Sahara Reporters Latest News Today Friday 13th March 2020
Sahara Reporters Latest News Today and headlines on some of the happenings and news trend in the Country, today 13/03/20
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E2%80%99s-dethronement-describes-act-abuse-power Soyinka Condemns Sanusi’s Dethronement, Describes Act As Abuse Of Power
Nobel Laureate, Prof Wole Soyinka, has condemned the dethronement of Muhammadu Sanusi II as Emir of Kano, labeling the incident as a gross abuse of power.
Expressing his views in a piece on Thursday, Soyinka said that Sanusi’s removal showed that the North was not ready to embrace the truth and modern way of life.
Sanusi, a former governor of Nigeria’s Central Bank, was ousted from the throne on Monday by the Kano State Government.
He is currently taking refuge at Awe, a small town in Nasarawa State where he was banished to.
Speaking on the situation, Soyinka said that the removal of Sanusi was a huge loss to the North, who could have benefitted from his wealth of knowledge as a seasoned economist to develop the region.
Soyinka said, “What a pity, Ganduje lacked friends who could have saved him from himself!
“Insofar as one can acknowledge certain valued elements in traditional institutions, the man he thinks he has humiliated has demonstrated that he is one of the greatest reformers even of the feudal order.
“By contrast, Ganduje’s conduct, apart from the innate travesty of justice in this recent move, is on a par with the repudiated colonial order, one that out-feudalised feudalism itself, and is synonymous with authoritarianism of the crudest temper.
“The record shows, in this particular instance, that it is one that embodies modernised cronyism and alienated pomp and power – never mind the cosmetic gestures such as almajiri reformation.
“It has proved one of the worst examples of a system that enables even the least deserving to exercise arbitrary, unmerited authority that beggars even the despotism of the most feudalistic traditional arrangements.
“Emir Sanusi was a one-man EFCC sanitisations squad in the banking system taking on the powerful corrupters of that institution. Unblinking, he trod on the interests of powerful beneficiaries of a worm-infested sector and, in the process, created permanent enemies.
“By contrast, confidence in immunity has catapulted his tormentor to the ranks of the most notorious public faces of the disorder that Sanusi strove to eradicate.
“Sanusi was one of the early warning voices against religious extremism whose bitter fruits the nation is currently reaping.
“Those who wish to understand how deeply he had anticipated and explored the potential consequences of this menace should refer to his novelette: The Adulteress’ Diary, a work that exposes and satirises the hypocrisy of fundamentalist Islamic clericalism from the inside, that is, from the authoritative point of view of an Islamic scholar.
“This work did not endear him to hard core fundamentalist purveyors of social division but even those opponents would have been wise to pay heed to his exposition, and its implicit warning.
“Why, I am not certain, but I do have the feeling that the palace gates of the Kano emirate are not yet definitively slammed against this Islamic scholar, royal scion and seasoned economist.
“It is just a feeling. Closed and bared, or merely shut however, the doors of enlightened society remain wide open to Muhammad Sanusi.
“As for his current crowing nemesis, a different kind of gate remain yawning to receive him when, as must, the days of governorship immunity finally come to an end.
“Those whom the gods would destroy, they first make mad. The list is long, there are comrades in impunity awaiting their day of reckoning.
“The files remain open and the nation remains on the watch. The wheels of justice grind slowly, but sooner or later, they arrive.”
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JUST IN: Court Bars Lagos APC From Holding NEC Meeting
The Federal High Court in Lagos on Thursday ordered that the meeting of the National Executive Council of the All Progressives Congress scheduled for next week Tuesday must not go on except a former Oyo State governor, Abiola Ajimobi; Waziri Bulama and Paul Chukwuma, were allowed to attend.
The court, in a ruling by Justice Mohammed Liman, restrained the APC and its officials from “disturbing, preventing or obstructing Waziri Bulama, Senator Abiola Ajimobi and Paul Chukwuma from carrying out their duties as Acting National Secretary, Acting National Deputy Chairman (South) and Acting National Auditor of the APC, respectively.”
