Headlines

A former Minister of Works and Housing, Babatunde Fashola, on Monday, recalled an event where the national flag was misrepresented, prompting caution against the misuse of national symbols such as the anthem and flag.

Fashola made the observation on Monday during a live appearance on Channels Television’s Empowering Tomorrow: A New Vision for Nigeria, a special programme on the 63rd anniversary of Nigeria’s independence celebrated annually on October 1.

“Just this afternoon, I was asked to hoist a flag of Nigeria,” he said.

“By the time the flag unfurled, I saw that there was a coat of arms in the middle and I whispered to my host that ‘this is not the flag of Nigeria’. Nigeria’s flag does not have a coat of arms in the middle. It is green, white, and green.”

The Senior Advocate of Nigeria noted that the National Orientation Agency, which has offices in all the states of the country, produces and sells the flag.

He underscored the need to deal with “some of the small things that matter”, noting that Nigerians must be intentional.

“When I was in primary school, these were the symbolisms of those Independence Day parades, Children’s Day parades, and this was how we were taught to stand up or maintain our position whenever we heard Nigeria’s national anthem being rendered,” Fashola said.

“You sit today and you shudder in your skin what happens today, what people have been taught when the national anthem is rendered.”

The former governor of Lagos also spoke out against the rendition of the national anthem “at every little event”, including when the president appears at a social event, saying it is to be sung as the symbol of the country’s sovereignty.

“I have had cause to ask people not to sing the anthem for me, either as governor or minister, because I’m not a sovereign. It’s a projection of our minds,” he said.

“These are, for me, the important things to talk about and that’s why I say this anniversary provides an opportunity for reflection and, indeed, inflexion.”

Over thirty persons have reportedly died in Ibaa community, Emohua Local Government Area of Rivers State, following a fire explosion from an illegal oil refining site.

The fire, according to a source from the community, who spoke on the condition of anonymity, emanated from a local refining cooking pot, which was connected to a pit where several persons were scooping crude oil extracted from a pipeline.

It was gathered that some of the victims burnt beyond recognition, while others died before they were rushed to the hospital for medical attention.

The incident was said to have occurred late Sunday night.

The Rivers State Police Command is yet to make an official statement about the tragic incident.

The Nasarawa State Election Petition Tribunal has declared David Ombugadu of the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) the winner of the Nasarawa State Governorship Election, effectively sacking the incumbent Governor, Abdullahi Sule of the All Progressives Congress (APC).

According to report, the Tribunal, led by Justice Ezekiel Ajayi, gave the ruling on Monday.

The Tribunal, earlier in the day, also dismissed a petition filed by the New Nigeria People’s Party (NNPP) challenging Governor Sule’s victory for lacking in merit.

More details to come……

United States District Court for the Northern District of Illinois has ordered Chicago State University (CSU) to release the academic records of President Bola Tinubu to Nigeria’s former Vice President and the presidential candidate of Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Alhaji Atiku Abubakar, unfailingly, by mid-day today, October 2.

The court ordered that deposition of the university must be completed by tomorrow, Tuesday, October 3.

The order followed Hon. Nancy Maldonado’s overruling of Tinubu’s objection to the release of his academic records at CSU to Atiku.

Maldonado’s order, which came after nearly two months of fierce legal fireworks in the US over the authenticity of the Diploma certificate paraded by Nigeria’s president, was expected to resolve all controversies over Tinubu’s educational qualifications, which had been raging for nearly three decades.

Maldonado, in her court judgement delivered on September 30, emphasised, “That it is expressing no view on the merits of Mr. Abubakar’s claims regarding President Tinubu’s graduation from CSU, or on the validity of the Nigerian election. Nor is the court taking any position on what any of the documents or testimony from CSU may or may not ultimately show.

“These are all matters for the Nigerian courts to resolve under Nigerian law, and it is not appropriate for this U.S. court to opine on such issues or attempt to predict how foreign courts might ultimately rule if and when they are presented with any evidence from CSU.”
The court, in its judgement on Tinubu’s objection to the release of his CSU records to Atiku, held that Magistrate Judge Jeffrey Gilbert was right in granting Atiku’s application for discovery.

While pointing out that Atiku met the statutory requirements and the discretionary factors supported granting the application, Maldonado held, “This court will not obstruct the flow of discovery solely within the possession of a U.S. institution on a matter of such importance, when the respondent stands ready and willing to provide it.”

Besides, Maldonado agreed with the lower court that Atiku’s interest in the discovery outweighed Tinubu’s privacy interests, adding that the court needs not concern itself with any burden to CSU in making the production.
“The court finds the final discretionary factor weighs in favour of granting the application,” the judge stated.

Gilbert had on September 19, while delivering judgement in Atiku’s application for discovery, directed CSU, to produce and release within 48 hours certain documents and testimony related to Tinubu, which the institution claimed graduated in 1979.

