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Alleged fraud: Court rejects ex-Minister Agunloye’s preliminary objection
Alleged fraud: Court rejects ex-Minister Agunloye’s preliminary objection
Former Power and Steel Minister Olu Agunloye has questioned the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission’s (EFCC) legal power to prosecute him for alleged illegal activity in the $6 billion Mambilla Hydroelectric Power Project.
In a notice of preliminary objection filed before a Federal Capital Territory (FCT) High Court in Apo, Agunloye sought an injunction barring the EFCC from prosecuting or continuing to prosecute the seven-count indictment on which he was arraigned on January 10.
In his objection submitted through his counsel, Adeola Adedipe (SAN), the ex-minister highlighted that the charges listed in the allegation pertained to his activities as a public officer when he was said to have granted the contract without budgetary provision, consent, and cash backing.
Agunloye also claimed that another offence alleged in the charge bordered on his purported disobedience to the directives of the President and forgery of a letter, dated: May 22, 2003.
He contended that the EFCC lacks investigative and prosecutorial powers on the offences alleged in the charge, under sections 6, 7, and 46 of the EFCC Act, 2004.
Agunloye added: “These allegations do not constitute financial crimes, which can be lawfully investigated and prosecuted by the EFCC, pursuant to its powers under sections 6, 7, and 46 of the EFCC (Establishment) Act and in consonance with the Supreme Court’s decision in Nwobike v. Federal Republic of Nigeria (2022) 6 NWLR (Pt. 1826) 293.
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“Not having the mandatory/statutory powers to investigate the allegations against the defendant, ab initio, the purported investigation of the defendant and current prosecution of the charge by the EFCC is ultra vires its powers and thereby a nullity.”
“This is a threshold issue in which the court must first satisfy itself that there is requisite statutory powers for the EFCC to prosecute the charge and competent jurisdiction in the court to entertain same.”
The former minister also filed a separate application, seeking an order of the court to restrain the EFCC from inviting, intimidating or harassing his sureties.
He also prayed for an order to vary the conditions attached to the bail granted him on January 11, one of which required that his sureties must provide evidence of their ownership of a property worth N300 million.
In the application, he claimed that the EFCC had “repeatedly harassed, threatened, and invited his sureties for investigation,” an action he said was “actuated by bad faith, for the sureties to withdraw their suretyship and thereby create an uneven playing field in the prosecution of the case”.
At the resumed hearing in the case yesterday, Adedipe told the court about the fresh applications his client had filed.
The trial judge, Justice Jude Onwuegbuzie, held that they were not ripe for hearing.
Justice Onwuegbuzie adjourned till February 26 for the hearing of the applications.
Alleged fraud: Court rejects ex-Minister Agunloye’s preliminary objection
News
Edo Gov Okpebholo freezes govt accounts, reverses ministry’s name
Edo Gov Okpebholo freezes govt accounts, reverses ministry’s name
Edo State Governor, Monday Okpebholo, has directed the immediate freezing of all state-owned bank accounts.
In a statement issued on Thursday by his Chief Press Secretary, Fred Itua, the governor stated that the accounts would remain frozen until further notice.
He instructed commercial banks, ministries, departments, and agencies (MDAs) to comply with the order immediately or face severe consequences.
The statement reads: “All state bank accounts with commercial banks have been frozen. Commercial banks must comply with this order and ensure that not a single naira is withdrawn from government coffers until further notice.
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“Heads of Ministries, Departments, and Agencies must ensure full compliance without delay.
“Following necessary investigations and reconciliations, the governor will take appropriate action and decide on the way forward. For now, this order remains in effect.”
Okpebholo also directed relevant agencies to revert the name of the Ministry of Roads and Bridges to its previous title, the Ministry of Works, a change made during the Godwin Obaseki administration.
“It is odd to name a government institution the Ministry of Roads and Bridges, especially when not a single bridge was built by the previous administration — not even a pedestrian bridge.
“In the coming days, we will examine further actions taken by the previous administration and make decisions that serve the best interests of the state,” the statement added.
Edo Gov Okpebholo freezes govt accounts, reverses ministry’s name
News
Israel-Palestinian conflict: Two-state solution is a deception, says Gumi
Israel-Palestinian conflict: Two-state solution is a deception, says Gumi
Prominent Islamic scholar Dr. Ahmad Mahmud Gumi has criticized the widely discussed two-state solution for the Israel-Palestine conflict, calling it a “deception.”
His remarks followed a recent summit of the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) in Riyadh, where President Bola Tinubu and other leaders condemned Israel’s actions in Gaza and urged an end to hostilities.
In an interview with Daily Trust at his Kaduna residence, Gumi argued, “This Two-State Solution is a deception. No Israeli will allow a Palestinian to survive, and Palestinians will never allow Israel to survive.
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The only solution is to dissolve the two states and create a democratically electable region.”
Gumi commended the OIC’s support for Palestine, noting that Muslims and Arabs worldwide increasingly see the treatment of Palestinians as “genocide” and accuse Israel of human rights abuses.
He also called for a return to the pre-1948 structure, where Palestinians, Jews, and Christians lived together, suggesting a single, inclusive state that allows peaceful coexistence.
“When I hear people talking about Two-State Solutions, I know they are just deceiving themselves,” Gumi added, advocating for a unified region where people of all faiths can live together, similar to the multi-faith coexistence seen in countries like the United States.
Israel-Palestinian conflict: Two-state solution is a deception, says Gumi
News
Court sacks Ondo LP candidate, two days to governorship poll
Court sacks Ondo LP candidate, two days to governorship poll
The Labour Party candidature of Olusola Ebiseni for the upcoming gubernatorial election in Ondo State has been nullified.
The nullification follows the sacking of Ebiseni by the Court of Appeal, sitting in Abuja, on Wednesday.
The governorship election of the southwest State will hold on Saturday, 16 November 2024.
The judgement disqualifying Ebiseni was unanimously delivered by the three members of the panel and read out by the chairman of the panel, Justice Adebukola Banjoko.
The judgment granted the prayer of the Labour Party who preferred the case against Ebiseni.
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Justice Banjoko held that, “the appeal marked CA/ABJ/CV/1172/2024 brought by the Labour Party against Chief Olusola Ebiseni and two others is allowed.”
Justice Banjoko further stated that the Certified True Copy of the judgment would be provided to the parties involved in the appeal as soon as possible for their review.
Recall that Justice Emeka Nwite of the Federal High Court in Abuja had ordered the Independent National Electoral Commission to accept and recognize Olusola Ebiseni and Ezekiel Awude as the Labour Party’s governorship and deputy governorship candidates for the November 16 Ondo State governorship elections.
Justice Nwite confirmed that the second primary election conducted by the Labour Party, which resulted in Ebiseni and Awude being selected as candidates, was valid and should be upheld by INEC.
However, the appellate court has now overturned the judgment of the trial court’s judgment.
Court sacks Ondo LP candidate, two days to governorship poll
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