By Taiye Agbaje

Chief Edozie Njoku, National Chairman of the All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA), has appealed to President Bola Tinubu to prevail on the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC)’s chairman, Prof. Mahmood Yakubu, to obey court orders affirming him as national chairman.
Chief Njoku also urged the Attorney-General of the Federation (AGF) and Minister of Justice, Lateef Fagbemi, SAN, to intervene in the matter.
He made the call while addressing newsmen on Wednesday in Abuja.
He wondered why an agency of government would vehemently flout valid court orders and choose the ones it would obey.
“It’s not just that INEC is not obeying a Supreme Court judgment delivered on March 24, 2023; INEC has also disobeyed an injunction and an order of a High Court of the FCT, Bwari, to recognise me as the National Chairman of APGA.
“Instead of INEC to obey the enforcement judgement of the High Court or appeal same, they rushed and got a stay on a committal charge, which had given them 14-day grace period to purge themselves of contempt.
“The court has come out to say that INEC Chairman is in contempt of court and Victor Oye who submitted the names and held a congress and convention is also in contempt.
“But that’s not our problem.
“We are calling on Nigerians, we are calling on President Bola Tinubu and also calling on the AGF to look into the issue.
“Where it is that a parastatal can get a stay from the Court of Appeal, on a committal judgement that already had been given?
“Prof Mahmood Yakubu and Oye are relying on the stay to flout and disobey a direct order of the court,” he said.
Njoku, therefore, called on well-meaning Nigerians to appeal to the INEC chairman to obey a valid order of the court.
The News Agency of Nigeria reports that the Supreme Court had, on March 24, 2023, in a suit marked SC/687/21, affirmed Njoku, as the Chairman of APGA.
Meanwhile, Njoku had expressed the readiness of the party for the forthcoming Edo and Ondo governorship elections.
He disclosed that party’s primaries for the governorship elections in the two states are expected to commence next week and last for about one month, adding that the party’s timetable would soon be out.
Njoku told the people of the states that “APGA is a party that has a lot to offer them, irrespective of any setbacks that we may have been passing through.
“I want to assure all that governorship aspirants from Edo and Ondo that have been calling to express their willingness to contest on our party platform that they should be rest assured that a free, fair and transparent primary which has remained elusive to others will be made the cardinal virtue and practice in APGA.”(NAN)(www.nannews.ng)

By Ebere Agozie

Minister of Justice, Lateef Fagbemi, SAN, says there is an urgent need to reposition the Justice sector for optimal performance and enhanced productivity.

Fagbemi said this at the Retreat of Heads of Agencies and Parastatals under the supervision of the ministry and selected Directors organised by the ministry on Thursday in Abuja.

“In line with the Renewed Hope Agenda and to facilitate the delivery of our mandates, the federal government is committed to building a Civil Service that is focused on Improved Staff Competences and skills.

“Improved Productivity and Human Resource Administration; Result based performance and meritocratic environment; and a value driven and digitally transformed Civil Service.

“At this retreat, we shall examine two pillars of the Reform Initiatives of Government under the Federal Civil Service Strategy and Implementation Plan (FCSSIP25) namely, the Performance Management System and Digitization.

“These two pillars form the bedrock for the successful performance of the Justice Sector Plan and must therefore be given priority in all our operations”.

He noted that it is also pertinent that the stakeholders take a cursory look at the Monitoring & Evaluation Policy of Nigeria.

“These government priorities and reform initiates exist to ensure good governance, effective service delivery and the optimal performance of Sectoral Plans in accordance with laid down processes and in synergy with the National Development Plan 2021 – 2025”.

He gave  assurance that the retreat will offer stakeholders a valuable break from routine official engagements, providing a platform to relate as a sector, with a view to apprising their respective roles; as well as to brainstorm on strategies needed to achieve their mandates.

“On Nov. 3, 2023, the President signed a Performance Bond with Cabinet Ministers and Permanent Secretaries, which will serve as a scorecard for ministries.

“The Solicitor General of the Federation and Permanent Secretary and myself, signed a Performance Contract with the President, promising to ensure the performance of the Ministerial Deliverables assigned to the Ministry.

“The Sector Plan contain 15 Ministerial Deliverables; 49 Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) Base lines and Targets”.
He noted noted that this Performance Bond came with initiatives, deliverables, key performance indicators, timelines and targets, which the sector must unconditionally achieve.

“One of the key performance indicators of this meeting is to cascade the signed bond to ministry’s management and chief executive officers of the agencies.

“Therefore, it is imperative that we all come together to critically understand this performance bond and the variables and be well apprised on what is expected of us to achieve as a ministry or agency.

“It is worthy of note that the Justice sector is pivotal to the attainment of the objectives of other sectors, as well as attaining the universal role of the law as a veritable enabler for development.

“Particularly, the sector is a key catalyst or stimulator for economic growth, investments drive, and revenue generation, among others”, he added. (NAN)

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edited by Sadiya Hamza

By Alex Enebeli

An Enugu State High Court, presided over by Justice Chukwunweike Ogbuabor, on Tuesday adjourned a N4 billion lawsuit against First Bank of Nigeria Plc to Feb. 29 and March 5, for continuation of hearing.

