12/14/17

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Latest Reality Blog is a legal blog where you are updated on online latest news, gist, entertainment, events, motivational text, and genue articles.

The House of Representatives Committee on Oil and Gas on Thursday gave 10 indigenous oil companies in the country two weeks to remit 250 million dollars oil royalty to Federal Government’s coffers.
Jerigbe Agom, the Chairman of the committee, gave the ultimatum at the ongoing sitting over unremitted funds in the industry.
According to the Chairman, Nigeria can no longer condone unbecoming acts of the operators which are capable of strangulating the nation’s oil and gas industry.
He said the companies were Aiteo Group, Dubri Oil Limited, Atlas Energy, Frontier Oil Ltd., Oriental Energy Limited, Express Petroleum, WalterSmith Oil Limited and Neconde Group.
Agom said the committee would have no choice than to wield the big sticks on the companies that refused to meet the deadline as part of its mandate to ensure sanity in the nation’s oil and gas industry.
Meanwhile, members of the committee said the Department of Petroleum Resources (DPR) was not proactive enough to ensure that indigenous oil companies complied with rules in the nation’s oil and gas sector.
They wondered why the regulatory body could not wield the big sticks on oil companies that failed to pay their oil royalties when evidence was clear that they owed the government.
They also accused gas companies in the country of not revealing the accurate figures of the quantity of gas produced and flared.
The lawmakers resolved to pay on-site visit to the gas companies at a later date, to crosscheck claims of their gas production and flare.
Mr Dada Thomas, the Managing Director, Frontier Oil Ltd., however, said most of them got the invitation very late.
He complained of harsh business environment like high cost of production and interest rate which also explained why owners of marginal fields in the country could not operate the fields.
According to him, the government has no reason to grant them requisite tax holidays with a view to boosting their business and opening the nation’s oil and gas sector for investment prospects.
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Latest Reality Blog is a legal blog where you are updated on online latest news, gist, entertainment, events, motivational text, and genue articles.

Jubilation erupted in Omu-Aran, Kwara, on Thursday as electricity supply to Irepodun Local Government Secretariat was restored after three years outage.
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the council’s electricity supply was disconnected by Ibadan Electricity Distribution Company (IBEDC) in 2014 over indebtedness.
The restoration of electricity to the secretariat at about noon caught some of the staff unaware as they went wild in jubilation.
NAN also reports that the development coincided with the visit of the executive member of Omu-Aran Development Association (ODA) to the council secretariat.
The ODA executives led by its President, Chief Bisi Adeyemi, were in the council on a congratulatory visit to the newly sworn-in Chairman, Mr Muyiwa Oladipo.
Oladipo told NAN that the reconnection of electricity to the council was a promise fulfilled.
“I have been holding random meetings with the management of the electricity company since assuming office few days ago on the way forward.
“The issue of power outage in the council over a long period has been a source of concern to my administration, but we thank God who had made it possible,” he said.
He said his administration had mapped out strategies in collaboration with the IBEDC management towards ensuring adequate power supply to the secretariat to aid efficiency.
Oladipo expressed his administration’s support to every stakeholder in the effort to achieve the desired socioeconomic transformation envisioned for the council.
Earlier, the ODA boss advised Oladipo to beam its searchlight on the issue of security, rural road rehabilitation and infrastructural development within the council area.
Adeyemi, who used the opportunity to invite the chairman to its annual general meeting on Dec. 26, said the town’s annual get-together earlier scheduled for Dec. 30 has been postponed indefinitely.
The postponement, according to him, was in honour of the late traditional ruler of the town, Oba Charles Ibitoye, who died at the age of 65.
The executives of Omu-Aran Microfinance Bank were also in the council on a congratulatory visit to the new council chairman.
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Latest Reality Blog is a legal blog where you are updated on online latest news, gist, entertainment, events, motivational text, and genue articles.
Gov. Rauf Aregbesola

