President Muham Buhari has approved the appointment of the President of University of Lagos Alumni Association Worldwide, John Momoh, as the Chairman of the university’s Interim Governing Council.
Momoh, who is Chairman/Chief Executive Officer of Channels TV, would among other roles along with council members, ratify the election of the university’s new Acting Vice Chancellor, Folashade Ogunsola.
Ogunsola had emerged victorious with 135 votes, having defeated Prof. Ben Ogbojafor, who scored 31 votes, while one vote was generally described as voided.
The result of the election, Echotitbits gathered, has been forwarded to the Governing Council by the Deputy Registrar/Director of Academic Affairs, Olakunle Makinde.
Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) has berated the Speaker of the House of Representatives, Femi Gbajabiamila, over the decision by the All Progressives Congress (APC) leadership of the House to shut down the sitting of various committees carrying out investigation on the executive arm of government.
The opposition party alleged that the action was a deliberate design to cover the stench of corruption oozing out of the APC administration.
“If the Honoruable Speaker is inclined towards allowing the covering of corruption, against the purpose for which he was elected to lead the House, then, he should take a bow and step aside,” PDP said.
The party charged the Speaker to “stop circumventing the statutory duties of the House of Representative and placing of wedges in the way of the fight against corruption by the legislature.”
PDP also described “the shutdown order by the APC leadership of the House of Representatives as a clear example of corruption fighting back from within the government circle, which must be condemned by all Nigerians.”
The party allegedly noted that “such incursion into the activities of the committees is to quench the fight against corruption as well as to frustrate whistle blowers just because APC has become an ocean of corruption where the members are swimming.”
“It is clear that the shutdown directive is targeted at frustrating revelations from ongoing investigations on the $500 million foreign loan from China, particularly as it relates to the mortgaging of our nation’s sovereignty to China.
“This is in addition to the investigations into the humongous corruption in government agencies including the Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC), the Nigeria Social Insurance Trust Fund (NSITF) the N300 billion unremitted revenue to the federation account as well as allegations of corruption in government earnings and the expenditure in Ministries, Department and Agencies (MDA’s) under the APC.
“It is therefore unfortunate that under the Gbajabiamila-led leadership, the basic responsibility of the House of Representatives, which is its oversight on the executive, has just been maimed through a forced holiday on the members of the respective committees and their chairmen.
“It is equally distressing that the APC leadership of the House of Representatives is breaching parliamentary rules, practices and procedures to shield APC leaders and their cronies who have been fleecing our nation.
“Our party therefore holds that any parliament that deliberately frustrates its statutory responsibility to call the activities of the executive to question has lost the essence of its own existence. The leadership that led it into such constitutional suicide must be held culpable.
“Indeed, never in our parliamentary history has committee activities been suspended or shut down on the ground of holiday or suspension of plenary.
“For us in the PDP, it is shocking that the APC leadership of the House of Representatives could by any consideration shut down, its legislative investigation, which is exclusively vested on it under sections 88 and 89 of the 1999 Constitution (as amended), on the guise of being on break.
“Such an action is calamitous to our democracy,” said PDP, in a statement by its National Publicity Secretary, Kola Ologbondiyan.
The party, however, commended the members of its caucus and other minorities in the National Assembly for standing against corruption and striving to ensure that the APC does not sell Nigerians into slavery with its reckless foreign borrowings.
“Our party urges the lawmakers not to be deterred but continue in their assignments, as they are only answerable to the Nigerian people,” the statement added.
PDP therefore charged the Gbajabiamila-led APC leadership of the House of Representatives to immediately reverse itself as Nigerians expect nothing but seamless investigations without unnecessary interferences and incursions.
Members of the panel include: Prof. Tukur Sa’ad as the Chairman; Barrister Victor Onuoha as a member, Prof. Ikenna Oyindo member, Prof. Ekanem Braide, member, Prof. Adamu Usman, member, Chief Jimoh Bankole, member; and Barrister Grace Ekanem as Secretary.
NTA report added the Pro-Chancellor, Wale Babalakin, SAN and the Vice Chancellor, Oluwatoyin Ogundipe, have been “suspended” from office as they are both to recuse themselves from performing their functions in office during the period of the visitation.
