Fire on Monday, gutted a section of the World Trade Centre in Abuja, the Federal Capital Territory (FCT).
Equity News Reporter confirmed that the fire started from the top of the skyscraper.
It was gathered that fire fighters and other responders have not arrived the scene of the fire as at the time of the incident.
Details later…
The federal High Court sitting in Abuja has ruled that the Nigerian Army cannot declare citizens wanted because it lacks the power to do so.
In January 2019, the Nigerian Army sent out a press release on Facebook declaring Brimah wanted for reportedly raising funds for troops and vigilantes fighting Boko Haram in Nigeria’s North-East.
Following the declaration, Brimah dragged the Nigerian Army to the Federal High Court in suit No. FHC/ABJ/CS/267/2019 for defamation.
“On behalf of millions of disenfranchised citizens of the state who have often been intimidated and terrorized by the Nigerian army in flaunting of the constitution by act of wilfully declaring citizens wanted and making arrests within the democratic space in the stead of the police, the formal law enforcers,” the suit stated.
In her ruling, Justice Ojukwu said the Nigerian Army had no right to declare the plaintiff wanted without making a formal report to law enforcement agencies, who enforce law and order.
“The army or defendant has no vires to declare the plaintiff wanted without due process of law.
“However, it must be stated here without equivocation that the defendant (Nigerian Army) has no right to declare the plaintiff (Dr. Perry Brimah) wanted without following the appropriate procedure. The defendant (Nigerian Army) cannot arrest the plaintiff ( Dr. Brimah) arbitrarily without making a formal report to law enforcement agency with the mandate to enforce law and order, otherwise it would transmute to self-help. The duty of the defendant is to make a formal report to the appropriate authority like the police and await the outcome,” she said.
Manchester City will be free to play Champions League football next season after the Court of Arbitration for Sport lifted a two-season ban from European competitions imposed by UEFA on Monday.
An initial fine of 30 million euros ($34 million, £27 million) was also reduced to 10 million euros on appeal.
City were accused of deliberately inflating the value of income from sponsors with links to the Abu Dhabi United Group, also owned by City owner Sheikh Mansour, to avoid falling foul of financial fair play regulations between 2012 and 2016.
The case against City was reopened when German magazine Der Spiegel published a series of leaked emails in 2018.
However, CAS found that “most of the alleged breaches reported by the Adjudicatory Chamber of the CFCB (UEFA Club Financial Control Body) were either not established or time-barred”.
City welcomed the decision that will have huge ramifications on the club’s finances and potentially the future of manager Pep Guardiola and star players such as Kevin De Bruyne and Raheem Sterling.
“Whilst Manchester City and its legal advisors are yet to review the full ruling by the Court of Arbitration for Sport, the club welcomes the implications of today’s ruling as a validation of the club’s position and the body of evidence that it was able to present,” City said in a statement.
“The club wishes to thank the panel members for their diligence and the due process that they administered.”
Since Sheikh Mansour’s takeover 12 years ago, City’s fortunes have been transformed from perennially living in the shadow of local rivals Manchester United to winning four Premier League titles in the past eight years among 11 major trophies.
On Saturday, they secured qualification for the Champions League for a 10th consecutive season with a 5-0 win at Brighton.
More silverware could come before the end of the season as Guardiola’s side face Arsenal in the FA Cup semi-finals on Saturday before restarting their Champions League campaign in August, holding a 2-1 lead over Real Madrid from the first leg of their last 16 tie.
City’s victory in court will raise fresh questions over how effectively UEFA can police FFP.
But European football’s governing body said it remained committed to the system which limits clubs to not losing more than 30 million euros, with exceptions for some costs such as youth development and women’s teams, over a three-year period.
“UEFA notes that the CAS panel found that there was insufficient conclusive evidence to uphold all of the CFCB’s conclusions in this specific case and that many of the alleged breaches were time-barred due to the five-year time period foreseen in the UEFA regulations,” UEFA said in a statement.
“Over the last few years, Financial Fair Play has played a significant role in protecting clubs and helping them become financially sustainable and UEFA and ECA remain committed to its principles.”
A foremost online legal news platform, TheNigeriaLawyer (TNL), is organizing a nationwide E-debate for presidential candidates for Nigerian Bar Association’s (NBA) year 2020 elections.
The E-Debate is slated for 24th July, 2020 to hold on ZOOM at 5:00 pm
The virtual debate brings to you opportunities to ask your presidential candidates to clarify their electioneering campaigns, manifestoes and policy directions all in our house.
