… Secures 167 Judgments On Civil, Criminal Litigations In One Year

… Ramps Up Infrastructure To Strengthen Judiciary, Police

The Lagos State Government facilitated amicable settlement of N1,242,765,569 debt among residents through mediation in the last one year, the State’s Attorney General and Commissioner for Justice, Mr. Moyosore Onigbanjo (SAN), has said.

Presenting the scorecard of the Ministry of Justice and its Agencies at the Ministerial Press Briefing held at JJT Park, Alausa, Ikeja, on Wednesday as part of activities commemorating the first anniversary of Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu’s administration in Lagos State, Onigbanjo said the amount of money came out of the 22,896 cases that were amicably resolved among parties by the Citizens Mediation Centre (CMC).

He said the CMC, which is an agency under the Ministry charged with the responsibility of providing free legal services to residents, received 39,586 cases for mediation in the last one year, out of which 30,017 were successfully resolved.

“A total number of 39,586 cases were received for mediation. Out of this number, 30,017 were mediated and 22,896 were totally resolved. The cases not treated were either abandoned by the parties or independently resolved by them. The total value of settlement of debt related matters facilitated by the Centre on behalf of parties during the period under review is N1,242,765,569”, Onigbanjo said.

The Chief Judge of The High Court of the FCT, Justice Ishaq Bello, has ordered all courts in the FCT to resume regular proceedings from Monday, May 11.

In a statement on Friday, Justice Bello said all courts in the FCT must resume on Monday.

In March, the Chief Justice of Nigeria, Tanko Muhammad, ordered all courts in the country to suspend all sittings except in urgent matters.

The National Judicial Council (NJC) during its first virtual meeting held on April 22 and 23 set up a 10-member committee led by Justice Olabode Rhodes-Vivour, to develop a practical strategy for how courts would continue to function during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Last Monday, Mr Muhammad directed all courts to stop sitting pending the issuance of the NJC’s guidelines for the reopening of courts.

Following this, the council on Thursday released guidelines for court proceedings to reduce the spread of COVID-19

The Supreme Court on Friday nullified the conviction of a former Abia State governor, Orji Uzor-Kalu, who had been jailed for corruption.

The court also quashed the conviction of Ude Udeogu, who was the director of finance and accounts at the Abia State Government House during Mr Kalu’s tenure.

Justice Mohammed Idris had on December 5, 2019 sentenced the former governor to 12 years in prison for allegedly stealing public funds while in office. Mr Udeogu was sentenced to 10 years in prison.

A third defendant, Mr Kalu’s company, Slok Nigeria Limited, was ordered to be wound up and its assets forfeited to the Nigerian government.

They were convicted for defrauding the Government of Abia State when Mr Kalu was governor.

The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) had brought the criminal charge against the duo for conspiring and diverting N7.65 billion from the coffers of the state.

Dissatisfied with the judgement of the Federal High Court, Mr Kalu and Mr Udeogu filed an appeal to challenge their sentencing at the apex court

The Nigerian Court of Appeal has set up special panels with mandates to preside over time-bound matters during the period of the COVID-19 pandemic.

In a circular dated April 24, the Acting President of the Court of Appeal, Justice M. B. Dongbam-Mensem, provides for the various justices to preside in divisions.

“The presiding justices shall oversee and communicate the date of sittings,’’ Dongbam-Mensem said.

According to the circular, the Lagos division panel includes Justice M.L. Garba, Justice J.O.K. Oyewole, Justice H. A. Abiru, Justice B. B. Aliyu, Justice A. Obaseki-Adejumo, Justice U.A. Ogakwu and Justice G.O. Kolawole.

A coalition of Nigerian legal experts have filed a class action suit against the Peoples Republic of China over the effects of the Coronavirus pandemic effect on Nigerians.

They are demanding $200 billion as damages for the “loss of lives, economic strangulation, trauma, hardship, social disorientation, mental torture and disruption of normal daily existence of people in Nigeria.”

A statement by the lead counsel, Prof. Epiphany Azinge (SAN), whose firm, Azinge and Azinge, is championing the action, said they had concluded pleadings for the class action against the Chinese government.

The National Council on Privatisation,NCP, on Thursday approved the sale of the liquidated Nigeria Telecommunication Plc. and its subsidiary, Mtel, to NATCOM Consortium for $252million.

The chairman of NCP’s Technical Committee, Atedo Peterside, told State House correspondents in Abuja that the approval was one of the decisions taken at a meeting of the council presided over by Vice-President Namadi Sambo.

NATCOM consortium on Wednesday became the preferred bidder for the acquisition of the assets of the Nigerian Telecommunications Plc, NITEL, and the Nigerian Mobile Telecommunications MTEL. The NATCOM initial bid price of $ 221 million was rejected by the national council on Privatisation but later reviewed upward to bid price of $252. 251 million, and was accepted having met the reserved price…

She came, she saw- and to an extent, reinvigorated the fervour to stamp out the burden of corruption that has in no small measure weighed down the scale of justice in Nigeria…

WHAT does corruption look like? The short answer is: not what you think it does, at least according to President Goodluck Jonathan who while recently “rethinking corruption” said that: “Over 70% of what are called corruption [offences], even by the EFCC [Economic and Financial Crimes Commission] and other anti-corruption agencies, is not corruption, but common stealing…

Nigerian Bar Association, NBA, has again advocated the appointment of Supreme Court Justices from the bar in order to bring practical experience to the apex court…