DAILY NEWSPAPERS REVIEW WEDNESDAY AUGUST 26, 2020

MALAMI: I DON’T NEED MORE POWERS TO SUPERVISE EFCC – THISDAY PG.5

The Attorney-General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Mr. Abubakar Malami, yesterday dismissed claims that he was scheming for more powers to oversee the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC). According to him, he does not need to tinker with the legal instrument establishing the EFCC, the Economic and Financial Crime (Establishment) Act 2004, to enable him to effectively do his job. The minister, in a statement made available to journalists in Abuja by his media aide, Dr. Umar Gwandu, stated that by virtue of all legal instruments governing the conduct of governmental operations, he hasindisputable statutory powers to regulate the operations of the commission without recourse to any additional legislation. He cited Section 43 of the EFCC Act that provides that “the Attorney-General of the Federation may make rules or regulations with respect to the exercise of any of the duties, functions or powers of the commission under this Act.”

CONSTITUTION REVIEW: STATE CREATION, OTHERS TOP SENATE’S AGENDA – NATION PG.4

The Senate Ad Hoc Committee on the Review of the 1999 Constitution on Tuesday listed major areas for consideration in the current alteration of the national document to include state creation, judicial and electoral reforms, among others. The committee’s Chairman and Deputy Senate President Ovie-Omo-Agege announced this in a statement in Abuja.He called for memoranda from members of the public on the areas for review. Federal Ministry of Justice

MAILAFIA QUITS IPSS – NATION PG.4, THISDAY PG.11, DAILY TRUST PG.38, PUNCH PG.14

A Former Deputy Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), Dr. Obadiah Mailafia, has resigned his appointment from the National Institute of Policy and Strategic Studies (NIPSS) at Kuru, Jos, Plateau State. Until the resignation, Obadiah was an official at the national institute, called the nation’s think-tank. Nigerian Bar Association (NBA) Chairman in Plateau State, who is also Mailafia’s lawyer, Yakubu Bawa, confirmed the development to reporters on Tuesday in Jos.

FANI-KAYODE UNDER FIRE FOR ATTACKING JOURNALIST – NATION PG.7, DAILY TRUST PG.5, THISDAY PG.12, SUN PG.27, PUNCH PG.9

A Former minister of aviation, Femi Fani-Kayode, who is under trial for corruption and is yet to clear his name, came under fire on Tuesday for insulting a Daily Trust reporter in Calabar, the Cross Rivers State capital. The Nigeria Union of Journalists (NUJ) and the International Press Centre (IPC) slammed Fani-Kayode for the outburst. Fani-Kayode, on trial at the Federal High Court for “indirectly retaining hundreds of millions of naira which are proceeds of corruption”, was asked how he was funding his ongoing tour of some states in the South. Rather than answer the question, Fani-Kayode, who described himself as having “a short fuse”, descended on the reporter, Eyo Charles, raining abuses on him.

GOVERNOR: FOREIGNERS PAYING FOR GOLD WITH ARMS – NATION PG.7, THISDAY PG.10, SUN PG.6, PUNCH PG.11

The availability of small arms in large quantities in Zamfara State is partly as a result of the exchange of arms for gold, Governor Bello Matawalle said on Tuesday. According to him, this action by foreigners dealing in illegal gold mining has escalated the proliferation of arms and ammunition in the state.

SUPREME COURT RULE ON KOGI GOV ELECTION DISPUTE AUGUST 31 – THISDAY PG.5, SUN PG.29, PUNCH PG.9

Governor Yahaya Bello of Kogi State and other contestants to the state governorship seat will on August 31 know their fate as the Supreme Court delivers judgments in two appeals over the conduct of the November 16 governorship election in the state. A seven-man panel of the Supreme Court presided over by the Chief Justice of Nigeria (CJN), Justice Ibrahim Muhammad, yesterday adjourned till next Monday judgments in two separate appeals challenging the victory of Bello in the election.

HUSHPUPPI’S TRIAL SET TO BEGIN IN US – THISDAY.13

Ramon Abbas, the Nigerian Instagram celebrity with the name “Hushpuppi,’ has been arraigned in an American court in California as his trial begins on October 13. Abbas pleaded not guilty to the fourcount of conspiracy to commit wire fraud, money laundering conspiracies, international money laundering and engaging in monetary transactions in property derived from specified unlawful activity.

APPEAL COURT UPHOLDS JUDGMENT REVERSING EFCC’S DEMOTION OF DIRECTOR – THISDAY PG.12

The Court of Appeal in Abuja yesterday affirmed the judgment of the National Industrial Court (NIC), which reversed the demotion of the former Commandant of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) Academy, Ayo Olowonihi. The appellate court in a unanimous decision held that the appeal by the EFCC against the judgment of Justice Musa Kado, lacked merit and accordingly dismissed it.

ALLEGED N5BN FRAUD: SUSPENDED UNILAG VC, OGUNDIPE, DRAGGED BEFORE EFCC – THISDAY PG.30, PUNCH PG.7

The suspended Vice Chancellor of the University of Lagos, Professor Oluwatosin Ogundipe, has been dragged before the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC). A petition submitted to EFCC’s Office in Ikoyi, Lagos, by Professor Boniface Oye-Adeniran accused Ogundipe and his management team of awarding contracts amounting to N5 billion without the approval of the governing council of the institution, awarding contracts beyond his N2.5 million approval limit and breaching the Public Procurement Act (PPA) between 2017 and 2020.

DELAY IN PROBING CORRUPTION ALLEGATIONS IN NDDC WORRIES NIGER DELTA GROUP – SUN PG.3

A group, the Niger Delta Development and Accountability Coalition, has said the manner the allegations in the Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC) is being handled put a question mark on the commitment of the government to the anti-corruption war. In a statement signed by its National Chairman, Johnson Epia, the Niger Delta coalition said Nigerians are baffled that despite the confessions of the IMC at the public hearing to mismanaging the NDDC finances, the Senate indictment of the IMC and other Senate resolutions on the NDDC investigation, the presidency was yet to take action against the leadership of the commission.

NBA CONFAB: LAWYERS SEEK REMOVAL OF OBASANJO, OTHERS AS SPEAKERS – SUN PG.9

A group has called for the removal of former president, Olusegun Obasanjo, as speakers in the planned 2020 Annual General Conference of the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA). In a statement jointly signed by Chairman of Radical Agenda Movement in the Nigerian Bar Association (RAMINBA), Mr. Adesina Ogunlana and Secretary, Ayo Ademiluyi, hailed the dis-invitation to Governor Mallam Nasir El-Rufai.

COURT FREES CROSS RIVER JOURNALISTS OVER #REVOLUTIONNOW PROTEST – PUNCH PG.9

A Cross River State Magistrates’ Court sitting in Calabar and presided over by Rita Marshall, on Tuesday, discharged and acquitted two journalists arraigned for misconduct during the #RevolutionNow protest held on August 5, 2019. The journalists, Jonathan Ugbal and Jeremiah Archibong, who serve as the News Editor and Managing Editor, respectively, of the Cross RiverWatch, an online news portal, were charged with conspiracy, unlawful assembly and conduct likely to cause a breach of the public peace.