An Appeal Court, Lagos Division on Monday, July 17, 2017 upheld judgment of a Federal High Court, in Lagos, which had earlier sentenced nine foreigners to five years’ imprisonment for theft of crude oil from Nigeria.
Fossil fuel infrastructure: oil installation
The convicts are Axel Jabone, Zahirul Islam, Juanito Infantado, Suarin Alave, Gatila Gadayan, Islam Shahinul, Islam Rafiqul, Shaikh Nomany and Rolando Comendador.
The three-man panel of Justices comprising Hussein Mukhtar (presiding), M. L. Shuaib and Frederick Oho also dismissed the twin appeals of the appellants for lack of merit.
Also, Justice Oho resolved all the issues in favour of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC).
“All the issues are resolved against the appellants. The appeal is manifestly unmeritorious and is hereby dismissed for lacking in merit,” he held.
On December 15, 2015 the lower court convicted the foreigners – five Filipinos and four Bangladeshi – of stealing 3,423.097 metric tonnes of crude oil. Thereafter, Justice Ibrahim Buba gave each of them an option of N20 million fine and said “it was the likes of the convicts, who were arrested by the Navy on March 27, 2015, that gave Nigeria a bad name”.
The EFCC tried them on four counts of illegal dealing in petroleum products.
Counsel to EFCC, Rotimi Oyedepo, said the foreigners violated Section 1(19) (6) of the Miscellaneous Offences Act, Cap M17, Laws of the Federation of Nigeria 2004, an offence punishable under Section 17 of the same Act.
The Court of Appeal in Lagos has ordered the Chief Judge of the Federal High Court to re-assign a suit on electricity tariff to a new judge for adjudication.
Electrical installations
The appeal court held that Justice Mohammed Idris, who heard the case, violated the appellant’s right to fair hearing and thereby committed “a grave error”.
Activist-lawyer Toluwani Adebiyi sued the Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission (NERC) over planned increase in electricity tariff.
The judge made an interim order that status quo be maintained. The order, in effect, barred NERC from increasing the tariff.
But NERC, through its lawyer Chief Anthony Idigbe (SAN), filed a motion on notice seeking to discharge the interim order.
Justice Idris, in his ruling, dismissed NERC’s application for being filed outside the seven days prescribed by the court’s rules.
The judge similarly dismissed NERC’s preliminary objection on the basis that it was also filed out of time.
Dissatisfied, the commission appealed, challenging Justice Idris ruling.
Delivering judgments in the appeals yesterday, Justice Abraham Georgewill held that Justice misused his powers of discretion.
The appeal court held that Justice Idris “approbated and reprobated” when he heard NERC’s application to regularise its processes, and still set aside the appellant’s motion to discharge the interim order.
Justice Georgewill said Justice Idris relied on technicality in denying NERC of fair hearing, thereby occasioning a miscarriage of justice.
“The trial court accorded undue reverence and relevance to technicality. The era of technical justice is gone in our courts. Substantial justice is key,” the justice said.
Holding that NERC’s motion on notice seeking to discharge the ex-parte order was competent, Justice Georgewill held: “A breach of right to fair hearing renders the entire proceedings a nullity.”
He further held that Justice Idris “engaged in injudicious and capricious exercise of discretion, which is a flagrant breach of Section 36 of the 1999 Constitution”.
“This is a clear case of travesty of justice to hear the plaintiff’s case after striking out the motion on notice to discharge the order. The law should take its cause. The court below failed to observe the principle of fair hearing which is a rule of natural justice.
“The right to fair hearing is not a cosmetic right. It is a fundamental right. While justice need not be delayed, it need not be rushed.
“The appeal hereby succeeds. The case is consequently remitted to the lower court for another judge to determine the case as may be assigned by the Chief Judge.
“Going by the grave error of the court below, the motion on notice is remitted for same to be heard and determined expeditiously. The appeal has merit. The entire proceedings of the lower court are hereby set aside. There shall be no order as to court.”
The appeal court also upheld appeals by NERC and Distribution Companies (DISCOs) challenging the dismissal of its preliminary objection.
It, however, dismissed an appeal filed by Zikglass Networks Ltd, describing the company as a “meddlesome interloper”.
