The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC, has said it is set to file 800 new corruption cases in court. The chairman of the commission, Abdulrasheed Bawa, said this Thursday as part of the weekly briefing by Heads of MDAs to give an update on their performance in office. He addressed State House reporters in Abuja. He said the cases to be filed will border on public corruption and cybercrime. The cases were delayed largely because of the strike by judiciary workers who shut down courts in Nigeria for over two months and only recently suspended the strike. At the event, Bawa also vowed that former Abia governor Orji Kalu “will be prosecuted all over again.” Newsmen reported how Kalu was set free by the Supreme Court on technicalities after being convicted of stealing billions of n...
The Court of Appeal, sitting in Benin, yesterday, upheld the ruling of the Edo State Governorship Election Petition Tribunal against the Action Democratic Party (ADP), and reaffirmed the victory of Governor Godwin Obaseki at the 2020 governorship election. Delivering the judgement in the case marked CA/B/EPT/GOV/01 & 1A/2021 Action Democratic Party & Anor v. INEC & 2Ors, the court held that Obaseki did not forge his certificates with which he contested the 2020 governorship election and dismissed the appeal filed by the ADP and its candidate. In another case marked /B/EPT/GOV/02/2021 Action Peoples Party (APP) Vs Godwin N. Obaseki & 2Ors., the Court unanimously upheld the Judgment of the Tribunal and dismissed the Appeal with costs assessed at N600,000 each, on two differe...
The African Democratic Congress, ADC, Tuesday, alleged that the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, was playing some tricks by colluding with some party leaders and politicians in an attempt to undermine court processes. The National Chairman of ADC, Chief Ralphs Okey Nwosu, who made the allegation, while reacting to the Supreme Court’s judgment which affirmed the deregistration of the National Unity Party, NUP, described alleged moves by the electoral empire as pitiful. Chief Nwosu noted that while the NUP’s case was not of much consequence, the case to watch and which INEC was trying to use NUP to undermine is that involving 22 political parties. According to Chief Nwosu, who is also the interim President of Inter-Party Advisory Council of Nigeria, IPAC, “The Supreme Court j...
The House of Representatives yesterday voted out a bill seeking to limit the category of litigations that can be appealed at the Supreme Court. The intention of the bill was to reduce the workload on the apex court, and speed up justice delivery. The lawmakers at the plenary yesterday considered for second reading, ‘A Bill for An Act to alter the provisions of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, 1999; the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria (First Alteration) Act, 2010; and the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria (Second Alteration) Act, 2010, to make appeals to the Supreme Court to be by leave in order to reduce workload on the court, expedite hearing and determination of appeals, and encourage efficiency and quality; and for related matters.’ Chai...
On Air Personality, Ifedayo Olarinde, also known as Daddy Freeze, has said he will appeal a Rivers State High Court ruling that demands he pays the sum of N5 million for adultery. The court gave the ruling against him for having sex with Benedicta Elechi who was still legally married at the time it happened. Reacting to the ruling, Daddy Freeze, in a YouTube video, said it was issued in his absence as he was never served by the court. The OAP said he will head to an appeal court, pointing out that the judgement is not final until it is decided at the Supreme Court. He said, “Many of you would have been surprised as I was to wake up one morning and see a judgement from a Rivers State High Court. Well, the court never served me, so the judgement was obtained in my absence. “What we will do n...
The Court of Appeal President, Justice Monica Dongban-Mensem, on Tuesday, harped on the need for female judges in the country to be united. She stressed that unity amongst female judges is crucial if they must succeed and excel in their career, adding that they are “despised specie”. She gave the charge when a delegate of the National Association of Women Judges in Nigeria (NAWJN) paid her a courtesy visit in Abuja. The delegation was led by the secretary of the association, Justice Esther Lolo of the Federal High Court in Kaduna. Welcoming her guests, the Appeal Court president, who lamented that there was disunity among female judges, said there was need for them to come together in order to be able to help those in need. Justice Dongban-Mensem, a former secretary of the association, rem...
Obite indigenes in Ogba/Egbema/Ndoni Local Government Area of Rivers State have an advanced reason for shutting down a gas plant operated by Total Exploration and Producing Nigeria Limited in their domain citing alleged insensitivity of the oil multinational to their plight. The aggrieved natives, drawn from the five villages of Obite community also lamented the alleged refusal of the oil firm to honour a Supreme Court judgement that compensation is paid to the community for the land acquired in the area for its operations. Mr Daniel Clifford Uma, one of the natives, who spoke during the community protest march to the oil firm said, “What you are seeing here today is as a result of total negligence from Total E and P. This thing started 22 years ago. Some of the people that started this ma...
The Appeal Court on Thursday stayed proceedings in the appeal filed before it by Abott Ogbobula, the former Rivers State Caretaker Committee of the All Progressives Congress (APC) Ogbobula is challenging the judgment of the High Court of Rivers State which affirmed Igo Aguma’s appointment as the party’s Caretaker Committee Chairman in Rivers state. A three-member panel of the appellate Court chaired by Justice Steven Adah in a ruling held that the Court can’t continue in the hearing of the case, as the first respondent has proved to the Court that an appeal has been entered. Ada said: “An affidavit is evidence of proof. The affidavit is showing that an appeal is before the Supreme Court. “The notice of appeal and other processes have been brought to our notice in respect of the ruling of t...