The Federal Government has withdrawn the contempt charge against Nigeria Labour Congress, NLC, Trade Union Congress of Nigeria, TUC, and their leaders four days before the expiration of the ultimatum by NLC to the government to withdraw the contempt summons or face indefinite nationwide strike. In a letter to Messrs Falana & Falana’ Chambers, Counsel, to NLC, Solicitor-General of the Federation and Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Justice, Mrs B.E. Jeddy-Agba, said “The attention of the Federal Ministry of Justice has been drawn to the Communiqué issued by the Nigeria Labour Congress, NLC, on August 3, 2023, wherein NLC announced the suspension of its nationwide protests and criticised the contempt summons issued by the National Industrial Court (“Court”), amongst other issues. “Kindly recall the exchange of correspondence between the Ministry and your Office on the need for compliance with the extant court orders, restraining industrial action of any kind on the part of the Nigeria Labour Congress and Trade Union Congress. The position of the Ministry was informed by the need to safeguard the integrity of the court and prevent avoidable service disruption or damages to public facilities. “However, despite these exchanges/interventions, the labour unions on 2nd August 2023 proceeded with the industrial action through public protests which led to disruption of work and the eventual pulling down of the gate of the National Assembly. The foregoing prompted the Ministry to initiate contempt proceedings by filing Form 48 on the same 2nd August 2023 in accordance with Section 72 of the Sheriffs and Civil Process Act and Order 9 Rule 13 of the Judgment (Enforcement) Rules. It is trite that issuance of Form 48 is just the starting point in contempt proceedings which will only crystalize upon the issuance of Form 49 and the consequential committal order. “Upon the intervention of His Excellency, President Bola Ahmed Tinubu and the decision of the labour unions to call off their industrial action after meetings with the President and leadership of the National Assembly, this Ministry did not proceed further with the contempt proceedings, which would have required the issuance of Form 49 within two days of the issuance of Form 48. “It is self-evident that the non-issuance of Form 49 as of 4th August 2023, renders the contempt proceedings inchoate. “You may therefore wish to advise or guide the labour unions on the practice and procedure of contempt proceedings, particularly to the effect that the issues or concerns raised by NLC in its communiqué on the proceedings have been overtaken by events.”

  Enyinnaya Abaribe, senator representing Abia south, says the sit-at-home order by Simon Ekpa, a self-acclaimed disciple of Nnamdi Kanu, has become a scheme for making money. In an interview with Channels Television, Abaribe said Ekpa and his cohorts have refused to reverse the policy because they are making profits from it. In a letter posted on Twitter in July by Aloy Ejimakor, special counsel to Kanu, the detained leader of the proscribed Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB), asked Ekpa to desist from calling for further sit-at-home. Reacting to the letter, Ekpa said Kanu cannot write such a letter, adding that “it is not only a joke but an insult taken too far”. Speaking on the development, Abaribe said the south-east leaders have agreed to meet with the federal government over the continued detention of Kanu. “Last week, there was a hand-written message from him (Kanu),” Abaribe said. “Of course, the man who is profiting from it, who is far away in Finland, denounced it and put more conditions saying they will never stop it until we (south-east leaders) see him in Finland. “We can now see that because they profit from this, they are not going to stop it because it has become a money-making venture. “We have seen adverts on the internet asking people to contribute money for the liberation of Biafra. “Now, what do we do? We have to engage the government because there are also some subsisting issues on the ground. “The court had granted him his freedom and the government applied to the same appeal court for stay of execution and appeal to the supreme court. The supreme court has not taken any decision. “Part of the resolution is that we are going to engage everyone. “We are going to engage the government at the same time on how we can make a solution that is favourable to all.”

