CCT:Saraki may resign any moment as senators mount pressure

ABUJA – AHEAD of the expected judgment of the Code of Conduct Tribunal, following yesterday’s commencement of his trial over false assets declaration when he held sway as governor of Kwara State, Senate President, Bukola Saraki may throw in the towel by resigning from his position any movement from now, Vanguard learnt.

In other not to be humiliated while on the throne, some senators including those who had vowed to remain with him to the end of his trial at the anti-graft court, yesterday, asked the Senate President to consider the resignation option so as to save the Senate, as an institution. 

 The option was thrown to him at a special meeting held by a group of some loyal senators, who followed him to his Maitama residence, shortly after the end of yesterday’s trial at the court. But as Saraki is considering the option, senators of the ruling All Progressives Congress, APC, appeared to be at loggerhead with their counterparts in the opposition Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, over the Senate President’s successor. While the APC senators are insisting on producing Saraki’s successor, those of the PDP are favorably disposed to anointing one of their own, a development that has further polarized the Red Chamber.

 A senator of the PDP fold, who spoke to Vanguard late yesterday, but on condition that his identity would not be mentioned, said Saraki was given the option of resigning basically to save the institution of the legislature. ‘”I can confirm to you that at a special meeting held yesterday, we asked the Senate President to consider the option of resignation. “We believe that doing so would preserve the institution of the Senate, “he said, refusing to speak further. 

Asked whether the Senate President was considering the resignation option, the lawmaker said ‘” this was just thrown at him this evening. We believe that he would do the right thing.'”. Meanwhile, names of senators Abdullahi Adamu, representing Nasarawa West from the APC and Suleiman Adokwe of the PDP were being touted as possible replacements of the Senate President to press time.

AY's wife, Mabel Makun's birthday party

The birthday party was well attended by friends, families and captains of industry. The list of celebrities in attendance includes, Mr and Mrs Idibia, Mr and Mrs Alibaba, Mr and Mrs Frank Edoho, Mr and Mrs Moses Inwang, Mr and Mrs Seyilaw, Mr and Mrs Ejike Asuegbu, Mr Julie Pinnick, Mr and Mrs Animashaun of Hiptv, Mr and Mrs George Onafowokan MD/CEO Coleman Wires, Mr and Mrs Danny Kioupouroglou, (GM Eko Hotels) Mr and Mrs E-Money, Mr and Mrs Wole Adedeji (Senior Brand Manager Maltina), Mr and Mrs Lanre Makun (Lanre Makun Events), Pastor Tony Rapu of This Present House, Richard Mofe Damijo, Opa Williams, DJ Jimmy Jatt, Ireti Doyle, Korede Bello, Kiss Daniel, Kcee, Harry Song, Alexx Ekubo, Gbenro Ajibade, Yomi Casual, Freda Francis, Damilola Attoh, Sexy Steel, Chigul, Ushbebe, Azuka Ogujiuba of Thisday and a host of others. 

Continue to see more photos.

The Archbishop of Canterbury:Dissolving the Anglican Churchto Save It

Justin Welby was named archbishop of Canterbury with high hopes that he was the man who could save the Anglican Communion. Now it appears he may oversee its breakup—a calculated destruction intended,
paradoxically, to save it.

Welby heads the Church of England, making him also the titular head of the affiliated Anglican churches around the world, including the Episcopal Church in the U.S.

The umbrella group, the worldwide Anglican Communion, has been shaken by conflicts over the
ordination and consecration of gays and women and over same-sex marriage in the U.S. and U.K. According to reports in British media, Welby will propose reorganizing the Communion as a looser affiliation at a January gathering According to The Guardian , at a January gathering at his seat at Lambeth Palace, Welby “will propose that the Communion be reorganised as a group of churches that are all linked to Canterbury but no longer necessarily to each other,”

Welby believes that his proposal would allow him to maintain relations both with the liberal churches of North America, which recognise and encourage gay
marriage, and the African churches, led by Kenya, Uganda and Nigeria, who are agitating for the recriminalisation of all homosexual activity in their countries.

