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NCC charges telcos on improving quality of service delivery

By
Tobiloba Kolawole
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L-R: Director, Compliance Monitoring and Enforcement, Mr. Ephraim Nwokonneya; Director, Policy Competition and Economic Analysis, Ms Josephine Amuwa; Executive Commissioner, Stakeholder Management, Mr. Adeleke Adewolu; Executive Vice Chairman/CEO, Prof. Umar Garba Danbatta; Director, Consumer Affairs Bureau, Mr. Efosa Idehen; Director, Technical Standards and Network Integrity, Bako Wakil, and Director Public Affairs, Dr. Ikechukwu Adinde, all of Nigerian Communications Commission, during the 1st Virtual Telecom Consumer Parliament (VTCP) organized by the Commission in Abuja on Friday.

Telecom operators in Nigeria have been charged to constantly upgrade and expand their network capacity in order to deliver top-notch Quality of Service (QoS) to their consumers.

The Executive Vice Chairman and Chief executive Officer (EVC/CEO) of Nigerian Communications Commission(NCC), Prof. Umar Garba Danbatta gave the charge at the first edition of the Virtual Telecom Consumer Parliament (V-TCP) hosted by the Commission in Abuja on Friday, 21st August, 2020 with the theme: Impact of Covid-19 on Telecoms Service Delivery.

Danbatta, while harping on the need for improved service delivery. siezed the moment to disclose the regulatory actions that have been taken by the Commission to mitigate the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on quality of service (QoS) delivery by the networks to telecom consumers.

He said according to an International Telecommunications Union (ITU) report, some telecom operators and platforms are reporting demand spike, especially in data usage and volume of calls, as high as 800 per cent since the outbreak of the pandemic.

Regardless of this, Danbatta said the Commission and the mobile network operators needed to play their roles in sustaining quality of service delivery and quality of experience by the consumers, who are critical stakeholders in the telecoms sector.

Disclosing that the commission in conjunction with the supervising Ministry developed e-platforms to handle all requests from the licensees to ensure that regulatory services are provided to sustain service delivery to subscribers, Danbatta also stated that the Commission also approved and encouraged resource sharing among network operators and secured Right of Passage (RoP) for all telecommunications companies and suppliers for easy movement during the lockdown.

In his explanation, he said these measures enabled the operators to service their base stations and ensured seamless services for telecom consumers who increasingly relied on the networks during the pandemic.

Furthermore, the commission’s Executive Vice-Chairman revealed that the NCC is working with the ministry to resolve the problem of high cost of Right of Way (RoW). He added that engagements with the Nigerian Governors Forum (NGF) have yielded support from state governors towards achieving a robust broadband infrastructure across the country.

“The Commission is hopeful that with the reduction in RoW, which will automatically result in reduction in capital expenditure (CAPEX) by the network operators, telecom companies will sooner than later reciprocate the gesture by making their services more affordable to Nigerians,” he said.

Also, listing as part of efforts to afford operators a secured and supportive business environment that will encourage improved quality of service, Danbatta stated that regulatory efforts have also resulted in a Presidential approval directing Security Agencies to protect Information and Communication Technology (ICT) and telecom facilities as critical national assets. This he said has helped to safeguard telecom infrastructure, which played a critical during the outbreak of Covid-19 pandemic.

In his remark earlier, the Executive Commissioner, Stakeholder Management, Barrister Adeleke Adewolu showed the various Quality of Service (QoS) indicators for the second quarter of the year across the networks and how the consumer Quality of Experience compared with the parameters based on the voice of the consumer survey (VoxPop) conducted by the Commission.

Adewolu highlighted further the challenges facing operators, which impact negatively on quality of service to include fibre cuts, vandalism and theft of telecommunications site equipment.

The TCP session, which was moderated by the Director, Consumer Affairs, NCC, Mr. Efosa Idehen addressed issues of network capacity upgrade, change in consumer data consumption behavior, implementation of agreed Consumer Comuplaints and Service Level Agreement (CC/SLA), consumer education as well as general issues around quality of service and quality of experience by the over 192 million telecom consumers in the country.

