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lHE GUARDIAN, Monda)! April.f ,2011 NEWS 111 Judge hands off forgery suit against Suswam Agbakoba seeks NAPEP officials' tri al over N417m alleged scam F rom Si meon Nwakaudu, M akurdi 'T1-I E suit filed by the defeat- J. ed Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) governorship aspirant, Terver Kakih, against the nomination of Governor Gabriel Suswam as the gover- norship cand i date of the party in Benue State has suf- fered a major setback as the trial judge at the Federal High Court, Makurdi, Abimbola Obaseki, returned th e case to the Chief Justice of the Federal High Court for re-assignmen t. Kakih is cha ll enging the no mination of Sus warn by the PDP on the grou nd that the governor forged his West African Examination Council (WAEC) and General Certificate of Examination Greed , bane of Nigeria's growth, says Orubebe From Abosede Musari, Ab uja A ,fI NISTER of Niger De lta IVlAffairs, Godsday Orubebe, has identified greed as the bane of the country's development According to rlim, Nigena is not mOving forward because of cor- ruption, a situation in which people use their positions to acquire money than they need. The minister made the mission while delivering a ser- mon yesterday at the Prayerlink Evangelical Ministries in Abuja Orubebe, who is also the founder of Glory Sanctuary Christian Centre, spoke on ',he God of All Possibilities." He enjoined the congregation to trust God for all their needs and to imbibe the sp irit of giv- ing. . Hi swords: "Govemment upon dlere are greedy people. people steal money they don't even need. Even when they know they would win election, they st ill ng. That is why Nigeria is not moving for- ward." Orubebe charged Christians to participate in the e lections by voting, stressing that "God is the on ly one that puts people in positions of authority." Imo fanners protest against Addax From Charles Ogugbuaja, O werri ('CORES of farmland owners the aegis Okaka Oil we ll Head/Extensi on Landlords, Awo- Omamma, Oru East Loca l Cou ncil of Jmo State, at dle weekend, stoi'med the premises of The Guardian to protest all eged insensitivity of Addax Petroleum to paying for their land the company acquired. TIl irty-Three landlords were involved in the protest. The protesters have peti- tioned President Goodluck Jonathan over the matter , according to their leader, Me Godwin offor and sa muel Amah, secretary. They alleged that despite the two parties' agreement at Pine Wood Hotel, Owerri in 2008, Addax Petroleum had fa il ed to keep its part of the 'deal that would have seen them com- pensated for the la nd acquired· by dle firm. The landlords disclosed that t he matter -st arted in 2007 when oil deposits were discov- ered in their farmland, which they resolved to relinquish to the company on certain terms after the l atter approached them. The Guardian went to the oil firm's base in lzombe, oguta ·'->tocal Council to get their si de of the iss ue, but its officials declined to speak on the mat- ter (GeE), hence he was not quali- fied to Oy the flag of the party in the Apri l 19 governorship election. The pre-election suit was filed at the Federal High Court, Ab uja, but the co u rt trans- ferred the suit to the Federal Hi gh Court, Maku rdi fo r determination . AnnounCing her position in court at the weekend, Obaseki stated th at her decision was premised on the petition writ- ten against her by the Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN), cla iming that she exhibited bias agai nst the party in her ruling on cases involving the ACN. She st.1ted that since the ACN mention ed the Kakih vs Suswam suit in their petition, it wou ld be in the best inter- est of justice if she returned the case back to the Chief Judge of the Federal Hi gh Court fo r re-assignment to another judge. In an interview after the rul- ing, counsel to Ka l ah, Chima Okereke, regretted that the ju dge returned the s uit to the Chi ef Ju dge when the peti- tion of the ACN only men- tioned the Kakih \IS Suswam su it in passing, pointing out that both litigants were not even ACN members. Okereke said: "This is a pre-- election matter and we have about two weeks to the gover- norship election. The co u rt did not appreciate where we are coming fro m. " However, counse l to Suswam, Jibrin ' Okutepa , desc r ibed the petition against Obaseki as an attempt to intim id ate the ju diCiary. He said returning the case file to · the Ch ief Judge of the Federal High Court was the best decision under the cir- cumstance, since some liti- gants questioned the integrity of the judge. Okutepa said the act of peti- tio ni ng agalrtst judge.£ was dangero us and niiist be nipped in the bud in order to check the erosion of confi- dence in the judiciary. He sa id that Governor Suswam was ready to meet with the plaintiff s wherever the case was re-a ss igned to. By Bertram Nwannekanma DJRMER President of the CNigerian Bar Association (NBA), Olisa Agbakoba (SAN), yesterday callei'l for the prose- cution of officials of National Poverty Eradication Programme (NAPEP) and Keke NAPEP Owners and Riders Association of Nigeria (KORAN) over the handling of the tricy- cles project in which N417 mil· lion has been allegedly stolen. Court hears suit against Alao-Akala's candidature today Agbakoba, in a petition addressed to the Attorney General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Moha m med Adoke (SAN), demanded a fu ll investigation and prosecution of those involved. The petition, sent on behalf of his