The Governor of Kano State, Alhaji Abba Yusuf has vowed to resurrect murder case of 5-year-old school girl, Hanifa Abubakar killed by her proprietor, Abdulmalik Tanko with the intent to follow case to a logical conclusion.

The Governor made this known during an event to commemorate the 2024 International Children’s Day Celebration in Kano on Monday.

Recall that a Kano State High Court has sentenced Tanko and his accomplice, Hashimu Ishyaku to death by hanging.

He however, vowed to ensure the deceased school girl get justice.

Governor Yusuf continued when he said the state is on the verge of declaring state of Emergency on Education to ensure quality education for children in the state.

“When we say State of emergency, we mean holistic approach such as free education, renovation of dilapidated schools and infrastructures among others to ensure quality education.”

The Governor also promised that in no distance time it will introduce free school feeding and free uniforms for school children between Primary one to three in the state.

Earlier, the State’s Commissioner for Women, Children and Disable, Hajiya Aisha Lawan, commended the Governor for his initiatives (free education for primary and secondary students as well as slashing of school fees by 50 per cent for tertiary students) with the aim to improve their Education.

On her part, the Speaker of the Children’s Parliament in Kano state, Hauwa Ibrahim called on the state Government to implement Child right act for the well being of Children in the state.

Vanguard

A Lagos based woman, Lola Muniratu Disu and her son, Ahmed Olasunkanmi Disu have been remanded at the Kirikiri Correctional Centre for allegedly stealing office property value at over N122milion belonging to Uccas Resources Ltd.

Justice Abimbola Awogboro of the Federal High Court, Lagos ordered their remand following their arraignment by the Police on a 14 count charge of stealing.

In the charge, the  Police alleged that Lola, Ahmed and others at large on June 25, 2021 at No 16 Lagos-Abeokuta Expressway, Magboro Bus Stop, Ikeja Lagos, conspired amongst themselves to steal the property belonging to Uccas Resources Ltd represented by it’s Managing Director, Ukata Christian.

The duo were also alleged to have forged a court order with the inscription ‘possession taken by court order on June 25, 2021’ with the intent that it would be used against Uccas Resources Ltd and its Managing Director, Ukata Christian .

Some of the property the defendants allegedly stolen from different sections of the company office,  include computers, office chairs and table, air- conditioners, printers, scanners, copiers, industrial water filters, heaps of undistributed copies of cargo news publication , confidential documents, midgets, internet routers, 2.9kva generator, fans etc.

One of the charges read: ”That you, Lola Muniratu Disu ‘f’, Ahmed Olasunkanmi Disu ‘m’, on the same date, time and place, within the aforesaid Judicial Division, did steal office properties of the Reception Desk: (a) reception tables with drawers valued .N650,000.00 (b) reception chairs valued N71,000.00 (c) Computer (CPU, monitor and printer; all HP Pavilion Tower Computers) (10 generation intel core, 17, 1.8GHZ):dual storage drive 256 (GB) valued N861,000.00 (d) HP 5 in 1 printer, scanner and copier valued N73,000.00 (e) Intercom connected to all offices:receiver valued N5,000 (f) office main line 012916425 (with handset) valued N45,000.00 (g) visitors memo booklet valued N700.00, total value of properties amount to N1,705700.00, property of Uccas Resources Ltd, represented by Ukata Christian, the MD/CEO.

Another charge reads: “That you, Lola Muniratu Disu ‘f’, Ahmed Olasunkanmi_ Disu ‘m’ on the same date, time and place, within the aforesaid Judicial Division, did steal office properties of the Marketing Cubicle Office: (a) Black table (folded with leather) and chair valued N210,000.00 (b) Computer (CPU, monitor & printer)-all HP Pavilion Tower computers general intel core, 17, 1.8-GHZ), dual storage drive 256GB valued N861; 000.00 (c) Printer HP 5 in 1 Printer, Scanner & Copier valued N73,000.00; Intercom receiver  valued N5,000 (d) Black table (folded leather and chair) valued. N210, 000.00, Computer (CPU, monitor & printer) all HP Pavilion Tower Computers: (10th general intel core, 17, 1.8 GHZ), dual storage drive 256GB valued N861,00; (c)-Printer HP S in 1 Printer, Scanner & Copier valued N73,000.00; intercom receiver valued N5,000; giant stainless industrial water filtration imported ‘from China -valued $33,000 US Dollars, on behalf of OK Food — Ibadan, equivalent to N24,750, 000.00.

The offences according to the Police are punishable under Section Section 390 (8)(c)&(9) of the, Criminal Code, Cap. C38, Laws of the Federation of Nigeria, 2004 (as amended).

