Nigerian Journalism : Thisday Newspaper, Tinubu, Fashola, and the Chagoury Tango.
August 18, 2008 by 
Che Oyimnatumba · Leave a Comment
The news that Senator Ahmed Bola Tinubu the predecessor to Governor Fashola of Lagos State was hosted in Beirut by the cronies of late Gen. Sani Abacha, made front page in Thisday Newspaper after Thisday hosted her annual musical festival in Abuja. The report has it that using Hitech limited, the Chagoury are in control of over 60% of the total infrastructural development contracts in Lagos.
Since this news broke, the Lagos State government using The Nation Newspaper believed to be owned by Senator Ahmed Bola Tinubu have engaged Thisday. It got to a ludicrous head when the Lagos State Governor returned the award given to him in February as the best Governor 2008 in infrastructural development. Imo State Governor, Ikedi Ohakim also got the best governor in the environmental category. When these awards hit the airwave, my reaction was “why give 2008 award in the beginning of 2008?” More also why should a media house that ought to be a watch dog and an Oliver Twist, be giving an award to governors whose elections as at that time were seriously challenged and the courts were yet to rule.
Arising from the bashing by Thisday’s negative report on Lagos State, the Lagos State governor answered my query. Those awards are Greek gift given to solicit adverts and other concessions from the recipients. This was evident with the deluge of state government adverts that flooded Thisday after the award.
Thisday newspaper is not the only Nigerian media outfit involved in this unethical reportage. A newspaper led concurrently for three weeks with damning exposure of questionable award of pension by Gombe State House of Assembly to Governor Danjuma Goje. When adverts from Gombe State and friends of Gombe State started appearing in the pages of this newspaper and other newspapers, nothing was heard of the Goje pension saga.
This questionable journalism practice is also extended to corporate Nigeria. A GSM service provider gave tariff free lines to major columnists and editors. This Greek gift has ensured that this company does not get the truth about her reported. When any columnist or editor runs out of weekend cash, or money for staff salary, a not too favourable report is done, which is automatically followed by an advert or appearance on the cover of the weekend edition/centre page special report or pull out from the affected corporation or individual. This is how Nigerian media runs.
If not, why did Thisday report a story they have had in their shelf during the award ceremony, only to release it when they were denied right to host this year’s Thisday Music Festival in Lagos? The previous year’s was hosted in Lekki Lagos state.
Though this style of reporting common in Nigerian media is a shame, the issues raised by Thisday have not been addressed by Lagos State government. Was Hitech responsible for the Ijegun fire disaster? Has she and Lagos State government paid compensation to the family of those who lost their lives due to the negligence of Hitech?
Instead of following these leads and investigate the activities of the Chagoury during Abacha’s maximum dictatorship, another Nigerian newspaper has joined the fray. Nation Life in her Saturday August 16th 2008 Edition in page 52 took an upper cut at Thisday publisher Mr. Nduka Obaigbena. This week’s report is part (2) of what must have started last week. The rider reads How Thisday Publisher got into trouble in South Africa. To show the cowardice of the paper, the by-line of the story is merely by Our Reporter. This alleged incident happening in 2004. The report went ahead to claim that the publisher of Thisday has gone to “beg” Mr. Albert, (Gilbert) the head of the Chagoury family. With a graphic description of the conversation, one would have expected Nation Life to reveal the name of Bank’s MD that made the visit with Mr. Nduka and the serial number of the N20 milion cheque that was bounced. In case the publishers of Nation Life do not know, giving a dud cheque is a financial crime worthy of EFCC intervention.
In other climes, media expositions of crimes have led to the collapse of multi-national corporations and the resignation of government officials. But the Nigerian journalist, for a port of cold portage throws objectivity to the winds and sees no need for adequate investigative journalism.
The Abacha Henchmen Chagourys Take Over Lagos story of Thisday, was signed off thus “ This article is the first in Thisday series on state governments” Nigerians are sceptically waiting for the expose on other governors, provided they are also those that have been giving Thisday centre spread adverts.
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Lawyer Charged For Stealing N 150,000.
August 18, 2008 by Che Oyimnatumba · Leave a Comment
Barrister Abdulkarem an Ekiti State based lawyer and 4 others were on Friday 15th August 2008, arraigned in an Ado-Ekiti Chief Mageistrate Court for stealing N 150,000:00 (One Hundred and Fifty Thousand Naira Only) and vandalising properties belonging to the Christ Apostolic Church (CAC) Oke-Itunu worth N1.7 million.
The lawyer and his culprits are also facing charges of false imprisonment, assault and kidnapping as it was alleged that they abducted two officials of CAC and detained them at an Oodua Peoples Congress (OPC) detention camp.
