TheNewsGuru

Tag: Sanction

  • NASS should sanction Buhari for withdrawing $146m from ECA without approval – PDP

    Nigeria’s main opposition party, Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) has called on the National Assembly to commence constitutional processes to sanction President Muhammadu Buhari for allegedly withdrawing $146m from the nation’s Excess Crude oil Account (ECA) without prior approval from it (the National Assembly).

    The party said the President violated his oath of office by “illegally” withdrawing and spending from the Excess Crude Account (ECA) without the constitutionally required legislative appropriation.

    A statement issued on Monday by the spokesman of the PDP, Kola Ologbondiyan, said President Buhari was aware that his unilateral spending of $496 million (N151.374 billion) from the ECA, without recourse to the legislative approval of the National Assembly, was a gross violation of the laws and constitution of Nigerian and a direct affront to statutory order as a democratic state.

    “By this action, President Buhari has technically suspended the 1999 Constitution (as amended), plundered the inherent powers of the National Assembly as the principal institution of democratic rule, while re-enacting a sole administratorship in governance as if our nation is operating a military regime.

    “More disturbing is the revelation that President Buhari paid the $496 million for the purchase of military aircraft from the United States, ignoring allegations of overprice and issues concerning due process, just to achieve a political expediency of currying President Donald Trump’s support for his 2019 re-election bid,” the statement added.

    The party further stated that the President’s action amounted to a gross misconduct and betrayal of public trust, adding that in the bid to push a personal agenda, he deliberately side-stepped statutory legislative scrutiny and acted in clear breach of section 80 (3) (4) of the 1999 Constitution (as amended).

    “While Section 80 (3) states that “no monies shall be withdrawn from any public fund of the federation, other than the Consolidated Revenue Fund of the federation unless the issues of those monies have been authorized by an act of the National Assembly

    “Section 80 (4) provides that “no monies shall be withdrawn from the Consolidated Revenue Fund or any other public fund of the federation except in the manner prescribed by the National Assembly.

    “It is shocking that President Buhari, whose administration prides on claims of transparency and zero tolerance for corruption, elected on a platform that lay claims to the height of progressivism, who boasts of the highest standards of integrity, can mundanely resort to a violent abuse of our constitution just to suit a desperate passion of seeking re-election.

    “It would be recalled that following the public outcry over the announcement that President Buhari had unilaterally approved the withdrawal of $1 billion from the ECA, the Presidency, through its Special Adviser on National Assembly Matters, Senator Ita Inang, on April 9, 2018, stated that no such approval had been made, adding that the President would never act in breach of section 80 of the constitution; yet they were aware that payments have been made,” the party added.

  • We’ll sanction defaulters of concession dues – NPA

    The Managing Director, Nigerian Ports Authority (NPA), Ms Hadiza Usman, said the management would ensure that all outstanding payments and dues meant for the organisation were remitted by concessionaires and other stakeholders as quickly as possible.

    Usman said this on Friday in a statement issued by the Authority’s Spokesman, Alhaji Abdullahi Goje, after the Quarterly meeting of the NPA Management and stakeholders in Lagos.

    She said that the authority would provide an enabling environment for efficient port services in view of the vital role the maritime sub sector played.

    According to her, management has put in place a machinery at ensuring that there is a level-playing field for operators in the sector.

    Usman said that the management would ensure that rules guiding port operations were strictly adhered to.

    She told stakeholders that rhe NPA management had set up a committee to liaise with representatives of terminal operators with a view to reviewing existing concession agreement as planned.

    Usman said that NPA was determined to actualise the result within the shortest time.

    The managing director frowned at the attitude of shipping companies and terminal operators, who connived to litter the roads with empty containers under the guise of not having a holding bay.

    She said that sanctions, would be invoked on erring oganisations that refused to obey rules guiding the directives after a one-week window.

    Earlier in her welcome address, the Port Manager, Lagos Ports Complex (LPC), Hajia Aisha Ibrahim, informed stakeholders that the meeting was a platform for NPA and its stakeholders to discuss the challenges of operational efficiency.

    She said that efforts were in top gear to continually provide succour through palliatives on the roads leading to the ports in consonance with the Ease of Doing Business before permanent solutions were made by relevant agencies.

     

  • Misconduct: LPPC sanctions two senior Nigerian lawyers, withdrawals SAN titles

    The Legal Practitioners Privileges Committee, LPPC, on Thursday announced the withdrawal of the title of Senior Advocate of Nigeria (SAN) from two lawyers for misconduct.

    In a statement signed by its secretary, Hadiza Mustapha, the committee said the first affected lawyer, Oluwatoyin Bashorun, would not be allowed to re-apply for the position till after three years.

    According to the statement, the other lawyer, Kunle Ogunban has been relinquished of all privileges attached to the title.

    “At the last Emergency Meeting which was held on September, 15 2017; the Legal Practitioners’ Privileges Committee by virtue of Section 5 (1) of the Legal Practitioners Act CAP L11, Laws of the Federation of Nigeria. 2004 as amended, decided to suspend the oonferment of the rank of Senior Advocate of Nigeria on Oluwatoyin Ajoke Bashorun Esq. pending the investigation of all petitions filed against her.

