His Lordship, Justice Okon Abang of the Federal High Court, Warri Judicial division has cited the fact that he is from the Niger-Delta region to justify recusing himself from further hearing the matter filed against the composition of the NDDC by the Prince Emmanuel Okotie-Eboh led group.
When the matter came up before the Honourable Court on Tuesday January 31, 2023, Counsel to the Plaintiff, Chief Robinson Ariyo had informed the court that the application to restrain the new Governing Board from assessing the NDDC funds was what was ripe for hearing and he was prepared for argument.
Counsel to the party seeking to join Jude A. Rex-Ogbuku, argued that his application for joinder should take priority over that of the Plaintiff so as to enable the party seeking to join participate in the proceedings.
In reply, Chief Robinson Ariyo argued that since the party sought to be joined was technically not yet a party, he could not participate in the proceedings as such, hence, the application for injunction should be heard first as it seeks to preserve the res for the benefit of all including the party sought to be joined.
At this stage the Honourable Court reasoned that should he give a decision in the circumstances, it may be perceived that it is due to the fact that he is from the region; His Lordship is from the Niger-Delta region.
The Honourable Court then directed that file to be sent to the Chief Judge of the Federal High Court for reassignment to any other court that is not of Niger-elta origin.
It would be recalled that Prince Emmanuel Okotie-Eboh, Comrade Ameachi Ogbonna, Tsola Emiko Amoye and Isaac Dorsu acting on behalf of the Indigenes and members of oil and gas producing communities of Itsekiri ethnic extraction in Warri South, Warri South-West and Warri North Local Government Areas of Delta State of Nigeria had prayed the Federal High Court in Warri for an Order of interlocutory injunction restraining the President and the National Assembly from ’”permitting and/or authorizing the operations and or appropriating the relevant funds or implementing the relevant budgetary allocations by the governing board of the Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC) with the extant nominees, composition and structure of the proposed board Chairman and members as constituted pending the hearing and determination of the substantive suit”.
With the recent development, the matter has been adjourned to enable a reassignment by the Chief Judge in the circumstances.
Chief (Dr.) Roland Oritsejafor making a presentation of prototype cheque & POS machine to another beneficiaries
In a bid to mitigate the capital deficiencies being faced by small scale business operators as a result of the economic crunch triggered by energy crisis, Warri South Local Government Council in Delta State, on Tuesday January 31, presented Point-of-Sale, PoS Machines and money to 250 micro-entrepreneurs.
Chairman of Warri South Local Government Area, Dr. Michael Tidi, who spoke at the Warri South Council Main Secretariat in Warri, during the event tagged, ‘Warri South Local Government Council Entreprise & Empowernment Programme’, explained that the plan of action, was in: “Response to the observed deficiencies in the capital base of small scale business operators and lack of investment in human capital development at the grassroots, resulting to uneven distribution of resources to the poor and vulnerable”
Dr. Tidi, who admitted that the task of changing the narrative of Warri South, has been challenging and extremely difficult, noted that progress was being made in that direction.
“Having provided the infrastructural platform for the development of Warri and for commerce to thrive in my administration, in line with His Excellency’s (Dr. Ifeanyi Okowa) Youth Empowerment Programme, we decided to focus on human development programmes, wherein some small scale business operators in the Local Government Area, who are at the bottom of economic pyramid have been identified for inclusion to access Micro Credit towards boosting their businesses.
“At the inception of my first tenure, we renovated the Council Secretariat to give it a befitting face look. Thereafter, embarked on the rehabilitation of existing boreholes within the Local Government Area with a view to providing portable water for our people. After the renovations, it was observed that the renovated boreholes were insufficient, the Council then embarked on the construction/ sinking of 21-water scheme across the wards in the Local Government Area and many more water projects are in different stages of completion. Including other infrastructural project that would give our people a new lease of life. This includes provision of solar light, provision of furniture to some schools, renovation of schools, rehabilitation of roads, Construction of a befitting Chairman’s Residential Quarters and many more projects.