  The Air Component of Operation Delta Safe (OPDS), on Saturday conducted air strikes, destroying three boats tapping crude oil from a pipeline in Rivers State. According to a statement by a spokesperson of the Nigerian Air Force, Air Commodore Edward Gabkwet on Monday, the operation occurred at about 4 Nautical Miles South-East of Bille, a riverine area located west of Bonny Island and South of Port Harcourt, in Rivers State. “The air strikes became necessary after 3 boats were sighted tapping crude oil from a pipeline. Consequently, the boats were engaged and destroyed by the aircraft. “Flying towards Port Harcourt, the crew also observed an active illegal refining site with tanks and reservoirs loaded with suspected illegal refined products, about 4 miles South-east of Idama in Rivers State. The site was subsequently attacked and destroyed,” the statement partly read. Gabkwet assured that air strikes against “these economic saboteurs will be sustained until they desist from their acts of thievery and economic sabotage.” He added that the Chief of the Air Staff, Air Marshal Hasan Abubakar, has since directed all air component commanders nationwide to ensure they team up with other security agencies as they sustain air strikes on all criminal elements in the country. The Chief of Air Staff was quoted to have said that “The days of treating criminal elements in our country with kids’ gloves are over. We must continue on this trajectory until we bring all of them to their knees.”

  Festus Keyamo, SAN, apologised to the Senate on Monday evening over his failure to honour invitations by the relevant legislative committee overseeing the Ministry of Labour and Productivity where he had served as a minister under the Muhammadu Buhari administration. This followed a rowdy session at the Senate during his ministerial screening earlier in the day where Senator Darlington Nwokocha (Abia Central) accused Keyamo of disrespecting the Ninth National Assembly and accusing the last Assembly of being corrupt. Tendering an apology “without reservation”, the former Minister of State for Labour and Productivity provided more insight into the circumstances. “Maybe it was as a result of the lack of knowledge of the fact that this matter had long been resolved between us and the members of that committee,” he told the Senate with a more sombre disposition than hours earlier. “Subsequently, there were so many hearings – budget defence and all that – we attended under a very convivial atmosphere. So, the apology is without reservation. I apologise.” Earlier, Nwokocha moved a motion for the suspension of Keyamo’s ministerial screening. The senator argued that during the Buhari administration, Keyamo was invited to explain a Special Public Works programme and did not honour the invitation. Responding to the issues that had resulted in his summon, the lawyer stated that every single payment to the beneficiaries under the public works programme was paid directly from the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) to the beneficiaries. He further explained that the register with the names, account numbers and Bank Verification Numbers (BVNs) of the beneficiaries was at the National Directorate of Employment (NDE) and could be verified. Senator Godiya Akwashiki (Nasarawa North) who chaired the committee on Labour in the NInth Senate appealed to the Senate to allow Keyamo to bow and go, having apologised. Senator Ali Ndume (Borno South) moved a motion that the Senate accept the Keyamo’s apology, which the Senate accepted and the ministerial nominee exited the stage. Keyamo’s screening marked the final interview of all 48 cabinet members nominated by President Bola Tinubu.

  The West African Examinations Council (WAEC) has announced the release of the results for the 2023 West African Senior School Certificate Examination (WASSCE). Announcing the result in Lagos on Monday, WAEC’s Head of Nigeria’s Office, Patrick Areghan said out of a total of 1,613,733 candidates that sat for the examination, 1,476,565 candidates, representing 91.5% have their results fully processed and released. He added that results of 137,168 candidates, representing 8.5% have a few of their subjects still being processed “due to some shortcomings, non-challant, lethargy, incomplete CASS upload, disobedience of rubrics, etc associated with the schools and candidates concerned.” The WAEC boss, however, said that efforts are being made to complete the resolution process to enable all the affected candidates to speedily get their results fully processed and released within the next couple of days. Areghan announced an improvement in pass rate by candidates as a total of 1,361,608 candidates, representing 84.38 per cent, obtained credit and above in a minimum of five subjects with or without English Language or Mathematics. Candidates numbering 1,287,920, representing 79.81 per cent of the total candidates, also obtained credits and above in a minimum of five subjects including English Language and Mathematics. Meanwhile, WAEC hinted that The results of 262,803 candidates, representing 16.29% of the total number of candidates that sat the examination, are being withheld in connection with various reported cases of examination malpractice. The exam body said this is 6.54% lower than the 22.83% recorded in the WASSCE for School Candidates, 2022.

