The Nigerian Bar Association (NBA) has sought the advice of the Legal Practitioners Disciplinary Committee (LPDC) on whether to prosecute the Chairman of the Body of Benchers, Chief Wole Olanipekun (SAN) over alleged professional misconduct.
 
Adekunbi Ogunde, a partner in the law firm of Olanipekun had sent an email to SAIPEM Contracting Nigeria Ltd, one of the clients of Henry Ajumogobia, a Senior Advocate of Nigeria, soliciting a brief.

The Rivers State Government had preferred charges against the company over allegations of $130 million fraud.
 
Despite being aware that the law firm of Henry Ajumogobia was handling the matter, Ogunde had asked SAIPEM to consider hiring Olanipekun & Co.
 
She claimed her firm’s leading partner, Chief Olanipekun (SAN) is close to Supreme Court and Court of Appeal judges.
 
Reacting to the development in a letter addressed to Olanipekun, Ajumogobia, a former Minister of State for Petroleum, said the move was in breach of essential mandatory rules.
 
The Chairman of the Body of Benchers has since apologised to Ajumogobia, stating that he never approved the email sent by Ogunde.
 
According to CityLawyer Magazine, Ogunde has also been dragged to the disciplinary committee over the controversial email.
 
In a petition numbered BB/LPDC/901/2022, NBA 1st Vice President, Mr. John Aikpokpo-Martins stated that he was applying “on behalf of the Applicant that ADEKUNBI OGUNDE of WOLE OLANIPEKUN & CO of God’s Grace House, 5, Maple Close, Osborne Foreshore Estate Phase 11, Ikoyi, Lagos be required to answer to the allegations contained in the Statement/Affidavit which accompanies this Application and that such Order be made as the Committee shall think right.”
 
Filed on behalf of the Incorporated Trustees of the Nigerian Bar Association and dated July 19, 2022, the petition was titled “Petition Against Adekunbi Ogunde, Esq., a Nigerian lawyer duly called to the Nigerian Bar with her name on the roll of lawyers kept in the Supreme Court for the violation of the extant rules of professional conduct for legal practitioners (Rule 1 of the RPC) by soliciting for briefs and peddling the influence of the principal partner of her law firm Chief Wole Olanipekun, SAN as having the ability to extra-legally influence decisions of courts in Nigeria being the chairman of the very distinguished body of benchers thereby putting the entire legal profession to national and international public ridicule and odium.”
 
In the Statement of Facts accompanying the application, NBA noted that Ogunde is “expected to exhibit and maintain a very high standard of conduct, professionalism, respect for the integrity of court and the judicial process when discharging her professional duties and responsibilities to clients, the legal profession and members of the general public.”
 
The applicant however stated that “Sometime in the month of June 2022, members of the legal profession and indeed the general public were rudely confronted with unbelievable reports in the social media of a letter alleged to have originated from the very esteemed and revered office of Wole Olanipekun & Co and authored by the Respondent.”
Continuing, the Applicant stated that “In the said letter, the law firm of Wole Olanipekun & Co unprofessionally and surreptitiously solicited for a brief from Saipem SPA, an international conglomerate known (knowing that another firm of lawyers was handling the said brief in the court) and further shamelessly touted the supposed overriding influence of the principal partner of her firm, Chief Wole Olanipekun, SAN, the current chairman of the very revered and distinguished Body of Benchers, and a very respected past President of the Applicant herein.”
 
Citing the letter from Ogunde to Mr. Francesco Ciao of Saipem SPA, NBA stated that “Members of the legal profession particularly members of the Applicant were very disturbed by this infamous letter alleged to have originated from arguably one of the most successful, biggest, respected and most distinguished law firms in Nigeria,” adding that its hope that the allegations contained in the letter were “false, misleading and outright mischief orchestrated by some rabble-rousers” was dashed by letters from the law firm of Wole Olanipekun & Co apologizing for the action of the Respondent and disclaiming her.
According to NBA, “While the members of the legal profession in particular and the national and international public were attempting to come to terms with what has now obviously become the most infamous letter ever written by a lawyer and/or a law firm in the history of the legal profession in Nigeria, the respondent published a letter on the social media admitting the allegations, but sought only to exculpate her law firm from the now most infamous conduct allegations within the legal profession ever in Nigeria.”
 
Justifying the filing of the application, the association stated that “The entire members of the Applicant arising from their comments on the social media and calls to the President of the Nigerian Bar Association have been feverishly and fervently demanding and calling on the Applicant to rise up and refer the Respondent and the partners of Wole Olanipekun & Co. to the Legal Practitioners’ Disciplinary Committee for gross and grave professional misconduct that brought unprecedented shame, ridicule, opprobrium and odium on the entire administration of justice system and the legal profession in Nigeria.”
 
NBA then urged the LPDC “to immediately commence the disciplinary process and prosecute ADEKUNBI OGUNDE Esq. for the violation of the sacred provisions of the Rules of Professional Conduct, particularly Rule 1 thereof.”
 
The NBA Trustees also sensationally sought LPDC’s opinion to “consider whether the partners of the firm of Wole Olanipekun & Co. are not liable to be disciplined by this august body seeing that the Respondent has the ostensible authority to act as a partner, and indeed acted for and on behalf of the said firm.”
 

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Former Chief of the Naval Staff, Vice Admiral Ibok Ette Ekwe Ibas

A retired naval officer, Emmanuel Ekpe Owen has written an open letter to President Muhammadu Buhari over the victimisation and injustice allegedly going on in the Nigerian Naval Force.
 
In the letter, the ex-naval chief alleged that he was repeatedly victimised by the former Chief of the Naval Staff, Vice Admiral Ibok Ette Ekwe Ibas for more than 20 years and that the present naval authority continued with the victimization in conjunction with the present Minister of Defence.
 
 
He said his problem with the former Chief of the Naval Staff escalated in 2015 after he reported a case of fraud against him as the former Executive Officer of NNS AMBE which was at the time in Liberia on the Economic Community of West African States.
 
The letter reads in part: "Your Excellency, based on the letter forwarded to you I faced open hostilities from certain quarters in the government and the Armed Forces of Nigeria. If not for the intervention of the immediate past Chief of Defence Staff and the Chief of Defence Intelligence who believed that an infraction had been committed the story would have been different today. One of the numerous interviews held was with the former Chief of the Naval Staff Vice Admiral IE Ibas (rtd) initiated by the immediate past Chief of Defence Intelligence. This meeting was held at the past CNS office in December 2019, in attendance were 3 of his Principal Staff Officers.
 
"Less than a week after this uneventful meeting, a Navy Signal was released directing that I and 25 other officers immediately proceed to Pan Atlantic University in Abuja on pre-retirement course. It has to be observed that 20 of the selected officers were not due for retirement as they still had time in the Service. I am of the opinion that this action was carried out by the Naval Authorities to shroud the fact that I and some of the selected officers were blacklisted by the CNS. Sir it has to be noted that this course is meant for officers who have less than 6 months in the Service.
 