“You may recall, also that my administration, being poised towards changing the narrative of the cosmopolitan city of Warri, hosted the first and second Warri Economic Summits wherein captains of industries, were gathered to redesign the road map of Warri.
“The beneficiaries / recipients were drawn from the National Social Register of Delta State through the Community Based Targeting (CBT) identifying the poor and vulnerable in the communities of Warri South Local Government Area. The Council thereafter decided to empower 250 beneficiaries carefully selected across the Local Government Area Fifty (50) of the recipients today would be engaging in Point of Sales (POS) operation. They will in this programme receive their POS machines and direct transfer of Seventy Thousand Naira (N70,000) to enable them carry out their businesses, while 200 recipients would receive direct cash transfer of One Hundred Thousand Naira (N100,000) each to support their businesses.
“Permit me to announce to you that more of this empowerment programme would be coming up in no distant time, however; the continuity of this empowerment would be determined by how judicious and efficient the recipients today would put the resources to use. We will be encouraged to do more when we observe that recipients are committed to their business. Remember, the council has the details of all the recipients as such, would be monitoring the extent to which this opportunity will be utilised by the beneficiaries. Possibly, in the subsequent empowerment programme, some of them who will distinguish themselves would be invited for brief recognition. It is hoped that this empowerment programme will rejuvenate the spirit of commerce in the Local Government Area”, the Warri South Council Boss, explained.
He used the occasion to advise eligible voters yet to collect their Permanent Voter card, to take advantage of the extension announced by the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, to enable them vote credible leaders in the forthcoming polls.
Responding on behalf of the beneficiaries, Chineye Sunday, commended the Dr. Michael Tidi administration for the gesture, assuring that the financial support would be judiciously deployed.
Highlight of the ceremony was the presentation of PoS machines and prototype cheques to some of the micro-entrepreneurs by Dr. Michael Tidi, Vice Chairman of Warri South Local Government, Chief (Mrs.) Divine Iniovosa, Chairperson of Warri South Local Government, Mrs. Juliet Tidi, Chief Omolubi Newuwumi, who represented the Olu of Warri, Ogiame Atuwatse III, Chief Francis Ugbejevun, who represented the Ovie of Agharha-Warri, Chief (Dr.) Roland Oritsejafor, Political Adviser to Governor Ifeanyi Okowa, Hon. Omimi Esquire, Rev. Canon David Otofia, Chairman of Peoples Democratic Party in Warri South Local Government, Mr. Johnson Agbeyegbe, Hon. Griftson Omatsuli, Mr. Amah Agbajoh, as well as representatives of the members representing Warri South Constituencies I and II in Delta State House of Assembly.
An Ijaw leader, Amb Prince Ebi Fetimi has congratulated the new paramount ruler of Egbema Kingdom, His Royal Majesty, Amb. Meshack E. A. Ubabiri, Bini Pere IV, Agadagba of Egbema Kingdom, in Warri North Local Government Area of Delta State.
Fetimi, a notable leader from Egbema kingdom, in a statement on Sunday, in Abuja, commended the Delta State Government for the presentation of Staff of Office to the new Agadagba.
He noted that with the presentation of Staff of Office to the Agadagba, it is necessary for all sons and daughters of Egbema to embrace peace and work in unity for the growth and development of the kingdom.
According to him, ” His Royal Majesty, Amb. Meshack E. A. Ubabiri, Bini Pere IV, Agadagba of Egbema Kingdom, has been officially recognized by the Delta State Government and a Staff of Office presented to the new monarch. It is my sincere wish and appeal to every true sons and daughters from Egbema Kingdom, to come together and plan for the future of the kingdom.”.
” I will appeal to all the chiefs, men, women, youths and elderly to support and work with the Agadagba on how to develop the kingdom. It is time to harness the God-given potential and resources of the kingdom to benefit the people, their lives and communities.”
Egbema is an oil rich Ijaw kingdom, partly Delta state and Edo State.
