Nigeria Content Online

Last Tuesday, three
and a half years after the 2007 elections, an appeal court sitting in
Benin City ruled that the 2007 governorship election in Delta state was
a sham.

Subsequently,Emmanuel
Uduaghan, who was deemed to have illegally occupied the position of the
governor of the state all along, was sent out of the government house
and the speaker of the state House of Assembly was sworn in to act as
governor pending conclusion of a rerun election, expectedly within the
next 85 days.

He thus became the
fourth governor to be sacked by the courts following the 2007 election,
usually after they have earned a lot of public money they ought not to
have had access to. Segun Oni of Ekiti state, removed only last month;
Olusegun Agagu of Ondo State, removed last year and Oserheimen Osunbor
of Edo state were the other politicians in this group.

The court ruled
that they rigged their way into positions and enjoyed the privileges of
that office, including wielded powers to sign death warrant of
prisoners – or pardon convicted prisoners.

Critics say this
throws up two major challenges to the electoral system. First, the
issue of timely adjudication of election petitions by the courts, which
analysts say is currently been “haphazardly” redressed by the second
amendment to the 1999 constitution.

Secondly,the 2010 Electoral Act does not make provision for any sanction for individuals who rig themselves into office.

No offence

Although the new
electoral laws tries to fast-track electoral court cases and check
election malpractice, the electoral act does not consider rigging to
get into office an offence punishable by law.

“It is not a
criminal offence in our laws,” Charles Musa, a Lagos lawyers said .The
electoral act only takes cognisance of offence committed within the
range of registration up to voting and declaration of votes by
officials of the Independent National Electoral Commission.

The electoral act
covers offences in relation to registration, forgery of nomination
papers, voters’ card and ballot papers, impersonation, bribery and
conspiracy, dereliction of duty, threatening, and undue influence
during and before voting day. Analysts believe these offences are
targeted on foot soldiers rather than the principals who are the
sponsors and consequential beneficiary of the offences.

“The issue of
holding offices illegally should be critically looked into,” Lai
Mohammed, the spokesman of Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN), the party
that has benefited most from the evictions, said.

Kayode Ajulo,
counsel to Delta Elders’ Forum – a group calling for the preosecution
of Mr. Uduaghan – argued that illegal office holders deserve sanctions
and could be tried by the state under the penal code. He lamented that
the states have so far lacked the political will to prosecute such
offenders.

He argued that for
an individual to rig his way into office, s/he must have committed
offences such as forgery, brigandage, snatching ballot box,conspiracy
against the government, and or causing public disorder which are all
punishable under the penal code.

“In Delta state,
the court ruled that there was no election; that means there was
forgery,” he argued. “Now, it is the duty of the government to
prosecute Mr.Uduaghan. The offences that are not covered by the
electoral act, the penal code covered. Our law is perfect.” Mr.

Ajulo added that it
is the responsibility of the government of affected states to call the
offender back and demand for the refund of the perks they enjoyed and
“if they don’t, take them to court and prosecute them based on the
penal code.” However,most winners of election cases would rather just
focus on governance.

Officials of the
Ekiti state government, a recent victim of stolen mandates, told Mr
Mohammed of the ACN said the fundamental corrective measure for the
issue of occupying offices illegally is a credible, free and fair
election.

“If there is free and fair elections, there will be less disputes,” said Mr.Mohammed.

Expensive journey

Petitioners who
have gone down full length of fighting electoral battles described the
process as a torturous and expensive journey designed to frustrate the
petitioner.

“I do not even wish
it on my enemy,” Alphonsus Igbeke, now a senator said after winning
back his seat at the senate in May this year, three years after the
legal battle started. He however literarily forgave Joy Emordi who
illegally enjoyed the seat.

Mojeed Jamiu, the
media adviser to Kayode Fayemi, the new governor of Ekiti state also
described their legal journey as tortuous. “We were in the trenches for
42 months; it’s been quite tortures and challenging,” he said.

He added that the
legal battle was pretty expensive, since they had to keep lawyers who
are Senior Advocates of Nigeria, witnesses and other logistics for such
a long time.

Johnson Obono, an
expert in legal costing, estimated that such protracted cases could
cost up to N150 million and in most cases frustrates broke
petitioners.Another lawyer, who asked not to be mentioned, added that
the cost is even made higher by bribe demands from judges at both the
tribunal and Appeal Courts.