Buhari also directed the Senate to convene an urgent meeting and appoint an Acting Vice Chancellor for the university, a directive which practically sacked the Acting Vice Chancellor, Theophilus Soyombo, who was appointed by the Babalakin-led Governing Council.
Embattled Vice Chancellor of University of Lagos, Oluwatoyin Ogundipe, Friday withdrew the lawsuit filed at the National Industrial Court to challenge his sacking by the Wale Babalakin-led Governing Council.
Ogundipe had filed an action at the National Industrial Court in Suit No: NICN/LA/D18/2020 dated August 14, where he joined University of Lagos, Council, Senate, Wale Babalakin, Registrar, and Acting Vice Chancellor appointed by the Council, Theophilus Soyombo, as defendants in the suit.
The embattled vice chancellor, in a statement by a member of his legal team, Ebun-Olu Adegboruwa, SAN, said he was no longer going ahead with the legal process which he initiated at the National Industrial Court.
According to him, “Contrary to the falsehood being peddled by mischief makers, the National Industrial Court has never sat or conduct any proceedings in respect of the court case filed by the Vice Chancellor of University of Lagos, Professor Oluwole Ogundipe.
“No court proceedings ever took place at all and so no decision or ruling has been rendered by the court.
“Indeed, upon detailed consultation with all stakeholders and his supporters in and outside the university, Professor Ogundipe directed his lawyer’s to file a notice of discontinuance of the suit and this has been done on August 21, 2020.
“This is to defer to the authority of the President as the Visitor of the university as Professor Ogundipe has enough time to challenge his purported removal.
“This falsehood is being spread to malign the court and blackmail the judiciary by enemies of the rule of law and due process.
“The general public is therefore advised to discountenance these mindless fabrications as the handiwork of those who are afraid of subjecting their illegal acts to the true test of probity and to be wary of fake news being peddled in place of truth, especially as they relate to deliberate manipulation of court proceedings.
“There was no time that the court sat to fix any date for the case.”
Outgoing President of the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA), Paul Usoro, Friday tendered unreserved apologies to Kaduna State Governor, Nasir El-Rufai, over the association’s decision to withdraw an invite to the governor as a guest speaker at the forthcoming NBA Annual General Conference.
Usoro, in a letter titled: “Nigerian Bar Association 2020 Annual General Conference: Invitation to H.E. Nasir El-Rufai, Governor of Kaduna State” and addressed to the Director General,
Nigerian Governors’ Forum (NGF), Asishana Okauru, said he took full responsibility for the unintended embarrassment and tender his regrets and apologies.
According to him, “Further to our telcon (Okauru/Usoro) this morning on the above subject matter, let me once again, through your good offices, tender my unreserved apologies to His Excellency, Mallam Nasir El-Rufai, Governor of Kaduna State, for the unintended embarrassment that may have been caused him by the decision of the Nigerian Bar Association (“NBA” or the (“Association”) National Executive Committee (“NEC”) decision at its meeting that was held yesterday, 20 August 2020, to dis-invite him as a Panelist in one of the Sessions scheduled for the upcoming NBA Annual General Conference (“AGC”).
“As the NBA President, I take full responsibility for the unintended embarrassment and tender my regrets and apologies.”
He explained that the initial decision to invite El-Rufai was made by the AGC’s Technical Committee for Conference Planning without any input from NEC as a body.
“The TCCP is itself an organ of NEC and was constituted by NEC at its meeting in December 2019. It is in all respects answerable to NEC and has a mandatory duty to report its activities to NEC at NEC’s quarterly meetings one of which was held yesterday. As an elected National Officer of the Association, I am personally answerable to NEC and cannot overrule its decisions even if I have totally different viewpoints and positions in regard thereto. TCCP, as an NBA organ, is in precisely the same position and the same applies to all other Committees of the NBA.
“Indeed, I need to mention that a standard agenda item for the Quarterly NEC Meeting is the Report from the various NBA Sections, Forums and Committees. To the extent that the NBA Committees’ works, and activities are on the NEC Agenda, NEC members are at liberty to raise questions, demand clarifications, discuss and give mandatory directives and directions on those works and activities and the Committees are bound by those directives and directions of NEC.
