A woman, who allegedly defrauded Nigeria’s former Ambassador to India and others of N364, 072 million and $7 million, was brought before a Federal High Court in Lagos on Friday.

Blessing Ogwatta was arraigned by the Police Force Criminal Investigation Department (FCID) Annex, Alagbon-Ikoy, before Justice Nicholas Oweibo, on a five -count charge of conspiracy, obtaining under false pretence and stealing.

Ogwatta, a former Head of Logistics, Jezco Oil Nigeria Ltd, was alleged to have committed the offences alongside compliances on the run, between November 2012 and August 2019, at SPOG Petrochemical Ltd, Wharf, Apapa, Lagos.

Prosecution counsel Boniface Asogwa, a Deputy Commissioner of Police (DCP), alleged the defendant fraudulently obtained $7 million from Jezco Oil, under the pretext of using it for importation of base oil and purchase plots of land for the construction of a blending plant at Ibeju-Lekki for the aforesaid firm.

Instead, he alleged, the defendant fraudulently converted N7.5 million, part of $7 million, to her use, by buying land and building a residential house at Forthright Garden Estate Magbaro Obafemi Owode Local Government Area, Ogun State.

The court heard she allegedly fraudulently received N40 million, from one Ambassador Ndubuisi V. Amaku, for oil and gas business but ended up converting N27 million, part of the money to her personal use.

Ambassador Ndubuisi V. Amaku was the country’s envoy to India.

Asogwa, who is also the Officer-In-Charge of Legal Department of Force CID, Alagbon, Ikoyi, further told the judge that the defendant fraudulently obtained N44, 072 million from Emeka Okafor under the pretext of doing “Additive Importation Business” with him, but fraudulently converted N13 million part of the money to herself.

In another count, the defendant was alleged to have dishonestly stolen N18 million, part of a N262 million loan obtained by her employer, Jezco Oil Nigeria Limited, from a commercial bank.

The offences, according to the Prosecutor, contravened sections 8(3); 1(a); 1(c) and 1(3) of the Advanced Fee Fraud and other Section 390 (9) of the Criminal Act, 2004.

Mrs. Ogwatta pleaded not guilty.

Following her plea, DCP Asogwa applied for a trial date and prayed the court to remand Ogwatta in the custody of Nigerian Correctional Services (NCS) pending the determination of the charges.

But the defendant’s counsel, Mr. O. Fatoki, while not challenging the prosecutor’s application for a trial date, opposed the remand prayer.

Fatoki told the judge he had filed the defendant’s bail application and same had been served on the prosecutor, who had also responded.

In a bench ruling, the vacation judge admitted Ogwatta to bail in N10 million with two sureties in the like sum, among other terms

He remanded the defendant at the FCID, pending the fulfillment of the bail terms and adjourned till October 22, for trial.

Having contemplated the computerization of court proceedings over the years, the endorsement of virtual court proceedings by a Supreme Court ruling is wise as it has saved “our system of justice another catastrophic round of technical decisions around the constitutionality of virtual proceedings”, among other issues, according to Vice President Yemi Osinbajo, SAN.
 
The Vice President stated this on Thursday at a webinar on media coverage of virtual court proceedings in Nigeria, organized by the Gavel International Ltd.
 
According to Prof. Osinbajo, “we are at a point where at least we know that virtual hearings are legal. This means that the Supreme Court is satisfied that appropriate means can be found to ensure that hearings are public and that the press and indeed members of the public can access the proceedings.
 
“I think that an opportunity that this offers us is to get rid of this issue of technicality as much as possible. And I am so pleased that the Supreme Court did not even hesitate in saying that virtual proceedings are legal. It is really a breath of fresh air considering the ways that we tend to magnify the issue of technicality to the point where you wonder where justice is.”       
 
Continuing, the Vice President said “I am hoping that the opportunity we have in virtual proceedings will also be an opportunity to dispense with several of the unnecessary technical rules that we have in our adjectival law, laws of procedure, evidence and all that. And hopefully, we are able to get to the heart of trials and the heart of the matter such that we are buck down unnecessarily by technicality.”
 
