SUPREME COURT VOIDS STATE LAWS EMPOWERING GOVERNORS TO SACK LG CHAIRMEN, COUNCILLORS

THe Supreme Court of Nigeria (SCN) yesterday voided laws enacted by the states’ Houses of Assembly which allow governors to sack elected Chairmen of Local Governments and Councillors and replace them appointed administrators.

It has of recent become a tradition among governors to dissolve the Executive Councils of the states’ LGs and replace them with their appointees, who they call caretaker committees. In a unanimous judgement of five Justices of the Supreme Court described the practice as “executive recklessness”, which must not be allowed to persist.

The judgment by the five-man panel, led by Justice Olabode Rhodes-Vivour was on the appeal in relation to the dissolution of the 16 Local Government Executives in Ekiti State, during Kayode Fayemi’s tenure.

The appeal _marked:SC/120/2013_ was filed by the Ekiti State Government.

It had Prince Sanmi Olubunmo (Chairman of Ido Osi LG and Chairman of Association of Local Government’s of Nigeria – ALGON, Ekiti Chapter and 13 others as respondents.

Fayemi, (then) Minister of Mineral Resources reportedly announced the dissolution of the councils in a radio announcement on October 29, 2010, when the elected council officials still had up till December 19, 2011 to end their three-year tenure.

The Supreme Court, in faulting the law purportedly relied on by Fayemi, held that Section 23(b) of the Ekiti State Local Government Administration (Amendment) Law, 2001, which empowered the governor to dissolve local government councils, whose tenure was yet to expire, violated section 7(1) of the Constitution from which the state House of Assembly derived the power to enact the local government law. Justice Centus Nweze, in the lead judgment, said: “There can be no doubt, as argued by the appellants’ counsel, that the Ekiti State House of Assembly is empowered to make laws of Ekiti State.

“However, the snag here is that, in enacting section 23(b) of the Ekiti State Local Government Administration (Amendment) Law, 2001, which empowered the first appellant to bridge the tenure of office of the respondents, it overreached itself. “In other words, section 23(b) (supra) is violative of, and in conflict with section 7(1) of the Constitution (supra). “Hence, it is bound to suffer the fate of ll laws which are in conflict with the Constitution, section 1(3) thereof.”

The judge Said Section 7(1) of the Constitution seeks to guarantee “the system of local government by democratically-elected local government councils and conferred “sacrosanctity on the elections of such officials whose electoral mandates derived from the will of the people freely exercised through the democratic process”.

“The implication, therefore, is that section 23(b) of thethe Ekiti State Local Government Administration (Amendment) Law, 2001, which was not intended to ‘ensure the existence of’ such democratically-elected councils, but to snap their continued existence by their substitution with caretaker councils, was enacted in clear breach of the supreme provisions of section 7(1) of the Constitution.

“To that extent, it (section 23(b) supra) cannot co-habit with section 7(1) of the Constitution (supra) and must, in consequence, be invalidated.

"The reason is simple. By his oath of office, the governor swore to protect and not to supplant the Constitution.

“Hence, any action of his which has the capacity of undermining the same Constitution (as in the instant case where the first appellant, ‘Governor of Ekiti State and others’ dissolved the tenure of the respondents and replaced them with caretaker committees) is tantamount to executive recklessness which would not be condoned,” the judge said.

Justice Nweze said the the tenure of the local government councils could not be abridged without violating the supreme constitutional provisions.

“Simply put, therefore, the election of such officials into their offices and their tenure are clothed with constitutional force.

They cannot, therefore, be abridged without breaching the Constitution from which they derive their force. “The only permissible exception, where a state governor could truncate the lifespan of a local government council which evolved through the democratic process of elections, is ‘for overriding public interest’ in a period of emergency.”

He upheld the earlier decision of the Court of Appeal on the issue and adopted the orders made by the Court of Appeal on the case in its judgment delivered on January 23, 2013.

The Appeal Court had among others, ordered the Ekiti State Government to compute and pay all the allowances and salaries accruable to members of the dissolved councils between October 29, 2010 and December 19, 2011, both dates inclusive.

Justice Nweze directed the Attorney- General of Ekiti State to ensure that the orders of the lower court (Appeal Court) affirmed in his judgment, are complied with.

