President Muhammadu Buhari has just approved the constitution of the National Food Security Council (NFSC), to be headed by him, even as its inauguration has been slated for March 26.

It will have as members, the Governors of Kebbi, Taraba, Plateau, Lagos, Ebonyi and Delta States. Other members are the Secretary to the Government of the Federation (SGF); the Chief of Staff to the President; the National Security Adviser (NSA); ministers for Agriculture and Rural Development; Finance; Interior; Industry, Trade and Investment; Water Resources; Environment; and Budget and National Planning.

The National Food Security Council will also have as members, the Chief of Defence Staff; the Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria; the Directors-General of the Department of State Services and the National Intelligence Agency as well as the Comptroller-General of the Nigeria Immigration Service.

A statement by the senior special assistant to the President on media and publicity, Malam Garba Shehu said that the objectives of the Council will include, developing sustainable solutions to the farmers–herdsmen clashes; Climate Change and Desertification and their impact on farmland; grazing areas and lakes, rivers and other water bodies; oil spillage and its impact on Niger Delta Fishing Communities; piracy and banditry; agricultural research institutions and extension services and the problem of smuggling.

He said that the Council will also take interest in regional and global policies and trends that bear implications for food security in Nigeria. [myad]

 The Nigeria Judicial Commission (NJC), has forced the Chief Judge of Abia State, Justice Theresa Uzokwe by recommending her compulsory retirement from service for alleged professional misconducts and other offences. The Commission also recommended the compulsory retirement of a Judge of the Abia High Court, Justice Obisike Oji for similar offences.

The Commission, which handed out the punitive measures on the erring judicial officers, at its 85^th Meeting on March 14, similarly issued stern warnings to Justices S. E Aladetoyinbo and Olusola Ajibike Williams of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) and Lagos High Courts respectively even as it sets up Committee to investigate a Supreme Court Justice and two  State Chief Judges.

The Council under the Chairmanship of Mr. Justice Walter Samuel Nkanu Onnoghen, said that Justice Theresa Uzokwe was recommended for compulsory retirement following the findings of two investigative committees set up by the Council.

The committees, according to the Council, investigated petitions against her by Umeh Kalu, SAN, Attorney-General/Commissioner for Justice of Abia State, alleging illegal constitution and working with a parallel Judicial Service Commission instead of the one constituted by the State Governor and confirmed by the House of Assembly.

It said that Mr Justice Uzokwe was also found to have misconducted himself in Suit No. HU/131/2005, wherein he delivered judgement in the sum of N825, 000 (Eight Hundred and Twenty-five Thousand Naira) only in favour of a Litigant, but subsequently signed a garnishee order of N109, 612, 500 (One Hundred and Nine Million, Six Hundred and Twelve Thousand, Five Hundred Naira) only.

“Hon. Mr Justice Obisike Oji was earlier queried by the Council for allowing himself to be sworn-in as acting Chief Judge, and thereby colluding in, and aiding an unconstitutionalprocess. His reply was unsatisfactory and the Council recommended his compulsory retirement.

“The NJC reprimanded, seriously warned and placed on the Watch List Hon Justice S. E. Aladetoyinbo of the FCT High Court for impropriety in a case between U.L.O. Consultants Ltd v BIL Construction Nigeria Ltd, sequel to a petition by one Uche Luke Okpuno. Council would have sanctioned the Judge more severely but had to take into account the fact that aspects of the case are appealable.

“Council also seriously warned Hon Justice Olusola Ajibike Williams of the Lagos State High Court for grave errors of judgment in her level of involvement in a family business. Council found that the Judge, as a judicial officer, should have been more circumspect and conscious of her office. Council’s sanction was as a result of a petition by Chief Ladi Rotimi-Williams, SAN.

“Council at the meeting also considered various petitions written against thirty-one (31) Judicial Officers and resolved to empanel three (3) Investigative Committees against one Justice of Supreme Court and two (2) State Chief Judges.