Although the first
amendment to the 1999 constitution sought to fast track election
petitions and even went as far as recommending that all petitions be
dispensed with before May 29 swearing in date, the ongoing second
amendment will annihilate that provision and certainly, make
governorship election petitions more lengthy and expensive.

The latest
constitutional amendment recommends that an election tribunal shall
deliver its judgment on a case within 180 days (6 months) from the date
of the filing of the petition. It also stipulates that the petitions be
filled within 21 days after the elections.

In the case of presidential and governorship elections, the appeals
could also go to the Supreme Court, which is also mandated by the
constitution to deliver judgement in 60 days.

After staying at home for over three
months without pay, the striking lecturers of the Anambra State
University, ANSU, say they now depend on God and the goodwill of
friends for survival.

On July 22 this year, lecturers of the
five state owned varsities in the south east under the aegis of the
Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU), embarked on strike to
protest the failure of governors of the zone to implement the agreement
reached between ASUU and the federal government on their new salary
structure for lecturers in federal universities.

Now, nearly four months after, the lecturers are becoming increasingly uncomfortable as their pockets get emptier.

Emeka Obi, head of the department of
Public Administration at the university said only God and the
benevolence of friends have been sustaining them.

“God has been our help, that’s the only
thing I have to say. When you look around and things look bleak, you
may not even know what you’re doing, except that you are surviving,” Mr
Obi said.

Jaja Nwanegbo, chairman of ASUU in the
university, said what had been sustaining his colleagues was their
belief in the cause, a belief he said had made them ready to sacrifice
anything.

He told NEXT that the strike had led to
loss in not just man hours, but in terms of productivity and the
disruption of the school’s academic calendar. According to him, the
school which ought to be going into a new session was still stuck in
the second semester and would have to continue from there whenever the
strike ends.

He also noted that students who just
graduated ran the risk of missing out on the national youth service
scheme because they had not been able to finish with their clearances
before the strike.

Mr Nwanegbo said the lecturers last
received their salary in July; a situation, he said equally had a
debilitating effect on them.

“The only unfortunate thing is the
misconception the government is creating by misinforming the public on
what constituted the basis for the strike. They make it look as if it
is a salary issue only but we all know it also has to do with quality
of education,” he said.

The lecturers said they missed their
students most, as well as their work place and blamed the governors for
not considering those that voted them into office.

Idle students

The students have also not had it
easy. Chidiebere Okoye, a final year student of Political Science at
the Anambra university said they were tired of staying at home and
appealed to both the governors and ASUU to quickly find a solution to
the problem.

Oninye Iloghalu, a final year student
of Computer Science, told NEXT to help beg the lecturers to come back
to the classes since the governors did not want to soft pedal.

“Many students have taken to bad ways and after all this, cult activities may increase,” she said.

Our investigations also revealed that
it is not only the students and lecturers that are bearing the brunt of
the strike. Road side traders in the university, as well as hair
dressers, okada operators and even canteen operators, have all suffered
from the strike as their businesses which depend on the students have
nose dived.

But at a press briefing Friday, hopes
that the strike may soon be called off were raised when the chairman of
the Governing Council of the university, Elochukwu Amucheazi, said he
expected lectures to resume on the 22nd of November following fresh
negotiations with the lecturers of Anambra university.

He said the state government had again
raised the subvention to the school from N81m a month to N90m, while
the school adds N70m from internally generated revenue to bring the
monthly subvention to N160m.

He also said lecturers, at the end of
their meeting on Friday, said they would go and consult with their
various unions, even though some of them still insisted on a full
implementation of the new salary scheme. He however remained hopeful
that the strike would end before the 22nd.

But the strike, when it ends, will mean
an increase in tuition fees. According to Mr Amucheazi this had become
inevitable as the school would look for ways of making up for the
increase in the lecturers’ pay. He said the school paid the lowest fees
among state varsities, ranging from N35, 000 to N55, 000, but that a
slight increase would be effected to balance the equation.

“We have not fully recovered from the
Civil War and thus we do not want to over burden our people, hence the
marginal increase in tuition fees,” Mr Amucheazi said.

Last Tuesday,
President Goodluck Jonathan abruptly called off his trip to Lagos to
return to Abuja for a last ditch effort to head off a strike called for
last Wednesday by leaders of Nigeria’s labour unions. The gamble by Mr
Jonathan to insert himself into the lingering labour dialogue between
government and labour leaders had mixed results. Labour leaders
permitted the strike to go ahead on Wednesday, but they later called it
off same day to announce a one-month suspension.

