How Presidency & Tinubu's Camp Battle Ahead Of APC Convention As Cabals Name Zulum For VP Position

The days ahead in APC will be interesting as the National Convention of the ruling party will take place in February although no exact date has been fixed. The battle as to which power bloc controls the party has begun and it is all about which zone and persons should be considered for the 2023 Presidency. According to Tribune newspaper, the Presidency and the camp of Bola Ahmed Tinubu have started the political battle ahead of the APC convention. This is as Borno State Governor Babagana Zulum is being strongly mentioned by some cabals in the party as someone that will be on the 2023 presidential joint ticket of the party precisely as the running mate. These will form the basis of our discussion in this article. How is the Presidency and Tinubu's camp in a political battle as ahead of the APC National Convention? The APC plans to zone its National Chairmanship to North Central. As it stands now, Former Nasarawa State Governor Tanko Al-Makura is a frontline candidate who enjoys the support of the Presidency. Don't forget that Al-Makura is a strong ally of Buhari who won the 2011 guber election in Nasarawa State under the defunct CPC, the party Buhari founded which merged with Tinubu's ACN and ANPP to form APC in 2013.

Photo Credit: Vanguard Incumbent Nasarawa State Governor Abdullahi Sule wants Al-Makura to emerge as the next National Chairman of APC. Tinubu's camp is in support of Al-Makura but the relationship of Tinubu with current Nasarawa State Governor, Abdullahi Sule unsettle some cabals in the Presidency.

Photo Credit: The Nation They believe that Sule made have influence on Al-Makura if he emerges as the National Chairman of APC and that may be to the advantage of Tinubu who is keen on contesting the 2023 presidential election under APC. Sule is strongly in support of Al-Makura and the Tribune report states that some power brokers in the Presidency who were members of the defunct CPC are seriously considering how things may play out if Al-Makura emerges as the National Chairman. The argument is that Tinubu's camp produced the past National Chairmen: Oyegun and Oshiomhole and it should be the turn of Buhari's camp, the former members of the defunct CPC to produce the next National Chairman of the party. Recall that APC was a merger of defunct ACN, CPC, ANPP, and a faction of APGA. While Tinubu's camp agrees to it, the Presidency which has more defunct CPC members doesn't want to agree that Tinubu's camp ( defunct ACN) should get the Presidential ticket since Buhari who founded the defunct CPC will complete his 8 years in 2023. Cabals Naming Zulum for Joint Ticket Borno State Governor Babagana Zulum is one of the top-performing Northern Governors and the cabals in APC have named him as someone that should be considered as a running mate.

Photo Credit: Sun newspaper Tribune newspaper has it that Northern APC Governors see it as a project. Zulum is a Northern Muslim and his geo-political zone has never produced the President since 1999. My understanding is that the APC cabals may succeed in having a Southern Christian as the 2023 presidential candidate of the party and there are speculations that the cabals are also looking towards South-East and the South-South to shop for Presidential candidates.