The BBC and Telegraph have similar reports. The
archbishop himself has not commented, but Lambeth
Palace did publish a news release on the invitation to
the 37 primates—the heads of the various branches of
the church—to come to Canterbury. The release said the gathering would be a chance “to reflect and pray
together concerning the future of the Anglican Communion … The agenda will be set by common agreement with all primates encouraged to send in
contributions.”

The prospect of a split hung over the heads of the last
two archbishops—Lord George Carey, a steely
conservative, and Rowan Williams, an intellectual with a more liberal bent, both of whom strove for unity in a
fractious church. Williams disappointed progressive
Anglicans by not pushing faster on issues including the
consecration of female bishops in the Church of England.

Meanwhile, the American church was sliding ever farther to the left, in 2003 consecrating V. Gene
Robinson, an openly gay priest, as a bishop in New Hampshire. Then, in 2006, with the question of female
bishops still dividing much of the church, the Episcopal
Church elected Katharine Jefferts Schori to its top
position of presiding bishop, making her the first female
primate in the Anglican Communion. (By the time of the
conference, in January, the U.S. church will have a new
primate, Michael Curry, the first black presiding bishop.) In 2012, the Episcopal Church authorized a rite for same- sex unions short of marriage . At the same time, African bishops have begun taking ever-more-strident positions against homosexuality, including supporting laws that would criminalize it or make it punishable by death.

These changes led to acrimonious splits in the church. In the U.S., conservative parishes left the Episcopal Church, labeling themselves “Anglican.” At the same time, African branches of the church reacted strongly against the elevation of female clergy to leadership positions and the sanctioning of homosexuality. There’s been talk of schism in the church for years. Conservatives are upset that Canterbury hasn’t acted more strongly to rein in the Western churches, while liberals ended up disappointed in Williams, whom they found too accommodating of conservatives. In 2008, many traditionalist bishops skipped the Lambeth Conference, a once-per-decade gathering, and Welby has already announced an indefinite postponement of the next Lambeth Conference. The failure of the Church of England to approve female bishops late in Williams’s tenure, despite his support, left a bitter taste among progressives.

The archbishop draws his authority as much from tradition and an Anglican sense of propriety as any
formal role.

When Welby, a former oil executive-turned-clergyman,
was named as the next archbishop in 2012, it was hoped that he could help bring reconciliation. Welby, who was bishop of Durham before his elevation, comes from the evangelical wing of the Church of England, the more conservative part of the church. The archbishop personally opposes gay marriage, though he has also said , “We must have no truck with any form of homophobia.” (Seven months into his tenure, Parliament passed legislation to legalize same-sex marriage in England and Wales.) In late 2014, the Church of England approved female bishops.

In the first years of his term, Welby sought to build ties
with African church leaders to forestall schism. If these
reports are correct, he seems to have decided that even
if the Communion could be duct-taped together for now, a more permanent solution was going to have to come eventually.

“We have no Anglican Pope. Our authority as a church is dispersed, and is ultimately found in Scripture, properly interpreted,” Welby said in his statement. That’s essential for understanding what’s happening now. The archbishop draws his authority as much from tradition and an Anglican sense of propriety as any formal role.

Welby can trace his role back to Thomas Cranmer, the
author of the Book of Common Prayer and the first
archbishop after Henry VIII separated the Church of
England from Rome; and from there, he can trace it back to Augustine, the first archbishop, appointed in 597.

But because the archbishop is not a pope, he cannot
make a decree and expect the primates around the world to obey. It meant that neither Carey nor Williams could impose his authority, either to halt the liberal churches’ changes or to silence the conservative ones’ objections. It means, too, that Welby cannot impose peace in the Anglican Communion, and instead must find a creative solution to the church’s problems that eluded his predecessors.

Fighting graft in judiciary

When Justice Mahmud Mohammed came on board as the Chief Justice of Nigeria (CJN) the public perception of the judiciary was at its lowest ebb.

