₦airaland Forum

A Lagos-based lawyer, Mr. Femi Falana (SAN), says politically-exposed persons facing corruption charges do not deserve bail.

“Since victims of grand corruption including armed robbery and kidnap suspects are not usually admitted to bail, those who are charged with looting the treasury should no longer be granted bail,” Falana said.

While expressing worry that many of the ongoing high profile corruption cases may not be concluded before 2019 when President Muhammadu Buhari would have finished his term, Falana also made a case for the creation of special courts.

The activist lawyer expressed these views in a paper he delivered on Thursday at the roundtable on anti-corruption war convened by the Department of Jurisprudence and International Law, University of Lagos, where he was the keynote speaker.

The roundtable, which was chaired by the Chairman of the Presidential Advisory Committee against Corruption, Prof. Itse Sagay (SAN), had a former Minister of Education, Dr. Oby Ezekwesili, Dr. Femi Aribisala and Dr. Ayo Obe as discussants.
In his paper titled, “Rule of Law and Treatment of Politically-exposed corruption cases,” delivered on his behalf by Mr. Wahab Shittu, Falana said if the Buhari government did not undertake an urgent reform of the criminal justice system, including creating special courts, its anti-corruption war efforts would amount to nothing.

He also took a swipe at the Nigerian Bar Association and the Body of Senior Advocates of Nigeria, who had called on Buhari to respect the rule of law, saying they were not sincere.

He said, “The Body of Senior Advocates of Nigeria has urged the government to fight corruption under the rule of law. On its own part the NBA has censored the Federal Government for violating the human rights of certain suspects. But neither the BOSAN nor the NBA has deemed it fit to caution the members of the legal profession who are determined to frustrate the prosecution of corruption cases.

“As far as both bodies are concerned, human rights are the exclusive reserve of the bourgeois. Hence, the tenets of the rule of law are only invoked when the trial of VIPs is involved, while human rights are violated in Nigeria when the looters of the treasury are arrested and detained for a few days without trial.”

Falana wondered why BOSAN and NBA did not talk of human rights when “70 soldiers were recently tried in camera, convicted and sentenced to death for demanding weapons to fight the well-armed terrorists,” and why the two bodies were not bothered about the plight of “40,000 out of the 52,000 prison inmates who are awaiting trial under dehumanising conditions.”

In his opening remarks, Sagay lamented that highly-placed Nigerians who were once celebrated are now the same set of people being exposed as “looters, bandits and locusts.”

“I fear that Nigerians may become so sated with this daily diet of financial brigandry that they may no longer feel shocked, disturbed, angered and determined to see justice served on the guilty and their stolen property recovered,” Sagay said.
He linked the daily woes of the country in form of poverty, poor roads, poor power supply, poor health care and so on to corruption.

Ezekwesili, Aribisala and Obe advised the Federal Government to put in place measures that could deter corruption.

Also speaking on Thursday at the special congress and public lecture organised by the Academic Staff Union of Universities, Olabisi Onabanjo University, Ago Iwoye, chapter, Falana said judges who granted frivolous perpetual injunctions in cases of corruption and lawyers who filed for such injunctions were scuttling the anti-corruption war in the country.

Falana, who was the guest lecturer at the event, also attended by the President of ASUU, Isa Fagge, noted that the neo-colonialist nature of capitalism being practised in the country had produced a set of wealthy Nigerians who “are bigger than the nation’s laws.”

He said, “The criminal justice system has been hijacked by the corrupt and looters of the public treasury and their lawyers. It is only in Nigeria that an accused will ask his trial to be suspended.
“Many of the governors who faced corruption charges, their lawyers had asked for their trial to be suspended, and judges granted this. How would a lawyer also plead with a judge that a criminal should not be arrested?
“Someone who stole millions of naira getting perpetual injunction not to be arrested and prosecuted, lawyers must allow cases to go on.”
Falana, who spoke on the topic: ‘The limits of anti-corruption law’ said there was nothing close to equality before the law in the country, as the wealthy and influential Nigerians get lighter punishment while the commoners get stiffer penalties in the criminal system.

