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Presidency Accuses US, UK, EU of Hasty, Mistaken Reactions over Onnoghen’s Suspension

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The Presidency on Sunday heavily criticised the United States, the United Kingdom and the European Union for voicing their opposition against the suspension of the Chief Justice of Nigeria, Justice Walter Onnoghen, without allegedly following due process of law.

It said the three did not only act in a haste, but also made “serious mistakes” and “unfounded assumptions” in the stance they took on President Muhammadu Buhari’s decision to suspend the CJN.

It noted that the US, the UK and the EU got things wrong when they concluded that the suspension was linked to the February polls.

In a statement on Sunday night by the Senior Special Assistant to the President on Media and Publicity, Mr Garba Shehu, the Presidency described the stance of the three as unfortunate.

“The statements by the three seem more driven by unfounded assumptions and to be honest, a certain condescension to this African democracy. This is unfortunate. But this gives us an opportunity to clarify some points in the hope that these three friends reach a deeper understanding of the situation.

“The statements by the US, UK and EU speak of their respect for constitutional practice and fair elections. However, the positions they stake tend to contravene rather than strengthen these laudable objectives”, the Presidency argued.

Defending Buhari’s action, the Presidency claimed that Onnoghen was the architect of his own travails.

It stated further, “CJN Onnoghen’s situation is one of his own making and, to a large degree, his own choosing.

“The CJN was brought before the Code of Conduct Tribunal because of a serious breach of law regarding his assets declaration. This is not a mere technicality like innocently placing a document in a wrong file or mistakenly placing yesterday’s date on a document.

“All credible evidence indicates the CJN owned and operated several secret bank accounts. Unexplained large sums of money, exceeding several millions of dollars have passed through these accounts. Several thousand dollars are currently packed in the accounts. Multiple deposits of equal sums of money were deposited in some of those accounts during the same day. Such rapid and equal deposits are indicative of a person attempting to evade banking reporting laws and regulations.

“Thus far, CJN Onnoghen has given no plausible explanation for the funds or for failing to report the subject accounts in his assets declaration despite having ample time and opportunity to explain the omission.  Given the amount of money involved and the CJN’s inability to explain the source of the funds, the most plausible explanation at this point is also the most unfortunate explanation. No one did this to CJN Onnoghen. He and he alone is to blame for this turn of events.”

The Presidency expressed concern that the same US, UK and EU that had before now chided Nigeria on corruption issues, were turning a blind eye to Onnoghen’s case.

It added, “Over the years and with great frequency, the authors of the three statements have advised and even chided Nigeria about official corruption. Now we are presented with the sad and unwanted situation where the CJN is discovered to have a vast, unexplained amount of money in his pocket.

“Because of this, he has been thoroughly discredited. It is untenable that a person in such compromised circumstances would be allowed to preside over the entire judicial system of a great nation. That would travesty the nation and what it stands for.

“Had the situation been reversed and the US, UK or any EU member government found that its chief judicial official is the recipient of large sums of money of questionable origin and Nigeria suggested that you retain the person in that position, you would question Nigeria’s bona fides. You also would swiftly move to suspend the official pending final determination of the causes against him.”

The statement further asked if any of the three would allow an Onnoghen to preside over its judiciary after the latest discoveries.

The Presidency stated more, “Not one of your nations would allow a person enmeshed in legal uncertainty to preside over your legal systems until the cloud has been cleared from him. That would incentivize corruption and assault the rule of law.

“Thus, the CJN should have and could have helped the process in this regard by recusing himself from the bench until this matter is settled.

“Instead, he indefinitely postponed a NJC meeting for no plausible reason except to avoid any consideration of this matter by the NJC.

“Again, this calls into question his motives while undermining the normal operations of the judiciary. The CJN cannot be allowed to use his office to shield himself from the normal operation of the law as applied to any other jurist or any other Nigerian for that matter. Such a ruse is effectively an abuse of office. His position is one of utmost public trust; it is not a shield to protect him from the fair consequence of his own actions.

“Despite these errors and omissions by the CJN, let us make this very clear, he has not been removed from office. Nor has he been permanently replaced. Those who claim that he has been permanently removed, do so out of imprecision of thought or mischief.

