Sen. Ifeanyi Ubah, on Monday, told the Federal High Court, Abuja, how he received the news of alleged court judgment that purportedly ordered his dismissal as a senator representing Anambra South Senatorial District.

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that Obinna Uzoh, a Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) chieftain, and his lawyer, Eziafa Enwedo, along three others, were arraigned by the Federal Government (FG) for allegedly using a forged originating summons and court processes to obtain a forged judgement from a High Court of the Federal Capital Territory to unseat Sen. Ubah.

The three other defendants, who are presently at large in the suit marked: FHC/ABJ/CR/78/2020, are Anani Anacletus Chuka, Aroh Ifunanya and Faith Samuel.

Ubah, while giving his evidence-in-chief as 1st prosecution witness (PW1) in the case, told Justice Okon Abang that while he was about to get settled for the legislative work, he received the shocking news.

Although the forged judgment had since been set aside by the Supreme Court, Uzoh and Enwedo were docked, on July 2, on a six-count criminal charge.

The FG told the court that the defendants, by their action, committed an offence contrary to Section 3(b) of the miscellaneous offences Act Cap M17 Law’s Of the Federation of Nigeria 2004 and punishable under Section 1(2) of the same Act.

The defendants, however, pleaded not guilty to the charges.

Testifying before the court on Monday, the lawmaker said he was elected as senator to represent his senatorial district in the 9th Senate in the 2019 General Election.

“My lord, I was the candidate of my party, the Young Progressive Party (YPP) in the election.

“I had my primary election witnessed by INEC and have my documents to back this up. I contested the election and won.

“I scored over 87, 000 votes against the candidate of PDP, Chief Chris Ubah, who scored 52, 000 votes and the 3rd candidate who was APGA candidate, Nicolas Ukachukwu, who scored 51, 000.

“Dr Andy Ubah, the candidate of APC, scored 14, 000 votes.

“My lord, I may not be accurate with the exact figures but it was within the range of my quotations,” he said.

Ubah said the name of Uzoh, the 2nd defendant in the suit, was neither mentioned in the election results declared by the electoral umpire as a candidate representing a party nor was any of his poster seeing in the senatorial district.

He said though the election victory was challenged by Chris Ubah of PDP before the High Court in Awka up to the Supreme Court, he won the case.

Besides, the lawmaker said his election victory was also challenged by Chris Ubah of PDP and Andy Ubah of APC at the election tribunal sitting in Akwa and at the Appeal Court but he won the suits.

“It is important for the court to know that these two people are brothers from the same family,” he added.

According to him, by the constitution and electoral act, this ended all legal battle.

“As I parked my luggage from court to assume my office, I met another legal ambush perpetrated by the 1st, 2nd defendants and others at large.

“I was faced with an application before INEC in Nov 2019 to issue a Certificate of Return to the 2nd defendant based on a judgment allegedly gotten before FCT High Court by one Hon Justice Kawu.

“It was the biggest surprise of my entire life as I had no iota of contest with the 2nd defendant,” he narrated.

Ubah said Uzoh did not participate in the senatorial political activities and the electoral process in Anambra South as a candidate.

“I was shocked to my marrow,” he said.

He said he consulted his legal team for defence.

“Eventually, we found ourselves appealed to the same judge, Hon Justice Kawu, for fair hearing.

“We notified the judge that we were not served the processes that culminated into the judgment of April 11, 2019, which was the purported judgment date.

“We looked at the court processes and discovered that the other defendants and some who ought to be defendants were also not in court e.g INEC, NECO, YPP and my good self.

“Even when we discovered in the court papers that there was a service on INEC and YPP, there was nothing to show that I was served.

Ironically, all the processes that were served on INEC during the alleged pendency of the suit were only acknowledged by same person in INEC, one Sule,” he remarked.

The lawmaker also said that all processes served on his parry, YPP, were acknowledged by unknown person with a fake stamp of the party.

“Nevertheless, we were prepared to proceed on the case but unfortunately, the court refused our application to give us a fair hearing.

“We had no option than to move to Court of Appeal.

“It was in Court of Appeal that we met justice through the grace of God almighty,” he said.

Ubah told the judge that Uzoh, Enwedo and other defendants in the suit had close ties.

