Says He Doesn’t Have Amazon’s Mandate To Represent Obi/LP

On Tuesday, the expert witness for the Labour Party from Amazon Web Services Incorporated USA returned to the witness stand for her cross-examination, making it a contentious day at the Presidential Election Petitions Court.

The witness Clareta Ogar, who identified herself as a cloud engineer and cloud architect, had earlier told the court that there were no glitches on February 25, 2023, when the presidential election held that could have affected the e-transmission of results.

She was put through a series of questions that got the proceedings heated up at some point when the counsel for the respondents tried to establish what her link with the organization she claims she works for is. Reference was made to her appointment verification letter which bears the name Employee Resource Centre and not Amazon Web Services, AWS, Inc; and also that there is no identification card from the company confirming her as an employee.

An attempt by the Labour Party counsel to intervene by insisting the witness had responded appropriately led to a reprimand by the Justices who cautioned him for disrupting proceedings. The Presiding Justice said “You are going about this as if you are in parliament. You are a senior counsel Ikwueto, there are juniors behind you”. The next most senior member on the panel, Justice Stephen Adah said, “Please don’t interject if you don’t want us to take meaner action against you”

But Ikwueto insisted he only was trying to help the court, and the court directed the respondents to proceed with the cross-examination

In response to why the witness did not tender her identification card, she responded that AWS does not issue identification cards, and that all employment verifications from Amazon Web Services are issued by Employee Resource Centre of the company.

She also denied being in court as a representative of the company she works for and on the mandate of Amazon Web Services, but as an expert subpoenaed witness to speak as a cloud engineer.

This led to further questioning on how she got the report she submitted before the court, and she responded that they are public information posted on the AWS Amazon.

Asked whether the report she submitted is a product of Amazon, but she claimed ownership of it on the ground that she was the one that submitted it before the court

The court also noted, based on her admittance that the subpoena that compelled her appearance was not delivered to the company she works for, but to her in person

This led to a digging into the background of the witness, who confirmed that she is a member of the Labour Party and that she contested for a House of Reps election in her constituency in Cross River State, which she lost but denied allusions that she is a Labour Party activist

On further questioning, the witness confirmed that she had sued INEC after it failed to publish her name in the final list of candidates; and that her main complaint was that she could not upload her information on the INEC website due to network failure. She however refused to accept that network failure is a form of network glitch

The respondents’ counsel also read out information showing periods in which the Amazon cloud services suffered glitches globally on February 27, 2017. While the witness confirmed that the glitch actually occurred, she held on to the position that the health status report as at the day of the presidential election on February 25, 2023 showed there was no glitch on the infrastructure that hosted applications and accounts including that of INEC.

Also at the proceedings on Tuesday, the chairman of INEC, Prof Yakubu Mahmood responded to the subpoena served on him on May 30 and that of June 13, 2023, by producing some documents through two senior officials of the Commission.

The Deputy Director, Department of Certification and Complaints of INEC, Mrs Moronkeji Tairu tendered the documents contained in the subpoena dated May 30 issued on the INEC chairman.

She said, some of the documents required by the petitioners are not in the Commission and that some of the documents come from INEC’s offices across the states and that because of lack of logistics, those documents could not be produced as of Tuesday and added that, the Subpoena dated May 30 was served on the Commission on Monday.

While assuring that the rest documents would be made available within the week, the INEC official presented documents on INEC’s manual for election officers.

Lead counsel to the petitioners, Dr. Livy Uzoukwu (SAN) informed the court that INEC refused service of the Subpoena all the while and all efforts to serve the Commission proved abortive until Monday.

The court cautioned that Mr Uzoukwu’s continuous reference to his meeting with INEC chairman, Mahmood Yakubu, could not be relied upon as a subsisting law which the court could regard as a legal compelling force.

The court highlighted that there is an existing legal process of applying for documents with clearly spelt punishment for refusing or obstructing the process but the Labour party counsels have not thoroughly followed the process but has continued to wrongly relied on the assurances made in person by Mr Yakubu.

The documents in question include the state collation sheets of the 36 states and Federal Capital Territory (FCT).