The lawyer was granted bail on personal recognition and a bail bond of N50,000:00. The matter was adjourned to October 15th for hearing.
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Nigeria Hands Over Bakassi
August 14, 2008 by Felix Ashimole · Leave a Comment
Amidst mixed reactions and crocodile tears from those who have been “ripping” apart the Niger Delta because of crude oil, the Attorney General of the Federation and Minister of Justice of Nigeria officially handed over to Cameroon, the Bakassi Peninsula. Today’s ceremony was carried out in honour of the Green Tree Treaty entered into by Nigeria and Cameroon, as an Alternative Dispute Resolution mechanism (ADR) on the dispute over Bakassi.
According to President Yar’Adua, the handing over is painful but needful as it will restore the image of Nigeria in the international community as a big African Brother, worthy of honouring agreements. It will be recalled that the PDP government under President Olusegun Obasanjo conceded to peaceful resolution instead of the full legal gauntlet at the International Court of Justice. Cameroon had taken Nigeria to the ICJ over Bakassi.
This it is painful tears of Yar’Adua, is not over the displaced people of Bakassi who still desire to be part of Nigeria but the lost revenue that would have accrued to the federation account had the oil deposit found in the peninsula exploited by Nigeria.
We wish Bakassi well in Cameroon, for going by the inhumane treatment given to the peoples of Niger Delta; one cannot help but wish Bakassi well.
We also hope that the people of Bakassi will learn from the ill treatment meted out to Niger Delta and start early to agitate for a better social corporate responsibility from those French companies lining up to start exploration. Above all, they should politically engage Paul Biya to relax some of his draconian policy and open up the political space he has dominated since 1982.
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Nigerian Judiciary: A benchmark of corruption.
August 13, 2008 by Che Oyimnatumba · Leave a Comment
The rot in the Nigerian Judiciary received a hoot of disapproval with the questionable and inconsistent interpretation of the Electoral Act which midwifed the April 2007 General Election, believed to be the worst in Nigeria history. This rot has been heaped at the door step of the Court of Appeal, especially after the stench from Osun state and the abracadabra in Jos that upturned the judgment of the lower tribunal and returned David Mark as the winner.
But what most Nigerians have closed their eyes to, is that the corruption in the judiciary goes beyond the Election Tribunals. The real rot commences in the Registry of the Nigeria judiciary. A lawyer who spoke with us, said that these Process Unit staff as they are called, are responsible for missing content in a litigant’s file, contrary dates of adjournments. Apart from extorting a litigant by claiming that there is no file to house his writ of summons and other originating documents, these junior staff willingly tell litigants which judge is open to receiving bribes.
Another source of corruption in the Nigerian judiciary is the lawyers. A good number of lawyers in a bid to get ahead encourage the corrupt practices by these junior staff. A good number shunt due process and compromise the judiciary staff into inserting documents into a file out of time; some go to the extent of informing litigants that there is need to pay certain amount of fees to facilitate favourable judgment. When their matter is not assigned to an amiable judge, they refile and grease palms in order to get their process before the “appropriate” judge.
If the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA-Umbrella body for all lawyers in Nigeria) is serious about the fight against corruption in Nigeria, there is need for her to start from members of the bar, rather than this crocodile tears over Ribadu and EFCC.
The judiciary Service Commission, should clamp down on any judge fingered in corrupt practices. As a deterrent, any judge whose name is whispered in questionable deal, should be placed on suspension and in innocent, the accuser should be disrobed if a lawyer and if a litigant, be prosecuted for obstructing justice.
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Rotimi Amaechi’s Victory Challenged
July 29, 2008 by Che Oyimnatumba · 1 Comment
Finally, a ray of judicial hope appears in the questionable imposition of Rotimi Amaechi as governor of Rivers State by the Supreme Court. The Democratic Peoples Party (DPP) candidate in the 14 April 2007 election in Rivers State, Sergeant Awuse has petitioned the National Judicial Council (NJC) over the refusal of both the Rivers State Election Petition Tribunal and the Court of Appeal to hear his appeal challenging the victory of the PDP in the election.
Awuse wants the NJC to reconstitute an Election Petition Tribunal to hear his petition alleging massive irregularities. According to Awuse, the law cannot trade off these irregularities, rigging, allotment of votes and unlawful votes INEC donated to PDP. He further more stated that the Supreme Court’s resolution of the PDP primary crisis in favour of Amaechi, is different from the general election.