Benue Govt drags Akume to anti-graft agencies over N4.56B fraud. by John Charles

Governor Samuel Ortom of Benue State The crisis between the Benue State Governor, Samuel Ortom and his estranged political godfather and Minister of Special Duties and Inter-governmental Affairs, George Akume on Friday got messier as the State Government dragged the minister to anti-graft agencies over N4.56 billion fraud. Governor Ortom had in September dragged the minister to court over alleged defamation and demanded N60 billion for general, exemplary as well as aggravated damages Ortom’s suit followed Akume’s comment during a press conference in Abuja, where the minister accused the governor of ineptitude, disrespect for the President, Major General Muhammadu Buhari (retd.), as well as massive corruption. In a letter of complaint to the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission; Independent Corrupt Practices Commission and the Inspector General of Police written and signed by counsels to the Benue State Government, Okeoga Darlington, Esq and made available to journalists; the Attorney General and Commissioner for Justice, Michael Gusa in Makurdi on Friday asked the anti-graft agencies to investigate the alleged financial impropriety amounting to N4,556,899,632.9 billion when Akume served as Governor. The letter of complaint which was generated from an audit report spanning 1999 – 2007 when Senator George Akume served as Governor, said ‘he (Akume) unilaterally approved the sum of N117 million which is above his approval limit without recourse to the State Executive Council meeting. “The reckless financial expenditures was said to be for consultancy and feasibility study for Mbatiav Cement which turned out to be a white elephant project that never saw the light of the day. “Further findings according to the petition also alleged financial indiscipline, abuse of fiscal policies and misappropriation for various contracts amounting to N3,125,882,409.25 billion,” the letter stated. Akume was also accused of misappropriation of ecological funds amounting to N300,002,000 million which was spent on projects different from ecological projects. “During the audit report, it was also discovered that under the watch of the former governor, a loan of N150 million was taken from defunct Afri-Bank in December 2000 for purchase of shares in companies but the money was transferred to All Securities Limited for which no receipts were found for the transaction. “It was also discovered during the audit that the former governor, Akume, claimed to have executed ‘many projects’ that were never located which the petition deemed to be an aberration of due process, abuse of fiscal policies and criminal violation of relevant laws. “Regrettably, many of such projects, valued at N1,074,017,023.65 billion were not accounted for as there was no evidence of their execution anywhere,” the letter of complaints read in parts. PUNCH.

Singapore Leads the Good Life Under a Benevolent Dictator By Donella Meadows

Singapore has achieved the American dream, but not in the American way. It is a prosperous, clean city, with imposing skyscrapers and glittering shopping centers. The multinational corporations of the world are welcome here; you can buy any brand name you’ve ever heard of. The highways are lined with tropical flowers and crowded with BMWs. And at the head of this thriving free-market state is a clever, socialist dictator. Just forty years ago Singapore was a war-battered British port on an island off the southern tip of Malaysia. It had a rapidly growing, poor, uneducated population living mostly in slums and houseboats. Singapore struggled along until 1965, when it became an independent nation with Prime Minister Lee Kuan Yew in firm control. In the next twenty years Singapore’s economy grew eightfold. Average income per capita rose more than fourfold. The percentage of families living in poverty dropped to 0.3% (in the U.S. it is near 20%). Singaporeans’ average life expectancy is now 71 years. No one is homeless. Population has stabilized. Virtually everyone has a job. The place runs like a Swiss watch. Lee Kuan Yew would appreciate that analogy. Switzerland is his model. Singapore Airlines aims to outdo Swissair. Singapore likes to list its