EFCC IS A 'NON-PARTY' WITH NO 'LOCUS' AND NO, NBA-NEC IS NOT JOKING

Seven years after my NYSC,I still hold my boss in high esteem.Olumuyiwa Olowokure was not only understanding,patient and tolerant,he was courteous and very refined.He was a black oyibo.Oga O.O it was who when he called me to his office with my law school gra-gra to ask how i thought a certificate relating to a computer-generated document as per the provisions of Section 84(4) of the Evidence Act ought to be prepared and i said we had to prepare a separate document.

He asked me to look up certificate in the Black's law dictionary.A certificate could be just under the document printed from the computer.I'm a fan for life.

Then there was Lamidi 'the learned' Obaro who took interest in me right from my final year in the university.He gave me books,adviced me and always had a little 'roger' for the boy.He gave me my first robe and all i had to do was buy a wig for my call.My senior CY in quite a moment that really got to me,told the story of how he was serenaded in school with tales of how it was a tradition for senior lawyers to be generous to their juniors.It wasn't so in 'reality' as only 'learned' had ever offered to pay for his pounded yam at the buka.These men have one way or the other helped mould me.

Very fortunately for me,none of these men were present at the last NEC meeting of the NBA.The issue of contempt and what is and what is not prejudicial to the fair hearing of a matter in court is a topic for another day.And until that day,i'll dwell on how lawyers who at the very least, a generation look up to ; some of them mentors of our mentors, gathered in one room to disgustingly talk about 'attorney-client privilege' and EFCC being a 3rd party in 'contractual relationships'.Men who we listen and nod to when they say what you learnt in school is different in practice.

First,we must bear in mind that statutory law supercedes case law and no where in Rule 19 of the Rules of Professional Conduct is fees listed as a privileged matter.Some of those men will be heard proclaiming the dangers of importing foreign meanings into the actual wordings of a law before this week runs out.Sub-rule (3) of 19 clearly states the exceptions in the 2 preceding provisions.

A lawyer can reveal privileged information to defend himself,his employees and associates if accused

of wrongful conduct.Supporting that anyone shouldn't amounts to encouraging illegality and shielding the winds of justice.In a profession where the 'fit and proper' criteria supercedes everything,we should be seen to be promoting values like transparency especially when law enforcement agencies come calling.But No.

A group of people that make me want to retire and at the same time think of the abundant opportunities abound with mediocres like them around,are telling us an anti-graft agency adequately empowered by its enabling law to investigate economic and financial crimes has no 'locus-standi' to ask questions regarding fees believed to be the proceeds of a crime because it is a 'non-party' to a contractual relationship.Really?.LOL.

I spent a whole day verifying that indeed supposedly trained lawyers would not only spew that nonsense but adopt it as the official stand of the NBA.In December of 2018,lawyers gathered to say the EFCC cannot ask questions as to money it reasonably suspects to be criminally sourced because it cannot meddle into a contractual relationship as a non-party.I'll never forget.

We sit down in gatherings to severally bemoan the state of the legal profession and if we will continue,it is imperative we all tell ourselves the truth.This is not a fight between the EFCC and the NBA.It is a fight between the EFCC and one man.Abstaining from the needful which in this case is urging Paul Usoro to declare his fees as prescribed by Rule 19 (3) in the best interests of justice and transparency and instead, ridiculously proffering distasteful and invalid legal theories is a most degrading act.The profession is being brought to disrepute.

My dear seniors,equals and juniors,i humbly dissociate myself from not only the NEC resolution on the criminalization of legal fees but any attempt by any legal practitioner to paint the EFCC's case against Paul Usoro as one against all lawyers.Thank you.

BUHARI,PLEASE TALK TO US HERE...

President Buhari's most sensational comments since assuming office have come from outside Nigeria-South Africa,the UK,Qatar and more recently,Poland.Unsurprisingly, most of the questions he has also been asked have been outside these shores.It appears he is too scared of the many questions that will be asked of him if he hosts a media chat or any other interactive session with nigerians here or the press so he rather waits till his next trip abroad where he gathers nigerians who only 'hear' in one room and tells them they 'heard' wrong.He not only tells them that,he also tries to put us on the offensive.He may actually be smarter than a lot of people give him credit for.