He said, “In Edo State, someone was sentenced to three years imprisonment for stealing bush meat, another one who stole handset in Osun State was also sentenced to seven years imprisonment.

“But corrupt public officials prefer to be remanded in Economic and Financial Crimes Commission’s custody or being remanded in Kuje Prisons.
“Let me tell you, EFCC cells have beddings and mosquito nets, and I have been detained in Kuje Prisons twice, it is one of the best prisons in the country. Why didn’t they take them to Kirikiri or Ikoyi or Ijebu Ode Prisons?

“And whoever have been detained in police cells would know that they sleep on bare floor, and a bucket put at a corner to serve as container for their faeces.”

He noted that with the way the cases of corruption were being handled by the EFCC currently, and given the incessant injunctions being granted, the government might not get more than five convictions.

To tame the lawyers involved in this practice, he called for publication of the names of those being tried for corrupt practices and those of their lawyers.

He specifically asked ASUU to also join in the fight against graft.
Fagge, on his own part, said the universities had deviated from their original role of carrying out research and making it available to the society.
He also noted that corruption had continued to thrive because no one had been brought to book

http://www.punchng.com/treasury-looters-dont-deserve-bail-says-falana/

ElrayKhalifah:
Please can someone just tell this wailing zombie that calls himself a governor to come and register on nairaland, meet his wailing mates and wail better cos we got ZAN{Zombies association of nairaland}..... What a governor

He is entitled to speak his mind

Are u not tired of this hero things. Anyways make me self hail the Man. GEJ our hero

Agbaletu:
I bought fuel @160 in Ondo while going to Omifon. How did it jump to N220?
I doubt this news.

The news is genuine, coz in Akure town fuel is sold at #220 in some filling stations but not all

In Sunny Okosun's voice, which way Nigeria

Sorry man

The embattled Secretary of the Peoples Democratic Party in Ekiti State, Dr Tope Aluko, on Thursday clarified that he lost his unit in Iyin Ekiti during the June 21, 2014 governorship poll as part of the strategy for Governor Ayodele Fayose to escape post election crisis.

Aluko hails from Iyin Ekiti, the country home of former Governor, Niyi Adebayo and the candidate of the Labour Party during the governorship poll, Hon. Opeyemi Bamidele .

Fayose, had in a statement by his Special Assistant on Public Communication, Lere Olayinka on Wednesday , taunted the embattled PDP secretary and branded him an insignificant politician in Ekiti, having lost in his unit and ward during the poll, where Fayose won in 158 out
of the 177 wards across the state.

Speaking in Ado Ekiti yesterday in reaction to the comment by Fayose, the estranged PDP Chieftain said they deliberately allowed the then governor, Dr Kayode Fayemi of the All Progressives Congress and Hon Opeyemi Bamidele of the Labour Party to win in their respective wards.

Aluko added that being the leader of Fayose’s political structure that they had earlier agreed that those two wards must be allowed to stay, so that they could have effective grounds to prove their case and have a smooth sail at the election petition tribunal.

“My attention has been drawn to why I lost my ward during the June 21 Governorship poll. But I want it to be on record that losing my ward was part of the post election strategies, which involves issues of judges and judgement, because we were aware that Fayemi will go to court after losing the election.

“Being the leader of the Fayose’s political army, we both agreed that we should allow Fayemi and Bamidele to win in their wards, because you are all aware that these are the only two candidates that could take us up and incidentally I was from the same ward with Bamidele and former Governor Adebayo.

“It was a way of having genuine reasons in court that made me lost my ward. That was why we distributed a sum of N200,000 per polling unit during the election, but we only gave N50,000 to the polling units of our opponents and this forms part of our argument at the ElectionPetition Tribunal”, he explained.

