From the Vangaurd

http://www.vanguardngr.com/articles/2002/cover/march07/02032007/f502032007.html


ABUJA—A mild drama was played out yesterday in Abuja, as members of the Association of Senior Civil Servants, Federal Capital Territory (FCT) prevented the men of the Federal Capital Development Authority (FCDA) from evicting Permanent Secretary, Federal Ministry of Labour and Productivity, Dr. Timiebi Augusta Koripamo-Agary from her official residence.
The action, which follows an Abuja high court order restraining the FCDA from evicting the permanent secretray resulted to a situation where members of ASCN engaged the officials of the task force in a heated argument.

The bone of contention as explained by the leader of the workers and Secretary of the Association, Comrade Ayo Olorunfemi is that the FCDA insisted on evicting the PS. According to him, we cannot watch Agary’s things thrown out while on official assignment in New York representing the Government of Nigeria. Said he : “if the government will not obey court orders then the courts in Nigeria should be closed. “How can someone who is out of this country representing the federal government in an international engagement be treated in this manner?
If the decision of the courts will not be respected then they should close. We will not watch this and we insist these things be moved back into the house. Nobody is bigger than the court of the land. We can count the number of times she has had to sleep in this house because she closes late attending to business concerning this government. Is this how you are rewarded?”

However, after about 5 hours of intense argument between the members of ASCN and the FCDA officials, a compromise was reached, as directives came from the villa stopping the action for the day. Meanwhile, the FCDA men had insisted their operations was an order from above and would stop until they receive the same order telling them to stop. In his reaction to journalists, the Lawyer to Dr. Agary, Mr. Olumide Ayeni of Olumide Ayeni & Co described the action as a slap on the judiciary insisting this was the time to stop further flounting of court order.

Speaking on the  legal action, he has taken, Ayeni said “we went to court and the matter was fixed. On February 19, 2007 an injunction was granted and here is a certified true letter to that effect.
“The injunction restrains the Minister of Federal Capital Territory, Mallam Nasir El-Rufai, FCDA by themselves or through their agents from ejecting Dr. Timiebi Augusta Koripamo-Agary or otherwise interfering with the peaceably possession and quite enjoyment until the Motion on notice is heard.
“That Motion on Notice was fixed for February 27, 2007 but when we went to court they (FCDA) were not there but they filed a preliminary objection saying that the action was Statute Bar. But whether the action is statute barred by reason of it exceeding the time limit or not is not for anybody to decide but the court. So the Court has fixed that for March 15, 2007 allowing the injunction to continue. But the situation we have on hand is that, that order was served the Minister as well as the FCDA on February 20, 2007.
We also served both the Executive of the FCDA and the Minister what is called in the Form 48 consequences of disobeying the court orders, being that you will be committed to jail if you flout that order. So in spite of all of these things that are quite clear, he still came round on February 27, 2007 to issue a letter of ejection to Dr. Agary. It is against this backdrop that we have now brought an application before the court asking that he be committed to jail because it is clearly a rape on the rule of law.

I wonder why he will not respect a court order, there should be no reason why he should not have respected this, he is not the court, a court has raised a competent order saying stop don’t do this, he was served alongside with the notice of the consequences even at the time we went to court, we showed him that indeed there is a matter pending in court. He was aware of all of that.

Here is a letter of February 14, proving that which he received on the same date. So there is no reason why this should occur and I think a time has come when the rule of law must really assert itself right now and then we see how this goes. Because if every time something happens and someone has to test the will of the law then I think something must happen to show that this is not acceptable.
So we have returned to court right now and we expect the Minister to come to court and tell us why he should not go to jail for flouting a competent order of court and this should be pursued to the logical conclusion regardless of whatever interim steps is being taken here today.

How can you obey the court order when the judge is bought and the justice is manipulated?

