News
Senate Laments Corruption In Judiciary
Nigeria’s Judiciary has fallen so low that not even saints may salvage it, a Senate panel has lamented.
The panel regretted that the Judiciary came to this sorry state with the attendant high level of corruption because of a paucity of funds.
But the panel is hopeful that a special intervention fund could bring sanity to the third arm of government.
The Chairman, Senate Committee on Judiciary, Human Rights and Legal Matters, Michael Opeyemi Bamidele (APC Ekiti Central), made these observations after a confirmation hearing session for Justice John Tsoho and Justice Benedict Bakwaoh Kanyip.
Justice Tsoho’s nomination as the chief judge of the Federal High Court and Justice Kanyip’s nomination as President, National Industrial Court of Nigeria, were forwarded to the Senate for confirmation by President Muhammadu Buhari, last week.
Bamidele, in his remarks, which dwelt on the submissions made by the justices, said the Judiciary was very vulnerable to compromise.
He added that based on the realities on ground as regards the paucity of funds, not even a saint from heaven could take over the job of a judge and stay clean of corruption.
The panel chairman noted that no democracy could grow or survive with a compromised Judiciary, hence, the urgent need for a special intervention fund.
“The problem at hand is that the Judiciary is corrupt and it is time for Nigeria and Nigerians to rise up and rescue it with adequate funding. As it is with the nation’s Judiciary today, even if saints are appointed from heaven to serve as justices and judges, it is only strength of character that can prevent them from being corrupt and dispense justice as required,” he lamented.
Bamidele, who made the comment in the presence of the two nominees and other justices, including Binta Nyako and Okon Abang, however, commended President Buhari for increasing the budgetary provisions for the Judiciary on a yearly basis.
“Within the last four years, budgetary provisions for the Judiciary have been experiencing a marginal increase under the current administration, but it is not yet Uhuru. The special intervention fund must come first before a consistent increase on a yearly basis,” he added.
Admitting the rot in the Judiciary on the sidelines of the session, the Executive Secretary of the National Judicial Council (NJC), Ahmed Gambo Saleh, said: “The welfare package for judicial officers in this country is nothing to write home about. Judges’ salaries were last reviewed in 2007.”
He, however, added that if the so-called corruption in the Judiciary was weighed against what was obtainable in other systems, the Judiciary would still be a saint.
Members of the Senate committee who attended the confirmation hearing session were Chukwuka Utazi, Gabriel Suswam, Bashiru Ajibola, Peter Nwaoboshi, Okey Jev and Ibrahim Hassan Hadejia.
However, the Senate, yesterday, confirmed the nomination of Justice John Tosho as the Chief Judge of the Federal High Court.
The Upper Chamber also approved the appointment of Hon Justice Benedict Bakwaph Kanyip as the President of the National Industrial Court (NIC) of Nigeria.
The appointment of Kanyip became necessary as a result of the retirement of Justice Babatunde Adejumo after attaining the mandatory retirement age of 65 years as provided by Section 291(2) of the 1999 Constitution.
These resolutions of the Red Chamber followed the presentation of the report on the screening of the nominees by the Chairman, Senate Committee on Judiciary, Human Rights and Legal Matters, Senator Opeyemi Bamidele on the floor.
Bamidele recommended the two Justices to the Senate for confirmation “having screened the nominees and being satisfied with their exposure, experience, performance, qualifications and competence.”
The Senate unanimously approved the confirmation of the nominees when put to voice vote by the Senate President, Dr Ahmad Lawan.
Lawan, in his remarks, said the National Assembly would work with the executive to ensure a conducive working environment for the nation’s Judiciary.
Lawan said: “The Judiciary in Nigeria is supposed to be a very active one. We need to also have better capacity for the Judiciary.
“They have so many cases to handle and they are overwhelmed. I think this National Assembly should work together with the executive to create a better working environment and of course to create a situation where they would have more hands so that they are able to deal with the numerous cases that we always go to the Judiciary for.
“But at the moment, I think they are overworked, they are overwhelmed and they need our support.
“We need to look for more resources to ensure that our Judiciary is properly oiled to function,” Lawan said.
