A former governor of Kogi State, Mr. Yahaya Bello has pleaded with Justice Maryann Anenih of the Federal High Court sitting in Abuja to spare him the possession of a landed property in the Maitama district of Abuja as one of the conditions for bail. Details later…
Human rights lawyer and activist, Dele Farotimi has been remanded in prison for allegedly defaming a legal luminary and founder of Afe Babalola University, Aare Afe Babalola, SAN. It was reported that Farotimi was arraigned before a Magistrate Court in Ado Ekiti on Monday. The activist was accused of maligning and defaming the character of Afe Babalola in his recently published book, ‘Nigeria and Its Criminal Justice System. Farotimi pleaded not guilty to all the sixteen count charges. Police prosecutor, Samson Osun called for the remand of the suspect in prison custody pending further investigation and its outcome for the maintenance of security in the country. Counsel to the defendant, Dayo Akeredolu opposed the call, pleading with the court to admit the defendant to bail on very liberal terms and on self-recognisance. According to him, the case at hand is bailable and the suspect is a known figure who is not constituting any threat. He said the defendant is presumed innocent until proven guilty. However, in his ruling, the presiding judge, Magistrate Abayomi Adeosun remanded the suspect in prison custody and adjourned till December 10.
A Nigerian pastor, Tobi Adegboyega, has lost his legal battle against deportation from the UK following allegations of fraud and financial misconduct linked to his controversial church, SPAC Nation. Despite claiming deportation would breach his human rights, an immigration tribunal ruled that he should be deported to Nigeria. Adegboyega, 44, who is a cousin of Star Wars actor John Boyega, had argued that removing him from the UK would violate his right to family life under the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR). He cited his marriage to a British woman and his community work with SPAC Nation as reasons for remaining in the UK. Describing him as a “charismatic” leader, his legal team highlighted his efforts to mentor hundreds of young people, particularly from London’s Black communities, to steer them away from crime. They claimed his work had been praised by prominent figures, including former Prime Minister Boris Johnson and senior Metropolitan Police officials, although no testimony from these figures was submitted. However, the tribunal noted that the Home Office presented a different narrative. According to the judgment, “Various manifestations of [Mr Adegboyega’s] church have been closed down, by either the Charity Commission or the High Court, because of concerns over its finances and lack of transparency.” SPAC Nation was shut down after failing to account for more than £1.87 million in expenditures, with allegations that the church encouraged members to take drastic measures to donate money. Former members accused the organization of being a cult, claiming impoverished individuals were urged to take out loans, commit benefit fraud, and even sell their own blood to fund the church. “It is alleged that the church leadership lead lavish lifestyles and there have, it is said, been instances of abuse,” the judgment stated. “The [Home Office’s] case before us was that all of this needs to be taken into account when evaluating whether [Mr Adegboyega] is in fact of real value to the UK.”
The Federal High Court sitting in Lagos has ordered the National Broadcasting Commission (NBC) to “stop using the NBC Act and the Nigeria Broadcasting Code to impose fines, threaten to impose sanctions, harass and intimidate the broadcast stations and other independent media houses in the country.” The court declared that “the NBC and its agents lack the legal power and authority to impose penalty unlawfully and unilaterally, including fines, suspension, withdrawal of license or any form of punishment whatsoever on independent media houses for promoting access to diverse information on issues of public importance.” The judgment was delivered in June by Hon. Justice Nicholas Oweibo following a lawsuit brought by the Socio-Economic Rights and Accountability Project (SERAP) and Centre for Journalism Innovation and Development (CJID). The certified true copy of the judgment was obtained last Friday. The suit followed the decision by the NBC in 2022 to impose a fine of N5 million each on Trust TV, Multichoice Nigeria Limited, NTA-Startimes Limited and TelcCom Satellite Limited, over their documentaries on terrorism in the country. The NBC claimed that the documentaries “glorify the activities of bandits, undermine national security in Nigeria, and contravene the provisions of the Nigeria Broadcasting Code.” In his judgment, Justice Oweibo held that, “The issue of the locus standi of SERAP and CJID need to be resolved first being a threshold issue. It is trite that the Statement of Claim must disclose the Plaintiff’s interest sufficient to clothe him/her with the requisite capacity to sue.” Justice Oweibo also stated that, “SERAP and CJID have been vested with locus standi. Looking at the provisions of the Fundamental Rights (Enforcement Procedure) Rules 2009 and particularly the preambles to the Rules, the general requirement of locus standi has been done away with. SERAP and CJID are not meddlesome interlopers.” According to Justice Oweibo, “I have looked at the affidavit in support of the suit, which in this case stands in place of a Statement of Claim. Considering the core mandates of SERAP and CJID and the affidavit in support of their suit, it is to be seen that this