Buhari approves Justice Akanbi’s compulsory retirement

Buhari approves Justice Akanbi’s compulsory retirement

President Muhammadu Buhari has approved the compulsory retirement of Justice Lambo Akanbi of the Federal High Court, Port-Harcourt division with immediate effect for misconduct.
It was learnt that the President’s approval followed a recommendation by the National Judicial Council (NJC) after its 74 meeting, held on November 4 and 5 this year.
NJC’s Acting Director, Information, Soji Oye, who confirmed this in a statement yesterday, said Justice Akanbi was fired over various allegations leveled against him by Shell Petroleum Company Nigeria Limited in its petition to the NJC.
Shell was said to have accused Akanbi of unilaterally appointing one Mr. Emeka Nkwo of CYN-JAC (NIG) LTD who was not proposed by any of the parties as referee or valuer in Suit Nos FHC/PH/CS/434/2012 and FHC/PH/CS/435/2012.
“He also appointed the same referee or valuer in Suit FHC/PH/CS/25/2003, which is another matter involving one of the parties in the first suit.
“He heard and concluded the case without dealing with the Notice of Preliminary Objection on the Jurisdiction of his Court.
“He sat on the case in the Federal High Court; Yenagoa in Suit FHC/YNG/CS/30/2013 after a new Judge had been transferred to the state without a fiat from the Hon. Chief Judge of the Federal High Court.
“The judge also delivered the ruling in suit No: FHC/PH/CS/07/2009, four months after final addresses were taken without any cogent reason contrary to the constitutional provisions that Judgment should be delivered within a period of 90 days.
“Justice Akanbi also dismissed the application to set aside the report prepared by the valuer, CYN – JAC (NIG) LTD and later changed the juling to judgement which prevented the respondent from pursuing the application for stay of proceedings at the Court of Appeal.
“That Hon. Justice Akanbi also failed to give a copy of his Ruling delivered on 12 June, 2013 to the complainant until 28 June, 2013.
“In the exercise of its constitutional powers, at the same meetings of 4 and 5 November, 2015, Council had suspended Hon. Justice Lambo Akanbi from office before the approval for his compulsory retirement by President Muhammadu Buhari, GCFR,” Oye said.
Justice Akanbi featured prominently in the dispute between then Governor Rotimi Amaechi and the NJC over the appointment of a Chief Judge in Rivers State, which led to the closure of the state’s court for over a year.
He gave a judgment which was at variance with the position taken by the NJC in the matter.

French Police kill three suspects in Saint-Denis raid

French Police kill three suspects in Saint-Denis raid

Three suspects linked to Friday’s deadly attacks in Paris died after French police raided two separate sites in Saint-Denis, a northern suburb of the French capital, sources told Al Jazeera .

The suspects were shot by police, the sources said, as Reuters news agency reported that a female suspect killed herself by detonating a vest rigged with explosives.
The identity of the casualties was not immediately released. However, French media said the target of the operation was Belgian national Abdelhamid Abaaoud, a key suspect of Friday’s attacks , in which at least 129 people were killed.
Another suspect, Salah Abdeslam, was also said to be a target in the raids.
Police said some of the suspects were holed up in an apartment in the suburb early on Wednesday. Three police officers were wounded in an initial shootout, sources told Al Jazeera.
Residents of the area in northern Paris first reported hearing bursts of gunfire at 4:30am (3:30 GMT), as police exchanged fire with one or more suspects.
After a short lull in the operation, at least seven explosions were heard at 6:30 GMT, Al Jazeera’s Jacky Rowland reported from the scene.
Heavily armed special police units and ambulances were gathering at the scene as a helicopter was hovering over the area, Al Jazeera’s Rowland reported.
“Saint-Denis is a relatively poor area, housing many immigrants. It is near the area of the national stadium Stade de France, where suicide bombers claimed several lives during Friday’s attacks,” Rowland said.
Police were telling onlookers to clear the vicinity of the operation and blocked off a street in the area, as ambulances and fire engines lined the streets a stone’s throw from the centre of Saint-Denis.

