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INSECURITY: Southeast leaders to meet in Enugu Tuesday

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SOUTHEAST LEADERS MEETING

 

Governors and leaders of the Southeast geopolitical zone will on Tuesday, October 5, 2021, converge on Enugu State for an “urgent meeting”.

The emergency meeting, according to reports, followed the renewed insecurity situation in the region in the past few weeks.

The development has resulted in several deaths, including lasr week’s killing of Dr. Chike Akunyili, husband of late information minister, Prof. Dora Akunyili in Anambra State.

The meeting to be hosted by Governor Ifeanyi Ugwuanyi, holds at the Government House, Enugu.

According to a memo sent by Ebonyi Governor and chairman of Southeast Governors Forum, David Umahi, the leaders would in the meeting reach some decisions to “salvage our region that is presently battling with high rate of insecurity”.

The meeting, he added, would be attended by Governors of the five States of the zone, Ohanaeze leaders and heads of religious and traditional institutions.

Umahi begged his brother Governors to endeavour to be present and not on representative capacity.

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He wrote: “Your Excellencies and our highly esteemed leaders, in consultation with our Governors and President of Ohanaeze Ndigbo Worldwide, where a decision for an urgent meeting to be called was reached, may I therefore invite you for an emergency meeting of Southeast Governors, some leaders of Ohaneze, some of our political leaders, some of our religious leaders and some of our traditional leaders.

“Venue: Enugu State Government House.
Date: Tuesday, 5th October 2021
Time: 12Noon; Meeting will start.

“Our Leaders begged that I request all Governors of Southeast to be please present at the time and not on representative capacity so that together we should reach some decisions to salvage our region that is presently battling with high rate of insecurity.

“May I therefore request that you please endeavour to attend this meeting for the sake of Ndigbo”.

A source to one of the Governors, told The Nation that the Governors would most likely discuss the challenge of establishing Ebubeagu in the region as well as the incarceration of the leader of the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB), Mazi Nnamdi Kanu.

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The source said: “As you can see, it’s very obvious that the governors have received all manner of insults for not being firm in the establishment of Ebubeagu.

“You will agree with me that this vacuum they created led to the formation of the Eastern Security Network (ESN) by IPOB. If you check round the state, the people have accepted ESN because there’s no alternative to that.

“When we talk about the renewed insecurity in the Southeast, anybody who wants to tell himself the truth will tell you that since the arrest of Nnamdi Kanu, we have been having sit-at-home which has resulted in several deaths and arson.

” I think the Governors will have to put an end to this and that is by discussing his arrest and giving assurance that he would be released.

“They’re not happy that they only enjoy three working days in a week with end in sight for the sit-at-home”.

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Abuse of office: Emefiele challenges jurisdiction of Lagos court to try him

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The Lagos High Court sitting in Ikeja has deferred till the end of trial, its ruling on the application filed by the former Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), Godwin Emefiele, challenging the jurisdiction of the court to try him on the charges brought against him by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC).

 

Through his lawyer, Senior Advocate of Nigeria, Olalekan Ojo, Emefiele submitted that he cannot be tried in the high court of any state in Nigeria for alleged acts of abuse of his office as this raises issues of constitutionality and legality.

 

The former CBN governor also noted that counts 1-4 of the 26 counts charge filed by the EFCC against him are unconstitutional as they are not contained in any law in Nigeria.

 

His counsel asked the court to make an order striking out counts one to four of the charge on the grounds that:

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. the Honourable Court has no jurisdiction to try the offence of abuse of office in relation to the office of the Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria which the 1st Defendant occupied at all times material to the commission of the offences and

 

ii. the 1st Defendant’s/Applicant’s acts said to constitute arbitrary acts resulting in abuse of office are not offences known to law as mandatorily required by section 36(12) of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria 1999 as amended.

 

The EFCC through its counsel, Senior Advocate of Nigeria, Rotimi Oyedepo, however, countered these arguments.