“Petitions against various Justices were dismissed either for lack of merit, lack of evidence of misconduct, being subjudice or that the subject of such petitions were matters for appeal. The dismissed petitions were against Hon. Mr. Justices Abdu Aboki, TheresaAbadua and Ahmed Belgore all of the Court of Appeal; Hon. Mr. Justices J. T. Tsoho, Ayo Emmanuel, SabiuYahusa, Zainab B. Abubakar, B. O. Quadri of the Federal High Court; Hon. Mr. Justices A. N. Ubaka and B. B. Kanyip of National Industrial Court; Hon. Mr. Justices Bello Kawu, S. C. Orji, A. N. Talba of the FCT High Court;Hon. Mr. Justice K. C. Nwankpa of High Court Abia State; Hon. Mr. Justice D. A. Onyefulu of High Court Anambra State; Hon. Mr. Justice W. I. A. Effiong High Court Akwa-Ibom State; A. M. Ikpambese, High Court Benue State;Hon. Mr. Justice G. E.Gbemre, High Court Delta State; Hon. Mr. Justice A. O. Onovo, High Court Enugu State; Hon. Mr. Justice Idi Apollos, High Court Gombe State; Hon. Mr. Justice G. O. Ogunsanya, High Court Ogun State; Hon. Mr. Justice A. B. Abdulkarim, High Court Osun State; Hon. Mr. Justice K. A. Ojiako, High Court Imo State andHon. Mr Justices A. M. Lawal, L. A. Okunnu and L. B. Lawal Akapo, High Court  Lagos State.

Council decided to advise Hon. Mr. Justice J. E. Ikede of Delta State High Court and Hon. Mr. Justice Yusuf Halilu of FCT High Court to be more careful in the course of their judicial duties.

“Council decided to refer a petition by Prince AdesinaOkuneye against Hon. Mr. Justice MwadaBalamiof the FCT High Court to the Police to investigate the allegation of N5, 000,000 (Five Million Naira) bribe to the Judge for granting bail to an accused person.  Council decided that the petition should be put in abeyance until the outcome of the investigation by the Police. Council at the Meeting also recommended sixty (60) Judicial Officers to Governors of twenty-four (24) for appointment as High Court Judges, Sharia Court Kadis and Customary Court of Appeal Judges.” [myad]

President Muhammadu Buhari, yesterday, Thursday, commissioned a N50 billion sugar processing and manufacturing factory in Sunti, Niger State.

The company, Sunti Golden Sugar Estates, which occupies about 17,000 hectres of in Sunti village, about two-hour drive from Bida in Niger state, is the subsidiary of Flour Mills of Nigeria Plc (FMN). It has the capacity of processing and producing 100,000 metric tons very high polarity sugar for local industry and domestic uses.

Commissioning the project, President Buhari said that Sugar has been identified, the over, as a key commodity that is critical to national food security.

Her said that in addition the development of local content, the Sunti project with its value chain will not only help to stem the tide of importation of sugar and save foreign exchange, but also enhance rural industrialization and create wealth amidst rural poverty.

“For this, I must commend the Flour Mills of Nigeria.”

President Buhari emphasized the importance of project against the background of the efforts by Nigeria to wriggle out of recession and to see that economy continues to show considerable progress.

“We are reminded of one of the cardinal objectives of this administration which is to look inwards as we focus on our natural endowments in agriculture, and other non-oil sectors for inclusive growth and development.

“The level of work and magnitude of investment that we are witnessing here today is a clear demonstration that our policies on economic diversification are attracting the right kind of support and engagement. On that note, I must congratulate the entire members of the board, management and staff of Flour Mills for such a major step in expanding the business and creating more jobs for our people.”

The President acknowledged that the Flour Mills had repeatedly shown commitment to Nigeria, through good times and bad since its establishment 1960.

“The Sunti Golden Sugar Estate, as I am told, was built at a cost of over fifty billion naira making it one of the largest Agro-allied investments in Nigeria today, with a capacity to produce 100,000 metric tons of sugar annually.

