Bode George Jailed

Justice Olubunmi Oyewole of the Lagos High Court, Ikeja has sentenced Chief Olabode

Chief Olabode George

George; former chairman of the Nigerian Ports Authority (NPA) and five others to two and half years imprisonment each without an option of fine.

They were sentenced for two years each on a seven-count charge of abuse of office and six months each for a 27-count charge of disobedience to constituted authority.

 Others convicted include; former CEO of NPA Aminu Dabo, O. Abidoye, Abdullahi Tafida, Zanna Maideribe and Sule Aliyu.

The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) had arraigned them on charges of wilful disobedience to constituted authority, contract splitting and conspiracy in August, last year.

The sentence which was seen by many as a crushing defeat of three Senior Advocates Of Nigeria; Joe Gadzama, Tunji Ayanlaja and Dele Adesina, by fiery human rights lawyer, Mr. Festus Keyamo had suffered many encumbrances which necessitated several adjournments based on technicalities.

Strangely, Chief Bode George and other co travelers were not found guilty on the other charges as the prosecution led by activist lawyer Mr. Festus Keyamo, could not prove the commission of the offences alleged against them beyond reasonable doubt.

Defense had argued that the convicts were not charged in their personal capacities but as board members of NPA and asked the court to acquit their clients except the court can prove otherwise.

However, Justice Oyewole averred that; “The facts indisputably before the court are that the defendants are natural persons who were appointed to serve as directors on the board of the NPA, a public corporation owned solely by the Federal Government of Nigeria and established under an Act of the National Assembly. The judge noted that “It is an evident fact upon which the court can take judicial notice that only natural persons are appointed to hold public offices and not corporate or incorporate bodies.

He insisted that the board of a corporation is an organ of that organization and does not possess a corporate legal existence separate from that of the corporate body it belongs to and therefore cannot possess legal identity as to sue or be sued independently.

“Persons acknowledged out of millions of Nigerians by the President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria to be of proven integrity and of cognitive experience in relation to the activities of the NPA cannot claim ignorance or simply play Pontius Pilate when obviously irregular contracts placed before them were approved by them without question. It amounts to wilful blindness and must have its consequences” the court said.

“The prosecutor had argued that while there may be good reasons to seek a presidential waiver in respect of the application of the said circular, flagrant disobedience was not the proper course of action.

When the tide of the case became obvious, lead counsel, Mr Tunji Ayanlaja (SAN), pleaded for mitigated sentence, noting that the conviction of his client on a technical charge could scare others who are interested in serving the nation.

But the Justice Oyewole in his Sentence noted that: “When public office is abused, the entire system is assaulted. This must not be treated with kid gloves, if the quality of service in our public life is to be attained to an appreciable standard of the civilised world.

Eliashib Ime-James.

LoveWorld News Agency

MAURICE IWU’S TEN GREEN BOTTLES

When the ban on political activities by erstwhile military ruler, Abdusalami Abubakar, was lifted in 1999 there were jubilant scenes across Nigeria; it wasn’t far-fetched to say the citizenry were inebriated with optimism. Such flowery terms as dividends of democracy, due process, fix Nigeria, etc were chucked down our throats at will by the President and his goons via the media in the same manner everyone had once salivated at the prospects of eating his own share of the proverbial national cake.

Once again Nigeria is going to experience democracy; that sound foundation which was laid by its founding fathers, several politicians seemed to suggest in campaigns leading to the 1999 General elections.

If bleak is the picture describing Nigeria’s socio-economic and human development 10 years later, there is no wool covering any eyes with the respect to the poor conduct of elections in Nigeria. The recent cancellation of the Ekiti state Governorship elections in 10 local government’s out of 18 is one more pointer on how the national electoral body has found it easier to conduct flawed elections than credible ones. For the INEC chairman, two years after the elections, it has been a facsimile of the popular nursery rhyme of ‘10 green bottles standing on the wall’. Several states have more than accidentally falling down and billions of Naira are being allocated in the conduct of election Re-runs

However Professor Maurice Iwu, Professor of Pharmacology rings like a classic schizophrenic to Nigeria’s opposition parties; he caused a furore when he remarked that the American elections were not as organized as Nigeria’s advising that the Yankees could borrow a leaf from us. Three months from now INEC will begin plans for the 2011 general elections; incredible when you realise that incompetent elections conducted three years ago would ensure that nearly than one third of 36 states will have separate election dates beginning from 2011.

