Senator Buruji Kashamu has questioned the court of appeal’s ruling which sacked him as Ogun State governorship candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), saying that despite the ruling, nothing has changed.
Reacting to the ruling of the panel, headed by Justice A.B. Bada, which set aside the judgment of a Federal High Court in Abeokuta, holding that Kashamu and those who emerged from his faction were the PDP candidates for the 2019 general election, the candidate, through his spokesman, Austin Oyinokor claimed that the Court of Appeal did not declare Honourable Oladipupo Adebutu or anyone as the Governorship candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in Ogun State.
He said that such was not the prayers of PDP, the appellants in the matter, and such a prayer could not have been granted.
“The Court specifically held that it was not a pre-election matter where the nomination of candidates is in issue since the matter was filed by the Engr. Adebayo Dayo-led Ogun State PDP and not aspirants.
“Having held that it was not a pre-election matter, the Court of Appeal could not have made a pronouncement on the validity or otherwise of the nomination of candidates for the 2019 general election.
“What is more, the 25th of October, 2018 letter written by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) emphatically stated that its decision to accept the list of candidates submitted by the Engr. Adebayo Dayo-led Exco was predicated on three court suits, namely FHC/L/CS/636/2016, FHC/L/CS/1556/2017 and FHC/AB/CS/114/2018. It is only the interlocutory orders in FHC/AB/CS/114/2018 that were set aside.
“The full and final judgments in FHC/L/CS/636/2016 and FHC/L/CS/1556/2017 in favour of the Engr. Adebayo Dayo-led Ogun State PDP Exco which are yet to be set aside and do not have any subsisting appeals against them still remain.
“It should also be pointed out that based on the judgments in FHC/L/CS/636/2016 and FHC/L/CS/1556/2017 in favour of the Engr. Adebayo Dayo-led Ogun State PDP Exco, INEC had in an earlier letter dated 12th April, 2018, informed the PDP of the commission’s with the two judgments of the Federal High Court.
“The extant judgment of the Court of Appeal in this appeal does not finally determine the matter. That is why it ordered that the case file should be returned to the Chief Judge of the Federal High Court for reassignment of the case to another judge who will hear and determine the originating summons.
“Flowing from the above, we wish to reassure our teeming supporters, party leaders and elders, friends and associates that nothing has changed. The nomination of Senator Buruji Kashamu and all other candidates of the Ogun State PDP based on the valid and subsisting judgments mentioned above has not changed.
“Finally, our lawyers have taken steps to immediately appeal the judgment of the Court of Appeal to the Supreme Court.”
The National Chairman of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Uche Secondus, has alleged that Nigeria is currently being run by what he called “a College of Presidents,” claiming that nobody is really in charge of governance in the country at the moment.
Secondus, who spoke at a town-hall meeting of PDP Presidential candidate and youths in Lagos yesterday, Monday, said that the country is going down because nobody is in charge as the cabals who hijacked the Presidency are divided and confused and Nigeria youths are the victim.
The National Chairman of the main opposition party said that President Muhammadu Buhari is not in charge of the situation and does not know what is happening in the country.
“Your President does not know what is going on; he does not know that killings are going on in the country from Benue to Zamfara.
“He is confused about what to do and has told the state governors that the economy is getting worse and he does not know what to do.”
Secondus said that 2019 general election provides the youths the opportunity to elect a President that can interface and interact with them: “a President you can touch, you can communicate with and you can feel.
“Voting out the All Progressives Congress (APC) in 2019 means liberation for Nigeria youths and also a step towards to getting the country out of bondage.”
According to a statement signed by his media Adviser, Ike Abonyi, Secondus reiterated his earlier warning to the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to save the country from crisis by conducting free, fair and credible elections in 2019.
Presidential candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Atiku Abubakar, has described the Senate President, Sen. (Dr) Abubakar Bukola Saraki as being selfless, courageous and a statesman.
