Flowerbud News

Author: Ibrahim Abusadiq

  • 5-year-old marriage dissolves, husband married in Germany

    An FCT High Court, Jabi on Monday dissolved a five-year-old union between Lynda Dike and her husband Jude Ajaero, on grounds that he was legally married to another woman in Germany.

    Dike in her petition sought for the dissolution of the purported marriage through Sections 3 (1) (a) (d) and 34 of the Matrimonial Cause Act.

    The sections which stipulated that any marriage purportedly celebrated when one of the parties was lawfully married to another when consent was obtained either by fraud or duress would be void.

    The Act further stipulated that a petition for nullity can be instituted by the ailing party.

    Delivering judgment, Justice Charles Agbaza, held that the sole issue to be determined by the court was whether the petitioner had successfully made out a ground for the court to grant the relief she sought.

    The judge further averred that Ajaero, the respondent who was served with court processes , hearing notices did not file nor answer to the petition, but had legal representation and neither did he challenge the evidence of the petitioner, rather he rested his case on that of the petitioner

    According to Agbaza, ” the implication of this is that the court will deem the unchallenged and uncontroverted evidence of the petitioner as true,correct ( as long as it is credible) and act on it”.

    Agbaza concluded and said “because the evidence brought by the petitioner was not challenged by the respondent,

    “this petition succeeds and judgment is accordingly entered in favour of the petitioner in the following terms

    “The court hereby pronounce a Decree of Nullity of the purported marriage conducted between Lynda Dike and Jude Ajaero on Oct.2,2014 at the Federal Marriage Registry, Abuja, on the ground that the marriage is void.

    ” The court hereby grants an order nullifying the said marriage”, he added.

    In her petition, Dike said that when she married the respondent, he told her that he was not married.

    She further submitted that however, when she traveled to Germany to see the respondent and instead of taking her to the address she knew he lived, he took her to a different address..

    According to the petitioner, when she demanded to be taken to the address of where he lived, she was beaten up by the respondent.

    She said this action prompted her to tail the respondent to the aforementioned address and that was when she discovered that he lived there with his German wife.

    Dike added that she confronted the respondent and he admitted that he was married to the German woman and that they had been married for over a year before he came to Nigeria to marry her.

    NAN

  • Plateau SUBEB boss decries absence of N-power teachers in schools

    The Plateau State Universal Basic Education Board (SUBEB) has decried the absence of teachers posted to the Federal Government’s N-power scheme to teach in public primary schools in the state.

    Prof. Mathew Sule, the Executive Chairman of the board, who made the remark while monitoring resumption of schools at Obasanjo Model School, Hwolshe, on Monday in Jos, said the teachers’ truant act was detrimental to the objective of the scheme of complementing the state government’s efforts at improving the standard of education.

    “This is morally wrong, where people are posted to schools and they do not attend to their responsibilities, we have no choice but to report them to the appropriate authorities.

    “If they cannot come to school, they should be taken to other places, we want orderliness, they must go by the school rules and create a conducive learning environment for the children,” Sule said.

    He alleged that some of the N-power teachers has multiple engagements, thus unable to have time for the teaching scheme, saying they were not justifying government resources given to them through the project.

    He, therefore, advised them to disengage from the scheme if they could not cope with its responsibilities, saying they must justify the allowances given to them as many unemployed persons were looking for such opportunities.

    The chairman, however, commended parents for the large turnout of pupils in the schools, saying it was an evidence that they heeded to the board’s plea for early resumption and immediate take off of the 2019/2020 new school session.

    He urged the pupils to be punctual to school, be of good conduct, respect their teachers and study hard to improve on their last session’s grades.

    He said he would ensure that the teachers adopted the improved pedagogical skills to improve learning and enhance SUBEB’s monitoring exercises, to ensure good performance by teachers.

    In her response, Mrs Martha Gyang, the head teacher of the School, pledged their commitment to discharge their duties diligently and report teachers who failed in such compliance.

    Blessing Marcus, a Grade four pupil of the school, thanked her parents for providing her with text books while promising to get better grades in the new session.