“I am informed the Estate will engage up to 10,000 people directly including a network of over 3,000 small-scale out growers of Sugar cane. This to my mind is central to our administration’s determination to have an inclusive economy.  The socio-economic impact of such a massive investment, in rural area of Nigeria, cannot be quantified.

“Lives will change for thousands in these localities. And the impact on the national economy will be significant.

“The location of the Sunti Sugar Estate on the banks of the River Niger is as notable as it is commendable. The enormous economic possibilities inherent here have perhaps been overlooked for far too long. It is on record that the Niger River Basin has played an essential role in the lives of the people who have had to depend on the basin for their subsistence.

“And when we take into cognizance the tributaries of the river and the proximity to the Kainji dam and the ecosystem, it is time we explore how this massive body of resources can be converted to a hub for industry and commerce. To that end, I call on other investors to take a cue from what we are witnessing today and come and invest heavily in this area.

“Let me reassure Nigerians, that this administration is fully committed to the transformation and diversification of the economy. We will continue to support businesses by creating enabling business environment. I wish to assure Nigerians that this government will continue to focus on the improvement of security and critical infrastructure, like roads, construction of rails and power generation across the country as a vital pre-requisite to economic progress. [myad]

The former National Publicity Secretary of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Chief Olisa Metuh, has appealed to the Federal High Court in Abuja to order for the release of his international passport to enable him travel abroad for medical attention.
The former PDP spokesman, in his application moved by his counsel, Emeka Etiaba,  prayed the trial Judge, Justice Okon Abang to grant him leave to travel abroad on health reasons.
Metuh, who is facing a seven-count charge before the court, had earlier been granted a N400 million bail by the court.
Other bail condition, according to Justice Abang, was for Metuh to provide two sureties with N200 million each. The sureties, the court held, must have properties in Maitama district of Abuja.
The court also ordered the former PDP spokesman to submit his international passport to the Registrar of the court as part of the conditions for his bail.
Appealing, in an application for the release of Metuh’s travel document today, Wednesday, his counsel told the court that the instant application was different from the two previous ones, which the court had heard and ruled on.
He drew the attention of the court to Exhibit three attached to the application, which is a letter dated February 14, 2018 addressed to Dr. Raymond Onwuelo by Mr. Andrean T. H. Kessy, a Neurological and Spinal Surgery Consultant in London, stating detailed health status of Metuh.
According to Etiaba, the surgery on Metuh will take about ten days and requires five weeks to heal, and added that, “Even when a defendant, in a trial as this, is due for a routine medical check up, that ordinarily will grant an application such as this, but we have gone beyond that to show why the court should grant the application.
“We have asked the prosecution to make available health personnel to evaluate the heath status of the first defendant in this matter, to show our sincerity in our application for him to travel abroad on medical grounds”, he told the court.
In his submission, counsel to the second defendant, Destra Investments Limited, allegedly owned by Metuh, Tochukwu Onwugbufor,  said that the application deals with the exercise of the court’s discretion.
He said the granting of the application by the court will speed up the trial as Metuh will have no reason to be absent from court for his trial.
The prosecution counsel, Sylvanus Tahir, while opposing the application submitted that the defence have failed to place sufficient materials before the court to warrant it exercise it’s discretion on the application.
He said that all the exhibits the defence attached to support the affidavit are un-convincing and that none qualify as a medical report to warrant a critical look by the court to see the defendant’s complaints of ill-health.
Tahir therefore asked the court to dismiss the application for lacking in merit and consider it as an abuse of court’s process.
The former PDP spokesman, who is facing trial alongside his firm, Destra Investment Limited was alleged to have received N400 million from the Office of the National Security Adviser (ONSA), prior to the 2015 presidential election.
EFCC told the court that the N400 million, released to the defendants by the erstwhile NSA, Col. Sambo Dasuki, (rtd),‎ ‎was part of the $2.1 billion earmarked for the purchase of arms to prosecute the war against insurgency in the North Eastern part of the country.
The anti-graft agency said the fund was electronically wired from an account ONSA operated with the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) to Metuh, via account No. 0040437573, which his firm operated with Diamond Bank Plc. [myad]

