Featured
Why Rivers Won’t Enact Bill For Financial Autonomy Of Judiciary -Wike …Embrace Judicial Activism, Gov Charges NBA …Seeks Speedy End To VAT Case At S’Court
Rivers State Governor, Chief Nyesom Wike, has said that the state government would not enact a bill for financial autonomy of the Judiciary.
This is as the governor, also urged Nigerian lawyers to engage in judicial activism as a deliberate measure to addressing the slow dispensation of justice, and attempts to stifle the rights of the citizenry, just as he sought accelerated justice dispensation of the suit seeking constitutional interpretation on the collection of Value Added Tax (VAT) by the Supreme Court.
The governor maintained that it would be futile to bother the state House Assembly with such bill since the 1999 Constitution as amended already recognises independence of the Judiciary.
Wike made this assertion at the dinner in honour of delegates to the 61st Annual General Conference of the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA), at the banquet hall, Government House, Port Harcourt, last Monday night.
The governor noted that since Nigeria does not practice unitary system of government, it would be wrong for the Federal Government to issue directives to states on how they should run their affairs.
“Nobody can force me on how my state will operate. Nobody can say send this bill to the Legislature for Judiciary autonomy. The Constitution has already guaranteed that the Judiciary must be independent and we have agreed on that.
“Amendment had been done that the Judiciary must be independent, and on first line charge. If I’m not obeying that, there is a sanction for it.”
The governor explained that the state government had released all 2021 capital expenditure due to the Judiciary since September.
He challenged the Federal Government to prove it has done same.
Wike urged the Federal Government to desist from playing to the gallery with the issue of financial autonomy for the Judiciary.
According to him, a Federal Government with decrepit High Court buildings across the country cannot truly claim it fully supports financial autonomy for the Judiciary.
“Are they giving the Judiciary at the federal level the budget they are supposed to have in order to put the courts in order?”
Wike warned that the Rivers State Government will resist any attempt by the Federal Government to deduct funds meant for the state under the guise of implementing financial autonomy for the Judiciary.
The governor said the NBA cannot continue to be docile while security agencies are used by the Federal Government to intimidate and harass judges.
According to him, “When the Judiciary is destroyed, the legal profession is gone.”
Wike, also took a swipe at the past leadership of NBA for not protesting against the closure of courts in Rivers State for almost two years by the Governor Chibuike Amaechi-led administration.
He used the occasion to eulogise the Chairman of Council of Legal Education, Nigerian Law School, Emeka Ngige (SAN) for endorsing the establishment of the Port Harcourt campus of the Nigerian Law School.
The Speaker, Rivers State House of Assembly, Rt. Hon. Ikuinyi-Owaji Ibani, charged the NBA to all time stands in defence of the interest of people of the country.
The President, Nigerian Bar Association, Olumide Akpata, SAN, commended Wike for his unflinching support for the Judiciary and the Bar.
Akpata said the governor’s conscientious support and defence of the Judiciary was a pointer to his firm belief that institution of state should be strengthened.
The NBA president stated that when Wike leaves office, posterity would remember him as a man who fervently contributed his quota to nation building.
Chairman, Body of Senior Advocates of Nigeria in Rivers State and former NBA President, Onueze C.J. Okocha lauded Wike for his numerous landmark achievements in office.
Earlier, Rivers State Governor, Chief Nyesom Wike urged Nigerian lawyers to engage in judicial activism as a deliberate measure to addressing the slow dispensation of justice, and attempts to stifle the rights of the citizenry, just as he sought accelerated justice dispensation of the suit seeking constitutional interpretation on the collection of Value Added Tax (VAT) by the Supreme Court.
The governor gave the charge, last Monday, at the 61st Annual General Conference of the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA) in Port Harcourt.
Wike said no excellence can be achieved in the nation’s judicial system when judges lack the courage to enforce the law with equal measure because they are constantly under some form of political intimidation or pressure to please vested interests.
He wondered why the NBA has continued to focus less on promoting and fighting for the values of good governance, democracy, judicial independence, human rights and the rule of law when there is urgent need for them to do so.
“Never in our political history has Nigeria been so badly governed and denied of good governance with the Federal Government woefully failing in its basic duties to provide for the wellbeing and security of its own citizens as we have experienced in the last six years.
“On a daily basis the economic, social and political rights, including the rights to personal security, freedom of speech, association, dissent and peaceful protests, as well as the right to personal liberty are being violated with impunity by the present central administration and its security apparatus.