The best way to escape culpability is to shift the blame right back at the accusers.Instead of highlighting the efforts his government has made at providing the 3 million jobs he promised yearly and shedding more light on how about 10 million jobs had been lost instead,he said most nigerian youths were lazy and wanted government to provide them with everything.When his jobs weren't forthcoming and a lot of nigerians were leaving the country,he went to the UK to say they should stay back home where their 'services' are required because americans and europeans don't want them due to too many being in prisons world wide.This is the very same President who said in South Africa shortly after assuming office he was happy wherever nigerians were around the world,they will make both 'postive and negative' (Yes, negative) impact.

We really should be worried if we have a President who not only feels freer baring his mind outside these shores but one who has over time,displayed a propensity to declare war on us the moment he lands overseas.If 'some christians' raising concerns over Buhari entering us into a Saudi Arabia led coalition of islamic states to help fight terrorism are not being told to go and fight boko haram themselves then nigerians are lazy or criminals.This is what i think we have done to piss off the President.We have asked too many questions.We are guilty of holding him to his campaign promises and bemoaning the sad state of the nation.We deserve better and we know it.After the first and only media chat and the Buharimeter town hall meeting involving some ministers,President Buhari has refused to be asked any questions here.He would rather fly abroad to grant interviews to the foreign press and host nigerians whose passing knowledge of the state of affairs is more to show off to other compatriots in the diaspora.Buhari is asked soft questions with little or no rebuttals to his answers.

On his recent trip to Poland,he chose to make a big deal of a question on whether he was cloned by adding to the answer and later tweeting on his handle that a lot of people hoped he was dead while he was receiving medical care in London and that they approached Vice-President to take his place when he eventually became President.Those of us here know there was never a time a 'Buhari is dead' rumour came up.There was a photo of him an average once every week.If his wife wasn't visiting then Tinubu and other APC stalwarts were.Everybody back home is the enemy.

The only issue really worth talking about from that trip was his controversial claim that boko haram was in control of 17 local government areas when he became President.A claim we have heard several times over the last 3+ years.After the postponement of the 2015 general elections by 3 weeks to enable the Jonathan administration tackle the boko haram threat,a resurgent nigerian military with the help of Nigerien,Chadian and Cameroonian troops launched an unprecedented offensive on the sect.As at April that year,a final count down was on.The media was feeding us updates of the exploits of the troops-4 LGAs then 1 in the hands of boko haram and finally none.Till this administration was sworn in,nobody from anywhere including Buhari's APC queried these claims to our hearing.

Nobody in Poland probed him on his claims.

In as much as we will never apologize for asking the questions that need to be asked,we call on Buhari to answer our questions here first.Charity begins at home.

COMMS & A HANDY AIR SUPPORT: 2 BASIC THINGS BUHARI'S $1BN COULD HAVE PROVIDED TO PREVENT METELE

President Buhari's decision to withdraw the sum of $1bn from the excess crude account to fight insecurity raised a lot of eyebrows.He was initially reported as saying the sum was specifically intended for the war against boko haram before Vice-President Osinbajo adjusted the rhetoric to 'fighting insecurity across the country'.Either way, government's priority had always been the security situation in the north-east and not a few tongues wagged as to the President's insincerity not only to nigerians but himself.A supposedly 'technically defeated' and 'degraded' boko haram shouldn't command that much attention.Word in most quarters was that President Buhari and the APC wanted to start preparing early for 2019 and also the Ekiti and Osun gubernatorial elections holding this year.

