Chief Justice Onnoghen denies advocating establishment of special courts by judiciary

Walter Onnoghen, the Chief Justice of Nigeria (CJN), has denied advocating the establishment of special courts by the judiciary.

The CJN in a statement signed by his media assistant, Awassam Bassey, on Tuesday, May 8, said any report saying he advocated such “misinterpreted” his words, during an interview with journalists at the Presidential Villa, Abuja.

According to the statement, Onnoghen never advocated the establishment of special courts to be a sole-creation of the judiciary.

Read the statement below:

“The attention of the Honourable Chief justice of Nigeria, Walter Onnoghen, has been drawn to a misleading sub-headline on Page 8 of The Nation newspaper of Wednesday, April 25, 2018 which reported His Lordship’s interaction with State House Correspondents after his meeting with His Excellency, President Muhammadu Buhari, GCFR, on Tuesday 24th April, 2018.

“The headline of the story, “Don’t Blame Judges for Delayed Cases, Says CJN” captured the actual thrust of the Hon. CJN’s comments but the sub-head: “Executive, Legislature Should Establish Special Courts”, gives the impression that His Lordship the Hon. CJN was advocating for the establishment of Special Courts. This cannot be further from the truth.

“The exact words of the Hon. CJN, during his interaction with State House Correspondents at the Presidential Villa, were as follows:

“It is the Executive that has the prerogative in conjunction with the legislature to set up courts, including the Special Courts, under our Constitution. It is not the duty of the Judiciary nor that of the Chief Justice of Nigeria.

“‘If the executive and the legislature, who have the powers, decide to establish a special Court or any other Court for that matter, the Judiciary will run it by providing the manpower,” the statement said.

“The Hon. CJN then proceeded to elaborate on the efforts of the judiciary, which he heads, in speedy trial of corruption cases in the following words:

“Under the circumstances, I must admit that so far, so good. It is in order to make you know the workings of the system that I set up the COTRIMCO (Corruption and Financial Crime Cases Trial Monitoring Committee). All along, everybody is passing the buck right, left and centre.

The prosecutor is saying ‘no, it is not our responsibility; we are not the cause of the delay’. The investigator is saying, ‘I am not the cause’. The judge will say, ‘I am not the cause.

“So, the people must know who is actually causing the delay. That is why I set up the Committee; and it is made up of the Defense Counsel, the Prosecutor and the Judiciary under the NJC (National Judicial Council).

“This statement is to set the record straight and re-iterate the position of the Hon. Chief Justice of Nigeria, which he has publicly stated several times, including most recently at a workshop organised by the Savannah Centre for Diplomacy, Democracy and Development (SCDDD) at the Shehu Musa YarÁdua Centre, Abuja, that the power to establish any Court under the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, lies with the Executive and Legislative arms of government; not with the Hon. CJN or the Judiciary,”the statement said.

The chief justice of Nigeria (CJN), Walter Onnoghen, has urged prosecutors to prove their cases beyond a reasonable doubt because the court is not a Father Christmas.

Onnoghen made the statement on Monday, May 7, at a workshop for investigators and prosecutors at the National Judicial Institute (NJI) in Abuja.

“I must emphasise that in all criminal trials, the prosecution must prove its case beyond reasonable doubt and this burden is discharged by the prosecution calling witnesses to give compelling evidence against the defendant with relevant exhibits to lend credence to oral evidence as the court is not Father Christmas that will give what you did not ask of it,”Onnoghen said. 

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Ban Senator Akpan from entering UK, presidential panel writes British authorities

A report indicates that the federal government has written to the British government asking it to ban Senator Bassey Akpan from entering the United Kingdom.

Akpan, 45, is the senator representing Akwa Ibom North-East Senatorial District in the National Assembly.

He is also the immediate past finance commissioner in his home state during the administration of Godswill Akpabio, currently the Senate minority leader.

In a letter by the presidency, addressed to the UK Home Office Secretary, Honourable Amber Rudd, the federal government also requested the UK government to freeze all bank accounts and assets linked to the senator.

The presidential panel is alleging that Akpan, while in office as a commissioner of finance in Akwa Ibom state, had between August 7, 2007 and 2014 fraudulently acquired numerous properties scattered within and outside Nigeria.

