Breaking News: Supreme Court halts Saraki’s trial at CCT

By Ikechukwu Nnochiri

ABUJA – The Supreme Court, this morning, stayed further hearing on the 13-count criminal charge pending against ‎the Senate President, Dr. Olubukola Saraki, before the Code of Conduct Tribunal, CCT.

The apex court, in a ruling today, directed the Justice Danladi Umar-led tribunal to suspend the trial to enable it to hear and determine the substantive appeal that Saraki lodged before it.

This was even as the prosecuting counsel, Mr. Rotimi Jacobs, SAN, entered ‎an undertaking before the apex court that “no unusual step will be taken by the federal government”, in relation to the matter.

In their ruling, a five-man panel of Justices of the Supreme Court ‎led by Justices John Fabiyi, held: “It is imperative to state that all the parties, including the Code of Conduct Tribunal, should tarry a while to enable this court to determine the appeal before it.

File: Bukola Saraki in Court: Senate President Bukola Saraki at Code of Conduct Tribunal shortly after his lawyers walkout of the Court during court sitting in Abuja. Photo by Gbemiga Olamikan.

“In effect, further proceeding at the CCT should be stayed pending the hearing of the appeal. Hearing date will be communicated to all the parties”, Justice Fabiyi ruled.

All the other members of the apex court panel also concurred with ‎the lead ruling.

Saraki is in his appeal marked SC/852/2015, praying the apex court to invoke its powers and quash the 13-count criminal charge that was preferred against him by the federal government.

Pro-Biafra protests: S-East Govs, Ohaneze’s meeting postponed

Biafra protesters

By Chidi Nkwopara, OWERRI.

Baring any unforeseen circumstance, the planned meeting of the South East governors, the leadership of Ohaneze Ndigbo and other stakeholders, will now hold next Tuesday, in Enugu.

According to a press statement signed by Governor Rochas Okorocha’s Chief Press Secretary, CPS, Mr. Samuel Onwuemeodo, the meeting which was initially slated for Owerri, has been moved to Enugu, for strategic reasons.

“The expected meeting of the governors of the South-East states, the leadership of Ohaneze and other stakeholders, initially slated for this weekend in Owerri, at the instance of Governor Rochas Okorocha, to discuss the continued pro-Biafra protests across the South-East states and other neighbouring states, has been shifted to Tuesday, November 17, 2015”, Onwuemeodo said.

Okorocha’s image maker also explained that “the venue of the meeting has also been moved from Owerri to Enugu, which has been the traditional headquarters of the South-East states”.

Giving the reason for the postponement, Onwuemeodo said it was informed by the need for all those expected at the meeting to be in attendance.

“The South-East governors, Ohaneze leadership and others who will be at the meeting will deliberate on the pro-Biafra protests that had gained momentum in recent time and for the governors and other leaders to do what they are expected to do in the circumstance”, the CPS said.

FIFA approves five presidential candidates

Issa Hayatou, Acting FIFA President

FIFA on Thursday approved five candidates to stand in February’s vote to replace Sepp Blatter as president of world football’s governing body, but Michel Platini has not yet made the list.

The five who met the qualifications following a series of integrity tests were: Prince Ali Al Hussein, Sheikh Salman Bin Ebrahim Al Khalifa, Jerome Champagne, Gianni Infantino and Tokyo Sexwale, a FIFA statement said.

The candidacy of Platini, the suspended head of European football who had been the favourite to succeed Blatter, will be examined once his 90-day suspension byFIFA’s ethics committee is over.

The only candidate to be disqualified after receiving provisional approval wasMusa Bility, the head of the Liberian football association.

“The Ad-hoc Electoral Committee did not admit the candidature of Musa Hassan Bility, in view of the content of the integrity check report relating to him,” the statement said.

FIFA said it had explained the reasons for disqualification privately to Bility, but it would not make the specifics public.

The race is thought to be wide open given Platini’s potential ethics violations, including a probe over a murky $2 million payment he received from FIFA in 2011.

Ministerial portfolios: So long, too long

By Chioma Gabriel

After a long wait, President Muhammadu Buhari finally assigned portfolios to 36 ministers who were, yesterday, sworn in, bringing to an end 166 days of President Buhari as sole administrator of the Nigerian state.

