Justice Okon Abang of the Federal High Court, Abuja on Tuesday
reserved May 17 for judgment in a suit seeking the removal of
Senate President Bukola Saraki, Speaker, House of Representatives
Yakubu Dogara and 52 other lawmakers over their defection from one
political party to another.
Justice Abang fixed the date for judgment after listening to
submissions of counsel in the matter.
The plaintiff, an advocacy group, Legal Defence and Assistance
Project, (LEDAP), had in the suit prayed the court to declare that
the lawmakers are no longer members of the National Assembly having
defected to other political parties before the expiration of their
tenure.
The defendants comprise 17 senators, 37 members of the House of
Representatives, the Independent National Electoral Commission
(INEC), the Attorney General of the Federation (AGF) and the clerks
to both chambers of the National Assembly.
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Ibrahim Magu EFCC
Magu Warns Governors-Elect Against Corrupt
Practices
The Acting Chairman of the Economic and Financial Crimes
Commission, EFCC, Ibrahim Magu on Tuesday, April 30, 2019 tasked
in-coming and returning governors on the need to shun
corruption.
He made the charge at the induction ceremony for the
governors-elect and their returning colleagues at the State House,
Abuja.
Magu who was among the panelists at one of the sessions of the
event, stated that the twin evils of corruption and terrorism-
financing, which have continued to bedevil the country have created
a disastrous impact on governance and socio-economic advancement of
the country.
According to him, “whether we like it or not, corruption and
terrorism have become the twin evils, undermining our collective
efforts to make Nigeria a truly great country.”
He further stated that Nigeria’s failure to take full advantage
of its natural resources could also be attributed to corruption as
public office holders are in the habit of constantly pillaging
public resources.
The anti-corruption czar observed that the country’s loss to
corruption in the last decade runs into trillions of Naira, noting
that a review of the recoveries between 2017 and now, shows that in
2017, the EFCC recovered N473.065billion, $98million, €7million and
£294,000, while N236.16billion was recovered in 2018, which give
just an insight into what had been stolen so far.
The EFCC boss explained that the nexus between corruption and
terrorism is that corruption promotes insecurity.
“Indeed some development scholars are of the view, which I also
subscribe to, that militancy in the Niger Delta and insurgency in
the North-east are by-products of corruption,” Magu said.
He congratulated the governors-elect and urged them to make the
fight against corruption a cardinal point in their
administrations.
“If we can curb corruption, we can checkmate terrorists’
activities,” he said, adding that the only certain way for their
re-election is to do what is right and take a stand in favour of
the fight against corruption.
Tony Orilade
Ag. Head, Media & Publicity