Connect with us
study in Ukraine

Nigeria News

Farouk, Emenalo Stall court over $620k bribery case

Published

on

Nnamdi Felix/ Abuja

Embattled former Chairman of Nigeria’s House of Representatives’ Adhoc committee on Fuel Subsidy Regime, Farouk Lawan and the Secretary of the Committee, Boniface Emenalo on Wednesday urged an Abuja High Court to stay further proceedings in their bribery trial pending their appeal over the court’s refusal to quash the charge.

Last month, the court had refused to quash the seven count charge slammed against the two lawmakers by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC.

The duo were accused of receiving $ 620, 000 from businessman, Femi Otedola, as an inducement to influence the report of the committee in favour of Zenon Oil and Gas Limited.

Their lawyer, Mr Rickey Tarfa, a senior advocate of Nigeria, informed the court that they have filed a notice of appeal challenging the court’s ruling over their application seeking to quash the charge preferred against his clients.

He told the court that the notice of appeal was filed on the 6th of June alongside an application seeking for stay of proceedings in the matter pending the hearing and determination of their appeal. The application, according to the senior advocate, was brought pursuant to the provisions of sections 6(6)(a) and (b) praying for an order of the court staying further proceeding in the charge with reference number FCT/HC/CR/76/2013 pending the determination of their appeal.

Farouk Lawan: trying to stall case

Farouk Lawan: trying to stall case

He further stated that the grounds of their appeal include the court’s refusal to quash the charge upon their application wherein they maintained that there was no nexus or link between their clients and the alleged crimes as well as the failure of the charge to raise any prima facie case against them.

He argued that the stay of proceedings is necessary so as not to overreach the outcome of their appeal.

In his opposition to the aplication for stay of proceedings in the matter, Chief Adegboyega Awomolo, also a senior advocate of Nigeria, contended that the application filed by the accused persons are contrived to stall their trial and urged the court to refuse it.

“This application is frivolous, vexatious and contrived to stall the prosecution of the accused persons”

He further added that stay of proceedings is a grave and serious fundamental interuption of the right of the prosecution to prove the criminal conduct of the accused persons and urged the court not to impose a stay of proceedings, especially when the accused persons have failed to demonstrate any special and exceptional circumstance for such stay to be granted.

He also argued that the onus is open the accused persons to show why the request for stay of proceedings should be granted in their supporting affidavit to that application but which they failed to discharge.

“By the nature of the charge and the status of the accused persons as well as the national policies on trial of corruption cases, there is no fact in their affidavit to indicate that a grant of stay of proceedings will serve the interest of justice and nothing also suggest that the accused persons will suffer any prejudice or legal disability or incapacity if the application uis refused. They are not in custody and their resources to prosecute their appeal is not inhibited in any way. I urge this court not to exercise its discretion in favour of these accused persons who have not shown in any way that the res, the subject matter of their trial, will be affected or destroyed if the application is not granted” Awomolo argued.

Thereafter, the presiding judge, Justice Mudashiru Oniyangi, adjourned till the 10th of July, 2013, to deliver his ruling on the motion.

Lawan and Emenalo were alleged to have violated the provisions of the Independent Corrupt Practices and other related Offences Commission Act.

Count one of the charge reads:

“That you, Farouk Lawan (M) and Mr. Emenalo Boniface (M) sometime in April 2012 or thereabouts in Abuja within the Federal Capital Territory under the jurisdiction of this honourable court did while acting in the course of your official duties as Chairman and Secretary (respectively) of House of Representatives Adhoc Committee on Monitoring of Fuel Subsidy Regime conspired between yourselves and with each other to corruptly obtain the sum of $ 3,000,000 for yourselves from Mr. Femi Otedola, Chairman of Zenon Petroleum and Gas Ltd, as inducement to remove the name of Zenon Petroleum and Gas Ltd from the House of Representatives AdHoc Committee on Monitoring of Fuel Subsidy Regime’s Report and did cause the House to remove the name of Zenon Petroleum and Gas Ltd from the said list and thereby committed an offence contrary to section 26(1)(c) of the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other-Related Offences Act, 2000, and punishable under section 8(1) of the same Act.”