Both the Election Petition Tribunal and the Court of Appeal, has refused to hear Awuse’s petition on the grounds that the Supreme Court had ordered Amaeachi the rightful PDP candidate and all votes cast for PDP in the election be deemed for Amaechi. It is this blank cheque that Awuse is challenging, reasoning that, the election that produced the votes PDP claimed, was rigged and should be held up to the rules of the Electoral Act.
In the run up to the election, Amaechi’s name was substituted with Celestine Omehia, who contested the general election on the platform of the PDP against other political parties in accordance with the Electoral Act.
Rotimi Amaechi, never stood for the general election, as he was not fielded by the PDP.
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PDP Disagrees with Ondo Tribunal Verdict.
July 27, 2008 by Che Oyimnatumba · 1 Comment
In deed how the cookies crumble. The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) Ondo State Chapter, are up in arms, shouting blue murder over the July 25th judgment of the Ondo Election Petition Tribunal sitting in Akure. The tribunal had nullified the election of incumbent PDP governor Dr. Olusegun Agagu and ordered that the Labour Party (LP) candidate Dr. Olusegun Mimiko be sworn in as governor.
In an advertorial in the major national dailies, signed by Dr. Tayo and Professor Olusoga Olopade State Chairman and State Legal adviser of PDP respectively, the PDP accused the tribunal of frustrating their efforts to get a Certified True Copy (CTC) of the judgment, to enable them file an appeal within 21 days as prescribed by the rules of the Electoral Act. The advertorial further alleged that the judgment was not ready after over 2 hours despite the chairman Justice Garuba Nabraruma’s promise in open court that the judgment is ready.
Another curious expose by the advertorial, is that the judgment was not wholly type written. This lacuna has given PDP a life line to impute that the untyped part is reserved for adulteration to balance the judgment delivered in favour of LP’s candidate.
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Mimiko’s Victory: A life line for Labour Movement In Nigeria?
July 26, 2008 by Che Oyimnatumba · Leave a Comment
The Election Tribunal sitting in Akure Ondo State after 14 months, yesterday pronounced the Labour Party’s gubernatorial candidate Dr. Rahman Olusegun Mimiko as the winner of the April 14th 2007 governorship election. Justice Garba Nabaruma, who read the lead judgment, said that the petitioner proved his case beyond reasonable and scored highest lawful votes cast in all the 18 Local Government Areas of the state. Mimiko scored 198,269 against PDP’s incumbent governor Olusegun Agagu’s 128,669. Governor Agagu speaking to the people of Ondo, appealed to them to remain calm and law abiding, as he has briefed his lawyers to file an appeal within 21 days as provided by the rules of the Electoral Act. The tribunal ordered that Mimiko be sworn in instantly as the governor.
Before this rare courageous judgment, the Edo Electoral Tribunal sitting in Benin City had announced Adams Oshiomhole as winner and ordered immediate swearing in. Its over four months since this historic judgment and the Court of Appeal to which Professor Osunbour took his appeal to, have not given a date to hear the matter.
Like an abandoned orphan, the labour movement in Nigeria appears to leave Adams to his travails, arguing that the platform under which he contested poses a credibility question should the Labour
Movement move in to engage the judiciary over the Court of Appeal’s detached attitude towards Professor Osunbour appeal. Adams was the immediate past president of Nigerian Labpur Congress (NLC) and ran for election under the flag of Action Congress (AC), a party formed and funded by the former Vice President Atiku. During the romantic days of Atiku and the ex-president Olusegun Obasanjo, Atiku was like his Oga anti-labour, especially the anti-fuel hike price strikes by NLC. Nigerians are still at sea why Adams left Labour Party to contest under a mirror image of PDP. Professor Osunbor, is a professor of law, which many input may be responsible for the nonchalant attitude of his learned colleagues towards speedy hearing of the appeal.
With this victory in Akure of Mimiko, who was a member of the PDP and a minister of Housing and Urban Development in Obasanjo’s regime before the 2007 election, Nigerians are apprehensive that comatose NLC under Umar may have found a tonic to be relevant. Many a time, the tribunal of first instance have ruled brilliantly but such erudite judgments have been upturned at the Court of Appeal. A fresh sour reminder is the judicial murder by the Court of Appeal Jos division in the case of David Mark, the Senate President.
Threats have been flying in the direction of the Court of Appeal following this victorious judgment for the Labour Party. The little unknown Labour Party is puffing but I wonder if the will get the needful support from the NLC, which has been silent in the face of nagging national issues. Since Umar took over from Adams, a lot of national issues requiring NLC intervention have been lying fallow. Despite Umar being the president of NUT, NLC is dragging her feet in the lingering nationwide teachers strike over harmonised salary structure and better working condition.
As is customary in Nigeria, anti-PDP parties, hailed the judgment as a triumph of justice, victory for the truth.
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