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Court Restrains EFCC, Police, DSS from Arresting Fani-Kayode, Odumakin

Published

7 years ago

January 21, 2019

Eric

An Abuja Federal High Court has restrained the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, the Department of State Services and the Nigeria Police from arresting or detaining Femi Fani-Kayode and Yinka Odumakin.

Justice John Tsoho gave the order on Monday, following an ex parte application argued by Mr. Chukwuma Machukwu-Ume (SAN) on behalf of the duo.

Machukwu-Ume told the court that the three security agencies were planning to arrest and detain his clients over comments they made with regard to the travails of the Chief Justice of Nigeria, Justice Walter Onnoghen.

“The spokesman of the EFCC, Mr. Tony Orilede, was alleged to have made the threat to arrest them publicly at a conference where he represented the EFCC chairman, Ibrahim Magu.

“He said they are doing everything possible to arrest these two gentlemen just for speaking their minds.

“The EFCC is established to pursue corruption and not comments made by Nigerians expressing themselves,” Machukwu-Ume said.

The lawyer told the court that his clients had gone into hiding for fear of being arrested for merely exercising their freedom of speech, alleging that their family lives had also been affected by the alleged threat.

Machukwu-Ume told the court that the application was brought pursuant to Section 6 (6)(b) and Section 46 of the 1999 Constitution, as well as Order 4 Rules 3 of the Fundamental Rights Procedure Rules.

He urged the court to grant the order restraining the respondents from arresting and detaining his clients pending the determination of the application on notice.

Justice Tsoho said that he was satisfied that the applicants had made a case that their lives were being threatened.

“I am satisfied that the applicants have made out a case for the court’s intervention.

“Accordingly, the respondents are restrained from either arresting or detaining the applicants on grounds of the applicants’ public statements, pending the determination of the application on notice,” the judge ruled.

The judge adjourned the matter until February 4.

(NAN)

Featured

Senate Approves Tinubu’s N1.15tr Domestic Loan Request to Fund 2025 Budget Deficit

Published

19 hours ago

November 12, 2025

Eric

The Senate has approved President Bola Tinubu’s request to raise N1.15 trillion from the domestic debt market to cover the unfunded portion of the 2025 budget deficit.

The approval followed the adoption of a report by the Senate Committee on Local and Foreign Debt during plenary on Wednesday.

The committee noted that the 2025 Appropriation Act provides for a total expenditure of N59.99 trillion, representing an increase of N5.25 trillion over the N54.74 trillion initially proposed by the Executive.

This expansion created a total budget deficit of N14.10 trillion. Of this, N12.95 trillion had already been approved for borrowing, leaving an unfunded deficit of approximately N1.15 trillion (N1,147,462,863,321).

In a related development, a motion by Senator Abdul Ningi was adopted, directing the Senate Committee on Appropriations to intensify its oversight to ensure that the borrowed funds are properly implemented in the 2025 fiscal year and used strictly for their intended purposes.

President Tinubu had on November 4th requested the approval of the National Assembly for a fresh ₦1.15 trillion borrowing from the domestic debt market to help finance the deficit in the 2025 budget.

The President’s request was conveyed in a letter. According to the letter, the proposed borrowing is intended to bridge the funding gap and ensure full implementation of government programs and projects under the 2025 fiscal plan.

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APC’s Joe Igbokwe Calls for Dismissal of Soldier Who Stood His Ground Against Wike

Published

1 day ago

November 12, 2025

Eric

A member of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Joe Igbokwe, has called for the dismissal of the soldier who resisted the Minister of the Federal Capital Territory, Nyesom Wike.

The soldier had blocked Wike and officials of the FCTA from accessing a portion of land in the FCT.

The officer, claiming he was acting on instructions, told Wike that he would not be allowed into the property. Wike, however, questioned his authority, leading to a heated confrontation and name calling.

Reacting on Facebook, Igbokwe questioned who was behind the military officer in challenging the FCT Minister.

He wrote, “Who is this man in uniform? Of what meat is he fed? Who is beating the drum for him? This is unacceptable? His uniform has to be removed.”

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Senates Rejects NNPCL’s Explanation, Orders Refund of N210trn to Govt

Published

1 day ago

November 12, 2025

Eric

The Senate has rejected the explanations provided by the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPCL) regarding the ₦210 trillion outstanding against the oil firm.

It came to the conclusion on Wednesday that the money, which had not been accounted for, must be refunded to the Federation Account by the company.

The Senate Committee on Public Accounts chaired by Aliyu Wadada, which has been on the probe for months, took the decision on Tuesday after the Group Chief Executive Officer (GCEO) of the NNPCL, Bayo Ojulari, failed to turn up at its resumed sitting at the National Assembly.

The session was called to give the NNPCL the opportunity to make clarifications on the answers the company provided to the 19 questions the panel asked the firm about the ₦210 trillion.

Following a review of the operations of the NNPCL from 2017-2023, the committee sighted the unexplained transaction, totaling ₦103 trillion (accrued expenses) and ₦107 trillion (receivables) in the audited financial statements of the firm, prompting it to raise the queries.

After weeks of back-and-forth between the committee and the NNPCL, the NNPCL eventually responded to the 19 questions.

However, at a resumed session, Senator Wadada frowned at the absence of Ojulari, whom the committee said gave no reasons for staying away, consequently rejected the explanations.

The Chairman of the committee, Senator Aliyu Wadada, while speaking on the panel’s findings, said the responses were not only unsatisfactory, but were also contradictory.

“NNPC claimed ₦103 trillion as accrued expenses and ₦107 trillion as receivables -amounting to ₦210 trillion. On question eight, NNPC’s explanation on the ₦107 trillion receivables -equivalent to about $117 billion -contradicts available facts and evidence provided by NNPC itself. The committee is duty-bound to reject this,” he stated.

Wadada further questioned how the firm could pay ₦103 trillion in Cash Calls to Joint Venture (JV) partners in 2023 alone, despite generating only ₦24 trillion in crude revenue between 2017 and 2022.

“Cash Call arrangements were abolished in 2016 under the President Muhammadu Buhari administration. How can NNPC claim to have paid ₦103trn in one year, when it only generated ₦24trn in revenue over five years? Where did NNPC get that money?

“As far as this committee is concerned, that figure is unjustifiable and unacceptable. The ₦103 trillion must be returned to the Treasury. This will be concluded when the NNPCL appears before us,” he stated.

The committee said it would have been better for the current management of the NNPCL to admit that it encountered challenges in explaining what happened to the funds than giving contradictory answers to the questions.

“If the present management of NNPCL is finding it difficult to provide acceptable answers, it is better they say so. The committee will not hesitate to subpoena former officials of NNPCL and NAPIMS,” Wadada added.