statistics alongside Switzerland’s (its divorce rate is one-third that of Switzerland, its per capita calorie supply is equal, its movie attendance rate is six times higher). Lee’s chief economic goal is to reach the per capita GNP of Switzerland, which will happen in one more economic doubling — about 10 years, if past growth rates continue. To produce his economic miracle, Lee Kuan Yew has interfered with every aspect of Singaporean life. To control population growth he set up free family planning clinics. Then he mounted education campaigns (“Plan your family small”) and decreed that women having third-or-more babies would get shorter maternity leave, higher hospital charges, and less income tax relief. There is a $5000 reward for mothers who agree to be sterilized after their second child. Sterilized parents get top priority for public housing, and their children get into desirable schools. Singaporeans now accept that two is the right number of children. When I asked one woman how she felt about that, she told me she’d like to have three or four. “But,” she said brightly, “I understand why I shouldn’t have that many. We are a small, crowded island.” In fact the birth rate has fallen so low among highly-educated women, that Lee now offers incentives to “educated mothers” to have three children or more. Singapore requires all workers to save 25% of their salaries. Their employers match that amount (after the recession of 1985, the employers’ share was cut to 10%). The workers can claim the money only after the age of 55. This enormous forced savings rate is one of the secrets of Singapore’s incredible economic growth. The money goes into a Central Provident Fund, with which the government builds roads, schools, hospitals, and especially housing. All over the city identical 16-story housing blocks rise, each with its recreation center, swimming pool, shopping center, community center, and school. The apartments are well-built and spacious. Now that there are enough of them, the government lets people tap their savings before age 55 to buy their own flats. At present 74% of families own their homes; the goal is 100%. Anti-social behavior is not permitted in Singapore. The fine for littering is $250. Jaywalking, spitting, and smoking in government offices are also fined $250. Gambling, except for the state lottery, is illegal. The punishment for drug trafficking is death. Recently Lee Kuan Yew declared war on smoking. During a recent Smoke-Free Week there were signs everywhere, “Stub it Out, Singapore!” In the shopping centers electronic billboards grimly toted up the city’s smoking deaths, about 10 per day. Smiling teenagers roamed the streets with baskets of apples and collared anyone with a cigarette, offering to trade an apple for a pack. The percentage of smokers in the population has gone down from 23% to 13%. I tried to find Singaporeans who are unhappy with their paternalistic government. In a week of searching, I found none. People think the regulations make sense. No one seems to fear the government; most feel they can bring complaints to it. One economics professor thought the 25% forced savings policy was too high. I asked him if he intended to write the newspapers or make a speech about it. He was shocked. He would never disrupt the social harmony, he said. He was assembling the facts he needed; then he would go make a reasoned argument directly to the ministry. Singapore just doesn’t fit the world’s categories. It’s a dictatorship with free speech, no fear, and no corruption. It’s an economy that uses capitalist means to attain socialist ends. Singapore University scholars call it a “meritocratic, elitist, Confucianist, bureaucratic state”. Whatever you call it, by all appearances and measures it works astoundingly well — so far, anyway. Everyone wonders, of course, what will happen after Lee Kuan Yew. Some Singaporeans are nervous about their dependence on the rest of the world for water, food, and energy. Perhaps a greater worry, though no one in Singapore seems to be thinking about it, is what will motivate the nation, what kinds of goal will there be, what challenges will Singapore put its well-organized energy to, after everyone becomes as rich as the Swiss. Copyright Sustainability Institute 1988