    News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the SUBEB boss monitored school resumption in Obasanjo Model School Hwolshe compromising of Schools A, B and C in Jos South Local Government Area.

    NAN

  • Akeredolu appoints Senior Aides on New Media, others

    Gov. Oluwarotimi Akeredolu of Ondo State on Monday approved the appointment of Mr Gani Mohammed as his Senior Special Assistant (SSA) on New Media.

    Mr Segun Ajiboye, Chief Press Secretary to the governor, disclosed this to news men in a statement in Akure.

    Ajiboye said Akeredolu also approved the appointment of Alhaji Yinusa Omotosho as SSA on Community Mobilisation, Northern Senatorial District.

    “Akeredolu also approved the appointment of Mr Tayo Abidakun as SSA on Community Mobilisation, Central Senatorial District, and Mr Kele Bolodeoku as SSA, Southern Senatorial District.“The appointments take immediate effect as the governor congratulate the new appointees,” Ajiboye said.

    NAN

  • Sowore may assume status of Prisoner of Conscience, says CSNAC

    The Network of International Human Rights Organisations and Coalitions say it may soon adopt detained Publisher of Sahara Reporters, Mr Omoyele Sowore, as a “Prisoner of Conscience”.

    The Civil Society Network Against Corruption (CSNAC) said on Mondfay in Lagos that it was working with renowned rights groups across the world to ensure that Sowore was adopted as a Prisoner of Conscience
    unless the Federal Government releases the activist without further delay.

    They also expressed shock that the Nigerian authorities were making frivolous charges against Sowore who had been in custody since Aug. 5.

    The group also called for the release of Olawale Bakare, a member of #RevolutionNow arrested in Osogbo, Osun, on Aug. 5, Publisher of Cross River Watch, Mr Agba Jalingo and Ekanem Ekpo. The last two were arrested by the police and have yet to be taken to court.

    “The continoued detention of Sowore is an embarrassment to Nigeria as a country. Everywhere we visit across the world, people are asking questions about Sowore’s detention.

    “Many people do not understand the logic of laying charges of treason against Sowore simply because he used the word revolution.

    “His incarceration continues to put a question mark on the credibility of the Nigerian government. Democracy dies when the culture of debate and the tradition of protest are lost,” the group said in a statement by CSNAC Chairman, Mr Olanrewaju Suraju,

    CSNAC said the Nigerian government had beyond imaginations embarrassed itself by charging Sowore for “insulting the President”.

    “It is even more ridiculous that he is being charged for insulting Mr President and also for money laundering where money was legitimately transferred through the financial institutions.

    “These are frivolous charges aimed at seeking justification for his illegal arrest and continuous detention.”

    CSNAC said from indications, the Nigerian government was desperate to press charges against Sowore and ensure he is jailed at all cost.

    Suraju said Sowore was being hunted in part, due to series of publications in Sahara Reporters that consistently exposed corrupt practices in this and previous governments.

    “Sowore is obviously a victim of vengeance. Corrupt politicians and security chiefs whose dirty deals have consistently been exposed by Sahara Reporters are looking for ways to settle scores. They think by
    bringing down Sowore, Sahara Reporters will die.

    “Its an illusion to think by keeping Sowore in jail, Sahara Reporters would be off the global network. This is a mistake because Sahara Reporters has assumed the status of an independent entity,” he said.

    CSNAC also dismissed the charge of money laundering by the Department of State Security, (DSS), saying it was an attempt to blackmail Sahara Reporters and its publisher.

    Sowore was arrested on Aug. 5 in Lagos and the Federal Government obtained an ex-parte order granting his detention for 45 days.

    After keeping him for almost two months, he was charged for insulting President Mohammadu Buhari during a life programme on AriseTV. The government also accused him of treason.

    He was also charged for transferring the sun of $19,975 from his personal account to Sahara Reporters.