  Governor Godwin Obaseki of Edo State says the lawsuit instituted by his deputy, Philip Shaibu, to stop impeachment moves against him is a pre-emptive action to enable him join another party while retaining his position as deputy governor. Obaseki spoke for the first time since Shaibu filed a suit to stop an alleged move by the governor to impeach his deputy over their irreconcilable differences. “There is no timetable yet for the Edo election, it will come later in the year. So, I believe that this action by him is just a pre-emptive move to get a court order to keep his position while he now moves to the other party to get the ticket. “And I think it’s unfair on our party, it’s unfair on the state that we don’t need this sort of crisis and two our state is not being represented well locally and internationally. I have been getting calls from all over the world. “It is rather sad that somebody who is part of an administration would do this to the administration he has been part of just because of his own personal ambition,” Obaseki said. On Friday, Justice Ahmed Mohammed of the Federal High Court, Abuja, granted a temporary order while ruling in a motion on notice filed by Shaibu praying the court to stop the move to ease him out of office by his principal. In the ruling, Justice Mohammed directed the parties in the suit to maintain status quo. The order for the status quo is to be in force till the time the defendants shall show cause as directed in another ruling of the court made on July 27th, 2023. Justice Mohammed subsequently adjourned the hearing in the matter till August 10 and ordered that the IGP, SSS, and Obaseki who were not represented in court be served with hearing notices.

  The Senate on Monday finally concluded the screening of 45 of the 48 ministerial nominees of President Bola Tinubu, confirming them as cabinet members after a week of intense grilling for some and cursory introductions for others. Senate President Godswill Akpabio put the nominations to a series of voice votes, of which all but three were approved. The remaining nominees, including former Governor of Kaduna State Nasir El-Rufai, Stella Okotete (Delta State), and Abubakar Danladi (Taraba State), are said to still be undergoing security clearance. The confirmation of others comes over a week after Tinubu’s transmission of a 28-member list to the red chamber for confirmation on July 27. Last Monday, the Senate screened former governor of Rivers State Nyesom Wike; Abubakar Kyari of Borno State; Nkiruka Onyejeocha (Abia State); Bello Muhammad (Sokoto State); Sani Abubakar Danladi (Taraba State); and Badaru Abubakar (Jigawa State). Others are Joseph Utsev (Benue State), Olubunmi Tunji Ojo (Ondo State), Betta Edu (Cross River State), Uju Kennedy Ohaneye (Anambra State), Abubakar Momoh (Edo State), John Enoh (Cross River State), Iman Suleiman Ibrahim (Nasarawa State), and Yusuf Maitama Tuggar (Bauchi State). The Senate on Tuesday screened ex-governors Nasir El-Rufai (Kaduna) and Dave Umahi (Ebonyi); Wale Edun, Uche Nnaji, Stella Okotete, Adebayo Adelabu, Ekperikpe Ekpo, Hannatu Musawa, and Musa Dangiwa. The following day, the red chamber screened Dele Alake, Lateef Fagbemi and Muhammad Idris, Ali Pate, and Doris Uzoka. Tinubu went on to send a supplementary list of 19 nominees to the Senate last Wednesday. Two days later, the President withdrew the nomination of Maryam Shetty of Kano State from the list, replacing her with Festus Keyamo and Mariya Mahmoud. On Friday, the Senate screened Zephaniah Jisalo, Shuaibu Audu, Yusuf Sununu, Bello Matawalle, Alkali Saidu, Ahmed Gwarzo, Atiku Bagudu, Simon Lalong, Ibrahim Gaidam, Aliu Abdullahi, Gboyega Oyetola, Heineken Lokpobiri and Tunji Alausa. The screening continued at Senate on Saturday with Lola Ade-John, Bosun Tijani, Isiak Salako, Tahir Mamman, and Maigari Ahmadu. The exercise concluded today with the screening of Mahmoud and then Keyamo.