"In addition, Sir, I was the only one relieved of my appointment as the Deputy Director Procurement at the Defence Intelligence Agency in January of 2020. I was without an office or appointment until 9th of July 2022 when I was compulsorily retired by Vice Admiral AZ Gambo and endorsed by the Honourable Minister of Defence despite a reminder to Mr President and a letter of appeal written in accordance with existing regulations. Saw this as a breach of my fundamental human rights manifested in the deliberate denial of my right to a fair hearing.
 
 
"These aforementioned actions were as a result of my letter of redress to you and in which you directed the current Minister of Defence to conduct a thorough investigation into my allegations and salient points raised to ameliorate the spate of insecurity through terrorism, banditry with a view to de-escalation.
 
"Some of the allegations raised in the letter include my victimisation with relevant documents, victimisation and forced retirement of experienced and skilled operations officers through non-promotion, others include promotion of fraudulent officers that were investigated by the EFCC and indicted by a competent court of jurisdiction for stealing over officers who had excelled and continue to excel in various theatres of operations within and outside Nigeria and description of these issues have not been addressed. Or is my President and Commander-in-Chief no longer interested in zero tolerance in corruption? I doubt very much that this is the case."
 
The former Naval Chief explained further that he was the only one relieved of his appointment as the Deputy Director of Procurement at the Defence Intelligence Agency in January of 2020.
 
"I was without an office or appointment until 9 of July 2022 when I was compulsorily retired by Vice Admiral AZ Gambo and endorsed by the Honourable Minister of Defence despite a reminder to Mr President and a letter of appeal written in accordance with existing regulations. Saw this as a breach of my fundamental human rights manifested in the deliberate denial of my right to a fair hearing," he said.
 
In 2020, SaharaReporters reported that Captain Emmanuel Ekpe Owen petitioned military authorities over his alleged victimisation by the Chief of Naval Staff, Vice Admiral Ibok Ekwe Ibas, after exposing his financial misappropriation and corruption.
 
Owen had, in a 10-page petition dated December 12, 2019, and addressed to the military authorities, explained how he was locked up in the toilet for six days for exposing shady deals and corruption involving the Chief of Naval Staff.
 
He continued: "These aforementioned actions where as a result of my letter of redress to you and in which you directed the current Minister of Defence to conduct a thorough investigation into my allegations and salient points raised to ameliorate the spate of insecurity through terrorism, banditry with a view to de-escalation."
 
He however urged President Buhari to consider the following recommendations to solve the ongoing anomalies among the Naval Staff.
 
The following recommendations are forwarded for Mr President’s consideration: “Favouritism and the growth of Paper Tigers should be discouraged; The Armed Forces of Nigeria should be apolitical; Review of past and present victimisation cases; Recall of officers and men with field operational experience, set skills and competence back into the Armed Forces of Nigeria.”
 
Other are: “Promotion in the Armed Forces of Nigeria should be based on operational efficiency, competence and performance; Abrogation of quota system in the military; Abrogation of promotion limits for members of the Armed Forces of Nigeria; Retirement age should be 40 years from date of Commission; and Strict adherence to Punishment and Reward systems.”

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First Bank Nigeria

The Federal High Court, sitting in Lagos, on Friday, July 22, 2022, adjourned the case filed against First Bank Holdings Plc and its directors to November 30, 2022, for hearing.
 
SaharaReporters earlier reported that the court in the interim restrained First Bank Nigeria Holdings Plc, from implementing the decisions reached at its recently held 10th Annual General Meeting (AGM).

Specifically, Justice Akintayo Aluko who presided over the court, gave the order, directing FBN Holdings Plc and all the respondents in the suit filed against it by one of the shareholders in the company, to maintain the status quo ante bellum prevailing before the AGM was held on June 20, 2022.
 
The court on July 15, 2022, granted an order directing the company and its directors to revert to the status prevailing before the 10th Annual General Meeting held on June 30, 2022. The order was granted at the instance of an aggrieved shareholder of the company, Mr Olusegun Onagoruwa.
Meanwhile, at the court proceedings today (Friday), Ebun-Olu Adegboruwa, SAN, counsel for the Petitioner informed the court that all court papers and the court order had been served on all the respondents and thus he was ready for the hearing of the pending motion on notice for interlocutory injunction.
Whereas, Professor Gbolahan Elias, the lawyer of the respondents, informed the court that the respondents were served on Monday, July 18, 2022 and he needed time to go through the papers.
Mr. Adegboruwa did not object to the application for an adjournment. Consequently, by consent of counsel, the case was adjourned to November 30, 2022.
The effect of the court proceedings of July 22, 2022, is that the order made by the court on July 15, 2022, remains in force until the hearing and final determination of the motion on notice for an order of interlocutory injunction.
The Petition was filed by Mr. Onagoruwa, an aggrieved shareholder of First Bank Holdings Plc, in which he claims that the affairs of the company are being run illegally and oppressively.
Principally, the Petitioner is contending in the suit that he was not served with a statutory notice for the 10th AGM that was held on 20th June 2022.
Arguing the case on behalf of the Petitioner, Mr. Adegboruwa had contended that the Petitioner was by law entitled to be served with notice of the AGM and having not been served, there is a case of breach of his constitutional right to a fair hearing in the determination of the Petitioner’s civil rights and obligations.
According to Adegboruwa’s argument, the law is settled that once a breach of fair hearing has occurred, any decision taken pursuant to such breach must be set aside by the court. Furthermore, it was Adegboruwa’s argument on behalf of the Petitioner that the decisions and resolutions of the 10th AGM, especially in relation to the appointment of Directors, were null and void as shareholders were not given the opportunity to know and approve the new Board of Directors appointed for the company by the Central Bank Governor and that the powers of the CBN Governor to sack or appoint directors for the company did not take away the powers of shareholders to confirm such directors.


The order of the Court of July 15, 2022, followed a motion ex-parte filed on 6th July 2022 seeking to preserve the subject matter of the Petition before the Court.
In a 52-paragraph affidavit in support, the Petitioner stated that despite being a shareholder of First Bank Holdings Plc, he was not served with notice of the AGM held on 20th June 2022 at Oriental Hotel.
The petitioner also stated that the AGM had not confirmed or approved the appointment of the Board of Directors constituted by the Central Bank governor before the said Board proceeded to appoint Nnamdi Okonkwo as Group Managing Director and Julius Omodayo-Awodugba as Non-Executive Director. The Petitioner filed an affidavit of urgency in support of the application.
According to the affidavit filed in support of the motion, the petitioner averred that the kernel of the matter is the decision and resolutions reached at the just concluded Annual General Meeting of the 1st Respondent held on Monday, June 20, 2022. That the Applicant's rights as expressed in the Petition which includes the Applicant's right to be personally served with Notice of the Annual General Meeting of the 1st Respondent, have been breached, hence the instant application. And that it is imperative to allow the Court to determine all issues and reliefs sought on the merits without any interference from any party implementing, with respect to the meeting, acting on, and executing decisions reached at the General Meeting of the 1st Respondent held at Oriental Hotel, Lagos held on Monday, 20th June 2022.
 

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Accountant General of the Federation, Ahmed Idris.

A Federal Capital Territory High Court, Abuja has ordered that the suspended Accountant General of the Federation, Ahmed Idris, be remanded in Kuje Correctional Centre pending the hearing and determination of his bail application.

