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BREAKING: Petrol price now N151.56 per litre ― PPMC

By Udeme Akpan

The price of petrol has been increased to N151.56 per litre, according to Pipelines and Product Marketing Company (PPMC), a subsidiary of the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation, NNPC.

In a statement obtained by Vanguard, D.O Abalaka of the PPMC, stated: “Please be informed that a new product price adjustment has been effected on our payment platform.

“To this end, the price of Premium Motor Spirit (PMS) is now one hundred and fifty-one naira, fifty-six kobo (N151.56k) per litre.” He added: “This takes effect from September 2, 2020.”

Vanguard News Nigeria

Woman seeks divorce because husband ‘doesn’t fight’ with her, says he loves her ‘too much’

You might think that every woman wants to be extremely loved by her spouse. Well that could be true for most women but not in this case.

A woman in Sambhal district of Uttar Pradesh, India, has sought a divorce from her husband just 18 months after her marriage.

The woman’s reason for approaching the Sharia court in Sambhal to seek a divorce is because her husband loves her too much and does not fight with her, reports India Today.

According to a report in Hindi daily Dainik Jagran, the woman said she could not digest her husband’s “too much” love for her. The woman said she has never had a fight with her husband in the past 18 months and she was “fed up”.

The woman said her husband even helps her in cooking and performing household chores. “Neither he [husband] ever shouted at me nor he ever disappointed me over any issue. I am feeling suffocated in such an environment,” the report quoted her as saying.

“Whenever I make a mistake, he always forgives me for that. I wanted to argue with him,” she said.

She says she does not want a life where her husband agrees to everything.

The cleric of the Sharia court was baffled when he heard the reason for the divorce and rejected her plea, terming it as frivolous.

The cleric also asked the woman if she had any other reason for the divorce. To which, she responded in negative. After the cleric refused to decide on the plea, a local panchayat heard the matter. But it also refused to give a ruling.

According to the report, her husband has said that he does not think he has done anything wrong and only wanted to be a perfect husband.

He also appealed to the Sharia co urt to ask her wife to take back the case, following which the court rejected her plea. The Sharia court has asked the couple to resolve the matter by themselves.

(India Today)

TOWARDS RESTRUCTURING NIGERIA

Restructuring of the federation is long overdue, writes Sonnie Ekwowusi

Last week, the Senate Ad-Hoc Committee on the Review of the constitution, which has commenced the process of further amendment to the provisions of the 1999 Constitution (as amended), formally requested the general public, executive and judicial bodies, civil society and others to submit memoranda for further amendment on the following subject matters of the constitution – gender equality; federal structure and power devolution; local government/local government autonomy; public revenue; fiscal federation; public revenue/fiscal federal and revenue allocation; Nigeria Police and Nigerian security architecture; comprehensive judicial reforms; electoral reforms; socio-economic and cultural rights; strengthening the independence of oversight institutions and agencies; residency and indigene problem; immunity; the National Assembly; state creation and other matters capable of promoting good governance in Nigeria.

Undoubtedly the aforesaid constitutional amendment if pursued with probity, earnestness and sincerity of purpose, might assuage the hunger for actualization of the sovereignty of Biafra, dampen the quest for Oduduwa Republic and other secessionist clamours. Politics apart, restructuring of the Nigerian federation is overdue. The fact remains that the deep-seated political, economic, social and cultural imbalances plaguing the Nigerian enterprise right from Nigeria’s independence in 1960 or even before have engaged the attention of both successive Nigerian governments and the Nigerian people. For example, all the constitutional conferences that were held in Nigeria, from the 1957 Conference, 1994/1995 Constitutional Conference, 2005 National Political Reform, 214 Constitutional Conference to the Oputa Panel Report (which unfortunately is yet to be released to the public let alone implemented ) were all geared towards addressing and remedying these imbalances in the Nigerian federation. It is apposite to affirm that the Nigerian crisis is a crisis of failed federalism. Historically, the 1914 amalgamation wrought by the British was to further accentuate her selfish interests in the colony. The amalgamation was a potpourri or assemblage of irreconcilable ethno-religiously and culturally diverse kingdoms and nationalities. That was why the concocted amalgamation failed on arrival. It was a forced marriage that was, at the outset, bound to wobble. Owing to the clear absence of espirit de corps and cohesion amongst the nationalities which were forcefully amalgamated, Chief Obafemi Awolowo had referred to Nigeria as a “mere geographical expression”. With all the natural resources and minerals at the disposal of different regions at independence, everything was working well for Nigeria. But it was short-lived. Under the pretext that it was a corrective and cleansing regime, the military (during the military interregnum) perpetuated indescribable atrocities in Nigeria. Apart from institutionalizing official corruption in Nigeria, the military destroyed the hitherto viable national institutions and systems in Nigeria especially the educational system. The current 1999 Constitution (which is substantially similar to 1979 Constitution) is General Abdulsalam Abubakar’s military constitution, not the much-vaunted people’s constitution. It is not autochthonous constitution. No inputs from the people who are supposed to be the sovereign in presidential democracy. Simply put, the 1999 Constitution is an inconvenient, inequitable constitutional contraption being used to perpetuate injustices in Nigeria. The constitution over-concentrates power (as could be gleaned from the long list of federal powers in the Exclusive List of the Constitution) in the hands of the federal government thus leaving the federating units at the mercy of the federal government.

