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Tag: AGF

  • AGF takes over Sowore’s case from DSS

    Mr. Abubakar Malami (SAN),the Attorney-General of the Federation has taken over the case against the #RevolutionNow protests convener, Omoyele Sowore, from the Department of State Services.

    A statement by his Special Assistant on Media and Public Relations, Dr. Umar Gwandu, confirmed this on Friday.

    The statement referred to a December 11, 2019 letter sent on behalf of the AGF by the Solicitor-General of the Federation, Mr. Dayo Apata (SAN), to the Director-General of DSS, Yusuf Bichi, directing the security agency to “promptly forward all the case files” to the AGF office.

    The letter by Apata, who doubles as the Permanent Secretary, Federal Ministry of Justice, was a response to a September 9, 2019 letter sent to the AGF.

    The statement by the media aide to the AGF reads in part, “The Solicitor-General of the Federation and the Permanent Secretary, Federal Ministry of Justice, Dayo Apata, SAN, who signed the letter, referred to a letter from the DSS office on September 9, 2019.”

    It quoted Apata’s letter as stating that “the Honourable Attorney-General of the Federation and Minister of Justice upon a further review of the case, has directed the immediate takeover of the prosecution of all charges in respect of Omoyole Sowore by the Federal Ministry of Justice, in line with the provisions of Sections 150(1) and 174 (1) (a-c) of the 1999 Constitution (as amended).”

    The letter requested the Director to “promptly forward all the case
    files” in respect of Omoyele Sowore to the office of the
    Attorney-General of the Federation and Minister of Justice.

    The statement by the media aide of the minister indicated that the move to take over the case from the DSS was to ensure speedy completion of the case.

    But TNG gathered that the development was due to the shameful handling of the case with the invasion of Federal High Court in Abuja by the operatives of the security agency in their bid to rearrest Sowore on December 6.

    Malami had stated on Wednesday that the Federal Government was investigating the incident.

     

  • Respect status quo over Yari’s assets, court warns EFCC, AGF

    Respect status quo over Yari’s assets, court warns EFCC, AGF

    The Federal High Court Abuja, on Thursday, restated its earlier order over plans by the EFCC and the Attorney-General of the Federation (AGF), to confiscate the assets and property belonging to the immediate-past Gov. Abdulazeez Yari of Zamfara.

    News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that Justice Nkeonye Maha had, in a ruling in an ex-parte application for interim injunctions brought by Yari’s Counsel, Mahmud Magaji, SAN, on Aug. 30, ordered the parties to respect the status quo pending the determination of the substantive suit,

    At the resumed hearing on Thursday, Justice Maha, who restated the order, adjourned the matter till Sept. 30 for further hearing.

    NAN reports that Yari, through his lawyer, had urged the court to restrain the EFCC and AGF from interfering with his enjoyment of the rights enshrined in Sections 34, 35, 37, 41 and 43 of the Constitution.

    Justice Maha had, on Aug. 26, summoned the AGF and the EFCC to appear before it over plans to seize the ex-governor’s property.

    The judge, who gave the order after listening to the arguments canvassed by Magaji, adjourned the matter until Aug. 30.

    Yari, in the motion ex parte marked FHC/ABJ/CS/948/2019, said the application was brought pursuant to Section 46(1) and (3) of the 1999 Constitution and Order 4 Rule 3 and 4, of the Fundamental Rights (Enforcement Procedure) Rules 2009.

    NAN reports that the AGF, who is also the Minister of Justice, Abubakar Malami, is the 1st respondent while the EFCC is the 2nd respondent in the suit.

    The former governor had attributed his travails in the hands of the respondents to the fallout of the 2019 elections in the state.

    He described the actions of the respondents against him as politically motivated to witch-hunt him.

    Yari in a 17-paragraph affidavit in support of his motion, further stated that “the 1st and 2nd respondents are determined on a follow up attack upon him and his family by the use of allegations of wrongdoing which had been concocted against him in 2019 as an excuse to arrest him and his wife and to arraign them on trumped up charges.”