A foremost online legal news platform, TheNigeriaLawyer (TNL), is organizing a nationwide E-debate for presidential candidates for Nigerian Bar Association’s (NBA) year 2020 elections.
The E-Debate is slated for 24th July, 2020 to hold on ZOOM at 5:00 pm
The virtual debate brings to you opportunities to ask your presidential candidates to clarify their electioneering campaigns, manifestoes and policy directions all in our house.
Doctors under the Lagos State Government have announced that they will commence a three-day warning strike on Monday.
In a briefing on Sunday, Dr Oluwajimi Sodipo, the Chairman of the Medical Guild, Lagos, said the doctors have chosen to embark on the strike because the ultimatum given the government has expired.
“Following the emergency congress of the Medical Guild held on June 27, we resolved that the previous 21 days ultimatum given to the state government be extended by a further two weeks during which representative council meeting should be held to review the resolutions of the congress and activate the three-day warning strike if 70 per cent of the Guild’s demands are not met,” he said.
“The issues of COVID-19 hazard allowance and inducement allowances MOU approved by the federal government to her doctors have not been approved by the Lagos State Government to her doctors.
“The doctors working in the COVID-19 isolation centres are still being owed two months’ salaries which have remained unpaid at the moment. They are also being unceremoniously disengaged without recourse to their welfare.
“The issue of shortage of doctors in the health facilities are yet to be resolved and with no substantive action taken by the state government t resolve the issue.”
Ondo State Governor, Oluwarotimi Akeredolu, has condemned the reports that he has been disqualified by the Governorship Election Screening Committee of the All Progressives Congress (APC).
In a statement on Sunday by his Senior Special Assistant on Media and Publicity, Oyewamide Ojo, the governor insisted that he was very much in the race.
He stressed that claims that he had been screened out by the committee from participating in the APC governorship primary election scheduled for July 20 were untrue.
“It’s a ploy to distract you,” Governor Akeredolu was quoted as saying in the statement.
He added, “They are scavengers and will stop at nothing to sustain their trade of deceit. Ignore them, remain firm; be dedicated and be prayerful.”
The governor’s aide described the reports as another distraction unleashed with the aim of deceiving the unsuspecting public and diverting attention from the “self-imposed pains” on the part of the purported sponsors.
He added that it was obvious that the reports originated from those he said have chosen the perfidious political path, stressing that Governor Akeredolu would not just participate in the primary but would be “re-elected by the grace of God come October 10, 2020.”
Ojo stated that the governor has appealed to all his supporters to ignore the rumour and dedicate the period to God for his continuous grace, favour, and protection.
Aspirants Cannot Dictate
Meanwhile, the state chapter of the APC has cautioned aspirants against calls for a specific mode of primary to pick the party’s candidate for the forthcoming election.
In a statement on Sunday by its Ondo State Publicity Secretary, Alex Kalejaye, the party said no aspirant has the right to determine what mode of primary to be adopted.
It, however, stated that only the APC leadership at the national level has such prerogative, according to the party’s constitution.
The statement said, “We wish to place it on record that it is inconceivable that aspirants would dictate to the party on which mode to adopt.
“The chapter is duty-bound to underscore a salient point; that it is the prerogative of the national secretariat to decide which of the modes, spelt out in the party constitution, should be adopted for each state at any point in time.”
The party, therefore, called on all aspirants to abide by the rules and guidelines from the national secretariat, so long they were not at variance with the content of its constitution.
“For the sake of emphasis, the party’s constitution approves three modes of primaries to select its candidates for an election: direct, indirect and consensus. Any of these could be chosen at random, depending on the discretion of the supervising authority.
“The supervising authority in this regard is the Governor Mai-Mala Buni-led Caretaker Committee and saddled with the responsibility to decide the option for Ondo State 2020,” it added.
Source: Channels Television
Femi Falana, a prominent human rights activist and lawyer, has debunked reports insinuating that he received N28 million from Ibrahim Magu, the suspended acting Chairman of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC).
Falana, a Senior Advocate of Nigeria (SAN), made the rebuttal in a pre-action demand dated 12 July, which was addressed to a newspaper and signed by his lawyer, Adeyinka Olumide-Fusika (SAN).
The newspaper had cited a report published by the Federal Government-owned News Agency of Nigeria, which claimed to have obtained the final report of a prior presidential panel allegedly indicting Magu for being unable to account for the interest generated from N550bn cash recovered from 2015 to 2020.
