The Electoral Committee of the Nigerian Bar Association (ECNBA) has described the allegations fraud levelled against it by President of the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA) Mr. Yakubu C. Maikyau as baseless.

The Commitee in a letter addressed to the National Executive Committee of the NBA through the Bar President disclosed that: “during the NBA National Executive Committee (NEC) meeting held on Saturday, 26 August 2023 either alleged or insinuated that the ECNBA and/or service providers are involved or intend to defraud the NBA.”

The ECNBA in the 28 August 2023, letter signed by its Chair, ZAyodele Akintunde, SAN, Secretary, Mabel Ekeke Secretary and other members — Aisha Ado Abdullahi and Basil Udotai said: “The fundamental principle of natural justice is expressed in the Latin maxim audi alteram
partem. The ECNBA notes that at no time did Mr. President formally raise his allegations of fraud nor provide any particulars, let alone request for clarifications from the ECNBA regarding his fraud allegations.”

Stressing that “[T]he continued unjustifiable refusal of the NBA President to pay the sums requested by the ECNBA or table the matter for discussion and resolution by NEC will cause the NBA enormous reputational damage within a small community of expertise that provide the ICT services required for online elections. We know all the convincing we had to do before the service providers agreed to work with us because of their past experiences,” the Committee added: “It is not in doubt that NEC approved $15,000 USD for the services of the ECNBA’s ICT
service provider. Moreso, as this information was within the public domain. It is also not in doubt that the NBA failed, refused and or neglected to disburse the approved $15,000.00 USD till this day.”

According to the Commitee: “If the President had any reasonable request regarding the decisions made by the ECNBA in accepting to procure the services of its ICT provider, then he should have engaged the ECNBA directly, instead of attacking the ECNBA at the last NEC meeting without any justification and without giving the opportunity respond. The issues are so simple and straightforward, and it is unbelievable the way the NBA President has spined it.

“The financial activities of the ECNBA have been open and transparent and if the NBA President
or the NBA Secretariat had any question or query, we would have gladly provided them with
clarifications. Clearly, the NBA President was out of order with the unguarded statements and
allegations he made at the last NBA NEC meeting against the ECNBA and sincerely, he should
apologise to members of the ECNBA…”

Read the full content of the letter here.

As his cousin took over from him as leader, a desperate, deposed President Ali Bongo of Central African country of Gabon is calling on the Gabonese people and friends of the country to “make noise” to force the hand of soldiers who sacked his government on Wednesday.

Bongo’s plea to the public came in a video from house arrest as it emerged that his cousin, Col. Brice Clothaire Oligui Nguema, the commander-in-chief of the Gabonese Republican Guard – the country’s most powerful security unit, is his successor.

The latest victim of a military putsch on the continent, after Niger, Mali, and Burkina Faso is a source of worry to President Bola Tinubu of Nigeria, who has been finding a way to resolve the political logjam in Niger, sending a delegation of Islamic clerics to find negotiate a way to re-instate sacked President Mohamed Bazoum.

The military officers in Gabon accused Bongo of high treason, adding that other government officials and Bongo’s son, Nouredine Bongo, had been arrested.

They announced the power seizure shortly after the country’s electoral body named him a winner for a third term in office. The officers said the election results were falsified.

Bongo has been in power since 2009, when he succeeded his father, Omar Bongo, who ruled Gabon for 42 years.

Tinubu expressed concern over the coup with his spokesman, Ajuri Ngelale, telling State House correspondents in Abuja that his boss would consult other Heads of State and Government in the African Union to determine the way forward.

‘’President Bola Tinubu is watching closely with deep concern for the country’s social political stability and at the seeming autocratic contention apparently spreading across different regions of our beloved continent.

‘’The president as a man who has made significant sacrifices in his life in the course of advancing and defending democracy is of the belief that power belongs in the hands of Africa’s great people and not in the barrel of a loaded gun,’’ he said.

Ngelale added that the president affirmed that the rule of law and recourse to the constitutional resolutions and instruments of electoral dispute needed to be used in matters of democratic challenges.

‘’To this end, the President is working very closely and continues to communicate with other Heads of States in the African Union.

