₦airaland Forum

The unjust ruling of Justice Olatoregun Ishola
By Fatoregun Olawale
On January 26, 2017, students of National Open University of Nigeria (NOUN) were waiting for the ruling of the case between rusticated student leaders of the Congress of NOUN Students and management of NOUN which started over a year ago, but what came out from Justice Olatoregun Ishola’s court was an outright rape of justice, never seen or heard before in the history of Nigeria’s Jurisprudence. Olatoregun Ishola not only granted an unknown application by NOUN to “arrest the judgment’’ about to be delivered for the second time, she practically murdered justice, right inside the court of law.
The matter was first reserved for judgment on 18th April, 2016, but judgment wasn’t delivered due to a defective application to arrest judgment made by the counsel to National Open University. The matter went on and on, until the matter was eventually reserved for judgment on January 26, 2017. However, rather than deliver judgment as expected; Justice Olatoregun instead stabbed the students in the heart by helping the unjust benefit from their injustice, through granting their request to arrest judgment without any basis of law.
The ancient philosopher Plato had said “To do injustice is the greatest of all evils’’, but according to Justice Mustapha Dahiru, a former Chief Justice of Nigeria, “Metaphorically, an unjust judge is more harmful to the society than a man who runs amok with a dagger in a crowded street. The latter as you know can be restrained physically, but the former deliberately destroys the moral foundation of the society and causes incalculable distress to individuals, while still answering ‘honorable’”.
To say this in another way, nothing is more unjust, than the injustice perpetrated in the court of law, by a so called judge, under the illusion of doing justice. Justice Ishola is one of those unjust individuals, sitting in Nigerian courts, destroying the moral foundation of our society and still answering ‘honorable’ and if one traces the root cause all evils in our society, there is no doubt whatsoever that injustice in high places will most likely be number one on the list. It is the cause of all problems.
The perpetrators of these injustices hide under the guise of law, power and authority, but more importantly, they are aware that should their act of injustice find no law, no power or authority to cite as justification, they can still rely on their fellow unjust partners in the justice department to use what is now described by Justice Olatoregun Ishola of the Federal High Court, as “personal discretion’’ in a matter already settled by the Supreme Court as non-existent.
We all recall how National Open University of Nigeria (NOUN) illegally expelled two leaders of Congress of NOUN Students (CONS) namely Abdulrazaq Oyebanji Hamzat and Elias Ozikpu for exercising their rights to free association and expression in November 2015. The students and their colleagues at the Congress approached a Federal High Court in Lagos to challenge their illegal expulsion and the matter first came up for hearing on 26th January 2016.
While the students’ counsel has consistently followed the laid down procedures as contained in the provisions of Fundamental Rights (Enforcement Procedure Rules) 2009, the Open University counsel whose name is Nas Ogunsakin appeared to be outright incompetent or deliberately following wrong procedures to frustrate the speedy delivery of justice.
For example, where Fundamental Rights (Enforcement Procedure Rules) 2009 says:
“Where the respondent intends to oppose the application, he shall file his written address within 5 days of the service on him of such application and may accompany it with a counter affidavit”,
NOUN lawyer would deliberately refuse to respond as stipulated. When the counsel eventually files his papers, it would be done in a wrong manner to waste time and delay the course of justice. This unprofessional conduct has led to several adjournments.
In other instances, when NOUN counsel secures adjournment, he would deliberately absent himself from court in the next hearing date, forcing another adjournment to be made by the court. And as this practice continued, the matter was eventually reserved for judgment after all written addresses had been filed in line with of Order XII Rule 3 of the Fundamental Rights (Enforcement Procedure Rules) 2009 which states clearly thus:
“When all the parties’ written addresses have been filed and come up for adoption and either of the parties is absent, the Court shall either on its own motion or upon oral application by the Counsel for the party present, order that the addresses be deemed adopted if the Court is satisfied that all the parties had notice of the date for adoption and a party shall be deemed to have notice of the date for adoption if on the previous date last given, the party or his counsel was present in court.”
It was after the matter had been reserved for judgment that NOUN counsel felt the need to file an application to “arrest judgment’’ under the guise of fair hearing, something unknown to the Nigerian legal system.
However, rather than throw away such baseless application and deliver her judgment, Justice Olatoregun decided to turn her court into a temple of injustice by granting the unknown defective application to arrest judgment under the illusion of fairness.
The real question however is, under what authority did Justice Olatoregun granted such unknown application? The answer is not far-fetched, there was none. This is a perfect example of outright abuse of authority. Appeal and Supreme Courts have consistently ruled that such application has no room in Nigeria legal system. It only exists in Olatoregun’s discretion.
In the case of S.I.E.C. EKITI STATE VS N.C.P. (2008)12 NWLR [PT1102]733, it was held in respect of a similar application as follows:
“The rules of court do not make provisions for an application for an arrest of judgment which is about to be delivered by a court. An application not recognized by the rules of court cannot be described as a proper application. An application to arrest a judgment about to be delivered is a cynical attempt to taunt the trial court. In the instant case, the appellant by its application to arrest the judgment of the learned trial court did its best to treat the proceedings of the court with disdain”
Additionally, In the case of FORGO BATTERY COMPANY LIMITED v. ALAO LAIDE ADEBAYO & ANOR in Ilorin Division of the Appeal Court with suit number: CA/IL/58/2013, the Court of Appeal had this to say about arrest of judgment:
“The procedure for arrest of judgment is exotic to our legal system... The applicant herein cannot and does not have any right to rewind the proceedings to the starting point after the appeal has been heard and judgment reserved. His reason that he wants to inject life into the notice of appeal seems quite funny and a gawky attempt to play hooky. The appellants' dread of the notice of appeal came too late in the day when the appeal has been heard and reserved for judgment. It behooves the parties to await the decision of the court on the merits of their respective arguments. It is implausible for an appeal already heard to recommence all over by extension of time to file the same notice of appeal. The fact that date for delivery of the judgment has not been fixed notwithstanding. The applicant cannot at this stage be heard to complain about any right to fair hearing, which he has already enjoyed. The principle cannot be unduly invoked by the Court in favour of one of the parties to the disadvantage of the other party.”
And finally at the Supreme Court, in the case of Newswatch Communications Ltd vs Alhaji Aliyu Ibrahim Atta on 28th day of April, 2006, SC.101/2001. The apex court held about a similar application as follows:
“...the application to arrest the judgment of the Court is only a gimmick designed to forestall the delivery of the judgment for as long as the defendants wish... the procedure for arrest of judgment is now hardly known in our civil jurisprudential system.”
Therefore, it is very clear that Justice Olatoregun Ishola has perpetrated the most despicable act of injustice, by granting the application to arrest judgment. No wonder most people prefer to take laws into their own hands, rather than approach the court for redress.
Fatoregun Olawale is a civil rights activist based in Ondo

