The Court of Appeal, Abuja has reversed the sack of the Nasarawa State Governor, Abdullahi Sule by the State Election Petitions Tribunal in its judgment delivered on October 2.
Delivering judgment, the three-member panel led by Justice Uchechukwu Onyemenam, held that the Tribunal was legally bound to act on witness statements filed along with the petition or front-loaded within 21 days stipulated by law.
The Appellate Court held that the Tribunal, led by Ezekiel Ajayi, acted in grave error in using witness statements on oath not front-loaded as required by law to arrive at the unjust conclusion of nullifying the election of the governor.
The Court held that no petition can lawfully be amended outside the 21 days allowed by law as wrongly done by the Tribunal.
According to the Court of Appeal, the Tribunal denied the governor a fair hearing by not considering and making findings on the issues of jurisdiction raised at the hearing of the petition.
Since the statements used by the Tribunal to sack the Governor were not front-loaded in compliance with the law, the court held that the statements were the product of illegality with no probate value for a law Court to act upon.
The Court also dismissed the over-voting issues used to annul the election, adding that allegations were not established by law.
Justice Onyemenam held that the petition by the governorship candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), David Ombugadu, was null and invalid on the ground that the jurisdictional issues raised by the governor were unlawfully ignored by the Tribunal.
Justice Onyemenam agreed that the denial of a fair hearing against the governor was fatal and tendered all decisions of the Tribunal invalid.
The Court subsequently reversed all orders made against the governor and the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) and affirmed Sule as the lawfully elected governor of the state.
INEC had declared Sule the winner of the governorship election on the grounds that he polled a total of 347,209 votes to defeat his closest opponent David Emmanuel Ombugadu who secured 283,016 votes.
But in a split decision on October 2, the tribunal nullified Sule’s election and upheld Ombugadu as the winner.
The suspended Adamawa state Resident Electoral Commissioner (REC) of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), Hudu Yunusa Ari, has evaded arraignment for the second time.
Yunusa-Ari has gone into hiding, the Investigating Police Officer (IPO), CSP Moses Jolugbo, told the Adamawa State High Court of Justice.
The trial judge, Justice Benjamin Manji, had tasked the Nigerian police to produce the suspended REC on or before the adjourned date of November 23.
When the matter came up on Wednesday, counsel to INEC, Rotimi Jacobs, prayed the court to issue a warrant of arrest against the fleeing suspended REC.
Before Justice Benjamin could respond to the request by counsel to INEC Rotimi Jacobs, a lawyer, Usman Suleiman (SAN), announced his appearance for Yunusa Ari. According to him, he is doing so under the instructions of his son.
He further announced that his client (Hudu Yunusa Ari) is not in the country but is in Niger Republic.
Following this development, Justice Benjamin Manji, then tasked the counsel to produce Yunusa Ari within two weeks and accordingly adjourned the case.
Niger’s military ruler General Abdourahamane Tiani on Thursday arrived in Mali to meet his counterpart Colonel Assimi Goita in his first international visit since seizing power in July.
Niger’s neighbours, Mali and Burkina Faso — which are ruled by military leaders who seized power in 2020 and 2022, respectively — have pledged solidarity to Niger’s coup leaders.
The three Sahel countries in September signed a pact that includes provisions for mutual defence in the event of an attack on the “sovereignty and territorial integrity” of any of the countries.
They also plan to strengthen economic ties.
The regimes are also united in the fight against jihadism in their countries.
Tiani is due to stay a few hours in Mali’s capital Bamako and meet Goita for a “friendship and working” visit, the Malian presidency said.
Shortly after taking power, Tiani pledged to return Niger to civilian rule within three years.
Mali, meanwhile, has indefinitely postponed a presidential election that was scheduled for early 2024.
Mali plans to host ministers from the three countries for several meetings in the coming weeks with the aim of ironing out the operational details of the new Sahel alliance, it said in a statement Thursday.
