Presidential Candidate of Labour Party in the 2023 election, Peter Obi, has described the judiciary as the biggest danger to democracy in Nigeria. Obi stated that there has been a decline in the judiciary, stressing that the problem of the country is not the electoral body, the Independent National Electoral Commission. The former Anambra State Governor made this known during the fifth memorial of late Justice Anthony Aniagolu at the Godfrey Okoye University, Enugu. Obi said there is an urgent need for revitalisation of the Nigerian judiciary, saying all other institutions depend on it for the country to thrive. He said: “While the judiciary, today, still boasts of a few outstanding judges, there is an undeniable decline in our judicial system. This decline poses a significant threat to the future of Nigeria. Justice is increasingly commodified, and delivered in favour of the highest bidder. “Whenever democracy is discussed, fingers point to the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) as the problem. “But INEC is not the problem. Instead, the judiciary is. The judiciary is the biggest threat to Nigeria. If our judiciary is effective, our businesses will thrive.” Speaking about the rule of law, the ex-governor said, “When the rule of law is compromised, the most vulnerable members of society are disproportionately affected. And the fabric of our society begins to fray. The integrity of our institutions, the protection of human rights, and the stability of our nation are all jeopardised. “The rule of law is the highest intangible and most valuable asset of any society. And we must work tirelessly to protect and preserve it. We must prioritise the pursuit of justice above all else. “I emphasised the urgent need to revitalise our judicial system by safeguarding its independence and promoting the values of character, competence, capability, compassion, and integrity among our jurists, as well as within our political leadership. “By doing so, we can ensure justice and fairness prevail as we endeavour to build a better Nigeria for all. “Nigeria has become a country where anything goes. There is no rule of law and almost no judiciary. Everybody could be pushed down because there is no rule of law. “Because the judiciary has become commercialised and depends on how much one pays, it has become difficult to get true justice in the judiciary. At any point in time where the judiciary is not working, the society suffers.”

  The Pharmacy Council of Nigeria, PCN has arrested two people and shut down 501 medicine shops in the Jos-Bukuru metropolis over diverse offences ranging from sales of medicine in the open markets, illegal operation, engaging in clinical practices among others. The PCN Director of Enforcement, Pharmacist Stephen Esumobi who spoke with journalists in Jos lamented the poor handling of medicines saying some are stored in the residential homes, clothes shops and other unhealthy places hence the need to sanitize the medicine shops. He stated that, “One of our core mandates is ensuring rational distribution and dispensing of the medicines that are safe, effective and of good quality at all levels of the healthcare delivery system in Nigeria. “For medicines to achieve optimal therapeutic outcomes, they must maintain their physico-chemical and therapeutic properties as they transit from the manufacturer or importer through the various levels of the distribution chain to the end users. “One of the major factors affecting the quality of medicines in the medicine supply chain in Plateau State and other parts of Nigeria is the sale of medicines in the open markets and other unregistered locations.” He added that, The enforcement team of PCN was in the State in 2022 and several premises were sealed while compliance directives were issued, however, information available through our surveillance team indicates that some premises are yet to take steps to comply while new illegal outlets are emerging in several locations. “The Enforcement team has been in the State from 13th to 16th May 2024 and visited premises within the State capital and environs. At the end of the exercise, a total of 701 premises were visited, this comprises of 167 pharmacies, 224 patent medicine shops and 310 illegal premises. A total of 501 premises were sealed. “The premises sealed include 74 pharmacies, 117 patent medicine shops, and 310 illegal medicine shops. They were sealed for offenses ranging from sales of medicine in the open drug markets, operating without registration with the PCN, non-renewal of premises certificates, non-Pharmacists having access and dispensing controlled medicines, stocking and sale of medicines above the approved medicine list for patent medicine vendors. “Engaging in clinical practices, poor documentation, poor storage facilities, stocking of ethical products without the supervision of a Pharmacist, among others and 14 compliance directives were issued. We are strengthening our States and Zonal offices to properly position them to carry out our regulatory mandate to ensure that Nigerians access medicines that are safe, effective and of good quality at all times and in all locations.”

