Month: October 2013
Salami: I’m leaving with my honour intact
The outgoing President of the Court of Appeal,
Justice Ayo Salami, yesterday said he refused to
pervert the court of justice on the Sokoto
governorship case, which was brought to the
Court of Appeal.
He said he had no regret about what he did
because the God of truth has vindicated him.
Salami, who opened up before a large audience at
the NICON Luxury Hotel in Abuja, said a judge
must, above all, stand taller than the pressure he
is confronted with.
He broke his silence on the rift between him and
a former Chief Justice of Nigeria, Justice Aloysius
Katsina-Alu at the presentation of a book, “Isa Ayo
Salami: Through Life and Justice”, in his honour.
When Salami mounted the podium, there was
pin-drop silence within the audience, which was
eager to hear from the key actor in the major
conflict, which had plagued the nation’s Judiciary
in the last two years.
His humble mien added passion to the anxiety of
the audience to hear his story.
Salami, however, said he resisted pressure from
the ex-CJN to disband a panel of the Court of
Appeal on Sokoto Governorship election.
He said the disbandment of the panel would have
offended the principle of the independence of
judges which he so much respect and believe in.
He said: “I realise the public interest that my feud
with the National Judicial Council (NJC) and
former Chief Justice of Nigeria (CJN) Katsina-Alu
has generated.
“It is obvious that people want to know what the
fuss was actually about, and briefly put, this is it.
“I was invited by the then CJN, Justice Katsina-Alu
to his chambers on the 8th of February, 2010
using Justice Dahiru Musdapher’s phone, and
when I got there, I met them together (Justice
Musdapher was then next in line to him at the
Supreme Court).
“He (Katsina-Alu) instructed me to direct the
Justices on the Sokoto Appeal to dismiss the
appeal of the Democratic People’s Party (DPP)
Governorship candidate and I responded that
could not do so.
“Contrary to the deposition of Justice Katsina-Alu
that he called me into his Chambers in respect of
leakage in the judgement of Sokoto matter which
he gathered from petitions, there were no
petitions against me or the Justices in the Sokoto
Appeal Panel as at the 8th day of February, 2010
on Sokoto matter or any other matter.
“Ironically, the petitions in question only emerged
on the 15th day of February, 2010 seven days
after I had unequivocally informed the CJN that I
would not direct a competent court on what its
judgement should be.
“After showing me the petition on the 15th
February, he asked me to disband the Sokoto
Appeal Panel in view of the petitions. I responded
that I would not disband the panel as the
petitions did not contain any allegation of
impropriety against the members. In my response
to the petitions, I made known what transpired at
our meetings of 8th and 15th February, 2010.
“ It was in his own submission to NJC on my
response that he now alleged that the reason for
calling me was that the judgement in the Sokoto
matter had leaked and that he gathered the
allegation that the judgement had leaked from
the petitions written against me.
“The Investigating Panel set up by the NJC under
Justice Umaru Abdullahi (former President of the
Court of Appeal) rejected his claim that there was
allegation of leakage in the petitions as well as his
defence that the judgement had leaked. In spite
of this they concluded that he was acting in god
faith. On this, I won’t say more.”
Salami said he was proud to stand before the
audience that he did not compromise his
integrity.
He added: “I thanked Almighty God that I refused
to pervert the course of justice. Disbanding the
panel or persuading them to dismiss the Appeal
was not the right thing to do. It would have
offended the principle of the independence of
judges which I so much respect and believe in.
“As a matter of fact, I will simply say that if I had
done what the then Head of the Nigerian
Judiciary had wanted me to do, I would not have
this honour and if at all this book was published,
it would be shameful and hypocritical of me to
stand before you and talk about honour and
integrity – two things which define a fine judicial
officer alongside the grasp of the law.
“But I am proud to be here today to talk about
these values. I have no regret about what I did
and the God of truth has vindicated me. All the
NJC committees’ reports have said that Salami
did no wrong as well as the report of the
Committee set up by the Nigerian Bar Association.
