Opinion
Yahaya Bello and a Complicit Judiciary
Published
10 months agoon
By
Nats Odaudu
— Chidi Anselm Odinkalu
Josiah Majebi is the fifth Chief Judge of Kogi State (in north-central Nigeria) in four years and the fourth to exist 1 almost entirely in the pocket of the state governor. He has been in office as substantive Chief Judge since the beginning of February 2023, having acted in that role since 26 June 2022 when his predecessor, Richard Olorunfemi, retired. Henry Olusiyi served in that office for just under seven months from the end of June 2020 until January 2021. Sunday Otuh, who succeeded him, spent eight months in office before retiring in September 2021.
The last Chief Judge of Kogi State who attempted to hold that office with dignity and independence, Nasir Ajanah, paid with his life, un-mourned and exiled from the state. He was the second Chief Judge of the State to be politically lynched by the government of Kogi State in one decade.
At the beginning of April 2008, the Kogi State House of Assembly, defying an order of the state High Court, adopted a resolution asking the State Governor to remove long-serving Chief Judge of the State, Umaru Eri. On that basis, then acting governor, Clarence Olafemi, promptly announced the sack of the Chief Judge on 2 April 2008 and designated another judge, Sam Ota, to act in his place.
In his defence, Umaru Eri claimed that his crime was that he had declined the request of the politicians to act as go-between in bribing the election petition tribunal on behalf of the then state governor whose election was in dispute. On 16 May, 2008, Alaba Ajileye, a judge of the High Court of Kogi State, reversed the sack and reinstated Umaru Eri.
11 years later, on 18 June 2019, Alaba Ajileye presided again in deciding a case that seemed uncannily to reprise issues in his earlier decision. As with the 2008 decision, the claimant in 2019 was another Chief Judge of Kogi State, Nasir Ajanah with his Chief Registrar, Yahya Adamu. The defendants included the Kogi State House of Assembly, its Speaker, and the State Governor, Yahaya Bello.
At the directive of Governor Yahaya Bello, the Secretary to the Government of Kogi State wrote on 14 November, 2018 to Chief Judge Nasir Ajanah, asking him to provide “the payroll of judicial staff for the ongoing pay parade of civil servants in the state.” At the time, the Governor was a defendant in the court of the Chief Judge, so the Chief Registrar responded to the letter and explained that the judiciary was a self-accounting and co-equal branch of government supervised by the state Judicial Service Commission.
An affronted Governor Yahaya Bello wrote under his own name to Walter Onnoghen, then Chief Justice of Nigeria and Chair of the National Judicial Council (NJC), asking the NJC to find the Chief Judge guilty of misconduct and requiring that he “step aside and (an) Acting Chief Judge allowed to take his place.”
While his petition was still waiting for the attention of the NJC, Yahaya Bello resorted to political self-help. He referred the perceived effrontery of Nasir Ajannah to the State House of Assembly, which promptly constituted an investigation committee. The Chief Judge sued. While his suit was pending, on 2 April 2019, the State House of Assembly adopted a resolution asking Yahaya Bello to remove the Chief Judge and also requiring disciplinary action against the Chief Registrar. On 18 June 2019, Alaba Ajileye sitting as the High Court of Kogi State in Kotonkarfe, determined that the Kogi State House of Assembly and the Governor acted unlawfully in seeking to remove the Chief Judge.
The reaction of the governor was bestial. He first went after Alaba Ajileye, a man of courage and learning whose judicial record was unblemished. With a doctorate degree in law, Alaba Ajileye was an expert in the rarefied subject of digital evidence. Following this judgment, however, Yahaya Bello’s government made it known that they could no longer guarantee his safety. Yet, when he was put forward for elevation to the Court of Appeal, the same Kogi State government actively blocked it. A man who would easily have adorned the Supreme Court with distinction, Alaba Ajileye retired from the High Court in February 2023 and has since then forged a career as a scholar and academic.
Turning to the State Chief Judge, meanwhile, Yahaya Bello made life unbearable for Nasir Ajannah. He began by banishing the man from official state functions. When Chief Judge Ajannah attended the swearing in of the new Grand Khadi of Kogi State on 21 May 2020, the Chief Security Officer to Yahaya Bello informed him that “the governor gave a directive that he should not be allowed to attend the function.”
