The federal government has urged the media to report activities of the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB) and other issues of national interest professionally.

Minister of Information and Culture, Lai Mohammed, said this in a meeting with select media executives in Lagos on Monday, September 18, 2017.

According to Mohammed, the Nigerian media cannot afford to sit on the fence and allow anarchy to fester, because they cannot operative in an atmosphere of anarchy.

He said IPOB is a contraption sponsored by a “coalition of the politically disgruntled and the treasury looters” to destabilise the country and the President Muhammadu Buhari-led administration.

For him, with Buhari in the saddle, those disgruntled elements would not have access to loot public funds anymore.

Mohammed said, “The activities of IPOB became heightened with the advent of this administration, and have been unrelenting since then. If this is coincidental, then that coincidence is uncanny, at the least. Remember that Nnamdi Kanu, who led a protest at the Nigeria House in London against Boko Haram insurgency and in support of Nigeria’s unity under the (Goodluck) Jonathan administration, has suddenly metamorphosed into an IPOB monster who will rather set the nation ablaze.

“Has anyone wondered why IPOB decided to up the ante, so to say, in its violent campaign immediately it was announced that Nigeria has come out of recession? Now, instead of the government being given the chance to consolidate on that monumental achievement, it is being distracted, and the airwaves have been polluted with the activities of IPOB. The good news of the end of recession and its fall-outs are being replaced in the headlines with the IPOB show of shame.

“We saw this trend early on and we warned the nation about it. The starting point was the rise of hate speech, fake news and disinformation. These were used in an attempt to downgrade the achievements of the administration and to hoodwink an unsuspecting public into believing that the administration has not moved the nation forward an inch since assuming office. Since 2016, we have been calling attention to the dangers posed by hate speech, fake news and disinformation. Our calls did not gain traction until those behind the campaign sought to overwhelm the nation.

“The self-imposed IPOB leader, Nnamdi Kanu, is the master of hate speech. No one, including the same people whose rights he claimed to be championing, escaped his vitriolic and primitive attacks. We challenge all his sympathisers to scrutinise his incendiary, divisive and inciting speeches, the name-calling and the derogatory remarks about the nation’s leaders, and then tell the nation if such do not constitute hate speech. Leaders of thought and commentators who have shown the inclination to accommodate Kanu and his excesses should say if this is what they expect from someone who wants to lead.”

Mohammed said no nation would take IPOB’s activities lying low.

He justified the military’s verdict that IPOB is a terrorist organisation, with the allegations that the group, which had been professing non-violence, mounts roadblocks and extorts innocent citizens, confronts Nigerian military, triggers conflagration nationwide through attacks and reprisals, among other atrocious acts.

“IPOB engaged in physical confrontation with troops at a checkpoint on September 11, 2017, during which they attempted to snatch soldiers’ rifles,” he said.

On IPOB’s claim that it was fighting for the rights of Ndigbo, the minister said the group was not fighting anybody’s rights.

However, the Senate President, Bukola Saraki, has condemned the labelling of IPOB as a terrorist organisation by the army, describing it as unconstitutional.

“I wish to state that the announcement of the proscription of the group known as Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB) by governors of the South East states and the categorisation of the group as a ‘terrorist organisation’ by the Nigerian military are unconstitutional and do not follow due process.

“Our laws make clear provisions for taking such actions and, without the due process being followed, such declaration cannot have effect.

“I am sure the president will do the needful by initiating the right process. This will go a long way in demonstrating to the world at large that we are a country that operates by laid down process under every circumstance.

“So, those who have been hammering on this point should maintain their cool,” he said.

By Inno Onwuji

The Appeal Court, Lagos Division, on Monday, September 18, 2017 fixed hearing of an appeal filed by a former First Lady, Dame Patience Jonathan, against the temporary forfeiture of the sum of $5.8 million to November 3.‎‎

Justice Mojisola Olatoregun of a Federal High Court, Lagos had on April 26, in a ruling on an ex-parte application filed by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) made the order.

The judge had also ordered the temporary forfeiture of the sum of N2,421,953,522.78 found in an Ecobank Nigeria Ltd account number 2022000760 in the name of La Wari Furniture and Baths Limited, which the commission said is linked to the former First Lady.‎

But, dissatisfied with the ruling, Patience Jonathan, through her counsel, Chief Ifedayo Adedipe (SAN),‎ approached the Court of Appeal to challenge the ruling and also to ask that the order be vacated‎.‎

Although, the suit, which was initially assigned to three Justices: John Ikyeh, Abimbola Obaseki-Adejumo and Abraham Georgewill last July 5, could not hold at last sitting on July 12 following the withdrawal of Justice Abraham Georgewill from the panel.