Very bad news Indeed

BREAKING....!

THEFT OF N630 MILLION FROM FCDA BY NASS PRINCIPAL OFFICERS

Citizens Action to Take Back Nigeria (CATBAN) has uncovered a huge financial theft, fraud and corruption on a sum of N630,125,499.90 by the principal officers of the National Assembly in the persons of Sen. Bukola Saraki (Senate President), Sen. Ike Ekweremadu (Deputy Senate President), Hon. Yakubu Dogara (Speaker, House of Representatives) & Hon. Yusuf Larsun (Deputy Speaker, House of Representatives) involving the use of the Federal Capital Development Authority (FCDA) as a front under the guise of renting, renovation & furnishing of fictitious official residences.

The National Assembly as an independent arm of Government has all its statutory earnings and allowances properly fixed and spelt out by the Revenue Mobilization Allocation and Fiscal Commission (RMAFC) Act, 2002. This same law gives the National Assembly the power and control over her own budget and expenditure, including payment of all forms of allowances, and according to the RMAFC the remuneration package for political, public and judicial office holders is calculated in relation to the percentages of their annual basic salaries. For example, each Nigerian Senator receives 150% of his/her annual basic salary as accommodation allowance while each member of our Federal House of Representatives gets same equivalent. This percentage is also applicable for their furniture allowances yearly.

