EXCLUSIVE: EFCC TRACES LAWYER’S ‘CAR GIFT’ TO CJN ONNOGHEN

The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) has traced a car owned by Walter Onnoghen, the embattled chief justice of Nigeria (CJN), to Joe Agi, a senior advocate of Nigeria (SAN).

The anti-graft agency believes the car is a gift from the lawyer, who had cases before Onnoghen at the time of purchase.

But Agi has told the EFCC that aside being a senior lawyer, he is also a car dealer and Onnoghen bought the Mercedes GL 450 series from him for N7 million in 2010, sources told press.

However, when he was asked to produce receipts of purchase and other documentation relating to the transaction, he could not do so.

Previously, the EFCC traced a deposit of $30,000 by Agi into Onnoghen’s bank account dating back to 2009.

He was also said to have had cases before the judge when he made the deposits.

Agi denied the allegation that the $30,000 was a bribe.

In a press statement, he said the money was from allowances paid to Onnoghen on seminars, holidays, conferences or medical trips abroad.

Agi said: “I have been acquainted with Justice Onnoghen, JSC in our days as Lawyers in Calabar, Cross Rivers State from the 1980s before he was appointed a High Court Judge.

“My Lord Justice Onnoghen said he had no idea since opening of foreign account was forbidden for Public Officers. I informed him that domiciliary account is not a foreign bank account as it is opened and operated within the local banks in Nigeria.

“It was on this note that I went to my banker Standard Chartered Bank and obtained Account Opening Forms for him as a friend and Senior Brother. He completed the Forms and I refereed him. He gave me $30,000 being left over of his allowances for overseas seminars, holidays, conferences or medical trips to deposit for him as the first deposit. This I did in 2009 i.e 10 years ago. After that, he operated the account himself without me paying even a cent into that account till date.

“Now 10 years after, I am again being vilified and accused of giving Justice Onnoghen bribe. If I may ask; bribe for which case? In the Supreme Court panel they sit in 5 or 7 persons, was the $30,000 for the 5 or 7 Justices? And for which case? This is another huge joke aimed at vilifying my person by the same cabal who are hell bent on tarnishing my image as an aftermath of the exposure of the Paris Club fraud.”

Agi is one of the lawyers defending Onnoghen in his asset declaration case before the Code of Conduct Tribunal (CCT).

Onnoghen is currently being tried by the CCT over allegations of non-declaration of some of his assets, although he said it was an oversight.

In a previous case, which was eventually dismissed, a foreign firm owned by Agi’s friend paid N30 million into the account of the wife of Adeniyi Adetokunbo Ademola, a justice of the federal high court, for their daughter’s wedding.

He was also said to have bought a car for Ademola’s son.

The case filed against him for “gratification” was dismissed on technical grounds, although many lawyers argued that it was a professional misconduct which should have been punished by the Legal Practitioners Privileges Committee.

Efforts to reach Agi were unsuccessful as his phone rang out. He has also not responded to text messages.

INEC DECLARES APC's LALONG WINNER Of PLATEAU GOVERNORSHIP ELECTION

Gov. Lalong

Governor Simon Lalong of the All Progressives Congress has won the Plateau State governorship election, following the supplementary poll held on Saturday.

Lalong was declared the winner by the Returning Officer in the state, Prof Richard Kimbir, after scoring 595,582 votes to defeat 23 other candidates, including the Peoples Democratic Party standard-bearer, Jeremiah Useni, who garnered 546,813.

Kimbir stated that a total of 1,159,954 valid votes were recorded while 16,188 were rejected, saying 1,176,142 was the total number of votes cast.

The results for the nine LGAs that took part in the supplementary poll, including Barkin Ladi, Bassa, Bokkos, Jos North, Kanam, Langtang South, Mangu, Pankshin and Shendam, showed that Lalong scored 12,327 new votes, while the candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party, Jeremiah Useni, earned 8,487. There was no cancellation of results recorded.

RIVERS RERUN: GOV WIKE REJECTS APPOINTMENT OF SOLE ADMINISTRATOR, INSISTS ON ELECTED GOVERNOR FOR THE STATE

Gov Wike

Governor of Rivers State, Nyesom Wike, has made it clear that the people of the state, will never have a sole administrator.

Wike also insisted that the people voted for their preferred candidate during the March 9 elections and must have a Governor.

