News
27 Judges To Face NJC Probe Over Alleged Judicial Misconduct
The National Judicial Council (NJC) has constituted four probe panels to investigate 27 high court judges in the country over various alleged judicial misconduct brought against them.
This is as the Council issued a letter of advice to Justice O. M. Olagunju of Oyo State High Court to be circumspect as a Judicial Officer before acting, even in the most challenging situation.
Justice Olagunju was said to have used uncouth language in a letter addressed to the Chief Justice of Nigeria, challenging the Council’s decision and its Policy Direction on the appointment of President Court of the Customary Court of Appeal, Oyo State.
At its 106th meeting presided over by the outgoing Chief Justice of Nigeria CJN, Olukayode Ariwoola, NJC considered the report of its Preliminary Complaints Assessment Committee on 22 petitions written against 27 Judicial Officers of the Federal and State High Courts.
Based on the report of the preliminary committee, the Council em paneled four Committees to investigate allegations in the petitions that were found meritorious.
A statement by the NJC Director of Information, Mr Soji Oye in Abuja however said that the remaining 18 petitions were discountenanced for lacking in merit, abandoned or being subjudice.
The discountenanced petitions are against Hon. Justice Monica B. Dongban-Mensem, President Court of Appeal, Hon. Justices E. O. Williams Dawodu, B. A. Georgewill, Yargata Timpar, S. D. Samchi, Aisha B. Aliyu, A. A. Aderibigbe M. L. Shuaibu, H. A. O. Abiru and Abdulazeez Waziri all of the Court of Appeal.Others are Hon. Justice John Tsoho, Chief Judge, Federal High Court, Hon. Justices Z. B. Abubakar, James. Kolawole Omotosho, Sunday B. Onu all of the Federal High Court and Justice Okon E. Abang when he was serving at the Federal High Court.
The rest are Hon. Justice Kayode Agunloye of the FCT High Court, Hon. Justice Babagana Karumi of the High Court Borno State, Hon. Justice Maimuna A. Abubakar of the High Court of Niger State, Hon. Justice A. A. Aderibigbe of Osun State High Court and Hon. Justice Aisha B. Aliyu of Nasarawa State High Court.
Besides, NJC placed five Judges on its pre-sanction Watch List register for poor performance and would be recommended to the Council for appropriate sanction if they do not improve on their performance.
Justice Ariwoola in the meeting being the last one before his retirement, appreciated the cooperation he received from members of the Council and the Council’s Secretariat and implored them to extend the same to his successor.
Members of the Council in return eulogised the outgoing CJN and Chairman one after the other and wished him good health in retirement.
Finnish prosecutors on Friday said they had charged a man with inciting terrorism online who a media report identified as Nigerian separatist leader Simon Ekpa.
According to the prosecution authority, the accused remained in custody and denied the charges.
AFP reports that Finland’s National Prosecution Authority said in a statement that it had charged “a Finnish individual in a case involving suspected public incitement to commit crimes with terrorist intent and participation in the activities of a terrorist group.”
It added that the alleged crimes had been committed in the city of Lahti between 2021 and 2024 and were related to the suspect’s efforts to establish Nigeria’s Biafra region as an independent state.
The prosecution authority did not name the accused but Finnish public broadcaster YLE identified him as separatist leader Simon Ekpa.Ekpa — who claims to lead the Biafra Republic’s government in exile — was detained in November.
According to the prosecution authority, the accused remained in custody and denied the charges.
News
Tinubu to attend Pope Leo XIV’s inauguration May 18
The inauguration marks the formal beginning of the Pontificate of Pope Leo XIV, the 267th Bishop of Rome.”
President Bola Ahmed Tinubu will depart Abuja on Saturday for Rome, Italy, to attend the inauguration of Pope Leo XIV as the new head of the Roman Catholic Church.
The President will be accompanied by a delegation that includes the Minister of State for Foreign Affairs, Ambassador Bianca Odumegwu-Ojukwu; Archbishop Lucius Ugorji, President of the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of Nigeria; Archbishop Ignatius Kaigama of Abuja; Archbishop Alfred Martins of Lagos; and Bishop Matthew Hassan Kukah of the Sokoto Diocese.
Bayo Onanuga, Special Adviser to the President on Information and Strategy, confirmed in a statement via X.
‘Tinubu is travelling at the invitation of the Vatican and will lead Nigeria’s delegation to the solemn installation mass scheduled for Sunday, May 18, at St. Peter’s Square.
The inauguration marks the formal beginning of the Pontificate of Pope Leo XIV, the 267th Bishop of Rome.”
A fire broke out on Thursday at the General Hospital in Ifako-Ijaiye, Lagos, engulfing parts of the three-storey building and causing panic among residents and patients.
Videos from the scene showed thick smoke pouring from the hospital building as onlookers gathered in distress. Firefighters later arrived to battle the blaze.
An eyewitness, Modinat Melemuku, who shared footage of the incident on Facebook, called for urgent help.
She said: “Happening now at General Hospital Ifako-Ijaiye, College Road. Please repost.
Help is needed,” she wrote.
An eyewitness also told reporters the fire began in one part of the hospital before spreading to other sections.
“The fire then spread to the prenatal and postnatal rooms, after which it affected the pediatric ward,” the eyewitness said.
There were concerns that nursing mothers and infants might have been trapped inside, although no casualties were confirmed as of the time of filing this report.
Emergency responders were still on the ground trying to bring the situation under control.
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