In view of this, the appropriate accommodation allowance for the Senate President is Three Million, Seven hundred and Twenty Thousand Naira Only (N3,720,000.00) and that of his Deputy is Three Million, Four Hundred and Fifty One Thousand, Five Hundred Naira Only (N3,451,500.00). In the case of the Speaker of the House of Representatives, his accommodation allowance is Three Million, Seven Hundred and Five Thousand Naira (N3,705,000.00)while his deputy is entitled to Three Million, Four Hundred and Thirty Five Thousand naira only (N3,435,000.00).

Authoritatively, CATBAN has established that the National Assembly has always enjoyed stable and steady receipt of its allocations and allowances. This means that all members of the National Assembly, including the principal officers of both chambers have been receiving these statutory allocations promptly and as at when due, including that of their accommodation & furnishing.

As an organization that has sworn to fight graft & instill good governance in public service in Nigeria, we were faced with a difficult question after it emerged from our preliminary investigations that these Principal Officers of the National Assembly impressed it on the Federal Capital Development Authority (FCDA) to provide them with accommodation, knowing fully well that the Monetization Policy prohibits the Federal Capital Development Authority (FCDA) or any agency of government from using taxpayers money to meet up to personal demands of public officers outside the provisions of the law.

WHAT CATBAN HAS UNCOVERED AND WISHES TO PRESENT TO THE PUBLIC IS NOT JUST A MERE CASE WHERE THESE PRINCIPAL OFFICERS OF OUR NATIONAL ASSEMBLY FALSELY CLAIMED MONEY FROM FCDA ON THE GUISE OF SEEKING OFFICIAL ACCOMMODATION, BUT RATHER A CLEAR CASE OF ABUSE OF POWER, STEALING, CRIMINAL CONSPIRACY AND DECEPTIVE USE OF SEEKING ACCOMMODATION AS A PLOY TO ENRICH THEMSELVES WITH PUBLIC FUNDS.

We thus hereby present a report on our findings as follows:

Sometime in the month of March 2016, the principal officers of the National Assembly clandestinely approached the management of the Federal Capital Development Authority (FCDA) to provide them with residential accommodation, being a follow up to an orchestrated plan perfected earlier by a loyal agent acting between the National Assembly and FCDA, to steal money through false accommodation request. To buttress the fact that these plans were perfected before the request, the speed & dispatch used in accepting, approving & disbursing hundreds of millions of naira for the so called residential accommodation was within 48hours.
The principal officers of our National Assembly presented companies that acted both as Estate Agents & Property Owners for the exercise, to which the monies for renting, renovation & furnishing were paid to by FCDA. The companies are:
GOGETIT INVESTMENT LTD with account in Zenith Bank,
LEGENDARK CONSULT LTD with account in Guaranty Trust Bank,
PITCH GLOBAL SERVICES with account in Heritage Bank.
Through these companies, the sum of Six Hundred & Thirty Million, One Hundred & Twenty Five Thousand, Four Hundred & Ninety Nine Naira, Ninety Kobo (N630,125,499.90) was fraudulently paid by the FCDA for the purported renting, renovation & furnishing of four (4) properties as official accommodation for the said individuals.
From uncovered evidence, Sen. Bukola Saraki & Hon. Yakubu Dogara presented their personal residential properties to serve as the purportedly rented houses, while Sen. Ike Ekweremadu & Hon. Yusuf Larsun didn’t present any residential property at all but simply collected & pocketed their share of the money.
Each of the above named individuals, with the help of the companies above, made a claim for the rent, renovation and furnishing for the fictitious houses.
SEN. BUKOLA SARAKI presented one of his properties acquired since he was Governor of Kwara State, located at No. 48 Lake Chad Crescent, Maitama District, Abuja and received the following sums:
Rent - N113,095,238.00 + N11,904,761.90 (VAT)
Furnishing – N67,857,142.86 + N7,142,857.14 (VAT)
Total – N199,999,999.90
HON. YAKUBU DOGARA presented one of his properties still under construction, located at No.9 Persian Gulf Close, off Euphrates Street, Wuse 2, Abuja (recently constructed by A. A. Oil) and received the following sums:
Rent - N72,833,333.32 + N7,666,666. 68 (VAT)
Furnishing - N63,146,500.00 + N6,647,000.00 (VAT)
Total - N150,293,500.00
SEN. IKE EKWEREMADU presented no residential property, yet received as follows
Rent - N90,476,190.76 + N9,525,809.24 (VAT)
Furnishing - N45,084,285.72 + N4,745,714.28 (VAT)
Total - N149,832,000.00
HON. YUSUF LARSUN also presented no residential property, yet received as follows:
Rent - N62,428,571.42 + N6,571,428.58 (VAT)
Furnishing - N55, 190,476.18 + N5,809,523.82 (VAT)
Total - N130,000,000.00
GRAND TOTAL OF PUBLIC FUNDS STOLEN - N630,125,499.90
It is important to note that despite the fact that these individuals collected a total of N28,623,000.00 being their legally approved rent & furniture allowances as stipulated by the Revenue Mobilization Allocation and Fiscal Commission (RMAFC) Act & representing 300% of their annual basic salaries, they still went ahead to connive & fraudulently collect a whooping N630,125,499.90 of taxpayers money from FCDA to share, claiming same for rent & furnishing.
These findings and revelations have not only put to question the integrity & moral standing for these individuals to preside over the affairs of our legislature, but has also brought to fore the endemic corruption going on in our National Assembly, supported by individuals voted in by their constituents to represent their interests & make laws, but who have rather ganged up to fight for personal interests even when such includes defrauding the Federal Republic of Nigeria.

