Wednesday, 29 October 2014

NJC Meets Thursday To Appoint New Chief Justice of Nigeria

Chief Justice
The current CJN, Justice Aloma Mukhtar, who is the first female and the 13th indigenous CJN, will retire on Nov 20 upon attaining the mandatory retirement age of 70.
Barring any last minute change, Mukhtar is likely to be succeeded by Justice Mahmud Mohammed, who is currently the next most senior Justice of the Supreme Court.
In fulfillment of constitutional provisions on the appointment of the CJN, the Federal Judicial Service Commission, FJSC had met on October 23 and submitted a list of the next three most senior Justices of the Supreme Court to the NJC.
The NJC is expected to meet on Thursday to recommend one of those on the list to President Goodluck Jonathan.
Top on the FJSC’s recommended list is Justice Mohammed, who is currently the Deputy Chairman of the NJC. The CJN is the Chairman of both the NJC and the FJSC.
Others on the list are said to be two other Justices of the Supreme Court in order of seniority, Justices Walter Onnoghen and Tanko Muhammad.
Usually, the most senior among those recommended by the FJSC, and who is next to the outgoing CJN is appointed the new Chief Justice by the President.
The President’s choice often requires approval by the Senate in line with section 231(1) of the Constitution.
A source at the FJSC, who is familiar with the processes of appointing the nation’s CJN, confirmed the development to Channels Television correspondent on Sunday.
“By sending additional two names to accompany the next most senior Justice of the Supreme Court is just to fulfil all righteousness. It is almost certain that the NJC at its meeting on Thursday will recommend Justice Mohammed to the President and the President will then appoint him as the next CJN,” the source said.
Paragraph 21(a) and (a) (i) of the Third Schedule of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, which guides the appointment of the CJN, Justices/judges and heads of various federal courts, says,
“The National Judicial Council shall have power to:
“Recommend to the President from among the list of persons submitted to it by – the Federal Judicial Service Commission, persons for appointment to the offices of the Chief Justice of Nigeria, the Justices of the Supreme Court, the President and Justices of the Court of Appeal and the Chief Judge and judges of the Federal High Court.”


LPPC Restores Aribisala’s SAN Rank

Legal Practitioners Privileges Committee (LPPC) has lifted the suspension placed on Chief A.A. Aribisala as a Senior Advocate of Nigeria (SAN).
On February 26, 2013 LPPCHE suspended Aribisala  from further use of the rank of SAN based on two petitions received by the LPPC on allegations of flagrant breach of professional ethics and professional misconduct.
A statement by Olorundahunsi who is also the Secretary of LPPC said the LLPC at its meeting on Monday,  decided to lift  Aribisala’s suspension, after consideration of all material facts including  notices of withdrawal/discontinuance and subsequent letter of withdrawal of petition and terms of settlement.
“Pursuant to the committee’s decision, Aribisala has been restored to the rank of SAN with effect from October 27.
The committee also said that any future act by Aribisala that ran foul of the LPPC rule would attract a stiffer sanction.
President Goodluck Jonathan has approved the appointment of Justice Chima Centus Nweze as a Justice of the Supreme Court after his confirmation by  the Senate.
The appointment is in  accordance with the provisions of Section 231 (2) of the 1999 constitution.
A statement issued by the Chief Registrar of the Supreme Court, Sunday Olorundahunsi, said the  Chief Justice of Nigeria, Justice Mariam Aloma Mukhtar, would today  swear in Justice Nweze.
Until his present appointment, Justice Nweze, who hails from Enugu State, was a justice of the Court of Appeal, Calabar Division.
He would replace Justice Christopher Chukwuma-Enneh who retired as a justice of the Supreme Court last April after attaining mandatory retirement age of 70 years.

‘Regulatory Efficiency, Legal Protections Key to Supporting Entrepreneurs’

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A new World Bank Group report has revealed that in the past year, governments around the world continued to implement broad range of reforms aimed at improving the regulatory environment for local entrepreneurs.
Economies that both improve the efficiency of regulatory procedures and strengthen the legal institutions that support enterprise, trade, and exchange are better able to facilitate growth and development, the report unveiled in Washington D.C yesterday stated.
Titled: “Doing Business 2015: Going BeyondEfficiency,” the report also revealed that local entrepreneurs in 123 economies saw improvements in their regulatory environment in the past year.
From June 2013 to June 2014, the report, which covered 189 economies worldwide, documented 230 business reforms—with 145 aimed at reducing the complexity and cost of complying with business regulations, and 85 aimed at strengthening legal institutions.
According to the report, sub-Saharan Africa accounted for the largest number of reforms.
“An economy’s success or failure depends on many variables; among these, often overlooked, are the nuts and bolts that facilitate enterprise and business,” Senior Vice President and Chief Economist of the World Bank, Kaushik Basu said.
Basu added: “By this I mean the regulations that determine how easy it is to start a business, the speed and efficiency with which contracts are enforced, the paperwork needed for trade, and so on. Making improvements in these regulations is virtually costless, but it can play a transformative role in promoting growth and development.”
Since its inception, the “Doing Business” has captured more than 2,400 regulatory reforms making it easier to do business. These efforts have led to tangible results for small businesses all over the world.
For example, 10 years ago, importing key inputs from overseas took 48 days for a Colombian entrepreneur; now, it takes only 13 days—the same as for an entrepreneur in Portugal.
Similarly, starting a business took 57 days for a budding entrepreneur in Senegal 10 years ago; now that process requires just six days—just one more day than in Norway.
And in India, a little over a decade ago, an entrepreneur seeking a loan to grow his business would have had little luck, because financialinstitutions lacked access to information systems to assess creditworthiness.
“Today, thanks to the creation and expansion of a national credit bureau offering credit scores and coverage on par with those in some high-income economies, a small business in India with a good financial history is more likely to get credit and hire more workers,” the report added.


