Justice

Emefiele: Court Gives DSS 7 Days to Either Charge or Release Him
Judiciary, Justice, Law Enforcement, News, Nigeria

Emefiele: Court Gives DSS 7 Days to Either Charge or Release Him

In a significant development, the Abuja Federal High Court issued a one-week ultimatum to the Department of State Security Service (DSS) on Thursday, demanding that they either charge or release the detained suspended Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), Godwin Emefiele. The order was delivered by Justice Hamza Muazu during a ruling on a fundamental human rights suit filed by Emefiele against the DSS and other parties. Justice Muazu acknowledged the constitutional authority of the DSS to make arrests, detain individuals, and combat internal crime. However, he emphasized that such actions must be carried out in accordance with the law. The arrest of Godwin Emefiele by the DSS took place on June 10, shortly after President Bola Tinubu suspended him from his position as the go...
INEC: Accusations Against Electoral Commissioners Met with Skepticism
Elections, Judiciary, Justice, News, Nigeria

INEC: Accusations Against Electoral Commissioners Met with Skepticism

The recent accusations made by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) against Resident Electoral Commissioners (RECs) involved in this year's general election have been met with skepticism by Nigerians, who hold a deep distrust of the electoral body. Many believe that INEC itself played a significant role in the irregularities that marred the elections. Consequently, the news of impending legal actions against erring officials fails to excite the public, particularly as the presidential election outcome is still being hotly contested in court, with INEC displaying a lack of transparency regarding the events that transpired. INEC Chairman Prof. Mahmood Yakubu addressed the RECs from the 36 states and the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), revealing that the police had conclud...
Breaking News: EFCC Boss, Bawa, Suspended by Tinubu
Breaking News, Corruption, Economy, Justice, Law Enforcement, News, Nigeria

Breaking News: EFCC Boss, Bawa, Suspended by Tinubu

President Bola Ahmed Tinubu has taken the decision to indefinitely suspend AbdulRasheed Bawa, the Chairman of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), from his position. The suspension comes as a result of serious allegations of abuse of office that have been leveled against Bawa. The President has deemed it necessary to initiate a thorough investigation into the conduct of the Chairman during his tenure. In an official statement released on Wednesday by Willie Bassey, the Director of Information at the Office of the Secretary to the Government of the Federation, the decision to suspend Bawa was announced. The statement clarified that the suspension was implemented to allow for an unbiased investigation into the allegations brought against him. As part of the suspension d...
Breaking: CBN Governor, Emefiele Suspended by President Tinubu
Breaking News, Corruption, Economy, Justice, News, Nigeria

Breaking: CBN Governor, Emefiele Suspended by President Tinubu

President Bola Ahmed Tinubu has suspended the Central Bank Governor, Mr Godwin Emefiele, CFR, from office with immediate effect. This decision was made in light of the ongoing investigation of his office and the planned reforms in the financial sector of the economy. The suspension of the Central Bank Governor has caused widespread concern and criticism. The President does not have the power to suspend the Central Bank Governor. The power to remove the CBN Governor is vested in the President and the Senate jointly, as stated in Section 11(2) of the Central Bank of Nigeria Act, 2007. Mr Emefiele has been directed to immediately hand over the affairs of his office to the Deputy Governor (Operations Directorate), Mr. Folashodun Adebisi Shonubi, who will act as the Central Bank Governor ...
An Open Letter to the Chief Justice of Nigeria on Transparency and Accountability In Court Proceedings – Adebowale Aluko
Elections, Justice, News, Nigeria

An Open Letter to the Chief Justice of Nigeria on Transparency and Accountability In Court Proceedings – Adebowale Aluko

An open letter from a frontline legal practitioner to the CJN My Lord, I write, as a concerned member of the Nigerian bar, regarding a subject which has generated controversy among members of the bar and indeed the larger public in the past week. Confidence in the judiciary is at an all-time low.  On 22 May 2023, at the opening ceremony of the annual conference of the National Association of Women Judges, Your Lordship urged judges sitting in election petition matters across the country to do substantive justice and eschew technicalities, in order to restore the confidence of the public in the judiciary. It is against this backdrop that I write in relation to the directive of the Presidential Election Petition Tribunal (PEPT), prohibiting mobile phones and other electronic de...
I Won the Presidential Elections and I’ll Prove it – Peter Obi
Elections, Judiciary, Justice, News, Nigeria