Al Jazeera

Two Senators in Hot Exchange over Composition of Committees

Senators Kabiru Marafa, Adamu Wakili In Hot Exchange Over Composition Of Committees

Two senators - Kabiru Marafa (Zamfara Central) and Ali Wakili (Bauchi Central) – on Tuesday engaged in a hot exchange to the extent of dragging each other’s attires after the former was ruled out of order at the plenary by Senate President Bukola Saraki.
Marafa had raised a point of order to press home his demand for the reconstitution of the new committees following his submission last week that the manner of the composition violated provisions in Senate Standing Orders.
But he was ruled out of order by Saraki after referring Marafa to Order 53(6) of the Senate rules which provides that reference shall not be made to any matter that had already been concluded.
Having been ruled out of order, Marafa walked out of the chamber to brief the press on his grievances but he was followed to the chamber by Wakili who was vehement to stop him from briefing the press.
The move led to hot exchange between them resulting in both of them dragging each other’s attires. Below are the details of the episode:
Wakili: You have come here to disgrace the Senate again. Is this what you want to do for the next four years?
Marafa: I will, I will. Because I am not working for you.
Wakili: You cannot sit down there and fight against the Senate.
Marafa: I am representing Nigeria and representing my people. And let me tell you, even the nonsense thing they are saying about suspension, nobody can suspend a senator.
Wakili: You are playing to the gallery. You are playing your script. Who has ever spoken about your suspension?
Marafa: Let us talk about issues.
Wakili: I have discussed all these your issues in today’s Mirror.
Marafa: Mirror, which kind Mirror? Let us do it (address journalists).
Wakili: Newspaper.
Marafa: Who, my own?
Wakili: Yes.
Marafa: Ku samun Mirror (Get me National Mirror). I will respond to it. We raised issues. And we give orders (rules) and point of constitution order.
Wakili: That is not what your constituency sent you here (to do).
Marafa: Are you one of them?
Wakili: We are talking of poverty, education. You are wasting your energy here on useless point of order. I am warning you.
Marafa: It is not useless. You can’t say that order is useless.
Wakili: I will go to your constituency and see what you have done there.
Marafa: Go back. I will go to your own. I was in politics before you when you were wearing uniform (both senators started dragging each other’s attire at this point).
Wakili: Gentlemen of the press, there are issues bedevilling this country.... (Marafa interrupts him).
Marafa: Even if you are not God-fearing, because they made you chairman, a bloody newcomer chairman of a committee. That is why you are talking this way. I am not doing anybody’s game plan. I am speaking the minds of Nigerians.
Wakili: Come, you are a storm in the Senate teacup and a gadfly.
Marafa: I told you I was in politics when you were wearing uniform (still dragging Wakili’s attire).
Wakili: Leave me, look at it. That is not the issue. How old are you?
Marafa: It doesn’t matter.
Wakili: Let go.
Marafa: (Talking to journalists). He said he raised issues in National Mirror. Let him say the issues. I will respond to them here.
Wakili: You see, your experience has not helped you. It (Senate rules) says that where such a matter has been decided, you cannot raise it again.
Marafa: That is nonsense!

Illegality of stay of proceedings in FRN v Saraki - Falana

Illegality of stay of proceedings in FRN v Saraki - Falana 

On May 13, 2015, President Goodluck Jonathan signed the Administration of Criminal Justice Bill into law. Both chambers of the national assembly had passed the bill to modernise our criminal justice system. In particular,  the law has abolished stay of proceedings and interlocutory appeals by merging all  preliminary objections with the substative case in any criminal case instituted  in a federal court in the country. The revolutionary intervention of the law was occasioned by the unending trial of politically exposed persons in corruption cases. In fact, the last straw that broke the carmel's back was the case of Mohammed Abacha v FRN which had been stalled for 12 years on account of the preliminary objections raised and argued from the high court to the apex court by the defence counsel, Mr. J. B. Daudu SAN.  At the end of the Isralite's journey the Supreme Court ordered that the trial be commenced de novo at the federal capital territory high court. Having been completely frustrated in the circumstance, the federal government was compelled to discontinue Mr. Abacha's corruption charge of N664 billion under the pretext that the case would be "amicably" resolved!