    NAN

  • FG founds silver bullet against P&ID’ $9.6b claim

    *Muhammadu Buhari: His government may have found a silver bullet against P&ID’s $9.6b claim:*

    The Buhari administration may have found a silver bullet to shoot down the $9.6billion world record claim against Nigeria’s assets by Irish company Process and Industrial Development(P&ID).

    According to reports, the rock-solid defence is contained in a UK law, that gives immunity to Sovereign states. Going by the law, P&ID should not even have dragged Nigeria to any arbitration or a commercial court, to try to milk Nigeria of hard-earned revenue.

    But first of all, Nigeria intends to file a stay-of-execution of the judgment at the end of the month when the UK courts resume and has opted not to negotiate any deal with P&ID.

    Thereafter, the government will file an appeal based on the extant law of the United Kingdom.

    UK’s State Immunity Act 1978 (the Act) bars UK courts from confiscating assets of a foreign state without the consent of that state, gives it a leeway in the matter.

    In an illuminating article on the law published in March this year, Quinn Emanuel Urquhart & Sullivan LLP (the largest law firm in the world devoted solely to business litigation and arbitration, said the Act allows a written consent of a foreign state before the enforcement of a judgment which could lead to seizure of assets or freezing of accounts.

    The article was titled “Sovereign Immunity in the United Kingdom—Lexology”

    The law firm wrote: “Section 13(2) of the Act provides that:(a) relief shall not be given against a State by way of injunction or order for specific performance or for the recovery of land or other property; and (b) the property of a State shall not be subject to any process for the enforcement of a judgment or arbitration award or, in an action in rem, for its arrest, detention or sale.

    “Pursuant to section 13 of the Act, state assets ‘shall not be subject to any process for the enforcement of a judgment or arbitration award or, in an action in rem, for [their] arrest, detention or sale’ unless the state has provided its written consent (see, for example, Gold Reserve Inc v Venezuela [2016] EWHC 153 (Comm), finding that Venezuela had submitted to arbitration in writing by entering into a bilateral investment treaty (BIT) with Canada) or the assets in question are ‘in use or intended for use for commercial purposes’ (section 13(2)-(4)). These provisions apply in respect to states alone as defined in section 14 of the Act, and do not therefore extend to separate entities (see question 8).

    “This provision is subject to sections 13(3) and 13(4) of the Act. Pursuant to section 13(3), a state may provide written consent to the grant of any relief against it. It follows that a state may consent to the grant of interim or injunctive relief against it; however, the mere submission to the jurisdiction of the UK courts does not constitute such consent.”

    According to The Nation, the decision by Nigeria to anchor its defence on this law, was taken at a meeting chaired by Vice President Yemi Osinbajo at the Presidential Villa in Abuja this week.

    It was attended by Finance, Budget and National Planning Minister Zainab Ahmed; Minister of Justice Abubakar Malami (SAN); Minister of Information Lai Mohammed; and Minister of State for Petroleum Timipre Sylva.

    Others are Minister of State for Niger Delta Affairs Festus Keyamo (SAN); Group Managing Director of Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) Mele Kyari; Acting Chairman of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) Ibrahim Magu; and Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) Godwin Emefiele.

    The Federal Government’s team, made up of many lawyers, met with an American lawyer alongside Mr. Bolaji Ayorinde (SAN), who has been central to the handling of the case with P&ID.

  • Osinbajo, wife, governors mark Akabueze’s 60th birthday

    Vice President Yemi Osinbajo and his wife, Dolapo, on Thursday in Abuja attended the 60th birthday thanksgiving service of Prof. Ben Akabueze, the Director-General, Budget office for the Federation.

    Governors Babajide Sanwo-Olu of Lagos State, Dapo Abiodun of Ogun State and Godwin Obaseki of Edo State also graced the occasion.

    More so, Minister of Works and Housing, Babatunde Fasola, Minister of Transportation, Rotimi Amaechi among other notable Nigerians attended the service.

    Akabueze was the former Special Adviser to the President on Budget Matters and also a former Lagos State Commissioner for Economic Planning.

    He was the Pastor-in-charge of Lagos Province 39 of the Redeemed Christian Church of God until his appointment with the Federal Government.

