Nelson Ugwuagbo

France is set to repatriate $150 million stolen from Nigeria by former Head of State, late General Sani Abacha.

This was announced by presidential spokesman, Ajuri Ngelale, following a meeting between President Bola Tinubu and Catherine Colonna, the French Minister of Europe and Foreign Affairs.

Abacha ruled Nigeria from 1993 until his death in 1998. Transparency International had estimated that he stole up to $5 billion from the nation’s coffers during those years.

More than two decades after his death, Nigeria has continued to recover funds stolen by him during the five years he ruled the nation.

Transparency International puts the total amount recovered since the death of the late military dictator at $3.65 billion, as of 2022.

“Thank you for the good news on the return of Abacha loot,” Ngelale quoted President Tinubu as thanking France for the planned return of the loot.

“We appreciate your effective cooperation concerning the return of Nigeria’s money. It will be judiciously applied in attaining our development objectives,” the President added.

Tinubu emphasized the need for stronger collaboration on both political and economic fronts, and welcomed the growing cooperation between the two countries in areas of mutual interest, such as climate change, economic integration, education, and culture.

On the situation in Niger Republic, the President, who is also the Chairman of the ECOWAS Authority of Heads of State and Government, said that Nigeria is monitoring the situation closely and working through diplomatic channels to avoid violence.

“Leadership is about responding to the needs of the people; their cries, and their frustrations. Nigeria shares a border with Niger across the expanse of seven Nigerian states, and most of these states are very populated. Therefore, I need to guide ECOWAS carefully and steadily so that we manage our anger carefully.

”We have a colleague and a democratically-elected leader, President Bazoum, being used as a human shield. If we are not careful, he and his family can be endangered.

”I am deploying all appropriate back-channel strategies to avoid bloodshed in Niger Republic. We recognize the wishes of our people; they do not want war, but that does not mean we can not take bold and decisive action,” the President affirmed.

President Tinubu said Nigeria will continue to galvanize international partners in the determined pursuit of a peaceful resolution to the situation in Niger Republic.

The French Minister of Europe and Foreign Affairs conveyed the goodwill of President Emmanuel Macron and expressed the readiness of France to expand mutually beneficial collaboration with Nigeria across multiple sectors.

She extended a formal invitation to President Bola Tinubu to attend the forthcoming Paris Peace Forum.

Colonna further applauded the conclusion of the lengthy legal process for the repatriation of the Abacha loot.

“It was a long process, but we are glad that it was concluded. Sometimes, justice may be slow, but this is a very good achievement,” she said.

Colonna added, “We support your efforts at ECOWAS. We are behind you because we believe that constitutional order is a treasure for all countries, and democracy must be a reality.”

bola ahmed tinububola tinubuEmmanbuel MacronFranceSANI ABACHA

Tinubu Empowers Nigerians To Hold Him Accountable, Launches Projects Tracker After Signing Performance Bond With Ministers

After Tinubu Disowned N5bn ‘Presidential Yacht’ Request, Reps Yank Off Proposal From Supplementary Budget

The House of Representatives has removed the N5 billion presidential yacht from the 2023 supplementary budget.

The House passed the N2.17 trillion budget on Thursday after the adoption of the report submitted by the chairman of its appropriations committee, Abubakar Bichi.

Bichi announced that the committee had reallocated the funds proposed for the yacht to the student loan budget provision to make it N10 billion.

Leading Reporters earlier reported that amid backlash over the N5 billion budget provision for the presidential yacht, the Presidency clarified that President Bola Tinubu did not request and does not need a yacht to carry out his functions.

According to Temitope Ajayi, the Senior Special Assistant to the President on Media and Publicity, the Nigerian Navy requested it in its budget.

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Earlier on Thursday, the Senate passed the supplementary budget which amounted to N2.17 trillion.

President Tinubu had requested the supplementary budget to address labour wage adjustments, security concerns, and other urgent matters.

Additionally, the President sent the 2024-2026 Medium Term Expenditure Framework (MTEF) and Fiscal Strategy Paper (FSP) to the Senate for consideration.

