News

Restrain Oyo Govt, NGF, Others from Paying Consultancy Fee to Law Firm, Femi Kehinde & Co Tells Court

Published

5 years ago

October 12, 2020

Eric

The Principal Partner of Femi Kehinde and Co, Honourable Femi Kehinde, has asked the Federal High Court, Abuja to restrain the Oyo State Government, Nigerian Governor’s Forum (NGF) and three others from making any payment as it relates to professional or consultancy fee in respect to foreign loan recovery.

Kehinde had sued Ned Nwoko’s law firm, the Oyo State Government, Incorporated Trustees of Nigerian Governor’s Forum, the Accountant-General of the Federation, Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) and five others over the refusal of the law firm to pay 40 per cent of the sum of N1 billion paid to it by the Oyo State Government, through the Incorporated Trustees of Nigerian Governor’s Forum.

The Plaintiff, having heard of plans by the Federal Government to pay consultancy fee in respect of the foreign loan recovery to the fourth Respondent in the matter (Linas International Limited), approached the court with a motion on notice seeking an interlocutory injunction to halt the payment pending the hearing and determination of the main suit.

A lawyer in the law firm of Bola Aidi and Co, Fashina Oyindamola, averred in a further affidavit that the Plaintiff wrote to the Accountant General of the Federation, the CBN and the Ministry of Finance to halt the planned payment of the Consultancy Fee in view of the substantive suit pending in the Court.

According to the Affidavit, the plaintiff will lose the opportunity to benefit from the judgment if it turns out in his favour, if the money is paid to the Fourth Defendant.
“It will be in the interest of Justice to restrain the fifth to tenth defendants as it relates to professional or consultancy fee in respect of foreign loan recovery, being the subject matter of the suit before the court.

“That the justice of this matter to all parties is for the court to order the payment of the said sum of $68 million to the account of this court pending the determination of the substantive suit,” Oyindamola stated in the affidavit.

She told the court that the application will not be prejudicial to the interest of the Defendants if granted, adding also that it will be in the interest of justice to grant the application.

Kehinde had in a writ of summons numbered- FHC/ABJ/CS/212/20, filed through his counsel Bola Aidi prayed the court to order Ned Nwoko Solicitors to pay him, “the sum of N400 million,” being 40 per cent of the N1billion (first tranche) paid to the first Defendant (Ned Nwoko) solicitors as legal fee for services rendered by same as it relates to Oyo State Government for the recovery of foreign debts.

The plaintiff also prayed the court, for an order compelling the first Defendant, which is a registered law firm with the Law Society of England to pay him 20 million which is 40 per cent of the consent judgment as well as another £159,098 incurred as expenses procuring an arbitration in a London court.

He also wanted the court to order the fifth to tenth Defendant to pay him 40 percent of all the subsequent tranches of the professional fees due to the first to fourth defendants on the Oyo State foreign debt recovery or deduction from the local governments in Oyo State and for the Court to order the Defendant to pay him N20 million for prosecuting this suit.

The plaintiff said in a statement of claim that the first defendant engaged his services in 2007 to handle all issues pertaining to Oyo State Foreign debt and that the condition of his engagement as agent to the first defendant was dependent on the first Defendant being appointed as solicitors to the Oyo State Government to recover its foreign debts within four weeks.

He averred that the conditions as contained in a retainership letter as a local attorney on March 24, 2007, include collation of all information and documentation of the various loans and agreement s since 1982, provision of support needed by Ned Nwoko Solicitors, including litigation in any Nigerian court in any matter arising from proposed contract with Oyo State among others.

“The retainership agreement state clearly that the plaintiff with be entitled to 40 per cent of whatever received from m the Oyo State Government and that remains the Understanding parties.”

He said Oyo State government refused to comply with the terms of agreement and did not pay Ned Nwoko Solicitors, a situation he said made the first defendant to give the plaintiff the go ahead to commence arbitration proceedings in London against Oyo State Government.
The trial judge, Justice Binta Nyako, had adjourned till November 26 to hear the preliminary objections of the Defendants.