The letter dated Monday, March 28, was signed by Okoi Obono-Obla, chairman Special, Presidential Investigation Panel for the Recovery of Public Properties.

Obla stated that the move was necessitated by startling revelations arising from investigations conducted by the panel.

The letter stated that Akpan acquired stupendous wealth with taxpayers’ money to fraudulently purchase properties in the UK and other countries around the world.

Thee letter also claimed that the senator had acquired a number of landed properties in London, United Kingdom, through Barclays Bank of London financed mortgage to the tune of £1million.

“The circumstances under which Senator Bassey Albert Akpan acquired all these landed properties in the United Kingdom are suspicious taking into account that for the past ten years, he has always been a public officer and his legitimate earnings are far below the worth of the assets he has acquired in the United Kingdom.

“He is therefore by the provisions of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, 1999 (as amended) a public officer.

“He is presently under investigation in Nigeria by this panel for illicit acquisition of assets and money laundering.

“In the light of the foregoing, I am writing to bring to the notice of the Home Office Secretary, the fraudulent acts of Mr. Bassey Albert Akpan which include money laundering activities, assets stealing, forgery, tax evasion and extortion.

“It is kindly requested for the Right Honourable Home Office Secretary to use her powers to issue an Exclusion Decision on Mr. Bassey Albert Akpan from the United Kingdom and its territory pursuant to the Home Office “Exclusion from the UK Booklet Version 1.0 page 12 under corruption cited: Tax evasion, Money laundering, Bribery and accepting kickbacks, Extortion, Asset stealing, fraud and match fixing in sport,” the letter stated.

The government had earlier filed a case against Senator Akpan before Justice Dimgba of the Federal High Court, Abuja, seeking an interim order for the forfeiture of undeclared assets by the senator.

Meanwhile, the House of Representatives on Tuesday, May 8, accused the presidential panel of over-reaching its mandate.

The ad hoc committee of the House investigating the panel made the allegation at its sitting in Abuja.

Chairman of the committee, Honourable Aliyu Ahman-Pategi, said that the decision of the lawmakers to investigate operations of the panel was to reposition it and help the government in its fight against corruption.  

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Fashola rejects completed houses, roads in Kebbi over failure to meet required standard

The minister of works, power and housing, Babatunde Fashola, on Tuesday, May 8, warned that the federal government would not accept the 74 housing units and Jega-Yauri road project due to shoddy job.

Fashola who inspected the two projects in Birnin Kebbi, the capital of Kebbi state, told the contractors to undertake the project within specification otherwise the government would not accept them, the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports.

He observed that most of the roofing of the bungalows in the Federal Housing Estate and road culverts were not done properly.

“The roofing is not standard and road culverts are not properly done. They have to reconstruct some of these buildings because we cannot accept them; their roofs are not well constructed,” he said.

Similarly, Fashola told the contractor handling the Jega-Yauri road that he was not satisfied with the narrow culverts constructed along the road.

“I am not satisfied with these culverts, you have to reconstruct them.

“The government has overcome the challenges of funding but is now faced with the challenge of getting the project done in compliance with the contractual agreement.

“With all clear intention, we cannot do the work, we have to entrust the contractors to do the work for us, hence they should do it according to the agreement,” the minister said.

Walid AbouJaoude of TRIACTA Nigeria Limited handling the road project pledged that the company would do all the necessary corrections and complete the project on time.

He said that the company had since completed the first phase of the 186 kilometre road project, which began from Sokoto, through Jega, Yauri and would terminate at Birnin Kebbi.

Fashola announced the approval of N64.108 billion for additional works on section one of the Lagos-Ibadan Expressway by the Federal Executive Council.

The additional work on the project is about 43.6 kilometers including the construction of pedestrian bridges and toll plazas as well as modification of the quality of bitumen.

The minister noted that the approval was aimed at accommodating the changing nature of the road.  

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Only True Federalism Can Rescue Nigeria - Ambode

Governor Akinwunmi Ambode of Lagos has reiterated the need for Nigeria to implement the federal system as originally intended, saying doing so remains the right path to rescue the country from the doldrums and myriad of challenges inhibiting growth and development.

Ambode, who spoke while delivering the University of Lagos convocation lecture and investiture of Professor Oluwatoyin Ogundipe as the 12th vice chancellor of the institution, said it was a common knowledge that the federal government was burdened with tasks beyond the reach of its best competencies to the detriment of states, which are the federating units.