Aluko denied allegation from Fayose that he had been bribed by the APC with millions of naira to bring down his government.

He described as mere smokescreen , the allegation raised by some lawmakers in Ekiti on Wednesday, claiming that there was a new attempt to arrest 11 of them as part of the plot to impeach Fayose.

“I know Fayose’s strategy, he was only seeking attention. If you get to Ado Ekiti now, all the lawmakers are moving around freely. I didn’t know what their intention is by heating up the polity and threatening people around, including me.
“Though, I am not afraid of them, but I am ready for them any time, any day,” he said.


source:dailypost.ng/2016/03/31/2014-poll-i-sacrificed-my-ward-to-fulfill-fayoses-conspiracy-aluko/

Confusion don set in

we all know ft

coolscott:
neolboy
Please change
a)"Don't Be Silence"
to
b)"Don't Be Silent"
The error in the (a) above is really bad. To be frank with you, it actually tingles.

About the issue itself, they are actually criminals and terrorists.
Even if Agatu is not in my state, it feels really painful that the FG has not
publicly said a word (i.e. made a statement) about this.

Thanks for the correction

A Chieftain of the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, Ebonyi State Chapter, Chief Abia Onyike has berated President Muhammadu Buhari for been silent over the continuous killings carried out by Fulani herdsmen across the country.

Onyike who stated this on Wednesday in a statement issued in Abakaliki, the state capital said the President’s silence could be perceived as been selective in dealing with terrorist organisations.

Stating that the persistent killings by Fulani herdsmen has become a threat to national security which requires national emergency, Onyike called on the President to adopt holistic policies in dealing with the menace.

The statement reads, “The APC government must urgently address the persistent killings by Fulani herdsmen being reported in several parts of the country, especially the most recent and widely reported case of the alleged massacre of over 300 persons in Agatu in Benue State.

“The deadly and vicious invasion by the herdsmen may snowball into a monumental human tragedy unless President Muhammadu Buhari decides to address the problem.

“The silence of President Muhammadu Buhari in the face of the security threat by the Fulani herdsmen has become disturbing and dangerous as the menace had spread to several states and geo-political zones in the country.

“Recall that President Muhammadu Buhari has been reacting to terrorist atrocities and killings in other parts of the world. Some of the incidents he condemned included the recent killing of 18 persons in Ivory Coast; the bombing and killings in Turkey and Belgium.

“Recall also that at a recent APC NEC meeting, President Muhammadu Buhari condemned the killing of 4 or 5 persons during the re-run elections in Rivers state. Nigeria cannot afford to relapse into another round of organised militia violence after successfully containing the Boko Haram siege”.

source:dailypost.ng/2016/03/30/pdp-chieftain-lashes-out-at-buhari-over-silence-on-persistent-fulani-killings/

Baba you need to declare state of emergency in this state

Elders drawn from the three major tribes in Benue state have urged President Muhammadu Buhari to declare Fulani herdsmen’s invasion of the state as well as the gruesome massacre of villagers by the armed herders as act of insurgency and label the perpetrators as terrorists to be routed by the military.

They “observed that these invading Fulani Herdsmen have been allowed to bear sophisticated assault weapons unchallenged which is against all our extant laws.

The perpetrators and sponsors of such heinous crimes against humanity must be brought to justice.”

The elders explained that the meeting was necessitated by “the armed invasion and occupation of their land by Fulani herdsmen and the wanton killing of their people, destruction of homes and farmlands, raping of their wives and daughters in 15 Local Government Areas.

According to them, “The delay in setting up the Presidential Investigation Panel promised by the President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria is becoming worrisome.

While carpeting the federal and state government for being unable to address the menace, the forum noted that the Fulani Herdsmen and Farmers conflict in Benue State, which started over two decades ago, has escalated from mere conflict to an invasion and occupation agenda amounting to terrorism.

