The Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS) has issued a clarification as regards the requirement for completion of a self-certification form, noting that same is meant for “reportable persons”.
This is contained in a tweet from its verified twitter handle which was sighted by TheNigeriaLawyer (TNL).
“This is to clarify the publication for financial institutions account holders in Nigeria to complete the self-certification form, pursuant to the Income Tax (Common Reporting Standard) Regulations 2019 which is for the fulfillment of Automatic Exchange of Information Requirements.
“The Self Certification form is basically to be administered on Reportable persons holding accounts in Financial institutions that are regarded as “Reportable Financial Institutions” under the CRS.”
Meanwhile, it was stated that reportable persons & other persons are often subject to tax for being resident in more than one jurisdiction.
“Reportable persons are often non-residents and other persons who have residence for tax purposes in more than one jurisdiction or country.”
Therefore, their accounts are expected to be subjected to the self-certification scheme by the financial institutions.
This is to clarify the publication for financial institutions account holders in Nigeria to complete the self certification form, pursuant to the Income Tax (Common Reporting Standard) Regulations 2019 which is for the fulfilment of Automatic Exchange of Information Requirements. https://t.co/2H6Hedbnv3
“Financial Institutions are expected to administer the Self Certification form on such account holders when the information at its disposal indicates that the account holder is a person resident for tax purpose in more than one jurisdiction.
“The information that indicates an account holder is a resident for tax purposes in more than one jurisdiction,is expected to be available to Financial Institutions during account opening processes for the KYC and AML purpose.”
FC Barcelona and Argentina captain Lionel Messi has won a legal battle over trademark rights relating to his own logo.
This was after the European Union’s top court on Thursday dismissed an appeal against the player from a Spanish cycling clothing brand.
The EU’s Court of Justice in Luxembourg said in a statement it had authorised the player to register the trademark Messi.
It dismissed an appeal from the EU’s intellectual property office EUIPO and the Spanish company Massi.
Messi first filed an application with the property office in 2011 to trademark his surname as a sportswear, footwear and equipment brand.
This was in spite of opposition from the owners of Massi, who argued that the player’s brand would cause confusion to customers.
The EU property office upheld their complaint in 2013.
While an appeal from Messi the following year was dismissed, an appeal to the EU’s General Court in 2018 led to the original ruling being annulled.
The statement added that the Court of Justice had dismissed an appeal by the clothing brand and EUIPO against the annulment.
It said the General Court was correct to say Messi’s reputation was a relevant factor in establishing a difference between the player’s brand and the cycling company.
The 33-year-old Messi has been named the world footballer of the year a record six times and is the all-time top scorer for FC Barcelona, Argentina and in Spanish football.
He was named the world’s wealthiest football player by Forbes earlier this month, pocketing an estimated 92 million dollars from his salary from Barca plus 34 million dollars in endorsements.
The Argentinian made global headlines last month for declaring his intention to leave FC Barcelona, where he has spent his entire career.
He eventually decided to stay because he did not wish to face a legal battle with the club.
Apple has been sued by Katrina Parrott (under Cub Club Investment, LLC), a Black businesswoman, for copyright infringement of her “iDiversicons” and more specifically her copyrighted system for letting users choose from five skin tones of color that debuted on Apple’s App Store in 2013 and on iTunes in 2014.
Parrott claims Apple stiff-armed her pursuit of a partnership deal after a series of 2014 meetings and communications between herself and two senior Apple software engineers, who got a close look at her technology. Apple released its own five-skin tone keyboard modifier pallet in April 2015, and downloads of Parrott’s iDiversicons dropped.
1 Extra Katrina Parrott
In a lawsuit filed on Friday in federal court in Waco, Texas, Parrott accuses Apple of infringing her copyright and trade dress, misappropriating her ideas and technology, unfair competition and unjust enrichment. She seeks a court order blocking Apple from using her work and unspecified money damages based on Apple’s profits and her own lost business opportunities from the alleged copying.
The complaint brought on Parrott at one-point states “…this is contrary to Apple’s own mission to remedy gaps in diversity and inclusion, especially when Apple’s own representatives have recognized Mrs. Parrott’s contributions to bring diversity and inclusion to digital communication.”
Below is graphic from a Document from Parrott titled “Applying Color Theory to the World of Emoji.”
2 color theory
Below are a series of comparison emoji examples between Parrott’s iDiversicons vs. Apple’s icons from iOS 13.3.
Apple has been sued by Katrina Parrott (under Cub Club Investment, LLC), a Black businesswoman, for copyright infringement of her “iDiversicons” and more specifically her copyrighted system for letting users choose from five skin tones of color that debuted on Apple’s App Store in 2013 and on iTunes in 2014.
Parrott claims Apple stiff-armed her pursuit of a partnership deal after a series of 2014 meetings and communications between herself and two senior Apple software engineers, who got a close look at her technology. Apple released its own five-skin tone keyboard modifier pallet in April 2015, and downloads of Parrott’s iDiversicons dropped.
In a lawsuit filed on Friday in federal court in Waco, Texas, Parrott accuses Apple of infringing her copyright and trade dress, misappropriating her ideas and technology, unfair competition and unjust enrichment. She seeks a court order blocking Apple from using her work and unspecified money damages based on Apple’s profits and her own lost business opportunities from the alleged copying.