In the middle of the COVID-19 pandemic, Governor Yahaya Bello made Nasir Ajannah persona non-grata in the state. As a result, he was forced into internal displacement in Abuja, where his personal arrangements were worse than transitory. While in hiding in Abuja, Nasir Ajannah contracted COVID and died in isolation in Gwagwalada in the Federal Capital Territory on 28 June 2020. His death went unacknowledged and even the institutions of the judiciary were reluctant to mourn his passing.
The men who followed Nasir Ajannah in the office of Chief Judge of Kogi State learnt to stoke the vanities of Yahaya Bello and avoid his anger. Ahead of his departure from office at the end of eight years as governor of Kogi State in January 2024, Josiah Majebi as Chief Judge and Chair of the Kogi State Judicial Service Commission, prepared a list of candidates for nomination as judges of the High Court of Kogi State. At the top of the list was a wife to Yahaya Bello the basis of whose claim to the nomination was the dutiful fulfilment of the duties of connubium in Yahaya Bello’s bedroom. For the Chief Judge, it was also proof that he had truly abjured any pretensions to a mind of his own.
Alarmed at what they saw as perversion of the system of judicial appointments, a group of seven Senior Advocates of Nigeria (SANs) from the State wrote to Josiah Majebi to dissuade him from this course of action. In January 2024, they sued challenging his judicial nominations. Pending the outcome, the NJC suspended the process of appointment to the Kogi State judiciary. On 18 April 2024, James Omotoso, a judge of the Federal High Court in Abuja many of whose judgments usually have something of a smell problem about them, implausibly ruled that these SANs had no legitimate interest in the process of appointment of judges in their state and that, in any case, the discretion of the NJC in appointment of judges was effectively not open to review.
It was the day after Yahaya Bello’s chosen successor and blood relative, Usman Ododo, chose to turn his predecessor into a fugitive from legal process and two days after Mr. Ododo opened his case in the petition questioning the lawfulness of his election as governor of Kogi State. As a bungling Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) waited to arrest Yahaya Bello in Abuja, one I.A. Jamil, a judge of the High Court of Kogi State, issued an order claiming to restrain the Commission from doing its job.
According to the order of the judge, the case which was filed over two months earlier on 8 February, was hurriedly assigned while the siege was on going in Abuja, argued, heard and decided and the judge quickly signed the order and handed it to Governor Ododo to take with him to Abuja from where he spirited his cousin away from legal process in a blaze of gunfire. The court was almost assuredly disingenuous about the date of filing. In all likelihood, the case was filed same day on 17 April and then back-dated.
The EFCC now claims it has declared Yahaya Bello a fugitive but the real question will be how a compromised and complicit judicial leadership will now treat the nomination of his unqualified wife as a judge and the petition against the declaration of his violent cousin as governor of Kogi State. The judges who currently control Nigeria’s criminal politics now must show how much they owe Yahaya Bello
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Opinion
SHAMBOLIC LOCAL ELECTIONS: ARE GOVERNORS SETTING ‘STANDARDS’ FOR TINUBU’S 2027 RE-ELECTION STRATEGY?
Published
3 months agoon
October 31, 2024By
Sunrise
By YAShuaib
It’s shocking and laughable that ruling parties, which barely secured victories in gubernatorial elections, are now winning local government council elections by landslides.
In some states, even parties that had never won elections are sweeping council seats, often at the behest of influential governors seeking to undermine their political rivals. For instance, Governor Siminalayi Fubara of Rivers State exemplifies how to win elections despite lacking support from traditional power brokers.
The abuse of local government councils by state governors in Nigeria is a pressing concern that threatens the very foundation of our democratic structure. While the Federal Government ensures timely disbursement of funds to all tiers of government through the Federation Account Allocation Committee (FAAC), the reality is that many governors exert undue control over local government resources. This is particularly evident in the misuse of the State Local Government Joint Accounts (SLGJA), which, though intended to streamline funding, often become instruments of financial manipulation at the state level.
Recognising that the Federal Government guarantees each tier of government its statutory allocations, state governors have no legitimate reason to deny local councils their rightful share. This was underscored by the landmark Supreme Court ruling on July 11, 2024, which mandated direct federal allocation for elected councils to curb gubernatorial interference in local government finances.