In a similar development, the Vice President of Kenya, Dr. William Ruto, has identified corruption as Africa’s major threat to her growth aspirations, hence development of the continent would remain an illusion until graft has been dealt with.
He made the submission, yesterday, in a keynote address at the African Economic Congress (AEC), in Abuja, where experts met to find solution to the seemingly intractable growth challenges of African nations.
Also, at the conference, yesterday, the Special Adviser to the President on Economic Matters in the Office of the Vice-President, Dr. Adeyemi Dipeolu, and Senator Shehu Sani held different views on the closure of the nation’s borders.
The Kenya VP declared that the huge illicit financial flow out of the continent was a product of corruption.
He said the development remained a challenge to efforts towards socio-economic development of the continent.
“A major challenge that threatens our journey to ‘Building Africa We Want’ is corruption: this is a common challenge among African countries. It is estimated that Africa loses about $50billion every year to illicit financial flows out of the Africa.”
Ruto also identified unemployment as well as poor and inadequate infrastructure as other major challenges to the continent’s growth.
According to him, youths constitute about 75 per cent of labour force in most African countries; therefore, “tackling unemployment should be on top of the agenda of every African country.”
In his remarks, former Deputy Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), Dr. Obadiah Mailafia, said that Africans were tired of their stories being told them by others and that it was time for Africans to rise to the challenge of developing the continent.
On border closure, Sani wondered why the Federal Government would decide to take the action at a time when it just signed the African Continental Free Trade Agreement (AfCFTA).
He said the objective behind the pact was trade liberalisation, insisting that the closure was not in line with the overall objectives of the agreement.
“A lot has been said about the AfCFTA, but I think what we need to remind ourselves is that the idea to integrate the continent economically is not a new one. The idea of an African free trade area is coming back to that reality that our future and destiny are tied to each other. But there are challenges that we have to be ready to face. One of them is what we are experiencing in the country today.
“You can’t sign an African free trade agreement and close your borders. I don’t know how to call black white. And you also have to tell yourselves the truth that if we are desirous of building a more economic future for our continent, then we have to sacrifice some of our irrelevant relationship with nations that are outside the continent,” Sani said.
But Dipeolu explained that the border closure was done in national interest, alleging that countries that have borders with Nigeria had failed to honour trade agreements.
“I have a very straightforward answer which is that we have signed (the agreement) but we have not ratified. More importantly, the AfCFTA is trying to introduce a rule-based trading system in Africa. Now the very people who have already signed a previous agreement with Nigeria on customs cooperation and the rules that will affect transit of goods are not living up to those obligations.
“So, you are not following on the things you have signed to and you want to hold me onto the things I have just signed to. What you will then have is that I will sign onto the AfCFTA and you will continue to do these things you are doing to undermine my economy by smuggling, dumping.
“I think it is an opportunity to remind ourselves that all obligations must be adhered to. How do you explain that Benin with a small population will become second largest importer of rice after China? Government should ensure that the cooperation agreements that have been signed with other countries are respected.”
The Mayor of Housing, My-ACE China, has alerted the Governor of Rivers, Akwa Ibom, and Abia states to what he calls an emerging ‘Economic Triangle’ within their states.
Mr China, a real estate success strategist who has won numerous local and international awards, has thus drawn the attention of the governors of the concerned states to the emerging development and has urged them to intentionally accelerate the emergence of the economic triangle.
Speaking to newsmen in Uyo, Akwa Ibom State capital at the conclusion of his business trip to the state, Mr China, who is the managing director of the Housing and Construction Mayor Limited, said the envisaged economic corridor would compete favourably with the Lagos economic hub or even better.
He said: “Talking about ‘Economic Triangle’, the only place that can wrest economic power from Lagos is Akwa Ibom, Abia, and Rivers states axis or corridor. This corridor contains more than Lagos has, if they can be interconnected with smooth roads, ports, and if their blue potentials are unlocked. They will not only wrest power from Lagos but would be more lucrative.”
The investor who is behind the emerging Alesa Highlands Green Smart City in Eleme, near Port Harcourt, said the new ‘Economic Triangle’ has a bigger potential due to massive land assets with the corridor plus blue economy and the existing hydrocarbon industry.