    The affidavit, deposed to by Malam Affis Matanmi, traced the genesis of the case against Yari to the political events within the Zamfara chapter of the All Progressives Congress (APC) that eventually led to the party losing out the leadership of the state to the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) by the judgment of the Supreme Court.

    It read: “that after the decision of the Supreme Court, some aggrieved individuals who are very powerful decided to use agents of the 1st and 2nd respondents against the applicant.

    “These individuals thus decided to carry out a vendetta and revenge against the applicant including instigating the respondents against the applicant upon their spurious conclusion without evidence that he was guilty of corrupt practices as former governor of Zamfara and was in breach of the Code of Conduct Act.

    “This witch-hunt, is clearly politically motivated, baseless, and has been designed only to discredit and humiliate the applicant in a bid to decimate him politically.

    “That the agents of the 2nd respondents invaded the applicant private residence without court order in Talata Marafa, off Sokoto road, Zamfara and nothing incriminating was ever found against the applicant despite the several investigations carried out by the respondents.”

    Magaji further informed the court that his client’s residence in Talafa Marafa, off Sokoto road, Zamfara, was on Aug. 5 invaded by the EFCC for five hours without any court order, in its bid to effect his arrest.

    He said that during the said invasion, the “agents forcefully did not allow the family members of the applicant who was away in Saudi Arabia for Haji, to go out and come in from the residence.

    “The action of the EFCC has made it impossible for applicant to exercise his right or his freedom of movement without fear of being arrested and intimidated by commission,” he said.

    The lawyer further stated that Yari had dully declared all his assets in accordance with the Code of Conduct for public officers prior to assuming office as a governor and that he had not committed any offence to warrant the threats of seizure of his assets and property most of which were acquired even before he became governor of the state.

    According to him, in the motion exparte dated and filed Aug. 20, the former governor sought, among others: “an order of interim injunction restraining the respondents from seizing, impounding, taking over, confiscating or otherwise forfeiting his assets and property wherever they may be located within Nigeria or anywhere in the world.

    “An order of interim injunction restraining the respondents from unlawfully interfering with his rights to sections 34, 35, 41 and 43 of the 1999 constitution until the hearing and determination of the substantive suit.

    “An order of interim injunction restraining the agents of the respondents from freezing his bank accounts in Nigeria and or confiscating his immovable property anywhere in Nigeria pending the hearing and determination of the substantive suit.”

    Justice Maha had given the order that the respondents should come and show cause why they would not be restrained from, among other actions, freezing the bank accounts and or confiscating Yari’s immovable property anywhere in Nigeria pending the hearing and determination of the substantive suit.

    Meanwhile, on Thursday, the EFCC’s Counsel, Hussaina Gambo, told the judge that she was in the process of filing another affidavit in support of her argument.

    On his part, Magaji said: “We will do the needful as soon as we are served.”

    Justice Maha, therefore, granted the application made by the prosecution (EFCC) counsel and adjourned the matter till Sept. 30.

    The judge said since the fiat the Chief Judge issued to the court to sit during vacation would be expiring on Sept. 13, the matter should be returned to the registry of the court for reassignment.

  • $2bn tax dispute: Court adjourns MTN, AGF case till October

    $2bn tax dispute: Court adjourns MTN, AGF case till October

    Justice Chukwujekwu Joseph Aneke of the Federal High Court in Lagos on Wednesday adjourned until 29 October a case to resolve a $2 billion tax dispute between MTN Group and Nigeria’s attorney general.

    The attorney general has demanded MTN pay the $2 billion in September. The company has said the tax demand is without merit and the attorney general has exceeded his powers in making the request.

    Lawyers for the Nigerian government requested the adjournment.

    Nigeria is MTN’s biggest market, with 58 million users in 2018 and accounting for a third of the South African firm’s core profit. But the Nigerian business has faced challenges, ranging from the tax demand to a fine over unregistered SIM cards.

    MTN Nigeria, the company’s local unit, listed in Lagos in May in a 2 trillion naira ($6.5 billion) flotation and became the second-largest stock on the bourse by market value.

