SENATORS CAN REMOVE MAGU ONLY WHEN SARAKI IS MADE ACTING PRESIDENT~~FALANA

Femi Falana, SAN, Constitutional lawyer and Humanrights activist, says the only way the senate can remove acting EFCC chairman, Ibrahim Magu, from office would be to wait until Senate President Bukola Saraki is made an acting president.

Falana in a statement released yesterday, described the attempts by the senators to enforce the removal of Magu as illegal. He called on the presidency to disregard every attempt by the senate to remove Magu.

Read the full text of his statement below...
Mr. Ibrahim Magu was appointed as Acting Chairman of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission in November 2015 by President Muhammadu Buhari. The appointment was made by the President sequel to section 171 (1) of the Constitution. After Mr. Magu had acted in that capacity for over a year the Senate refused to confirm his appointment as the substantive Chairman of the EFCC.

However, as President Buhari was satisfied with the performance of Mr. Magu he decided to retain him as the Acting Chairman of the EFCC. A couple of days ago, the Senate revisited the matter. In a rather bizarre move, the Senate decided to combine legislative powers with executive functions by passing a resolution which purportedly directed the Acting President, Professor Yemi Osinbajo, SAN, to remove Mr. Magu from the post of the Acting Chairman of the EFCC forthwith.

The resolution of the Senate was alleged to have been anchored on section 2(3) of the EFCC Act which provides as follows: “The Chairman and members of the Commission other than ex-officio members shall be appointed by the President and the appointment shall be subject to confirmation of the Senate.”

Before passing its resolution the Senate ought to have known from the clear and unambiguous provision of section 2 (3) of the EFCC Act that the it has not been vested with the power to confirm or approve any person appointed by the President to hold office in an acting capacity. To that extent, the resolution of the Senate constitutes an affront to section 171 (1) of the Constitution which stipulates that: “Power to appoint persons to hold or act in the offices to which this section applies to remove persons so appointed from any such office shall vest in the President.”

The offices involved are those Head of Service, Secretary to the Government of the Federation, Permanent Secretaries and Heads of extra ministerial departments of the Government. It is further submitted that Section 2 (3) of the EFCC Act relied upon Senate to justify the confirmation of the Chairman of the EFCC is inconsistent with section 171 (2) of the Constitution. Indeed, of all the positions listed in subsection 2 of the Constitution it is only in the appointments of ambassadors and high commissioners made by the President which require the confirmation of the Senate.
See section 171(4) thereof. Since the EFCC is an extra ministerial department of the Federal Government the appointment of its Chairman does not require the confirmation of the Senate. In other words, section 2 (3) of the EFCC Act is inconsistent with section 171 (2) of the Constitution. To that extent, the resolution of the Senate based on the EFCC Act is an exercise in futility. Although neither the Presidency nor the Senate has deemed to seek interpretation of the relevant provisions of the Constitution from the Supreme Court the power of the President of the Republic to make certain appointments without the confirmation of the Senate had been challenged. In Festus Keyamo v The President & 4 Ors. (See www.premiumtimesng.com) the plaintiff challenged the appointment of service chiefs without the confirmation of the Senate.

The trial court set aside the appointments as the power of the President to appoint service chiefs under section 218(2) of the Constitution is on the ground that the appointments were qualified by section 218(4)(b) thereof which provides that the National Assembly shall have power to make laws for the regulation of "the appointment, promotion and disciplinary control of the members of the armed forces of the Federation." As the Constitution has made the appointments of service chiefs subject to laws enacted by the National Assembly the court was on a terra firma when it ruled that the appointments so made required confirmation in line with the section 18 of the Armed Forces Act.

But in the case of Ebun Adegboruwa v Attorney-general of the Federation (Unreported) Suit No:FHC/L/CS/1405/2012 the plaintiff had challenged the appointment of Colonel Hameed Ali (retd) as the Comptroller-General of Customs on the ground it was not made by President Buhari in consonance with a Federal Government Gazette of 1985. The Gazette in question had provided that a new Comptroller-General of Customs must be appointed from the pool of Deputy Comptrollers-General of Customs.

 In dismissing the action the Federal High Court (per Hassan J.) held that by the combined effect of sections 5 and 171 of the Constitution the provisions of the Gazette could not restrict or limit the powers of the President to appoint the Comptroller-General of Customs from outside the public service. In the same vein, it is crystal clear that section 2 (3) of the EFCC Act cannot subject the appointment of the chairman of the EFCC to Senate confirmation contrary to the provisions of section 171 of the Constitution.

In view of the foregoing, the implementation of the resolution of the Senate on the removal of Mr. Ibrahim Magu as the Acting Chairman of the EFCC should be ignored by the Presidency on account of its apparent illegality.

However, the distinguished Senators who are desperate to institutionalize official corruption and impunity in the country by removing Mr. Magu from office may have to wait for the planned installation of the Senate President, Dr. Bukola Saraki as the Acting President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria!

