IMO BREAKING NEWS BLOG

By Chidiebube Okeoma, Owerri

Justice Maureen Onyetenu of the Federal High Court in Owerri, Imo State, on Thursday, awarded a N200m court judgment against the Nigerian Army for killing a businessman, Noel Chigbu.

Delivering the judgment, the jurist agreed with the applicant’s request that the Nigerian soldiers were liable for the killing of the businessman at Amakaohia flyover in Owerri on April 30, 2021.

Although counsel for the applicant, Brigadier Gen. G.O. Anyalebechi (retd.), demanded N1bn in compensation for the killing of the businessman, the court settled for N200m.

Briefing our correspondent after the judgment, Anyalebechi said that he was satisfied with the court verdict.

The counsel said, “I am satisfied with the judgment. Though we asked for N1bn, the court awarded N200m. The court found the Commander of the 34 artillery Brigade Command, Nigerian Army Obinze, and the Chief of Army Staff, liable.

“But the governor of Imo State and the Chief of Defence Staff were not found liable. This is so because, even though the governor of Imo State invited the military to Imo State, he was not the commanding officers of the soldiers who killed Noel Chigbu. The Chief of Defence Staff is not also the commanding officers of the soldiers who killed the businessman.

“In military jurisprudence, the Chief of Army Staff and the commander of 34 artillery Brigade Command Obinze are the commanding officers of the officers who killed Noel Chigbu. They are liable for what their subordinates did.

“Instead of the Chief of Army Staff and the commander of the 34 artillery Brigade command Obinze to punish the erring officers, they endorsed their actions. I am satisfied with the judgment but I am ready to meet them at the higher court if they want us to wash our dirty clothes in the public.”

The applicant and elder brother to the deceased, Tobechi Chigbu, said that though no amount of money could equate the life of their brother, the judgment was a relief to his family.

The deceased eldest brother and spokesperson for the family, Tobechi Chigbu, had informed journalists that some soldiers shot dead his brother on the day he took delivery of his new Toyota Camry car and was driving home at the close of work.

The distraught Tobechi said Noel was killed after dropping off his friend and heading home at Amakaohia in Owerri.

He had said that the Deputy Commissioner of Police in charge of operations in the state told the family that the soldiers said they shot his brother dead because he violated their checkpoint rule.

Tobechi had said, “Noel was one of my younger brothers. He would have been 39 on May 18, 2021, unfortunately, he was shot dead on the day he took delivery of his new vehicle. His corpse was dumped at the Federal Medical Centre in Owerri by the soldiers who killed him.”

The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) on Wednesday insisted that any primary election conducted after June 3, 2023 remained null and void.

The commission said it will not accept the outcome of such primaries, noting that provisions of the 2022 Electoral Act would be observed to the letter in the prosecution of the 2023 general elections.

Resident Electoral Commissioner (REC) of INEC in Delta State, Monday Udoh-Tom, reiterated this unwaivering stand in Asaba at a one-day Media/Civil Societies Organisation (CSOs) round table on the 2022 Electoral Act organised by the Commission in collaboration with Transition Monitoring Group (TMG) and Delta State Civil Society Forum (DENGOF).

Udoh-Tom said the resolve to stick with the provisions of the Electoral Act was an evidence of the commitment to bring sanity into the nation’s electoral system.

He explained that the Electoral Act was not only intended to offer legal cover for the series of commission’s past and present innovations, which over the years, often suffered technical defeats in the courts, but also to further deepen transparency and reduce ambiguity and the use of discretion by both INEC and stakeholders in the electoral process.

According to him, operationalization of the Act began with the “publication of Notice of Election, by the Commission on  February 28, 2022, in line with section 28(1) , which inter-alia provides that, ‘the commission shall,  not later  than 360 days before the day appointed for holding of an election under this Act, publish a notice in each state of the Federation and the Capital Territory – (a) Stating the date of the election; and (b) Appointing the place at which nomination papers are to be delivered.

“Consequently, other timeline activities have since followed, including on-going party congresses and primaries, for the nomination of candidates, in which Section  29(1-8) provides for the list of candidates to be submitted to the commission by political parties, 180 days before the 2023 General Election, and in this instance, before the Presidential and National Assembly elections, fixed for February 25, 2023.”