In count two, Lawan was accused of corruptly asking for $ 3,000,000 from Otedola with the intention of favouring the businessman in the report of the adhoc committee, an offence punishable under section 8(1) of the same Act.

In count three, Lawan was said to have corruptly agreed to accept the $ 3,000,000, while count four of the charge indicated that he obtained $ 500,000 from Otedola.

In the same vein, count five accused Emenalo of asking for$ 3,000,000 for himself from Otedola as a bribe, an offence punishable under section 8(1) of the ICPC 2000 Act.

The prosecution alleged in count six that Emenalo was offered bribe by Otedola but he failed to report the offer to any officer of the ICPC, an offence contrary to section 23(1) of the ICPC Act, 2000, and punishable under section 23(3) of the same 2000 ICPC Act.

In count seven, Emenalo was equally accused of receiving $ 120,000 from Otedola .

——————————————————————————————————————————————-
Posted in Nigeria News. A DisNaija.Com network.

Source: PM News

DisNaija.Com publishes regular posts on Nigeria News, Nigerian Newspapers, Online Nigeria Gist.

Follow us on Twitter and Facebook.

Nigeria News


Your Opinion Counts. Be sure To Leave A Comment, If You Have Any.

Please Like, Share or Tweet. Your Support Is Appreciated.

Nigeria News

Kano Transfers Over 1,000 Almajiris To Different States Amidst COVID-19 Pandemic

Published

on

The Kano State Government on Saturday said it has transferred 1,098 ‘almajiris’ to different states of the country.

The commissioner for local government, Murtala Garo, disclosed this while presenting a report before the state’s task force on COVID-19 at the government house, Kano.

Almajiris are children who are supposed to be learning Islamic studies while living with their Islamic teachers. Majority of them, however, end up begging on the streets of Northern Nigeria. They constitute a large number of Nigeria’s over 10 million out-of-school children.

Mr Garo said the Kano government transported 419 almajiris to Katsina, 524 to Jigawa and 155 to Kaduna. He said all of them tested negative for coronavirus before leaving the Kano State.

Despite the coronavirus test done in Kano for the almajiris, the Jigawa government earlier said it would quarantine for two weeks all the almajiris that recently arrived from Kano.

Mr Garo said another 100 almajiris scheduled to be taken to Bauchi State also tested negative to COVID-19.

In a remark, Governor Abdullahi Ganduje said the COVID-19 situation in Kano was getting worse. He appealed for a collaborative effort to curtail the spread of the virus in the state.

Mr Ganduje, who commended residents for complying with the lockdown imposed in the state, said the decision was taken to halt the spread of the virus.

Kano State, as of Saturday night, has 77 coronavirus cases, according to the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control.

The decision to transfer the Kano almajiris is part of the agreement reached between Northern governors that almajiris in each state be transferred to their states of origin.

However, even before the latest agreement by the governors, the Kano government had been transferring almajiris to other states and neighbouring countries after it banned street begging in the state, most populous in Northern Nigeria.

Despite the transfers, however, no concrete step has been taken to ensure such children do not return to Kano streets as there is freedom of movement across Nigeria although interstate travel was recently banned to check the spread of the coronavirus.

 

Sourced From: Premium Times Nigeria

Continue Reading

Nigeria News

COVID-19: ‘Bakassi Boys’ Foil Attempt To Smuggle 24 Women Into Abia In Container

Published

on

By Ugochukwu Alaribe

Operatives of the Abia State Vigilante Service, AVS, popularly known as ‘Bakassi Boys’ have arrested 24 market women hidden in a container truck, at Ekwereazu Ngwa, the boundary community between Abia and Akwa Ibom states.

The market women, said to be  from Akwa Ibom State, were on their way to Aba, when they were arrested with the truck driver and two of his conductors for violating the lockdown order by the state government.

Driver of the truck, Moses Asuquo, claimed he was going to Aba to purchase stock fish, but decided to assist the market women, because they were stranded.