He said that the Senate President, who clocks 56 years tomorrow, Wednesday,19 that he (the Senate President) has carved a niche for himself in the annals of Nigeria’s politics and good governance.
Atiku said that Saraki, who is also his (Atiku’s) Presidential Campaign Council Director General, is an embodiment of finesse, a fusion of intellectual fecundity and leadership competence; “a brave defender of democracy and symbol of courage; and an adherent to the rule of law and selfless stewardship.
“I rejoice with a compatriot and political ally as he walks the stage of his golden age. Bukola is a man of great past, commendable present and promising future. I pray that almighty Allah will continue to grant him greater vision, robust vitality and a wealth of good health, in the service of our nation and humanity at large.”
A renowned Islamic scholar and founder of Baynakum Family Counseling Centre (BFCC), Ustaz Abdulfattah Adeyemi, has said that any woman who tries to possess her husband, preventing him from marrying another women is a “thief.”
Ustaz Abdulfattah Adeyemi, who delivered a paper titled: “Charity, a path to Jannah,” at the inauguration of Sisters of Jannah, a Muslim women’s charity organization, in Abuja, said that an average Muslim woman has just 25 per cent access to her husband, while the remaining 75 per cent belongs to other three women.
The scholar described women who would do anything to make it impossible for their husbands to marry another women as “ungodly,” even as he advised them to “stop being unnecessarily jealous of their husbands’ relationships outside.”
According to him, a man taking another wife may be doing it for Allah describing men as “the angel Allah sends to help women.
“Let me tell you that your husband is only yours 25 per cent; your husband is not your property; your only share of him is 25 per cent. The remaining 75 per cent belongs to other women.
“If you want your husband 100 per cent, then you are a thief; you are going beyond the 25 per cent that is yours; the remaining 75 per cent belongs to other ladies.
“Don’t think that because you are wives, other women should not share your husbands.
“Men are not stupid, the men are even becoming smart. It’s until when some die that you know how many children they have.
“I am not saying that is what happens every time; but if you think you are too smart, men are smarter.
“You have never been a man before in your life, you can’t imagine what goes through in the minds of men. Let us fear Allah, as much as possible.
“If Allah makes it easy for you, if they ask you to shift, please shift a little so that somebody else can also sit down.
“And you that is asking somebody else to shift, you have to fear Allah; you that they want to allow to come in, fear Allah. Don’t go there and scatter their lives for them. Don’t go there and constitute problem for them.
“The man may be doing it for the sake of Allah, don’t let him regret it.
“Whenever you see polygamy that is not successful, it is because of a woman.
“It is women that are the enemies of women. If the man is trying to be just, it is the other woman that will go and enter him and turn his head the other way. You will be going North and he will be going South.
“It is two women that are both diabolical because of a man. We men are the Angels that Allah sends to help women.”
Speaking on the topic: “Islam and Feminism,” Founder and Chancellor of Islamic Online University, Bilal Philips, said that he chose the topic to differentiate western feminism and feminism within the context of Islam, even as he advised Muslim women to seek knowledge in other to have a better their understanding of things.
A Lagos-based Lawyer, Anthony Makolo, has taken the Nigeria Police to a Federal High Court Lagos, demanding the enforcement of his fundamental rights and return of his Certificate of the Call to Bar.
In his suit, FHC/L/CS/2111/18, the lawyer joined the Inspector General of Police, Deputy Inspector General of Police, Force Criminal Investigation and Intelligence Department (FCIID) Alagbon, Supol Olademeji, and Insp. Ayeni as first to fourth respondents.
The complainant explained that he had acted as legal practitioner to two clients over a property dispute, and had accompanied them to the FCIID Alagbon office, on November 6, this year following police invitation.
He said that after the statements of his clients were obtained by the fourth respondent, they were released on bail with one surety, who duly executed the bail bond, while his clients were asked to report back the following day November 7.
According to him, his clients reported back the following day as directed, and were subsequently discharged by the fourth respondent, who promised to inform them “whenever the need arises”.
