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Zamfara Governor Bello Matawalle Risks Contempt Of Court

By A.O OTITOJU Ph.D

FOLLOWING A WIDELY CIRCULATED REPORT IN THE Daily trust newspaper on Friday the 2nd of April 2021 CAPTIONED “APC EXTENDS REGISTRATION AS MATAWALLA SET TO JOIN PARTY”, this gives us the impetus to review the circumstance that lead to the emergence of the present Governor of Zamfara  state Bello Matawalle, and to unequivocally state the likely consequence of his intending action.

It is worthy of note that for any person to emerge as governor of a state apart from the court ordered Governor, the returning officers after the collation of results will announce to the public that “Mr  K  having  pulled the highest number of votes cast in the gubernatorial election and  having satisfied the  law is hereby returned  winner of the election”.

Curiously that was not the case of the present Governor of Zamfara state, Bello Matawalle. His situation is so peculiar as he was returned by the judgment of the Supreme Court in suit SC/377/2019 wherein the Supreme Court declared that the All Progressive Congress, which the Governor is proposing to join did not to hold a valid primary election and in turn sacked all the candidates put forward by the APC. For this reason, all candidates put forward by the APC were invalidated by the judgment of the Supreme Court including their Governorship candidate at the time. The Supreme Court held that APC could not have won any election in Zamfara State including the post for the Governor of Zamfara state. The Judgement of the Supreme Court meant that Gov. Bello Matawalle who is the candidate of the PDP who pulled the second highest number of votes in the election was declared winner by the Supreme Court; Since APC failed to fulfill the combined provisions of Section 177(c) of the 1999 Constitution as amended, and section 31 of the Electoral Act.

Section 177 ( c)   stipulates that for a candidate to contest for election he must be a member of political party and must be sponsored by that political party, section 31 of the Electoral Act also ensures that  political parties must conduct primary election and the person who wins the primary election is sponsored by the Political Party to participate in the General Election. This situation was absent in Zamfara State in the last election for APC thereby robbing them the opportunity to hold any political position in Zamfara state.

The Supreme Court sacked all the APC seats won during the 2019 general

Election not just for fun but for the purpose of keeping to the tenet of the law; the proposed intention of Governor Bello Matawalle to defect right now will undermine the decision of the Supreme Court which he has benefited from, he must be seen to ensure the complete satisfaction of the judgment rather than frolicking with judicial pronouncements or trying to castrate the order of the Apex court.

Interestingly, Governor Matawalle benefitted from the judgment of the Supreme Court as he was the candidate that was second in the poll during the last General Election held in 2019. Having enjoyed the benefit of the judgment he must not be seen to invalidate the judgment by his action or his proposed intention to join the APC that the supreme court had already sacked from occupying any political posts in Zamfara for a period of four years.

The Learned Justice of the Apex court, Justice Paul Adamu Galumje, JSC did not mince his words when he declared as follows  that   “for avoidance of doubt  a party that has no candidate in an election cannot be declared the winner of the election , this being so the votes credited to the alleged candidates of the 1st appellant  in the 2019 general election in Zamfara are wasted votes for that reason it is hereby ordered that candidates of parties other than the 1st appellant with the highest votes and the required spread stand elected into the various offices that were contested for in Zamfara state in the 2019 general election”

The compelling question judging from above is why would Gov. Matawalle want to invalidate and castrate the judgment by defecting from his Political Party the PDP to the All Progressive Congress which the Supreme Court has Sacked for a period of 4 years? It is also worthy to note that Section 180 of the 1999 Constitution settled the tenure of office of the Governor and puts it at 4 years fixed term. What it means is that for the period of 2019 to 2023 Gov. Bello Matawalle and any other candidate that occupies the sacked seats of APC candidates must remain there with their party affiliation till the end of that tenure.

It therefore follows that any attempt by the Zamfara State Governor Bello Matawalle to defect from the PDP to APC will not only be contemptuous of the Judgment of the Supreme Court which gave his party PDP the seat  but it would also mean that he resign from the seat for the next in line according to the provisions of the Constitution which in this case is the Deputy Governor.

It is clear that by the decision of the Supreme Court the APC is forbidden from seating in any of the contested seat during the last general election, therefore any attempt of the governor to circumvent the judgment of the supreme court by defecting to APC is contemptuous.

In summary the proposed actions of Gov. Matawalle could result in at least four grievous consequences:

  1. It would be seen as gravely contemptuous and way of frustrating and castrating the apt Judgment of the Supreme Court in Suit SC.377/2019.
  2. It would most likely lead to Gov. Matawalle losing his office and going by the provisions of Section 191(1) of 1999 Constitution as amended, the office becomes that of the Deputy Governor Should he remain with the PDP. However, should Gov. Matawalle defect together with his Deputy, then in line with Section 191(3) the office passes to the Speaker of the House of Assembly.
  3. Any attempts by the Governor of Zamfara State, with his other colleagues, to defect from the PDP to APC will not only be contemptuous of the judgment of the Supreme Court but will also mean that he resigns from the seat for a bye election to be conducted.
  4. Also, as a party that has invalidated and castrated the judgment of the Apex Court which made him Governor, Governor Matawalle could be made to refund all the benefits he has enjoyed on the basis of this judgment which he is now seeking to invalidate.

It is strongly advised that in order for the Zamfara State Governor not to open a potential can of worms through his actions, it is best that he remains with the PDP in compliance with the Judgment of the Supreme Court in Suit SC.377/2019.

Written By A.O OTITOJU Ph.D

How our lands have been taken over while FG, KDSG look on, by SOKAPU

By Luka Binniyat

We wish to draw your attention to the plight of our people who have been abandoned by both the Federal government and Kaduna State government after they have suffered unprovoked violence and the destruction of their communities in the hands of armed Fulani militia, some who they can identify in series of attacks that bear all the signs of genocide in the past three years. 

We are talking about scores of thousands of our displaced members spread in some of the 12 Local Government Area (LGA) of Kaduna.

For the second year running, large areas of the 26,000kmsq that made up Southern Kaduna have been ‘captured’ and are now in full control of armed Fulani herdsmen, as identified by surviving victims.

Our estimation is that these ‘captured’ areas make many LGAs in a state like Abia (6,320kmsq). These contain some of the most fertile, prestige farmlands of Southern Kaduna.  The rains are about to start and the hope of these halpless victims returning to their homes and start rebuilding them in preparation for the farming season seems bleak. In the same manner, thousands of their children have been out of school, some for over three years with government not making any remedial effort to assist them.