“The invasion on personal liberty has been brazen and indiscriminate, such that even judges of the superior courts, including Supreme Court justices, have in the recent past been victims of midnight assaults on their premises and subjection to unlawful arrests and imprisonments.
“Lately, the new devious trend is to tag security risks to innocent Nigerians and opposition elements and use the immigration authority to seize their international passports without a prior court order.”
Wike said it is not enough for the Federal Government to issue Executive Order 10 and do nothing more pragmatic about resourcing the Judiciary to the fullest possible extent, including enhanced judicial welfare and conditions of service.
According to him, there was need to seek judicial interpretation of the Executive Order 10 because, in itself, it is an oppressive erosion of the powers and autonomy of the sub-national governments to administer their own judicial budgets in line with prevailing economic indices.
“It is for similar reasons of strengthening fiscal federalism that we are in court to determine the proper authority, under our Constitution for imposing and collecting the Value Added Tax (VAT) in our country.
“These are very nationally sensitive issues and Nigerians are eagerly waiting for the final outcome of the judicial process. We, therefore, wonder why the Supreme Court is not giving accelerated hearing to these matters and respectfully request that this should be done in the national interest.”
Speaking further, Wike said it was time for everybody to work collectively towards building a strong legal system that is well-resourced, independent and effective in the administration of justice.
He said his administration has built, rebuilt, furnished and equipped old and new courthouses for the entire spectrum of the state and federal judicial system, including the Rivers State High Court, the Federal High Court, the National Industrial Court and the Court of Appeal in Port Harcourt.
Wike remarked that his administration is also spending N16billion to build the Nabo Graham-Douglas, SAN, Nigerian Law School campus in Port Harcourt.
This is in addition to the provision of administration and maintenance overheads of N10million per month for the next four years.
In his address, the Chief Justice of Nigeria, Hon. Justice Ibrahim Tanko Muhammad, charged the NBA and its members that serve in various offices in the arms of government to lead the crusade to address the poor condition of service of national judicial officers.
Justice Muhammad, who was represented by Justice Mary Odili, in his remarks before declaring the NBA conference open, observed that administration of justice is being hampered by assault that litigants, especially politicians and some lawyers, launch on the Judiciary when their ends are not met.
He urged the NBA to also take measures to discipline its erring members who do not only ridicule the Judiciary but also abuse its processes.
Justice Muhammad noted that as Nigeria remain faced with the challenges of kidnapping, banditry, terrorism, agitations for secession and resource control, the peace of the country now rests on the balance of the scale of justice.
In his keynote address, the Bishop of the Catholic Diocese of Sokoto, Most Rev. Matthew Hassan Kukuh, said it has been difficult to review the nation’s Constitution in a manner that meets the current aspirations of Nigerians because of the poor quality of those saddled with such responsibility.
According to him, any tenable constitution should be one that provides a mirror for each Nigerians to recognise him or herself as a citizen and not as an instrument that distributes favours to vested interests, sections or tribes.
Kukah wondered about the usefulness of having 120,000 members on NBA list that cannot be harnessed to provide the leadership that was required to save the country from the quagmire of having a workable constitution for Nigeria.
He said Nigerians suffer identity crisis because politics have been immersed in religion and making it difficult to have legal system that can address all issues and promote freedom and justice without any form of discrimination.
“Our politicians must become very careful and more circumspect. If we are going to take a lesson away from Boko Haram, from banditry, from where we find ourselves now, it is that there is an urgent need for politicians to become more restrained in their involvement with religion; because their religious identity remains a very troubling identity.”
Deputy Senate President, Obarisi Ovie Omo-Agege said the National Assembly has taken steps to ensure transparency of elections in Nigeria by giving nod to the electronic transmission of results.
On his part, the Speaker of the House of Representatives, Hon Femi Gbajabiamila said the Legislature was committed to ensuring that the rule of law thrives in the country.
In his welcome address, NBA President, Olumide A. Akpata explained that the 2021 conference comprises over 25 technical sessions where subject matter experts would lead conversations primarily aimed at envisaging the future of the legal profession within the context of a rapidly changing world and measures that lawyers would be required to embrace in order to remain relevant.
He expressed the profound gratitude of the NBA to the government and people of Rivers State led by Wike, for their support and legendary hospitality.
Present at the conference were the Governor of Sokoto State, Hon. Aminu Waziri Tambuwal; Governor of Plateau State, Simon Lalong; former NBA presidents, Onueze O.C.J. Okocha (SAN); Okey Wali (SAN); Paul Usoro, SAN; and Austin Alege, SAN, and lawyers from the 36 states of the country.
Others are Hon Femi Gbajabiamila represented by Barrister Luke Onofiok; Governor of Ondo State, Rotimi Akeredolu, SAN, in a representative capacity; President of the Court of Appeal, Justice Monica Dongban-Mensem; Chief Judge of Rivers State, Justice Simon Amadi; former Senate President, Dr Bukola Saraki; former Rivers State Governor, Sir Celestine Omehia; former Deputy Governor of Bauchi State, M.D. Abubakar; among others.
Letters
Ban On Christians Fellowship In Universities
If the story making the rounds on two Nigerian universities being sued for allegation of their ban on Christian fellowship in the campus is anything to go by, then Nigeria is in for another trouble.
According to the story, the Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN), Katsina State branch, in conjunction with an American conservative Christian legal advocacy group, Alliance Defending Freedom (ADF International), has instituted an action against two universities in Katsina State for indefinitely banning Christian groups from holding fellowship meetings and worship on campuses.
The suit was said to have been filed against the two universities for violating the right to religious freedom by “indefinitely prohibiting” Christian groups from holding fellowship meetings and worship on campus.
The Christian legal advocacy group further alleged that one of the universities enforced the ban by locking all worship and fellowship centre on university grounds, preventing Christian students and groups from accessing the facilities and banning them from meeting for worship and fellowship elsewhere on campus while their Muslim counterparts at both universities have been permitted to hold worship and fellowship meetings in university-constructed worship and meeting spaces.
Recall that in 2017, there was a news report on the outlaw of any other religious or tribal association on campus besides the Muslim Students Society of Nigeria by the authorities of the Umar Musa Yar’Adua University, Katsina, Katsina State. A circular credited to the institution’s acting Dean of Student Affairs, Dr. Sulaiman Kankara, which was later disowned by the university, contained the directive.
The last time I checked, Nigeria is a democratic, circular state where every individual is free to practise any religion of her choice. Section 38 of the Nigerian constitution provides: “Every person shall be entitled to freedom of thought, conscience and religion, including freedom to change his religion or belief, and freedom (either alone or in community with others, and in public or in private) to manifest and propagate his religion or belief in worship, teaching, practice and observance.”
It is therefore wrong for a public university to indulge in this discriminatory act. A university is supposed to be an intellectual environment where people should be allowed some level of freedom. There must be robust fellowship and inter-faith relationship. People must be able to relate with each other without any discrimination or stigmatisation.
Knowing how delicate issues on religion are in Nigeria, one hopes that the authorities of the institutions concerned should swiftly look into the report and retrace their steps. The court should be objective in deciding the case and give students of other religions some leverage of freedom. It must be stated that the judgment on this case should not be delayed to avoid any retaliation in other parts of the country.
We already have a lot of issues to deal with in the country. Adding a religious crisis to it could be disastrous. Any university established and funded by either the federal, state or local government, should have freedom of religion. Let there be no more trouble in the country, please.
Waheed Abiodun,
Victoria Street,
Port Harcourt Township.
The NIMC, NCC Partnership
Reports have it that the National Identity Management Commission (NIMC) and Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) disclosed that they have partnered to enhance seamless linkage of National Identification Number-SIM across the federation.
Both Commissions said that in recognising the significance of this initiative in enhancing security and improving service delivery, they were committed to improving processes and enhancing efficiency.
This is a welcome development. It has been worrisome why Nigerians should be made to go through the rigorous process of linking their National Identification Number (NIN) with their phone numbers every now and then. Some people who engage in online transactions have recorded some losses over the past few weeks as some internet providers barred their lines due to their inability to successfully do the linkage.
Two weeks ago, I went to a High Court for an official engagement and was shocked to see the number of people seeking to get court affidavits for the linkage of the NIN with the phone numbers so that their line will be unbarred.
It is therefore hoped that the NIMC, NCC partnership will remove all the bottlenecks surrounding the Nin, SIM linkage and make the process very seamless. It is also hoped that this will be the beginning of the process of proper identity management in the country and gradual collapse of all the various forms of identification – Drivers Licence, Voters Card, NIMC card. Bank cards etc into one identity card so that one would not have to be moving around with loads of identity cards.
Ebele Ubani,
Jabi, Abuja.
The Unwanted Strike
Just when the students of Nigeria public universities are rejoicing that there had been a no interruption in the universities’ academic calendar for sometiime, the news about the warning strike by the Non-Academic Staff Union of Educational and Associated Institutions (NASU) and the Senior Staff Association of Nigerian Universities, (SSANU), broke.