Before then, the Lagos State government had been forced to abolish stay of proceedings in criminal trials following the prosecution of Major Hamza Al Mustapha over the murder of Mrs Kudirat Abiola. The trial had lasted 13 years on account of several preliminary objections and interlocutory appeals which were pursued from the High Court to the Supreme Court. Contrary to the misleading view of many senior lawyers that the abolition of stay of proceedings in criminal trials is illegal it has been judicially decided that statutes which oust the jurisdiction of courts to stay proceedings are constitutionally valid. In FRN v Nwude (2006) 2 EFCCLR 149 at 161 it was held by Oyewole J. (as he then was) that section 40 of the Economic and Financial Crimes Act, 2004 which abolished stay of proceedings is not an infraction of the powers of the court. According to his lordship,"inherent powers of the court only come into play in the absence of express statutory provisions and the court then fills in thr gap by invoking its inherent powers to do justice in a given case....the intention of the legislature in this instance is to remove impediments in the way of the adminstration of justice." Similarly, in Ajiboye v FRN (2013) 17 WRN 127 at 145 the Court of Appeal (per Ogbuniya JCA) struck out the application for stay of proceedings on the ground that it was incompetent "in the face of the sacrosant prescription of section 40 of the Act which clearly ousted the jurisdiction of the court over it."

It is trite law that jurisdiction oxygenetes all proceedings in our courts. Accordingly, the exercise of judicial powers by any court without jurisdiction is bound to end in a nullity, regardless of the industry invested in it. With  the enactment of the AJCA, the supension of criminal cases  by all accused persons has been effectively stopped in Nigeria.  Therefore, any judge who orders a stay f proceedings in any criminal trial does so illegally and is liable to be sanctioned by the National Judicial Council. It is unfathomable that the Supreme Court  decided to return the country to the status quo ante in a rather  brazen and bizzaire manner. In view of the ouster clause contained  in section 306 of the AJCA, the Code of Conduct Tribunal ought not to have delivered its ruling in respect of the preliminary objections filed by Dr. Saraki. The ruling should have been read together with the judgment after the conclusion of the trial. It was the premature ruling of the Tribunal which led to the filing of an interlocutory appeal in the matter. Instead of delinining jurisdiction to entertain  the interlocutory appeal which has been  abolished by the AJCA,  the Court of Appeal ordered a suspension of the trial at the Code of Conduct Tribunal to await its decision. Although the Court of Appeal  eventually dismissed the appeal the trial of the substantive case at the Code of Conduct Tribunal has been further halted by the Supreme Court which has granted another stay of proceedings pending the hearing of the interlocutory appeal filed before it by the accused person.

However, it is  sad to note that in granting the order of stay of proceedings in the case   the apex court ignored the provisions of sections 306 and 396 of the Administration of Criminal Justice Act, 2015 . It was not a case of oversight or lack of knowledge of the existence of the AJCA on the part of the Court but a deliberate judicial decision to turn back the hand of the clock in the ongoing battle against corruption and impunity in the land. Curiously, some senior lawyers have endorsed the blatant violation of the law in the matter. I am disturbed that a progressive lawyer like Emeka Ngige SAN was reported to have justified the illegality of the order of stay of proceedings. No doubt, the prosecution and the defence counsel who are Senior Advocates of Nigeria cannot be exonerated in the mockery of the criminal justice system. By arguing preliminary objections which have been merged with the substantive case the senior counsel involved in the diversionary legal rigmarole overlooked the relevant provisions of the AJCA. Similarly, the members of the Code of Conduct  Tribunal and the Justices of the Appeal Court did not advert their minds to the combined effect of sections 306 and 396 of the AJCA.  In any case, one had expected the learned Justices of the Supreme Court to correct the litany of legal errors committed at the lower courts. But the errors were endorsed as the apex court decided to halt the trial without any legal justification whatsoever. The counsel to the federal government, Mr. Rotimi Jacobs SAN was even boxed to a corner by the Court to the extent that he had to undertake not to proceed with the trial at the Code of Conduct Trubunal pending the determination of the interlocutory appeal!