HUMANITARIAN RESPONSE IN THE NORTH-EAST BELOW STANDARD - UN

The United Nations has decried humanitarian services to victims of Northeast crisis, lamenting that it is not meeting international best standard.

The world body also criticised what it described as dearth of knowledge by some of the key stakeholders in the provision of humanitarian services in the troubled Northeast region.

Speaking at the Humanitarian Stakeholders Forum organised by the National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA) in Maiduguri on Thursday, the UN Humanitarian Coordinator in Nigeria, Mr. Edward Kallon said services to the troubled Northeast region must be based on international best practices.

He said: “We need to have a better understanding of the gap in the services we are providing for the displaced persons in the camps; it seems we don’t have a better understanding of the gaps.

“We also need to provide services based on international best practices. We are not meeting the best standard; it requires we must work together to provide better services.”

Kallon added: “One thing that is very clear whatever we have done and what we are doing currently is way below international standard.”

He asked the meeting to as a matter of urgency brainstorm on how to relocate 89,000 IDPs, adding that more than 28 hectares of land was needed for this.

He said he was shocked to discover that 20,110 displaced persons were sleeping outside without shelters in Bama, Borno State.

Kallon said: “When I was in Bama, I was shocked with what I saw. Damboa shows another ugly face with over 10,000 without shelter.”

“Camps are over congested, we are under so much pressure to improve on what we are doing; we should not be too proud that we have done extremely well, there is still a lot that needs to be done. I call on NEMA and SEMA that we need to work with the international community to bridge the gap. I am seriously worried about the efficiency and effectiveness of what we are doing to address displacement in Northeast. We should do better and we must do better.”

The NEMA has also painted an ugly picture of handling of humanitarian services in the Northeast, lamenting that over 45,000 IDPs are sleeping in the open in Borno State.

The Director General of NEMA, Alhaji Mustapha Maihajja, who was represented by Director of Planning and Strategy, Mr. Kayode Fagbemi said that the recent challenges faced was as a result of massive arrival of IDPs from some attacked areas in Borno.

According to him, the Northeast Zonal Coordinator said about 45,000 people were without shelter, and this was because of the new arrivals. He said the agency was there to address the challenges as well as to provide food and other items that will bring succour to the people.

He explained that the purpose of conveying the meeting was to tell discuss the challenges and gaps so as to proffer solutions to them.

He said: “We know that the humanitarian situation is getting worse in some areas and there are more critical needs in some areas.”

I MAY QUIT SUPER EAGLES AFTER AFCON -MIKEL OBI

Super Eagles captain, Mikel Obi, has hinted that he will call time on his international career after the Africa Cup of Nations in Egypt.

The former Chelsea defensive midfielder made his international debut on August 17, 2005 and has since played in two World Cups for the national team with a career spanning over 14 years for the senior national team.

Speaking ahead of the Eagles opening fixture against the Swallows of Burundi, the Eagles captain said he is confident the country will go far judging by their last performance in the country (Egypt).

“The last time we were here we won, but we’ve missed out on a few. But we are confident. There are just three of us who have the experience but the blend in the team is good.”

When quizzed about his time with the Eagles and when he would likely call time on his glorious career, the Nigerian international noted that ending his national team affiliation in Egypt would not be a bad idea as he has a sentimental attachment to Egypt which coincidentally is where he played his first AFCON tourney.

“It’s not a bad place to finish! I started here in 2006 and we came 3rd so Egypt has always been good to me. This time hopefully we can do better. I’m not 100 per cent sure this is my last one but maybe.”

ZAMFARA BANDITS GIVE CONDITIONS FOR CEASEFIRE

Armed Bandits in Zamfara State have given conditions for laying down their arms. One of the conditions is that extra-judicial killings of Fulanis, especially in local markets, should be halted.
The bandits are also demanding that they be allowed to attend local markets without fear or intimidation.

The Commissioner of Police in the state, Usman Nagoggo, disclosed this yesterday during a meeting with vigilantes and volunteers popularly known as Yan Sakai, Nagoggo said authorities had recently reached out to the armed men and that they had assured that they would stop the carnage in the state only on conditions.

The CP said: “Part of the conditions they gave was that the Yan Sakai should halt the extra judicial killings of Fulani especially in local markets. The bandits said they should be allowed to attend local markets without fear or intimidation.