client, Autobahn Techniques limited, was also addressed to · the Commissioner of Police, Special Fraud Unit and the Heads of Operations of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) and the Independent Practices and Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC). From !yabo lawai, "l"HECourt of Appeal sitting in J.l badan has fiXed today for hearing in the suit filed by some aggrieved governorship asp i- rants of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) against the candida- ture of Governor Adebayo Alao- Akala in the gubernatorial race. The aggrieved leaders, former Minister of Power and Steel, Wole Oyelese and erstwhile Deputy Governor, Alhaji Hazeem Gbolarumi, had gone to court to chall enge the emer- gence of Alao-Akala in the con- gress of the PDP, which they described as incondusive. Justice Jonathan Shakarho of the Federal High Cou rt had ear- lier granted an order restrain- ing the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEe) from recogni si ng Alao-Akala as the PDP candiaat e, but later vacated the order. Miffed by the action of-the the plaintiflS petitioned the National Judidal Council (NJ C), accusi ng J ustice Shal<arho of coll ecting N50 mi l- lion from Alae-Akala to vacate the interim orde r. The aggrieved cand idates, through their counsel, Rotimi Akeredolu had proceed- ed to the appellate court to chal- lenge the iJecision of the lower court. But when the matter came up l ast Thursday, counsel to Alao- ACN supporter killed in Dyo Akala and the PDP , Chief Richard Akinjide (SAN) and Bolaji Ayorinde (SAN) respec- tively, urged the court to sus- pend hearing of the a]Jpea l pending the outcome of the mvestigation of the a ll egation of bribery leve ll ed against Shakarho. They argued that the appell ate court oughtto fo llow the exam- ple of the lower court by adjourning sine dine to allow the National ludicial Council come up With report of its investigation of the a ll egation of N50 million b ri bery leveled against him by one of the appel- lants. Bu t the appell ate court, presided over by Justice Sidi Bage, said the court would be failing in its duties if it refused to aIfow Akeredolu move the motion on the application he had already filed and to which respondents have responded. Bage said: "We will rail in ou r duties if we do not l et them move their motion. As far as the court is concerned, the appl ica- tion can be m oved fo r now. So, we don't go into a bigger iss ue of fair hearing. The application has been 61ed and it is neces- sary it was heard. We must hear him and t.1ke the counter affi- davit." Ayorinde had reminded the o you ave products or servi and want to reach a wid audience? You can n a dvertise on Job-boa 'for free. Contact , 07086931037 lor send detail s agenerationx03@gmail court that the petition to the NJC reCjuired the commission to perform a statutory duty of investigating a criminal allega- tion against Justice Shakarno. Now, the appell ants want the appellate court to look at the same matter . If the NfC finds that the conduct of the lower court was imrroper and disci- pline the tria judge and your Lordships find that the orders were properly done, then there wi ll be a conOict in administra- tion of justice." Ayorinde added. But Akeredolu (SAN) faulted the argume nt of the two lawyers and urged the court to rusregard them. The court adjourned proceed- ingtiUtoday. Meanwhile, a member of the Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN) in Oyo State was on Saturday feared ki ll ed in Ogbomoso, the country home of Alao-Akala, by suspected supporters of the ru li ng Peoples Democratic Party The ACN chieftain, Mr. Isiaka Ademol a, was killed in Gbede area of Surulere Local Council when some PDP s upporters stormed the polling unit and allegedly unleashed mayhem on members of the opposition. Trouble broke out when one of the PDP chieftains, who artived the polling.centre around 11:00 a.m., orae red hi s thugs to attack some of the voters who are perceived as rival s. The ACN supporters alongside Ademola were said to be on the queue when the PDP support- ers artived the polli ng unit and unleashed mayhem on the vot- ers. Ademola, who was allegedly attacked with machetes tiy the hoodlums, died afterwards as a result of injuries sustained. Four others who were also injured during the crisis how- ever survived as they were treat- ed at a nearby private hospital.. When contacted, the st.1te Poli ce Public Relations Officer, Olatun ji Ajimuda confirmed the incident but clarified that the attackers were being traced to the CAN, contrary to claims that they were supporters of the ruling party. Agbakoba stated that in 2002, Autobahn form ulated and pro- posed to the Federal Government the idea c;>f pover- ty alleviation in the country by providing motorised tricycles for commeraal transport bUSI- ness to create employment and generate business for the mass- es. According to him, the project, which required the bulk pur- chase of motorised tricycles for sale and distribution, recorded successes in its first two phases in 2002 and 2003, but that the third phase ran into difficulties due to KORAN's internal strife, making Alhaji Bashiru Adisa Akinola, a fuctional president, to allegedly connive with the management of NAPEP to con- vert part of the proceeds amounting to N417 million. IVEIIV (SUMMER 2011) OW SEL LI N Cl assic Slip - on in Ostrich Leg Au thor iz ed Dealer 3 ... . n . :r DPerkins 3Tech Corporate Nig, Ltd , :w ww.3Iechni gerla.com iagos@3 /ech .nel Lagos:017615388 08166280145 Kano:
