Court to decides Kashamu’s extradition suit May 27

A Federal High Court sitting in Lagos has fixed May 27, 2015 to decide on a fundamental rights enforcement suit filed by the senator-elect for Ogun East Senatorial District, Mr. Buruji Kashamu, seeking protection against the alleged plot to extradite him to the United States.

Kashamu, in the said suit, accused the Inspector-General of Police and 11 others of plotting to abduct and forcibly transport him to the US to face trial on alleged drug-related offences.

He alleged that he had uncovered plans by the defendants doing the bidding of former President Olusegun Obasanjo to arrest him during his swearing in as a senator and to transport him to the US in a private plane to face trial before Judge Norgle.

He therefore prayed the court to declare the alleged abduction and extradition plot as an infringement on his fundamental human right to liberty, freedom of association and freedom of movement as provided by sections 35, 40 and 41 of the Constitution.

Moving the application on Friday, Kashamu’s lawyer, Dr. Alex Izinyon, said his client had rushed to court to seek protection because “when you see a danger coming, you don’t have to wait until it takes place.”

He said the law allowed an applicant to seek the court’s protection when he sees that a danger “has been, is being or is likely to be” unleashed on him, adding that Kashamu fell within the perimeter of “likely to be.”

Besides, Izinyon argued that none of the 12 respondents sued had controverted the alleged plot to abduct his client.

But counsel to the Inspector-General of Police and the Interpol National Central Bureau, Mr. David Igbodo, said Kashamu failed to show any proof of the alleged move to abduct and extradite him.

Igbodo, who described Kashamu’s action as speculative, urged the court to dismiss the suit.

“My Lord, what the 1st and 5th respondents are simply saying is that this application is speculative. The 1st and 5th respondents have not made, are not making and are not likely to make any attempt to abduct the applicant as alleged by the applicant.”

Igbodo added that abduction is a criminal offence, which the IGP, as the foremost law enforcement agent in the country, would never engage in.

The other respondents who, through their counsel, urged the court to dismiss Kashamu’s suit were the Chairman, National Drug Law Enforcement Agency, Chairman, Economic and Financial Crimes Commission; Director General, Department of State Service; and the Attorney General of the Federation.

Others were the Clerk of the National Assembly; the National Security Adviser to the President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria; Independent Corrupt Practices and other Related Offences Commission; Nigeria Customs Services; the Nigeria Immigration Service; and the Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps.

Earlier, Justice Okon Abang refused an application by the counsel for the Clerk of the National Assembly, Mr. Joshua Okah, to join Obasanjo as a respondent in the suit.

Okah said, “My Lord, we have perused the affidavit in support of the applicant’s originating summons and we observed that Chief Olusegun Obasanjo featured prominently and serious allegations were levelled against him; we have brought this application that he should be joined as a necessary respondent for the complete and effective determination of this matter.”

But Izinyon, who described the application as an abuse of court processes, said it was an aberration for a respondent in a suit to seek to join another respondent.

Ruling on the arguments, Abang upheld Izinyon’s argument and dismissed the application to join Obasanjo as a respondent in Kashamu’s suit.

Kashamu is seeking, among other reliefs, an order of the court directing the IGP to “provide a security detail of at least six armed police officers to protect the applicant at all times of the day and to prevent (him from) any attack or abduction.”

He also prayed for an order directing the Clerk of the National Assembly “to accord the applicant every facility, right and privileges due to a senator-elect of the Federal Republic of Nigeria until he takes his oath of office and thereafter as is due to a senator of the Federal Republic of Nigeria.”

He prayed the court to restrain all the respondents and their agents from preventing him from entering the National Assembly hall.

Four Nigerians win in UK election

In one of the most keenly contested general elections in British history, four Nigerians won seats to the revered parliament, making it the first time such feat would be recorded

Against all odds, David Cameron has won his re-election bid in one of the fiercest polls in British history.

Cameron, Prime Minister of Britain, led the Conservatives to almost a landslide victory against the Labour Party – a development that forced arch-rival – Ed Miliband to step down as head of the opposition.

With the victory, Cameron returns to the iconic Number 10 Downing Street, the official residence of British Prime Ministers to continue with his work of massive reforms and making Britain greater.

But it is not only Cameron that has been left smiling following the announcement of winners – four politicians of Nigerian descent also tasted victory during the general elections in the Queen’s land.