Kenya’s President William Ruto said Thursday that his government was ready to privatise 35 state companies “trapped in government bureaucracy” in a bid to boost productivity following a change to laws.
His government last month signed a revised privatisation bill into law that makes it easier to sell state enterprises to private companies.
The revised law aims to push up the private sector’s participation in the economy, the presidency said at the time of the signing.
“We have identified the first 35 companies that we are going to offer to the private sector,” Ruto told a gathering of African stock market officials in Nairobi.
He added that the government was also exploring options regarding some 100 state-owned firms, saying that many “would-be lucrative companies… are trapped in government bureaucracy, when the services they are offering can be better offered by the private sector.”
“We will make this opportunity available.”
East Africa’s economic powerhouse is facing a host of challenges, including depleted government coffers, skyrocketing inflation and a plunging currency that has sent its debt repayment costs soaring.
The International Monetary Fund said this month that it had agreed a $938-million loan for Kenya, which also has a $2-billion eurobond repayment due next year.
The IMF also urged Ruto’s government to reform public sector firms, particularly the national electricity supplier Kenya Power and the national carrier Kenya Airways, which suffered record losses in 2022.
The World Bank said on Monday that it expects to provide the country of 53 million people with $12 billion in support over the next three years.
Kenya had accumulated more than 10.1 trillion shillings ($66 billion) in debt by the end of June, according to Treasury figures, equivalent to around two-thirds of gross domestic product.
US actor Jamie Foxx and Guns N’ Roses frontman Axl Rose were each accused of sexual assault Wednesday, part of a flurry of suits filed in New York before a statute of limitations deadline.
In the filing against Rose, Sheila Kennedy, an actress and model, alleges that he “sexually assaulted her” in 1989 and that she “did not consent and felt overpowered”.
The alleged victim in the Foxx case, identified only as Jane Doe, said that Foxx “intentionally and without consent used force to offensively touch” her, by groping her breasts and genitals at a rooftop bar in Manhattan in 2015.
Both filings note that they are being submitted pursuant to the New York Adult Survivors Act, a law that had opened the door for sexual assault suits on cases that otherwise happened too far in the past to litigate.
The 61-year-old lead singer of the heavy rock band, famous for albums such as “Appetite for Destruction,” has yet to comment publicly.
He had attended the Las Vegas Formula One Grand Prix over the weekend, ahead of the complaint being lodged with a New York court.
The incident is alleged to have happened in a New York hotel room after the pair met in a nightclub.
The civil case calls for Rose, whose real name is William Bruce Rose, to face a jury trial, and for the jury to award Kennedy “punitive damages.”
In the complaint, Rose is alleged to have forced anal sex on Kennedy. Kennedy’s lawyers say she “believed Rose would physically attack her, or worse, if she said no or attempted to push him away.”
“Rose used his fame, status, and power as a celebrity and performer in the music industry to gain access to manipulate, control and violently assault Kennedy,” the complaint claims.
Guns N’ Roses is best known for hits such as “Welcome to the Jungle” and “Sweet Child O’ Mine.”
‘Permanently’ affected
In the Foxx case, his accuser says the Oscar-winning actor, now age 55, grabbed her by the “arm and pulled her to the back area of the rooftop” after meeting her at the bar.
Once there, he allegedly proceeded to grope the plaintiff until a friend came looking for her.
She also calls for Foxx, whose real name is Eric Marlon Bishop, to face a jury trial that could award punitive damages.
The suit says the plaintiff “will permanently be affected by the injuries and emotional distress she incurred as a result of the sexual assault, abuse, assault and battery.”
Foxx, who in addition to acting is a comedian and Grammy-winning singer, won an Academy Award in 2005 for the Ray Charles musical biopic “Ray.” He was nominated for an Oscar for “Collateral” that same year.
Wednesday’s suits follow a rape complaint against rapper Sean Combs under the Adult Survivors Act, filed last week by R&B singer Cassie, whose real name is Casandra Ventura.