“The inability of the President, the nation’s Army and Police Chiefs, and the Governor of Benue State to visit the worst affected communities of Agatu and the other aforementioned where recent mass murder attacks were carried out for on the spot assessment of the level of devastation indicates lack of seriousness deserving of the crisis.

This assertion is supported by the careless utterances of Governor Tanko Al-Makura of Nassarawa State that the attacks were mere “skirmishes” that could not be tagged genocide. This is also demonstrated by the Inspector General of Police, Mr. Solomon Arase who, with neither evidence nor a visit to any affected area, claimed that the reported casualty figure of 300 dead people in the Agatu attack was exaggerated.”

The elders urged the FG to tighten security and put in place measures to protect the country’s porous borders to prevent further continuous and uncontrolled entrance of international criminal elements, herdsmen and arms.

They urged the National Assembly to commence a public hearing on the Fulani herdsmen’s threat to national security without delay while the state lawmakers should enact laws to criminalize open grazing as it directly conflicts with the livelihood of Benue people which is crop farming.

“The Benue State Government should as a matter of urgency constitute an inclusive Judicial Panel of Enquiry for a public hearing on the state of security in Benue State.

“The office of the National Security Adviser should as a matter of urgency address the nation on the state of insecurity in the country particularly as it relates to the activities of Fulani Herdsmen.

“We advise that all relevant government agencies saddled with the responsibilities of home land security begin the process of disarming Fulani Herdsmen across the country to avoid a counter arms buildup by helpless communities in self defense.

“All Herdsmen in Benue State should relocate immediately to allow our farmers go to their farms without fear of being attacked as the farming season approaches in order to avoid severe famine next year.

“Our people and land owners particularly traditional rulers and chiefs should hence forth stop leasing our land for grazing purposes whether on a temporary basis or otherwise.

“Government should put in place infrastructure in form of good access roads to facilitate easy access of security operatives to these remote areas which are often subject of attack by these marauders.”

The forum called on the International community to rise to their plight by enforcing their fundamental human rights in the face of the incessant invasion of their land and killing and maiming of their people.


source:dailypost.ng/2016/03/30/declare-fulani-herdsmen-terrorists-now-benue-elders-task-buhari/

Good for him

Real big time hypocrite

Change indeed is here

365 days ago Nigeria recorded history when an incumbent president of the country conceded victory to his challenger in a presidential election.

By Charles Kumolu


THE uniqueness of Nigeria’s 2015 presidential poll in the view of many Nigerians was that it was the first election in the nation’s history in which the incumbent political party lost and accepted. But beyond the outcome of the election was the effort put in by the election management body and other stakeholders in the organisation of the poll and in the management of the outcome.

12 months after the result of the election was announced, the rarity of the occurrence may have begun to settle on Nigerians, but whether the lessons and the process have been ingrained into the body politic remains a matter of dispute. This is especially buttressed by the rancour that trailed many of the elections that have been organised in the recent past.

INEC's role: The Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, led by former unionist, Prof. Attahiru Jega had in the years leading to the 2015 begun the process of reengineering the election process through improving the integrity of the voter register using the card reader and the Permanent Voter Cards, PVCs.

Besides, INEC as led by Jega had also introduced the use of academics as returning officers, a situation that in some cases helped to cushion the fears of many voters who had in the past been used to election officers easily being swayed by the machinations of political thugs and their sponsors.

Besides, the efforts of the INEC, a number of prominent Nigerians led by the erstwhile head of state, Gen. Abdulsalami Abubakar were beneath the scene also involved in building peace between the two major presidential candidates, Dr. Goodluck Jonathan of the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP and Gen. Muhammadu Buhari of the All Progressives Congress, APC.

At a point before the election, the committee brought the two men together where they signed an agreement to allow the will of the people to prevail. The committee many Nigerians noted, above all else helped to ensure that the extremities that hitherto attended reactions to presidential elections did not ensue after the March 28, presidential election.

