Constitution
APC nullifies Governor Fayemi’s ‘suspension’
The All Progressives Congress (APC) has nullified the purported suspension of Gov. Kayode Fayemi of Ekiti State by the party’s state chapter. Mr Yekini Nabena, APC Deputy National Publicity Secretary, made this known in a statement on Friday in Abuja, while reacting to the development. “The attention of the APC national secretariat has been drawn to a purported and widely reported suspension of Gov. Kayode Fayemi of Ekiti State, as well as an earlier reported indefinite suspension of some other party members in the state. “The actions are a nullity as the party’s national secretariat is yet to receive communication from the state chapter on the purported suspensions,” he said. Nabena, therefore, advised all members of the party to adhere to its Constitution, adding that Fayemi remains the ...
36 states sue federal government, demand funding of state courts
The 36 states governors, through their respective Attorneys General and Commissioners for Justice, have dragged the Minister of Justice and Attorney General of the Federation, AGF, Mr Abubakar Malami, SAN, before the Supreme Court over the failure of the Federal Government to fund the courts in the country with recurrent expenditure since May 5, 2009. It will be recalled that President Muhammadu Buhari, had in May 2020, signed Executive Order 10, which gave financial autonomy to the legislature and judiciary at the state level. The state governors argued that the Federal Government should also fund state courts if the president must make such order. The plaintiffs in the suit against the AGF, through their counsel, Mr Augustine Alegeh, SAN, are contending that the respondent refused to fun...
Why APC ‘suspended’ Ekiti governor
The State Executive Committee of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in Ekiti State has suspended Governor Kayode Fayemi. Fayemi was accused of holding meetings and fraternising with PDP members like Femi Fani-Kayode (FFK), Oyo State Governor Seyi Makinde and Rivers State Governor Nyesom Wike. According the statement, Fayemi was suspended due to “his numerous anti-party activities, especially his role in the recently concluded governorship election in Edo State which is contrary to the provisions of Article 21 (A) (ii) of the APC constitution.” The Ekiti chapter of the APC claims that five days before the Edo election, Fayemi hosted FFK in government house Ekiti. “For five days prior to the Edo election, Gov Fayemi hosted PDP big wig Mr. Femi Fani-Kayode in the government house in Ado Ekit...
AGF: Why I’ll not testify before Justice Salami panel
The Attorney-General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Abubakar Malami, SAN, on Thursday, gave reasons why he would not appear as a witness in the ongoing probe of the suspended Acting Chairman of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC, Mr. Ibrahim Magu, by the Justice Ayo Salami-led panel of inquiry. In a statement that was signed by his media aide, Dr. Jibrilu Gwandu, the AGF, maintained that his refusal to testify before the panel was “purely constitutional and not based on any ulterior motive”. Malami contended that as an AGF, his appearance or otherwise as a witness in any investigation should be a constitutional matter. “In establishing propriety or otherwise of the presence of the Attorney-General of the Federation and Minister of Justice whose responsibility is...
APC: Why Comrade Oshiomhole-led NWC was sacked
The All Progressives Congress (APC) has explained why its National Working Committee (NWC) led by Adams Oshiomhole was sacked. The party, in documents filed before the Federal High Court in Abuja by its lawyer, Lateef Fagbemi (SAN), said the sack of the Oshiomhole-led NWC was informed by the needs to end the various internal crises that pervaded the party’s rank and file. APC, in a counter-affidavit it filed against a suit, marked: FHC/ABJ/ CS/736/2020 by Kalu Agu, who claimed to be a member of the party in Abia State, said the crises that had characterised its affairs ended immediately the Caretaker/Extraordinary Convention Planning Committee, led by Yobe State Governor, Mai Mala Buni was put in place. It argued the suit by Agu was designed to destabilise the party’s current peace buildin...
Benue governor canvasses return to parliamentary system
Benue State Governor Samuel Ortom has called for a parliamentary system of government as a more cost-effective democratic alternative for Nigeria. While inaugurating the State Constitution Review Committee in Markudi, Ortom said, the parliamentary system provides opportunities for power-sharing such that smaller parties also participate in governance, stressing that it is more accountable and considerably less complex. According to the Governor, the current system of federalism where the Federal Government has constitutional powers in nearly 100 per cent performance while states and local governments only function 30 per cent or less is a distortion of the spirit and practice of federalism. He said that Nigeria needed a constitution that sets out a system in which the various tiers could s...
