Resident doctors in UCH Begin strike over alleged assault

Following an alleged assault on a resident doctor by relatives of a patient, resident doctors under the auspices of Association of Resident Doctors, ARD, at the University College Hospital, UCH, Ibadan in Oyo State have commenced a three-day strike. ARD President, Dr. John Oladapo told newsmen on Thursday that the doctors are demanding a public apology from the people who assaulted their member, inflicting injuries on him on Sunday. He called on the hospital to improve its security architecture to avoid future occurrences in the hospital. “On Sunday, one of our members was the target of a deliberate, premeditated, planned rage and furious assault by a patient’s relation. “The doctor was seeing a known Sickle Cell patient in a painful crisis at the Emergency Department when the two men accosted him in the consulting room and started beating him up. “The mother of the patient being seen who tried to intervene was also beaten up in this assault. In the doctor’s attempt to escape, the men chased him down and beat him up. “The security officers of the hospital intervened and rescued our member, but not before he sustained injuries as well as mental health and esteem”.

Edo Assembly Set To Impeach Philip Shaibu

The Edo House of Assembly on Wednesday commenced impeachment proceedings against the state Deputy Governor, Philip Shaibu. The Majority leader, Charity Aiguobarueghian, who announced the impeachment notice during plenary, said the petition dated March 5, was signed by 21 out of the 24 members against the deputy governor. Aiguobarueghian stated, “The petition against the deputy governor came in on March 5 and was signed by 21 out of the 24 members. The number of members who signed the petition was more than the two-third requirement stipulated in the constitution.” He also said that the petition was based on two grounds perjury and revealing of government secrets. The speaker of the House, Blessing Agbebaku who acknowledged receipt of the petition, directed the Clerk of the House, Yahaya Omogbai, to serve Shaibu the impeachment notice. Agbebaku also gave the deputy governor seven days to respond to the notice of impeachment. The impeachment notice is the latest in the rift between the state Governor, Godwin Obaseki and his Deputy, who have been at loggerheads since mid-last year when Shaibu announced his intention to run for the office of the governor of the state.

Appeal Court Affirms Abure As Labour Party Chairman, Fines Apapa

The Court of Appeal in Abuja has set aside the judgment of the Federal Capital Territory High Court which restrained Julius Abure and two others from parading themselves as national officers of the party. Ruling on an ex parte application on April 5, 2023, Hamza Muazu, the Presiding Judge, had restrained Abure, Farouk Ibrahim, Clement Ojukwu, and Oluchi Opara from acting as national officers of the LP. The court also dismissed the objection raised by Abure challenging his removal as chairman of the LP. The suit which was filed by Martins Esikpali John, Lucky Shaibu, Isah Zekeri, Omogbai Frank, Abokhaiu Aliu, Ayohkaire Lateef, John Elomah, and Ayobami Arabambi accused Abure and others of forging several documents of the FCT high court to carry out unlawful substitutions in the last elections. The defendants, however, approached the appeal court for redress. Delivering the lead judgement on Wednesday, Justice Hamman Barka held that the high court was wrong to have assumed jurisdiction on the matter. He also awarded N1m in favour of the appellants.

Alleged N7.6B fraud: Appeal court strikes out move to retry Gov, Orji Kalu

The Federal Government move to retry the former Abia State Governor, Orji Uzor Kalu, in the N7.6billion fraud and money laundering, had been strike out. Justice Joseph Kayode Oyewole of the Appeal court, court sitting in Abuja dismissed the suit for incompetent and unreliable for any court to use to grant the request of government. Among others, Justice Oyewole said that the record of appeal was not compiled, signed and certified by any person known to law. Specifically, Justice Oyewole said that the name of the person who compiled, signed and certified the record were not reflected as required by law. Recall that a Federal High Court had on December 5, 2019, jailed the former governor now s a senator representing Abia North for 12 years for stealing N7.6billion from the Treasury of Abia State as a governor. However, the supreme court voided the judgement of the lower court on the ground that Justice Mohammed Idris who delivered it was already a Justice of the Court of Appeal having been elevated. The Apex court, in a judgement delivered by Justice Ejembi Ekwo held that Justice Mohammed Idris cannot operate as a Federal High Judge and Justice of the Court of Appeal at the same. Consequently, the Apex court ordered the Chief Judge of the Federal High Court to give the trial to another Judge for a fresh trial. Kalu however went back to the Federal High Court and and Justice Inyang Ekwo granted him an order prohibiting the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) from instituting a fresh prosecution. The Judge held that Orji Uzor Kalu was not expressly stated in the judgment of the Supreme Court. Not satisfied with the decision of Justice Ekwo, the prosecution appeal against the decision of the high court. The matter was Wednesday, dismissed for the failure to produce proper records of proceedings of the high court.