The Governor stated this on Friday, as 86 political parties conceded defeat to him in the state governorship election, during a solidarity visit to the Government House in Port Harcourt.

“No matter how (it might be) delayed, Rivers State will have an elected governor.

“It is not the portion of Rivers State to have a sole administrator. Our people voted on March 9 and Rivers votes will count,” Wike said.

Governor Wike said that when the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) is declared the winner of the state governorship elections, he would operate a government of unity.

“If we are declared the winner of the election, we will operate a government of unity.

“We will rally everybody together in the interest of the state,” he added.

OSUN STATE ELECTION TRIBUNAL CHAIRMAN DISAGREES WITH JUDGEMENT DECLARING ADELEKE WINNER OF OSUN ELECTION

The chairman of the Osun State Elections Petitions Tribunal in Abuja has delivered a dissenting judgement in the Osun State governorship election petition.

Justice Muhammed Ibrahim Sirajo on Friday dismissed the petition by the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and its governorship candidate, Ademola Adeleke, which alleged that there was election non-compliance with the Electoral Act in the election.

Justice Sirajo ruled that the petitioners failed to prove the claims at the tribunal.

He further ruled that where it is established that there is non compliance, the tribunal does not have “the powers to subtract the votes of the non compliance and declare a candidate winner.”

He added that under Section 140(3) of the Electoral Act, where substantial non compliance is proved, the tribunal can only order a supplementary or fresh election.

The chairman however adviced INEC to only comply with the majority decisions concurrently delivered by Justices Peter Chudi Obiorah and Adegboye Ayinla Gbolagunte.

The main judgment of the panel had invalidated the rerun election of September 27, 2018 which returned Governor Gboyega Oyetola as winner and withdrew the certificate of return issued to him by INEC.

OSUN TRIBUNAL HAS DECLARED PDP's ADELEKE WINNER OF THE OSUN ELECTION

The Osun State Governorship Election Pet‎ition Tribunal sitting in Abuja has declared as winner Peoples Democratic Party and its candidate in the last year’s governorship election in the state, Ademola Adeleke.

It held that the All Progressives Congress and its candidate, Gboyega Oyetola was not validly returned.

ACTING CJN SWEARS-IN 13 NEW MEMBERS OF ELECTION PETITION TRIBUNAL

Acting CJN

The Acting Chief Justice of Nigeria (CJN) Justice Ibrahim Mohammed has sworn-in the remaining 13 members of the 2019 Election Petition Tribunals.

The members are Justices A.O. Onovo, R.O. Odugu, S.B. Belgore, T.A.O. Oyekan-Abullai, A.J. Coker, and E.I. Oritsejafor.
Others are Justices M.C. Okoh, O.S. Olusanya, C.A. Ononeze-Madu, P.U. Nnodum and J.C.L. Okibe.

The acting CJN encouraged the new members of the tribunal to be of good character and ensure everything they did was above board.

He said all eyes were on them with a view to seeing them dispense justice without a hint of partiality or favoritism. 

FG, COLUMBIA UNIVERSITY TO COMMENCE GOLD PRODUCTION IN KEBBI

The Kebbi State Government is partnering with the Federal Government under the Solid Minerals Development Fund (SMDF) on formalization of Artisinal Miners in the State for Gold production with the support of Columbia University, New York, USA.

The Governor, Sen. Abubakar Atiku Bagudu in a meeting with SMDF led by Hajia Fatima Shinkafi and Columbia University on March 21 in Abuja stated that his administration is supporting a pilot programme to organise & support miners to give them better technology and an available market. The pilot programmes approved by President Buhari will commence in Kebbi & Osun States.

The Columbia University School of International and Public Affairs Team will aid the SMDF in fulfilling its objectives by developing a report that analyzes the challenges preventing formalization of Artisanal & Small Scale Mining (ASM) in Nigeria and suggests ways for the SMDF to incentivize formalization through a strategic use of its capital resources.

A world bank report puts the outflow of illegally mined gold leaving Nigeria at $500m a year. This represents a huge revenue loss for both State and Federal governments in addition to environmental degradation to farming communities and pollution of waterways for people and livestock.

Special focus will be placed on how the SMDF can work with other institutions in accordance with section 34 of the 2007 Nigerian Minerals and Mining Act to register formalize operators and how the SMDF can leverage its financial capital to provide funding and/or services to support the ASM value chain.