    The listing followed MTN Group’s agreement with Nigerian regulators to settle most of its long-running disputes.

    MTN said it would sell more shares to the public and increase local ownership in MTN Nigeria once the tax row was resolved.

    MTN agreed in December to make a $53 million payment to resolve a separate dispute in Nigeria after the central bank ordered the company and its lenders to bring back to Nigeria $8.1 billion it was alleged to have repatriated using improperly issued paperwork between 2007 and 2008.

    The settlement ended a four-month row that had hammered MTN’s share price in Johannesburg.

  • 2nd Term: Buhari makes first appointment, renews AGF tenure

    President Muhammadu Buhari on Wednesday evening extended the tenure of the Accountant General of the Federation, Mr Ahmed Idris.

    The announcement was made in a statement signed by the Director, Communications, Office of the Head of the Civil Service of the Federation, Mrs Wunmi Ogunmosunle, on behalf of the Head of the Civil Service of the Federation, Winifred Oyo-Ita.

    The statement said that Idris’ letter was signed by the Secretary to the Government of the Federation, Boss Mustapha.

    According to the statement, Idris was reappointed in accordance with Section 171 of the 1999 Constitution.

    The statement read, “President Muhammadu Buhari has approved the renewal of the appointment of Mr Ahmed Idris for the second and final term of four years as Accountant General of the Federation in accordance with Section 171 of the 1999 Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria (as amended).”

  • Malabu Oil: Court orders arrest of ex-AGF Adoke, Etete, others

    Justice Musa Senchi of the High Court of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) in Jabi has ordered the arrest of former Ministers of Justice and Petroleum Resources – Mohammed Adoke and Deazia Louya Etete (aka Dan Elete).

    The judge equally ordered the arrest of Raph Wezels, Casula Roberto, Pujato Stefeno and Burrato Sebastino, who are senior officials of Shell, Agip and Eni SPA.

    The order for their arrest was issued by the judge upon an ex-parte application argued on Wednesday by Aliyu Yusuf, a Director in the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC).

    The five are said to be linked to the monumental fraud associated with the notorious Malabu Oil deal and for which a three-count charge has now been filed against them and their companies before the court.

  • Ex-Boko Haram spokesman sues DSS, AGF; demands N500,000 damages

    The FCT High Court in Maitama on Thursday fixed May 23 for hearing a N500,000 aggravated damages suit filed by Ali Konduga, a former spokesman of the insurgent group, Boko Haram.

    Konduga dragged the Director-General of the Department of State Security Services (DSS) and the Attorney-General of the Federation to court for alleged breach of his fundamental rights.

    Through his counsel, Mohammed Tola, he filed a suit before Justice Samira Bature alleging that he was kept in detention for an extra three years after serving his three-year jail term before he was released in 2016.

    Konduga was convicted by a Chief Magistrates’ Court in Abuja and sentenced to three years imprisonment for criminal intimidation in 2011.

    In the suit, Konduga claimed that he was kept in the custody of the DSS instead of the conventional prison to serve his term because the government wanted him to serve as a key witness to prove a terrorism charge against Ali Ndume, a senator, in a Federal High Court in Abuja.

    He further stated that as of the time of his release, he was never called to testify in the matter or any other matter.

    Konduga said that he was taken to the DSS office in Maiduguri on September 8, 2016, and was released on September 9, 2016, to his parents.

    He claimed that the DSS offered his family the sum of N700,000 when he was released, and informed his family that the money was meant for his medical treatment.

    The gesture, Konduga said, showed that the DSS knew he was entitled to compensation for his illegal and unlawful detention, adding that the Service refused to pay him any other compensation except the N700,000.

    He further stated that some individuals attacked him after he was released in 2016 and he sustained a head injury from the attack.

    He added that as a result of the injury he sustained, the police from GRA Police Station, Maiduguri, Borno, took him into protective custody and later referred him to the Federal Neuro-Psychiatric Hospital in Maiduguri.

    He, therefore, demanded for an unreserved public apology in three national newspapers.