Alleged N4bn fraud: Court hears Obiano’s motion on jurisdiction, March 7

The Federal High Court, Abuja has fixed March 7, to hear a motion filed by former Anambra Governor, Willie Obiano, challenging the jurisdiction of the court to hear the alleged N4 billion fraud charge filed against him by the federal government. The former governor is answering a nine-count charge bordering on alleged money laundering to the tune of N4billion, proffered against him the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, (EFCC). He allegedly directed the diversion of the total N4 billion from the state’s account between April 2017 and March 2022, and spent the money for purposes unconnected to the security affairs of Anambra. On Monday, the Prosecution which was scheduled ready to called their witnesses was halted as Counsel to Obiano, Mr Onyechi Ikpeazu, SAN, informed the court that he had filed a motion challenging jurisdiction on behalf of his client. Confirming the service of the motion on notice, the prosecution counsel, Mr Sylvanus Tahir, SAN, however, said that he had yet to file a reply because he was served the motion on Monday morning in court. He drew the attention of these court that the issue on jurisdiction had been settled by the Supreme Court, adding that charges bordering on money laundering are decided at the Federal High Court. Justice Inyang Ekwo advised the prosecutor to do his part by filing his response to the motion. “It is not for you to tell the court the Supreme Court’s decision on the issue. Respond to the motion and leave the court to decide.” Obiano, who was governor from March 2014 to March 2022, allegedly diverted the money from the state’s account dedicated to security funds in his last five years in office. The Prosecution alleged that the finds were diverted through companies that had no business relationship with the Anambra government, converted to dollars and handed over to the former governor in dollars. The case, filed by EFCC detailed the nine companies allegedly used for diverting the funds from the state government’s security vote account. The federal government claimed that from Feb. 16, 2018 to March 9, 2018, an aggregate sum of N223,371,000 was paid from the security vote account into the account of Connought International Services Limited. The charge sheet claimed that from Oct. 30, 2018 to Nov.13 2018, a total sum of N95 million was paid from the security vote account into the bank account of S.Y. Panda Enterprises. Also, the prosecution alleged that from April 11, 2017 to June 21, 2019, a total of N416,000,000 was diverted from security vote account into the account of Zirga Zirga Trading Company Limited.