In the IDP camps where some have managed to relocate, they live in sub-huma conditions, barely able to feed, without sanitation and medications. This is an indictment of Government as there is no excuse can be given why citizens should be so forsaken by those they voted to protect them and make their welfare and security as basic rights. All men and women of conscience should also also show interest in these displaced people who can be found in various IDP camps in Chikun, Zangon Kataf and Kajuru LGA, and in some areas bordering Kaduna State and Niger State, and some areas of Kaduna State bordering western part of plateau state

Today, there are at least 1004 communities that have been displaced in Southern Kaduna after the natives have been attacked and several persons killed. All churches and schools in affected areas have also been burnt, some dating back to 2018.

And the numbers of displaced villages are increasing by the day especially in Gbagyi villages of Chikun LGA. Below are some of the affected communities according to LGA and Wards.

KACHIA LGA  (2020)

(i)  Doka

Chikwale, Idum, Muruchi, Kwasau Legede, Kafeyawa,  Amale, Chikwale, Unguwan Pa, Gidan Sambo, Gidan Para, Unguwan Muruchi, Unguwan Dutse, Baware kasa, Gidan Duna, Sabon Gida Duna, Opase, Gidan Sunday, Gidan Yarima, Gidan Auta, Bakin Garma, Gidan Ladan,  Maigari, Gidan Wakili, Pago, Oshowodo, Gidan Peter.

(ii) Ankuwa Ward

Ungwan pah

(iii) Bishini Ward

Koron Kurmin iya, Ungwan Gwari KurminIya

(iv) Kateri Ward

Rishi

Numbers of communities displaced in Kachia LGA =  32 Communities from 4 Wards.

2 Kajuru LGA 

 (i) Kallah Ward

Kihoro-Libere, Bakin Kogi, Umiko,Magunguna, Idazo, Ungwan , Galadima, Ungwan Guza, Etiss, Ungwan Ma’aji, Ungwan Dantata, Ungwan Araha 1 & 2, Ungwan Goshi, Ungwan Shaban, Ungwan Jibo, Ungwan Maijama’a, Ungwan Sako, Ungwan Maidoki, Ungwan Masaba

 (ii) Tantatu Ward

Ungwan Makware

 (iii)  Idon Ward

Edanu, Ungwan Mudi, Ungwan Rana, Ifele, Ungwan Gora

Number of Displaced Communities from Kajuru LGA = 24 from 3 wards

CHIKUN LGA (2019-2020)

(i)   Kunai Ward

 Kudo (Dau), Sunusi Dnakwala, Galu,  Aguyita, Galuko, Galiwyi, Atopi, Onkoru, Anguwan, Badole, Manini, Hayin Damisa,  Anguwan Nyako, Badimi, Gnashi, Sarari , Giji,  Dnapagbe, Badimi, Shelbula, Rafin yashi, Sabongida, Rafinyashi, Anguwan, Amos Manini,  Hayin Dakachi Manini,  Madalla, Abon, Kawuya

(ii)   Gayam Ward in Birnin 

Gwari LGA Bordering Kunai in Chikun LGA

Rumanan Gbagyi,  Rumanan Hausa,  Malamo, Labi, Hayin Kozo, Muya, Shuwaka, Polwaya, Kaguru, Kasko, Nasarawa Kaguru,  Dabbara Kaguru

Number of Displaced and occupied communities  = 45

KAURU LGA

Baduru ward

i Jiri

Pari ward

i Kiziti

Kamaru Ward

i Kikpene 

Number of Displaced and Occupied communities = 3

There are at least 50,000 IDPs living in several camps in Southern Kaduna or with relations in and out of Southern Kaduna all because their villages are either too unsafe to return to or have been taken over by Fulani militia.

It should also be noted that governor Nasir el-Rufai of Kaduna, nor his deputy have never visited any of the IDPs camps or any attacked community in Southern Kaduna. Kaduna State government has not given these people any form of palliatives as if it was at war with the victims. There is no sympathy or empathy from both the Federal and State government. 

Yet, Governor Nasirl el-Rufai had last month, officially acknowledged that 973 people were killed in Kaduna state in 2020 alone by ‘bandits’, the bulk of which come from Southern Kaduna communities, especially the Gbagi and Adara of Chikun and Kajru LGA. 

This lack of concern for these victims is raising questions on whether they happen to be people of different faith and ethnicity with the governor. Because in March, 2nd, 2020, el-Rufai tendered a well publicised apology to the residents of some villages in Igabi, Giwa and Birnin Gwari when he visited them after they were attacked by bandits. He was there to see the destruction. But never to Southern Kaduna.

We are still appealing to him and the Federal Government to ensure the return of this IDPs, by chasing out the criminals occupying their ancestral lands and bringing the brigands to justice.

Government should also show some compassion and assists these law abiding citizens in the meantime with food, medication and clothes.

The IDPs can be found in Agwam Bije, Buyaya, Unguwan Sunday, Gwagwada, in Chikun LGA.

In Kajuru, they can be found in Rimau, Kallah and Gefe. 

We are also calling the International Community, CSOs, NGOs and men and women of conscience and Goodwill, to come to the assistance of these people.

▪︎ Binniyat is SOKAPU Spokesman

“Doctor, except my first wife allows her to have a child, there is nothing I can do”

By Adesida Adewumi MD

I have the permission of Hajia Hauwa, Alhaji Abdulahi and Hajia Ramatu ( not real names) to share their bitter-turned-to-joyful story with you so that you can learn some real life lessons from their story. Happy reading….

Hajia Hauwa (not real name) walked in to my consulting room burdened and burned out from 3 years of sorrow. She was already frustrated due to her 3 years of infertility problem. She was the second wife of Alhaji Abdulahi (not real name) who had 3 children from the first wife Hajia Ramatu (not real name). The 3 children were all girls which I later discovered was the reason Alhaji decided to marry Hajia Hauwa to give him a male child but for the past 3 years it had been in futility because the power most times was with Hajia Ramatu (the first wife). How you asked?…find out in subsequent paragraphs.

When Hajia Hauwa (second new wife) came to my consulting room that day, narrated how she had been trying to conceive to no avail. She told me the first wife was responsible for her infertility.I asked how? She told me she had gone to a good hospital where she was checked and was certified able to conceive but most times when it was her ovulation, the week most times always coincided with the week that it was turn of first wife to have intimacy with their husband. After the week had gone she would have wasted that month again. That was how she had spent the past 3 years of her life. I reviewed her results and Alhaji’s result from the other hospital, everything was okay true to her words.