The governor observed that Nigeria’s present political structure was seriously affecting the efficiency of both state and local governments.

He submitted that for states to give optimal service to their citizens, the principle of inclusion as being practiced in Lagos where anybody irrespective of race or creed can rise to the pinnacle of their chosen career, first needs to be applied to the division of power between them and the federal government.

“There recently has been clamour for devolution of power and true federalism. While much of this talk is good intentioned, I believe it misses the crucial point. The linchpin of good governance is not found in the system deployed but in the quality of its administration.

“We must implement the federal system as it was intended to be. Heretofore, too much power has resided in the national government. This has been to the detriment of the authority and efficiency of both state and local governments.

“This has caused a governance vacuum of sorts. The federal government is burdened with tasks beyond the reach of its best competencies. The States and Local government are dissuaded from treating many matters of a local nature that are better left in their hands due to their greater knowledge of local conditions.

“We need to shift some functions/responsibilities from the national government to place more of it in the hands of the states. This is how we give federalism the best chance to work. Until we do this, calls to abandon the current system serve not to fix the underlying problem,” the governor said.

Ambode noted that any structural reform might face the tendency of being distorted to serve the purpose of those who favour concentration of power, adding that clamour for total change to the political architecture would be time consuming and expensive.

“Additionally, such attempts at enormous and rapid political change causes economic uncertainty and dislocation. Given our tenuous relationship to prosperity, Nigeria cannot afford this self-affliction.

“There is widespread consensus that too much power sits in the center. We can correct this imbalance by reallocating power and responsibilities between the states and federal government by amending the list of exclusive and concurrent powers and duties of these governments to reflect current realities in the nation.

“These changes will have beneficial impact visible within a short amount of time. The impact of these changes, though political in origin, will be economic in nature and it is in our economic life where the nation needs the most help.

“Resolving the problems regarding federalism and the herdsman’s, as with so many other problems, requires us to look beyond prejudice and hatred. Exploiting fear and bias is easy and sings well in the short-run. Over the longer-term, it is a bitter cup that cures nothing but ferments greater hatred and larger problems,” he said.

He commended former governors, Bola Tinubu and Babatunde Fashola, over the success of Lagos and its master plan from conception to concrete reality, saying his administration was building on it to move the State to a smart city.

“In every way, our infrastructure is improved. Our roads are better, our mass transportation has expanded, hospitals give better care to the sick and afflicted, education is improving and more affordable housing is being constructed before our very eyes.

“The face of Badagry is changing. The makeover of Oshodi will cause you to marvel at the transformation that can take place even in densely populated urban space when there is the political will and determined creativity to give the people the infrastructure they deserve.

"We are improving and expanding the Airport Road so that a trip to and from the airport no longer takes more time than your flight itself.

“The Lekki-Epe axis was once an isolated, inactive tract of land. Now it bustles with energy, activity and prosperity due in large measure to the roads and other infrastructure our State has constructed.

"We have and will continue to build bridges linking parts of Lagos that have not been linked before so that commerce, transport and communication among Lagosians will be facilitated,” he said.

Governor Ambode admonished the 2017 graduates to use their academic experience to correct the direction of the country by improving social attitudes and relying more on conscience than being canny in the conduct of their affairs.

“The rest of the world sees us as Black, African and Nigerian and will deal with all of us in the same manner. That larger world cares little about the internal divisions we see as so profound. In this context, we are in the same boat and share the same fate. Unless we join in concerted effort to help each other toward a better more united Nigeria, we all shall fail in our different ways,” he said.

Governor Akinwunmi Ambode, on Monday, April 2, commissioned 21 network of roads and two bridges totalling 27.4 kilometres in the Alimosho local government, with a pledge to further develop other communities within the axis.  

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Minister canvasses one year re-schooling for Nigerian fresh graduates

The minister of state for education, Professor Anthony Anwukah, have put forward a proposal for Nigerian students to spend an extra year in specialized institutions after graduation.

Professor Anwukah's proposal was tabled at the ongoing retreat for Governing Councils of Nigerian Federal Universities, organized by the National Universities Commission (NUC) with the theme, “Elements of Statutory Governance, Procurement and Financial Accounting in Nigerian Universities.”

He said the suggestion was being made because many university graduates were not good enough to be employed by industries.

