Author: Chief Editor

The House of Representatives Committee on Judiciary is to engage the Nigerian Governor’s Forum and all relevant stakeholders with a view to ensuring judicial financial autonomy. The Chairman of the committee, Rep. Luke Onofiok (PDP-Akwa-Ibom), made this known during a meeting with the Judiciary Staff Union of Nigeria (JUSUN) in Abuja. The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that JUSUN began a nationwide indefinite strike on Monday, April 6 over the non-implementation of judicial financial autonomy as enshrined in the Constitution. President Muhammadu Buhari had signed an Executive Order granting financial autonomy to the judiciary and state house of assembly…

Vice-President Yemi Osinbajo on Wednesday urged Nigerians to recommit themselves to the unity and peace of the country. He also asked Nigerian Muslims not to see the ongoing Ramadan fast as merely a season of abstinence from food, drink and worldly pleasures. According to a statement by his Senior Special Assistant on Media and Publicity, Laolu Akande, the Vice-President spoke in an interview with State House correspondents shortly after he presided over the weekly meeting of the Federal Executive Council at the Presidential Villa, Abuja. The statement was titled ‘Ramadan is a time for higher virtues of love, kindness and…

A window on the Real Madrid team bus was smashed ahead of the Spanish giants’ Champions League clash with Liverpool at Anfield on Wednesday. “We condemn unequivocally the actions that led to Real Madrid’s team bus being damaged during its arrival to Anfield this evening. It is totally unacceptable and shameful behaviour of a few individuals,” Liverpool said in a statement. “We sincerely apologise to our visitors for any distress caused. We will work together with Merseyside Police to establish the facts and identify those responsible.” The match is being held behind closed doors due to coronavirus restrictions. Three years…

Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp once again left Thiago Alcantara on the bench as the English champions aim to turn around a 3-1 first leg deficit against Real Madrid to reach the Champions League semi-finals on Wednesday. Thiago was introduced after just 42 minutes in the Spanish capital last week as Klopp’s bold decision to start Naby Keita in the first leg backfired. But the Spanish international, who won the Champions League with Bayern Munich last season, was again surprisingly overlooked in favour of James Milner. Klopp also showed faith once more in his established front three of Mohamed Salah, Roberto…

Mohamed Salah raised his goal tally to 28 in all competitions this season by equalising for Liverpool in a 2-1 Premier League comeback win over Aston Villa at the weekend. When the Egypt predator struck on 57 minutes at Anfield, it was the first open-play goal scored by the Reds since December 27. Another consistent scorer has been Nigeria’s Kelechi Iheanacho with nine in his last six appearances for Leicester, but a double at West Ham could not prevent a 3-2 defeat. Here, AFP Sport rounds up the performances of Africans in the major European leagues: ENGLAND MOHAMED SALAH (Liverpool)…

The Socio-Economic Rights and Accountability Project (SERAP) has urged the Chairman of Revenue Mobilization Allocation and Fiscal Commission (RMAFC), Elias Mbam, to urgently review upward the remuneration, allowances, and conditions of service for Nigerian Judges, and reduce the remuneration of President Muhammadu Buhari and other political office-holders in order to address the persistent poor treatment of Judges, and improve access of victims of corruption to justice. The appeal came on the heels of a nationwide industrial action by the Judiciary Staff Union of Nigeria (JUSUN) to press home their demand for financial autonomy for the judicial arm of government, and…

Ole Gunnar Solskjaer hailed Edinson Cavani’s performance in Manchester United’s 3-1 win over Tottenham and hopes he can persuade the striker to stay when his contract is up at the end of the season. The 34-year-old Uruguayan scored United’s second goal with an excellent diving header in Sunday’s come-from-behind victory and had an earlier effort controversially ruled out. Cavani arrived at Old Trafford as a free agent last October on a deal until the end of the campaign, with the option of a further year. Unlike most extension clauses, it has to be agreed by both parties before it can…

A political economist and former presidential candidate, Prof. Pat Utomi, has described the calibre of people who became politicians in Nigeria as a terrible mistake for the country. He expressed the concern while speaking on ‘Though Tribe and Tongue May Differ: Interrogating Nigeria’s Nationhood’ at the 26th Annual Pre-Ramadan Lecture organised by the University of Lagos Muslim Alumni. According to the former presidential candidate, Nigeria is in a state of “competitive communalism”, where every leader is concerned about the development of their regions. He warned that Nigeria could remain in a state of “permanent crisis” without good governance. The Founder…

President Muhammadu Buhari has been asked to ensure that oil giants, Shell and Eni face prosecution in Nigeria. Shell and Eni have been dragged to court in Milan, Italy over horrendous alleged cases of corruption in relation to the Oil Prospecting Lease (OPL) 245 The country’s foremost anti-corruption group, Human and Environmental Development Agenda, (HEDA Resource Centre) in a letter sent to Buhari urged the Nigerian authorities to ignore public statements by the oil company, ENI, that the trial in Italy should substitute for and annul any other possible legal action in Nigeria. In the letter addressed to the President,…

The Alliance on Surviving COVID-19 and Beyond (ASCAB), led by human rights activist, Mr. Femi Falana (SAN) has said that the Judicial Staff Union of Nigeria (JUSUN) and the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA) should put in place a transparency mechanism that will exclude judges from managing funds budgeted for the judiciary. The group stated this in a statement issued yesterday and titled, ‘ASCAB Seeks Transparency Mechanism to Manage Funds for the Judiciary,’ which was signed by Falana. According to ASCAB, the mechanism would prevent judges from being subjected to undue interference by legislative bodies and investigation by anti-graft agencies. The…