The massacre of 100 soldiers at the military base in Metele,Borno state by the boko haram sect all but confirms that that money did not go into equipping our troops.A survivor narrating the ordeal he and others went through said the officer at the observation post alerted others about an approaching entourage of boko haram fighters a whole hour before they got to the base.With the billion dollar kitty Buhari had,it is simply unimaginable that a military base in a war zone like the north-east would lack an active comms system to call for reinforcement or air support.Its excruciating to think those men were left on their own to ward off at least 20 trucks of well armed insurgents hell-bent on achieving their aim of attacking as many military bases as possible.It is interesting to note that Metele isn't the first nor is it the second military base to be attacked this year so if our soldiers weren't better prepared than they were then they were as best as they possibly could.

A UN report revealed the federal government paid a huge sum of money to secure the release of the school girls kidnapped in Dapchi,Yobe state.Though the videos circulating online of the insurgents killing nigerian soldiers have been said to be not those of the Metele massacre,one can see how the use of rocket grenade launchers helped weaken the resistance by our soldiers.Government did not bother equipping the military with the right arms to fight insurgents it had funded with ransom

payments for kidnap victims said to be in double-digit millions of euros.

Our billion dollars well spent would have meant not a single soul lost in Metele.A functional communication system would have enabled the soldiers who had a full hour to prepare and who spent close to 40 minutes exchanging fire with the insurgents before they ran out of ammunition to call for air support.With fighter planes SUPPOSEDLY handy in times like these,one hour 40 minutes is enough time to fly and reclaim a distress zone.Nothing could be more shattering than learning some soldiers went to fetch the bodies of their dead colleagues and were ambushed in the process.No air support,no prior surveillance.These men were sent blind and practically helpless to be finished off by a better equipped enemy.What manner of military,with full knowledge of a very obvious pattern of attacks by its enemies that had claimed the lives of several of its men,wouldn't have taken extra measures to forestall or at the very least,repel future occurences?.That President Buhari has refused to sack the service chiefs lends further credence to the fact that he fully understands he has not availed them with the resources to do that.

A lot of people questioned the propriety of buying 12 fighter planes to be built and delivered by the US in 2020 with the instant threat on ground.A regular tucano plane has been quoted by foreign military sources to be in the $10M-$18M range while the Super Tucano which Buhari ordered is said to cost $30M tops with all the fittings.The goverment says it paid over $41M for each.Thats $136M shy of the amount Buhari claims he paid for them.A whole $136M.

E-mails to the US mission asking questions as to costs are replied with a message directing all inquires to the Nigerian government.Say President Buhari was magnanimous enough to spend some of that $1 billion on this very controversial purchase,was it a wise call?.I doubt so.

What we needed was a very short-run supply of equipment to totally annihilate insurgents he has referred to as 'technically defeated' within the shortest period of time.

100 soldiers were killed in Metele.Kareto and Baga before that.Our service chiefs are still in office even with soldiers openly bemoaning the lack of equipment to fight boko haram.Buhari as an ex-army general who was a direct beneficiary of a coup plot need not be told the far-reaching consequences of leaving a military disgruntled.What we see today as soldiers raining abuses and crying over out-dated ammo tanks could very well transform into an overthrow of a democratically elected government.

And in that television and radio broadcast if it does happen,the state of the military even after President Buhari's withdrawal of $1b to fight insurgency will feature prominently.God help us.