“CJN Onnoghen has been suspended pending the final determination of the substantive issues in his matter. The suspension is only temporary. This is only as it should be. He cannot sit as both defendant and umpire in his own matter. No legal system allows for such self-interested adjudication; the US, UK and EU should not now ask us to embrace such an anomaly.

“While the three friends seem to give much credence to those who question the constitutionality of the suspension, they seem to give less to those who believe what we did is constitutional and protective of the integrity of the judiciary. Only the three can answer why they have assumed this bias.”

On the issue of linking the suspension with next month’s elections, the Presidency replied, “The three make a curious direct linkage between the CJN suspension and the elections. However, in Nigerian law there is no such linkage. The CJN does not run the elections. Nor is he the first arbiter of any electoral complaints. He and the Supreme Court will only get involved as the final arbiter at the end of the appellate process.

“For the authors to link the CJN to the elections in this way is illogical unless they assume that election complaints will be filed and will go all the way to the Supreme Court. Here perhaps they know something about the intentions of certain political actors to which we are not privy.

“Yet, even with that, the US, UK and EU should want any such matters to be heard by a Supreme Court led by a CJN without an obvious and outstanding ethical and legal blemish on his ledger. To have such a person preside over any case, would call into question the impartiality of any decision rendered and undermine the rule of law.

“This cannot be what these three friends of Nigeria intended. Thus, they should do a bit more research on this matter and refrain from being too hastily attracted by the arguments of those who have partisan agenda at odds with the government’s positions on most matters and who thus hope to use this issue as a new arrow in their quiver of partisan contestations.”

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First Love Assembly Hosts Breakfast With Pastor Simeon Afolabi

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It was a soul-stirring and spirit-lifting session of worship, praise, edification and counselIng as members and friends of First Love Assembly gathered for a unique programme titled “Breakfast With Pastor Simeon Afolabi”

 

 

Held at the prestigious Marriot Hotel, Ikeja, Lagos, the event was conceptualised as a non-denominational gathering of christians for the purpose of networking, sharing ideas, edification and counseling

 

In his short exhortation, Pastor Afolabi said the benefits of the session included to help people depressurize, create a convivial atmosphere for networking as well as stem the tide of discouragement that has been a major clog to the personal development of a number of people.

 

 

He went further to outline causes of discouragement as: Negative reports, Unmet needs, per review and iron cast perspective about a subject.

 

According to him, in today’s world, we are swarmed with negative reports, noting that while bad reports tend to slow people down and kill their enthusiasm, good reports fire them up to achieve greater things.

Michael Effiong James, Mrs Arin Olabode, Mr Sola Olabode with Mrs Oluwakemi James

Michael Effiong james, Arin Olabode, Sola Olabode & Kemi James

 

He also stated that when needs are not met either by God or by man, that should not spell doom as there are still many rivers of life to cross. he said not meeting a need now does not mean it will not happen.

Pastor Simeon also noted that some people put themselves in a fix of discouragement by benchmarking their progress with those of their classmates or age mates. He said if this is not done with caution, peer review can be counter productive. He admonished all to live their lives according to God’s standards.

Noting that 40s is the old age of youth and 50s is the youth of old age, he revealed that life was all about perspectives and that people should always look at the brighter side of life.

 

He then urged everyone to not always wait for big wins before thanking God and celebrating but ensure that at intervals, they should celebrate milestones which will serve as a tonic to power them to higher accomplishments.

 

Pastor Afolabi also advised the congregation to always have the big picture in mind, revealing that the big picture is never achieved in a hurry but through a slow and steady process.

 

 

 

 

In addition, he appealed that people should consistently engage in words of affirmation . In his words “Words are powerful, speak to yourself” He then quoted Psalms 42 and 45 as Bible passages to illustrate this.

 

 

He noted that God has made a number of things available to us through the supply of the spirit. He urged all to allow God to act in their lives through divine intervention.

 

The session was attended by professionals from all walks of life, and many attendees acknowledged that they truly enjoyed the session and would like it to support and attend again.

 

In his closing remarks, Mr. Sola Olabode, who took testimonies from participants, noted that the feedback was positive and there are indications that this platform of Christians will continue. He advised all present to make use of the serene and conducive atmosphere to make new friends that they can connect with later.

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A’Ibom 2023: Umo Eno, Deputy To Receive Certificates of Return Today

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Pastor Umo Bassey Eno, the gubernatorial candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party ( PDP) who won the March 18, 2023 will today, Thursday, March 18, 2023 receive his Certificate of Return as the Akwa Ibom State Governor-elect.

