News
Sanusi Remains Suspended as CBN Chief- Court
Mallam Sanusi Lamido Sanusi, suspended governor of Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) yesterday, lost his bid to return to office as the Federal High Court sitting in Abuja declined to set aside his suspension by President Goodluck Jonathan.
The court, in its 84-page judgment, said it was bereft of the jurisdiction to reinstate the ousted CBN Governor, stressing that the nature of his suit bothered on a dispute between an employer and his employee, which it said only the National Industrial Court, NIC, has the statutory powers to adjudicate on.
However, before referring the case to the NIC, presiding Justice Gabriel Kolawole described as baseless Sanusi’s claim that he was not an employee of the Federal Government but that of the CBN.
He ruled: “When I read through the arguments of the plaintiff, I then asked myself, so whose employee is he?
“It is not in dispute that the CBN is an agency of the Federal Government and a statutory body created by the National Assembly.
“The appointment of the plaintiff was made in line with the CBN Act.
“By this, the plaintiff qualifies as a public officer in the public service of the federation. Therefore, the plaintiff’s appointment cannot be equated with that of specific public officers like judicial officers as he has argued.
“His appointment was not categorically captured in the constitution. Even at that, in the case of such judicial officers, the National Judicial Council, NJC, would have been joined as a necessary defendant.
“Going through the entire process, I asked myself again, why were the CBN and its acting governor, Dr. Sarah Alade, who the plaintiff contended was illegally appointed, not joined as necessary parties in the suit?”
Justice Kolawole noted that the non-joinder of the acting CBN governor would ordinarily have affected the outcome of the suit, saying the court would not have granted a relief that would adversely affect a party not before it.
Waving aside Sanusi’s argument that only a two third majority vote by the Senate could remove him from office, the court maintained that the fact that the plaintiff’s appointment was approved by the Senate did not make the National Assembly his employer.
It added that the Senate merely discharged its oversight function in line with the doctrine of separation of powers.
Nevertheless, Justice Kolawole held that Sanusi was able to establish a cause of action against President Jonathan and the Attorney General of the Federation, who were listed as 1st and 2nd defendants, respectively, in the suit.
The court, however, struck out the name of the Inspector General of Police on the premise that there was no cause of action against him.
He ruled: “In the final analysis, this court lacks jurisdiction to entertain the matter. All employees of the Federal Government can only litigate their matters which relates to employment at the NIC.
He said: “In line with Section 24(3) of the National Industrial Court, Act 2006, I hereby order a transfer of this case to the NIC.
“Therefore, it will be inappropriate for me to deal on the plaintiff’s suit on its merit, as doing so will be prejudicial to both the parties and the NIC. There will be no order as to cost.”
It will be recalled that Sanusi, who was ousted from office on February 20, went to court to challenge the powers of President Jonathan to suspend him on the basis of a report by the Financial Reporting Council of Nigeria, FRCN, which indicted him of “financial recklessness and misconduct”.
Nigeria has launched an emergency response centre after recording 190 deaths from Lassa fever, a viral hemorrhagic illness, according to Nigerian Center for Disease Control (NCDC).
The disease, mainly transmitted to humans via contact with food or household items contaminated with rodent urine or excrement, has infected 1,154 people in six Nigerian states.
Jide Idris, head, Nigerian Center for Disease Control, said the agency’s risk assessment has categorized it as high, prompting the activation of the emergency Operations Centre to manage the outbreak.
“While the disease occurs throughout the year, peak transmission typically happens between October and May, coinciding with the dry season when human exposure to rodents increases,” he said at a press briefing in Abuja.
The centre will ensure seamless coordination of the control and management of the outbreak.
Symptoms of the virus – which can also be passed between people through bodily fluids of those infected – include fever, headaches and, in the most severe cases, death.
The World Health Organization classifies Lassa fever as a priority disease due to its epidemic potential and lack of approved vaccines.
Federal government has proposed to spend N1.5bn for internet services for passengers at five international airports in the country.
The project, “Provision/Upgrade of WiFi Services for Passengers in Five International Airports and some Domestic Airports” was listed as a new project in the 2025 appropriation.
In some parts of the world, access to the internet via Wi-Fi at airports is regarded to be a basic human right.
Such amenities are lacking in Nigeria.
But the 2025 budget presented to the National Assembly last week by President Bola Tinubu saw the sum of N105.953,496,365 being allocated to the Ministry of Aviation.
Apart from internet access at the airports, some other capital allocations were reinstated for the Nigerian Airspace Management Agency (NAMA).
In previous budgets, three agencies of the ministry including the apex regulatory agency, the Nigeria Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA); the Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria (FAAN) and NAMA were exempted from the annual budgetary allocation.
In addition, the federal government deducts 50 per cent of the Internally Generated Revenue (IGR), which is against the standard and recommended practices of the International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO), which recommends that the funds generated by the agencies should be reinvested into improving infrastructure and boosting aviation safety.
Fidelis Egueke, former bank manager, , has been convicted and sentenced to six months in prison by an Asaba, Delta State Chief Magistrate’s Court for defrauding a victim of $46,900.
Chief Magistrate Callistus Isioma Moeteke found Egueke guilty of a single charge brought against him by the police under case number CMA/295c/2024.
Raphael Eze, prosecutor, of the State Criminal Investigation Department (SCID), Asaba, said Egueke, a former Asaba branch manager of a tier-one bank, fraudulently obtained $46,900 by using two Certificates of Occupancy (CofOs) as collateral.
One of the land titles, however, was not his, and the other was fake.
After receiving the money, Egueke used it for personal expenses and failed to repay the victim as promised.
The prosecution argued that Egueke’s actions violated Section 419 of the Criminal Code Law, Cap C21, Vol.1 Laws of Delta State, Nigeria, 2006.
Despite denying the offence, Egueke failed to present evidence of repayment during the trial.
Chief Magistrate Moeteke determined that the prosecution had proven its case beyond a reasonable doubt.
Egueke was convicted and sentenced to six months imprisonment.
However, the court also gave him the option to pay a fine of N350,000 in lieu of serving the prison term.
The court ordered Egueke to pay N30 million in restitution to the victim within six months of his conviction.
The charge against Egueke stated that, in 2016, he fraudulently obtained a credit facility worth $46,900 (approximately N60 million) from Chief Jude Ndudi by presenting false documents, including land titles that did not belong to him, in violation of Section 419 of the Criminal Code Law.
Egueke is also facing trial before a Lagos Federal High Court on charges related to a separate fraud case involving N179.498 million.
He is being prosecuted by the Force Criminal Investigation Department (ForceCID), Annex Alagbon-Ikoyi, Lagos.
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