₦airaland Forum

Pervez Musharaff



Who is the President of Afghanistan ?

Nigeria - Abuja

Ulan Bator


Which country would you find the city called Port Elizabeth ?

GNature


Grenada


O

Uruguay



C

McKren,

I have in no way, shape or form quoted Lai Muhammed of the AC.

Ladi Ibrahim  & Patricia Nwaolai (from my previous posts) are both reporters for the Times of Nigeria and Daily Trust respectively. They simply reported on the rulings made by Justice Goodluck of the Abuja High Court and Justice Akande of the Lagos High Court that the administrative panel set up by Obasanjo was flawed and unconstitutional.

Source:

http://www.thetimesofnigeria.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=1872&Itemid=81&PHPSESSID=e1f16924491a5c766bfef4e017

a Lagos High Court had on November 27, 2006 declared reports of the EFCC and the Bayo Ojo Administrative Panel which allegedly indicted Vice
President Atiku Abubakar, Otumba Fasewe, Umar Pariya and 13 others, over the handling of the PTDF funds and the gazette issued on them, as null and void and none existent in law.

Earlier on October 20, 2006 Justice Goodluck of the Abuja High Court had ruled that the Bayo Ojo Panel was not an Administrative Panel as conceived by the Constitution

These rulings were reported all over the media and has absolutely nothing to do with Lai Muhammed of the AC

@McKren

Don't you believe the judge's interpretation of the constitution ?  Two different judges came to the same conclusion.

I told you the panel was illegal.

See the quote below:


Source:  http://www.nigerianmuse.com/articles/?u=The_landmark_judgment_and_Atikus_political_future_by_Ladi_Ibrahim.htm&PHPSESSID=63cd96cc7765cdf1b3faf46a36c4335f

DAILY TRUST

MONDAY, DECEMBER 04, 2006 / Zhul-Qiddah 14, 1427 A. H             

OPINION

The landmark judgment and Atiku's political future
By Ladi Ibrahim

Vice President Atiku Abubakar appeared the major winner in a Lagos State High Court ruling dismissing the report of the Administrative Panel of Enquiry into the Petroleum Technology Development Fund (PTDF), which had also indicted former presidential confidante and friend, Otunba Oyewole Fasawe. If the ruling stands, the vice president could legally contest next year's presidential election which President Olusegun Obasanjo from whom he is estranged had strenuously sought to stop him.

In a case brought by Fasawe against the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) whose report formed the basis of the indictment of the vice president and Fasawe, Justice Inumidun Akande said the work of the panel set up by President Obasanjo and headed by Attorney-General and Minister of Justice, Chief Bayo Ojo, amounted to an infringement on the powers of the judiciary and the principle of separation of powers. It said the panel's report amounted to a gross abuse of executive powers.

The administrative panel report which was immediately gazetted indicted the vice president who suspected that it was a ploy to stop him from contesting the presidential election and then went to court to challenge its validity. The ruling by the Lagos court appeared to have dealt a serious blow to the attempts to stop the vice president from contesting the election. The EFCC also received some hard knocks as the judge ordered that it should stop harassing, arresting or detaining him.

Justice Akande in the ruling dug into the statute books, emphasizing the roles, duties and laws governing EFCC which she said the body had grossly violated. Fasawe's travails began on September 29, 2005 when he was arrested and taken to Abuja. He was incarcerated and detained until December 17, 2005. He was accused of obtaining some banking facilities from Trans-International , Ibadan without sufficient collateral. On June 10, 2006, Fasawe was again arrested by the EFCC and taken to the police headquarters in Abuja where he was detained. He was allowed some fresh air on July 17, 2006, but was again arrested on August 23, 2006 at his residence in Lagos with an order that he should be locked up at SSS office at Shangisha. This time, he was accused of illegally using funds from the Petroleum Technology Development Funds (PTDF). His companies Netlink Digital Television and Mofas Shipping were also indicted. The administrative panel of inquiry on September 5, 2006 indicted Otunba Fasawe and accused him of embezzling and mismanaging PTDF funds, and said he should be prosecuted. The report was subsequently ratified by the Federal Executive Council meeting presided over by President Obasanjo on September 6, 2006.