“As I also explained to you, the statutory membership of NEC is made up of all Past Presidents and General Secretaries and three members each from each of our 125 Branches. There are also about 120 co-opted members. NEC was deliberately made that large by the framers of the Association’s Constitution to accommodate all shades of opinion and thoughts.
“As I further mentioned to you during our telcon, the invitation of Mallam Nasir El-Rufai was brought up by NEC members at yesterday’s meeting when the TCCP’s arrangements for the 2020 AGC was placed on the agenda for discussions and the preponderance of opinion was that His Excellency should be dis-invited. There was indeed a motion that was moved and seconded to that effect. Those who spoke in favor of his attendance, including me, were in the minority. I was personally placed in a very difficult and problematic position. Mallam Nasir El-Rufai is a friend that I have known as long ago as the early 1980s and we do have some other very close mutual friends. And yet, I am bound, as an elected President of the NBA, by decisions and directives of NEC to whom I am answerable in my official capacity. There truly was nothing that I or the TCCP could do in the face of NEC’s decision of yesterday.
“In concluding, I must clarify two critical issues. First, NEC’s decision yesterday had no ethnic or religious coloration or connotation howsoever and whatsoever. In discussing the issue at NEC, nobody talked about religion or ethnicity. As I recall, there were no more than 3 (three) advocates for retaining the invitation of the NBA to H.E. Nasir El-Rufai (not including me) and two of these three gentlemen are from the South of Nigeria and one is a reverend gentleman. Conversely, some of those who spoke against his attendance share the same faith with Mallam Nasir El-Rufai and some others come from the Northern part of Nigeria.
“The second point that I must clarify is that, NBA NEC, by its decision was not passing any judgment on Mallam Nasir El-Rufai. NBA NEC is not in a position to pass such judgments without having all the facts and hearing from all the sides and it did not set out to pass any such judgment. NEC merely made a judgment that it was not in the best interest of the Association to be engulfed in the controversy that trailed the invitation of Mallam el-Rufai for the Conference and that it was best if the safety-valve of dis-inviting the Governor was applied. Indeed, NEC did not howsoever or at all discuss the substance of the issues that have been raised against the Governor by the different groups and persons who clamored for his being dis-invited – and there was very considerable clamor in that regard. I perhaps need to mention that, prior to the NEC meeting I had personally taken urgent and strident steps, working with the TCCP, to douse the clamor, but we had no success.
“I truly would appreciate your bringing this letter to the attention not just of HE Nasir el-Rufai but also to all the other members of the esteemed Nigerian Governors’ Forum and in particular, the Chairman of the Forum, H.E. (Dr) Kayode Fayemi. Please, assure Their Excellencies that the Nigerian Bar Association holds all our Governors, including HE Nasir el-Rufai, in the highest esteem and would do nothing intentionally to embarrass them collectively or individually. Once again, I offer my sincere and deepest apologies and regrets for the unintended embarrassment that may have been caused to H.E. Nasir el-Rufai by the afore-referenced decision of the NBA NEC and would appreciate your passing on my regrets and apologies to him personally,” Usoro said.
Human Rights Lawyer and Senior Advocate of Nigeria (SAN), Femi Falana has condemned a section of the 30year old Company and Allied Matters Act (CAMA) recently signed into law by President Muhammadu Buhari, stipulating the power of a supervising Minister to remove the Board of Trustees of Churches without recourse to the court.
The erudite lawyer joined other prominent Nigerians who have criticised the section that sought to regulate Churches and Non Government Organizations (NGOs) in his contribution, as reported by thenigerialawyer.com, to discussions facilitated by a group known as Friends of TheNews, which held on WhatsApp messaging platform.
Echotitbits gathered from the report that Falana noted that although, the law isn’t completely new, the addition thereof is nonetheless a violation of the fundamental human rights to freedom of association enshrined in the Nigerian constitution.
File photo: Human Rights Lawyer, Femi Falana (SAN).
“I have read the law. It was badly drafted. A government that set out to facilitate the ease of doing business could not have come up with a 604-page business law (CAMA 2020).”
“But it is not a completely new law. Registered NGOs were regulated in the past in line with the practice in all democratic societies. The only addition which is objectionable is the power conferred on the commission to take over and manage NGOs on allegations of misconduct. It is illegal because it is a violation of the fundamental right to freedom of association guaranteed by section 40 of the Constitution”, Falana emphasised.