    In his words of exaltation, Pastor Joe Olaiya, said that God given dreams never died and prayed God to fulfill Akabueze’s dreams and protect him.

    Olaiya also offered special prayer for the celebrator and his family.

    The highlight of the event was the cutting of birthday cake.

    NAN

  • Osinbajo presides over NEC meeting

    Vice President Yemi Osinbajo on Thursday presided over the National Economic Council (NEC) meeting at the Presidential Villa, Abuja.

    The vice president, by the provisions of Nigeria’s Constitution, is the chairman of NEC.

    This meeting is the second since the inauguration of President Muhammadu Buhari’s cabinet for the second term.

    The NEC meeting, held monthly, deliberates on the coordination of the economic planning efforts and economic programmes of the various levels of government.

    The council comprises the 36 state governors, the governor of Central Bank of Nigeria, minister of finance, Secretary to the Government of the Federation and other government officials and agencies whose duties hinge on the economy.

    NAN

  • Yellow fever: Gombe confirms three cases, says source traced to Yankari in Bauchi

    The Gombe State Government says it has recorded six suspected cases of yellow fever,out of which three are reactive.

    Dr Nuhu Vile, State Epidemiologist, disclosed this to the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) on Thursday, in Gombe.

    According to Vile, the three confirmed patients were treated and discharged, and there no death has been recorded in the state.

    He said that investigation conducted by experts showed that the case originated from Yankari, in Bauchi State,  and that the state government had set up a team to address the problem.

    Bile called on the people to always report cases of fever to health facilities for quick examination and treatment.

    ”If the result is reactive for yellow fever, the treatment is free of charge in the state,” the state Epidemiologist said.

    He said that yellow fever was caused by mosquito and therefore  urged people to sanitise their environment.

    “Yellow fever is not different from malaria that we know; the  symtoms are higher fever, headache, body pain, discoloration of eye and dark urines.

    “Do not stay until you start bleeding or the eyes become yellow; we encourage the public to report such cases of fever to health facilities immediately.

    ” By doing this, we reduce the risk of spreading it to other members of the family,” he said

    Vile advised parents to ensure that they vaccinated their children from early age during the routine immunization.

    He said that once a child was immunised before he or she attained nine months, chances of getting infected would be minimal.

    NAN

  • UTME: Commission targets 1m students for NIN enrollment in Jigawa

    By Muhammad Nasir Bashir

    The National Identity Management Commission (NIMC), Jigawa office, says it is targeting about 1 million post-basic and basic students for enrollment into the National Identity Database for their National Identity Number (NIN).

    Alhaji Aminu Jakada, the coordinator of the commission in the state, made this known during in an interview with News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Dutse on Thursday.

    Jakada said the gesture was in line with decision by the Joint Administration and Matriculation Board (JAMB) that from 2010, all candidates writing the Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination (UTME), must have a NIN.

    “So for this reason, the Jigawa NIMC has planned to enroll 114,970 post basic students and 828,768 basic students in the state.

    “So students and their parents should be aware of this and take it serious and ensure that they cooperate with the NIMC officials for successful conduct of the exercise,” Jakada advised.

    He explained that the exercise would be conducted in collaboration with the State Government, Ministry of Education, State Universal Education, Patents Teachers’ Association (PTA), Local Government Councils (LGCs) and Traditional Leaders.

    The coordinator added that the commission proposed to enroll all post-basic students in the state within the current academic session (2019/2020), and that basic students were to be enrolled next session (2020/2021).

    Jakada said the exercise would be conducted in schools in order to ease transportation difficulties for the students, as well as get the targeted number enrolled.

    “We will take the enrollment exercise to the schools for easy and successful registration of the students.

    “The gesture will enable the students enrolled without having to travel to local government headquarters or our state office.

    “The overall objective of the exercise is to enroll the students before the mandatory use of the NIN is enforced ,” the coordinator explained

    He also called on other people who were yet to enroll, to do so before the mandatory use of the NIN is enforced.

    NAN