This is the main reason for the consistent clamour for a people’s constitution and, by extension the restructuring of Nigeria. You will recall that in Suit No. FHC/ABJ/CS/367/2007, Chief Anthony Enahoro, Prof Wole Soyinka, Ikemba Odimegwu Chukwuemeka Ojukwu, Chief Ralph Uwazurike, Yerima Shetima and others had dragged the federal government to the Federal High Court in 2007 to, inter alia, challenge the legitimacy of the 1999 Constitution. In fact, one of the declarations being sought by the plaintiffs in the aforesaid suit is that the following words, “We the people of the Federal Republic of Nigeria…do hereby make, enact and give to ourselves the following Constitution” is a big lie because there was no time the Nigerian people met either directly or indirectly to enact for themselves the people’s constitution. Recently, eminent socio-cultural leaders from South-South, South-East and Middle-Belt represented by Chief E. K. Clark, Chief Rueben Fasoranti, Dr. John Nwodo and others, have, in suit No. FHC/ABJ/CS/595/2020, equally dragged President Buhari to the Federal High Court claiming, inter alia, the sum of N50 billion over marginalization of the people of the region in the appointments to security, quasi-security agencies and strategic agencies of government. Why this suit? Because President Buhari’s political appointments are skewed in favour of the North. And President Buhari unabashedly says that nobody should begrudge him for doing that because he is giving 95% to those who voted for him. Is this not a hate speech? How can a President of the whole country single out a section of the country for marginalization and punishment on the allegation that they did not vote for him at the last elections? Of the 14 current heads of security agencies in Nigeria, 11 are from the North, two from South-West, one Chief of Naval Staff from the South-South, none from the South-East. Is this not marginalization per excellence? The nauseating aspect is that when some youths from the same marginalized South-East organize a peaceful gathering, armed soldiers are dispatched to kill them as occurred at Emene, Enugu last week. Mind you, the Emene killing of unarmed civilians is not the first of its kind. On February 9, 2016 the Nigerian soldiers shot and killed countless unarmed pro-Biafra civilians who were peacefully holding prayers inside the football field of Ngwa High School, Aba in Abia State. The photographs of the murdered victims were circulating on whatsApp at a time. Then on May 30, 2016, over 30 Igbo civilians were killed and many injured by the military after the several clashes involving the military, police and members of IPOB and MASSOB at Nkpor-Agu, Niger Bridge, Onitsha and Asaba respectively. The question begging for an answer is: why shoot and kill defenceless civilians holding peaceful prayer or meeting or rally? The paradox is that the same soldiers and security agents who would not dare arrest the murderous Fulani herdsmen let alone open fire on them would readily turn around to open fire and kill unarmed civilians.

This is why Nigeria must be restructured. If you don’t want Biafra, Oduduwa Republic, Mid-West and so forth, do the right thing: eliminate nepotism and provincialism that breed secessionist and separatist agitations. Stop killing unarmed civilians. Correct the lop-sided political appointments. Allow the citizens to exercise their right to freedom of religion. Appoint competent technocrats to run the government irrespective of their tribes and tongues. Let commutative justice reign.

thisdaylive.

Atiku Writes Lawan, Cautions Against New Loans

By Jude Opara, Abuja


Former vice president and candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in the 2019 elections, Atiku Abubakar, has written to the Senate President, Ahmad Lawan, on the need for the National Assembly to reject any new loan requests except those for income-generating projects.

Abubakar in the letter dated August 19, said the federal lawmakers should not continue to watch while the country goes deep into financial crisis occasioned by indiscriminate borrowings.

“Nigeria risks insolvency if it continues to borrow money, adding that previous loans were spent on non-viable projects,” the 2019 presidential hopeful of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) said.
Recall that as of March 2020, Nigeria’s total public debt stands at ₦28.6 trillion ($79.3 billion), of which about ₦10 trillion ($27.6 billion) is external debt, according to the Debt Management Office (DMO).

“On May 29, 2015, Nigeria’s total national debt stood approximately at N12 trillion. As of August 2020, our national debt has tripled to N28.63 trillion,” Abubakar noted.


“Even more alarming is the fact that the foreign debt portion of our national debt has risen from less than $10 billion on May 29, 2015, to almost $30 billion in August 2020,” he added.


“A further cause for concern is the fact that not all of these debts are necessary. A study of the use to which these monies have been put to, show that much of it has gone towards items or projects that are non-productive or viable,” he said.


Both the Senate and the House of Representatives have approved all three loans from President Muhammadu Buhari.
In June the $5.513 billion foreign loan request by the president got legislative nod, a week after another $22.7 billion foreign loan was approved by both Houses.


The approval was preceded by the approval of another ₦850 billion borrowing request made by the president, which is to be sourced from domestic markets.

dailyasset

New electricity tariff: Prices of goods will increase – Adegbite, ex-MAN chair

A former chairman of Manufacturers Association of Nigeria (MAN) in Ogun State, Wale Adegbite, says the new increment in electricity tariff will have consequences.

He told Nigerians to expect a hike in prices of goods.

The implementation of the new Service Reflective Tariff Plan commenced September 1.

The increment ranges from 60 percent in Ikeja, to 73 per cent in Abuja, and 78 per cent in Enugu.

In an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN), Adegbite stated that the tariff increase was not justifiable.

Adegbite said electricity was a significant input in the production process.

“The development will eventually lead to increase in prices of goods produced by manufacturers, which will automatically result to increase in inflation.”

Adegbite urged the federal government to assist manufacturers to thrive.

He noted that players have endured numerous challenges already.

newspotng

BREAKING: Armed robbers invade MKO Abiola’s house

The Ikeja residence of late MKO Abiola was invaded by armed robbers on Wednesday.

The robbers carted away valuables including hard currencies.

