Nigeria News
NGF:Jang,Others Pray Court to Dismiss Fashola`s Suit
Plateau State Governor, Jonah Jang and other defendants have approached the Federal High Court in Abuja, praying the court for a preliminary objection to the suit filed by the Governor of Lagos State, Babatunde Fashola, over the outcome of the recent Nigeria Governors’ Forum election.
In separate motion on notice filed at the court last Friday by counsel to the first and third defendants, Jonah Jang and Osaro Onaiwu, respectively as well as on behalf of the fourth defendant, the Registered Trustees of the Governors’ Forum, they asked the court to set aside the claims of the plaintiff as lacking in merit.
The cases were filed by Tayo Oyetibo (SAN) on behalf of the first and third defendants while F.N Nwosu filed on behalf of the fourth defendant. Both suits with No.CV/3389/13 also had the Director-General of the Nigeria Governors’ Forum, Asishana Bayo Okauru, as defendant and respondent.
Pursuant to Section 6 (6) (A) of the 1999 Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria (as amended) and order 22, rules 2, 3 and 4 of the FCT High Court, both counsels are seeking preliminary objection to the plaintiff’s claims on the following grounds: that the writ of summons was not issued in accordance with procedural due process, the High Court of the Federal Capital Territory lacks jurisdiction to entertain the plaintiff’s claims, even if the High Court has jurisdiction to entertain the plaintiff’s claims, theplaintiff lacks locus standi to bring the suit as constituted and that even if the plaintiff has the locusstandi to bring the suit, the plaintiff’s claims are not justiciable as they relate to a mere dispute as to political dignity.
In their statements of defence, both the first and third defendants as well as the fourth defendant, denied allegations contained in the statement of claim though admitted those in paragraphs 2, 5, 6 and 7 of the statement of claim. Also a major issue in the statement of claims was the process of the NGF election which the defendants faulted.
They noted that the Nigeria Governors’ Forum is only a platform for peer review among governors of the states of Nigeria and to collaborate on matters of public policy, provide good governance, sharing good practice and enhance cooperation.
They further noted that from its formation, the chairman of the NGF has always been appointed by consensus of all members of the forum and that Governor Chibuike Rotimi Amaechi became chairman of the NGF in 2011 by consensus for a term of 2 years, expiring in May 2013.
The defendants referred to the meeting of the NGF of 20th May 2013 at the Rivers State Lodge in Abuja where, they claimed, majority of the governors present demanded for Amaechi, whose tenure had expired, to step down and allow another member to preside for the purpose of appointing a new chairman but rebuffed byAmaechi.
In the light of this, they claimed that 19 of the 36 governors present at the meeting had indicated in writing their support for Governor Jonah Jang as chairman of the NGF but that Amaechi insisted there must be an election and that he must preside at the meeting. Governor Amaechi subsequently produced ballot papers which, they claimed, he had unilaterally printed without prior authority of other members of the NGF and started distributing same for the purpose of the election.
The defendants further stated that when GovernorAmaechi refused to step down, 18 of the 35 members present at the meeting immediately indicated their “unflinching support” for Governor Jonah Jang as the new chairman of the forum “without prejudice to their objection to the insistence of Governor Amaechi on presiding over the election process”.
In spite of this, they noted that Governor Amaechi and the second defendant, Asishana Bayo Okauru, still went ahead to announce that Governor Amaechiemerged winner of the election.
In which case, the first, third and fourth defendants are contending that the plaintiff’s suit be dismissed for being frivolous and unmeritorious.
——————————————————————————————————————————————-
Posted in Nigeria News. A DisNaija.Com network.
Source: Huhu Online
DisNaija.Com publishes regular posts on Nigeria News, Nigerian Newspapers, Online Nigeria Gist.
Follow us on Twitter and Facebook.
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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
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
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.
