300 soldiers take over Delta community

OVER 300 soldiers were, on Monday, alleged to have laid siege to Ayakoromo community in Burutu Local Government Area of Delta State.

This is just as displaced members of the community have called for the arraignment of the chief of defence staff, service chiefs and members of the Joint Military Task Force (JTF) at the International War Crimes Tribunal.

FG may drop charges against Cheney, Halliburton

EFFORTS of the Federal Government at prosecuting former vice-president of the United States (US), Richard Bruce Dick Cheney and other officials of Halliburton has yielded fruits, as the country may drop charges them.

According to The Will, an online news agency, the development was sequel to an agreement reached between Nigerian officials and top officials of the US and Halliburton, in a meeting held in London, at the weekend.

At the meeting, Halliburton was said to have agreed to pay about N20 billion as criminal penalty, while promising to liaise with the US government to recover the outstanding $I32 million currently frozen in Switzerland.

The source also hinted that former president of the US, George Bush (Snr) and former US Secretary of State, Mr James Baker, were part of the deliberations through conference calls.

The Attorney-General of Federation and Minister of Justice, Mr Mohammed Bello Adoke, was said to have led Nigeria’s team at the negotiations, which included the secretary of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), Mr Emmanuel Akomaye; legal luminaries, Damian Dodo and Godwin Obla and the Executive Secretary of the National Human Rights Commission, Roland Ewubare.

Halliburton’s Chief Executive and chairman, David Lesar, who replaced Cheney; president, Eastern Hemisphere, Ahmed Lofty; Deputy General Counsel, James Ferguson, were part of it.

Abducted doctor’s wife released in Ondo

Sixteen days after she was abducted by unknown men, the wife of a medical doctor in Ondo State, Mrs Juliana Ogunleye, was, on Monday, released by her abductors.

Nigerian Tribune learnt that the 65 years old woman was eventually freed around 5.30 a.m on Monday.

It was gathered that the abductors called the family members early in the morning to go and pick the woman where she was dropped.

The woman was later picked up by her family members at about 5.40am on Ado-Ekiti road, where the kidnappers had dropped her.

Speaking with the Nigerian Tribune on phone over the development, one of the children of the woman, Ayo Ogunleye, said the kidnappers put a call to one of their uncles early in the morning.

According to him, the people said they should go and pick their mother since they had refused to pay the ransom demanded from the family.

He said: “They (abductors) just called us to go and pick our mother, the voice said since we have refused to pay the N50 million ransom. It shows that our mother is worthless and that we should go and pick her.”

Adamu asks court to stop prosecution

A former member of FIFA’s Executive Committee, Amos Adamu, has dragged the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC), and the Nigerian Police before an Abuja High Court, over alleged threats by the security agencies to arrest him.

Adamu is asking the court to declare that both anti-graft agencies lack the powers to investigate and prosecute him for alleged breach of FIFA’s code of ethics. His lawyer, Niyi Ayoola-Daniels, asked the court to declare that the police would be acting above their powers if they decided to investigate him for allegedly breaching FIFA’s code of ethics. Adamu also asked the court to declare that, by virtue of the laws establishing the offices of the anti-graft agencies and the office of the Attorney General of the Federation, they lacked the power to prosecute him for alleged breach of FIFA’s code of ethics.

He also asked the court to restrain the agencies and the police from infringing his right to pers onal liberty as enshrined in Section 35 of the 1999 Constitution. When the matter came up on Monday, Ayoola-Daniels told the judge that FIFA was not an agency of the federal government and therefore neither the EFCC nor the ICPC could question him on his conduct while serving as an Executive Committee member. The judge consequently adjourned the matter to 17th January, 2011.

In an affidavit attached to the originating summons, Adamu said he was rattled by the statement credited to the EFCC’s Spokesperson, Femi Babafemi, which he alleged cast aspersion on his person. Adamu had been FIFA Executive member since 2006 until his suspension last month for breach of Articles 3 and 5 of FIFA’s code of ethics.

Central Bank sells $400m in auction sales

The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), yesterday, sold $400 million in its by-weekly Wholesale Dutch Auction System (WDAS).

This is the highest sale of foreign exchange at the official window since September 27 auction when $650 million was traded. The Central Bank has sold about $4.9 billion in the last two months in 18 auctions. Similarly, the foreign reserves dropped to $33.84 billion on Friday from $34.16 billion the previous day. Analysts forecast a surge in forex demand in the next few weeks due largely to the increased market reliance on CBN. Official data for the months of January-August 2010 indicate that the central bank supplied approximately 27.1 per cent of the dollar demand of $52 billion of inflows into Nigeria’s foreign exchange market with autonomous sources (oil companies, international institutions, and remittances) accounting for the rest. The naira sold at the official market at N149.01, while at the interbank it sold at 151.865, at the bureau de change at N152 and 153 at the parallel market.

