Friday 19 August 2016

CONTROVERSIAL ABUJA JUDGE, ABANG, TURNED THE LAW ON ITS HEAD, SAYS A’ COURT



CONTROVERSIAL ABUJA JUDGE, ABANG, TURNED THE LAW ON ITS HEAD, SAYS A’COURT
The Court of Appeal in Abuja on Thursday came down heavily on Justice Okon Abang of the Federal High Court Abuja over his ruling on June 27, 2016, removing the Abia State Governor, Dr. Okezie Ikpeazu, averring that his judgment was biased and turned the law on its head.
In a unanimous judgment, which lasted for six hours, the five justices of the court held that Justice Abang went beyond his remit as a judge, was biased and turned the law upside down.
The Appeal Court justices further held that the matter was hostile, controversial and contentious and should not have been commenced with an originating summons.
In the view of the Appeal Court justices, the proper mode of commencement of the case should have been through a writ of summons.
The court held that Justice Abang erred in law and occasioned a miscarriage of justice against the governor when he refused to give fair hearing.
The court further held that the judge pre-judged the matter when he touched on the substantive issues at the preliminary stage without hearing the appellant.
The justices who heard the case were� Ibrahim Shatta Bdliya, Philomena Buwa Ekpe, Morenikeji Ogunwumiju, Abubakar Datti Yahaya and Saidu Tanko Huseni.
Justice Abang has in the last couple of months acquired a reputation for his controversial rulings that have raised eyebrows and reinforced the perception of rascality in the Nigerian judiciary.
Other than his controversial ruling on the Okezie Ikpeazu vs. Samson Ogah case, he has granted a series of orders that have added to the confusion over the leadership crisis in the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP).
Some detainees of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) have also fingered him as one of the to-go-to judges who readily grants long detention orders to the commission during its investigation of high profile corruption cases.
Abang also refused to recuse himself from a corruption trial involving the former National Publicity Secretary of the PDP, Olisa Metuh, after the latter accused him of bias and being his classmate at the Nigerian Law School between 1987 and 1988, a claim Abang denied.
Justice Ogunwumiju, who delivered the lead judgment yesterday in one of the appeals, held that Justice Abang “committed grave violence against one of the pillars of justice” relating to fair hearing.
She further held that Justice Abang raped democracy in his order that the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) should issue a certificate of return to Dr. Samson Ogah when there was no evidence of forgery or criminality against the appellant.
According to the court, the judgment given by Justice Abang was grossly erroneous, because it was based on inadequacy of tax receipts that could not be visited on the appellant (Ikpeazu).
Justice Ogunwumiju held: “After reading through the judgment several times, I was amazed at how the trial judge arrived at his conclusion of perjury against the appellant when there was no evidence of forgery. His findings are ridiculous.
“The judge must have sat in his chambers, unilaterally assessed and computed the taxes of the appellant and came to the conclusion that he did not pay the required taxes.
“Courts are not allowed to speculate, as the trial judge did in the instant case. In one breadth, the trial judge spoke from the two sides of his mouth when he claimed that he based his findings on supply of false information and in another breadth �he came to the conclusion that the appellant committed perjury even when there was no allegation of forgery and no allegation that he did not pay tax.”
Justice Ogunwumiju also held that �the trial judge turned the head of the law upside down in his conclusion that it was the appellant that should bear the burden of proof of an allegation made by Ogah.
She held: “With respect, we disagree with him because it is the person that makes the allegation of falsehood that must prove it.
“The court erred when he imported the phrase, ‘as and when due’ into the PDP 2014 guidelines. The judge would not have imported the phrase into his findings if a copy of the PDP� guidelines had been attached to the originating summons. The judge violated the party’s guidelines.”
The court held that the plaintiff did not exhibit the party guidelines which the trial judge relied on.
“From whatever angle one looks at the judgment of the trial court, the decision of the court is grossly erroneous,” she held.
She further held that the inadequacies of the tax receipts of the appellant who scored the highest votes at the election could not be visited on him, adding that “doing so will amount to a rape of democracy”.
Justice Ogunwumiju further held that although the falsification of tax documents or tax evasion are criminal offences for which a candidate seeking public office could be questioned, it could only form a basis for disqualification where the person had been convicted.
“All the issues about tax goes to no issue because the second respondent (Ikpeazu) was a civil servant and his tax deducted from source.
“The question is not that the second respondent (Ikpeazu) did not pay his tax, but that the documents given to him by the tax office was false. I do not think that the learned trial judge was right to have found that it was the second respondent that gave false information.
“The situation would have been different if he had a private business, from which he earns revenue, but made false tax payment claims.
“There are nothing spectacularly irregular with the tax clearance receipts submitted by the second respondent. Why would the second respondent be blamed for the tax recording system of the tax office?
“Without the facts of falsifying the documents to confer undue advantage, the perceived irregularities are of no moment,” she said.
The court said Justice Abang placed the law on its head when it directed INEC to issue a fresh certificate of return to Ogah.