The Nation reports that the suspected criminals entered and escaped through the fence of the building.

Details shortly

Of Igbos, 2023 and ‘Politics of Moral Consequence’ -By Bishop Matthew Kukah

Empowered citizens voted for politicians they knew would make them poorer, for liars to clean up politics…Tom Fletcher, The Naked Diplomat.

Dr Chidi Amuta takes the cake for both elegant turn of phrase and sheer depth of thoughtful analysis. I read his recent piece in THISDAY, ‘2023: Igbos and the Politics of Moral Consequence’ on a bumpy ride back to Sokoto. The essay is not exactly a foolproof DIY tool kit for the construction of the road to Aso Rock for his Igbo kinsmen. However, it manages to identify some harsh pebbles and nails whose litter have made the journey to the Presidency a Golgothean challenge for the Igbos. Instructively, the essay does not address the issues of why some have crossed with so much ease while the Igbos remain stuck in a frustration of Sisyphean proportions.

When I got back to Sokoto, I put a call through to Dr. Amuta to commend him for the essay and say how much I had appreciated his insights. But when I woke up the next morning, a few fresh thoughts came to my mind, suggesting that despite the brilliance of the essay, it had thrown up a few grey areas that required further exploration. Indeed, as I had tried to do in my Convocation Lecture at the Ojukwu University, Awka on 20th March, 2020, the need for a robust conversation about the future of our country is imperative.

Therefore, my intention here is not to respond directly to the issues raised by Dr Amuta by way of a rebuttal because I agree substantially with his summation. What I wish to add is done with the hope that we can create a momentum for an orchestra of voices to shape the future and destiny of a nation that is gradually and inexorably sliding and screeching to a precipice. I have a few insights to buttress that point.

As Secretary of the National Political Reform Conference (NPRC) in 2005, that offered me a front seat and helped me to appreciate the reasons why the politics of this country is devoid of the required content for building a great nation. In the course of the NPRC assignment, I came to appreciate that nothing, absolutely nothing, had changed in content and substance in terms of how, over time, these gatherings have been nothing other than dress rehearsals and platforms to negotiate, barter and trade ambitions for the future. The composition of these Assemblies is often so fractious that it often ends up being a theatre for negotiating centrifugal interests. In the end, it is the national interests that suffer while national cohesion becomes a delayed project.

What we call political parties, those rickety and dilapidated rickshaws we see changing wheels with every election, have always been conceived in the midnight of these so called Assemblies. Meanwhile, groups pledge false loyalties against one another along ethnic, regional and religious lines. This has been our fate right from 1977 through 1988, 1995 and 2013. The result is that the proceedings end up in the valley of the dry bones where they pile on top of their predecessors.

I have gone to this length to illustrate the fact that despite the presence of serious minded intellectuals, their expertise has often been subsumed in the narrow and clannish interests of their ethnic, religious or regional interests. But the old ways can no longer hold and the looming danger that lies before us has to be averted not by threats, but by deliberate planning and thinking. We are facing a new generation of young, bright and future looking men and women for whom the old ways are a serious obstacle. They have their eyes on a future that is not here yet. They have designed ways and means of pulling down the walls of hegemony that have held the future captive and made Nigeria the object of ridicule and obloquy. The youth have enough weapons to destroy this treacherous heist from its very foundation.

Now to come back to Dr. Amuta. He raised the issues of what the country owes the Igbos under the doctrine of moral consequence. He carefully crafted a list of countries from where the rest of Nigeria can learn its lessons in recompense. But I see two problems here. First, Dr. Amuta assumes that his readers really understand the meaning of the doctrine of moral consequence. A definition of this notion would have been of great help so as to help situate his arguments in our context. Although he cites countries such as Australia, Rwanda or South Africa, it is important to understand that when applied to Nigeria, this theory requires conceptual and contextual clarifications.

First, as we know, in politics as in economics or any other aspects of human existence, culture defines, shapes and explains most behaviours. It is important to note that moral consequence as an ethical theory requires a cultural or theological underpinning. A given society has to have some form of common cultural understanding of its laws or ties that bind. All the countries that Dr Amuta listed have a Christian tradition. It would have been important to site any Muslim country which has applied this theory of moral consequence.

If we place moral conquentialism within the larger ethical template of Utilitarianism, we will have to wrestle with whether we derive our inspiration from Jeremy Bentham, Adam Smith, John Stewart Mill or John Rawls. We do not need to get into the arguments but it is important to note that here, we are on a slippery slope because the Nigerian politician is not guided or grounded by any of these deep philosophical postulations. Dem no wan grammar, remember?

The lack of an ethical framework to undergird all spheres of our life is what has led our country to a moral free fall in all areas. We are groaning under the weight of corruption, but this is because Ethics has found no place in our educational systems or public life. Without ethics, we return to the state of nature in its most brutal form. Here, let us pause and spare a thought as to how this problem has been metastasized. As we know, life itself is a long journey of negotiation, consensus building and a struggle to ensure that the strong do not overrun the weak, that the urge to do good outweigh the urge for evil. We are therefore constantly negotiating these choices, seeking the greatest benefit for the greatest number. This comes at a great cost because it depends on human nature and nurture.

