Posts by okakwu:
Nigerian senator Orji Kalu convicted of N7.65 billion fraud
A federal High court in Lagos on Thursday found a former Abia State Governor, Orji Kalu, guilty of fraud. Justice Mohammed Idris who read the judgement is yet to pronounce the sentence for the offences for which Mr Kalu was convicted. The judge said Mr Kalu was guilty of the…
Detained in UAE, ex-AGF Adoke writes INTERPOL, asks to be freed
A former Attorney-General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Mohammed Adoke, has written the general secretariat of INTERPOL in France to demand his release. INTERPOL arrested Mr Adoke, who is on trial for corruption in Nigeria, on November 11 in Dubai. He has been detained in the UAE since…
Why I planned to pay firm N774 billion to recover money from oil companies — Malami
The Attorney General of the Federation, Abubakar Malami, has given reasons why he engaged Trobell International for the recovery of $62 billion unremitted funds due to Nigeria from multinational companies. In a statement on Saturday, Mr Malami defended his controversial decision that has angered many Nigerians. The controversy that greeted…
P&ID: Nigeria pays $200m bond to UK court
The Nigerian government has provided a bond of $200 million to a court in the United Kingdom, as part of efforts to overturn the $9.2 billion judgement debt against it, in favour of an Irish firm, Process and Industrial Development (P&ID). The Attorney General of the Federation and Minister of…
Appeal Court upholds Ortom’s election as Benue governor
The Court of Appeal, Abuja Division, on Thursday upheld the re-election of the Benue State Governor, Samuel Ortom, at the 2019 general election. In a unanimous judgement by a five-member panel at the appellate court, led by A. O. Belgore, the court said the All Progressives Congress and its candidate,…
Malami defends planned payment of hundreds of billions of naira to debt recovery agent
The Attorney-General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Abubakar Malami, has defended the decision of his office to approve payment of five per cent of recovered sums as commission to an international company, Trobell Limited. The contract is in respect of the government's effort to recover over $62 billion…
Alleged N400m Fraud: Court fixes date to decide Olisa Metuh’s fate
The Federal High Court in Abuja on Tuesday fixed February 25, 2020, to deliver judgement in the N400 million fraud charge against a former spokesperson of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Olisa Metuh. Justice Okon Abang on Tuesday fixed the date for judgement after taking arguments from lawyers in the…
Court grants Maina N1 billion bail
The Federal High Court, Abuja Division, on Monday granted bail to the former pension boss, Abdulrasheed Maina, with a bond of N1 billion. Mr Maina was arraigned by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission before Justice Okon Abang for allegedly diverting public funds while he was head of Nigeria's pension…
Convicts in Nigeria’s sex offenders register may never get foreign jobs, travels – Official
Convicted rapists named in the sex offenders register will find it impossible to get jobs outside Nigeria or travel abroad, an official of Nigeria's Sexual Assault Referral Centre (SARC), Juliana Joseph, has said. The register will be launched on Monday in Abuja as part of efforts by the Nigerian government,…
Judge says Maina’s lawyer threatened court; seeks to delay trial
A federal judge on Thursday accused lawyers representing the former pension task force director, Abdulrasheed Maina, of threatening the court in a bid to delay his trial. Justice Okon Abang of the Federal High Court, Abuja, said one of the lawyers, Adeola Adedipe, had threatened the court by saying that…
Sowore: Stop insulting Nigerians, Falana tells SSS
The lawyer representing the detained publisher of Sahara Reporters, Femi Falana, has accused the State Security Service of insulting "the collective intelligence of Nigerians" by switching reasons for its continued violation of court orders for the release of Omoyele Sowore and others held by the agency. Mr Falana who is…
Intimidation of voters, journalists and election observers rampant in Kogi election – CDD
The Centre for Democracy and Development (CDD) has said thugs intimidated voters, election observers and journalists on a scale it said would affect the integrity of the governorship election in Kogi State. In its first preliminary report on the election, CDD lamented the wide use of ammunition and ballot box…
Women protest alleged non-voting in Bayelsa
Some women from Ward 5 in Biogbolo community, Yenagoa in Bayelsa State, protested alleged non-voting in the ward. A video seen by PREMIUM TIMES indicated that the women who carried placards with various inscriptions were alleging that thugs employed by the All Progressives Congress “ensured that voting did not take…