Justice Njideka Nwosu-Iheme gave the order on Friday.
He adjourned the hearing on the bail application to Wednesday, July 27.

The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission had arraigned Idris alongside three others on 14 counts of stealing and criminal breach of trust to the tune of N109, 485,572,691.9.

Others arraigned with him are Godfrey Olusegun Akindele, Mohammed Kudu Usman, and a firm — Gezawa Commodity Market and Exchange Limited.

The EFCC had accused Idris and his co-defendants of stealing and criminal breach of trust to the tune of N109.5 billion.

The suspended AGF was arrested in May after he failed to respond to invitations by the commission to answer questions over the allegation of N80 billion fraud.

Minister of Finance, Zainab Ahmed thereafter suspended Idris indefinitely without pay.
 

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The presidential candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party, Atiku Abubakar has said that the Labour Party lacks the structure required to win the 2023 presidential election in the country.

Peter Obi, who was Atiku’s running mate in the 2019 presidential election is the presidential candidate of the Labour Party for the next election.

According to Atiku during an interview on Arise TV on Friday, which was monitored by SaharaReporters, although the Labour Party claims to have over 1 million votes for last Saturday’s Osun governorship election on social media, the party’s votes after the counting didn’t justify the claim.
 
He said, “I really don’t expect the Labour Party to take as much votes from the PDP as people are suggesting, we have seen it in the last election in Osun State.

“What’s the performance of the Labour Party? This is a party that doesn’t have a governor, doesn’t have members of the National Assembly, and doesn’t have state assembly members. And politics in this country depends on the structures you have at these various levels at the local, state and at the national level, so it is very difficult to expect a miracle to happen simply because Peter Obi is in the Labour Party.

 

“After all they were saying through the social media; they have more than one million votes in Osun State but how many turned up to vote for Labour Party?”

Atiku also said, “In the North, 90 percent of the people are not on social media.”
 

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The Federal Capital Territory Administration would spend N30.222 billion in the ongoing rehabilitation of the National Assembly Complex, the Minister, Malam Musa Bello had said.
 
Bello disclosed this on Thursday when the Senate Committee on FCT carried out an oversight visit to various project sites being constructed by the Federal Capital Territory Administration (FCDA) in Abuja, according to Daily Post.

He disclosed that the cost of approval of the rehabilitation work by President Muhammadu Buhari was N37 billion, which was included in the 2020 budget of the Federal Capital Development Administration.
 
He, however, explained that the cost was reviewed downward to N9.25 billion in the revised 2020 budget to enable the FCDA to pay contractors, leaving a balance of N21.025 billion.
 
Bello stated that the total cost of rehabilitation work which stood at N30,229, 290,830.35 billion was not part of the National Assembly’s annual budget of N128 billion as some people had claimed.
 
He also that the contract, which was awarded on December 30, 2021, has a completion period of two years.
 
He stated that the National Assembly Phase II, popularly known as “the White House” was realised from 1996 to 1999 by ITB Nigeria Ltd without any major rehabilitation works carried out on the building over the years.
 
Speaking on other projects embarked upon by the administration, the minister said the Federal Secretariat Complex and the construction of southern park way from Christian Center to Ring Road had commenced.
 
Others he said are the rehabilitation of the expansion of Outer Southern Expressway, provision of engineering infrastructure for Wuye District, rehabilitation and expansion of Outer Southern Expressway Villa Roundabout and completion of B6, B12 and Circle Road in Central Area.
 
The minister said the FCDA decided to prioritise key projects due to paucity of funds, but assured that all projects which were ongoing would be completed in record time.
 
Bello said: “And in deciding the ones that fit into that category, we looked at the ones that will give the maximum benefit to the maximum number of people.
 
“All the four projects we visited, you find that they are all road projects that are meant to link one section of the Abuja city to another and that is the whole idea.
 
“The master plan has been designed in such a way that they complement each other.
 
“So if you finish one portion and you don’t do the other one, then you don’t get the full utility of that particular road.”
 
Bello further indicated that the ministry is determined to ensure that a number of projects are completed before the end of President Muhammadu Buhari’s administration.
 
“Some of them we intend to develop them to a level whereby the next team should be able to do it.
 
“Ultimately, the objective is to make Abuja a vibrant city; a city where people will feel comfortable; where there wouldn’t be traffic gridlock and where facilities will work.”

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A clash between some bandits and a splinter Boko Haram sect, the Ansaru terror group, has led to the death of three people.
 
The incident occurred on Thursday in the Safana Local Government Area of Katsina State.

The bandits, led by one Bauche were said to have stormed Damari Forest in the local government area and opened fire on the terrorists.
 
The clash between the two terror groups which lasted for several hours led to the death of three persons including an Ansaru sect top commander identified as Bawa.
 
The incident comes a few days after bandits attacked members of Ansaru in the Birnin-Gwari Local Government Area of Kaduna State. The clash left two locals dead.
 
Katsina, despite being the home state of President Muhammadu Buhari, has witnessed sporadic attacks by bandits and kidnappers that have claimed the lives of many.
 
Over 2,000 people have been reportedly killed by the gunmen in Jibia, Kankara, Dutsinma, Musawa, Danmusa and Safana local government areas of the state in the last one year.
 

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I remember: when I got to Christ’s School in January 1967 for the Higher School Certificate course, his name was already riding the wind as a prominent member of that pantheon of exceptional old students who departed Agidimo Hill but left their lofty names behind. He was believed to be so versed in Latin that he could quote Cicero in his sleep. They said his genius followed him from Oyemekun Grammar School, his first alma mater, and that for years, he and this genius had been inalienable companions. Yes, Oyemekun, that first-rate school in Akure where he was the contemporary of stars such as Kole Omotoso, who would grow up to become one of Nigeria’s eminent writers and public intellectuals.

I remember: the following year, at the tail end of our HSC course, a brisk, smartly dressed young teacher strode into our literature class one mellow afternoon. He had been ‘commandeered’ to relieve a sparsely staffed literature staff by taking our class though the seething lanes of Down Second Avenue, the best known novel by Ezekiel Mphahlele, the famous South African writer and one of the most vociferous foes of that country’s inhuman apartheid system. Our class was abuzz with whispers: that was the Adamolekun we had heard so much about, the one who, years before, had sat in that same classroom to which he had now returned as a scholar of enviable repute. The myth had morphed into a man, and the man was right there in front of the class, his khaki-coloured trousers correct, down to its daintiest French cut. The news soon reached us that he was a fresh graduate of the University of Ibadan where he had made us all proud by earning a First Class in French. This new teacher had a way with languages, we all thought: after worsting Cicero in Latin at Christ’s School, he went on to vanquish Voltaire in his native French at the university. Once again, Adamolekun became the campus toast. Chief Ogunlade, the Principal, hailed his unrelenting genius; Chief Oloketuyi, unforgettable literature teacher, extoled his enviable brilliance. Both veteran educators saw Adamolekun’s sterling academic achievement and exceptional character as virtues to preach and practice. They never missed the opportunity. Adamolekun became an exemplum. A new entry in our diary of dreams.