However, with limited access to local government revenue after the ruling, many governors swiftly orchestrated elections to consolidate control over council positions and finances. The predictable results have seen ruling parties dominate the polls in nearly every state. These so-called “victories” do little to inspire confidence, as the elected officials often act as mere extensions of gubernatorial power.
The lack of genuine competition is hardly surprising, given that the governor’s appointees manage each State Independent Electoral Commission (SIEC). The recent wave of local elections follows a clear pattern: handpicked candidates of the preferred parties consistently win and easily claim the titles of LG chairpersons and councillors through questionable processes, often coordinated behind the scenes by the governors.
While one might expect an outcry over the shambolic LG elections, only a few voices have raised concerns. The election observation group Yiaga Africa recently highlighted the troubling development and recommended civic education, genuine competition and a transparent electoral process. Unfortunately, the entrenched realities make these ideals’ recommendations almost unattainable.
These actions of some of the governors threaten to undermine the legitimacy of future elections, including gubernatorial and presidential contests. It would not be surprising if President Bola Ahmed Tinubu faced pressure to replicate this manipulative election strategy of governors in the 2027 general elections. The logic is simple: if governors can manipulate elections to their advantage with relative ease, why shouldn’t the president do the same at the national level?
Sadly, disobedience to court orders and manipulation of local judges are similarly rampant at the state level, rendering adjudications predictable. For instance, some state-controlled courts of justice, which handle local matters—including traditional issues and chieftaincy titles—function as extensions of their governors, lacking genuine impartiality and integrity.
The stronghold of governors on local governance is unmistakable, surpassing the President’s influence over state administrations as they wield significant control despite judicial efforts to safeguard local autonomy.”
Meanwhile, under Tinubu’s federal administration, the Supreme Court has acted as an independent arbiter, often favouring opposition parties. For instance, following the last general elections and rulings of tribunals, the apex court upheld the victories of opposition candidates, including Governor Abba Yusuf of the New Nigerian Peoples Party (NNPP) in Kano, Governor Caleb Mutfwang of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in Plateau, and Governor Alex Otti of the Labour Party (LP) in Abia among others.
While the Supreme Court’s mandate for direct funding is a positive step, governors’ continued dominance over local governments is still apparent. Yet, the Federal Government continues the transparent disbursements of statutory allocations to states without interference. Why can’t state governments reciprocate such by ensuring local governments receive their fair share of internally generated revenue (IGR) without also encroaching on their legitimate federal allocations
The conduct of governors may have set a worrying precedent and questioned their commitment to fiscal federalism and the principles of local governance.
I strongly urge the Minister of Justice and Attorney General of the Federation, Lateef Fagbemi, and the Finance Minister, Mr. Wale Edun, to take decisive action to protect local governments’ administrative and financial rights. They must implement mechanisms to ensure local councils have political autonomy and receive their financial entitlements without the risk of misappropriation by state authorities.
Local governments must be granted full political and economic autonomy to function effectively as the grassroots arm of governance. The future of our democratic governance hinges on the equitable treatment of all tiers of government, ensuring that local councils can genuinely serve their communities with the resources they rightfully deserve.
For Nigeria’s democracy to thrive, we must hold local elections to a higher standard. Despite its flaws, the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) still performs better than SIECs, whose inefficiency and bias are becoming more apparent.
The debate over federalism versus centralisation will undoubtedly arise. However, a balance between federal and state powers is essential. If reforming SIECs proves unfeasible, INEC oversight may be necessary to safeguard democratic governance at the local level.
If citizens remain silent on recent flawed local elections conducted by some state governments, they should equally accept potentially compromised gubernatorial and presidential elections that the federal government could conduct in the future, possibly in 2027. After all, what’s good for the goose is good for the gander.
Yushau A. Shuaib, publisher of PRNigeria and Economic Confidential
yashuaib@yashuaib.com
Opinion
Soludo Solves Onitsha Water Problem with Last Mile Connection
Published
4 months agoon
October 21, 2024By
Nats Odaudu
by
Ebuka Nwankwo
Documents from the World Bank’s archive show that the Bank approved a $67.0 million (equivalent to N36.8 million in 1981) loan for Nigeria in 1981 for the rehabilitation of the 1960 water supply scheme in Onitsha, which suffered significant deterioration during the Nigerian Civil War and was not meeting the needs of residents of Onitsha. The total water scheme project was estimated at N66.3 million (which was equivalent to $120.6 million using 1981 exchange rate). The $67 million World Bank loan, at that time, was to cover the foreign currency component of the project which was 55% of total cost.