News

‘ADC Membership Hits 500,000 after INEC Derecognition of Leadership’

Published

6 hours ago

April 6, 2026

Eric

The African Democratic Congress has recorded a surge in new members following the Independent National Electoral Commission’s decision to delist Senator David Mark and Ogbeni Rauf Aregbesola as national chairman and national secretary of the party.

ADC National Publicity Secretary, Bolaji Abdullahi, revealed in a statement on his X account on Sunday that the party’s membership “had grown from over 40,000 registrations on April 2 to more than 500,000 new Nigerians joining between April 1 and today.”

INEC, through its National Commissioner and Chairman of the Information and Voter Education Committee, Mohammed Haruna, announced the delisting on April 1, citing a court order that directed the commission to maintain the status quo pending a suit challenging the legality of Mark’s leadership.

The commission removed Mark and Aregbesola from its portal and said it would not recognise Nafiu Bala Gombe, who had approached the court seeking to be declared national chairman.

Haruna explained that INEC had received conflicting legal demands from opposing camps, including a cautionary letter from Suleiman Usman SAN & Co. advising against recognising Gombe, and a counter-letter from Summit Law Chambers requesting enforcement of the Court of Appeal judgment affirming Gombe’s position.

Reacting to the development, Abdullahi and his Peoples Democratic Party counterpart, Ini Ememobong, insisted the development was “a calculated attempt to undermine democratic structures,” and urged supporters to mobilise in defence of democratic principles.

News

Yusuf Tuggar Resigns As Foreign Affairs Minister

Published

7 days ago

March 30, 2026

Eric

The Minister of Foreign Affairs, Yusuf Tuggar, has resigned.

Tuggar’s resignation was confirmed by the ministry’s spokesperson, Kimiebi Ebienfa, on Monday.

The minister’s action followed the directive of President Bola Tinubu to all political appointees in his administration who intend to contest elective positions in the 2027 elections to resign from their posts on or before March 31.

The president had hinged his decision on Section 88(1) of the Electoral Act 2026 and the timetable released by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) for party primaries ahead of the 2027 polls.

Tuggar’s resignation comes amid the speculation of his interest in contesting the 2027 Bauchi State governorship election on the platform of the All Progressives Congress (APC).

He is a seasoned diplomat, policymaker, and political figure who was appointed as minister by Bola Ahmed Tinubu in August 2023.

Born on March 12, 1967, he has built a distinguished career spanning diplomacy, politics, energy, and strategic consulting.

He is widely regarded for his role in shaping Nigeria’s global engagement and advancing its foreign policy priorities.

His political career includes serving as a member of the House of Representatives from 2007 to 2011, representing the Gamawa Constituency in Bauchi State.

The diplomat later contested the governorship of the state in two election cycles.

From 2017 to 2023, Tuggar served as Nigeria’s ambassador to Germany, where he played a key role in strengthening bilateral relations, enhancing trade cooperation, and promoting Nigeria’s interests in Europe.

As Minister of Foreign Affairs, Tuggar led Nigeria’s diplomatic efforts under the Tinubu administration.

Channels Television

News

WAEC Releases Results of CB-WASSCE 2026-First Series for Private Candidates

Published

1 week ago

March 27, 2026

Eric

By Eric Elezuo

The West African Examinations Council (WAEC) has announced the release of the results of candidates, who participated in the 2026-First Series Computer-Based West African Senior School Certificate Examinations (CB-WASSCE) for private candidates.

The release notice is contained in a statement signed by the Ag. Head, Public Affairs, Moyosola F. Adesina, on behalf of the Head of National Office, and made available to The Boss.

The statement, containing the details of the number of candidates, passes and failures as well as those still undergoing processing, is produced below:

RELEASE OF RESULT OF THE COMPUTER-BASED WEST AFRICAN SENIOR SCHOOL CERTIFICATE EXAMINATION (CB-WASSCE) FOR PRIVATE CANDIDATES, 2026-FIRST SERIES

The West African Examinations Council (WAEC), Nigeria, wishes to announce to candidates, stakeholders and the general public that the result of the Computer-Based West African Senior School Certificate Examination (CB-WASSCE) for Private Candidates, 2026–First Series, has been released.