While upholding the appeal, the court awarded N100,000 cost against Ogah.
The Appeal Court further held that Justice Abang was wrong to have assumed jurisdiction on a motion for stay of execution of his earlier judgment delivered on June 27, even after the appeals against the judgments had been entered.
Justice Ekpe, who read the lead judgment, held that what Justice Abang ought to have done in line with the time honoured doctrine of “stari decisis” was to have transferred the motion to the Court of Appeal for determination.
The appellate court, therefore, ruled in favour of Ikpeazu on his appeal challenging Justice Abang’s decision� to hear the application for a stay of execution of his judgment when he was duly informed that the appeals had been entered.
Justice Ekpe held: “The lower court (Justice Abang) has made a complete summersault of the entire suit. Once an appeal is entered into, there is nothing left for the trial court to adjudicate upon.
“All the trial court was supposed to do was to transmit the record of proceedings to the appellate court.
“But it deliberately chose to do otherwise. This is against Order 4 Rules 10 and 11 of the Court of Appeal Rules 2011. The lower court acted ultra vires.”
Justice Abang �had insisted that he had jurisdiction to hear a motion for stay of execution of his earlier judgment delivered on June 27, even after the appeals against the judgments had been entered at the Appeal Court.
In her contributing judgment, Justice Ogunwumiju held that Justice Abang “deliberately stood the law on its head”� when he erroneously assumed jurisdiction to hear the motion and adjourned it till a later date.
She further held that Justice Abang lacked jurisdiction to interpret the provisions of the Court of Appeal being the rules of a superior court.
The hearing of all the appeals filed by Ikpeazu, which lasted till 5 p.m. yesterday, �witnessed some drama including the attempt by the Ali Modu Sherrif faction of the PDP to come in, but was rebuffed by the court.
Justice Abang had on June 27, ordered Ikpeazu to immediately vacate the governorship seat and directed INEC to issue a certificate of return to Ogah who came second in the PDP primary conducted in Abia State on December 8, 2014.
Justice Abang said he was satisfied that Ikpeazu perjured by giving false information in his tax receipts in the Form CF001 and documents accompanying it, which he submitted to both PDP and the INEC.
After the Appeal Court ruling, the Abia State governor and his counterpart in Delta State, Senator Ifeanyi Okowa, yesterday welcomed the verdict of the Appeal Court in Abuja, which upturned the removal of Ikpeazu by a Federal High Court, saying that it was “wonderful” news.
Addressing journalists at the Government House, Umuahia, the capital of Abia, after praying in the chapel, Ikpeazu said that the verdict of the appellate court once again demonstrated that the people of Abia freely gave him their mandate in the 2015 governorship election.
“Our mandate once again has been affirmed by the Court of Appeal in Abuja. This to us is a victory for the common people of Abia State that voted massively for us in 2015 general election,” he said.
Though the long drawn legal tussle over his mandate appeared to have taken its toll on governance, Ikpeazu assured the people that with the favourable Appeal Court ruling, “we’ve been reinvigorated to continue our service to the people of Abia without let”.
While expressing his thanks to God for seeing him through his tribulations, Ikpeazu equally lauded the judiciary that stood as the last hope of the common man.
“Without the judiciary of this country, what would have been the fate of the son of a poor teacher who became governor at the mercy of God and Abia people?” he asked.
According to him, without the steadfastness of the judiciary, it would have been very difficult for ordinary people like him to aspire to be anything, much less becoming the governor of Abia State, given the penchant of the rich and mighty to trample on the weak and poor.
The Abia governor also asked the Nigerian media to rise up to the task of “firming up our democracy and making sure that all arms of government work in consonance to promote the ideals of democracy”.
Ikpeazu had emerged from the government house chapel where he had gone to pray and give thanks to God after receiving the news about his victory at the court.
Shortly after the governor’s session with journalists, members of the Board of Trustees (BoT) of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) arrived at the governor’s lodge and congratulated the victorious governor.
The BoT Chairman, Senator Wahid Jubrin, who led the team, comprising Professor Jerry Gana, Senator Ibrahim Mantu, Senator Stella Omu, Hajia Zainab Maina, Alhaji Adamu Ciroma, and Air Commodore Dan Suleiman (rtd), said they were in Abia for the burial of Chief Ojo Maduekwe.
Jubrin said they were on their way to Maduekwe’s country home when they heard about the Appeal Court verdict, adding that PDP did not make any mistake in choosing Ikpeazu to be its standard-bearer in the 2015 governorship poll, adding that he was confident that the Abia governor would deliver on his election promises to the people of the state.
Also, Okowa congratulated Ikpeazu on his victory at the Appeal Court. The governor, in a statement by his Chief Press Secretary, Mr. Charles Ehiedu Aniagwu, said the victory of Ikpeazu at the Appeal Court was a true test of the rule of law and commended the unanimous judgment of the court by not allowing political opportunists to take over power through the back door.
He also thanked the justices for holding on to justice and fairness in their judgment.
He noted that the judgment had once more restored the hope, faith and confidence of Nigerians on the country’s judicial system.
The Delta governor further called on the dramatis personae in the Abia governorship debacle to end the unnecessary legal battles to enable its government focus on bringing democratic dividends to the people of the state.

