DΣΣ-DΣΣ's NEWS βLΩG

Friday, 8 February 2019

I WON’T SHARE MY RETURNING OFFICER ROLE WITH ANYONE - INEC CHAIRMAN

Prof Mahmood Yakubu, chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), has vowed not to share his role as returning officer of the presidential elections with anyone.

Prof Yakubu said this on Thursday during an interactive meeting with Catholic Bishops in Abuja.

He was speaking in reaction to comments still trailing the appointment of Amina Zakari who is reportedly related to President Muhammadu Buhari as the head of the committee on collation centre.

Zakari’s appointment was misconstrued in some quarters to mean she would be involved in the collation process.

Prof Yakubu, however, said he remains the only returning officer who would announce results for the presidential election.

“The chairman of INEC is the chief returning officer for the presidential election and I am not going to share that responsibility with anyone,” he said.

He also urged Nigerians to always draw the attention of the commission to any infraction in the national voter register for rectification

Prof Yakubu said: “We have been doing so consistently. After the last one, we received only a few comments from the states, I think 48,000 out of 84 million registered voters.

“Part of the difficulty is that we are very careful if someone says that one person is dead, because of the experience the commission had in 2015.

“We received a letter from one particular political party that a candidate was dead and they submitted a death certificate obtained from a government hospital. They also went to court, swore to an affidavit and his family also attested to the fact that the candidate was dead. They filed all these documents at the commission. A week later, the supposedly dead candidate turned up and said he was alive.”

Thursday, 7 February 2019

CARPENTER ELECTROCUTED WHILE WORKING IN SAPELE, DELTA STATE (GRAPHIC PHOTOS)

Report reaching our news desk have it that a middle aged man identified as a carpenter was electrocuted few hours ago while roofing a house opposite Omoghene Lynn, along Shell Road, Sapele, Delta State.

It was gathered that the incident occurred after the man missed his step and reflexively held unto the high tension cable to prevent himself from falling.

THE REAL REASONS SARAKI COULDN’T PROCEED WITH Onnoghen CASE AT SUPREME COURT

Onnoghen

The Nigerian Senate, made an about-face on Tuesday February 5, citing trust "in the ability of the National Judicial Council (NJC) to resolve the issues". However, SaharaReporters understands that this position was mere public posturing.

Senator Bukola Saraki, Senate President, withdrew the Senate’s suit at the Supreme Court challenging the suspension of Walter Onnoghen as the Chief Justice of Nigeria (CJN) because it was clear he was going nowhere with the move, SaharaReporters understands.

On January 28, three days after President Muhammadu Buhari suspended Onnoghen as CJN, the Senate cancelled its sitting for the day and instead filed a suit through Saraki before the Supreme Court praying for, among others, an order reinstating Onnoghen as CJN.

In the suit, marked SC.76/2019, the Senate asked the apex court to declare the suspension of Onnoghen without support of two-thirds majority of the Senate as a violation of section 292(1)(a)(i) of the Constitution.

It also asked the apex court to issue an order restraining the two defendants in the suit – the President and the Attorney-General of the Federation Abubakar Malami – from continuing or repeating the violation of the Constitution and disregarding the power of the Senate in respect to the suspension of the CJN.

The Senate made an about-face on Tuesday February 5, citing trust "in the ability of the National Judicial Council (NJC) to resolve the issues". However, SaharaReporters understands that this position was mere public posturing.

The NJC formally took up the Onnoghen case on January 29 at a meeting from which both the suspended CJN and his successor Tanko Muhammad recused themselves. At the end of the meeting, the NJC gave both Muhammad and Onnoghen seven days to respond to the various allegations against them — meaning that if the Senate truly trusted the NJC in full, that was the day to withdraw the suit instead of Tuesday.

But Saraki did not have the backing of the National Assembly to go to court. To file the suit, he would have needed a resolution of the Senate, which he didn’t get. And it became clear this loophole would be exploited when the Senate caucus of the All Progressives Congress (APC), comprising 56 senators, applied to the Supreme Court to join in the Senate’s suit.

“As you can see, we already protested and we were asked to be joined in the suit,” an APC senator who didn’t want to be named told SaharaReporters. “The Senate never made a resolution to file that suit; and even if there was an attempt at such resolution, it would have died a natural death as we, who have the majority, are firmly with the president on this.”

Also, public sentiment was beginning to count against Saraki after members of the public were reminded of how he sacked the Chief Judge of Kwara State, Justice Raliat Elelu-Habeeb, in 2009 during his tenure as Governor of the state.

However, the Supreme Court eventually reinstated Elelu-Habeeb, with Justice Mahmud Mohammed, who delivered the judgement of a seven-member panel of justices, holding that when all the relevant provisions of the constitution were read together, it would become obvious that a state Governor could not remove a Chief Judge from office without having recourse to the NJC.

“It is not difficult to see that for the effective exercise of the powers of removal of a chief judge of a state by the Governor and House of Assembly, the first port of call by the governor shall be the NJC,” Mahmud had stated back then.

“From these very clear provisions of the constitution which are very far from being ambiguous, the governors of the states and the houses of assembly of the states cannot exercise disciplinary control touching the removal of chief judges of states or other judicial officers in the states.”

Incidentally, Onnoghen was one of the six other justices, the rest being Christopher Chukwumah-Eneh, Muhammad Muntaka-Coomassie, Olufunmilola Adekeye, Mary Peter-Odili and Olukayode Ariwoola.

Interestingly, Saraki lost the case against Elelu-Habeeb at all levels. When he sacked her, she instituted a case against him at the Federal High Court, where she won. But Saraki appealed to the Court of Appeal in Ilorin. In July 2010, the Court of Appeal ruled in favour of Elelu-Habeeb, and Saraki again appealed at the Supreme Court. On February 2012, the Supreme Court, as expected, reinstated Elelu-Habeed.

Finally, Paul Erokoro (SAN), counsel to the Senate, has been one of the numerous SANs leading the lawyers’ revolt against Onnoghen’s trial at the Code of Conduct Tribunal (CCT). On the opening day of the matter at the CCT — way before the Senate dreamed of filing a suit against the Nigerian Government at the Supreme Court — Erokoro was one of at least 47 SANs who trooped to the tribunal in defence of Onnoghen.

Meanwhile, the decision of the NJC on Onnoghen and Muhammad is being expected soon, as the seven-working-day deadline for their responses to the allegations against them will elapse on Thursday.

Wednesday, 6 February 2019

FIRST BANK OF NIGERIA LIMITED, LATEST JOB RECRUITMENT (8 POSITIONS)

First Bank of Nigeria Limited (FirstBank) is Nigeria’s premier commercial bank and most valuable banking brand, with over 10 million active customer accounts and more than 750 business locations.

Founded in 1894 as The Bank for British West Africa, FBN Group’s FirstBank was the very first banking institution to be established on the African continent.

First Bank of Nigeria Limited is recruiting for the below positions:

1. Senior Analyst – Network Management (Core Maintenance & Rollout)

Location: Lagos