“That is why we are holding this meeting to intimate you about the new peace road map being designed by the government. In a situation whereby a local vigilante will kill one of the bandits and the armed men would slay about 30 persons in retaliation, what is the gain here?”

The CP urged the leaders of the vigilantes to reach out to their followers and ask them to stop unlawful executions of suspected criminals, adding that “it is part of what is fuelling the crises.”

In his reaction, the secretary of the Yan Sakai group in the state, Sani Babbar Doka, said: “In the peace pact that took place about three years ago, we surrendered our arms as demanded by the government, but the armed criminals did not. We are ready for anything that will ensure that peace returns to our communities, but not at the detriment of the opposing group,” he said.

MTN REBRANDS AS EPIC

MTN has changed its name to epic, marking the occasion with an event on Thursday evening.

“As of today, there is a breath of fresh air in our market, inaugurating a new era, which leads to the future,” epic’s Chief Executive Officer Thanos Chronopoulos said.

In his speech, he referred to the pillars of the new strategy and to the company’s investment plan of for the coming years.

“Three are the main pillars of change: our infrastructure, our customers’ experience and the internal operations,” he stated.

“Firstly, we are radically changing our infrastructure: With an investment of over €40 million, we are creating a super-fast network with 10 times more capacity than in the past. Essentially, we are talking about a brand new network that will gradually cover the whole of the Republic of Cyprus and will upgrade the customers’ daily communication experience substantially and practically.

“Secondly, we are decisively focused on the customers. We put them at the heart of our everyday lives. This requires emphasis on immediacy, flexibility and speed to meet and exceed the customers’ needs.

“Finally, we are restructuring radically our internal operations. We are implementing new, unified tools to help us keep track of the customers’ requests from the beginning to the end, ensuring they receive the best possible services, while this process helps us monitor and, therefore, improve continuously ourselves.”

Epic is one of the largest telecommunication providers in Cyprus. It provides integrated mobile and fixed telephony, internet and pay-TV services as well as specialised ICT solutions for businesses. At the same time, it operates 18 stores with tech products, accessories and telecommunication solutions.

Epic belongs to Monaco Telecom, the Principality of Monaco provider, and is a member of a dynamic European telecoms family which operates in France, Italy, Switzerland and Ireland.

FG TO PROSCRIBE ALMAJIRI SYSTEM

NSA, Babagana-Monguno

The National Security Adviser, Babagana Monguno, yesterday said the Federal Government will proscribe the Almajiri system and other groups that have become a problem to the society.

This is even as the Inspector General of Police, IGP, Mohammed Adamu, has said the security situation in the country has stabilised.

Briefing State House correspondents after the National Economic Council, NEC, meeting presided over by Vice President Yemi Osinbajo, at Presidential Villa, Abuja, the NSA said the $1 billion approved in 2017 by NEC from Excess Crude Account for security was earmarked for the military.

Though, Chairman of Nigeria Governors Forum, NGF, and governor of Ekiti State, Dr. Kayode Fayemi, had while briefing journalists earlier this month, said the $1 billion, which even raised dust among the governors, had been expended.

However, the NSA said the $1 billion was earmarked for the military and that he was not aware whether the money had been released or spent on security.

Monguno said he briefed NEC on several issues relating to security in the country and that the council was on the verge of releasing a blueprint over the myriads of security problems.

He said:  “I briefed the council on the drivers of insecurity, which are unemployment, under-employment, poverty, drugs abuse, rising population.

“I also made suggestions regarding the way forward, which include employment creation and reduction of poverty, and is the culture of impunity and looking at stabilising certain areas of the country by giving rise to affordable education.

“This is very important because, in most parts of the country, we have a lot of children roaming around without any formal education.

“As the president mentioned earlier, when he was inaugurating the National Economic Council, we need to make education compulsory and free for every child in the country because the problems we face today are rooted in the fact that a lot of people who have been denied the opportunity to get formal education end up over the years.

“There is an accumulation of a large mass of human beings who end up becoming criminals, drug addicts and so on and so forth. And they end up becoming tools to be used by elements in the wider society who have very dangerous intentions.

“Therefore, it is very important to proscribed certain groups ultimately running around under the guise of maybe getting some kind of education that is not really formal and then begin to cause a lot of problems for society.