The 1981 project financing scheme required that the counterpart costs would be met through contributions of $ 48.1 million (N26.5 million as at 1981) by the then Anambra State Government and $5.5 million (N3 million) by Anambra State Water Corporation (ASWC) which was supposed to charge for water usage. Interestingly, the World Bank’s 1991 project completion report for the Onitsha Water Scheme shows that its $67 million loan to Nigeria was closed in July 1991 and an unutilized balance of $2,655.22 was canceled in September 1991. Interested readers could visit the following link for details of this project: https://documents1.worldbank.org/curated/en/605701468290135155/pdf/multi-page.pdf and https://documents1.worldbank.org/curated/en/906611468098982882/pdf/multi-page.pdf
Despite the anticipated impact of this water project to the long-term sustainability of Onitsha, many adults in Onitsha cannot remember when they enjoyed public water supply in Onitsha. The story of how Nigeria accrued external debts – which it got ‘debt relief’ from during the President Obasanjo’s administration – is better left for another day. And before the advent of Governor Chukwuma Soludo, some of the lands these projects sat on were not only encroached upon, most of the equipment installed in these projects had been stollen and vandalized.
In 1979, before the commencement of the rehabilitation of the Onitsha Water Scheme project, the World Bank had approved the sum of $415,000 for the feasibility and engineering studies of the Greater Onitsha Water Scheme. During the same period, a consortium of Nigerian – German consultants (ENPLAN -GKW) carried out engineering designs for the master plan for sewerage, storm water and solid waste disposal schemes for Onitsha.
Today, the abandoned World Bank water scheme in Onitsha has a new life and the contractors handling the 3 major water schemes in the city are currently carrying out ‘final test running’ of the facilities and reticulation works. The facilities now produce highly treated portable water. And because reticulated pipes to homes of the 80’s have been severely damaged, contractors are working round the clock to restore these pipes. It is a very difficult job. Many residents have even built on the right of way of these water reticulation pipes and some have been stolen. Luckily, through sheer hard work and ingenuity, water has been reticulated to many commercial fetching points in Onitsha markets, civic centers and townhalls.
The Governor Chukwuma Soludo led administration has successfully rehabilitated the GRA Onitsha Water Scheme, CLASH Program Water Scheme and Terminal Reservoir Water Scheme. These water facilities have the capacity to supply 45 million litres of well-treated water to residents of Onitsha per day.
There have been efforts to rehabilitate these water schemes in the past. In November 2013, the state government announced that a 1.8-billion-naira contract to rehabilitate the Onitsha Water Scheme would be completed in 2014 by Peterson Candy International of South Africa. But the scale of deterioration of this water scheme was a big impediment to the project taking off. The infrastructure at the original intake water source at the Nkisi River for the water schemes had been seriously deteriorated and many big developments – including investments from institutional investors – had built on the right of way of the large raw water pipes taking water from Nkisi River to these treatment plants.
Today, the rehabilitated 45 million liters installed water treatment facilities in Onitsha is now powered with solar energy and with electricity from the national grid. The solar energy component of this facility is part of its sustainability and running cost reduction plan. The superb engineering design provided for this rehabilitated facility was able to have large industrial pumps powered by solar energy.
Last week, the joy of some residents of Onitsha knew no bounds when they received the State Commissioner for Power and Water Resources, Engr. Julius Chukwuemeka, during his routine inspection tour to monitor the reticulation of water to different fetching points in Onitsha, particularly at the Ogbe Oye Market, Inland Town.
There are ample reasons to be excited with the scale of work that has been done by the Governor Soludo-led administration. During the test running of the installed reticulation works in Onitsha by the project contractors, water runs for some hours daily at fetching points. Here is the grand plan: after the current test running of this project is completed, people at dedicated fetching points would be sure of a 24-hour water supply. The next phase would be to get water into individual houses.
During Engr. Julius Chukwuemeka’s inspection tour on a fetching point at Ogbe Oye Market, one woman lamented how her children had suffered from waterborne diseases in the past because of the unavailability of constant pipe borne water and that she spent a large portion of her earnings buying water in jerrycans from water vendors that she was not sure of their source of water. But, today, this woman is overjoyed!