Makolo said that he was surprised when on November12, the third and fourth respondent accosted him at the Yaba Magistrates’ Court, handcuffed him, and pushed him into a waiting Honda Car, and drove off to their office.
He said that when it dawned on him the possible reason for his arrest, he immediately reminded them that he was not a surety for his client, but had only recommended their bails, adding that the surety is the proper person to be invited where they fail to show up.
According to him, the complainant replied that they had no time for that, adding that it took the intervention of his colleagues who had seen him whisked away from the Yaba Court, to seek his bail the following day November 13.
He said that he was admitted to bail with two sureties, while the original copy of his Call to Bar Certificate, was seized by the respondent, and same has not been released to him till date, despite repeated demands.
The complainant, therefore, seeks a declaration, that his detention over the bail recommendation on behalf of his client, is unlawful, adding that the respondents are a creation of the law, and must act within lawful limits.
He also seeks an order, declaring the seizure of his Certificate, as a flagrant abuse and violation of his right to legal practice, and urges the court to order the immediate release of his practising certificate.
He claims the sum of N50 million in damages, against the respondents, jointly and severally, for breach of his fundamental rights.
No date has been fixed for hearing of the new suit.
The Presidential candidate of the opposition Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Atiku Abubakar has said that the bank accounts of the then General Muhammadu Buhari and that of members of his family were not frozen at the time he was campaigning to be President of Nigeria since 2003.
Atiku, who reacted to Buhari’s statement that he would provide level playing ground for the opponents in the 2019 general elections, the opportunity that he did not enjoy, said that such statement was not true.
According to Atiku, in a statement by his spokesman, Paul Ibe, while the PDP government treated Buhari with kid’s glove, his government has been persecuting, harassing and attempting to intimidate his likely opponents.
According to the statement, while the PDP government did not at anytime, freeze the accounts of Buhari or his relative through the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), or any other government agencies, the Buhari government had so far “refused to reciprocate the good treatment meted out to him by the PDP and has instead persecuted, harassed and attempted to intimidate his likely opponents, even before they became candidates.
“Their businesses have been affected with the government either pulling out of or attempting to pull out of commercial contractual agreements freely entered into between government agencies and businesses owned or partly owned by perceived presidential opponents.
“Also, in a bid to intimidate the Presidential candidate of the PDP, Atiku Abubakar’s plane was invaded by a crack combined military team on November 11, 2018. That was unprecedented in Nigeria’s history and never occurred even under military rule.
“Opposition presidential candidates who participated in peaceful marches have been arrested and are currently facing trial. Others were set up by government agencies including the Code of Conduct Tribunal and were tried until the government’s case collapsed at the Supreme Court.
“The account of the Vice Presidential candidate of the PDP was frozen even as opposition Presidential candidates were falsely accused of involvement in armed robbery and when the government’s case was falling apart, their main suspect suspiciously and suddenly died in police custody.
“An opposition candidate on the verge of winning an election was strangely charged for examinations malpractices and his win was overturned.
“Sadly, on Monday the 17th of December 2018, in a Freudian slip during a live TV interview, Garba Shehu, the President’s spokesman, revealed that President Buhari had ordered the National Bureau of Statistics to fudge the latest unemployment numbers seeing as they do not favour the government so close to an election.
“This is even as the President has refused to sign the amended Electoral Act knowing that the Act would prevent the government from rigging the elections.
“But the most telling action by the President was his attempt to foist his own biological niece as the Chairman of INEC but for the uproar of the opposition backed by the international community.
“These and other actions completely contradict President Muhammadu Buhari’s assurances and we thus urge the International Republican Institute and National Democratic Institute not to be hoodwinked by the President’s deceptive words, but to focus on what cannot lie – the evidence.”
Atiku recalled how Buhari ran for the Presidency in 2003, 2007, 2011 and 2015, saying that not once during those intervening years was he arrested, molested or persecuted in any way, shape or form.
He also recalled that immediately after his experience with Boko Haram terrorists in Kaduna on July 24, 2014, the then PDP administration bought him a $300,000 armoured and bombproof SUV for his protection, and to save his life.
