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Tag: Lawan

  • BREAKING: Supreme court affirms ex-lawmaker’s jail term over $500,000 bribe

    BREAKING: Supreme court affirms ex-lawmaker’s jail term over $500,000 bribe

    An appeal by a former member of the House of Representatives, Farouk Lawan, against the judgement of the lower court which imprisoned him, was dismissed by the supreme court on Friday.

    His appeal sought to set aside the February 24, 2022 judgment of the Court of Appeal in Abuja, which sentenced him to a five-year jail term and discharged him on two out of the three counts on the corruption charge brought against him by the Federal Government.

    In the lead judgment prepared by Justice John Okoro but read by Justice Tijjani Abubakar, the apex court held that Lawan’s appeal was without merit and dismissed it.

    The five-member panel unanimously affirmed the 2022 judgment of the Court of Appeal which upheld Lawan’s sentencing to five years in respect of only count three on the three-count charge on which he was tried at the High Court of the Federal Capital Territory.

    Lawan was convicted and sentenced to prison in 2021 for accepting $500,000 bribe from businessman, Femi Otedola, Chairman, Zenon Petroleum and Gas Limited.

    A three-member Appeal Court panel led by its president, Monica Dongban-Mensem, had unanimously overturned the former lawmaker’s conviction for two of the three offences he was earlier jailed for by the lower trial court in June 2021.

    After his appeal against his conviction and sentencing by the lower High Court of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Abuja, Lawal also got a reduction of his jail term by the appellate court from seven to five years.

    This was as a result of his acquittal in respect of two counts which, each attracted seven years jail term at the trial court.

    Lawan was left with a conviction for the third offence with five years’ imprisonment as punishment by the Court of Appeal’s overall decision.

    During the hearing of appeal at the Supreme Court, Lawan’s Counsel and Senior Advocate of Nigeria, Joseph Daudu, had asked the court to allow his client’s appeal and set aside the judgment of the Court of Appeal.

    While adumbrating, Daudu noted that the Court of Appeal discharged on counts one and two, which attracted a maximum of seven years.

    Daudu argued that if the Court of Appeal could discharge his client on the two counts, which he claimed, have the same ingredients as the third count, the Supreme Court should equally let off the hook in relation to the third count.

    Counsel to the Federal Government, Bagudu Sanni, urged the court to affirm the judgment of the Court of Appeal and dismiss the appeal.

  • Appeal Court affirms Ndume, Lawan as validly elected senators

    Appeal Court affirms Ndume, Lawan as validly elected senators

    The Court of Appeal, Abuja, on Thursday, affirmed the election of Sen. Mohammed  Ndume and Sen. Kaka Lawan of Borno South and Central Senatorial Districts respectively.

    The three-member panel, presided by Justice Biobele Georgewill, held that the two appeals against the lawmakers lacked merit.

    The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC had, on Feb. 25, declared the duo of Ndume and Lawan as the winners of the National Assembly election into the two senatorial districts.

    Dissatisfied with the declaration, Muhammed Kumalia and the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) challenged the election of  Lawan while Kudla Satumari and PDP filed petition against Mohammed Ndume at the state’s election tribunal.

    The Borno National and State’s Election Petition Tribunal dismissed the two petitions.

    Not satisfied with the judgments of the tribunal, Kumalia and Satumari lodged appeals before the Court of Appeal in appeal number: CA/G/EP/SEN/BR/7/2023 between Mohammed Umara Kumalia & another Vs. Kaka Shehu Lawan and others, and appeal number: CA/G/EP/SEN/BR/04/2023 between Kula Satumari & another Vs. INEC and others.

    While Yusuf Ali, SAN, represented Kaka Shehu and APC, Johnson Usman, SAN, appeared for INEC, and Marcel Oru, SAN, represented Ndume in the two appeals.

    The senior lawyers urged the court to dismiss the appeals for lacking in merit.

    Delivering the judgments, the Court of Appeal upheld the submissions of the learned senior counsel to the respondents that the two appeals lacked merit and dismissed same while affirming the election of Lawan and Ndume respectively.

    NAN

  • Valedictory session outbursts: Teach me how you came back to Senate without contesting – Okorocha asks Lawan

    Valedictory session outbursts: Teach me how you came back to Senate without contesting – Okorocha asks Lawan

    Senator Rochas Okorocha, representing the lmo West senatorial District asked Senate President Ahmad Lawan to teach him how to return to the senate without participating in primary election during the valedictory session of the 9th Senate on Saturday, June 10.