I took her permission to allow me speak with their husband to prevail over the first wife to please allow the second new wife to have those ovulation weeks so that she could conceive. She said ” doctor dont bother yourself, the first doctor had appealed to him for same thing he refused to prevail on the second wife that the power to do that was with the first wife. His own was to do justice to them in each person’s week. I insisted i wanted to try if I could succeed in the appeal.

She gave me Alhaji ‘s number. I raised the issue with him and appealed to him to do the needful. He affirmed his earlier position of he would not interfere. Then I appealed to him I would like to talk to Hajia Ramatu (the first wife). He gave me her number. I put a call across to Hajia Ramatu to please help her second. She refused vehemently that she would not give up her week of intimacy to the second wife. From my conversation with her as a family doctor,I could feel deep seated heart aches. It was clear that if I would help Hajia Hauwa out of this 3 years fix,I would have to call for one or two family meetings among all the stakeholders. Of course, as a family doctor it is within the scope of my speciality (family medicine) to do that.

After several efforts, I was able to gather the 3 major stakeholders inside my consulting room. I knew there would be bitter ventilations. I was ready for them. I declared the meeting open “I welcome you all to this important meeting. I appreciate your coming. As you are all aware we are here for Hajia Hauwa infertility issue which had been contributed to by not utilising her ovulation week as a result of most times the weeks being Hajia Ramatu’s weeks. So I would like to hear from everybody how we can solve this problem please”.

Alhaji responded first,though out of anger and frustration. “Doctor I know the reason why my first wife didn’t want to allow my second wife to get pregnant. It was because she was afraid she would give me a male child I desperately needed” Before Alhaji could close his statement,the first wife had responded with “yes because you think female children were not good enough right? We shall see in this family ” I allowed all parties to continue to ventilate their angers. The first wife went further that apart from Alhaji showing too much preference for a male child, the second wife had no respect for her because of the way Alhaji had been treating her like a egg showing so much preference for her. Then the second wife too responded that ” Hajia was treating her like house girl,not as her counterpart and co wife even though she is junior to her,she is not her house girl”

After all had ventilated their anger and frustration,I addressed the issues raised one by one and apologised and appealed to each party.
To Alhaji, I condemned putting so much emphasis on particular sex of a child and showing preference for a particular wife.
To first wife, I appealed to her profusely to please forgive both parties on issue of male child and disrespect from the new wife.
To the new wife I appealed to her too to take things easy and respect her elder wife. All parties listened to me and apologised accordingly. There were tears and forgiveness. Then Hajia Ramatu (the first wife) promised to give the new wife Hajia Hauwa three uninterrupted months for her to have intimacy with Alhaji.

Fast forward, second month after our meeting, Hajia Hauwa called me she missed her period. I asked her to come to hospital for further confirmation. PT was positive. I called Alhaji and Hajia ramatu to break the good news to them and thanked her specially for her sacrifice and forgiveness. Three years storm was over. At the third month we met as scheduled, it was just appreciation galore for all parties.

Fast forward,9 months came. As if God too knew about the whole desire..lol…she gave birth to a male child. It was another galore of happiness but let me now shock you. Do you know that the next pregnancy of the first wife was also a baby boy. So what was not enough was now available abundantly.

As the family doctor I was invited as a guest for both naming ceremonies but tight schedules would not allow me attend. So the whole family decided to pay me a visit in my consulting room one day. Five children in the room, 3 girls and 2 boys. After the august visit ,as they were leaving my consulting room, many lessons overwhelmed my mind and I will candidly share them and my opinion on them:

Lesson Number 1:

Marry only one wife if you can. It is not easy managing more than one woman under one roof. Even if you have the right to marry more than one, please try if you can, stop at one. There seems to be alot of challenges managing more than one woman under same roof. ( This is my personal opinion please)

Lesson Number 2:

This is to men. Please avoid rubbing sex of a child you want on the faces of your wives. Nothing pains a woman like after suffering in the labour room putting her life on the line for the child she gave birth to, you made her feel you prefer one sex of a child to the one she gave you. please men stop this discriminatory act. You are responsible for the sex of the child a woman gave birth to for you and a child is a child. Full stop!

Lesson number 3:

This is to all the families out there, peace matters a lot in a home. Give peace a chance. Alot of things that seem so difficult will suddenly be resolved if we can give peace a chance through communication and forgiveness.

Lesson Number 4:

The 4th delivery of Hajia Ramatu was a boy. Who knows if Alhaji had been patient, may be there would not be need for second marriage yet which led to all these 3 years of tussles and struggles in the home.
Just thinking….

▪︎ Dr. Adewumi is a Family Medicine consultant, based in Kano. Follow him on Facebook at “FROM INSIDE MY CONSULTING ROOM “; his health page on YOUTUBE and INSTAGRAM @doctorhealtheducation; on Twitter @doctorhealthed1; and on WhatsApp at: +2348068649694. He gives daily education on health plus free daily consultation.

“I swapped close to 5,000 babies in the 12 years I worked in the maternity ward at UTH” Nurse confesses

A dying nurse has begged God for forgiveness while confessing that she swapped thousands of babies while she was working as a nurse in UTH.

Elizabeth Mwewa, a nurse who worked at University Teaching Hospital, formerly called Lusaka Hospital, in Lusaka, Zambia, confessed on her sick bed that she exchanged the babies of thousands of new mothers while she worked at the maternity ward of UTH.

Elizabeth Bwalya Mwewa now suffers from cancer and, as she lay on her sickbed, she confessed to all her crimes.

She said on Monday: “May God Forgive me for my sins.”

She added: “I used to swap babies at UTH for fun.”

She continued: “I have terminal cancer and I know I will be dying soon. I wish to confess my sins before God and before all the affected people especially those who were giving birth at UTH during my service. I have found God. I’m now born again. I have nothing to hide, In the 12 years I worked in the maternity ward at UTH, I swapped close to 5000 babies.

“If you were born in UTH between the years 1983 to 1995 chances are your parents may not be your biological parents. I had developed a habit of swapping newly born babies just for fun. So take a good look at your siblings, if for example everyone is light and you are darkie… you are that child and I am really sorry for that.

“I know I sinned against God and may he forgive me for that. I am also asking Zambians to forgive me for the evil things I was doing to innocent children.