BELOW IS THE FULL TEXT OF THE VICE PRESIDENT’S SPEECH:
 
SPEECH BY HIS EXCELLENCY, PROF. YEMI OSINBAJO, SAN, GCON, VICE PRESIDENT, FEDERAL REPUBLIC OF NIGERIA AT A WEBINAR ON MEDIA COVERAGE OF VIRTUAL COURT PROCEEDINGS IN NIGERIA ON THURSDAY 3RD SEPT. 2020
 
First let me thank my dear brother, Mustapha Ogunsakin, CEO of Gavel International for the kind invitation to participate in this important conversation on the questions around the reporting of virtual court proceedings. 
 
Reporting of court proceedings is a crucial exercise of the right to fair hearing, a cornerstone of which is that hearings must be held in public. How that right will be given full expression when court proceedings are within the encrypted confines of virtual platforms is really the subject of our conversion today.
 
The Attorneys General of Lagos and Ekiti States deserve our commendation for bringing the matter before the Supreme Court. They asked the court to determine whether having regard to the constitutional requirement that court proceedings, save for some exceptions, must be held in public and whether court hearings by the use of technology, by remote hearings of any kind, whether Zoom or WhatsApp, Microsoft Themes, Skype or any other audio-visual or video-conference platform are constitutional.
 
The Supreme Court while dismissing the suits themselves as premature and speculative nevertheless said that as things stood today virtual proceedings were Constitutional. This wise approach of the Court probably saved our system of justice another catastrophic round of technical decisions around the constitutionality of virtual proceedings.
 
It may also be cautiously taken as a signal that the Supreme Court expects the lower courts to go down this new path with as little attention to technicality as possible.
 
So, we are at a point where at least we know that virtual hearings are legal. This means that the Supreme Court is satisfied that appropriate means can be found to ensure that hearings are public, and that the press and indeed members of the public can access the proceedings.
 
The technical issues around this are straightforward enough. If for example, the Zoom platform is the preferred option, the host, the registrar of the court will simply invite the press by making available the relevant coordinates of the meeting to enable the press (not just the print media) log on to the proceedings.
 
Just as the physical court can only sit a determined number of persons so the virtual court, depending on the platform being used, would probably have a stated number of persons who can access the proceedings.
 
Practice directions may have to indicate how and in what order invitations would be issued especially to the public.
 
News Reporting today is of course no longer the preserve of traditional media. Every blogger, micro blogger and other social networking services are now entitled to describe themselves as the press. And I can say that they have the same constitutional protections as the traditional media would have, given that our definition of freedom of expression does not restrict this to the press as we understand that expression.
 
But this also means that all of the bloggers and micro bloggers and other social networking services are also subject to the same restrictions and liable to the same sanctions as the traditional media if they violate issues of confidentiality, avoidance of prejudging of cases, scandalizing witnesses, jeopardizing fair trials by media trials, and all of the various violations that are possible.
 
I think we are at an interesting place because in the past it was always the traditional media that could be sanctioned for violations but now it seems that practically everyone on social media who chooses to publicize the proceedings of a court will be subject to the restrictions that the traditional media have always had.
 
In 2018, a British court jailed, for 18 months, the chair of the UK legal defense league, Mr Stephen Yaxley-Lennon (Tommy Morrison). Now, here is a man who was broadcasting on social media outside of Crown Court in Leeds in the UK where a trial was taking place.
 
He was accused of broadcasting live, and within hours of this broadcast, over half a million people had viewed the broadcast, and the court felt that his actions could have cost it over hundreds of thousands of pounds in re-running the trial because of the prejudice that was introduced by reporting the case live, in the manner that he did.
 
Now, the questions here are; where are the limits to the sort of reporting that will take place? Because when you have virtual recording such as we have here, actually recording can be controlled by the host but it is possible for anyone to record with another device and broadcast it on social media. Now, these types of situations are what practice directions may have to address.
 