“We have heard the
message of Mr President. We are going to go back to our organ
(executive council). The only thing we can say to you is that the
strike is on until it is called off by the organ,” Nigeria Labour
Congress acting president, Promise Adewusi said.

The plan is that
the National Executive Council (a gathering of state governors and
federal officials) which is the body handling the negotiations, would
have the opportunity to hold its next meeting and agree to terms with
Labour to increase the minimum wage to N18,000. The congress had
initially demanded N52,000 (346 dollars) as minimum wage for workers
but after negotiations with government, the union later accepted
N18,000.

But the agreement
with Labour, when it finally comes, is not going to bring to an end the
fondness of Nigerian workers – especially public officials – to turn
their backs on work anytime there is a dispute with their employees.
There are several strikes going on at various levels across the
country, but most have to do with state employees. Public service
doctors in Lagos have been on strike for more pay since August and
there doesn’t appear to be any end to that in sight. The same is true
of university lecturers in state owned universities in the five eastern
states who have been on strike over the past three months. Despite a
meeting with state officials at the weekend, the gap between the
demands of the lecturers and their employers are still wide.

That sometimes has
national implications. The national body of university teachers, the
Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) and that of doctors,
Nigerian Medical Association (NMA) have both called national sympathy
strikes to draw attention to the angst of their chapters in the states.

Ayobode Williams,
the chairman of the Medical Guild in Lagos State blamed the action of
the doctors on the tin ear of government officials.

“Before the advent
of CONMESS (Consolidated Medical Salary Scale), half of the registered
under Nigeria Medical and Dental Council were working abroad, once they
graduate, they move abroad, so the idea of CONMESS is to bridge that
gap,” he said. “At least, it’s enough to give doctors a meaningful
lifestyle. Now, the federal government has been able to implement
CONMESS. So, what we are now fighting for is to prevent local brain
drain, doctors moving from Lagos State hospitals, to federal hospitals.
I can tell you that about 40% of doctors working in Lagos State have
left during this strike.” Government officials have played fast and
loose with the action of the striking workers, seeking to ‘outblink’
them, as it were. Lagos State officials, for instance claim the state
cannot afford to pay wages being demanded by the doctors. They also
say, with some justification, that if they agree to pay the doctors
what they crave, other categories of medical workers would equally
increase their demands.

Bloated government

Valentine
Obienyem, a senior aide to Anambra State governor, Peter Obi, described
the strike by the South-east lecturers as a the result of an attempt by
lecturers from other parts of the country to experiment with them
before making their own demands.

“The rest of the
country are only encouraging the south east to continue agitating so
that once they get what they are asking, they will use it as a
bargaining chip,” he said, adding that the lecturers from the south
east were inadvertently allowing themselves to be so used. “Why is it
that other state universities such as Rivers and LASU that have the
same problem are quietly seeking solution without unnecessary media
hype?” Jaja Nwanegbo, chairman of ASUU at the Anambra State university
however called this scare mongering. He also said government officials
were muddying the issues to win the propaganda battle.

“The only
unfortunate thing is the misconception the government is creating by
misinforming the public on what constituted the basis for the strike.
They make it look as if it is a salary issue only but we all know it
also has to do with quality of education,” he said.

As usual, Labour
dismisses claims of insufficient funds by government officials as
untrue. Peter Esele, national president of the Trade Union Congress,
said government can afford to improve the welfare of workers if it
reduces the overhead of political appointees.

“The state
governors keep complaining. Yet, they are the ones that have hundreds
of Senior Special Advisers, Special Assistants, Personal Assistant to
the Special Adviser, and so on. At the end of the day, the cost of
governance is over-bloated. In the final analysis, what one deduces is
that when all the mathematics are put together they can pay if they
plug the holes in the system,” he said.

Last Tuesday,
President Goodluck Jonathan abruptly called off his trip to Lagos to
return to Abuja for a last ditch effort to head off a strike called for
last Wednesday by leaders of Nigeria’s labour unions. The gamble by Mr
Jonathan to insert himself into the lingering labour dialogue between
government and labour leaders had mixed results. Labour leaders
permitted the strike to go ahead on Wednesday, but they later called it
off same day to announce a one-month suspension.