“That a person is a party to a suit does not mean he has the right to appeal a decision which has not affected him. That will be a mere academic exercise. This is a needless appeal which did not raise any question for determination.
“The appeal is completely an abuse of court process and is hereby dismissed,” the judge held.
Nigeria’s Senior Men Basketball team, D’Tigers, has been drawn in Group A of the FIBA/Afro Basketball 2017 competition, scheduled for Senegal and Tunisia, from September 8 to 16, 2017.
According to FIBA Africa, defending champions Nigeria is drawn alongside DR Congo, Mali, and Cote d’lvoire.
The official draws for the competition took place in Mauritius at the weekend.
Group B of the competition has Angola, Central African Republic, Morocco and Uganda, while Group C has co-host Tunisia as well as Guinea, Rwanda and Cameroon.
The other host country Senegal has been drawn in Group D, which has Mozambique, Egypt and South Africa.
The group stage of the competition will take place simultaneously in Dakar and Tunis from September 8 to10.
Teams drawn in Groups A and C will be hosted in Dakar, while Tunis will host Groups B and D.
The Tunisian capital city will go on to host matches from the quarter-finals, semi-finals and final from September 14 to16.
The draw ceremony also served as the unveiling of the newly designed FIBA afro Basketball trophy.
In a related development, Houston Rockets financier, Lesley Alexander, has said the NBA Club is for sale.
The billionaire businessman bought the club before the start of 1994 season for a reported $85 million and was recently valued at $1.65 billion by Forbes.
Rockets CEO, Tad Brown, said the weight of ownership has taken its toll on Alexander who wants to focus more of his time and energy on philanthropic efforts and family.
Rockets won back-to-back titles in 1994 and 1995 with Nigerian-born Akeem Olajuwon, finished last season with a third best record in the Western Conference, but on the line for their championship ambitions by signing Tim Harden to a contract extension, earlier this month that would be $228 billion over the next six seasons.
The Environmental Rights Action/Friends of the Earth Nigeria (ERA/FoEN) has demanded the Nigerian government institute a probe of members of the Nigerian delegation that attended the seventh session of the Conference of Parties (COP7) to the Framework Convention on Tobacco Control which held in Delhi in 2016 to establish their links with the tobacco industry.
An event during the Seventh Session of the Conference of the Parties (COP7) to the World Health Organisation (WHO) Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (WHO- FCTC) held in India
ERA/FoEN made the call following a Reuters investigation released on Thursday, July 13, 2017 which revealed that Philip Morris International (PMI) has for years run a secret global campaign to undermine the World Health Organisation Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (WHO-FCTC). The ERA/FoEN stated that tobacco industry lobbyists among government delegations at the treaty talks nearly marred debates with questionable suggestions.
The Reuters leak revealed, among others, that PMI strategy of undermining tobacco control policies includes lobbying lawmakers, bureaucrats and other government officials; trying to move tobacco issues away from health departments and; deploying third parties, including retail groups, to make its case and exert pressure on decision-makers. Another strategy is engaging the media on tobacco issues and generating public debate to influence decision-makers.
In the report, Reuters exposed how a Nigerian delegate at the treaty talks asked that “tobacco epidemic” be removed from a draft proposal on liability for tobacco-related harm, a position that most countries found very shocking. Head of the Nigerian delegation, Professor Christiana Ukoli, subsequently disassociated other Nigerian delegates from that statement.
The Reuters leaks, which might be considered the largest on the tobacco industry, perused internal documents of PMI and showed details of the company’s operations, including clandestine corporate lobbying campaign.
In a statement issued by ERA/FoEN head, media & campaigns, Philip Jakpor in Lagos, the group said: “We are not at all shocked at these grave activities of PMI because we have all along alerted that the company is in the business of stymieing the implementation of the life-saving WHO-FCTC provisions. The magnitude is what we never knew. This is very alarming.”
ERA/FoEN Deputy Executive Director, Akinbode Oluwafemi, said: “That PMI infiltrated multiple countries’ delegations to consciously derail the talks is very disturbing, but to know that some Nigerian delegates may have been conscripted into this illicit plan is an eye-opener. It also reinforces our demand that the Nigerian government insulate the National Tobacco Control Act from tobacco industry interference.”