This book and this event as I see them are further
proofs of such honourable vindication.
“It is the fear of God, the ultimate Judge and the
desire and principle to adhere strictly to my oath
of office that has shaped the kind of judge I was
and the reason why I would not bend to ill ideas
no matter where they come from. I am very
grateful to all you here and those absent today
who have stood by me in this very trying period
of my life and pray that God will richly reward
you.”
He advised judges to stand by the truth at all
times.
He said: “In conclusion, I would say that a judge
must, above all, stand taller than the pressure
that he would continuously face in the exercise of
his duties. If he fails, he fails himself and he fails
the society.
“If Nigeria must be great, the independence of
the judiciary, I believe, should be safeguard not
only theoretically but practically be individuals
and government.”
Source: The Nation
N255m Bulletproof cars: Customs loses N10.133m
MORE shocking facts emerged yesterday on
Aviation Minister Stella Oduah’s N255 million
bulletproof cars.
Duties were not paid for the luxury cars, Customs
said. The vehicles came in free, using waivers
meant for the Lagos State Sports Festival (Eko
2012), a House of Representatives probe panel
was told.
The Nigeria Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA) bought
the cars from automobile giant Coscharis, which
battled fiercely yesterday to defend its integrity.
Speaking at the hearing on the purchase of the
two BMW cars, a Deputy Comptroller of Customs
in charge of Modern Research and Economic
Relations, Manasa Daniel Jatau, said
N10,133,505.74, which should have come into
the coffers of the Federal Government, was
waived for Coscharis.
Jatau said the port of entry for the cars was PTML
Terminal, TinCan Island Port, Lagos.
The Port of Loading was Beanr Antwerpen Port,
Netherlands. The vessel/ carrier was Grimaldi Line/
Grande Atlantic VO513.
According to him, duties were not paid because
of the waiver, but the “beneficiary should have
been Lagos State”.
Jatau said this was because the approval issued
from the Office of the National Security Adviser
with end user number 000001672 dated 6th of
June 2013 was in the name of Lagos State.
“The waiver was given to Lagos State for an event
that happened in 2012. Coscharis applied to the
Ministry of Finance, saying that the beneficiary is
Lagos State,” he said.
A letter from the Budget Office of the Federation
under the Ministry of Finance, dated 20
November, 2012 and addressed to the Governor
of Lagos State with the title: “Import Duty, VAT,
ETLS, CISS and Port Charges Waiver Certificate”,
and tendered before the committee by Customs,
reads in part: “I am directed to refer to your letter
dated 23rd June 2012 in the above subject
matter and to convey the approvalof Mr.
President and Commander-in-Chief to the Lagos
State Government for the waiver of Import Duty,
Value Added Tax (VAT), ETLS, CISS and other port
charges in respect of the importation of 300 units
of BMW, Ford, Land Rover, Range Rover, Lexus,
Mercedes, Escalade, Jaguar and buses ( Petrol/
Diesel) for use during the 18th National Sports
Festival ( EKO 2012) to be imported through
Messrs Coscharis Motors Nigeria Limited, as
indicated in the duly attached list.”
The letter was signed by Mrs. Rose Ngozi
Marauzu, Director Revenue, for the Coordinating
Minister of the Economy and Minister of Finance,
Mrs. Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala.
Members insisted that the process had been
corrupted, particularly because of the luxury cars
on the list as well as the fact that Coscharis sold
the BMWs to NCAA at an outrageous price, in
spite of the duties waiver.The lawmakers
expressed doubt over the cost of the cars.
Coscharis President/ Chairman Cosmas Maduka
caused a stir when in an emotional voice he
responded by saying that the probe is politically-
motivated and an attempt to smear a reputation
he has spent over 20 years to build.
He said he had been variously described as a
money launderer and accused of contract
inflation.
Maduka said the price of the cars could be
verified from the German Embassy. He said: “We
are too small to BMW for them to risk their
reputation because of us, they will give you the
details of the price.