The Joint Action Committee of the two organisations had directed members to commence a seven day warning strike last week, following the federal government’s inability to pay their four months’ withheld salary.
I do not even understand why the government should allow labour unions to down tools before acting on their demands. Did President Bola Tinubu not direct that university workers that were on prolonged strike in 2022 and their salaries stopped by the Muhammadu Buhari’s administration after the invocation of “No Work, No Pay” policy, should be paid four months of the withheld salaries?
Have members of the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) not been paid in line with the president’s directive? Why were SSANU, NASU and unions concerned not paid? These bodies issued an ultimatum to the federal government. Why was there no effort to address their grievances within the window period?
It is said that what is good for the goose is also good for the gander. So, the government, having paid ASUU, should also endeavour to settle SSANU and NASU so that there shall be no interruption in our academic calendar. We did no wrong by choosing public universities. Government, ASUU, SSANU, NASU and what have you should let us learn in peace and graduate at the record time like our colleagues in private universities, please.
IB Michael,
University of Port Harcourt,
Port Harcourt.
Letters
Obi Should Do More, Discordant Tunes On Minimum Wage, Akpabio’s Unguarded Comment
Obi Should Do More
The Presidential Candidate of the Labour Party (LP) in the 2023 election, Mr Peter Obi, has continued to voice out his opinion on the happenings in the country. On the budget padding scandal currently rocking the upper chamber of the National Assembly, he has told the Senate to provide Nigerians with some explanations on the matter.
He said the claims and counter-claims over the alleged N3 Trillion which was alleged by Senator Abdul Ningi to have been padded into the 2024 budget, requires proper explanation as to what Nigerians must need to know regarding management of the nation’s, insisting that the suspension of Senator Ningi for three months does not address the issue.
The Labour party chieftain had also expressed his concern over the hunger in the country a few days ago. He raised the alarm that Nigerians were spending all their money on food.
It is commendable of Obi to have stood with the masses at this critical time in the nation’s history and be critical of negative happenings in the country and bad government policies. However, Obi should do more than just criticising. It is said that “a tree cannot make a forest”. Therefore, Obi should galvanise all the law makers both on the national and state levels to tow the same line with him, which should be seen as the position of the Labour Party.
In 2023, there was a revolution in the country. People of all walks of life, of various religions and tribes trouped out in support of the labour party because they believed in Mr Peter Obi. People saw the Labour Party as a needed alternative to the two most populous political parties, PDP and APC. Based on Obi’s personality and popularity, some people who ordinarily would not have won councillorship positions in their communities were elected into state and national assemblies. Many of them won the elections for free, spending no shi shi.
Painfully, after assuming the exalted positions, many of them, especially those in the national assembly seem to have forgotten the masses. It is now business as usual. Among the seven senators and 36 House of Representative members of the Labour Party in the National Assembly, which one of them has moved a strong motion about the hardship currently being faced by the masses and how to address it? How many of them stood by Senator Ningi on the budget padding revelation? What out the exotic cars distributed to them, how many of them advised that they should go for less expensive cars and the excess money channelled into developmental projects? It has become a case of one not talking while on the dining table, right?
Obi should be able to organise his party to form a formidable opposition and a party that does things differently, a party that stands with the people. If the labour party elected political office holders carry on the way they have done since they came into office, they will keep de-marketing their party, forgetting that 2027 is just around the corner.
Ngozi Omeje,
Umuahia, Abia State.
Discordant Tunes On Minimum Wage
I have followed the discussion on the proposed new minimum wage with keen interest and I just hope the leadership of the organised labour will be firm enough to represent the workers and refuse to fall prey to the ploy to disunite them.
It is disheartening seeing workers come up with different amounts as the proposed minimum wage. While the Nigeria Labour Congress, NLC, demanded that South-West states should pay N794,000 the Trade Union Congress, TUC, asked for N447,000. Similarly, workers in the Federal Capital Territory demanded N709,000, while their counterparts in the North-West clamoured for N485,000.
This idea of singing in discordant tunes is not good for strong unionism. I recall my days as a civil servant in Ibadan, Oyo state. That was during the time of Adams Oshiomhole as the National President of the NLC. The labour union was a force to be reckoned with and whenever the workers barked, the government caught cold. The increase in workers’ wages was fought for as body. There was nothing like federal workers going to the left and the state workers going to the right. Of course then, in 2000, the TUC did not exist as a separate body. The entire workers spoke in unison.