“I have caused some faithful couples to divorce after going for DNA Tests. It’s now that I have realised I was just being used by a demon to do that. I have caused many mothers to breastfeed children who are not theirs biologically.

“I don’t want to go to Hell for that, I’m really sorry I have sinned a lot. Please forgive me.” (Lindaikejisblog)

Tinubu: Nigeria is Not Lagos (1)



THIS REPUBLIC SHAKA MOMODU

“In Japan, a corrupt person kills himself. In China, they will kill him. In Europe they will jail him. In Africa, he will present himself for election.”

– Anonymous

Former President Olusegun Obasanjo once said that Nigeria is the only country where if you catch a thief red-handed, the thief will be the first to drag you to court. The above quote whose real author I couldn’t establish and Obasanjo’s characterisation of the Nigerian thief are spot on and speak to the Nigerian conundrum. The fact is that no one has captured the reality of Africa’s leadership challenge better than the two. Nothing depicts the tragedy of Africa, particularly Nigeria, more than the above quote. It tells the story of how Africans have underdeveloped Africa.

Nigeria which was long thought of as the hope of Africa, has unfortunately stuttered miserably. Hope increasingly looks like a distant illusion for the so-called Giant of Africa. A once promising nation has been subdued and scorched by a succession of bad leaders and their aspiring successors. It has witnessed the rise of tribal lords, religious fundamentalists, corrupt and amoral persons elevated to positions of power and authority to chat the destiny of their people, and unfortunately celebrated by the people. The tragic consequence is a nation heading to the brink of disaster.

There is an old saying in the land of my fathers: “If you fill your mouth with broken bottles, you will spit blood.” Nigeria has been spitting blood since it allowed men with a violent heritage to fill its leadership positions.

Frankly, our politicians’ understanding of democracy is threatening the security of lives and properties as well as the corporate existence of the country. Our so-called democracy has witnessed the rise of godfathers, whose sense of public office and purpose of governance is sharing public money and appropriating public property for personal use, creating gangs of armed thugs and militia armies to rig elections in order to perpetuate themselves or proxies in power. National interests are being undermined by tribal and religious affinity.

To rub salt into the wound, many of the aspiring candidates for the different elective positions to replace the current crop of extremely selfish and bad leaders, or names being bandied about in the media as President Muhammadu Buhari’s possible replacement are not only unsuitable for public office, they embody the worst vices that any decent society with the desire to make progress should ordinarily strive to exorcise from its governance system to secure the future of the next generation. But here, many people celebrate and revere them for their incompetence and criminal pillaging of the state’s resources. People who should ordinarily be serving long prison terms or would have paid the ultimate price for corruption in saner societies are the ones jumping around, aspiring to be president, governors, lawmakers and local government chairmen. How can our country make progress with these sorts of people as leaders?

Now, let’s go to the main focus of this write-up which is about former Governor Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s overbearing influence and corruption – the big elephant in the room that nobody wants to talk about. It’s an open secret that the former governor of Lagos State and strongman of Lagos politics, Bola Tinubu is interested in contesting the 2023 presidential election. For sometime now, the debate about his suitability for the position has dominated the public space. Even though he is yet to formally declare his intention to run, his body language has given sufficient indication that he is actively planning and preparing to seek the ultimate office in the land.

Planning committees and contact groups have been set up across all zones in the country to advance that purpose.

And he has been unusually careful not to intervene in burning national issues for fear of giving the all-powerful cabal the ammunition to block his candidacy or where he decides to speak, you come away with the impression of someone who has lost his testicles to his frenemies. What started as whispers, seen then as an unlikely possibility and perhaps, a mere intent to grandstand and dramatise without substance has swelled into staggering noisy stridency of voices of many recruits whose only interest is the cash windfall to harvest from what promises to be a massively funded presidential campaign, that is sure to come their way.

Tinubu knows the power of money, and equally understands human frailty. In the last 22 years, he has amassed prodigious wealth by virtue of holding public office and continues to control the levers of power in Lagos State despite being out of office since 2007. He decides who gets what. He is rich, very rich, he even boasts of his massive wealth, owns two brand new private jets, pours millions of pounds into the governorship aspirations of candidates, yet no one can point to any legitimate means of income that generates that kind of wealth. No one knows how much taxes he pays to the state and federal governments. Various businesses have been associated with him and his allies but a cloud of secrecy hangs over his links to the businesses – businesses clearly established with a corrupt intent, or a product of abuse of public office and trust.

For those who hide behind a finger to ask for evidence of Tinubu’s corruption, the erstwhile Managing Director of Alpha Beta, the Lagos State controversial consultant on IGR, Mr. Dapo Apara’s petition to the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) through the law firm, Adetunji Shoyoye and Associates, is your answer. It’s about the illegal activities taking place in Alpha Beta Consulting, one of the firms associated with Tinubu. Alpha Beta has held the exclusive franchise for revenue collection for Lagos State Government for nearly 19 years. Recall that Tinubu was in office when he awarded the contract to Alpha Beta, a company he had and still has interest in (held for him by proxies), to be the sole revenue collector for the Lagos State government. There was no competitive bidding for that contract. The current Vice President, Yemi Osinbajo, a Professor of Law, was his Attorney General then. He must have seen that contract and must have known that it was a pure act of corruption.

Mr. Apara stated in his petition to the EFCC that Alpha Beta has been an IGR consultant to Lagos State since 2002, earning about 10% of whatever it collects for the state. He accused the firm of corruption, tax evasion and money laundering, among other things. He said the company had failed to pay taxes in the sum of N100 billion. What did EFCC do? It simply allowed the petition from no other person than a former managing director of the firm to gather dust on its shelf. And seeing that nothing was done, the firm has continued its nefarious activities till this day. Long before Apara’s bombshell, precisely in 2006, then Chairman of the EFCC, Mallam Nuhu Ribadu at a plenary session of the Senate specifically highlighted Tinubu’s corruption as one that had “international dimension”.

With such questionable financial dealings which have earned him prodigious wealth and the political power he wields over governance in Lagos in over two decades, he has held steady the loyalty of a horde of fanatical supporters, effectively using this to infuse his political base and spread his influence to other Southwest states. Not done with his material possession that has nearly crippled Lagos, he now wants to be president of Nigeria. What temerity!

