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Category: Politics Lite

  • Rivers Crisis: Appeal Court returns speaker Amaewhule, 24 house members, sacks Oko-Jumbo

    The Court of Appeal sitting in Abuja, Thursday, dismissed an order of the Rivers State High Court, which sacked the Martin Amaewhule’s led 24 Members of the Rivers State House of Assembly.

    The lower court had, in its judgement, restricted led the lawmakers from parading themselves as members of the Assembly.

    The appellate court made the order following an appeal by Amaewhule and the 24 Assembly members, challenging the interlocutory decision of the Rivers State High Court, delivered on May 10, 2024.

    The 3-man panel member of the court led by Justice Jimi Olukayode-Bada held that Amaewhule’s appeal was “meritorious” and therefore allowed the same.

    Consequently, the suit by Victor Oko-Jumbo at the Rivers State High Court is hereby struck out.

    The panel held that Amaewhule and the 24 members of the Rivers State House of Assembly should revert to their positions before the restraining order was made.

    The Court of Appeal held that the only court vested with jurisdiction to hear the suit filed by Oko-jumbo is the Federal High Court and not the State High Court.

    Therefore, the panel unanimously reasoned that the trial court lacked jurisdiction to hear the suit filed by the 1st to 3rd respindents.

    Consequently, it was the contention of the appellate court that the ex parte order which had restrained Amaewhule and the 24 Assembly members, having been made without jurisdiction, “is null and void and of no effect whatsoever”.

    “Trial court lacks the jurisdiction to hear and determine the suit of the respindents, the court said.

    The panel held that in granting an ex parte order, there must be an existence of “real urgency and not self-induced urgency.”

    More so, the Court of Appeal said the trial court should have heard the position of the appellant in the interest of fair hearing since there was no urgency in making the interlocutory injunction.

  • Edo Guber: Court nulifies PDP Primary poll

    Edo Guber: Court nulifies PDP Primary poll

    Justice Inyang Ekwo of the Federal High Court in Abuja has declared as invalid the People’s Democratic Party’s Primary election that produced Asue Ighodalo as a governorship candidate.

    The primary election conducted on February 22, 2024 was voided on the ground that 378 delegates who were supposed to vote at the primary election were unlawfully excluded by PDP.

    The court invalidated the primary election on Thursday while delivering judgment in a suit instituted by the aggrieved delegates.

    The suit marked THC/ABJ/CS/165/2024 was instituted by one Hon Kelvin Mohammed in a representative capacity.

    Justice Ekwo held that both the provisions of the Electoral Act 2022 and PDP Guidelines were grossly violated in the conduct of the primary election at the Samuel Ogbemudia stadium in Benin.

    Details later.

  • Reps to investigate civil service promotion stagnation

    Following a motion moved by Rep. Salman Idris, the Deputy Chairman, House Committee on Agric Colleges and Institutions in Abuja, the House of Representatives has resolved to investigate promotion stagnation in the Federal Civil Service from 2013 to 2023.

    According to Idris, promotion remained the progression of civil servants, as well as a motivational incentive for productivity, decrying the incessant stagnation in promotions across Ministries, Departments and Agencies of government.

    He said this had resulted in loss of service delivery, decline in highly specialized skills, low levels of productivity and performance, employee unrest, corruption and dampened morale.

    “The menace of promotion stagnation in the civil service calls for urgent attention and intervention of this hallowed chamber if the policies and programmes of government must be achieved,” he said.

    He said that the civil service remained the engine room of government, adding that it required a holistic reform that could promote global best practices.

    He added that the issues of promotions and recommendations as and when due was imperative and should not be overlooked.

    Idis said some civil servants who eventually got promoted after mandatory examination as required by civil service rules were promoted notionally but not financially.

    He added that MDAs often made provision for such recurrent expenditure in the yearly appropriation.

    He said that every promotion stagnation would have an effect on the career of the officer.