  Uju Kennedy-Ohanenye, minister of women affairs, says the planned marriage of 100 girls in Niger state has been suspended. Kennedy-Ohanenye spoke in Abuja on Friday after meeting with Abdulmalik Sarkindaji, speaker of the Niger state house of assembly. The meeting was also attended by Mohammed Mu’azu, Emir of Kotangora. BACKGROUND Sarkindaji had last week said he would sponsor the wedding ceremony of the girls on May 24 as part of his constituency obligations. The development sparked controversy on social media, with many saying the speaker should have channelled the money into giving the girls an education or skills. On Monday, Kennedy-Ohanenye stepped into the matter and asked the speaker to halt his plans or face legal action. The minister said she had petitioned the inspector-general of police (IGP) and sought a court injunction to stop the planned wedding. Sarkindaji subsequently cancelled his participation in the event and asked the minister to take over. The speaker said the parents and guardians of the girls, most of whom are orphans, could do whatever they wished with the resources he had provided. ‘WE’VE MADE PEACE’ Addressing journalists after the meeting, the minister said she and Sarkindaji have reconciled their differences and are now partnering to seek better alternatives for the girls. Kennedy-Ohanenye said she secured an injunction from the Minna high court to restrain the organisers from proceeding with the wedding. She added that “the court injunction still subsists till we resolve all grey areas”. “I want to let you know that as I speak to you now, I’m at peace with my royal father, Emir of Kontagora, Mohammed Bara’u Mu’azu, and I am in good terms with my brother, the Speaker. We have made peace,” Kennedy-Ohanenye said. The emir also said he has suspended the proposed wedding and pledged his emirate’s willingness to partner with the ministry to provide a new lease of life for the girls. ‘EDUCATION, PHONES, HUGE MACHINES’ — MINISTER LISTS PLANS FOR MARIGA GIRLS Kennedy-Ohanenye said, for a start, there will be a meeting with the girls to discuss their individual needs and preferences. She said her ministry has taken “the entire village as a job,” promising to extend the opportunities for education and skill acquisition beyond the 100 girls to other orphans. The minister described herself as a “protective mother hen” who is committed to defending the rights and safety of the vulnerable girls under her care. “So, I have no problem with anybody. I have no problem with any religion, all I want to say is please don’t tamper with my children, don’t tamper with my women,” she said. “My brother, the Speaker came to my office, and we have partnered (ministry of women affairs and the Speaker) to empower these women. “The ones that want to go to school, we will send them to school. This ministry has taken up this village now as a job, and I am promising Nigerians. I am going to empower them with sustainable economic empowerment. “By talking to them, I will know the kind of things they like to farm, and I will give them huge machines. If it is rice, beans, or corn, I will put one for a whole village to manage themselves and onboard them in the system on our portal. “And whatever the federal government is doing for every other person, all of them will get it. “I will go to the extent of giving them small phones—at least one in each family—to enable them to communicate and get involved in the portal so that they will be like every other woman. “Because the speaker told me a lot of things concerning the village, like how they are always tormented by the bandits, everybody ends up there. If bandits want to hide, they end up there. “But I am going to send them to this particular community, and these children will be able to go to school. We will empower them, teach them skills, and give them what to start off their skills with. “I will equally help them on marketing whatever they will make out of their skills. We shall not, we will not abandon them. “We are now working together to make sure we better the lives of these girls, not just the 100 girls but all the orphans, all the people that have been affected by this banditry and the insecurity we used to have before.” The minister said her position on the matter reflects the wishes of President Bola Tinubu and thanked Nigerians for supporting her initiatives.