Before Thursday’s keenly contested polls in Britain, not many within and outside it were familiar with Chuka Umunna, Helen Grant, Chi Onwurah and Kate Osamor. But by mid-day Friday, the four have almost become celebrities of sort after an elaborate media focus on them.

The four Nigerians won seats into the British parliament, making it the first time such would be happening in the highly conservative United Kingdom. While Umunna, a Labour Party politician who has served Streatham as Member of Parliament since 2010 and has enjoyed a meteoric political rise in recent years is a relatively known face outside Britain, the profile of the other three was largely unknown until Friday, a day after the keenly contested elections, even though Grant and Onwurah had been Members of Parliament over the last five years.

Umunna

Born on October 17, 1978 to a Nigerian father – Bennett and British mother – Patricia, Umunna began his education at Hitherfield Primary School in Streatham, South London, and the Christ Church Primary School in Brixton Hill. He later moved to St. Dunstan’s College, Catford, Southeast London where he played the cello and became a respected prefect in the school.

Pursuing higher education, the eloquent Umunna bagged an upper second class in English and French Law from the University of Manchester before going to study for one term at the University of Burgundy in Dijon, France. He would later pick up an MA at the Nottingham Law School.

Umunna did not just get to the top all of a sudden – he slowly but vigorously climbed his way to the centerpiece of British politics. In 2002, after graduating from the university, the 37-year-old began working as a solicitor for Herbert Smith, a law firm based in the heart of London. Four years later he joined Rochman Landau, specialising in Employment Law.

However, he soon began writing and providing commentary on the Labour Party, as well as broader social and economic issues, usually in his capacity as a member of the Management Committee of the Labour-aligned Compass pressure group. He also wrote articles for the Financial Times, Tribune, The Voice, The Guardian and the New Statesman, and began to appear on various radio and television programmes as a commentator. Umunna would later go on to establish and edited an online political magazine, The Multicultural Politic.

In early April 2013, his law firm was linked to favourable updates made on his Wikipedia page in 2007, which included a reference to him being tipped as the “British Barack Obama”. Earlier in June 2010, he was elected a member of the Treasury Select Committee while in October of that year, he was appointed to serve as a Parliamentary Private Secretary and, in May 2011 rose to the position of Shadow Minister for Small Business and Enterprise until his promotion to the Shadow Cabinet.

Grant

Grant, born on September 28, 1961, is a Conservative Party politician and solicitor who was first elected into the British parliament in 2010. By that feat, she became the first black woman to be selected to defend a Tory seat and the Conservatives’ first female black parliamentarian. She has served as Minister for Sport, Tourism and Equalities.

In September 2012, Grant received her first government appointment when she earned the dual roles of Under-Secretary of State for Justice and Under-Secretary for Women and Equalities. She was born in Willesden, North London to an English mother and Nigerian father but grew up with her mother’s family after her parents separated. She lived with her mother, grandmother and great-grandmother.

Onwurah

Onwurah, born on April 12, 1965, is a Labour Party politician, who was elected at the 2010 general election as the Member of Parliament for Newcastle upon Tyne Central. Onwurah is Newcastle’s first black MP.

During the depression of the 1930s, her maternal grandfather was a sheet metal worker in Tyneside shipyards. Her mother grew up in poverty in Garth Heads on Newcastle’s quayside. Her father, from Nigeria, was working as a dentist while he studied at Newcastle Medical School when they met and married in the 1950s.

After Chi’s arrival in 1965, her family moved to Anambra State when she was still a baby, only two years before the Nigerian Civil War. The situation forced her mother to take the children back to England while her father stayed back to fight for the Biafran army. She had been a strong voice in the parliament and her victory this time around only goes to confirm her rising reputation in British politics.

Osamor

Osamor, a National Health Service manager, would be representing Edmonton constituency in London on the platform of the Labour Party. A respected trade union activist and women’s charity trustee, she made funding the NHS and standing up to government cuts the main theme of her campaign.

Emerging one of the Labour Party’s shining lights during a generally poor election outing, Osamor was declared winner in the North London seat with 25,388 votes. Her closest rival, Gonul Daniels of the Conservative Party ended up with 9,969 votes, making it an overwhelming victory for her.