He stressed that the Electoral Act as signed into law on February 25, 2022; the constitution of Nigeria; and INEC guidelines would provide framework for the conduct of the 2023 elections.

“This round table in my understanding is to bring all key players in the electoral process to the table, to take a slice of the Act, examine its ramifications for each player in their corner, with the overall goal of informed and enlightened value added political discuss, activism and reportage, which of course will ultimately benefit the out come of the 2023 general election.

“It is important for all participants to agree from the onset of this meeting, the necessity of detailed understanding of what the Act says, in every sphere of activity of the electoral process, so as to arrive at a pre-determined end of knowledge driven out come, with the consequence of less acrimony, fake news and litigation at the end of the 2023 general election,” he added.

The Secretary to the Government of the Federation (SGF), Boss Mustapha, has directed the Central Bank Governor, Godwin Emefiele, ambassadors, heads of agencies, and other government appointees with political ambition to step down. 

In a circular issued on Wednesday, the directive affected the CBN Governor who is among the heads of extra-ministerial departments. “For the avoidance of doubt, this directive affects all Ministers, Heads, and Members of Extra-Ministerial Departments, Agencies and Parastatals of Government, Ambassadors as well as other political appointees who desire to contest for elective offices,” read the circular issued hours after President Muhammadu Buhari’s ordered members of the cabinet seeking offices in next year’s poll to resign.

The SGF noted that those affected should hand over to the most senior persons next to them.

“For smooth running of the machinery of government and our foreign Missions, affected Ministers are to hand over to Ministers of State where they exist or to the Permanent Secretary, where there is no Minister of Ambassadors shall hand over to their Deputy Heads of Mission or the most senior Foreign Service Officer in line with established practices,” he explained.

The National Executive Council (NEC) of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) has opted to throw the contest for its presidential ticket open rather than zone it to a particular region of the country.

National Publicity Secretary of the PDP, Debo Ologunagba, announced this decision on Wednesday while briefing reporters at the party’s secretariat in Abuja, the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) after the NEC meeting. He informed reporters that the decision was part of the resolutions reached at the end of the 96th PDP NEC meeting, which was well attended by various party leaders.

“After a very extensive deliberation, NEC aligned with the recommendation of the PDP National Zoning Committee that the presidential election should now be left open. The Party should also work towards consensus candidate where possible,” the communique read in part.

“NEC noted the recommendation of the Zoning Committee that in the interest of justice and fair play, the Party should take decision on Zoning timeously so as to prevent complications to the process.”

They have scored 261 goals between them, made 13 trips to a total of eight different countries and been involved in six penalty shootouts. Now Chelsea and Liverpool are preparing to meet in the FA Cup final towards the end of what has been an exhausting season for both clubs.

After Liverpool defeated Chelsea 11-10 on penalties in the Carabao Cup final in February, it is the first time the same teams have met in the League Cup and FA Cup final in the same season since Arsenal and Sheffield Wednesday in 1993. The Gunners lifted both trophies that year, winning 2-1 in the League Cup final and 2-1 after extra time in an FA Cup final replay.

The meeting of Chelsea and Liverpool at Wembley for the second time in 76 days is an illustration of how deep both clubs have gone in the cup competitions. Liverpool's progression to the Champions League final means they will have played every possible fixture possible this season.

Chelsea were knocked out of the Champions League by Real Madrid at the quarter-final stage but have played in the Uefa Super Cup and Fifa Club World Cup, winning both competitions.

President Muhammadu Buhari has appealed to the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) to consider the plight of students and call off its ongoing strike. He made the appeal at the 19th National productivity day and conferment of the National Productivity Order of Merit award held on Thursday.

The President equally urged students in public tertiary institutions to exercise patience as the Federal Government is striving to address the nagging issues in the nation’s university system within the ambit of available resources. Buhari’s appeal came two days after the union extended its industrial action, accusing the government of unwillingness to address its demands.

During Thursday’s event at the State House, President Buhari conferred the 2019/2020 awards on 37 individuals and 11 organizations. So far, three-hundred and eighty-two individuals and 97 organizations have been awarded since the ceremony began in February 1991.

Among the awardees is the National Chairman of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Abdullahi Adamu, who was honoured for his role in advancing agriculture in the country; the Secretary to the Government of the Federation, for his role in the war against COVID; Doctor Chikwe Iheakweazu, former Director-General of the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control (NCDC).