The sectoral allocations of the supplementary budget were as follows:

• INEC: N18 billion
• Defence: N346.1 billion
• Police formations and commands: N29.6 billion
• Office of the National Security Adviser: N39.6 billion
• Federal Ministry of Agriculture and Food Security: N103 billion
• Service-wide vote: N515 billion
• State House: N28 billion
• Ministry of Defence: N200 billion
• Police formations and commands: N20.3 billion
• Office of the National Security Adviser: N10.3 billion
• Federal Ministry of Agriculture and Food Security: N97 billion
• Federal Ministry of Works: N300 billion
• Federal Capital Territory Administration: N100 billion
• Capital Supplementation: N220.5 billion.

A former governor of Benue State, Gabriel Suswan who was recently sacked as Senator repressenting Benue North-East zone, has said that he does not blame the judges of the Appeal Court that presided over his case.

The Court of Appeal in Abuja had on Wednesday dismissed the judgement of the election tribunal which ruled that Suswam was the validly elected senator of Benue North East Senatorial District.

It faulted the judgement of the Benue State National Assembly Election Petitions Tribunal which nullified the election victory of Emmanuel Udende of the All Progressives Congress (APC) and returned Suswam of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) to the Senate.

Consequently, the appellate court voided the judgement of the tribunal, saying it found merit in the appeal that was lodged before it by the APC candidate.

Reacting to the ruling during a programme on Arise TV, Suswam said, “I think that the CJN has a lot to do in terms of bringing the judges to sit down together and look at some of these new statues that have been passed by the National Assembly and assented by the president. It’s not just the electoral act. There are a lot of statues that have been passed that most judges will be seeing or listening to for the first time when a lawyer comes before them. That shouldn’t be the case.

“It’s expected that as the interpreters of statues, they should be on top of that game. And so I think that we need to reenergize the judiciary. Listening to what the retiring justice of the Supreme Court said means that they are people who work a lot and in terms of what comes to them, they’re highly discounted.

“So, there are a lot of issues in this country that we shouldn’t just limit it just because we lost election in court and then put the whole blame on the judges.

“Coming to my own situation, I won the case at the tribunal. And that’s what I’m saying. The same interpretation, the same section that gave me victory at the tribunal in Benue was interpreted differently at the Apex Court. My concern is that if that continues, the confidence in judiciary will continue to erode. Because one would’ve expected that if one judge gives an interpretation of a section, that should flow through, otherwise, confidence in the process is eroding very fast.

“But I don’t actually place the blame on the judges because given the condition and the environment under which they work, we would not expect anything much from the judiciary except when their working conditions are enhanced.

“So, I don’t blame the judges on my case, but I blame the system. There’s a problem with the system.”

Big Brother Naija Season 7 winner, Josephine Otabor, better known as Phyna, has revealed that women who take emergency contraceptive pills are also committing abortion. 

This is coming after she was dragged for confidently stating that every woman has experienced one or two abortions during an interview with media personality Chude Jideonwo.

In a recent interaction via her Instagram page on Wednesday , a fan confronted the BBNaija star about the generalization of her statement on abortion.

“Did you think before saying there is no woman who has not done abortion,” the fan quizzed.

Phyna, however, stood her ground, asserting that except for virgins, women using a morning-after pill after having sexual intercourse constitutes abortion. 

She wrote, “Only virgins are safe hypocrites. As long as you are having s3x as a woman. If you drink postinor that’s abortion. If you drink becharm ampilox and warm water, that’s abortion. Keep crying for all I care.”

The Vice Chancellor of Nnamdi Azikiwe University Awka, Anambra State, Prof Charles Okechukwu Esimone, has approved the immediate suspension of a staff member, Nwafor Ogbonnaya Nwesuzor, for six months for allegedly presenting a forged degree result to the university.