BUHARI'S CREDENTIALS: THE 'STAFF' MUST STOP

Much back in the days when the military was still in power,it was a common sight for a soldier in a commercial bus popularly referred to as 'danfo' whether in uniform or mufti,to reply a conductor's request for bus fares with the word 'staff'.Like magic,the conductor moves on to other passengers and lets the man be.It is one of the privileges of being a 'staff'.Lagos being Lagos,a lot of non-military personnel tried to 'staff' their way out of paying bus fares but the consequences of getting caught were very dire.Fellow Nigerians,it is time we catch Buhari in this 'staff' game of his.He has taken us on this ride for too long.The army Buhari still claims has his credentials has long said they only have a letter of recommendation from his school principal.Buhari has never attempted to disprove the army's claims that his file only has a letter from his school principal,he has never demanded that his credentials be handed to him and he has never written WAEC to re-issue him a new one.INEC must start to comply strictly with the provision of Section 131(1)(d) of the constitution which stipulates a secondary school leaving certificate or its equivalent as a requirement for election into the office of President.
By allowing President Buhari run without proof of a certificate,it is not only promoting unconstitionality but criminality as well.The all too familiar video of the military debunking Buhari's claim to being in possession of his credentials in 2015 has resurfaced online over the last few days and if Buhari has sworn to an affidavit still maintaining his credentials are still with the military then we may very well be watching the man commit perjury; lying under oath which is a criminal offence going by our laws.It is not INEC's responsibility to write to WAEC or the nigerian military,it is the President who has to prove to it that he has fulfilled that criteria.If not in abidance with the law then at least in the interests of transparency and integrity.He may have successfully gotten away with it in the past but it doesn't make it right.As things stand,President Buhari is not eligible to contest the 2019 Presidential election.
Those claiming he is qualified by virtue of the wordings of Section 318 of the constitution which defines 'secondary school leaving certificate or its equivalent' need to look a bit more closely at the the definition.Sub-head(c) states that he must have a primary school leaving certificate in addition to serving in the public or private sector in any capacity acceptable to INEC for 10 years,attending courses in institutions acceptable to INEC and ability to read,write and communicate in english language to the satisfaction of INEC.
Does Buhari have proof of a primary school leaving certificate?.The man has said his credentials are with the Secretary of the military board which the military has denied.So it is illogical for one to pick any of the accompanying criterias to the possession of a primary school leaving certificate and hinge his eligibility on that.

Buhari is not the first ex-military President we have had.As a matter of fact,President Olusegun Obasanjo got into the army before him and he didn't tell nigerians he left his credentials there.In law we have a saying-'Nemo dat non quot habet' (You cannot give what you don't have).Nothing suggests President Buhari has a school leaving certificate to present and INEC must stop perpetuating illegality.

AISHA BUHARI'S ADC AND LAWAL DAURA: FOR THE BUSH MEAT TO NOT MAKE THE HUNTER PREY..

It didn't make sense that Lawal Daura was acting without the knowledge of the Presidency when his operatives shut down the National Assembly on the 7th of August 2018.Particularly because the DSS with the help of some police officers had barricaded the residence of the Senate President,Dr Bukola Saraki and that of his deputy just days earlier.Nobody in the Presidency raised any eyebrows.What made perfect sense however was that the Buhari administration was put under immense pressure by the numerous inquiries by foreign governments as to the manner of national security threat that warranted locking out lawmakers who had reported to carry out their duties.Lawal Daura was the best possible scapegoat.You knew something definitely had to be wrong when the official narrative was that Saraki was using Daura to witch-hunt himself for 2019 purposes.Its been over 2 months now and if indeed the man had done anything wrong,he would have been before a competent court of law.

When news broke that Sanni Baba-Inna,the aide de camp of Aisha Buhari,
wife of the President of Nigeria had defrauded some undisclosed persons of the sum of N2.5b in her name,the spokespersons of the Police and DSS claimed to be unaware.The only thing holding everything together in the first few hours that the story broke was the fact that the newspaper alerted the world to Former finance minister,Kemi Adeosun's fake NYSC certificate and was generally known to be accurate in its claims.Lo and behold,the first lady confirmed the story herself and from then on,there had been more questions than answers.In addition to the denials by the spokespersons of the Police and DSS,the first report on the scandal also claims the IG of Police has been listed as being among those who were defrauded by the ADC to which he denied.Who exactly are those persons Baba-Inna swindled?.No one has managed to even as much as speculate as to that.This only lends credence to the notion that the man dipped his hands into the first lady's pie without her consent.He was part of some racket and started to grow some balls.

Before frontline activist and convener of the Concerned Nigerian movement,Adedeji Adeyanju paid a visit to the family of the detained ADC,a lot of us have been privy to rumours of the first lady collecting huge sums from prominent ex-office holders under EFCC investigation and eager to avoid prosecution.Adeyanju's visit was unravelling.Family members told him in as much as they know he has made a statement to the authorities denying the commission of the offence,they know he did it and that he would never relinquish possession of the money.The family said they knew he collected bribes on behalf of the first lady and was more or less her front.He helped her buy some properties in Asokoro and in Maitama,Abuja for her daughters.

