News
You Must Produce Nnamdi Kanu on June 26, Court orders Abaribe, others
All is not auguring well for Sen. Enyinaya Abaribe (PDP, Abia) and two others, as the Federal High Court, Abuja, on Wednesday,adjourned until June 26 ordering them to produce leader of the proscribed Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB) Nnamdi Kanu in court.
Abaribe, Immanuel El-Shalom, a Jewish Chief High Priest, and Tochukwu Uchendu, a Chartered Accountant, who stood surety for Kanu are to produce him in court or risk jail.
The trial judge, Justice Binta Nyako, fixed the date after the court had ordered the prosecution to serve the sureties with an earlier order of court.
The order demanded the sureties to appear in court and explain the whereabouts of Kanu or show cause why they should not forfeit their N100 million bail bond.
At the resumed hearing, counsel to the sureties observed that the court order had not been served to his clients to enable them to prepare their defence.
Mr Chukwuma Umeh (SAN), counsel to Abaribe whose submissions were adopted by the others urged the court to direct that an enroll order be issued and served on his client by the prosecution.
He said this was in the spirit of fair hearing as enshrined in Section 36 of the 1999 Constitution.
He added: “I apply that the proper thing be done, that is for a summon to be issued and served on the sureties for them to show cause why their bail bond should not be forfeited.
“The prosecution ought to have taken further steps to obtain an enroll order and serve on them.
“This is because a court order that is not served cannot be used against the sureties as it is not binding on them until it is served.”
The prosecuting counsel, Mr Shuaibu Labaran, prayed the court to discountenance the submissions and proceed with the business of the day.
He said the business of the day was for the sureties to show cause why they should not forfeit their bail bond.
In a brief ruling however, Justice Nyako ordered that the sureties be served with an enroll order of the court to show cause why their bail bonds should not be forfeited.
Part of the ruling was that in the alternative, the sureties should produce Kanu in court or go to prison.
The prosecution had in an application asked the court to order the three sureties to produce Kanu following his failure to appear in court after he was granted bail.
Kanu is facing a four-count amended charge preferred against him and four others, whose trial had since been separated from his.
Justice Nyako had in a ruling on April 25, 2017, admitted Kanu to bail after he spent over one year in detention.
Abaribe and the two others entered an undertaken to produce Kanu before the court to face his trial by standing as sureties for him.
Kanu had since then not attended the trial and his counsel, Mr Ifeanyi Ejiofor, insisted that
the whereabouts of the proscribed IPOB leader remained unknown after the military attacked his home town in Abia in 2017. (NAN)
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News
Nigerians Seek Woman Who Spoke Out Eloquently Against Fuel Scarcity In Viral 1994 TV Clip
April 30th 1994, 30 Years Ago, And Till Today Nothing Has Really Changed.
Netizens have gone in search of a beautiful and well-spoken woman who spoke out against fuel scarcity 30 Years Ago.
A user on X.com, Jackie, who identifies as #JWEZEE had shared the video yesterday with the caption, “On this day April 30 1994, same day same time, only difference 30years ago.
“Nigerians in long fuel queues lamenting, 30years later they are still lamenting. And In another 30years will still lament, why? Because patterns don’t lie.”
In the video, which has since gone viral, Nigerians were seen queuing to purchase fuel and lamenting their predicament as citizens waiting in long queues with their gallons to buy fuel.
The woman passionately addressed the unfairness of soldiers skipping queues to resell fuel, highlighting a longstanding problem.
She said in part, “You have the soldiers that come, they buy petrol, they put it in jerry cans they sell it right in front of these people, it’s ridiculous.
“They get the fuel themselves, why do they have to come here, they don’t join the queue, they just buy and they sell right in front of people, it’s ridiculous. Something has to happen.”
The 30-year-old video which recently surfaced coincides with the current fuel price hike across the country.
Here is the viral video from 30 years back.
Currently, the country is facing fuel scarcity and price hike, with fuel being sold at N900 per litre in some states. This has affected the price of goods in the nation.
News
FG Declares May 1st Public Holiday To Mark Workers’ Day
The Federal Government had declared Wednesday, May 1st, 2024, as a public holiday to mark this year’s Workers’ Day.
Nigeria’s Minister of Interior Olubunmi Tunji-Ojo made the declaration, according to the ministry’s Permanent Secretary Aishetu Ndayako.
“The Federal Government has declared Wednesday, 1st May 2024 as a Public Holiday to commemorate this year’s Workers’ Day Celebration,” Aishetu said in a statement on Tuesday, April 30.
“In alignment with this year’s theme, which focuses on ensuring safety and health at work in a changing climate, I wish to state that the Federal Government remains steadfast in its resolve to prioritise the safety and well-being of all citizens,” the minister said.
“Let me reaffirm Mr. President’s commitment to providing a conducive environment for work, where every worker can thrive and contribute meaningfully to national development”.
The minister, who acknowledged the contribution of workers, called for more measures to mitigate the adverse effects of climate change through synergy.
“The Minister also urged Nigerians to remain committed to the present administration’s Renewed Hope Agenda as he wishes workers a happy celebration,” the statement read.
News
“There Would Be total Blackout For Three Months If Electricity Tariff Hike Is Not Implemented ” – Minister Of Power Warns
The Minister of Power, Adebayo Adelabu, has warned that there would be a total blackout in the country in the next three months if the proposed electricity tariff hike is not implemented.
The minister gave the warning in Abuja when he appeared before the Senate Committee on Power at an investigative hearing over the recent electricity tariff hike by the Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission (NERC)on Monday, April 29.
In his words
“The entire sector will be grounded if we don’t increase the tariff. With what we have now in the next three months, the entire country will be in darkness if we don’t increase tariffs. The increment will catapult us to the next level. We are also Nigerians, we are also feeling the impact.”
He said the sum of $10 billion is needed yearly for the next ten years to revive the nation’s power sector and nip in the bud the challenges bedevilling it.
“For this sector to be revived, the government needs to spend nothing less than 10 billion dollars annually in the next 10 years.
“This is because of the infrastructure requirement for the stability of the sector. But the government cannot afford that. And so we must make this sector attractive to investors and to lenders. So, for us to attract investors and investment, we must make the sector attractive, and the only way it can be made attractive is that there must be commercial pricing.
“If the value is still at N66 and the government is not paying subsidy, the investors will not come. But now that we have increased the tariff for A Band, there are interests being shown by investors,” he said.
Adelabu said the inability of the government to pay outstanding N2.9 trillion subsidy was due to limited resources, hence the need to evolve measures to sustain the sector.
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