Justice Liman’s orders followed an ex-parte application filed by the Lagos State Chairman of the APC, Tunde Balogun, which was argued by his lawyer, Gani Bello.Balogun, in the application, prayed the court to compel the APC to recognise Bulama as the party’s Acting National Secretary; Ajimobi as the Acting National Deputy Chairman (South); and Chukwuma, as the Acting National Auditor of the party.He told the court that after the three offices became vacant and were zoned to different geopolitical areas, Bulama was nominated by the North-East; Ajimobi by the South-West; and Chukwuma by the South-East.Balogun said the nomination of Bulama was ratified at the meeting of the APC National Working Committee held on January 14, 2020; while those of Ajimobi and Chukwuma were ratified at the NWC meeting of March 4, 2020.
“By virtue of the ratification stated above, the nominees have become members of the National Executive Council and are entitled by the constitution of the defendant (APC) to work and operate in acting capacities in their respective offices pending their swearing-in at the National Convention of the party.
“In spite of the foregoing, the defendant (APC), acting through its officials and officers, particularly, the Deputy National Secretary, has not allowed the nominees to perform their duties as members of the National Executive Council,” Balogun said.He told the court that the APC National Executive Council could not effectively operate unless Bulama, Ajimobi and Chukwuma were allowed to perform their duties.
Balogun prayed the court to compel the APC to recognise them.
After listening to the applicant’s lawyer, Justice Liman granted the prayers and adjourned till March 25, 2020 to take the Motion on Notice.
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‘Herbalist’ Arrested With Human Parts In Ondo
Idris Sule Shaye paraded by the Police in Ondo state on Thursday
Idris Sule Shaye paraded by the Police in Ondo state on Thursday
A forty-five year-old suspected herbalist, Idris Sule Shaye, has been arrested by the police in Ondo State for allegedly dealing in human parts.=
Spokesperson for the police in the state, Tee-Leo Ikoro, who paraded the suspect alongside 14 others at the command headquarters in Akure, confirmed the incident to journalists.
Ikoro said one Ahmed Odere known as teacher, discovered a foul smell in their building at the Owani area of Idoani and reported to the police.
Ikoro said, “He (Odere) asked the tenants living in the compound and none of them could actually explain where the odour was coming from.
“They complained to the landlord, Abu Abedo, and he had to search everyone’s room.
“During the search, nothing was found but they discovered later that Mr Shaye was not around and they had to go look for him.
“When they found him, they led him into his apartment and eventually discovered that the smell was coming from there.
“He brought out a sack bag containing burnt flesh, human head and two hands.”
Ikoro revealed that the suspect told police investigators that he was contracted by the sons of one Mr Alhasan Ishaku for the human parts.
In his confession, the suspect said he was lured into the trade by two brothers, Dipo Jimoh and Damaka Jimoh.
He said, “It was Dipo and Damaka that contacted me to help them cut the head and hands of a dead man in Isua-Akoko area.
“They told me their father need human parts and promised me money if I am able to get it but the the police arrested me before I could take it to them.”
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For Whom The Gates Open Wide By Wole Soyinka
These are depressing times – stemming from different factors of course – for a large sector of the nation. Insecurity, economy in a coma, a leadership in name only, having vanished into either, permanently AWOL in a time of serial crisis. No wonder mimic and debased forms of leadership assertiveness rush in to fill the vacuum! The latest in the stakes of such power appropriation makes one can wonder which is the more reactionary order: the so-called feudal institution, or the self-vaunting modernized governance whose apex can bring the feudal to heel quite arbitrarily, without check and without seeming consequence. To rub pepper in the wound, the protagonist of that “progressive” order enjoys near-absolute immunity, thus, even when it has disgraced its status and violated its oath of office, caught literally with its pants down in open defecation, it can still pretend to act in the interest of progress, modernity and public well being. Such are the ironies raised by the purported dethronement of the Emir of Kano, Mohammed Sanusi, with one stroke of a pen!