The complaint brought on Parrott at one-point states “…this is contrary to Apple’s own mission to remedy gaps in diversity and inclusion, especially when Apple’s own representatives have recognized Mrs. Parrott’s contributions to bring diversity and inclusion to digital communication.”
Below is graphic from a Document from Parrott titled “Applying Color Theory to the World of Emoji.”
Below are a series of comparison emoji examples between Parrott’s iDiversicons vs. Apple’s icons from iOS 13.3.
Since 2014, Mrs. Parrott has been internationally recognized as the creator of five skin tone emoji, and she continues to be recognized as the pioneer in digital communication by progressing diversity and inclusion through iDiversicons®. Co-founder and president of Unicode Dr. Mark Davis praised Mrs. Parrott’s innovative work, saying, “Without you, we certainly wouldn’t have come up with as good a solution!” American University recognized Mrs. Parrott as a pioneer in diversity and inclusion, and the 2019 film “Picture Character: An Emoji Documentary” featured iDiversicons® emoji.
Additionally, numerous articles celebrate her achievements, including: PCWorld, CNN, TexasMonthly, Black Enterprise, Women Leadership Magazine USA, SEVENTEEN, The Daily Dot, Houston Chronicle, Puget Sound Business Journal, Galveston Daily News, and Racing Toward Diversity. In 2015, the United Athletes Foundation asked Mrs. Parrott to create a Ray Lewis emoji. This year, the Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture is considering iDiversicons® emoji as a potential feature exhibit.
Meetings with Apple
Starting at a UTC meeting in May of 2014, Mrs. Parrott began discussing a potential partnership between CCI and Apple concerning her copyrighted diverse emoji with Apple’s senior software engineer and senior director.
At Unicode Technical Committee (UTC) Meeting #141 on October 28, 2014, hosted by Apple in Sunnyvale, CA, Mrs. Parrott presented her solution of using a color modifier pallet to implement the five skin tone options on digital keyboards, a solution recognized and utilized globally.
On March 27, 2014, Mrs. Parrott sent a first letter by mail and email to Tim Cook, CEO of Apple, requesting a meeting with Apple to discuss a potential partnership between CCI and Apple.
On April 9, 2014, Mrs. Parrot sent a second letter by mail and email to Mr. Cook with additional information about iDiversicons® emoji along with images of at least 594 iDiversicons® emoji.
On May 2, 2014, Mrs. Parrott sent an email to Mr. Cook requesting an in-person meeting.
During UTC Meeting 139, Mrs. Parrott met Mr. Edberg, and Mr. Edberg reviewed iDiversicons® emoji and the iDiversicons® website.
On or around May 7, 2014, Mr. Edberg helped coordinate a meeting between Mrs. Parrott and Celia Vigil, Apple’s Senior Director for Frameworks and Fonts at the time.
Mr. Edberg helped coordinate the meeting between Mrs. Parrott and Mrs. Vigil to explore partnership opportunities between Apple and CCI.
On or around May 7, 2014, Mrs. Parrott provided Mr. Edberg a thumb drive with over 100 iDiversicons® emoji, which Mr. Edberg uploaded to his laptop computer.
On or around May 7, 2014, Mr. Edberg shared the uploaded emoji from Mrs. Parrott’s thumb drive with Ms. Vigil during a staff meeting.
On or around May 7, 2014, Mr. Edberg requested that Mrs. Parrott create (1) a series of five skin tone female emoji to compliment the iDiversicons® male police officer and construction worker emoji; and (2) a unicorn emoji based on requests from Apple product users.
On May 8, 2014, Mrs. Parrott provided eleven new emoji to Mr. Edberg at the Unicode meeting based on Mr. Edberg’s request on May 7, 2014.
On May 8, 2014, Mrs. Parrott met with Ms. Vigil.
On May 9, 2014, Mrs. Parrott sent Ms. Vigil an email with PDF versions of the emoji that Mr. Edberg uploaded from Mrs. Parrott’s thumb drive. Case 6:20-cv-00856 Document 1 Filed 09/18/20 Page 9 of 28
On May 9, 2014, Ms. Vigil replied to Mrs. Parrott stating, “Thank you for taking the time to meet with me. I pointed my colleagues at your [iDiversicons®] application. I can also show them the images you shared with Peter.”
On May 9, 2014, Mr. Edberg sent Mrs. Parrott an email stating, “I hope we can work out something between iDiversicons and Apple.”
On May 23, 2014, Mr. Edberg sent Mrs. Parrott information regarding the Unicode Standard.
On June 9, 2014, Mrs. Parrott sent Mr. Edberg a draft research paper titled “Mobile Diversity Research” (hereinafter, “Research Paper”) for his review.
On June 12, 2014, Mr. Edberg responded to Mrs. Parrott’s email with recommended edits and comments after reviewing the Research Paper.
On September 26, 2014, Mr. Edberg emailed Mrs. Parrott about his successful testing of iDiversicons® emoji on the Apple OSX operating system and implementation instructions.