Bayelsa Guber: Election Petition adjourns indefinitely as Sylva, APC allege bias

The former governor of Bayelsa State, Chief Timipre Sylva and the All Progressives Congress (APC), have passed a vote of no confidence on the Panel of the Election Tribunal sitting on a petition filed against the election of Governor Duoye Diri. Consequently, the tribunal adjourned indefinitely pending the decision of the Court of Appeal President, Mrs Monica Dongban-mensem, on a petition against the three-member panel led by Justice Adekunle Adeleye. At the resumption of the petition, Monday, the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), were called up to open its defence, however, counsel to the petitioners, Mr R. O. Balogun, SAN, informed the tribunal of a petition and letter written to the President of the Court of Appeal and the Secretary of the tribunal, complaining of bias and lack of fair hearing. The former governor and his party, in the petition specifically asked the president to disband the panel and constitute a new one, adding that the petitioners still have up till May 28, for the expiration of their petition. They moved to adjourned further proceedings, pending the decision of the Court of Appeal President. Although, INEC, Diri, and his deputy, Senator Lawrence Ewhrujakpo, had initially opposed the request for adjournment, but made a u-turn, after the People’s Democratic Party (PDP), pointed out that it is the petitioners case and they can spend the whole year, arguing it. In their petition, they posited that record of proceedings obtained so far, showed that observations comments made by the tribunal suggested that they have already made up their minds to favour the respondents. They maintained that the record showed that the tribunal on its own made observation in writing to the extent that the pattern of writing witness statement on oath by the witnesses called by the petitioners are the same. The petitioners also said to have observed in the record of proceedings that the signatures of the witnesses are the same without calling experts, to establish so. While pointing out that the panel have already concluded that the polling units results tendered by the petitioners are fake, they submitted that it was wrong for the tribunal to make the observation on the record of proceedings. They said based on the above they no longer have faith and confidence in the panel and urged the panel to suspend further trial until their petition is resolved by the president of the Court of Appeal. Former governor and immediate past Minister of State for Petroleum, Chief Timipre Sylva and the APC, are challenging INEC’s declaration of Diri as the winner of the November 11 governorship poll in Bayelsa State. According to them, the electoral umpire denied them of votes in their “strong areas”, when it cancelled results in three Local Government Areas of Nembe, Ogbia and Southern Ijaw, on alleged disruption of the electoral process and diversion of electoral materials. However, after calling a total of 52 witnesses, out of the 224 lined up to prove their allegations against the election, the petitioners announced that they were satisfied with the prosecution of their case and would like to close it. Following the closure of their case last week, the panel fixed March 4, for the respondents to open their defence. However, the respondents could not open their defence due to the petition against the panel. INEC had declared Diri and the PDP winner of the November 11, 2023 governorship election in Bayelsa State, having won majority of the votes cast at the election. According to the Returning Officer, Professor Faruq Kuta, the PDP and Diri polled 175, 196 votes to defeat his closest rival, Timiprey Sylva of the APC who scored 110,108 votes. Dissatisfied, Sylva and APC had approached the tribunal to challenge the declaration of Diri as winner of the November 11 governorship election. The petitioners are asking the tribunal to hold that contrary to the position of the electoral umpire, election held in some polling units and winners declared at the said units, adding that it was wrong of INEC to disregard the results at the ward and local government level. It is their claim that if the said cancelled results were restored by the court, they would emerge winner of the November election. But the respondents especially INEC which conducted the election submitted that election in three local governments of Southern Ijaw, Ogbia and Nembe, did not hold due to incidents of alleged diversions of materials and disruption of the electoral process over alleged bypass of the BVAS machine. They had tendered the Form EC40G to confirm that there were no elections in the said polling units. In addition the respondents brought CTCs of results from INEC to prove that the results brought before the court as evidence that election held at the polling units were forged by the petitioners.

