₦airaland Forum

Omar al-Bashir


Ousted Sudanese president Omar al-Bashir has been transferred to a Khartoum prison following his toppling by the army last week, a source from his family told AFP on Wednesday.

“Last night, Bashir was transferred to Kober prison in Khartoum,” the source said without revealing his name for security reasons.


Bashir was ousted by the army last Thursday after four months of protests against his three decades of iron-fisted rule. The country’s new military rulers had said he was being held “in a secure place”.

Witnesses said there was a heavy deployment of soldiers and members of the paramilitary Rapid Support Force outside the prison in north Khartoum.

“There are troops in vehicles mounted with machine-guns near the prison,” a witness told AFP.

Source:https://punchng.com/sudans-bashir-transferred-to-prison/

The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) says it will not engage the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in argument on petitions before the Presidential Election Petitions Tribunal because they are sub-judice. Mr Festus Okoye, National Commissioner and Chairman, Information and Voter Education Committee, INEC, said this in a statement released in Abuja. Okoye was responding to PDP’s allegation that INEC refused to release election materials used for the conduct of the Feb. 23, presidential poll to it as ordered by the presidential election petitions tribunal.

INEC He said the commission was aware that there were petitions pending before the tribunal where the petitioners had filed their cases and the respondents had responded to the petitions. He said that as one of the respondents in the petition filed by the PDP and its presidential candidate, the commission had responded to the said petition. “The commission is aware that very senior lawyers are representing the petitioners and the respondents in relation to the said petitions.

“The commission is a Iaw-abiding institution and will not argue or canvass in the media, petitions that are sub-judice, and where the presidential election petitions tribunal is firmly seized of the issues. “The lawyers representing the petitioners are seized of the state of the law and the course to take if they truly believe that the commission is in disobedience of the orders of the presidential election petitions tribunal. “The commission is a Iaw-abiding institution and will continue to accord the requisite respect to judicial institutions and obey the orders of courts,’’ he stated. PDP’s National Publicity Secretary, Mr Kola Ologbondiyan had on Monday, accused INEC of refusing the party access to election materials used for the Feb. 23, presidential poll as ordered by the Court of Appeal. Ologbondiyan said the continued refusal of INEC to release the electoral materials to the party and its legal team was completely provocative, standing in the way of justice and working against the will of the people. He said that it also showed that the commission was working with the All Progressives Congress (APC) and the Presidency to frustrate the PDP and its candidate. According to him, INEC and the APC were apprehensive that the materials used in the poll would show at the tribunal that the PDP and its Presidential Candidate Atiku Abubakar, clearly won the election.

The party’s national publicity secretary said the materials included forms EC8D and EC40G covering the nation, in addition to the report of the smart card readers. According to Ologbondiyan the party had been reliably informed about how some persons in APC and INEC had boasted that they would never allow the materials and documents to be released to PDP’s legal team. “This is the reason the APC and INEC manufactured a groundless claim that the form EC8D, EC40G and the reports of the card readers were not specifically captured in the order of the court,” he said. According to him, the court was unequivocal in its order that all materials used for the election be made available to the party’s legal team. “For the avoidance of doubt, the Court of Appeal, among other orders, directed INEC to release and allow our legal team to inspect, scan, forensically audit and make copies of forms EC4OA, EC8A, EC8AVP, EC8B, EC8C, EC8E and all other electoral forms.

“These include but not limited to ballot papers and voters registers and materials used for the conduct of the presidential election, held across Nigeria on the 23rd of February, 2019, for the purpose of instituting and maintaining an election petition,” he added. Ologbondiyan said that the alleged refusal of INEC to release the materials was deliberate disobedience to the orders of the court for which the management of INEC should be charged for contempt.

Read more at: https://www.vanguardngr.com/2019/04/we-will-not-engage-pdp-on-petitions-that-are-sub-judice-inec/

Ex-CJN seeks acquittal, dismissal of charges LG’s lawyers clash, as CCT slates Thursday for judgment

Former Chief Justice of Nigeria, CJN, Justice Walter Onnoghen, yesterday, berated the Federal Government for alleging that he confessed to the non-declaration of assets charge that resulted to his removal from office by President Muhammadu Buhari. Suspended Chief Justice of Nigeria, Justice Walter Onnoghen, Onnoghen, who voluntarily resigned his position as the CJN on April 4, maintained that contrary to Federal Government’s allegation, he did not at any time, admit that he committed any crime to warrant his trial before the Code of Conduct Tribunal, CCT, in Abuja. “This case is about alleged non-declaration of assets or failure to make a declaration. Counts two to six of the charge complained of false declarations.