Also, the Deputy Director, ICT department of INEC, Dr. Lawrence Bayode also presented some documents contained in the June 16 subpoena issued on the INEC Chairman and informed the court that the rest of the documents are work in progress.

The five-member panel of Justices of the court, led by Justice Haruna Tsammani adjourned further hearing in the petition till Wednesday, June 21.

DSS insists CBN ex-boss not denied access to family, lawyers

The High Court of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), yesterday, reserved judgment in the enforcement of a fundamental rights suit filed by suspended Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), Godwin Emefiele, till July 13.

Justice Hamza Muazu fixed the date after listening to submissions made by parties in the matter.

Counsel to Emefiele, Joseph Daudu (SAN) had argued that contrary to the preliminary objection raised against the originating summons on notice by the respondents, the court has the jurisdiction to entertain the matter.

According to him, the offences listed against the plaintiff are state offences that could be entertained by the court.

Lawyer to the Attorney-General of the Federation, Tijjani Ghazali (SAN), informed the court that the first respondent is challenging the jurisdiction of the court to hear the case brought before it by the applicant.

He stressed that Emefiele’s arrest and detention is an administrative decision of an arm of the executive, adding that jurisdiction is determined by the reliefs sought by an applicant.

He, therefore, urged the court to dismiss the application, submitting that the allegation of unlawful detention is unfounded, as the plaintiff is being detained on the order of an FCT Chief Magistrate’s Court.

Counsel to the second and third respondents, I. Awo, told the court that there was a subsisting order to detain the applicant and, therefore, urged the court to dismiss the application with cost.

The presiding judge, consequently, fixed July 13 for ruling.

President Bola Tinubu had, on June 10, suspended Emefiele from office. Shortly after, the secret service announced that he is in its custody.

The Federal Government had also explained that the suspension was to allow an “ongoing investigation of his office and the planned reforms in the financial sector of the economy.”

BUT DSS has refuted allegation by Emefiele that he had been denied access to his family and lawyers.

The agency’s spokesman, Dr. Peter Afunanya, made the rebuttal, yesterday, in a statement, titled: “The DSS operates within its mandate.”

According to Afunanya, the celebration of news of a court order to allow Emefiele’s lawyers and family access to him is “quite unnecessary.”

He said: “He was never denied access. Ever since he was taken into custody, his family has continually accessed him. Same with medical officials. The impression that the Service is going to act on the prompting of the court is not correct.”

[Guardian]

A former Minister of Education, Oby Ezekwesili, has asked Lagos State Governor, Babajide Sanwo-Olu, to publish details of the buildings that were demolished by the state government at Alaba International Market, located in Ojo LGA of the Lagos.

Ezekwesili noted that publishing details of each of the buildings demolished would prove that the demolition of the structures was not a political attack against Igbo community at Alaba Market.

“I have a Policy advice for @jidesanwoolu that would be helpful for all sides and the public.

“Mr Governor, please immediately publish details of each destroyed building and the dateline of Due Process rules that were exhausted by your Government before it was “removed”.

“It will be wise for the Governor to take this counsel on Transparency and Full Disclosure since it would provide evidence to the public that this is not a vengeful political attack against the predominant Igbo community in Alaba Market,” she tweeted on Tuesday via her Twitter handle @obyezeks.

Ezekwesili also advised the Lagos State government and President Bola Tinubu, not to fan embers of discord, adding that politics of vendetta does not do anyone good.

“Let me also use this opportunity to really again advise the @followlasg and its cheerleaders including @officialABAT to be careful in persisting to brew a terribly toxic atmosphere against fellow citizens since before, during and after the 2023 elections.

“Governance by maliciousness does no one any good. A word is sufficient for only the wise,” she added.

THE WHISTLER recalls that the Lagos State Building Control Agency (LASBCA) had on Sunday, demolished 17 distressed structures at the market, which is dominated by people of Igbo extraction.

On Friday, LASBCA had given final warnings and vacation notices to the occupants of the affected buildings.

According to LASBCA, vacation notices were first issued in 2016, noting that others were issued in 2020, 2022 and 2023.