After the defendants pleaded not guilty to the charges, Justice Awogboro proceeded to remanded them in prison pending the hearing and determination of their bail application.

Hearing for their bail applications has been slated for tomorrow May 29, 2024.

By Joy Ezeilo, SAN

Happy Children’s Day!
As we commemorate yet another day of the year 2024 dedicated to children, I can’t help but reflect on the situation of Nigerian children. Unsafe schools and school abductions constantly threaten their fundamental rights to survival and development. This issue came to the forefront in 2014 with the kidnapping of the Chibok girls. Since then, our schools, streets, cities, and communities have become crime scenes, with children paying the ultimate price and being denied the right to grow up in a secure and loving environment. Child hawking, child labour, child trafficking, child marriage, and child abuse and neglect continue to occur without being effectively addressed.

On Children’s Day, I want to take a moment to think about girls who are victims or survivors of early and forced marriage. The recent reports of marriage sponsorship in Niger state lack details about whether those affected are under 18 years old. Undoubtedly, child marriage undermines the well-being and growth of girls, leading to a cycle of poverty, inequality, gender disparity, and violence, mainly targeting girls and women. When I talk to young people, I always say to them, “Education First, Marriage and Sex Much Later”.

It is unfortunate that despite Nigeria’s status as a State Party to the globally ratified Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC) and the African Charter on the Rights and Welfare of the Child, and despite domesticating the CRC in the Child’s Rights Act and laws of almost all the states of the federation, Nigeria continues to breach its obligation to protect, enforce, and fulfill children’s rights. Of utmost importance are the rights to education, protection from all forms of exploitation, adoption of a minimum age for marriage, and consent to marriage when of an appropriate age, in line with international best practices.

Considering this and other recent happenings opposed to children’s advancement in Nigeria, all actors and non-actors must take accountability seriously by specifically leading actions to ensure the effective implementation of the extant laws on children’s rights 

All children in society, especially the most vulnerable children – street children, children with disabilities, children from poor economic backgrounds, rural children, and those living on the margins of urban cities – deserve a childhood free from hunger, pain, hate, or any harm. They deserve a childhood where their innocent curiosity is nurtured and not exploited and where they are not constantly at risk of becoming victims of insecurity, violence, harmful practices, and worsening economic hardship.

All hands must be on deck to safeguard the next generation and ensure their best interests are prioritized in all circumstances.

Happy Children’s Day!

Prof Joy Ngozi Ezeilo SAN, OON

A High Court of Kano state has made an order directing Alhaji Aminu Ado Bayero to desist from parading as the Emir of Kano State.

Hon. Justice A. Adamu Aliyu in the order which directed four other defendants to stop from parading themselves as the Emirs of Bichi, Gyaya, Rano and Karaye pending the determination of the Motion on Notice filed by the Attorney General of Kano State, Speaker, kano State House of Assembly and Kano State House of Assembly, also ordered the Commissioner of Police Kano State to take over the palace immediately.

The order was made on Monday 27 May, 2024.

By  Sodeeq Atanda

The ongoing inflammatory atmosphere in Kano State over the dethronement and re-enthronement of Kano Emirs drew much of its strength from a judicial intervention halting the execution of a new law enacted by the Kano State House of Assembly on Thursday.

Justice Abdullah Muhammad Liman of the Federal High Court, Kano Division, had issued an interim injunction preventing the state government from dethroning all the five emirs in Kano, who derived their powers from the Kano Emirate Council Law of 2019. The judge ordered that the status quo be maintained.

Some legal practitioners have questioned the legitimacy of the judge assuming jurisdiction over a chieftaincy matter that is lawfully within the purview of state high courts alone.

Notwithstanding the order, the Abba Kabir Yuasuf-led state government moved ahead to dethrone the five emirs and re-instal Muhammad Sanusi, previously sacked in 2020, as the emir under one Kano Emirate Council.

Shortly after giving Sanusi his reappointment letter, Yusuf claimed that the judge was still in the United States when he issued the order. Describing the order as an abuse, Yusuf threatened to report Liman to the Nigerian Governors Forum.

“The person that issued the court order was in America but he is ordering us to stop what we are doing. This issue of abuse I must present it before the Governor’s Forum so that we can tackle it accordingly,” said the governor. “We are agents of following due process, that’s why we did what we did openly before everybody. Those that are meant to maintain that rule of law remains must follow that also.”

Over the years, however, Liman’s judgements and judicial actions have become a public issue, with some people accusing him of corruption and professional misconduct. He has spent some of his professional life defending such accusations and coming out unhurt. The National Judicial Council (NJC) recently dismissed a petition against him.

Below are some of his recent decisions that have attracted negative public reactions.