A statement signed by Special Adviser to the Vice Chancellor on Public Relations and Special Duties, Dr. Emmanuel C. Ojukwu, on Thursday, stated that the staff presented two degree certificates bearing Nwafor Osborne Ogbonnaya and Nwafor Ogbonnaya Nwesuzor respectively.

The statement explained that Nwesuzor reportedly abandoned his undergraduate programme and forged the university’s statement of result and a letter of exclusion from the National Youth Service Corp (NYSC), all bearing the name, Nwafor Osborne Ogbonnaya and presented the documents for the school for employment.

The statement said that the suspect later went ahead to complete his degree programme, adding that the alleged forgery was discovered when he wrote to the university requesting to change his degree result.

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It added that the new result he submitted bears the name, Nwafor Ogbonnaya Nwesuzor, including a different class of degree which raised suspicion.

The school stated that upon further investigation, it was discovered that Nwesuzor forged his degree result and letter of exclusion from the NYSC based on the obvious disparity between the documents he submitted originally and the new documents he was trying to substitute.

“The class of degree in both results presented varies. The forged statement of result with the name Nwafor Osborne Ogbonnaya bears second class lower division while the original result with the name Nwafor Ogbonnaya Nwesuzor bears third class,” the statement said.

According to the statement, the Vice Chancellor had therefore approved his suspension for six months so as to enable the school authorities carry out further investigations into the forgery allegation.

“In following due process, the Vice Chancellor in exercising his powers based on the university rules and regulations approved his immediate suspension from the employment of the university for six months while his case undergoes other processes in the university before final action,” the statement said.

The Basorun of Oyo, High Chief Yusuf Ayoola, and four other claimants in a suit instituted against the Oyo State Governor, Seyi Makinde, and two others, were absent as Oyo High Court sitting in Awe area of the state struck out the case on Thursday.

Leading Reporters had reported that the Kingmakers in Oyo town, popularly known as Oyo Mesi, dragged the governor and the state’s Commissioner for Local Governments and Chieftaincy Matters, as well as the Attorney General and Commissioner for Justice to court to stop them from aborting the process for the selection/appointment of the candidate for filling the vacant stool of Alaafin of Oyo candidate by Kingmakers.

The other claimants in suit no, HOY/38/2023 were Lagunna of Oyo, High Chief Wakeel Oyedepo; Akiniku of Oyo, High Chief Amuda Yusuf; Areago Basorun of Oyo, High Chief Waheed Oyetunji and Alapo of Oyo who is also Warrant Officer for Alaapini of Oyo, Chief Gbadebo Mufutau, and they were all absent in court.

Justice Ladiran Akintola, while ruling on the suit, struck it out sequel to its withdrawal by the claimants.

Meanwhile, the claimants have filed a fresh suit no HOY/14/2023, of which the presiding Justice said the date for the hearing would be communicated to both parties.

The stool became vacant after the demise of Oba Lamidi Adeyemi, who reigned for 52 years and died at the age of 83 in April 2022

The Coalition for the Protection of Democracy, COPDEM, has called for judicial amendments and electoral reforms to project rule of law and democracy in Nigeria.

According to the group, the Supreme Court judgment which upheld the election of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, dismissing all appeals challenging the February 25 elections, has made Nigerian jurisprudence a laughing stock in the global community. 

Addressing journalists on the apex court’s verdict midweek in Abuja, the COPDEM spokesperson, Mr. Great Imo Jonathan, said that the Coalition’s intention was to take the country back from the hands of those that had ruined it.

The group affirmed that by the verdict, the Supreme Court had chosen to invert common sense, throw reason, logic, and principles of justice out of the window. 

It expressed serious concerns that the judgement was inadvertently a subtle means of legalising forgery, identity theft, perjury and electoral illegality in Nigeria, as there apex court did not recommend any sanction in its judgement.

COPDEM, therefore, called on all Nigerians in authority to heed the call of Hon. Justice Musa Dattijo Muhammad, to amend the laws and rescue our judiciary from the present and future embarrassment.

Jonathan said, “Despite global outcry, the Supreme Court, like the Appeal Court before it, chose to make the Nigerian jurisprudence a laughingstock of the global community.