“These buildings marked within this ALABA International Market would have been included in the list of 349 distressed buildings earlier published in different national newspapers this year but because the occupants were always harassing our officers, it was impossible to capture the details of the structures and include them in the publication,” the General Manager of LASBCA, Arc. Gbolahan Oki, had said on Friday.

“What we have done now is a joint exercise carried out by both the Lagos Task Force officers and the demolition gang of Lagos State Building Control Agency. The buildings would be demolished”, he noted.

Acknowledging the impact the demolition of the distressed buildings, which were used for commercial purpose would have on commercial activities within the market, Oki had said the buildings had to go to avoid putting the lives of innocent persons at risk.

“We know that this area is a commercial centre and one of the busiest markets in Lagos State but despite this, we cannot fold our arms and allow irregularities to continue to thrive in the market where the lives of innocent persons would be put at risk because of the failure of a few set of individuals who have refused to do the needful,” he had said.

However, some traders had alleged that the buildings were demolished because Igbos did not vote for Sanwo-Olu, in the 2023 governorship election, a claim which has been dismissed by Ohanaeze Ndigbo in the state.

Speaking with THE WHISTLER on Monday, the President of Ohanaeze in the state, Chief Ogbonna Aguene, noted that the demolition of the buildings had no political undertone, adding that vacation notices were given beforehand to the occupants.

An Appeal Court in Port Harcourt, the Rivers State capital, has set aside a bench warrant of arrest issued against the former Governor of the state, Rotimi Amaechi and two others.

The others are the Governorship Candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in the 2023 elections, Tonye Cole and the Commissioner for Power in the Amaechi administration, Austine Wokocha.

The ruling followed an appeal filed by Amaechi and the others seeking the setting side of the order by a lower court.

His appeal was considered by a panel of three judges, of which two of them agreed that the order be set aside, while the other, departed.

Justice Abdul-azeez Waziri, who read the ruling that was prepared by the presiding Judge of the Court, Joseph Ikyegh, said the order by the lower court was made in defiance of the Court of Appeal.

He read that the order of arrest was given when there was already an application before the Appeal Court by Amaechi challenging the service of information on him pursuant to Section 313 of the Administration of Criminal Justice Law in the state.

Reacting to the ruling, lawyer to Amaechi, Achinike Wobodo said a lower court was supposed to have respected the hierarchy of court placements in the nation’s judiciary.

On his part, one of the state government lawyers, Alphansus Sibi, accepted the position of the Appeal Court in good fate.

The warrant of arrest was issued last month by a High Court in Port Harcourt in a criminal case instituted by the Rivers State State Government.

The case involved the sell of public assets including the state’s gas turbines by the Amaechi administration to Sahara Energy, a company that is owned by Cole, a businessman turned politician.

The United Kingdom (UK) Monday simplified trading rules and cut tariffs on products from developing countries, including Nigeria, saving businesses and consumers millions of pounds a year.

The UK’s new post-Brexit Developing Countries Trading Scheme (DCTS) scheme, which entered into force yesterday, according to a statement by the British Deputy High Commission in Nigeria, covers 65 countries, including Nigeria.

It said with the new scheme, over 99% of goods exported from Nigeria would automatically be eligible for duty-free access to the UK.

It added that Nigeria would receive enhanced preferential access for almost 3,000 products.

“4.5% removed on cocoa paste, 26.5% removed on fruit juices, & 14% removed on prepared tomatoes”, the statement said.

The scheme, according to the statement, removes or reduces tariffs and simplifies trading rules so that more products qualify for the scheme, making it more generous than the EU scheme the UK was previously a member of.

The scheme will benefit developing countries looking to diversify and increase exports, driving their prosperity and creating jobs.

Minister for International Trade Nigel Huddleston who launched the scheme while on a visit to Ethiopia’s largest industrial business park, Bole Lemi, said: “This DCTS scheme is a brilliant example of the UK taking advantage of its status as an independent trading nation and I am excited to see it implemented today.”

Speaking on the launch, UK Deputy British High Commissioner in Lagos, Ben Llewellyn-Jones said: “Nigeria is one of the UK’s most important partners in Africa and the UK government is committed to working with Nigerian businesses and exporters to boost trade between our two great nations. The UK’s Developing Countries Trading Scheme harnesses the power of trade to help Nigeria and other emerging economies grow and prosper.