A day after the lawsuit was filed, the parties said they had agreed to resolve the case, but did not disclose the settlement terms.
Following the controversies of the Appeal Court judgement on Kano State governorship elections, the court has asked concerned lawyers to return copies of its judgement for corrections.
Kano State attorney-general and commissioner for Justice, Haruna Isa-Dederi, at a press conference said the certified copy of Appeal Court judgement on the state governorship election affirmed the victory of Abba Kabir Yusuf as duly elected Governor of Kano state.
He also described the judgement as “a huge scandal” for the court.
Last week, the court sacked the Kano governor, Abba Yusuf, on the ground that he was not qualified to contest.
It stated that Yusuf, who contested under the platform of the New Nigeria Peoples Party (NNPP), was not a member of the party during the election.
The court declared Nasiru Yusuf Gawuna of the All Progressives Congress (APC), winner of the March 18 polls.
However, the Certified True Copies of the judgement triggered confusion as it indicated that the court upheld Yusuf’s victory.
Reacting to the development, Bashir Ahmad, former aide to ex-president Muhammadu Buhari, said in a post on his official X handle that the Appeal Court had commenced moves to correct errors in the CTC.
The post reads, “The Court of Appeal has asked lawyers to return the copies of the Kano governorship election ruling for correction.
“The court will correct the obvious errors in the released judgment and stand by its Friday pronouncement that Nasir Gawuna is the legitimate winner of the election.”
Meanwhile, former chairman of the National Human Rights Commission, Mr Chidi Odinkalu, has described the judgement as “crooked.”
Odinkalu, who appeared as a guest on Politics Today, a political show on Channels Television said, “This is Nigerian judiciary, everything is possible, I’m not one of those that will come to your studio and say everything is fine.
“There is ample material to suspect that something was wrong or something did happen with that judgement.
“The judgement couldn’t have been a clerical error. There is a doctrine in law that applies to clerical error: It’s called the slip rule. For instance, if you want to write ‘wifi’ and you wrote ‘wife’, that could be a clerical error and with the consent of the parties revert wife to wifi but you cannot with the consent of the parties, having awarded cost to me will cancel the cost and award it to the other party.
“Having set aside the judgement of the lower court, you can not come back and say it was an error. Once you do that, that’s final. The only way you can re-open that matter is to go to a higher court. The order made by the court is not a clerical error. I am not from Kano, and I am not interested in the politics of Kano, but I am interested in the credibility of the judicial system in Nigeria.”
[Leadership]
Anambra State government will borrow N120 billion from financial institutions to fund the 2024 budget, according to the estimate the governor, Prof Charles Soludo, presented to the state’s assembly.
Soludo had on Tuesday presented a budget of N410 billion to the Anambra State House of Assembly for consideration and approval.
According to the governor, the budget deficit would be funded by borrowing from financial institutions.
“Our internally generated revenue (IGR) remains a fundamental challenge. In the 2023 budget, we expected a monthly revenue of N4 billion.
“So far, we are averaging N2 billion, and we are still projecting N4.2 billion per month in 2024. This is a wake-up call to all residents of Anambra, and all Ndi Anambra wherever they may live. We can’t build the envisioned livable and prosperous homeland with our saliva” he said.
The governor said in the proposed 2024 budget, recurrent expenditure is 23% while capital expenditure is 77%.
[DailyTrust]
Imo State Governor, Hope Uzodimma, on Wednesday, signed a legislation establishing a new retirement age of 65 or 40 for teachers employed by the state.
Previously, the retirement age for teachers was either 35 years of service or 60 years of age.
Uzodimma stated after signing the bill into law that the new law would motivate teachers in the state’s public schools.
“Having given the teachers an extra five years, they are expected to bring out their time and work harder to give Imo children the best form of teaching and learning and graduate them as the best in Nigeria,” he said.
He called the gesture “value addition” and urged the teachers to be more committed and serious about their jobs.