“We have heard the
message of Mr President. We are going to go back to our organ
(executive council). The only thing we can say to you is that the
strike is on until it is called off by the organ,” Nigeria Labour
Congress acting president, Promise Adewusi said.

The plan is that
the National Executive Council (a gathering of state governors and
federal officials) which is the body handling the negotiations, would
have the opportunity to hold its next meeting and agree to terms with
Labour to increase the minimum wage to N18,000. The congress had
initially demanded N52,000 (346 dollars) as minimum wage for workers
but after negotiations with government, the union later accepted
N18,000.

But the agreement
with Labour, when it finally comes, is not going to bring to an end the
fondness of Nigerian workers – especially public officials – to turn
their backs on work anytime there is a dispute with their employees.
There are several strikes going on at various levels across the
country, but most have to do with state employees. Public service
doctors in Lagos have been on strike for more pay since August and
there doesn’t appear to be any end to that in sight. The same is true
of university lecturers in state owned universities in the five eastern
states who have been on strike over the past three months. Despite a
meeting with state officials at the weekend, the gap between the
demands of the lecturers and their employers are still wide.

That sometimes has
national implications. The national body of university teachers, the
Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) and that of doctors,
Nigerian Medical Association (NMA) have both called national sympathy
strikes to draw attention to the angst of their chapters in the states.

Ayobode Williams,
the chairman of the Medical Guild in Lagos State blamed the action of
the doctors on the tin ear of government officials.

“Before the advent
of CONMESS (Consolidated Medical Salary Scale), half of the registered
under Nigeria Medical and Dental Council were working abroad, once they
graduate, they move abroad, so the idea of CONMESS is to bridge that
gap,” he said. “At least, it’s enough to give doctors a meaningful
lifestyle. Now, the federal government has been able to implement
CONMESS. So, what we are now fighting for is to prevent local brain
drain, doctors moving from Lagos State hospitals, to federal hospitals.
I can tell you that about 40% of doctors working in Lagos State have
left during this strike.” Government officials have played fast and
loose with the action of the striking workers, seeking to ‘outblink’
them, as it were. Lagos State officials, for instance claim the state
cannot afford to pay wages being demanded by the doctors. They also
say, with some justification, that if they agree to pay the doctors
what they crave, other categories of medical workers would equally
increase their demands.

Bloated government

Valentine
Obienyem, a senior aide to Anambra State governor, Peter Obi, described
the strike by the South-east lecturers as a the result of an attempt by
lecturers from other parts of the country to experiment with them
before making their own demands.

“The rest of the
country are only encouraging the south east to continue agitating so
that once they get what they are asking, they will use it as a
bargaining chip,” he said, adding that the lecturers from the south
east were inadvertently allowing themselves to be so used. “Why is it
that other state universities such as Rivers and LASU that have the
same problem are quietly seeking solution without unnecessary media
hype?” Jaja Nwanegbo, chairman of ASUU at the Anambra State university
however called this scare mongering. He also said government officials
were muddying the issues to win the propaganda battle.

“The only
unfortunate thing is the misconception the government is creating by
misinforming the public on what constituted the basis for the strike.
They make it look as if it is a salary issue only but we all know it
also has to do with quality of education,” he said.

As usual, Labour
dismisses claims of insufficient funds by government officials as
untrue. Peter Esele, national president of the Trade Union Congress,
said government can afford to improve the welfare of workers if it
reduces the overhead of political appointees.

“The state
governors keep complaining. Yet, they are the ones that have hundreds
of Senior Special Advisers, Special Assistants, Personal Assistant to
the Special Adviser, and so on. At the end of the day, the cost of
governance is over-bloated. In the final analysis, what one deduces is
that when all the mathematics are put together they can pay if they
plug the holes in the system,” he said.

Ekiti State
Governor, Kayode Fayemi has approved the implementation of the
Consolidated Medical Salary Structure (CONMESS) and the Consolidated
Health Workers Salary Structure (CONHESS) for Medical and Health
workers in the state.

The state
government, in a circular signed by the Permanent Secretary, Office of
Establishment and Training, Kunle Abegunde, said the new salary scale
would take effect from October 1, 2010.

According to the
circular, the newly approved package for the Medical and Health Workers
in Ondo State was adopted for workers in all government health
Institutions in the state; while the new package would also be
applicable for workers at the University Teaching Hospital with due
cognizance to the institution’s autonomy as an extension of the
University of Ado Ekiti.

