The Access to Justice (A2Justice) group has demanded the immediate removal of Danladi Umar as chairman of the Code of Conduct Tribunal (CCT) for alleged abuse of power. Umar was caught on video hitting a security man who had told him his vehicle was parked in the wrong space at a popular plaza in Abuja. In his defence, Ibraheem Al-Hassan, CCT spokesperson, said the guard was rude and could not provide a reasonable explanation why Umar should not park in the said space. Joseph Otteh, A2Justice convener, said on Saturday that the assault of the guard is “indefensible and callous, and is a naked and unbridled abuse of power.” “Unfortunately, the police have failed to arrest and charge Danladi Umar for assault, signaling once again, the deep flaws and dysfunctionalities of Nigeria’s law enforc...
The Leader Former Chief Justice of Nigeria, Walter Onnoghen, on Friday, stressed that Nigeria as a nation may not record any meaningful achievement in life until they are able to free the nation’s judiciary from the stronghold of politicians. Onnoghen who spoke publicly for the first time since his removal from office two years ago, attributed his sack to political manuevre. The former CJN, who was speaking at the unveiling of a book titled ‘Fundamental Rights (Enforcement Procedure) Rules, 2009, Practice, Procedure, Forms and Precedents’, by a legal luminary, Chief Ogwu James Onoja (SAN), attributed his sack to political intrigues. Onnoghen revealed that prior to his removal, he was accused by the executive of having met with former Vice President, Alhaji Atiku Abubakar in Dubai, United A...
The National Judicial Council (NJC) under the Chairmanship of the Chief Justice of Nigeria, Justice Ibrahim Muhammad, has recommended to President Muhammadu Buhari, the appointment of 18 Justices into the bench of the Court of Appeal. The NJC similarly recommended to eight governors including that of Delta, Rivers, Ebonyi, Kogi, Jigawa and Nasarawa, the appointment of eight judges as Heads of Court in their affected states. The affected judicial officers according to a statement by the Director, Information, NJC, were considered for appointment by the NJC’s Interview Committee at the NJC’s 94th Meeting held on December 17 and 18, 2020. Among those recommended for appointment into the bench of the appellate court are; Justice Bature Gafai, Justice Muhammad Sirajo and Justice Waziri Abdul-Az...
The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) gubernatorial candidate in the last general election in Kano State, Abba Kabir Yusuf has accused Governor Abdullah Umar Ganduje of violating rule of law and due process on alleged sales of public property. Besides, Abba has petitioned the Chief Justice of Nigeria, (CJN), Ibrahim Tanko Muhammad and Nigeria Judicial Council (NJC), requesting their urgent intervention on what he considered an abuse of power and breach of rules of law by Ganduje. In a petition filed by his counsel Bashir Yusuf Mohammad and addressed to the attorney general and commissioner for Justice, Kano state, the Yusuf claimed that the state government is already tampering with the public property which are already a subject of litigation. Yusuf had dragged the state government before th...
Rivers State Governor Nyesom Wike has handed over some finished blocks of duplexes to accommodate Judges in the state. Governor Wike also announced that N150 million has also been handed to Judges who opted for cash payments to build their own houses. The Governor made the announcement during the commissioning of the judges’ apartment in GRA, Port Harcourt. He said the building is in fulfilment of the promise made by his administration in 2015, in a move that is necessary to improve on the living conditions of the judges who contribute to the dispensation of justice in the country. “The Rivers State government now bears full responsibility to provide befitting accommodation for all Judicial officers of Rivers state origin beyond your service years for life. “Judges have a choice to receive...
The Supreme Court on Monday dismissed the petition of Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, and its candidate, Musa Wada, against the declaration of Governor Yahaya Bello of All Progressives Congress, APC as the winner of November 16 Kogi governorship election. In the judgment delivered on their behalf by Justice Uwani Abba Aji, the seven man panel of the apex court led by Chief Justice of Nigeria, Mohammed Tanko held that the appeal is devoid of merit and is accordingly dismissed in the unanimous judgement. The panel held that the petitioners abandoned their pleadings on their written briefs that the election was marred with irregularities at the lower courts. The panel therefore ruled that having failed to prove their allegations with results from the election and failed to prove that the respo...