Missing crown: Police charge Ayiri, others to court By Jimitota Onoyume

The Police in Delta State have filed a three-count charge of burglary, stealing and felony against Chief Ayiri Emami and others at large before a magistrate’s court sitting in Warri. The charge, MW/178 C 2021, the Commissioner of Police vs Chief Emami. reads: “That you Chief Emami and others at large on March 30, 2021, about 11.30p.m., at Olu of Warri Palace, Warri in the Warri Magisterial District did conspire among yourselves to commit felony, burglary and stealing.” Count II: “That you Chief Emami and others now at large on March 30, 2021, about 11.30p.m., at Olu of Warri Palace, Warri in the Warri Magisterial District with intent to commit a felony, breaks into a dwelling house of the Olu of Warri.” Count III: “That you Chief Emami and others now at large, on March 30, 2021, about 11.30p.m., at Olu of Warri Palace, Warri in the Warri Magisterial District did stole two crowns value at N2 billion.” According to the charge sheet, the alleged stolen crowns belong to Itsekiri. It also stated that the offences are punishable under certain sections of the Criminal Code Laws of Delta State. Chief Ayiri pleaded not guilty to the charge. The Chief Magistrate, Ejiro Diejomaoh, granted bail to Ayiri in the sum of N2 million, with two sureties, who must not be persons lower than Level 15 and in like sum. Vanguard