Although counsel to 2nd defendant, B. C. Igwilo, SAN, prayed the court to stop the senator from continued his statement, arguing that the witness was precluded from given evidence on previous court proceedings, Afam Osigwe, counsel to the FG, disagreed with him.

Abang then overruled Igwilo describing his objection as “misconceived,” adding that going by Section 130(1) of the Evidence Act, Igwilo’s objection could only be applied in a civil matter where previous court proceedings can only be tendered in evidence and not in a criminal trial.

“In a criminal trial, a witness can say anything concerning what he heard, saw or observe,” he ruled.

NAN also observes that the bail application hearing for Uzoh was also taken by the judge.

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Founder of Afe Babalola University, Ado-Ekiti (ABUAD) has accused that the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) has been actively obstructive to the re-opening of universities in the country.

Babalola expressed displeasure over the Federal Government’s decision on non-resumption of final year students of tertiary institutions like those in Primary Six, JSSIII and SSSIII, attributing the decision to the likely objection from the “Almighty” ASUU.

The legal icon, in a statement made available to journalists on Monday in Ado-Ekiti by Tunde Olofintila, Head, Corporate Affairs, said the government’s directives should have been excluded private universities from the directives.

“I was not disappointed on the non-resumption of final year students of tertiary institutions, because I knew the reason why the government left out the final year students of University. And I believe the Federal Government was aware that if it directed final year students of public universities to resume, the almighty ASUU would object and in this case, ASUU has objected.

Drawing from his seven-year experience as Pro Chancellor and Chairman of Council at the University of Lagos, UNILAG, Babalola said about the “Almightiness” of ASUU: “Before I took over as Pro Chancellor and Chairman of Council at the University of Lagos, UNILAG, even Council meetings could not take place unless ASUU and other Unions had been appeased or else such Council meetings would not be allowed to hold. It was a serious matter at that time, but I successfully managed that”.

Delving into how he got the news of return of final year Primary pupils, JSS III and SSS III students to school, the legal giant said: “Interestingly, it was a parent who alerted me that the Federal Government has directed final year students in secondary schools to resume and take their final year examinations. He told me that he was shocked and disappointed that the final year students in Universities were left out”.

The former Pro-Chancellor, University of Lagos tasked the Federal Government to, as matter of urgency, insulate private universities from the public ones, saying that “the future of this country in terms of functional and quality education lies with private universities.

“Most private universities are reputed for their moral and physical discipline, quality and functional education, hygienic and safe environment, predictable academic calendar, absence of trade unionism, committed teachers, modern teaching equipment and laboratories, and adequate preparation to prevent COVID-19.

“Indeed, no private university teacher would object to resumption of schools. Already, in the private universities of Nigeria, an Ivy League similar to that in America is emerging, to me, the top ranking private universities should be the mirror or the template for resumption of students because of the hygienic, safe environment and the undoubted discipline amongst students and teachers,” he said.

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The Presidential Task Force on COVID-19 has warned that the high rate of the virus infection among government officials is capable of adversely affecting governance and security in the country.

Speaking at the Monday briefing of the task force, its Chairman and Secretary to Government of the Federation (SGF), Mr Boss Mustapha, who made the assertion, affirmed that the virus does not discriminate.

He, therefore, called for vigilance among Nigerians irrespective of status.

He said: “Of recent, we have witnessed a high rate of positive cases especially among people in authority. This has a direct impact on the governance and security of our nation.

“We urge that vigilance and care should be exhibited by all Nigerians irrespective of status. This virus does not discriminate and the PTF shall keep sustaining its sensitization messaging.”

Mustapa revealed that the PTF met with the heads of security and defence agencies to review and chart a refined course “in view of the fact that COVID-19 is global health, and socio-economic and security issue and Nigeria must continue to evolve new strategies peculiar to her environment, even while working within global prescriptions.”

He said as the nation progresses into the second phase of the eased lockdown, the National Response continues to escalate its level of vigilance and monitoring, “especially as we ease restrictions in more sectors, including those with potentials for large gatherings and/or interactions between groups of people. We are conscious of the fact that this could be misinterpreted to mean that the war against COVID 19 is over.”