He is also in the know of a property she recently acquired in London and had photocopies of documents bordering on the transactions.Baba-Inna was said to have dared his interrogators to ask the first lady how he came about the said sum (from who he got it).The family further told Mr Adeyanju that he had started to divert money he was collecting on behalf of Aisha Buhari and had gotten wind of plans to replace him which may have prompted him into taking the said N2.5b which became an issue only when he blatantly refused to return it.If this is not the truth then it is not far from it.

The ADC of the first lady has still not being charged to court in what clearly suggests that someone somewhere is afraid of what he may disclose in public.

Daura and Baba-Inna are ordinarily people the Buhari administration would be in a hurry to prosecute.Asides from adding a much-needed tinge of credibility to the President's anti-corruption war,their cases would serve as a deterrent to the most crucial class of office-holders; those that weild power and influence at the highest levels.

Daura and Baba-Inna know too much and their oppressors are scared of putting them in a position to say all they know.Things are better this way.For the bush meat to not make the hunter prey.

BUHARI'S EXECUTIVE ORDER 6 IS UNCONSTITUTIONAL

The legality of President Buhari's Executive Order 6 (EO6) has been affirmed by Justice Ijeoma Ojukwu of the Abuja Federal high court and right now the most cries against EO6 seem to be centred round Buhari's cronies not listed among the 50 persons banned from travelling outside the country but a careful look at the constitution viz-a-viz EO6 would show Justice Ojukwu erred in her decision to uphold the constitutionality of the President's EO6.

The exception to the constitutionally guaranteed Freedom of Movement which the President's EO6 purports to breathe life into is Section 41 (2a) of the constitution.

S.41.— Right to freedom of movement - Every citizen of Nigeria is entitled to move freely throughout Nigeria and reside in any part thereof; and no citizen of Nigeria shall be expelled from Nigeria or refused entry thereto or exit therefrom.

(2) Nothing in subsection (1) of this section shall invalidate any law that is reasonably justifiable in a democratic society—

(a) imposing restrictions on the residence or movement of any person who has committed or is reasonably suspected to have committed a criminal offence in order to prevent him from leaving Nigeria;

I base my submission on the unconstitionality of EO6 on Section 36(2a) of the constitution.

36.— Right to fair hearing

(1) In the determination of his civil rights and obligations, including any question or determination by or against any government or authority, a person shall be entitled to a fair hearing within a reasonable time by a court or other tribunal established by law and constituted in such manner as to secure its independence and impartiality

(2) Without prejudice to the foregoing provisions of this section, a law shall not be invalidated by reason only that it confers on any government or authority power to determine question arising in the administration of a law that affects or may affect the civil rights and obligations of any person if such law—

(a) provides for an opportunity for the person whose rights and obligations may be affected to make representations to the administering authority before that authority makes the decision affecting that person ; and

(b) contains no provision making the determination of the administering authority final and conclusive.

Section 36(2a) clearly provides that any law which confers power on government or any authority to determine questions pertaining to the civil rights and obligations of persons is legal only to the extent that it affords those persons an opportunity to make representations before the administering authority.And don't for once think Section 41(2a) which EO6 is hinged on and Section 36 (2a) is one of those instances where the constitution appears to be contradicting itself.It is not.

The word 'reasonably' in Section 41(2) implies an intention for the determination of the restriction placed under Section 41(2a), the President's EO6,to be a fair one.It has always been within the exclusive confines of the court to determine who is the 'reasonable man'.That above every other thing should warn our courts as to the intentions of the draftsmen to connote fairness rather than arbitrariness.Having said that,the reasonability of the circumstances warranting the imposition of such an order can only be determined if the other party is allowed to make representations before whomever the administering authority is.Going by the very explicit provisions of Section 36 (2a).

As soon as the government released a list of persons it labelled looters; people not so adjudged by our courts,some of us were quick to warn on the legal implications of doing such.Its a clear case of defamation of character.As it turns out,High Chief Raymond Dokpesi and Prince Uche Secondus have instituted cases against the government demanding billions.The judiciary must guard against aiding this goverment perpetrate illegality.