Protesting his indictment, Fasawe went to the Lagos High Court seeking redress, and urged the court to order the EFCC to stop arresting him and to release his cars and title documents. He also asked for N500 million as exemplary and aggravated damages.

Justice Akande noted that the action of EFCC in arresting and detaining Otunba Fasawe for several days was grossly unconstitutional as the body was only saddled with the responsibility of arresting and not detaining accused persons. "The chairman of the EFCC has no statutory power under the EFCC Act 2004 to submit a report to the president of Nigeria. This makes the act of his a null act. The president has no statutory power under the EFCC Act to receive the report from EFCC".

According to Justice Akande, the EFCC showed that it was dependent and partial by submitting its report to the president, adding that the action of both the president and the EFCC breached the provision of Section 36 of the constitution of Nigeria. The judge also tongue-lashed the president together with his chief law officer, Chief Bayo Ojo and chief security officer, Sunday Ehindero for usurping the role of the judiciary, an action which she emphasized contravenes the principles of separation of powers. According to her, "the president has probative value under the EFCC Act to receive reports from the EFCC. EFCC Act does not include power to prepare reports and submit same to the president. In other words, EFCC only has the power to investigate and charge whosoever to the High Court. So the submission of the report to the president instead of filing a charge at the High Court against the applicant therein amounts to usurpation of power of the judiciary which has power to try and convict any person found to have committed any offence".

Justice Akande pointed out that since it was the duty of the court to guard the constitutional rights of citizens, the court must never uphold legislations which derogate from the constitutional rights of the citizens. Hence, "the court will not allow any departure from the procedure. It is my view that preparation of the report and its submission to the president instead of filing charges for prosecution including its investigation is a complete departure from the prescribed statutory procedure. It therefore makes the report ultra-vires" . Furthermore,

the act of the president in setting up an administrative panel headed by the Attorney-General and the act of Attorney-General submitting the report to the president amounted to the erosion of judicial powers by the executive arm of government, which is grossly unconstitutional.


If they are allowed to get away with it, judicial powers will certainly be eroded. There is no doubt that the reports can best be described as a gross abuse of executive powers under the separation of powers."

@McKren

Please see quote below:

Source:  http://www.thetimesofnigeria.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=1872&Itemid=81&PHPSESSID=e1f16924491a5c766bfef4e017

Iwu Charged To Uphold The Truth Or Resign       
BY Patricia Nwaolai     
DATE : Wednesday, 28 February 2007 
For saying that the Vice President Atiku Abubakar will not be on the ballot because, according to the words of the INEC Chairman, Maurice Iwu, “he is constitutionally barred”, the Atiku Abubakar Campaign Organisation has again expressed doubts about INEC Chairman Maurice Iwu’s capacity to conduct a free and fair elections in April.”


“Professor Iwu should have the courage to uphold the truth and abide by the Constitution and the law. He made his name in the academia and not the INEC.  So if he feels that he cannot resist the  enormous pressures from the  a desperate Presidency to manipulate the forthcoming elections he should resign honourably.  If he does that Nigerians will understand and remember him as one who tried to stand by the truth and deepen our democracy.  But if he succumbs to those pressures from the Presidency then he would have soiled his name forever.  The future of democracy in Nigeria rests on how well the upcoming elections are conducted and the Atiku Campaign strongly believes that Iwu does not have the moral integrity needed for this onerous task”, the campaign said.


"The Atiku Campaign Organisation wishes to restate unequivocally that only a court of law or a political party can disqualify a candidate from running for elective office, based on the provisions of the Constitution and the Electoral Act. We urge all Nigerians to ignore the innuendo and misleading statements emanating from both the Chairman of the EFCC, Nuhu Ribadu and Professor Maurice Iwu, INEC Chairman. Neither the EFCC nor INEC is empowered by their enabling legislations or the Nigerian Constitution to disqualify any candidate."


"The laws of Nigeria provide for an individual acting in his or her official capacity or an institution to disqualify any candidate, so that any citizen who feels his or her right has been infringed can sue for enforcement of his or her right. Logically therefore, the Constitution does not per se bar anyone from contesting because it is not a body corporate, as it cannot be sued."


