapons.

    The Jersey court found that most of the funds, initially intended for legitimate arms deals, had been diverted through foreign bank accounts and shell companies linked to the former ruling party in Nigeria.
     
    Jersey’s Attorney General, Mark Temple KC, noted the collaboration between Jersey and the Federal Republic of Nigeria in the recovery process.

    Temple stressed the effectiveness of the 2018 Forfeiture Law in combating corruption and restoring funds to victims of crime. Plans are underway to negotiate an asset return agreement with the Nigerian government.

    He said: “This case again demonstrates the effectiveness of the 2018 Forfeiture Law in recovering the proceeds of corruption and restoring that money to victims of crime.

    “I now intend to negotiate an asset return agreement with the Federal Republic of Nigeria.”

  • S’Court reserves judgment on Nasarawa guber appeal

    S’Court reserves judgment on Nasarawa guber appeal

    The Supreme Court of Nigeria, Tuesday, reserved judgment in the
    Petition seeking to sack the incumbent governor of Nasarawa State, Abdullahi Sule of the All Progressive Congress (APC).

    The People’s Democratic Party (PDP) and its governorship candidate, Hon Emmanuel David Ombugadu, is praying the apex court to set aside the November 23 judgment of the Court of Appeal which upheld Sule as the lawfully elected governor.

    The Petitioners, through Kanu Agabi SAN submitted that the October 2, 2023 judgment of the Nasarawa State Governorship Election Petitions Tribunal in favour of PDP and Ombugadu be restored.

    According to him, the Court of Appeal unjustly nullified the Tribunal’s judgment and unjustly declared Sule as winner of the March 18 gubernatorial election.

    Agabi specifically called that the Supreme Court should allow the votes of Nasarawa state people to count and be meaningful be declaring PDP and Ombugadu as winners as rightly done by the Tribunal.

    However, Sule and the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) and APC, prayed court to dismiss the appeal for want of merit.

    APC lawyers, led by Akin Olujinmi SAN while adopting his brief of arguments asked the apex court to carefully looked into the cited authorities to back up their request for dismissal of the case.

    After taking arguments from lawyers, Justice Kekere-Ekun announced that judgment has been reserved and that the date for its delivery would be communicated to parties involved.

    The Appeal Court had on November 23 last year reversed the sack of Gov Sule by the State Election Petitions Tribunal in its judgment delivered on October 2.

    The Appellate Court held that the Tribunal headed by Ezekiel Ajayi acted in grave error in using witness statements on oath, not front-loaded as required by law to arrive at the unjust conclusion of nullifying the election of the governor.

    In a judgment delivered by Justice Uchechukwu Onyemenam, the Court of Appeal had said the Tribunal was legally bound to act on witness statements filed along with the petition or front-loaded within 21 days stipulated by law.

    The Court held that no petition can lawfully be amended outside the 21 days allowed by law as wrongly done by the Tribunal.

    “Since the statements used by the Tribunal to sack the Governor were not front-loaded in compliance with the law, the statements were a product of illegality with no probate value for a law Court to act upon”.

    The Court also dismissed the over-voting issues used to annul the election, adding that the allegations were not established by law.

    Justice Onyemenam held that the petition by the Governorship candidate of the PDP was a nullity and invalid on the grounds that the jurisdictional issues raised by the governor were unlawfully ignored by the Tribunal.

    The Court of Appeal ruled that the Tribunal denied the Governor a fair hearing by not considering and making findings on the issues of jurisdiction raised at the hearing of the petition.

    Justice Onyemenam agreed that the denial of a fair hearing against the governor was fatal and tendered all decisions of the Tribunal invalid.

    In all, the Court of Appeal reversed all orders made against the governor and INEC and affirmed Sule as the lawfully elected governor of the state.

    INEC had declared Sule the winner of the governorship election on the grounds that he polled a total of 347,209 votes to defeat his closest opponent David Emmanuel Ombugadu who secured 283,016 votes.

  • EFCC arrests ex-Minister Charles Ugwuh over alleged N3.6bn fraud

    EFCC arrests ex-Minister Charles Ugwuh over alleged N3.6bn fraud

    The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC, has arrested a former Minister of Commerce and Industry, Charles Ugwuh, over an alleged conspiracy and fraud to the tune of N3.6 billion.