As much as I have tried to understand the rationale behind peoples’ support for this fellow, to the extent of enlisting the services of behavioural experts and social anthropologists, there is still a part of me that is at a loss to understand why otherwise educated and enlightened people are queuing behind his ambition to govern Nigeria despite knowing about his atrocities in Lagos and his vast unexplained wealth. Are these people saying to the rest of us that are not falling head over heels with his ambition that it is okay for one man to maintain such a totalitarian control over Lagos State and illegally appropriate public resources the way he is doing? Are they saying corruption by others is condemnable while Tinubu’s own is tolerable?

Are these people saying it is okay for him and his children to be running a parallel government in Lagos State?

Indeed, he has been running a parallel government since he left office – he determines who becomes governor, lawmaker, senator, council chairman and even who gets government’s contracts. As a matter of fact, he determines what goes and what does not go. He has a finger in every pie in the state. After the death of his mother, Chief Abibatu Mogaji who was the President-General of the Association of Commodity Market Women and Men of Nigeria, Tinubu arbitrarily and single-handedly appointed and imposed on the traders his own daughter, Folashade Tinubu-Ojo as her successor. He truncated the process of the traders to elect someone among themselves. His daughter never had a shop in any market prior to her appointment by her father as reported then. Who does that? Can anyone tell me where Tinubu derived such authority as a former governor to unilaterally make that controversial appointment?

Anyone with well-tuned political antennae would have known that the motivation was to grab and maintain political sway, and had nothing to do with making the association better. It is all about the huge revenue generated from levies arbitrarily imposed and forcefully collected from market traders for which there is no accounting. The money doesn’t go into maintaining the markets or to the state government, but to wet the ravenous appetite of an overbearing godfather. It is also about ensuring that traders in Lagos continue to vote for him and his chosen candidates, knowing full well that traders in the informal sector and members of their families constitute a major political demographic in a state like Lagos.

His son, Seyi Tinubu now bestrides the Lagos landscape like the lord of the manor. His presence anywhere in the city sends shivers down the spine of many a government official. Like his father, he gets what he wants. His Loatsad Promedia and E-motion outdoor companies have total control of outdoor signage on most lucrative routes, viz. Lekki-Ajah and Epe axis, Falomo and Bourdillon areas of Ikoyi on the Lagos Island, Third Mainland bridge, Murtala Mohammed International Airport road, etc. The implication is anyone wanting to advertise on billboards on the routes he now controls has to go through this rookie practitioner with doubtful certification from regulatory agencies. His only pedigree in the field is his father’s chokehold on Lagos. For a guy that made his debut in advertising four or five years ago to have risen so fast to pull off such a feat speaks to Tinubu’s overbearing political influence. Today, Seyi enjoys unfair advantage over other operators in the industry but who is Seyi without his father who in a state of heady self-declaration is known to cry out: “I am Lagos.”

Tinubu’s continuous manhandling of Lagos has reached an unprecedented scale, such that nothing happens in the state without his knowledge. His spies are everywhere and report to him daily the activities and crucial decisions of government. In other words, Tinubu has been running the affairs of Lagos State since 1999 in varying degrees, depending on the personality of the governor in office. He has been able to achieve total control over succeeding administrations in the state with his firm grip on the State House of Assembly, a lackey house that is more loyal to him than the people they represent. He single-handedly handpicked and railroaded every member of his party into the state legislature. Election results were merely written by the godfather and his agents and rubberstamped by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) and the courts. With the loyalty of the assembly members well assured, Tinubu is able to threaten with impeachment and arm-twist any sitting governor who tries to assert his authority. Nearly all critical executive appointments are nominated by him.

Having conquered Lagos and expanded some influence to one or two Southwestern states, Tinubu is getting more bold and confident of riding roughshod over the captive states and the people. And now, he wants to capture Nigeria to do with it as he pleases. Imagine that reality for a moment! How can any sane educated human being be promoting him to the highest office in the land?

His ambition to be president is a slap in the face of all Nigerians of good old precious values. Ascending the presidency will be the ultimate reward for his impunity and will engender a brisk-street confidence that he can get away with anything – that the law is made for others and not for him.

I concede that Tinubu has not been convicted of any crime, so all his rights and privileges are preserved and protected by the constitution. But he has never been tried for all his abuse of power and corruption in and out of office. I can bet my life that if he is investigated and sincerely tried based on facts already in the public domain, he will have a huge debt to pay to society.

Now, let’s even leave his abuse of office and corruption (of “international dimension”) for a moment and honestly interrogate his political exploits. Tinubu is the main architect of the general malaise in our country today. His desire to be president at all cost led him to fetch Major General Muhammadu Buhari from retirement – a man he once described as “an agent of destabilisation, ethnic bigot and religious fanatic who if given the chance would ensure the disintegration of the country”, according to a Wikileaks transcript of a conversation between him and the US Consul-General in 2003. He had warned then that Buhari should not be trusted with power due to his ethno-religious bigotry. He pointed to Buhari’s tribalistic nature as potentially dangerous to the unity of Nigeria. In his own concise summation, “Buhari and his ilk are agents of destabilisation who would be far worse than Obasanjo.”

Tinubu later denied that he made those statements about Buhari to the US Consul-General following his alliance with him in 2014/15. Tinubu and his apparatchiks made a complete about turn on Buhari and started to spew a new narrative on Buhari’s unblemished record of performance and competence, adding that he would be a unifier. Well, Buhari went on to win the 2015 presidential election and Tinubu’s influence/stature catapulted through the roof. His lackeys went to town, celebrating him as the hero of democracy and “the greatest political strategist to come out of Africa”.

Of course you know in this part of the world, it is very easy to be celebrated as a hero no matter the crimes one has committed or continues to commit. Just spread some money around, memories will fade quickly and juries can be bought. However, Tinubu’s summation about the danger Buhari represents has proved so prophetic that I am just in disbelief how precise and forthright he was (forget all those denials).

What manner of man recognises danger in all its ramifications and for selfish political ambition leads his people into it with false promises of security? Now we can’t sleep anymore with our eyes closed. We can’t travel by road anymore. What about Tinubu? He flies his private jets. While things are tough for you and me, Tinubu is enjoying his best moment ever. As herdsmen are killing your neighbours and burning down their homes, he (Tinubu) is safe in his house. He is even building another palatial palace in Ikoyi, that straddles between Bourdillon and Queen’s Drive, a mansion like no other.

Never forget that it was Tinubu who brought Buhari and led the repackaging and rebranding of the man to make him president. So he bears direct responsibility for the complete failure of leadership our country is experiencing today on Buhari’s watch. Everyone kidnapped or killed, every woman or girl raped by the bandits or herdsmen, wherever, however, Tinubu shares part of the blame, let no one deceive you. He told us Buhari was capable of leading this country in a progressive way. He assured Nigerians that Buhari was the man to fix this land and clean up the ‘mess’ that then President Goodluck Jonathan and his team had created.