I was participant, albeit on the sidelines, when a similar scenario began to unfold in my own state, Ogun some years ago. The then governor, on account of an imagined slight by one of the monarchs in his domain was actually poised – not virtually but physically – poised to sign the dethronement and banishment order on that traditional ruler. His office was invaded by some of the panicked chiefs and stalwarts of Ogun state who rushed to ward off the impending order. One of them stopped at my home after the pacification session to narrate what had transpired, and how some of them had actually gone on their knees to plead with that governor to stay action. I was furious. I knew every detail of that affair, had listened to a recording of the speech that was supposed to have given this mighty offence. It was pure piffle!
“Why did you people plead with him? Don’t you realize you were making him feel a god? You should have let him carry on, then we would see what a cataclysm he had launched on the state!”
The man, an independent businessman of absolute integrity, and one of that governor’s intimate circle, smiled and said, “No, we couldn’t do that. We are his friends. We were pleading with him to save him from himself.”
What a pity Ganduje lacked friends who could have saved him from himself! Insofar as one can acknowledge certain valued elements in traditional institutions, the man he thinks he has humiliated has demonstrated that he is one of the greatest reformers even of the feudal order. That is beyond question, a position publicly manifested in both act and pronouncements. By contrast, Ganduje’s conduct, apart from the innate travesty of justice in this recent move, is on a par with the repudiated colonial order, one that out-feudalized feudalism itself, and is synonymous with authoritarianism of the crudest temper. The record shows, in this particular instance, that it is one that embodies modernized cronyism and alienated pomp and power – never mind the cosmetic gestures such as almajiri reformation. It has proved one of the worst examples of a system that enables even the least deserving to exercise arbitrary, unmerited authority that beggars even the despotism of the most feudalistic traditional arrangements.
Emir Sanusi was a one-man EFCC sanitizations squad in the banking system taking on the powerful corrupters of that institution. Unblinking, he trod on the interests of powerful beneficiaries of a worm-infested sector and, in the process, created permanent enemies. By contrast, confidence in immunity has catapulted his tormentor to the ranks of the most notorious public faces of the disorder that Sanusi strove to eradicate. Obviously, vengeance lay in wait, and he was not unaware of it. The signs were omnipresent and Sanusi acknowledged their imminence. I know this for a fact. Apart from exchanges some mutual associates – we held, not so long ago, a phone conversation during his visit to London, just after the shrinking of his domain signaled the commencement of a systematic attrition of his status. I assured him I would shortly fulfill my long-standing promise to pay him a visit. He sounded very much aware of the impending fall of the axe of vengefulness and power primitivism. I can testify that he remained totally unfazed.
Most important of all, and most pertinently for the nation, Sanusi was one of the early warning voices against religious extremism whose bitter fruits the nation is currently reaping. Those who wish to understand how deeply he had anticipated and explored the potential consequences of this menace should refer to his novelette: The Adulteress’ Diary, a work that exposes and satirizes the hypocrisy of fundamentalist Islamic clericalism from the inside, that is, from the authoritative point of view of an Islamic scholar. This work did not endear him to hard core fundamentalist purveyors of social division, but even those opponents would have been wise to pay heed to his exposition, and its implicit warning. Then perhaps even if Boko Haram still remained inevitable, the nation would have been much better prepared for its onslaught, and those of allied malignancies like ISWAP.
Why, I am not certain, but I do have the feeling that the palace gates of the Kano emirate are not yet definitively slammed against this Islamic scholar, royal scion and seasoned economist. It is just a feeling. Closed and bared, or merely shut however, the doors of enlightened society remain wide open to Muhammad Sanusi. As for his current crowing Nemesis, a different kind of gates remain yawning to receive him when, as must, the days of governorship immunity finally come to an end. Those whom the gods would destroy, they first make mad. The list is long, there are comrades in impunity awaiting their day of reckoning. The files remain open, and the nation remains on the watch. The wheels of justice grind slowly, but sooner or later, they arrive.
Wole Soyinka
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E2%80%99s-billboards-portraits-destroyed-apc-national-secretariat Oshiomhole’s Billboards, Portraits Destroyed At APC National Secretariat
The crisis rocking the All Progressives Congress has taken a new dimension as some supporters of the party removed billboards, banners and posters bearing images of the embattled National Chairman, Adams Oshiomhole, at the National secretariat in Abuja.