“Muhammadu Buhari participated in several protests and marches, including the Occupy Nigeria movement and the 2014 APC march in Abuja and was not arrested or persecuted by the PDP.
“Furthermore, the PDP ensured that the Independent National Electoral Commission was independent and appointed disinterested individuals to its board including Prof. Attahiru Jega, who then President Jonathan had never met before his appointment.
“The PDP also ensured that vital government agencies like the National Bureau of Statistics were not politicised, whether or not their reports favoured the government.”
The National Association of Nigerian Students (NANS), has appealed to National Assembly Workers, under the aegis of Parliamentary Staff Association of Nigeria (PASAN), to shelve the ongoing strike to enable President Muhammadu Buhari to present the 2019 national budget unhindered.
NANS National Public Relations Officer, Bestman Okereafor, who made the appeal in Enugu today, Tuesday, said that the ongoing strike would cause a major setback as regards the 2019 National Budget Presentation by the President scheduled for tomorrow, Wednesday, to a joint session of parliamentarians.
He said that if not checked, the strike would affect the 2019 appropriation if relevant agencies and government offices concerned do not find lasting solutions to the demand of the PASAN members.
According to him, this is coming in the face of the consistent industrial actions embarked upon by various unions in the different sectors, especially in the education sector.
He expressed concern that the negative development of the various strike in the education sector was becoming absolutely unbearable for Nigerian students.
“It is no more news that the Academic Staff Union of Polytechnics (ASUP) has also joined the league, even as Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) is still on strike.”
“Yet, PASAN has shut down the National Assembly over a myriad of issues and this shut down will definitely affect the proposed 2019 Budget Presentation by Mr President on Dec. 19. If the presentation is delayed and presented next year, there will be spiral negative effect of the late presentation on our economy generally.”
Business activities at the National Assembly complex, Abuja was paralyzed yesterday, Monday, as members of PASAN commenced a 4-day warning strike which will run till Thursday.
The National Assembly workers are demanding payment of their outstanding salary arrears, allowances and other welfare packages.
Nigeria’s Vice President, Professor Yemi Osinbajo, was obviously happy to hear business mogul and Chairman of the Wells Carlton Hotel and Apartments, Captain Idahosa Wells Okunbo, proclaim he is enjoying the era of change in Nigeria.
To be clear, the change era was brought about by the All Progressives Congress-led Federal Government of President Muhammadu Buhari. As a reminder, change was the catchphrase on which the APC and its presidential candidate drove their campaigns for a new Nigeria.
They garnished their promises with the possibilities that change comes with. It was a strategic mantra that enjoyed the buy-in and support of a vast majority of Nigerians.
The countrywide support at that intersection was not in any way misplaced. Validation: change is the only permanent thing in life as it unfurls in perpetuity. In the penumbra of the 2019 presidential election, the APC administration has tweaked the change agenda to announce its next level agenda to Nigerians.
The vice president’s smile when he mounted the dais to respond to the opening remarks by Okunbo at the inauguration of his Wells Carlton Hotel and Apartments on Saturday, December 15, 2018, in Abuja, was understandably big.
The administration’s change agenda had just received a significant third-party endorsement amid the litany of woes about how things have retrogressed in Nigeria, especially in the economic sphere.
Okunbo’s endorsement was from the heart. He was not out to massage the ego of the vice president or the Federal Government nor was he playing to the gallery to appeal to the sensibilities of guests who had converged on the premises of the five-star hotel and hospitality icon for its inauguration.
Indeed, Okunbo contextualized the contending issues that he had to grapple with at the outset of the Buhari administration and explicated how, in pragmatic terms, he had deployed his business savoir faire to survive in a climate that had suddenly become seemingly inclement for businesses to thrive.
He had gradually, in his speech, prepared the hearts of the people to receive the magnitude of his uncommon stories of how he overcame the pains and strains of his investment uncertainties, beginning with the cancellation of his Ocean Marine Solutions (OMS) Limited’s pipeline security contract for crude oil movement by the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC).