Oluwafemi explained that the shocking details in the report puts in perspective a host of issues, including the controversial demand from certain quarters that the implementation of the NTC Act be moved from the Federal Ministry of Health to another agency of government.
“One of the documented strategies of PMI is to try to move tobacco issues away from health departments. That is exactly what the spurious Amendment Bill on the NTC Act is recommending in contravention of global practice. Now the picture is getting clearer,” he noted.
The ERA/FoEN boss urged the Nigerian government to probe possible links between members of the delegation to the treaty talks with the tobacco industry, and also accord equal speed to fast-tracking regulations for implementing the NTC Act as is anticipated of the planned enforcement of nine provisions of the Act that do not require regulations.
“The federal government cannot be docile in the face of such evidence. Some public officials may be working hand-in-hand with PMI to thwart the implementation of tobacco control policies. If this is confirmed they and their partner PMI must be sanctioned. The Nigerian government must now institute the much-awaited probe of those behind the shameful display at the treaty talks,” Oluwafemi insisted.
The expert review of the first order draft of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) Special Report on “Global Warming of 1.5ºC” (SR15) will take place from July 13 to September 24, 2017.
Valérie Masson-Delmotte, Co-Chair of Working Group I, IPCC
The IPCC has called on Expert Reviewers to register for the event from Monday, July 17, 2017 until one week before the end of the review period.
Experts from around the world will provide scientific comments to the author team of the report: “Global Warming of 1.5 °C: an IPCC special report on the impacts of global warming of 1.5°C above pre-industrial levels and related global greenhouse gas emission pathways, in the context of strengthening the global response to the threat of climate change, sustainable development, and efforts to eradicate poverty”.
“The quality of the IPCC assessment strongly depends on the contribution made by Expert Reviewers from all over the world”, says Valérie Masson-Delmotte, Co-Chair of Working Group I. “We solicit experts to join us in this review effort, including early career scientists, as an opportunity to participate in the IPCC process and contribute directly to the preparation of the special report.”
All IPCC reports go through two stages of formal review. The first draft is evaluated by Expert Reviewers, before a second draft is reviewed by both governments and experts for final assessment. This comprehensive review process ensures that IPCC reports cover the most up to date scientific, technical and socio-economic findings, and are representative of a broad range of independent expertise from developed and developing countries.
Expert Reviewers are invited to comment on the report to achieve a comprehensive, exhaustive, objective and transparent assessment of the available scientific literature. Contributions to the Expert Review are acknowledged once the report is finalised.
To register as an Expert Reviewer, a self-declaration of expertise is required, says the IPCC, adding that once the registration is complete, reviewers are requested to respect the confidentiality of the draft that is provided solely for the purpose of the review. The drafts may not be cited, quoted or distributed, noted the IPCC.
“Global Warming of 1.5ºC” will be finalised in September 2018 and is being prepared in response to an invitation from the 21st Conference of the Parties (COP21) to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) in December 2015. The Panel approved the outline of the report in October 2016.
Friday, July 28, 2017 is World Nature Conservation Day (WNCD) and activities will hold across the world to raise awareness about nature conservation and the impact of human influence. Nigeria will not be an exception.
Ibrahim Usman Jibril, Minister of State for Environment
The Wildlife Africa Initiative, a wildlife conservation, research, education, and rescue initiative, is partnering with the Federal Ministry of Environment and the Nigeria National Park Service to mark the 2017 WNCD that has “Thank You Nature” as its theme. The event will hold at the National Park Service Headquarters in Abuja.
Deputy Director, Head, Wildlife & CITES Management, Department of Forestry in the Federal Ministry of Environment, will be the guest speaker at the event. Nature Ambassadors will be selected and EcoClubs will be formed in schools represented during the event, it was gathered.
According to the group’s Director of Advocacy, ‘Seyifunmi Adebote, the “Thank You Nature” event will be an opportunity for lovers of conservation across Nigeria to connect with nature.
“It also seeks to make the public have a clear understanding of the relevance of nature and natural resources to them while engaging the public in environmental conservation, education, and management,” he added.