The billboards and banners disappeared overnight from walls and strategic points around and inside the secretariat.
There was also indication that Oshiomhole and some of his loyalists will not be present at next Tuesday’s National Executive Council meeting of the party.
Only a billboard bearing the image of President Muhammadu Buhari was left standing at the national secretariat of the party as at the time of this report.
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Court Throws Out Contempt Suit Filed Against PDP Chairman
A Lagos High Court in Igbosere has struck out a contempt application filed against the National Chairman of the Peoples Democratic Party, Uche Secondus, and other members of the party’s National Working Committee.
Justice Taofikat Oyekan-Abdullahi made the order following the applicants’ prayer to withdraw the charge.
The claimants in the suit are Dr Adegbola Dominic, for state chairman of the party; Elder John Babatunde Agbaje, Alhaji Fatai Ajisefinni and Chief Taiwo Kuye, of the PDP’s Lagos State chapter. But Oyekan-Abdullahi declined the respondents’ prayer to impose a N500,000 fine on the applicants for initiating the contempt proceedings.
The defendants apart from Second us are Senator Ben Obi, the PDP, Senator Biodun Olujimi, Jarigbe Agom Jarigbe, Danladi Baidu Tijo, Ahmed M. Mukthar and the Independent National Electoral Commission.
The claimants alleged that Secondus, Obi and the others disobeyed the court’s order of November 12, 2019, which restrained them from conducting a special election for vacant offices in the party’s Lagos chapter.
They claimed that the PDP conducted the “illegal” election, despite having foreknowledge of the case and pending application for interlocutory injunction.
The special election committee was chaired by Senator Obi at the instance of Secondus, they claimed.
Justice Oyekan-Abdullahi on December 5, 2019 ordered the defendants to show cause why an order for committal should not be made against them.
Secondus, Obi and the other defendants appeared in court on the last adjournment, February 11, 2020, following, which the judge adjourned till yesterday for hearing of pending applications. At the resumption of yesterday’s proceedings, Secondus was absent.
Only the first claimant, Dr Dominic, and second defendant, Obi represented the parties.
Francis Akinlotan appeared as counsel for all claimants, Emmanuel Enoidem appeared for Secondus, Obi, the PDP and three other defendants.
Wendy Kuku represented INEC (the seventh respondent).
Akinlotan informed the judge of the claimants’ intention to abandon their contempt application. “The second contemnor (Secondus) is not in court today. I don’t want to belabour the point.
“I want to withdraw my contempt application so that we can go to the merit of the case,” he said.
But Enoidem opposed him on the ground, claiming that Akinlotan had not given a valid reason for the withdrawal. He said, “My lord, we are not objecting, but we shall ask for costs. I am asking for costs of N500,000 each for the first and second persons cited for contempt.”
Following Akinlotan’s refusal to concede costs, Justice Oyekan-Abdullahi held, “Since the learned counsel (Akinlotan) is the sole conducting officer of his case, he has graciously applied to court to withdraw the contempt proceedings application.
“I do not think that costs will be appropriate in the circumstances. “There is nothing more important in contempt proceedings than attendance, composure and remorse in the face of the contemnors.
“While appreciating the learned counsel’s objection, I am of the view that money is not the price for contempt to compensate the contemnor, rather, his attendance of court proceedings to face his or her charge.
“This is however averted by the withdrawal and I hold the contemnor in high esteem for the remorse and attendance in court. No further respect must be shown by any court than this.”Based on this reasoning, the contempt proceedings application is accordingly struck out and the substantive suit shall be taken forthwith. This is my ruling.”Further proceedings was adjourned until April 29.In the substantive suit, the claimants are seeking among others, an order setting aside the election of officers for vacant offices in the party’s Lagos chapter.
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Lawyer Asks Court To Set Aside NDDC Budget Over Non-inauguration Of Governing Board
A Lagos-based lawyer and human rights activist, Mr Inibehe Effiong, has dragged President Muhammadu Buhari, Attorney-General of the Federation, Abubakar Malami (SAN), and the National Assembly before the Federal High Court in Abuja over the President’s ‘illegal’ submission of the 2019 and 2020 budget estimates of the Niger Delta Development Commission in the absence of the governing board of the NDDC.