The agitation for
the payment of the CONMESS/CONHESS by the Ekiti State Health workers
dated back to January 2010, when the Federal Government approved the
salary structure and culminated in a nine-week industrial action by
doctors at the University of Ado Ekiti Teaching Hospital, which they
started on July 25.

However, with the approval of the new salary structure by Mr
Fayemi, the state became the second state in the South-West Nigeria to
implement the new wage regime.

A governorship
candidate of the ruling Peoples Democratic Party {PDP} in Ogun State,
Isiaka Gboyega, yesterday said he was not threatened by the emergence
of Tunji Olurin, said to be the choice of former president, Olusegun
Obasanjo, as his main challenger for the party’s ticket.

Mr. Gboyega, who
was recently announced consensus candidate by some politicians from the
Ogun West senatorial zone, the same zone to which Mr. Olurin belongs,
said the party primaries would determine the flagbearer of the party.

Speaking with
journalists at his campaign office in Abeokuta, Mr. Gboyega said a
majority of those rooting for Mr. Olurin are not card carrying members
of the party, and cannot be delegates during the party primaries.

“If any elders tell
us we don’t have the experience to run the state, we will tell them
that please am sorry sir, this is an insult. Now, for anybody to say
with my little background, with my little experience, that I don’t have
experience to run the state, I think that would be an insult. I would
tell them so politely,” he said.

Behind the wheel

Still on the
allegation that Mr. Olurin is the more experienced person best suited
for the job, Mr. Gboyega said the situation is best likened to a
scenario where a 60-year-old man, who probably have been driving over
the last 40 years, now has a son who started driving 20 years after.

“They want to
travel and the man will now say, because I am the one that has more
experience, let me be at the wheel. It is not done,” he said.

He also said it was
an insult to people of his generation to be told they could not hold
the levers of power, saying it was time younger people take charge of
the country.

“Nobody can be telling us about experience now because we also know
the kind of experience that people have when they were also taking over
leadership some 20, 30 years ago,” he said.

The federal
government has approved the sum of N1.319 billion for the purchase of
anti-retroviral drugs for HIV/AIDs patients in the country, in a bid to
sustain its policy on free treatment of people living with HIV/AIDs,
minister of state for information and communications, Labaran Maku, has
said.

There is an appropriation in the 2010 budget for the ministry to procure the ARV drugs.

Mr. Maku, who
briefed journalists on Wednesday’s federal executive council meeting,
said for the sustenance of government policy, as well as the health of
its citizens, council approved the contracts, which is expected to be
executed in eight weeks.

The drugs to be
procured include “100,000 packs of Tenofovir (30’s), in the unit price
of N3,150.00 and in the total sum of N31.5million; 200,000 packs of
Zidovudine/ Lamivudine (60’s), in the unit price of N1,352.00 and the
total of N270.4million; 371,091 packs of Zidovudine/ Lamivudine/
Nevirapine (60’s), in the unit price of N1,629.00 and the total
contract sum of N604.5million; 247,000 packs of Efavirenz (30’s), at
the unit price of N850.00 and the total contract sum of N209.9million;
and 300,000 Nevirapine (60’s), at the unit price of N676.20 and in the
total of N202.8million.”

Government started
the free treatment with Anti-Retroviral drugs in 2001 and, through 262
centres, provides service to about 6500 people.

Mr. Maku also said the council approved a five-year national health
plan that will gulp N3.997 trillion. Funding for the new policy, which
the minister said is aimed at upgrading the nation’s health facilities
and giving value for money, is expected to be sourced from proceeds
(tax) from the sale of tobacco and alcohol.

The Nigerian Police have commenced the recruitment of retired officers as lecturers in their training institutions.

A News Agency of Nigeria (NAN)
correspondent who visited the Rivers Police Command headquarters in
Port Harcourt on Thursday found that a recruitment interview was going
on. There were indications that only 20 ex-police officers of Rivers
State origin applied for the exercise.

The command’s spokesperson Akin
Fakorede, told NAN that there was no rank or age barrier in the
recruitment exercise, but noted that the only barrier was if the
applicant had a bad record while in service.

Mr Fakorede said the recruitment was in
line with the recommendations of the Police Service Reform Committee
headed by former Inspector-General of Police, M.D Yusuf. Office from
the force headquarters in Abuja came in for the interview.