He and his All Progressives Congress (APC) apparatchiks rewrote the man’s history and achievements in superlative terms and presented him as a saviour who was coming to right all wrongs, rebuild and restore the glory of our fatherland. With that, he successfully hoodwinked a gullible young generation who neither studied history nor learned any lessons from the past to fall over each other to support a man they barely knew, whom he had once described and rightly so, as a tribalist and an agent of destabilisation. Today, the catastrophic consequences of his false narrative that propelled Buhari to office are self-evident for all to see. Indeed, his depiction of Buhari as a tribalist, a religious fanatic and an ethnic bigot was on the money.

The president’s six years in office have proved Tinubu right in every material sense. It is no longer a matter of debate or conjecture or some distant allusion based on hate that on the president’s watch, the country is broken and more divided than at any time in its chequered history. The level of lawlessness and the general insecurity across the country today are indescribable. All manner of terror franchises have turned our natural pristine forests into safe havens for their most heinous activities, while the government looks on in complete surrender. Many lives and properties have needlessly been lost due to Buhari’s poor leadership.

I am curious to know what Tinubu’s campaign would be like? Whose mess is he coming to clean, Buhari’s or Jonathan’s? Can anyone help me out?

Now, how can the man who foisted this calamity on the nation be the one to succeed him? How can any sane human being be promoting Tinubu for president? It is annoying that many educated persons are behaving like dimwits by supporting a man who at the very least should be crawling on his knees to every household in this famished land of our fathers, begging for forgiveness from Nigerians for the tragedy he has brought upon them and their country. For God’s sake, how can Tinubu replace Buhari? What manner of people are we? Are we so cursed as a people that we keep groping in the dark for solutions to our problems? I know that the godfather of propaganda himself is about to unleash another round of propaganda, half-truths and lies on our country. But we must be vigilant and resist propaganda this time. The thinking, I presume, is that if propaganda did it for Buhari, why not for Tinubu?

I fervently pray that his presidential ambition ends in smoke but I am not so unmindful of the fact that Nigerians are smart people, but with a history of foolish choices. Rewarding someone who foisted this tragedy on our country and who has not been able to keep his hand out of the Lagos cookie jar since 1999 with the presidency would amount to handing over to him a bigger cookie jar to do as he pleases. That will be a total surrender to the whims and caprices of someone whose deception doubles his appetite for primitive wealth acquisition. Imagine for a moment what will happen to NNPC, Customs, Federal Inland Revenue Service, etc.

If I may ask, what on earth does Tinubu now stand for? On what endearing value would he stand for election that you are willing to risk the future of your children in his hands? He has since jettisoned those things that he used to champion; namely, restructuring or fiscal federalism to make the country work better for all its components parts, state police, free, fair and transparent elections, etc, all for a seat at the table of those with their foot on our neck.

Talking about elections, they are only free and fair when his party wins. He celebrated and praised the daylight robbery that happened in the Osun gubernatorial election and the one that returned his new ally, Governor Abdullahi Umar Ganduje of Kano to office.

Still on free and fair elections, many won’t forget in a hurry how in the 2019 presidential election, thugs of the APC targeted areas in Lagos they suspected would vote for the candidate of the opposition party and actively prevented them from voting. In the process, ballot boxes were openly destroyed by them, all in an effort to minimise the performance of the opposition candidate. The so-called great political strategist didn’t realise that the thugs were hurting Lagos’ overall voting relevance? Nor can one forget that in the run-up to the governorship election in 2019, Nigerians from a certain ethnic group and their businesses were threatened by APC’s thugs in Lagos, leading to voter apathy in the election proper and a shoo-in for Tinubu’s chosen candidate (we are waiting to see how he will deny him a second term ticket).

If Tinubu and his acolytes could get away with such electoral malfeasance at the state level, one can only imagine what he would replicate on the national stage, if given the chance. The truth is, in a free and fair election in Lagos, Tinubu would lose scandalously. Everything about the man Tinubu is doubtful and questionable. From the secondary school he claimed to have attended to other educational attainments, his state of origin, identity of his parents, to even his actual age, doubts and questions persist. Added to all these are his past misdeeds in the United States of America. What kind of person is that?

In Lagos where he must be obeyed years after he left office as a governor, Tinubu has ensured he continues to draw from the treasury, courtesy of a nebulous and fraudulent pension law for ex-governors and their deputies. An ex-governor is now entitled to a house in Lagos, another in Abuja, cars, security, aides, paid medical expenses, full salary and allowances, all at the state’s expense. That law was rushed through the legislature in the closing months of his eight years in office. Unfortunately, eligibility to benefit from the law started with Tinubu. Alhaji Lateef Jakande, the first Executive Governor of Lagos State, the epitome of service, a visionary par excellence, the true father of modern Lagos was ineligible to draw from that pension law. Lagos under Tinubu was the first state to pass such a law in the country. With his bad example, others states followed suit. Is this the man you want to be your president? God forbid!

In his eulogy to the late Jakande, he claimed he tried to walk in his spirit. How deceptive can this man not be? The late Alhaji Jakande didn’t live in a grandiose mansion in Ikoyi, or on Victoria Island even though he served as governor. He was not a moneybag or bullion-van politician like Tinubu, no one ever saw bullion vans ferrying cash into his house on the eve of a presidential election. He neither owned millions of pounds to sponsor candidates for elections, nor private jets after occupying public office. Jakande didn’t award contracts to companies he had interests in as a sitting governor. He didn’t have bulletproof high-end SUVs; he didn’t drive around in a convoy of glittering cars, no shrieking sirens to scare people off the road, no security escorts. His security and safety were in the hands of the people he once served, his neighbours were his companions. Until his death, he lived in a nondescript single-storey building in Ilupeju, among the ordinary people. He was a true hero, unsung by the vocal minority who make heroes and statesmen of villains like Tinubu.

Unfortunately, our country doesn’t have men of conscience anymore. A cadre of old hacks and grifters is being lionized as Nigeria’s hope of redemption. A motley assortment of shady characters and activists is assaulting our sensibilities with warped new values. They take no prisoners and deodorise the manifest flaws of characters they crown heroes.

There is a saying in the land of my fathers: “If you gaze long enough into an abyss, the abyss will gaze back into you.”