Like his predecessors in office, he wasted no time in drawing up road maps and policies which claimed to be the final solution to ending the endemic scourge called judicial corruption.

Despite these efforts, and the establishment of the anti- corruption agencies in the country, the problem of judicial corruption remained unresolved.

The story was told of how some serving judges, who were appointed to serve on the panel of Election Petition tribunals, became billionaires overnight.

The National Judicial Council (NJC), in its latest attempt to tackle this menace recently published the revised Judicial Discipline Regulations.

The regulations instated new rules governing the reception and consideration of complaints against judges. The revised rules are aimed at curtailing frivolous petitions against judges and preventing judges from being distracted by vexatious and baseless allegations against them.

Rule 1(1) of the revised regulations states: “A complaint must be made within six months of the event or matter complained of, provided a complaint relating to a continuing state of affairs may be made at any time while the state of affairs continues or within six months from when it ends.”

However, in most cases, the corrupt conduct of a judicial officer only becomes public knowledge following a careless slip or from the irrepressible work of investigative reporters.

This was exactly what happened recently in neigbouring Ghana, where the long arm of the law has caught up with 22 judges and magistrates, fingered in what can be described as Ghana’s biggest judicial scandal in recent years.

Ghana Judicial Council said that 12 High Court judges were being investigated, following incriminating evidence contained in a video released by a local investigative journalist, Anas Aremeyaw Anas.

Anas in two different petitions dated August 31, and
September 2, 2015 addressed to the President of the
Republic of Ghana and the Chief Justice respectively,
tendered a damning video that captured the judicial officials taking bribes from litigants.

The journalist had asked the Ghanaian President to take disciplinary action against the indicted judicial officials.

Consequently, President John Mahama directed the Chief Justice, Georgina Theodora Wood, to take the necessary process against the officials.

Following a crucial meeting of the Judicial Council, the 22 indicted judges were promptly suspended with effect from Thursday September 10, 2015. They remain suspended until a final determination on the case.

The award winning journalist claimed his video contained over 150 hour-documentation, detailing acts of corruption, including bribe- taking and extortion of litigants by judges and other judicial officials in the country.

Also, the Chief Justice has constituted a five-man
disciplinary committee headed by a Supreme Court justice to investigate the allegation against the 12 High Court judges.

The committee has also been mandated to investigate other court officials and clerks, who may have been involved in the scandal.

Back home, the Chief Justice of Nigeria (CJN) Justice
Mahmud Mohammed, said recently that between 2009 and 2014, no fewer than 64 judges were disciplined out of the 1020 judges currently serving in the Superior Courts.

Nigerian Judiciary is made up of a hierarchy of courts
beginning from the Customary and Area Courts at the base and the Supreme Court at the apex. We have the Magistrates Courts, Federal and States High Courts, National Industrial Court, Sharia Court of Appeal, Customary Court of Appeal and the Court of Appeal in the middle. The number of Judicial Officers serving in our Superior Courts of Record- High Courts Customary Courts of Appeal, Sharia Courts of Appeal, National Industrial Court, Court of Appeal and
Supreme Court are over 1020 as at the end of 2014.

In our lower courts, the figure is about 7000 Judges and Magistrates. Therefore, corruption in the Judiciary having regard to the number of Judges and the number of those accused of corruption, the percentage is very low.

The CJN gave the break down when he spoke at a seminar organised by the Nigerian Bar Association’s Anti-Corruption Commission, with the theme “the fight against corruption in Nigeria: the way forward”.

He mentioned that the NJC during his tenure as the chairman has not shirked this responsibility but faced it head on.

He said that out of the 64 judges that were disciplined as appropriate by the NJC, some of them are no more on the Bench.

The CJN however added that it was sad that the public
officials and persons who benefit from corrupting judicial officers are never investigated, apprehended or even prosecuted, even though the judiciary disciplines its own.

“The basic question, my lords, ladies and gentlemen is, how can we stop judicial corruption when the scale is seemingly tilted in favour of the beneficiaries?