“One major benefit of this new UK trading scheme is that it abolishes tariffs on over 3000 everyday products that Nigeria currently exports including cocoa, cotton, plantain, flowers, fertilisers, tomatoes, frozen shrimps and sesame. The overarching aim of the new scheme is to grow trade with developing countries, boosting the economy and supporting jobs in those countries, as well as in ours.”

In what is a walk back on his apology following his endorsement of the election of President Bola Tinubu, a member of the House of Representatives on the platform of the Labour Party, Amobi Ogah, has again taken a veil hit at Peter Obi the LP presidential candidate in the 2023 presidential election.

Ogah’s latest comment which is another attempt to put pressure on Obi to concede defeat to Tinubu was made on Monday according to the video interview published on Tuesday by Channels TV.

The freshman lawmaker who is representing Isuikwuato/Umunneochi Federal Constituency in Abia State, at the 10th assembly in the video advised both Obi and Atiku Abubakar of the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, whom he said “lost” the election to concede defeat and support Tinubu as he is “on the throne” as ordained by divine grace.

Recall he ran into trouble during the run up to the inauguration of the 10th Assembly when he praised Tinubu for his intelligence, in an astonishing manner that many labour party supporters immediately called for his recall.

During the June 8 comment, he said Tinubu was most prepared for the office as president adding that he was shocked at his intelligence.

He called on Nigerians including candidates during the February elections to join hands to solve the country’s problems.

He later apologised for his comment noting that he was misunderstood.

He however restated that call in the latest interview he granted the TV station, explaining that, “Once you are in this politics, don’t lose hope. Don’t think that if you don’t win today, you will not win again.

“And once somebody has won an election, to be a good sportsman, you must give the person support,” Ogah said without mentioning names.

He further noted that, “For me, like I said earlier last week, that trended all over the world when I told the people, the election has come and gone.

“Now it is about governance. And whoever God has given that mandate to represent the people, you must respect that institution

“And that is why I always say, whoever that is on that seat, give the person that supports until either court says otherwise or God says otherwise.”

He sermonised that, “We must put Nigeria first. Nigeria is more important than anybody. It is more important than me. I can tell you it is only God that gives power.”

Both Obi and Atiku are challenging the outcome of the election at the tribunal.

The National President of Arewa Youths Consultative Forum, AYCF, Yerima Shettima has set a five-point agenda for the President Bola Tinubu administration.

President Tinubu upon assumption of office, vowed to change the economic and security template of the country.

Within two weeks, he carried out a major shake-up, leading to the sack of all the Service Chiefs.

He had earlier relieved Abdulrasheed Bawa of his duty as the Chairman of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, INEC, and Godwin Emefiele as the Central Bank of Nigeria, CBN, governor, amid other reform policies.

Shettima told DAILY POST that the President had taken major bold steps so far.

He went ahead to outline five major areas of focus for the new administration.

SECURITY

Shettima expressed optimism that Tinubu would make giant strides in tackling insecurity in Nigeria.

He noted that the sack of the Service Chiefs and immediate replacement was a sign that Tinubu was determined to tackle insecurity.

Shettima said: “Tinubu is an advocate of restructuring and true federalism, but he might not want to do it directly. For instance, what happened yesterday, was one of the best things he has done by sacking those Service Chiefs.

“This is a clear indication that he is all out to confront insecurity by bringing fresh ideas and people to tackle it.

“Making Ribadu his NSA was a good thing because he is very principled and does not tolerate corruption, not because he was a former EFCC Chairman, but because he’s a no-nonsense person. So, I’m sure we are progressing in the area of insecurity.”

ANTI-CORRUPTION

In the area of corruption, Shettima said Tinubu has shown Nigerians his determination to subdue the hydra-headed monster in the country with the sack of Bawa and Emefiele.

He said: “We can see from his body language that Tinubu is out to fight corruption by bringing Bawa to book; but beyond him, there are others like governors who served under the last administration who should be brought to book on account of what they have done.