Celebrated on July 28 each year, World Nature Conservation Day recognises that a healthy environment is the foundation for a stable and productive society and, to ensure the well-being of present and future generations, mankind must participate to protect, conserve, and sustainably manage its natural resources.
The National Biosafety Management Agency (NBMA), alongside the Voice of Nigeria (VON), has inaugurated a 10-man joint committee as part of efforts to ensure effective publicity of the activities of the NBMA.
Mr. Osita Okechukwu, Director General of VON (left), with Dr. Rufus Ebegba, Director General/CEO of NBMA
The two parties also drafted a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) that will help to increase awareness on the regulation of modern biotechnology and its products in the country and ensure effective publicity of the activities of the NBMA.
Dr. Rufus Ebegba, Director General/CEO of NBMA, during the inauguration of the joint committee in Abuja, lauded the need for the collaboration between NBMA and VON, saying that the NBMA needed partners that would be true to its mandate to regulate the safe practice of modern biotechnology in Nigeria.
Dr. Ebegba said that the joint committee would ensure that the objectives of the proposed MoU are achieved as the MoUs signed with other sister agencies have created a foundation for effective regulation and synergy.
“We believe in fostering collaborations with agencies that will drive the mandate of the Agency to regulate the safe practice of modern biotechnology with intent to improve our socio-economic life. This collaboration with VON will strengthen the accurate dissemination of information,” he added.
Mr. Osita Okechukwu, Director General of VON, during the inauguration, acknowledged the importance of accurate news reportage of the activities of NBMA and its role in regulating modern biotechnology as, according to him, the country has increased its export of agricultural produce to diversify the economy.
“We need to ensure that products going out of our country are safe, so we are prepared to understand the policies of NBMA and thereby report factually and with depth,” Okechukwu submitted.
The purpose of the joint committee, it was gathered, is to solidify collaboration between the parties for effective publicity on biosafety and proper regulation of modern biotechnology and the use of GMOs in Nigeria. The joint committee is expected to begin work on the MOU with the view of bridging the information gap between the Agency and the public.
A Lagos High Court in Igbosere has adjourned the suit filed by the Incorporated Trustees of Word of Life Bible Church against the Lagos State Government over non-issuance of building permit to October 11, 2017.
Victoria Island, Lagos
In a suit marked LD/3040/14 before Justice Christopher Balogun, the church is asking the court to order the state government to issue it with building permit for its plot of land in Victoria Island, having paid all necessary fees assessed by the state in respect of the planned structure.
The claimant said it is the lawful owner of Block 1, Plot 21E, Victoria Island Annex Residential Scheme in Eti-Osa Local Government Area.
Joined as defendants in the suit are the Lagos State Governor, Attorney-General, Ministry of Physical Planning and Urban Development, Building Control Agency, Physical Planning Permit Authority, and the Task Force on Environmental Sanitation.
The claimant, through its counsel, Kayode Bankole, averred that it acquired the property in 2003 with Certificate of Occupancy No. 68/68.199AR from Habib Nigeria Bank Ltd.
It said it secured an approval for change of use of the land from residential to institutional (place of worship) via a September 7, 2004 letter and that its application for a building plan approval was received, processed and assessed for payment of various sums of money which the claimant paid.
“The claimant applied for and secured land clearance from the defendants, by which the claimant was confirmed as the assignee of the land,” the claimants stated.
The defendants, the claimant said, demanded and received a total of N4,590,132.99 as Land Use Charge and other payments so as to allow it continue with its church building, when suddenly the defendant posted a contravention notice, dated January 20, 2014 on its fence, alleging absence of development permit as ground of seeking removal of the building on the land within two days.
According to the claimant, the defendant allegedly posted another two-day notice on January 21 and “demolished part of the fence without any lawful justification and in bad faith.”
It said the defendants, by two letters of July 27, 2010 and June 25, 2011 admitted it “loss all documents submitted by the claimant and demanded another set of documents and fees, which the claimant obliged.”
It is seeking, among others, a declaration that the defendants acts on or about January 21, 2014, amounted to trespass, was illegal, unconstitutional and contrary to Section 43 of the 1999 Constitution.
It also wants a declaration that “the sealing of the claimant’s property since April 2014 by the 4th defendant is wrong, illegal and unlawful and an order directing it to unseal the property. The defendants were yet to file their defence as at July 6.