Dissatisfied with the order, Tinubu had on the eve of the expiration of the order on CSU, approached the district court to temporarily halt the discharge of the order for discovery till September 25, when he would file his appeal against the order.

Among others, he had submitted before the district court that Gilbert erred in making the order and claimed that the lower court went beyond its mandatory duty of recommending to the district court to give a final judgement.

He also pleaded protection and privacy laws regarding the release of academic records in the US. In urging the district court to rescind the order of the magistrate court, he said the documents Atiku sought from the court were for mere expedition purposes, which could not be used at the apex court in Nigeria.

Tinubu, however, pleaded that if the district court was inclined to upholding the judgement of Gilbert, it should be limited to the Diploma certificate he submitted to the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC).

But delivering judgement on Saturday, Maldonado upheld and adopted the judgement of Gilbert. The judge noted that Atiku’s case had merit, adding that the order cannot be limited to the Diploma certificate Tinubu submitted to INEC.

The judge held, “With three factors weighing in favour, and one neutral, the court finds on balance the discretionary factors support granting Atiku’s application.

“President Tinubu did not specifically object to Judge Gilbert’s rulings with respect to the scope of the discovery requests, other than to generally state they are too broad.

“But even if he had, the court independently finds the requests are appropriately tailored to seek relevant information. Atiku did not object to the portion of Judge Gilbert’s ruling limiting the scope of his request for production four mentioned above, and at any rate, the court agrees that asking CSU to conduct electronic discovery is neither justified nor feasible at this time.

“The court, therefore, adopts Judge Gilbert’s ruling on the scope of the discovery requests. CSU must respond to Requests for Production Nos. 1 through 4, though CSU need not respond to the portion of Request No. 4 that seeks ‘all communications to or from CSU concerning the certification of such documents by Jamar C. Orr, Esq., during the period of August 1, 2022 to August 1, 2023.’ (Dkt. 40 at 28.)

“As for the deposition, CSU must produce a witness that can address all five topics identified in the subpoena.”

The district court explained that the issue presented before it was much more limited, and stated that under the applicable U.S. law and the federal rules of discovery, Atiku was entitled to the production of documents and testimony that he was seeking from the CSU.
The judge ruled on Atiku’s entitlement to the sought documents, “The court finds that he is. This decision is in line with the underlying purpose of 28 U.S.C. § 1782 to promote judicial assistance to foreign courts and comports with the liberal discovery standards under the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure, which encourage disclosure of potentially relevant information.”

She disclosed that in arriving at its conclusion, the court held that the magistrate court, contrary to Tinubu’s claim, did not give a final ruling, but only a “report and recommendation” subject to de novo review for any objected-to portions.

On Tinubu’s claim that Atiku could not use the academic records in his appeal at the Supreme Court, the district stated that it “cannot and will not speculate as to Nigerian law and procedure. What the court has before it is a sworn affidavit, which President Tinubu did not contest before Judge Gilbert, that the Supreme Court of Nigeria can consider new evidence under ‘exceptional circumstances’.

“In other words, it is undisputed that there is a mechanism by which Atiku could potentially inject the requested discovery into the foreign proceedings. Whether the Supreme Court of Nigeria will ultimately allow Atiku to use the documents, or whether it will consider them in its decision, are not questions for the court to resolve.

“The potential means for Atiku to use the discovery in the foreign proceedings is sufficient, and this court goes too far if it requires Atiku to show that his use must be successful.”

While overruling Tinubu’s objection, the court stated that Atiku “does not just question the authenticity of one diploma, but also questions whether President Tinubu actually attended and received any undergraduate degree from CSU at all, notwithstanding the fact that CSU has stated that President Tinubu did attend and receive a degree on June 22, 1979.

“In other words, while Atiku’s challenge to the election results is tied to the submission of an allegedly fraudulent diploma, he has raised other broader claims in the same proceedings before the Court of Appeal about President Tinubu’s identity and graduation, as well as the authenticity and origin of other CSU documents that were obtained and produced as part of other Nigerian proceedings.”

“Nor should the court’s opinion be read as taking any position on any of the broader claims as to the validity of the election or what the documents and discovery from CSU might or might not show.

“The court simply finds that Mr. Abubakar has cleared the relatively low hurdle of showing that the documents he seeks could be relevant to his claims (either proving them or disproving them) and could potentially be presented to the Supreme Court of Nigeria.
“For the foregoing reasons, the court overrules President Tinubu’s objections to Magistrate Judge Gilbert’s recommended ruling, and therefore adopts the ruling in full. Atiku’s Application is therefore granted.

“In light of the pending Supreme Court of Nigeria deadline, represented to the court as October 5, 2023, and based on CSU’s representations that it is ready to comply with the discovery requests and produce a witness, the court sets an expedited schedule for completion of discovery.