BASED ON THE ABOVE, WE DEMAND AN IMMEDIATE REFUND OF OUR TAXPAYERS MONEY STOLEN BY THESE PRINCIPAL OFFICERS, AND SUBSEQUENTLY CALL ON THE NIGERIAN POLICE FORCE AND ALL RELEVANT AGENCIES TO WADE INTO THE SITUATION AND ENSURE THAT JUSTICE IS SERVED. WE ALSO WANT TO REMIND ALL SENATORS & MEMBERS OF THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES THAT THEY ARE DUTY BOUND TO ENSURE APPROPRIATE SANCTIONS AGAINST THEIR COLLEAGUES WHO HAVE SOILED THE IMAGE OF THE NATIONAL ASSEMBLY OF THE FEDERAL REPUBLIC OF NIGERIA, AS THEIR CONSTITUENTS ARE KEENLY WATCHING TO SEE HOW THEY RESPOND.

Let it be known that, should members of the National Assembly remain docile and fail to take appropriate action against these Principal Officers, CATBAN will turn the National Assembly Complex into a Citizens Square, where decisions for severe political sanctions against all elected federal lawmakers currently serving under this dispensation will be made.

#TakeBackNigeria

www.catban.org.ng

Summarize it yourself

Abuse is so silent
Some of you do not want me here
But I am here.
I don’t mean here, like here on the social media
But here, i am here. And I am not going anywhere.
Nothing in this world can stop me from being here.

I didn’t make it this far by being afraid or by being silent.
I didn’t make it this far by being weak or stoppable.
I will always be here, and even after am dead, I will still be here and am going nowhere.
I have left my mark on this society and there is nothing anyone can do to undo that.

Judgment is your language.
Judgment, some of you calls it your opinion.
Some of you believe your opinion deserve to be heard every 5 seconds, of everyday, especially on social media.
You comment on everyone’s comment on what you think,
And the fact that you think what you think is always right,
And you are judging everyone all the time, hoping that no one ever judges you.
This is your language; this is the social media age, the total rhetoric that every day tears people down, all in the name of free speech, your opinion.
Because your opinion matters what, all the time? About everything, to everybody?
And you are creating cracks in people.
You are creating this little tiny sliver of pain that never goes away.
The heart will always remember where it has been broken. And every time you give your opinion, every time you give your judgment, you hurt a soul.
But there is something you should know
Your judgment doesn’t hurt me. It makes me stronger.
Every stone being thrown makes me stronger. I pile them up and I climb up higher.
I love your judgment because then I can show the world, you see, the world can throw stones at you, but you don’t have to die. You can pile them up and climb higher and higher.