 

Citing decided cases of the Supreme Court, he asked the trial judge, Justice Rahman Oshodi, not to defer or prevent the trial of the case on the basis of objections challenging the particulars of the counts of the information.

 

“That approach is intended to take us back to where we are coming from as this were the basis for Section 1 of the Administration of Criminal Justice Act, ACJA and the purpose for which Administration of Criminal Justice Law, ACJL was intended. The intention of our collective resolution as a nation was to to prevent undue delay in our criminal cases.

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“I urge my lord to refuse this invitation, trial has commenced, this application to prevent the trial today is unlawful, illegal and unconstitutional and I urge the court not to depart from the decision of the apex court as to do so would amount to judicial rascality,” Oyedepo stated.

 

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JUST IN: Obaseki increases minimum wage to N70k in Edo

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Godwin Obaseki, governor of Edo, has approved a new minimum wage of N70,000 for civil servants in the state. 

 

The governor made the declaration on Monday while inaugurating the Labour House.

 

Obaseki named the Labour House after Adams Oshiomhole, senator representing Edo north and immediate-past governor of Edo.

 

Details later…

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‘Breach of law’ — Oshiomhole condemns Ododo for ‘rescuing’ Yahaya Bello during EFCC siege

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Adams Oshiomhole, senator representing Edo north, has faulted Usman Ododo, governor of Kogi, for his interference in the saga involving Yahaya Bello and the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC).

 

The EFCC is accusing Bello, immediate-past governor of Kogi, of money laundering and corruption to the tune of N80.2 billion. 

 

BACKGROUND

On April 17, EFCC operatives laid siege to Bello’s Abuja residence in a bid to arrest him for grilling. 

 

While the operatives were at Bello’s residence, Ododo arrived at the scene.

 

Shortly after Ododo left the residence, the EFCC operatives ended their siege. There were reports that Ododo had surreptitiously whisked Bello away in one of the cars in his convoy. 

 

Amid the drama, the Kogi high court delivered judgment in a fundamental rights enforcement suit, restraining the commission from “harassing, threatening to arrest or detaining” the former governor.

 

Speaking on Saturday at the national integration conference, Oshiomhole said Ododo’s “rescue” of Bello and the former governor’s refusal to show up in court constitutes a breach of the law.

 

The conference which had ‘Revisiting the national question: Nigeria’s elusive search for national integration’ as its theme, was organised by the Kukah Centre.

 

The senator also urged citizens to speak up against breaches of the law — irrespective of who is involved.

 

“If you are afraid, given the fact that you are very vocal, you are independent, you cannot be dismissed, you cannot be promoted or demoted… if you are afraid to mention the name of a former governor who breached the law and a sitting governor who used his immunity to cover a governor that lost immunity, where will the courage come from?” Oshiomhole said.

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“This sophistry of saying we can name the child of a poor man who steal(s) a goat but we are afraid to mention the name of a big man who breached the law, that for me is at the root of our problems.”

 

‘ALL CHILDREN MUST HAVE ACCESS TO EDUCATION’

Bello had also allegedly paid $760,910 in advance fees to the American International School Abuja (AISA), for five of his children from the coffers of the Kogi state government.

 

The children are in grade levels 2 to 8 at the school.

 

Oshiomhole said during his spell as Edo governor, his colleagues denied children of the poor access to education.

 

“As a former governor, I was a member of the national economic council (NEC) where some state governors argued that they did not have the resources to pay 50 percent subsidy in order to ensure that the children of the poor go to school even when those governors are sending their own children abroad,” Oshiomhole added.

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The former Edo governor said leaders must possess the political will to implement laws they enact.

 

“What I consider to be the most important investment, namely, that never should a child be born in this country and be denied access to go to school,” he said.

 

Kogi ranked 27th across states in Nigeria with the highest number of out-of-school children (ages 6–15).

 

 

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