On September 29, 2014, Mrs. Parrott emailed Mr. Edberg question technical questions regarding implementation, and Mr. Edberg responded.
On October 23, 2014, Mrs. Parrott was disappointed to learn from Mr. Edberg that Ms. Vigil did not see an opportunity to partner with CCI and that Apple was proceeding use its own human interface designers to develop diverse emoji based on iDiversicons® emoji.
On October 28, 2014, Mrs. Parrott presented to the UTC her solution of using a color modifier pallet to implement the five skin tone options for diverse emoji.
On January 8, 2015, Mrs. Parrott sent a third letter by mail and email to Mr. Cook requesting that Apple reconsider a partnership with CCI.
On March 5, 2015, the iDiversicons® emoji app was a “featured” app on the Apple App Store.
On April 9, 2015, Apple released its first diverse emoji (“Accused Products”) using the five-skin tone keyboard modifier pallet.
On July 13, 2015, Mrs. Parrott sent a fourth letter by mail and email to Mr. Cook requesting Apple to recognize CCI, iDiversicons® emoji, and her development of diverse emoji.
Upon the release of Apple’s diverse emoji, CCI experienced a decrease in sales for iDiversicons® emoji.
To date, Apple has released at least four versions of its emoji with five skin tone options.
Mrs. Parrott and iDiversicons® emoji have been instrumental in shaping and evolving the worldwide emoji landscape, including Apple’s release of diverse emoji.
Apple’s emoji are the same or at least substantially similar to the copyrighted iDiversicons® emoji that Mrs. Parrott shared with members of Apple’s team.
The Harm to CCI
CCI receives revenues from its sales of iDiversicons® emoji on Apple’s App Store and iTunes.
Apple’s willful infringement takes away those revenues as Apple device users can access iDiversicons®-like emoji on the default Apple keyboard. Thus, CCI (1) profits commercially without paying the price for the use of CCI’s intellectual property; and (2) reduces and causes substantial harm to the value of the Works. As a result, CCI has been damaged by Apple’s conduct in an amount to be determined according to proof at trial.
Apple’s infringement has been willful since at least its first release of diverse emoji in 2015.
Unless enjoined by this Court, Apple intends to continue to infringe upon CCI’s copyrights and otherwise profit from CCI’s Works. Accordingly, CCI has suffered irreparable harm and will continue to suffer irreparable harm unless Apple is enjoined. CCI has no adequate remedy at law to redress all of the injuries that Apple has caused and intends to cause by its conduct. CCI will continue to suffer irreparable damage until Apple’s actions alleged above are enjoined by this Court.
Apple’s actions also significantly harm innovation and America’s progress in diversity and inclusion. If Apple’s copying allows it to misappropriate CCI’s substantial investment in research, design, and development, other companies will be encouraged to simply copy others’ proprietary works rather than invest in, partner with, or license works. The significance of Apple’s wrongdoing is amplified by the fact that Apple’s willful actions target the creative works of the very community CCI seeks to support and include through iDiversicons® emoji.
Indeed, this is contrary to Apple’s own mission to remedy gaps in diversity and inclusion, especially when Apple’s own representatives have recognized Mrs. Parrott’s contributions to bring diversity and inclusion to digital communication. See www.apple.com/diversity.
5 Counts against Apple
Count 1: Federal Copyright Infringement under the Copyright Act
Count 2: Trade Dress Infringement and False Designation of Origin
Count 3: Common Law Unfair Competition
Count 4: Common Law Misappropriation
Count 5: Unjust Enrichment
For more details, read Katrina Parrott’s full complaint filed with the court in the full SCRIBD document below, courteous of Patently Apple.
Daily Law Tips (Tip 658) by Onyekachi Umah, Esq., LL.M, ACIArb(UK)
It is common to find many laws and rules, creating or leaving duties and affairs of men to the standard of a reasonable person. So, several things in law are not measured mathematically, economically, socially, financially or emotionally rather according to what a reasonable person will do or think. The big question is, “Who is a reasonable person?”
Flipping through the pages of laws, you will come across the phrase “Reasonable Person” even without a definition. A Nigerian comedian once said that most duties in law are left for a reasonable person and in a country with hunger and anger, finding a reasonable person is hard, hence laws are rarely observed.
Law thrives on logic; objective thinking. That is, irrespective of selfishness, what will any right-thinking person do? The Supreme Court of Nigeria, has not left the status of a reasonable person to debate. The apex court has set a definition and parameter for detecting a reasonable person. Below are the words of the final court in Nigeria.
1. “A reasonable person is a person with reason having a faculty of the mind by which he distinguishes truth from falsehood, good from evil. A reasonable person is a fair, proper and just and unbiased person. An impartial observer is not partial. He favours neither the plaintiff nor the defendant. He is disinterested in the matter, as he treats both the plaintiff and the defendant alike. He is an unbiased person. Both the reasonable person and the impartial observer are the hypothetical legal standard for determining or judging fairness, fair play and equity. The test of the reasonable man in Nigerian Courts is no more the man at the Clapham junction in London but one in anywhere in the Nigerian cities.” (DISSENTING) Per NIKI TOBI ,J.S.C ( Pp. 58-59, para. A ) in the case of PAM & ANOR v. MOHAMMED & ANOR (2008) LPELR-2895(SC)
My authority is:
1. The judgment of the Supreme Court of Nigeria in the case PAM & ANOR v. MOHAMMED & ANOR (2008) LPELR-2895(SC)
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It is baffling and hard to believe that the Nigerian Army under the current leadership of Lt. General Tukur Buratai would recruit the service of publicists for dark propaganda, rather than public relations to protect its image.