You can’t kill me with your stones, not with your judgment, not with your opinion and you can no longer create crakes in me, I am fortified.
But there are people out there who aren’t strong as me. I speak for those people
But guess what? Most of you are those people.
Most of you can’t survive stones thrown.
Most of you can’t pile stones thrown, most of you are hurt.
Somebody told you are too black, you are too ugly, you are too fat, too tall, and you are too skinny, not good enough for something. Somebody created cracks in you.

Judgment is your language, but the judgment of a sinner against other sinners is invalid.
Your judgments are invalid. Your opinion on someone else is invalid because you are not any better.
There are no good sins.
Your sins are not better than my sins, my sins are not better than your sins, no body’s sins are better than the others, we are all sinners.
So, your opinions on other people are invalid, but you give them so freely, you create these cracks and now you have all these wounded people.
You are wounded because, hurt people, hurt people.
Hurt people hurt people.
And then, a hurt person goes out to the world, these are the perfect conditions for predators. An abuser can see a crack a mile away, and he can smell blood from water circle. But you broke them down first, remember. You have all these stuffs to say, but you make this person feel as if they weren’t good enough for you.
Because who are you?
Who are you to satisfy?
Who have you ever satisfied to expect others to satisfy you?
That someone isn’t good enough for you, what they do isn’t good enough for you, what they say isn’t good enough for you.
Because you are better than somebody?
Which one of you is God?
Please stand up.
Nobody is standing, wasn’t stand, and so I am supposing everybody is mortal, okay. That’s good to know. Now, you have sent this hurt person out because hurt people hurt people, and so you hurt someone with your judgment and you send them out the world not feeling good enough.

Lol

CATBAN PRESS RELEASE: CITIZENS ISSUE 7 DAY ULTIMATUM TO GOVERNOR ABIOLA AJIMOBI OF OYO STATE & DEMAND AN UNRESERVED APOLOGY TO STUDENTS OF LAUTECH FOR HIS IRRESPONSIBLE CONDUCT
We at Citizens Action to Take Back Nigeria (CATBAN) have watched in utter disgust & disbelief, a video in which the Governor of Oyo State, Mr. Abiola Ajumobi addressed protesting students of Ladoke Akintola University (LAUTECH) few days ago. The video first uploaded by online news website, SaharaReporters, brought to fore some ugly truths about the concept of leadership in this country, which should worry every patriotic Nigerian.
In the unfortunate video, the following observations were made:
Governor Ajumobi in clear terms wanted everyone to worship him as the ultimate god of Oyo State, with a warning that he could do whatever he wished at any time, even if such actions were against the wishes of his people, and there is nothing anyone can do about it.
Governor Ajumobi was surrounded by heavily armed security personnel who were positioned to shoot without provocation, an obvious sign that the governor’s arrogant inciting remarks were fuelled by his belief that he is well protected by security agents paid with proceeds of tax paid by those who voted him into office, who also look up to him for protection & better welfare.
Governor Ajumobi’s open show of disdain towards the students points to a deliberate desperate attempt to incite/provoke them into action, thus enabling him the opportunity to unleash retaliatory violence against them.
This incident shows the new low leadership has sunk to in Nigeria, and we condemn this act of executive rascality & irresponsibility in the strongest terms.

It should be recalled that LAUTECH has been shut down for over 8 months due to lack of funding to the University, and as a result lives of thousands of students temporarily placed on hold. It was in an effort to demand for the reopening of their institution so their lives could proceed positively in their quest to better themselves that the students protested to the Governor of their host state that faithful day.