The Telecom Consumer Parliament (TCP) is NCC’s flagship forum for in-depth engagement with service providers to discuss issues of contemporary interest affecting consumers of telecom services in the country.

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2023: Tambuwal Consults Obasanjo in Abeokuta

By
Tobiloba Kolawole
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Former President Olusegun Obasanjo receives Sokoto State Governor, Aminu Tambuwal at his Presidential Library home in Abeokuta, the Ogun State capital; Saturday, August 22, 2020.

Sokoto State Governor, Aminu Tambuwal, Saturday paid a visit to former president Olusegun Obasanjo at his Presidential Library in Abeokuta for consultations ahead of the 2023 general elections.

The governor was said to have arrived Olusegun Obasanjo Presidential Library at about 2pm and left at about 3.40pm.

Tambuwal’s meeting with Obasanjo has been described as a strategic nationwide political consultation embarked upon by the governor towards his presidential aspirations in 2023.

It has been widely speculated that Tambuwal, who’s also a former Speaker of the House of Representatives, is being favourably considered to be the presidential candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) at the next general elections.

Confirming Tambuwal’s meeting with the former president, the governor’s Special Adviser on Media and Publicity, Muhammad Bello, in a statement, said the duo had a successful parley behind closed-doors.

After more than one and half hour private session with the octogenarian, Tambuwal explained that the purpose of the visit was to recognise Obasanjo as an elder statesman and accord him the deserved respect.

He described Obasanjo as a statesman that would be relevant for consultations on governance and the nation’s challenges, declaring that Nigerians would continue to learn and tap from the former president’s fountain of knowledge.

“You know Baba is our leader, statesman. It is always good for us to come around to see how he is doing, pay homage and consult him on very many issues of governance. That is why we have come today. We brought him the greetings and felicitations of the good people of Sokoto State.

“We shall continue to learn from him, drink from his wealth of experience and fountain of his knowledge and wisdom on issues of governance and challenges of today.

“We pray God Almighty to continue to give him good health as I have met him today, and may he and all of us survive this COVID-19 pandemic,” the governor said.

Tambuwal, who was accompanied during the visit by five of his special advisers, used the opportunity to also explain his administration’s determination towards restoring peace in the state.

According to him, “So far, we have established peace in the eastern part of the state where we had problem of banditry. Peace is returning and people are back to their farms and homes.

“Of course, we are doing our best as a government to ensure that we engender security of lives and properties, and provide developmental opportunities for our people among others.”

Idowu Sowunmi

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PDP asks Gbajabiamila to step aside to aid Corruption Investigation in the House

By
B.O.B Echoload
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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.

Insurance Act amendment in the works, House to partner industry – Gbajabiamila

“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.

PDP: Reviewed Broadcast Code, Another Draconian Measure to Suppress Free Speech in Nigeria

“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.

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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.

Idowu Sowunmi

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WAEC Debunks Allegations of WASSCE Question Paper’s Leakage

By
Tobiloba Kolawole
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0

West Africa Examination Council (WAEC) in Nigeria has explained that there was no leakage of any paper in5 the ongoing West Africa Senior School Certificate Examination (WASSCE) for school candidates.

The council, while reacting to publications in the media, debunked allegations of leakage of question papers in the ongoing WASSCE.

WAEC, in a statement by its Acting Head of Public Affairs, Demianus Ojijeogu, said: “There has been no leakage of any paper, whatsoever.

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“Some have even gone ahead to misquote the Head of the National Office of WAEC Nigeria, Mr. Patrick Areghan, as confirming the same.

“This is far from the truth and we take very strong exception to it.”

The statement clarified that the council’s monitoring and investigations have revealed that some supervisors, invigilators and candidates snapped the question papers, while the examination was in progress and forwarded same to their outside collaborators who in turn, provided solutions to the questions, which they sent to their subscribers via criminally-inclined websites, SMS and Whatsapp.