However, the path and preparations taken by the two major political parties ahead of the election helped to get them the results that they obtained.

PDP: The PDP’s inaugural presidential campaign in Lagos was literally full of sound, furry which shadowed the campaigns in the rest of the country.

Dr. Jonathan bristled with enthusiasm as he condemned without naming his rival as one who would lock up many Nigerians and restrict their democratic liberty. It was an unusual assault by the then president who was actually fighting the battle of his life.

There were instances of other party chieftains bashing Buhari, former President Olusegun Obasanjo and anyone considered opposed to its presidential candidate.

Among the more prominent figures involved were Jonathan’s campaign spokesperson, Chief Femi Fani-Kayode, Ekiti State Governor, Ayo Fayose and the First Lady, Mrs. Patience Jonathan. Mrs. Jonathan went to the extent of profiling parts of the country.

Public disposition

At some points, the unrestrained vulgar affronts nearly passed for campaign policies to the extent that it negatively impacted on the public disposition towards the party and its candidate.

Until the eve of the poll, the general impression was that the PDP’s presidential campaign was obviously awful in manners that defied logic and common sense.

In all, the party’s pre-election showing was in total violation of the critical ingredients of the Abuja Accord which committed the parties to issue-based campaigns at national states and local government levels.

Surprisingly, the veracity of the foregoing was not even lost on the party as it recently owned up to have been responsible for the unimpressive campaign that led to its defeat.

Putting it more succinctly, its National Publicity Secretary, Chief Olisa Metuh said: “The decision of the Presidential Campaign Organization to adopt and execute a hate campaign strategy against the then presidential candidate of the APC, Gen.

Muhammadu Buhari led to the failure of PDP.
"We (NWC members) did not lead the party to failure. We were not involved in the campaigns and our advice was ignored. If we had handled the campaign, Mr. President would have won the election. We cannot be held responsible when our advice was ignored.”

APC: Latching on public impulse regarding the state of the nation, the APC, which came out of a merger of three major political parties marketed itself with the message of change.

Presidential campaign

Indeed, change which simply translates to paradigm shift was considered an apt contrast to the PDP’s call for continuity.

Prior to the commencement of the presidential campaign in Port-Harcourt, the party had unveiled its manifesto in Abuja where it made progressively inclined pledges.

Prominent among the promises were job creation , fight against corruption, improved social and physical infrastructure, improved insecurity, social welfare, creation of state police and transparent governance, accelerated power supply, food security, affordable health care, accelerated economic growth, Integrated transport network and devolution of power among others.

The dexterity with which the party fixated its campaign on change was such that many expected it to take up the challenge of participating in a presidential debate. But that was not to be as the APC deliberately dashed the expectation.

The feasibility of the now contentious social welfare package for vulnerable Nigerians was an area where analysts actually wanted clarity considering the falling oil prices.

In fact, the possibility question gained more visibility with Prof Charles Soludo’s article where he doubted how feasible the programmes.

"The APC manifesto contains some good principles and wish-lists, but as a blue print for Nigeria’s security and prosperity, it is largely hollow. The numbers do not add up. As a first point, Buhari and his team must realize that they do not yet have a coherent, credible agenda that is consistent with the fundamentals of the economy currently," he stated.

Practically, all through the campaigns, the electorate were in the dark regarding how funds for the realisation of the promises would be met.
Things that could have passed for the party’s failings on the campaign trail as represented by the foregoing, never mattered since the PDP seemed obviously averse to presenting an explicit agenda for governance.

Bearing in mind the axiom that issue based campaign presents the perfect antithesis of hate speech, the APC stuck to its style while promoting the change agenda.

Instead of mudslinging and bigotry, the conversation was around various questions of public policy.

Thus, it was not shocking that the electorate succumbed to issue based voting, resulting in phenomenal electoral outcome.



source:

Safe trip to the red chamber

Nice pix

Even fuel scarcity hold Peter

Still observing

THE Peoples Democratic Party said on Sunday that the people of Rivers State were not interested in the imposition of a state of emergency on the state.