I remember: Our teacher zoomed out of our classroom as fast as he had zoomed into it, but not without dropping some valuable lessons about the impact of history and socio-political realities on literature, its creators and its audience, and the grave demonstration of this fact in Down Second Avenue, its author, and the then ruling apartheid monstrosity. Thereafter, our teacher left for Oxford, one of the world’s most famous universities, not, as we had expected, to continue in the mighty lines of Cicero and Voltaire, but to carve out a niche in Public Administration, a high-sounding discipline that had yet to establish a noticeable foothold in Nigerian Academe. The Oxford doctoral programme over in record time, he was on his way to the relatively young but superbly run University of Ife where for the next many years, he would establish himself as one of Africa’s top scholars in public administration and experts in its protocol and practice.

I remember: that campus life was not just chalk-and-blackboard, committee-and-caucus humdrum for this political petrel and positive gadfly. From his student days, Adamolekun has always been a trouble maker (in the sense of John Lewis, America’s intrepid humanist and Civil Rights warrior) , troublemaker who never suffered fools gladly, whose blood boiled at the sight of injustice. Endowed with a sharp, interrogative mind and phenomenal memory and power of recall, he was/is a sayer and doer whose slight physical frame is house to thunderous resolve and courageous outspokenness. These traits played out handsomely in campus politics (at both Ibadan and Ife), and rose to unstoppable articulateness in his media interventions and stateman-like public admonitions. Prominent in these interventions are his anger at Nigeria’s ostensibly incurable underdevelopment, the often-neglected connection between chronic maladministration and bad leadership, avoidable capacity wastage, and judicious recommendations and suggestions for the way out of the pit. With Dipo Adamolekun, the sun rises in the East and sets in the West. You always know where you are with him because you always know where HE stands.

I remember: the World Bank sniffed out his footsteps, followed his trail to his book-crowded campus office, and told him in a most irresistible way: let’s go now from theory to praxis; come benefit the world with the insight in your countless publications. Our scholar looked to the left, then the right; looked back, then forward. Okay, some sense in your bidding. My departure is no death. Serving the world has its own advantage as long as that gives you the chance to serve your people too. We must prevent Africa’s chair at the world’s table from standing empty………

I remember: those busy years at the World Bank. Jetting back and forth. Teaching the world the science of Organization. Getting it to recognize the know-how of Method. Trouble-shooting in those parts of our globe where chaos seems to have built a permanent tent. Looking deep inside the mind which commands and the one that obeys. Coming into useful service now, the sophisticated eloquence of Cicero, the stupendous witticism of Voltaire, and the universal figurations of Fagunwa in which all these virtues are so uniquely combined . Village Boy in the Global Village: the Adamolekuns are a Clan in which Iju is well pleased. Which is why when all is said and done, Iju is the world to which he always returns……

I remember: on the personal level (now with my narrative on to the second person singular), your sharp mind, your sharp voice; your ready, effortless smile, your willingness to help at all times. There is a genuineness to that smile because it issues forth from that powerful middle ground between the heart and the mind.

I remember: that day in September 2005 when my wife and I, having very narrowly survived the killing claws of Hurricane Katrina, were left penniless and weather-beaten evacuees. Most unexpectedly, the phone rang and your voice came across, clear and consoling. Less than a week later an envelope came with your name on it and your kind assistance inside it. You couldn’t have imagined how touched we were at your generosity. You were one of those who really made sure Katrina did not have the last word.  

I remember: (how can I forget?!) the poem below which I wrote 10 years ago in celebration of your 70th birthday, and I am re-calling it to urgent service as I say 80 Hearty Cheers to our ageless Omoluabi. Aseyi-samodun o.**

 

   FOR OLADIPUPO ADAMOLEKUN (

 

     80 Hearty Songs for Omoluabi

 

    Owa nii wa ni oye i kan?/Oniyan l’oyeee

 

Kindness comes naturally to you

Like songs to the bird

Fortified with a laughter

 

Which dances through the thornbush

Of life, still fresh and resonantly strong

Your firefly defies the tyranny of night

 

First Class in many ways,

You out-syntaxed Cicero in a jungle 

Snared with ablative absolutes

 

Divined the excoriative wit of Voltaire

And reasoned sure-footedly through 

The hallowed palisades of Cartesian cogito.

 

Your umbrella so wide it rivaled the sky

Yet so rooted the grass knows  

The lines on your native sole

 

Seventy seasons ago

The journey began in that little village

Which out-peoples the mammoth town,

 

Land of the tender rain and muscular yam

Where the pestle’s ceaseless fight with the mortar

Defies the truce of wayward famines

 

The song raised by Ogbese

In the billowing plenitude of August

Finds fluent chorus in Osun’s majestic orchestra

 

Seventy seasons ago

Another Adam*** in that famous clan in Iju,

Where books grow on the family tree    

 

Scholar, teacher, polyglot, Humanist 

Seasoned eleto**** whose expert wisdom

Re-shapes the public realm/spheres

 

From Kiev to Kisangani

From Walla Walla to Waripundi

The world yearns for more of your shaping hand

 

 

*A joyful play upon I Remember, the title of Adamolekun’s exhilarating autobiography

**May you live to celebrate many more years

***Play on ‘Adamolekun’, the familu name.   

**** Administrator/organizer.

 

 

                         Niyi Osundare

                         July 17, 2022

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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Justice Binta Nyako of the Federal High Court sitting in Abuja will today (Friday) deliver judgement in the case of suspected Taraba State kidnap kingpin, Bala Hamisu, popularly known as Wadume and others charged with conspiracy and kidnapping.
 
Justice Nyako had adjourned the case for judgment after the prosecution and defence counsel adopted their final written addresses.

The police on February 3, 2020, originally filed 16 counts of terrorism, murder, kidnapping and illegal arms running against Wadume and the others.
 
They were accused of conspiring to commit felony, to wit: “acts of terrorism, by attacking and kidnapping one Usman Garba, aka Mayo, at his filling station in Takum, thereby committing an offence contrary to Section 17 of the Terrorism (Prevention) Amendment Act 2013.”
 
They were also accused of possessing six AK-47 rifles and dealing in prohibited firearms contrary to Section 27 (1)(a)(I) and (1)(b)(iii) of the Firearms Act 2004.
 
Count one of the charge read, “That you, Alhaji Hamisu Bala, 33, aka Wadume; Capt Ahmed Tijjani Balarabe; ASP Aondona Iorbee; Insp Aliyu Dadje; Auwalu Bala; Uba Bala; Ahmad Suleiman; Bashir Waziri; Zubairu Abdullahi; Rayyanu Abdul and others now at large between February and April 2019 at Takum and Ibi, Taraba State, within the jurisdiction of this court, while acting in concert, conspired together to commit felony, to wit: acts of terrorism by attacking and kidnapping one Usman Garba, aka Mayo at his filling station in Takum, thereby committing an offence contrary to Section 17 of the Terrorism (Prevention) Amendment Act 2013.”
 
They allegedly demanded a N200 million ransom and killed the victim despite receiving N106.3 million.
 
“DCP Abba Kyari, CSP Baba Khali, ASP Abdulrahman Mohammed, ASP Bawa James, Insps Habila Samuel and Ilarju Joseph are the investigating police officers in this case; they will testify about their findings in the course of the investigation and will tender exhibits and documents,” the police had stated.
 