Just recently, the Army’s publicists shot a movie titled “Fatal Arrogance” that portrays the leadership and members of the Islamic Movement of Nigeria (IMN), popularly known as a Shi’ite group, as terrorists.
In their desperate execution of this plan, the publicists hired a veteran Nollywood Actor, Pete Edochie; a popular actress, Destiny Etiko, and a movie producer, Anosike Kingsley Orji, all Christians and Igbos, to portray Northern Muslims and by extension Islamic religion, in a bad light in the movie.
In the movie, Edochie is featured in a role wearing an Islamic outfit that makes him resemble Sheikh Ibrahim El-Zakzaky, leader of the IMN, who has been in detention since December 2015, after the altercation that his followers had with Nigerian soldiers. Over 348 people were killed in that incident, and the follow-up aggression having the army lay siege to the IMN headquarters, with the bodies of the dead secretly buried by the army in a mass grave.
The behind-the-scenes clip from the movie, which was shot in Igboland rather than a Northern city, is already generating a lot of controversies.
A popular Kannywood actor who was lured into taking part in the movie, Mallam Yakubu Mohammed, has regretted his appearance in it due to what has turned out as the film’s bad intent.
He said, “I never knew some of the scenes in the film will be portrayed in that manner… It was a film that showed the clash between Nigerian Army and Islamic brotherhood in Zaria, and many members of the group were killed. When I read the script, I saw nothing castigating Islam in it, but you know (a) script can change at some point, that was what happened.
“…There is a place that every Muslim, if he sees it, must be concerned. There is a photo of Mr. Pete Edochie walking around in a Muslim dress, with a bottle of beer in his hand and with a girl. I really regret appearing in that movie.”
Also, according to Mohammed, “I have told the producer to remove all my scenes in the movie, that I am ready to pay for damages, which is what the rule says.”
The Islamic Movement in Nigeria has equally petitioned the Inspector-General of Police, Mohammed Adamu, and the National Film and Video Censors Board, over the movie.
The spokesperson of the Movement, Ibrahim Musa, in accusing the Nigerian Army of furthering its campaign of aggression against the group through the sponsorship of the movie, stated that, “If film producers are not careful, some disgruntled elements in governance will make them side with the oppressors against the oppressed, as the film “Fatal Arrogance”, is meant to achieve.
“Genocide is involved here; any move to justify the brutal and inhuman Zaria genocide of December 2015 is an affront (to) the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court.
“Evidently, for every Nigerian, these clips are meant to disparage the peaceful movement and portray it to the world as a violent armed movement.”
One of the promoters of the distasteful movie against the Islamic group is Terrence Kuanum, a Christian from Benue who authored a book with a similar title, “Fatal Arrogance”, in defence of the Nigerian Army against the Shi’ite. The book is apparently the inspiration behind this film.
I was also once a victim of the same Terrence Kuanum, who parades himself as General Buratai’s publicist. He had falsely accused me of being a patron of terrorist groups, in his distorted and apparently suborned response to my “Memo to President Buhari on the Service Chiefs”, which was widely published in the Nigerian print media.
In his deliberate attempt to incite the military and victims of terrorism against me, on the basis of untrue accusations, Terrence compromised the websites of highly credible, as well as notoriously incredible, media platforms, by planting his offensive article there, mostly without the knowledge of the publishers and editors of some of these platforms. Subsequently, about 15 of these media organisations had to delete the highly libellous content from their websites, while offering profound apologies for the infiltration of their systems that allowed that to happen.
In his over 3,000-word defamatory piece, revelling in insidiously deceitful claims, Mr. Terrence labelled me a Boko Haram supporter, an ISWAP propagandist and that I was on the payroll of terrorists.
Given how defamatory and harmful the allegations in the very lengthy article were, I officially reported this to security agencies, including the Nigeria Police, the State Security Service (SSS) and the National Intelligence Agency (NIA). Till date, none of the agencies has taken any action to interrogate the writer on the very grievous allegations that sought to impugn my professional integrity and cast me as a threat to national security. The security services seem to be afraid to invite the author of “Fatal Arrogance” for questioning because of his godfathers in the Nigerian Army.
Apart from moving about freely, Terrence Kuanum has exhibited the ‘fatal arrogance’ of being untouchable, not only by launching his book in Abuja, but also shooting the movie based on the book in Enugu, to the bewilderment of a sane society.
Terrence Kuanum’s odious activities revolve around his membership of an obscure ‘Global Amnesty International Network’, Television Nigeria (TVN) and other shadowy groups that support the leadership of the Nigerian Army.
The painful irony of this publicity attempt gone awry is the fact that the Nigerian military has an enviable reputation of professionalism, gallantry, resilience, and straightforwardness that do not require propaganda to push for a positive social narrative.
