Members of the Senate Committee set up by the red Chambers were stunned on Thursday when the acting Managing Director of the Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC), Kemebradikumo Pondei, admitted that the commission spent a whopping sum of N1.5 billion for staff as COVID-19 palliatives.

Pondei made the revelation at the investigative hearing on the N40 billion corruption allegations levelled against the commission.

Recall that the Senate had on May 5, set up a seven-man ad-hoc committee to investigate the “financial recklessness” of the Interim Management Committee (IMC) of the NDDC.

According to the lawmakers, the Commission had within the last three months spent over N40 billion of the commission’s fund ”without recourse to established processes of funds disbursement, which has opened up further suspicion among stakeholders of the Niger Delta Region.”

The Committee equally faulted the IMC’s ”arbitrary use of executive power in an alleged wrongful sacking of management staff without recourse to established civil service rules and practices with the aim of allegedly concealing the fraudulent financial recklessness they have committed.”

Chairman of the Committee, Olubunmi Adetumbi in reading the audit report said N3.1 billion was spent as COVID-19 funds between October 2019 and May 2020.

“N10 million was paid to one person, N7 million to two people, N5 million to three people, 148 people took N3 million each, 157 people got N1.5 million each, 497 people got N1 million each and 464 people were paid N600,000 each.”

He further revealed that another sum of N475 million was given to the police to purchase face masks and hand sanitisers.

However, in his response to the allegations concerning COVID-19, the NDDC staff said “only N1.5 billion was used to take care of staff” not minding that government was still paying their salaries.

He equally claimed that part of the fund was for the youth of Niger Delta.

“The youth were given palliatives to help cushion the effect of the pandemic on the people. The youth were idle and to avoid violence, they were paid,” he said.

“Five million for youths and five million for women and five million for people living with disabilities in each senatorial district,” he stated.

According to him, the remaining fund was spent on staff of the commission.

“We used it to take care of ourselves. We are NDDC, we need to take care of ourselves too,” he said.

When asked why the police was given N475 million, Mr Pondei said a request was made from”the high command of police and the management took a look at it and approved it.”

The investigative hearing is expected to continue on Friday.

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The Christian Association of Nigeria in Oyo town has protested against the role allegedly being played by the Alaafin of Oyo, Oba Lamidi Adeyemi, in an ongoing land tussle between the association and other parties in the town.

The Christian body alleged that Oba Adeyemi had sold parts of its 96 plots of land at Ayetoro to some investors.

Following several aborted proposed meeting with the monarch by the Oyo town chapter of CAN, the religious body said the absence of Alaafin from the dialogue was deliberate.

An executive member of the Oyo Zone CAN, Reverend Femi Afolabi, said on Wednesday that in view of the monarch’s attitude, the Christian association took to the streets in Oyo town in protest against his roles in the land tussle.

Afolabi, who is the head of Zonal Issues in the Oyo Zone CAN, said the matter got to a head when some of its members who were on inspection of the property were attacked by some hoodlums who were believed to be land grabbers.

Oyo CAN, which claimed to have procured the land from the former Oyo Local Government Council Area before the breaking of the old council into four in the 90s, alleged that the monarch “surreptitiously sold some patch of the property to other parties” without being authorised to do so.

Afolabi said, “On Sunday, the 5th of July, the entire body of Christ in Oyo land, comprising Afijio, Oyo East and West and Atiba local government areas, marched from Isokun Baptist Church to CAN land in Ayetoro scheme. We came back through the palace to Isokun. The protest match is predicated on the fact that the land belongs to CAN.

“Having been allocated to us by the Atiba Local Government Area, we got information that kabiyesi, the Alaafin of Oyo, is selling the land. We made several approaches to him formally and informally to let him know that we have document for the land, but he did not allow dialogue to prevail. That was why CAN decided to let the whole world know that he wants to use his royal stool to cheat CAN; that was why we protested.

“He gave us an appointment at a time. I can’t remember the date now and all the head of churches in the land were there with the CAN executive members, including bishops.

“On getting there, everybody waited for more than one hour, he didn’t show up. He sent a message that he had a visitor from Abuja.

“We told the people whom he sent to us that if he wanted to see us he could call us but he never called till date. It was like a slap on the entire church.