Listed as exhibits in the case were the written statements of the defendants, photographs of the victims, autopsy reports, six AK-47 rifles recovered from the gang, three empty shells, one live ammunition and six Volkswagen Sharon buses, and one (police) Toyota Hiace bus, among others.
 
Some soldiers led by Tijjani Balarabe, a captain, were also named in the charges filed by the police.
 
But Abubakar Malami, the Attorney-General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, on June 3, 2020, took over the case from the police and removed the soldiers’ names from the charges.
 
The action of Malami was widely condemned and described as being against public interest.
 
Wadume was first arrested in Ibi, Taraba State, by members of the Intelligence Response Team of the Inspector-General of Police on August 6, 2019 before soldiers led by Balarabe aided his escape from the custody of the policemen ferrying him to Abuja.
 
Three policemen and two civilians were killed during the incident, while five other police officers were injured.
 
One of the policemen killed in the incident was Felix Adolije, an Assistant Superintendent, who was described as one of the best among the team known for handling special crime cases across the country.

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Benue State Governor, Samuel Ortom has said that the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) is making efforts to resolve its internal crisis before the 2023 general elections.
 
Ortom disclosed this while featuring on an Arise TV programme on Thursday, adding that the PDP presidential candidate, Atiku Abubakar reached out to him to pacify Rivers State Governor Nyesom Wike.

Nyesom has reportedly been unhappy with the manner by which he lost the presidential primaries of the PDP to Atiku and for being sidelined for Delta Governor, Ifeanyi Okowa as the vice-presidential candidate of the party for the 2023 election.

Governor Ortom who has openly expressed support for Wike over the matter, expressed hope that Wike would work with Atiku to ensure that the party wins the next presidential election.
 
Ortom noted that efforts were ongoing to “resolve the crisis in the party”

“Our presidential candidate has reached out to me to pacify Wike. Wike stood with me at my worst time when my state was under siege.
 
“I believe working with Wike will help get a better result. Once Wike is pacified, I will also be pacified. The issue is not about our personal interests but about Nigeria.
 
“You will agree that Nigeria is under siege by a cabal that wants to enslave everybody,” he said.
 
According to Ortom, they “need everybody to come together to see how we can rescue our country”.

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A leader in the Anambra State vigilante group and three others have reportedly been arrested for their alleged involvement in kidnapping in the state.
 
According to sources, four AK-47 rifles, which were said to have buried in the backyard of the vigilante leader, were recovered by the police.

Police sources told The Nation that the suspect had been involved in the abduction of people in his area.
 
The suspect whose name has not been disclosed was reportedly arrested on Tuesday, along with three members of his gang.
 
Their arrest by security operatives it was learnt, followed a credible intelligence provided by people in the neighbourhood.
 
The police operatives led by the head of police tactical squad were said to have stormed his house early on Tuesday morning to catch him unawares.
 
“Sometimes, he collected as low as N1.5m to N2m to free victims. Those AK-47 rifles were hidden in a thick banana plantation at the back of his house. Our people are being kidnapped almost on a daily basis without knowing that our vigilante leader was behind it,” the source said
 
Police spokesman Ikenga Tochukwu said he had not received a report on the arrest, but added that security operatives had been on the trail of criminal elements in the state for some time.
 

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Duoye Diri

Over 350 secondary school teachers who were unlawfully sacked in Bayelsa state by former governor Seriake Dickson in 2012 have cried out to the state governor, Douye Diri to obey the National Industrial Court rulings which had ordered the immediate reinstatement of the affected teachers and payment of their backlog of salaries.
 
Dickson upon assumption of office in 2012 embarked on civil servants biometrics verification exercise which led to the sacking, demotion and suspension of many civil servants in Bayelsa state, especially those employed by his predecessor, Timipre Sylva.

Not satisfied with their sacking, the aggrieved teachers went to the industrial court sitting in Yenagoa, praying the court to order the state government to reinstate them, a prayer the court obliged and ruled that the teachers were unlawfully sacked and therefore ordered the state government to reinstate and pay them all their benefits.
 
Another set of the aggrieved teachers also approached the Port Harcourt division of the industrial court to seek redress.
The court also ruled in their favour with an order that they should be reinstated and their backlog arrears be paid to them.
 
Despite obtaining a twin ruling from the industrial courts, the affected teachers have continued to wait in vain to be reabsorbed into the state civil service.
 
Having explored all avenues available to them to no avail, the frustrated sacked teachers were left with no other option but to re-approach the court, seeking a garnishee order to compel all banks being used by the State Universal Basic Education Board (SUBEB) in paying civil servants’ salaries to release the funds owed the litigants to them, a prayer which the court has also answered but yet to be implemented by the state government.
 
On Thursday, during a sitting at the industrial court in Yenagoa where the court had ordered the banks to produce statements of accounts for the teachers’ payments, counsel for SUBEB which represents the state government in the case filed a fresh application for a stay of proceedings.
 
Consequently, the presiding Judge, Justice Bashar A. Akali adjourned the case to the 13th of October for a hearing on the application.
 
Speaking to newsmen after the adjournment, counsel for the Judgement Creditors, (the teachers), Barr. Martin Nwabali said, “Today, the court ordered the banks, which the judgement creditors are planning to garnishee to produce the statement and inflow of the accounts, which one of the banks has produced which is the third garnishee but the second judgement creditor, which is SUBEB, brought an application for stay of proceedings, which the judgement creditors had already responded to.”
 
“But previously, the court had already dealt with all these issues of stays and delays in an attempt to frustrate the judgement creditors which are the teachers. The court in their wisdom has ordered that in the next adjourned date, both parties should exchange their processes so that the court can determine on the garnishee which is a huge amount of money accruing to the teachers,” he said.
 
Nwabali emphasized that there was no defence on the part of the judgement debtors, noting that what they were doing was a delay strategy aimed at tying up the case in appeal, maintaining that there was no appeal for the court to stay proceedings other than what he described as mere notice of appeal on which the court had previously given judgement in favour of the plaintiffs.
 
Counsel for SUBEB, Barr. Derry Eric, said the only way to the end of the case was for both parties to come together and resolve the issues amicably, adding that ‘’both parties have been meeting and I believe that the government is a listening one.”
 
One of the victims, Mr. Steven Vianana described their ordeal as an administrative error on the side of the government, appealing to Governor Diri, whom he described as a beneficiary of the rule of law, to consider their plights and do the needful.
 
“We have had two judgments from the industrial courts both in Yenagoa and Port Harcourt and all of them are in our favour. Ironically, several letters of notice have been written to the government through SUBEB, but it is appalling that to this day, the government has not done anything to obey the court order,” he said.
 
Vianana explained that when the verification exercise was carried out, they were all verified and paid four months backlog of salaries before the appointment of Dr. Walton Liverpool as the Executive Secretary of SUBEB, who then asked them to reapply for their positions which they did only to hear that their appointments had been suspended.
 
Another victim, Sunday Rachael, who had tears running down her cheeks, asked, “Are we not Bayelsans? Why this suffering?”
“We are calling on the governor to see us as his own brothers, sisters and children. We are suffering. Even in the school system, we heard there are not enough teachers. So, why are they trying to frustrate us all these years? Our children can no longer go to school. Many marriages have been broken. We are begging the Government to listen to us," she said.
 

