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CSU certificate Saga: Autonomy of US judiciary made Tinubu’s defeat possible

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***says what he has been hiding for two decades is coming to light

Special Assistant on Public Communications, to former Vice President, Atiku Abubakar, Mr. Phrank Shaibu, has indicated that the alleged certificate scandals of President Bola Tinubu, which he has been concealing for over two decades, will soon come to light.

Shaibu attributed the Tinubu’s ultimate defeat at the Northern District of Illinois court to the independence of Judiciary of the United States of America for what he described as

Shaibu gave the indication while reacting to the order by Justice Nancy Maldonado for the Chicago State University to release all of Tinubu’s academic records to Atiku.

According to him, Tinubu had continued to evade justice since 1999 when the legendary human rights lawyer, Gani Fawehinmi (SAN), first blew the lid on his certificates scam.

Shaibu said rather than deliver justice on the merits of the case, judges had continued to give Tinubu victory based on technicalities, a development which had led to over 20 dubious victories.

He noted that it was unfortunate that the Nigerian judiciary had failed to live up to expectation as the last hope of the common man.

Shaibu said, “Justice Maldonado who has spent less than one year on the bench and who sat on this case for barely a month, has been able to do what the Nigerian judiciary could not do for 23 years. This explains why the Nigerian society is on the brink of slipping into the state of nature, which Thomas Hobbes described as short, brutish, and nasty.

The Atiku aide berated Tinubu’s lawyer and former National Legal Adviser of the All Progressives Congress, Babatunde Ogala, for describing the US court victory as of no consequence.

Ogala had also compared the victory to masturbation, insisting that the judgement would have no consequence on Atiku’s appeal against Tinubu’s victory at the Supreme Court.

However, Shaibu, who described Ogala as a legal and intellectual Lilliputian, asked the Head of Tinubu’s Legal Team to bury his face in shame.

He said, “Ordinarily, we would not have responded to the words of a legal Lilliputian who has never won any landmark case in court and whose growth in the legal field is tied to the apron strings of a Chicago Bagman. However, the truth needs to be said for the sake of posterity.

“Louis Brandeis, US Supreme Court Judge may have had Ogala in mind when he wrote “…about the wickedness of people shielding wrongdoers and passing them off (or at least allowing them to pass themselves off) and then proposed a remedy that “_If the broad light of day could be let in upon men’s actions, it would purify them as the sun disinfects.”

“It is unfortunate that Ogala glorifies technicality instead of justice. Ogala claimed that the victory was meaningless. So, why did his principal try to block the release of his credentials if he had nothing to hide? Why did he also appeal the initiatial judgment?

“The Bible says only the wicked runs when no one chases them. Why has Tinubu been blocking the release of his academic records for nearly 30 years?”

The Atiku aide further said Ogala’s outburst was based on his alleged desperation to receive an appointment from Tinubu, having failed to make the cabinet.

Shaibu equally said, “Ogala was lobbying to be the Attorney-General. He believed it was his birthright after defending Tinubu in court on several occasions.

“However, having only received the title of senior advocate two years ago without any remarkable or landmark cases under his belt, Tinubu opted for the more experienced Lateef Fagbemi.

“Since then, Ogala has been trying to ingratiate himself to Tinubu and is now standing logic on its head just to please his master. How pathetic!”

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MAMBILLA: Court halts proceedings, adjurns over EFCC’s invalid prosecution witness against Agunloye

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The hearing of the criminal charges against the former Minister of Power and Steel, Dr. Olu Agunloye, which formally began at the FCT Court Thursday, 30 May 2024 before the same Justice Jude Onwuegbuzie was stalled over presentation of invalid prosecution witness by EFCC against Agunloye

EFCC is prosecuting Dr. Agunloye for “awarding in 2003 a $6 billion Build, Operate and Transfer $¾(BOT) contract without cash backing, disobeying oral directives of the President, forging his own letter as a sitting Minister and receiving a retroactive bribe of N3.6 million 16 years after.” To prove its case, EFCC has listed seven witnesses excluding former President Chief Olusegun Obasanjo who had earlier volunteered to testify at the court.

At the court, EFCC presented its first Prosecution Witness (PW1), Mr Adewale as “representative of the Guaranty Trust Bank”. He was brought to discuss the GTBank statement of accounts presented by EFCC. But the moment Mr Adewale disclosed that he was not in the employment of GTBank, the defence lawyers quickly pointed out the aberration to the court which immediately halted the presentation of Mr Adewale. The court promptly stopped the proceedings and adjourned the hearing till Monday, 10 June 2024 to enable the EFCC regularise its Prosecution Witness Number One.

It will be recalled that the former Minister, Dr. Olu. Agunloye, has consistently asserted that he did not commit any crime, and that EFCC is prosecuting him to corroborate FGN’s pleas at the arbitration in France hoping to free FGN from liabilities in the Arbitration even though FGN knows that the issues that led to the international arbitration were caused under Buhari’s APC Government and not by Agunloye. However, Agunloye will have to combat the emergent bias, prejudice, and prejudgment on the part of the trial judge and has to struggle very hard for justice in Nigeria.

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EFCC to arraign Bello on Thursday over alleged N80.2b money laundering

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The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, (EFCC) has indicated it will on Thursday, April 18, 2024 arraign a former governor of Kogi State,  Yahaya Adoza Bello before a Federal High Court sitting in Abuja.