“The price of a car from the manufacturer will be
different from one taken to a private armourer,
but the difference between N121m and N127m
was the five per cent VAT.”
“I will not do anything that is not ethical,”
Maduka said.
On the variance in the chassis numbers quoted
on the NCAA document and what was found on
the one inspected by the Committee, Maduka
said: “We provided the chassis numbers based on
the document you sent inviting us but the one
you are quoting now, we will send the documents
for the one you saw”.
The Managing Director of Coscharis , Josiah
Samuel, said due process was observed in the
importation of the two cars. According to him, the
company has a Memorandum of Understanding
with the Federal Government on the use of cars
for events.
The company, he said, provides vehicles to the
Federal Government for event use without being
paid, but asks for waivers to replace them.”
Sometimes, it is at the twilight of the event or
after the event is over that the vehicles arrive.
“We then use the new ones to replace the ones
we have given them from our stock.” The MOU,
he said, also extends to some state governments.
Seyi Oyefeso, Group Head in charge of Lagos
Office, spoke on the transaction between First
Bank and NCAA. According to him, the facility the
bank gave NCAA is an auto loan and not a lease
as the NCAA has claimed.
He said the bank does not involve itself in the
negotiations of their clients and the vendors,
adding that all they do is to check if the client has
the ability to repay the loan and, thereafter, pay
to the vendors based on the pro-forma invoice
tendered by the client.
Oyefeso said his bank paid Coscharis and
Metropolitan Motors only after the NCAA wrote
them that the cars had been received,
A letter to that effect, dated 16th August 2013
from NCAA with the title “Delivery of 2no.BMW
760 by Coccharis”, partly states:
“We hereby acknowledge the delivery of 2no.
BMW 760 motor vehicles by Coscharis Motors
Limited with Chassis nos: DW 68032 and DW
68044.
“In the light of the above, please effect the
payment of the sum of N255,150,000( Two
hundred and fifty- five million, one hundred and
fifty thousand naira only) to Coscharis Motors
Limited being the total cost of the 2 nos BMW
760 motor vehicles with Chassis nos: DW 68032
and DW 68044.”
The letter was signed by Aba Ejembi, Director of
Administration, for the DG/ CEO of NCAA.
The committee, thereafter, asked the Acting DG,
Joyce Nkemakolon, to provide the originating
memorandum from the NCAA overriding the
earlier approval for the procurement of the
vehicles that was missing after the Acting DG was
identified as the originator of the procurement.
“Despite knowing that the procurement was
beyond budgetary provisions, yet you presented
the memo to the Minister. Did you include the
budgetary provisions for that sub head in the
memo for the procurement of those two cars?”
the chairperson asked.
The Acting DG did not answer.
There was also an argument over the actual
numbers of vehicles bought and approved in the
budget.
A document showed 56. Another showed 54, but
the Director of Finance, Ozigi, said anything other
than 54 operational vehicles was not to his
knowledge.
A member of the committee, Raphael Igbokwe,
said: “Then there is something between you, the
internal auditor and the procurement officer in
the Ministry of Aviation over this procurement
that you are not telling us.”
On why the NCAA insisted on going on with the
leasing after being informed by First Bank that it
was not disposed to leasing facility but loan, the
Acting DG said: “I signed the agreement based on
advice from my colleagues that leasing and loan
facilities are the same. I thought the templates
are the same.”
The Committee was, however, shocked when the
Acting DG said though he was the Chief Executive
Officer during the period under investigation, he
was not aware of the delivery of the two vehicles.
Members accused Coscharis and NCAA of ripping
Nigerians off through the car deal.
A member noted: “One of the cars we inspected
looked like a used car, not like one that was
supplied in August this year because even one of
the tyres is almost torn, with a mileage of over
3000 kilometers.”
Nkemakolon said he had no immediate response
to both observations.
The Chairman of the Committee said the
proceedings so far had shown that some people
would not own up to the truth and continue to lie
under oath.