‘’This is towards a comprehensive consensus on the next steps forward with respect to how the power in Gabon will play out and how the continent will respond to contagious autocracy spreading across the continent,” he said.

Credits: Everyday.ng

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• NBA Treasurer appears to have been sidelined

On Tuesday 29th of August, 2023 TheNiche reporter —Jeffrey Agbo in a report re-published by Law & Society Magazine revealed that stakeholders within the Annual General Conference Planning Committee (AGCCPC) of the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA) were dissatisfied with the spending of N700 million in procuring conference bags, a customary feature of the AGC.

The report disclosed that the committee reportedly entered into an agreement to procure over 18,000 conference bags at a cost of about N334,800,000 (nearly $372,000).

Read Here: NBA AGC 2023: Stakeholders raise alarm over AGCCPC N700m expenditure on conference bags

As more and more stories from the NBA 700 million scandal unfolds, our sources confirmed that the Treasurer of the Association seems not to be aware of many financial details of the Association.

Our sources have it that the Treasurer’s core mandates of vetting, recommending and endorsing all financial memos have been fully hijacked by the President and General Secretary against several reports and official complaints from the Treasurer.

It was further revealed by one of our sources that just recently the President on 15th August, 2023 at the National Officers Meeting while responding to one out of the numerous complaints from the Treasurer stated unequivocally that “he does not require the Treasurer’s consent neither does he need to consult with her to take any financial decisions for the Association.”

Mr. President in citing Section 23(1)(c) of the Constitution of the NBA had argued that the Constitution gives him the right to use either the Secretary or Treasurer of the Association and if he chooses to use the Secretary alone to sign financial memos, how has he usurped the Treasurer’s mandate?

He was reported to have challenged the Treasurer to show him how he hijacked the finances of the Association and once that is done he is willing to apologise.

It remains a mystery that nobody has come out to respond to these weighty allegations on the part of the three principal members including the one made in the report published by TheNiche which indicted the current Chairman of the AGCCPC Mazi Afam Osigwe SAN.

It is also whispered in some quarters that the NBA National Treasurer is being punished for not being the choice candidate of the Cabal, and for her stringent, unpopular Constitutional views which challenges wrongdoings in the Secretariat and the Bar, her reports are doctored and presented to her to only append her signature.

According to our sources, in the past, the Treasurer seems to have stood her ground above board boldly speaking against many financial infractions.

Our sources also have it that members of staff of the Association received their allowance for the month of March, 2023 (Kebbi – NEC) from the Bank account of a fellow staff of the NBA.

The source equally claimed that the records of a donation of $50,000 (Fifty Thousand US Dollars), amongst other donations made to the Association is presently under contention.

Questions are also being asked whether some of the President’s aides and relatives double as staff of the Association.

By Desmond Ejibas

Women Leaders of ethnic nationalities in the Niger Delta have called on President Bola Tinubu to publish the report of the forensic audit of the Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC).

Ms Ann-Kio Briggs, Leader of the delegation made the call during an interactive meeting with the Managing Director of NDDC, Dr Samuel Ogbuku in Port Harcourt on Monday.

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports the women leaders were drawn from various ethnic organisations, civil society groups, community and faith-based organisations, market women and non-governmental organisations.

The forensic audit of NDDC was set up by President Muhammadu Buhari in 2021 to investigate the activities of NDDC from inception to August 2019.

But several months after the exercise was concluded, the government has maintained a sealed lips as to when the forensic report would be made available to Nigerians.

Briggs said the delayed publication of the report of forensic audit of NDDC was unacceptable especially as billions were spent to carry out the audit.

She said, “The women of the Niger Delta are not happy that the forensic audit report of the NDDC has not been published.

“We wish to remind President Bola Tinubu that the report of the forensic audit under the previous government is unacceptably unavailable to the public.

“Also, we can no longer ignore the fact that NDDC is owed huge monies running into billions and trillions of Naira,” she said.

Briggs said the continued delay in the release of the money had limited the ability of the commission to function optimally.

She said that women of the region have been painfully neglected despite standing with the men in the struggle for justice, equity, accountability, and development of the region.