The antigraft agency said Bello will be arraigned before Justice Emeka Nwite alongside three other suspects,  Ali Bello, Dauda Suleiman and Abdulsalam Hudu on 19- count charges bordering on money laundering to the tune of N80, 246,470, 088.88
The arraignment is being perfected following a warrant of arrest and enrolment order granted the EFCC by the court on Wednesday, April 17, 2024. 

Count one of the charges reads: That you, Yahaya Adoza Bello, Ali Bello, Dauda Suliman, and Abdulsalam Hudu( Still at large), sometime, in February, 2016, in Abuja within the jurisdiction of this Honourable Court, conspired amongst yourselves to convert the total sum of N80, 246,470, 088.88 which sum you reasonably ought to have known forms part of the proceeds of your unlawful activity  to wit, criminal breach of trust and you thereby committed an offence contrary to Section 18(a) and punishable under Section 15(3) of the Money Laundering ( Prohibition) Act, 2011 as amended”.

Count 17 of the charges read: “That you Yahaya Bello between 26th July 2021 to 6th April 2022 in Abuja within the jurisdiction of this Honourable  Court aided E-Traders International Limited to conceal the aggregate sum of  N3081,804,654.00( Three Billion, Eighty One Million Eight Hundred and Four Thousand Six Hundred and Fifty Four Naira) in account number 1451458080 domiciled in Access BankPlc, which sum you reasonably ought to have known forms part of proceeds of unlawful activity to wit, criminal breach of trust and you thereby committed an offence contrary to Section 18(a), 15(2) (d) of the Money Laundering ( Prohibition) Act, 2011 as amended and punishable under Section 15( 3) of the same Act.

Count 18  of the charges reads: “That you Yahaya Adoza Bello  sometime in November 2021 in Abuja within the jurisdiction  of this Honourable Court  indirectly procured E-Traders international Limited to transfer  the aggregate sum of $570,330.00( Five Hundred and Seventy Thousand , Three Hundred and Thirty Dollars) to account number 4266644272 domiciled in TD Bank, United States of America which sum you reasonably ought to have known forms part of proceeds of unlawful activity to wit, criminal breach of trust and you thereby committed an offence contrary to Section 15(2) (d) of the Money Laundering ( Prohibition) Act, 2011 as amended and punishable under Section 15( 3) of the same Act”.

“The Commission’s attempt to execute the Warrant of Arrest lawfully obtained against Bello met stiff resistance  on Wednesday,  April 17,  2024.  The security cordon around the former governor’s residence in Abuja was breached by the current Governor of Kogi State, Usman Ododo who  ensured that the suspect was spirited away in his official vehicle.  
“As a responsible law enforcement agency,  the EFCC exercised restraint in the face of the provocation, waiting for his arraignment on Thursday, April 18,  2024.

“It is needful to state that Bello is not above the law and would be brought to justice as soon as possible.”

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Court bars Ganduje from parading himself as member of APC

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Yhe Kano State High Court has granted an ex parte order restraining the National Chairman of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Abdullahi Ganduje, from parading himself as a member of the party.

The court ordered that Ganduje must refrain from presiding over all affairs of the National Working Committee of the APC.

The application waa said to have been granted by Justice Usman Na’abba on Tuesday, following an ex parte motion filed by Dr. Ibrahim Sa’ad on behalf of two executive members of Ganduje’s ward, Dawakin-Tofa Local Government Area, the Assistant Secretary, Laminu Sani and Legal Adviser, Haladu Gwanjo (plaintiffs), who were part of the nine ward executives who suspended Ganduje on Monday.

The court directed the four parties (respondents) joined in the matter, including the APC, NWC, APC Kano State Working Committee, and Ganduje, to henceforth, maintain status quo ante belum as of April 15th,2024 pending the hearing and determination of the substantive suit on April 30th 2024

Justice Na’abba, also held as prayed, stopped State Working Committee APC Kano from interfering with the legally and validly considered decision of executives of Ganduje ward, essentially on action endorsed by a two-thirds majority of the executives as provided by the party constitution.

The ex parte order read,, “An order is hereby granted directing all parties in the suit APC (first), APC National Working Committee (second), Kano State Working Committee APC (third), Dr. Abdullah Umar Ganduje (fourth), to maintain status quo ante belum as of April 15, 2024.
“The order thereby restraining the first respondent (APC) from recognising the fourth respondent (Ganduje) as a member of APC and prohibiting the fourth respondent (Ganduje) from presiding over any affairs of the NWC and restraining the state Working Committee from interfering with the legally and validly decision of the ward executives of Ganduje ward.

“That the fourth respondent (Ganduje}is prohibited from parading himself as a . member of APC or doing any act that may _ portray him or seem to be a member of APC pending the hearing and determination of the
substantive suit.”

Nine members of the Ganduje ward proclaimed the suspension of the National Chairman of the APC over the allegation of corruption slammed on him by the Kano State Government.

The nine APC executives said they were prompted to act following a petition written by one Ja’afaru Adamu, a member of the AP from the National chairman’s polling unit.

in the petition, Adamu complained over allegations of corruption charges against the
former governor just as he urged the ward leaders to investigate the matter to redeem the dented image of the party and the implication on President Bola Tinubu’s fight against corruption.

Although the chairman and secretary of the ward failed to act on the petition filed en April 8, 2024, nine members of the executives, led by the legal adviser, acted upon the petition, a decision that led to Ganduje’s suspension.

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