“Somebody like Hadi Sirika must be brought to book and made to explain that last-minute scam because that’s an abuse of our sensibilities as Nigerians. ”

ECONOMY

He charged Tinubu to end states’ dependency on the federal allocation, stressing that they should be made to pay taxes.

“Though our economy is very bad, the centre can’t hold, state governors should go back to their state and begin to harness their resources.

“If possible, the constitution should be amended rather than depend on federal allocation, states should be useful by ensuring the payment of tax to the centre, so that the burden will be lesser at the centre now,” he said.

AGRICULTURE

The AYCF National President urged the President to diversify the economy by encouraging agriculture and ensuring the sector is managed by capable hands.

“Beyond looking for oil, they should diversify the economy by looking at Agriculture. Let’s have people who know what it takes, even if it means bringing expatriates on how to make agriculture so that that sector can do better.

“This government must ensure that our educational sector must be very functional by allocating good money there and supervising it properly, not like the case of Buhari who put people there without any supervision,” he said.

OPENING OF BORDERS

“Tinubu should open up the land borders for import and export, though with restrictions. The Customs, Immigration and those responsible should know that it won’t be business as usual.

“This will help in ensuring that we don’t have a porous border where everything comes in and goes out,” he said.

[DailyPost]

President Bola Tinubu has approved the return of the National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA) to the Office of the Vice President for supervision, in compliance with their various establishment Acts.

The president also approved the return of the National Hajj Commission of Nigeria (NAHCON) to the Office of the Vice President.

Mr Olusola Abiola, Director, Information, Office of the Vice President, disclosed this in a statement on Tuesday in Abuja.

Moreso, Tinubu approved a formal structure for the Office of the Vice President as well as an appropriate number of technical and administrative aides that would work with the vice president in the discharge of his responsibilities.

(NAN)

It is indeed fitting and appropriate to applaud the bold step taken by President Bola Ahmed Tinubu (GCFR) on the unification of the Naira exchange rate and removal of subsidy on Premium Motor Spirit (PMS). Timely and appropriate, these policy initiatives will unlock the huge potentials for investment, jobs and capital flows, thereby enhancing investor confidence in our economy.

The extant regime where the Naira had several rates versus the dollar and which promoted unproductive arbitrage, rent seeking and unfair competition significantly hurt the nation’s economy. Also, the previous PMS subsidy regime promoted corruption and had become a massive drain pipe on our country’s finances. Having said that, the challenges of the Nigerian economy go beyond exchange rate unification and fuel subsidy removal. There are fundamental issues that need to be addressed if rapid progress must be made in the new political dispensation. I will however focus on the unification of the Naira exchange rate and the key issues arising from the policy.

Contemporary economics holds that the exchange rate is influenced by six main factors viz: inflation, interest rates, current account deficit, public debt, terms of trade and political stability/economic performance. A cursory glance at how Nigeria ranks on these indicators would reveal that we have been performing below par. Inflation for instance increased from 9% in 2015 to 22% in 2023. Interest rates (MPR) jumped 500 bps from 13% in 2015 to 18% in 2023. As for the Current Account Deficit, the challenge is that it is more structural rather than cyclical. Structural deficits are underpinned by under-investments, relatively low productivity, persistently high relative inflation rates and lower cost competition. And these are all visible indicators evident in the current state of the Nigerian economy. In terms of public debt, Nigeria’s total public debt stock stood at N46.25 trillion (excluding the N22.7 trillion Ways and Means loans from the CBN) as of March 2023. With the floating of the naira and the accompanying depreciation, this figure is expected to balloon further. Ordinarily, there is nothing wrong with borrowing. If a country uses external debt to finance investments that have higher returns than the interest rate on the debt, the country can remain solvent. The question is what have we done with these vast amounts of debt over the years?  