The triumph of the four parliamentarians is seen as a major boost to Nigeria’s international image especially at a time when leadership has also changed hands at the centre in the oil-rich country. The victory is also viewed as cheering news for Nigerians resident in the United Kingdom who are often the subject of racism and segregation in the highly conservative region.

Denrele Edun about to wed

It really came as a surprise when the news broke that weird presenter, Denrele Edun, is set to wed especially when his sexuality is unclear to so many people.

In an exclusive interview earlier granted, the entertainer had said that although he had a lady in his life, he was not fully committed.

“There is somebody in the picture but we are not so sure of our status right now. We have been tossing it back and forth for a while. We are still deliberating. The person is fully committed but I am not really ready. I feel like I have frustrated her to a large extent and she has tolerated me for a very long time. We have been friends for a while. I am a very inconsistent person; she could call or send a message and I will not reply until after five days. I will not use my job as an excuse because it would be a wrong thing to do,” he said.

It seems he has changed his mind and is ready to walk his lady down the aisle. In a telephone conversation during the week, Denrele said that he would get married this year.

“It is true that I am about to get married but it is not now. I would get married later this year. It was meant to be a secret but I don’t know how everybody has heard. I just hope ‘bad bele’ people would not jinx the marriage for me and make the girl that wants to marry me change her mind. She is the same girl I spoke about with you during our last interview. I cannot explain how the girl captured my heart but everyone would find out on the D-Day. I don’t want to share the identity of my wife now. When the time comes, people would know who she is,” Denrele said.

Pacquiao is a coward and sore loser says Flody Mayweather

Floyd Mayweather has branded Manny Pacquiao a “sore loser” and a coward and says he won’t delay his planned retirement to grant the Philippine icon a rematch next year, in an apparent U-turn, AFP reports.

And he dismissed Pacquiao’s claim that he had been carrying an injury in Saturday’s one-sided win for Mayweather, the American calling it “Excuses, excuses, excuses.”

Mayweather took his unbeaten record to 48-0 in Las Vegas with a 12-round unanimous decision over Pacquiao in a welterweight world title bout that will go down as the most lucrative in boxing history.

In an interview recorded this week to be aired on Showtime television on Saturday, Mayweather says he did text ESPN’s Stephen A. Smith that he would grant Pacquiao a rematch — but he has changed his mind. Now it is a No! No!!

The 38-year-old says he couldn’t detect any physical problem for Pacquiao during the bout, after which the Filipino and his camp said he was suffering from a right shoulder injury.

“Absolutely not,” Mayweather said. “He was fast. His left hand was fast. His right hand was fast and he was throwing them both fast and strong.”

Although Pacquiao had arthroscopic surgery to repair a torn rotator cuff in Los Angeles on Wednesday, Mayweather said his plea of injury was nonsense.

“He lost. He knows he lost. I lost a lot of respect for him after all of this,” said Mayweather.

As to the flip-flop on a possible rematch, Mayweather said, “I change my mind.

“At this particular time, no, because he’s a sore loser and he’s a coward… If you lost, accept the loss and say, ‘Mayweather, you were the better fighter.’”

Pacquiao, 57-6-2 with 38 knockouts, is expected to be out of the ring for nine months to a year.

Mayweather has said his last fight will be in September, when he will complete his six-fight deal with Showtime and then retire.

With a victory in that fight against a still-to-be-named opponent, Mayweather would match Rocky Marciano’s iconic 49-0 ring record.

He has insisted he would be happy to retire with that mark and wouldn’t be tempted to stay around and try to make it a round 50 victories.

Liz Anjorin blows fire over husband snatching mess

Recently, it was learnt that popular Yoruba actress, Liz Anjorin, was in a relationship with London big boy who is known as Wese Peckham. It was well pronounced all over the social media that the man chased his seven-month pregnant wife out of his home in order to get married to Liz in a few weeks.

But reacting to the allegation, obviously angrily looking Liz claimed she didn’t know where the story was coming from. She denied having any amorous relationship with the said Wese.

While admitting Wese is her friend and ‘confidant,’ Liz said she has business relationship with the man and there is nothing more to the relationship.

“I buy things whenever I go to London and I pay the Naira equivalent into his account. He is a very nice person. I am not the only one close to him; other actresses are close to him as well. If I actually date this guy, I would tell you confidently and perhaps, beg you to protect my interest and not let the world know. How can a celebrity like me go to London to date a man? I have a lot of guys in Nigeria here. How would I go to London to date a married man with a pregnant wife?