The state Publicity Secretary of the PDP, Mr. Samuel Nwanosike, who said this during a telephone interview with our correspondent expressed dissatisfaction over the call by the All Progressives Congress in the state for a state of emergency.

Nwanosike explained that the “pockets of violence” noticed in some parts of the state during the election was not enough for the APC to call for the declaration of a state of emergency in Rivers.
It will be recalled that the state Deputy Chairman of the APC, Prince Peter Odike, had called on President Muhammadu Buhari to impose an emergency rule in the Rivers following the level of violence before and during the state and National Assembly rerun elections.

Odike, who cited an example of the killing of a corps member, Dumebi Okonta, during the exercise, said only an emergency rule in the state would bring peace to Rivers.

But Nwanosike said, “Rivers people are not ready for a state of emergency. An emergency rule is not necessary here and will not work here. President Muhammadu Buhari is an intelligent man, who would not be pushed to take a wrong decision.

“Rivers State is peaceful; it is just that a set of people are trying to cause crisis in order to call for a declaration of a state of emergency in Rivers State. But the security agencies are working round the clock to frustrate all these.

“The thought for an emergency rule in Rivers is not only foolish, it is useless. We have states that are facing more crises in the country and nobody has called for the imposition of emergency rule. Why Rivers?” Nwanosike queried.

Meanwhile, a human rights group, the International Society for Social Justice and Human Rights, has suggested that only massive industrialisation and employment of youths would solve the problem of politically-motivated violence and killings in the state.

The Chancellor of the group, Dr. Jackson Omenazu, expressed worry that it was becoming difficult for the Independent National Electoral Commission to conduct election in the state as a result of violence.

Omenazu, who spoke with our correspondent in a telephone interview, advised the government to create an enabling environment for massive youth employment in the state.


source:www.punchng.com/rivers-people-not-ready-for-emergency-rule-pdp/

The Sokoto State government has instructed all workers to submit their Bank Verification Numbers before they will be paid their April and other salaries.

Malam Imam Imam, Governor Aminu Tambuwal’s spokesman in a statement said this was part of efforts to sanitise the state civil service and permanently tackle the menace of ghost workers.

He noted that submission of the BVN formed part of the ongoing verification of staff and the updating of records of all employees in the state civil service.

Imam said the directive also affected workers at the local government level.

The statement said the state Head of Service had been instructed to ensure prompt compliance to enable government update workers’ records.
It said the ongoing verification exercise at the local government level had led to saving of substantial amount of money, adding that “the effort will continue until the payroll is completely sanitised”.

source:dailypost.ng/2016/03/28/no-bvn-no-more-salaries-sokoto-tells-workers/

WHEN YOU HAVE TO GIVE BAE A HEADS UP

WHEN BAE WANTS TO SHOW HIS JAMES BOND SKILLS

WHEN BAE IS A DIE HARD MANCHESTER UNITED FAN

WHEN YOU ARE THE CHAIRMAN OF AGEGE & CO BAKERY

WHEN YOU ARE DESPERATE TO LEAVE NIGERIA

WHEN ASABA WEED WAS USED IN THE JOLLOF RICE INSTEAD OF THYME

YOU MAY SWALLOW THE BRIDE

WHEN BAE IS A BRANCH MANAGER

Few moments are always more special than the other, and one of those moments is someone’s wedding.

People spend so much money on photographers so that they can get that beautiful moment of love captured perfectly.

But, some people actually went a tad bit far in order to make their wedding photo special. Here are 10 wedding pictures that went terribly wrong.

Here are collections of funny and beautiful wedding pictures that will crack you up and make your day.

These photos are real photos that were taken at wedding events and somehow found its way to the internet. Enjoy!



WHEN THE BEST MAN SPONSORED THE WEDDING