"The candidacy of Vice President Atiku Abubakar as Presidential candidate of the Action Congress is clear: he has been validly nominated and has fulfilled all the constitutional provisions to contest for the post. However, in its desperate bid to derail his constitutionally guaranteed right to vote and be voted for, the ruling People’s Democratic Party (PDP) and the Presidency have marshaled all the coercive instruments of state and the federal might in an attempt to invent and sustain a charge against his person, through an evil EFCC Report that was hastily adopted by the Federal Executive Council after the Vice President has been asked to step out."


"Within 24 hours the FG constituted and published the Report of an Administrative Panel of Inquiry that handed out ‘indictments’ in a bid to satisfy section 137(i) of the Constitution that provided for the ineligibility of any person to contest for public office, so indicted by a court or a judicial or an administrative panel. The Vice president however not only appeared before the Senate Ad-Hoc Committee to absolve himself of any wrong doing but he also went to court to have the so-called ‘indictment’ annulled."


It will be recalled that a Lagos High Court had on November 27, 2006 declared reports of the EFCC and the Bayo Ojo Administrative Panel which allegedly indicted Vice President Atiku Abubakar, Otumba Fasewe, Umar Pariya and 13 others, over the handling of the PTDF funds and the gazette issued on them, as null and void and none existent in law.

Earlier on October 20, 2006 Justice Goodluck of the Abuja High Court had ruled that the Bayo Ojo Panel was not an Administrative Panel as conceived by the Constitution

in a case filed by Umar Pariya, Personal Assistant to the Vice President, and set aside the original EFCC Report and the Panel Report as null and void. Last month, another Abuja High Court gave an injunction that restrained INEC from screening candidates for the April Elections. It is well known that the so-called Bayo Ojo Panel breached all known procedures for setting up such panels, thereby making it a nullity, as the courts rightly did.


"We remind both the INEC and the EFCC that both the FG and the EFCC recognized the ruling of the Lagos High Court by appealing against it through the Attoney General of the Federation. And unless and until there is a contrary ruling  there is no indictment and, therefore, Atiku’s candidacy remain unassailable. INEC Chairman cannot choose which court ruling to obey and if he cannot resist the pressure from the powers that be, he should resign honourably and put the matter in the public domain.  And he must stop confusing the Nigerian public and soiling his reputation. Nigerians expect their electoral umpire, Professor Iwu, to be able to tell the truth on a matter as simple and clear as the INEC’s powers under the Constitution and the Electoral Law."

As you can see, a judge concluded that the administrative panel was not as conceived by the constitution

@McKren

Sure !  As soon as I can get a hold of a copy of the constitution (do you know of a link ?)


But you should understand that the executive arm cannot indict, that is the function of the judiciary. Infact, i think you know you are wrong on this, but you just don't want to admit it.

INEC has no legal grounds whatsoever to disqualify Atiku. We must learn to obey the rule of law in Nigeria.

dayokanu:
excellent submission when did OBJ become a judge I know he was a soldier but a judge I am not sure can someone update me

Thanks my brother


@McKren

It is a well known fact that Judges appoint Administrative panels. Go and ask any lawyer, they will tell you.

Do you think people in power (in the executive arm) can just put anyone together and proclaim it as an administrative panel ? No ! That is what the Judiciary arm is for. This ensures that people are treated fairly. This ensures that there is no hidden agenda.

The members of the panel - El Rufai & co., did not go to law school. They are not competent to indict anyone.

(i) he has been indicted for embezzlement or fraud by a Judicial Commission of Inquiry or an Administrative Panel of Inquiry or a Tribunal set up under the Tribunals of Inquiry Act, a Tribunals of Inquiry Law or any other law by the Federal or State Government which indictment has been accepted by the Federal or State Government, respectively; or

@McKren

I have just read section 137 and I have included the applicable quote above.

The administrative panel of inquiry must be set up by a Judge, not the abitrary type OBJ set up with his ministers as members. The panel that was set up was illegal and is not applicable as referenced in section 137.

Listen up people,

Nigeria is not a Kangaroo society!