He emphasized that the decision for further relaxation was cautiously taken by the government to balance lives and livelihood.

While noting that rising global and domestic statistics of cases and fatalities have shown that COVID-19 has not given any relaxation, the PTF boss said citizens cannot, therefore, afford to slow down “and we must never compromise.”

He added: “Let us continue to learn from the history of pandemics by avoiding the mistakes of 1918. Having laid that foundation, the PTF calls on all Nigerians to also remain vigilant and this call is underscored by global and national developments in the last week, especially throughout the weekend.

“In the last week, we have witnessed a resurgence in countries that were noted as having successfully contained or containing the spread of the virus. The situation in Beijing and the United States of America should inform our individual and collective actions. Of course, such resurgence has led to the reintroduction of precision/location-specific lockdown in some areas such as parts of Galicia region, Catalonia, Spain.”

Mustapha noted that over the last weekend, the Nigerian Inter-Religious Council organized national prayers for both Muslims and Christians to seek divine intervention on COVID-19 and several other problems confronting our nation and humanity.

While thanking the leadership of the groups who organized the prayers, he added: “Some additional benefits derivable from the intervention of NIREC include awareness on the evils of gender violence, benefits of peaceful co-existence, religious tolerance and deepening the impact of Community Engagement and Risk Communication programmes of the PTF.”

Mustapha informed that on Thursday and Friday this week, the PTF will be carrying out its mid-term review having crossed the three months/ half time threshold of its life span.

He said this will involve a comprehensive examination of the steps taken, the challenges and charting the way forward.

Mustapha reiterated that COVID-19 is not a death sentence, “but it becomes dangerous when we fail to detect, test isolate and treat. We can avoid contracting it by complying with non-pharmaceutical interventions of wearing a face mask, maintaining social distancing, hand-washing, staying and working from home if practicable. Similarly, we can achieve more if we stop stigmatization.”

He further said: “Capacity and opportunities for testing have been expanded, with the opening of 40 laboratories and creation of more testing centres including some certified private sector medical facilities. I, therefore encourage all Nigerians to get tested to enable us to fight this pandemic.

“We have done it before and we shall do it again. The handling of the EBOLA virus, Lassa Fever, our becoming a polio-free country and successful exit from other communicable diseases over the years should give us comfort that COVID-19 would also be put behind us.”

Mustapha noted that the PTF has continued to receive support from kind-hearted Nigerians, development partners and other interest groups, saying that the Nigerians in Diaspora COVID-19 support group donated Personal Protective Equipment worth N48million which Mustapa said are already being distributed to all States of the Federation as prescribed by the donors.

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The last cabin row of aircraft would be designated as isolation centre for air travellers that exhibit symptoms of coronavirus, the Federal Government has declared.

Minister of Aviation, Hadi Sirika, disclosed this on Monday during the Presidential Task Force (PFT) briefing on COVID-19.

Siriki said this was part of the safety measures taken against coronavirus as the nation prepares for resumption of domestic flights.

He explained that cabin staffers have been trained to carry out necessary precautions and protocols in case of any emergency.

Also, passengers would no longer be served refreshment to reduce the level of contact with cabin staff.

The Minister also said Governors, Ministers, National Assembly members, military men and judiciary men will not be allowed into the terminal building with their aides who are no travelling.

Following the loss made due to the closure of the airports for about three months, the Minister also said all businesses in charge of air economy in the country would be given opportunity to access a two-fold palliative from the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) and the ministry of finance and national planning.

On how the sector will comply with COVID-19 protocols, he said: “We are complying with international standards and many countries have resumed. In Africa, more than five countries have resumed domestic flight and around the world, about 100 countries have commenced domestic operations.

“We delayed in commencing in Nigeria because we wanted to get it right and we didn’t want to risk anybody’s life.

“We will allow the last row in the cabin of the aircraft free so that we can isolate just in case we see something that looks like symptoms within the cabin so that we don’t create panic.

“We will carry you behind and isolate you there. Our cabin staff are well trained to look out for this. I told you that cabin crew are not just trained to serve teas.”

On whether refreshment would be served or not, he said: “For the domestic operations, there will be no food so that we reduce the level of contamination.”

