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COVID 19 : THE ANATHEMA OF A LONG VACATION FOR THE COURTS -Osaro EGBOBAMIEN SAN

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The world is repositioning on the front foot to begin what is sure to be a long and painful economic recovery from the devastating COVID-19 pandemic. Many countries, including Nigeria are teetering on the verge of a recession.  Naturally, our leaders are anxious to get people back to work from the forced 8- week vacation without pay that has put many businesses and even public services in jeopardy. It has been a management of crises, helping to ascertain true leaders, as well as shapely redefining fault lines in politics, law and economics.    Law stands on a special pedestal and has been greatly demeaned in Nigeria principally because of its abstract nature. Perceived not just as a mere set of rules to adjudicate dispute, but a realm through which individuals are connected to one another and to the larger society, it has received its most devastating blow, ironically by those charged with administration of justice at the highest level. As at date, there is yet no indication that the annual vacation in July/August will be suspended, to make for otherwise productive time lost in the period of the COVID-19 induced holiday.     The Justice Reform Project (JRP), like other civil society organisations, has not been silent through the pandemic, and now facing its aftermath. It has called for and recommended the suspension of the annual vacation of the courts to recover time lost to the pandemic response initiative.   A commonsensical step it would seem, given the events of the past 8 weeks, However, in Nigeria, we are often polarised along self interest, while the national interest takes a remote seat in evaluation. As in the call for virtual hearing, the call to suspend the annual vacation is likely to play to a typical stereotype. Annual vacation is statutory, and the various Chief Justices are constitutionally empowered to prescribe vacation dates. So, it may be argued disingenuously that it will be unconstitutional to suspend the annual vacation, just as it is contended it is unconstitutional to access the courts virtually.         This argument falls flat. The response initiative to the contagious nature of the viral disease, the Quarantine Act has necessitated the indirect suspension of the most fundamental part of the Constitution. The right to freedom of movement, right to freedom of association, right to engage in certain contracts and the entire right to liberty have all been impeded.     You need the law to redefine these parameters. Any inhibition in the Constitution, for instance to virtual hearing (although I find it difficult to locate any) or constraints to access justice could easily have been accommodated within Quarantine Act. The failure to have done so, is a lack of appreciation that law constitutes a set of values upon which important part of our society is predicated.To proceed on annual vacation would almost mean we do not appreciate the role of a justice system in the daily life of the people it serves. And the absence of any clarity on the subject as at date, further undermines confidence in a sphere where time, scheduling and preparation is of essence.     COVID-19 seems to reveal a fallacy that in Nigeria we can exist without law. Proceeding on annual leave in the current climate is to compound our misconception and tilt us towards a Hobbesian state of nature where there is no common authority to restrain the arbitrary exercise of power by those who wield it.      In the end, all who seek justice suffer disillusionment, and consequently, resort to self-help. It is a mistaken belief to think that in the absence of a formally sanctioned justice system, society has ground to a halt. Nature abhors a vacuum and so the formal justice system has no doubt been supplanted by a shadow system that has kept ostensible peace and provided remedy.      Illegality has its own structures and appeals to a desperate population who crave certainty in their dealings, and solutions to problems that arise daily. This could be in the form of rogue government agencies and officials who act as mercenaries sworn to the highest bidder Or warlords and ‘area boys’, who though boasting only a crude alternative to formal systems, may be at least capable of some consistency and dependability.   These revelations may tend towards the unfortunate conclusion that even our functional justice system provides no real justice and so is not missed by either those who dispense it, or those who are supposedly served by it, when absent. The parallel system of illegality seems to provide more succour than the rule of law. Other nations around the world have reacted decisively to the forced holiday brought on by the pandemic. Those from which Nigeria borrowed much of its constitution; notably, America, Australia, and India, have taken their justice online by swiftly instituting virtual hearing of matters. The common law upon which our system is modelled is also in this company. So, while their economies have hobbled along, they have at least made some progress to boast of. For us, COVID-19 has painfully exposed our superficial justice system by exercising discretion to stay closed, and considering another 6 weeks holiday, the authorities are painting the rule of law as only an option, among a suite of options for ordering(a disorderly) society. This is exacerbated by their comfortable detailing of all the inhibitions that will not allow for the system to operate, without providing any alternative. Any service that fails to evolve to meet the times, will die of natural causes. We are now providing the palliative care to make the demise of our own justice system more comfortable. Lawyers also earn their living from the courts, and it is better left to the imagination the lengths that necessity will drive otherwise brilliant and hardworking practitioners to. Still, we are not without heroes. Civil society, and the Bar must be commended for taking a charitable stand. Acts of charity and raising awareness of the needs of the most vulnerable among us, are never in danger of becoming outdated. While this charity disposition must be commended, it is certainly not the solution. The Bar must in addition stand up, to ensure that the administration of justice remains effective, efficient, and effectual. It ought to be at the vanguard calling for virtual hearing and a suspension of the annual vacation. We do a disservice to whatever faiths we profess and our collective conscience by treating this crisis as one that can be solved with hand-outs. Africa has never known true development from foreign aid. It is criminal to give only temporary panacea when the means to advance towards a lasting solution lies within our power. Perhaps those who are paid from taxpayer funds, could take a cue from the shop owners, vulcanizers and artisans who know too well that if you do not find a means to provide a service, not only the receiver of the service suffers, you the provider of the service are soon forgotten. If the courts will not use the regularly scheduled annual vacation to recover lost ground and insist on business as usual at the cost of taxpayers, confirmation should at the very least be provided sooner and not later to ensure stakeholders are not taken unawares. Contingencies will need to be out in place. When we look back as a nation after COVID, what lasting innovation, can we say it has brought out of us? Beyond individual acts of charity, I am yet to find a satisfactory answer. Unfamiliarity with technology may be a disincentive to senior judicial officers to move to virtual hearings, however that is no reason to hold the country to ransom over what could be cured by temporarily employing school leavers and undergraduates to guide their Lordship through the process. As we prepare for a post COVID world, with all the uncertainty that portends for domestic and international commerce, those who will succeed are those who are able to come out different from how they went in. Any country, or individual for that matter, who emerges without a new skill or two; a new trick or two to avert or mitigate the impact of future crises, would accurately be described as a failure. Let us rise above our natural proclivity for intellectual debates during times of action. Other nations are finding solutions or at worst, identifying markers for what a new normal could look like and the changes that need to be made. We will have no one to blame but ourselves if we fail to do the same. The annual vacation for 2020 must be suspended immediately!!!