  The Police Service Commission boss, Dr Solomon Arase has dragged a journalist of the International Center for Investigative Journalism (ICIR), Nurudeen Akewushola over alleged defamation. In a statement on Friday by Ikechukwu Ani, Police Service Commission Head, Press and Public Relations, Arase also sued an ICIR editor, Victoria Bamas and it’s executive director, Dayo Aiyetan. The statement reads, “the attention of the Chairman of the Police Service Commission, Dr. Solomon Arase, CFR, retired Inspector General of Police has been drawn to reports in the media that the Nigeria Police Force has invited one Mr. Nurudeen Akewushola, a staff of the International Centre for Investigative Reporting (ICIR) over his published defamatory reports against the person of the PSC Chairman. “The invitation was allegedly at the instance of the Nigeria Police Force National Cybercrime Centre (NPF-NCCC). “It is instructive to state that Dr. Arase had instructed his solicitors immediately his attention was drawn to the publication to act on his behalf. His solicitors in a letter dated 23rd February 2024 to Mr. Nurudeen Akewushola, Victoria Bamas and Mr. Dayo Aiyetan, the writer, editor and Executive Director respectively, all of ICIR and copies of the letters delivered to them and to the Chairman, Secretary and Members of the Board of Trustees of the company. “In the letters, the Solicitors complained of the words written of and concerning Dr.Arase as being without justification and devoid of truth as the words were calculated to bring him to contempt, ridicule and odium. Accordingly, the solicitors demanded inter alia, for immediate retraction of the said defamatory publication within a timeline, failure of which the Solicitors notified the recipients of those letters that Dr. Arase would seek redress in court. “Dr.Arase has by a writ of summons dated 22nd day of March, 2024 and filed 5th April, 2024 instituted at the Federal Capital Territory High Court, a civil action in Suit No. CV/1937/2024 against Mr. Nurudeen Akewushola, Victoria Bamas, Mr. Dayo Aiyetan and Registered Trustees of International Centre for Investigative Reporting (ICIR). The matter has been assigned to a court of competent jurisdiction for hearing. “While the Nigeria Police Force, like other security agencies, are entitled to carry out investigation of any matter which in their opinion has criminal elements, it is pertinent to state emphatically that by the pedigree of the former Inspector General of Police as a Legal Practitioner, Doctor of Philosophy in Law, and currently presiding over the Police Service Commission, he is law-abiding, and has since instituted a civil action to challenge the heinous defamatory words published and concerning him in order to redeem his esteemed reputation by seeking appropriate reliefs. Ani noted that Arase will refrain from publicly discussing this matter in the media or in any other way unlawfully entangling it with police powers. Recall that the International Centre for Investigative Reporting, on Thursday, expressed concerns over an invitation letter addressed to one of its journalists, Nurudeen Akewushola, and the organisation’s “managing directors” by the Nigeria Police Force National Cybercrime Centre. The organisation said the letter from the police, which it received on Wednesday, May 15, 2024, was dated April 16, 2024, and the journalist was expected to report to the cybercrime centre on April 24, 2024, about three weeks before the organisation got the letter. According to the ICIR, the police said they were investigating a case of cyberstalking and defamation of character in which the journalist “featured prominently.” The organisation said the invitation lacked details, urging the police to rewrite its letter and provide adequate details. It also raised the alarm about “the growing trend of the crackdown on journalists by security operatives using the Cybercrimes Act, despite a recent amendment to the legislation following public outcry that it was being manipulated to stifle free speech and harass journalists.” According to ICIR, the police invitation to the journalist read: “You are requested to interview the Director of the Nigeria Police Force National Cybercrime Centre (NPF-NCCC) plot 625 Mission Road, Diplomatic Zone, Central Business District, Abuja through CSP Omaka Udodinma Chukwu on Wednesday, April 24, 2024. Call 08067854241 on your arrival. Your cooperation in this regard will be highly appreciated, please.” When Punch contacted on Thursday evening, the Director of the Nigeria Police Force-National Cyber Crime Centre, Uche Ifeanyi, defended the invitation of the journalist, saying there was a petition against the media house. “There is a case against them that they have to come and answer,” Ifeanyi said. When asked why the invitation got to the organisation late, he said the ICIR was in the best position to answer that. “They should be able to answer that question,” he told The PUNCH in a telephone interview. “Since there is a police invitation, they should honour the invitation,” he added, noting that there was no law stating that journalists should not be invited. “There is no how they will know the details if they don’t