On the seating arrangement, he said: “To maintain safe flight, civil aviation has ensured that the air within the cabin is filtered and circulated.

“Once you are in the aircraft, if there is space, we will space it and if there is no space, we will sit normally.

“Because the wearing of masks and other protocols are all backed by science to ensure that we are safe, so also, our decision is backed by science and findings.

“Risk of contamination is highly reduced when you are in the cabin. As the cabin air is coming down into the cabin, it washes from up, down to the bottom and we are mostly facing front while sitting.

“Because we are all facing one direction and the airflow is from up to down and because of that, the chances of the viruses and bacteria gaining way to you are reduced.

“The air will be circulated about 30 to 35 times within one hour. So, it is safe to say that no matter how we sit, from the scientific viewpoint, we are safe in the aircraft cabin.

He also noted that flights will be sequenced to avoid overcrowding. “We will also sequence our arrival and departure flights to avoid the terminal buildings being flooded. We will ensure that flights are sequenced in order for us to know the number of people we are emptying into our building per time and ensure that the physical distance is respected.”

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Senior political operatives have been allocated 15 per cent of the 774,000 Federal Government jobs for poor Nigerians, the Minister of State for Labour and Productivity, Festus Keyamo revealed on Monday.

The mathematical implication is that 116,100 slots will go to governors, ministers, senators and members of House of Representatives for their people.

In preparation for another round of interactive meeting with a joint committee of the National Assembly today, the embattled minister penned a lengthy explanation on Monday to the committee and the Nigerian public as controversy deepens over the menial jobs, with N52 billion budget.

The first meeting of June 30, between the two parties ended in chaos as they disagreed over the power of supervision and recruitment of beneficiaries across the 774 local governments in Nigeria.

Allegations and counter-allegations of corruption followed the rancour.

The minister said he was appraising the committee of the hard facts of the grey areas in the matter, which time factor and other extraneous issues may deny him today.

One of the issues he addressed in the letter is slot sharing and allegations of waste by the lawmakers.

According to him, there was a sharing formula for allocation of slots to National Assembly members and other top political functionaries, to accommodate their everyday supporters, as long as the core recruiting mandates are held sacred.

Quoting him, “However, in the spirit of transparency and because of the need to be honest before Nigerians, we have said before that we are not unmindful of the fact that political officeholders are also representatives of the people. We cannot also totally ignore them in the selection process. Their constituents are also Nigerians. What we have tried to resist is a total takeover of the programme by politicians and political actors, hence the multi-sectorial composition of the States’ Selection Committees.

“As a result, the States’ Selection Committees have been instructed to allot to political officeholders like our distinguished senators, honourable members, ministers and governors, a number in total not exceeding 15 per cent of the total beneficiaries in that state. This is to ensure that majority of Nigerians who do not belong to any of the political divides actually benefit substantially from this programme.

“The actual break down of these numbers between the officeholders have been communicated to the States’ Selection Committees. But if I understood Hon. Muhammad Wudil very well during his interview on Hard Copy on Channels Television, he alluded to the fact that he is uncomfortable with the fact that ministers got a certain number of slots (30) from all the Local Government Areas in a state, whilst he as a member of the House of Representatives got slots from only the local government areas within his constituency.

“But he should remember that there is only one minister in almost all the states (except a few that have two), whilst a state like Kano where he comes from has 24 members of the House of Representatives. If those 24 members each take slots from all the local government areas available, there will be nothing left again for everyday people to share.

“Finally, on this point, suffice to say that those persons to be recommended for engagement by political office holders that constitute the 15 per cent so mentioned, must also be eligible persons to participate in this programme.”

The Joint Committee of the National Assembly on Labour, Employment and Productivity has been accused of steering a political takeover of the programme, meant to provide poor Nigerians with N60,000 empowerment for three months of engagement between October and December.

He also explained the jettisoning of online registration and payment modalities.

“The reasons are: (a) the categories of those to be engaged (which are largely unskilled workers) will not have the capacity and access to make online applications. (b) online applications would not ensure that the 1,000 persons to be selected would come from each Local Government Areas as, for example, 300 persons may apply online from Lagos State, claiming to be applying to work in Sokoto State. (c) the selection process would be localized and would absolve us in Abuja the responsibility of selecting persons from different States.