“Law students attend law school for one year before going for NYSC and medical students go for one year Houseman ship before they are allowed to practice fully, so it will be necessary for other courses to also go through this process,” Mr Anwukah said.

“The Lagos Business School can also serve as a one year after-school training.

“The universities are producing products that are not matching the needs of the industries. I urged the committee of pro-chancellors and committee of vice-chancellors to end the decline in the standard of education.

“The SIWES projects introduced for a year industrial attachment for students has failed in the universities. It is not doing its role in bridging the gap between the universities and the industries,” he said.

He said that re-schooling would serve as a training ground for graduates to be well equipped on the rudiments of the course studied.

The minister said: “We are trying to sell an idea, the proposal is to get into our university system the re-schooling concept, that is you finish your university degree may be add one more year as a finishing school project, I don’t know how it is going to sell ... but the idea has come as a result of the failure of SIWES system in the universities.

“We try to address the relationship between the universities, the industries and the graduates, how they can fit in and we introduced the SIWES project and it is not working and it is not providing that bridge between the industries because the most industries are unwilling to accept most students on the SIWES programme.

“We want to brainstorm and see whether we can add one additional year so that when a student finishes from the university he can now go out to industries for one year internship for that job. For instance, the law department had one extra year after the law programme they go to law school, doctors go for one additional year.

“Are we going to continue with the SIWESS experiment which is not working or we are going to brace up to introduce an additional year of re-school whereby you spend that one year in any industry.

“For instance, the Lagos Business School can serve as one year learning experience for students in business, accountancy and others, the NTA school in Jos can handle that of journalists.”

Meanwhile, Batch B beneficiaries of the N-Power on Friday, April 13, collected their mobile devices at the NUT Pavilion, Teachers House, in Alausa Lagos.

The beneficiaries were largely 2016 Batch B beneficiaries who had undergone training in the N-Power Teach, N- Power Agro and N-Power Health programmes.

An initiative of the federal government, the N-Power scheme seeks to address the unemployment challenges in the country by recruiting 500,000 volunteers, training and paying them a monthly stipend of N30,000 over a 2-year period. 

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NNPC Retail now holds 14 per cent of business, plans for more stations

The Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) has said its downstream subsidiary, the NNPC Retail Limited, now holds 14 per cent of the market share of petroleum products retail business in Nigeria.

Group Managing Director of the NNPC, Dr. Maikanti Baru, made this disclosure at the 1st to 5th Annual General Meeting (AGM) of the NNPC Retail Limited which was held at the NNPC Towers, Abuja Tuesday, May 8.

Dr. Baru said despite being the market leader in the sector, the company was poised to establishing even ultra large mega stations and was in the process of identifying the areas where such large mega stations would be economically viable.

The NNPC helmsman explained that NNPC Retail would also continue to set up standard stations that would fit into the domains where they operate, disclosing that the focus of the management of NNPC, as owners of the company, was to ensure that its stations were in every nook and cranny of Nigeria.

Dr. Baru described the 1st to 5th Annual General Meeting (AGM) of the NNPC Retail Limited as a landmark event, saying it was the first since the company was established.

His words: “Today’s AGM is in line with our drive to sanitize all our books and bring them to currency, the management of the NNPC is committed to ensuring that all the books of all the entities within the NNPC are up to date.”

According to him, the AGM combined all the accounts of 2012, 2013, 2014, 2015 and 2016 which had all been audited by external auditors and submitted to the Board of Directors, who in turn had recommended them to the shareholders at the AGM.

He also enjoined the management of NNPC Retail to focus on its non-fuel products and services, particularly those with the potential to make a lot of profit.

Dr. Baru stated that the AGM provided the management the opportunity to review the performance of NNPC Retail, stressing that the company was set up initially as an intervention force to ensure that NNPC could intervene in the supply of petroleum products whenever the need arises.

He said the company had since inception lived up to its billing and played a major role in intervening during periods of supply shortfalls.

On his part, the Chairman of the Board of Directors, who is also NNPC Chief Operating Officer (COO), Gas and Power, Engr. Saidu Mohammed, expressed the commitment to work with the management and staff of the company to enhance its non-fuel business through the incorporation of fast food outlets, Liquefied Petroleum Gas (LPG) and super markets into some of NNPC filling stations that have adequate space.