-Thisday

LAGOS RANKS WORLD’S 3RD WORST CITY TO LIVE IN

A report released yesterday by The Economist Intelligence Unit ranked Lagos as the third worst city to live, maintaining its position at the lowest rungs of the Global Liveability index.
Several other global reports had also said that Lagos, with a population of over 22 million, would in the next few years, become the 4th mega city in the world, with a population of over 30 million. The city placed 138th out of the 140 cities ranked in the latest liveability survey, just above war-ravaged Tripoli and Damascus. “Of the poorer-scoring cities, 13 continue to occupy the very bottom tier of liveability, where ratings fall below 50 percent and most aspects of living are severely restricted. “Continued threats from groups like Boko Haram acts as a constraint to improving stability in Lagos,’’ the report stated. Escalations in hostilities in Libya prompted a sharp decline in liveability in Tripoli, according to the report, while Damascus, although seeing a stabilisation in its decline, remained rooted to the bottom. The top five best countries to live in, according to the report, remain unchanged from last year and they include Melbourne, Australian; Vienna, Austria; Vancouver, Canada; Toronto, Canada; and Calgary, Canada. The liveability survey assesses which locations around the world provide the best or the worst living conditions across five broad categories, including stability, healthcare, culture and environment, education and infrastructure. Lagos scored highest in culture and environment, followed by infrastructure. It scored lowest in stability. Three other African cities joined Lagos at the bottom rung of the liveable cities, including Douala, Cameroon; Harare, Zimbabwe; and Algiers, Algeria; ranking 132nd, 133rd, and 134th respectively. While no African city made it to the top 10 most liveable cities, five were in the 10 least liveable cities. Steve Ayorinde, Lagos State Commissioner for Information, could not be reached for comments last night as phone calls and text messages to his mobile number yielded no response..
-Vanguard