The case, which was filed on Wednesday with suit no: FHC/ABJ/CS/349/2020, also has the Minister of Niger Delta Affairs, Godswill Akpabio, the NDDC and the Ag. Managing Director and head of the Interim Management Committee of the NDDC, Prof Kemebradikumo Daniel Pondei, as 4th, 5th and 6th defendants respectively.
Effiong in his originating summons asked the court to determine the following four questions: “Whether by the provisions of Section 18 (1) of the Niger Delta Development Commission (Establishment etc.) Act, 2000, the President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria can validly submit estimates of expenditure and income (budget estimates) of the Niger Delta Development Commission to the National Assembly without and/or in the absence of the governing board of the commission.
“Whether the 2019 and 2020 estimates of expenditure of the Niger Delta Development Commission is not ultra vires, illegal, invalid, null and void having been submitted to the National Assembly by the President without and/or in the absence of the governing Board of the Niger Delta Development Commission in view of the express provisions of Section 18 (1) of the Niger Delta Development Commission (Establishment etc.), 2000.
“Whether the Interim Management Committee appointed by the President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria to manage and supervise the affairs of the Nigeria Delta Development Commission, can legally exercise the power exclusively vested in the governing Board of the Commission, including entering into contracts and expenditure of the funds of the Commission, in view of the express provisions of Sections 8 and 14 (3) of the Niger Delta Development Commission (Establishment etc.), 2000.
“Whether the existence and inauguration of the governing Board of the Niger Delta Development Commission is a condition precedent to the inauguration of the Niger Delta Development Advisory Committee; a body statutorily charged with the responsibility of advising the governing Board and monitoring the activities of the Commission in view of the provisions of Section 11 (2) of the Niger Delta Development Commission (Establishment, etc.) Act 2000.”
In his 40-paragraph affidavit with eight exhibits attached, Effiong stated that President Buhari dissolved the extant board of the NDDC headed by Senator Victor Ndoma-Egba in January 2019 and appointed an Interim Management Body to manage the affairs of the NDDC.
He stated that Buhari in October 2019 wrote to the Senate seeking the confirmation of a new 16 member governing Board which has Dr Pius Odubu from Edo State as chairman, which was approved by the Senate.
Effiong deposed that despite the approval of the governing board by the Senate, Buhari unilaterally suspended the inauguration of the board and continued to retain the Interim Management Committee now headed by Prof Pondei.
According to the lawyer, in contravention of the earlier Senate resolution, the Senate Committee on Niger Delta Affairs recognised the Interim Management Committee while considering the 2019 budget of the NDDC on February 12, 2020 and allowed the said Interim Management Committee to defend the 2019 budget and that on March 4 and 5, 2020 the House of Representatives and the Senate respectively considered and passed the 2019 budget estimates of the NDDC without and/or in the absence of the governing board of the commission.
He also deposed that the National Assembly is currently considering the 2020 budget estimates of the NDDC without and/or in the absence of the governing board.
In his written address, the Lagos lawyer argued that the power to submit estimates of the expenditure and income of the commission is statutorily vested in the governing board of the NDDC and not the President.
No date has been assigned for the hearing of the case.
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JUST IN: Nigerian Senate Approves HND As Least Qualification For President, Governors
The Nigerian Senate on Thursday, passed for second reading an amendment of the constitution allowing Higher National Diploma or its equivalent as the least educational requirement for anyone seeking to run for the office of the president or state governors.
President of the Nigerian Senate, Ahmad Lawan, sent the bill to the Committee on Constitution Review after lawmakers passed the proposed amendment for second reading.