However, rather than respond to the angry students in the most dignified manner as the leader and constituted authority through assurances of his government’s determination to resolve all issues & possibly assuage their despondency as a father should, the Oyo State Governor displayed his rascality by saying all sorts of provocative things, including calling on the students to start a riot.
The governor was clearly heard saying, ‘’whatever you want to do, go and do it. If you want to riot, go and riot. Whatever you want to happen let it happen. We will wait for it to happen’’.

Governor Ajumobi, who described himself as boss and the constituted authority showed no remorse about keeping the lives of those students on hold for over 8 months, instead, he was more concerned about being respected by those whose life had been placed on hold due to his administration’s failure. This kind of reasoning which seeks to claim entitlement to respect because of position, without working to earn that respect as a servant to those who sacrificed their all to put you there shall no longer be tolerated from any individual in position of leadership in Nigeria.

When LAUTECH students reminded Governor Ajumobi that their school has been shut down for over 8 months, his response was, ‘’this is not the first time school is being shutdown…8 months, so what?” Is this not the height of irresponsibility coming from a State’s Chief Executive? What message is he sending to the children & youths in Oyo State and indeed Nigeria? A government that shows such disdain towards education is no better than Boko Haram which has similar stance on education.
Additionally, the legendary Chief Obafemi Awolowo , who was a former premier of western region was known to have provided free and accessible quality education in the region and in his grave, Awolowo would turn around in disappointment listening to the Oyo state Governors address.
‘’This is the constituted authority for Oyo state. Even if I don’t pay salaries, I don’t pay this or that, the fact still remains that, I am the constituted authority”. Is this what Nigerians signed up for? Is this the meaning of constituted authority?

We want to call on the entire students of LAUTECH and Nigerians in general to come together and prove to Governor Abiola Ajumobi of Oyo State (and others like him) that they are not the constituted authority. The only authority recognized is the people’s authority through their votes & rights to be served, and nothing can take that authority away. The fact that we elected some individuals to exercise such authority on our behalf for a specified duration doesn’t make them Lords like the governor presumes. The authority we gave our leaders can be withdrawn at any moment, when they refuse to exercise such authority for our good.

Therefore, we are giving Governor Abiola Ajumobi of Oyo State 7 days to withdraw his insulting remarks and apologize to LAUTECH students for treating them with such disdain. We are also demanding that LAUTECH be re-opened in the next 7 days, failure to which we would be forced to #OCCUPY & shut down Oyo State.

We also want to strongly caution the Oyo State Governor from future reckless display of impunity & power towards Nigerian Youths, who are the bedrock of this nation and on whom the future rests on.

Nigerians have chosen to support good governance, but will rise up against impunity to #TakeBackNigeria

Ibrahim Garba Wala
Co - Convener
CATBAN

Lol

Please let's know when you get paid

:D9

Serious

Hum

Has MMM paid anyone since they reopened?

Has MMM paid anyone since they reopened?

I dey wait

Lol

Advice to MMM subscribers I heard that your darling MMM has reopened, but yet to match anyone to receive epp. Based on the information posted on the scheme's website, you won’t be able to request for your money the way you like, because they can only pay out certain amount each day. This means that, people with small money below 50k should be able to get something, but definitely, those with larger funds may not. Anyway, I pray that you all receive your money, but I doubt this would ever happen, certainly not to every member. My advice is this, if you want to catch monkey, you have to behave like monkey. If you have big money in MMM, don't request for all the money once, take it slow. They won't pay you big money, they know you are leaving. So, demand for let's say 30%. You may be lucky to get something. Demand for your money gradually until you are through receiving it. Although, I doubt anyone of you will ever get your money back, but I am hoping you do. MMM is a scam that can never be sustained, it reopened to finally announce it's shutting down. Please note, MMM said it's one member helping the other. Which member will pay another member now? I thought you said the money doesn't go to MMM, how come they say they want to pay you now? Who will they match to give you epp? Definitely not a new member, definitely not people whose money have been down in the scheme. Will MMM cough out his own money to pay members? Let's wait and see. Wish you best of luck

Lol

It's really tiring

Lol

Breaking...!
CATBAN: SENATOR AHMED LAWAN IN ALLEGED CONSTITUENCY PROJECT FRAUD!