Pastor Eno will be presented with the certificate at the office of the Independen National Electoral Commission (INEC) in Uyo, the State capital, along with his deputy, Senator Akon Eyakenyi.

The ceremony where his victory at the polls where he garnered an overwhelming 354, 348 votes to defeat his closest opponents, Senator Bassey Albert, 136, 262 ( YPP) and Obong Akanimo Udofia, 129, 262 ( APC) would be affirmed is certain to be attended by his family, friends and supporters.

Pastor Eno who had since extended an olive branch to all his co-contestants has pledged to deliver democracy dividends to Akwa Ibomites through the ARISE Agenda while running an all- inclusive administration.

The electoral umpire had on Saturday March 25 in a statement signed by the Chairman, Information and Voter Education Committee, Barr. Festus Okoye informed Nigerians of its decision to present the certificates to the victorious candidates in accordance with the law.

The statement read in part thus:

“By the provisions of Section 72(1) of the Electoral Act 2022, the Commission is mandated to issue a certificate of return within 14 days to every candidate who has been returned elected under the law.”

“Pursuant to the above provision, the Commission has fixed Wednesday 29th, Thursday 30th, and Friday 31st March 2023 for the issuance of certificates of return to Governors and Deputy Governors-elect as well as State Assembly members-elect.”

He further explained that the presentation will take place in INEC offices in each state of the Federation as Resident Electoral Commissioners and Administrative Secretaries of each state are mandated to inform the recipients of specific dates for the presentation”.

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Akwa-Ibom 2023: I Am The Confirmed and Authentic PDP Guber Candidate- Umo Eno

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Pastor Umo Eno
Pastor Umo Eno
Seasoned Entrepreneur, Pastor Umo Eno has declared emphatically that he is the confirmed and authentic Peoples Democratic Party ( PDP) in Akwa-Ibom State.
Reacting to speculations in the media in the past few days about his purported replacement, Pastor Umo urged supporters and people of Akwa Ibom to ignore the rumours as he was validly nominated and had gone through all the processes.
He noted that he was certain that he will overcome and that is reason he has remained unperturbed and focused on his campaign, telling people his agenda for the state.
Speaking at the Local Government Headquarters, Oko Ita to a packed-to-capacity audience, the gubernatorial candidate said he will introduce commercial agriculture to Ibiono in order to engage the youths and women in a big way.
He also promised to build modern market, roads and upgrade the schools in the area.
https://thebossnewspapers.com/2023/01/07/akwa-ibom-2023-i-was-not-convicted-or-declared-wanted-pastor-umo-eno-insists/
Pastor Eno who described himself as an adopted son of Ibiono Ibom promised to deliver more dividends of democracy that they would have enjoyed if their son was governor.
He noted that the next election is a battle between two kingdoms; the kingdom of light and darkness, and urged the people to support him so that the state will not go back to the dark days of killings and kidnappings.
He noted that having invested in the state for over 25 years, created jobs and impact communities, he was the best qualified gubernatorial candidate.
He said his economic blueprint encapsulated in the ARISE Agenda aims at Agricultural Revolution, Rural Development, Infrastructural Maintenance/Advancement, Security Management and Educational Advancement will bring the golden era in Akwa Ibom State.
Speaking at the occasion, First Lady, Dr ( Mrs.) Martha Udom Emmanuel who represented her husband, Governor Udom Emmanuel urged all present to vote for the PDP because the party had consistently brought progress to Akwa Ibom.
She stated that Pastor Umo Eno was a a humble man of competence and capacity who will continue the giant strides of her husband by furthering peace and prosperity.
Speakers at the event which was also attended by Deputy Governor, Mr. Moses Ekpo, such as
Commissioner for information, Comrade Ini Ememobong, Chairman Ibom Airport Developement Company Limited, Dr. Iniobong Essien, Federal House of Representatives candidate, Barr. Ime Okon, State House of Assembly Candidate, Hon Godwin Ekpo, Abai Ibiono, Obong Nsima Umoh, Mkpisong Ememobong Essien, SSA Youths, Mr. Aniefiok Iwaudofia and others all affirmed that the people of Ibiono Ibom having benefitted so much from Governor Udom Emmanuel will massively vote for the PDP.

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