The Central Bank of Nigeria, CBN has considered the general public outcry and concern making them the apex bank to finally extend the deadline for the exchange of old naira notes by 10 days.
In a press statement issued on Sunday, January 29, 2023, Godwin Emefiele, the CBN governor, said the new deadline is February 10, 2023.
This is a developing story expect more details……..
The suit by son of Chief Festus Samuel Okotie-Eboh, one of the founding fathers of the Federal Republic of Nigeria seeking to restrain the newly constituted Governing Board of the NDDC has been adjourned to January, 31, 2023 for argument.
The presiding judge of the Warri Federal High Court, His Lordship, Honourable Justice Okon Abang on January, 26, 2023 heard parties to the suit including Counsel to the Managing Director of the NDDC, who brought an application for joinder and that for the Plaintiffs, Jolone Ikomi, Esq., ordered all the Defendants to file their processes before the next adjourned date because of the urgent and sensitive nature of the issues involved to enable parties the opportunity of being heard.
The Managing Director of the newly constituted Board of the NDDC had sought to join the suit but the Counsel to the Plaintiffs was stiffly opposed to the joinder contending that in as much as the President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, Principal of the MD was already a party to the suit, the MD being an agent cannot be a necessary party.
Counsel to the MD Rex Ogbuku, Esq., however contended that since the order sought to be made would affect the interest of the party sought to be joined, it is constitutionally mandatory that the MD be joined.
The Honourable Court then consolidated the applications for joinder and that for injunction and adjourned both applications upon consent of Counsel to January, 31, 2023 for arguments.
It would the recalled that the extant suit is one seeking an injunction to restrain the newly inaugurated Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC) Board from accessing funds or implementing the budget of the agency for being unjust, unfair and inequitable to the people of Delta State in general and Itsekiri in particular.
The Plaintiffs are Indigenes and members of oil and gas producing communities of Itsekiri ethnic extraction in Warri South, Warri South-West and Warri North Local Government Areas of Delta State led by Prince Emmanuel Okotie-Eboh and four others.
Hundreds of pro-Biafra supporters wave flags and chant songs as they march through the streets of Aba, southeastern Nigeria, to call for the release of a key activist on November 18, 2015. The protesters support the creation of a breakaway state of Biafra in the southeast and want the release of Nnamdi Kanu, who is believed to be a major sponsor of the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB) and director of the pirate radio station Radio Biafra. AFP PHOTO / PIUS UTOMI EKPEI
A young Nigerian Lady by name Queen Eze has explained how insecurity and frequent attacks by the Indigenous People of Biafra, IPOB as well as threat to her life and that of her husband and family fearfully pushed her away from Nigeria.
Queen Eze whose house were burnt down during the invasion of the IPOB at Nsukwa, in Delta which also affected razing down of police police station in the area , injuring and damaging so many peoples properties and killing of innocent human lives in the locality.
Queen Eze who is in her 30’s stressed that the IPOB agitation group have also issued threat to the life of her husband, kids and her family which now led to the hiding of her man for fear of possible attack if seen by the unknown gun men in that’ part of Igbo speaking region of Nigeria.
She is crying for help as she awaits to be granted asylum in Canada in order for Queen Eze to start life all over again as all she had has been destroyed by the IPOB attackers that doesn’t apply human rights both at innocent lives, she noted that the traumatic experience is really not bearable in Nigeria as the IPOB civil unrest has brought chaos in the country.
Tantita has been in the news for the amazing progress being made in returning Nigeria to pride of place as the leading oil producer in Africa. However, as we speak, efforts are being made to strangulate Tantita operations.
On the 19th of January 2023, Tantita’s Executive Director Operations and Technical Capt. Warredi Enisuoh was invited by the EFCC and detained. He has been in EFCC custody since. All efforts to ensure his release has proved abortive, as the Commission has insisted that unless he provides a list of names who were his intelligence sources he would not be released.