Clearly, no one is allowed, except with permission, to publish proceedings of the court but we really need to determine how this will work. We need to ask the relevant questions, and I think that in developing this practice direction, the media has to very quickly occupy the space, so that the courts do not, without adequate information, and sensitivity to the rights of the press, develop a set of practice direction that create more trouble than they are designed to solve.  
 
This is one of the reasons why these sorts of conversations are important, because I hope that the proceedings of our conversation here will go possibly to the Supreme Court and to the Chief Judges of our courts so that they get a sense of what needs to be done by way of practice direction and what the problems may be.
 
Just by way of the sort of consideration that the media ought to have in reporting virtual proceedings, of course, there are system requirements that have to be looked into. It is not enough for one to simply say that he or she has access, we have to look at all the system requirements. What I have found, in the past few months where I have been involved in quite a few zoom meetings, webex meetings and all of these different platforms, is that very often, if the devices on either side are not adequate or the bandwidth is not adequate, the whole thing becomes a mess and it is impossible to actually get the best quality.
 
I think it is also important that there should be some kind of standardization so as to ensure that the equipment that are used are the right kind of equipment that should be used for this virtual court proceedings.
 
By and large, my belief is that we are at a very interesting place in court proceedings, we have all been talking for years about computerizing our court proceedings (e-filing etc.), no one knew that we will quickly come to the place that we are in today. So, in some sense, it’s thanks to COVID-19, we have been very quickly dragged to the virtual space, and it is a good thing that it is the case.
 
One of the questions I would want to ask is, what type of platform will really serve our purposes in court proceedings? I know that several people already use virtual platforms for arbitration but for purposes of trials, I am not so sure these sorts of platforms are the best. This is because we have to look at situations if we are examining witnesses, we are showing them documents. What happens in those situations? Do we suspend some of the rules of evidence or some of the rules of procedure? How does a photocopy of a document look, virtually? If you show me an original document virtually, is it still an original document or it’s just a copy of the original?
 
So, there are issues that we need to resolve. We need to resolve several issues of procedure and evidence, so that we are better able to navigate these proceedings in a manner that not only serves the ends of justice but also in some obedience to the law.  
 
I think that an opportunity that this offers us is to get rid of this issue of technicality as much as possible. And I am so pleased that the Supreme Court did not even hesitate in saying that virtual proceedings are legal. It is really a breath of fresh air considering the ways that we tend to magnify the issue of technicality to the point where you wonder where justice is.       
 
I am hoping that the opportunity we have in virtual proceedings will also be an opportunity to dispense with several of the unnecessary technical rules that we have in our adjectival law, laws of procedure, evidence and all that. And hopefully we are able to get to the heart of trials and the heart of the matter such that we are bugged down unnecessarily by technicality.
 
So, I will end it by saying again, my thanks to the Gavel International for putting this very important conversation together. And I hope that this won’t be the last of this kind of conversation especially around virtual court proceedings and because the implications for our procedural laws are so broad and deep that we must certainly engage even much deeper in order to be able to arrive at a system that will work especially for the ends of justice.  

Everyday

▪︎give govt 5-day ultimatum to reverse decisions

By Richard Akintade, Osogbo

A coalition of Civil Society Organisations in Osun State on Friday staged a protest against fuel price and electricity tariff hikes in Osogbo, the state capital.

The protest affected commercial activities in the state due to the traffic gridlock as protesters blocked all major streets in Osogbo.

The protesters moved from the popularly Nelson Mandela Freedom Park through Oke-fia to the popular Olaiya Junction in Osogbo.

According to the protesters led by Comrade Waheed Lawal, “approval of the new electricity tariff and increment in the pump price of petrol are the highest levels of insensitivity, inhumaneness and wickedness from tge President Muhammad Buhari- led administration.

“We are now giving Mr President five day- ultimatum to reverse the increment on both the electricity tariff and petrol price.”

Meanwhile, some motorists who spoke with our correspondent in Osogbo condemned the increase of fuel price and electricity tariff by the President, saying it was uncalled for at this point in time.