    He added that every civil servant was expected to rise to the pinnacle of their career within 35 years in active service or by the retirement age of 60 year.

    The house ruled that the committee on public sector and institutional reforms should investigate promotion stagnation in the Federal Civil Service from 2013 –2023.

  • Reps Introduces Bill to Create New State “Etiti” in South-East Nigeria

    A bill to amend the 1999 Constitution with the aim to create an additional state in Nigeria’s South-East geopolitical zone has successfully passed its first reading in the House of Representatives.

    Titled “A Bill to alter the 1999 Constitution as amended to create additional state in the South-East geo-political zone called Etiti,” the bill was introduced by Rep. Amobi Ogah (LP-Abia) along with co-sponsors Rep. Miriam Onuoha (APC-Imo), Rep. Kama Nkemkama, Rep. Chinwe Nnabuife, and Rep. Anayo Onwuegbu.

    The proposed Etiti state state shall encompass communities currently part of Abia, Anambra, Ebonyi, Enugu, and Imo states. It is planned to comprise 11 Local Government Areas with its administrative headquarters located in Lokpanta.

    Key amendments sought in the bill include changes to three sections of the 1999 constitution. These amendments aim to replace the reference to “36 states” with “37 states” and to insert the state of Etiti immediately after Enugu in the list of states outlined in the Constitution. Furthermore, the bill proposes reassigning 11 local government areas currently belonging to Abia, Anambra, Ebonyi, Enugu, and Imo states to the new state of Etiti.

    The local government areas affected by this proposal include Isuikwuato and Umu-Nneochi (Abia), Orumba North and Orumba South (Anambra), Ivo and Ohaozara (Ebonyi), Aninri, Agwu, and Oji River (Enugu), as well as Okigwe and Onuimo (Imo).

    The bill is expected to undergo further readings and deliberations in the House of Representatives before potentially being passed into law, pending broader legislative and public scrutiny.

  • Why I Turned Down ₦250 Million Bribe For Third Term Agenda – Ex-Senate President, Wabara

    Why I Turned Down ₦250 Million Bribe For Third Term Agenda – Ex-Senate President, Wabara

    A former Senate President, Adolphus Wabara, in an interview released on Monday on the YouTube series, Untold Stories with Adesuwa, reiterated his previous claims of rejecting a ₦250 million bribe intended to secure his support for the controversial third-term agenda of former President Olusegun Obasanjo.

    During the interview, Wabara emphatically confirmed the bribe offer, stating, “That’s very correct,” when asked about the authenticity of his claims.

    He recalled the political atmosphere at the time, noting disbelief at rumours that senators were being offered ₦50 million each to back the agenda.

    Wabara’s rejection of the bribe was part of broader resistance within the Senate against extending Obasanjo’s tenure beyond the constitutionally allowed terms.

    He underscored the gravity of the situation by suggesting that accepting the bribe could have led to a prolonged dictatorship in Nigeria.

    “Without people like us, there wouldn’t be democracy now,” Wabara asserted, implying that figures like former President Muhammadu Buhari and incumbent President Bola Tinubu might never have risen to prominence if the third-term bid had succeeded.

    Addressing misconceptions about his departure from office, Wabara clarified, “First of all, I was not removed by Obasanjo, I resigned,” countering the interviewer’s suggestion about potential pressures leading to his resignation.

    Wabara also touched on the lingering ethnic tensions affecting the Igbo people, stemming from historical grievances and misunderstandings related to the Biafra War.

    He lamented, “We have not been forgiven for what we did not cause, the Biafra War. It wasn’t our fault, but the propaganda is that the Igbos can not be trusted.”

  • BREAKING: Edo Govt To Retrieve Toyota Armored Jeep, 21 Other Vehicles From Ex-Deputy Gov, Philip Shaibu

    BREAKING: Edo Govt To Retrieve Toyota Armored Jeep, 21 Other Vehicles From Ex-Deputy Gov, Philip Shaibu

    The Godwin Obaseki-led Edo State Government has announced plans to retrieve over 20 vehicles still in the possession of erstwhile Deputy Governor, Comrade Phillip Shaibu.