    EFCC Spokesperson, Dele Oyewale, told the News Agency of Nigeria in Abuja on Monday that Mr Ugwuh was arrested alongside Chief Geoffrey Ekenma on Jan. 11, in New Owerri, Imo.

    Mr Ugwuh, an engineer, industrialist and a former President of Manufacturers Association of Nigeria, MAN, served as Minister of Commerce and Industry from July 2007 to October 2008.

    Mr Oyewale said that the arrest followed a petition to the commission from a new generation bank on the alleged fraud perpetrated through a company, Ebony Agro Industries Ltd., linked to the ex-minister.

    “Investigations revealed that Ugwuh, a former President of Manufacturers Association of Nigeria, MAN, and Ekenma, Managing Director, Ebony Agro Industries Ltd., allegedly obtained a loan facility from the bank for the purchase and production of polished rice.

    “However, the suspects, according to the petitioner, failed to meet up his obligations to the bank and all efforts to get him to repay the loan facility proved abortive,” he said.

    Mr Oyewale said that the suspects would be charged to court as soon as investigations were concluded.

  • Plateau Speaker yet to recognise APC lawmakers after Supreme Court ruling

    Plateau Speaker yet to recognise APC lawmakers after Supreme Court ruling

    The Plateau State House of Assembly is facing uncertainty as Speaker Gabriel Dewan, who belongs to the Young Peoples Party (YPP), has stated that he would only recognise eight members out of the total 24.

    This comes after the recent Supreme Court judgment overruled the Court of Appeal’s decision that led to the sack of 16 members elected under the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP).

    The Appeal Court had initially removed the 16 lawmakers, citing that the PDP lacked the legitimacy to sponsor them due to internal issues within the party.

    Following this decision, the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) issued certificates of return to APC members.

    However, the recent Supreme Court judgment, which allowed the appeal filed by Governor Caleb Mutfwang against his sack, stated that the removal of the 16 PDP members was unjustified.

    The Supreme Court emphasised that the APC and its candidate had no authority to interfere in the internal affairs of another political party.

    Reacting to the Supreme Court ruling, Speaker Dewan declared that, based on the judgment, only eight members are recognised in the assembly.

    Dewan stated that the 16 lawmakers affirmed by the Court of Appeal would not be recognised for now, as the Supreme Court had declared the Appeal Court’s judgment faulty and an abuse of court processes.

    The affected PDP lawmakers have appealed to the Supreme Court for a determination, seeking to overturn the judgment of both the Appeal Court and the National Assembly members.

  • FG Expands Power Generation at Kanji, Commissions additional 300KWp Project

    FG Expands Power Generation at Kanji, Commissions additional 300KWp Project

    Further to the Renewed Hope agenda to provide adequate , reliable, and quality electricity to businesses and households in the country, the Federal Government has commissioned a 300KWp Solar PV pilot project in Kainji , Niger State.

    While commissioning the project, the Minister of Power, Chief Adebayo Adelabu said the project will increase power generation capacity, lower electricity costs while also fostering enhanced collaboration between the main concessionaire, Mainstream Energy Solution and its Chinese partner, HEDC in the renewable energy field.

    A statement by Bolaji Tunji, Special Adviser, Strategic Communication and Media Relations to the Minister stated that the power project comes with 675KWh Battery Energy Storage System (BESS), which is an integral part of the extension of 1G3 and 1G4 under the rehabilitation of the 1G9 in Kainji HPP project.

    The Minister who said efforts were progressing in achieving President Tinubu’s turnaround agenda on supply of reliable and quality power said the Power Ministry’s objective is to meet power demand by ensuring improved distribution and transmission infrastructure to minimize technical and commercial losses, closing the metering gap and resolving theliquidity, power theft and vandalism challenges.

    The Minister also said the destruction of some power towers around the country has been reported to the National Security Adviser (NSA) in order to strengthen security around the power infrastructure.
    “It is of no use to expend so much energy in providing power facilities if the delivery channel is weak, that is why the Ministry is concentrating on improvement of the transmission and distribution capacity.”