We submit that where a complainant alleged false declaration, it presupposes that there was a declaration”, Onnoghen’s lawyer, Mr. Okon Efut, SAN, said while adopting the defendant’s final address with respect to the charge. He urged the tribunal to dismiss the charge in its entirety, contending that FG failed to prove the elements of the crime beyond reasonable doubt as required by law. On the issue of Exhibit C which was the statement, the former CJN made before the CCB, Efut said it was grossly incorrect for the prosecution to equate forgetfulness with the admittance of crime. “This submission is grossly incorrect in law. When he said he forgot, that did not amount to a confession. He did not confess to the charge. The defendant cannot be convicted for an offence that is unknown to the law, for which there is no prescribed punishment. “The allegation here is that he failed or falsely omitted to declare assets. But our position is that there is no such offence that is known to the law in Nigeria. Until the law is well defined, an accused cannot be punished for an unknown offence.

“There is evidence that the defendant substantially declared all his assets and it is not true that he did not declare his assets since 2005 until 2016. In fact, this argument even defeats their case because they said that he falsely declared. What we are saying is that the prosecution has woefully failed to prove its case,” the defence lawyer insisted. More so, Onnoghen argued that section 15 of the CCB and Tribunal Act, is in conflict with Paragraph 11 of the Fifth Schedule to the 1999 Constitution. He argued that the section upon which FG hinged the charge against him, was unconstitutional and ought to be declared null and void. Consequently, the defendant prayed the tribunal to discharge and acquit him of all the allegations against him. However, Federal Government, through its lawyer, Mr Aliyu Umar, SAN, asked the CCT to convict and impose maximum punishment on the former CJN, contending that it successfully established that he acted in breach of the code of conduct for public officers in the country. In its written address, Federal Government further urged the tribunal to hold that the prosecution proved its case against the defendant, beyond every reasonable doubt. “We urge this tribunal to rely on hard facts before it and convict the defendant accordingly,” Federal Government stated. It further reinforced its position that the ex-CJN admitted that he forgot to declare his ownership of various bank accounts that were operational as at the time he declared his assets in 2016. “Whether or not forgetfulness is an offence, is for your Lordships to determine,” FG added.

Moreover, FG argued that it was not in Onnoghen’s position to determine whether or not the charge against him was proved beyond a reasonable doubt, saying “The defendant cannot place a burden that the Constitution has not placed on the prosecution.” FG’s lawyers’ clash Meanwhile, there was sharp disagreement in FG’s camp immediately the CCT commenced its proceeding, yesterday, as two senior lawyers in the prosecution team, struggled for the microphone to address the panel. Shortly after FG’s lead counsel, Mr Umar, SAN, announced his appearance, a member of his team, Prof. Zainab Duke, attempted to take over the microphone to address the Mr Danladi Umar-led three-man tribunal. With a paper in her hand, Prof. Duke tried to use the microphone but Umar, SAN, quickly grabbed it and shouted on her to sit down. “There cannot be two leading counsel in this matter. Sit down! You cannot speak,” Umar noted. Meantime, Prof. Duke, who struggled to regain her position after she sank to her seat in the middle of a struggle for the microphone with Umar, did not give up, as she kept shouting, “My lord, I need your protection.” Intervening, the CCT Chairman, Mr Umar, urged both parties to calm down, after which he foreclosed Prof. Duke from addressing the tribunal on behalf of the prosecution. “Only one of you can speak for the team. Whatever you have to say to us, I suggest that you inform the lead counsel,” the CCT Chairman stated. CCT fixes Thursday for judgment Meanwhile, the tribunal fixed Thursday to deliver judgment on the charge against Onnoghen.

The tribunal said it would also on that day, deliver a ruling on two applications the erstwhile CJN filed to challenge the competence of the criminal proceeding the government initiated against him. The application was accordingly granted by the tribunal which ordered her exit, even as the former CJN watched the drama from his vantage position in the dock. Nevertheless, speaking to newsmen outside the courtroom, Prof Duke said she only wanted to draw the attention of the tribunal to the similarity between Onnoghen’s trial and a case she said took place in England over 300 years ago. Meanwhile, the tribunal fixed Thursday to deliver judgment on the charge against Onnoghen. The tribunal said it would also on that day, deliver a ruling on two applications the erstwhile CJN filed to challenge the competence of the criminal proceeding the government initiated against him.