2007: Atiku's final battle begins

•His N60b wealth exposed • Owns 146 secret homes
•Plot to impeach, arrest him thickens

By EHIS USIAHO and KELECHI DECA

BARELY six weeks to the crucial presidential election to usher in President Olusegun Obasanjo's successor, his deputy, Alhaji Atiku Abubakar, still striving to get the electoral umpire's (Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC) nod to vie for the exalted post, may have received another credibility dent capable of throwing him out of contention. Apparently scared of not just losing the presidential ticket of his party, the Action Congress (AC), Atiku, who is afraid of possible impeachment and subsequent arrest by law enforcement agents, believed to have dossier on his deals, is already worried that his supposed ally in opposition, General Muhammadu Buhari's comment, that he (Atiku) is finished politically, has not helped matters.


He is also worried that his pressure on the international community to intervene in order to save him from INEC's disqualification and embarrassment has not yielded results, yet he is being smeared with more financial scandals. He is now fighting a crucial political battle of his life to remain relevant in the emerging political dispensation.


Already, Atiku's anti tenure elongation lawmakers and supporters in the National Assembly, under the aegies of the Senator Uche Chukwumerije's mandate 007, have commenced intensive lobby of the federal lawmakers to back down on the impending moves to impeach the Vice President.


It was learnt that some influential persons outside the National Assembly have already been enlisted for support in stemming the government desperate bid to muzzle Atiku's political ambition and get him jailed on some trumped up charges of corruption.


A seemingly undaunted Atiku had recently dared security agencies, especially the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), to arrest him on corruption, insisting that he can neither be disqualified by INEC nor impeached by the National Assembly.


However, with INEC's revelation that Atiku's picture and name had been removed from the 2007 polls ballot papers, a subtle way of announcing his disqualification from the presidential race, the Vice-President, who has so far won six legal battles against the federal government's move to checkmate his ambition has decided to fight for justice and relevance in all fronts to remain in contention.


National Daily exclusively reported, in its February 18, 2007 edition, that Atiku may be impeached next month.


True to our report, moves have commenced to impeach the Vice-President since the Appeal court ruling in his favour. To this end, he is mobilizing the northern elites against Obasanjo. His allies in the National Assembly are holding meetings to try to bloc the moves. But reliable sources said that the party caucus in the National Assembly recently met with the leadership of the party and President Olusegun Obasanjo, where the decision to have Atiku impeached was made.


Recent revelations on how he allegedly amassed wealth running into billions of naira since becoming the nation's number two man may have further worsened his case. If information available to National Daily is anything to go by, then Vice-President Atiku Abubakar's perception as a softie, when it comes to corruption, will have a basis. Online news service, saharareporters, claimed to have obtained a document indicating that the vice-president's real financial status, which was modest, prior to his assumption of office, has blossomed to an unimaginable proportion. The report further alleged that the vice-president has exponentially increased in his financial wealth to the extent that he now owns about 146 homes in Yola, Adamawa State, in addition to transactions that run into huge sums. It is believed that the President and his deputy have several dealings they may not open up on, no matter the depth of their disagreement.


After his retirement from the Nigeria Customs service where he had served 20 years, Atiku entered the world of business, with interest in oil services, real estate, agriculture, education, and print media, before he finally arrived at the corridors of power. Then, the vice-president owned one house, each in Kaduna, Yola and Lagos. Eight years on as Nigeria's vice president, Atiku is said to have immeasurably transformed his material status. His high profile $25 million university (ABTI- American University) in Yola, and the $8 million he allegedly paid to the American University in Washington DC for a direct license to use the franchise of the university (known as partnership and management consultancy by AU officials), is a critical reference to the investment profile of a public officer, who reportedly did not seek bank loans to execute these gargantuan projects.


When contacted to comment on the nature of the deal with ABTI- American University, Washington DC-based AU's vice-president for International Affairs, Mr. Robert Pastor, said that the $8 million figure, claimed as the cost of doing business with ABTI-American University, was "inaccurate". He, however, refused to reveal the exact cost of the partnership and management consultancy with Atiku's high-profile institution, which, he bragged, became the best in Africa, after one and half years of operation. He said the exact cost of the partnership was confidential.