MAN IMPREGNATES HOUSEMAID...STRANGLES PREGNANT WIFE

The Plateau Police Command on Thursday confirmed the arrest of a 40-year-old man, Victor Dashit, who allegedly strangled his eight months pregnant wife, Irene.

“Victor is in our custody and investigation is on-going. We shall soon take him to court,” its spokesman, Terna Tyopev, said in Jos.

He said that Dashit, a staff of the National Industrial Court, Jos who resides at New Abuja area of Jos, killed the wife, a 33-year-old teacher, at their farm in Kangang, on June 2. The investigation revealed that Dashit, after killing the woman, invited his brother to help him to convey her to hospital after lying that she slumped few minutes after she complained of feeling dizzy.

A family source said that prior to the incident, the couple had faced lots of problems leading to persistent domestic violence. He said that the situation got worse in May 2016, when the deceased caught her husband in bed with their house help, one Nora, in their home.

“The woman woke up one night sometime in May 2016 and did not see her husband on the bed. “ After combing the entire house, she peeped into the house help’s room and found her husband on her,” the source said.


He said that Irene sent the girl out of the house, but the girl came back two months later and told the husband that she was pregnant.



“Nora’s pregnancy aggravated the problems in their marriage; at a point, Irene fled to her parents’ house in Gindiri, but was persuaded to return to her husband’s house by their Pastor. “The Pastor persuaded her to return in November 2016, after intervening in the quarrel. She became pregnant immediately. She said that Irene had two daughters, while the baby, a male, removed from her womb after she died, did not survive. A source at the Air Force Military Hospital, Jos where Irene’s corpse was taken, said that the Dashit who brought the wife on June 2, had claimed that she slumped and died after complaining of dizziness.

“The doctors confirmed her dead on arrival, but rushed her to the theatre for an emergency CS in a bid to save her unborn baby but brought out a dead child,” the source said. Further investigation by the medics, however revealed marks on her neck, which suggested that she was strangled.

“The doctors quickly reported the matter at the Anglo Jos police station where Dashit owned up to strangling his wife,” he said. Tyopev, while describing the incident as “unfortunate”, blamed the development on alleged infidelity, saying that Dashit had equally confessed to impregnating his housemaid. “He confessed to holding the woman by the neck, but said he did not intend to kill her,” he said.

ROBBERS WHO WHO ATTACKED THE RESIDENCE OF SEGUN ODEGBAMI APPEARED IN COURT

A robbery gang who attacked the residence of ex-international, Segun Odegbami, appeared before an Igbosere Magistrates’ Court in Lagos on Wednesday.

The accused are: Oke Moses, 18; Abdul Azeez, 22; Ajibade Rahmon, 24; Isaac Okenuga, 29; Olusola Orisansope, 22; and Daramola Abiodun, 22.

They are standing trial on a four-count charge bordering on burglary, conspiracy, receiving stolen property and stealing.

The prosecutor, Sgt. Chijioke Njoku, told the court that the accused committed the offences on June 1 at No.13, Saro Close, Victoria Island, Lagos.

He said Moses and Azeez burgled Odegbami’s house and stole items worth N14.1 million including: a Rolex watch worth N12million, Iphone 7plus valued at N490,000, a Samsung Galaxy S3 phone worth N150,000 and two Apple laptops worth N600,000.

He said that the accused also stole a box containing clothes and shoes worth N500,000 and a phone recharge cable worth N5,000.

Njoku submitted that the other accused persons received the stolen goods from Moses and Azeez also in June, at different days after the robbery.

After denying all charges, the Magistrate, Mrs F. O. Botoku, granted the accused bail in the sum of N1million each with two sureties that must be gainfully employed and show evidence of tax payment to the Lagos State Government.

The case was adjourned till August 17 for mention.

WIZKID: DROPPED OUT OF LASU DUE TO POOR PERFORMANCE

Wizkid real name  Ayodeji Ibrahim Balogun , was admitted to study Sociology at the Lagos State University's Faculty of Social Science in 2008. As a young man obviously more passionate about his music than education, he dropped out due to poor performance,to focus on his music in mid-2009.

He was later admitted to Lead City University in Ibadan to study International Relations where he also dropped out after two sessions.

Below is a transcript showing his results for the two semesters in LASU.

As a frequent visitor to OJB's PointBeat Studios at Gbaja Street in Surulere, he got inspired while watching 2face Idibia record songs for his Grass to Grace album. He was also around while Sound Sultan recorded his debut album, Jangbajantis.

Wizkid first came to the limelight when he featured on MI Abaga's 'Fast Money Fast Cars' in 2009. He also featured on Kel's track 'Turn By Turn' which further set him up as an act to watch out for.

He got signed to Banky W's EME in 2009, same year he finally left school, and started recording his debut album, 'Holla At Your Boy' which was released in January 2010 and became an instant hit nationwide. The rest is hostory.

Today Wizkid is a force to reckon with in the music world, locally and internationally, among stars Tuface, Sound Sultan, MI Abaga & OJB he drew inspiration from.