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Oil Magnate, Akinduro Sues EFCC, Demands N5b For Unlawfully Declaring Him Wanted

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Dr. Henry Mobolaji Akinduro, Chairman/CEO of Global Signature Hotel and Total Grace Group Limited, has filed a N5 billion lawsuit against the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) for allegedly declaring him wanted unlawfully.
In the suit filed on Wednesday at the Federal High Court, Lagos, Akinduro submitted that the EFCC declared him wanted without any form of judicial intervention, recourse to constitutional safeguards or order of court.
The EFCC on Friday, 11 October, 2024 at about 7.20pm on its official twitter handle, also known as ‘X’ declared the oil magnate ‘Wanted’. The businessman is praying the court to order the EFCC to remove his name from the wanted list published on the commission’s official website or any other related platform including Twitter (X).
Akinduro is seeking N5 billion as “general damages”.
On Monday 14 October, 2024, the businessman, via his counsel, Olalekan Ojo SAN had petitioned the Executive Chairman of the EFCC over the unconstitutional violation of his fundamental human rights to personal liberty and human dignity by the publication of his name on the list of wanted persons on the EFCC’s website.
Ojo averred in the petition that at all times preceding the said publication there was no order of any Court of competent jurisdiction authorizing the said publication and no charge had been preferred against our Client before any Court of law.
According to Akinduro’s Lawyer, the Commission had allegedly made the said illegal or unlawful publication declaring him wanted upon the prompting or instigation of one Mr. Femi Olushakin who had earlier written a petition against the oil magnate in respect of a N240 million contractual dispute between them —Messrs Olushakin and Akinduro.
He affirmed that disputes had arisen from the investment agreement entered into between the two men leading to Olushakin petitioning EFCC.
“Our Client (Akinduro) was invited by the Commission on 4th June, 2024 and he immediately responded via letter dated 5th June, 2024 notifying the Commission of his unavailability due to medical reasons. In the said letter, it was stated therein that our Client was out of the Country receiving medical attention. He subsequently provided assurances that he would be present at the Commission as soon as he was medically cleared to travel. It is pertinent at this juncture to chronicle the genesis of the subject matter which led to the declaration of our Client Wanted by the Commission,” Ojo stated.
The Counsel disclosed that there was a business transaction between Akinduro and Olushakin which was backed by a viable collateral which included Akinduro’s Global Signature Hotel worth N500 million, three (3) 60-Seater Yutong buses valued at over N240 million and a Toyota 4Runner SUV.
Ojo claimed that Olushakin has sold the three 60-Seater Yutong buses and currently drives around the city in the Toyota 4Runner SUV which were used as collateral by Akinduro.
“It is clear from the above that this is a purely civil business transaction with no element of criminality embedded in it. Mr. Femi Olushakin maliciously petitioned the Commission after selling the 60-Seater Yutong buses and currently using the Toyota 4runner SUV for his personal use,” he stated.
The Senior Lawyer added that despite Akinduro’s medical condition overseas, he has maintained close communication with the Commission.
“Our Client regularly sends his Legal Officer to the Commission, affirming his willingness and desire to appear before the Commission upon due confirmation of his being fit to travel by his doctors. There was no further request by the Commission inviting our Client before the unlawful publication.
“It is to be further noted that on 11 October, 2024, our Client’s Legal Officer was physically present at the office of the Commission around noon to submit a correspondence to the Commission and he also reassured the Operatives of the Commission of our Client’s desire and willingness to cooperate with the investigation by the Commission upon his arrival in Nigeria.