Lee Kuan Yew Prime Minister of Singapore

BY The Editors of Encyclopaedia Britannica

Lee Kuan Yew Lee Kuan Yew, (born September 16, 1923, Singapore—died March 23, 2015, Singapore), politician and lawyer who was prime minister of Singapore from 1959 to 1990. During his long rule, Singapore became the most-prosperous country in Southeast Asia. Lee was born into a Chinese family that had been established in Singapore since the 19th century. His first language was English, and only upon entering politics did he acquire a command of Chinese as well as Malay and Tamil. After attending school in Singapore, Lee briefly enrolled at the London School of Economics and Political Science before earning a law degree (1949) at Fitzwilliam House, Cambridge. There he headed the honours list. He also became a socialist. Although he was admitted (1950) to the English bar, he returned to Singapore. Appointed legal adviser to the Postal Union, he participated in negotiations to obtain higher wages for postal workers and subsequently did similar work for other trade unions. Singapore was a British crown colony and the site of Britain’s principal naval base in East Asia, which was ruled by a governor assisted by a legislative council. The council’s members consisted primarily of wealthy Chinese businessmen, most of whom were appointed rather than elected. When, in the early 1950s, constitutional reform was in the air in Singapore, Lee formed an alliance with two other political newcomers—David Saul Marshall, a lawyer, and Lim Yew Hock, a trade unionist—to challenge the hold of the businessmen on the council. Lee, however, soon broke with his two colleagues to take a more radical stand, becoming secretary-general of his own party, the People’s Action Party (PAP). The party included some communists, Lee having accepted communist support for some years. In 1955 a new constitution was introduced that increased the number of elected seats on the council to 25 out of a total of 32. In the elections, the Labour Front, founded by Lee’s former colleagues, won 13 seats, while the PAP won 3—one of which, for a district inhabited by many of the poorest Chinese in Singapore, was won by Lee. The following year Lee returned to London as a member of a Singaporean delegation that unsuccessfully sought self-rule for the colony. Unrest in Singapore followed, during which a number of PAP leaders were imprisoned. In 1957 negotiations in London resumed, again with Lee on the delegation. After agreement was reached on a measure of self-government, Lee won a by-election in Singapore by an overwhelming majority. A brief power struggle within the PAP then ensued: in August Lee was ousted from the secretary-generalship by the party’s left wing, but he regained his post in October. The next year (1958) in London, Lee helped negotiate the status of a self-governing state within the Commonwealth for Singapore. Elections were held under Singapore’s new constitution in May 1959, and Lee campaigned on an anticolonialist, anticommunist platform calling for social reforms and eventual union with Malaya. Lee’s party won a decisive victory, gaining 43 of the 51 seats, but Lee refused to form a government until the British freed the left-wing members of his party who had been imprisoned in 1956. After their release, Lee was sworn in as prime minister on June 5, 1959, and he formed a cabinet. He introduced a five-year plan calling for slum clearance and the building of new public housing, the emancipation of women, the expansion of educational services, and industrialization. In 1961 the PAP’s left-wing members broke away from the party to form the Barisan Sosialis (“Socialist Front”), and Lee subsequently broke his remaining ties with the communists. Henceforth Lee and his fellow moderates within the PAP would dominate Singaporean politics. In 1963 Lee took Singapore into the newly created Federation of Malaysia. In elections held soon afterward, the PAP retained its control of Singapore’s Parliament, and Lee thus continued as prime minister. In 1964, however, he made the mistake of entering his party, 75 percent of whose members were Chinese, in the Malaysian national elections. The growing tension between Chinese and Malays resulted in communal rioting in Singapore itself. In August 1965 Lee was told by his Malaysian colleagues in the federal government that Singapore must leave the federation. Although Lee passionately believed in the multiracialism that the federation represented, Singapore had to secede. It then became a sovereign state with Lee as its first prime minister. Lee’s principal aims were to ensure the physical survival of the new state and to retain Singapore’s national identity. Surrounded by more powerful neighbours (including China and Indonesia), Lee did not press for the immediate withdrawal of Commonwealth forces from Singapore. Instead, he sought to phase them out slowly and to replace them with a Singaporean force locally trained and patterned on the Israeli model. More importantly, Lee recognized that Singapore needed a strong economy in order to survive as an independent country, and he launched a program to industrialize Singapore and transform it into a major exporter of finished goods. He encouraged foreign investment and secured agreements between labour unions and business management that ensured both labour peace and a rising standard of living for workers. While improving health and social welfare services, Lee continually emphasized the necessity of cooperation, discipline, and austerity on the part of the average Singaporean. Lee’s dominance of the country’s political life was made easier when the main opposition party, the Barisan Sosialis, decided to boycott Parliament from 1966. As a result, the PAP won every seat in the chamber in the elections of 1968, 1972, 1976, and 1980, after which opposition parties managed to claim one or two seats. Lee sometimes resorted to press censorship to stifle left-wing dissent over his government’s fundamental policies. Lee brought his country an efficient administration and spectacular prosperity at the cost of a mildly authoritarian style of government that sometimes infringed on civil liberties. By the 1980s Singapore under Lee’s guidance had a per capita income second in East Asia only to Japan’s, and the country had become a chief financial centre of Southeast Asia. The PAP won the general elections of 1984 and 1988, and Lee remained prime minister, though the question of the succession of leadership became an issue during that decade. After satisfactorily arranging the succession, Lee resigned the office of prime minister in November 1990, though he remained the leader of the PAP until 1992. Lee’s successor as prime minister, Goh Chok Tong, named Lee to the cabinet position of senior minister, from which Lee continued to exercise considerable political influence. Upon Goh’s resignation as prime minister in 2004 (he was succeeded by Lee’s son Lee Hsien Loong), Goh became senior minister. The elder Lee remained in the cabinet as “minister mentor,” a position he held until 2011, when he finally stepped down from the cabinet. He held his seat in Parliament until his death, however, winning reelection in 1991, 1997, 2001, 2006, and 2011. The Editors of Encyclopaedia Britannica This article was most recently revised and updated by Adam Augustyn.