Dr Amuta believes that one of the problems that the Igbos face on their way to the Presidency is the fact that, in his words, ‘It is an unwritten and unstated presumption that Nigeria can still not find in its heart to forgive the Igbos for Biafra.’ I find this reading of the situation quite troubling because first, Dr. Amuta does not spell out which Nigeria he is referring to. Okay, may be our brother Chido Onuma overstated it when he said ‘We are all Biafrans now’. Truth be told, there is resonance in that claim. Indeed, I was told by a senior military officer that the late Major General Hassan Usman Katsina called a meeting of retired military officers from the Middle belt to ask why they had become so frustrated and one of the Christian military leaders who actually was of the same generation as Katsina said: ‘Were the civil war to start today, I will be on the side of Biafra!’

Perhaps the Igbos are to blame for not positioning their wind vane properly otherwise, Dr. Amuta will understand that his thesis is seriously flawed. The north unraveled a long time ago and what is left is a scarecrow that still frightens some ignorant people in the south. Evidently, the Igbos and others must cure themselves of their horrifying ignorance of the complex mesh that is northern Nigeria. We hear the ignorance about the north being one and united. Well, ask the Shi’ites, Izala, Tijaniya, the Middle Belt, ask the Nupe, Kanuri, and Hausa what they feel or believe about this north. A survey conducted found that while just 35% of Muslims in northern Nigeria wanted to be identified as Sunni, a whopping 30% just wanted to be Muslim, with no other label. Outsiders have refused to appreciate the mutations of identities within Islam and continue to ignore how most of this affects political choices. If Dr. Amuta and kinsmen do not appreciate this, then they will remain in the rain for much longer by default.

Despite painting the picture of the Igbos as having been sinned against (which is true), Dr. Amuta rather strangely places the burden of redemption on the shoulders of the same people by saying that: ‘The Igbo political elite has to reduce its habitual fears and nervousness of the competing elite of other factions in the country’. How and why should the Igbos do this? After all, they have not invaded anyone’s territory except through their economic presence. They have not destroyed any national assets. So, how is this gratuitous appeasement of other factions supposed to take place? How should the Igbos be charged for the fears and nervousness of other competing elites when they are the ones who should be afraid and nervous after the loss of their war?

I agree that the weaponization of Biafra may have long time consequences but I am slow to accept the conclusion that it is ‘a tactical blunder that will frighten Nigeria.’ We have to place this in context and not moralise it. The average Igbo youth today in his thirties of forties will know that in the last twenty years of our Democracy, every section of the country has gotten its President by some threats of spilling blood. This is not any attempt to glamourize violence, but let us be truthful in the face of the staggering evidence: Odu’a Peoples’ Congress (OPC) in its raw form frightened the rest of the country after June 12th and it took this into the elections of 1999. They can claim they got a Yoruba man for President for what it is worth. The Ijaw Youth can also claim to have frightened the rest of Nigeria by blowing up pipelines before they received their son, President Jonathan as a concession of sorts.

Similarly, elements of Boko Haram in whatever shape or form, the killer men and women running riot in the country and murdering thousands of innocent citizens despite having been paid off, can claim credit to pursing an agenda in which fear is an investment. Threats of blood for monkey and baboon were loud in 2011. The Biafran agitators are a symptom not a disease. The real disease has been spread by the brutal politics of the other segments of Nigeria that inadvertently made violence the commodity of exchange for the Presidency. We can only reverse this ugly scenario if we are honest enough to accept that what we have as politics in Nigeria is blood and banditry by another name!

Dr. Amuta ends his beautiful essay with some troubling recommendations for the Igbos if they want to get the Presidency. First, he encourages the Igbos to adopt a policy of ‘deft foot walk, negotiation with other groups, abandon disturbing pride, arrogance and noisy ebullience for fear that it will unsettle competitors’. He accuses the Igbos of ‘not getting on their knees to seek a favour’, and suggests what he calls ‘pragmatic flexibility’ as the way forward, because, as he concludes: ‘When you go out to seek the lion’s share of what belongs to all, you go in meekness’. Lord God Almighty!

First, Nigeria’s political grounds are a treacherous slippery slope of deceit and subterfuge and so, no amount of deft foot walk will do. You can only negotiate successfully if both of you understand and sign on to the same rules of engagement and agree on outcomes. The current administration is the poster child of this subterfuge and convoluted moral consequence. Those who sank their energy and money into this project have come face to face with the reality that their deft foot walk has led them blinded folded into a darkroom where they are asked to hopelessly chase the black cats of opportunity. Has President Buhari (the lion) shared what belongs to all even with the meek? Last time I checked, the lion hunts alone! The immoral power sharing method of this President has exposed the folly of those who believe that deft foot walk and negotiations are a guarantee for the future of the Igbos. The nation is wounded but I believe in the long run, the President has mortally wounded the north itself.

When Dr Amuta charges the Igbos with ‘pride, arrogance, noisy ebullience’ and suggests that they should fear the consequences of unsettling their competitors, he is, in my view, asking them to lie on their own sword helped by their competitors. To compound his case, Dr. Amuta suggests that the Igbos ‘get on their knees to seek a favour’ and then engage in pragmatic flexibility. However, he does not offer us examples of the rewards that have come to those who engaged in previous knee bending, fawning, obsequious or pragmatic flexibility in the past. I will like to see the list of those so rewarded, no matter how short it may be.

In conclusion, the task of rescuing Nigeria falls on the elite of Nigeria who must raise the bar for elitism in its capacity to redeem and rescue a people by imposing a new civilisation. African Democracy remains prostrate because it has still not freed itself from the clutches of both British colonialism and local feudalisms. The quality of men and women at the helm of affairs cannot rescue this county from its current state of decay and looming decomposition. The future does not lie on which region, religion or tribe will produce the next President. This is the legacy of the feudalists and hegemonists across the country and only a careful elite prescription can understand where the world is going.