    While Lawan and Okorocha contested the presidential primary election of the APC in which they were defeated by President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, the senate president was able to return to the national assembly following a supreme court judgement.

    Okorocha who spoke at the valedictory session, wondered how Lawan was able to stage a return to the senate. He said;

    “I did not contest for the senate this period. I only contested for the office of the president. You are a very smart politician. How you came back to the senate is another chapter in our political history that we need to discuss.

    “I was there in the field with you running for president, I never knew how you were able to meander, leaving some of us. Next time you must teach me how to do that.”

    Responding to this, Lawan said;

    “It was easy. I was there with you in the field and after our defeat, my constituents thought they needed me again. They asked for me to come back and it was a tortious journey because we had to go through the courts.

    “I didn’t even appeal the judgement that did not give me the contest. The party and the stakeholders appealed on my behalf up to the supreme court, so there is nothing critical or remarkable. In fact, you have nothing to learn from it.”

  • Senate President, Lawan wins Yobe North Senatorial District election

    Senate President, Lawan wins Yobe North Senatorial District election

    Sen. Ahmed Lawan of the All Progressives Congress (APC) has won the Yobe North Senatorial District election in Yobe.

    Declaring the results in Gashua on Monday, the Returning Officer, Prof. Omolala Aduoju of Federal University, Gashua, said Lawan scored 91,318 votes.

    ”Having satisfied the requirements of the law and scored the highest votes, Alhaji Ahmed Lawan of the SPC is hereby declared the winner and returned elected,”  she said.

    She said Lawan’s closest opponent, Sheriff Abdullahi, of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) came second with 22,849, while the New Nigerian Peoples Party (NNPP) candidate, Alhaji Garba Umar, scored 7,210 votes.

    Aduoju said Action Democratic Party (ADP) scored three votes even though the party did not field a candidate in the election.

    ”The total votes cast in the election is 126,677 out of which 122,136 were valid and  4,541 votes were rejected,” she said.

    The district comprises of Machina, Nguru, Bade, Karasuwa, Jakusko and Yusufari local government areas.

  • Supreme Court judgment on Lawan valid, sound – Ajulo

    Supreme Court judgment on Lawan valid, sound – Ajulo

    A Constitutional Lawyer, Dr. Kayode Ajulo, says the Supreme Court judgment which restored Senate President, Ahmad Lawan, as the Senatorial candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC) for Yobe North Senatorial district is valid and sound.

    The legal practitioner made this known while reacting to the judgment in a statement in Abuja on Tuesday amidst the controversy that has trailed the verdict.

    He said most of the counter comments targeted against the Supreme Court’s decision under reference were misconceived, particularly from the perspective of the law.

    The Supreme Court had, on Feb 6 declared Lawan as the Senatorial candidate for Yobe North in a three-against-two split judgment of its five-member panel, led by Justice Chima Nweze.

    The apex court in its judgment voided and set aside the decision of the Federal High Court and Court of Appeal which had earlier confirmed Bashir Machina as the candidate.

    “The Supreme Court delivered a sound judgment based on the case presented before it.

    “The concept of justice is not about a crying baby who runs to his sweet mother, adding that unlike the empathetic mother, the Supreme Court has the obligation to decide any matter based on its peculiarities,” he said.

    The lawyer, who disregarded opinions that labelled the judgment as ridiculous, said a better appreciation of Nigeria justice system would reveal that what the Court considered was cold facts and not emotions.

    He said the APC should be blamed for any controversy the apex court decision had generated.

    “It baffles me how people demand substantial and fair judgement but still frown at technicality. Whereas, the same technicality is the law.

    “The concept of law is based on technicality and that’s what those who seem uncomfortable with the apex court ruling must understand.

    “The whole world is aware that Lawan participated in the APC presidential primaries and pursuant to the provisions of Section 115(d) of the Electoral Act; a candidate cannot be nominated in two elections.

    “So, it was the APC that forwarded Lawan’s name to INEC, that ironically created an Lawan as President and another as lawmaker.”

    He said Machina, feeling cheated was within his right to recover his mandate, adding however, that the facts of the case remained that the grouse of Machina bothered on fraud.

    He added that this should have been instituted by way of Writ of Summons and not Originating Summons like Machina did.

    According to him, although the Federal High Court practice direction says that pre-election matters be instituted by way of originating summons.

    He however said that the Supreme Court hasld held in a plethora of authorities that the rules of court supersede a practice direction.