is a public interest case.” Justice Oweibo dismissed the objections raised by the NBC’s counsel and upheld SERAP’s and CJID’s arguments. Consequently, the court entered judgment in favour of SERAP and CJID and against the NBC. Justice Oweibo’s judgment, dated 13 June, 2024, read in part: “This is an action alleging breach of the fundamental rights of SERAP and CJID to freedom of expression, access to information and media freedom and fair hearing guaranteed under sections 22, 36 and 39 of the Nigerian Constitution 1999 [as amended].” The court also granted the following reliefs: A DECLARATION is hereby made that the act of the Defendants imposing a fine of Five Million Naira each on the independent media houses is unlawful, inconsistent with, and amounts to a breach of the principles of legality, necessity, proportionality and therefore a violation of the rights to freedom of expression, access to information, and media freedom;A DECLARATION is hereby made that the use of the Broadcasting Code by the NBC to impose sanctions on the independent media houses for an alleged infractions without recourse to the court constitutes an infringement on the provisions of sections 6[1] & [6][b] and 36[1] of the Nigerian Constitution 1999 and Articles 1 and 7 of the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights and Article 9 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights to which Nigeria is a state party;A DECLARATION is hereby made that the provisions of the National Broadcasting Commission Act and the Nigeria Broadcasting Code which are arbitrarily being used by the Defendants to sanction, harass, intimidate and restrict the independent media houses are inconsistent and incompatible with sections 36[1], 39 and 22 of the Nigerian Constitution, Article 9 of the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights and Article 19 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights and are null and void to the extent of their inconsistency and incompatibility;A DECLARATION is hereby made that the Defendants lack the legal power and authority to impose penalty unlawfully and unilaterally, including fines, suspension, withdrawal of license or any form of punishment whatsoever on the independent media houses for promoting access to diverse opinions and information on issues of public importance;AN ORDER OF COURT is hereby made setting aside the fine of Five Million Naira imposed by the Defendants, through the 3rd Defendant, each on Trust TV, Multichoice Nigeria Limited, TelCom Satellite Limited (TSTV) and NTA-Startimes Limited for televising the documentary by the British Broadcasting Corporation “BBC Africa Eye” titled “Bandits Warlords of Zamfara”;AN ORDER OF PERPETUAL INJUNCTION is hereby made restraining the Defendants or any other authority, persons or group of persons from unlawfully shutting down, imposing fine, suspension, withdrawal of license or doing anything whatsoever to harass and intimidate or impose criminal punishment on the independent media houses or any of Nigeria’s journalists and media houses for promoting access to diverse information on issues of public importance SERAP deputy director, Kolawole Oluwadare said, “We urge the NBC to demonstrate its commitment to the rule of law by immediately obeying and respecting the judgment of the Court.” “We also urge President Bola Tinubu to direct the Ministry of Information and Culture, the office of the Attorney General of the Federation and the NBC to immediately disclose the details of the Twitter agreement, as ordered by the court. “The immediate enforcement and implementation of the judgment will be a victory for the rule of law, freedom of expression and media freedom in Nigeria.” SERAP and CJID had in August 2022 filed a lawsuit against former president Muhammadu Buhari, former minister of information and culture Mr Lai Mohammed and the NBC, asking the court for “a declaration that the imposition of fines on the media houses is unlawful and amounts to a breach of legality, necessity, proportionality principles.” In the suit number FHC/L/CS/1486/2022, SERAP and CJID sought “an order setting aside the arbitrary and…
Justice Maryanne Anenih of the Federal Capital Territory, FCT, High Court, Maitama, has directed that a hearing notice be served on Yahaya Bello, former governor of Kogi State, at his residence and on the court’s notice board. This follows his repeated failure to appear in court for arraignment on charges of fraud involving N101.4 billion. In a ruling on Thursday, November 14, 2024, Justice Anenih instructed that the hearing notice be pasted at Bello’s residence at No. 9 Benghazi Street, Wuse Zone 4, Abuja, and displayed on the court’s notice board. The court issued this order as the public summons requiring Bello’s appearance is set to expire on November 17, 2024, allowing him a few remaining days to comply. The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC requested an adjournment to allow Bello more time to respond to the public summons, which provides a 30-day period for his appearance. According to the counsel to the EFCC, Jamiu Agoro, the option of issuing a warrant of arrest is premature as the 30-day compliance period has not yet expired. Justice Anenih thereafter granted the EFCC’s request for an adjournment, setting November 27, 2024, as the new date for Bello to appear in court for arraignment. Recall that the court had previously issued a public summons on October 3, 2024, after Bello failed to attend prior hearings related to the new 16-count charges filed against him by the EFCC. The charges include allegations of fraud amounting to N101.4 billion.
