DAILY NEWSPAPERS REVIEW MONDAY AUGUST 31, 2020

CONTRACT JUDGMENT ENFORCEMENT: FIRM LISTS 33 NIGERIA’S UK PROPERTIES, BEGINS SALES SOON – PUNCH PG.2

At least 33 properties owned by the Federal Government in the United Kingdom have been identified and some are at risk of being forfeited due to a damage cost awarded to an energy firm, Eurafic Power Limited, by a London Court of International Arbitration which was endorsed by a UK High Court. The development comes as Nigeria continues to battle another firm, P&ID, which is attempting to seize $9bn Nigerian assets.

LAWYERS SEEKING NBA SPLIT WRITE MALAMI – NATION PG.7, THISDAY PG.49, PUNCH PG.55

A new body of lawyers, the New Nigerian Bar Association (NNBA), has notified the Attorney General of the Federation (AGF), Abubakar Malami, of its existence. The new association said its formation, last Thursday, followed the alleged failure of the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA) to uphold a national unity in its recent decisions. Last Thursday, two Kaduna-based lawyers – Nuhu Ibrahim and Abdulbasit Suleiman – announced the NNBA’s formation, following NBA’s withdrawal of an Annual General Conference (AGC) invitation to Kaduna State Governor Nasir El-Rufai, among other grievances.

INTERIM REPORT ON MAGU FALSE, SAYS DEFENCE COUNSEL – NATION PG.8, SUN PG.6

Following controversy over the fate of his client, counsel to the suspended Acting Chairman of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, Mr. Ibrahim Magu, on Sunday said the Judicial Commission of Inquiry on its activities has not submitted any interim report. Mr. Wahab Shittu said the release of the purported interim report did not Federal Ministry of Justice emanate from the panel. He said he brought an application before the commission and the Chairman of the Judicial Commission, Justice Isa Ayo Salami, ruled on his application against the media report.

SERAP SUES BUHARI OVER ‘N800BN RECOVERED LOOT’ – DALY TRUST PG.62, THISDAY PG.48, SUN PG.27

Socio-Economic Rights and Accountability Project (SERAP) has filed a lawsuit against President Muhammadu Buhari over failure to “disclose information and documents relating to the names of people from whom N800 billion in looted public funds have been recovered, specific dates of the recovery, and details of projects on which the money has been spent.” In the suit last Friday at the Federal High Court, Abuja, SERAP is seeking: “an order for leave to apply for judicial review and an order of mandamus to direct and/or compel President Buhari to publish a comprehensive list of names of people from whom N800 billion in looted funds have been

NORTHERN ELDERS REJECT N1BN CONSTITUTION REVIEW – DAILY TRUST PG.6, THISDAY PG.1&10

The Northern Elders Forum (NEF) has faulted the Senate’s call for memoranda on review of the 1999 Constitution, alleging that it is of no value and a predictable waste of time, resources and energy of Nigeria. The forum’s Director of Publicity and Advocacy, Dr Hakeem Baba-Ahmed, at a press conference in Abuja on Sunday asked Nigerians not to support the proposed constitution review “at this difficult time when the economy is facing unprecedented challenges.”

GHANA FAULTS NIGERIA’S CLOSURE OF BORDERS, BUHARI’S EXECUTIVE ORDER – NATION PG.1&5, DAILY TRUST PG.12, PUNCH PG.55

The simmering diplomatic row between Nigeria and Ghana over the ill treatment to Nigerian traders in the neighbouring country is not about to abate. The Ghanaians have faulted the claims by the Federal Government on the situation as well as other issues of interest raised last week. Apart from insisting that Nigerians are not being singled out for maltreatment, the Ghana government faulted Nigeria’s border closure and the Executive Order signed by President Muhammadu Buhari preventing foreigners from getting jobs which Nigerians can do.

ANXIETY IN KOGI AS SUPREME COURT DECIDES BELLO’S FATE ON MONDAY – DAILY TRUST PG.56 SUN PG. 29,

An air of uneasiness currently envelops Kogi State as parties to the dispute over the last governorship election in the state anxiously await the verdict of the Supreme Court scheduled to be handed down on Monday. The nation’s apex court is expected to deliver two judgments on the two surviving appeals on the dispute over whether or not the candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC), the incumbent Governor Yahaya Bello, was lawfully returned by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) as the winner of the November 16, 2019 election.

IPOB WARNS MIYETTI ALLAH VIGILANTES TO BACK OFF – NATION PG.

Leader of the Indigenous Peoples of Biafra ( IPOB) Nnamdi Kanu has said any attempt by the Miyetti Allah Hore Kautal to formally launch its national vigilante group in Biafraland would be resisted. Kanu, in a statement by IPOB Media and Publicity Secretary, Emma Powerful, alleged Miyetti Allah had perfected plans to deploy its vigilantes across the country immediately after the launch.

POLICEMEN SHOULD PAY DAMAGES FOR RIGHTS VIOLATIONS – FALANA – PUNCH PG.34

A Senior Advocate of Nigeria, Mr Femi Falana, has said individual police officers responsible for violation of human rights should be made to personally pay damages imposed by the court. Falana said the reason human rights abuses remained prevalent was because when victims of rights violation got court judgments, it was the Nigeria Police Force, and the individual officer responsible for the violation that paid the damages imposed by the court