On Sunday, August 16, 2020, presiding Bishop of the Living Faith Church Worldwide, David Oyedepo vehemently rejected the section of the CAMA law pertaining to taking over administration of Churches.
File photo: Founder and Presiding Bishop of Living Faith Church Worldwide (a.k.a, Winners Chapel), David Oyedepo.
Oyedepo, during his sermon and before his hundreds of congregation questioned the rationale behind the inclusion of religious centres and charity organisations into the Company and Allied Matters Acts (CAMA) that states that:
“The commission may by order, suspend the trustees of an association or a religious body and appoint an interim manager or managers to coordinate its affairs where it reasonably believes that there has been any misconduct or mismanagement, or where the affairs of the association are being run fraudulently or where it is necessary or desirable for the purpose of public interest.”
The very vocal cleric stated that the decision, which others described as an attempt to gag the church, was “borne out of jealousy of the church’s growth”.
Oyedepo went on to argue that: “The church works on the pattern delivered by God not the pattern of man. The government has no power to appoint people over churches. This is a secular nation. The church is the greatest asset of God in this country. Please be warned. Judgment is coming. The Lord says I have been still but now I will arise.
“Anybody that is in this deal is taking poison. This will never work. I am waiting for a day when anybody will appoint a trustee over this Church… You can’t gag anybody. We own this country together. It is only in Africa that people who are over 80 years still run around to become president. I know that it is the prosperity of the church that is making them jealous. But I am going to live to see an army of many winners soar greater. In this church shall emerge one of the largest concentrations of giants on earth”, Oyedepo said.
Also interesting in the submissions of people who participated in the discussions facilitated by Friends of TheNews group.
According to thenigerialaw.com, a veteran journalist and former Associate Editor at The Guardian, Lade Bonuola, who was part of the discourse “forwarded a contribution from another platform to enrich the thread”.
The thread reported to have been forwarded by Lade Bonuola below:
“If you guys know the amount of things hidden in that 604 pages of the new Companies Act, you’ll start weeping. The Corporate Affairs Commisson has just been made a monster. You see that NIPOST regulation fixing N20m as licensing fee? That is small stuff compared to what CAC will do.
The sector that will be worst hit are the churches, mosques, charity organisations, schools, NGOs etc. The CAC can now arbitrarily remove and replace the “owners” or leaders of these organisations. Also, CAC can convert/take over the monies in their bank accounts.
Every sector will be hit. In the old Act, small fees were clearly prescribed for certain things.E.g, the Act may say if you fail to do XYZ, you’ll pay N50 for each day of default.The new Act has removed all those meagre fees & gives CAC power to make regulations prescribing fees.
Online vendors who operate under a business name other than their government names, are now risking conviction in court if they don’t register their business names with CAC.
The most damning revelation from my review so far is that, a private organisation has been written into the new Companies Act and has been emboldened through the back door to:
1. generate revenue; and
2. regulate an aspect of law practice, accountancy etc.
The private org is Business Recovery and Insolvency Practitioners of Nigeria (BRIPAN). S. 705(C) of the new CAMA requires that to qualify as insolvency practitioner,you must be a lawyer/accountant AND a member of BRIPAN. On BRIPAN website, membership fee ranges from N90k – N250k.
BRIPAN is not a chartered institute (like ICAN, ICSAN, CIPM) or a statutory body. It is a private association formed by private citizens. Remember how Lagosians fought against Alpha Beta being written into the Lagos Land Use Charge Law (albeit unsuccessfuly)?
In similar fashion, some people have successfully slipped in BRIPAN (a private organisation) into an Act of the National Assembly and the President has signed it into law. How did our law makers not see this while deliberations on the bill were ongoing?
Another curious provision in the new CAMA is S. 851 which empowers CAC to now act as a ‘court’ or tribunal of some sort. So if CAC imposes fees on your small business, before you can go to court to challenge those fees, you must first appear before CAC panel & make your case.
The panel is made up of guess who? Registrar General of CAC, 5 officers of CAC & someone from the Ministry of Trade & Investment, which is the Ministry overseeing the CAC. In effect, the CAC is now a Prosecutor & Judge in its own case. Goodluck if you have a case against CAC.
