President Buhari Nominates FCT Chief Judge for International Criminal Court

   

 

   President Muhammadu Buhari nominated the incumbent Chief Judge of the Federal Capital Territory, Justice Ishaq Usman Bello as the nation’s candidate to be Judge of the International Criminal Court, Hague.

  The International Criminal Court (ICC) which began functioning on 1 July 2002, is an intergovernmental organization and international tribunal that sits in The Hague, Netherlands. The ICC has jurisdiction to prosecute individuals for the international crimes of genocide, crimes against humanity, war crimes, and the crime of aggression.

    The elections are scheduled for the nineteenth session of the Assembly of States Parties, to be held at the United Nations, New York, from 7-17 December 2020, the Assembly of States Parties (ASP) will elect six judges to fill one-third of the International Criminal Court’s (ICC) 18 judicial seats.

   Prior to this nomination, Hon. Ishaq Usman Bello has served on several bar/Bench committees before his appointment as a Member, National Judicial Council. He has also handled huge special responsibilities under the Judiciary including; Chairing Election Petition Tribunals, representing Nigeria and leading brother judges to attend Conferences, symposiums and seminars around the world.

     As the Chief Judge of the FCT, Bello paid attention to the de-congestion of prisons in Abuja. He started visiting prisons within his jurisdiction, releasing over forty awaiting trial prisoners in the process. By the end of October 2017, he was appointed as the chairman of the Presidential Committee on Prison Reforms and De-congestion, now Presidential Committee on Correctional Service Reforms and De-congestion, by the Minister of Justice and Attorney General of the Federation, Abubakar Malami. The committee’s responsibility was to lead the reform processes of the Nigerian prison system.

“Avoiding being infected remains the best choice for everyone''- Boss Mustapha

   

  

   The federal government has again raised the alarm over non-compliance to safety measures against coronavirus. Boss Mustapha, Chairman of the Presidential Task Force (PTF) on COVID-19, expressed concern at a briefing on Thursday in Abuja.

He said PTF found that non-compliance had been largely fueled by skepticism and ignorance about the virus. Mustapha noted that stigmatisation had further impacted on the willingness of people to come out to seek help and tell their stories.

“The nature of this pandemic demands that we must detect and treat in order to address it. COVID-19 is not a condition to be ashamed of as it has no respect for status, nationality, race, creed, tribe among others”, he said.

  The SGF stated that every person infected must be treated to prevent spread and avoidable fatalities. He added that the PTF had deepened community engagement and risk communication in the phase of national response.

Mustapha said PTF had been communicating to Nigerians, the dangers of complacency and non-compliance with COVID-19 measures. He reminded that presently, “there is no known vaccine for the virus and that all over the world, non-pharmaceutical measures still remained the most effective”.

Court dismisses lawsuit seeking Deputy Senate President, Omo-Agege's sack

   

  

    A lawsuit seeking the sack of Ovie Omo-Agege as the Deputy Senate President and Senator representing Delta Central senatorial district, has been dismissed by a federal high court in Abuja. 

    Ruling on the suit filed by the Incorporated Trustees of  Empowerment for Unemployed Youth Initiative (EUYI) who alleged that Omo-Agege was sentenced to jail and suspended from law practice for two years for felony involving moral turpitude, forgery of cheques amounting to $890 with which he intended to defraud the Bank of America, Ahined Mehone and Elpert Defrietas in violation of California Penal Code Section 470, Justice Ahmed Mohammed said it was an abuse of court process and meant “to annoy, embarrass and irritate the first defendant (Omo-Agege)".

   He held that the issues raised in the lawsuit which involves allegation of forgery, has been resolved in a judgement delivered by an Abuja high court on January 29, 2020.  Justice Mohammed said “it is clear that the first defendant  was not convicted as alleged.”

    The federal high court judge subsequently awarded a cost of N300,000 in favour of each of the four defendants which include Omo-Agege, the Clerk of the Senate, the All Progressives Congress (APC) and the Independent and National Electoral Commission (INEC). The money is to be jointly paid by the plaintiff and their lawyers.

Tinubu's son, Seyi welcomes baby boy

 

   Seyi Tinubu and wife, Layal Jade Tinubu just welcomed a baby boy. Seyi announced the news on his instagram page. Seyi and Layal Holm a Lebanese got married 4 years ago. August 2016, precisely. Announcing the news, he wrote:

 On behalf of Mr and Mrs Tinubu, i am please to announce the birth of a boy by his wife @layaltinubu earlier today 🙏🏾🤱🏽 .

Congratulations. #GodBless #ItsABoy #YoungestTinubu

Ex-Oyo state Governor Abiola Ajimobi dies of coronavirus

 

 

    Abiola Ajimobi, the immediate former Governor of Oyo State is dead. Ajimobi who had been on life support machine for weeks, died today at the First Cardiology Hospital in Ikoyi, Lagos, following Coronavirus complications.

Oyo House of Representatives member, Akin Alabi, has also confirmed his death. Nigerian journalist Dele Momodu also confirmed the news, writing;

“Good night former GOVERNOR ABIOLA AJIMOBI of Oyo State. My sincere condolences to the family… RIP.”

Ajimobi represented Oyo state in the senate between 2003 and 2007.

Ajimobi was the first Oyo governor to win a second term in office. He governed between 2011 and 2019.

He is survived by his wife, Florence, who he married in 1980, children and grandchildren.