Uzodimma congratulated them and stated that the “law is intended to encourage teachers to have a sense of job security and to be more effective and efficient in their duties.”
[DailyPost]
Despite recent assurances by the Central Bank of Nigeria that there is enough naira in circulation, reports of scarcity have emerged across the country.
A survey by The PUNCH, on Wednesday, confirmed scarcity in some parts of Abuja, Lagos, Kano, Kwara, Gombe, Edo, Sokoto, and Ekiti States. Many bank customers and Point of Sales operators, who spoke to The PUNCH, lamented that it is becoming a challenge to access cash for their economic activities.
This is coming weeks after the apex bank affirmed that it has enough currency notes in the market and hence no need for panic withdrawals by members of the public.
In a circular titled ‘All Banknotes Issued by the CBN Remain Legal Tender,’ signed by Director, Corporate Communications, Isa AbdulMumin, the bank stated that it was aware of reported scarcity of cash across some major cities. It noted that there have also been concerns among some members of the public over the legality of old naira notes.
The bank said, “For the avoidance of doubt, while reiterating that there are sufficient banknotes across the country for all normal economic activity, we wish to state unambiguously that every banknote issued by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) remains legal tender and should not be rejected by anyone, as stipulated in Section 20(5) of the CBN Act, 2007.”
It cautioned members of the public to avoid panic withdrawals and stressed that it has enough currency notes to facilitate normal economic activities.
The concern from members of the public over the legality of old naira notes is connected to issues surrounding the naira redesign policy of the apex bank.
In October 2022, the former CBN governor, Godwin Emefiele, announced a plan to redesign some naira denominations (N200, N500, and N1000 notes) and reduce currency circulation. He also stated that the old versions of the redesigned notes will lose their legal status by January 31, 2023.
The plan was met with resistance and state governments dragged the apex bank to the Supreme Court on February 3, requesting for an extension of the deadline. By March 2023, the apex court invalidated the new naira design policy and extended the validity of the notes until December 2023.
Recently, the CBN announced plans to extend the validity of the old N200, N500, and N1,000 notes indefinitely. The bank noted that it was working with relevant authorities to vacate the subsisting court ruling on the same subject. A recent report in local media confirmed that the CBN has filed an application before the Supreme Court seeking an extension for old naira notes to remain in circulation.
According to a report from the CBN, the currency in circulation increased by 3.75 per cent to N2.76tn in September 2023.
Naira scarcity resurfaces in Lagos
However, cash scarcity, a major downside of the CBN’s naira redesign policy, has begun to resurface. Visits to some banks on Wednesday revealed scanty banking halls and ATM galleries.
A customer, who gave his name as Ganiyu Tunde, at the Union Bank branch along Oshodi Expressway in Lagos claimed that banks were only dispensing N5,000 via ATMs to non-customers.
Bank customers of Union Bank were, however, able to get up to N20,000 at the ATM and inside the bank. The rows of ATMs at an Access Bank branch nearby were empty because there was no cash in them as of the time of filing this report. A banker who spoke to The PUNCH on the condition of anonymity blamed the cash scarcity on weak supply from the CBN.
The banker said, “It is the CBN that is responsible for this cash scarcity. We are not getting enough from them. They are just causing unnecessary suffering for the masses.”
A bank teller who works with Guaranty Trust Bank Plc in their Palmgrove Branch, Lagos, affirmed to The PUNCH that customers are not allowed to withdraw more than N20,000.00 across the counter. According to the teller, the bank was experiencing a shortage of cash.
The PUNCH noticed that not all banks are experiencing shortages of cash. For instance, Union Bank’s Isolo branch showed no signs of scarcity. A staff member, who only gave her name as Ope, said, “You can withdraw money if you want. I have heard something like that, but we are dispensing funds.”
At Access Bank Oshodi branch, customers were observed withdrawing cash from ATMs outside the banking hall, with a bank staff member adding, “There is cash. Everybody is withdrawing.”