A bill to repeal
the Federal Immigration Act, one of the oldest in the country which
dates back to 1963 passed second reading at the House of
Representatives yesterday.

The immigration law
has several defects, including a lack of provision for the use of arms
by immigration officers. However, officials of the service have borne
arms illegally, lawmakers said yesterday and the overhaul, coming after
many amendments, will authorise such use and empower the Service other
areas.

The new law for
instance, will touch on the expatriate quota – a touchy labour issue,
particularly in the oil sector and other issues of immigration of
foreign nationals. It will also replace the present headship of the
service (Comptroller General) with a Director General.

Lawmakers noted
that most of the provisions of the 47-year old Act were no longer in
tune with present day challenges and therefore needed a long due
overhaul.

“This is why most
nations of the world take their immigration law very seriously to the
extent that it a very big issue during campaign for election into
public offices”, said Femi Gbajabiamila, (AC Lagos state.) The Nigerian
Immigration Service presently administers the Expatriate Quota system,
which outlines procedures and the size of foreign personnel working in
the country, particularly in the oil and gas sector.

Now new agency

Trade unions in the
sector have consistently raised complaints of domination by the
foreigners and have called for increased quotas for Nigerians and
technology transfer.

A proposal last
year to set up an Expatriate Quota Administration Agency, was opposed
by the federal government, which argued that it would amount to a waste
of funds since the Nigerian Immigration Service can function in that
regards if well funded.

Former Attorney
General, Michael Aondoakaa advised that funding to the NIS be improved
and that the proposal to establish a new Agency was “too shallow as it
is out to address on the Oil and Gas sector only.”

The new bill is to capture those areas according to Jerry Manwe, the
chairman House committee on Interior, because it touches on key issues
such as national security, labour, revenues and taxes among others.

Raymond Dokpesi,
the director general of Ibrahim Babangida’s presidential campaign
organisation, maintained at a Federal High Court in Abuja yesterday
that he had no connection with the Independence Day bomb blast which
killed 19 people.

The State Security
Service (SSS) had detained Mr Dokpesi shortly after two car bombs
exploded in Abuja on October 1. The service defended its questioning of
Mr Dokpesi, saying he had exchanged texts messages with some of the
persons suspected of complicity in the twin blasts.

Mr Dokpesi is suing
the service over the interrogation, which lasted several hours. He is
seeking a declaration that his arrest and detention were unlawful and a
violation of his rights. The SSS warned that if the court intervened in
the matter, it would tie up the hands of the service and impede its
efforts to promote national security.

Counsel to the SSS
and the Attorney General of the Federation, Alex Izinyion, said the
service was statutorily empowered to invite any person for questioning
on matters of national security. He said Mr Dokpesi had been invited to
clarify a statement made by Edmond Ebiware, a suspect arrested in
connection with the attack. Mr Ebiware said he had met Mr Dokpesi some
days before the attacks and claimed he received N4 million from him.

“In the process of
his investigation, Mr Dokpesi was granted bail and requested to show up
for further investigation,” said Mr Izinyon.

Dokpesi lays it bare

However, Kanu
Agabi, counsel to Mr Dokpesi, said his client was not aware of the
person referred to in the text messagse, noting that there were several
persons bearing the name Dokpesi.

“As such he is
seeking a declaration that since he is not involved in or in any way
associated with the person or persons, organisation or organisations
responsible for the bomb blast … He has committed no offence to
warrant his continued arrest or detention or questioning or harassment
or intimidation by 1st Respondent as a suspect in that connection,”
said Mr Agabi.

He urged the court
to dismiss the suit as “frivolous and constituting gross abuse of
judicial process.” Furthermore, Mr Agabi wanted a declaration that the
service’s arrest, detention, harassment and undue questioning
constituted a gross violation of Mr Dokpesi’s rights and was unlawful
and unconstitutional.

At the resumed
hearing of the matter on Thursday, Mr Agabi, said that he needed more
time to file a response to an earlier affidavit filed by SSS
challenging Mr Dokpesi’s claim that the service had violated his
fundamental human rights. Mr Izinyon also sought an extension of time
to file his objection and written addresses, in opposition to Mr
Dokesi’s claims. The presiding Judge, Abdullahi Kafarati adjounrned the
matter to December 8, for adoption of addresses.