    This was made known in a public notice signed by the State Commissioner of Information and Orientation, Chris Osa Nehikhare, on Tuesday.

    In the notice titled ‘Publich Notice On Retrieval Of 22 Official Government Vehicles’, the Commissioner disclosed that Philip Shaibu has been given seven days to return the vehicles.

    He stated that should the former Deputy Governor fail to obey the directive, security agencies have been put on alert to retrieve the vehicles.

    The notice read: “The Edo State Government hereby issues this notice directing the retrieval of official government vehicles allocated to the Office of the Deputy Governor, Edo State, which are currently in the custody of the former Deputy Governor, Philip Shaibu.

    “The former Deputy Governor is by this notice given a seven-day ultimatum from the date of this publication to return the vehicles, as relevant security agencies have been put on alert to retrieve the vehicles after the expiration of the notice.”

  • Court Sentences LP Candidate to Seven Years Imprisonment 

    Court Sentences LP Candidate to Seven Years Imprisonment 

    An Enugu South Magistrate Court presided over by Justice E D Onwu, has sentenced the Labour Party candidate for Enugu South Urban state Constituency, Hon Bright Ngene, to 7 years’ imprisonment.

    The Magistrate, who handed the verdict on Friday had on Thursday, said that he was under instruction to deal with a matter involving the LP candidate who won the Enugu South Urban state Constituency, during the March 18, 2023, general elections.

    Ngene and two others were arraigned in court since 2017 by the Nigeria Police Force, Enugu command in a matter involving himself and his community worth about N15million.

    After he won the 2023 general elections against the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) candidate, who also challenged the victory of Ngene and sought for the election to be declared inconclusive, which the election petition tribunal agreed and ordered rerun election in eight polling units, the ruling government resurrected the matter involving his community development fund.

    The matter was abandoned since 2017 when he was lawyer for his community, Akwuke, Enugu State.

    SaharaReporters reported on June 25, that Bright Ngene had raised the alarm over an alleged conspiracy between the executive and judiciary arms of the state government to imprison him. 

    Ngene, who spoke to journalists in Enugu, had claimed that the plot was aimed at punishing him for insisting on the mandate he won in the March 18, 2023 House of Assembly Election. 

    He had noted that the Chief Judge of Enugu State, Justice A. R Ozoemena, the Deputy Chief Registrar, Chijioke Agbo, and Magistrate E. D Onwu colluded to disregard the petition pending before the National Judicial Council which seized the case. 

    Ngene is seeking for an urgent intervention to prevent what he sees as a gross miscarriage of justice aimed at terminating his political and legal careers.

    Ngene of the Labour Party was declared the winner of last year’s Enugu South Rural Constituency election and was sworn into the House of Assembly but was aborted by the court in a petition by his rival, Sam Ngene of the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP.
     
    Re-run elections for the disputed eight polling units in the Constituency have been held twice but were inconclusive, while the scheduled third-time re-run of June 8 was cancelled without notice to the LP candidate.

    In his petition to the NJC, Ngene alleged that “there is corruptive agreement between the Honourable Chief Judge of Enugu State, His Lordship A. R Ozoemena, the Deputy Chief Registrar N.L Chijioke Agbo, His Worship E. D Onwu, Esq and the Enugu State government to at all cost or willy nilly put me behind bars before a re-run is conducted over my seat in the Enugu State House of Assembly.

    “Otherwise, why are these parties applying impunity in continuing with the trial when the NJC has accepted custody of the matter? The ideal thing is that parties in this matter should relax for NJC to decide but they are rushing the matter to put me behind bars and go ahead to conduct the re-run election.

    “I seek the NJC to save me from oppression, persecution, and impeding wrongful conviction bathed by corruption and obvious abuse of judicial office and power.