An Osun State High Court sitting in Ilesa has declared that the renaming of Osun State as “State of Osun” by Gov. Rauf Aregbesola was illegal and therefore, null and void.
Justice Yinka Afolabi ruled that the law and its makers were unknown to the 1999 Constitution.
In the more than one hour verdict, Justice Afolabi chided Aregbesola for deliberately and singlehandedly renaming the state, contrary to the known norms and the nation’s constitution.
He also declared that the makers of the law, who are currently serving as members of the State House of Assembly, were not sworn in as members of the “State of Osun House of Assembly” but as members of Osun State House of Assembly going by the seventh schedule of the constitution.
The judge said that since the creation of the state in 1991, previous governments used the constitutionally enshrined name of Osun State.
All the other 35 states of the federation, he added, had not deviated from the constitutional names given to them.
“The executive governor of the state changed the name in 2011. The renaming of a state goes further and deeper for anyone to singlehandedly do.
“To re-order the name of Osun State as “State of Osun” is hereby declared as illegal, null and void.
“On the oath of allegiance, I want to state that the Seventh Schedule is part of the law.
“It is not a mere draft or mere oath. It does not give room for any alteration. After deposing to an oath of office, you cannot turn around to do otherwise,’’ Afolabi stated.
The judge threw out all the arguments by the State Attorney-General, Dr Basiru Ajibola, who stood in as counsel for the governor and the state government.
He, however, granted all the seven prayers of the plaintiff.
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the case was instituted by a human rights activist, Mr Kanmi Ajibola, who had challenged the legality of the “State of Osun Land Use Charge Law.’’
Ajibola had gone to court in 2016, asking for certain reliefs after being served a notice by a private company known as “Interspatial Limited.”
The notice was christened “State of Osun Land Use Charge Annual Demand Notice” and signed by one Mrs. A. Ogunlumade, Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Finance.
According to him, the notice was addressed to him as the property owner of No. 42, Onigbogi Street off Ibala, Ilesa West, and served on Aug. 15, 2016.
Some of the reliefs he sought for included a declaration that the “State of Osun Land Use Charge Law 2016, ” having being enacted by a legislative body that is not known to the constitution and the state not known to the 1999 constitution, be declared illegal and unconstitutional.
Ajibola also asked the court to set aside the “State of Osun Land Use Charge Law, 2016” having been enacted by a legislative body that is not known to the constitution and the state not known to the 1999 constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria (as amended).
The Attorney-General, however, said the judgment would be appealed.
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A policeman on Tuesday allegedly shot and killed a commercial bus driver at a checkpoint in Ekiti state.

Identified as Olabode Ojo, the driver was said to have refused to part with money at the checkpoint, an action some eyewitnesses claimed angered the officer, who then shot at the vehicle marked ‘Bayelsa XC 940 Yen’, while it sped away.

Following the incident, tension rose in Oye Ekiti, headquarters of Oye Local Government.

A source who pleaded anonymity narrated the ordeal to Channels Television, noting that although the driver had sped off, the bullet hit him and killed him instantly.

“When the driver was hit by the bullet, he lost control of the bus and it somersaulted.

“He was lying dead at the scene while in the confusion, every other person was crawling out of the crashed vehicle, seeking help,” he stated.

The Public Relations Officer of the Ekiti State, Police Command, Mr Alberto Adeyemi, confirmed the incident to reporters on Wednesday.

Adeyemi, in a telephone interview, said the suspect, whose name he gave as Corporal Ayodele Famodimu, had been arrested and is “already facing departmental orderly room trial.”

“His name is Corporal Ayodele Famodimu and his departmental orderly room trial has already started.

“When the trial has been concluded, he would be dismissed after which he would be charged to court,” he said.

Channels Television’s correspondent learned that the victim hailed from Ikare in Ondo State.


Meanwhile, the traditional ruler, Olukare spoke with the officials of the Federal Road Safety Commission in the state to ascertain the victim’s identity.
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Group of protesters on Tuesday stormed the streets of Kano urging the Inspector of General of Police, (IGP) Ibrahim Idris not to scrap the Special Anti-Robbery Squad (SARS) but to reform it instead.

The protesters, bearing various placards claimed that without SARS operators, armed robbery will be on the rise and Kano State will in turn, become home to crime and criminalities.


Channels Television’s correspondent, gathered that a letter of support was being handed over to the police commissioner in Kano by the group which claimed that so far, there are no groups currently protesting against SARS.

 The coalition of the groups led by leaders of the Civil Society Organizations Ibrahim Muhammad, however noted that though there may be some bad eggs, the unit does not have to be scrapped completely.

“Even though there might be some bad eggs in the unit, the police force needs to reform the unit to prevent it from carrying out extra judicious activities. For us here in Kano, SARS means salvation because their wonderful vision, sterling qualities are so outstanding that they cannot come to pass without recognition.


“Scrapping SARS will not solve the problems of armed robbery and other related crimes in the country,” the group stated.
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Latest Reality Blog is a legal blog where you are updated on online latest news, gist, entertainment, events, motivational text, and genue articles.

The trial of Maryam Sanda, the woman who allegedly killed her husband in Abuja has commenced at the Federal High Court Jabi.

She is being arraigned alongside her mother Maimuna Sanda, her brother Aliyu Sanda and one Sadiya.