The future of Anambra is bright with Governor Soludo at the helm of affairs. The Onitsha Water Scheme which seemed like a hard nut to crack has now been fully resuscitated and the last mile connections to residents are ongoing.
* Nwankwo is the special adviser to Soludo on special projects.
Note: Opinions expressed by contributors are strictly personal and do not necessarily represent the position of SunriseNigeria.
Lifestyle
Bishop George Biguzzi (1936 – 2024): Humility Beyond Reproach
Published
7 months agoon
July 22, 2024By
Nats Odaudu
By Sule Musa (WhatsApp: +23276613799)
Whether night or day, I can no longer remember. Thereabout March or April. It was the year 2000. And at Lamina Sankoh Street in the central business district of Freetown, capital city of Sierra Leone.
This was the address of my short lived newspaper, Daily Adviser 2000 – 2001.
The office phone rang and I dashed for the receiver. Mobile phones were rare then; at least in Sierra Leone. Pioneer operator Mobitel was as rare as it was erratic. You could lay two handsets side by side on a table and dial the other with reports that the second handset was out of coverage area. So, it was mostly land phones
“Yaah!” I answered in my usually busy note. “Hello!” came back from the other end.
I will never be able to explain how that voice sounded like Emmanuel Turay’s. Emmanuel was the maiden news editor of the newspaper. I had been looking for him for the better part of that day.
So, I heard myself yelling “ah go kick you ass when I see you!
The response from the other end cut me by the groin. That could certainly not be Emmanuel. The voice responded “miself go kick u ass!”
I calmed down. I knew instantly that something was wrong somewhere. “Who’s this please?” I heard myself pleading. The answer and the voice hit me at once. I sought the ground to swallow me but it didn’t even yield a crack. “This is George Biguzzi” he said and began laughing, asking “where’s Emmanuel?”
My response was in whispers. “Mi Lord, ah don die!” I cried. “I thought it was Emmanuel.”
And he said coolly “Sule, let’s talk about important things. Tell Emmanuel I want to see him.”
I remained in the chair immobile for a long time. What sort of humility is this? I kept asking myself. And have not stopped going over same question whenever Biguzzi came to my mind.
But I had to know the man better from a closer proximity when the then director of Caritas Makeni, Ibrahim Sesay hired me as a communication consultant for the Catholic aid and relief agency. As Bishop of the Makeni diocese, Biguzzi was the chairman of the Caritas Makeni board.
The Daily Adviser newspaper had extensively covered the operations of Caritas Makeni especially in the course of ending the eleven-year war through peace negotiation and consolidation championed by the Sierra Leone commission for disarmament, demobilization and resettlement (DDR).
The guns had barely gone quiet when Caritas Makeni wrestled the child combatants in their thousands from the Revolutionary United Front (RUF) high command in Makeni. They were brought to Port Loko in about fourteen trucks owned and driven by the Pakistani contingent of the United Nations Mission in Sierra Leone (UNAMSIL).
In all the hectic and hair raising operations led by Ibrahim Sesay and the dedicated Caritas Makeni team, Bishop Biguzzi was there in the background soliciting for funds from far and wide.
On countless occasions, I would be in the company of Ibrahim Sesay in the Wilkinson Road office of Caritas Makeni late into the night and long after the staff had closed. In nearly all of these sessions, there would be back and forth consultation with the Bishop on issues relating to the peace and relief operations.
The national award conferred on Bishop George Biguzzi by the government of President Ernest Bai Koroma was consequently well deserved.
Developments in nearly every area of human needs brought to Makeni and parts of the north of Sierra Leone are attributed to the glowing accomplishments of George Biguzzi who was always mentioned in one breath with his predecessor Bishop Azzolinni.
Perhaps the most touching pronouncements attributed to Biguzzi was his response to alarmists who ran to him in Freetown during the thick of the war, wailing that all he laboured to build in Makeni was reduced to rubbles by the rebels.
His response was classical patriotic zealotry. He said, “Once the ground is still there we will rebuild.”
When his obituary was published on Monday first of July, accompanying news that his remains would be brought to Makeni for interment according to his will, only cemented the fact that he was always Sierra Leonean by body, soul and spirit.
The soil of Sierra Leone is enriched by the mortal remains of George Biguzzi, a Catholic priest of rare breed.
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