Arthur Eze slams Senator Ngige as accidental minister
The media directorate of Anambra billionaire industrialist, Prince Arthur Eze has released a statement slamming the Minister of Labour and Productivity, Dr Chris Ngige, as an ‘accidental’ minister. The statement, a response to the call by the Minister of Labour and Productivity, Dr Chris Ngige for the further banishment of the suspended 12 Anambra traditional rulers and their sponsor. The crisis began with the visit of 12 monarchs from Anambra State to Aso Villa to meet with President Buhari, at the instance of the billionaire businessman Prince Arthur Eze. The traditional rulers who embarked on the trip to Abuja, to thank President Buhari for his developmental strides in the Southeast, did so without approval from the Anambra State government. The monarchs after failing to meet with Presi...
CAN: CAMA 2020 dangerous to national interest
File Photo The Christian Association of Nigeria on Tuesday demanded the suspension of the Companies and Allied Matters Act 2020. CAN, in a position paper, said CAMA 2020 “has the potential that can further undermine the faith of stakeholders in the Nigerian-state.” This is just as the Presidency said CAMA did not target religious organisations. It accused some politicians of latching on to the criticism of CAMA to wrongly characterise its purposes as an anti-religious law. The Special Assistant to the President on Niger Delta Affairs and former National Assembly Presidential Liaison Officer, Senator Ita Enang, made the clarification during a brief ceremony at the secretariat of CAN in Abuja where he received the position paper of CAN on behalf of President Muhammadu Buhari. The letter sign...
Kaduna Muslim lawyers to boycott NBA conference
Pool Photo The leadership of the Muslim Lawyers Association of Nigeria (MULAN) in Kaduna has directed its members to Annual General Conference (AGC) of the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA) following the withdrawal of Governor Nasir El-Rufai’s invitation by the NBA. Governor El-Rufai was one of the speakers billed to speak at the 60th Annual General Conference of the Nigerian Bar Association. But the National Executive Council of the NBA withdrew the governor’s invitation after a group of lawyers protested against the governor’s presence at the conference. The lawyers had argued that inviting El-Rufai to speak at the event is a ‘reward for misrule,’ adding that the governor does not represent what the NBA stands for. However, the decision to remove the governor from the list of speakers that ...
INEC: No going back on Edo, Ondo elections
National Commissioner and chairman information and Voters Education Committee of the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, Festus Okoye, has said there is no alternative to the peaceful conduct of the governorship election in Edo and Ondo states. He said failure to do so will leave both states with constitutional logjam that would be difficult to resolve. At a sensitisation forum for the media in Benin, Okoye noted that political parties must eschew violence, use of intemperate, inflammatory language designed to incite violence. He said, “Political parties and all the critical stakeholders in the electoral process must see the conduct of these elections as a national project that must be executed in strict compliance with all the safety protocols. “There is no alternative to the...
Ivory Coast bars public protests until September
Ivory Coast has banned all outdoor protests until 15 September, according to a statement Thursday issued after deadly clashes ahead of presidential elections in October. The cabinet late Wednesday “decided to suspend protests in public areas, authorising them only in enclosed spaces… until 15 September,” the government said in a statement. The measure “draws the consequences of the impact, in human and property terms, from previous demonstrations and the risk that pockets of inter-community conflicts could open up,” it said. On 13 August, angry protests erupted in the economic hub Abidjan, and demonstrations in the central town of Daoukro turned to bloody ethnic clashes, after President Alassane Ouattara announced he would bid for a third term. Critics of Ouattara say the 78-year-old is on...
Auditor-General denies illegal withdrawal of N10 billion from NHIS account
The Auditor-General of the Federation, Mr. Anthony Ayine, Monday, described as false and mischievous, allegations that he connived with Vice President Yemi Osinbajo to illegally withdraw N10 billion from the account of the National Health Insurance Scheme, NHIS. In a statement from the Office of the Auditor-General of the Federation, OAUGF, in Abuja, Ayine said in the allegation, it was stated that the first withdrawal of N5 billion from the NHIS account was made by Osinbajo and himself, in December 2016, noting that he actually resumed office in January 2017. According to him, the whole allegation, therefore, is not only illogical, highly embarrassing, scandalous, frivolous and unreasonable, but it is also calculated to smear the OAuGF and the person of the Auditor-General for the Federat...