“I am also pleased to inform you that for the purpose of transparency and accountability in the process, the President approved the use of select banks to register and collate data of those to be engaged. The banks would open accounts for all beneficiaries and in the process obtain BVN for those without accounts.

“Consequently, all payments would be made from the CBN directly to the accounts of the beneficiaries. The banks will also simultaneously register the participants of the Special Works Programme. Apart from the transparency and accountability, this will achieve, one of the benefits of the exercise is that more Nigerians would be captured in the financial system thereby enhancing the financial inclusion drive of Government.

“Eventually, the data collated by the banks would be passed on to us for use in the programme implementation. It is important to note that this data to be collated would be used for other multifarious purposes relating to employment and social surveys. Already the National Bureau of Statistics, the National Population Commission and other Federal Government Agencies have requested for an allotment of persons from the 1,000 persons in each Local Government Areas to carry out special social surveys and data collation” the letter read in part.

Keyamo also believed Hon. Muhammadu Ali Wudil, the House committee chairman, was already biased against and won’t get fair hearing making his case to him, saying, “I may not be able to get a fair hearing from him, especially as he is the one that has been at the forefront of insisting on controlling and dictating the execution of this programme behind the scene. He also made frantic efforts to stop the inauguration of the States’ Selection Committees through a series of phone calls to me.”

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The Lagos State Domestic and Sexual Violence Response Team and the National Human Rights Commission NHRC have both reacted.

Mrs Ngozi

A Twitter user is seeking help for a nursing mother who was allegedly beaten and bruised by her husband at their home in the Ogba area of Lagos state today July 6.

Twitter user @sama_on_point who shared the video online, gave the name of the nursing mother’s Mrs Ngozi and her husband, Mr Henry.

He Wrote;

”This is Mrs Ngozi after she was battered by her husband, Mr Henry today. This is a recurring battering as reported by neighbours. She lives with her husband at 3 Mafo Close, Yaya Abatan off Abeokuta Street, Ogba, Lagos. Rescue this lady please!”

In the video online, a female neighbor could be heard asking the woman to pack her things and leave the house as being married isn’t by force.

The Lagos state Domestic and Sexual Violence Response Team DSVRT and the National Human Rights Commission NHRC have both reacted to the video.

Watch Video Below

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70-year-old man, Mohammed Sani Umar (Tela), has raped an eight-year-old girl in Chanchaga area of Minna, Niger State.

Umar raped the girl twice before giving her N80 not to tell anybody about the incident.

“She was sick for some weeks and after every treatment, she was still not very well. Then, a neighbour advised her mother to keep a close watch on the girl, which the mother started doing.

“After some days, she saw some stains in her underwear and asked her what happened to her.

“The little girl took the mother to his place and on reaching there, she just pointed at him.

“On sighting the woman and the girl, he started begging them to cover it up so he will take responsibility,” Abubakar, the girl’s uncle, narrated.

He said Umar was beaten by angry members of the community before he was interrogated and handed over to the police for further investigation and prosecution.

“The woman started crying and shouted for help. People came around, dragged him to the family house, where he was beaten and confessed that he had sex with her twice.

“He said that he gave her N50 once and another N30 the second time.

“We took him to the police custody and handed him to the police to charge him to court,” Abubakar added.

The family appealed to the police to handle the matter professionally as they expressed fear that the police could sweep the case under the carpet as Umar is influential in the society.

“The Divisional Police Officer said the case would be forwarded to the state command on Monday.

“We want the police to do the right thing because the man is very influential and has some people who usually bail criminals arrested by the police. 

“He knows the rich people in the community and there is a possibility they would conspire with the police to release the man and sweep the matter under the carpet.

“The police should ensure justice is served right in this case,” the family urged.

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The Department of State Services (DSS) wishes to inform the public that it did not arrest Ibrahim MAGU, Acting Chairman of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) as has been reported by sections of the media. The Service, has since, today, 6th July, 2020, been inundated with enquiries over the alleged arrest.

Peter Afunanya, Ph.D
Public Relations Officer,
Department of State Services,
National Headquarters,
Abuja
6th July, 2020

PRNigeria

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