MICHAEL IGBINEDION’S N25B CORRUPTION CASE

In April 2015, Liman presided over a corruption case involving Michael Igbinedion, a younger brother to Lucky Igbinedion, a former Edo State governor, who had been accused of laundering N25 billion of state funds. Patrick Eboigbodin was the ex-governor’s brother’s co-defendant in the matter.

Liman was then sitting at the Edo division of the Federal High Court. He convicted Michael over three counts out of the 81-count charge preferred against him by prosecutors from the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC). Michael was permitted to pay a fine of N1 million for each of the three counts rather than spend two years in jail.

Curiously, Liman denied Eboigbodin, a former aide to the former governor, the option of fine after finding him guilty on 10 counts. Not only was he sent to 20 years imprisonment, the judge further ordered him to pay a compulsory fine of N250,000. His conviction caused some Nigerians to ask why a principal criminal was allowed a fine and the co-offender wasn’t given such a fine. The fines were also considered ridiculous compared to how much they stole.

2016 DSS ARREST

In 2016, the Department of State Service (DSS) went all out arresting serving judges on account of sharp practices. In the ensuing exchange of words, the secret police claimed that Liman had $2 million cash suspected to be illicit money in his residence in Port Harcourt.

Nyesom Wike, then governor of Rivers State, successfully prevented the operatives from arresting Liman.

Hours after, the Nasarawa-born judge issued a rebuttal, claiming that the DSS missed their target and that he had never had such money in his life. He said he could “have abandoned this horrible profession that has lost its dignity” if he had such money. He admitted that he had a “notoriety for delivering controversial judgements; because the cases are also controversial and the stakes probably very high”.

PETITION BY PETERS OMORAGBON

In 2022, Peters Osawaru Omoragbon, the governorship candidate of the National Conscience Party (NCP) in the Edo State 2020 governorship election, publicly accused Liman of “misconduct and dereliction of duty.”

Omoragbon initiated a case before Liman’s court in Edo State in May 2020 against the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), and a ruling was subsequently fixed for December of the same year. According to Omoragbon, the said ruling had not been delivered more than one year after.

Omoragbon’s statement published by Vanguard read in part: “A case of misconduct and dereliction of duty against Honourable Justice M. Liman of the Federal High Court, Kano Division (formerly of the Federal High Court, Lagos Division) dated January 3rd, 2022 by Pastor Peters Omoragbon, Gubernatorial Candidate of the National Conscience Party at the 2020 Edo State Governorship Elections.

“The National Conscience Party instituted an Independent legal dispute against INEC and the AG of the Federal Republic of Nigeria on May 5, 2020, through Originating Summons with an Affidavit of Urgency. This case was not heard until October 13, 2020, where all the parties adopted their written submissions and judgement reserved till December 18, 2020.

Even though the bureaucratic bottlenecks constituted a stumbling block to my aspiration as Governor in the Edo State Elections, I was very hopeful that no matter the undue delay, justice would eventually be served. It must be recalled that prior to the Edo State Governorship elections in 2020, INEC had ignominiously deregistered some political parties including the NCP. This led to a series of legal disputes against the INEC and judgement awarded against INEC, some of which are pending rulings at the Supreme Court.”

Ladies and gentlemen of the Press, as at today January 3rd, 2022, the ruling that was to be given on December 18, 2020, is yet to be delivered by Justice M. Liman. I am constrained by circumstances beyond my control to call this press conference over the deliberate act of dereliction of duty by Honourable Justice M. Liman over the legal dispute instituted by our Party, the National Conscience Party against INEC and the Attorney General of the Federal Republic of Nigeria.

It was in the light of this abuse of office that I directed my Legal Team led by Barrister Marcus Eyarhono Esq to formally petition Justice M. Liman to the National Judicial Council for his dereliction of duty.

GANDUJE’S CORRUPTION CASE

In 2023, the Kano Public Complaint and Anti Corruption Commission was making plans to criminally sue Abdullahi Ganduje, a former governor of Kano State and now the national chairman of the All Progressives Congress (APC), over bribery allegations.

Daily Nigerian had published a video of Ganduje stashing dollar bundles suspected to be bribes collected from a contractor into his attire in 2018.

However, the same judge granted an all-encompassing interim restraining order following an ex-parte application to stop the state anti-corruption agency “from harassing, arresting, inviting, or detaining the Applicant (Ganduje) or his children, or any member of his family, or any appointee who served under his administration, or forcefully taking over properties of his children or any member of his family, or any appointee who served under his administration, pending the hearing and determination of the substantive originating motion”.

GANDUJE’S SUSPENSION

Two factions of the APC in Kano State suspended Ganduje from the party earlier this year. Both factions claimed that Ganduje was unfit to lead the party again, situating reasons for the suspension on the bribery allegations against him.