One of the narratives touted by the govt regarding this new law is that, it’ll aid ease of doing business. While I agree that on face value,some sections of the law will aid this,I am simply drawing our attention to other sections which will become a clog & make things difficult.
Another narrative is that, with this new law, you wont need a lawyer to either incorporate a business or carry out many post incorporation activities as you can do them yourself. Truth is, many lawyers will grapple with this new law. If this is so, what are your chances as a layman?”, the thread, according to thenigerialawyer.com read.
Islamic State West Africa Province (ISWAP) “terrorists” have been reported to have taken hundreds of hostages in Kukawa, town in Nigeria’s troubled North-East.
According to The Gaurdian, sources revealed on Wednesday that Jihadists linked to the Islamic State group overran Kukawa close to Lake Chad region, seizing people who had just returned to their homes after spending nearly two years in displacement camps, said Babakura Kolo, head of a local militia.
“The terrorists attacked the town in 22 trucks around 4:00 pm (1600GMT) yesterday and engaged soldiers guarding the town in a fierce battle,” he said.
On August 2, 2020, residents of Kukawa were escorted by the military as they returned to the town, an exercise that was facilitated by the Borno state government.
They had been living in camps in the regional capital Maiduguri, 180 kilometres (120 miles) away, where they fled following a bloody attack in November 2018.
A local chief who accompanied the residents to the town said the people had returned with the hope of cultivating their farmlands “only to end up in the hands of the insurgents”.
“We don’t know what they would do to them but I hope they don’t harm them,” said the chief, who asked not to be identified for safety reasons.
A security source who confirmed the incident to AFP said fighter jets were deployed from Maiduguri on Wednesday to “tackle the situation”, without giving details.
The decade-long jihadist conflict has forced around two million out of the homes, most of them from the northern part of Borno.
Many have moved into squalid displacement camps in Maiduguri, where they rely on handouts from international charities.
Despite concern by international charity organization on missions in the troubled region of Nigeria, suggesting that the area isn’t yet safe, local authorities have been encouraging the displaced to return to their homes in the last two years.
According to an official statement by the Coordinator of Media operations, Defence Headquarters, Major General John Enenche, Echotitbits reported on Wednesday morning that Nigeria’s Air Task Force (ATF) of the Operation LAFIYA DOLE successfully neutralized some Islamic State of west Africa Province (ISWAP) commanders and knocked out logistics facilities at Bukar Meram on the fringes of the Lake Chad in Borno State.
Nigeria’s Air Task Force (ATF) of the Operation LAFIYA DOLE has successfully neutralized some Islamic State of west Africa Province (ISWAP) commanders and knocked out logistics facilities at Bukar Meram on the fringes of the Lake Chad in Borno State.
The development was made known on Wednesday by Coordinator of Media Operations, Defence Headquarters, Major General John Enenche, in a statement sighted by Echotitbits.
Enenche stated that the air strike which is part of continued efforts conducted under subsidiary Operation HAIL STORM also neutralized several terrorists at Dole, a settlement in the Southern part of Borno State.
“The air interdiction missions were executed on 17 August 2020 on the heels of credible intelligence reports indicating a resurgence of terrorists’ activities in the 2 settlements.
“Bukar Meram, a major ISWAP logistics hub linking other Island settlements of the Lake Chad, which also houses several of their fighters and some of their key leaders, was attacked by an enhanced force package of Nigerian Air Force (NAF) fighter jets and helicopter gunships which hit designated targets in the area leading to the destruction of the logistics facilities and neutralization of several of the terrorists and their leaders” Major General Enenche stated.
He added that prior to carrying out the attack at Dole, Intelligence, Surveillance and Reconnaissance (ISR) missions were conducted, which showed a buildup of activities in the area.
The DHq media coordinator said the buildup was discovered to be a result of the relocation of some terrorists from nearby settlements of Kokiwa and Yale.
“Overhead the area the ISR aircraft spotted no fewer than 20 terrorists in the area, which were taken out by the NAF attack aircraft, Enenche added.