The Igbos must reconnect with their Yoruba and other educated elite, replace the corrosive politics of ethnicity with the quality of mind that knows how to channel diversity to greater and higher goals. Tribal politics will continue to produce the toxic ingredients of death and destruction that has engulfed us. Contrary to what Dr. Amuta seems to suggest, I am convinced that the Igbos are the most politically advantaged: they have the ubiquitous presence and human and economic resources more than anyone. And, rather than seeing this as an incubus, I see it as an asset. If we elevate politics to a noble art of intellectuals setting goals and developing a vision for the larger society, we can then create the conditions for everyone to thrive no matter where they may be. Tribal politics have destroyed Nigeria and we must destroy its temple so as to free ourselves. Until that happens, the moral consequences of our politics will continue to be chaotic and violent. Nigeria will remain in the hands of violent and evil men, men of darkness already circling around the country and ready to lead us into darkness. Their footsteps are already on our doorsteps. We must find our black goat before darkness engulfs us.

Kukah is Bishop of the Catholic Diocese of Sokoto

dareheights

DSS Quizzes Nigerian Musicians, Don Jazzy, Tiwa Savage Over Alleged Political Utterances Against President Buhari’s Government

Don Jazzy and Tiwa Savage both appear to have toned down their social media posts in recent days after the meeting with the DSS and police in Lagos.

etails have emerged on how Nigerian music producer, Michael Ajereh widely known as Don Jazzy, and Tiwatope Savage popularly known as Tiwa Savage, were invited by the Department of State Serviced for questioning over alleged political utterances against the administration of President Muhamamdu Buhari. 

In recent months, following a sharp rise in sexual assault cases across Nigeria especially against women, Tiwa Savage began a movement known as “WeAreTired” in protest of the situation.

Through the movement, the musician called on Buhari’s administration to take action to stem the tide of rape in the country. 

According to findings by SaharaRepoters, this in addition to several posts on social media calling on the government to live up to its responsibilities to Nigerians earned Tiwa Savage an invitation by the DSS. 

Together with Don Jazzy, Savage was invited to the DSS office in Lagos two weeks ago during which they were warned to be careful with their posts on the social media. 

Shortly after that episode, the two celebrities together with colleagues Yemi Alade and Waje were summoned by the Lagos State Commissioner of Police, Hakeem Odumosu, who while sharing efforts they were making to tackle rape and other problems in the state and country, warned the musicians to steer clear of political comments in order not to incur the wrath of the President Buhari administration.

A member of Tiwa Savage’s management team, who confirmed the development to SaharaRepoters, said that the celebrated female artiste will not stop speaking for Nigerians regardless of any move by governnent.

But as if to confirm the subtle warning from governnent, Don Jazzy and Tiwa Savage both appear to have toned down their social media posts in recent days after the meeting with the DSS and police in Lagos.

For example, Don Jazzy, who is known to actively engage his numerous followers on social media, last posted anything on Twitter more than 22 hours while Tiwa never continued with her hashtag after the meeting with DSS Director at their Shangisha, Lagos office.

Apart from the two celebrities, the DSS has also invited a former deputy governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria, Obadiah Mailafia, over his comments on the operations of Boko Haram in the Northern part of Nigeria.

While speaking on a radio programme, Mailafia had stated that a serving governor in the North was the commander of Boko Haram.

He was invited twice for questioning by the DSS and also invited for interrogation by the police in Abuja, which he turned down by seeking a relief in court.

saharareporters

Odinkalu Takes on el-Rufai, Lists Victims of Gov’s Alleged Rights Abuse

Peter Uzoho

The running battle between lawyer and human rights campaigner, Prof. Chidi Odinkalu, and Kaduna State Governor, Mallam Nasir El-Rufai, took a new twist yesterday with Odinkalu issuing a 23-point response to the governor’s claims that he had not deployed state powers to fight his critics.

Odinkalu, in a rebuttal of a statement by the state Attorney-General and Commissioner for Justice, Ms. Aisha Dikko, listed victims of the governor’s alleged human rights abuses.

Dikko, in statement issued on Monday following the controversy generated by el-Rufai’s invitation to be a guest speaker at the Annual General Conference (AGC) of the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA) and the subsequent dis-invitation, had justified the prosecution of Odinkalu and others for alleged offences, including incitement and publishing false information about events in the state.
But Odinkalu in a series of tweets, listed other various instances where Kaduna State Government under el-Rufai’s watch, punished critics.

He said el-Rufai “has caused to be issued on his behalf, a tissue of untruths and falsehoods concerning his brutal persecution of his critics. To help his memory, here is a litany of #bodybags of critics who have suffered at his hands.”

Odinkalu listed the alleged victims of el-Rufai’s human rights abuses to include Barack Zebedee, a PhD student in Fisheries and Hydrology in Biology Department, Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria, who he said was arrested in May 2017 following comments he made on a WhatsApp group created to mobilise assistance for victims of Southern Kaduna massacre.

He also mentioned Gabriel Idibia, a journalist with The Union newspaper, who was taken to court for allegedly asking el-Rufai to declare his assets as demanded by law.
Odinkalu also mentioned Jacob Dickson, a journalist with Authentic News, who he said “was arrested, detained and charged with incitement in May 2016, after reporting that youths had pelted el-Rufai with objects.”

Others, according him, are “Luka Binniyat, Kaduna Bureau Chief of @Vanguardngrnews, when @elrufai ordered his arrest in February 2017 for a report under his by-line in the newspaper. Luka was detained for over 130 days without bail & el-Rufai instigated Vanguard to fire him.”
“Midat Joseph: Journalist with @LeadershipNGA, was arrested on orders of @el-rufai in April 2017 for a post in a WhatsApp group. Guest what the charges against him were? #Incitement,” he added.