The examination took place in Nigeria between Wednesday, January 28, and Saturday, February 14, 2026. The Coordination of Examiners and Marking of Candidates’ Scripts were carried out at THREE (3) Marking Venues in Lagos, Enugu, and Kaduna from Thursday, February 26, to Friday, March 13, 2026. A total of SIX HUNDRED AND EIGHT (608) Examiners participated in the Coordination and Marking Exercise.

TEN THOUSAND FIVE HUNDRED AND TWENTY-THREE (10,523) candidates, representing an 11.49% increase, when compared with the 2025 entry figure of NINE THOUSAND FOUR HUNDRED AND THIRTY-EIGHT (9,438),enrolled for the examination, while TEN THOUSAND, FOUR HUNDRED AND EIGHTY (10,480) candidates sat the examination at ONE HUNDRED AND SIXTY-SIX (166) centres spread across the country.

Among the candidates that sat the examination, FORTY-THREE (43) candidates, with varying degrees of Special Needs, registered for the examination. Out of this number, ELEVEN (11) were visually impaired, FOUR (4) had impaired hearing and FOUR (4) were Albinos. All these candidates with special needs were adequately provided for in the administration of the examination.

Of the total number of TEN THOUSAND, FOUR HUNDRED AND EIGHTY (10,480) candidates that sat the examination, FIVE THOUSAND ONE HUNDRED AND SIX (5,106) were males while FIVE THOUSAND THREE HUNDRED AND SEVENTY-FOUR (5,374) were females, representing 48.72% and 51.28% respectively.

Out of the total number of candidates that sat the examination, EIGHT THOUSAND, FOUR HUNDRED AND EIGHTEEN (8,418) candidates, representing 80.32% have their results fully processed and released while TWO THOUSAND AND SIXTY-TWO (2,062) candidates, representing 19.68 % have a few of their subjects still being processed due to some errors traceable to them.

However, efforts are being made to speedily complete the processing to enable all the affected candidates to get their results fully processed and released, subsequently.
The analysis of the statistics of the candidates’ performance shows that out of the TEN THOUSAND, FOUR HUNDRED AND EIGHTY (10,480) candidates that sat the examination:
 FOUR THOUSAND FIVE HUNDRED AND NINETY-EIGHT (4,598) candidates representing 43.87% obtained credit and above in a minimum of FIVE (5) subjects (with or without English Language and/or Mathematics);
 THREE THOUSAND FOUR HUNDRED AND TWENTY-NINE (3,429) candidates representing 32.72% obtained credit and above in a minimum of FIVE (5) subjects, including English Language and Mathematics

Of this number, ONE THOUSAND EIGHT HUNDRED AND FORTY-SEVEN (1,847) i.e., 53.86% were male candidates, while ONE THOUSAND FIVE HUNRED AND EIGHTY-TWO (1,582), i.e., 46.14% were female candidates. The percentage of candidates in this category in the WASSCE for Private Candidates, 2024 and 2025 – First Series, that is, those who obtained credit and above in a minimum of five (5) subjects, including English Language and Mathematics, were 30.95% and 26.96% respectively. Thus, there is a marginal increase of 5.76% in performance in this regard.

Furthermore, SEVENTY-FIVE (75) Candidates’ results, representing 0.72% of the total number of candidates that sat the examination, are being withheld in connection with various reported cases of examination malpractice. The cases are being investigated and reports of the investigations will be presented to the appropriate Committee of the Council for determination. The Committee’s decisions will be communicated directly to the affected candidates, thereafter.
Candidates may check their results by visiting www.waecdirect.org to ascertain their status before visiting the Digital Certificate platform (www.waec.org) to access the digital copies of their certificates, which have been released along with the results. Candidates will be required to apply for the printing of the hard copies of their certificates online, through the WAEC Certificate Request Portal (e-Certman). The portal address is https://certrequest.waec.ng/. All candidates who sat the diet are hereby advised to check their results carefully and take necessary actions as required.