Being a major contract for the delivery of uncommon values in which his company enjoys a comparative advantage over others in terms of possession of the critical equipment such as over fifty marine vessels, he was concerned but not despondent. The contract was farmed out to a department of the NNPC and, interestingly, according to him, the Corporation became a charterer of his company’s vessels in that circumstance.
When he experienced the initial setback, he had decided to explore other businesses where he could provide uncommon values. The idea of the multi-billion naira Wells Hosa Greenhouse Farms Limited, according to him, popped up and he had to sell his aircraft to raise the money for the investment.
He told the vice president and the quality gathering that he had a fully-covered eight-hectare greenhouse farm that has been producing assorted vegetables of international standards and eight more hectares that have just been fully covered. In a change era in which many businesses have collapsed and many more cannot operate at optimum capacities, Well Hosa Greenhouse Farms Limited produces 4,200 metric tonnes of various vegetables annually that meet international standards.
Read this: he does not owe any bank a dime on the construction of the hotel and apartments as well as on the farm project. Both projects, according to him, are testimonies to his tenacity and commitment to provision of uncommon values.
As the vice president and other guests, including Speaker Yakubu Dogara and Governor Godwin Obaseki of Edo Sate, focused their attention on the man and listened to his story, it was evident that no one doubted Okunbo’s professed audacity to seek and provide solutions to difficult problems in particularly difficult terrains as well as his binder to excellence.
Perhaps, what blew the minds of the distinguished gathering was the story of how, after the cancellation of his security surveillance for crude oil movement by vessel contract by the NNPC, the corporation had expressed the intention of building the Bonny-Port-Harcourt and Warri-Escravos crude evacuation pipelines. He had moved in to deliver the pipelines on the basis of a mere letter of intention by the Corporation. Significantly, this was without a dime from the national oil company.
The contract was negotiated after the pipelines were delivered. That was as audacious as it was ambitious. What model of business deal was that? It was out of this world and speaks to the tenacity of character of the titanic businessman with the Midas touch. How many Nigerian companies could do that? That remains a clear attestation to Okunbo’s patriotism, which is worthy of accolades and national honours.
He also spoke confidently on the occasion about integrity that has been his mainstay in business. How many businessmen and women can boast that they are above reproach like Caesar’s wife in matters of business transactions and/or deals in Nigeria? He said he had nothing to fear, boasting that he had never been indicted for any shady deals since he immersed himself in the business terrain. He said that at over 60 years of age, the only thing he was committed to was to speak the truth and bequeath a legacy of legitimacy to his children.
Certainly, it was a cool night for the shrewd, risk-taking investor as he announced that the NNPC, convinced beyond measures of his company’s capacity to deliver uncommon values in the security of pipelines and delivery of crude to the nation’s refineries in the Niger Delta, has just negotiated and awarded his company oil infrastructure surveillance contract for the protection of the 87-kilometre Trans Forcados Pipeline (TFP), to curb losses on the pipeline.
Media reports credited to the NNPC’s Group General Manager, Group Public Affairs Division, Ndu Nghamadu, had said that “the decision to assign the TFP surveillance package to Ocean Marine Solutions was reached after consideration of huge losses on TFP and rigorous appraisal of the company’s impressive record of performance on the Bonny-Port-Harcourt and Warri-Escravos crude evacuation lines.”
In rounding off – and this is very instructive – Okunbo provided some insight into the intricate world of business when he said any business that was not geared towards offering goods or services was not business. He had gone further to reiterate that, in his own case, he always strives to deliver uncommon values, saying that was the reason government had continued to seek him in an era of change.
Okunbo’s summation, nay verdict, as it were, is that the current change is not merely a transfer of power from the PDP to the APC or a change in leadership guard from Jonathan to Buhari; but a way of life, a new culture of socio-political and economic interactions with a clear message to thieves that they can no longer steal. He declared that this change has created the enabling environment for his uncommon values to be appreciated and sought for.