Also on Odinkalu’s list of victims of el-Rufai’s alleged human rights abuse was Sunny Yayock, a freelance journalist, arrested, detained and charged to court for his comment on social media supporting a call for peaceful demonstration.
He said the victim slept for two days in police cell before he was taken to court and granted bail.
The list also has Adamu Abdullahi, a social media activist, who was arrested by the police in Kaduna for questioning, for reportedly retweeting a tweet about el-Rufai being pelted with objects.

Odinkalu mentioned Segun Oniboyo, a journalist with Radio Nigeria, who he said was arrested and charged on orders of el-Rufai on November 14, 2019, for alleged incitement in his social media posts, adding that the victim spent most of December 2019 detained before being released after 24 days.

He mentioned Samuel Ogundipe, a journalist with Premium Times who he claimed el-Rufai’s son, Bello, had threatened to arrest for reporting that Bello had threatened the mother of someone who criticised his father, the governor, with gang rape.
Also in the list was Dr. John Danfulani, a lecturer in Kaduna State University, who was suspended, arrested, detained and charged for incitement allegedly for criticising the governor in a Facebook post.

Danfulani, according to Odinkalu, was detained for many days before he was granted bail and later fired.
He mentioned amongst others, Nasiru Jagaba, a national youth leader of Southern Kaduna Peoples Union, who was arrested and faced prosecution for protesting against el-Rufai’s policies.

ADESINA SURRENDERS, SAYS 4 OF 6 TRUSTEES ALLOWED PETITION

‘I WOULD HAVE RESIGNED IF I WERE AKPATA ….’

BY EMEKA NWADIOKE

More insights have emerged from the recently concluded Nigerian Bar Association (NBA) Elections, even as former NBA presidential candidate, Mr. Dele Adesina SAN has finally thrown in the towel in his quest to have the election cancelled.

In a detailed statement titled “NIGERIAN BAR ASSOCIATION 2020 PRESIDENTIAL ELECTION: A MATTER OF JUSTICE, CHARACTER AND INTEGRITY,” Adesina revealed that four of NBA’s six trustees endorsed his petition, though the Board of Trustees fell shy of allowing his petition. His words: “Notwithstanding that the Board of Trustees of the NBA did not go the whole hog according to them “in the interest of the Association;” I nevertheless want to thank the four (4) members out of the six (6) for standing and upholding the truth on this matter.”

The former NBA General Secretary also stated that he would have “stepped-aside” and called for a re-run had he been declared winner under the same circumstances as NBA President, Mr. Olumide Akpata, saying: “If I were to be the product of the election that has now been adjudged to be fatally flawed, I would have honourably stepped-aside and call for a re-election. This is because character, honour and integrity are the hallmarks of leadership.”

While thanking his supporters for their steadfastness, Adesina however pledged to cooperate with other like-minded stakeholders to wrought electoral reforms within the Bar.

The full text of Adesina’s speech is below.

NIGERIAN BAR ASSOCIATION 2020 PRESIDENTIAL ELECTION: A MATTER OF JUSTICE CHARACTER AND INTEGRITY
BY DELE ADESINA, SAN, FCI Arb.

In my Petition dated August 2nd, 2020 to the Chairman, Board of Trustees of the Nigerian Bar Association, I drew attention to the flawed, illegal and unconstitutional process leading to the NBA Election of 29th – 30th of July, 2020 and the electronic fraud that characterised the Election proper. In that Petition, I stated inter alia that as a past Chairman of NBA Ikeja Branch, past General Secretary of the Association, a Life Member of the National Executive Committee and a Life Member of the Distinguished Body of Benchers in addition to other areas of responsibility that I have had the privilege to serve, I can lay claim to being one of the builders of the Association. Consequently, I will hate to see the Association destroyed or destabilised in any way or form. I also stated in that Petition that my participation in the affairs of the NBA is driven purely and absolutely by the desire to advance the interest and aspirations of the Association in particular and our beloved Profession in general.

In drawing attention to the serial violation of the provisions of the NBA Constitution, the cyber fraud perpetrated and the misuse and abuse of powers which I submitted characterised the election, I called for the cancellation of the Election. Recognising that if the election process is wrongful, illegal and unconstitutional, the product must suffer the same fate.

BOARD OF TRUSTEES – FINDINGS AND RECOMMENDATIONS

In a letter authored by the Chairman of the Board of Trustees, Dr. Olisa Agbakoba, SAN, dated 19th of August 2020, it was stated that: “although you have petitioned to us, we must be clear that we have no judicial authority to give direction to the NBA, our position in the circumstance is at best advisory. Nonetheless, we have read your Petition and noted that it raises many general and specific allegations in relation to the Elections…. The Trustees have given careful consideration and deeply reflected on your Petition and all the responses, in particular that of ECNBA. We note that the Elections were not perfect. We reviewed your Petition and note that it raises serious issues. Nonetheless our advice would be that the overall interest of the Bar should be paramount on the mind of every Nigerian Lawyer and to that extent, we urge that all Lawyers and no less the Candidates be mindful of the need to promote a cohesive, united and strong Bar. We regret that we are unable to advise that the election should be cancelled in the overall interest of the Bar.” The Trustees further noted that “our elections continue to present challenges going back to 2016 and strongly recommend that a major transformation of our electoral process and framework must be undertaking and we are happy to be assigned this very important responsibility…”

In an earlier letter dated 17th of August, 2020 (an unsigned letter which I received via my email from the Chairman) the Trustees stated that “Nonetheless, we have read your Petition and admit that it is not frivolous. The NBA 2020 Election was marred by irregularities. The ECNBA admitted that the election platform failed which is why they had to engage another I.T. Consultant. The ECNBA admitted that over 14,000 members could not vote which is an extremely high number. The ECNBA should have made provision to enable everyone to vote. This is an omission on their part. You have requested that the NBA 2020 Election be cancelled, but this will be unfair to those who have voted.”