“It is regrettable that despite the repeated reassurances of our Client to cooperate with the investigation upon his arrival in Nigeria, the Commission proceeded to declare our Client ‘Wanted’ later that same day at about 7.20pm without an order of Court and in the absence of a valid charge in a Court of law.
“The Commission published our Client’s name and photograph depicting our Client as a fugitive from the law and branded him “WANTED” without any evidence of evading investigation. This action of the Commission has not only defamed our Client but also violated our Client’s right to freedom of movement without the order of the Courts.
“The Commission has also by the unlawful publication subjected our Client to public humiliation and ridicule thus causing our Client loss of personal and business relationships as well as reputational damage. It is our instruction that since the publication, our Client has been inundated with calls, Whatsapp messages from his business associates all over the world who had read the post expressing their disgust and dismay at the defamatory publication, and the said publication has also caused our Client emotional trauma and distress.”
Akinduro, through his lawyer, said he considered it imperatively necessary to put the records straight with a view to showing that the fraud allegations are trumped-up allegations aimed at causing incalculable damage to his hard earned but richly deserved reputation.
“It is pertinent to state that the petition against Dr. Henry Akinduro was an ignoble attempt to criminalize purely contractual disputes that had arisen from the investment agreement between Dr. Henry Akinduro and the Petitioner, Mr. Femi Olushakin,” he said.
Ojo stated that the commercial or contractual disputes had earlier been referred to the competent Court by the parties before Olushakin resorted to lodging the fraud allegations against the oil magnate for reasons best known to him.
“Indeed, with knowledge of this, Mr. Femi Olushakin through his
lawyers, as part of the originating processes filed towards the resolution of the dispute between the parties
in court, the Petitioner (the Defendant in the Civil Suit No I/87512024 at the State High Court, Ibadan Judicial Division, Oyo State of Nigeria) has filed a Counterclaim. Some of the reliefs set out in the Counter Claims are as follows:
– AN ORDER directing the Defendants to the Counter Claim to pay the sum of N250 million Naira only to the Counter Claimant, sum of which was invested by the Counter Claimant into the business of the Defendants to the Counter Claim (Dr. Henry Akinduro and co)
– AN ORDER directing the Defendants to the Counter Claim to pay the sum of N205,325,000 to the Counter Claimant being the Return on Investment (ROI) to be paid to the Counter Claimants by the Defendant to the Counter Claimants.
– AN ORDER directing the Defendants to the Counter Claim to pay the sum of N52.5 million to the Counter Claimant (Mr. Femi Olushakin) being the Return on Investment (ROI) to be paid to the Counter Claimant by the Defendants to the Counter Claim on the investment of N100 million only).
– An Order directing the Defendants to the Counter Claim to pay the sum of N10 million only) to the Counter Claimant being the shortfall or deficit.
“One would have expected that Olushakin would allow the Court to decide the rights and liabilities of the parties since the matter is already sub-judice. Our client has taken further legal actions towards establishing with compelling finality that the fraud allegations made against him are unfounded, groundless, baseless and ill-motivated. It is pertinent to stress that our client is presumed innocent by constitutional fiat until the contrary is proved or established. Our Client wishes to restate his confidence in the judicial process which he believes will vindicate him,” Akinduro’s lawyer submitted.