The EFCC’s invitation came right in the middle of an ongoing operation to unravel one of the biggest oil stealing cartels in this country. Capt Warredi Enisuoh, our ED Operations and Technical flew straight from Port Harcourt (where he was coordinating the operations) to Lagos to heed the EFCC’s invitation and walked right into a trap.
WHAT IS THE GENESIS OF THE EFCC INVITATION?
Sometime in 2015/2016, the EFCC commenced 4 cases against Capt Warredi and several others. Of the four, three have been concluded, all in favour of Capt Warredi. The last one is presently ongoing before Honourable Justice Faji of the Federal High Court Lagos. Before these cases were instituted, the EFCC issued orders to various banks to block all Capt Enisuoh’s bank accounts. He challenged this administrative order in court on the basis that the EFCC has no power to freeze accounts without a court order and the Federal High Court lifted the freeze orders. The banks failed to comply, so he brought contempt proceedings against them, somehow the new judge handling the contempt proceedings froze the accounts again. Capt Warredi appealed to the Court of Appeal who overturned the 2nd judge and restored the orders of the first judge. Based on that judgment of the Court of Appeal in CA/L/1320/2016 delivered on 25/11/2017 the banks allowed Capt Warredi access to his accounts. The EFCC which was the 1st Respondent before the Court of Appeal in that case never appealed the judgment.
Then in September 2022, one month after Tantita began operations, the EFCC invited Capt Warredi and asked him how he gained access to the accounts. He showed them certified true copies of the judgment of the Court of Appeal, they also asked him to make statements, which he did and pointed out that the questions bordered on the ongoing trial before the Federal High Court Lagos, the investigating team led by Mr. Lawal Aminu claimed to be unaware of the case, so he provided a certified true copy of the charge and pointed out that the prosecution was being led by Mr. Rotimi Oyedepo, SAN, a staff of the EFCC. He declined to make further statements on a matter sub judice.
However as the war against oil thieves firmed up many of them have continued to threaten that those trying to stop their nefarious business would pay dearly for it. For the avoidance of doubt, the judgment of the Court of Appeal was delivered in 2017, more than 5 years ago. Again, Capt Warredi is undergoing a full trial, would it not be better to let the courts decide who is right and who is wrong?.
Apparently not so for the EFCC investigation team and the legal department being led by Mr. Rotimi Oyedepo, SAN. The same Rotimi whose wife became a staff of Search and Rescue Clinic of NIMASA at the very time he was leading investigation and prosecution of “criminals” at NIMASA. Maybe it was all coincidence. Just the way it is coincidence that in the middle of the biggest investigation of a ship owning oil stealing cartel, the EFCC is asking Capt Warredi to name his intelligence sources.
Inspite of all the documents earlier provided to EFCC, on Thursday the 19th of January 2023, the EFCC again invited Capt Warredi and detained him. Their position was that Mr. Rotimi Oyedepo, SAN had read the judgment of the Court of Appeal and he did not agree with the decision of the Appeal Court. That he believes that the Court was wrong and as such Capt Warredi should refund the money withdrawn from his accounts or he would rot in jail – 5 years after the Court of Appeal settled the issue, without complain from the EFCC.
The most dangerous entity in a democracy is a law enforcement agency that has no regards for the rule of law. Such an organization is open to institutional capture and to being used as a tool in the hands of those seeking to destroy the nation.
According to Mr. Lawal Aminu, in the opinion of Rotimi Oyedepo, SAN Capt Warredi after obtaining judgment at the Court of Appeal should have come to beg the EFCC to permit him to access his accounts and his failure to do so was criminal. According to Rotimi Oyedepo, SAN it is when the EFCC becomes aware of a judgment that it takes effect and since the EFCC was not informed by Capt Warredi before he accessed his accounts he is guilty of interfering with the subject matter of investigation – the charge they intend to prefer on Monday 23rd of January 2023. It is on this trumped up allegation that the EFCC has detained Capt Warredi for more than the 24 hours constitutionally allowed.