    He said by the rules of court, an allegation of fraud should be brought by way of Writ of Summons.

    He added that this had been the consistent holding of the Supreme Court in a plethora of matters and it won’t stop now.

    In split judgment of three to two, the Supreme Court, affirmed Lawan as the Senatorial candidate of the APC for Yobe North Senatorial District, 18 days to the general elections.

    The apex court in the majority judgment voided and set aside judgments of the Federal High Court and the Court of Appeal, which affirmed Machina as the candidate, having won the May 28, 2022 primary unopposed.

    On grounds of voiding the two earlier judgments by the Supreme Court was that Machina adopted originating summons to invoke his case at the Federal High Court.

    Justice  Nweze, who delivered the majority judgment of the Supreme Court, held that Machina ought to commence his case at the Federal High Court with writ of summons in view of grievous allegations in his suit against the defendants.

    Nweze said that hostile issues were involved in Machina’s matter that could not be resolved through originating summons.

    However, Justices Adamu Jauro and Emmanuel Akomaye Agim, disagreed with the majority judgment and held that both the Federal High Court and the Court of Appeal were correct in their findings in declaring Machina as APC’s Senatorial candidate for the Yobe North.

    According to them, Lawan never participated in the APC primary held on May 28, as he withdrew voluntarily to participate in the presidential primary held on June 8.

    The minority decision held that the conduct of another primary on June 9, where Lawan emerged was in breach of Section 84 (5) of the Electoral Act and Section 285 of the 1999 Constitution, as the APC never cancelled the one held on May 28 before organising another.

    NAN

  • Lawan’s 24yrs in NASS finally crashes as INEC releases final list of qualified contestants

    Lawan’s 24yrs in NASS finally crashes as INEC releases final list of qualified contestants

    The 24years reign of the Senate President, Ahmad Lawan finally came to an end as the apex electoral umpire INEC releases final list of eligible contestants in the 2023 general elections.

    The publication of the final list of candidates for national elections (presidential, senatorial and federal constituencies) was pursuant to section 32(1) of the Electoral Act 2022 and item 8 of the Timetable and Schedule of Activities for the 2023 General Election.

    The publication of the full names and addresses of all nominated candidates followed the conduct of primary election and completion of the nomination exercise by political parties’.

    This was also sequel to the display of the personal particulars of all nominated candidates in their constituencies nationwide as provided by section 29(3) of the Electoral Act.

    INEC National Commissioner in charge of Information and Chairman, Voter Education, Festus Okoye, had earlier said validly-nominated candidates had the opportunity to voluntarily withdraw their candidature by notice in writing and personally deliver such notices to the political parties that nominated them for the election.

    Okoye said: “Thereafter, political parties substituted such candidates under section 31 of the Electoral Act for which the last day was 15th July 2022 for national elections and 12th August, 2022, for state elections as clearly provided in item 6 of the Commission’s Timetable and Schedule of Activities.

    “Thereafter, no withdrawal or substitution of candidates is allowed except in the event of death as provided in section 34(1) of the Electoral Act or pursuant to an order of a Court of competent jurisdiction”.

    The list published contains the names of candidates validly nominated for national elections at the close of the parties’ primary elections and the period earmarked for withdrawal and substitution of candidates.

    The presidential candidates of PDP, Atiku Abubakar; APC, Bola Tinubu; Labour Party, Peter Obi; and New Nigeria Peoples Party, Rabiu Kwankwaso, were on the final list.

    Similarly on the presidential list were Oluwafemi Adenuga, presidential candidate of Boot Party (BP) and the running mate Turaku Mustapha; Daberechukwu Nwanyanwu, presidential candidate of Zenith Labour Party (ZLP) and the running mate, Ramalan Abubakar; Dumebi Kachikwu presidential candidate, African Democratic Congress (ADC) and his running mate, Ahmed Mani; Hamsa Almustafa, presidential candidate, Action Aliance (AA) and his running mate, Chukwuka Johnson, among others.

    The list published contained the names of Senator Godswill Akpabio from Akwa Ibom state and Senator Peter Nwaobishi of Delta State as well as Bashir Machina, who replaced the senate president, Ahmed Lawan.

    Akpabio replaced former retired Deputy Inspector General of Police, Ekpuudom, while Nwaoboshi, who was convicted for seven years by the Court of appeal in Lagos, is also on the list.

    With the latest development, Senate president Ahmed Lawan will not be on the ballot for the first time in 24 years.