She, however, advised the Minister to appear
today by 10am together with the NCAA and
Coscharis teams. “The Minister sent a letter that
she is in transit but we advise her to appear here
tomorrow (today) by 10am because we must
conclude this hearing by 12pm.
“If not, we will take that she did not want to
appear before the Committee but we have a duty
and we must put in our report before the House
by Tuesday. We will not shift this hearing even by
a minute,” Mrs Onyejeocha warned.
Source: The Nation
ASUU STRIKE: NANS gives Union 7-days ultimatum to call off strike
Frustrated by over four months
of strike that has kept their
future in the balance
leadership of the National
Association of Nigerian Students, NANS
zone ‘B’ has given the members of the
Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU)
seven days to call off and return to the class
room.
The Union warned that at the expiration of the
seven days ultimatum they would be left with no
other option than to confront the striking
lecturers.
Speaking with journalists in Umuahia, the NANS
zone B financial secretary and the leader in Abia
state, Comrade Eluwah Miracle, said that the
students are determined to take their destinies in
their own hands by invoking the last “C” in NANS
system of settling issues which is confrontation
Eluwah accused the members of ASUU of
being selfish in their demands from the
federal government and politically motivated
adding that student would no longer watch ASUU
destroy education in the country and jeopardize
the future of millions Nigerian youths.
He said, “NANS Abia state chapter has
condemned in strong terms the on-going nation-
wide strike embarked upon by ASUU, which
timing is not only wrong, but also detrimental to
the security and of the country.
Eluwah said that ASUU is claiming that their
demands are genuine, “But their approach
and timing is very wrong, because the
world is now seeing it as being politically
motivated and if they say it is not, they should
go back to the classroom, while negotiation
continues with the federal government”.
He maintained that the federal government has
done well by offering ASUU the sum of N600
billion in addition to the N100 billion already
made available this year for the funding of the
universities, “which ASUU has rejected under the
fragile nature of the country’s economy”.
On the issue that the funds from federal
government has not been released, Eluwah said,
“ASUU is claiming that the funds have not
been released, why should the money be
released when they have not accepted the
offer by the federal government and until
they accept the money cannot be released
simple”.
He said that there are three Cs in the student
Aluta struggle which include Consultation,
Consideration and finally Confrontation, adding
that they have made use of the first two Cs and
will not hesitate to use the last one which is
confrontation.
Forbes Publishes World’s Most Powerful list: Aliko Dangote most Powerful Nigerian Alive
Who’s more powerful: the autocratic leader
of a former superpower or the handcuffed
commander in chief of the most dominant
country in the world?
This year the votes for the World’s Most Powerful
went to Russian President Vladimir Putin. He
climbs one spot ahead of U.S. President Barack
Obama, who held the title in 2012.
Here is Forbes list of the most powerful people in
the world. Surprisingly the lists sees Russian
President Putin clinch the top spot and US
President Obama below as number 2.
Putin has solidified his control over Russia while
Obama’s lame duck period has seemingly set in
earlier than usual for a two-term president – latest
example: the government shutdown mess.
Anyone watching this year’s chess match over
Syria and NSA leaks has a clear idea of the
shifting individual power dynamics.
The Most Powerul People in the World list is an
annual snapshot of the heads of state, financiers,
philanthropists and entrepreneurs who truly rule
the world.
It represents the collective wisdom of top FORBES
editors, who consider hundreds of nominees
before ranking the planet’s top 72 power-brokers
– one for every 100 million people on Earth –
based on their scope of influence and their
financial resources relative to their peers.
This year’s list features 17 heads of state who run
nations with a combined GDP of some $48 trillion
– including the three most powerful people, Putin,
Obama and Xi Jinping, the general secretary of
the Communist Party of China.
The 27 CEOs and chairs control over $3 trillion in
annual revenues, and 12 are entrepreneurs,
including new billionaires on the list, Nigeria’s
Aliko Dangote (No. 64), founder of Dangote
Group, and Oracle’s Larry Ellison (No. 58).