The President Muhammadu Buhari-led Federal Government Monday announced August 29 as the resumption date for international flight operations, months after the aviation space was shut due to global novel Coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic.
The Minister of Aviation, Hadi Sirika, who announced the date on behalf of the Federal Government, explained that international flights would first resume at Murtala Muhammed International Airport in Lagos and Nnamidi Azikiwe International Airport in Abuja.
“Protocols and procedures will be announced in due course.
“We thank you for your patience.”
Meanwhile, the management team of Federal Airport Authority of Nigeria (FAAN) has commenced inspection of facilities at Murtala Muhammed International Airport in Lagos to ensure preparedness ahead of reopening.
Lagos State Governor, Babajide Sanwo-Olu, and National Leader of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu, have expressed sadness over the death of a member of the Governor’s Advisory Council (GAC) of Lagos State APC, Lanre Razaq, who passed away on Saturday morning at the age of 74 after a brief illness.
Sanwo-Olu, who described late Razaq’s death as a rude shock, said the deceased was a great politician, a strong party man and an advocate of masses oriented programmes.
Tinubu also described the passing of prominent politician, businessman and APC chieftain in Lagos State as a big loss to the state.
Razaq, Balogun of Epe, died on Saturday at Reddington Hospital in Lagos after a brief illness.
Sanwo-Olu, in a condolence message by his Chief Press Secretary (CPS), Gboyega Akosile, said the deceased, in his lifetime stood for what is right, always championing policies that would lift the lot of the poor masses.
The governor added that late Razaq, popularly called KLM did not hide his love and support of his administration especially the Babajide Sanwo-Olu’s T.H.E.M.E.S. agenda.
“I am saddened by the death of one of our political leaders in Lagos APC, Chief Lanre Razaq. He was a loyal party man and committed democrat, with a deep understanding of the state’s political landscape. He was an extremely loyal politician, who did his best for our party, the All Progressives Congress.
“Chief Razaq served his people and Lagos State passionately as Chairman of Epe Local Government Area and Commissioner of Public Transportation. He brought a lot of development to Epe as a council boss and also made a lot of positive contributions to turn around public transportation in Lagos during his tenure as member of the State Executive Council.
“Chief Razaq was a great politician, a strong party man and an advocate of masses oriented programmes. His support for our T.H.E.M.E.S. agenda was exemplary. He always propelled us to do more for the people of Lagos State.
“There is no doubting the fact that he would be missed by the entire political class, particularly the people of Epe, the Lagos East Senatorial District and the atate as a whole,” Sanwo-Olu said.
The governor also condoled with the immediate family of the departed, Tinubu, other GAC members, Lagos State APC and the entire people of Epe, praying God to grant the soul of the beloved Razaq eternal rest in Aljannah firdaus.
On his part, Tinubu said Rasaq was a grassroots politician, party loyalist and believer in the progressive cause.
Tinubu, in a condolence message issued by his Media Office and signed by his Media Aide, Tunde Rahman, said: “I’m deeply saddened by the passing of Chief Lanre Rasaq, a grassroots politician, well-known ally and a defender of the progressive cause.
“A member of our Governor’s Advisory Council in Lagos and one of the apex leaders in Lagos East, Chief Rasaq is an important part of our political movement.
“He was a loyal and energetic party man who did a lot for APC, Lagos State and his Epe hometown.
“Since he joined politics to meaningfully contribute his quota to the development of the people and betterment of the society, Chief Rasaq had had his hand on the plough and never to look back.
“He served Epe and Lagos State in various capacities including as Chairman of Epe Local Government Area and later Commissioner for Public Transportation in the state.
“So influential is Rasaq in his hometown that he was gifted the traditional title of Balogun of Epe. His death is a big loss to Lagos and Epe town. Lagos APC and members of the progressive family across the country will deeply miss him.
“I mourn with his wife and children and the entire Rasaq family. May Almighty Allah give them the strength to live after their father and patriarch.
“I commiserate with Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu, the government and people of the state, particularly the entire people of Epe for the loss of an illustrious son.
“May Almighty Allah forgive the late politician of his shortcomings, reward his good deeds and grant him Aljanna Fridaus. Amin.”
We use cookies to ensure that we give you the best experience on our website. If you continue to use this site we will assume that you are happy with it.