The carnage in Gaza: A Blight on Our Collective Humanity: It. Must End Now

It is ungodly and unchristianly to support the brutality and genocide being perpetrated against Palestinians in Gaza. Legal minds might argue whether or not the wanton killing of tens of thousands of innocent children, women and the aged in Gaza meets the legal threshold of being described as genocide, but people of good conscience know what genocide looks like when innocent people are being killed on an orgy of collective punishment and retribution. Yes, I am a Christian, but I would rather be an agnostic than worship any God or religion that supports the crudity and inhumanity taking place in Gaza and the West Bank. That was the reason I walked out of my old church in Miami with my family in 2004 during the Israelis-Hezbollah war in Lebanon when women and children were being slaughtered by Israelis bombing. At the height of the war, my pastor stood on the pulpit to justify the killing of Muslims and Palestinian refugees in Lebanon as part of the fulfillment of biblical end-time prophesies. I totally lost it. I stood up in the middle rot the sermon and was about to yell obscenities at him. My wife’s pleading and covering my mouth was what saved the day. That moment, I knew I couldn’t serve the God that my pastor pretended that p be serving. I stood up in rage with my petrified wife I tow, went to the children wings where my children were worshipping, took them up and drove off of the parking lot never to return. That church was our family church for nine years. It was the church where my children were baptized. My children have never forgotten that experience and have now become activists and advocates on behalf of Palestinians. Sadly, that is experience has shaped their attitude toward church and religion in general even though we immediately found another church where they were raised in the Christian faith. Sadly, some misguided Nigerian pastors and so-called Christians who have not read their Bible where it spoke about Christ drinking water from the Samaritan woman in the well, blindly support the Israelis on the basis of some misguided biblical injunction. I have a firsthand experience seeing face to face the worst form of apartheid in Palestine when I spent the summer of 2020 as a visiting professor at the Palestine Polytechnic University in Hebron. I saw Israelis soldiers with guns watching over every move of the Palestinians, taking their land and demolishing their homes and farmland. I witnessed the economic strangulation of Palestinians by the Israeli authority in a two-tier economy where the Palestinians are living like refugees in their homeland, deny the right of free movement and access to the holy Al-Aqsa Mosque in East Jerusalem. I was with a professor friend of mine who had taken me and my wife to the holy Ibrahimi Mosque in Old City Hebron. My good friend during that visit wanted to show my wife and I the house where he took his fresh breath and where he spent his youthful formative years and where his family ran a shop in the Old Hebron market. Of course, we were all excited to see where this great friend of ours and gentle soul grew up. To my and my wife utter shock, as we attempted to cross the security post erected by gun-trotting teenage Israeli soldiers, my wife and I were asked to show our passports. As naturalized African immigrants with US passports, the Israelis soldiers respectfully ushered us in. He bluntly refused our Palestinian Professor friend access to cross the line of divide in his own town and place of birth. It was the first time in my entire life when being black gave us special privilege. Of course, I wasn’t fooled for a second that the teenager soldier would have sent my black butt back without the U.S. passport. We all have read about the second-class status of black Ethiopian Jews in Israel. Of course, have been a victim of racism and racial discrimination ourselves, my wife and I insisted we weren’t going to cross the security line without our Palestinian brother and friend. We also insisted on crossing that line and visiting the site. The soldiers ultimately gave in to our demand giving us just 5-10 minutes. We could sense being watched by the soldiers at the gate and Israelis soldiers at the ubiquitous watchtowers that sits atop of the site, and which dots the landscape of occupied West Bank. I would never forget the tears I shed with young brilliant Palestinian students in a school in Nablus where I had gone with a U.S. Embassy staff to teach these teenagers about entrepreneurship. Some of these teen Palestinians were dual U.S.-Palestinian citizens. They spoke of being trapped in a hopeless enclave with no access to basic Google map, unable to partake in the global digital economy, unable to order and have anything delivered via the online marketplace. They spoke about the constant harassment and imprisonment by the occupying Israeli military. I remember being accompanied by two armored SUV and a contingent of almost 8 heavily armed contract private security company who stood guard even at the door of the school bathroom when I went to ease myself. Mind you, this was an empty high school campus on vacation. There were just about 20 students who were bused in to receive me and the US Embassy staff from Jerusalem plus about three officials of the school. We were ushered into the town by a police rider with siren. I felt totally scandalized by this unnecessary militarization of an innocuous visit to young Palestinians and the sense of siege it created on these young souls and their community. Imagine leaving on a daily basis under such a siege. Well, that is the daily existence of Palestinians in the West Bank. That siege does not spare anyone in the West Bank. During my Fulbright stint at the PPU, I was privileged to participate