Only a court of law has jurisdiction on whether someone is guilty of a crime. Since no court has found Atiku guilty of misappropriating PTDF funds and a court has ruled that INEC cannot bar Atiku from contesting, INEC has no authority whatsoever to keep Atiku from partaking in next month's election.

This is not a moral or ethical issue, this has to do with the rule of law. INEC's contention that Atiku cannot run because he has a case against him is completely flawed, no case is against Atiku in any court of law in the Federal Republic of Nigeria.

P.S. - I am not a fan of Atiku and I don't believe he is befitting to be president, but I believe we cannot continue to flaunt the rule of law. It works against our nascent democracy.

Iowa City



L

Doris B:
hi pals,for a university 2 b classified BEST it must b one where discipline rules.among the private university, C university in Ogun stateis the BEST,among the federal,its Bayero university Kano,among the state it is Ogun state university.nothing 4 lasu

Bayero is the best federal university in Nigeria Laughable.

UCMJ - Uniform Code of Military Justice. (It was a product of the 1945 Geneva convention as you stated )


East German Spy - Tidge ? The one that was working for West Germany but was an East German spy ?



What is the capital of Finland ?

really close !

my brother, you can google it oo. please do (and ask another question)

Sista:
African people have contributed nothing of a value to this world.

White people have contributed everything of a value to this world.

Good one. That's what a lot of whites think, but you'll never hear them say it out loud


Men with big feet are packing

Alhaji Yayale Ahmed



The UCMJ is a standard used in treating prisoners of war. What does UCMJ stand for ?

Liyel Imoke is correct !


Do you think he can beat Duke's record ?



------------> Don't forget to answer another question.

No he is not. He is not PDP's candidate.

_{correct !}


Who is the PDP gubernatorial candidate for Cross River State ?

_{[willing to give a clue if asked]}


Please ask another question if you answer this one. Thanks 

why the harsh words people  

@Tani Carr

Good Luck.


_{[and sorry for interrupting your thread  ]}

ikamefa:
erhm! why only Dallas?

Because she doesn't like New Yorkers. Especially people that live in Brooklyn.

Tel Aviv, Israel

nice2nite:
usa-texas

eh, texas! capital of USA ? hmmm



Lome - Togo

The relationship's term expired.

I heared Sweden has one of the best healthcare delivery systems in the world and it is completely controlled by the government.

debosky:
the private sector does not provide healthcare for most people in the developed countries, private hospitals are in the minority, even in britain and the US

in Canada, there are only a handful, the system is dominantly run by government and is very efficient.

@debosky,

The US healthcare system is overwhelmingly private. People pay health insurance every month regardless whether they are sick or not.
Have you heared of HMO, PPO etc.  These org's manage the system and it is profit driven. Our system is different from that of  the UK and Canada.

If you get hurt in an accident, you must be attended to by the nearest hospital (THAT IS THE LAW). Then, they send you the bill. YOUR HMO/PPO then takes care of it for you. If you can't afford it,
govt kicks in - you get trapped in their bureaucracy.

But the overwhelming majority of Americans pay healthcare costs through health insurance.

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Now I have to admit that we are not yet ripe for that in Nigeria. Both government & private health facilities should co-exist. We really can't completely eliminate government healthcare, not any time soon anyway. There are too many underlying issues that have to be addressed before we reach that point.

Uruguay



S

McKren:
Suggesting that the government will not provide quality basic amanities like healthcare, education, water, electricity until the condition is now favourable enough for private bussinesses to provide the same services at an affordable price is irresponsible.

Donzman,

Could you please respond directly to this quote. Just so I know exactly where you stand on this issue.

OK davidylan. I see your point.


I think we all agree that the govt has a role to play in taking care of its citizens, but the question is where does it draw the line ?

If the government is to be the sole provider of power, I think we can all agree that it wouldn't provide it efficiently. When profit is not at stake, where is
the incentive to be efficient ? All of the bosses at the power company would be govt employees, so, whether they perform or not, their job security is there.

Plus, you know Nigeria with our ethnic issues. A hausa man will come in as president and appoint most of the directors from the north, even though the south has better qualified candidates.

You just can't compare it to a commercial private enterprise.