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The Lagos State Command of the Nigeria Police Force says it has uncovered a fake Corporate Affairs Commission (CAC) centre on Jobi Fele Way, Alausa Business District, Alausa, Ikeja.
 
A statement on Thursday, by the Command's spokesman, SP Benjamin Hundeyin, said five suspects were arrested.

Hundeyin said the syndicate behind the centre had swindled hundreds of people through fake CAC registrations.
 
He said that the centre was uncovered by operatives of the Rapid Response Squad (RRS) of the Command following a tip-off, painstaking background check and verification.
 
The statement partly read, "Five suspects manning the center were equally arrested for forgery and impersonating CAC officials.
 
"Those arrested include Gloria Ukaegbu aged 28, Omolere Kayode aged 30, Taiwo Ajayii aged 34, Nwachukwu Brenda aged 27 and Oluwatomisin Adebisi aged 25.
 
"Led by the Commander RRS, CSP Olayinka Egbeyemi, the operatives recovered several forged CAC documents, a Toyota Sienna and a Toyota Matrix used as makeshift offices for their nefarious transactions.
 
"Preliminary investigation reveal that the syndicate has swindled over hundreds of people through fake CAC registrations."
 
The PPRO stated that the Commissioner of Police, CP Abiodun Alabi, had directed that the case be transferred to the
State Criminal Investigations Department, Panti for further investigations and eventual prosecution.
 

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When President Muhammadu Buhari-led administration came up with "The Ruga policy" which was aimed at resolving the conflict between nomadic Fulani herdsmen and sedentary farmers, it was widely condemned and rejected by most state governors and many Nigerians, but a governor went straight to business as his state was badly affected by the crisis. Governor Bello Muhammed Matawalle bought the argument of the Federal Government that this policy will bring about lasting peace. 

During my visit to Zamfara and my stay in Maradun, I took a tour of the site and I became convinced this policy surely has a role to play. Though not completed, it is easy to have a clear understanding of the vision of the project. 

You will be greeted by a police post and as you tour the facility, your imagination comes alive. There are completed houses with the architectural design of these modern buildings projecting the habitation of a herder. Each building has its perimeter secured and have a paddock to keep for each household to keep its herd. These buildings are of 2, 3, and 4 bedrooms and we have hundreds of it completed. 

 

On a further drive into the facility, I saw blooks of classrooms for preparatory, primary and secondary schools for the inhabitants, a staff quarters for the teaching and non teaching staff and was informed the curriculum will be a fusion of nomadic and western education. 

 

There are structure in place for butchery, veterinary clinic and clinic on the premises. There are also over 500 water channels/canals for their herds to drink from. There is an irrigation system which gives the grazing area an all-year green vegetation. There is a massive water supply for both grazing and domestic use as a dam is in place to see to the sustenance of water supply. 

 

I was informed of plans to pave all the roads on the facility and one would see Street light poles installed all over. There is an orchard with plants sprouting out of the ground which will blossom in a function of time. One great thing I noticed was the facility is completely fenced and have provision for surveillance cameras to cover the entire facility. 

Just as the FG has abandoned Governor Matawalle and the State in their quest to end insecurity, this policy(Ruga) has been suspended after the state had committed so much funds into the project, the Governor is unfazed and committed to completing the project in due time. 

 

He told me what gives him joy and emboldens his convictions about the prospects and success of the project is growing population of herders who have settled around the facility waiting for its completion and hoping to be beneficiaries of the scheme. 

 

While he also agrees funding had been a big issue, he has opened talks with international development partners to come on board. 

 

After my visit to Ruga and my conversation with His Excellency, all I see is a man who is committed to serving and securing his people. 

 

He is surely doing more than lips service to RUGA and other policies which will put an end to insecurity in Zamfara State.

 

Deyemi Saka

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When President Muhammadu Buhari-led administration came up with "The Ruga policy" which was aimed at resolving the conflict between nomadic Fulani herdsmen and sedentary farmers, it was widely condemned and rejected by most state governors and many Nigerians, but a governor went straight to business as his state was badly affected by the crisis. Governor Bello Muhammed Matawalle bought the argument of the Federal Government that this policy will bring about lasting peace. 

 

During my visit to Zamfara and my stay in Maradun, I took a tour of the site and I became convinced this policy surely has a role to play. Though not completed, it is easy to have a clear understanding of the vision of the project. 

You will be greeted by a police post and as you tour the facility, your imagination comes alive. There are completed houses with the architectural design of these modern buildings projecting the habitation of a herder. Each building has its perimeter secured and have a paddock to keep for each household to keep its herd. These buildings are of 2, 3, and 4 bedrooms and we have hundreds of it completed. 

 

On a further drive into the facility, I saw blooks of classrooms for preparatory, primary and secondary schools for the inhabitants, a staff quarters for the teaching and non teaching staff and was informed the curriculum will be a fusion of nomadic and western education. 

 

There are structure in place for butchery, veterinary clinic and clinic on the premises. There are also over 500 water channels/canals for their herds to drink from. There is an irrigation system which gives the grazing area an all-year green vegetation. There is a massive water supply for both grazing and domestic use as a dam is in place to see to the sustenance of water supply. 

 

I was informed of plans to pave all the roads on the facility and one would see Street light poles installed all over. There is an orchard with plants sprouting out of the ground which will blossom in a function of time. One great thing I noticed was the facility is completely fenced and have provision for surveillance cameras to cover the entire facility. 

 

Just as the FG has abandoned Governor Matawalle and the State in their quest to end insecurity, this policy(Ruga) has been suspended after the state had committed so much funds into the project, the Governor is unfazed and committed to completing the project in due time. 

 

He told me what gives him joy and emboldens his convictions about the prospects and success of the project is growing population of herders who have settled around the facility waiting for its completion and hoping to be beneficiaries of the scheme. 

 

While he also agrees funding had been a big issue, he has opened talks with international development partners to come on board. 

 

After my visit to Ruga and my conversation with His Excellency, all I see is a man who is committed to serving and securing his people. 

 

He is surely doing more than lips service to RUGA and other policies which will put an end to insecurity in Zamfara State.

 

Deyemi Saka

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Elder statesman and leader of the Southern and Middle Belt Leaders Forum, SMBLF, Pa Edwin Clark, has tackled the National Chairman of the All Progressives Congress, APC, Abdullahi Adamu and Kano State Governor, Abdullahi Ganduje over their comments on the outcome of the Osun State governorship election.

He described Adamu and Ganduje as “ruthless and selfish politicians” who placed themselves and the ruling APC above national interest.

Clark in a statement on Thursday was reacting to the results of the last Saturday’s Osun State election, where the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, governorship candidate, Ademola Adeleke defeated the incumbent governor, Oyetola Adegboyega, of the APC.

“I am, therefore, not surprised that he did not accept the result of the free and fair gubernatorial election held in Osun State, even a day after the result had been announced. What a shame.” Clark said of Oyetola.

“There is so much discontent in the land. If people are complaining, a good leader should listen. Unfortunately, we have leaders who not only ignore the concerns of the people with impunity, but also make crass statements.