BUDGET PADDING: 10 PRINCIPAL OFFICERS DISOWN JIBRIN

The Body of Principal Officers of the House of Representatives said on Thursday that the decision to sack its former Chairman, Committee on Appropriation, Mr. Abdulmumin Jibrin, was a collective action.
They also disassociated themselves from Jibrin and his recent allegations
It said Jibrin was sacked in response to agitation by the majority of members after they discovered that he abused the 2016 budget.
The principal officers also noted that the budget would have suffered more abuse in the hands of Jibrin had the House, the Senate and a team from the Executive not met to retrieve it from the former chairman.
They explained that the rescue mission started after various Ministries, Departments and Agencies complained of being harassed by Jibrin.
It was the first time the principal officers came out boldly as a body to disown Jibrin since he began his budget-padding allegations against Dogara and three of the principal officers on July 21.
All 10 principal officers of the House signed the document.
They are Dogara; Deputy Speaker, Yussuff Lasun; Majority Leader, Mr. Femi Gbajabiamila; Chief Whip, Alhassan Ado-Doguwa; Deputy Leader, Buba Jibril; Deputy Whip, Pally Iriase; Minority Leader, Leo Ogor; Deputy Minority Leader, Chukwuka Onyeama; Deputy Minority Leader, Yakubu Barde; and Deputy Minority Whip, Binta Bello-Maigeri.
They described Jibrin’s allegations as “wild” and “baseless.”
The joint statement by the principal officers, read in part, “The proponent (of budget-padding), the recently sacked Chairman of the House Committee on Appropriation Hon. Abdulmumin Jibrin, sought to make allegations of impropriety against the leadership of the House over the process and content of the 2016 budget passed by the National Assembly and signed into law.
“While the leadership is determined to ensure that absolute diligence, maturity and due process are employed in dealing with the allegations, instead of joining the accuser in a press war, it is important to state, in the interest of the agitated public, that the allegations are wild, baseless and unfounded.
“Good enough, all the said allegations raise issues that can be easily verified and the public will be availed ample opportunity upon the resumption of the House.
“In the meantime, however, the leadership of the House of Representatives wishes to reaffirm that it took collective action, in conjunction with the Senate and a team from the Executive, to rescue the 2016 Budget when it became obvious that the former appropriation Chairman had placed both the document and the process in jeopardy resulting in a spate of agitation from Ministries, Departments and Agencies.
“Furthermore, the decision to relieve the erstwhile Appropriation Chairman of his position was a collective decision of the leadership in response to unrelenting pressures from the overwhelming majority of Honourable members who were irked by the former Chairman’s gross abuse of the budget process.
“Both actions were taken in the best interest of the institution and the nation for which we take full responsibility.
“Truth may be slow but it usually always wins the race in the end. We have no doubts.”
The development came as Jibrin said on Thursday that he stood by his allegations against Dogara, Lasun; Ado-Doguwa and Ogor.
Jibrin, in a statement in Abuja, said he believed Dogara and the three other officials would soon be arrested by anti-graft agencies and charged for corruption.
He said this would be as a result of the petitions he submitted to the agencies against them.
Jibrin, who insisted that he stood by his allegations, claimed that many Nigerians had expressed support for his campaign and were worried that Dogara had yet to be arrested.
“For the avoidance of doubt, let me restate that I have interacted severally with anti-corruption agencies.

“It is however heartwarming to know that they are indeed working meticulously on the matter.
“I have little doubt that they will do justice expeditiously and sooner than letter, we will get to the point where every Nigerian is waiting for — the arrest of Speaker Dogara …”
Jibrin alleged that the Speaker had not been charged because he was using his position to obstruct “justice.”
He added, “Nigerians must remain vigilant because Speaker Dogara is using his office to obstruct and neutralise investigation.
“He is also using same and the time he has now before the long arm of the law catches up with him to hurriedly clean up the mess on his desk, spend money on all sort of consultants and people he thinks can help him out through subterranean means.
“On our side, while waiting for the response of our great party, the All Progressives Congress, on my letter, we are reaching out to everyone or group that can support this worthy cause against Dogara-Gate, the biggest corruption case in the history of our country.”
The speaker’s office said it had responded sufficiently to Jibrin’s allegations.
“Please, refer to our earlier statements on Jibrin,” the Speaker’s Special Adviser on Media and Public Affairs, Mr. Turaki Hassan, said.
-Punch

TEAM NIGERIA’S KITS ARRIVE 3 DAYS TO END OF OLYMPICS GAMES


Three days to the end of the 2016 Rio Olympics, Team Nigeria took delivery of the much awaited kits after most of the athletes had concluded their events with some already back to their bases.
A top official of the Athletics Federation of Nigeria who disclosed this to Sports Vanguard Thursday, said the kits which arrived Wednesday night would no longer serve any purpose because “most of the athletes have left after concluding their events”. He added that “I have never experienced this in my years in sports. Money meant for the Games was held tightly by ministry officials and they were just releasing money piecemeal. We had to buy kits on our own while some athletes competed in their personal kits.” It would be recalled that Team Nigeria had to resort to their warm-up track suits for the match past of the Opening Ceremony as the sports ministry claimed the official attire which was showcased before President Muhammadu Buhari during the hand-over ceremony in Abuja failed to arrive on time for the ceremony. Nigerians who were alarmed by the embarrassing scenario condemned the ministry for the untidy handling of the athletes’ kits but the sports minister, Solomon Dalung, in defence of the ministry, tweeted with a post that even the South African contingent appeared at the Opening Ceremony in their track suits.

-Vanguard