Demand pressure

According to analysts at Afrinvest, an investment and financial services firm, the naira may “inch upwards this week as demand pressure increases towards the end of the year.” The firm in its weekly report however said sustained inflows from oil majors will likely stabilize the naira in the interbank market. The report noted that demand for forex increased last week when compared to a slowdown in the previous week. Although the CBN maintained its volume of supply, market demand of $548.7m outstripped the $450.0m offered. This demand pressure continued this week as $447.62 million was actually demand out of which the CBN was able to meet 89.36 per cent of demand.

A bureau de change operator on Broad Street in Lagos, Gali Kabiru, said the increase in dollar supply may be due to anticipation of increased demand. “People expect that after next week, the foreign exchange market may be closed until next year so many people are making provisions for such occurrence,” he said, adding that interbank rate at N153 makes parallel market rate. He said the demand may increase for the next few auctions before the closure.

Sustain dollar rate

Regional Head of Research, Africa Razia Khan, Standard Chartered, London, Razia Khan said it is important for the central bank to commit to meeting market demand in full, to sustain any given dollar-naira rate. “Because the auction cut-off represents the lowest successful bid, most bids for foreign exchange are likely to have been settled at higher dollar-naira rates, and the interbank market will normally trade at a higher rate than that determined by the WDAS auction,” she said. According to her, naira stability would be achieved with the supplier able to comfortably anticipate and meet market demand. “In this case, it would require the CBN to stay ahead of the market, and pre-empt any spike in forex demand,” she said.

Ibori goes to London

James Ibori, former Delta State governor, who is on a wanted list in Britain over allegations of corruption, yesterday in Dubai, the United Arab Emirates, lost his appeal against his extradition.

The Gulf Arab Emirates’ cassation court ruled against Mr. Ibori’s appeal. The former governor, who has also been declared wanted by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), was arrested in the Emirates in May. The arrest was at the behest of the London Metropolitan Police, and a Dubai court later approved a British extradition request.

Convicted associates

A British court had in August 2007 frozen his assets, worth over $35 billion, based on the suspicion that they were the proceeds of corruption. Some of Mr. Ibori’s associates in Britain have been convicted.

Among these are his sister, Christine Ibie-Ibori, and his ally, Udoamaka Okoronkwo (nee Onuigbo). Both are currently serving jail terms in a United Kingdom prison. Mr. Ibori’s wife, Theresa Nkoyo, and his UK-based lawyer, Bhadresh Gohil, were also convicted recently.

A statement by Femi Babafemi, the spokesperson of the EFCC, yesterday said, “The ruling today of the appellate court in Dubai only goes to confirm our earlier position issued after the first ruling in October that justice is universal and applicable anywhere in the world.

“We have been cooperating with authorities in other jurisdictions on this matter and we will continue to do this until the cause of justice is fully served, irrespective of the ignorance and misrepresentation being peddled by mischief makers.”

The anti-graft agency had in April tried to arrest Mr. Ibori before his trip to Dubai, to question him over allegations that he looted N44 billion from Delta State coffers. However, a large number of his supporters prevented police from arresting him in his hometown, Oghara. Few days after, he fled the country for Dubai. How he fled the country without being apprehended is still unknown.

Mr. Ibori governed Delta State from 1999 to 2007. He was a big power broker in the Peoples Democratic Party after he left power, dismissing all accusations against him as political.

It is not clear yet how soon he will be flown to Britain to face further prosecution.

Supreme Court re-validates election of former Delta Speaker

The Supreme Court yesterday re-validated the election of former speaker of the Delta State House of Assembly, Martins Okonta, whose election was nullified by the Court of Appeal on the grounds of illegal substitution. Not satisfied with the decision of the Appeals court, Mr. Okonta approached the Supreme Court with a notice of appeal, requesting it to overturn the verdict of the court which removed him from office. Mr. Okonta, in his appeal, said that the judgment of the Court of Appeal, Abuja, was in conflict with the one earlier given by its Benin division and that the Abuja division of the court shut him out of the case and was, therefore, not given a fair hearing before judgment was given in the case. The Court of Appeal, Abuja, presided over by Jimi Bada, had ordered INEC to retrieve the certificate of return from Mr. Okonta of the PDP and issue it to Noye-Kingsley Philips.

Mr. Bada also directed that Mr. Philips, who was proved to be the rightful candidate of the party for the 2007 State Assembly election, be sworn in as a member of the House by the secretariat of the Delta House of Assembly forthwith.