“For instance, the statement credited to the National Chairman of the APC, Senator Abdullahi Adamu, when he inaugurated the 86-member of the party’s National Campaign Council for the Osun State Governorship election, referring to the Peoples’ Democratic Party (PDP) governorship candidate in the election.”

Adamu had urged the council to ensure victory by all means possible.

Clark condemned Senator Adamu’s unguarded statement, stressing that he had known the APC chairman since 1979.

“I was the National Coordinator for the Minorities of the South and the Middle Belt; on several ocassions, I had cause to interact with him. He is a very ruthless and an aggressively ambitious politician.

“At the time, late Ibrahim Mantu, wanted to contest for the Chairmanship of the Plateau State chapter of the National Party of Nigeria (NPN), Abdullahi Adamu wanted to crush Ibrahim Mantu, but we resisted. It was also during this period that he (Abdullahi Adamu) was able to push himself to become the Chairman of the NPN in Plateau State.

“I also heard from reliable source that Abdullahi Adamu was very hostile to Muhammadu Buhari during one of his (Muhammadu Buhari’s) Presidential campaigns under the Congress for Progressive Change (CPC).

“In fact, the then Senatorial Candidate of the CPC, Gen. Ahmed Aboki, rtd, was maltreated during the period.

“To Abdullahi Adamu, the political party he belongs to and himself are greater than Nigeria as a country and Nigerians. I am, therefore, not surprised that he did not accept the result of the free and fair gubernatorial election held in Osun State, even a day after the result had been announced. What a shame!” He said.

Clark said that the only surprise he would have loved to express was that as Adamu was ageing, he and would have changed from such over ambitious characters but he never did.

“Our leaders must be able to feel the pulse of the people. Let leadership have a human face.” He intoned.

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The Niger Delta Youth Council (NDYC) has vehemently opposed the proposed Water Resources Bill currently before the National Assembly, describing it as an attempt by the Nigerian government to appropriate their lands and water resources in flagrant disregard to existing laws. 

The group made this known in a statement signed by Engr. Jator Abido, NDYC National Coordinator and its National Secretary, Comrade Kede Michael, which was obtained by SaharaReporters on Thursday. 

"We make bold to state that we shall fight to finish in ensuring that our lands are not taken over by the federal government under any pretext. 

"Going by the stipulations of the Land Use Act, all lands comprised in the territory of each state in the federation are vested in the Governor of that state, and such lands shall be held in trust and administered for the use and common benefit of all Nigerians in accordance with the provisions of this Act. Making another parallel law to contradict that law will not fail but will be met with still and overwhelming resistance," the group said. 

The youth group faulted the Nigerian government for hijacking the oil and gas resources of the region and also trying to hijack the land and water resources without minding the fact that the livelihoods of the people in riverine areas are tied to their lands and water without which they will be impoverished and vulnerable.

“As Niger Deltans, we are saddened with the fact that our natural resources are taken over by the federal government without recourse to true federalism. It is appalling that the federal government will even be considering a bill that gives constitutional power to the Federal Government to have absolute control over the nation’s entire water resources, both over and underground. 

"Ceding the control of our land and water resources to the federal government will not only impoverish our people but make them vulnerable," the statement said.

President Muhammadu Buhari, the youth group noted, has not shown enough commitment toward national unity and cohesion as certain events happening in the country in recent times, including the reintroduction of the Water Resources Bill can divide Nigerians more than unite them. 

"The reintroduction of this obnoxious and flawed Water Resources Bill is indeed a confirmation that President Buhari is not committed to national unity and cohesion. Instead of prioritizing the Petroleum Industry Bill (PIB) to stimulate economic growth, the present administration has chosen to display its obsession with the Water Resources Bill which is a clear statement that the federal government is not concerned about the suffering of average Nigerians," the statement said.

While calling on all legislators and stakeholders from the South-South and riverine areas to rise in strong opposition to the Water Resources Bill, the group urged the federal government to prioritize ending insecurity and many economic woes bedevilling Nigeria rather than pursuing legislation that is harmful to the already fragile situation in Nigeria.  

"Nigeria is a total mess. The federal government should make efforts to clear the burden of insecurity, disunity, ASUU (Academic Staff Union of Universities) strike, rising inflation and cost of living rather than creating more problems and opening up more fresh wounds. 

"We will not fold our hands and allow this caricature of legislation to pass. The lawmakers should be concerned about ending ASUU strike, ending insecurity and promoting national unity rather than getting obsessed with other people's resources which are already protected by existing law," the statement added.

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Civil groups, International Solidarity for Peace and Human Rights Initiative, as well as the Coalition of Civil Society, Workers and Human Rights Defenders, have commended the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) on its plan to stage a nationwide protest over continued closure of tertiary institutions in the country.

The Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) has been on strike for five months over the failure of the Nigerian government to honour an agreement on issues bordering on funding universities, as well as on salaries and allowances of lecturers.

In a letter dated July 15 and addressed to chairpersons of the NLC in the states, Ayuba Wabba, the congress’ national president, and Emmanuel Ugboaja, general secretary, had said the protest was aimed at getting “our children back to school and support our unions in Nigeria’s public universities fighting for quality education.”

They designated Labour House in the federal capital territory (FCT) and secretariats of the NLC as the takeoff points for the protest.

According to the circular, the protest would be held on “Tuesday, July 26, 2022, and Wednesday, July 27, 2022, in all the states of the Federation and Abuja, the Federal Capital Territory.

Backing the workers’ union, the two human rights groups in a statement by their leaders condemned the alleged insensitivity of the Muhammadu Buhari-led government on the legitimate demands of lecturers.

The statement was signed by Comrade Osmond Ugwu, Dr Jerry Chukwuokolo and Comrade Chukwudi Anachina.

It read, “International Solidarity for Peace and Human Rights Initiative and Coalition of Civil Society, Workers and Human Rights Defenders wish to express her total support to the organised Labour in Nigeria, under the auspices of the duo major labour centres- Nigeria Labour Congress and Trade Union Congress as they carry out protest warning-strike in solidarity with the public tertiary institution's Lectures and students in Nigeria.

“We commend the bold steps taken by the duo to initiative this action and thereby urge all Nigeria Workers and union leaders to be steadfast in this struggle. They should not be deterred by the negative expression of the federal government, describing her actions as unconstitutional. Contrary to the opinion of the federal government, the planned action of labour is very legitimate, constitutional and morally imperative given the circumstances that gave rise to such action.

“For the avoidance of doubt, protest is governed and protected by the fundamental human rights provisions of the 1999 Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, African Charter on Human and Peoples' Rights, UN Charter on Human Rights as well as International Covenant on Civil and Political rights which Nigeria is signatory to and in most cases have been ratified.

“Precisely, protest, involves assembling of people, including workers, their movement from one place to another and speaking or voicing out their grievances. They are protected by sections 40, 41 and 39 of the 1999 constitution as ammended which deals with and provide for right to peaceful assembly and association, right to freedom of movement and right to freedom of expression and free speech. These are among other cardinal principles and virtues which every states and leaders world over respects and meticulously protect, most especially in a democratic government. To this extent, we advise all the security agencies, particularly the police, the army and DSS to act maturely by ensuring the rights of Nigeria workers are judiciously respected, preserved and protected as they embark on this noble protest.