BADOO MENACE IN LAGOS STATE : "SOME PEOPLE ARE BEHIND IT AND THEY MUST BE TRACK DOWN"~~ GOV.AMBODE

Lagos State Governor, Akinwunmi Ambode on Thursday disagreed with the claims that the dreaded cult group, Badoo, are invincible.

The governor, who spoke at the commissioning of a fire station in Epe area of Lagos, Southwest Nigeria said the members terrorizing the Ikorodu community are not spirits and must be tracked down.
He, therefore, charged traditional rulers, especially in Ikorodu to wake up by helping the government to beef up the high rate of kidnapping and Badoo menace in the state.

According to him, the Lagos State government is seriously concerned about rampaging cases of kidnapping and Badoo menace in the state and they are wholeheartedly committed to the safety of lives and properties in the state.

“I just want to assure Lagosians that we are doing everything possible. We don’t run the government on the pages of the newspapers, and that’s why you see that we do not make comments on the newspapers, but we are trying as much as possible to make sure that we get these children back safely which is more important for us and also make sure that we tighten the security in our waterways to make sure that we support the security agencies in ensuring that the right things are done and then we keep pace,” he said.
Ambode said intelligence reports had it that some of the baales colluded with kidnappers to kidnap people in remote areas.

In his words:
“This is also a good opportunity for me to say this since the majority of our traditional rulers are here. We just want to pass a message to say that we need to come together and ensure that we speak to all our baales in the communities that we are having issues and also in Ikorodu to say that we must speak to ourselves.

“We have intelligence here that some of these things are coming from within and our Kabiyesis and Obas need to do something as quickly as possible to arrest this decadence that we have here.

“As far as the Badoo case is concerned, I don’t believe that it has anything to do with a disappearing ghost. I don’t also believe that the rituals can be taking place, without some people not being behind it. So, I challenge all our Kabiyesis and all our traditional rulers and Baales, we must arrest this situation as quickly as possible and show that traditional value that we have always been known for and then we would continue to support you.”

However, the governor said the fire station was being commissioned to enhance the safety of lives and properties in Epe, adding that his administration would deliver more fire stations across the State.

FESTUS KEYAMO AND 29 OTHERS APPROVED AS SENIOR ADVOCATE OF NIGERIA (SAN).

The Legal Practitioners Privileges Committee have awarded Lagos lawyer, Festus Keyamo, brother to Acting President Yemi Osinbajo, Akinlolu Osinbajo, and 28 other persons the prestigious rank of the Senior Advocate of Nigeria (SAN). The committee took the decision to award the learned fellows the rank of a SAN after a meeting. Also on the list for the award of SAN are four academics and a female...

"DEJI ADELEKE BROTHER'S DEATH HAS RUN HIM MAD"~~RAUF AREGBESOLA

The Osun State Governor, Mr. Rauf Aregbesola, has said Dr. Deji Adeleke may have gone mad because of the death of his brother, Senator Isiaka Adeleke.

Aregbesola said this in Ede on Wednesday at the campaign of the candidate of the All Progressives Congress in the Osun West Senatorial District by-election holding on Saturday.

The governor’s vituperation was in reaction to allegation that he owed Deji Adeleke money.

But Aregbesola said he did not borrow any money from Deji at anytime, saying it was the Adelekes that had been collecting money from him.

He said, “Deji Adeleke is a business man, he is not a politician but it is like his brother’s death has run him mad.” (O dabi pe iku egbon e ti da lori ru). It is a lie that I borrowed money from Deji,

“It is to the glory of God that they got the Certificate of Occupancy of their university from our government. Why didn’t those who are their new friends give them C of O of that university? If Deji Adeleke had so much money, why did he beg me to waive the payable tax of his university? Why couldn’t he just pay?

“I am bold enough to say this over and over again, because I have never sought assistance from any member of the Adeleke family, even during the lifetime of Senator Isiaka Adeleke. Nothing of such occurred.

“My relationship with the late Adeleke was cordial and beyond politics because we had known each other even before Osun politics, because our residences were adjacent to each other in Lagos State.”

He said political office was not by inheritance, saying if it was so, Bola Ige family would have been ruling the state.

In a related development,  the National Chairman of the PDP, Ali Modu Sherif, on Wednesday stormed Apomu, the headquarters of Isokan  Local Government Area  to lead the campaign for Chief Ademola Adeleke, who is the standard bearer of the  party in the Osun West Senatorial District by-election.

A former Deputy Governor of Osun State, Iyiola Omisore, who recently joined hands with the Sheriff faction of the PDP in Osun State, was also one of the prominent leaders of the PDP, who campaigned for Adeleke.

The campaign train of the PDP, after leaving Apomu,  headed for Iwo in continuation of the electioneering.

Meanwhile, one of the election observer groups, accredited to monitor the election,  Centre for Credible Leadership and Citizens Awareness, has said there may be voter apathy due to the threat being issued by some politicians ahead of the poll.

The Director-General of the CLCA, Dr. Gabriel Nwanbu, said this at a press conference in Osogbo on Wednesday.


SOURCE