He added that the act runs against the council’s rule on the use of cellphones in the examination hall.

“Some culprits, who were caught in the act in Bauchi, Nasarawa and Rivers states, have been arrested and will be prosecuted,” he said.

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Mali Crisis: Jonathan, West African Leaders Hold Talks with Military Coup Leaders Today

The council, therefore, warned candidates, invigilators, and supervisors against every act of examination malpractice, urging the supervisors, who are secondary school teachers, to justify the confidence reposed in them by the education ministries in the states that nominated them to supervise the ongoing WASSC examination.

WAEC reassured stakeholders and the general public that the integrity of the ongoing WASSCE for school candidates was still intact.

Idowu Sowunmi

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Sanwo-Olu Promises Better Service Delivery, Inspects Lagos Revenue House & Multi-agency Building

By
Tobiloba Kolawole
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Lagos State Governor, Babajide Sanwo-Olu Promises Better Service Delivery, Inspects Lagos Revenue House & Multi-agency Building.

In line with his administration’s determination to ensure prompt completion of the projects conceived by Lagos State Government, Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu has inspected the progress of work at Lagos Revenue House and Multi-agency Building at Alausa, assuring that the projects would be delivered by December 2020.

Speaking during an unscheduled visit to the two iconic structures, the governor expressed his administration’s determination to reduce the cost of governance and promote inter-communication among agencies through provision of sustainable office infrastructure for its workforce.

Sanwo-Olu explained that the projects were conceived by the state government out of the twin desire to scale down the incidental costs of premises rentals and accommodate most parastatals of the state within the vicinity of Lagos State’s secretariat.

The governor noted the need to accommodate the phased delivery of the projects so as to meet the delivery by December 2020.

READ ALSO:

Mali Crisis: Jonathan, West African Leaders Hold Talks with Military Coup Leaders Today

“I have inspected the progress of work at Lagos Revenue House and Multi-agency Building at Alausa.

“These public buildings will create a better work environment for our workers and enhance workplace productivity when completed.

“We have an end-of-year completion target and this inspection is in line with our commitment to ensure prompt completion of government projects.

“The goal is to accommodate Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs) within the vicinity of the state’s secretariat for better service delivery,” Sanwo-Olu said.

He urged the contractor handing the projects to ensure an early completion of the infrastructure.

The governor was accompanied on the visit by his Deputy, Obafemi Hamzat; Head of Service, Hakeem Muri-Okunola; Special Adviser to the Governor on Works and Infrastructure, Aramide Oduyoye, and Lagos State Commissioner for Budget, Samuel Egube, among other top government officials.

Lagos Revenue House (formerly Elephant House) building consists of four wings of seven floors, including a wing of eight floors, while the Multi-agency Building has a multi-storey structure, consisting of three blocks on a total area of site of 2.01 hectares.

Lagos Revenue House is located at the Central Business District Ikeja. When completed, it’s proposed to accommodate all government agencies involved with revenue generations in the state.

The project comprises four wings – A, B, C and D, with three of the wings consisting of seven floors and D with eight floors. Some of the facilities provided in the building are borehole water, storage tank, water treatment plant, central sewage treatment plants and pumping machines.

Other ancillary facilities include: four gate houses, a generator house, a central open courtyard, four lifts, offices, toilets and other conveniences.

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On the other hand, the Multi-agency Building comprises two blocks (A and C) of five floors and one Block B of eight floors with Pent House on each of the last floors for conference and meeting spaces.

The ground and first floors are designed to accommodate car parks, while the second to seventh floors are designed as office accommodation.

Others features include in the project are: two elevators per block, canteen and kitchens for each block, conveniences, central air conditioning systems and tamp concrete finishes for the carport, among others.

Photos:

Idowu Sowunmi

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Mali Crisis: Jonathan, West African Leaders Hold Talks with Military Coup Leaders Today

By
Tobiloba Kolawole
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0
A file photo of the presidents of Senegal, Ivory Coast, Ghana, Nigeria and Niger, including ex-Nigerian President Goodluck Jonathan in a peace talk meeting with ousted Malian President, Ibrahim Keita and leaders of a protest movement clamouring for the resignation of their President.

Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) Special Envoy to Mali and former Nigerian president, Goodluck Jonathan, would today meet military ‘coup’ leaders in Bamako, capital of Mali, in company of West African leaders, with the aim of finding lasting solution to the crisis in the country.

AFP reports that Jonathan alongside 14 other leaders in the regional bloc would be in Bamako on Saturday for peace talks with the military ‘coup’ leaders, including Assimi Goita who has declared himself head of the new administration in Mali.

Reacting to the request for a meeting with the leaders, an official of the military leaders told AFP that they were ready to receive the West African leaders.

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Buhari Constitutes UNILAG Visitation Panel, Suspends Babalakin, Ogundipe

“We will receive the ECOWAS delegation with pleasure…it is important to talk to our brothers,” he stated.

It would be recalled that Mali’s elected president, Ibrahim Keita, was on Tuesday overthrown by mutinying troops, who took him and Prime Minister Boubou Cisse and other senior officials into custody.

The coup sent shockwaves around West Africa, sparking fears that one of the region’s most volatile states, and a front line in the fight against jihadism, could collapse.

Keita, who later appeared in a state television broadcast on Wednesday, declared the dissolution of the government and National Assembly and said he had no choice but to resign with immediate effect.

He announced his resignation and dissolved parliament, saying his decision to quit became necessary to avoid bloodshed.

The world and regional leaders condemned in strong terms the coup in Mali.

The military ‘coup’ leaders, however, remained adamant, with Goita, a Colonel in the Malian Army, declaring himself head of the “National Committee for the Salvation of the People,” a group created by the rebels.

Goita, a graduate of the US training for international forces, is one of the five soldiers who pronounced the formation of the salvation committee and later announced his new position after a meeting with top civil servants.

Mali’s last coup in 2012 followed almost exact pattern with Captain Amadou Sanogo having attended a six-month training mission with the US before the coup.

But, in a swift reaction, the US said on Friday it had suspended cooperation with Mali’s military in response to the overthrow of the president.

“Let me say categorically there is no further training or support of Malian armed forces full-stop. We have halted everything until such time as we can clarify the situation,” the US Sahel envoy J. Peter Pham told journalists.

The United States regularly provides training to soldiers in Mali, including several of the officers who led the coup. It also offers intelligence support to France’s Barkhane forces, who are there to fight affiliates of al Qaeda and Islamic State.

Meanwhile, BBC has reported that thousands have taken to the streets of Mali’s capital to celebrate the coup against Ibrahim Boubacar Keïta.

READ MORE:

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Thousands gathered in Bamako’s Independence Square to the sound of vuvuzelas, with many declaring victory over the former president.

“I am overjoyed, we won. We came here to thank all the people of Mali because it is the victory of the people,” Mariam Cissé, an opposition supporter, told the AFP news agency.

“IBK has failed,” said retired soldier Ousmane Diallo, using a common reference to the ousted president by his initials. “The people are victorious.”

However, he cautioned, “the military should not be thinking now that they can stay in power.”

Idowu Sowunmi

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Sevilla Beat Inter 3-2, Win Europa Cup for Sixth Time

By
B.O.B Echoload
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0

Sevilla Friday night beat Inter 3-2 to win Europa Cup for the sixth time.

With this, Sevilla would contest UEFA Super Cup against UEFA Champions League winners, Paris or Bayern, in Budapest on September 24.

Sevilla and Inter would both line up in UEFA Champions League group stage draw in Athens on October 10.

The Spanish side has again demonstrated its remarkable love affair with Europa Cup as Diego Carlos’s spectacular overhead kick, deflected in by Romelu Lukaku, sealed their sixth title.