“We are committed to growing the NNPC Retail business particularly to drive the market share much higher and by expanding the reach through filling stations directly owned or through affiliate stations,” he said.

In his opening remarks, the Managing Director of the Company, Mr. Yemi Adetunji, said the impressive results were achieved largely through the support of the shareholders, among whom are the GMD of the NNPC, Dr. Baru, the chairman of the board of directors of the company, Engineer Mohammed and partners of the dealers of the NNPC owned stations and affiliates.

“We have all come together with a pledge to deliver value to the citizens of Nigeria and also give value back to our shareholders,” Adetunji assured.

NNPC Retail Limited operations commenced in August 2002, when the first retail outlet was commissioned in Lagos to market petroleum products to the public.

Meanwhile, the NNPC is poised to go paperless in its operations within the shortest possible time. This was disclosed by Dr. Baru on Monday, March 19, in Abuja.

He made the comment during the inauguration of two committees: The Systems Applications and Products (SAP) Steering Committee (SC) and Group Process Council (GPC).

According to him, the committees would be responsible for a holistic implementation of SAP and replace enterprise resource planning which would serve as enablers for the achievement of the corporation’s success.   

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Leadership Problem: Adopt Chinese Model - Peter Obi To Nigerians

Peter Obi, former governor of Anambra state, has advocated for public officials at lower levels of government to be elected based on an aspect of the Chinese model of electing their leaders, which is based on their past performances.

He made the comment during an international conference at the Claretian Institute of Philosophy, CIP, Maryland, Nekede, which took place over the weekend.

The former governor said all hands must be on deck in the efforts to devise better ways of electing the leaders of the country; as he pointed out that leadership is the fundamental problem of Nigeria.

Speaking on ‘Human Development Index: Nigeria and the World’, Obi stated that improvement in HDI is directly proportional to the level of investment in education by countries.

Obi singled out Norway, which has the highest HDI ranking in the world; pointing out that the Scandinavian country invests heavily in education and has achieved a literacy level of virtually 100 percent.

Previously former Governor Peter Obi described Nigeria under President Muhammadu Buhari as a failed country.

He lamented that Nigeria was still operating in the past, with no qualified leadership to revitalize the economy; and blamed the recent rise in agitation of youth across the country to the poor leadership of the present administration of the federal government.   

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FG. Signs 45m US Dollars Pact with GE.- Amaechi

The federal government has signed 45 million dollars interim phase agreement with General Electric (GE) for the concession of narrow gauge rail lines in the country.

The minister of transportation, Rotimi Amaechi disclosed this on Monday, May 7, in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Abuja.

He said that the total money to be invested in the project was 2.7billion dollars after the whole agreement was concluded. Amaechi said that the interim phase include the rehabilitation of the rail lines, the management of the transportation and Nigerian Railway Corporation (NRC) participation in commercial activities.

He revealed: “We came to conclusion on the narrow gauge, the interim phase of the narrow gauge, to enable us begin the initial rehabilitation of the rail lines, so that we can commence commercial activities.

“Both in terms of cargoes, freight and transportation, we have signed the initial and temporary agreement. We have also agreed on the main agreement which will cost $45million for the interim phase and $2.7billion for the entire project.”

Amaechi said with the interim agreement, GE would commence commercial activities for both cargoes and passengers before October, 2018. He said that GE would be bringing in 10 coaches and 100 wagons, adding that additional 10 locomotives and coaches would be repaired.

He, however, said that by January, 2019 GE intends to complete the whole interim process and move to the main phase.

Commenting on the issue of alleged racketeering at the Abuja-Kaduna rail line, the minister said that he would investigate the matter, stating that he would be surprised if it was on.

Amaechi further said: “ I will investigate the matter because I will be surprised. We have provided additional coaches to increase the time they run, so I will be surprised, allow me investigate the issue.”

Meanwhile, the Federal Executive Council (FEC) on Wednesday, March 28, in Abuja approved N20.8 billion for the rehabilitation of Ikorodu-Shagamu road and N4.2 billion for the procurement of aviation firefighting equipment.

The minister of information and culture, Alhaji Lai Mohammed made the disclosure when he briefed state house correspondents alongside the minister of state for aviation, Hadi Sirika and minister of education, Adamu Adamu, on the outcome of the council’s meeting.   

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