    TheNewsGuru.com, (TNG) recalled that Justice Fadima Aminu of the Federal High Court sitting in Damaturu, the Yobe State capital in September 2022, affirmed Bashir Machina, as the authentic candidate of the All Progressives Congress for Yobe North Senatorial District.

    Reacting to the verdict the following day, the Senate President said he “has accepted the judgment of the court which disqualified his candidature and participation in the elections.”

  • Buhari to sign 2023 budget Tuesday – Lawan

    Buhari to sign 2023 budget Tuesday – Lawan

    Barring any last-minute changes, President Muhammadu Buhari will sign the 2023 appropriation bill on Tuesday (Jan. 3, 2023).

    Senate President Ahmed Lawan confirmed this to State House correspondents on Friday after a closed-door meeting with Buhari at the Presidential Villa, Abuja.

    Lawan revealed that he discussed some national issues with Buhari, including the president’s recent additional loan request, the legislature’s support to the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) ahead of the general elections and the 2023 Appropriation Bill.

    He said: ”We are looking forward to Mr President signing the Appropriation Bill 2023, by the grace of God, on Tuesday.

    “This because we signed the document yesterday (Thursday), having lost some time because of some anomalous figures we had in the bill presented to the National Assembly (NASS).

    “But thank God, the NASS in both chambers have passed the Appropriation Bill 2023 on Wednesday, and I’m sure that Mr President and his team, on the executive side, will work on what we have done.

    ”And the first thing on Tuesday, the first official working day of the year, I believe that Mr President will be signing the Appropriation Bill 2023.”

    He lamented that the NASS would have passed the bill a week earlier had it not been for irregularities spotted in the bill.

    “We are very pleased that we have been able to, in the last four years, ensure the passage of the appropriation bills in record time before every Christmas, and Mr President had always signed before the end of the year.

    “This year, particularly, is because of the anomalous, very undesirable and unfortunate situation that we had to delay a little bit.

    “You will recall that the NASS had to cut down its Christmas recess to come back on Wednesday for the sole purpose of passing the appropriation bill which we could have passed a week before. So all the same, there’s nothing that we missed,” he further stated.

    According to him, the seamless working relationship between the executive and the legislature has regularised the signing of the appropriation bills since 2018, resulting in a “predictable January to December” budget for our country.

    On the 2023 general elections, Lawan pledged that NASS would continue to assist and support INEC to enable it deliver credible elections.

    “We also discussed the 2023 general elections. The current NASS has always supported the executive in terms of ensuring that INEC gets whatever is necessary for it to work to ensure that elections are supported, that INEC doesn’t lack in anything.

    “So we have committed ourselves to ensuring that we give INEC whatever it needs for it to conduct a very free, transparent and credible 2023 general elections.

    ”We are here at all times between now and June 11 when our term will also expire as a legislature in the NASS.

    “But before then, whatever INEC needs for 2023 to be a success, we will surely and certainly provide such support,” he said.

  • Why we shifted passage of 2023 budget – Lawan

    Why we shifted passage of 2023 budget – Lawan

    President of the Senate, Ahmad Lawan says the Senate decided to shifted the passage of the 2023 budget to Dec.28, due to some challenges.

    Lawan said this at the commencement of plenary on Thursday against the backdrop of an earlier announcement that the Bill would be passed before the chamber adjourned for Christmas recess on Thursday.

    “Today was scheduled for us to receive and consider the report of our committee on Appropriation for the 2023 Appropriation Bill.

    “However, due to some challenges, we are not able to receive the report of the committee.

    “And the main reason is that the Appropriation Bill came to the National Assembly with some problems.

    “And when our Committees on Appropriation in the Senate and the House of Representatives started to reconcile the figures of what we have done and what was presented, the problems became very obvious and they were not easy to deal with, and therefore our committees had to start a process of cleaning up the Bill first,” Lawan said.

    He added: “That process, of course, also engaged the executive arm because the problems came from t

    “It was concluded only on Wednesday and our committee secretariats are not able to finish processing the budget for us to take today nor tomorrow, nor Saturday nor Sunday because this are periods that are for festivities, Christmas period; Monday, Tuesday are public holidays.

    “Consequently, we can only receive the report and consider it on Wednesday, Dec. 28. That is the earliest, that’s next week.

    “So far, this ninth National Assembly has done so much to pass the previous appropriation Bills since 2019, before the end of the year to date and I’m sure that this would remain one of the
    cherished legacies of the ninth National Assembly.”