Anyone who viewed the video of Tinubu at the Kano airport recently would definitely have noticed the sluggishness in his gait. Are those rooting for Tinubu saying they hate this country so much that they would prefer we move from one sick, broken man to another with a history of running abroad for medical treatment? We must be vigilant and respond decisively to his deodorised profiles so as not to repeat history. This is a clarion call to Nigerians to reject Tinubu and his presidential ambition because he has failed the personal attributes test of the president Nigeria needs. He is not even remotely charismatic, neither does he possess the gift of oratory to mesmerize the people.

Duke of Edinburgh, Prince Philip dies at 99

Duke of Edinburgh, Prince Philip has died at age 99, Buckingham Palace announces.

In a statement shortly after midday, the palace said: “His Royal Highness passed away peacefully this morning at Windsor Castle.”

The Duke of Edinburgh, who was the longest-serving consort in British history, had returned to Windsor Castle on 16 March after a month in hospital.

Boris Johnson said he “inspired the lives of countless young people”.

Speaking at Downing Street, the prime minister added that the duke had “earned the affection of generations here in the United Kingdom, across the Commonwealth, and around the world”.

Meanwhile, Justin Welby, the Archbishop of Canterbury, said he “consistently put the interests of others ahead of his own and, in so doing, provided an outstanding example of Christian service”.

The palace added: “The Royal Family join with people around the world in mourning his loss.”

The flag at Buckingham Palace was lowered to half-mast and a notice was posted on the gates following the announcement of the duke’s death.

Bunches of daffodils, tulips, roses and lilies were among floral tributes placed by people outside the palace, while crowds began to gather at Windsor Castle.

The BBC’s royal correspondent Nicholas Witchell said it was “a moment of real national sadness” and “a moment of sadness, most particularly of course, for the Queen losing her husband of 73 years – a bigger span of years than most of us can imagine”.

He said Prince Philip had made “a huge contribution to the success of the Queen’s reign”, describing the duke as “utterly loyal in his belief in the importance of the role that the Queen was fulfilling – and in his duty to support her”.

“It was the importance of the solidity of that relationship, of their marriage, that was so crucial to the success of her reign,” he added.

A bank of photographers and cameramen were lined up around the growing number of tributes at Buckingham Palace on Friday afternoon, according to BBC News reporter Marie Jackson.

Rhea Varma, from Pimlico, pulled up to the gates on her bike to lay flowers and a note saying Rest in Peace Duke.

She said: “It’s just super sad. I think it might be the beginning of big change in our country. Without him, the Queen might not reign much longer.”

To her, the duke was “the kind of stability that’s so old-fashioned it’s difficult to comprehend. He was a rock who brought integrity.”

The prince married Princess Elizabeth in 1947, five years before she became Queen.

In March, the duke left King Edward VII’s hospital in central London after a month-long stay for treatment.

He underwent a procedure for a pre-existing heart condition at another London hospital – St Bartholomew’s. (Sundiatapost)

Police officer arrested over rape of woman in custody, pleads not guilty in court.

A Zimbabwean policeman identified as Phinias Shava has been arrested and arraigned in court for allegedly raping a woman in a police station.

The 31-year-old police officer, who is stationed at Hillside Police Station, was arraigned in court on a two count charge bordering on rape.

A prosecutor revealed that the alleged crime occurred when Shava was assigned to the How Mine police base.

On the day of the said crime, the victim (27) who cannot be named for ethical reasons went to the police base at around 8PM to collect some service papers which she had left being processed.

It was alleged that Shava took advantage of the fact that there was no one else around and locked the door. He then grabbed the woman and dragged her to another room inside the building, ripped off all her clothes including her undergarments, removed his police combat uniform and raped her once using protection.

He is said to have held the woman against her will for the remainder of the night. During the same night, he is alleged to have raped the victim two more times. However, he did not use protection on the last two occasions.

The policeman however pleaded not guilty when he appeared before Bulawayo Magistrate Rachel Mukanga. The magistrate released the police officer on ZWL$10,000 bail and remanded him out of custody to April 15, 2021.

The magistrate also warned Shava not to interfere with state witnesses and to report at Mzilikazi Police Station every Friday. (Patmosmedialine)

Norway PM fined $2,300 for inviting too many people to her birthday party and breaking her own coronavirus rules

Norwegian police have fined the country’s PM, Erna Solberg, for breaking Covid-19 social distancing rules imposed by her own government, and organizing a family gathering to celebrate her 60th birthday.

The fine imposed on the prime minister is 20,000 Norwegian crowns ($2,352), the chief of the south-east police district, Ole Saeverud, told a news conference on Friday.

While in most cases, a fine would not actually be enforce, the PM was made an example of as she had been spearheading the tough restrictions herself, the police chief noted.

Though the law is the same for all, all are not equal in front of the law.

“It is therefore correct to issue a fine in order to uphold the general public’s trust in the rules on social restrictions,” Saeverud stated.

The event – said to be a sushi party – was hosted by the PM late in February. The PM held the party with 13 family members at a mountain resort, even though her government had banned gatherings of more than 10 people to combat the spread of Covid-19.

The party was soon exposed by the country’s media, bringing it to the attention of the police. Solberg did not try to deny her involvement, promptly issuing an apology.

“I am sorry that my family and I have broken the corona[virus] regulations – that should never have happened,” Solberg wrote on Facebook shortly afterwards. “We of course should have followed all the recommendations, as I have asked you to do.”

Others involved in the ill-fated event, including the restaurant that hosted the party, as well as the PM’s husband, Sindre Finnes, faced no legal consequences. While they were found guilty of breaking the rules, the blame was pinned solely on the PM.

“Solberg is the country’s leader, and she has been at the forefront of the restrictions imposed to limit the spread of the virus,” the police chief stressed.

Since the beginning of the pandemic, Norway has registered only around 101,000 cases of coronavirus, including just under 700 deaths. The country of some 5.3 million has employed tight restrictions in a bid to halt the spread of the disease. (RT)

Military Continues Bombardment Of Benue Communities, Sets Monarch’s Palace Ablaze

The attack by the Nigeria military on Bonta-Mbator community and adjoining areas in Konshisha Local Government Area of Benue State in retaliation of the attack and death of some soldiers continued yesterday for the third day.

In yesterday’s onslaught, the palace of the Third Class  traditional ruler overseeing the affected area, Chief Unaha Koko and the residence of  a prominent politician,  Chief  Mathias Ibyuan among other houses were razed down by the rampaging soldiers.