Magu, who is currently facing a presidential panel led by Justice Ayo Salami (rtd), a former Court of Appeal President, was said by the report to have given the said sum to Falana, who it described as “a close associate and ally of the Acting Chairman”.
But Falana’s lawyer described the report as “damning against my client because his entire career as a lawyer has been devoted to fighting human rights abuses and corruption in high and low place”.
“So, to charge such a person with the imputations in your publication is not something that he can (in fairness to himself and the reputation he has worked for all his life) ignore despite that he is also a well-known advocate and defender of press freedom,” the letter read.
Falana’s lawyer admitted that his client is a supporter and public advocate of the EFCC and other government agencies established to fight corruption in Nigeria, to the extent that he has not taken a case of any suspect against the EFCC.
The senior lawyer gave the newspaper 48 hours to retract the publication and apologise or face a defamation lawsuit.
“In the circumstance, my immediate instruction is to demand that you acknowledge your wrongdoing, expressly admit that what you imputed against my client was false, and apologise for your unprofessionalism and the damage you have caused to him.
“I do hope that you will, within the next 48 hours, comply with this gentlemanly request by publication on the front page of your newspaper. Failing compliance, my instruction is to issue a Writ in the tort of defamation in other to afford you an opportunity to prove what you imputed against his my client’s character,” the letter read.
The Governor of Lagos State, Mr Babajide Sanwo-Olu, has commiserated with the family, friends and associates of a member of the Lagos State House of Assembly, representing Kosofe II State Constituency, Hon. Tunde Buraimoh, who passed on early Friday after a brief illness.
Governor Sanwo-Olu in a condolence message by his Chief Press Secretary, Gboyega Akosile, described late Buraimoh as a true democrat who did his best for the people he served at various levels both as Local Government Chairman and until his sudden demise, legislator representing Kosofe II.
While expressing his shock over the death of the lawmaker, the governor sympathised with the immediate family of the departed, the All Progressives Congress (APC), the leaders and members of the State House of Assembly, as well as people of his immediate constituency.
He also advised the late lawmaker’s constituents to see his death as the will of Allah, noting that no one would have ever imagined that the state would lose another very important personality to the Coronavirus, few days after a distinguished Senator.
The governor added that Buraimoh’s death, though painful, should be a reminder to all that the battle against the ravaging coronavirus pandemic is far from being won.
He said: “The death of Hon. Tunde Buraimoh is painful. He died at a time the State had stepped up her fight in the battle against the COVID-19 pandemic. We must not allow the death of Hon. Buraimoh to deter us from forging ahead in our quest to finding a lasting solution to the dreaded disease.
“I am saddened by the death of this fine gentleman; a loyal party man and committed democrat, with a deep understanding of the State’s social and political landscape. He died at a time when the member of his constituency and indeed the entire Lagos need his service most.
“There is no doubt that Hon. Buraimoh would be missed by the entire political class, particularly his immediate constituents in Kosofe, which he served passionately as a local government chairman and also represented in the Lagos State House of Assembly.
“I pray that Almighty Allah grants the soul of our beloved Tunde Buraimoh eternal rest, grant him a place in Aljannah Firdaus and grant his family the fortitude to bear the irreparable loss.”
Source: Channels
![[Opinion] 774,000 Jobs: The need for Senate to stop wastage of Tax-Payers Monies – Fatai Abiodun](https://equitynews.ng/wp-content/uploads/2020/07/Festus-Keyamo-600x338-1.jpg "[Opinion] 774,000 Jobs: The need for Senate to stop wastage of Tax-Payers Monies – Fatai Abiodun")
“One needs to tell keyamo that Nigerians don’t need vanilla and yoghurt jobs that will disappear after 3 months of reaching the melting point, of what essence? what the masses need is an enabling environment that can propel ideas that would take the nation to the greater height.”
It’s becoming crystal clear that in few weeks to come, Federal Government through the agency of National Directorate of Employment would employ 774,000 employees across 774 Local Government Areas of the Federation under Special Public Works.
Special Public Works Department is one of the four (4) core programmes of the National Directorate of Employment, seeks to identify and exploit employment opportunities that abound in the public works sector by organizing the skilled, semi-skilled and unskilled persons that are unemployed to carry out utility, environmental, infrastructural development and sanitation works.
From history, the agency was created as a direct response to the rising trend of unemployment, the then military government headed by General Ibrahim B. Babangida, set up a committee headed by Mr. Stephen O. Chukwumah and was charged with the task of proffering a sustainable interventionist solution to mitigate the rising levels of unemployment in Nigeria.