With so much on the line finals can be cagy affairs, but there was a blink-and-you’ll-miss-it energy to the game from the off. A goal inside five minutes helps, of course, as Lukaku’s first menacing run was brought to an abrupt halt and the in-form striker duly dispatched his spot kick.

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Sevilla responded impressively, as they had to a similar setback against Manchester United in the semi-finals. Then as now Luuk de Jong did the damage, justifying his surprise inclusion in the starting XI with two well-taken headers, a diving effort preceding a towering far-post looper.

Back came Inter, Diego Godín showcasing his own aerial prowess, and while the match grew cagy Lukaku had a golden chance to make it 3-2 but, one on one with Yassine Bounou, he came off second best. Instead it was the unlikely figure of Diego Carlos who settled it, his spectacular overhead kick taking a decisive deflection off the unfortunate Lukaku on its way in.

The Dutchman had not scored in 11 before his winner against United in the semi-finals, but that was enough to convince Lopetegui to hand him a start – boy, did the gamble pay off. Not only did he nod in two sublime headers, but his general link-up and hold-up play was top notch. A strong all-round display.

On the eve of the game Inter coach Antonio Conte said he did not want his team to have any regrets after the final whistle.

After his team suffered defeat, Conte said: “I don’t have many regrets now, my players gave really everything they had against a team used to playing these kinds of games. I think their experience in this sense made the difference in the end tonight.”

Sevilla controlled the midfield and Inter struggled to pose much of a threat through Lukaku and Lautaro Martínez.

“This squad are great. They believe in it, what they work on and what they transmit. Even if we hadn’t won I’d still love these guys, but today we take home the prize. We always believed. This team never gives up,” said Sevilla coach, Julen Lopetegui.

Also speaking on the match, Sevilla defender, Diego Carlos, said: “All the players gave their best, it’s marvellous. This title was very important for all of us, I’m so pleased with all that the club has done for me and I’m so happy. I’m going home with a trophy, a goal and a pregnant missus!”

Arsenal beat Chelsea 2-1 to win 14th FA Cup

To Sevilla striker, Luuk de Jong: “The coach told me this morning I was starting; I told him the other day I was always ready, and luckily it worked for me. Headers are my speciality; the first cross from [Jesús] Navas was perfect and luckily I put it inside the near post. The second one was a great ball from [Éver] Banega, and it’s a special goal.”

“The group deserves this. We’ve been fighting all season and getting over the problems that we’ve encountered. This is also for the fans, who deserve to wake up happy every day,” said Sevilla captain, Jesús Navas.

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Buhari Constitutes UNILAG Visitation Panel, Suspends Babalakin, Ogundipe

By
B.O.B Echoload
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1
A collage file photo of University of Lagos (UNILAG) Pro-Chancellor, Dr. Wale Babalakin and the institution's Vice Chancellor, Prof. Oluwatoyin Ogundipe.

President Muhammadu Buhari Friday constituted a Visitation Panel to look into the crisis at University of Lagos, NTA News has reported.

The President, who is the Visitor to the university, among other decisions mandated the panel to submit its report within two weeks.

Sacked UNILAG VC Withdraws Court Case Against Babalakin, Others

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.

Unilag VC’s removal lacks due process – Vice Chancellors tell Babalakin-led council

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.

Idowu Sowunmi

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Sacked UNILAG VC Withdraws Court Case Against Babalakin, Others

By
B.O.B Echoload
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0
File: A collage photo of Pro-Chancellor, University of Lagos (UNILAG), Dr. Wale Babalakin and ousted Vice Chancellor, Prof. Oluwatoyin Ogundipe.

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.

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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.

Babalakin-led Governing Council sacks UNILAG Vice Chancellor, Prof. Ogundipe

“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.

UNILAG VC spent unapproved N120m, his sack legal –  says Babalakin

“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.”

Idowu Sowunmi

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Withdrawal of Invitation to Kaduna Gov: NBA President Writes NGF, Tenders Unreserved Apologies

By
B.O.B Echoload
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0
Outgoing President of the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA), Paul Usoro

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.

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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.

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“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.

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