He paused, looked at the audience and declared: “Your Excellency, I am enjoying this change era.” He then stepped down from the dais to appreciative applause. The takeaway: to be relevant in Buhari’s change era, one must deliver uncommon values in goods and services. That is the truth and the gospel, according to Captain Idahosa Wells Okunbo.
The African Development Bank is funding four critical electricity transmission lines under the Nigeria Transmission Expansion Programme with a total sum of $410m.
According to the Transmission Company of Nigeria (TCN), some of the lines, which are currently being constructed, will carry increased megawatts of electricity, as opposed to what obtained in many other transmission lines.
The Managing Director, TCN, Usman Mohammed, who disclosed this in a presentation, described the lines as chord lines, adding that one of the projects was the Alaoji-Owerri-Onitsha line.
President Buhari receives in audience Leadership of Motion Picture Practitioners Association of Northern States in State House on 17th Dec 2018
President Muhammadu Buhari has assured those in entertainment industry of his government’s commitment to assisting them with adequate funds to enable the industry grow.
To this end, Buhari said that he had tasked the Minister of Finance and Governor of Central Bank to ensure that some designated financial institutions immediately commence the engagement.
The President, who received in audience today, Monday, members of the Motion Picture Practitioners’ Association of Nigeria (MOPPAN), at the Presidential Villa, Abuja, named such financial institutions as the Bank of Industry and the Nigeria Export – Import Bank.
“I have already directed the Bank of Industry and the Nigeria Export – Import Bank to engage your sector by providing affordable working capital. This funding will unlock some of the trapped potentials in the entertainment industry, leading to growth.”
He told the entertainers that he had already signed an instrument of ratification of the World Intellectual Property Organization on audio-visual performances.
Buhari, who gave the assurance that his government will continue to support all sectors that will create jobs for the citizens aimed at positively impacting communities, called on them to embark on campaign against hate speeches which a few disgruntled ones have engaged in to destroy the country.
“I am glad to learn that you refer to yourselves as entertainers and educators. This means you are very much aware of your responsibilities to propagate positive messages to your audience.
“Nigeria today is a clear example of how a few trouble makers are using various media platforms to propagate negative and divisive messages. In some instances, these mischievous acts have led to lives being destroyed, homes broken and communities divided.
“It is our collective responsibility to ensure that entertainers, regulators and censorship boards do the right thing by insisting on observation of cultural norms and protection of national interest.
We use cookies on our website to give you the most relevant experience by remembering your preferences and repeat visits. By clicking “Accept”, you consent to the use of ALL the cookies.
This website uses cookies to improve your experience while you navigate through the website. Out of these, the cookies that are categorized as necessary are stored on your browser as they are essential for the working of basic functionalities of the website. We also use third-party cookies that help us analyze and understand how you use this website. These cookies will be stored in your browser only with your consent. You also have the option to opt-out of these cookies. But opting out of some of these cookies may affect your browsing experience.
Necessary cookies are absolutely essential for the website to function properly. This category only includes cookies that ensures basic functionalities and security features of the website. These cookies do not store any personal information.
Any cookies that may not be particularly necessary for the website to function and is used specifically to collect user personal data via analytics, ads, other embedded contents are termed as non-necessary cookies. It is mandatory to procure user consent prior to running these cookies on your website.
Senator Buruji Kashamu has questioned the court of appeal’s ruling which sacked him as Ogun State governorship candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), saying that despite the ruling, nothing has changed.
The National Chairman of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Uche Secondus, has alleged that Nigeria is currently being run by what he called “a College of Presidents,” claiming that nobody is really in charge of governance in the country at the moment.
Presidential candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Atiku Abubakar, has described the Senate President, Sen. (Dr) Abubakar Bukola Saraki as being selfless, courageous and a statesman.
The African Development Bank is funding four critical electricity transmission lines under the Nigeria Transmission Expansion Programme with a total sum of $410m.