LEE KUAN YEW’S OPEN LETTER TO MALAYSIAN LEADERS FROM THE GRAVE

Dear Malaysian leaders, I want to appreciate your condolence messages to Singaporeans since my death on Sunday, March 22. Having died at the age of 91, I would not say I died young. In fact, life expectancy in Singapore, which I led as prime minister for 31 years, is 80 years for men and 85 for women. You may even say I spent an overtime of 11 years. I would say I lived a good life which I devoted to the progress of my country. I can confidently say that everything I did — including that for which I was heavily criticised for being “highhanded” — was for the benefit of my people, not for personal gain. I died a fulfilled man with no regrets whatsoever. May I briefly tell you the story of Singapore so that you can understand why it is often told with admiration all over the world. We were a small, hopeless Island. We thought we were so poor it was impossible to survive on our own. We decided to go into a union with other countries to form Malaysia in 1963. But because of ethnic riots, we were expelled from the union in 1965, and I broke down in tears because I did not see how we were going to survive as a country. It was so bad we had no potable water. We relied on other countries for water to drink! We had no natural resources. No oil, no gold, no solid minerals, nothing. All we had were human beings — and ports. Dear Malaysian leaders, we did not give up. We decided to pick the pieces of our lives. We resolved to turn our fortune around. Today, our story has changed completely. So you know, we are no longer a Third World country. We are one of the four Asian Tigers — so-called because of our incredible development story. Singapore is the only Asian country with the top AAA rating by all credit rating agencies. We are the fourth largest financial centre in the world. We have one of the five busiest ports in the world. Manufacturing accounts for around 30% of our GDP. And Singapore has the third highest per capita income in the world. Permit me some more immodesty. Unlike Malaysia, we don’t have a single drop of crude oil on our land. But also unlike Malaysia, we are one of the biggest exporters, not importers, of petroleum products. Our country is in the top three of oil-refining centres in the world, yet we don’t have oil! We have some of the biggest refineries in the world. Meanwhile, Malaysia, with all the oil you produce, has been importing petrol, diesel, kerosene, engine oil and other petroleum products for decades! Let me shock you: we are the largest oil-rig producers in the world! The World Bank ranks us as the easiest place to do business in the world. I’m blushing, even in death! Let me explain how we attained these feats. We are no magicians. We are no angels. We are human beings like you, dear Malaysian leaders. The first thing we recognised is that quality leadership is non-negotiable! I understand that ordinary Malaysians get all the blame for Malaysia’s problems under the pretext that if the followers are bad, then leaders will be bad. I disagree. {THE LANGUAGE OF MAD MALAYSIAN - IMBECILE} If the leaders are good, the followers will be good. The leaders take the critical decisions and show direction. That is why they are called leaders. It is the dog that should be wagging the tail, not the tail wagging the dog. Don’t blame passengers for bad driving. Countries are transformed by good leadership. Why does a country need competent and exemplary leaders? Development starts from visioning. No country develops by accident or co-incidence. Development is planned. The leader, who must understand the critical issues, puts together a team, shares his vision with them, assigns them responsibilities and leads them from the front. That is where it starts. It is when you have a vision of society that you will know that education is key, electricity is key, health is key, infrastructure is non-negotiable. It is when you have this vision that you know where to direct your energy and resources. You know the kind of people to put in charge of key ministries and agencies. Furthermore, leaders must not be obsessed with instant gratification and personal comfort. That is one of the biggest problems you, Malaysian leaders, have. You are too obsessed with the perks of office that you have forgotten why you were elected in the first instance. I understand that aside the presidential jets in town, you are more comfortable with chattered jets. What a waste. I will share a story with you, which you can read in my book, From Third World to First. The story is on pages 363-364 and it had to do my trip to Ottawa, Canada, for the Commonwealth meeting in 1973. The Bangladeshi Prime Minister, Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, arrived in style in his own aircraft. When I landed, I saw a parked Boeing 707 with “Bangladesh” emblazoned on it. When I left, it was still standing on the same spot, idle for eight days, getting obsolescent without earning anything. As I left the hotel for the airport, two huge vans were being loaded with packages for the Bangladeshi aircraft. At the conference, Mujibur Rahman had made a pitch for aid to his country. Any public relations firm would have advised him not to leave his special aircraft standing for eight whole days on the parking apron. You want aid but you are showing opulence to the world. Presidents of Kenya and Nigeria also arrived in jets. I wondered why they did not set out to impress the world that they were poor and in dire need of assistance. Our permanent representative at the UN explained that the poorer the country, the bigger the Cadillacs they hired for their leaders. So I made a virtue of arriving by ordinary commercial aircraft and thus helped preserve Singapore’s Third World status for many years. However, by the mid-1990s, the World Bank refused to heed our pleas not to reclassify us as a “High Income Developing Country” — giving no Brownie points for my frugal travel habits. We lost all the concessions that were given to developing countries. Dear Malaysian leaders, I understand that you are very, very religious. The Muslims among you pray five times day, go for hajj so often, fast during Ramadan and mention the name of Allah as punctuation for every word and every sentence. The Christians among you are always speaking in tongues or eating communion, paying fat tithes and heavy offerings and holding prayer sessions at home every morning. Yet, I am told you loot your state treasury without compassion or compunction, inflate contracts recklessly, operate killer squads, and watch — without conscience — as your citizens struggle without clean water and good hospitals. Unfortunately, I died an agnostic. I neither denied nor accepted that there was a God. Though two of my younger brothers, Freddy Lee and Lee Suan Yew, are members of the Anglican and Methodist churches respectively, I was not a churchgoer. Don’t misunderstand me: I am not saying you should not believe in God. But I only wonder: how can you say you believe in God and fail so woefully in what the Holy Bible and Holy Qu’ran teach about loving your neighbour, caring for the needy and showing responsibility as a leader? I cannot understand it. You guys never cease to amaze with how you can conveniently combine religion with greed. On a final note, I appreciate that you are mourning my death and describing me as great. Thank you very much. But I want you to know that you too can become great by putting the welfare of your citizens above your personal comfort. MALAYSIA too can produce a Lee Kuan Yew. I go to my grave a happy man. Ask yourself: will you go to yours fulfilled? Adieu! EndBadleadership

Buhari Petitioned To Sack Justice Peter-Odili For ‘Serving As Complainant, Prosecutor And Judge In Her Own Case’. BY SAHARAREPORTERS