Governor Bagudu reiterated his administrations continued focus on creating jobs and support for the diversification of the economy which is a priority of the Buhari administration. It can be recalled that the Governor is an alumnus of Columbia University where he obtained his M.A in International Affairs.

NORTH WILL FIELD BETTER CANDIDATE FOR 2023 PRESIDENCY – YERIMA SHETTIMA

The president of Arewa Youth Consultative Forum (AYCF), Yerima Shettima, has described the administration of President Muhammadu Buhari as a disappointment and revealed that the north plans to present a more competent candidate who will contest for president in 2023.

What is your assessment of the recently concluded elections in Nigeria?

We had an election and the expectations were high but it is very unfortunate that it is not what we expected and I am sure that Nigerians were disappointed. We thought that the All Progressives Congress (APC) will conduct a more credible election than what we had in the past, but what we saw was an election where security agencies were used against innocent Nigerians. The election was a battle between the voters and the military that were deployed to aid the ruling party. If you ask me if there was an election, I would say there was an attempt to conduct an election but we cannot certainly call what we just had an election.

But some international and local observers who monitored the elections said it was free and fair…
I am glad that you said some observers and not all. The international observers have their own modus operandi and you do not expect them to start crying for you. If there is an issue and they see it, they would not be in a hurry to make any judgment. Again, when they notice that Nigerians are very docile and no one is raising any fundamental issues, they will remain mute. On the part of the local observers, it is very easy for anyone to compromise them, which has more or less become a tradition in the country.

What was the national mood of the country after the presidential election? Was there any celebration? No. Were majority of people happy about the outcome?

Certainly the answer is no. So it means that something fundamentally went wrong.

The vote margin between the APC and Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in the North during the presidential election seem to be incomparable with what happened during the governorship polls, which led people to allege that figures were cooked. Do you believe that allegation?

Of course I believe that figures were written and that is why you can see that the voting pattern changed during the governorship elections, which took place two weeks after the presidential election.

As we speak, there is confusion in the North especially in states where there was no reason to call for inconclusive elections. In Kano, Adamawa, Benue and Sokoto for instance, there were inconclusive elections which clearly showed that the outcome of the presidential elections was not what people expected. It is very obvious that the electoral commission worked to ensure that the ruling party returned to power.

The 2019 elections is the worst election that has been conducted for as long as I can remember. A clear indication of this anomaly is that the states where the PDP won elections in the North were declared inconclusive and where APC won with a small margin and was supposed to be declared inconclusive was not so.

Did you ever foresee any crisis in the North if President Muhammadu Buhari did not win?

Is there peace in the North now? Did you not hear about the uprising going on in Bauchi, Kano where people are protesting because some interests decided to quash the will of the people? It is a clear indication that the result of the election is not the will of the people, but man in his own way, decided that there will not be justice.

People will say that your statement that the election was rigged in favour of Buhari in the North is your personal opinion. Do you have any evidence to back up this claim?

The PDP presidential candidate, Atiku Abubakar went to court because he also believes that the elections were rigged and he believes that he will get justice. I believe his decision to go to court was the right decision, but it is one thing for him to go to court and it is another thing for justice to be served. What is constant is that he makes a decision with which he will be judged. This is why it is very important that whatever decision that you are going to take, especially when it has to do with national interest, you must ensure that you take the action that will make you be remembered on the positive side of history.

Also, for us we who are Northerners, we had a case where in 2015 we had to chose between a Southern Christian and a Northern Muslim who is Fulani, yet the difference in their votes was about two million. Former President Goodluck Jonathan’s stronghold was the South-South and South East at that time because the North was totally against him. In the South-West, Jonathan got the required 25 per cent in each state. This time, we had to choose between two Northern Fulani Muslims, yet they are telling us that the difference in their votes is four million. How possible is that? Buhari’s stronghold has always been the North-West while the North-East has been a war zone for a long time. But look at the votes that came out of the North-East in this year’s presidential election even when it was obvious there is war going on there. We expected that the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) will strictly adhere to its own guidelines by ensuring the use of card readers nationwide. Why did the commission ignore the use of card readers in some states and insisted on the use of card readers in other states? These are all clear indications that there were irregularities and that is why I believe that Atiku did the right thing by going to court. I believe that issues will come up as the trial commences for the world to see and at the end of the day, you would not be able to defend the indefensible.

Your statements seem to indicate that Buhari doesn’t have the total support of the North. Is this not the time that the North should put their differences aside and support this administration?

