14 years of Corruption legal battle Court Frees Wabara

A high court sitting in Abuja has reportedly discharged and acquitted Adolphus Wabara, a former senate president, and two others of allegations of bribe for budget levelled against them by the federal government.

Others who were set free by the court are Ibrahim Abdulazeez and John Azuta Mbata.

The judgement was finally delivered 14 years after the suit was filed.

Justice S.E Aladetoyinbo, in his ruling, said the suit lacks witnesses to prosecute the charge.

He explained that the prosecutors in the matter which has been pending since 2005 could not raise witnesses to prosecute the case.

“Since the prosecutor claimed that the witnesses are no more available and this matter had been pending since 2005, the court will grant the request of defence counsel. The three defendants are hereby discharged and acquitted under Section 355 of the Administration of Criminal Justice Act 2015.,” he said.

Two other defendants who were also listed in the suit, Garba Matazu, a former House of Reps member, and Fabian Osuji, minister of education, at the time. The duo were not, however, present in the court.

The suit was filed by the Independent Corrupt Practices and other related offences Commission (ICPC)

Meanwhile the Nigerian Financial Intelligence Unit (NFIUi) vowed to take a tough action and begin man hunt of people facing crimes bordering on money laundering and terrorism financing.

The declaration was made in a statement released by NFIU through its acting chief media analyst, Ahmed Dikko, on Monday, March 25.

The agency vowed to track down the politically exposed person and public office holders through a database capable of tracking their financial transaction.

Zuckerberg Wants'More Outside Regulations of the Net'

Mr Zuckerberg the Facebook giant wants more outside regulation of the net and says he's ready to discuss his ideas "with lawmakers around the world".

Image:Mr Zuckerberg's company has been urged to take more responsibility for content on the site. 

Facebook boss Mark Zuckerberg has said governments and regulators should play "a more active role" in policing the internet and the standards of big online companies.

Mr Zuckerberg said firms such as his had huge responsibilities, deciding matters such as which content is harmful and what constitutes political advertising."If we were starting from scratch, we wouldn't ask companies to make these judgments alone," he said in an open letter.

"By updating the rules for the internet, we can preserve what's best about it - the freedom for people to express themselves and for entrepreneurs to build new things - while also protecting society from broader harms," said Facebook's CEO.

Facebook has been criticised for not doing enough to quickly take down harmful content and hate speech, for example after the New Zealand terror attack, and for not being transparent enough over who is paying for political ads.

This week, however, it responded to some of that criticism by announcing a ban on content promoting white nationalism and separatism. It is also looking at restrictions on live video streaming.

Image:Facebook was criticised for not acting fast enough on videos of the Christchurch attacks

Mr Zuckerberg said new regulation was needed in four areas: harmful content; political advertising and protecting election interference; privacy and data protection; and "data portability".

He said an independent body would be created to appeal Facebook's decisions over what it deems harmful, and also called for internet companies to adopt a "more standardized approach" on the issue.

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"One idea is for third-party bodies to set standards governing the distribution of harmful content and measure companies against those standards," said Mr Zuckerberg.

He urged all internet companies to publish quarterly reports on how effectively they remove such content.

Facebook beefed up its transparency on political messages last year after it emerged Russian groups had bought adverts during the 2016 US presidential election to try to sow discord.

The site now displays a message saying who paid for the ad, while anyone wishing to advertise has to prove their identity and location.

But Mr Zuckerberg said there was still room for laws that create internet-wide standards for verifying those who place political ads and messages.

"We believe legislation should be updated to reflect the reality of the threats and set standards for the whole industry," he said.

Image:Internet companies should publish quarterly reports on removing harmful content, says Facebook's boss

Privacy and data protection is the third area the Facebook boss said should be improved.

He used the EU's General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) as an example of a template for a potential worldwide standard.

That law came into force last May and gives people more protection over how companies use their personal information, with the threat of huge fines for companies that break the rules.

"I also believe a common global framework - rather than regulation that varies significantly by country and state - will ensure that the internet does not get fractured, entrepreneurs can build products that serve everyone, and everyone gets the same protections," said Mr Zuckerberg.

Fourthly, he called for regulation on "data portability", so that users can easily move their data between different services.

Mr Zuckerberg said he was "looking forward to discussing [the ideas] with lawmakers around the world".