FG had in the charge marked CCT/ABJ/01/19, alleged that Onnoghen’s failure to properly declare his assets, was in violation of section 15(2) of Code of Conduct Bureau and Tribunal Act. However, in opposition to his trial, Justice Onnoghen, queried the validity of the charge against him, stressing that FG violated established judicial precedents by not allowing the National Judicial Council, NJC, to firstly investigate the allegation against him, before it rushed the matter to the CCT. He argued that failure to channel the petition against him, as well as the outcome of the investigation that was purportedly conducted on assets declaration forms he submitted to the Code of Conduct Bureau, CCB, to the NJC, rendered the charge invalid. Justice Onnoghen drew the attention of the tribunal to its judgment that quashed a similar charge against another Justice of the Supreme Court, Sylvester Ngwuta, on the ground that the NJC ought to have been allowed to look into the matter before the case was filed. He stressed that the two judgments were yet to be set aside by the Supreme Court.

Aside from challenging powers of the tribunal to try him, Onnoghen, said he was afraid that he would not be accorded fair hearing by the tribunal which he described as an appendage of the Presidency. He insisted that he was entitled to a fair hearing by an independent and impartial tribunal, under section 36(1) of the 1999 Constitution, as amended. The defendant argued that the CCB which recommended his trial, the Attorney General of the Federation who is prosecuting him, and the tribunal itself, are all answerable to the Executive Arm of the government.

He equally asked the CCT chairman to disqualify himself from the matter considering that he equally has a criminal allegation pending against him. The tribunal had in a ruling on March 11, relied on section 396(2) of the Administration of Criminal Justice Act, ACJA, 2015, and Paragraph 5(5) of its Practice Direction, held that it would not consider the merit of Onnoghen’s objection to the charge, till conclusion of the trial. While FG closed its case against the ex-CJN after it produced three witnesses to testify before the tribunal, the Defendant who initially proposed to also call three witnesses to defend the charge, announced his decision to close his defence after his driver testified that he was present when the disputed asset declaration forms were submitted at CCB’s head office in Abuja.

Read more at: https://www.vanguardngr.com/2019/04/assets-declaration-charge-i-didnt-confess-to-any-crime-says-onnoghen-2/

Their Problem and not mine

Key northern leaders on Thursday converged on Zaria, in Kaduna State, and reviewed the security situation in Nigeria, with a damning verdict that the federal government has not done enough to checkmate the spate of killings and destruction of property across the land. Cross section of Party Faithfuls during the meeting of the PDP Northern Elders and Leaders Caucus at the Adamu Maina Waziri Hall, Ajuji Hotel, Apo, Abuja.

The elders also frowned at what they considered as unjustified silence of the administration over rising threats to the north in particular and some parts of Nigeria by bandits, herdsmen, kidnappers, armed robbers and other gangs causing mayhem without any appropriate response from the security agencies. In a communiqué issued at the end of the meeting and signed by the Convener of the NEF, Prof Ango Abdullahi, the elders questioned the undue priority given by the government to politics over human lives, blaming it on what it calls ‘ weak political will and monumental political corruption’. Part of the communiqué said, “Today, the north still lives under horrendous Boko Haram threats, a situation, which has been aggravated by threats of banditry, kidnappings, armed robbery, marauding youth gangs, herders and farmers mini-wars and seemingly overwhelmed or indifferent governments.

“Agriculture, our pride and national economic comparative advantage, the greatest employer of labour and leading contributor to GDP is in ruins as animal husbandry and crop and roots farming are in the throes of war and damage. “Our rural folks live in perpetual fear of attacks from sundry terrorist assassins without any reprieve. Our major highways and transportation systems are being abandoned as they have become death traps. “Should the Nigerian people continue to run and hide from criminals under an administration that has enjoyed and received support especially from Northern Nigerians that it cannot address their existential and developmental challenges? The elders queried.

Read more at: https://www.vanguardngr.com/2019/04/northern-elders-attack-buhari-over-worsening-insecurity-quality-of-lives/

The Revenue Mobilisation Allocation and Fiscal Commission says it is set to probe 22 commercial banks over stamp duty collections.