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Sanusi: Buhari Aiding And Abetting Corruption By Dr SKC Ogbonnia
SKC Ogbonnia
SKC Ogbonnia
The dramatic dethronement of Emir of Kano, Muhammadu Sanusi II, is a clear indication that President Muhammadu Buhari is aiding and abetting corruption. It is a common knowledge that the president emboldened Abdullahi Ganduje, the virally corrupt governor of Kano State, to punish a globally celebrated maverick anti-corruption king. Therefore, the denial from Buhari that he has no hand in the Kano emirate crisis is pure baloney.
The dethronement of Sanusi is rooted in Buhari’s twin evil of selective justice and vendetta politics. It is a calculated vengeance against Sanusi for his opposing views on Buhari’s government. The president merely found a willing accomplice in Ganduje, who was equally determined take his pound of flesh against Sanusi.
Lest we forget, there had been no love lost between Sanusi and Ganduje, after the governor was seen in a trove of video clips receiving bribes from a contractor and stuffing the proceeds in wads of dollars into his pocket. The bribery incident went viral and subsequently provoked worldwide outrage. Nigerians wanted action from both the state and federal levels.
Instead of condemning the incident, President Buhari continued to shower stanzas of praises on the rogue governor. It was a mockery of the war against corruption under Buhari. In short, the president’s action or inaction is squarely the shameless juncture where the evil trajectory in Kano took a dramatic rise. Even the Kano State House of Assembly, which had commenced investigation of the governor, as required by the law, read Buhari’s body language and quickly swept the bribery case under the carpet, despite overwhelming evidence.
There was never any sign of compunction from Governor Ganduje for his corrupt behaviour. As if that was not enough, the chairman of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC), Adams Oshiomhole, landed in Kano within the same period to pass a vote of confidence on Ganduje, to the chagrin of the Nigerian masses. It did not come as a surprise that the governor was re-elected amid charges of monumental election rigging by federal government authorities. It did not come as a surprise that Emir Sanusi would be dethroned. It did not come as a surprise that the rogue governor would be allowed to deploy the federal police under President to banish and place the anticorruption king under house arrest in clear violation of his fundamental human rights and the Nigerian Constitution.
The dethronement of Emir Sanusi portends a troubling future. The shameful incident hinges on the growing duplicity in Buhari’s war against corruption. It is a growing pattern of war against anticorruption advocates in the country. It is a war against the common good.
SKC Ogbonnia, 2019 APC presidential aspirant, writes from Houston, Texas
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Nigerians In United Kingdom Protest In Front Of High Commission, Demand Charges Against Sowore Dropped, Call For Referendum
A group of Nigerians on Wednesday staged a peaceful demonstration in front of the Nigerian High Commission in London, United Kingdom, to make series of demands.
The group, which frowned at the state of governance in Nigeria under President Muhammadu Buhari, said citizens had lost hope of a meaningful future under the current administration.
The protesters went on to condemn the government for its baseless charges against rights activist and journalist, Omoyele Sowore, asking for the case to be immediately dropped.
The group said, “It is fraudulent charges. They are not allowing Sowore to go and see his family. For several months now, Sowore has not set eyes on his family.
“The case has again been postponed until April 1 and 2. Can you all see the charade behind this.
“We are calling on the government to drop all charges against Sowore, Olawale Bakare (Mandate), Agba Jalingo.
“The government has no solid evidence to pursue the cases against Sowore and others and instead of them to humbly drop them, they are wasting everybody’s time.
“If indeed they had evidence, they won’t be seeking for adjournment, they will proceed with the case.
“This is not just about Sowore as a person, it is about every Nigerian. Injustice against one, is injustice against all.
There are a lot of people detained unjustly across Nigeria that we don’t know about. Nigeria today has become a lawless society and President Muhammadu Buhari is a disaster.
“Nigeria has failed for everybody. There are killings everyday across the country. Nothing is working anymore.
“But government keeps deceiving everybody and that is why we have embarked on this protest to let the world know what is actually going on in Nigeria.
“We cannot prosper as a country when there is widespread injustice everywhere.
“The same DSS officials that has failed to apprehend Boko Haram members are the ones chasing after and tormenting innocent citizens. This cannot continue.
“We are calling for a referendum so that people can express their thoughts about this contraption called Nigeria.
“This country is no longer working, we need to go our separate ways.”
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