EFCC tackles NBA president; says Nigerian Bar populated by ‘rogues, vultures’

The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC, has rejected a proposal by the president of the Nigerian Bar Association, Abubakar Mahmoud, for the agency to be stripped of its prosecutorial powers, saying the call is “self-serving” and aimed at creating “a cabal of untouchables”.

In a stinging statement signed by spokesperson Wilson Uwujaren, the EFCC said senior lawyers have been complicit in cases of corruption and money laundering, and some NBA members are “rogues and vultures”.

“It is too much of a strange coincidence that the suggestion to strip the EFCC of its prosecutorial powers is being floated few months after the Commission, in unprecedented fashion arraigned some senior lawyers for corruption,” the statement said.
The 56th Annual General Conference of the Nigerian Bar Association came to an end August 26, in Port Harcourt with the bar making pronouncements on major issues of national importance.

One of the new commitments as articulated by the new President of the Association, Mr. Abubakar Mahmoud, SAN, is to reinvent the association by reclaiming its moral high ground through a campaign for ethical rectitude by members of the bar.

“The NBA under my watch will fight judicial corruption. We shall make the legal profession unattractive for corrupt lawyers,” he said.

This is reassuring considering the evidence that senior members of the Bar have become complicit in cases of corruption and money laundering, leading to the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC, arraigning two members of the inner bar for acts of corruption. A Bar populated or directed by people perceived to be rogues and vultures cannot play the role of priests in the temple of justice.

The EFCC appreciates the NBA’s acknowledgement of the Commission’s strategic place in the fight against corruption in Nigeria and the modest achievements that it has recorded so it. It also welcomes the suggestion for reform. As the Acting Chairman, Ibrahim Magu has repeatedly started in his public pronouncements, the agency is open to suggestions that will improve its operations as it cannot pretend to have a monopoly of ideas on how to fight corruption.
Nevertheless, the Commission views with concern, the call by the NBA president that the EFCC be stripped of its prosecutorial powers. According to him, “We need to define its mandate more narrowly and more clearly… I strongly recommend that the EFCC be limited to investigation… while prosecution should be handled by an independent resource prosecution agency”.

The Commission’s discomfort over this seeming innocuous proposition, stem from the fact Mahmoud was silent on the reason for his position. More importantly, the Commission cannot comprehend how the redefinition of EFCC’s mandate in narrow terms, ultimately whittling it down, fits into the clamour by Nigerians and the vision of the President Muhammadu Buhari administration for a vibrant and courageous anti-corruption agency.

Instead, Mahmoud’s suggestions appears perfectly in sync with a cleverly disguised campaign by powerful forces that are uncomfortable with the reinvigorated anti-graft campaign of the EFCC and are hell-bent on emasculating the agency by stripping it of powers to prosecute with the tame excuse that an agency that investigates cannot also prosecute.

The question Nigerians must ask the Mahmoud-led NBA is, what is wrong with EFCC prosecution? Mahmoud is in a position to answer this question. He was the Attorney General of the Federation’s counsel in the trial of former Delta State governor, James Ibori at the Federal High Court, Asaba, a case which EFCC lost in questionable circumstances. But the same ingredients from that case were used to fetch Ibori a 13-year jail term in London. Mahmoud is also the Commission’s counsel in the appeal against the infamous perpetual injunction from arrest and prosecution by former Rivers State governor, Peter Odili, which is still pending before the Court of Appeal in Port Harcourt, many years after it was filed.

It is too much of a strange coincidence that the suggestion to strip the EFCC of its prosecutorial powers is being floated few months after the Commission, in unprecedented fashion arraigned some senior lawyers for corruption.

For the avoidance of doubt, the Commission has recorded more convictions in the last one year than all the states and federal ministries of justices combined.

Against this background, the current campaign appears to be self-serving, intended to create a cabal of untouchables who can be investigated but may never be prosecuted.

The EFCC however wishes to reassure Nigerians that there will be no sacred cows in the renewed fight against corruption in Nigeria.

Nnamdi Kanu has betrayed the Biafra people - RE-IPOB

The Reformed Indigenous People of Biafra (RE-IPOB), a newly formed pro-Biafra has said that the embattled leader of the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB), Nnamdi Kanu has betrayed the Biafran people. RE-IPOB said it sacked the detained director of Radio Biafra, Nnamdi Kanu, including its splinter group, the Rebranded Indigenous People of Biafra (TRIPOB) because they betrayed the Biafran struggle through collection of money from local and foreign sponsors.

In a statement made available to Vanguard, spokesman of RE-IPOB, Ikemba Biafra, accused Kanu of insulting respected Biafran and Igbo leaders and converting the Radio Biafra set up by the leadership of the Movement for the Actualization Sovereign States of Biafra (MASSOB), to a private propaganda tool.
The group added that Kanu’s unguarded utterances led to the detention and death of innocent Biafran youths and accused him of not being sincere about the Biafran struggle and using the platform to attract fortune and fame to himself.

