Legal Headline News 26/01/2016

Your daily list of legal headlines:

The Nation: It was learnt yesterday that the rehabilitation of the Lagos-Ibadan Expressway suffered a setback because the Federal Government failed to respond to demand for arbitration by Bi-Courtney Highway Services Limited. Sources said the Minister of Works, Mr. Babatunde Fashola (SAN), has stepped into the deadlock and the government may revisit the arbitration.

Global Legal Post: Harvard University Police Department have closed their investigation into an on-campus ‘hate crime’ more than two months after strips of black tape appeared overnight across the portraits of the school’s black professors.

BBC: Malaysia’s top prosecutor has cleared Prime Minister Najib Razak of corruption in a long-running financial scandal that has gripped the nation. The attorney-general’s office said the $681m (£479m) Mr Najib received in his bank account was a personal donation from the Saudi royal family.

Information Nigeria: The Senate Committee on Ethics, Privileges and Public Relations has concluded preliminary investigations into the alleged diversion of N1tn by the immediate past Chairman of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, Ibrahim Lamorde. 

Legal Headline News 01/12/2015

…your daily list of legal news

Nigeria’s former national security adviser, Sambo Dasuki, has been arrested for allegedly stealing $2bn (£1.3bn), his representatives say. He was picked up early in the morning by security agents

El Salvador’s complete ban on abortion[Penal Code, Chapter 2, in Spanish] negatively affects not only women and girls, but also their families, according to an Amnesty International report released Monday.

Chief Justice of Nigeria (CJN) Mahmud Mohamed and other eminent lawyers have decried the falling standards in the profession and the increasing lack of discipline among lawyers and judges. They suggested ways to halt the drift, including stricter enforcement of rules of professional conduct.

An oil marketer,  Adaoha Ugo-Ndagi has told a High Court sitting in Ikeja to discharge and acquit her and two others of the N1.9 billion subsidy fraud brought against them by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC).

Sule Lamido and his sons granted bail

 

Vanguard Reports:

After spending five days in prison custody, the Federal High Court sitting in Abuja, today, granted the former ‎governor of Jigawa State, Sule Lamido‎ bail on self recognizance.

However, Justice Gabriel Kolawole ordered Lamido to surrender all his travelling documents to the Deputy Chief Registrar of the court.

Similarly, the court, while granting bail to Lamido’s two sons, Aminu and Mustapha, and their alleged accomplice, Wada Abubakar, ordered them to pay the sum of N25million each.

They were further asked to provide two sureties,   one of who must be a civil servant not bellow grade level 16.

Nigeria tightens controls on foreign exchange

The Nigerian central bank has imposed new foreign exchange controls to try to stem the flow of dollars out of the country.

It means importers will not be able to get hard currency to buy a list of 40 items ranging from rice to cement.

The list includes Indian incense, plastic and rubber products, soap and even private jets.

It has also restricted access to the interbank currency market for the purchase of foreign currency bonds.

NIC restrains Wike’s Bid To Sack 23 LG Chairmen

The National Industrial Court of Nigeria presided over by Hon. Justice J.T. Agbadu-Fishim in Yenagoa, Bayelsa State, has granted an interim injunction against Rivers State Governor, the State House of Assembly and the state Attorney-General and their agents from dissolving, suspending, sacking terminating or in any manner whatsoever interfering with the tenure of office of the 23 local government chairmen in the state.

The order in Suit No: NICN/YEN/26/2015 granted on Monday, June 22, 2015, followed a motion ex-parte and affidavit of extreme urgency filed by the 23 local government council chairmen on behalf of themselves and the 23 local government councils of Rivers State.

The order also restrained the Inspector-general of Police or his agents and privies from enforcing any purported action detrimental to the existence of the 23 chairmen and councils in the state.

Gov. Wike dissolves Rivers election body & judicial service commission

The Governor of Rivers State, Nyesom Wike, has dissolved the Rivers State Independent Electoral Commission and the state Judicial Service Commission.

This was contained in a statement on Tuesday by the governor’s media aide, Opunabo Inko-Tariah.

The statement said the governor ordered the immediate dissolution of both commissions relying upon the directive from the Rivers State House of Assembly which indicted them for official misconduct and recommended their dissolution.

It said Mr. Wike further directed the chairman of RSIEC to hand over to the most senior civil servant in the commission while the state Judicial Service commission was directed to hand over to the Acting
Chief Judge of the state.

Source: Premium Times

Hmm…

N3.4m theft in Ministry of Justice Lagos: Lagos Police Command investigates

The Lagos State Police Command on Monday said it has commenced investigation into the alleged stealing of N3.4 million in the state Ministry of Justice.

Some staff are currently being interrogated by the police over the alleged stealing.

The command’s spokesperson, Kenneth Nwosu, who confirmed this, said some staff and security personnel of the ministry were also arrested in connection with the theft.

“The burglars accessed the cash office on the 6th floor through the roof top and stole the sum of N3.4million, withdrawn to the cash office on Thursday,” Mr. Nwosu said.