As a creation of the law the Supreme Court is bound by the law. So are the Justices of the Court. In Joseph Amashoma v The State (2011) 14 NWLR (pt 1268) 530, the honourable Justice John Fabiyi  held that "The appellant's counsel should be reminded of the doctrine of Separation of Powers as enshrined in the 1999 Constitution. The Legislature is to enact law while it is the duty of the Judiciary to interpret the law as enacted....There is no escape route." In the instant case, there was no escape route. Yet, the Supreme Court discountenanced the tenet of separation of powers by the deliberate refusal to limit itself to the interpretation of the relevant provisions of the AJCA. As the inherent powers of a Court cannot be invoked to supersede the extant provisions of a valid and subsisting legislation the Supreme Court ought to be challenged to justify the purported annulment of the clear and unambiguous provisions of the AJCA. With profound respect to the reverred members of the panel of the Court the order of stay of proceedings granted by them last week flies in the face  of  section 306 of the Administration of Criminal Justice Act, 2015 which provides that "An application for stay of proceedings in respect of a criminal matter before the court shall not be entertained." Indeed, ex abundanti cautela, section 396 thereof further provides that all preliminary objections "shall be considered along with the substantive issues and a ruling shall thereon be made at the time of the delivery of judgment." Apart from abolishing stay of proceedings the AJCA has effectively banned interlocutory appeals in criminal trials.

Therefore, the controversial ruling of the Supreme Court should not be allowed to stand because of its far-reaching implications and negative impact on the administration of criminal justice in the country. Since the ruling is  binding on all other courts  in line with the hallowed principle  of stare decisis the Supreme Court should take advantage of the substantive appeal in the Saraki's case to review  its position with a view to confirming the abolition  of stay of proceedings by section 306 of the AJCA. This clarification should be made, as soon as possible, in line with the letter and spirit of the AJCA. Otherwise, every accused person will continue to file interlocutory appeals and proceed to  ask for stay of proceedings pending the determination of such appeals. The application will have to be granted as the hands of either the trial court or the Court of Appeal would have been tied by the erroneous decision of the Supreme Court in the case of Saraki v FRN. The apex court is advised to distance itself from the antics of the influential agents of impunity in the legal profession who have

resolved to frustrate the trial of corruption cases by filing cumbrous motions and frivolous preliminary objections designed  to shield members of the ruling class from prosecution. Our judges should realise that the inglorious era of engaging in dilatory tactics in criminal trials by defence counsel  has been consigned to the dustbin of history.

SystemSpec Writes PMB, Says It Commenced TSA Collection In 2011, Never Received N25bn

SystemSpec Writes PMB, Says It Commenced TSA Collection In 2011, Never Received N25bn

.SystemSpecs, Banks Demand Payment of N7.6bn Processing Fee

• Cumulative collection of FG funds put at N1.5tn

• 1% service fee approved by OAGF in last administration • Agent ready to renegotiate terms

The controversy over the status of the processing fee approved for software firm, SystemSpecs, owner of the e-Payment and e-Collection platform, Remita, which serves as the gateway for the remittance of funds to the Treasury Single Account (TSA), has taken a new turn, as the service provider has petitioned President Muhammadu Buhari appealing that the fees earned for its services are paid.
Also, documents obtained by THISDAY and other government sources have shown that contrary to earlier reports, the controversial one per cent commission charged on the transfer of funds to the TSA was approved by the Office of the Accountant-General of the Federation (OAGF) in the last administration, and not by the immediate past Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) who is now the Emir of Kano, Alhaji Muhammad Sanusi II.

The 1 per cent commission, THISDAY also learnt does not solely belong to SystemSpecs but is shared by the firm which gets 50 per cent of the commission, CBN – 10 per cent, and the 22 commercial banks in the country – 40 per cent.
Although the exact amount, being the 1 per cent commission charged on TSA transfers, was not specified in the letter to the president, other documents, which consisted of correspondence between the service providers and other agencies of government, exclusively obtained by THISDAY from government sources, showed that as at October 28, the total refund by all the banks, CBN and SystemSpecs, following the presidential directive, was N7,628,925,165.16 and that since October 27, there were no new charges on subsequent transfers.

Last week, the Senate had ordered its joint Committees on Finance, Banking and Other Financial Institutions and Public Accounts to probe the allegation that the e-Collection agent, Remita, had been paid 25 billion, being the 1 per cent commission it charged for the transfer of N2.5 trillion of federal government funds to the TSA.

The motion, which was moved by Senator Dino Melaye and adopted by the Senate, held that the N25 billion payment was in gross violation of Section 162(1) of the 1999 Constitution which states that “the federation shall maintain a special account to be called the federation account into which all revenues collected by the government of the federation except the proceeds from the personal income tax of the personnel of the Armed Forces of the Federation, the Nigeria Police Force, the ministry or department of government charged with foreign affairs and the residents of the FCT, Abuja”.
However, THISDAY exclusively reported last Friday that Remita was not an agent or company, but the software platform used for the transfers, while SystemSpecs, whose Managing Director is Mr. John Obaro, is the owner of e-Payment/e-Collection solution.

The company’s website further revealed that the chairman of SystemSpecs is the former Director General of the Nigerian Broadcasting Commission, Dr. Christopher Kolade.
Other directors of the company include a former Executive Vice-Chairman of the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC), Mr. Ernest Ndukwe, Mr. Emmanuel Ocholi, Mr. ‘Deremi Atanda and Dr. Emmanuel Eze.
Remita, which was adopted by the CBN as the e-Payment and e-Collection platform of the federal government, is currently used by all the banks and over 400 microfinance banks nationwide.
A breakdown of the cumulative fee of N7.6 billion showed that SystemSpecs, the banks and CBN refunded various sums of N3.8 billion, N3.05 billion and N760.9 million respectively, in proportion to their share of the 1 per cent processing fee.
The documents also showed that the transfers to the TSA on the Remita platform as at October 27 was N836.7 billion when the commission was still being applied and over N200 billion from October 28 to date when the commission had ceased to be applied following the presidential directive.

An additional N500 billion was transferred to the TSA on the RTGS platform run by the CBN, bringing the cumulative transfers to N1.5 trillion, as exclusively reported by THISDAY.
This is a far cry from the N2.5 trillion and N25 billion paid as commission bandied on the floor of the Senate by Senator Melaye.
The documents also indicated that the management of SystemSpecs is currently under pressure from some banks who are calling for the immediate payment of their own share of the processing fee, with some of them threatening litigation.
In a letter to the president dated November 6 and signed by the Managing Director, SystemSpecs, which was made available by a government source, the company has warned of the serious consequences of the disruption in the services provided by the firm on the TSA.
In the letter, SystemSpecs, which said it sought for a meeting of all the stakeholders to iron out the grey areas on the processing fee, lamented that instead of an invitation for a stakeholders meeting as requested, the company received a directive from the CBN Governor Godwin Emefiele to refund all TSA e-collection fees earned to date and to suspend all charges on the platform.

The letter said: “SystemSpecs has since complied fully with this directive and refunded all monies earned to date to the CBN. This we did in good faith and without prejudice, to avoid distractions that could becloud the bigger potential of the TSA project for our country.
“While we await clarification from Office of the Accountant-General of the Federation/CBN on the way forward, we have since suspended all TSA e-collection fees on the platform. This means that none of the TSA collection parties/channels are earning any fees for providing services to government.”

The letter warned that this position was however not sustainable as the collection partner banks were threatening to suspend TSA collections, adding that the situation would clearly be playing into the hands of those who do not wish this initiative to succeed.
The letter disclosed that before SystemSpecs was engaged to implement the TSA project in 2011, as exclusively reported by THISDAY, CBN had written to OAGF that the project was not feasible for at least two years.

“The initial thinking then was to use the RIGGS to support TSA transactions before it was observed that the system was not built for retail and high volume transactions.”

In the bid to dispel speculations that the contract for the TSA might have been done from the back door, the company said in the letter that “when we signified our intention to provide a solution for TSA, we were told that the Nigeria Inter-bank Settlement System (NIBSS) had also shown interest and the decision of which platform to use was left to a joint evaluation committee comprising CBN and external consultants.

“Three times, we and NIBSS made competitive presentations to the joint evaluation committee. It was clear that the wholly Nigerian-developed Remita effectively addressed all the requirements expected by OAGF and its external consultants to support TSA’s e-payment and e-collection of government receipts”.

The documents also showed that SystemSpecs had exchanged letters with other relevant authorities, the CBN and the OAGF long before the Senate motion last week alleging that the implementation of the TSA had fetched the service provider a whooping N25 billion.