“While trying to improve discipline within the Bench, the
leadership of the judiciary has also taken steps to enact new guidelines that will see a more transparent recruitment process, thus ensuring that only persons that are intellectually sound with integrity are appointed as judicial officers ab initio.

He said further that the bar must purge itself of its
dishonest members for the bench to be corruption-free “since the bench was a product of the bar, it would not change if its origin remained the same.”

Justice Mohammed said it was time for the legal profession to exorcise the pernicious ghost of corruption from its midst so that the bench could be free of unethical practices.

He said, “It is important to highlight that the bench is a
product of the Bar and unless we work in synergy to ensure that only fit and proper persons remain in our midst, it will be impossible to expect a different bench when its origin remains the same.

“I hereby call on the leadership of the bar to expunge from its ranks, such persons whose conduct may be unfit, improper, dishonest or otherwise unethical.

“The time has surely come for us all to take concrete,
meaningful and lasting action to exorcise the pernicious ghost of corruption from the most noble of professions.”

He said although there were corrupt judges in the judiciary, “corruption within the judiciary is only imbibed by a minute minority.”

The CJN also expressed serious concern about the incessant rise in petitions written and forwarded to the National Judicial Council (NJC).

“Equally perturbing is the profusion of legal practitioners who are quick to write needless petitions that impugn the character of honest judges simply because they have felt aggrieved at being at the wrong end of that court’s decisions or because they perceive that a judge may not find in their favour.

“Regrettably, rather than directing their productive energies to filing meritorious appeals against such decisions, counsel have sometimes resorted to attacks ad hominem against judges. While I do not seek to discourage counsel from writing petitions that show genuine, cogent cause, I urge counsel to ensure that such complaints are factual and based on acts, which would constitute misconduct or other breach of the Code of Conduct for Judicial Officers, the Constitution
of the Federal Republic of Nigeria 1999 (as amended) or any other law currently in force in Nigeria.

This is to ensure that genuine petitions are appropriately addressed with the seriousness and speed that is demanded.

It is of equal importance to ensure that public statements or accusations of impropriety against judicial officers are firmly supported with adequate evidence. It must be appreciated that the integrity of the judges and the judiciary is a sacred public trust that must be protected and upheld by all.”

It is for this reason that, as part of our determined effort to ensure that our Judicial Officers are alert to their responsibilities, the NJC has constituted an Inspection and Monitoring Committee for on-the-spot assessment of judicial officers on duty.

As we continue to fish out and discipline indolent and lazy judges by showing them the way out of the system, we must also acknowledge and praise those judges that are diligent and hardworking. To this end, the NJC’s Judicial Officers Performance Evaluation Committee has also been strengthened to perform its functions,” the CJN said.

While the CJN said that only 64 judges have been dealt with in five years, the picture painted by the immediate past CJN justice Justice Maryam Aloma Mukhtar was that of real cases of massive corruption rampant among judiciary employees including secretaries, court registrars, process clerks and bailiffs nationwide.

Mukhtar noted that the conduct of these employees was in increasing breach of the Code of Court for judiciary staff.

Mukhtar warned that any act of misconduct and breach of the code would be punished decisively to arrest the eroding public confidence in the judicial process.

“Now more than ever, the public has become more critical of the conduct of judicial staff, perhaps buoyed by public outcry against unwholesome conduct of the judicial staff like leakage of judgments before delivery, demanding bribes before the preparation of records of appeal, acting as go-between for some overzealous litigants and some corrupt judicial officers,ostentatious lifestyles beyond legitimate earnings and host of other activities,” she noted.

She lamented that “these corrupt activities of some judicial staff have raised serious issues as to the credibility and integrity of the persons who are employed to assist the judicial officers in the performance of their duties.

“Some of the corrupt ones amongst you have gone ahead to solicit and collect millions of naira from unscrupulous litigants on the pretext that they are acting for the judicial officers handling their cases. This is bad and reprehensible.”