    “So by the Grace of God, on the 28th of this month, the senate and indeed the House of Representatives will all come back to receive and consider the budget report from our committees.

    “We had arranged on Wednesday, that the finance committee will present a report of the Finance Bill Hearing today.

    “That of course would not be possible. This is the reason: We also received two communications- Supplementary Budget 2022 and of course, Ways and Means.

    “So our committees on Appropriation, Finance, Water Resources, Agriculture and Works and Housing will be processing the Bills for today.

    “In that respect, the senate will adjourn immediately so that our committees start the action they are supposed to take and therefore those reports will also be available to us on the 28th when we will be here.”

    “I want to thank all of you my Distinguished colleagues for your support, cooperation, commitment, dedication on all these things that we have been doing as a legislature.

    “Let me advise the Executive. The Bills that have come to us, the Ways and Means, the Supplementary Appropriation, whoever is invited to come and explain, give information or any details for the National Assembly to understand must do so, because its not our work alone.

    “We want to do our work thoroughly, we want to understand whatever we are going to deal with and to base our decisions on information, and time is of essence.

    “Just like we are going to sacrifice part of our festive period to be back here, nobody should tell us that they are in their places because it is Christmas. They should be available with every necessary information.”

  • NASS’ll pass 2023 Appropriation Bill in December – Lawan

    NASS’ll pass 2023 Appropriation Bill in December – Lawan

    The President of the Senate, Alhaji Ahmad Lawan, says the National Assembly will pass the 2023 Appropriation Bill of N20.5 trillion before the end of December.

    He made this known on Tuesday in Abuja at a reception organised to celebrate the national honour of Grand Commander of the Order of Niger (GCON) bestowed on him by President Muhamadu Buhari.

    Recall that Buhari on Friday presented the 2023 budget before a joint session of the National Assembly.

    The budget is tagged “Budget of Fiscal Sustainability and Transition”.

    Lawan, in a speech at the reception, said that the Senate would begin debate on the bill on Wednesday.

    “Tomorrow, we will start the debate on the 2023 appropriation bill. Like we did for the three previous sessions, we are going to pass it before the end of December.

    “We are purposeful and we are focused. It’s not for nothing that the presidency decided to honour 12 of us.

    “They know our contribution to not only the administration of good governance, but also stability of the polity.

    “I strongly believe that the national assembly of today has provided so much inputs into political stability in Nigeria. The records are there.

    “People can look at what we have done and also those things that we didn’t do. I believe that our colleagues in the 9th senate worked so hard.”

    On the number of female senators, the senate president said: “We don’t know why the number is small but they have capacity. These are very experienced legislators.

    “We wish to see more female legislators. That’s only logical,” he said.

    On the national honour, Lawan said that it was a special day for the National Assembly.

    “The number of recipients from the Senate this time is the highest. Every senator deserves the award.”

    He said that his fellow colleagues were his good friends who ensured that the productivity in the senate rose.

    “We judiciously agreed that anything that will be good for Nigerians must be done.

    “By the time we are leaving in 2023, we will leave with our heads high.”

  • Yobe North: Why I won’t appeal against my disqualification – Lawan

    Yobe North: Why I won’t appeal against my disqualification – Lawan

    President of the Senate, Ahmad Lawan, says he won’t appeal against the judgement of the Federal High Court, Damaturu, which disqualified him from the Yobe North Senate Seat of the National Assembly in 2023 poll.

    Lawan said in a statement on Thursday in Abuja that he has accepted the judgement in good faith.

    “Yesterday, Wednesday, Sept. 28, the Federal High Court in Damaturu delivered judgement on the rightful candidate for Yobe North Senatorial District for the 2023 National Assembly election.

    “The said judgement disqualifies my candidature and therefore my participation in the elections.

    “After due consultations with my political associates, supporters and well-wishers, I have decided not to appeal against the judgement. I accept the judgement.

    “At this juncture, I deem it appropriate to thank His Excellency, Sen. Ibrahim Gaidam for the leadership role in the APC political family in Yobe. I also thank His Excellency, Gov. Mai Mala Buni for the support and brotherhood,” he said.

    Lawan added: “To my constituents, I thank you all for your unflinching support, loyalty and unreserved commitment to the course of building our people and Yobe North Senatorial District and indeed Yobe.

    “I want to assure you that I will continue to serve you in my personal and any other capacity at all times.

    “We journeyed together for a long time, and this journey will remain a life long journey. It has been a wonderful relationship and it can only get stronger. I am indebted to you all. Alhamdulillah.”