INEC begins Dino’s recall Process July 10; Osinbajo in Addis Ababa for 29th AU Summit; $20m fraud allegation: Court orders Patience Jonathan to pay EFCC N50,000; Nigeria now in a state of emergency – Speaker Dogara . . .
INEC begins Dino’s recall Process July 10
Sen. Dino Melaye (Kogi West)
INEC secretary, Augusta Ogakwu, has released the time table for the final recall of Senator Dino Melaye (Kogi West). ‘Notice of Verification’ would be issued on July 10 and pasted at the INEC local government office in Lokoja. July 31 for submission of applications to EFCC Abuja. August 10 for submission of names of verification agents for Sen. Melaye and accusers. INEC’s stakeholders’ meeting is on August 15.
Verification to be conducted on August 19 in all Polling Units in Kogi West, and INEC LGA office in Lokoja. INEC shall declare the outcome of the verification on August 19’. “The Commission shall issue the time-table and schedule of activities for the conduct of referendum subject to the outcome of the verification exercise’, the statement added.
Osinbajo in Addis Ababa for 29th AU Summit
Acting President Prof. Yemi Osinbajo, SAN on Monday left Nigeria for Addis Ababa, Ethiopian for the 29th ordinary session of the African Union (AU). Osinbajo will join other African heads of governments and global leaders to discuss institutional reforms, peace, security matters and the reform of the United Nations. A statement by his spokesman, Mr. Laolu Akande, said: “The session is themed: ‘Harnessing the Demographic Dividend through Investments in the Youth.’ It will also discuss the report on the Institutional Reform of the AU, peace and security issues, and the reform of the United Nations Security Council among other topics on the summit agenda. Prof. Osinbajo leaves Nigeria this morning and is expected back later today,” the statement said.
$20m fraud allegation: Court orders Patience Jonathan to pay EFCC N50,000
A Federal High Court sitting in Port Harcourt, Rivers State, on Monday ordered ex-First Lady Patience Jonathan to pay N50, 000 to the EFCC after she withdrew her suit against the crime agency. Mrs. Jonathan had in February sued the EFCC for the alleged breach of her fundamental human rights. She asked the court to declare that the freezing of her $20m bank accounts a gross violation of her rights to fair hearing and to own property, and also to rule that the ransacking of her family property by EFCC agents was illegal. She demanded the sum of N2bn in damages. Justice Seidu refused to grant EFCC’s N500,000 request but struck out the suit and awarded N50,000 cost against the EFCC.
Nigeria now in a state of emergency – Speaker Dogara
The Speaker of the House of Representatives, Hon. Yakubu Dogara has cried out over the deployment of soldiers in over 28 states of Nigeria. Speaking in Abuja at a “Capacity/Interactive Needs Assessment Workshop for Security Sector Related Committees in the House of Representatives, the Speaker said, inter alia: “The Armed Forces have virtually taken over routine police work in Nigeria. . .Section 217 of the constitution spells out the duties and responsibilities of the Armed Forces of Nigeria, which include defending Nigeria from external aggression; maintaining Nigeria’s territorial integrity; and securing our borders. . .suppressing insurrection and. . .when called upon to do so by the President.”
Nigerian News Desk 