“We want the whole world to know that Alaafin is trespassing on the land of CAN and it is dangerous for any man to collide with God. Anybody who is paying money to Alaafin to buy the land is wasting his money. It is not Alaafin’s land but government scheme.”

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The management of the Lagos University Teaching Hospital, Idi-Araba, has urged the Medical and Dental Practitioners’ Investigation Panel to investigate the alleged professional misconduct of a Lagos-based cosmetic surgeon and owner of Med Contour Aesthetic Clinic, Dr Anuoluwapo Adepoju.

The hospital, in a petition dated June 11, 2020, and signed by its Director of Legal Services, O. O. Olajide, accused Adepoju of professional misconduct during a surgery she performed on one Miss Nneka Onwuzuligbo at her facility.

According to LUTH, Adepoju had continued to perform surgeries despite the fact that her facility was sealed off by the Lagos State Health Facility Monitoring and Accreditation Agency.

In an affidavit attached to the petition, the hospital alleged that Adepoju referred the late Nneka from her facility to LUTH on January 3, 2019, on the pretext that she was being referred from the General Hospital, Odan.

The victim, according to the affidavit deposed to by a consultant surgeon, Prof. Andrew Ugburo, was presented to LUTH with severe respiratory distress and septicaemia with infected surgical wounds.

The affidavit read in part, “The patient was well until she developed a sudden onset of breathlessness within 24 hours after the said surgical procedure. The breathlessness was progressive and necessitated her being taken immediately to the General Hospital, Odan, from the theatre.

“There was no reference in the referral note from the General Hospital, Odan, about the details of the type of tumescent fluid that was administered, neither was the volume and the type of anaesthetic used provided. The breathlessness was said to be progressive. During the said two days, the patient received oxygen and intravenous fluids at Med Contour Hospital.

“The patient was referred to (LUTH) without an informative referral letter. The accompanying note from the General Hospital, Odan, stated that the patient developed orthopnoea 16 hours after the surgical procedure.

“The informative referral letter from Dr Adepoju, who performed the surgery, was provided on the fourth day of presentation at LUTH upon my insistence and persistent request. The said referral letter dated, January 7, 2019, is attached herewith and marked as ‘Exhibit A’.

“She was noted to have significant deterioration of the vital signs before referral to LUTH for intensive care management on account of progressively worsening symptoms.

“Details of the surgical intervention subsequently received from Dr Adepoju (Exhibit A) showed that she had liposuction of the anterior abdomen, back, flanks and arms with fat transfer to the buttocks and hips. The surgery was done under spinal anaesthesia. The tumescent technique was used where three litres of fluid were infused into the patient and five litres of fluid were aspirated. She had two pints of blood transfused before presentation on account of anaemia.

“The account given about the patient further had it that there was no previous history of similar presentation in past surgery of myomectomy done three years before the liposuction and fat grafting. It was revealed that on the second day after the surgery, she was noticed to have persistent foul-smelling discharge from all the surgical sites.”

The management of the Lagos University Teaching Hospital, Idi-Araba, has urged the Medical and Dental Practitioners’ Investigation Panel to investigate the alleged professional misconduct of a Lagos-based cosmetic surgeon and owner of Med Contour Aesthetic Clinic, Dr Anuoluwapo Adepoju.

The hospital, in a petition dated June 11, 2020, and signed by its Director of Legal Services, O. O. Olajide, accused Adepoju of professional misconduct during a surgery she performed on one Miss Nneka Onwuzuligbo at her facility.

According to LUTH, Adepoju had continued to perform surgeries despite the fact that her facility was sealed off by the Lagos State Health Facility Monitoring and Accreditation Agency.

In an affidavit attached to the petition, the hospital alleged that Adepoju referred the late Nneka from her facility to LUTH on January 3, 2019, on the pretext that she was being referred from the General Hospital, Odan.

The victim, according to the affidavit deposed to by a consultant surgeon, Prof. Andrew Ugburo, was presented to LUTH with severe respiratory distress and septicaemia with infected surgical wounds.

The affidavit read in part, “The patient was well until she developed a sudden onset of breathlessness within 24 hours after the said surgical procedure. The breathlessness was progressive and necessitated her being taken immediately to the General Hospital, Odan, from the theatre.