In the course of his eight years stewardship, Atiku has managed to corner controlling shares in Bank PHB and Intel, an oil services company, which operates in Angola, Equatorial Guinea, Gabon and Sao Tome and Principe; as well as controlling shares in AP Petroleum, which he was forced to divest recently in a hail of controversy regarding the ethics of his management of the country's privatisation programme. Added to all these is the control of huge assets in real estate in Yola, the largest printing press in Northern Nigeria, and the Faro private water business.
The vulnerability of the vice-president, who, in the last lap of his two-term tenure, has allegedly recorded N60 billion worth of bank transactions, has made it easy for critics to point at elite corruption in order to illustrate the failure of national efforts at constructing a fair, accountable and transparent polity. The vice-president was alleged to have diverted $125 million from the Petroleum Technology Development Fund (PTDF) into his personal businesses.


Chairman of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), Nuhu Ribadu, told the Senate Ad Hoc Committee on the Probe of the PTDF that "Atiku Abukakar is the Vice-President of Nigeria and was the one overseeing the activities of the PTDF. He inaugurated the Interim Management Committee of the fund in 2000. He played prominent roles in the approvals for the release of PTDF funds and their placement in two banks. The VP had an outstanding interest in the placement of the PTDF funds in these two banks. For one, even the $125 million for the implementation of some specific projects was not utilised for that purpose because of their diversion to and placement in the two banks (TIB and ETB).


As these funds were hitting the two preferred banks, "loans" were packaged by TIB, even without adequate collateral, for Atiku's long-time friend and business associate, Otunba Oluwole Johnson Haliru Fasawe, through NDTV and Mofas. In Mofas, one of the directors is Alhaji Adamu Abubakar, Atiku's son. Though the name was not stated as a director of Marine Float, evidence abounds that the account is controlled by him. First, the VP admitted he paid N30 million for the property from that account; secondly, most of the beneficiaries from the account are his friends and associates. Ribadu further stated that: "similarly, as the funds were hitting ETB, Otunba Mike Adenuga made $20 million deposit for Globacom licence, the Second National Carrier. A little scrutiny of the equity ownership structure of the company revealed that Otunba Mike Adenuga lied about the ownership of the company. When the transfer of the $50 million by PTDF from its account in UBA Plc, New York was made in ETB, Mike Adenuga gave the Vice-President the sum of N322 million (i.e. N300 million on 27/11/02 and N22 million on 06/03/03) through his Marine Float account, domiciled in Bank PHB Plc, through his aides, Akinyera and Ajibade. N21 million was paid to the VP through a draft raised in the name of Umar Pariya, his Personal Assistant.”


The Vice-President allegedly held several meetings with the US Congressman, Williams J. Jefferson, both in Nigeria and abroad, in relation to business ventures, which included NDTV and Rosecom.net, an ISP. When the business relationship between NDTV and iGate collapsed, his assistance was sought to extinguish the outstanding approximately $2 million already paid by NDTV. Even though he denied assistance on extinguishing the amount, he accepted conveying a letter from US Congressman, Jefferson, to the then Minister of Communications, Chief Cornelius Adebayo, in relation with iGate and Rosecom.net business venture.


"The vice president's business interest in NDTV was allegedly confirmed when he made an initial deposit of N30 million on January 1, 2003 from his Marine Float account in Bank PHB Plc for the purchase of the N200 million property being used as NDTV Head Office. His interest also influenced the placement of PTDF funds in TIB from where Otunba Fasawe obtained "loan" and completed the payment of N170 million for the property at Wuse. The Vice-President's interest in NDTV is further buttressed by the fact that he even acted as a referee to Fasawe for the sourcing of the licensing of NDTV in the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC). Investigation also revealed that the Vice-President severally met contractors of NDTV at Jada, his hometown, on his interest in the company."