Explaining, Mayor of Housing said Aba (Abia State) provides the biggest fabrication capacity in West Africa to supply goods to the Gulf of Guinea; Port Harcourt provides access to the Gulf of Guinea for off-taking Aba products, and the Uyo provides deep sea port at Ibaka and international airport facilities as well as forest reserves for massive agro-economy.
He said with sea ports in Rivers State and deep seaport in Akwa Ibom, and international airports in Rivers and Akwa Ibom, Aba can focus on adequate power supply and fabrication boom to supply a new booming market around the economic triangle.
By doing this, he said, jobs would spill out in huge quantities and more manufacturers would be drawn from all over Africa to boost the fast coming African Continental Free Trade Agreement (AfCFTA). He said Nigeria would thus have two major trade nodes in West Africa; Lagos and the PH/UYO/Aba triangle.
He said goods going to or coming from Chad, Niger, and the rest of Central Africa can head to the Lagos ports or to the Ibaka/PH ports zone in the new economic triangle.
He said with power supply made stable, good roads, excellent security system, and ease of doing business enthroned in the zone, the South-South and South East would become the biggest economic nerve in the near future.
Mayor of Housing called on governors of the three states to be intentional about the new corridor, put away political differences (if any), and create this corridor by agreeing on projects each state would execute with a short period of time so the states would be linked by good roads, communication, security, trade laws, concessions to investors, etc.
He remarked that northerners were already heading to the Onne Port in Rivers State to export goods, saying creating a commission to oversee the development of the ‘Economic Triangle’ would fast-track its emergence.
He observed that people of the three states are peaceful and usually preoccupied with zeal for economic prosperity, saying that if they are linked to such huge opportunities staring at them in the emerging economic triangle, they would totally shun violence and focus on prosperity.
Mr China insisted that the emerging economic triangle would form a big node not only into the Gulf of Guinea economic zone but into Africa because AfCFTA is about production, certification, market availability, and easy transport nodes by sea and air. He said the new economic triangle boasts of all the factors.
“They can only realise this by working together, through collaboration. One state cannot do it but a triangle of the three will create it through seamless interconnection, ports, industrial park, etc. The people will be the richest and internally generated revenue (IGR) will be the biggest in the country,” he said.
President Bola Tinubu has sent the names of 32 ambassadorial nominees to the Senate for confirmation, days after he sent the first batch of three names.
Among them are the immediate past chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission, Mahmud Yakubu, an aide to former President Goodluck Jonathan, Reno Omokri (Delta), and former Enugu State Governor, Ifeanyi Ugwuanyi, among others.
“In two separate letters to the Senate President, Godswill Akpabio, President Tinubu asked the Senate to consider and confirm expeditiously 15 nominees as career ambassadors and 17 nominees as non-career ambassadors,” read a statement on Saturday by the Special Adviser to the President on Information and Strategy, Bayo Onanuga.
In the statement titled, ‘Tinubu nominates 32 additional ambassadors,’ Onanuga noted, “There are four women on the career ambassadors’ list and six women on the non-career ambassadors’ list.”
“Among the non-career ambassador designates are Ogbonnaya Kalu from Abia, a former presidential aide, Reno Omokri (Delta), former chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), Mahmud Yakubu, former Ekiti first lady, Erelu Adebayo, and former Enugu governor, Ifeanyi Ugwuanyi.
“Others are Tasiu Musa Maigari, the former speaker of the Katsina House of Assembly, Yakubu N. Gambo, a former Commissioner in Plateau State and former Deputy Executive Secretary of the Universal Basic Education Commission.
“Professor Nora Ladi Daduut, a former senator from Plateau; Otunba Femi Pedro, a former Deputy Governor of Lagos State; Femi Fani-Kayode, a former aviation minister from Osun State; and Nkechi Ufochukwu from Anambra State are on the nomination list,” the statement read.