Speaking of, this year’s class has 28 billionaires
valued in excess of $564 billion. Here, a quick
peek at the Most Powerful People in the World
2013:
Newcomers: Among the 13 newcomers are Pope
Francis (No. 4), Samsung Chairman Lee Kun-Hee
(No. 41), Volkswagen’s Martin Winterkorn (No.
49), South Korean President Park Geun-hye (No.
52), IBM CEO Virginia Rometty (No. 56), and
Janet Yellen (No. 72), nominated by President
Obama as the next leader of the U.S. Federal
Reserve.
Rosneft CEO and Putin confidant Igor Sechin (No.
60) and Jill Abramson (No. 68), the executive
editor of the New York Times, make a return
appearance after dropping of the list in years
past.
He’s Not No. 1: This is the first
year that Putin carries the crown. Obama has
been on the top of the list for every year with the
exception of 2010, when Hu Jintao, the former
political and military leader of China, was No. 1.
Women Moving Up In Numbers:
This year there are nine women on the list,
representing 12% of the world’s most powerful –
in stark contrast to being 50% of the world’s
population. Both 2011 and 2012 featured six
women leaders, and the inaugural list from 2009
included only 3 – or just 4.4%.
Recently elected Park of South Korea joins the
other female heads of state German Chancellor
Angela Merkel (No.5), Brazil’s Dilma Rousseff (No.
20) and de facto head of India Sonia Gandhi (No.
21).
Two of the world’s most important NGO’s are run
by women: Christine Lagarde (No. 35) leads the
IMF and Margaret Chan (No. 59) steers the World
Health Organization.
Billionaires: Worth a cumulative $564 billion.
Sure they’re rich but many of these billionaires
deserve special attention for their philanthropic
work, including Warren Buffett (No. 13), Michael
Bloomberg (No. 29), Li Ka-shing (No. 30), Charles
and David Koch (No. 31), and Mohammed
Ibrahim (No. 71).
Entrepreneurs Represent: There are 12 in
total. As expected, many are headquartered on
the West Coast: Google’s Larry Page and Sergey
Brin (No. 17), Mark Zuckerberg (No. 24), Elon
Musk (No. 47), Ellison and Reid Hoffman (No. 65).
Global entrepreneurial spirit spans from Japan’s
Masayoshi Son (No. 45) and China’s Robin Li (No.
61) to Africa’s Dangote and Ibrahim.
Year-over-year growth: The FORBES Most
Powerful started in 2009, seeking to answer a
straight yet complex question:
What is the true nature of power and can
we really compare and rank heads of state
with religious figures and drug traffickers?
The premise has always been to select one person
for every 100 million on the planet.
The first list had 67 slots. This year we are up to
72.
At this fifth edition, it’s notable that most of the
leaders who made the top 10 on the inaugural list
are still on today: Obama, Putin, Bill Gates (No. 6),
U.S. Fed Chair Ben Bernanke (No. 7), the King of
Saudi Arabia (No. 8), Wal-Mart CEO Michael Duke
(No. 10), richest man in the world Carlos Slim
Helu (No. 12), Page and Brin, and Rupert
Murdoch (No. 33).
OJB discharged from hospital,thanks fans for all their support
OJB has been discharged from a hospital in India
after a successful kidney transplant. The ace
music producer sent out a release thanking
everyone and said he will be home soon. Find it
below.
Dear fellow Nigerians,
Greetings from far away India! I am sure
this note from me will catch you with a little
surprise. I have been reading a lot of news
about me being published on Facebook,
Twitter, LinkedIn and different blogs by my
good friends. I thought I must take out a
quick moment and let you know that I am
officially discharged today from the hospital,
after a successful Kidney Transplantation
Surgery, by God’s Grace.
I would like to take this opportunity to
thank all Nigerians for your prayers and
good wishes, without which all this would
not have been possible. I also take this
opportunity to thank my friends, fans and
family for all the love, prayers and good
wishes for a Speedy Recovery!! Be home
with you soon…….
Thank you once again sincerely,
Your very own OJB Jezreel.