The suit was instituted by a Non-Governmental Organisation (NGO) called Incorporated Trustees of International Vocational Centre (IVC) and Dr Pedro Manuwa.

The adjournment by Ogbuabor, followed  the request by the Counsel to the Plaintiff, Mr Maximus Ugwuoke, to allow him put his house in order.

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that when the matter was called up, Ugwuoke informed the Court that the matter was for hearing, adding that they were ready to go on with the case.

While tendering six documents through the Plaintiff representative, Manuwa, to prove his case, Ugwuoke told court the documents were all photocopies, stressing that the plaintiff lost the original copies.

Opposing the plaintiff’s Counsel, Mr Chris Anyanwu, objected it, saying the documents sought to tender were not original or certified true copies.

According to him, the original copies or certified true copies of the documents  are what are supposed to be tendered, adding that documents have to be certified before being admissible in law.

He added that the receipt of payment generated from computer by the plaintiff was not from his client but downloaded online and urged court not to admit it.

But Ugwuoke appealed to court to allow him withdraw the documents and requested court for a date to enable him put his house in order.

Anyanwu, angered by the move, however, asked for N500,000 cost from the plaintiff, saying, “My Lord, this case was filed since 2019 and the plaintiff is not aware that documents will be certified only to come this morning to ask for adjournment.

“He should be aware that litigation are expensive and we are asking for a substantial cost of N500,000.”

Ruling, Ogbuabor refused to award cost to the plaintiff and granted his counsel’s request to amend the documents.

He, therefore, adjourned the matter to Feb. 29 and March 5 for continuation of hearing.

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the plaintiff’s former counsel, Mr Chikadibia Anosike, in the statement of claim said that they had in the last five years maintained two accounts with the defendant to wit: 2027073629 (Current Account) and 3091251391 (Savings Account) with the name International Vocational Centre.

They averred that on Feb. 4, 2019, it issued First Bank cheques to several beneficiaries of their education fund but the defendant negligently paid one of the beneficiaries N150, 000 as against N15, 000.

“There have been incidences of negligence by the defendant in handling the plaintiff’s account which had led to several losses, ridicule and untold hardship on the plaintiffs.

“On account of the said over-payment, some of the cheques issued to those beneficiaries were returned unpaid.

“Some person(s) colluded with the defendant and have opened account number 3141684991 with the name International Vocational Centre, Niger State chapter,” he said.

The claimants alleged that such person(s) had been demanding and receiving money from the public and prospective beneficiaries of the scholarship funds, thereby, tarnishing their image.

The lawyer said that the plaintiffs had made complaints to the defendant’s Enugu Branch, demanding for the closure of the said account but every complaint fell on deaf ears.

“Many prospective students have been duped by reason of the said illegal account and the plaintiff’s image has been ridiculed and brought into disrepute globally by the reason of the action,” the plaintiffs claimed.

They also averred that they had continued to lose funds for its developmental projects in Nigeria as their donors had started to withdraw their sponsorship on the wrong perception that the plaintiffs had become a dubious entity. (NAN)www.nannews.ng

Edited by Abdullahi Mohammed/Vivian Ihechu

By Itohan Abara-Laserian

A human rights advocate, Mr Ben Abraham, has called for effective tracking of cases of inmates in correctional centres to determine their statuses.

Abraham told the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) on Tuesday in Lagos that the use of data collection  to track inmates’ cases would improve the judicial ecosystem.

According to him, a  system to track statuses is pertinent to address some of  the challenges faced by inmates while awaiting trial.

Abraham, who is the Founder of Zarephath Aid Foundation, a criminal justice and prison reform- based NGO, also said it was common for  inmates to  stay in prison custody   for years without appearing  in court.

“This has led to the design of  a software application that will keep track every inmate’s case and raise query on where an inmate does not attend court or where the court does not sit for a long period of time.

“It is very difficult to know the stage of inmates’ cases and this can  lead to failure to attend court dates for up to one year,” he said.

The activist further explained that it was disheartening to  discover that whenever  Judiciary officials visited prisons to compile names for those released by the Chief Judge or government, names of inmates deserving pardon  were often found omitted.

“And that brings us to the same question of which is, how can inmates be in custody without credible data on their cases?

“We need support to deliver this app and train the prison officials on how to use it.

“If properly launched and applied, it can go a long way to make available names of inmates deserving of legal aid, and amnesty,’’ Abraham said.

The advocate, however, said when operational, any organisation could access the names of an inmate and file necessary applications through the app, adding that such data was not available today.

“We need partners to collaborate with us. We intend to recruit at least 500 volunteer lawyers to tackle prison congestion in the first quarter of the year,’’ he said.

He said that the foundation was also targeting 10,000 inmates in the first batch. (NAN) www.nannews.ng

Edited by Abdul Hassan/Buhari Bolaji