Also on the list are former First Lady of Oyo, Fatima Florence Ajimobi, former Lagos Commissioner, Lola Akande, former Adamawa Senator, Grace Bent, former governor of Abia, Victor Okezie Ikpeazu, Senator Jimoh Ibrahim, businessman, lawyer and Senator from Ondo State, and the former ambassador of Nigeria to the Holy See, Ambassador Paul Oga Adikwu from Benue State.
Among the nominees for career ambassador and high commissioner-designates are: Enebechi Monica Okwuchukwu (Abia), Yakubu Nyaku Danladi (Taraba), Miamuna Ibrahim Besto (Adamawa), Musa Musa Abubakar (Kebbi), Syndoph Paebi Endoni (Bayelsa), Chima Geoffrey Lioma David (Ebonyi) and Mopelola Adeola-Ibrahim (Ogun).
The other nominees are Abimbola Samuel Reuben (Ondo), Yvonne Ehinosen Odumah(Edo), Hamza Mohammed Salau (Niger), Ambassador Shehu Barde (Katsina), Ambassador Ahmed Mohammed Monguno (Borno), Ambassador Muhammad Saidu Dahiru (Kaduna), Ambassador Olatunji Ahmed Sulu Gambari (Kwara) and Ambassador Wahab Adekola Akande (Osun).
“The new nominees are expected to be posted to countries with which Nigeria maintains excellent and strategic bilateral relations, such as China, India, South Korea, Canada, Mexico, the United Arab Emirates, Qatar, South Africa, Kenya, and to Permanent Missions such as the United Nations, UNESCO, and the African Union.
“All the nominees will know their diplomatic assignments after their confirmation by the Senate,” it read.
Last week, Tinubu sent three ambassadorial nominees for screening and confirmation.
The nominees were Ambassador Ayodele Oke (Oyo), Ambassador Amin Mohammed Dalhatu (Jigawa), and Retired Colonel Lateef Kayode Are (Ogun).
All three are in the pot for posting to the UK, USA, or France after their confirmation.
“More nominees for ambassadorial positions will be announced soon,” Onanuga revealed.
The Secretary to Rivers State Government, Dr. Benibo Anabraba, has reiterated that the administration of Governor Siminalayi Fubara remains committed to improving access to quality education at all levels.
Dr. Anabraba gave the assurance while receiving the Deputy Registrar/Zonal Coordinator of the West African Examinations Council (WAEC), Mr Ayanfemi Adeniran-Amusan in Port Harcourt during a courtesy visit.
He emphasised that Governor Fubara remains resolute in sustaining investment in the education sector to improve the quality of teaching and learning.
According to him, “We appreciate the work you are doing and know that our students are amongst the highest in ranking.
“His Excellency, Sir Siminalayi Fubara, takes education very seriously. He is sponsoring the free registration of students for the West African Senior School Certificate Examination (WASSCE) in Government Schools.
“Also, Governor Fubara has approved the establishment of Computer-Based Test (CBT) Centres across the State’s three senatorial districts and the 23 LGAs. The project is intended to improve access to digital learning and examination facilities for students so that our children are at breast with digital literacy, a prerequisite for today’s students.
“We are currently working assiduously to get those centres, both mega and mini, across the three senatorial districts and the 23 local government ready in order to meet up with your deadline,” he said.
The SSG also conveyed the assurances of the Governor to WAEC on Government’s willingness in providing land for its Zonal Office.
Earlier, the Deputy Registrar/Zonal Coordinator of the West African Examination Council, Mr Ayanfemi Adeniran-Amusan, promised to collaborate with the State Government in matters concerning education development.
In another development, the Secretary to State Government, Dr Benibo Anabraba, also met with officials of the National Agency for the Prohibition of Trafficking in Persons, NAPTIP, led by the Assistant Director of Intelligence, Rivers State Command, Barr. Ikediashi Nwamaka.
The SSG while appreciating the Agency for its effort in the protection of vulnerable persons, also raised Government’s concern on the activities of orphanages and care homes in unwholesome practices such as child trafficking, abuse of underaged girls also known as baby-factory, and the lack of regulations on surrogacy.
He however assured that the Rivers State Government has already put plans in place towards legislation to regulate these acts against vulnerable persons, particularly women and children.
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