“Suffice to add that the Niger Delta women have not had their rights in appointments, development, political and economic recognitions in all areas of government and regional building.

“The women have been neglected in the development of the region to commiserate with the efforts we have put in over the years.

“We, therefore, expect you (Ogbuku) to make the concerns of the women one of your priorities by ensuring that this engagement with us will yield better results,” she added.

The human rights activist commended the managing director for seeking partnership with International Oil Companies, developmental partners, and other government agencies to address challenges confronting the region.

Speaking, Ogbuku said the commission had concluded plans to initiate projects and programmes that would develop the capacity of women and youths of the region.

According to him, the commission was currently working on holding a Niger Delta Stakeholders Summit to address many of the challenges faced by the various groups, including women bodies.

“We want to give all our leaders, political, traditional, youths, women, and other leaders the platform and opportunity to discuss what our future should be.

“The women form the core of our development programmes. We have met and spoken with the youths, and now, it is the turn of our mothers.

“Women are critical stakeholders as part of the commission’s programme to engage with all stakeholders in the formulation of NDDC’s overall strategies for the region’s development,” he said.

Ogbuku said the summit would give women the opportunity to discuss their expectations for the future as well as provide other stakeholders the chance to contribute ideas for the region’s development.

“Similarly, stakeholders will use the opportunity to leverage on the 2023 budget – which, once signed, we should be able to agree on the areas of priorities on our current realities,” he added. (NAN)

For failure to declare their assets to the Code of Conduct Bureau (CCB), the Network Against Corruption and Trafficking Foundation (NACAT) has instituted an action at the Federal High Court, Abuja, against the Acting Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), Folashodun Shonubi and a Deputy Governor of the CBN, Edward Adamu.

Also joined as a defendant in the suit filed by the group’s legal counsel, Festus Keyamo Chambers, is the Chairman, of the Code of Conduct Bureau. 

The applicant premised the suit on the strength of Section 1(1) and (2) of the Freedom of Information (FOI) Act, 2011. 

Essentially, the group in the suit marked: FHC/ABJ/ CS/1182/2023 dated August 25, 2023, is requesting for the documents wherein Shonubi deliberately refused to declare interest in the following companies: Intameks Ltd– RC13086; Kirby’s Place Resources Ltd – RC1215845; The Pekaboo Company Ltd – RC1395011; Ehlkuhile Investment Ltd– RC857442; Iscopeng Ltd – RC1431044; and Kilima Technologies Ltd – RC1218250.

Independent

• As soldiers take over government in Gabon

Former Nigerian president Goodluck Jonathan has cautioned politicians not to think that it is safe and proper to take the masses for granted because they have power.

This is even dozens of soldiers appeared on Gabonese national television, announcing the cancellation of recent election results and the dissolution of “all the institutions of the republic.”

The coup is a sequel to the re-election of the 64-year-old President Ali Bongo Ondimba, for a third term, in an election the opposition described as a ‘fraud orchestrated’ by the ruling party.

On 26 July 2023, a coup d’état occurred in neigbouring Republic of the Niger when the country’s presidential guard detained president Mohamed Bazoum, and presidential guard commander general Abdourahamane Tchiani proclaimed himself the leader of a new military junta, shortly after confirming the coup a success.

The military takeover is the fifth successful coup in the West African nation’s history since it gained independence from France in 1960, with other unsuccessful attempts in between. Many supporters of the coup chanted pro-Russian slogans. Thousands of people took to the streets of Niger’s capital, Niamey, in a peaceful solidarity walk, backing the coup.

Ex-President Jonathan in a video on Facebook supposedly at a dinner held in Nigeria, from the faces captured, Jonathan warned that today’s society is way more sensitive than what obtained in the past.

He also advised powerful people like presidents, governors, and top security officials not to take the masses for a ride “because the society is changing” and that certain things powerful people used to get away with in the past have become very sensitive big issues today.

Jonathan also advised the power holders not to take advantage of the conservative nature of judiciary officials to squeeze or arm-twist them into doing their bidding.

In his admonition, he also noted that even the civil society organisations are more powerful and aware than ever before and their inputs should not be underrated or disregarded by the powerful politicians just because they are in power.