    On power theft and destruction of power infrastructure, Adelabu again emphasized the need for Nigerians and the different Communities where the facilities are located to protect them.
    “What is the essence of government and private companies expending resources on these power facilities while some elements within the society will deliberately move to destroy the facilities which are national assets. What we witnessed towards the end of 2023 was disheartening. Some of the power towers were brought down with loss of lives, in some cases, this is quite unfortunate. We should take it as a personal and collective responsibility to protect the infrastructure”. He added that plans are also underway to wield the big stick onpower theft through adequate legislation in order to serve as deterrent to others.

    The Minister also revealed that efforts have begun to bridge metering gaps in the country. “Presently, we have about 12 million electricity users, but only about five million are metered. As we are all aware, the President set up the Presidential Mass Metering Initiative of which I am the chairman, we are working assiduously on this initiative to bridge the metering gap.”

    Adelabu gave government’s assurance to continue to provide enabling environment for the private sector to leverage on opportunities inherent in government policies, incentives and regulations for sustainable power supply for economic development and improvement of the standard of living of Nigerians, especially rural dwellers adding that government had also come up with relevant policies and programmes in order to provide direction in ensuring power availability to the people.

    Speaking earlier, Managing Director of Mainstream Energy Solution, Engineer Lamu Audu said the project is in line with the National Renewable Energy and Energy Efficiency policy of the Federal government which sets out the blueprint to increasing the country’s renewable energy development by 2030.

    He said the pilot project is the beginning of Mainstream’s integration of Variable Renewable Energy into its core business, adding that plan is at an advanced stage to build a 450MWp and 150MWp Solar PV at Kainji and Jebba Hydro Power Plants (HPPs).

    Audu called on government to continue to provide the enabling environment that would attract more funding from private investors.

  • Ali Nuhu, Ten others Appointed CEOs of FG Agencies

    Ali Nuhu, Ten others Appointed CEOs of FG Agencies

    President Bola Tinubu has appointed actor, Ali Nuhu and ten others as Chief Executive Officers of agencies under the Federal Ministry of Art, Culture, and Creative Economy.

    This was made known in a statement by the spokesman of the President, Chief Ajuri Ngelale, on Friday.

    Ajuri listed the new appointees and the agencies as follows: Ali Nuhu — Managing-Director, Nigerian Film Corporation, Tola Akerele — Director-General, National Theatre, Dr. Shaibu Husseini — Director-General, National Films and Censors Board, Mr. Obi Asika — Director-General, National Council for Arts and Culture.
    Others are: Aisha Adamu Augie — Director-General, Centre for Black and African Arts and Culture, Ekpolador-Ebi Koinyan — Chief Conservator, National War Museum, Ahmed Sodangi — Director-General, National Gallery of Art, Chaliya Shagaya — Director-General, National Institute of Archeology and Museums Studies, Hajiya Khaltume Bulama Gana — Artistic Director, National Troupe of Nigeria, Otunba Biodun Ajiboye — Director-General, National Institute for Cultural Orientation and Ramatu Abonbo Mohammed — Director-General, National Commission for Museums and Monuments.

    President Bola Tinubu however, charged the appointees to discharge their duties in accordance with the highest standards of professionalism, diligence, and patriotism with a view to making the creative sector more vibrant and robust

  • BREAKING: Tinubu Suspends National Social Investment Programme Amid Corruption Probe

    BREAKING: Tinubu Suspends National Social Investment Programme Amid Corruption Probe

    President Bola Ahmed Tinubu has suspended all administered programmes by the National Social Investment Programme Agency (NSIPA).

    This is further to the ongoing investigation of alleged malfeasance in the management of the agency and its programmes.

    In a statement on Friday, Segun Imohiosen, Director of Information in the office of the Secretary to the Government of the Federation, said all four (4) Programmes administered by NSIPA, namely; N- Power Programme, Conditional Cash Transfer Programme, Government Enterprise and Empowerment Programme and Home Grown School Feeding Programme have been suspended for a period of six (6) weeks in the first instance.

    “President Bola Ahmed Tinubu has also raised significant concerns regarding operational lapses and improprieties surrounding payments to the Programs’ beneficiaries.”

    “He has therefore constituted a ministerial panel to conduct a thorough review of the Agency’s operations with a view to recommending necessary reforms of the NSIPA.

    “During the period of this suspension, all NSIPA-related activities, including but not limited to all distributions, events, payments, collaborations, and registrations, are now frozen.