    “Unless the National Judicial Council intervenes, the Honourable Chief Judge of Enugu State, the Deputy Chief Registrar, and His Worship E. D Onwu will wrongfully and corruptly destroy my ambition to continue to be in the House of Assembly of Enugu State and dent my political and legal career with conviction,” Ngene petitioned.

    But when the matter came up for adoption of written addresses, on Thursday, there was an uproar in court room as three lawyers fought fruitlessly to dissuade the magistrate to give a long adjournment date in a matter against Ngene and two others.

    While the defence counsels, Messrs CJ S Okereke, Benjamin C. Nwobodo and Frabel Awgu asked the trial Magistrate to adjourn the matter till next week to enable them study and reply to application filed by the prosecuting counsel, His Worship E D Ownu insisted that c

  • Atiku Departs Nigeria 

    Atiku Departs Nigeria 

    The 2023 presidential candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party, Atiku Abubakar, departed Abuja for Europe on Wednesday.

    The former Vice President has faced significant criticism for often leaving Nigeria soon after each election.

    In contrast to the post-2015 and 2019 elections, Atiku stayed in the country for several months following the 2023 election.

    During this time, he engaged in party activities and consultations that many believe are in preparation for the 2027 elections.

    Atiku’s Media Adviser, Paul Ibe, stated on Wednesday that the former Vice President had gone on a brief foreign business trip accompanied by family members, friends, and associates.

    The statement read in part, “Nigeria’s leading opposition figure and former presidential candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party, Atiku Abubakar, has embarked on a business trip to Europe.

    “The former Vice President departed from the Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport in Abuja at 11 AM on Wednesday, the 26th of June, 2024, for his first port of call.

    “He was accompanied to the airport by family members, friends, and associates.

    “This morning, His Excellency Atiku Abubakar proceeded on a short foreign business trip. He will be back in the country soon.

  • Raising Minimum Wage Above N62,000 Will Lead to Job Losses, NECA Warns

    Raising Minimum Wage Above N62,000 Will Lead to Job Losses, NECA Warns

    The Nigeria Employers Consultative Association (NECA) has warned that approving a minimum wage above N62,000 could result in significant job losses.

    NECA’s Director-General, Adewale-Smatt Oyerinde, voiced this concern during a press briefing on Tuesday in Abuja. His comments came during the third edition of the Nigeria Employers Summit, which focused on “Economic Renaissance: Harnessing Government Reforms and Private Sector Agility.”

    Oyerinde emphasized that the organized private sector cannot afford a minimum wage higher than N62,000, a figure agreed upon during tripartite committee negotiation meetings. He cautioned that exceeding this amount could lead to non-compliance and subsequent legal battles.

    “Setting a national minimum wage that businesses cannot sustain will inevitably result in litigation and crises,” Oyerinde stated.

    In response to allegations of delays in the wage review process, Oyerinde clarified that there have been no unnecessary delays and that the process is actively progressing.

    “There is no waiting game, and I think we must put all this into context. It is misinformation,” he said.

    He explained that after the tripartite committee submits its recommendations to the president, a bill will be forwarded to the National Assembly for legislation. He also mentioned that labor groups can advocate for an expedited process.

  • NLC Committee Storms Headquarters, Demands Abure’s Resignation

    NLC Committee Storms Headquarters, Demands Abure’s Resignation

    Members of the Nigeria Labour Congress national transition committee, on Tuesday, stormed the headquarters of the Labour Party in Abuja, demanding the immediate resignation of the National Chairman, Julius Abure.

    The Acting Chairman of the transition committee, Aduwaheed Omar, led members of the labour union to the secretariat, chanting solidarity songs and calling for the resignation of Abure on grounds that his tenure as the chairman of the party had expired.

    Our correspondent at the scene of the protest noted, that when the officials arrived at the Party’s headquarters, the gates were immediately shut by security officials.

    However, in an attempt to force their way into the premises, the police fired teargas to dispatch the protesters.

    Protesters were later heard shouting endlessly at the security men to “open the gate”.