There can be no peace in the absence of justice and we cannot pretend about it. If the government has integrity, they should demonstrate it. You cannot foist your interest on people and expect to enjoy total support. Buhari’s administration has not really benefited the North because we are yet to see meaningful development. What most Northerners know is that they have a brother who is the president but that has not translated to anything meaningful to those down there. Most of those who are supposed to spearhead the execution of landmark projects in this administration are from the South-West. As far as we are concerned, President Buhari’s administration is a government of the South-West because almost all the goodies were given to them.

What goodies are you referring to?

The South-West has the super minister who is in charge of the three most important ministries –housing, works and power and that is why the minister has focused on constructing roads mainly in the South West. Name one major road that Babatunde Fashola has constructed in the North but you can name many that are in the South-West. Tell me one important ministry that is occupied by a northerner.

But almost all the security chiefs are from the North; the Managing Director of NNPC is from the North and the Minister of Petroleum, who is President Buhari, is also from the North. So why is the North still feeling it is being cheated?

The security chiefs were appointed because of the crisis in the North. As far as we in the North are concerned, this government favours only the South-West and that is why some of us are beginning to have a rethink that probably, after this tenure we would demand for a Northern presidency in 2023.

Are you insinuating that the North will take another shot at the presidency after eight years of President Buhari?

You can be rest assured that it will definitely happen. I am a leader and an opinion shaper in the North and when I tell you that we are considering supporting a Northern presidency in 2023, you better believe it because it is not just my personal opinion. The North has not benefitted anything from Buhari’s presidency because many northern states are still impoverished and under developed. The rate of poverty in the North has become worse than it was in 2015. We cannot beat our chest and say that this government has favoured the North. The first four years of Buhari was a waste and we cannot expect any magic to happen in his second tenure; it is not possible. Already some South-Westerners are raising their heads to claim that it is their turn in 2023 but for us in the north, we would plead with the South to bear with us for another 12 years because we need to feel the impact of governance.
But it would be injustice and lack of fairness to other regions if the North plans to take a shot at the presidency again in 2023 after completing eight years term.

Was justice meted to the North with the level of unemployment and physical infrastructure you cannot find there; with the bad roads and almajiris everywhere and with no serious policy by the government to tackle that? Here you are living comfortably in Lagos, enjoying federal allocations and everything and you expect us to fold our hands and look at you?

But many believe that the North are benefitting from the present government, considering that majority of the appointments were given to northerners?

What kind of appointment are we talking about? Tell me one super appointment that is given to the North now.

President Buhari is the Minister of Petroleum…
That is mere pronouncement because Ibe Kachukwu is in-charge of that ministry. He is the one almost doing everything.

Two members of Buhari’s cabinet Vice President Yemi Osinbajo and Fashola told the Yoruba to support the president’s re-election so that power can go to the South-West and the APC didn’t dispute it. Why then do you say the North is contemplating another shot in 2023?

Was there any agreement? Is the party a constitution or is party arrangement more superior to the constitution of the country? There is no going back. In 2023, we will ensure that we present a credible Northern son to contest and we will also expect the Southern people to have the understanding on why they should support us.

Is it the number of votes that the North has that is giving it the confidence that it can win the presidential elections in 2023?

The recent election has actually shown it and it has clearly proved it that in terms of numbers and voting population, the North has the highest. In fairness to Nigeria, we are not saying that because of our number, we are going to use it to intimidate them. What we are saying is that they should understand that this administration didn’t perform well in the last four years and we are saying they should please allow us to ensure that we put certain things right in our region, so that at the end of the day, everybody will live comfortably and we would move the country forward.

OSUN ELECTION: TRIBUNAL DISMISSES APC, OYETOLA , INEC'S OBJECTIONS AGAINST ADELEKE

The Election Tribunal set up on Osun 2018 governorship poll is currently delivering its judgement.
Delivering one of its earlier reserved rulings, the #OsunTribunal struck out the separate objections filed by APCz Oyetola and INEC against the petition by Adeleke/PDP #AdelekePDPvsOyetolaAPC.

The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and its candidate, Sen. Ademola Adeleke, had challenged the victory of the All Progressives Congress (APC) and its candidate, Gov. Gboyega Oyetola, at the Osun 2018 Governorship Election at the election tribunal.

The Osun Election Tribunal, which was moved to Abuja in November 2018, after it was initially inaugurated in Osogbo, has now fixed Friday, March 22, for its judgment on the suit filed by the PDP and its candidate.