  The court of appeal in Lagos has nullified the judgment of a federal high court which restrained the federal government from further registering marriages within some local government councils in the country. In a suit marked FHC/ LS/CS/816/18, Eti Osa LGA of Lagos state had taken the ministry of interior to court, challenging its power to operate marriage registries, conduct weddings and issue marriage certificates. Other plaintiffs in the suit include Egbor LGA, Edo state; Owerri Municipal LGA, Imo state; and Port Harcourt City LGA, Rivers state. Delivering judgment on December 8, 2021, Daniel Osiagor, a federal high court judge, agreed that local governments are statutorily empowered to conduct weddings and issue certificates.   The high court judge restrained the minister of interior and/or either by his privies, agents or delegates from further registering marriages contracted or celebrated under the Marriage Act, Cap. M6 Laws of the Federation of Nigeria (LFN), 2004, within the plaintiffs’ local government areas. Dissatisfied with the judgment, the ministry of interior approached the court of appeal. The court of appeal in its judgement delivered on August 2, held that federal and local government councils have the legal authority to celebrate, contract and register marriages between prospective couples. A three-member panel of the court held that no tier of government has the exclusive preserve to contract and celebrate marriages between prospective couples. “I am therefore of the considered view that the restriction imposed by the lower court directing the 1st Cross Respondent to only conduct, celebrate and contract marriages in the marriage registries situated at Ikoyi, Lagos, and Federal Capital Territory Abuja is wrong and erroneous,” the court held.

  An angry mob have beaten a yet-to-be-identified policeman to a stupor after a man identified simply as Yusuf got rammed by a BRT bus from the impact of being allegedly pushed by policemen in the Ketu area of Lagos State. The PUNCH gathered from eyewitnesses at the scene that the policeman and his colleagues were attempting to dispossess Yusuf of his vehicle when he got pushed into the BRT lane.   In the process, one of the BRT buses plying the lane inward Lagos rammed into Yusuf who collapsed due to the impact of the crash. Speaking with our correspondent, an eyewitness, who does not want her name mentioned, said the policemen were responsible for Yusuf’s ordeal, adding that he sustained varying degrees of injury as a result of the incident. “The policemen caused this; they were the ones that were trying to dispossess the man of his vehicle and while trying to push the man out of the vehicle, they pushed him on the BRT lane and an incoming bus ran into the man,” the eyewitness said.   Another eyewitness, whose name could not be ascertained as he hastily spoke with our correspondent when the scene got rowdy, said the policemen, after realising that Yusuf had been crushed by the BRT, attempted to flee the scene but an angry mob apprehended one of them. He said, “It was people that beat the policeman till he fainted. He has not died because I still observed that he was breathing. People were annoyed about what they did to that man. death at Ondo check point Nigerian Navy protecting naval officers who murdered my father — Late policeman’s son “The man sustained serious injuries, look at him lying unconscious on the floor and his blood on the road.” Our correspondent observed as people rushed to the rescue of Yusuf who was seen lying motionless on the BRT lane. While some people were seen pouring water on him to make him regain consciousness, our correspondent observed as policemen attached to the Ketu Divisional Police Station attempted to rescue their colleague who also lay motionless on the ground. The uniform of the brutalised policeman had been torn due to the impact of the attack on him by the angry mob. People were also seen lamenting over the incident and blaming the policeman and his colleagues for causing the accident. However, while assessing the injuries Yusuf sustained from the impact of the accident, our correspondent saw a deep cut on his right arm as people rushed him into a vehicle for onward treatment in a hospital. Policemen attached to the Ketu Division were seen storming the scene to restore normalcy. The yet-to-be-identified policeman was also rushed to the hospital for treatment. Contacted, the state Police Public Relations Officer, SP Benjamin Hundeyin, said he would get back to our correspondent but had yet to do so as of the time this report was filed