Supreme Court on Buhari’s Election: PDP should’ve called 250,000 witnesses
The Supreme court has said the Peoples Democratic Party and its presidential candidate, Atiku Abubakar, should have presented 250, 000 witnesses before the 2019 election tribunal to prove its case. The court said this on Friday while explaining why it dismissed PDP's appeal against the September 11 decision of the…
PDP shuns Supreme Court’s explanation on reasons for dismissing Atiku’s appeal
The Peoples Democratic Party on Friday shunned the Supreme Court's invitation to hear its reasons for dismissing the party's appeal against the election of President Muhammadu Buhari. The Peoples Democratic Party failed to make any representation at the apex court on Friday after the court notified the public of its…
Alleged Rape: Court dismisses Dakolo’s case against Fatoyinbo
A Nigerian judge has dismissed rape allegations against Biodun Fatoyinbo, a famous Abuja-based preacher of Commonwealth of Zion Assembly. Oathman Musa of the High Court of the Federal Capital Territory, Bwari Division, dismissed the case filed by Busola Dakolo on Thursday afternoon, saying it was statute-barred because it happened decades…
Court disqualifies APC deputy governorship candidate in Bayelsa
A Federal High Court, Abuja Division, has disqualified the APC deputy governorship candidate in Bayelsa State, Biobarakuma Degi-Eremienyo, from participating in the November 16 governorship election. The court in a decision on Tuesday said Mr Degi-Eremienyo provided conflicting information in his documents submitted to the electoral commission, INEC. The court…
Nigerians living with disabilities narrate how discrimination ended dreams (2)
In a 2008 publication by the United Nations' department of public information, the UN quoted an American star actor, Chris Sullivan, who was born with hearing impairment, as saying: "to achieve a change of attitude towards people with disabilities, you have to look at the person and not the disability."…
SSS claim for not releasing Sowore, misleading – Lawyer
Femi Falana, the lawyer representing the detained publisher of Sahara Reporters, Omoyele Sowore has described as misleading the claim by the State Security Service that it failed to release Mr Sowore because no one had come to collect him. On Friday night, in an obvious attempt to defend its repeated…
Why we’ve not released Sowore – SSS
Nigeria's State Security Service has denied claims by lawyers representing the detained publisher of Sahara Reporters, Omoyele Sowore, that they were being prevented from taking Mr Sowore after meeting his bail conditions on Wednesday. The SSS spokesperson, Peter Afunaya, in a text message midnight Wednesday said the claims by Mr…
Court adjourns impeached Kogi deputy governor’s suit to week before end of tenure
The National Industrial Court in Abuja on Thursday adjourned hearing in the application brought by Simon Achuba over his controversial impeachment as the deputy governor of Kogi State. The court adjourned the hearing to January 13 and 14 next year, a week to the end of Mr Achuba's tenure on…
Again, despite Sowore meeting bail conditions, SSS fails to release him – Lawyer
Nigeria's State Security Service (SSS) has again refused to release the detained publisher of Sahara Reporters despite him meeting his bail conditions. On Wednesday, the SSS said it had closed for the day, and would not review a document presented by Mr Sowore's lawyers showing the bail conditions had been…
Sowore: Nigerian govt indicates plan to use secret witnesses
The Nigerian government on Wednesday indicated its intention to use secret witnesses in the prosecution of a rights activist, Omoyele Sowore. A government lawyer, after he was challenged by Mr Sowore's counsel, told the court that he was planning to seek the permission of the court to use secret witnesses.…
Pinnick’s Discharge: We’ve been vindicated – NFF
The Nigeria Football Federation has explained Tuesday’s suspension of the trial involving its President, Amaju Pinnick, and four others by an Abuja Division of the Federal High Court. In a statement on the court decision on Tuesday, the NFF said the Nigerian government withdrew the charges “because the proof of…
Nigerian govt withdraws corruption charges against Pinnick, other NFF officials
The Federal High Court, Abuja Division, on Tuesday, struck out the case of fraud brought against the President of the Nigerian Football Federation, Amaju Pinnick. The court made the decision following an application by the federal government to withdraw its case against Mr Pinnick and others accused of mismanaging money…