They are standing trial on two counts of culpable homicide and tampering with the scene of crime, to which they all entered a ‘not guilty plea’.

Counsel to the defendants, Mr Joseph Daudu, subsequently requested for their bail.

He also attached a medical report to the application and asked the court to consider the fact that Sanda is a nursing mother while he said the offence for which others were standing trial was bailable.

The prosecutor, Jacob Idachaba, however, relied on his counter-affidavit to ask the court to deny the bail application.


He said although he sympathised with the baby, it was not sufficient reason to ask for the Maryam’s bail, adding that the other three defendants ought to be in prison custody pending the determination of their trial.

In his ruling, Justice Yusuf Halilu refused to grant bail to the defendant, saying the court was not inclined to do so and that no cogent reason was presented by the defence to warrant her bail.

He also held that the fact that Sanda is a nursing mother was not a general principle for granting her bail.

Justice Halilu, however, granted bail to the other defendants on the condition that they must provide two sureties each, who must reside within the city centre of Abuja.

The defendants are also expected to submit their travel documents to the court while the sureties must deposit proof of their landed properties in Abuja.

The case was subsequently adjourned till February 5, 6, and 7, 2018.

Maryam who is the daughter of Maimuna Aliyu, a former Aso Saving Bank executive, was arraigned by the police for allegedly killing Bilyamin, son of a former PDP Chairman, Mohammed Bello.

She was said to have stabbed her husband several times at his Maitama residence in Abuja a few weeks ago, based on allegations of infidelity.

Bilyamin was reportedly rushed to the hospital where he eventually died while Maryam was consequently charged to court.

The FCT Police Command had filed two counts of culpable homicide against her. Although she pleaded not guilty, she was remanded in prison custody.

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Latest Reality Blog is a legal blog where you are updated on online latest news, gist, entertainment, events, motivational text, and genue articles.

The Ogun state police command has arrested a 29-year-old, Festus Udoh driving instructor in Ogun state for raping and killing a 23-year-old female corps member serving in the state.

The state Commissioner of Police, Mr Ahmed Iliyasu, said the suspect lured the corps member, under the guise of issuing her a driving permit before he forcefully raped and eventually killed her.

Subsequently, the Police began investigations when the State NYSC authorities issued a letter declaring the batch A corps member missing on December 9.

Speaking to security officers and journalists, the suspect, however, confessed to having committed the crime. Subsequently, her lifeless body was identified in a bush in Odeda local government area of the state.

The Commissioner of Police, while assuring that justice will be done, charged members of the general public to be more security conscious.


He also promised that all stakeholders would do everything possible to ensure that Ogun state would not be a comfort zone for criminals henceforth.
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Latest Reality Blog is a legal blog where you are updated on online latest news, gist, entertainment, events, motivational text, and genue articles.

In spite the #EndSARS debate by Nigerians, Mr Akin Fakorode, the Commander of the Special Anti-Robbery Squad (SARS) in Rivers, says crime rate has dropped to the barest minimum in the upland region of the state.
Fakorode disclosed this in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) on Thursday in Port Harcourt.
He assured the people of the state that the Squad would continue to tackle insecurity in the riverside region until peace was permanently restored following its collaboration with the Marine Police, Navy and other relevant security agencies.
He disagreed with those clamouring for the withdrawal of SARS from the state, saying the call had no good intention for the residents.
Fakorede urged members of the public to lodge their complaints about any misdemeanour on the part of SARS operatives for appropriate sanctions.
He said that SARS had been able to identify those fomenting trouble and their hideouts, adding that trouble makers would not be given breathing space under his watch.
“We have increased our presence and we have also strengthened surveillance on the state’s waterways to block the entry points of criminals to the riverside communities.
“This measure is to ensure that there is no safe Haven for criminals even in the creeks.
“I urge the public to enjoy the best Christmas celebration in terms of security as we have positioned our officers and men to ensure security of lives and property in the state,” he said.
The commander said the presence of SARS in Rivers had brought a sigh of relief to the residents who hitherto were unsafe owing to incessant kidnappings and cult activities.
Fakorode called for more public cooperation, saying that SARS operations in the state had also reduced incidents of senseless killings.
“We remain grateful to those who came in solidarity to identify with the noble objectives of SARS in Rivers because we cannot talk about policing without public collaboration.
“At several fora, we have asked the public to make official reports of misconduct by our men to the Inspector-General of Police and top police officers.
“We made this request because some persons may have been negatively affected by some SARS operatives.
“I can assure Rivers people that any complaint would be duly investigated and if any officer is found wanting he shall not go unpunished,” he said.
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