The Nigerian Bar Association (NBA), has said that it will not recognise Justice Olayinka Afolabi, the Acting Chief Judge appointed by Governor Ademola Adeleke.
In a statement yesterday, November 18, by its National Publicity Secretary, Akorede Lawal, the NBA condemned the removal of the Chief Judge of the State, Justice Adepele Ojo.
Akorede Lawal said that the NBA’s position was anchored on the constitutional doctrine of separation of powers and the independence of the judiciary.
“The tenure of a judicial officer cannot and should not be subject to the mood of politicians.”
The National Publicity Secretary said that the action of the governor has not only negated the principle of separation of powers but was also a clear disregard to a court order.
Hel said that the association unequivocally condemned the “unlawful” actions, adding that the provisions of the 1999 Constitution are not ambiguous as to the way and manner a Chief Judge of a state could be removed from office.
“The law has since been settled in Nganjiwa v FRN (2017) LPELR-43391 (CA) that any misconduct attached to the office and functions of a judicial officer must first be reported to and determined by the National Judicial Council (NJC).
“The Supreme Court in Elelu-Habeeb & Anor v AG Federation & Ors (2012) 12 NWLR (Pt 1318) 423 has clearly stated that the Chief Judge of a State cannot be removed under any guise including the infamous “step aside style” without recourse to the NJC.”
According to him, NBA is troubled that in going about its actions, Osun Government chose to ignore the lawful order of interim injunction granted by the National Industrial Court sitting in Ibadan.
“The interim injunction restrained the Governor of Osun from interfering with the office of the Chief Judge of Osun State.
“All decisions of court must be obeyed and complied with until they are set aside by a superior court of competent jurisdiction.”
Akorede Lawal said that the NBA would not recognise Justice Afolabi as acting Chief Judge of Osun.
The substantive Chief Judge was removed by Governor Adeleke over allegations of misconduct, abuse of power, corruption and disregard for rule of law.

Governor Abba Kabir Yusuf of Kano State keeps on fighting to retain the seat after he was removed by the Appeal Court. He now takes the case to the Supreme Court, the highest in the country.
The Governor, yesterday November 18, announced: “I hereby inform the people of Kano State and well-meaning Nigerians that based on consensus of our stakeholders, we have instructed our lawyers to appeal against the judgment at the Supreme Court.
“We are optimistic that the Supreme Court will set aside these miscarriages of justice by the Election Petition Tribunal and the Appeal Court.
“We are also optimistic that the Supreme Court will reaffirm our mandate given by the people of Kano State.”
In a statement by his media aide, Bature Dawakin-Tofa, Governor Abba Yusuf called on the people of Kano State to go about their legitimate businesses as government had taken necessary measures to ensure the security of their lives and properties as a cardinal responsibility.
He assured that the temporary setback would not deter his administration from its commitment to continue with its laudable projects and programmes to restore the lost glory of the state.
He said that he would instead roll out more initiatives to deliver dividends of democracy to citizens and residents of Kano State.
Abba Yusuf also called on people of the state and other well-meaning Nigerians to continue to pray for Kano for God’s mercy and protection to save the state from injustice and mischief makers.
The Court of Appeal in Abuja nullified Governor Abba Yusuf’s election on Friday in a unanimous ruling by the three-man panel on the ground that he was not a valid candidate in the March 18 gubernatorial election.
The court said that evidence presented by parties convincingly established that Abba was not a member of the New Nigeria Peoples Party (NNPP) at the time of the election.
It held that this made Abba Yusuf ineligible to contest the governorship election under the 1999 Constitution as amended, since he was not validly sponsored by the NNPP.
“A person must be a member of a political party before he can be sponsored for an election.
“Sponsorship without membership is like putting something on nothing,” Justice M. U. Adumeh, panel chairman said while delivering the judgment.
The appellate court consequently affirmed the earlier judgment of the Kano State Governorship Election Petition Tribunal, which nullified Abba Yusuf’s election.
In a virtual judgment read on September 20, the Election Petition Tribunal ousted Abba Yusuf from office and declared Nasiru Yusuf Gawuna of the All Progressive Congress (APC) as the winner of the election.
The tribunal, led by Justice Oluyemi Akintan-Osadebay, determined that certain ballot papers, pivotal in declaring Abba Yusuf as winner, lacked the necessary INEC signatures and stamps.
Consequently, 165,663 votes credited to the NNPP candidate were declared invalid.
After deducting the invalidated votes, Abba Yusuf, who was initially declared winner with 1,019,602 votes, had his tally reduced to 853,939 votes.
In the turn of events, his closest rival, Gawuna, the APC candidate, emerged as the new winner with 890,705 votes.
Source: NAN.

The Chairman of Kano State Anti-Graft Commission, Muhuyi Magaji, has been charged before the Code of Conduct Bureau (CCB) Tribunal in Abuja on a 10-count charge before
The charge include the discovery of an undisclosed N394 million in his bank account.
CCB announced the arraignment of the Kano anti-graft czar in a statement today, November 18, by its Head of Press, Veronica Kato in Abuja.
Other charges include alleged breach of the code of conduct for public officers, conflict of interest, abuse of office, false asset declaration, bribery, accepting gifts and others.
Investigations showed that the existence of undisclosed bank accounts to the tune of N394 million, thereby raising suspicion of corruption, Kato said.
Magaji was, however, granted bail in the sum of N5 million and two sureties who have properties in the FCT.

The Speaker of the House of Representatives, Abbas Tajudeen, has called for more investments in the health sector in Nigeria as a major way of checking medical tourism and generate foreign exchange.

Speaker Abbas made the call when a delegation from the First Surat Group of Companies, a Turkish conglomerate in Nigeria, visited him in Abuja on Friday.

The delegation was made up of the Group Managing Director of the organization, Yasar Ovenc; Chief Medical Director, Nizamiye Hospital, Prof Ibrahim Yanmis; Executive Director, Nizamiye Hospital, Servet Gulerman; Managing Director, Nigerian-Turkish International Schools, Feyzullah Bilgin; President, Ufuk Dialog, Emrah Ilgen, and the Public Relations Officer, Nizamiye Hospital, Muhammad Abubakar.

The Speaker received the delegation in company of the Minority Whip of the House, Ali Isah, JC, and the Deputy Chief of Staff to the Speaker (Administration), Engr. Jamil Ahmad Muhammad, among others.

“A significant number of the citizens of this country are going on medical tourism. If we can have or replicate what we have in the developed countries, Nigeria would be able to save a lot of foreign exchange, and we will be able to save our naira,” the Speaker said.

He expressed the readiness of the National Assembly, especially the House, to welcome ideas on how to collaborate for a win-win situation for Nigeria and Turkey.

Speaker Abbas commended the group for its contributions and donations to Nigeria since about 27 years.

“I am really touched by the amazing and wonderful things the First Surat Group of Companies has been doing in Nigeria,” he said, advising the conglomerate to work with the newly created Committee on Corporate Social Responsibility of the House.

“It is indeed a testimony that the Nigerian-Turkish relationship is a mutually beneficial one, and I hope other nationalities will emulate the good work that you have been doing in Nigeria.”

Earlier, the Managing Director of the conglomerate, Ovenc congratulated the Speaker on his emergence as the Number 4 Citizen of Nigeria.

Ovenc and other members of the delegation, in their separate remarks, reeled out the data on the activities of the Turkish group in Nigeria, especially in the health and education sector.