Kano tribunal threatens relocation to Abuja – TheNigerialawyer

The Election Petition Tribunal sitting in Kano yesterday
threatened to relocate to Abuja if any of its members face the
slightest security threat in the state.

The Presiding judge, Justice Halima S. Muhammad, said this while
condemning a cyber attack meted on one of the witnesses who
testified before the tribunal for the Independent National
Electoral Commission (INEC) in the case.

“If a life of a witness is threatened just because she came to
testify here, then we cannot just sit here and think we are safe,”
the learned judge said.

“So, please let us not go that way, if not I will be forced to
move my panel to Abuja,” she warned.

Justice Muhammad said she was the one who insisted that the
tribunal sit in Kano in order to give the people of the state the
opportunity to see and hear what was transpiring in the
tribunal.

“If we are in Abuja, you can only hear on radio,” she said.

The decision of the tribunal followed a complaint by Counsel to
INEC, Adedayo Adedeji, who informed the court that one of the
witnesses, Halima Sambo Hassan, who testified for the 1st
respondent was attacked on social media.

Mrs Hassan was an electoral officer of Ungogo Local Government
Area, who testified for INEC and her picture was captured after her
testimony and posted on social media, linking her to the government
of the state, as a result of which she was attacked by several
people who raided all words of insult against her personality.

Adedeji described the act as contempt of court and requested
that the tribunal take appropriate action.

Also condemning the incident, counsel to PDP, Maliki Kuliya
Umar, described the action as unacceptable and a harassment to the
administration of justice.

In her ruling, Justice Halima ordered that the matter be
investigated by the appropriate authorities.

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Magu Urges Nigerians to take Ownership of
Anti-corruption Fight

> The Acting Chairman of the Economic and Financial Crimes
Commission, EFCC, Ibrahim Magu has urged Nigerians to take
ownership of the anti-corruption fight, stating that the fight
would yield better results when Nigerians see it their own.

> He observed that no community, society or country can
develop when corruption is entrenched in every facet of its
existence. Corruption he noted “is the fall out of bad leadership
and lack of integrity and ethics. It is the single bane of our
national development.”

> Magu stated these on Thursday, August 22, 2019 in Dankane
Hotel, Sokoto, where he was the special guest of honour, at a one
day sensitization campaign on “Value Re-orientation and the Fight
Against Corruption,” organised by National Orientation Agency
(NOA), Sokoto State.

> He commended NOA for what he described as the agency’s
“unflinching commitment to Nigeria, evident in its efforts to
positively change attitudes, values and behaviours to doing the
right thing.”

> Magu, who spoke through Lawan Abdullahi, EFCC Head of
Operations, Sokoto Zone, described the mandate of NOA as
“challenging and intimidating,” likening it to that of the EFCC,
which he said is the “conscience of the nation.”

> According to him, “Whenever I look at NOA as an
organization, I am fascinated by the relentless services and values
that it has added to the country, especially at the local levels,
where it helps to disseminate information on government policies
and relevant information that help in creating a peaceful
atmosphere for all citizens.”

> Speaking on the need to root out corruption in the system,
the EFCC boss stated that “Each and everyone of us should deploy
whatever weapon we have against the monster. EFCC does not claim to
know it all and cannot do it alone. For the war against corruption
to be successful, the people must own it in all ramifications.” He
noted that the EFCC was very appreciative of the “overwhelming
support of ordinary Nigerians,” stating that “if we have achieved
success in discharging our mandate, it is because the people are
very engaged with what we do, being at the same time victims and
beneficiaries of remedial interventions.

> “That is why I am especially happy that this event affords
us the unique opportunity to share ideas, hear from the people who
are at the receiving end, the unsung victims of mindless corruption
and impunity.”

> He reminded the participants that the thematic focus of the
meeting was “for all of us to do the right thing,” adding that “if
we get this right, Nigeria will have gotten it right.”

Wilson Uwujaren
Head, Media & Publicity
August, 2019