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
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Nigeria News
NGF:Jang,Others Pray Court to Dismiss Fashola`s Suit
Plateau State Governor, Jonah Jang and other defendants have approached the Federal High Court in Abuja, praying the court for a preliminary objection to the suit filed by the Governor of Lagos State, Babatunde Fashola, over the outcome of the recent Nigeria Governors’ Forum election.
In separate motion on notice filed at the court last Friday by counsel to the first and third defendants, Jonah Jang and Osaro Onaiwu, respectively as well as on behalf of the fourth defendant, the Registered Trustees of the Governors’ Forum, they asked the court to set aside the claims of the plaintiff as lacking in merit.
The cases were filed by Tayo Oyetibo (SAN) on behalf of the first and third defendants while F.N Nwosu filed on behalf of the fourth defendant. Both suits with No.CV/3389/13 also had the Director-General of the Nigeria Governors’ Forum, Asishana Bayo Okauru, as defendant and respondent.
Pursuant to Section 6 (6) (A) of the 1999 Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria (as amended) and order 22, rules 2, 3 and 4 of the FCT High Court, both counsels are seeking preliminary objection to the plaintiff’s claims on the following grounds: that the writ of summons was not issued in accordance with procedural due process, the High Court of the Federal Capital Territory lacks jurisdiction to entertain the plaintiff’s claims, even if the High Court has jurisdiction to entertain the plaintiff’s claims, theplaintiff lacks locus standi to bring the suit as constituted and that even if the plaintiff has the locusstandi to bring the suit, the plaintiff’s claims are not justiciable as they relate to a mere dispute as to political dignity.
In their statements of defence, both the first and third defendants as well as the fourth defendant, denied allegations contained in the statement of claim though admitted those in paragraphs 2, 5, 6 and 7 of the statement of claim. Also a major issue in the statement of claims was the process of the NGF election which the defendants faulted.
They noted that the Nigeria Governors’ Forum is only a platform for peer review among governors of the states of Nigeria and to collaborate on matters of public policy, provide good governance, sharing good practice and enhance cooperation.
They further noted that from its formation, the chairman of the NGF has always been appointed by consensus of all members of the forum and that Governor Chibuike Rotimi Amaechi became chairman of the NGF in 2011 by consensus for a term of 2 years, expiring in May 2013.
The defendants referred to the meeting of the NGF of 20th May 2013 at the Rivers State Lodge in Abuja where, they claimed, majority of the governors present demanded for Amaechi, whose tenure had expired, to step down and allow another member to preside for the purpose of appointing a new chairman but rebuffed byAmaechi.
In the light of this, they claimed that 19 of the 36 governors present at the meeting had indicated in writing their support for Governor Jonah Jang as chairman of the NGF but that Amaechi insisted there must be an election and that he must preside at the meeting. Governor Amaechi subsequently produced ballot papers which, they claimed, he had unilaterally printed without prior authority of other members of the NGF and started distributing same for the purpose of the election.
The defendants further stated that when GovernorAmaechi refused to step down, 18 of the 35 members present at the meeting immediately indicated their “unflinching support” for Governor Jonah Jang as the new chairman of the forum “without prejudice to their objection to the insistence of Governor Amaechi on presiding over the election process”.
In spite of this, they noted that Governor Amaechi and the second defendant, Asishana Bayo Okauru, still went ahead to announce that Governor Amaechiemerged winner of the election.
In which case, the first, third and fourth defendants are contending that the plaintiff’s suit be dismissed for being frivolous and unmeritorious.
——————————————————————————————————————————————-
Posted in Nigeria News. A DisNaija.Com network.
Source: Huhu Online
DisNaija.Com publishes regular posts on Nigeria News, Nigerian Newspapers, Online Nigeria Gist.
Follow us on Twitter and Facebook.
Nigeria News
Follow @Dis_Naija
Your Opinion Counts. Be sure To Leave A Comment, If You Have Any.
Please Like, Share or Tweet. Your Support Is Appreciated.
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
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
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.
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
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