It is only the leadership of an institution that appears to have something ugly it needs to cover up that engages charlatans in an effort at dark propaganda, rather than more astute and professional public relations organisations. It goes without much contemplation to know that this very poorly thought-through and ‘Fatal Arrogance’ will backfire very badly on the image and reputation of an institution that should otherwise be encouraged for its potentials, and the work it is doing to keep Nigeria safe.
▪︎ Shuaib, author of “An Encounter with the Spymaster” and “Crisis Communication Strategies”, sent this via WhatsApp
Sources told SaharaReporters that the former minister started physically abusing Precious from the first year of their marriage — the same fate that befell her three predecessors.
former Minister of Aviation in Nigeria, Femi Fani-Kayode, and his ex-beauty queen wife, Precious Chikwendu, have separated.
Fani-Kayode, who had had a hat-trick of marriages before meeting Precious with whom he has four sons, including a set of two-year-old triplets, accused her of infidelity.
Sources told SaharaReporters that the former minister started physically abusing Precious from the first year of their marriage — the same fate that befell her three predecessors.
The violence, it was gathered, increased as the years went by.
FFK as the ex-minister is often reffered to, was said to have ordered Precious to abort her last pregnancy, claiming it did not belong to him.
The sources said Precious ignored him but got savage beating, including on her belly for the recalcitrance.
A source said Fani-Kayode always hit the woman violently in presence of their homehelps and sometimes threatened her with a gun by sticking the weapon in her mouth to warn her against squealing.
He sometimes instructed his bodyguard to hit the ex-beauty queen.
Fani-Kayode’s first wife, Saratu Attah, whom he married when he was 22, was also regularly pummeled by him.
Sources said the woman, daughter of the late Adamu Attah, was viciously beaten for requesting a swimming pool in their home on Marine Road in Apapa, Lagos.
FFK’s next marriage was to Yemisi Odesanya, daughter of a judge.
She is now known as Yemisi Wada after remarrying.
In newspaper interviews, the woman told stories of Fani-Kayode’s viciousness and lack of care for their daughters, the reason for which he was excluded from the marriage of one of them, Temitope, in 2014.
Despite the disconnect between him and the children, FFK never fails to advertise his “love” for them on Facebook on their birthdays.
Under to hide his ‘spot’ like the Leopard, FFK soon displayed his ugly part when in August he attacked Eyo Charles, a journalist with Daily Trust, for asking him a question during a press conference in Calabar, Cross River State.
Apart from describing Charles as “stupid”, FFK used other derogatory words on the journalist, drawing criticisms from far and near.
The former minister eventually bowed to public pressure and apologised for his conduct.
The Governor of Imo State and the Deputy Chairman of the APC Edo State Governorship Campaign Council, Senator Hope Uzodimma, has rejected the results of the Edo State Governorship Election.
The Governor made this known when he arrived the Imo State Government House Owerri on Sunday morning after the election which held on Saturday, 19th September, 2020.
Governor Uzodimma disclosed that the entire process in Edo State was marred by irregularities from officials of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) who sabotaged the system, making it difficult for the APC votes to count.
Governor Uzodimma went on to describe the conduct of INEC officials in the Edo Governorship Election as ‘shameful’.
The Governor also thanked the Governorship Candidate of the APC in Edo, Pastor Osagie Ize-Iyamu, for his resilience and doggedness.
He also assured that the APC is already gathering evidence to proceed to the Election Petition Tribunal any moment from now, confident that the party will get judgment in due time.
Governor Uzodimma urged all APC faithfuls and party supporters to remain calm and law abiding, noting that what happened in Edo State is a sabotage to our hard-worn Democracy in Nigeria.
United Kingdom has spent £1.4 million on COVID-19 palliatives in three northern states of Borno, Benue and Kaduna.
The European country disbursed the fund through its department for the administration of overseas aid, Department for International Development (DFID).
The fund is disbursed in Borno in partnership with Christian Aid (CAID), the Mercy Vincent Foundation and EYN Project.
Speaking at a learning and reflection meeting on Localised Preparedness and Response to Primary and Secondary Impacts of COVID-19 on IDPs, Returnees and Vulnerable Populations in hard-to-reach areas of Nigeria, held at the weekend in Maiduguri, the Cash Coordinator of CAID, Mr Sendi Dauda said the DFID through the project focused on: “Supporting and Empowering Vulnerable Households to successfully deal with the effects of COVID-19 and reduce the risk of infection.”
Dauda said in Borno State alone, 6374 households benefited from four local government areas of Maiduguri, Dikwa, Jere and Konduga.
He disclosed that most of the beneficiaries were from internally displaced persons’ camps in the benefiting local government areas.
Dauda said the project had brought smiles to the faces of many of the displaced persons and had aided in reducing their vulnerability to the COVID-19 pandemic.
The Edo governorship election on Saturday held across the 18 local government areas of the state with commendation for the Independent National Election Commission (INEC) for a peaceful conduct of the election from observers.
Correspondents of the News Agency of Nigeria ( NAN), who monitored the exercise in the three senatorial districts of the state, report that voters and election monitoring groups expressed satisfaction over the process in spite of the pre election apprehension of violence.