A vigilante source told Sunday Vanguard that the vehicle was impounded while the market women were sent back to Akwa Ibom State.

Commissioner for Home Land Security, Prince Dan Okoli, who confirmed the incident, said that  smuggling of people into the state poses great threat to the state government’s efforts to contain the spread of COVID- 19.

 

Sourced From: Vanguard News

Continue Reading

Nigeria News

Woman Kills Her Maid Over Salary Request

Published

on

Operatives of the State Criminal Investigation and Intelligence Department (SCIID), Yaba of the Lagos State police command have arrested one Mrs Nene Steve for allegedly killing her maid, Joy Adole

The maid was allegedly beaten to death by Nene for requesting for her salary at their residence located at 18, Ogundola Street, Bariga area in Lagos.

Narrating the incident, Philips Ejeh, an elder brother to the deceased said that he was sad when they informed him that his sister was beaten to death.

He explained that the deceased was an indigene of Benue State brought to Lagos through an agent and started working with her as a maid  in January 2020.

‘’She reported that her boss refused to pay her and anytime she asked for her salary she will start beating her.

She was making an attempt to leave the place but due to the total lockdown she remained there until Sunday when her boss said she caught her stealing noodles and this led to her serious beating and death,’’ Ejeh said.

He called on Lagos State Government and well- meaning people in the country to help them in getting justice for the victim.

The police spokesman, Bala Elkana, stated that the woman and her husband came to Bariga Police  Station to a report that their house girl had committed suicide.

Detectives were said to have visited the house and suspected foul play with the position of the rope and bruises all over the body which confirmed that the girl had been tortured to death and the boss decided to hang up the girl to make it look like suicide.

He said: “The police moved on with their investigation and found a lot of sign of violence on her body that she has been tortured before a rope was put on her neck.’’

He added that the police removed the corpse and deposited it in the mortuary for autopsy to further ascertain the cause of the death.

Elkana said the matter has been transferred from Bariga police station to Panti for further investigation while the couple have been arrested and will be charged to court.

Continue Reading

Tribune

Boko Haram Attacks: Buhari Summons Urgent Meeting Of Service Chiefs

Published

on

President Buhari and the Service Chiefs in a meeting. (File photo)

Ostensibly alarmed by the latest killings of dozens of soldiers by Boko Haram insurgents, President Muhammadu Buhari has summoned an urgent meeting of Service Chiefs to find ways to stop the trend. 

He has also dispatched the Minister of Defence, Mansur Dan Ali, to the neighbouring Republic of Chad for an urgent meeting with President Idris Deby and his defence counterpart. 

Knowledgeable sources said in Abuja on Friday that the president is worried by on the deterioration of security situation on the Nigeria – Chad Border that has led to the recently increased Boko Haram terrorism in the area.

The sources which did not want to be named in Abuja said: “Nigeria has a Chad  problem in the Multi-National Joint Task Force (MNJTF) put together to secure the Lake Chad basin areas and repeal the Boko Haram terrorist attacks against all the countries neighbouring the Lake.”

The sources noted that Chad is believed to be having their own internal security challenges and this has reportedly led to their pulling away their own troops manning their own border around Lake Chad,  saying: “That lacuna is being exploited by the Boko Haram terrorists, who go in and out of Nigeria, Niger and Cameroon to launch terrorist acts.  This is a clear illustration of the fact that terrorism is beyond national borders.”

When contacted, the Senior Special Assistant to the President on Media and Publicity, Garba Shehu, confirmed that the Defence Minister is going to Chad but said he is unaware of the purpose. 

Meanwhile, the military authorities are said to be in the process of identifying the families of the latest victims with a view to making contact with them. 

Credible sources revealed that it is the reason the president is yet to make any pronouncement on the matter. 

“The President has called an urgent meeting with the Service Chiefs, as well as the fact that families of the latest victims of the Boko Haram are being identified and contacts made before a government pronouncement on the tragic attacks. This, it is understood, is the reason for the silence of the government over the incident,” the source said. 

 

Sourced From: Tribune

Continue Reading
Advertisement study in Ukraine

Politics

Popular Posts