Hearing in Fani-Kayode’s no-case submission stalled

Fani-Kayode
Hearing in the no-case submission made by a former Minister of Aviation, Femi Fani-Kayode, was stalled on Tuesday due the absence of Justice Rita Ofili-Ajumogobia of the Federal High Court, Lagos.
The case was adjourned till November 11 but it was not clear why the judge did not sit.
Fani-Kayode, who was in court, left at about 9.30am after he was told the hearing would not hold.
The court registrars only informed parties that the suit had been slated for a further date.
The former minister was tried on an amended 40-count charge of laundering about N100, 219,500 by paying them into his personal account through an associate.
The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) said on or about November 22, 2006, Fani-Kayode made a financial transaction exceeding N500,000, which was not done through a financial institution.
It said he accepted cash payment of N10 million, which was carried in cash to First Inland Bank, Plc, Apapa Branch (now First City Monument Bank Plc) through his close associate, Mark Saviour Ndifreke, said to be at large.
The money, EFCC alleged, was put into Fani-Kayode’s investment account for 90 days, an offence contrary to Section 15(1) (d) and punishable under Section 15(2)(b) of the Money Laundering (Prohibition) Act, 2004.
Other counts stated that he carried out some of the transactions exceeding N500,000 while also serving as Minister of Culture and Tourism. Ndifreke was also said to have helped him pay the money into his personal account.
He allegedly committed the offences between August 2006 and May 2007.


Fraudsters get 21 years jail for N30m scam

The convicts
A Federal High Court sitting in Kano state on Tuesday, convicted and sentenced two men, Mohammed Mansur and Mohammed Auwal, to 21 years imprisonment after they pleaded guilty to three counts of conspiracy and obtaining money by false pretences preferred against them by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission.
The commission said in a statement on Tuesday by its spokesman, Mr. Wilson Uwujaren, that the convicts were arraigned on July 9, 2013 for conspiracy and an attempt to defraud one Alhaji Auwal Ayagi under the guise of procuring plots of land from him for Visafone Communications Limited.
According to the charge, they had claimed to be agents of Visafone Communications Limited, located at Zoo Road, Kano outlet, and had been assigned by their company to help purchase plots of land from the complainant.
The deal was to be worth N30m, for which the duo demanded that 10 per cent be paid into their bank accounts as commission. Upon arraignment they pleaded not guilty but, in the course of trial, after the prosecution had called one witness, the two men dramatically changed their plea and owned up to their crime.
Consequently, the prosecuting counsel, Idris Haruna, urged the court to convict them accordingly.
“Justice Fatu Riman of the Federal High Court Kano consequently convicted the accused persons and sentenced them to 21 years imprisonment each without the option of fine. The sentence of the first convict who has been in prison custody since arraignment for failure to meet his bail terms is to start from the date of arraignment,” the statement read.


Court jails provost five years for fraud

ICPC and EFCC logos
A Zamfara State High Court in Gusau has sentenced the Acting Provost of the College of Education (Technical), Gusau, Zamfara State, Dr. Bello Ahmed, to five years in jail for collecting illegal allowance from the institution.
The Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission had arraigned Ahmed for collecting double Duty Tour Allowance from the college for an official trip to attend a board meeting of the Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board, while also collecting an equal amount as DTA from JAMB, including sitting allowances, all totalling N385,000.00.
This was contained in a statement signed by the ICPC Resident Consultant, Mr. Folu Olamiti, on Tuesday.
The ICPC warned public servants to desist from collecting double DTA from their agencies and also receiving or demanding same in cash or facilities.
The ICPC said the warning was necessary after it secured the conviction of Ahmed at the High Court of Justice, Gusau.
The ICPC warned public servants to desist from conferring unfair advantage on themselves when attending meetings or during monitoring duties.
The anti-graft commission said such an abuse was punishable under Section 19 of the ICPC Act, 2000. The section states that, “Any public officer who uses his office or position to gratify or confer any corrupt or unfair advantage upon himself or associate of the public officer or any public officer shall be guilty of an offence and shall, on conviction, be liable to imprisonment of five years without option of fine.”
The ICPC, Olamiti stated, gave the warning because it learnt that many public servants   collected double DTA from their agencies and also received or demand same in cash or facilities from the agencies being visited.
The statement partly read, “Public servants should learn from the conviction of Dr. Shallah Ahmed. He was accused of having collected DTA from the college for an official trip to attend a board meeting of the JAMB while also collecting an equal amount as DTA from JAMB, including sitting allowances; all totalling N385,000.00.”