Odili and his spouse, Justice Mary Peter-Odili reportedly saw Okponipere as the architect behind their loss of the PDP presidential and vice-presidential tickets A lawyer and human rights' activist, Timipa Jenkins Okponipere, has asked President Muhammadu Buhari to sack Supreme Court Judge, Mary Ukaego Peter-Odili over allegations of judicial misconduct and abuse of privilege. SaharaReporters gathered that Okponipere's troubles with the Odilis began sometime in December 2006 when he led his law firm, First Law Solicitors, to conduct a referendum on corruption and politically-motivated killings in Rivers State under the former governor Peter Odili and Justice Mary Peter-Odili as First Lady of the state. Following the widely acclaimed referendum, Odili lost the presidential primary election of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) held on December 12, 2006, at the Eagle Square, Abuja. The former governor also lost out in the shadow race for the PDP Vice presidential ticket, as Dr. Goodluck Ebele Jonathan was declared the running mate to Alhaji Umaru Yar'Adua, the eventual winner of the presidential ticket. Odili and his spouse, Justice Mary Peter-Odili reportedly saw Okponipere as the architect behind their loss of the PDP presidential and vice-presidential tickets, and promptly got him arrested and charged before Justice Biobele Georgewill of the Rivers State High Court on January 17, 2007. The matter subsequently progressed from the Rivers State High Court to the Court of Appeal (Port Harcourt Division) and eventually, to the Supreme Court in 2010. By that time, however, Justice Mary Peter-Odili was already a Justice of the apex court, and she eventually sat on the Supreme Court panel which heard and determined the suit on February 8, 2013: a criminal appeal in which her spouse was the Chief Complainant and Prosecutor against Okponipere. The lawyer in a statement made available to SaharaReporters said several petitions he wrote to the National Judicial Council (NJC) against the judge were not acted on. He urged the Nigerian Bar Association to pressure Justice Peter-Odili to submit herself to the disciplinary jurisdiction of the NJC while the commission should redeem its image by standing up to its responsibility. Okponipere called on President Buhari to rescue the situation as the judge “deserves nothing but dismissal from the Supreme Court of Nigeria.” He said, “Justice Mary Peter-Odili abused her position as a Judge of the apex court in the country when she simultaneously became the Complainant, the Prosecutor and the Judge in Criminal Appeal No: SC 250/2010 (TIMIPA OKPONIPERE Vs. STATE) which came before the Supreme Court in 2013. “This unprecedented judicial misconduct is capable of seeing her being dismissed from the Supreme Court bench. In the over 60 years history of the modern Supreme Court of Nigeria, not a single Justice of the revered apex court in the country, apart from Justice Mary Peter-Odili, has been so dragged before the NJC for such an unbefitting judicial conduct. “The legal principle/maxim of NEMO JEDEX IN CAUSA SUA (one cannot be a Judge in his own cause) is an elementary principle of Law. For a Supreme Court Judge of Mary Peter-Odili’s calibre, she rose through the ranks from the Magistracy to fall foul to such an elementary principle, explains her shallow knowledge of Law but deep involvement in judicial corruption. “On January 12, 2007 the Rivers State Government filed an 8 counts Information/Charge known as CHARGE NO: PHC/30CR/2007 (STATE Vs. TIMIPA OKPONIPERE) at a Rivers State High Court sitting at Port Harcourt against TIMIPA JENKINS OKPONIPERE, Port Harcourt lawyer and human rights activist, upon a criminal complaint by the then Governor of the State, His Excellency, Sir (Dr) Peter Odili. Certified true copy of the 8 counts Information/Charge is attached herewith. “All of the 8 counts of the Information/Charge were directly linked or connected with the person of Dr. Peter Odili and his failed 2007 presidential bid. So, under his watch as Governor of Rivers State, vigorous prosecution of the matter commenced before Justice Biobele Georgewill (now of the Court of Appeal). Dr. Peter Odili thus became the Complainant and the Prosecutor in the matter while Mr. Okponipere, being a Legal Practitioner, defended himself in person. “By means of an Interlocutory Appeal, the matter progressed from the Rivers State High Court to the Court of Appeal (Port Harcourt division) and eventually, to the Supreme Court in Abuja as Criminal Appeal No: SC 250/2010 (TIMIPA OKPONIPERE Vs. STATE). At about the same period, Justice Mary Peter-Odili, wife