DAILY ASSET  learnt that the second largest town in the local government, Gungur and Agidi, the home town of Chief Unaha Koko have been seized by the military.

sources claimed   scores of people have been rendered homeless and food stuff destroyed.

It was learnt that but for the intervention of Benue state Governor, Samuel Ortom, the headquarters, Tse-Agberagba would have been razed down as well as it was targeted by the   military operatives.

DAILY ASSET also gathered that, part of Gwer Local Government Area neighbouring Konshisha has also been raised to the ground.

Some of the displaced persons, who fled their homes for safety, told DAILY ASSET on phone that the horrific revenge continued for the third day yesterday.

Locals said there had been serious harassment of residents by the military, even in areas that had no connection with the crisis.

Some of the people interviewed like John Vangerutsa, Adondo Terzungwe, said they were shocked over the level of carnage done the people of the area even without proper investigation to apprehend the culprits.

They called on  the state Governor, Samuel Ortom  to act fast to stem the attacks, adding the Military had   found pleasure in attacking the community without  a proper investigation to ascertain the true position of things. (Dailyasset)

ASSAULT SAGA: BETWEEN NJC AND MR. PRESIDENT, WHO CAN SANCTION CCT CHAIRMAN?

*Unmasking the Confusion and contradiction(s) of the Nigerian Constitution in that regard

                           By

        O. G. Chukkol, ACIArb (UK)

Preamble
On Thursday 31st March, 2021 the Chairman of the Code of Conduct Tribunal, Danladi Umar, was caught on camera physically assaulting a security guard at Banex Plaza in Wuse, Abuja. In a five-minute video that has gone viral online, Mr Danlandi was seen slapping and kicking the security guard, while police officers suspected to be attached to him were trying to restrain him from attacking the guard.

Reactions from lawyers have trailed the above incidence with others calling on the National Judicial Council, NJC, to suspend Umar. It should be noted that NJC exercises supervisory power on judicial officers only. See part one paragraph 21 (a) and (b) of the Third Schedule to the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, 1999 (as amended)

This question becomes paramount: is Umar a judicial officer?

Legal Analysis
By Section 318 of the constitution, “Judicial office” means the office of Chief Justice of Nigeria or a Justice of the Supreme Court, the President or Justice of the Court of Appeal, the office of the Chief Judge or a Judge of the Federal High Court, the office of the Chief Judge or Judge of the High Court of the Federal Capital Territory, Abuja, the office of the Chief Judge of a State and Judge of the High Court of a State, a Grand Kadi or Kadi of the Sharia Court of Appeal of the Federal Capital Territory, Abuja, a President or Judge of the Customary Court of Appeal; of the Federal Capital Territory, Abuja, a Grand Kadi or Kadi of the Sharia Court of Appeal of a State;

The section adds that “a reference to a ‘judicial officer’ is a reference to the holder of any such office”.

The office of the CCT Chairman is obviously missing in the above list and the implication is that Umar is not a judicial officer based on the rule of interpretation that the express mention of one thing is the exclusion of the other not mentioned; what is not included in a statute is not to be read into it. see Michael v. Odu’a Investment Company Ltd (2017) LPELR-42429(CA). That is to say, If the framers of the constitution had wanted to make CCT Chairman a judicial officer, they would have clearly mentioned it or simply included CCT Chairman in the offices listed in section 318 of the constitution.

Now here comes a lacuna, or rather, a confusion, in the Nigerian constitution – paragraph 13 (b) of Part One of the Third Schedule to the Constitution states that the Federal Judicial Service Commission may recommend to the National Judicial Council, the removal from office of a number of judicial officers including the chairman and members of the CCT. However, paragraph 21 (a) and (b) of the same Third Schedule omits the CCT chairman and members from the list of persons that the National Judicial Council should recommend their removal or suspension to the President or exercise disciplinary control over.

One would have thought that the name of the CCT Chairman was mistakenly omitted in paragraph 21 of the third schedule. Can we also say that the omission of the name of the CCT chairman in section 318 is a mistake?

One becomes lost as to why exactly FJSC is empowered to recommend the removal of CCT Chairman to NJC and yet the constitution becomes quiet as to what exactly the NJC should do with the name after receiving same from FJSC. Does it then mean that the NJC can at that stage remove or exercise any other supervisory power over CCT Chairman? The constitution is silent on that. But it appears that NJC cannot remove or discipline CCT Chairman by dint of section 22 (3) of the Code of Conduct Bureau and Tribunal Act which provides as follows:

“A person holding the office of Chairman or member of the Code of Conduct Tribunal shall not be removed from his office or appointment by the President except upon an address supported by two-thirds majority of each House of the National Assembly praying that he be so removed for inability to discharge the functions of the office in question (whether arising from infirmity of mind or body) or for misconduct or for contravention of this Code. A person holding the office of Chairman or member of the Code of Conduct Tribunal shall not be removed from office before retiring age save in accordance with the provisions of this Code”.

It follows therefore that the person to remove or suspend the CCT Chairman is the Nigerian President whose address must be supported “by two‐thirds majority of each House of the National Assembly”. He can suspend the CCT Chairman because irrespective of the fact that suspension was not mentioned either in the constitution or the CCBT Act, such power exists by operation of section 11(1)(b) of the Interpretation Act which provides that “where an enactment confers a power to appoint a person either to an office or to exercise any functions, whether for a specified period or not, the power includes−…(b) power to remove or suspend him”.

The implication of the foregoing is that the CCT Chairman cannot be removed or suspended by the NJC. The position would not have been the same if the constitution had not omitted the CCT in section 318 of the constitution and paragraph 21 of the third schedule thereto. In such instance, the CCBT Act would have been deemed to be inconsistent with the provisions of the constitution and thus, void.

Having said that, it is observed that the CCT is clothed with enormous powers to punish for the contravention of the Code of Conduct. Why its Chairman and other members are not under the disciplinary oversight and purview of the NJC is still a mystery.

It is hereby recommended that the Constitution be amended so that the CCT chairman and other members shall henceforth be brought under the disciplinary purview of the NJC and be designated as judicial officers as well. This will bring it in conformity with Third Schedule Part 1, paragraph 13 of the Constitution which gives the Federal Judicial Service Commission power to advise the NJC on removal of the chairman and members of the CCT.

                        ✍
    O. G. Chukkol, ACIArb (UK)
             Final Year Student, 
               Faculty of Law,
                   ABU, Zaria
    [email protected]
               08032470318
            April 9, 2021
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