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Rivers Crisis: Court Reserves Judgment In Amaewhule’s Appeal

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The Court of Appeal in Abuja has reserved judgment in the appeal filed by a former speaker of the River State House of Assembly, Martin Amaewhule, and 24 others against the Speaker, Victor Oko-Jumbo, and five others.

The appellate court adjourned after the parties in the suit adopted all their briefs in the matter.

At the proceeding that was conducted virtually on Thursday, Amaewhule and others are asking the court to stay execution of a high court judgement which saw them out of office and further proceedings in the suit and that whatever decisions Jumbo has taken while in office, should be set aside.

They are also asking for an accelerated hearing in the matter while contending that the order made by the trial court was without jurisdiction.

In their response, Amaewhule and others, prayed the court to dismiss the appeal for lacking in merit because the records of appeal transmitted were incompetent.

After listening to the submission of the lawyers in the appeal, the three-man panel led by Justice Jimi Olukayode-Bada reserved a date for judgment to be communicated to parties in the suit.

The appellate court had in a ruling on June 14 ordered that all parties in the suit maintain status quo and cease every form of hostilities until the matter is heard and decided.

This was to lay to rest a motion exparte brought before the court by the appellants seeking reversal of a high court judgment that declared their seats vacant as lawmakers.

The appeal court also stopped the State High Court or any other court from entertaining the matter until it was decided.

A Rivers State High Court, in Port Harcourt, had on May 10, 2024, stopped Martin Amaewhule from parading himself as the Speaker of the Rivers State House of Assembly.

The court gave the order after considering a motion brought before it by the new Speaker of the House, Victor Jumbo, and 2 others, to the effect that his seat had been declared vacant.

Justice Charles Wali, while ruling on the motion ex parte, also barred 24 other members of the Assembly from accessing the complex or carrying out any such Legislative assignment in the name of the Rivers State House of Assembly.

Dissatisfied with the verdict of the State High Court, Amaewhule and others approached the appellate court.

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Akran of Badagry is dead, aged 89

The demise of the monarch marks the end of his 48-year reign on the throne, making him one of the longest-serving traditional rulers in Lagos State.

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Photo: Akran of Badagry, De Wheno Aholu Menu-Toyi

The traditional ruler of the Badagry local government area in Lagos State, the Akran of Badagry, De Wheno Aholu Menu-Toyi, is dead, aged 89.

The demise of the monarch marks the end of his 48-year reign on the throne, making him one of the longest-serving traditional rulers in Lagos State.

According to the palace, the Akran was pronounced dead by medical experts, after a brief illness, and the traditional rites for his burial have gradually commenced.

Residents of Badagry, who are currently mourning the loss of their revered monarch, described his death as a heavy blow, noting that the town has lost not just a king but a father figure whose wisdom, counsel and presence brought reassurance in moments of uncertainty.

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Osun sues UBA, officials to court over illegal LG accounts

They were specifically accused of allowing the opening, operation and maintenance of accounts for each of the local government councils “by unknown private individuals as signatories…

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• Map of Osun State

The Osun State Government has instituted a criminal case against United Bank for Africa Plc (UBA) and four of its top officials over alleged illegal opening of local government accounts.

Tribune newspaper reported that the Chief Magistrate Court, sitting in Osogbo, Osun State, has fixed January 30 for the hearing of the case, marked Charge No: MOS/601c/2025.

The defendants in the suit are: the UBA Plc, its Group Managing Director, Mr Oliver Alawuba, the Company Secretary and Group Legal Adviser, Mr Billy Odum and the Deputy Managing Director, Mr Chukwuma Nweke.

In the charge sheet, the government filed the 31-count charge against the bank and its officials, with each count relating to alleged infractions involving opening of bank accounts for the state’s 30 local government councils.

In count one, the prosecution alleged that the defendants, on or about December 9, 2025, and on subsequent days, at UBA’S Osun State branch office located in the Olonkoro area of Osogbo, conspired to commit a felony by opening, operating and maintaining what it described as illegal Osun State Local Government Council accounts.

The alleged offence, the charge stated, occurred within the Osogbo Magisterial District and is said to be contrary to and punishable under Section 516 of the Criminal Code, Cap 34, Volume 2, Laws of Osun State of Nigeria, 2002.

They were specifically accused of allowing the opening, operation and maintenance of accounts for each of the local government councils “by unknown private individuals as signatories” after the Local Government Service Commission had introduced to the defendants, Directors of Administration and General Services and Directors of Finance of all the local governments as signatories to the councils’ statutory accounts “and thereby committed an offence contrary to Sections 2 and 3 (1) and (2), and punishable under Section 5(1) and (2) of Osun State Local Government Accounts Administration Law, 2025.”

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Umahi: We’re not tolling Third Mainland Bridge

Umahi affirmed this during inauguration of the N40 billion Closed Circuit Television Camera Centre on the Third Mainland Bridge, the previous day.

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• Third Mainland Bridge

The Minister of Works Senator Dave Umahi has confirmed that the Federal Government has no plan to toll the rehabilitated Third Mainland Bridge in Lagos.

Umahi affirmed this during inauguration of the N40 billion Closed Circuit Television Camera Centre on the Third Mainland Bridge, the previous day.

He said : “We will not engage construction on this bridge because it will entail static load on the bridge.

“It is also within the town, so it will introduce many bottlenecks; that is why we are not tolling this bridge,” he said.

Umahi said that security would be handled by the police, noting that the 11-kilometre bridge would have a five-minute response time.

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