BRITISH HIGH COMMISSION LATEST JOB OPENING

The British Government is an inclusive and diversity-friendly employer.

We value difference, promote equality and challenge discrimination, enhancing our organisational capability.

We welcome and encourage applications from people of all backgrounds.

We do not discriminate on the basis of disability, race, colour, ethnicity, gender, religion, sexual orientation, age, veteran status or other category protected by law.

We promote family-friendly flexible working opportunities, where operational and security needs allow.

We are recruiting to fill the vacant position below:

 

JOB TITLE: Private Office Administrative Assistant and Support to Political Section

Ref Id: 06/19 ABJ

Location: Abuja

Type of Position: Permanent

Start Date: 1st June 2019

Job Category: Foreign and Commonwealth Office (Policy & Political roles)

Job Subcategory: Private Office

Grade: A2 (L)

MAIN PURPOSE OF JOB

This is an interesting and varied job working in the High Commissioner’s Private Office in the heart of the British High Commission.

The focus of the job is to provide an excellent level of administrative support to the Private Office and support the Executive Assistant to the High Commissioner and the PA to the Deputy High Commissioner.

In addition you will also provide support to the wider Political section

Roles and Responsibilities 
Office Tasks:

Collaborating with the High Commissioner’s EA and Deputy High Commissioner’s PA to manage the combined activity and output of the HC and DHC, including diary coordination, internal communications and liaison with the Residence Manager.

Management of British High Commission phone list and contacts lists of other Missions and Government departments.

Management of Private Office Gift Register

Liaising with IT team to ensure comms with our other posts arranged and tested in good time prior to regular meetings

Covering for EA/HC and PA/DHC during leave absences.

Sorting official correspondence and drafting replies.

Assisting with receiving, dealing with and prioritising meeting requests from both internal and external stakeholders in consultation with the EA/HC and PA/DHC.

Liaising with the visa section on visa requests from external contacts and keeping visa log up to date

Diplomatic Bags and customs clearance:

Overseeing the sending and receiving of UK and Lagos diplomatic bag.

Assisting with the sorting and distributing UK diplomatic bag.

Arranging clearance paperwork for diplomatic bags.

Political Section and General Support:

Providing general support to Political team.

Drafting official Note Verbal’s to Government Institutions.

Assist with setting up calls, meetings and events as required by Political Section.

Booking of transport for Deputy High Commissioner and Political Section.

Administrative support for inward visits to Nigeria

Essential Qualifications, Skills and Experience

The successful candidate will need to be flexible and able to work unsupervised to keep on top of the workload and changing priorities.

Good interpersonal skills will be essential as the jobholder will need to build close and effective working relationships with colleagues from across the High Commission, the FCO, and with Nigerian officials.

Previous office experience with good organisation skills.

Strong IT (including good working knowledge of Excel spreadsheets, outlook etc).

The ability to speak and write in clear, correct, jargon-free English.

Required Competencies:

Making Effective Decisions, Collaborating and Partnering, Managing a Quality Service, Delivering at Pace.

Remuneration
Starting Monthly salary – N438, 934/month.

How to Apply
Interested and qualified candidates should:
Click here to apply

Additional Information

Please complete the application form in full as the information provided is used during screening.

Please check your application carefully before you submit, as no changes can be made once submitted.

The British High Commission will never request any payment or fees to apply for a position.

Employees recruited locally by the British High Commission in Abuja are subject to Terms and Conditions of Service according to local employment law in Nigeria.

All candidates must be legally able to work and reside in the country of the vacancy with the correct visa/work permit status or demonstrate eligibility to obtain the relevant permit.

The responsibility lies on the successful candidate to:

Obtain the relevant permit

Pay fees for the permit

Make arrangements to relocate

Meet the costs to relocation

The British High Commission does not sponsor visas/work permits except where it may be local practice to do so.

Employees who are not eligible to pay local income tax: e.g. certain third-country nationals and spouses/partners of UK diplomats will have their salaries abated by an equivalent amount.

Information about the Foreign and Commonwealth Office Competency Framework can be found on this link: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/civil-service-competency-framework 

Please note: AA=A1, AO=A2, EO=B3, HEO=C4, SEO=C5

Reference checking and security clearances will be conducted on successful candidates.

Please log into your profile on the application system on a regular basis to review the status of your application.

Application Deadline: 1st April, 2019.