“In reaffirming Chief Bola Tinubu as the duly elected President in the presidential election of 25, February 2023, the Supreme Court has chosen to invert common sense, throw reason, logic, and principles of justice out of the window.

The Supreme Court decision has simply legalised forgery, identity theft, perjury and electoral illegality in Nigeria! As Nigerians, we ask, please, what is law and why do we go to court? 

“To a lay man, law is simply the ratification of those common convention, principles, ethics, and mores we have all chosen to live by as humans in a society. We make them into a document and create infrastructures and institutions to interpret them whenever there is need for clarity. 

“Therefore, the court, as such institution, carries the burden of reminding us why we are humans and how far we have travelled from primitivity, as hunters, gatherers, wanderers that are not bound by laws but simply living in a Hobbesian state of nature.

“The court and laws are there to inhibit by punishing such primitive tendencies to ‘snatch it,’ ‘grab it’ and ‘run with it’ like we saw on 25 February this year. Courts and laws should exist to chide, reprimand, and necessarily sanction actors of such conduct, either as individuals or as institutions.

“The law reminds of the need to set standards and follow them strictly. When the law and courts fail to do their duty, anarchy prevails, general disillusionment about the place of the once hallowed temple of justice sets in. We begin to see good as bad, and bad as good.

“The character of Judges is public property. Justice must be rooted in confidence, and confidence is destroyed when right- minded people go away thinking: ”The Judge is biased”. – See: Bakare vs. Apena [1986]4 NWLR (part.33) page 1SC.

“To our utter dismay, eternal shame and pain, the Supreme Court, in its recent judgment in affirming Tinubu as president has set a dangerous precedent where no matter the gravity of an alleged offense, the suspect can readily escape justice if he is smart enough to plead technicalities. 

“With due respect to the Supreme Court Justices, forgery in election matters is not same as forgery in criminal law. In the case of SALEH V ABAH (2017) The Supreme Court treated forgery under the electoral act as it is provided under same act.

“According to the presiding justice in the case, he stated ‘We have reiterated on several occasions that ours is not only a Court of law but public policy. Forgery of certificate for the purpose of election and electoral processes and forgery under criminal law are not the same issue. Forgery under the Electoral Act is a specific law on forgery or presentation of a forged certification for the purpose of election. 

“The best forum for electoral forgery is election tribunal as against general criminal trial. This is what played out, rightly in this appeal. The Supreme Court treated the issue of Tinubu’s forgery as if under the criminal law.

“What the electoral act is saying is different from what the law of forgery under criminal law has provided, the court if not biased should interpret the law as it is, anyone who has presented a forged certificate should be disqualified from contesting for any office within Nigeria. “We hereby call on all Nigerians in authority to heed the call of Hon. Justice Musa Dattijo Muhammad, to amend the laws and rescue our judiciary.”

Rivers State was thrown into a political crisis this week, following an attempt by the state’s lawmakers to commence impeachment proceedings against the governor.

A Rivers State High Court in Isiokpo Division, on Wednesday, issued an interim injunction, restraining the state House of Assembly and the Speaker, Martin Amaewhule, from impeaching Governor Siminalayi Fubara.

Also restrained by the court are the Deputy Speaker, the Clerk and the state Chief Judge Simeon Chibuzor-Amadi.

The judge, Ben Whyte, issued the order, following the deposition of the motion Ex Parte, filed by Damian Okoro, SAN, on behalf of the governor against the defendants.

The court further restrained “the defendants and their agents, privies, proxies and representatives from initiating, continuing or proceeding with the process of the removal of the claimant from office as the governor of Rivers.”

The defendants were also restrained by the order of the court from “interfacing with and/or preventing the claimant from carrying out the duties and functions of his office as governor, pending the hearing and determination of the Motion on Notice.’’

The judge ordered the parties in the case to maintain the status quo, by not taking further action on the purported impeachment of the applicant as governor.

The court adjourned the case to 14 November for a hearing.