Scarcity hits Abuja, Kano, Kwara, Sokoto, Ekiti
A respondent in the Federal Capital Territory, Festus Okoromadu, was concerned that he could not withdraw at the First Bank branches in his area.
He said, “What I was told was that the bank’s network was temporarily unavailable, which made the transaction impossible. This has been the case at some of the banks in the FCT in recent times, withdrawing money is becoming more challenging.”
In Kano, some commercial banks were not honouring withdrawal requests from customers, and ATM galleries were dry when The PUNCH visited. Our investigation further showed that the few banks that were paying customers did not give beyond certain amounts.
A customer who simply gave his name as Hayatudeen said, “Many banks lack money to give to customers and when you inquire, they will not give you any satisfactory explanation as to why.”
He noted that the story is the same with POS operators because they are also complaining of scarcity. He added, “Even though most of the POS operators are getting their money from traders and other business operators, they still complain of the scarcity.”
He further alleged that many POS operators have increased their charges by about 50 per cent.
In Kwara, banks are rationing cash to their customers. The PUNCH gathered that some commercial banks are not allowing customers to withdraw more than N20,000 daily from their accounts.
Customers of Zenith Bank have it differently, they are still allowed to make daily withdrawals of up to N500,000. Further investigations revealed that this scarcity started three weeks ago and customers of UBA, GTB, First Bank, Union Bank, and others are the worst hit.
This scarcity also extends to customers who want to withdraw at ATMs, as they are not allowed to withdraw more than N20,000 daily from one account. Some of the bankers who spoke to The PUNCH noted that customers are no longer bringing in a lot of cash to save in their accounts leading to the shortage of cash.
One banker said, “Banks do not have enough cash to pay out to customers because people are not bringing money to the bank.
“We only ration the available money among the customers. Anyone that comes to withdraw is paid N20,000 but few highly placed customers are given N50,000 when they come to withdraw.”
In Ekiti State, an official at the Union Bank branch, Okesa Ado Ekiti, revealed that the branch was unable to meet the specific withdrawal demand of its customers because “there is no sufficient cash for now. We give what we can afford to ensure it goes around.”
A bank customer of one of the First Bank branches in the capital city, who only identified herself as Tope, lamented, “I do not know exactly what the problem is, but no customer was able to get more than N10,000 – N20,000 in the bank hall. I learnt it was the same story at their ATMs in the bank.”
At the ATM points of Wema Bank, Okesa area, bank customers with Wema Bank ATM cards could withdraw N20,000. Customers with ATM cards from other banks could only withdraw N10,000.
In Sokoto State, a resident, Kabiru Nura, told The PUNCH, “Even though the issue is becoming more relaxed the scarcity is still very much with us. The funniest part is at ATMs, you hardly get cash at ATMs these days. The last time this happened was during the naira redesign policy, and this should really be a thing of the past now.”
Edo, Gombe PoS operators bemoan naira scarcity
Point of Sale operators in Gombe State are worried about the resurging naira scarcity in the state. Adamu Salisu, who operates a stand in the Bagadaza area of the state, said, “All of a sudden, we cannot get free access to lump sum of cash. I and some of my colleagues now rely on traders in the market who get some cash from transactions to remain in business.”
Also speaking, Sandra James, a resident in the state, continued, “Many people prefer to do transfer through phone as just a few have access to funds. It is sad.”
Another PoS operator, Mohammed Rafi, added, “We are going through so much stress to get money to give customers, but customers are complaining because we have increased our charges as we had previously done during the early part of the year.”
In Edo, POS operators, store owners, and bank customers lamented their inability to get cash to The PUNCH.
A POS operator, who only gave her name as Faith, declared that cash is scarce in Benin as banks now ration the amount that can be withdrawn at the ATMs.
She said, “I noticed that the scarcity of cash began late last week. You can only get N20,000 from your bank’s ATM and those who come with other banks’ ATM cards may get N10,000. They also refuse to pay across the counter while you can get N10,000 if you are lucky.