Binance Boss Summoned Over Alleged Terrorism Financing

CEO of Binance Holding Limited, Richard Teng has been summoned by the  House of Representatives Committee on Financial Crimes over the allegations of money laundering and financing of terrorism. The Chairman of the Committee, Ginger Onwusibe, issued a seven-day ultimatum to Binance Holdings bossto appear before the committee by March 4, 2024. Recall that the federal government banned the major online crypto platforms to avert the continuous manipulation of the forex market and illicit movement of funds, while Binance, an online cryptocurrency exchange, was accused of money laundering by the Central Bank of Nigeria. Onwusibe warned that the committee will take appropriate measures if the Binance head fails to heed the summon. He criticized Teng for his persistent refusal to attend despite several invitations, highlighting the company’s apparent disregard for the country’s established laws regarding business and financial operations. The committee, under the chairmanship of Onwusibe, sent a letter dated December 12, 2023, summoning the Managing Director of Binance for a hearing scheduled on December 18, 2023. Onwusibe emphasized the committee’s determination to combat financial crimes, citing the authority granted by the Nigerian Constitution to safeguard citizens from such offences, particularly those perpetrated by foreign entities. He highlighted the urgency of protecting the nation’s finances, especially amidst economic challenges like recession, and underscored the seriousness of allegations against Binance, including terrorism financing, money laundering, and tax evasion. Onwusibe stressed the need to preserve tax revenues and prevent channels for funding terrorism while prioritizing the protection of Nigerian investors from exploitative practices by firms like Binance. He insisted on accountability for tax payments and the establishment of physical offices for addressing consumer grievances, signalling an end to exploitation and a commitment to holding perpetrators accountable. Onwusibe said, “The constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria has empowered us to protect Nigerians from financial crimes, especially by foreign companies. “We also have to protect and defend the country’s finances, especially now that the country is nose-diving into recession. The allegations of terrorism financing, money laundering and tax evasion, amongst others, levelled against Binance, are damning enough. “At this material time, we need all the tax dollars and to block the leaks and channels to financing terror. “It is also our duty to do everything in our power to protect Nigerian investors from predatory firms, and no distraction and manipulation can stop us. “You cannot run a company with over 10 million Nigerians on your platform without paying tax and having a physical office where Nigerians can lodge their complaints when they experience any challenge with your service. The era of exploitation is over, and all culprits must be held accountable.“

Anambra Labour Party Lawmakers Forfeit 6-Month Salaries

At least eight Labour Party lawmakers in the Anambra house of assembly have willingly given up their six months salaries to help alleviate economic challenges faced by citizens. The lawmakers said they took the decision at an emergency meeting of the party which held on Thursday. “We, the Labour Party House of Assembly members, wish to lend our voice to the cry of our Leader, His Excellency, Mr. Peter Obi, on the sorry state of the nation, after our emergency caucus meeting,” the statement reads. “We urge His Excellency, President Ahmed Bola Tinubu, to stop work on all other sectors on the economy including infrastructure, for the next six months, and declare a state of emergency on security and hunger in the nation. “Similarly, we urge all other governors of the 36 states, including Prof. Charles Chukwuma Soludo of Anambra state, to suspend all infrastructural development for the next six months and also declare a state of emergency on security and hunger. “For this reason, we, the Labour Party house of assembly members have resolved to relinquish our basis salary for six months as part of our contribution to alleviate the sufferings of the masses. “We must commend our leader, Mr. Peter Obi, for his selfless efforts to ensure the stability and growth of our nation. It really shows that he is committed to making this nation a better place for all of us.” The lawmakers include Nkechi Ogbuefi, Henry Mbachu, Jude Ifeanyi Umennajiego, Fred Ezenwa, Justice Azuka, Paul Obu and Patrick Okafor.

Alex Otti Denied Reports Of Dragging Tinubu To International Court

Abia State Governor, Alex Otti has denied a report that he had dragged President Bola Tinubu to the International Criminal Court (ICC). The report published by IPOB factional leader, Simon Ekpa claimed that Otti sued the Federal Republic of Nigeria and President Tinubu for allegedly refusing to grant the request of the Abia Governor to establish a seaport as well as an international airport in Abia. Ekpa also alleged that Governor Otti had placed a ban on businesses operated by Nigerians of northern extraction resident in Abia State, until the approval for the establishment of the said seaport and international airport is granted. Reacting to the report, Otti through a statement signed his chief press secretary, Kazie Uko on Friday dismissed it as fake. He said: “There is absolutely no truth in this wickedly contrived fable. We are still on the drawing board on the proposed seaport while the Federal Government provided for an airstrip in Abia in the current budget, for which we are grateful. “The general public is by this statement, therefore, advised to ignore the fake report, treat it for what it is, a trash, and consign it to the waste bin, as it is the handiwork of idle rabble-rousers”.