“There was no reference in the referral note from the General Hospital, Odan, about the details of the type of tumescent fluid that was administered, neither was the volume and the type of anaesthetic used provided. The breathlessness was said to be progressive. During the said two days, the patient received oxygen and intravenous fluids at Med Contour Hospital.

“The patient was referred to (LUTH) without an informative referral letter. The accompanying note from the General Hospital, Odan, stated that the patient developed orthopnoea 16 hours after the surgical procedure.

“The informative referral letter from Dr Adepoju, who performed the surgery, was provided on the fourth day of presentation at LUTH upon my insistence and persistent request. The said referral letter dated, January 7, 2019, is attached herewith and marked as ‘Exhibit A’.

“She was noted to have significant deterioration of the vital signs before referral to LUTH for intensive care management on account of progressively worsening symptoms.

“Details of the surgical intervention subsequently received from Dr Adepoju (Exhibit A) showed that she had liposuction of the anterior abdomen, back, flanks and arms with fat transfer to the buttocks and hips. The surgery was done under spinal anaesthesia. The tumescent technique was used where three litres of fluid were infused into the patient and five litres of fluid were aspirated. She had two pints of blood transfused before presentation on account of anaemia.

“The account given about the patient further had it that there was no previous history of similar presentation in past surgery of myomectomy done three years before the liposuction and fat grafting. It was revealed that on the second day after the surgery, she was noticed to have persistent foul-smelling discharge from all the surgical sites.”

The hospital added that upon admission into LUTH, the first surgical debridement performed on the deceased on January 10, 2019, revealed extensive sloughing, with foul-smelling discharge from the deceased debrided hips and purulent discharges from puncture wounds on the anterior abdominal wall.”

It added that after the surgery, there was no improvement in the patient’s clinical state, hence the need to perform a second surgery on her, adding that after the second surgery, the clinical state of the victim improved till the 28th day of admission, when her vital signs deteriorated.

Ugburo further deposed that the victim developed multiple organ failure of cardiac, respiratory (Adult Respiratory Distress Syndrome) and renal failures and had a cardiac arrest on the 31st day of admission, adding that after cardio-pulmonary resuscitation was unsuccessful, the victim was certified dead around 9am on February 3, 2019.

However, LUTH alleged that Adepoju blamed the hospital for the death of the victim.

The affidavit further read, “Dr Adepoju has in a series of misleading and incorrect public statements in the social media absolved herself from liability in the management of this patient and put the blame on LUTH and its personnel, who availed the patient of their facilities and expertise. She directly impugned the competence of the hospital and her senior professional colleagues and teachers.

“Dr Adepoju further claimed in the video that the patient ‘walked to LUTH by herself’. This is false as the patient was brought to LUTH in an ambulance accompanied by her sister, Quincy Onwuzuligbo, in a state of severe respiratory distress.

“She (Adepoju) accused the medical team at the Lagos University Teaching Hospital of being responsible for the death of Miss Nneka Onwuzuligbo. She claimed this was due to wrongful positioning of the patient, stopping all antibiotics resulting in mortality. She stated in her video that liposuction and fat grafting is a new area of surgery and doctors at the Lagos University Teaching Hospital are ignorant of post-operative management of the condition.

“Dr Adepoju instigated the relations of the patient and the public against the Lagos University Teaching Hospital and its doctors by saying that ‘the plastic surgeons and doctors at the Lagos University Teaching Hospital should be asked about the death of Miss Onwuzuligbo Nneka’.”

Via Punch

Some protesters took to the streets of Abuja on Tuesday to demand the arrest of Bola Tinubu, national leader of the All Progressives Congress (APC), over two bullion vans believed to be conveying cash seen at his residence on the eve of the 2019 general election.

In February, 2019, viral pictures on social media showed the two bullion vans being driven into Tinubu’s residence, as many people looked on outside the premises.

In response to the controversy generated by the incident, Tinubu said the bullion vans contained money belonging to him and not for the government.

Here are some photos from the protest:

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Dr. Muhammad Murtala Aminu, a Trademarks and Intellectual Property Expert cum Law Lecturer at Usmanu Danfodiyo University, Sokoto, has been appointed by President Muhammadu Buhari, as secretary to the Nigerian Law Reform Commission.

The Nigerian Law Reform Commission is an institution saddled with the responsibility to harmonise national legislation and also among the four parastatals under the Federal Ministry of Justice.