Justice Ahmed Mohammed of the Federal High Court Abuja, today, Wednesday gave an order restraining the National Assembly from taking steps to pass into law the Electoral Amendment Bill, 2018.
Justice Mohammed, who granted the preservative order specifically, ordered the defendants to maintain status quo ante belum pending the next adjourned date fixed for March 20.
Justice Mohammed gave the order while delivering ruling on an oral application for preservative order brought by the plaintiff (Accord Party) seeking the court’s intervention on the matter.
The judge ruled that there was need to preserve the rest of the matter.
“In view of the provisions of section 58, subsection 5 of the 1999 constitution which empowers the National Assembly to veto the president withholding of his assent by a two-third majority votes, the court is simply to preserve the rest in other to safeguard the integrity of the court and the sanctity of the judiciary under section 6 (6) of the 1999 constitution.
“The parties are therefore ordered to maintain status quo ante belum between now and the next adjourned date. Hearing notice are to be served on the second defendant who is absent in court.”
In the motion filed pursuant to order 26, rules 1,2$3 and order 18, rule 1 of the Federal High Court, the plaintiff prayed for an interlocutory injunction restraining the President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria from assenting to the Electoral Act amendment bill, 2018 as passed by the first defendant, pending the final determination of the substantive originating summons.
Secondly, the plaintiff had sought a further order of interlocutory injunction restraining the 1st defendant (National Assembly) from taking any further action or actions on the bill titled, ‘Electoral Act amendment bill, 2018, particularly, to convene to pass the said bill by two-third majority of each of its two Chambers, pending the final determination of the substantive originating summons.I am
In the Originating Summons marked FHC/ABJ/CS/232/2018, the plaintiff 8 issues for determination by the court, including : Having regards to the combined provisions of sections 79,116,118,132,153,160(1) and 178 of the 1999 constitution as amended, the constitution read together with paragraph 15(a) of the third schedule to the same constitution, whether the 3rd defendant ( Independent National Electoral Commission) is not the only institution or body constitutionally vested with the powers and vires to organized, undertake and supervised elections to the offices of the president, the vice president of the federal republic of Nigeria, the Governor and deputy governor of a state, the membership of the Senate, the House of Representatives and the House of Assembly of each state of the federation, including fixing the sequence and dates of the elections to the said offices?
Considering the combined provisions of sections 79,116,118,132,153,160(1) and 178 of the 1999 constitution as amended, the constitution read together with paragraph 15(a) of the third schedule to the same constitution, whether the 1st defendant (National Assembly) possesses the powers ans vires to propose any bill or pass any bill into an Act which directs or purport to direct, mandates, or purport to mandate, dictates or purport to dictate to the 3rd defendant to follow a particular sequence in the organization and conduct of elections to the offices of President and vice president,  the Governor and deputy governor of a state, the membership of the Senate, the House of Representatives and the House of Assembly of each state of the federation?
Whether having regard to the exercise by the 3rd defendant of its powers and in furtherance of its function and duty to organize, undertake and supervise all elections to the offices of the
President and vice president, the Governor and deputy governor of a state, the membership of the Senate, the House of Representatives and the House of Assembly of each state of the federation, as prescribed by sections 76(1), 116(1), 132(1), 153(1)(f) and 178(1) and sections 25 and 30 of the Electoral Act, 2010 and having come out with or announced a schedule or time table for 2019, general election, the 1st defendant can later make a law to re-order, or prescribed a schedule inconsistent with the schedule or order earlier on made by the 3rd defendant under legislation which were at the time of the exercise valid and extant ? [myad]

Justice Gabriel Kolawole of the Federal High Court, Abuja has withdrawn from the prosecution of an alleged $3.1 billion corruption case against the former National Security Adviser (NSA), retired Colonel Sambo Dasuki, by the the Economic and Financial crimes Commission (EFCC), complaining of frustration by counsel to the anti graft agency.