come. If there is an invitation, it means it’s official,” he insisted without providing further details. Meanwhile, in its statement, the ICIR said there were no details of the petition that led to the investigations for cyberstalking and defamation of character, as this would have helped the reporter better prepare for the interview with the police. The organisation, however, said it suspected the invitation was related to an investigative report done by the journalist in question, Akewushola. “The report indicted two former Inspectors-General of Police of corruption. One of the two former IGPs threatened The ICIR with a lawsuit and was rebuffed. We believe that the same person is now using the police, which should be interested in holding him to account on the basis of our reporting, to harass our reporter,” the ICIR said. The media organisation, therefore, requested that a new letter be provided by the police addressing the concerns raised. “As a law-abiding organisation that holds power to account, we are always willing to submit to accountability and would honour lawful invitations from law enforcement agencies but we have written to

  There was pandemonium at the National Assembly when the Department of State Service (DSS) manhandled two senior staff of the assembly in Abuja, on Friday. Trouble started when the two staff – John Nnadi of the Senate Committee on Petroleum (Downstream) and Chris Odoh, a Deputy Director – were trying to navigate through the gate linking the Senate new building and white House. Eye witnesses said the staff simply flashed their ID cards, while the DSS operatives had asked them to identify themselves properly. Following this, the DSS halted their movement and manhandled them in the process. Efforts to stop the DSS from manhandling the staff proved abortive as more personnel joined to physically deal with the staff. An eyewitness said the DSS personnel forcefully dragged Nnadi and Odoh to their office within the National Assembly Complex, a development that attracted the attention of passersby and staff of the United Bank Bank for Africa (UBA), Senate Committee on Public Accounts and journalists from the Senate Press Centre whose offices were along the way. Angered by the embarrassing treatment, staff of the National Assembly from various offices at the White House including the Mace bearer in the Senate, gathered in front of the DSS office and threatened to take the matter up if their colleagues were not released. But the DPO in the National Assembly, Alex Annagu and Deputy Clerk to the Senate (Legislative), Mrs Ilobah Isabella, hurriedly rushed to the scene to calm frayed nerves.

  The African Development Bank (AfDB) says it plans to support Nigeria’s power sector with a $1 billion policy-based operation (PBO) fund to boost electricity. Policy-based lending provides countries with flexible, liquid funding to support policy reforms in a particular sector. Kevin Kariuki, AfDB vice-president, power, energy, climate change and green growth complex, revealed the plans on May 16 at the Eight Africa Energy MarketPlace (AEMP) Forum in Abuja. The theme of the forum is titled ‘Towards Nigeria’s Sustainable Energy Future: Policy, Regulation, and Investment – A Policy Dialogue for the National Integrated Electricity Policy and Strategic Implementation Plan (NIEP-SIP)’. “We will be shortly seeking board approval for a $1 billion policy-based operation (PBO) with a significant energy component,” he said. “This is aimed at supporting the ongoing power sector reforms triggered by the new Electricity Act. “The timing of the AEMP and the proposed policy-based lending focused on the energy sector is, therefore, not coincidental.” Kariuki said AfDB will fund the policy recommendations to actualise the expected outcomes from the NIEP-SIP. He said effective policies attract long-term investments and that an enabling environment maximises the value of existing investments, such as the $256.2 million Nigeria transmission expansion project (NTEP). According to Kariuki, the project will include the construction of 500 kilometres (KM) of transmission lines and four substations with a capacity of over 1000 megavolt-amperes (MVA). “And the $200 million Nigeria electrification project, which will build 150 mini-grids,” he said.   “Moreover, we are financing a study for the Transmission Company of Nigeria (TCN) to explore the deployment of battery energy storage systems to enhance grid stability and facilitate greater uptake of renewable energy generation. “Nigeria is part of our flagship $20 billion Desert to Power Initiative, which aims to generate 10,000 megawatts (MW) of solar power across 11 countries in the Sahel region to provide power to 250 million Africans.” According to Kariuki, this bodes well for increasing the proportion of renewable energy in Nigeria’s energy mix. He said the multifaceted approach of supporting policy development, financing critical power sector infrastructure, and providing technical assistance and capacity building would be successful. Kariuki expressed confidence that AfDB’s partnership with the federal government would create a viable and sustainable power sector that yields the desired result.