He cited the instance of an incident in Burkina Faso in the past to buttress his point.

He admonished:

“Let me use this opportunity to advise us who are politicians and those who are high up in the security service, that while we are doing the job, let us not because the judiciary is very conservative take advantage of that to blackmail or squeeze them.

Sometimes when we have political power we get blinded, like they said wisdom gets consumed in confidence. We bear the big names of presidents and governors, and we become blind, especially in the security services when we hold powerful positions. However, society is changing and we must admonish ourselves and blend in. And civil society is becoming very active and there are certain things we used to get away with that we will not get away with tomorrow.

If we take laws into our hands and try to squeeze society, the young people will react.

It happened when I was president in a sister country, Burkina Faso where their law provides that when the president is not there, the speaker of the parliament takes charge and manages the country because their law doesn’t provide for a vice president.

The president wanted to amend the law and go for a third tenure. In the thinking of the public and society, the speaker of the parliament was already comprised and would do the bidding of the president.

The young people of the country and civil society mobilised and marched in to kill the speaker of the parliament. They were overwhelming that the security forces couldn’t defend the speaker or stop the masses. The speaker ran away and the mob burned down the state parliament.

The mob moved from there to the president’s home. The president’s security squad which was even more powerful than the national army could not stop the masses movement, otherwise they would kill everybody.

The president ran to Cote d’Ivoire. The country went into a leadership quagmire. The constitution says that the speaker of parliament should take over in the absence of the president. Now, the speaker is on the run. The president is on the run. There was nobody to take over power and the military had to step in.

So we politicians in power should learn from this and not forget that things have changed so much and let us do everything based on the rule of law.”

Credits: Africachinapresscentre/Aljazeera

First Bank of Nigeria has admitted that N68m belonging to Italy-based customer, Glory Omokaro was withdrawn from her account.

The bank admitted the fraud case on Monday after the victim reported the case to the popular Radio Programme, Brekete Family.

First Bank said, “We confirm the report of fraudulent activity on the account of one of our customers. This incident has been undergoing a very robust investigation since our receipt of the customer’s complaint with the goal of holistically unearthing what transpired and addressing the challenge, including satisfying the customer. Unfortunately, this has taken longer than anticipated.

“While the investigation is ongoing, we have repaired the customer’s account given the findings so far and our view that this is the best action in consideration for our customer. We regret any inconveniences this may have caused the customer and wish to emphasize that this incident is in no way reflective of the principles and ethics of our time-tested operations.”

First Bank’s Statement on the Fraud Case

Omokaro had traveled to Italy in 2005. She returned in 2013 to visit her family and opened a savings account with First Bank at the Ring Road Branch in Benin City, Edo State.

When she traveled back to Italy, where she was based, Omokaro deposited money into the First Bank accounts and was allegedly in touch with the branch manager, Mr Gabriel.

In 2018, during another visit to Nigeria, the victim subscribed to the bank application to enable her to track her transactions from Italy.

She also applied for a debit card, which she used to perform transactions during her stay. When she returned to Italy, Glory said her account was not tampered with until 2021, when her ATM allegedly expired.

Glory contacted the same bank manager, Gabriel, to help renew her debit card. According to her, the manager gave her the option of sending someone or coming in person to renew the card.

Glory said due to Covid-19 restrictions, she could not return. However, she returned in May 2023 and visited the bank branch to withdraw and also renew her card.

She was told in the bank that she had no money in her account with the bank.

“I met customer care and I was told that I only have N3,000 in my account and not N68m,” Peter Uvieruve, who spoke for the victim said.

She said she requested for the bank statement but the bank declined to release the statement to her.

She, however, requested for the statement through a lawyer who wrote the bank. “The statement was released one week later,” Peter said.

“We discovered that on 13, October 2022, they moved N51.7m out of the account. They returned the money. We suspected that they were checking if she would complain. But she did not notice. After 24 days around November 2022, they withdrew three times from the account. The first was N9m, then N5m, N2m, and another N2m until it was left with N3,000.

“We contacted, EFCC said they were only after Yahoo boys for now. We contacted the DSS and they declined. The lawyer also started behaving as though he was compromised,” he said.

Credits: The Advocate