Flowing from the above, it can be safely posited that the problem with Nigeria’s exchange rate goes just beyond the multiple rates and pseudo-fixed regime adopted in recent years. There is a fundamental need to address other pressing issues highlighted above. A few suggestions that could assist in resolving these issues are enumerated below:

Taming Inflation, Curbing Food Prices, And Improving Food Security

Food and energy prices have remained at the core of Nigeria’s inflationary pressure over the years and urgent steps need to be taken. To cushion the impact of higher spending on petrol which affects transportation from the farm gate to the markets and raises the costs of food between the farm and the fork, there is need to embark on widescale investments in agricultural production. Production of staple foods need to be boosted by policies that would attract investments into such ventures. For instance, Nigeria is a top three producer of sorghum globally with 6.7 million metric tonnes annually. The USA tops the charts with 11.4 million metric tonnes per annum. Incidentally, sorghum grows naturally in about 21 states countrywide. Nigeria also leads the world in the production of other staples like yam and cassava. The Food and Agricultural Organization (FAO) ranked Nigeria as one of the World’s largest producers of yam with about 60% of the Global production of the product. In terms of cassava, the FAO also posits that Nigeria is the largest producer of cassava in the world, producing one-fifth of the world’s output. Despite this, the country is yet to meet sufficient domestic composite demand for cassava. Focusing on the production of these three staples and their derivatives alone can earn Nigeria huge export revenues, temper food inflation and improve food security. There are many other crops that Nigeria produces very well. In fact, the country ranks 6th globally in terms of countries with the most arable land with over 84 million acres of arable land. The top five countries are United States, India, Russia, China, and Brazil.

Boosting Foreign Exchange (FX) Earnings Via Economic Diversification

The convergence of the rates is only the first step in curing the ills of the FX market. The next step is the most crucial and that is to boost supply into the market. The government should prioritise supply of dollars to support the naira float. In a floating exchange rate regime, there should be sufficient availability of foreign exchange to defend the currency against the actions of speculators. History recounts what happened to Britain on the infamous Black Wednesday when the pound suffered its steepest intraday decline due to speculatory attacks. it is instructive to note that steps must be taken to prevent any speculatory attack on the naira.

To address this problem, there is a stringent need to boost the sources of foreign exchange outside of the current crude oil exports. This is the time to diversify the Nigerian economy away from fossil fuel dependence and invest profitably in non-oil resources. It is estimated that Nigeria is relatively rich and replete with solid minerals in commercial quantities. The administration should now focus on how to profitable exploit the vast amounts of solid minerals available in almost every state of the federation. According to the Nigerian Investment Promotion Commission (NIPC), Nigeria has 45 different solid minerals buried in various locations across the country. But these minerals are largely untapped. Both local and foreign investors can leverage on this multi-billion-dollar market. But because of the unwavering focus on crude oil in the last 60 years, successive governments have not paid enough attention to the exploitation of these vast reserves of solid minerals estimated to be worth billions of dollars. Most of the mining of these solid minerals including precious ones like gold is done by artisanal miners who are not licensed or regulated and who are being exploited by their foreign patrons operating below the line in key states like Zamfara, Kaduna, Katsina, Kebbi, Kwara, Osun, etc. The data from the NIPC estimates that the country loses about $40billion annually in unexploited gold. Imagine if this was added to our dwindling export revenue from crude oil. It would literally double our export earnings, improve our current account position, ameliorate our debt service/revenue issues, and make available huge sums of cash to be invested in the exploitation of other solid minerals required for industrialisation.

Investing in solid minerals will not only serve as a good source of foreign exchange earnings but could assist in resolving Nigeria’s huge energy poverty. For instance, the key metal components of the lithium battery which is crucial to solar energy adoption are found in commercial quantity in Nigeria. To date, a key discouraging factor for the rapid adoption of solar power systems is the cost of purchasing and replacing batteries which are often sourced cheaply from Asia and have very low quality and longevity. Imagine how quickly solar would become a way of life for Nigerians if the batteries could be manufactured locally and sold at comparatively affordable rates. 

Conclusively, whilst applauding the new administration for the bold and rapid steps taken so far to steer the economy in the right direction, it is pertinent to say that the work is just beginning and all stakeholders within the private and public sectors must be ready to support the administration’s effort through effective collaboration, hard work and sacrifice. We must all stand ready to make our dear nation great again to enable it occupy its justified place amongst its peers in the comity of nations in the coming years.  

•Olorogun Bernard Okumagba, FCA is a  former Delta State Commissioner for Finance