She noted that “Many judges and magistrates have been violently attacked by hoodlums on the mistaken belief that they did not perform even after money has been given to them through their staff.”

Meanwhile many have been caught and disciplined, but so many have so far escaped detection.

The judiciary doesn’t have a garrison of army to fight its cause or enforce its orders and decisions. NJC for instance can only recommend disciplinary actions against erring judicial officers for approval and enforcement by the president.

It cannot go further to levy charges against the judge for his or her criminal acts; neither could NJC prosecute the persons that bribed the judge for instance to balkanize cause of justice. The Counsel doesn’t have criminal investigation unit or ‘’Fraud Detective Squad’’ to detect and investigate criminal involvement of any judicial officer. It can only put the
judge on trial if there is a petition filed against him or her, again, the trials are based mostly on documentary evidence which is hard to get.

Hence there is an urgent need to overhaul the judiciary.

MULAN President- I will never call for the abolishment of SAN title

Barrister Olori-Aje Adam is the newly elected chairman of the Muslim Lawyers Association of Nigeria (MULAN) and principal partner of A.O. Olori-Aje & Co law firm based in Abuja. He was called to the bar on January 23, 2001 and was elected chairman of MULAN in April this year.

In this interview, he discusses MULAN, capital punishment and the need to ignore calls to abolish the Senior Advocate of Nigeria (SAN) title.

What is your view on capital punishment?
From the point of view of the human rights activists, it’s some kind of punishment that is too harsh and barbaric.

However, you’d discover that countries with capital
punishment are the ones maintaining some level of sanity.

The essence of that law is not in the execution itself; the essence is in the deterrence and the impression. Some people complain that Islam advises the amputation of the hand for stealing but during the lifetime of the Prophet Muhammad, the total execution of amputations was only twice because people knew if they steal, it is punishable by hand amputation. The prophet himself said that ‘even if it’s my daughter that does something that would warrant her hand being cut, I’ll cut it’. It’s the fear that will keep people
in line, which is why I think capital punishment should stay.

Some people have called for the abolishment of the SAN title. Do you think it should go?
To cut the head is not the solution to a headache. The best thing to happen to you as a lawyer is to become a Senior Advocate of Nigeria. I will never call for the abolishment of that title. If there is a problem with the method of appointment or confinement, let us fine-tune it and restructure it to accommodate those who we believe are qualified and may not have been conferred.

Regarding discipline among the members of the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA), are you satisfied with the disciplinary mechanisms within the association?
The disciplinary mechanisms within the NBA are perfect but we can say that there is room for further development and improvement. To the best of my knowledge, what they do now is if there is any allegation against a member of the bar, the person who is alleging misconduct or any other offence
forwards his complaint to the chairman of that branch. The chairman of the branch will look at it and may call for a response from the affected member. They will send you a direct copy of that allegation and put a forwarding letter on it stating the complaint and the date of the complaint with a time limit for a response. If they are satisfied with your response then they will arrange for a meeting with you and the complainant to settle the issue. The complaint can be passed on to higher stages depending on the complexity.

Once the complaint is filed, there is no going back so the complainant withdrawing the filing can’t stop the
investigation. As it is today, I believe we have a considerably perfect disciplinary measure.

The NBA has introduced Stamp and Seal. Some people feel that the Stamp and Seal Policy is discriminatory. What is your opinion?
I agree with the Stamp and Seal policy. I believe it’s in the best interest of lawyers in Nigeria. Before, we usually see people in places like business centres preparing documents in their systems and putting the name of a lawyer who may be their uncle or brother in Lokoja, Ibadan or even Lagos who isn’t aware of the transaction. If a problem erupts, one wouldn’t know where to trace it to. It’s the best thing to happen to the Nigerian bar. It gives us a sense of belonging and protects the integrity of the bar. You’ll think twice before putting your seal on any document.