As a result of this, Justice Ikyeh, who presided over the appeal, at the last adjourned date had noted: “Three judges were required to form a quorum before an appeal could be heard”.

However, at the resumed hearing of the matter on Monday, the new three-man panel of the appellate court Justices, Mohammed Lawal-Garba, Nimpar Yargata and Inyang Ogakwu, granted a prayer by the former First Lady seeking to amend her notice of appeal and file additional grounds of appeal.

The lead justice, Lawal-Garba, also directed lawyer representing La Wari Furniture and Baths Limited, Chief Mike Ozekhome (SAN), to file separate notice of appeal for his client within 48 hours.

The order was sequel to the striking out of the name of La Wari Furniture and Baths Limited from the main appeal filed by Mrs Jonathan.

The court had earlier granted leave to the company to appeal against the decision of the lower court.

Consequently, the hearing of the two appeals has been adjourned to November 3.

By Chinyere Obia

The Chief Justice of Nigeria (CJN), Justice Walter Samuel Nkanu Onnoghen, has directed all Heads of Courts in the country to compile and forward to the National Judicial Council (NJC) comprehensive lists of all corruption and financial crime cases being handled by their various courts.

This is even as the CJN equally ordered the Heads of Courts to designate at least one court in their various jurisdictions as Special Courts solely for the purpose of hearing and speedily determining corruption and financial crime cases depending on the volume of such cases in their jurisdictions.

The Hon. CJN read the riot act on Monday, September 18, 2017 at a special session of the Supreme Court of Nigeria to mark the commencement of the 2017/2018 Legal Year and the swearing-in of 29 new Senior Advocates of Nigeria (SAN) in Abuja.

To ensure the effectiveness of this new policy, the Hon. CJN marching orders to all Heads of Courts to clamp down on both Prosecution and Defence Counsel who indulge in the unethical practice of deploying delay tactics to stall criminal trials.

To this effect, the Heads of Courts are to henceforth report cases of unnecessary delays to the National Judicial Council which in turn, would transmit them to the Legal Practitioners Privileges Committee (LPPC), in the case of SANs, and the Legal Practitioners Disciplinary Committee (LPDC), in the case of other legal practitioners.

In the event where such cases come on appeal to the Court of Appeal or the Supreme Court, the Hon. CJN directed relevant departments to fix special dates solely for hearing and determining such appeals.

To properly monitor and effectively enforce the new policy, Justice Onnoghen announced that the NJC would constitute an Anti-Corruption Cases Trial Monitoring Committee (ACTMC) at its 88th meeting to be saddled with the responsibility of ensuring that both Trial and Appellate Courts handling corruption and financial crime cases key into and abide by the renewed efforts at ridding the country of the cankerworm of corruption.

The CJN said that, with pre-election appeals cases now out of the way, the Supreme Court would henceforth channel energy towards clearing as many of the corruption and financial crime cases as possible.

“We in the Supreme Court, having reduced the pre-election appeals in the course of the Third Term of the last Legal Year, will devote much of this First Term in dealing, by way of task work, with the identified 18 EFCC, ICPC, and Economic Crime cases alongside the normal Civil, Criminal, and Political cases,” he said.

The CJN also warned bribe givers to desist from their dastardly act and vowed to bring the full wrath of the law on anyone caught in the act.

His words: “I encourage members of the public to cut off the supply side of corruption by stopping the offering of bribes to judicial officers. The full wrath of the law will be visited on all those caught in this nefarious activity that is capable of eroding integrity and confidence in the Judiciary.”

Calling on the 29 Senior Advocates of Nigeria to guard their ranks jealously, the CJN warned that the award was a privilege, which stood to be withdrawn if abused.

“I must remind you that being a privilege, it can, and shall be withdrawn if abused. The privileged you are conferred with today is not intended as a weapon of intimidation or licence for rudeness and arrogance,” he warned.

The CJN also used the medium to announce the advances the Supreme Court had made in the use of technology towards achieving fair and speedy resolution of cases to include a technology-enabled Judges’ bench, high-definition audio/video recording equipment, FTR software to enable real-time transcription and transmission of court proceedings, high-tech mobile podium for presentation, document camera to display exhibits, and viewing screen in the gallery, among others.

By Chinyere Obia