Following the report of the Chukwumah Committee, the Federal Government established the NDE under decree No. 29 of 1989 which was replaced with ACT, CAP 250 of the Laws of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, 1999.
Today, it’s no longer news that the world is battling with the increment in the alarming rate of unemployment coupling with the COVID-19 pandemic that has caused told and untold hardship to the populace.
When I first heard about the news that Federal government through NDE has put in place a system that would ameliorate the suffering of the masses, I was marvelled to the marrow and quickly search the internet to see the adopted modalities for the selection and nothing was found except the reported fracas between the Minister of State for Labour, Festus Keyamo and the Senate over disagreement on layout and concepts.
Keyamo claiming to be appointed by the President to act as supervisor for the Nigeria Directorate of Employment with emphasis on the current 774,000 job recruitment, and I wondered if keyamo as learned silk can encourage the president to appoint a supervisor to perform the role of the DG of government established agency that was created as an act of parliament?
When the Senate asked the Director-General NDE, the original agency the National Assembly appropriated the money for, on their plans for the project, he answered in affirmative that he knows nothing about it. So, one can say that the said project has been hijacked by the Minister of State for Labour and Productivity. To me, this nefarious act is not only illegal but abuse of office. To supervise does not mean to take charge. The two words are different and cannot be used interchangeably.
Interestingly, I read the release tendered by keyamo on the plans and modalities to be adopted for the selection and mode of payment, believe me, it was a complete beer parlour, jankara and watery project, to say the least, a clear example of an exercise in futility.
There are many questions seriously begging for answers, Why planning to waste such billions on one-off (3 months Duration Project), where is the feasibility Studies of the Project? How does it change the narration of unemployment? Is it a crime to join the proposed recruitment with NPOWER operated under the Ministry of Humanitarian Affairs who had put every structure already in place? Is recruitment meant to show off? If it would take more than 60 days to implement processes to kickstart 3 months one-off project, why wasting our precious time? How would you plan to spend Seven Million per local government for project monitoring and assessment? Mr Minister, not all of us are stupid, the purported project will not yield anything tangible but wastage of funds.
One needs to tell keyamo that Nigerians don’t need vanilla and yoghurt jobs that will disappear after 3 months of reaching the melting point, of what essence? what the masses need is an enabling environment that can propel ideas that would take the nation to the greater height.
To ameliorate the effect of the pandemic, the budgeted 54 billion Naira can build many classrooms per local government across the federation not to talk of primary health care hospital that is over important in every community rather than wasting the money on frivolities. We must tell keyamo the truth, that the purported ‘jobs-recruitment’ has been designed to fail.
If they had done proper and sincere feasibility Studies, they would realize that all the areas Federal Government are targeting had already been put in place in many states like ‘OYES’ in Oyo, Osun, Kano, etc with years of existence and Why can’t they partner with the state for collaboration to strengthening the existing framework for better and lasting employment system, not the one purported on uncertainty.
I have done the NEEDS assessment; I can say without any fear or favour that the purported jobs would be another conduit pipe for corruption and I wonder who are those advising the government on the next line of actions?
The responsibility neglected, abandoned today shall automatically re-appear tomorrow, If this is the type of jobs federal government promised in the past to provide 100 million jobs, then we are in a total mess.
I don’t believe in throwing money to solve problems, but rather getting a think-tank to study the system and recommend empirical and workable solutions to avoid stories that touch in the long run. Sometimes I used to wonder if our leader doesn’t think at all, because if they did, how would call 3-month payoff assignment as a job? Is it meant to score a political point?
Are the states having the same population? If a local government in Oyo State is greater than the half of Bayelsa State in population and landmark, and u assigned same enrolment figure then where is the equity the learned silk joggling to be fighting for?
With the current governance approach, we are indeed far from getting it right. I laughed and got infuriated when keyamo was playing to the gallery that senate wanted to hijack the job that is meant for the masses for their cohorts because he knows that anybody who seems to be fighting for the common man would have a public sympathy, but some of us refuse to buy that ‘bread’ because it lacks ‘butter’.
Senate only asked for modalities on the need to ascertain and cross-check that the plans been put in place would have a positive impact on the populace, and to provide possible suggestions if need be.
It’s high time the Senate as the representative of the masses, take a bold step and stop wastage of Tax-Payers Monies by proving to the world that National Assembly as an arm of government will not be an appendage of the executive.
Abiodun writes from Abuja.
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