“The group I spoke about on illiteracy is the Almajiri. Ultimately, the government will have to proscribe this Almajiri phenomenon, because we cannot continue to have street urchins, children roaming around, only for them in a couple of years or decades to become a problem to society.

“We are not saying that they are going to be contained in a manner, that you might think we want to do something that is harmful to them, no. What we want to do is to work with the state governments to enforce the policy of education for every child.

“Now, the bandits in the northwest have become major threats to national security. Of course, in recent weeks the Nigeria Police Force has made a lot of gains in dealing with these criminals.

“I also briefed the council on the activities of herdsmen/farmers. Their activities are limited to 16 states so far, but the council is working on the blueprint, it is on the verge of releasing the blueprint to solve these problems. It is a complex problem but it is about to be resolved within the council.

On his part, IGPAdamu said, in terms of general security, the situation in the country has stabilised, disclosing that NEC has approved the setting up of Security and Policing Committee, with the governors of Ekiti, Bayelsa, Ebonyi, Katsina, Ogun and Borno states as members.

Other members of the committee, he said, were NSA, IGP and Chief of Defence Staff.

WHY IMPLEMENTATION OF NEW MINIMUM WAGE MAY BE DELAYED

A disagreement between the Federal Government and Organised Labour in the Public Service on the template to work out consequential adjustment in wages may delay the implementation of the new National Minimum Wage.

President of the Trade Union Congress of Nigeria (TUC), Comrade Bobboi Kaigama told The Nation on the sideline of the International Labour Conference in Geneva, Switzerland that while the government wants an amount be fixed across all levels, labour wants the adjustment to be done in percentages.

The immediate past Minister of Labour, Senator Chris Ngige had told The Nation in his last interview as Minister that the government will run into trouble in the implementation of the minimum wage if it carries out the consequential adjustment on percentage basis as the government will not have the money to implement it.

The government has however set up a technical committee made up of representatives and officials of the Public Service Joint Negotiating Council to work out the template for the adjustment from grade level one step two to grade level 17.

Kaigama, who threw his weight behind the call for a universal minimum wage being canvassed by some world leaders at the 108th Session of the International Labour Conference, however assured workers that whenever the template is finalised, government will be obliged to pay arrears of the new wage.

He said: “We are concerned that the templates for the implementation of the new minimum wage are not yet out.

“It is one thing to sign the law proscribing minimum wage and another is implementations because there are two bodies in charge of negotiations.

“But as soon as we finish this last leg, the effective date of the law is the day the President signed the bill into law.

“Be rest assured that all employers of labour in Nigeria will have to pay for arrears. The President gave us one month to sort this out.

“But after setting up the technical committee, we discovered that there are hitches.

“So we decided to go back and prepare some scenarios, then back and look at them before agreeing on one which will cut across all levels in the service.

“Government is of the opinion that we fix an amount across, but we believe that is not scientific.

“We believe we should take a percentage and even if that means you have to stagger it.

“We are preparing scenarios and at the end of the day, we hope to arrive at something.”

BUHARI REMOVES MAIKANTI BARU, APPOINTS KYARI AS NNPC GMD

President Muhammadu Buhari has appointed Mr. Mele Kolo Kyari as the new Group Managing Director of the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation, bringing to an end the tenure of Maikanti Baru, as the oil firm’s boss.

NNPC’s Group General Manager, Group Public Affairs Division, Ndu Ughamadu, who disclosed this in Abuja on Thursday morning, stated that the President also appointed alongside Kyari, seven new Chief Operating Officers.

Until his new appointment, Kyari, a geologist, was Group General Manager, Crude Oil Marketing Division of NNPC and also doubled, since May 13, 2018, as Nigeria’s National Representative to the Organisation of the Petroleum Exporting Countries.

Buhari also directed that the new GMD and the newly appointed Chief Operating Officers work with the current occupiers of the various offices till July 7, 2019 towards a smooth transition on July 8, 2019, when their appointments would take effect.

The corporation, however, stated that the appointment of Mr. Farouk Garba Said (North West), who is replacing a retiring Chief Operating Officer, is effective from June 28, 2019.

