NEWS
Adeleke Approves Suspension of Osun CJ, Appoints Afolabi in Acting Capacity
Gov. Ademola Adeleke of Osun has announced the appointment of Justice Olayinka Afolabi, as the acting Chief Judge of the state with immediate effect.
Reports says that the appointment of Afolabi was in spite of the order of the National Industrial Court in Ibadan on Thursday which restrained the Osun government from terminating the appointment of Justice Adepele Ojo as chief judge.
Justice J.
D. Peter had also ordered the government to continue to pay the salary entitlements, emoluments and other benefits of the chief judge.However, Adeleke’s appointment of Afolabi followed the resolution of the state House of Assembly on Thursday for the suspension of Ojo over allegations of misconduct.
The Deputy-Governor, Kola Adewusi, was directed to perform the swearing-in ceremony of the Acting Chief Judge on Friday.
Ojo was asked to step aside pending investigation of allegations of misconduct, abuse of power, corruption and disregard for rule of law against her by the assembly.
A statement by Malam Olawale Rasheed, the Spokesperson to the governor, said that the appointment of Olayinka as acting CJ was sequel to the approval of the resolution of the assembly by the governor.
The lawmakers had resolved at plenary that the next in order of seniority to Ojo be sworn-in immediately to avoid any vacuum in the third arm government.
According to the lawmakers, the CJ should step aside, not for any disciplinary action, but to allow for proper investigation of the allegations.
The assembly resolved that the executive should immediately notify the National Judicial Council and the State Judicial Service Commission of its resolutions.
It directed its committee on Judiciary, Public Petitions and Legal Matters to investigate the the Chief Judge by inviting her within seven days from Thursday.
NAN recalls that the coalition of civil society organisations in Osun had on Wednesday accused the governor of plotting to remove the CJ.
The coalition at a press conference said that the governor was attempting to remove the CJ through the legislative arm.
But the state government denied the allegation.
In his reaction to the allegation, the Commissioner for Information and Civic Orientation, Mr Kolapo Alimi, said that the state government was unaware of any plot against the chief judge.
Alimi, in a statement, said that state government was commitment to due process and stipulated regulations across the arms of government.
The commissioner said that the governor was not in a position to stop the legislature from doing its statutory job and neither can he hamstring the judiciary in the performance of its duties. (NAN)
NEWS
Customs Intercept Contraband Worth N510.92m in Two Conths
The Nigeria Customs Service (NCS), Federal Operations Unit Zone C, says it intercepted contrabands with a Duty Paid Value (DPV) of N510.92 million between July 15th and September 15th, 2024.The zone covers the six states in the South-South geopolitical zone and the five states in the Southeast geopolitical zone.
This is contained in a statement signed by Jerry Attah, Public Relations Officer, NCS, Zone C, and made available to journalists on Wednesday. According to the statement, Comptroller Michael Ugbagu, NCS, Zone C, gave the statistics while showcasing the seized contraband to relevant regulatory agencies at the Government Warehouse in Edo.Ugbagu said that the zone also recovered the sum of N25.57 million from demand notices raised based on some infractions noticed, making a cumulative sum of N536.49 million recorded within the months under review.“The DPV was derived from our seized goods, which include 49,699 sachets of various brands of tramadol and 3,350 bottles of various cough syrups with codeine without an NAFDAC number.“1,015 sacks of dry donkey meat and skin, 75 jumbo bales of second-hand clothing, 463 cartons of foreign spaghetti, 269 pieces of used pneumatic tires, and 56 cartons of smuggled foreign tomato paste.“More worrisome is the interception of 49,699 sachets of various brands of tramadol and 3,350 bottles of various cough syrups with codeine without NAFDAC registration numbers.”He noted that the cough syrup with codeine and tramadol without NAFDAC registration numbers, if not intercepted, could have had adverse effects on youths.He added that the items were mostly intercepted along the Ewu-Okada/Benin expressways based on credible intelligence. (NAN)NEWS
APC Forum Decries Deplorable Condition of Federal Roads
The Forum of Stakeholders of the All Progressive Congress (APC) has decried the deplorable condition of some federal roads in Nigeria. Alhaji Saleh Zazzaga, the North-Central Chairman of the forum, said this in an interaction with newsmen on Wednesday in Jos. Zazzaga described some of the federal roads as ”death traps”, particularly those within the north-central region.
He said that some of the deplorable roads in the region include Jos-Akwanga, Makurdi-Oturkpo-Otukpa, Makurdi-Ankpa, and Jos-Saminaka. Other roads that needed urgent attention, he said, included Suleja-Minna, Ejule-Otukpa, Ganawuri-Manchok, Lokoja-Abuja, Lapai-Agaie-Bida, Birnin-Gwari-Bokani-Mokwa, Minna-Zungeru-Tegina-Kontagora. ”Currently, the north-central region has the most deplorable roads and highways in the country. ”These deplorable roads have brought severe hardship on the people and lost lives and property through preventable road traffic crashes. ”We call on President Bola Tinubu to intervene and ensure the rehabilitation of these roads because good roads are vital enablers of development,” he said. The chairman also called on governors of states within the region to reconstruct the dilapidated roads and seek refunds from the federal government. ”Though these are largely federal roads, they are located within states, and the beneficiaries are the people of these states. ”So we call on state governments to reconstruct these roads and seek refunds from the federal government,” he added. (NANNEWS
Yuan Strengthens 7. 087 Against Dollar
The central parity rate of the Chinese currency renminbi, or the yuan, strengthened 160 pips to 7.087 against the dollar on Wednesday.This is according to the China Foreign Exchange Trade System.In China’s spot foreigners exchange market, the yuan is allowed to rise or fall by two per cent from the central parity rate each trading day.
The central parity rate of the yuan against the dollar is based on a weighted average of prices offered by market makers before the opening of the interbank market each business day. (Xinhua/NAN)