“The emergence of TRIPOB is a fall out of the internal wrangling in the IPOB. Members and officers of IPOB loyal to one of the spokesmen of IPOB, Emma Nmezu, are behind TRIPOB.

There is nothing actually different between IPOB and TRIPOB. This is why we wielded the big stick to sack them to save the Biafran struggle.

We urge all pro-Biafra groups to remain calm and cease any contact with Nnamdi Kanu, IPOB or TRIPOB and await further information from RE-IPOB.”

While reiterating its earlier promise to disclose the identities of their leaders on Monday, August 29th, 2016, the RE-IPOB spokesman added that names of their mediators to the expected dialogue with the federal government would also be made public.

The group warned that the Biafran movement is not a platform for political shenanigans stressing that attempt to use TRIPOB to influence the federal government by a certain politician, would fail.

Freeze NOT sacked by Cool FM because of Basketmouth

However, the insider has said the report is false and that it’s absurd to think he would be fired because of Basketmouth.

“If it was Ali Baba or AY, then it can be believable but not Basketmouth”, the source informed TheCable Lifestyle.

On Saturday morning, Daddy Freeze addressed the issue via his Instagram account and requested for an apology over the report.

“If this defamatory and slanderous post is not It taken down immediately, and an unreserved apology offered, via the same medium within 24 hrs, I will be forced to take legal action against both blogs”, the OAP said.

“Yes, there are issues stemming from a meeting over presenters fees yesterday, details of which I choose not to discuss, because of the respect I have for Mr Moussalli and his family, but trust me, it has absolutely nothing to do with Basket mouth or social media”, he added.

Daddy Freeze however, failed to state if indeed he had been sacked from the company and has also failed to respond to our enquiries seeking clarification.

Daddy Freeze’s posting of the picture — which depicted a younger version of himself and Elsie Okpocha, Basketmouth’s wife — is believed to be in retaliation to a previous post by the comedian and Bovi, his colleague and close friend. He captioned it: “This just made me Freeze”.

Many inferred that it was a swipe directed at the OAP, especially after Basketmouth reposted it on his own page.

Basketmouth and Daddy Freeze have been involved in a long running public spat, which began after they fell out as friends.

Doctors At Turkish Hospital In Abuja Say Stella Oduah’s Son Died Of Brain Hemorrhage After He Was Rushed From Another Hospital

According to doctors who spoke with SaharaReporters, anonymously Mr. Etoromi was admitted into their care from another hospital-Zankli Medical Centre-, but died almost promptly. “He was brought to us with the request that we admit him, and we said, why not?” one of the doctors told our correspondent. He added: “Despite our best efforts he died in our care just 30 minutes after we admitted him. We could not do anything to revive him because he arrived in a coma. We tried cardiac life support, but it was too late by the time he arrived.”

Another doctor who spoke to SaharaReporters said Mr. Etoromi arrived at their health facility with a “subarachnoid hemorrhage” on Thursday evening around 6PM and was already in the worst stage of coma possible, he died some 30 minutes later. Subarachnoid hemorrhaging can have several causes, including a traumatic head injury, a bleeding disorder, or the incorrect use of blood thinning medication.

The medical doctors who spoke with a correspondent of SaharaReporters said they were in no position to immediately declare the cause of Mr. Etoromi’s death, but said they just issued a death certificate in which they reported that that he had significant hemorrhaging.

A source close to Ms. Oduah, a former Minister of Aviation and current senator representing Anambra State, told SaharaReporters that Mr. Etoromi had been given the wrong kind of medication after he had his tooth pulled at another hospital creating complications that ultimately led to his death

Reason OAP Freeze was fired from Cool FM

​On-Air Personality Freeze of Cool FM has been said to be fired and new reports are saying it is not because of his feud with Basket Mouth but because of his failure to attend an important staff meeting. Ifedayo Olarinde, known as Freeze is a well-known On-Air Personality on Cool FM. His most recent controversy was him posting a throwback picture of himself with top Comedian Basket Mouth’s wife.New reports have circulated recently that he has been fired from Cool FM but not because of his fued with Basket Mouth but because of something more technical. It is said that he was fired because he failed to show up to an important meeting held buy AIM Group. AIM group is the head of Cool FM, Wazobia FM and Nigeria Info. The AIM group boss, Amin Moussalli was upset at Freeze’s absence and failure to send in a representative.
Mousalli allegednly complained about OAP’s acting like gods. The MD sent a memo to staff reminding them of their commitment and dedication to AIM group.
Freeze has been with Cool FM for 15 years now and so far all he has done is confirm via Instagram that his meeting with Mr. Moussalli has nothing to do with his issues with Basket Mouth but he is yet to confirm if he has truly been fired. “Loyalty does not mean anything to the MD,” said a former staff of Cool FM said.“You should go and ask Darey and Olisa Adibua what happened to them. He can just decide to do anything at any time.”