SEE how Wizkid’s Manhood exposed him
It is always hard to control a man’s manhood when he is with his babe
PHOTO: Nyeson Wike weeps at private meeting with ASUU
The supervising Minister of Education, Nyeson Wike had thought that it would be a piece of cake for him to go into a discussion with the leadership of ASUU and come out smiling after a compromise, but was shocked at the recent meeting in Abuja when it became obvious that ASUU is very serious.
His plan to use the resolution of the strike to lobby President Jonathan to make a full Minister of Education has does suffered a serious set back. It doesn’t seem that would happen anytime soon and it appears ASUU and its leadership are not ready to accept anything less.
#PoliticalPower
Cossy Orjiakor: “can you marry a girl like me?”
Controversial singer and actress, Cossy Orjiakor seems to be in a sober mood.
She went on her Twitter page to talk about how her private body parts (and pink panties) have been all over the Internet; and she worries if this could cause a man to not want to wife her.
See her tweet below + reactions from her followers: –
Chris Brown heads to rehab; Seeks insight into his behaviour
Singer Chris Brown has checked into rehab a day after his appearance in a Washington, D.C., court over an assault charge that could have implications for his probation in Los Angeles.
“Chris Brown has elected to enter a rehab facility,” a representative for the singer said in a statement Tuesday. “His goal is to gain focus and insight into his past and recent behavior, enabling him to continue the pursuit of his life and his career from a healthier vantage point.”
Brown pleaded not guilty Monday in Washington, D.C., to a misdemeanor assault charge that prosecutors reduced from a felony. The R&B singer and his bodyguard, Christopher Hollosy, were arrested early Sunday at the W Hotel in Washington.
The Washington, D.C., charge could have implications in Los Angeles, where a judge could determine he violated probation in his conviction for assaulting singer Rihanna.
If he is found to have violated probation, he could be sentenced to serve up to four years in jail, officials say.
Brown is still on probation for his 2009 felony assault in Los Angeles County on then-girlfriend Rihanna. The terms of his five-year probation require that he obey all laws.
Sunday’s incident was the latest run-in with the law for the Grammy-winning singer.
Brown is due back in a Los Angeles courtroom Nov. 20.
Details of the arrest and charge in Washington will be reviewed by the Los Angeles County Probation Department and provided to the district attorney’s office.
As part of his Los Angeles sentence, Brown had to complete an anger-management course and extensive community service. But he has been accused by prosecutors of violating the terms by disobeying laws and failing to perform the appropriate community service.
Brown agreed in August to complete another 1,000 hours of community labor to resolve questions over the number of hours he served and potential probation violations.
As part of a deal, the district attorney’s office withdrew its motions challenging the number of hours he had completed and a potential violation connected to a hit-and-run charge, which has been dismissed.
Under the terms, which were announced after three closed-door sessions with the judge and attorneys, Brown’s community labor options included doing work forCaltransor cleaning up beaches or graffiti.
As part of his probation in the Rihanna assault, he was required to perform 180 days of community labor in Virginia.
Attorney Mark Geragos said his client had completed his court-ordered labor. But on Feb. 5, Deputy Dist. Atty. Mary A. Murray filed a motion outlining a series of inconsistencies with a report prepared by Richmond, Va., police about the number of community service hours Brown had served.
Murray said a review of Brown’s community service claims found “significant discrepancies indicating at best sloppy documentation and at worst fraudulent reporting,” and she asked a judge to order Brown to carry out his court-ordered labor in Los Angeles County.
P Diddy racism controversy
Over the weekend, the entrepreneur created a
heated squabble after he posted a picture of a
black woman standing tall in the middle of a group
of white women, seemingly praiseful via his
Instagram account.
Diddy captioned the photo with, “As it Should
Be!!!!!!! [hashtag] BlackIsBeautiful”
Some of the 8,000+ comments that ensued, of
course, were filled with allegations that Diddy was a
racist and that the photo itself promoted division,
not unity.
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