An Ikeja High Court has ordered an online activist, Vincent Otse (alias Very Dark Man) to remove defamatory posts against a Senior Advocate of Nigeria, Femi Falana and his musician son, Folarin otherwise called Falz. Justice Matthias Dawodu also ordered VDM to bring down the alleged defamatory video which he made on September 24 against the Falanas. The court also ordered the service of originating summons against VDM through his lawyer, Deji Adeyanju within 14 day. The judge said, “The defendant, his agents and privies are hereby restrained from further releasing, publishing or circulating any defamatory videos, comments about the applicant. He is to bring down the defamatory video about the applicant which was published on September 24 on all his online social media handles pending compliance with the pre-action protocol of the court. Leave is hereby granted to the applicant to serve the pre-action bundles, originating processes and all other court processes between parties herein on the defendant by substituted means through his lawyer, Deji Adeyanju. The applicant must file and serve the pre-action bundles, originating processes and other accompanying processes on the defendant within 14 days.” The court made the orders following an ex parte originating application made by Mr Falana and his son against the actions of VDM where he published “unverified audio recording of a one-sided narrative by cross dresser Bobrisky,” alleging perversion of justice by the family. Mr Falana had in a lawsuit numbered ID/8586GCM/2024, filed against VDM, sought the order of the court to award a sum of N500 million fine for defamation of character against him. Mr Falana in the lawsuit, also prayed the order of the court, directing the defendant to publish an apology on his social media handles for the defamatory words contained in the viral video. The Court also ordered VDM to pay N500 million in damages to human rights advocate Femi Falana and his son, Falz. Recall previously that Bobrisky’s voice could be heard explaining how he paid the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC, the sum of N15 million to clear his name money laundering case, which was levied against him, amongst others.
A Federal High Court in Abuja on Tuesday has declared the 2024 Labour Party national convention held in Nnewi in March valid, constitutional and in line with all laid down laws in Nigeria. In a judgement made by Justice Emeka Nwite while delivering the judgement went further to compel the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC to grant due recognition and all privileges to the Labour Party’s National Working Committee as led by Barrister Julius Abure.
Justice Maryanne Anenih of the Federal Capital Territory, FCT in Maitama, Abuja on October 3, 2024, has issued a public summon against former Governor of Kogi State, Yahaya Adoza Bello following his absence in a fresh arraignment on 16-count charges preferred against him by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC. Bello, Shuabu Oricha and Abdulsalami Hudu are facing prosecution bordering on criminal breach of trust, and conspiracy to commit an offence to the tune of N110.4 Billion. Justice Anenih issued the summon in a ruling following an ex parte application by EFCC counsel, Rotimi Oyedepo, SAN praying the court to grant leave that the defendant be served the charges via substituted means, following his absence in court to answer charges filed against him on September 24, 2024. The court ordered that the charges be served on the defendant at his known residence, No 4, Benghazi Street, Maitama, Abuja, through a public summons to be published in widely circulated national newspapers and also pasted within the premises of the court. The judge granted two separate adjournments: October 24, 2024, and November 14, 2024. The former was for arraignment on the grounds that the defendant will be arrested and brought to court by EFCC and the latter when the 30 days of service elapsed. Bello is also being awaited for arraignment before Justice Emeka Nwite of the Federal High Court, Abuja on an 18-count charge bordering on money laundering to the tune of N80.2billion.