The G20 and other nations have taken huge strides over the last year towards mobilising the trillions of dollars of public and private capital needed to make sustainable development and climate action a reality, according to new UN Environment (UNEP) research released recently.
Erik Solheim, Executive Director of the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP). The first COP to the Minamata Convention on Mercury will take place in September 2017 in Geneva, Switzerland. Photo credit: OECD/Michael Dean
UN Conference on Trade and Development research from 2015 showed that the investment required to bring sustainable development in developing countries was short $2.5 trillion each year, with as much as 10 times that needed globally in the years to come – mainly from private sources.
However, the UN Environment Inquiry into the Design of a Sustainable Financial System’s “Green Finance Progress Report” – a contribution to the G20’s Green Finance Study Group (GFSG) – finds dozens of encouraging policies and financial product developments that show the public and private sectors are serious about changing this trend.
“The world has committed to creating a better future for people and planet. But we will not be able to achieve our sustainable vision without the global financial system using its capital to fuel the transformation,” said Erik Solheim, head of UNEP.
“This new research from UN Environment, a contribution to the G20 Green Finance Study Group, shows encouraging progress in this regard. From a record number of new green finance measures to ambitious plans for green finance hubs, we are seeing the smart money move to green financing.”
Highlights from the report
Green financing at scale will be critical to achieve the G20’s goal of securing balanced and sustained growth. Establishing the GFSG during China’s G20 Presidency last year showed the G20 understood this – reinforced by Germany’s decision to continue the work during its G20 Presidency this year.
The G20 Green Finance Synthesis Report, adopted at the G20 Leaders’ Summit in Hangzhou in September 2016, set out seven options identified by the GFSG to accelerate the mobilization of green finance.
Over the last year, considerable progress has been made against these seven options by all G20 members, and the international community, in increasingly systemic national action, greater international cooperation, and increased market leadership.
More measures related to green finance have been introduced since June 2016 compared with any other one-year period since 2000. The trends and measures have resulted in increased flows of green finance, most notably in the issuance of green bonds, which grew by around 100 per cent to $81 billion in 2016.
Examples of specific country action include:
India: The Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) issued disclosure requirements for the issuing and listing of green debt securities.
Germany: The federal state of Hesse has announced the intention to make the city of Frankfurt a green finance hub.
China: In June 2017, the State Council announced five pilot areas for green finance.
France: In January 2017, France issued a landmark €7 billion long-dated 22-year sovereign green bond, with a view to promoting best market practices (especially in terms of evaluation and impact reporting) and support the development of the green bond market.
South Africa: The Johannesburg Stock Exchange (JSE) is developing green bond listing requirements in line with international best practice.
Brazil: The Central Bank issued guidelines on integrated risk management including environmental risk at the end of March 2017.
US: The California State Insurance Commissioner launched the Climate Risk Carbon Initiative online database in January 2017 providing information on high-carbon investments of large insurance companies.
These changes to the financial rules of the game have helped drive the reallocation of capital in financial and capital markets. A comprehensive review looking beyond green finance to assess sustainable finance more broadly indicates that global sustainably managed assets under management have increased by 25 per cent compared to the last survey undertaken in 2014.
Encouraging positive feedback loops are emerging. Increases in green bond primary market issuance have improved secondary market liquidity, allowing new funds to open and operate within existing liquidity and credit-worthiness constraints. Four new green bond funds were launched in the first quarter of 2017.
According to the report, the progress made nationally, internationally and in financial and capital markets shows that financial system is reshaping itself to align with the sustainable development imperatives of the 21st century.
“The challenge now is to rapidly increase capital flows to investments that will support our sustainable development objectives and create commercially viable green businesses for decades to come,” said Solheim. “The G20 and others have set the wheels in motion. Now is the time to press hard on the accelerator.”
Sustainable agriculture practices must be widely implemented in order to stem an alarming loss of biodiversity and to protect endangered species.
Scott Vaughan, Preident and CEO of International Institute for Sustainable Development (IISD)
This is according to the “Standards and Biodiversity” report released recently by the International Institute for Sustainable Development (IISD).