“President Buhari must pity the masses most especially the period we have all passed through since March this year over the COVID-19 19 pandemic from which everybody is just settling  down (trying to adjust, readjust and refocus).

“The All Progressive Congress, APC-led administration in the country has disappointed the entire people with the hardship inflicted by President Buhari.

“He should help us to reverse the increase as a matter of urgency if he knows he is the people’s leader” they concluded.

Theconclaveng

Nigeria has won its case against the Process & Industrial Developments Limited and will no longer pay the $9 billion judgment debt.

In August 2019, a British judge had ordered the Nigerian government to pay $9 billion in assets to the firm.

The P&ID had reached a deal with the Nigerian government in 2010 to build a natural gas plant – but the deal fell through two years later.

The firm had then sued the government for failing to provide the gas or install the pipelines it had promised to build.

The firm was first awarded $6.6bn (£5.4bn) in 2017, but the London court added $2.4bn in interest.

In a judgment on Friday, Judge Ross Cranston of the High Court of Justice Queen’s Bench Division Commercial Court, London, United Kingdom, granted Nigeria’s applications for an extension of time and relief from the sanctions.

He held that P&ID “has contributed to the delay, and it will not by reason of the delay suffer irremediable prejudice in addition to the mere loss of time if the application is permitted to proceed.”

“Although not a primary factor, fairness in the broadest sense favours an extension in this case,” the judge added.

Meanwhile, the Attorney-General and Minister of Justice, Abubakar Malami, in a statement  in Abuja on Friday, said the court had granted Nigeria’s application for an extension of time and relief from sanctions due to the exceptional circumstances where the government had uncovered evidence of massive fraud in procuring the award.

Malami said the Court heard evidence from the government and the offshore shell company P&ID in relation to the gas supply and processing agreement (GSPA).

This agreement was entered into by the parties 10 years ago and which was never performed.

He said the Buhari-led administration, having inherited the dispute from the previous administration, only recently uncovered evidence that the GSPA was a sham commercial deal.

This was designed to fail from the start, and that its subsequent arbitral award was based on fraud and corruption.

He said the government relied on a number of ongoing investigations across multiple jurisdictions, including the UK, to build its case.

He said that the government would proceed to a full trial of the issues, where government’s substantive application to finally set aside the award would be
heard.

He added that the government of Nigeria was pleased with the outcome from the
High Court hearing.

“This is a major victory in our ongoing fight against the vulture-fund-backed P&ID, to overturn the injustice of the multi-billion dollar arbitral award.

“In light of the new and substantive evidence presented regarding P&ID’s fraudulent and corrupt activities, the Court has granted our application for an extension of time to hear our challenge out of normal time limits.

The Federal Government will now proceed to a full hearing of our fraud challenge in the coming months,” he said.

(Additional information from NAN)

By Martin Paul, Abyja

The Federal Government has reviewed the nationwide curfew imposed to checkmate spread of COVID-19 in the country.

The restriction will now commence from 12.00AM – 4.00AM.

National Coordinator of the Presidential Taskforce on COVID-19, Dr Sani Aliyu, disclosed this during a briefing at the Nnamdi Azikwe International Airport, Abuja, on Thursday.

“I will first of all start with general movement. We are modifying the curfew to commence from 12 midnight to 4.00AM nationwide, effective from 12:00 tonight “This does not apply to people on essential services and international travellers that might be returning from abroad”.

Similarly, the Federal Government announced the reopening of the National  Youth Service Corps (NYSC) orientation camps nationwide.

 “For the National Youth Service Corps, the NYSC is to consolidate on safety measures currently being put in place and start preparing for the reopening of orientation camps when educational institutions open.https://galleria.com.ng/pushgalleriaads?q=201&i=56&ho=dailyasset.ng

“We are in the process of developing strict guidelines to ensure there is no outbreak of COVID-19 when the process starts”, he said.