    “This is to notify the General Public that after a thorough investigation of the petition, the sub-committee as setup by the Legal Practitioners’ Privdeges Committee (at which the Applicant was given a fair hearing) at its 129m Plenary Meeting upheld the recommendations of the subcommittee to wit:

    “That the petitioner’s petition is meritorious, having found that the respondent stayed and continued to stay in a rented property for nine years without paying rent.

    “That Oluwatoyin Ajoke Bashorun Esq. being an officer in the temple of Justice and an aspirant to the exalted position of Senior Advocate of Nigeria has conducted herself in a manner which is clearly in contravention of the provisions of paragraphs 18(2) (a) & (c) and 19 (a) (b) (c) & (d) of the,” the statement said.

    Regarding Mr. Ogumba, the statement said thus:

    “Honeywell Group petitioned Kunle Ogunba SAN alleging professional misconduct against him. The misconduct allegedly consists of the institution of multiplicity of proceedings before different judges of the Federal High Court on the same subject with the deliberate aim of abusing the process of court and derailing the course of justice.

    This is to further notify the General Public that after a thorough investigation of the petition by the sub-committee set up by the Legal Practitioners’ Privileges Committee (at which the Respondent was given a fair hearing) it was decided that the petition is meritorious. Consequently, the Legal Practitioners’ Privileges Committee at its 129th Plenary Meeting has withdrawn the rank of Senior Advocate of Nigeria from Kunle Ogunba Esq. and all other privileges attached to the rank forthwith.”

    According to the statement, the guidelines for the conferment of the title which Mr. Bashorun was found wanting in complying with include the following:

    “The candidate must be of good character and must have no pending disciplinary case or complaint relating to professional misconduct against him. A candidate shall he considered ineligible if in the opinion of the Legal Practitioners’ Privileges Committee the candidate is adjudged to be of the following disposition:

    “Bad behaviour, whether in or out of Court; poor temperament or propensity to insult or assault people or cause them harm or put them in a state of fear of bodily harm;

    “Evidence of moral depravity or other socially unacceptable behaviour; 19(I) A candidate must:

    “Demonstrate high professional and personal integrity; b. Be honest and straightforward in all his professional/personal dealings,c. Be of good character and reputation; d. Be candid with clients and professional colleagues.”

  • Gaya calls for punitive measures following FIFA sanction

    Godfrey Gaya, a former lawmaker, has urged the Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) to ensure disciplinary measures are taken against erring officials following FIFA’s sanction on Nigeria for using an ineligible player.

    TheNewsGuru reports that FIFA had on Tuesday said NFF was to pay a fine of 6,000 Swiss Francs for fielding an ineligible Shehu Abdullahi against Algeria.

    The Nov. 10 match in Constantine was a Russia 2018 World Cup qualifying fixture, and it had ended 1-1.

    The Super Eagles defender Abdullahi Shehu was to serve the automatic one-match suspension as a result of receiving a caution in two separate matches of the same competition.

    Gaya, who was a former Chairman of the House of Representatives’ Committee on Sports, however told Sports Journalist on Wednesday in Abuja that the development was embarrassing.

    He said whoever was responsible should be sanctioned.

    “This has happened repeatedly in NFF and sanctions have not been applied.

    “It was said that FIFA informed NFF prior to the situation, but it did not take it into consideration.

    “That match against Algeria was inconsequential and we could have even filed players that had not featured at all in any of the qualifiers.

    “If we had not qualified before that match we would have lost our chance at the World Cup, in addition to the sanction.

    “ We are supposed to be participating at the World Cup with our heads high, but now it appears as though we are not capable of running our football well or keeping records,’’ Gaya said.

    The former House Committee chairman however blamed the NFF General Secretary, Mohammed Sanusi, for the negligence.

    “The General Secretary should know that this is his duty as number one administrator and the chief executive officer of the NFF.

    “ If the letter which FIFA sent was not worked upon then that responsibility rests on his shoulders,’’ he added.

    Meanwhile, Amaju Pinnick, the President of NFF, has through his twitter handle, @pinnickamaju, apologised for the error.

    “It was a lack of diligence in and by one of our departments and we are ensuring that errors like this never happen again.

    “On behalf of all at the NFF, I apologise,’’ the tweet read.

  • Police sanction 20 personnel for corruption

    The Nigeria Police Force, says it has sanctioned 20 personnel involved in corruption between Jan. 2016 and Jun. 2017 in four states.

    A report obtained from the Public Complaints Rapid Response Unit by the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) indicated that those sanctioned served in Enugu, Abuja, Ogun and Lagos commands.

    It indicated that 10 policemen were dismissed during the period, one given severe reprimand, one demoted, and eight given other forms of punishment.

    The report showed that 4, 342 complaints were received by the unit during the period under review, out of which 3,602 were amicably resolved and 318 pending.

    It added that 422 complaints received by the unit were discovered to be false.

    According to the report, the 106 distress calls received by the unit during the period under review were not part of the complaints captured in the report.

    The unit was established in November 2015 to receive and resolve cases of professional misconduct brought against police personnel.