“I also observed that the money they put in the ATM is not always enough and they (bankers) also come out to withdraw most of the cash. They (bankers) also do deals with big-time PoS operators, so it has been difficult for small-time operators to do business.
“What I do now is to get cash from a friend who sells on Lagos Street.”
A trader, Grace, who runs a shop on Sapele Road, added, “I have noticed that cash is in short supply and most people who buy from me either transfer or pay through my PoS. However, it has not affected business, which is a good omen.
We are unaware of scarcity — Bank customers association
According to the President of the Bank Customers Association of Nigeria, Dr Uju Ogunbunka, members have reported any such issues with cash withdrawals.
He said, “This news surfaced a few weeks ago, and some of the banks I visited gave out cash to their customers. If there is a limitation at all, then it means something is driving it. But I see no reason because there is no issue regarding whether it’s new notes or old notes; that problem has already been resolved. But if anything is driving this report, I think we need to find out.
“Maybe they want to encourage online banking and things like that. But I don’t think there is anything like a cash squeeze now. I will try to visit some banks and see for myself. The information I have now doesn’t suggest anything like a cash squeeze.”
The National President of the Association of Mobile Money and Bank Agents in Nigeria, Victor Olojo, added that more needs to be done in terms of increasing alternatives to cash.
He told The PUNCH, “The CBN hardly has control of the whole cash issues, and they need to be very clear on if it is the old currency we are using or the new, they are the custodian of our currencies. However, we as a country are on a good trajectory. In terms of raising other channels of payments, more needs to be done.”
[Punch]
The All Progressives Congress (APC) has responded to an alleged error in the certified true copy (CTC) of the Court of Appeal judgment that declared Dr. Nasiru Gawuna as winner of the March 18 Kano state governorship election.
The party said it has yet to officially receive the CTC of the judgment.
On Tuesday, a purported CTC of the Appeal Court judgment surfaced online, showing a stack contradiction to the verdict of the appellate court which sacked Governor Abba Kabir Yusuf as Kano governor.
The document shows that Governor Yusuf’s election victory was allegedly affirmed contrary to the verdict delivered in court.
But addressing the matter during a press briefing at the party’s National Secretariat in Abuja on Wednesday, the APC National Legal Adviser, Prof. Abdulkareem Abubakar Kana, said the party has yet to receive the CTC of the judgment.
Kana said the alleged discrepancy in the court’s pronouncement and the content of the CTC may be as a result of typographical error.
“As far as my office is concerned, we have not received an official copy of the certified true copy of the judgment,” Kana stated. “However, we will write and request a copy.
“If the copy that is conveyed to us still contains this error, we will take appropriate action.
Tinubu Sued For Appointing ‘APC Loyalists’ As INEC Electoral Commissioners
Nov 19, 2023
“What we will do, and have already done, is to write a request demanding the CTC. Until we receive the CTC containing the error that is being circulated, we will not know what to do next.”
Kana further stated that if anyone had received the CTC containing the error, they should have taken the necessary steps to bring it to the court’s attention.
“But I will say that the court should have taken the necessary steps to make corrections,” he concluded.
The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) had declared Yusuf of the New Nigeria Peoples Party (NNPP) as the winner of the March 18 governorship poll in Kano State.
But the tribunal overturned his election and declared Gawuna of the APC as the winner of the election.
The tribunal led by Justice Oluyemi Osadebay declared 165,663 out of the 1,019,602 votes scored by Yusuf as invalid, thereby reducing the Kano governor’s total score to 853,939 while Ganuwa’s 890,705 votes were not affected.
The tribunal had also ruled that Yusuf’s nomination as NNPP’s candidate was in breach of the Electoral Act 2022 as he was not qualified to contest the poll.
The governor, however, appealed the judgment. In its judgment on Friday, the Court of Appeal upheld the findings of the tribunal, thereby affirming Ganuwa as Kano’s duly elected governor.