 

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Judiciary

Court Restrains BEDC From Disconnecting Teaching Hospital Electricity

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An Ondo State High Court sitting in Akure has restrained Benin Electricity Distribution Company (BEDC) from disconnecting the electricity at the Ondo State-owned University of Medical Sciences Teaching Hospital (UNIMEDTH), Ondo, over alleged indebtedness.
In an order granted ex-parte, the court presided by Justice B J Akinwumi barred the distribution company from tampering with the cable that supplied electricity to the Teaching Hospital
The Teaching Hospital through its counsel, Iyiola Afolabi, had dragged the company to court over the fear of disconnection of its electricity owing to alleged indebtedness.
The institution had prayed for “An Order of interim injunction restraining the Defendant, its agents, servants, privies staff or officers or anybody claiming through or for the Defendant from disconnecting or threatening to disconnect electricity supply to the claimant pending the determination of the Motion on Notice.”
It also prayed for further order as the court may deem fit to make in the circumstances. The Motion was brought under order 20 Rule 1 (1) and (2), Rule 15 of the Ondo State High Court (Civil Procedure) Rules 2019 and under the inherent jurisdiction of the Honourable Court.
Justice Akinwumi in his order after reading the affidavit of Alo, Damilola Olatubosun granted the prayers of the applicant/ complaint.
The court restrained BEDC, its agents, servants, privies, staff officers, or anybody claiming through or for the Defendant from disconnecting the electricity supply of the Claimant/Applicant pending the determination of the Motion on Notice.
Due to the ongoing Courts vacation, no date has been fixed for the hearing of the motion on notice


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Seized National Assets/Ogun/Guangdong FTZ: Our Story

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Since the report of the Arbitration and legal matters between a Chinese Firm and the Federal Government of Nigeria/Ogun State Government on the termination of Management contract at the Ogun/Guangdong Free Trade Zone, the Media Office of His Excellency,  Otunba  Gbenga Daniel, FNSE, FAEng has been inundated with calls requesting for Otunba Daniel’s reaction on the matter.
We need to establish clearly that Otunba Gbenga Daniel, or his administration is not in discussion on the matter before the courts and arbitration, neither were the terms or proprietary of the Agreement for the establishment of the FTZ, rather it is the termination of a Management Contract. The judgements in all the courts are very clear on this.
It is also important to note that this is a very sensitive matter involving our collective national assets and commonwealth, which every patriotic Nigerian should feel concerned about. And as a Patriotic elderstatesman who has had the privilege of serving Ogun State as the Governor through which he was able to bring about several developmental projects including the establishment of the Ogun/Guangdong Free Trade Zone and others, and through which he has impacted on the lives of many citizens, also as a serving Senator of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, it is this patriotic path he chooses to thread.
Rather than engaging on media comments, the most reasonable course of action that The Senator Otunba Gbenga Daniel would rather engage in is helping Nigeria, through the President and Commander-in-Chief, Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu to finding a diplomatic solution to the issue at hand with available records that could assist the Federal Government in pursuing its course at the arbitration and before the courts. He can not do this on the pages of the newspapers and on other media, which may also compromise the strength of Nigeria’s arguments in the courts.
We also need to appreciate that this matter is before various courts in several countries, and it is subjudice for anyone to speak on them.
However, let us emphasise once again that the Ogun/Guangdong Free Trade Zone project still exists and several Nigerians are working there as we write, just as there are several companies still doing their legitimate businesses. It is from this perspective of development that the efforts of Otunba Gbenga Daniel should be well appreciated.
At the time of his handover in 2011, about 56 companies were at various stages of operations, construction, and showing interests in the Free Trade Zone and through which various life impacting developments (including but not limited to the construction of roads, schools for the local community, scholarship and sponsorship of many Nigerians for academic pursuit etc) have taken place in the Igbesa area, which was an otherwise rural community before the establishment of the Free Trade Zone.
There are so many incorrect reports and misrepresentation of facts on Timelines of activities relating to the establishment and Operations of the Free Trade Zone in circulation especially on the social media, and we plead that the media should partner with the Nigerian government in finding a very productive solution to this matter in Nigeria’s interest. It is not time to play politics with the assets and integrity of our dear country.
We sincerely appreciate all efforts at reaching out for Otunba Daniel’s side of the story as we also seek the understanding of all those who called to appreciate his sturdy silence to be able to assist the President on the way out of this testy time and situation.


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