It outlined the newly appointed Chief Operating Officers to include Mr. Roland Onoriode Ewubare (South-South) – Chief Operating Officer, Upstream; Mustapha Yinusa Yakubu (North Central) – Chief Operating Officer Refining and Petrochemicals; Yusuf Usman (North East) – Chief Operating Officer, Gas and Power; and Lawrencia Nwadiabuwa Ndupu (South East), Chief Operating Officer Ventures.

Others include Umar Isa Ajiya (North West) – Chief Financial Officer; Adeyemi Adetunji (South West) – Chief Operating Officer, Downstream; and Farouk Garba Said (North West) – Chief Operating Officer, Corporate Services.

Ughamadu stated that Baru had congratulated the new appointees.

According to the corporation, Kyari is a quintessential crude oil marketer with prerequisite certification and outfield pedigree in petroleum economics and crude oil and gas trading.

It said that in the last 27 years, the new NNPC boss had traversed the entire value chain of the petroleum industry, with exceptional records of performance.

NNPC said under Kyari’s watch, the Crude Oil Marketing Division had recorded noticeable transformation in the management and sales of various Nigeria’s crude oil grades via an infusion of transparency and automation of the processes.

Kyari would be the 19th Group Managing Director of the national oil company.

 Mele Kolo Kyari

Baru Maikanti Baru

AGAIN GUNMEN INVADE BAKANA, A RIVERS COASTAL COMMUNITY, ABDUCT 4, CART AWAY 6 SPEED BOATS

Gunmen

Again, gunmen have invaded Bakana, a Coastal Community in the Degema Local Government Area of Rivers State, leaving not less than four persons missing and six speed boats carted away.

The gunmen struck on Tuesday at about 10 pm.

The Youth President of Bakana, Comrade Francis Duke, who narrated the incident said several persons were missing after the invaders stormed the community shooting sporadically unchallenged.

He said the surprise invasion of Bakana caught the residents unaware, forcing them to look for places to hide for safety throughout the period of invasion.

Duke said that by Wednesday morning, some families reported cases of missing persons with traces of blood littered in front of their houses. He said they are not sure whether those abducted persons were alive or dead.

He also claimed that six speed boats were declared missing after the invasion.

“Yesterday night, at bedtime, Yet-to-be identified invaders were already in community shooting sporadically into the air forcing residents to run to safety places. Nobody could challenge them because we don’t have security people on ground. They did whatever they wanted to do. After they left, four young men were missing,” he said.

However, some members of the community who craved anonymity accused the Degema Local Government Council Chairman, Dr Tony Philmore of not doing enough to provide security in the area.

“The Chairman of the Local Government is from Bakana, Ward 5. He Has not done enough to provide security for Bakana. We need security. We cannot continue like this,” a source said.

At the time of the report, the Rivers State Police Command is yet to  reacted to the invasion of Bakana.

67-YEAR-OLD NIGERIAN WOMAN HACKS FIRST BANK ACCOUNT, STEALS N16.2 MILLION

A 67-year-old woman has been arraigned before the Lagos State Magistrate Court at Igbosere, Lagos, for allegedly hacking into a First Bank Plc account and stealing N16.2million.

The woman, Wuraola Folashade Oluloye, was arraigned on a five-count charge of fraudulent diversion, was arrested following a complaint from Solomon Akhanolu, Head of the Department of Forensic Auditors of First Bank. 

Oluloye pleaded not guilty to the five counts and was granted bail by Folashade Olukoya, the presiding magistrate and the chief magistrate of Igbosere court. She is to raise N500, 000 in bail bond and provide two sureties in like sum. 

Oluloye would be remanded in Kirikiri Prison custody until she meets her bail conditions

George Nwosu, the prosecution counsel, said Oluloye committed the alleged offences between last October 16 and December 31, at First Bank’s Agidingbi Branch, Lagos.

He said the 67-year-old woman allegedly hacked the account of a First Bank customer, Emefiele Ogbor, with account No 3014419974, and withdrew N16,200,000 from there and transferred same to her accounts in Stanbic IBTC, Union, Sterling and First banks.

Shortly afterwards Oluloye showed up at the bank to make withdrawals from her account. Unknown to her, the police were waiting and she was arrested.

The alleged offences contravened Section 287 of the Criminal Law of Lagos State, 2015, the court heard.
The defendant pleaded not guilty.

The case continues on June 24.