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Justice Hamza Muazu of the Federal Capital Territory High Court Abuja, has granted the immediate past Governor of the Central Bank, Mr Godwin Emefiele, bail in the sum of N300 million and two sureties in like sum.
The sureties must have certificates of occupancy and titles of properties within the Maitama District.
Emefiele is mandated to deposit all his travel documents with the registrar of the court and must remain within the Abuja Municipal Council.
He is expected to remain in Kuje Correctional Centre pending when he meets the bail conditions.
Emefiele was absent Wednesday morning for the ruling on his bail application. His lawyer, Mr Mathew Burkaa, however, said it was normal, as he is already at the Kuje Correctional Centre.
This comes four months after the Federal High Court sitting in Lagos granted him bail in the sum of N20 million.
Alleged Procurement Fraud
The Federal Government, last Friday, arraigned Emefiele on a six-count charge bordering on alleged procurement.
The original charge, which was 20 counts to the tune of N6.5 billion, was reduced to six, to the tune of N1.6 billion. Emefiele is the only defendant in the new charge.
The former CBN governor appeared in court on Friday for an application for bail, pleading not guilty to the six-count charge after it was read to him.
According to the amended charge sheet, the charges still border on procurement fraud. The Federal Government alleged that Emefiele illegally bought 43 vehicles between 2018 and 2020 worth N1.2 billion. He was also accused of awarding a contract for the procurement of 37 Toyota Hilux Vehicles valued at N854 million.
Count one read, “That you, Godwin Ifeanyi Emefiele, male, adult, sometime in 2018 within the jurisdiction of this Honourable Court did use your position as Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria to confer a corrupt advantage on Sa’adatu Ramallan Yaro, a staff of the Central Bank of Nigeria by awarding a contract for the supply of 37 Toyota Hilux Vehicles at the cost of N854,700,000 only to April1616 Investment Ltd, a company in which the said Sa’adatu Ramallan Yaro is a director and thereby committed an offence.”
In the second count, Emefiele was accused of using his position to corruptly confer an advantage on Yaro, “a staff of the Central Bank of Nigeria by awarding a contract for the supply of one Toyota Avalon at the cost of N99,900,000 only to April1616 Investment Ltd, a company in which the said Sa’adatu Ramallan Yaro Director and thereby committed an offence.”
He was also accused of conferring corrupt advantage contrary to Section 19 of the Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Act 2000 by awarding a contract for the supply of one Toyota Landcruiser V8 April1616 Investment Ltd., in 2019 at the cost of N73 million.
The fourth count was about a Toyota Landcruiser V8 valued N73,800,000 awarded illegally to April 1616 Investment Ltd.
The Federal Government further accused the former CBN governor of also awarding a contract to Yaro for the supply of two Toyota Hilux Shell Specification Vehicles at the cost of N44,200,000 in 2020.
Justice Hamza Muazu of the Federal Capital Territory High Court adjourned the case till November 22 for ruling on the bail application of Emefiele and November 28 for the commencement of trial.
In the interim, he ordered that Emefiele be remanded at the Kuje Correctional Centre. The former CBN governor was escorted to the centre around 10:40 am.
The Federal Government on Wednesday asked the Supreme Court to grant an extension of time for old naira notes to remain in circulation as a legal tender.
The government also wants the court to lift its March 3 order that the old naira notes should remain alongside the new notes till December 31.
In March, the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) had said old N200, N500, and N1,000 banknotes would remain legal tender till December 31, 2023.
It said the extension of time is necessary and it has not been able to print the volume of new notes that would enable it to phase out old currency before the December 31 order.
In the fresh application by the Attorney-General of the Federation, Lateef Fagbemi, the Federal Government is seeking the following reliefs:
An order of the court reviewing its consequential order contained in the judgment of 3rd March, 2023 to the effect that the old 200, 500 and 1,000 naira notes should be legal tender until the 31st of December, 2023.