In the letter, SystemSpecs said it emphasised the need to review the processing fees in view of the impact of the large fees collected through Remita at the early stage of the implementation of TSA, which the company said was not representative of the typical regular collection flows.

However, instead of reviewing the fee as advised by SystemSpecs, CBN had directed the company in a letter dated October 27 to return all charges earned on the use of Remita collection platform.
The letter signed by CBN’s Director of Banking Supervision, Mr. Dipo Fatokun, read in part: “I have been directed to inform you that you should refund all charges (1per cent cost of collection) made into MDAs accounts as a result of the implementation of the TSA.

“The total amount should be credited into the account mentioned below: FGN Revenue a-Collection Pool Account at the Central Bank of Nigeria Account Number: 0020054161043.

“Since the cost of collection must have been shared by all the stakeholders, you are hereby required to also provide a schedule of the total amount collected and the portion that was shared to each of the three participants.

“The schedule should be prepared on month-by-month basis, from the commencement of the TSA implementation in March 2015, to date. We will recover the share to the CBN and the DMBs.

“Please note that you are required to comply with the above directive, latest, by Wednesday 28th October. 2015.”

Although it complied immediately, SystemSpecs also wrote a letter to the central bank on October 28, asking for the immediate return of their processing fees, claiming that the banks that were part of the process were already demanding their return.
The company further warned that the refund might affect banks’ support for the programme given the fact that they were still reeling from the impact of government funds’ withdrawal from their vaults.

The company recalled that it had expressed its willingness to renegotiate the terms of the agreement, adding however that it was not taken seriously by the CBN.

“We had even gone the extra mile by expressing willingness to renegotiate; twice, we requested in writing that a meeting be called to agree positions. This did not happen. We do not see why we should be penalised for this,” the letter read.

The documents recalled that between May 27 and 28, 2013, CBN and OAGF jointly organised a seminar with key stakeholders on the commencement of e-collections scheduled to start January 1, 2014.
SystemSpecs, according to the letter to the CBN, proposed total fees of one per cent; banks proposed total fees of five per cent as they would no longer be able to keep floats.

The letter added that thereafter, a committee set up to advise on fees recommended 2.5 per cent but that the Accountant General of the Federation overruled it and said they would pay one per cent and not 2.5 per cent. This decision, he said, was communicated to all the parties including the CBN, banks and SystemSpecs.

Obaro in the letter added that the company was invited to an impromptu meeting by the OAGF on September 14, and was told that in view of the enlarged scope of the TSA project which would now include the FAAC accounts, which are large, they would want the charges reviewed.

“On September 16, we wrote the CBN to give a brief of the meeting with OAGF and we said inter-alia: ‘While on our part, SystemSpecs is not averse to a review of the existing transactions fee to a figure that is agreeable to all parties, we would however advise of the need to carry along the DMBs as you will recall that the current fees was agreed with the banks and communicated by CBN via a circular in December 2013’,” the SystemSpecs boss stated in the letter.

However, one of the letters disclosed that the response of the CBN came on October 23 in form of a directive to Systemspecs to return all collection fees on this platform.

The company therefore expressed disappointment with the turn of event, stating in its letter to the CBN: “I must confess sir that we certainly feel victimised with the attempt to hold us responsible for a rate that was midwifed by the CBN and OAGF, agreed to by DMBs contracted with us and simply implemented on our system as agreed.”

Meanwhile, more facts have emerged on the appointment of SystemSpecs to provide the e-Payment and e-Collection solution for the remittance of government funds to the TSA.
CBN sources have disclosed that contrary to the perception created last week that the former CBN governor approved the contract, a top CBN official who worked closely with Sanusi disclosed that when the government wanted to start the TSA, an inter-departmental technical committee comprising the Ministry of Finance, the CBN and commercial banks was set up.

“It was this committee which screened and selected SystemSpecs to use its Remita software as the gateway for government revenues while the Accountant-General of the Federation approved the 1 per cent commission for SystemSpecs for their services in revenue collection. This was not approved by the CBN.

“Even though the Deputy Governor, Operations (Tunde Lemo) chaired the technical committee only the finance ministry can approve spending government money, the CBN is only a custodian.
“No part of this transaction came to Sanusi or was brought to his attention because as CBN governor he did not micromanage the central bank and these things did not need his approval or time,” he said.