Following the recent development in the Senate of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, where Sen. Ahmed Lawan was elevated to the position of Senate Leader by the APC Caucus in the National Assembly, we wish to bring to the knowledge of the general public the privileged information we stumbled upon during our most recent citizens fact finding expedition.
Nigerians can vividly recall that Citizens Actions to Take Back Nigeria (CATBAN) visited Yobe State late in December 2016 on a fact finding expedition with regards to the interim report by the Senate adhoc committee regards the activities of the Presidential Initiative on North East (PINE). During this exercise and while on our way to inspect project sites in some parts of Nguru Water Channels known as ‘Marma Channels’, we came across a giant Sign Post with inscription:
FEDERAL REPUBLIC OF NIGERIA
CLIENT: FEDERAL MINISTRY OF WATER RESOURCES, OLD FED. SECRETARIAT, AREA 1, P.M.B 159, GARKI. ABUJA.
CONSUTANT: ***
PROJECT: CONSTRUCTION OF MARAWAJI FLOW CONTROL STRUCTURES AND YOBE STATES.
CONTRACTOR: DOLIZ BROW NIG. LTD. 41 NELSON MANDELE STREET, ASOKORO, ABUJA.

This sign post was old & rusty, an indication on the number of years it was erected. Our team picked interest on the inscription and decided to stop for enquiries.

Members of that community informed us that the sign post was fixed in the year 2010 by a Contractor known as DOLIZ BROWN in company of Sen. Ahmed Lawan's aides, but that ever since then the project had been abandoned.

Going through past Budgets from 2010 and some official documents in Government archives, we came across information that clearly pointed out that the contract titled, "CONSTRUCTION OF MARAWAJI FLOW CONTROL STRUCTURES" was awarded to DOLBIZ BROWN IN NOVEMBER 2010 FOR AN EXECUTION DURATION OF 36 MONTHS, AND AT A CONTRACT VALUE OF N229,714,513.00.

It was clearly stated in the Budget that the objective of the contract was to "Control and diversion of flood to reclaim lands for agricultural use". We believe that this project is extremely important for the welfare of that region and thus could not have been abandoned. This necessitated our decision to dig deeper to unravel the facts behind the project.

From our preliminary reports, the most disturbing aspect is that the Senator used his influence to ensure that the entire contract sum for the execution of the project was domiciled in the account of Federal Ministry of Water Resources then (a clear offence in itself), which we now believe must have been paid to the contractor. Further findings & submissions have revealed that the contractor only went to the site to erect the sign post, and subsequently made attempt to clear the access road to the project location. For doing just that, he first made a claim of 15% of the contract sum and later connived with the Senator to get paid on the job that was never executed.

In view of the above, CATBAN is hereby making the following demands:

1. Sen. Ahmed Lawan must make public his explanations on why a Constituency Project under the Yobe North Senatorial Zone was abandoned for 7 years,

2. Between the Doliz Brow Nigeria Limited, the Federal Ministry of Water Resources and Senator Ahmed Lawan, Nigerians want to know how the money that was budgeted for that project was collected & shared, and how they came to the conclusion of abandoning the project,

3. Why is it that even after this project was abandoned, the same project had continued to appear as a Constituency Project in our Annual National Budget up until 2016 as “Ongoing”?
All of the above demands are expected to be responded to by Senator Ahmed Lawan within the next 7 days else, we will petition the relevant authorities with demand for his resignation as Senate Leader & subsequent arrest, and also petition INEC while mobilizing his constituency for his recall from the National Assembly.

?