Agricultural production currently accounts for 40 per cent of global land surface and is responsible for 70 per cent of projected losses in terrestrial biodiversity due to widespread land conversion, pollution and soil degradation.
“What happens in agriculture matters,” said Scott Vaughan, President/CEO, IISD. “Growing demand for certified products presents a major opportunity to protect our natural resources. The market is rewarding efforts to conserve critical habitats, protect soil and water quality, and mitigate the impacts of climate change. But market forces are not enough.”
The market value of certified agricultural products was estimated to be $52.5 billion in 2015 for eight major commodities (bananas, cotton, coffee, cocoa, tea, sugar, palm oil and soybeans) according to Standards and Biodiversity. That is up from $31.6 billion in 2012, the previous estimate by the “State of Sustainability Initiatives Review”.
Two other major commodities – fisheries and forestry – also registered significant growth, according to the new estimates. The sustainable forestry market grew to $231.8 billion in 2015 from $200.3 billion in 2012. The sustainable fisheries market grew to $8.9 billion in 2015 from $6.8 billion in 2012. The total trade value of the top 10 sustainable commodity markets grew to $293.2 billion in 2015 from $238.7 billion in 2012.
Some agricultural commodity markets are now dominated by sustainability standards. Half of global coffee production was standards-compliant in 2014 (the latest available data,) along with 30 per cent of cocoa production, 22 per cent of palm oil production and 18 per cent of global tea production.
The study forecasts that four other agricultural commodities – bananas, cotton, sugar and soybeans – will have compliance rates of at least 10 per cent by 2020.
However, standards remain a negligible force across global agricultural production as a whole. If those eight agricultural commodities became 100 per cent certified, the study found it would still only amount to 12 per cent of global agricultural land area.
“If voluntary standards are to play a major role in reducing the impacts of agriculture on biodiversity loss, they will have to, at a minimum, establish a significant presence among other crops – most notably, staple crops such as wheat, maize and rice,” said study author Jason Potts, a senior associate at IISD.
“The good news is that we can build political will to address biodiversity loss,” Potts added. “Parties of the UN’s Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) are leading efforts to identify concrete solutions and immediate actions to achieve their biological diversity targets.”
The IISD study builds upon the CBD’s Biodiversity Impact Indicators for Commodity Production (BIICP), which identifies a core set of biodiversity indicators that can help governments and the agricultural industry understand how best to reduce negative impacts on biodiversity. The CBD Secretariat contributed to the development of the report.
“Voluntary sustainability standards are an important element of the necessary policy mix to redirect funding towards sustainable production practices and reducing biodiversity loss,” said Dr. Cristiana Paşca Palmer, Executive Secretary, CBD. “This report makes an important contribution by providing a better understanding of the role and potential of different voluntary sustainability standards, and what policy-makers can do to promote their wider application and their more robust integration into overall policy frameworks.”
The study was released at ISEAL Alliance’s annual meeting – the 2017 Global Sustainability Standards Conference – in Zurich, Switzerland. It identifies a wealth of information about specific commodities, such as:
Cocoa certification appears to be well positioned to promote improved soil fertility where it matters most through a strong presence in countries facing soil fertility challenges.
Coffee certification appears to be well positioned to limit the negative impacts on lakes and other water sources because standards are highly active in areas where the threat of eutrophication is most prominent.
The banana sector may be approaching a “glass ceiling” on growth, as it is currently limited to the small portion of production that is traded internationally.
Cotton certification appears to be under-represented in countries where cotton-related water use is most problematic: the expansion of certified cotton across Pakistan and India is strategically important.
Palm oil certification is geographically focused where forest conversion is most problematic but may nevertheless have limited impact due to the scale of demand for conventional palm oil by Asian countries.
Soy certification is most active in key areas of biodiversity vulnerability but has low adoption rates due to low demand for certified soy from Asia.
Sugarcane certification is highly concentrated in Brazil, which has lower per-volume fertiliser use than other major producing countries. India, China, Pakistan and Mexico represent strategic opportunities for the expansion of certified sugarcane aimed at protecting water quality.
Tea production compliant with standards accounts for 18 per cent of global tea production (by volume) but only 13 per cent of global area under tea production, as it appears to be concentrated in higher-yielding production systems.