Yes, the states did reserve the right to say whether they can pay the national minimum wage or not but the national body of the NLC was carried along in the negotiation. Please, the NLC and TUC should come together and present a common front in the new minimum wage quest and ensure that workers in the states also get a fair deal. If not, some of the greedy governors will continue to subject the workers to hardship.
Pa Micheal Adeniran,
Rumuogba Housing Estate, Port Harcourt.
Akpabio’s Unguarded Comment
“Today, he’s responding to a remark by the Governor that has nothing to do with him. The opposition is urging the Senate president to be mindful of his utterances. How can he turn the burial of late Access Bank CEO, Herbert Wigwe, wife and first son, such a sad moment, to a political attack?. It’s disappointing. That’s political recklessness taken too far. We, the opposition parties, won’t tolerate such utterances anymore if it continues.”
Above was the response of a member of the House of Representatives and Chairman, House Committee on Petroleum (Downstream), Hon. Ikenga Ugochinyere, to the Senate President, Senator Godswill Akpabio, unguarded remark on Gov. Siminalayi Fubara’s comment during the burial of the late Access Holdings Plc GCEO, Herbert Wigwe, wife and first son last weekend.
It is hoped that Akpabio will heed to the advice and learn how to talk in public. Tracing his character as a public servant and political office holder in various capacities over the years, one would notice that the senate president lacks the act of public speaking and carriage.
Was it not recently that he announced that the clerk of the house had sent money to each of the senators’ personal account for their holiday enjoyment only to be called to other and he changed it to ”In order to allow you to enjoy your holiday, the senate president has sent prayers to your mailboxes to assist you to go on a safe journey and return.” What about the “honourable minister off your mic” shameful display.
Whoever wants to die seeking public/political office should go ahead but leave our dear governor alone.
Loveth Opusunju
Minima, Opobo, Rivers State.
Featured
Fubara Promises Rivers Support For Wigwe Varsity …Cautions Political Class On Power Tussle
Rivers State Governor, Siminalayi Fubara, has promised the state government’s commitment to supporting Wigwe University.
Fubara disclosed this on Saturday after the funeral service of the late Chief Executive Officer of Access Holdings Plc, Herbert Wigwe, in Isiokpo, Ikwerre Local Government Area of Rivers State.
Wigwe, alongside his wife, Doreen, and son, Chizzy, died in a helicopter crash in California near the Nevada border, United States of America.
Also involved in the crash was the Chairman of Nigerian Exchange Group Plc, Abimbola Ogunbanjo.
The governor said, “I want to say our brother has finished his work, though short. We, as a government, will do everything with the Wigwe Foundation to immortalise one thing.
“It is not the bank, the bank might have a new identity, a new boss to run it, other ventures will also have their names; but one thing that has his name is Wigwe University.
“We will do everything within our power to make sure the dream will continue to live just as he has planned it.”
Fubara questioned the mourners as to why they kept chasing worldly desires, stressing the significance of impacting lives rather than struggling for power.
“This one has to do with the political class, what is all these struggle all about? You want to kill, you want to bury, what is it all about?
“This is a man who was not a politician, he made his money through our investments, he had the world in his palm financially, he controlled even the political classes; but today, with all the power financially couldn’t control life. Is it not enough to ask ourselves why are we struggling? Why are we not making an impact on the lives of our people?” he queried.
Dignitaries present at the funeral service include the Senate President, Godswill Akpabio; Chairman, Dangote Group, Alhaji Aliko Dangote; former governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria , Sanusi Lamido; Governors Alex Otti (Abia) Dapo Abiodun (Ogun), and Babajide Sawwo-Olu (Lagos).
Other dignitaries are former governors Kayode Fayemi (Ekiti), Peter Obi (Anambra), Rotimi Amaechi (Rivers), Bukola Saraki (Kwarra), and James Ibori (Delta), among others.
-
Politics4 days ago
Impeachment: Edo CJ Raises Panel To Investigate Allegations Against Dep Gov
-
News4 days ago
Federal Lawmakers Kick Against Extension Of Rivers LG Chairmen’s Tenure
-
News2 days ago
Police Prosecute 29,052 Cases, Secure 16,200 Convictions In One Year
-
Politics2 days ago
Senegal: Faye Set To Become Youngest Elected African President As Rival Concedes Defeat
-
News14 hours ago
Mba Seeks Closer Synergy To Check Road Accidents
-
Sports9 hours ago
Chelsea Coach Sues For End To Jeering By Fans
-
Business4 days ago
Nigeria’s Public Debt Hits N97.3trn – DMO
-
News4 days ago
I’ll Dedicate My Birthday To Nation-Building, No Celebrations -Tinubu