“This court is compelled to align itself with the decision of the trial court because the evidence supplied by the appellant respondent (Philips) clearly shows that Section 34 of the Electoral Act was violated by INEC and Okonta respectively. The appellant applicants, INEC and Okonta, are hereby directed to jointly pay the sum of N100,000 to the respondent as compensation for court processes,” Mr. Bada stated.

Apex ruling

Ibrahim Idris, Mr. Philips’ counsel, told the media after the judgment that his client clearly won the primaries. He said that the leadership of the party, in a clandestine arrangement with INEC, replaced him (Philips). “Being a pre-election matter, wisdom demands that we wait until the election was conducted before approaching the regular court and not the Election Tribunal,” he said.

Mr. Okonta had since lost the seat to Mr. Philips while another member of the house was sworn in as the speaker.

However, the Supreme Court set aside the judgment of the Court of Appeal, Abuja which upheld the decision of the Federal High Court that nullified Mr. Okonta’s election. Justice Dahiru Musdapher who led four other justices agreed with Mr. Okonta’s counsel, Lateef Fagbemi, that the suit that led to the appeal was incompetent because Mr. Okonta was not joined as a party at the Federal High Court. Justice Olufunlola Adekeye, in the lead judgment, said the refusal to join Mr. Okonta in the suit is a breach of his fundamental right to a fair hearing. She said it is trite law that proper parties are before the court so that they will be bound by the effect of the action.

“The decision of the Federal High Court which was upheld by the Court of Appeal is hereby set aside,” she said.

Mr. Okonta had gone to the apex court seeking a review of the verdict of the Abuja Court of Appeal which had nullified his election. The court also refused Mr. Okonta’s request for an order of injunction staying the execution of the Appeal court judgment delivered on May 12, 2009, pending hearing and determination of the appeal.

The apex court said there might be no need to hear the application as it would take the substantive case and gave instant judgment.

INEC gets 15,000 DCC machines

Attahiru Jega, chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), yesterday said over 15,000 Direct Data Capture Machines have arrived the country in readiness for the 2011 elections.

Speaking at a national dialogue organised by Policy and Legal Advocacy Centre in collaboration with INEC, with support of MacArthur Foundation, the INEC boss urged Nigerians to ensure that they register for the coming voter registration starting from January 29. He warned that anybody who fails to register within the stipulated time may not vote in the elections next year.

He promised to tackle the flaws that were recorded in the 2007 elections, such as failure to capture people adequately with the biometric system and also failure to issue voter cards on time.

He also said that voters will get temporary voter cards within seven minutes of registering at registration centres across the country.

Poor security network

On the issue of the stolen DCC machines, he lamented the porous security in the nation’s airports, and described the act as unfortunate. He warned that electoral offences will not be tolerated any longer, regardless of who is involved.

Mr. Jega disclosed that the Electoral Act now permits INEC to arrest and prosecute offenders, as was done in Enugu during the bye-elections where a man was caught with 80,000 voter cards.

The representative of the MacArthur Foundation, Godwin Odoh, urged Nigerians to protect their votes during the 2011 elections.

He lamented that in spite of the enormous potentials the country has in human and natural resources, corruption and absence of free and fair elections have denied the country the status of the giant of Africa that she lay claims to.

Students’ vote

The INEC chairman said the current voting process put in place by INEC, which mandates voters to vote only at their points of registration, could hinder students’ participation, since tertiary institutions are usually shut down during elections.

“Unfortunately, if the calendars are not reliable, it will be difficult for us. If the calendar stabilises, it will be possible for us to know when to arrange the registrations and elections to coincide with when the students are away. Right now, whatever we do, we will not be able to accommodate the interests of most of the students,” Mr. Jega said.

Facing difficulties

The chairman said that the issue of students’ votes is one of the challenges which INEC does not think will be resolved before the April elections.

“It is the same problems we are facing with the Nigerians in Diaspora. The exigencies of the times constrain us. We have to take each of the problems one after the other. Maybe after the April elections, we can do everything possible to resolve these issues. For now, it is actually impossible logistically,” he said.

While making no promises, Mr. Jega, a former vice chancellor of Bayero University, Kano, said he is still in talks with his former colleagues on a possible way out of the situation.

“We have been discussing with the NUC (National Universities Commission) and some of the vice chancellors on what we can do. It is a difficult thing. Through consultations, it may be possible to allow one week for the students to go home during the registrations. But it is also going to be expensive and that will have to be repeated during the elections. Who is going to fund that?” Mr. Jega complained.

The event had the former Chief Justice of Nigeria, Muhammadu Uwais, as chairman.