ADVERTISEMENT

 “I have not really been so much bothered about stuffs said about me. But I feel pained in this because they said I chased a pregnant woman from her home. It is not possible for such to happen in London. You cannot send your girlfriend packing in London, let alone a pregnant wife. Women rule the home in London. So, how possible is it that a man would send his pregnant wife away?”

Liz has vowed not to take it lightly again if such stories keep coming up about her.

“If any woman is having problem with her husband, let the woman call her husband or his family and settle the problem. They should stop fighting their battles with celebrities’ names. In fact, if they continue this talk, I would go ahead and marry the guy. If anybody dared put my name again and accuses me of anything I didn’t do, I would go ahead and get married to the man in question. By the way, if I am dating your husband and you are not comfortable with it, then you can go to blazes. Your husband is not a virgin and you are not a virgin. This is a free world. You don’t know the kind of relationship I have with your husband and you are just assuming I am in a relationship with him. It is not fair at all.

“I heard it was his wife that is scandalising my name. I don’t know how true this is. Even if she is not the person, I don’t care anymore. I don’t know her. She is not my friend. But let the truth be told, I am not dating her husband,” she exclaimed.

Permanent secretary suspension: Senate wade in

The Senate on Tuesday waded into the suspension of the Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Amb. Danjuma Sheni. President Goodluck Jonathan ordered the suspension of Amb. Sheni over his alleged role in the recall of Nigeria envoy to South Africa.
The Federal Government claimed that Sheni recalled the envoy without clearance from President Jonathan. The Envoy, Martin Cobham, was recalled over the controversy trailing the xenophobic attacks on Nigerians in South Africa. Deputy Senate Leader, Senator Abdul Ningi, brought the suspension to the attention of the Senate on Tuesday. Ningi, (Bauchi Central Senatorial District) pleaded passionately for the Senate to prevail on the Federal Government to recall the permanent Secretary. Ningi said, “Recall that this Senate through a motion which all of us endorsed asked the Presidency to recall the Nigerian High Commissioner in South Africa over the Xenophobic attacks in that country. “Recall too, that the Permanent Secretary Ministry of Foreign Affairs has been suspended and placed under an investigation for recalling the Ambassador without jurisdiction and without the clearance of the President who is the Commander-In-Chief of the Armed Forces. “Aware that the President and Commander-In-Chief is responsible for such recall and also aware that the Permanent Secretary has no powers whatsoever to recall an Ambassador without a clear directive by the government. “Knowing the anger and the mood of this country and believing that the Senate and indeed the National Assembly did the right thing in suggesting and urging the executive to recall the Ambassador. “I therefore want this Senate not to look the other way but to urge the President, Commander-In-Chief of the Nigerian Armed Forces to tamper justice with mercy. “It is indeed his responsibility, powers and jurisdiction and I think it is important at times like this that the Senate President should urge the President to tamper justice with mercy, so as to say the Permanent Secretary should not be dismissed. “He did the wrong thing at the wrong time and he should not have done it because of the mood so the President, a humble man should tamper justice with mercy.” The Senate did not debate of the issue but Deputy Senate President, Ike Ekweremadu, said the issue would be conveyed to President Jonathan. Ekweremadu added that “the recall of an Ambassador is a very sensitive matter.”

Jimi Agbaje gets tribunal’s nod to inspect poll materials

The Lagos State election petitions tribunal has granted leave to the governorship candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party, Mr. Jimi Agbaje, to inspect all polling documents and devices used for the April 11 election in the state.
The tribunal chairman, Justice Sylvanus Oriji, granted the prayer of the petitioner while ruling on an application filed by Agbaje through his counsel, Clement Onwuenmonor.
Justice Oriji also ordered the Independent Electoral Commission (INEC) to provide certified true copies of all polling documents including printed data from card readers in each polling‎ units in the state.
The two orders were given out of five prayers filed by the petitioner‎ before the tribunal.
The tribunal had earlier ‎taken the submissions of Agbaje’s counsel and that of the All Progressive Congress, Ademola Sadiq.‎
‎In his reaction to the ruling, the APC counsel noted that the ruling was made on point of law.
‎Meanwhile, Justice Oriji has warned lawyers against delaying the petitions before it.
He said the tribunal would not tolerate strategies aimed at delaying the expeditious hearing and determination of petitions by lawyers.