I Won the Presidential Elections and I’ll Prove it – Peter Obi

On Thursday, Peter Obi, the Labour Party's presidential candidate, insisted that he had won the presidential election held on Saturday and was ready to prove it. According to him, the election, won by the All Progressives Congress candidate Bola Tinubu, was controversial and designed to deliver predetermined outcomes. Although the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) declared Tinubu as the president-elect, Obi claimed that the election did not meet the necessary requirements and could not be deemed credible. Tinubu, a former governor of Lagos State, was declared the winner of the 2023 presidential election after he polled 8,794,726 votes. The INEC Chairman, Professor Mahmood Yakubu, announced Tinubu as the winner at the International Collation Centre in Abuja during the earl...
<strong>40-Year-Old Jobless Man Defiles 15-Year-Old Girl</strong>
Crime, Judiciary, Justice, News, Nigeria

40-Year-Old Jobless Man Defiles 15-Year-Old Girl

A 40-year-old jobless man, George Ukpong, has been remanded by an Ikeja Magistrate’s Court on Thursday in Kirikiri Correctional Centre for allegedly defiling a 15-year-old girl. According to the News Agency of Nigeria, the Magistrate, Mrs E. Kubeinje, who did not entertain Ukpong’s plea, ordered that the case file be sent to the Director of Public Prosecutions, DPP, for legal advice. The Magistrate adjourned the case till March 22 for DPP advice. See Also: Court Orders Evans To Pay Kidnap Victim €233,000, N50m The prosecution counsel, DSP Kehinde Ajayi, earlier stated that Ukpong committed the offence on February 19 at Jaiye oba Street, Shasha, Lagos. According to Ajayi, Ukpong tricked the girl into his room and defiled her. He alleged that the defendant was caught by...
<strong>Court Sentences Obasanjo’s In-law To Seven Years Imprisonment</strong>
Crime, Judiciary, Justice, News, Nigeria

Court Sentences Obasanjo’s In-law To Seven Years Imprisonment

John Abebe, a businessman, has been sentenced to seven years in prison by a Lagos state special offences court in Ikeja for forging a document belonging to an oil company. Ruling on the suit on Saturday, the judge, Mojisola Dada, gave an option of a fine of N50 million to be paid within 30 days in place of imprisonment. The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC, had in 2018 arraigned Abebe, a younger brother of the late Stella Obasanjo, former first lady, on four counts. The anti-graft agency accused Abebe of knowingly forging a November 30, 1995, letter written by BP Exploration Nigeria Limited to Inducon (Nigeria) Ltd. See Also: Court Orders Evans To Pay Kidnap Victim €233,000, N50m According to the EFCC, Abebe who is an in-law to former President Olusegun Obasan...
<strong>Court Declares Ebube Agu Operations Illegal In Ebonyi</strong>
Human Rights, Judiciary, Justice, Law Enforcement, News, Nigeria, Security

Court Declares Ebube Agu Operations Illegal In Ebonyi

An Ebonyi State federal high court in Abakaliki has declared the activities of the south-east security outfit, Ebube Agu, illegal in the state. Recall that the south-east states governors had in April 2021, announced the establishment of the security network as part of measures to curb insecurity in the region. The court while ruling on Tuesday, ordered the Department of State Services, DSS, and police to retrieve all the weapons in the possession of Ebube Agu operatives in the state. The presiding judge, Riman Fatun, said the grounds for disbandment were connected to human right abuses, extortion, and illegal arrests. The judge held, “I hereby declare the Ebube Agu outfit illegal and therefore, it ceases to exist as the Ebonyi state house of assembly has no powers to appro...
<strong>Man Sodomises 12 Almajiri Children In Gombe</strong>
Crime, Human Rights, Justice, Law Enforcement, News, Nigeria

Man Sodomises 12 Almajiri Children In Gombe

The men of the Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps, Gombe State Command, have arrested a 40-year-old man, Usman Mohammed, for luring about 12 children aged between five to 10 years old. Mohammed, a resident of Liji in Yalmatu Deba Local Government Area of the state, allegedly specialized in having carnal knowledge of minors. According to Mohammed, who spoke when he was paraded at the NSCDC state headquarters on Tuesday, he was introduced to same-sex intercourse by his Islamic teacher when he was aged 18 years as an Almajiri student in Kano. The father of three expressed regret over his actions while asking for forgiveness from appropriate authorities. He said, “I learnt homosexuality from my almajiri scholar around Brigade at the age of 18 years in Kano State. I am reg...