The Letter continued: “the Trustees have given careful consideration and deeply reflected on the nature of advice to give. Our advice will be that the Bar should be paramount on the mind of every Nigerian Lawyer and to that extent, we urge that all Lawyers and no less the Candidates and in particular your good-self accept the Election with its inadequacies in good faith. We are very mindful in our advisory on the need to keep the Bar cohesive, united and strong.” The letter went further to state that “the Trustees are however disappointed that our Elections continue to present challenges going back to 2016 and strongly recommend that major transformation of our Electoral process and framework must be undertaken and we are happy to be assigned this very important responsibility.”

The following are evident from the decision of the Board of Trustees: First, the Petition was not frivolous; Second, the Petition raised serious general and specific allegations; Third, the ECNBA had no defence to the serious issues raised in the Petition; Four, since 2016, NBA Elections have been the subject of serious disputations for which they the Trustees were disappointed; Five, that a strong recommendation for a major transformation of our electoral process and framework should be undertaken; and Six, that the Board of Trustees are willing to undertake the job of electoral transformation of the NBA.

I know as a fact that all the members of the Board of Trustees agreed and were united on the specific findings that the Election was flawed and imperfect. All of them were also united in their desire to terminate the narrative of sham elections in the NBA since 2016, hence their willingness to undertake the responsibility of carrying out electoral transformation for the Association. They only differ on the consequences of their findings which is whether to direct an outright cancellation and order a fresh election, or direct a bye-election for the 14,000 voters that were disenfranchised, or allow the election to stand as it is.

I believe it is an attempt to marry these different outcomes that the Board of Trustees came to the advice that the overall interest of the Bar should be paramount on the mind of every Nigerian Lawyer. That the Board of Trustees urged all Lawyers including the Candidates of the need to promote a cohesive, united and strong Bar and that “the Board of Trustees regretted their inability to advice that the election be cancelled in the overall interest of the Bar.”

THE PETITION SUCCEDED

If my Petition will lead to the transformation of NBA electoral process that will free it from lawlessness, corrupt practices and other forms of cyber-crime for which NBA has become notably reputed since 2016 as promised by the Trustees, I will be satisfied. If my Petition will bring about a definite stop to a manipulated bi-annual electoral process with evidence of producing an appointed President or securing the election of a pre-determined President for the NBA and make votes count in future NBA Elections, I will be satisfied. If my Petition will enthrone respect for Rule of Law, respect for Due Process and stop misuse and abuse of power by a few individuals who believe that they must get what they want for the NBA and not what the NBA wants, I will be satisfied. If this Petition will inculcate and restore the glory, honour, honesty, dignity, integrity, moral and ethical principles on NBA leadership particularly its Presidents and make them do things right to re-establish the NBA as the conscience of the Nation once again, I will be more than satisfied.

As a Legal Practitioner of 38 years post-call and as a matter of practice and experience, I know that when allegation of facts succeeds in a civil claim and defence is held to have no probative value, granting of relief is automatic. When allegations of crime are proved in a criminal matter and defence is rejected, conviction also follows. In an Election Petition, where Grounds of Petition succeeds, such as it has been held by four (4) Trustees out of six (6) in this matter, setting aside of that election is a necessary consequence of the findings. However, in this case, the Board of Trustees have advised in spite of the seriousness of their findings that we accept the election in good faith because of the “need to keep the Bar cohesive, united and strong” in a typical Nigerian mentality.

Notwithstanding that the Board of Trustees of the NBA did not go the whole hog according to them “in the interest of the Association;” I nevertheless want to thank the four (4) members out of the six (6) for standing and upholding the truth on this matter. If I were to be the product of the election that has now been adjudged to be fatally flawed, I would have honourably stepped-aside and call for a re-election. This is because character, honour and integrity are the hallmarks of leadership. It must be particularly noted that we raised serious reservations in our letter of 7th of July, 2020 to the Electoral Committee against the serial breach of the provisions of the Constitution relating to the electoral process and the hap-hazard manner of handling the process, the secrecy surrounding the appointment of the I.T Consultant and the failure to demonstrate the process in order to ascertain the vulnerability and the integrity of the technology to be deployed for the election.

Similarly, Mr. Olumide Akpata also in a most vehement manner raised serious reservations in his letter of 20th of July, 2020, to the Electoral Committee. Both letters were sturdily disregarded and ignored by the ECNBA. Legitimacy is not only a product of popular acceptability, but it is also a product of legality and constitutionality. Indeed, popular acceptability will stand on nothing if there is no legal and constitutional legitimacy as you cannot build something on nothing and expect it to stand.