The Judge accused the EFCC of attempting to take over control of court and therefore, returned the case file to the Chief Judge of the Court, Justice Abdul Adamu Kafarati for re-assignment to another court.
The trial involving a serving Colonel in the Nigerian Army, Nicholas Ashinze and five others ran into storm during the cross examination of an EFCC operative, Hassan Sheidu.
Counsel to Army Officer, Ernest Nwoye had asked the EFCC operative who conducted investigation into the case to confirm to the court, if the name of Nicholas Ashinze appeared in any of the transactions relating to the N3.1B water project contract and which he answered negatively.
Nwoye also asked the EFCC witness to confirm to the court whether the contract was initiated by the office of the National Security Adviser where the Army Officer served or the Federal Ministry of Water Resources and which he answered in favor of the latter.
Trouble started when another question on whether the NSA office was responsible for payment of the contract and whether the office of Secretary to the Government of the Federation (SGF) and the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) which effected payment ever declared the water contract illegal or fraudulent and which he answered in the negative.
Nwoye then asked the EFCC witness to tell the court why the name of Nicholas Asinze was put on the charge sheet.
Counsel to EFCC Ofem Uket became uncomfortable with the cross examination and began interjecting into the proceedings persistently.
Efforts by the Judge and other lawyers that the cross examination be allowed unhindered were rebuffed as the counsel objected to virtually all the questions put to his witness.
In the face off that ensued, Justice Kolawole attempted to call EFCC to order but the effort yielded no fruitful result while other lawyers expressed bitterness on the issue.
The interjection got to the climax when the counsel openly challenged the court records which were severally read out to him by Judge to assuage his feelings.
However, when all effort to call the counsel to order to stop the interjection were rebuffed, Justice Kolawole informed the counsel to conduct himself in manners expected of a legal practitioner which still yet yielded no fruitful result.
At a point, the Judge said he could no longer condone the conduct of EFCC in the trial and announced his withdrawal from the case.
Justice Kolawole accused the anti-graft agency of frustrating his court and desperately seeking to take over control of the court from him against the normal practice.

He said that it was the duty of the court to allow a witness in a criminal trial to be cross examined with questions contemplated by law adding that the display of apprehension by EFCC was unjust and un-called for.

The Judge while lambasting the EFCC for taking the court, laws and the best practice for granted counseled the commission to always put its house in order before rushing to court for trial adding that Justice was not for a particular side.

He therefore opted out of the case and returned the file to the Chief Judge for re-assignment to another judge.

Justice Kolawole had on March 21, 2017 stopped the trial of the defendants in the case when the EFCC in a press statement quoted the court proceedings upside with claims that the defendants were indicted for N36B contract fraud and put on trial before the court.

The press statement which was widely published in the newspapers drew the anger of a Senior Advocate of Nigeria SAN, Mr. Paul Erokoro who insisted that the EFCC statement was capable of misleading the general public.

The senior lawyer drew the attention of the court to the 13 court charge against the defendants involving N3.1B and not N36B and demanded that the court call the EFCC to order in the media trial of the defendants.

EFCC counsel Mr. Ofem Uket had denied granting press interview but however admitted that the offending press statement emanated from the media unit of EFCC.

In his ruling then, Justice Kolawole condemned the EFCC for conducting two trial for the defendants in the media and his court.

The Judge said that it was wrong of the EFCC to have claimed that the defendants were indicted for N36B alleged fraud when such a bogus figure was not contained in the charge adding that such press statement will prejudice fair trial of the defendants.

The trial however, resumed when the offending newspaper publications were retracted by the EFCC and apologies tendered to the court.

Other defendants in the case are Sadiq Mohammed, a foreigner A.C Wolfang and a lawyer Mr. Edidion Edidion. [myad]