Initially the EFCC dangled bail before Capt Warredi on the condition he divulged the names of persons who were paid out of the accounts. Capt Warredi pointed out that in addition to the fact that the matter was presently undergoing trial in court, the persons concerned were intelligence assets who provided valuable intelligence and need to be protected.
Moreover, some of these people are still providing intelligence in our ongoing operations at Tantita. Compromising their details will not only blow their cover but interfere with the ongoing war against oil thieves.
Because Capt Warredi refused to divulge name of intelligence assets the EFCC refused to release him or grant him bail (even though he was already on bail before a Court of law, as well as on administratively before the EFCC since the 6th of September 2022). They have continued to hold him claiming he is being uncooperative.
While Tantita is determined to carry on the fight against the oil thieves regardless, it is our position that the EFCC investigation, if genuine, can be carried out with minimal interference to the war on oil thieves and if not, it is clearly being used by powerful forces to scuttle the war on oil thieves. Let Nigerians be aware of what is being done in their name.
The Governor of Kogi State, Yahaya Bello has given the Management and Editorial board of the Tribune Newspaper 24hrs to retract the fake news published against him or get ready to face legal action.
Governor Bello made this declaration Sunday January 22, 2023 during an interview on Sunday Politics on ChannelsTv, he described the action of Tribune newspaper as unprofessional display of journalism, noting that he has a lot of respect for the newspaper and wonder why such malicious report by them.
The report by Tribune Newspaper which was slugged as “Kogi Governor Withdraws Support For Tinubu Over Faleke” the Kogi Governor noted that it was a surprise for him when he woke up to see and read the report by the media , according to him the report is ,,”fake ” and not acceptable by him.
Governor Bello said he has directed security agents to investigate the report, while he await the public apology from the newspaper, he vowed to continue to lead Kogi State with courage, determination and will not allow anyone to distract him.
He reaffirm his continued support for APC presidential candidate Bola Tinubu for the 2023 election even as he is optimistic of APC victory at the poll.
A chieftain of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in Plateau, Hon. Felix Jonah has accused the party’s presidential campaign organisation, led by Governor Aminu Waziri Tambuwal of Sokoto, of running an ethnic and religious agenda.
Hon. Jonah, who spoke exclusively with this newspaper on Tuesday, said the Director of Field Operation, Hon. Umar Bature, who like campaign director general Tambuwal is a Muslim from Sokoto, northwestern Nigeria, is said to be most culpable in undermining campaign officials from other parts of the country.
To buttress his allegation, the party faithful cited how the National Woman Leader, Prof. Stella Effah-Attoe from Cross River, has been frustrated with her programmes and proposals from women mobilisation turned down.
Hon. Jonah said similar fate has befallen other non-Muslim party chieftains and campaign operatives as there were “clear one-sided budget approvals.”
“For example, just look at the Advance Team, it is populated with northerners,” he said.
Meanwhile, another campaign manager who spoke under anonymity said the party’s presidential candidates need to urgently look into the running of the campaign before matters degenerate further.
The source said most Director Generals such as Operations, Administration and Research and Strategy, have been rendered redundant in the campaign organisation.
Controversies over the candidate of All Progressives Congress, APC for the Akwa Ibom North Senatorial District was laid to rest on Friday with the confirmation of Senator Godswill Akpabio as the validly nominated contestant for the position by the Supreme Court.
The apex court in a unanimous judgment delivered by Justice Ibrahim Saulawa, upheld the September 2022 judgment of the Federal High Court, Abuja which declared the former Akwa Ibom State Governor as validly nominated by APC as its candidate for the senatorial district.
The Court of Appeal had in a judgment delivered on Nov. 14, 2022 voided the candidacy of the former Minister of Niger Delta Affairs while setting aside the judgment of the lower court.
Akpabio had appealed the judgment of the Court of Appeal to the Supreme Court.
Justice Saulawa said after reviewing the arguments canvassed by Akpabio, the Supreme Court consider his appeal was meritorious and therefore was allowed.