The Secretary of the Commission is to be the accounting officer while also supporting the chairman in ensuring that all the rules and regulations relating to the management of the human, material and financial resources of the Commission are adhered to in accordance with the objectives of the Federal Government.

Early this year, Dr Aminu was also appointed by the World Intellectual Property Organisation (WIPO) to serve as a panelist to assess entries for this year‘s maiden edition of the WIPO National Intellectual Property Essay Competition for students of all tertiary institutions.

He expressed gladness over his appointment and showed gratitude to Almighty Allah.

“I am very happy and grateful to Almighty Allah for this appointment given to me,” he said.

The new secretary, however, vowed to adhere to the rules of the Nigerian Constitution and the Nigerian Law Reform Commission Act. He also pledged to work tirelessly in making sure that laws in the country are up to date and in accordance with international best practices.

He urged law students to be hardworking, devoted and focused to achieve their aims and objectives.

“ If you have any ambition of achieving greatness in your life, you should be hardworking, dedicated and concentrate on your target to achieve your aims and objectives,” he advised.

Before his appointment, he was the coordinator of the Diploma programme in UDUS and a member of different committees in the faculty. He has taught numerous courses in the institution which include; Commercial Law, Conflict Law, Intellectual Property Law, among others.

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Against the backdrop of the death of Chief of both Chief Judge, Justice Nasir Ajana and President of the Customary Court of Appeal Justice Ibrahim Shaibu Atadoga, the Kogi state governor Governor Yahaya Bello of on Wednesday swore in Justice Henry Olusuyi and Justice Bayo Olowosegun as Acting Chief Judge and President Customary Court Appeal of the state respectively.

In an elaborate ceremony held in the government House Lokoja, the governor told the Judges to execute their duties with the fear of God.

The governor also urged them to emulate the late Ajanah and Atadoga; who he said served the state and the judiciary with the best of their ability.

The Governor said, “I welcome everyone to this sober but momentous event. It is only proper that we continue to recognise and pay tribute to two extraordinary gentlemen who inspired us in their lives and left us severely diminished by their deaths. It is their passing which has necessitated these proceedings.

“We lost the Honourable Justice Nasir Ajanah, the former Chief Judge of Kogi State and the Honourable Justice Ibrahim Shaibu Atadoga, the former President of the Kogi State Customary Court of Appeal within one week of each other. The shock has been profound, both for the state and for those left to mourn them.

“Justice Nasir Ajanah was the longest serving Chief Judge in the history of Kogi State. He served during the tenures of three Governors. He was a brilliant legal mind distinguished by a massive wealth of experience. He piloted the Kogi State Judiciary with a firm hand, and defended the independence of the Judiciary and the doctrine of Separation of Powers as he saw fit, irrespective of any differences of opinion.

“Justice Shuaibu Atadoga was on his part a workaholic judge who set stellar standards of excellence in the practice of his profession. He inspired reforms, including amendments to the enabling law which greatly expanded the roles of the Customary Court. It is no wonder that he was so effective as President of the Kogi State Customary Court of Appeal.

“In tribute, I am proud to say that the late Justice Ajanah and the late Justice Atadoga both teach us that selfless service to society is how to become immortal in the hearts of your fellow men. They achieved a legacy that will long outlive them. May the good works of their lordships speak for them in eternity and may their gentle souls continue to rest in peace.

“It now remains to enjoin the head of the Kogi State Judiciary and the President of the Customary Court of Appeal of Kogi State, both of whom we have just sworn in, to bring their considerable history as experienced jurists to bear in the administration of justice in this state. We have no doubt that they will provide excellent leadership for our Judiciary and the state in general. We therefore charge them to execute all the functions of their respective offices with erudition and the fear of Almighty God.

“Let me conclude by reiterating something I have said over and over again since the Covid-19 situation was thrust upon the world.

“Nothing is altogether new under the sun. Whether the coronavirus or CoviD-19 or SARS-COV2 is natural or artificial and whether it came out of China or elsewhere, and whether by happenstance or hostile action, we need an evolving synergy between Science and common sense to defeat the pandemic,” he advised.

Credit: https://thenigerialawyer.com/gov-bello-swears-in-acting-chief-judge-customary-court-of-appeal-president/