In a statement issued by the commission’s spokesman, Mr Ibrahim Mohammed, in Abuja on Sunday, RMAFC said that the probe would involve a forensic investigation of the funds that had so far been collected as stamp duty by 22 Deposit Money Banks from 2000 to 2018.



Mohammed said that RMAFC was the only constitutional body vested with the powers to monitor all revenue accruals into the federation account.

Our correspondent had exclusively reported that the RMAFC had recently secured the approval of the National Economic Council to probe accruals to the Federation Account through stamp duty following dissatisfaction with what the banks had been remitted into the Stamp Duty Account warehoused at the Central Bank of Nigeria.

Mohammed said, “The commercial banks have been deducting the sum of N50 on every deposit with a value of N1, 000 and above since January 2000.

“At the moment, the total sum of N33bn had been realised through the collection of stamp duties which falls far below the expectation of stakeholders. It is expected that at the end of the exercise, over N100bn will be recovered.

“The commission has concluded arrangement to engage the services of reputable forensic audit firms to carry out the probe of the banks. The probe will be comprehensive as it will cover the affixed stamp used on cheque books prior to the introduction of electronic transactions.”

RMAFC said that NIPOST, which is the operator of the Stamp Duty Act, if properly repositioned through appropriate legal and regulatory framework and the introduction of appropriate technology, could generate over N500bn per annum.

The commission, therefore, appealed to the National Assembly and the Federal Government to initiate measures for the amendment of the NIPOST Act to enable the postal organisation to expand the economy and attract more revenue to the federation.

In a similar development, RMAFC said that it had also embarked on the reconciliation of signature bonuses and other miscellaneous revenues from the oil and gas industry to enable the commission engage other stakeholders with a view to reducing revenue leakages and enhance remittance into the Federation Account.


The commission solicited the support of stakeholders especially the Department of Petroleum Resources, the Federal Inland Revenue Services and the CBN to enable it succeed in the exercise.

Source:https://punchng.com/rmafc-to-probe-22-banks-over-stamp-duty-collections/

A former Deputy National Publicity Secretary of the All Progressives Congress, Timi Frank, on Sunday challenged President Muhammadu Buhari to account for the $1bn he allegedly withdrew from the Excess Crude Account to fight insecurity.

He said the call became necessary in view of the increasing spate of killings, banditry and kidnapping across the country.



Frank made the call in a statement made available to journalists in Abuja.

He said the looting of public funds that had so far characterised the current administration was responsible for persistent insecurity in the country.

He claimed that the President had failed to protect Nigerians.

He then demanded that the current “tired and incompetent heads of security agencies and service chiefs be sacked.”

“No serious government will keep incompetent service chiefs if the President himself is not personally benefiting from their cluelessness,” he added.

Frank said if Buhari’s government was to be judged by the level of insecurity in the country, failure would be an understatement in describing it.

He said no government had approved such humongous amount of fund to tackle insecurity in the history of Nigeria without noticeable improvement in the security of the country as was presently the case.

Frank said, “We are talking of $1bn (or N360bn) unilaterally withdrawn in a single tranche from the ECA by the current administration without any positive effect on the security of country . Rather, insecurity continues to bedevil the country without let. Haba!



“The only achievement we have seen through the current military administration is propaganda and fake news to defend their looting.

“Dear Gen. Buhari, please tell the world what you did with $1bn (N360 bn) taken from the Excess Crude Account supposedly to fight insecurity!

“The number of lives lost and that of people displaced on a daily basis across the country is your responsibility which you must account for, but it is obvious that you only care about your ambition.

“The increasing level of insecurity in the country has pushed the citizens to the wall and this will no doubt set this country on fire if you don’t do the needful and urgently too.

“Nigerians should bear in mind that the more money the President approves to fight insecurity, the more the country becomes insecure.”

While responding to a statement credited to the President where he said ‘he is one of the unhappiest leaders in the world,’ Frank said that if the President was not happy, he would have sacked “the incompetent and tired service chiefs and his Minister of Defence -who cannot secure even his family in Zamfara, his home state.”

He called on the international community to urgently come to the aid of Nigerians security-wise to prevent the growing humanitarian situation in the country from getting out of hand under Buhari, as “the present administration has lost the capacity and will to protect the people.”

Source: https://punchng.com/insecurity-ex-apc-spokesman-wants-buhari-to-account-for-1bn/

Nigerians go dey vex anytime dem wan pay visa fee