NAN observed high turnout of voters across the polling units, with substantial compliance with the COVID-19 safety protocol while INEC staff, who arrived early in most of the polling units with voting materials, provided hand washing buckets, sanitiser and thermometers.
The polling units witnessed visible presecence of security personnel in all the polling centres visited.In Edo North, Mr John Atsegameh, an election observer, with Centre for Democracy and Development CDD, described the election as peaceful devoid of any violence.
“From the reports am getting from other places the election is free and devoid of violence.“The electorate conducted themselves properly; there was a strict adherance to COVID-19 safety protocols.
“So far, no form of violence, party agents conducted themselves and corporated with INEC personnel’” he said.
Similarly, the Minister of State Budget and National Planning, Mr Clem Agba and Sen. Francis Alimikhena (APC-Edo-North) expressed satisfaction on the conduct of the Edo governorship election.Agba stated this shortly after casting his vote at Uzani, Ward 3, Unit 8 in Etsako East Local Government Area of Edo.
The minister commended the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) for the process, saying that he was impressed with the exercise.“I can only say here and if it is the reflection in other places then it is good” the minister said.
Sen. Alemikhena, APC Edo-North Senatorial District, said that he was impressed with the large turnout of voters. “The turnout here today is totally unprecedented,” he said.
Alemikhena, however, expressed confidence that with the turnout and peaceful conduct of the poll, his party would win. “This area is APC and we expect 100 per cent, I am very confident thst if everything goes well like this our party, APC is sure of victory,” he said.
In Edo Central district, aside the report of slight delay in one polling unit arising from failed card reader, which was promptly replaced, the electorate and respondents applauded the conduct of the Governorship election.
There was large turnout of voters across all polling units in Esan West Local Government Area of the state. Most of the voters arrived in the various polling units before officials of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC).
Some of the polling units visited by our correspondent included those in Ward 6 (Ogbomoide Primary School) with polling units 6, 7 & 8, and polling units 3, 4 & 5 (Central Primary School) all in Iruekpen, Esan West. Others included polling Unit 2 in Ward 5 (Uhunmudumu Primary School) in Ekpoma which has six voting points.
Accreditation of voters and voting commenced on scheduled at these polling units. While electoral materials and officials arrived on time at the polling units, security personnel were visible in all the polling units visited.
Also at the polling units were Policemen as well as personnel of the Nigeria Security and Civil Defense Corps (NSCDC) and the Federal Road Safety Corps (FRSC).
The situation was not different in Edo South as the only two cases of police authority dismissed the two alleged reported cases of gunshots at Oza in Orhionmwon LGA and Ologbo, a border town between Edo and Delta.
There was calm situation at Ugboko ward 5 unit 26, in Orhionmwonand ward 5 Unit 19 in Oredo Local Government Area, where Pastor Osagie Ize-Iyamu and Godwin Obaseki, both governorship candidates of APC and PDP, respectively, voted.
Some of the electorate who spoke with NAN in separate interviews commended INEC for adhering to the COVID-19 safety protocols during the electoral process.
Mr Benson Ibizugbe said that he was impressed that the process was going on peacefully and violence-free.
Ibizugbe said ”INEC did a good job by conducting a peaceful election here.
“There has not been issues of faulty equipment and they provided face masks for voters who don’t have to make them eligible to vote”.
An INEC observer, Ada Opkara, from Smile Africa, said that the voting process was seamless and commended the people of Ugboko ward for their peaceful conduct.
“I resumed here at 7: 18 a.m. before the INEC staff resumed activities, from that time till now, about three hours later, everywhere is calm.
“The electorate are cooperative and they are obeying the rules of COVID-19 and INEC officials,” he said.
She expressed optimism that the peaceful atmosphere at the polling unit would continue throughout the voting process going by the presence of security personnel.
Another electorate, Mr Monday Erhabor, said that he was happy that there was no violence at the voting centre.
“Everywhere is calm and peaceful, there is no violence, the security is tight and we are sure of a free and fair process,” he said..Obaseki, however, expressed different opinion taking a swipe at INEC and security operatives on his noticed lapses on their parts.The PDP governorship candidate said he expected better preparations from INEC for the Saturday’s governorship poll, after queueing for over an hour before voting.
He stated this, shortly after he cast his vote at 11:48a.m, having joined the queue for hand washing at 10:24a.m.
According to him, to wait for one and half hours on the queue before exercising his franchise is a bit disappointing.
“Given that this is a sole day election, I expected a bit more planning and preparation, and resources should have been put into this election.
“During the last presidential election in my polling unit, there were two polling points which helped thep voters. You all are witnesses of how long this has taken.
“The card reader is working very slowly, and this is the situation in all the major voting centres in Oredo Local Government area of the state as I speak.
“In Garrick Memorial Secondary School, I understand that more than 500 voters are already stranded because they can’t vote because of the slow processing of the card readers.
“One would have expected that INEC will have deployed more card readers and more voting points in highly numbered polling centres,” he said.
On the issue of vote buying at polling units, the governor said that the security agencies were not doing what they assured Edo people and Nigerians of, before the election.
“The security agencies assured us that they won’t allow anybody who don’t have business of voting in a particular place to be there, but they are working on the contrary to what they promised us.