Buhari, who has hyped his commitment to ending corruption, slashed the number of ministries from 36 to 24, making some nominees only junior ministers.

He also took charge of the Petroleum ministry.

The assignment of portfolios to ministers was received with mixed feelings by Nigerians across social and political divides. Many expressed dismay that the President is taking charge of the petroleum ministry when erstwhile Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) Managing Director, Ibe Kachikwu, could have handled the ministry.

President Buhari was perceived to have breached constitutional provisions that demanded that a minister of the Federal Republic should pass through senatorial screening especially when he already had his hands full as a president.

President Muhammadu Buhari flanked by Vice President Yemi Osinbajo and the Water Resources Minister, Engr. Suleiman Adamu (5r) while other Members of Council watched in a group photograph shortly after the swear-in ceremony of the newly composed Federal Executive Council at the Aso Chambers, Presidential Villa, Abuja. Photo by Abayomi Adeshida 11/11/2015

According to a critic: “It is wrong for the President to appoint himself Petroleum minister. What interest has the President in the petroleum ministry which he thinks none of the ministers would achieve? The duties of the President are too challenging to be combined with a ministerial position. He came to power on a message and must live on it.”

The minister with the most challenging responsibility is perhaps Kemi Adeosun, a former investment banker and accountant who recently served as finance commissioner in Ogun State, and just yesterday emerged Finance Minister. She now has the task of reflating an economy whose fortunes are nose-diving, chiefly as a result of a free-fall in oil prices.

From economic indices, Nigeria’s GDP growth is currently running at just 2.35 per cent, while inflation is creeping towards 10 per cent and the Naira, the national currency is weak.

Adeosun has the responsibility to perfect all that concerns the economy.

And as the war against terrorism rages with a casualty of not fewer than 17,000 dead and at least 2.5 million homeless, retired Brigadier-General Muhammad Mansur Dan-Ali was assigned the Defence portfolio and is expected to end the war against terror by December as the President ordered.

Another big challenge was the appointment of former Lagos State governor, Babatunde Fashola, as the Power, Works and Housing minister while the former Rivers State governor, Rotimi Amaechi, got the Transportation ministry.

The combination of three porfolios of Power, Works and Housing is perceived as being too much for one minister to handle, and as such not in the interest of the nation as national challenges in the three sectors are too enormous to be supervised by one minister.

Deputy Majority Leader of Abia State House of Assembly, Chief Solomon Akpulonu faulted the merger of the Power, Works and Housing ministries stating that the challenges facing each of the ministries are too enormous to be supervised by a minister and urged the President to reconsider his decision.

According to him, “when you look at the new Ministry of Power, Works and Housing, you will observe that these are critical sectors which are expected to drive the engine of growth of our economy. You talk of power, it keeps fluctuating. What do we say about the works sector where all the roads are dilapidated? It is the same with the Housing sector. I think the President made a mistake to have merged these hitherto separate ministries and now assigned only a minister to oversee it.

“He should reconsider the decision by assigning a minister of state to the ministry. Otherwise, Babatunde Fashola would need to be superhuman to achieve result in this new ministry. Buhari must be careful not to create another problem while trying to save cost.”

Fashola and Amaechi are both political heavyweights in Buhari’s governing All Progressives Congress (APC) party where Amaechi served as Buhari’s campaign manager during the last general elections .

Fashola is expected to re-enact his magic success in Lagos to the national stage.

Will he be able to do that?

The good thing though about assigning of portfolios to ministers is what the lack of their assignment has caused the nation. The lack of ministers since May had left Nigeria in political limbo and created uncertainty in the business world.

An uncertain investment climate and delayed spending decisions had enveloped Nigerian economy as economic agents await government clarity.

Before now, President Buhari was running Nigeria with just permanent secretaries, many of whom he fired Tuesday. The situation changed with yesterday’s assignment of portfolios to ministers who are made up of technocrats and political appointees from each of Nigeria’s 36 states.

With this new development, it is expected that a clearer picture would emerge of President Buhari’s government direction.