It was also discovered that Lemo’s preference, as chairman of the inter-departmental committee, was to appoint NIBSS of which he was also its chairman in his capacity as the Deputy Governor, Operations in CBN.
But after the committee evaluated the presentations made by SystemSpecs and NIBSS, it was determined that the former had developed the platform for the e-Collection services that were required by the federal government and CBN while NIBSS did not have the software.

“SystemSpecs was selected through a competitive process because it showed it had the platform that was needed for the services. There was nothing untoward about the selection process and the committee approved it, following which the Accountant-General negotiated the commission downwards to 1 per cent,” the source explained.

Report from Thisday 

LASUTH performs first kidney transplant

LASUTH performs first kidney transplant

Lagos State University Teaching Hospital, LASUTH, yesterday joined the league of hospitals that offers kidney transplant services following a successful kidney transplant on a 56-year- old man in Lagos.
The life-saving procedure which took two and half hours was the first of its kind in the tertiary institution.

Speaking on the feat, the elated Chief Medical Director of the hospital, Prof. Wale Oke, said the successful kidney transplant was part of the state government’s promises to deliver excellent healthcare services to the people of Lagos State.

Oke revealed that prior to the surgery, several consultations were made to ensure that the patients were well selected to avoid complications after the exercise.

“But thank God today, both the donor and recipient are in sound health,” he said.

The Chief medical Director who assured Lagosians that the hospital would continue to bring such services in-country.

Speaking, leader of the transplant team, a Consultant Nephrologist, Dr. Jacob Awobusuyi, said the initiative was conceived three years ago.
Awobusuyi explained that gaining the confidence of the patients was very tough but after the operation, they were both excited.

“Before the operation, both the 56-year-old recipient and the 26-year-old donor who was the patient’s nephew expressed concern. But after the operation they were both fine,” he said.

30 years After, Court Awards N500m to King Sunny Ade Over Rights Infringement

40 years After, Court Awards N500m to King Sunny Ade Over Rights Infringement

Thirty years after after he took record manufacturing company, African Songs and its subsidiary Take your choice stores to court, popular musician, Chief Sunday Adeniyi Adegeye (King Sunny Ade ), was yesterday awarded N500 million as damages, for the infringing of his works with additional cost N3 million for prosecuting the suit.

The two companies were ordered to pay the sum by Justice James Tsoho of the Federal High Court in Lagos, while delivering judgment in the suit first instituted by the musician in 1975. 

Sunny Ade had stated in his statement of claim that in 1975, a contract dispute arose between him and the two companies culminating in a judgement delivered by Justice Dosumu presiding over a Lagos high court.

According to him, in the said judgement the court ordered the companies to return the master tapes of the original musical works produce under the label of the two companies by 'Sunny Ade and his green sport' back to him, but before the master tape could be returned the chairman chief Executive Office of the two companies, Chief Bolarinwa Abioro died.

      Consequently,in a bid to retrieve the master Tapes, Sunny Ade in 1997 dragged the two companies before a federal high court in Lagos, joined as co-defendants are, Lati Alagbada, Record manufacturing Nigeria limited, ibukunola printers, Alhaja Awawu Ade Amodu, and M.O. Alagbada, who he alleged have been using the master tapes to produce inferior qualities of his musical works and selling them to members of the public thereby depriving him of his means of  livelihood.

He had contended that he was the author, composer,and producer of all the musical works numbering about 22.

He therefore demanded for damages in the sum of one Billion Naira jointly and severally, in addition an order of the court ordering the two companies to return to him his master tapes as well as restraining the defendants from infringing on his musical works.

    In a defence and counter claim  filed by the two companies, they claimed that since Sunny Ade has been paid royalties by the companies, so he cannot lay claim to the tapes again, the contract he signed with the two companies does not include returning of the master tapes to him.

They consequently urged the court to award N5 million against Suny Ade and in their favour.

In his judgement, Justice Tsoho while dismissing the counter claim of the two companies for lack of merit, ordered the two companies to pay Suny Ade and his band the sum of N500 milion, he also ordered that the master tapes should be return to him since it has been proved beyond reasonable doubt that he is the owner of the copyright. 

The claim against other defendants were struck out on the ground that no enough evidence were adduced against them.