In 1999 election flaws were tolerated because the country was in great haste to do away with the jack boots and inebriated pepper soup Generals. Erstwhile INEC chairman Abel Goubadia had referred to the elections as a lesson in democracy. But Maurice Iwu is no upstart having superintended two elections. His main supporters are the ruling People’s Democratic Party who have benefited in no small measure from landslide electoral victories helping the PDP create a plutocratic oligarchy. On the other hand, pitched against Iwu are the more than two score political parties, the media, civil society groups and the electorate.

This group has succeeded greatly in demonizing the INEC chairman on the pages of national tabloids, TV, anywhere an audience is guaranteed. However Iwu hasn’t also been the devil, the national assembly had treated him with kid gloves in the run up to the elections when his bogus electronic voting capturing device failed to turn on in a live presentation. And that was several months to the elections, the registration exercise commenced as scheduled but dragged on perpetually because of poor logistic and organisational arrangements.

Iwu is no messiah, which is why on Election Day several fortunate people voted with temporary voters cards and others couldn’t locate their names on the voters’ register, worse still the dead were more fortunate to find their names listed in the register.

The report of the electoral reform committee submitted to the President Yar’ Adua has shown that the present INEC is incapable of conducting the 2011 general election. Look at the number of by-elections we have had in this country, what the Supreme Court and the Court of Appeal have said about corruption in INEC, yet no one has brought to book.

The Electoral Act law gives INEC the power to prosecute electoral offenders, but read the reports from most electoral petition tribunals; INEC tops the electoral offenders list. Iwu may be a devout catholic who has never missed mass in two decades but he isn’t that coy to impugn himself. One question that the Government needs to answer is this; can INEC conduct a free, fair and credible election?

The answer lies in 140 million Nigerians and is blowing in the dusty sirocco wind where joy is ethereal, has a slender trunk that often breaks too soon’.

emma, CONNECTAFRICA

DEATH WISH FOR NIGERIA’S PRESIDENT?

No hecklers at the newsstands, no apocalyptic political analysts on local Nigerian TV stations, even the insipid commercial motor cyclist who rode me to work could only offer a slight chuckle at the prospects of President Umar Yar’Adua dead. Now if you are not Nigerian you may have to forgive my morbid humour in trying to figure out the public’s response to the rumoured death of president yar’adua. This is the second time in a little over a year that president Yar’adua has died and we aren’t closer to the truth on the president’s state of health, unlike the former there is no president Olusegun Obasanjo to play hell’s angel and advocate, apologies to he’s asking ‘Umaru’ if he was alive last year when the media had been rife that the president had suddenly taken ill and died. One year on and the media is asking the same question. The president’s spokespersons, official and pseudo have only helped in worsening this fiasco. We know the president went to Saudi Arabia to perform the lesser hajj, ten days on where is he? Why was he not available to open the Nigerian embassy in Brazil according to his detailed official log? How can it all be fine and dandy if the VP Goodluck Jonathan who was supposed to be attending late Zambian leader’s Levi Mwanawasa funeral shelved it?. According to the sun newspapers Goodluck was waiting for some good news from Germany. So dear presidential spokespersons what bad news was being shepherded after all the president told us in a recent interview it was no big deal to be ill, well or die. The president’s media harbingers better be prepared for an oily battle with a vibrant local press, already permutations and diabolical innuendos are rife, e.g. Obasanjo knew all along that this scenario would play out; putting an enervating leader in the saddle and a VP who has never been mentioned as a power broker in the nation’s polity either as governor or VP. The constitution is very clear on what happens if the president passes on; the VP takes over. This however is a difficult prospect to belly. In the run up to the last presidential election there were at least five presidential contenders from the region, at the end we learnt it was easier to step aside than take a hold of the plough, one after the other the entire lot honourably withdrew .Neither Goodluck nor Yar’dua were ever in the equation, leaving us in this quagmire, perhaps OBJ could yet speak to President Yar’adua on our behalf if his media men can’t do the job.

Aghogho, CONNECTAFRICA