OGBULAFOR FREE, CO-ACCUSED JAILED
Respite came the way of former chairman of PDP on Thursday when a federal capital territory high court discharged and acquitted him of 17-count charge of corruption filed against him by the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC). The ICPC had accused Vincent Ogbulafor of fraud to the tune of over N170m through payments for contracts that were not executed.
In his judgement, Justice Ishaq Bello held that the court could not, from the evidence before it, establish a connection between Ogbulafor and the alleged crimes. Somehow, his co-accused, Emeka Ebila, was convicted on the basis of his confessional statement tendered before the court without any objection from his lawyer. Ebila was sentenced to a jail term of five years, which will run concurrently.
REMI OYO GOES HOME…
The Nigerian media lost a gem on Wednesday when news of Mrs Remi Oyo’s death after a long battle with cancer filtered in. She had been receiving treatment in the United States for the past two years. Oyo is fondly remembered for her immense contributions to the development of the Nigerian media, especially as managing director of the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in 2007. In a landscape that is largely masculine, Oyo stood out as the first woman to be made principal editor at NAN, first woman to be president of the Nigerian Guild of Editors (a position she held twice) and first woman to be presidential spokesperson as senior special assistant on media and publicity to former president, Olusegun Obasanjo from 2003 to 2007.
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…BUT MIMIKO RETURNS ‘HOME’
The prospects of PDP in the 2015 election became brighter last week, as it welcomed Olusegun Mimiko, governor of Ondo state and an erstwhile member of the party, back into its fold. The governor led other members of Labour Party (including two members of the national assembly from the state), all the 26 members of the state house of assembly, all members of the state executive council and his supporters, to the PDP. Noting that the move was an outcome of wide consultations with major stakeholders in the state, he said it was in the overall interest of his people, the nation and its democracy.
MUTINY TRIAL CONTINUES
The trial of Nigerian soldiers accused of committing mutiny started last week and will continue next week, on October 15. It was initially scheduled to hold on Tuesday but was postponed till Thursday in deference to the country’s 54th Independence Day celebrations. It started with Brigadier General N.S. Yusuf, president of the general court-martial, assuring the soldiers that no innocent person would be wrongfully convicted. Last month, 18 soldiers were tried; 12 of them got the death sentence.
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