Without a knowledge of legislation stipulating procedures and ones governing the evidential arm of law,even the non-lawyer can key into the 'spirit of the law'.The reason why they get a lot of things lawyers get wrong,very right.Just like you can't call anyone who hasn't been so proven by our courts a looter.The non-lawyer's view on it not being right for the President to have it within his power to ban people from travelling is very much in order and should be a topic when next our constitution is amended.

A just law ought to reserve such powers for the courts but until then,the law as it stands is that he has no powers to decree such except those persons make representations before him.

HOW WILL ATIKU CREATE JOBS?

For the second consecutive presidential election,a lot of nigerians are yet again saddled with the choice between 2 frontline contenders they would rather not vote for.President Buhari was elected into office largely due to public discontent for the Jonathan administration than any sterling quality he may possess.We were that lady who had just suffered a heart break and sought comfort in the arms of another man.In the desperation to ease her pain and feel loved again,she allows his words sweep her to the realm of no second thoughts.'Buhari will end boko haram in 2 months'.Of course he can.He was an army general. 'Buhari will make N1 equal to $1'.Yes,he lived in times when the exchange rate was just that.The man's gross incompetence aside,a lot of people are now ashamed they fell for such words.To put Buhari's performance in one sentence,it is the worst by any nigerian president dead or living.

The very urgent need to rid ourselves of this administration has made separating the ideal from the pragmatic highly imperative.A lot of nigerians are going to vote for the PDP because they don't want to take chances.They don't want Buhari in office when his tenure lapses.The Sowores,Moghalus and Durotoyes would have stood a much better chance in a different time and under different circumstances.

At the start of Atiku's campaign,as far back as 2016 (unofficially i must add),it only seemed possible he would be president not only if he was running against Buhari but also as his main opponent.He has managed to get himself in place.

Yet another president thrust at us by the discontent for an incumbent?.Most likely.We are again the metaphorical heart broken lady and Atiku has chosen 'jobs' as his soothing melody.Yet again,nobody is asking the comforter any questions.

With external debt having risen by $11bn to an unprecedented high of $22bn and President Buhari planning to take a fresh $3bn loan,how will Atiku create these jobs he talks about?.A video was going round this week of his speech at Chatham house,London and Atiku spoke of engaging the private sector and proposing a mass recruitment drive on their end while they get some tax reliefs.Government's lost revenue in taxes paid by those private companies, he intends to recoup in personal income taxes of the new employees.This reasoning is faulty and if its the best he can do then its best we already start to lower our expectations and console ourselves with the fact that he likely won't turn out a leader to justify every agitation for a separate state with a 95%-7% dividend formula or one who would tell us he needs to reward his loyalists instead of appointing competent hands.

Atiku's private sector partnership can't generate more than 70,000 jobs at the very most for the simple reason that these companies are already going the extra mile to cut costs due to the harsh economic climate and it would be catastrophic to keep cutting down government revenue to make it work.

To take him up on giving companies a tax rebate,Nigeria generated N680bn in the first 6 months of 2018 in company income tax.It is safe to say we will earn approximately N1.3trn off that by the end of the year.Say the Federal government gives a N300bn tax concession to these companies and each of about 70,000 employees make N720,000 per annum at best and pay a personal income tax of N130,000.If you multiply that by 70,000 employees you get roughly N6bn.How does losing N300bn to gain N6bn make any sense?.Especially in a place contending with reduced oil income which is its primary source amidst huge debt commitments?.Governments in developed countries are in much better positions to grant concessions to companies to generate employment because they don't face our type of problems.Simply put,they are richer and have less burden than us.If this administration doesn't increase the minimum wage,Atiku would be pressurized to do that.More financial commitments.

In as much as we all want to see Buhari leave,it is important we ensure we aren't taken for fools or experimental lab rats.Atiku has been screaming jobs too loud not to get asked some very good questions on how he intends to make them happen.