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BREAKING: Federal High Court Declines to suspend Saturday, July 24 Lagos Council Poll
Justice Chukwujekwu Aneke, rather, adjourned till November 29, proceedings in the suit filed by an All Progressives Congress (APC) chairmanship aspirant Raheem Rasaki Alani.
The judge gave the ruling after upholding the argument of counsel to the Lagos State Independent Electoral Commission (LASIEC), Mr Kemi Pinheiro, SAN.
Joined as first and second defendants/respondents in the suit numbered FHC/L/CS/677/2021 are the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) and LASIEC.
Alani is seeking, among others, to restrain INEC from making the register for Lagos’ 20 Local Government Areas (LGA) available, arguing that LASIEC ought to conduct the election in accordance with the “constitutionally-recognised” LGAs in Lagos, and not based on the 57 Local Council Development Areas (LCDAs) created by the state.
But Pinheiro has filed a preliminary objection on behalf of LASIEC praying the court to strike out and or dismiss the suit in its entirety.
At the resumption of proceedings on Monday, some political parties including the African Action Congress (AAC), African Peoples Movement (APM) and BOOT informed the court of their intention to join as plaintiffs.
Responding, Pinheiro prayed the court to adjourn proceedings till after the annual vacation of the court because, among others, the intending parties who said they had filed a notice to join the suit, had yet to serve him and until that was done, the case could not go on.
He argued further that the failure of any party to comply with the law guiding the issue of service would rob the court of jurisdiction to entertain the case because “service is very fundamental before a case can be properly adjudicated on.”
When Alani’s counsel Mr Taiwo Alabi suggested that given the development, it was reasonable that the court should issue an order of status quo ante bellum i.e. parties should stay action until the determination of the case pending in court, Pinheiro opposed him.
He submitted that Alabi’s offer was a trap “which the court must not fall for” adding that the Appeal Court had stated on different occasions that the court should not entertain that type of approach.
“How can the plaintiff in the face of various applications for joinder filed by different parties which are yet to be served on me, and a motion challenging the jurisdiction of the court from entertaining the case filed by us, be seeking the order of status quo?
“I pray the court to adjourn further proceedings in this case till after the annual vacation of the court which is starting on the 26th of July,” Pinheiro added.
Granting his application, Justice Aneke adjourned till November 29 for the hearing of all applications.
He advised the plaintiff to approach the vacation judge during vacation.
President Bola Ahmed Tinubu has approved major changes in the leadership of the Armed Forces, appointing new Service Chiefs in a decisive move aimed at strengthening national security architecture.
According to a statement on Friday by his Special Adviser on Media and Public Communication, Chief Sunday Dare, the President named former Chief of Army Staff, Lt. General Olufemi Oluyede as the new Chief of Defence Staff, replacing General Christopher Musa.
Major-General W. Shaibu has been appointed Chief of Army Staff, Air Vice Marshal S.K. Aneke takes over as Chief of Air Staff, while Rear Admiral I. Abbas is the new Chief of Naval Staff.
The Chief of Defence Intelligence, Major-General E.A.P. Undiendeye, retains his position.
All appointments, the statement said, take immediate effect.
President Tinubu, who is also the Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces, expressed deep appreciation to the outgoing Chief of Defence Staff, General Musa, and other retired Service Chiefs for their “patriotic service and dedicated leadership” during their tenure.
He charged the newly appointed military heads to justify the confidence reposed in them by demonstrating “enhanced professionalism, vigilance, and comradeship” in the discharge of their duties.
The shake-up in the military hierarchy comes as part of ongoing efforts by the Tinubu administration to reposition the security sector, improve coordination among the services, and sustain momentum in the fight against terrorism, banditry, and other security challenges across the country.
A Federal High Court in Abuja has rejected a fresh application for bail filed by detained alleged terrorists negotiator, Tukur Mohammed Mamu.
Justice Mohammed Umar, in a ruling on Wednesday, noted the health complaint by Mamu and held that the detaining authority, the Department of State Services (DSS) should not release him but take him to an appropriate health facility where he would be adequately attended to.
Justice Umar noted that, by the history of the case so far, the prosecution has exhibited diligence in it handling of the case and exhibited diligence in prosecuting the case.
The judge said one of the reasons for granting bail is where the prosecution is not diligent, noting that since the prosecution in this case is diligent, the application for bail cannot be granted.
He subsequently ordered that the defence lawyer should choose the health facility comfortable to the defendant, to which he should be promptly taken.
He also asked the DSS to allow the defendant access to members of his family.
The ruling on Wednesday is the third time the court will reject his application for bail since his was arraigned on March 21, 2023 by the Federal Government on a 10-count charge bordering on terrorism financing, among others.
Mamu was arrested on September 7, 2022 by Egyptian security officials at the Cairo International Airport, on reasonable suspicion of financing Boko Haram terrorism activities.
He was alleged to have convinced the terrorists to discuss ransom payments with individual families of the hostages of the train attack instead of the Chief of Defense Staff Committee set up by the Federal Government for his personal financial gain.
He was said to have been nominated by the terrorists that attacked the Abuja-Kaduna bound train sometime in March 2022 which took scores of persons hostage.
Mamu was alleged to have collected ransoms on behalf of the Boko Haram terrorists from families of hostages, confirmed the amount and facilitated the delivery of same to the terrorists.
The Academic Staff Union of Universities has announced the suspension of its ongoing two-week warning strike.
The National President of ASUU, Prof. Chris Piwuna, made this known in an ongoing press briefing in Abuja on Wednesday.
According to Piwuna, the decision stemmed from the meeting of the National Executive Council meeting which was held overnight and ended by 4:00 am on Wednesday.
Piwuna noted that the union decided to embark on the strike due to the failure of the government to meet its demands on time.
“We’ve had useful engagements with representatives of the government to consider the response to the draft renegotiation of the 2009 agreements. However, we are definitely not where we were prior to the commencement of the strike.
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