“We the leaders of the APC in the Ganduje ward, Dwakin-Tofa Local Government engaged in thorough deliberations and subsequently decided to suspend the erstwhile governor of Kano State, Abdullahi Ganduje, in light of the allegations of bribery involving foreign currency. It has come to our attention that Ganduje has been summoned to court to answer for these accusations, a development that we believe could besmirch the reputation of our esteemed political party,” Haladu Gwaju, the ward legal adviser, said on April 15.

“Because of this, we have reached a resolution to pass a vote of no-confidence on Ganduje and to collectively on behalf of all executive members of the APC in Ganduje ward, Dawakin Tofa to suspend him until he clears his name and that of his family in court.”

A week later, another faction led by Jaafar Adamu, issued another fresh suspension notice to Ganduje. However, a faction led by Ahmad Ganduje, threw its weight behind the former governor.

In trying to calm the political storm, Ganduje approached Liman’s court, and the judge issued a protective order in his favour. This was despite the fact that a state high court had earlier upheld the suspension.

Liman, who became a judicial officer on July 28, 2000, was born on February 11, 1959. Currently 65 years of age, he recently enjoyed the nod of the NJC to be elevated to the Court of Appeal.

Chidi Anselm Odinkalu, a legal practitioner and teacher, has faulted his appointment, however. He argued that, being less than five years to the 70-year retirement age for judicial officers, Liman was unqualified for the position.

But for the headline that was altered and the cover photograph, this article was originally published by Foundation For Investigative Journalism on 25 May, 2024.

By Sonnie Ekwowusi

It is sad that the Nigerian democracy has been churning out undisciplined rabble and entrusting them with the sacred duty of governing the affairs of their fellow men and women. Whether we admit it or not, Kakistocracy (government by the least suitable or incompetent citizens) has triumphed in the land. This tragedy cannot lead to human flourishing. Until we reinvent Nigerian democracy or refashion it to suit our peculiar circumstances, we are simply wasting our time by creating opportunities for those who would steal political power and wreak havoc on the country.

If Nigerian democracy must yield the so-called democratic dividend, then it must have a national character that establishes the parameters and moral high ground on which it should operate to promote the well-being of the people. Devoid of character, politics and political activities in Nigeria, in the words of Frederic Bastiat, the French political economist and philosopher, are legalized plunder.

In all democracies, especially in presidential democracies, sovereignty resides with the people. At periodic elections and through other intervening periods, the people determine who should govern them and how they should be governed. Unfortunately, in Nigerian democracy, the reverse is the case: the people are at the receiving end, and mostly unfit leaders determine how they should be governed. Worse still, the people’s votes do not always count at periodic elections.

Democracy rests on many assumptions. One of those assumptions is that men have enough wisdom and virtue to pursue the promotion of the welfare of the people. However, viewed against the backdrop of history, men often lack the necessary wisdom and virtue to achieve this goal. Democracy is challenged from within by sheer ignorance and the pursuit of personal interests at the expense of the common good and welfare of the people.

Plato, in particular, was hostile to democracy because he feared that such powers and institutions would be imperiled under the watch of men with unruly passions and appetites. In his often-cited classic work, ‘Democracy in America’, French political scientist, historian, and diplomat. Alexis de Tocqueville writes that democracy bereft of equality of conditions is bound to gravitate towards despotism. To these thinkers, democracy is not synonymous with instant political and economic prosperity. That democracy liberates all men assumes that there are political leaders with high moral principles ready to navigate democracy to a safe harbor. Unfortunately, most democracies, including the Nigerian democracy, are not run by men with high ethical principles.

If Nigerian democracy is to yield democratic dividends, those communally binding ideals must hold sway. Alexis de Tocqueville once stated that a country cannot escape destruction if the moral tie is not strengthened in proportion to the political tie. Simply put, if we want to strengthen our democracy in Nigeria, we must first strengthen the moral tie because the latter gives rise to the former. In her essay, ‘A Disposition of Delight,’ Elizabeth Covey, an assistant professor of political science in the Honors College at Baylor University, writes that when the religious and social traditions of society wither, we are left “with nothing but a dry and gritty residue.”

We should understand that the political enterprise is not an end in itself; it is a process to render service to the people and promote the common good. The separation of culture from politics or public life in Nigeria has led to a palpable moral bankruptcy that has been hindering progress over the years. We say we are a democratic society, yet we have been steadily excluding from our policies those cherished values that make democracy thrive and lead to human flourishing. Gradually, we are building a country of people who may be materially rich but who are culturally very poor.

Totalitarianism is present in constitutional democracy as much as it is in military despotism. Simply put,