The mixture of success and failure Buhari’s govt has failed, more than it has succeeded. Nigeria's currency have never fallen so low. $1-N500. Moving from N200-$1 in 2015, to what it is now is nothing, but a monumental failure on the part of the current administration. Petrol, diesel and kerosene prices have never gone so high. Petrol price moving from N87 in 2015 to N145 now, with speculation of another increase is unimaginable. Kerosene price moving from about N65 in 2015 to about N300 today is nothing, but shameful. Prices of foods, electronics, transportation, medications have equally never been this expensive. Alot of people are sick, but they can't afford to go to the hospital. They rely on self help, prayers and traditional medicine to take care of themselves. Many have died in their rooms. They say we are in recession. But the daughter of the president had a very expensive and elaborate wedding, in which millions were wasted, while the people being led by the President are hungry. The Senators are still buying expensive cars worth millions. Government officials still collecting kickbacks, contracts still being awarded to cronies and political contractors. Those close to the power that be still smile to the banks,and government say change begin with you. Thousands of companies has closed down, hundreds of thousands of workers now unemployed and foreign companies relocating out of the country. This recession isn't just about what the previous administration did, it is largely based on the incompetences of the current administration. But recession isn't just our problem,apart from the fact that several agencies are secretly employing children of who is who in this country, we hear of numerous murders happening all across the country, with no one being held responsible. From benue to nasarawa, Anambra, KADUNA etc, insecurity is now the order. This is apart from the organized mass murderers hiding under fulani herdsmen, militants, ethnic war lords, religious criminals and many more. Certainly, this is not the Changes we asked for. While I can see some improvements in the fight against Boko Haram, the other insecurity that had cropped up with no meaningful response has made that gain insignificant. No doubt, this government has achieved some feats in some areas such as the encouragement of local rice production and others, which are commendable, but it has failed, more than it has succeeded.

This is Mr Rights

?

p

Lol

10 Nigeria's 2016 hall of shame by Abdulrazaq O Hamzat. This is my list of the most disappointing, most fraudulent, most corrupt, most shameless and most incapable and most insensitive people or organization in Nigeria. This is entirely my own assessment of these people or organizations, you may agree or disagree, but it remain my own assessment. 1. President Muhammadu Buhari : For leading Nigeria to recession due to contradictory policies. For failing to prosecute corrupt people in his own government. For failing to protect local and foreign businesses, leading to mass sack and close down of businesses. For increasing fuel price from N87 to N145. For making dollar rise from N200 per $ to N490. Too many to mention but few. 2. Senator Bukola Saraki : For being arguably the most corrupt individual in Nigeria. For dragging the Senate into disrepute with his personal corruption battle. For attempting to amend CCT act because of his ongoing corruption prosecution. For draining Kwara resources to finance his personal activities. 3. Speaker Yakubu Dogara : For being the arrow head of budget padding. For criminally allocating public resources to himself and sanctioning the whistle blower without giving account of his misdeeds. 4. All state governors owing workers several months salaries, yet financing their own expensive life styles with tax payers money. 5. Mtn/Nyari : Mtn : For bribing President Muhammadu Buhari’s chief of staff to comprise the sanction against the company and Nyari, for accepting the bribe and compromising it. 6. Chief of Army, Buratai : For the army's crime against humanity in Zaria against Shiite and for his Dubai properties without adequate explanation of the source of wealth . 7. Ekiti State governor, Fayose: For constituting nuisance and ridiculing the people of Ekiti on a daily basis. 8. Rivers State Governor, Wike : For the numerous state sponsored political killings in Rivers State. For his role in the just concluded rerun election and evidence of bribery and threat of murder against inec officials. 9. El-Rufai: For his role in the shiite incident and subsequent bias and victimization of the group. For his role in the attack against senator Shehu Sani. 10. All Nigerian public institutions for violating citizens rights. Special recognition :1. APC /PDP : For being two of the most corrupt and shameless political parties in Africa. 2. Police : For the numerous extra judicial killings and wrong arrest and incarceration. You can add yours

"You can kill. We are not saying you can't kill. In fact, you do kill. You have even killed many before. In future you will still kill. One thing is certain however, by Allah, whatever you do will not stop anything. In fact, it will only strengthen us. Thus, leave no stone unturned. We will not dissuade you. If you don’t do it, it will be better for you, but if you do it, you only harm your souls. We can only turn to Allah and pray against you."

Sheikh Ibraheem Zakzakky's words after soldiers killed his children @ GhadeerKhum Occasion 2013.

When you are charged, lawyers will bail you. That's the meaning of charge and bail lawyer.

p