A nationwide curfew was imposed on May 4, 2020 from 6.00PM- to 8.00AM. It was later reviewed from 10pm-4.00AM on June 1.

Int’l Flights Resume at Abuja, Lagos Airports

Meanwhile, the Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA) has directed that only Murtala Muhammed International Airport, Lagos, and Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport, Abuja would be opened September 5 for international flights.

NCAA, which issued advisory to airlines in conjunction with the Nigerian Airspace Management Agency (NAMA), stated that other airports would be informed when to re-open.

It stated this in a circular to all Aviation stakeholders and the foreign airlines flying into Nigeria..

The ‘All Operators Letter’ with reference number NCAA/AIR/11/16/225, signed by the Director-General, Captain Musa Nuhu reads:

“Following the announcement by the Presidential Task Force (PTF) on COVID-19 on the partial resumption of international flights, we wish to inform the industry of the following: Murtala Muhammed International Airport, Lagos, (DNMM) and Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport, Abuja (DNAA) will resume international operations effective 00.01z on 5th September 2020.

“Other international airports in the country will not be reopened immediately for international flights resumption as the NCAA circular further said.

 “ Other International Airports, namely: Mallam Aminu Kano International Airport, Kano (DKNN), Port Harcourt International Airport, Omagwa (DNPO) and the newly reopened Akanu Ibiam International Airport, Enugu (DNEN) will remain closed to international flights until a new date is determined and announced.”

Meanwhile, NAMA, Managing Director, Captain Fola Akinkuotu, while speaking about the ‘Notice To Airmen’ (NOTAM) issued to airlines said: “The NOTAM was issued immediately we received the circular from the NCAA yesterday. The NOTAM takes effect from the hour 0001 UTC on the 5th of September”.

dailyasset

Justice Taiwo Taiwo of the Federal High Court, Abuja on Thursday, implored journalists to be unbiased in covering proceedings in the alleged money laundering case against Ochuko Momoh and five others.

Momoh is the wife of former Managing Director of the Pipelines and Products Marketing Company (PPMC), Haruna Momoh.

The judge stressed the need to report cases accurately and desist from publishing sensational and misleading information which may affect the defendants’ right to fair hearing.

The judge made the appeal after defence lawyers, Mr Ade Adedeji,SAN, and Mr Friday Onoja drew the attention of the court to some media reports which according to them, misrepresented facts in the case.

Adedeji told the court that one of the issues misrepresented from the last sitting was that the first prosecution witness never mentioned anything about 50 bank accounts belonging to the first defendant as was reported in the media.

He added that the witness also did not say anything about the children of the first defendant maintaining accounts to which money was paid.

The judge directed the lawyer to file an affidavit attaching the publications that misrepresented facts in the case and give same to the prosecution.

He further cautioned the media to exercise restraint and professionalism in reporting proceedings in the case.

“I have not read the newspapers in question and therefore cannot say anything for now. Kindly do an affidavit and attach the newspapers.”

“Journalists are members of the fourth estate of the realm and they have constitutional duties to report matters of public interest.”

“I cannot stop them, but I will kindly appeal to them to always balance their reports in an objective manner.”

Momoh and other defendants; Blessing Azuka-Agozi, StanbicIBTC Bank Plc, Energopol Nig. Limited, Blaid Construction Limited and Blaid Farms Limited are being prosecuted by the Independent Corrupt Practices and other related offences Commission (ICPC).

They are being prosecuted on charges bordering on fraud to the tune of N2 billion.

Momoh is also accused of refusing to honour ICPC investigators’ invitation.

Azuka-Agozi was also alleged to have, while serving as the Company Secretary of Energopol Nig Ltd, reneged in 2016 on her pledge to provide ICPC’s investigators with documents.

Stanbic IBTC was accused of failing to report suspicious transactions in the accounts of Blaid Construction and Blaid Farms to the relevant authorities as required by law.

Both women pleaded not guilty when the charges was read to them and the court recorded a not guilty plea for the four companies.

The judge adjourned the matter until Oct. 28 and Oct. 29.