The Federal Government further explained that should the Supreme Court decline its request to extend the period of circulation of old notes, the country stands the risk of descending into another national, economic and financial crisis as witnessed in the first quarter of the year when the naira redesign policy was being implemented under the former Central Bank Governor, Godwin Emefiele.
It asked the court to allow the old notes to be in use with the new notes until after it consults with stakeholders, pointing out that the economy may be in jeopardy once again because some Nigerians have started hoarding the old and new naira notes ahead of the December 31st timeline.
The government said it has been engaging the 10 plaintiff states in their capacities as members of the National Council of State and the National Economic Council.
The 10 plaintiffs headed for the Supreme Court in the interest of the public, leading to judgment by the apex court extending the circulation of the old notes till December 31.
The government was said to have realised that unless there is a fresh order from the Supreme Court, the old notes can no longer be in circulation after December 31.
The Supreme Court has fixed November 30 for a hearing.
President Bola Tinubu has arrived in Abuja from Berlin, Germany where he attended the G20 Compact with Africa (CwA) Conference.
The President, who left Nigeria on November 18, 2023, arrived in Abuja on Wednesday night.
Tinubu was received on arrival by the Minister of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Nyesom Wike; the National Chairman of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Abdullahi Ganduje; as well as and his Chief of Staff, Femi Gbajabiamila; at the Nnamdi Azikwe International Airport, Abuja.
The President had joined other Heads of State and Governments of CwA member countries, bilateral partners, as well as Heads of International organisations to deliberate on the immediate enhancement of economic and business cooperation with a view to outlining concrete measures to boost investments in critical areas such as energy, trade, infrastructure, and new technologies, among others.
The G20 CwA Conference was co-hosted by the German government and German business associations.
A former Chairman of the National Human Rights Commission, Prof Chidi Odinkalu, has knocked the judiciary for producing a “confusing” Certified True Copy (CTC) of an appellate court judgement on the Kano State governorship election.
Odinkalu, who was on Channels Television’s Politics Today on Wednesday, said no credible judiciary will produce what he described as a “confusing” CTC.
“No judiciary that is credible will produce this kind of judgment and certify it,” he said. “This is not coming from a customary court, it is not coming from an area court, it is not even coming from a high court.
“This is the Court of Appeal of Nigeria, the second highest court in the country. Any lawyer worth their onions should be scandalised by it irrespective of whatever side you take.”
Confusion gripped political players and residents of Kano State on Tuesday following the emergence of a Certified True Copy of the Court of Appeal judgment on the March 18 governorship election.
Last week, the appellate court sacked Abba Yusuf of the New Nigeria People’s Party (NNPP) as governor of Kano State, upholding the decision of the lower election petition tribunal that earlier nullified the governor’s election.
A three-member panel of the Court of Appeal led by Moore Adumein, in a unanimous judgement last Friday, declared Nasiru Gawuna of the All Progressives Congress (APC) winner of the 18 March governorship election in Kano State.
In his reaction to the controversy over the CTC judgement which was at variance with what was read in court, Odinkalu said, “The country relies on credible adjudication in order to make progress in order to sanitise the society in order to retain balance in our country. If we are producing judgements like this and then asking the lawyers to come back so that they can be corrected, how do you trust the judicial system?”
‘Typo Error’
Meanwhile, the appellate court has cleared air on the controversies surrounding the judgement delivered by the court on the Kano Governorship Election dispute.
In a reaction, the Chief Registrar of the Court of Appeal, Umar Bangari, said that what happened in the judgement body was a typo error that did not in anyway invalidate or change the findings and conclusion of the court.
The chief registrar assured Nigerians that the error would be rectified once parties in the matter file formal application to that effect.
He cited Order 23 Rule 4 of the Court of Appeal HandBook which empowered the court to correct any clerical error once detected by the court or any of the parties in the matter.
He insisted that contrary to insinuations, the judgement of the court remained valid.