The NBA is the umbrella body for lawyers in Nigeria and MULAN is a sub group. Can you tell us more about MULAN?
Alhamdulillah. MULAN is more of a streamline of a bigger body called the NBA. The NBA is a larger body with a larger responsibility to cover thousands of lawyers in Nigeria by taking care of their welfare and practice. It is productive to have a body that will take care of specific interests and therefore MULAN was introduced to look after the welfare of Muslims who are lawyers; how they do, how they practice, what kind of practice they do, what kind of welfare they
need, and so on. We have other groups like CLASSFON (Christian Lawyers Association of Nigeria). Now, even ethnic groups are coming up. We have the Yoruba and Igbo groups as well as the younger generation of lawyers.

We started at state level before coming together to formally launch the association in the year 2005. There was the need for us to protect our religion, to protect our practice and to have a closer look at our welfare. That was how we virtually came together and since then we have been up and doing.

What achievements have this association made so far?
Within the short period of our existence, we have gone for prison visitations as part of our activities and offered financial assistance to our members, including the payment of penalties and fines depending on the situation. We visit hospitals and IDPs (internally displaced persons). In fact recently, we visited some IDPs and donated a whole lot of things to them. Those are examples of things we do for the welfare of our members. We are currently working on a project that will be very marvelous by the time we unveil it.

Olu of Warri: Prince Eroro assumes regent as Olu designate goes into seclusion

WARRI – The Olu designate of Warri kingdom, Prince
Godfrey Ikenwole Abiloye Emiko has gone into seclusion following his selection to become the 20th Olu on the throne.

Secretary, Itsekiri Leaders of Thought, ILT, Mr. Edward
Ekpoko, while explaining the implication of Olu in waiting’s action in Warri, Delta state said yesterday that it is in line with the tradition of the land.

Ekpoko, who is also Chairman, Warri Study Group said, “I have been bombarded with media enquiries to meet
Abiloye since he was chosen Saturday. The simple
response is that he cannot be reached until passage rites of HRM, Atuwatse II, his predecessor are concluded.

“It is at that point within the next 90 days that his
coronation commences that he comes out of seclusion. In his absence Prince Eroro Emiko, Olori-Ebi (Head) of the royal family assumes regent of the kingdom. He will start receiving visitors coming into the royal family in due course.”

Ekpoko also clarified that Chief Yaya Pessu, Ojomo of
Warri kingdom who took the role of Ologbotsere when he broke news of the passage of HRM, Atuwatse II and
announced his successor in one breath was not a chief
priest.

“Neither the Ojomo or Ologbotsere is Chief Priest. Also
note that the last Ologbotsere of Warri kingdom was
Chief Ogbemi Newe Rewane and not his sibling, Alfred
Rewane as reflected in some reports”, he further clarified.

Court Adjourns Saraki's Trial to October 21

The trial of the Senate President, Dr. Olubukola Saraki, at the Code of Conduct Tribunal, CCT, sitting in Abuja, has been adjouned to October 21.

Earlier, the trial of Dr. Olubukola Saraki took a dramatic turn when he refused to mount the dock.
The trial tribunal, headed by Justice Danladi Umar, called up Saraki’s case at exactly 10:32am.

Where is the prosecution, is the accused person here?”,
Justice Umar who was looking directly at Saraki from his vantage post, queried.

“Mr lord I cannot see him. I think the first thing is for him to enter the dock first, then we will announce our
appearances. After which the charge will be read to him”, the prosecuting counsel, Mr. Rotimi Jacobs submitted.

“With profound respect to the chairman and member of
this tribunal, I agree with my learned brother that we
should enter appearances first. The order of this tribunal was that the accused should be produced today. It was not for his to enter his plea. The case was earlier adjourned for mention”, counsel to Saraki, Mr. J.B. Daudu, insisted.

Daudu vehemently opposed the idea of Saraki entering
the dock, relying on an Appeal Court decided case law in Igbeke vs FRN, 2015, 3 NWLR.

Eventually, Saraki entered the dock and pleaded not guilty to the 13-count criminal charge that was preferred against him by the federal government.

The Tribunal adjourned sitting to October 21, 2015.