    “The President wishes to assure the stakeholders and all Nigerians that his administration remains committed to a swift and unbiased process that will ensure that, going forward, social intervention programmes will work exactly as intended, to the benefit of the most vulnerable Nigerians.”

  • Plateau Guber: S’Court Reveres Sack, Affirms Gov Mutfwang’s Election

    Plateau Guber: S’Court Reveres Sack, Affirms Gov Mutfwang’s Election

    The Supreme Court, Friday, reversed the judgment of the Court of Appeal that sacked Governor Caleb Mutfwang of Plateau State from office on ground of unlawful nomination.

    The judgement read by Justice Emmanuel Agim held that the court below made an error in allowing the All Progressives Congress APC to delve into the conduct of the primary election by the People’s Democratic Party PDP and nullified the election unjustly.

    The court held that the issue of primary election was an internal affairs of political parties and that no other party can dabble into it except members of the same party.

    Besides, Justice Agim said that the issue of alleged improper conduct of the ward and local governments election used to sack the Governor was not justiceable.

    According to him, the conduct of the ward and local governments election was an affairs of the State Executive Committee of a political party while the conduct of the primary election for the nomination of a governorship candidate is entirely that of the National Executive Committee of a political party.

    Also, the court established that there was no issue of irregularities in the ways and manners the Governorship primary election that produced the governor was conducted in Plateau and wondered why that of the ward election was used to nullify the gubernatorial poll.

    He said that evidence was even well adduced that an order of Plateau State High Court allegedly disobeyed was indeed obeyed by parties involved.

    Therefore, the court unanimously voided and set aside the order of the Court of Appeal that
    Nentawe Goshwehe, the governorship candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC) be inaugurated as Plateau State Governor.

    The Supreme Court affirmed the judgment of the Plateau State Governorship Election Petitions Tribunal which had earlier dismissed the petition of the APC and its governorship candidate.

    Governor Mutfwang of the PDP scored 525,299 votes to beat the All Progressives Congress candidate, Nentawe Yilwatda, who garnered 481,370 votes during the 18 March governorship poll in Plateau State.

    The governor’s election was upheld by the Plateau State Governorship Election Petitions Tribunal in Jos, the state capital.

    However, the Court of Appeal in Abuja, in its judgement delivered on 19 November 2023, overturned Mr Mutfwang’s victory, prompting him to file an appeal at the Supreme Court to challenge the lower court’s decision.

  • Ebonyi Guber: S’Court Okeys Nwifuru’s Election

    Ebonyi Guber: S’Court Okeys Nwifuru’s Election

    The Supreme Court has affirmed the election of Governor Francis Nwifuru of Ebonyi state.

    In a lead judgment of a 5-man panel of Justices, Justice Tijani Abubakar held that the candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party, Chukwuma Odi failed to prove any allegation of non compliance in the election.

    Consequently, the apex court in a unanimous decision dismissed the appeal by Odi for lacking in merit and a gross abuse of court process.

    The panel held that the PDP candidate cannot question the nomination of Nwifuru by his party, the APC.

    The Lagos state division of the Court of Appeal, had on November 24, 2023, affirmed the election of Fran­cis Nwifuru as the duly elected governor of Ebonyi State in the March 18, governorship election.

    The three-member panel presided over by Justice Jummai Sankey, in its unanimous decision, dismissed the appeal filed by Chukwuma Odii of the Peoples Democratic Party.

  • BREAKING: Supreme Court Affirms Lawal’s Election As Zamfara Governor 

    BREAKING: Supreme Court Affirms Lawal’s Election As Zamfara Governor 

    The Supreme Court has upheld the election of Dauda Lawal as the duly elected Governor of Zamfara state.

    Justice Emmanuel Agim, who delivered the lead judgment, criticized the Court of Appeal’s earlier decision, describing it as “perverse.”

    Justice Agim emphasized that the allegations of over-voting failed to stand as the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) did not provide essential documents such as the voter register, polling unit officer report, and eyewitness testimony.

    The judge highlighted that BVAS machines alone could not establish electoral malpractices, and the petitioner, Mr Matawalle, did not provide sufficient evidence to support his claims.

    “The court is of the view that the tribunal was right. The judgment of the Court of Appeal was perverse because the petitioner failed woefully to prove his allegations,” declared Justice Agim.