to Dr. Peter Odili (the Complainant and Prosecutor), had also been newly elevated to the Supreme Court bench. “By virtue of her status as wife to Dr. Peter Odili (the Complainant and Prosecutor), Justice Mary Peter-Odili ought to have recused herself from hearing and delivering Judgment in Criminal Appeal No: SC 250/2010 (TIMIPA OKPONIPERE Vs. STATE) when the matter progressed to the Supreme Court. “However, against all known canons of natural justice, equity and good conscience, Justice Mary Peter-Odili shamelessly and brazenly sat on the 5-man panel of Justices of the Supreme Court of Nigeria which heard and delivered Judgment in a Criminal Appeal where her husband, Dr. Peter Odili, was the Complainant and the Prosecutor. Automatically therefore, she simultaneously became the Complainant, the Prosecutor and the Judge, in her own cause. This was a clear and manifest abuse of judicial privilege. “Judgment was delivered in the matter on February 8, 2013 with Justice Olukayode Ariwoola delivering the Lead Judgment. Other members of the 5-man panel of Justices included Ibrahim Tanko Muhammad (the current Chief Justice of Nigeria & Chairman, National Judicial Council); John Afolabi Fabiyi; Mary Ukaego Peter-Odili (delivered Concurring Judgment) and; Kumah Bayang Akaahs. Certified true copy of the Lead Judgment and Justice Mary Odili’s Concurring Judgment are attached herewith. “In a petition on oath filed at the Federal High Court in Abuja on July 17, 2020 (over a year ago!) and submitted same day to the office of the Chief Justice of Nigeria & Chairman of the NJC, Mr. Okponipere urged the NJC to take disciplinary action against Justice Mary Peter-Odili for gross violation of Rules 8 and 12 of the Code of Conduct for Judicial Officers in Nigeria. Copy of Mr. Okponipere’s petition to the NJC is attached herewith. “Rule 8.1 of the Code of Conduct for Judicial Officers in Nigeria states thus: A Judge shall not allow the Judge’s family, social or political relationships improperly to influence the Judge’s judicial conduct and judgment as a Judge. “Rule 8.3 of the Code imposes a duty on Judicial Officers to avoid pursuing self-interest. It states: A Judge who takes advantage of the judicial office for personal gain by his or her relative or relation abuses power. A Judge must avoid all activity that suggests that his or her decisions are affected by self-interest or favoritism, since such abuse of power profoundly violates the public’s trust in the judiciary. “Rule 12 of the Code makes provision for “Disqualification”. Justice Mary Peter-Odili is particularly liable under this Rule. Among others, Rule 12.1 states: A Judge should disqualify himself in a proceeding in which his impartiality may genuinely and reasonably be questioned, including but not limited to the instances where: (a) he has a personal bias or prejudice concerning a party or personal knowledge of facts in dispute; (c) he knows that he individually or as a Judicial Officer or his spouse or child; has a financial or any other interest that could be substantially affected by the outcome of the proceeding. “In a letter with Reference No. NJC/F.1/SC.11/I/241 dated 24th August, 2020 the Honourable Dr. Justice I. T. Muhammad, CFR Chief Justice of Nigeria and Chairman, National Judicial Council acknowledged receipt of Mr. Okponipere’s petition and assured him that action was being taken. Copy of the letter is attached herewith. “However, more than a year after, no action has been taken against Justice Mary Peter-Odili. There seems to be a grand design by the NJC to sweep Mr. Okponipere’s legitimate petition under the carpet. Once Justice Mary Peter-Odili retires from the Supreme Court bench in May, 2022 the petition shall naturally become worthless. “No responsible government would sit idly and watch its Supreme Court being denigrated and ridiculed by the controversial actions of one of the Justices of the same Honourable Court. Accordingly, I call on President Muhammadu Buhari, Africa’s Champion of Anti-Corruption, to rescue the situation. Justice Mary Ukaego Peter-Odili deserves nothing but DISMISSAL from the Supreme Court of Nigeria. “The NBA should be made to call on Justice Mary Peter-Odili to submit herself to the disciplinary jurisdiction of the NJC. 30. The NJC should redeem its image by standing up to its responsibility. Firm and decisive disciplinary action should be taken against Justice Mary Odili, without delay. Finally, the media should jettison all forms of gullibility and display courage and bravery in the overall interest of preserving the integrity and dignity of the Judiciary in the country.”