    Konduga also prayed for an order of the court, directing the respondents to jointly and severally pay him N500,000 as aggravated damages and compensation for the ‘illegal’ detention.

     

  • AGF, Emefiele to appear before Reps over N33bn pension fund remittance

    The Governor of Central Bank (CBN), Godwin Emefiele and the Accountant-General of the Federation (AGF), Ahmed Idris are to appear before the House of Representatives on Tuesday.

    The duo are to clarify alleged remittance of N33b pension deductions to the Federal government by PenCom before the House of Representatives ad hoc Committee investigating alleged irregularities in National Pensions Commission (PenCom)

    According to the Chairman of the Committee, Johnson Agbonayinma said noticeable discrepancies in the pension deductions claimed to have remitted by the Acting Director-General (DG) of PenCom, Aisha Dahir-Umar made the appearance of the two critical to the investigation.

    While appearing before the Committee at the public hearing yesterday, the Nigerian Union of Contributory Pensioners (NUCP) indicted PenCom and Pension Fund Administrators (PFAs) of several infringements.

    In its presentation, the group regretted that the new pension scheme has compounded, rather than alleviating problems faced by retirees under the Contributory Pension Scheme.

    U.C. Ekpo and Emezuru Eugene signed the memorandum where PenCom was accused of failing to review contributors’ pension every five years as provided in Section 173 (3) of the 1999 Constitution (as amended).

    The Union also observed persistent delays in payment of retirees’ benefits to over two years as well as lack of standardized template and transparency in computation of lump sums paid after retirement.

    PenCom was also faulted for gender inequality in the payment of lump sums in contravention of the Pension Reform Act.

    While calling on PenCom to confine itself to its functions as a regulator rather than meddling in the union’s activities, the Union noted that “It appeared the essence of the new pension scheme is to create capital for the Pension Fund Administrators (PFA) to maximize profits and enrich themselves.

    “Worse still, PenCom, which is empowered to strictly enforce the Pension Reform Act in regulating the activities of PFAs and Pension Custodians, has become a violator of the same Act in many ways.

    “The sum total of anomalies and injustices perpetrated by PenCom in its implementation of the Contributory Pension Scheme leads to suffering, pain and premature death of pensioners in Nigeria.”

  • Zamfara APC: We are yet to receive election ‘postponement letter’ from AGF – INEC

    The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) on Thursday said it had not received a letter purportedly written by the Attorney-General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Abubakar Malami (SAN), demanding a postponement of the Zamfara State National Assembly, governorship and State House of Assembly elections.

    The commission specifically stated that the purported letter could be a fake document emanating from online media.

    The AGF had in the letter purportedly demanded a shift in the polls following the decision of the Appeal Court that all parties should return to the status quo in the primaries of the Zamfara State chapter of the All Progressives Congress.

    The AGF in the letter which was said to have been written to the INEC chairman, Prof. Mahmood Yakubu and dated February 13, 2019, cited Sections 38 and 39 of the Electoral (Amendment) Act 2010 to support his argument.

    Malami purportedly said that the postponement would enable the Zamfara State APC to field candidates for all the positions.

    The AGF, according to the letter, reportedly acted upon a petition written by the firm of M.A. Mahmud (SAN) and Co and further advised INEC to comply with the instructions forthwith.

    But the INEC Director of Voter Education and Publicity, Oluwole Osaze-Uzezi, said the commission had yet to receive the letter.

    He said, “I said we have not received the letter, but when we get to the bridge, we will cross it. But for now, we have not received any such letter in INEC. It is on social media. How am I sure that it is not one of those social media gimmicks? I can’t comment on something I have not seen; I have made enquiries from the INEC chairman and he said there is nothing like such letter and he has not received any such letter.”

  • Buhari’s AGF speaks on writing INEC to postpone 2019 elections

    The Attorney-General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Mr. Abubakar Malami (SAN), on Thursday, denied media reports that he wrote the Independent National Electoral Commission to postpone all the forthcoming general elections apart from the presidential poll in Zamfara State.