“You can see cars parked with a lot of cash being disbursed to people and it seems to be normal practice, but we are not perturbed. People know what to do; cash can’t buy their future,” he added.
Meanwhile, Deputy Inspector General of Police, Adeleye Oyebade, in charge of Edo governoship election, has said nobody who violated electoral laws would be above the law.
Oyebade spoke after inspecting INEC’s office where the final collation and results of the Edo governorship election would be announced.
He said that the security agencies had appealed to the electorate and major actors not to cross the line, but do the needful.
He explained that the inspection was to further strengthen what was on ground, adding that minor issues that had been brought before the security agencies were being handled.
He noted that every security agency in the state under the banner of Inter Agencies Consultative Committee on Election Security were all involved in the election security to ensure free, fair and acceptable results at the end of the poll.
He said that security agencies were committed to ensuring that the election was conducted peacefully, adding that nothing was too much to sacrifice for the success of the election.
On the allleged shooting of an electorate at Ologbo in Ikpoba-Okha Local Government area and the alleged shooting at Oza, in Orhiomwon Local Government Area, Oyebade said that there was nothing of such.(NAN)
It also appears to support the notion in some quarters, that our Bar Association does not care about us. Where was the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA) during the “public hearing” that was said to have been held prior to the passing of this Act? Was the NBA not invited? Did it not send Representatives? What had happened? Why are we still where we were? (discussion for another day)
THE HISTORY: The powers of all policemen to appear in court as prosecutors WAS not in doubt. The Court of Appeal had held in OLUSEMO V. C.O.P. [(1998) 11 NWLR (PT 575) 547] that any police officer could prosecute in superior courts but that such police officer should have been called to the Nigerian Bar. Thus, while all police officers were entitled to prosecute cases before inferior courts in Nigeria, only those police officers duly called to the Nigerian Bar were permitted to prosecute in superior courts of record. This dichotomy between inferior and superior courts was however later displaced by the Supreme Court of Nigeria which held in the case of *FEDERAL REPUBLIC OF NIGERIA v. OSAHON [(2006) 5 NWLR (pt. 973) 361] that all police officers, whether or not they were qualified as lawyers, were entitled to appear and prosecute cases in all courts in Nigeria.
Further, as I learnt, the Ebonyi State ACJL has done something similar. The news we had got from Kano State had earlier indicated that a similar action had been taken, until unfortunately, we saw that the Kano State ACJL still permits LAY policemen to prosecute; section 123(2) of the ACJL, Kano provides: “Nothing in this section shall prevent a Police Officer from prosecuting any offence triable by any Magistrate’s Court”
Since the ACJA 2015 does not apply to all courts in Nigeria, some lawyers had mounted heavy advocacy for replication/extension/expansion of the position under the ACJA, 2015, to all other criminal jurisdictions in Nigeria. I wrote several published commentaries on this. And in a published learned paper, I had made the following suggestions, among others: “… it is considered pertinent here to recommend that relevant governments and stakeholders should, as a matter of urgency, set necessary machinery in motion to amend provisions of the Administration of Criminal Justice (Repeal & Re-enactment) Law, Lagos63, the Criminal Procedure Code Act and the Criminal Procedure Laws of the various States in Nigeria, so as to extend or replicate this innovative step started by the ACJA to all other courts and criminal jurisdictions in Nigeria, with a view to completely removing lay police officers from all aspects of criminal prosecution in all parts of Nigeria. Such move, which is long overdue, would considerably reduce the amount of delays currently being experienced in criminal proceedings and ensure a speedier and more effective administration of criminal justice. Lay police officers’ involvement in criminal prosecution is partly responsible for the worsening cases of awaiting trial64 cases and prison congestion in the country. Because of their professional limitations in this area, so many of the so-called police prosecutors are not able to match or withstand the legal firework of professionally qualified lawyers who act as defence counsel in courts during criminal prosecutions, because these lay police officers do not understand the intricacies of formal courtroom proceedings and trial procedure, and more often than not have very little or no preparation prior to their court appearances. There is no doubt that when lay police officers are finally completely disengaged from criminal prosecution in all the courts in the country, more jobs would be available for professionally qualified legal practitioners; prosecution of all criminal cases in all courts in Nigeria would then be taken over by only lawyers. However, the clamour for extrication of lay policemen from criminal prosecution is primarily not targeted at creating more jobs for lawyers, but rather at leaving criminal prosecution in the hands of lawyers who alone understand the law and are well able to match the expertise of defence counsel in court, fire-for-fire, to ensure that justice is dispensed in good time and more efficiently” (see: Udemezue SC, “DISENGAGING LAY POLICE OFFICERS FROM CRIMINAL PROSECUTION FOR A MORE EFFICIENT CRIMINAL JUSTICE ADMINISTRATION IN NIGERIA” (African Journal of Constitutional and Administrative Law) <http://journals.ezenwaohaetorc.org/index.php/AJCAL/article/view/854> accessed September 20, 2020).