The burden of proof on Atiku today, therefore, rests on how he hopes to construct a coherent argument that his two decades of public service in the customs department is enough to make him the multi-millionaire and one of the nation's richest businessmen; and how he wants to lead a nation struggling to crawl out of the quagmire created by a reputation of grand corruption when he could supervise such brazen deals at PTDF and seek to legitimise it as a normal and appropriate state policy.

@Topic: 2moro

Court orders will be respected more when our courts start appreciating the sanctity of their pronouncements. We can not have a situation where the direction where court judgements go is determined by the highest bidder, then after such dodgy verdicts you come to the media hoping to bully everyone else to accept illegality. That is so impractical!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

MAMAJAMA:

How can you obey the court order when the judge is bought and the justice is manipulated?

You must be a rascal to make such a comment.

So, what you are advocating now is for court orders to be disobeyed just becos you believe, erroneously, that our judges are all corrupt

If you aint got nothing worthwhile to post, then dont post at all!

Arrant nonsense

@Mckren,

U r totally out of it. U are being biased against the Judicial System which has in recent times been faithful in upholding the spirit of True federalism.

4 Gods sake, whats it with u, just be fair.

Damn it Men. If any arm of governement should be commmended for not allowing itself to be intimidated by the other arms, it should the Judiciary. Wait and see what the Judgment of the Supreme Court will be. And there again u will start shouting , they were freaking bribed.


[size=25pt][center]BE FAIR!!![/center][/size]

Well some Judges have been exceptional and have made some sensational pronouncements.

However you need to understand that the Judges who granted Fayose a court order to stop his arrest when it was obvious he embezzled state funds and is the no.1 suspect in high profile killings in his state are part of this Judicial system

The Judge who set up an illegal panel to impeach Obi for not being frivolous with state funds is also part of this Judicial system

The Judge who ruled that EFCC should pay damages to Fasawe for embarrasment in a case that saw Fasawe returning some aspect of the money he embezzled as a result of EFCC investigation is part of this Judicial system

The latest Illegality is a Judge pronouncing that, the VP has no allegiance to his party in a country where we vote for political parties during election, in a country where there is even nothing like independent candidates is the height of it. Such that if the President becomes incapacitated today we will have an AC government without the people's mandate, a situation which will amount to having a party occupying Aso Rock through the back door.

If not accepting such a Justice System is being biased then I have no regret being biased. People can not continue buying dodgy verdicts in the hope to bully every one else through the media to accept it.

I tell you what? You will be dreaming if you think the Supreme Court will make same mistake.

Nice analogy. Some of the cases u mentioned are quite sad and unfortunate. Why havent u touched other important cases like:

Lagos State vs FG: The creation of 57 local Govt by the Lagos state Govt.

Illegal Arrest of Aregbesola and Enforcement of his human right: Aregbesola vs Nigerian Police

The re-instatement of Peter Obi.

The various judicial victories of Lagos State vs FG which the FG has openly ignored.

The various court victories of Atiku, which u want it or not were in line with true democracy.


My Brother McKren, if u have been conversant with the happenings in Nigeria lately, u will agree with me that it has been really really difficult and risky challenging

the FG in particular the presidency.Anyone taking such a risk should be particularly praises 4 helping nuture our Democracy.

I agree, the judicial system might also have had it's own wrongs , nonetheless the monumental judgments they have given on various issues would make me duff my hat for them.

As to the recent appeal court ruling on the VP issue, The Supreme court judgment is nearby.

May God save us till then.

Cheers.

How can you obey the court order when the president himself is unfocused and has absolutely no respect for the constitution of our country?

How can you blame the children for getting drunk when their parents are openly drug addicts?

Could you see the analogy between the two?

As soon as leadership roles in Nigeria is modified, most of our problems will be solved immediately.

Good One.

the most active arm of the govt in this dispensation is the legislative , lets look forward for the judiciary time too. the executive is not able to pocket the legislative, i think that is an achievement