“More so, the concept of solidarity action is also envisaged by Fundamental Rights Enforcement Rules 2009 under chapter IV of 1999 Constitution as amended where it provides that "Courts shall encourage and welcome public interest litigation in the human rights field...... In particular, human rights activists, advocates or groups as well as any non-governmental organisation can institute human rights application on behalf of any potential applicant. This is corollary to the action of the NLC to the lecturers and Nigeria students whom the federal government have held down with their destiny for over a year now without any hope of letting them go free while the children of those in power are abroad with the resources of those workers whom their children and their future are held under bondage. They need freedom and it is only this action that can give them the required freedom and future.

“We condemn the insensitivity of the federal government on the legitimate demands of lecturers and the strike that has dragged for over a year with the students being kept at home every day for over a year without the government feeling any serious concern about the ugly situation. We attribute the insensitivity of the President, his cabinet members and members of the National Assembly on the l huge sum of common wealth of the people in their possession with which they find it very easy to send their children to the best of universities across the world.

“We call on all well-meaning Nigerians, including the students themselves, all lecturers and non-academic staff, traders associations, students unions, professionals including NBA, NMA, etc informal sector workers, all Civil society organisations, religious organisations and leaders, Keke operators and all affiliates of NLC and TUC to identify with the strike protests and ensure that it succeeds.

“We also use this opportunity to call on the leadership of labour to see this action as a mission for the salvation of our youths and educational sector from destruction and treat it as such in order to restore the full confidence of Nigeria people. To this end, the warning strike should be seen as the beginning of a real action that need to commence if after one end of suspension of the mass action the matter is not finally resolved in the interest of ASUU.

“We consider two weeks ultimatum, reportedly given to the Minister of Education by the president to resolve the ASUU problem as diversionary, which does not have any hope or weight for serious solution. What Nigeria people expect from the president is a directive to report to him within a week the extent of implementation of the demand of ASUU and other striking workers in the tertiary institutions.

“The problems of ASUU and other unions in the tertiary institutions have gone beyond rhetorics and should be addressed holistically and radically once and for all. We call on NLC, TUC and Nigeria people to accommodate the interests of other striking workers in the tertiary institutions in this action and ensure the problems in the sector are resolved completely, once and for all, since solving the ASUU problems alone without the others will not end the continuous sitting at home and frustration of youths in those instructions. We wish to use this medium to call on the organised labour, civil society and all the Nigeria masses to rise in solidarity to sustain the mass protest against the latent increase in the pump prices of petroleum products until they are reversed.”

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Residents of displaced communities in Parcel B and Free Trade Zone in Lagos State have asked Mrs Lola Akande, the Commissioner for the Ministry of Commerce, Industry and Cooperative to show evidence that the representatives of the families engaged the services of Barrister Lanre Ogunlesi (SAN) as their lawyer to represent them in a protracted land dispute.
SaharaReporters had earlier published a letter from the communities to Ogunlesi to stop parading himself as their lawyer in the ongoing land crisis.

“It came to our notice via a letter dated the 19th day of July 2022 written to us through the office of the Permanent Secretary to the Lagos State Ministry of Commerce, Industry and Cooperative (letter is hereby attached for emphasis) that you have been referred to as our communities lawyer, particularly in the 2nd paragraph of the said letter which is not only ridiculous but indeed laughable,” part of the letter read.
“You are a lawyer to the Surveyor Awokoya and Oloja of Epe and those communities that choose to be with them or (you are ) consultant to Mrs Lola Akande because we are not going to recognise you without the Lagos State official letter confirming Olusegun Awokoya as the State Government consultant base on your assertion that "Surveyor Awokoya" should be addressed as consultant because we did not actually engage Awokoya as consultant to our communities.”
In 2006, when Lekki Free Zone was created, about three communities were identified as Abomiti, Yeguda and Eyin-Osa.
However, the government allocated another land, which is 10% of what it compulsorily acquired for the displaced communities elsewhere for their resettlement, which some top Lagos State Government officials, and two traditional rulers in Epe and Ogun State, are allegedly now hijacking and converting to theirs, so as to start selling through some real estate companies.
The communities had alleged Akande, the Lagos State Commissioner for Commerce, Industry and Cooperative, in collaboration with Oba Kamarudeen Animashaun, the Oloja of Epe; one Oba Ganiyu Olusegun Awokoya, aka {Alhaji White}, the Onirete of Irete in Ogun State, were trying to convert the Abomiti, Yeguda and Eyin-Osa resettlement land for kickbacks.
In a statement in reaction to the letter received from the Lagos State Ministry of Commerce, Industry and Cooperative dated 19th July 2022, Chief Obafemi Onayemi Obajimi, the Baale of Onigbagbo wondered while the commissioner had been referring to the Senior Advocate of Nigeria as their lawyer.
Obajimi specifically asked Mrs Akande to show evidence where they introduced Ogunlesi to the ministry.

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The suspended Accountant-General of the Federation (AGF), Ahmed Idris, received N15 billion bribe to fast track 13% derivation funds to oil-producing states, according to the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC).
The 13% derivation fund is a benefit-sharing system that helps communities get funds meant for development.

The fund comes from the federation revenue to oil-producing communities through the state governments as enshrined in section 162, sub-section 2 of the Nigerian constitution, Daily Trust reports.
Reports show that the nine oil-producing states in Nigeria shared N450.60 billion from the federation account through the 13 percent derivation formula in 2021.
The states are Delta, Akwa Ibom, Bayelsa, Rivers, Edo, Ondo, Imo, Lagos and Abia.
According to the EFCC, Idris accepted from Olusegun Akindele, a gratification in the aggregate sum of N15,136,221,921.46 for accelerating the payment of 13% derivation to the states.
Akindele was a Technical Assistant to the Accountant General of the Federation between February and November 2021.
Idris is expected to appear before Justice A.O. Adeyemi Ajayi of the Federal Capital Territory High Court, Abuja on Friday July 22, 2022.
He is to be docked alongside Akindele, Mohammed Kudu Usman and Gezawa Commodity Market and Exchange Limited on a 14-count charge of stealing and criminal breach of trust to the tune of N109,485,572,691.9
One of the charges reads, “That you, Ahmed Idris between February and December, 2021 at Abuja in the Abuja Judicial Division of the High Court of the Federal Capital Territory, being a public servant by virtue of your position as the Accountant General of the Federation accepted from Olusegun Akindele, a gratification in the aggregate sum of N15,136,221,921.46 ( Fifteen Billion, One Hundred and Thirty Six Million, Two Hundred and Twenty One Thousand, Nine Hundred and Twenty One Naira and Forty Six Kobo) which sum was converted to the United States Dollars by the said Olusegun Akindele and which sum did not form part of your lawful remuneration but as a motive for accelerating the payment of 13% derivation to the nine (9) oil producing Sates in the Federation, through the office of the Accountant General of the Federation, and you thereby committed an offence contrary to Section 155 of the Penal Code Act Cap 532 Laws of the Federation of Nigeria 1990 and punishable under the same section.”

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