NIGERIAN BAR ASSOCIATION AND CULTURE OF IMPUNITY

The motto of NBA as enshrined in the Constitution of the Association is Promoting the Rule of Law. In his address to the Annual General Meeting of the NBA on 28th of August, 2020, Mr. Paul Usoro, SAN, said surprisingly “Whatever one may say about those elections, one thing that cannot be taken away from it is that that was the first ever of our National Elections where everyone was turned into Election monitors as well as electoral and returning officers all rolled into one …. For most of our members and based on the comments I have received, this was an exhilarating experience in transparency. The transparency was unparallel and we are expecting that subsequent Bar Elections will build on that quality of transparency.” My friend Mr. Paul Usoro certainly did not see what many others saw. He failed to realize that election is a process culminating with voting. He ought not to have directed his mind only to the voting process to the exclusion of the other various stages leading to the voting process.

Rule of Law in all its ramification presupposes that the Law is supreme and that everything must be done according to law and the law in this instance include the Constitution of the Nigerian Bar Association, 2015, as amended. It includes recognised practices and conventions that enthrone and guarantee Due Process as against arbitrariness, impunity, lawlessness, abuse of office and misuse of power as clearly demonstrated in the conduct of the just concluded 2020 National Officers Election. Transparency in relation to the just concluded Election exists only in the fertile imagination of the out-gone President.

The leaders of the Bar must come together and take decisive steps in other to restore the lost glory, honour and integrity of the Association. If we are complacent in doing this, life in its own way will force decisions on us. In 2016, they superintended over a rigged election which ended in Court. In 2018, they superintended over an election which ended in both civil suit and criminal charges in Court. The fact that the Court cases failed to achieve any success emboldened the perpetrators to go to higher levels of brazen impunity as witnessed in the 2020 Election.

The result of these reckless actions on the part of the few who have vowed to secure the appointment of NBA President through sham elections may be delayed but is never lost. However, it must be recognised by all our members that the character of any leader determines the character of the organisation that he leads and that everything rises and falls with leadership. It is not surprising that Nigerian Bar Association has contributed nothing to nation-building in the last few years. The Association has been stuck at the zero-ground level of low public esteem – in the words of a concerned member of the Bar. After all, anyone who will move the world must first move himself.

MOVING FORWARD

Like I said in my Statement of Tuesday, 25th August, 2020 and in my characteristic manner, “I was already planning to stop talking about what the devil has done regarding this election and begin to talk about what God will do in response to the uncountable appeals and persuasions from highly respected members of the Profession” including some of the members of the Board of Trustees that I hold in very high esteem. I am a builder and a peace-maker. I am never desperate about anything neither do I pursue anything at all cost. I have always allowed God to have His way and establish His will concerning me. My Christian faith teaches me the virtue not to cry behind a closed door to deprive myself the opportunity of seeing the seven doors that are wide open.

I want to plead with all sense of responsibility to all my friends, colleagues and supporters who worked so hard with me nationwide during the electioneering process, those whose votes were either diverted, suppressed, stolen or who were out rightly disenfranchised, and all fair-minded members of the Association who believe that enough is enough and that this Bi-Annual show of shame must stop by pursuing this case to its logical conclusion to please, let us put the July 2020 Presidential Election of the NBA behind us. I have strongly stood against going to Court in this matter despite serious pressure even though I am fully persuaded that simple Originating Summons will set aside this Election, judging by the faulty process that lead to the Election.

Like I have said several times, for me, the Presidency of the NBA is not an end in itself but a means to an end to secure the future of our Profession by strengthening the Association’s relevance to its members, by vigorously pursuing the defence and promotion of the Rule of Law in our Nation, by protecting, promoting and defending the independence of the Legal Profession in general and in particular the independence of Lawyers and Judges in the practice of their Profession and by taking pro-active efforts to change the negative perception about the Legal Profession by members of the public. This is the whole reason for my involvement in the process. It is to give service and I believe this does not warrant my going to court so that I can give. After all, despite the effort of the aggrieved members to the election fraud of 2018 which resulted in filing both civil suits and criminal charges in Court, the beneficiary of the election has just handed over few days ago. My decision to rest the case here is a product of a very careful consideration of all that I have stated above including in particular the fact that I am a peace maker and one of the builders of the Association with a view to preserving whatever is left of the Nigerian Bar Association. After all, “a living Dog is better than a dead Lion.”

EXPRESSION OF GRATITUDE

To all my colleagues both at the inner Bar and outer Bar, friends, members of various DASAN Committees, dedicated supporters and followers on various social media platforms, l once again wish to express my heartfelt gratitude and profound appreciation to each and everyone of you for the wonderful role you played in our attempt to re-position the Association by making it a positive catalyst for the Legal Profession and the development of our Nation. We were going there to change the ways and show the path to follow, to demonstrate the meaning of true leadership in purity, honesty of purpose and integrity.

Please note that we have built a strong bond of friendship, brotherhood and sisterhood thereby creating relationships and connections throughout the Nation. I urge you all to continue in this spirit of friendship and keep our connections active as we are all together in this journey of life and career fulfilment in the true spirit of being “our brother’s keeper.” Remember, love never gives up. It never loses faith. It is always hopeful and endures through every circumstance. Let us remain in love by keeping in touch with one another.

CONCLUSION

Let me conclude with the statement made by Barack Obama, former President of the United States of America, when he visited Japan. He got to Hiroshima and remembered the events of World War II and the destruction and devastation wrought on Hiroshima on August 6, 1945 and said: “We have a responsibility to look directly into history and ask: What must we do differently to achieve a better result?” I do hope that the Board of Trustees appreciates the need to do things differently henceforth in NBA; hence, their promise and willingness to accept responsibility for electoral transformation. I shall continue to join well-meaning members of the Association where I can on this restoration effort to rebuild our Association and repackage the image of our beloved Profession.

Dele Adesina, SAN, FCI Arb.
Dated Monday 31st August, 2020.

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