    Malami, through his Special Assistant, Media and Publicity, Mr. Salihu Isah, said in his statement that the media reports were false and misleading, as he had only asked the INEC to extend the time within which the All Progressives Congress might field candidates in the forthcoming elections in the state.

    The statement read in part, “The attention of the Office of the Honourable Attorney General of the Federation and Minister of Justice has been drawn to a recent publication by certain social media and conventional news outlets stating that this Office had purportedly requested the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to postpone the elections in Zamfara State.

    “The Office of the Honourable Attorney General of the Federation wishes to emphatically reiterate that this report is false and misleading.

    “In our letter dated February 13, 2019 addressed to the INEC Chairman, the Honourable Attorney of the Federation in reacting to a petition from M.A Mahmud informing this Office of the subsisting Court of Appeal decision in CA/S/22/2019 which effectively upheld the APC primaries in Zamfara state, wrote to INEC informing them of this development and requested the Commission to comply by extending the time within which the political party candidate in the Gubernatorial elections.”

    The minister had in his letter dated January 13, 2019 and addressed to the Chairman of INEC, Mahmood Yakubu, asked the commission to comply with a certain judgment of the Court of Appeal affirming the primaries of the party in the state.

    Malami had urged INEC to grant the APC more time to field candidates for the governorship, National Assembly and state House of Assembly elections in the state, adding that section 38 and 39 of the Electoral Act empowered the commission to postpone the election.

    The minister, a founding member of the APC, said in the letter that the Court of Appeal’s judgment delivered on Wednesday affirmed an earlier verdict of the Zamfara State High Court which had held that the party conducted valid primaries for the various elective positions in the state.

    Malami said granting the concession of postponing the polls in Zamfara State in the light of the Court of Appeal’s judgment, was not a matter of doing APC a favour but a right the party was entitled to.

    His letter stated, “In view of the fact, now that the Court of Appeal has upheld the primaries as valid, the APC in Zamfara State will need a little time to catch up with its contemporaries in the election.

    “Granting them this concession is not necessarily a favour but a right that inures to all contestants under similar circumstances.

    “Consequent on the above, INEC is invited to comply with the judgement of the Court of Appeal by admitting the results of the APC Zamfara State Primaries and to also comply with the provisions of Section38 of the Electoral Act which empowers INEC to postpone the election for the governorship, National Assembly and House of Assembly Elections.”

  • IPAC reacts to AGF Malami’s letter, warns INEC against postponing elections because of APC

    IPAC reacts to AGF Malami’s letter, warns INEC against postponing elections because of APC

    The Inter Party Advisory Council (IPAC) on Thursday warned the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) not to consider postponing elections in Rivers and Zamfara States because of the internal crisis rocking the All Progressives Congress (APC).

    IPAC is the umbrella body of all the 91 registered political parties in Nigeria.

    It made the call in a statement by its National Publicity Secretary, Imo Ugochinyere, amidst reports that the Attorney-General of the Federation, Abubakar Malami, had asked the electoral body to consider postponing elections in Zamfara State.

    Ugochinyere described Malami’s letter to INEC as an invitation to anarchy.

    He said all political parties were fully prepared for the election.

    He said it would be counter-productive if the commission begins to shift the date of elections due to the internal issues of any political party.

    The statement read, “IPAC wishes to also call on the commission to disregard the unconstitutional letter written by the AGF asking for election shift

    “The letter is an invitation to electoral anarchy and a foundation for derailing the 2019 election.

    “The Electoral Act forbids the shift in election by any litigation-related issues.”

    He recalled that during the last governorship election in Ondo State, the Supreme Court gave judgment declaring Mr Eyitayo Jegede as the rightful candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party just a few hours to
    election.

    He said INEC did not shift the elections as that candidate was not even able to campaign at all.

    He added, “If that was the decision then, what would warrant a shift in policy now to favour a party? Justice and fair play should be the rule of the game.

    “We stand by the already existing standard as established in the case of Ondo State and state that the standard will put all political parties in check to know that their inability to resolve their issues in line with their constitutions could cost them dearly.”