This is why I had felt elated on hearing the news (19/09/2020) that the NPF (Establishment) Act 2020 had taken us to the Eldorado as far as this was concerned — elated until I read the said section myself. Section 66(1) of the NPF (Establishment) Act, 2020, grants legal Practitioners the right to prosecute, although this is an unnecessary provision because there are already many laws granting legal practitioners the right of audience in all courts in Nigeria. Section 66(1) provides: “Subject to the provisions of sections 174 and 211 of the Constitution and section 106 of the Administration of Criminal Justice Act which relates to the powers of the Attorney-General of the Federation and of a State to institute, take over and continue or discontinue criminal proceedings against any person before any court of law in Nigeria, a police officer who is a legal practitioner, may prosecute in person before any court whether or not the information or complaint is laid in his name.”
However, section 66(2) NPF (Establishment) Act, 2020 creates a serious confusion when it says a policeman can prosecute any offense that a “non-qualified Legal Practitioner” is permitted to prosecute. Section 66(2) provides: “A Police Officer may, subject to the provisions of the relevant criminal procedure laws in force at the Federal or State level, prosecute before courts those offences which non-qualified legal practitioners can prosecute.”
QUESTION: Who is a “non-qualified Legal Practitioner?” What sort of absurdity is that? One is either a legal Practitioner (as defined in sections 2 and 24 of the Legal Practitioners Act) or one is not. However, that term (“non-qualified Legal Practitioner”) could be reasonably interpretated to mean ”a person who is not qualified as a legal practitioner.” If we accept that interpretation, then, the NPF (Establishment) Act, 2020, has obviously taken us back to square one in this wise; it means that NO progress has been made. The implication is that it is only under the ACJA, 2015, and in those states (if any) where the statutes have expressly or by implication barred the LAY (non-lawyer) policemen from prosecuting, that we can confidently say lay policemen are not qualified to prosecute?
The question is, ARE WE UNDER A SPELL? How could we in the 21st century, enact a Law with such a retrogressive and archaic provision? Anyway, I am happy that section 66(3) is a step in the right direction, and has brought some cheering news. It provides: “There shall be assigned to every police station at least one police officer: (a) Who is a legal practitioner in accordance with the legal practitioners Act; and (b) Whose responsibility is to promote human rights compliance by officers of the division.” I recall that I had in my humble intervention during the 2019 NBA Annual Conference held in August 2019, in Lagos, called for the Establishment of Legal Sections at Police Stations Across the Country. Then, in a commentary circulated on social on September 01, 2019, and later published to the wider public on December 30, 2019, I had written thus in this respect:
“… if the Police Act is amended to provide for setting up of a legal section in every Police Area Command, and Divisional Police Office, each of such legal sections to be headed by a Divisional Legal Officer (DLO), just as we have Divisional Police Officer(DPO) as the executive head of the entire police division and then a Divisional Crime Officers (DCO) and DTO (Divisional Traffic Officer),etc. The DLO would become the head of the legal section in the police division, with mandate to advice the DPO, DTO, DCO, and other men and officers of each police station on observance of human rights requirements in treatment of arrestees (arrested persons) and detainees, to draft criminal charges and First Information Reports (FIR) for filing in relevant Magistrate Courts, advising the police on what offense to charge to court and on what to not charge, and on when to institute a charge and when to not, etc. This would in turn decongest our courts as fewer cases would be filed, because frivolous charges would have been weeded out at the investigation level. Besides, Lawyer-police officers from the various legal sections of police divisions would also participate in prosecution of cases in Magistrates courts. This has two more additional advantages:
(a) There would be need to employ more lawyers into the police force to meet this high demand for prosecutors; and (b) With Lawyers as prosecutors at Magistrates Courts, defence lawyers would wake up and begin to take their cases at the Magistrates courts more seriously, seeing that they’re no longer dealing as prosecutors, with only police officers who have little or no knowledge of prosecutorial knowhow/expertise or finesse.
Section 66(2) of the Nigeria Police Force (Establishment), 2020, which purports to authorize non-lawyers to appear as prosecutors in courts of law should be amended immediately — as a matter of extreme urgency. As I stated in my paper, already cited above (on disengaging lay police officers), “there is hardly any good ground for continuing to accommodate lay prosecutors within the Nigerian criminal justice space. The practice of using policemen who are not lawyers to prosecute criminal cases in Nigeria dates back to the colonial era; there was then insufficient number of qualified lawyers to handle such cases, thus justifying their involvement which used to be in the nature of extemporization. Happily, today, the legal profession in Nigeria has come of age; there are currently over [120,000] qualified lawyers in Nigeria. So, just as it happened in 1913 when an application by one J. Osho Davies[65] to be appointed a local (self-taught) attorney in Nigeria was turned down by the Chief Justice of Nigeria on ground that the era of self-taught attorney was over in Nigeria, today, [in 2020], the use of lay prosecutors in the Nigeria`s criminal justice administration has become outmoded and ought to be discontinued in all courts, as the practice has done, and still does more harm than good to our judicial and justice system. The Nigerian Federal legislature (the National Assembly) deserves kudos for the innovative stride in the ACJA, 2015, but the job is not complete until all other relevant statutes are modified to follow suit, so as to rid our criminal justice system of activities of quack prosecutors who, as far as criminal prosecution is concerned, are nothing but square pegs in round holes.”
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