Famous Wrestler, Power Uti, Faces Trial For Allegedly Killing Wife

A renown wrestler, John Eke Uti better known as Power Uti, was on Tuesday hauled up before an Ebute Meta Magistrates’ Court, Lagos, for allegedly killing his wife, Toyin, Uti, 55, was arraigned before Magistrate Bola Folarin-Williams on a two-count charge of murder and disrespect of corpse. 

After going through the case file, Magistrate Folarin-Williams said she did not see anything both in the accused’s statement and in the police investigations to show that the accused killed his wife and quashed the remand application brought by the police. 

She, therefore, admitted the accused to a bail of N500,000 with two responsible sureties in like sum, who must be blood relations and also work with reputable organisations. She directed that the case file should be duplicated and a copy forwarded to the State Director of Public Prosecutions (DPPs) for legal advice. 

Earlier, Sgt. Jimah Iseghede, the prosecutor, had told the court that the accused committed the offences on Oct. 10 about 10.25 p.m. at No. 17, Oremeji St., Ilupeju, Lagos. He alleged that the accused beat his wife, Toyin, 38, to death and abandoned the corpse in a room to decompose. 

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that John Eke Uti, a former world wrestling champion, was first taken to Ilupeju Police Station before being transfered to the State Criminal Investigations and Intelligence Department (SCIID) for further investigation. 

The offences contravened Sections 165(a) and 223 of the Criminal Law of Lagos State, 2015. If found guilty, the accused faces a death sentence. The case has been adjourned until Nov. 15. 

Source: NAN

Harry Kane Would Cost 250 million – Perez

It would take a world record 250 million euro ($294 million) fee to land the on-fire Harry Kane from Tottenham Hotspur according to Real Madrid president Florentino Perez. 

The English striker’s 13 goals in 12 games this season has sparked rumours he could be the latest star to swap Spurs for Spain following in the footsteps of Luka Modric and Gareth Bale. 

However, having had his fingers burned in paying a then world record 100 million euros for Bale in 2013, Perez is wary of trying to negotiate with Tottenham chairman Daniel Levy. 

“I think he is a magnificent player and, moreover, he is young with many years ahead of him to progress,” Perez told Spanish radio station Cadena Cope after attending FIFA’s annual awards. 

Perez believes Levy’s reputation for delaying moves until late in the transfer window to get the best possible deal means he would want more than the 222 million euros Paris Saint-Germain paid to snatch Neymar from Barcelona in August. 

“No, (I haven’t asked the price) because if I ask, he will tell me 250 million,” Perez added. 

“We have made friends with Tottenham over the time it took to sign Luka Modric and Gareth Bale as with the two of them we ended up signing them on the final day of the window. 

“We ended up having a good friendship and he (Levy) always says to me when we win the European Cup: ‘Thanks for winning the European Cup with my players‘”. 

Madrid’s feat in retaining the Champions League was rewarded on Monday as Cristiano Ronaldo won FIFA’s “The Best” player for the second straight year, whilst Zinedine Zidane picked up the best coach award and four other Real players Marcelo, Sergio Ramos, Toni Kroos and Modric joined Ronaldo in the team of the year. 

However, the European champions were unable to get the better of Kane’s Spurs in a 1-1 Champions League draw at the Santiago Bernabeu last week. 

And Kane will have another chance to show Madrid what they are missing when the sides meet again on November 1 at Wembley with top spot in Group H at stake.

Proposed FIFA Rule On Nationality Switch: Nigeria May Pay England For Iwobi, Aina

FIFA is currently look-ing into several options in their bid to effect changes to the rules guiding players nationality switch after representing another country at junior level. 

Head of FIFA stakeholders committee Victor Montagliani confirmed they are looking into the rule, which currently forbids players who have played a competitive international for one  team from switching to another national side even when they hold dual nationality. 

Already the Cape Verde football federation has proposed for the rule to be relaxed especially when the player has only featured in few games, say one or two games for his original side, but has no chance of earning a recall. 

However, FIFA only allows players to represent a country with no blood relation if they have played and lived there for five years, a rule which Montagliani said could be reviewed into changing the period probably extending it. 

The other option the Montagliani lead committee are looking at is a compensation scheme in cases where a player goes through the training system of one country and represent it at youth level before switching to another.  

Buhari’s Sack Of Maina An Afterthought; Calls For His Arrest, Prosecution – Fayose

Ekiti State Governor, Mr. Ayodele Fayose, has described President Muhammadu Buhari’s directive for the immediate disengagement of former Chairman of the Presidential Task Force on Pension Reforms, Mr. Abdullahi Maina, as an afterthought, saying: “The President only acted to save his face from the global embarrassment caused him by the outcry of Nigerians on the news of Maina’s reinstatement.”

Governor Fayose demanded for the immediate arrest and trial of Maina as well as sack of all those who perpetrated his reinstatement, which he described as fraudulent and shameful.

In a statement signed by his Special Assistant on Public Communications and New Media, Lere Olayinka, Governor Fayose, who likened Buhari’s anti-corruption fight to a situation where “Satan is calling Judas Iscariot a sinner,” reminded Nigerians that he said before now that the kind of corruption that will be witnessed in President Buhari’s government will be unprecedented and that he had been vindicated.

The governor described the government of President Buhari as corruption personified, noting that; “If Maina, who was declared wanted for corrupt practices by the International Police Organisation, (INTERPOL) after he was dismissed from office by the Civil Service Commission in 2013 for allegedly committing N2.1 Billion pension fraud while in office, could be secretly reinstated and even promoted without writing the required civil service promotion examination, no one should be in doubt any longer that Buhari is not fighting any corruption.”

Governor Fayose, who described President Buhari and his men as defenders and protectors of corruption, said; “Even the former Chairman of EFCC, Ibrahim Lamorde, who was accused of corruption by the Senate, removed from office unceremoniously and declared wanted is now the Commissioner of Police in charge of the Special Fraud Unit (SFU), Ikoyi, Lagos.

He said; “When the Minister of State for Petroleum Resources Ibe Kachikwu raised allegation of award of $25 billion contracts without following due process against the Group Managing Director (GMD) of the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC); Dr. Maikanti Baru, the Presidency was the one that defended him (Baru).

“Also, President Buhari has refused to act on the report of the committee that investigated the $43 million discovered in an apartment at Osbourne Towers, Ikoyi, Lagos, despite that Nigerians have been asking him to act on it.

“Even the Acting Chairman of EFCC, Ibrahim Magu was indicted of corruption by the Department of State Service (DSS) and all that was done by President Buhari was to ask the Attorney General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Abubakar Malami (SAN), to investigate the DSS report. Up till today, nothing has been heard about it and Magu, despite his rejection by the Senate, Magu is still acting as the EFCC chairman.

“It was also under this government of Buhari that Ahmed Gambo Saleh; the Supreme Court Registrar was indicted and put on trial for alleged over N2 billion fraud. The case against Gambo Saleh was withdrawn almost immediately, and he has been appointed the Secretary of the National Judicial Council (NJC). Not only that, he was made the Secretary of the Corruption and Financial Crime Cases Trial Monitoring Committee, headed by Retired Justice Isa Ayo Salami.

“In the words of APC Senator, Shehu Sani, ‘when it comes to fighting corruption in the National Assembly and the Judiciary and in the larger Nigerian sectors, the President uses insecticide, but when it comes to fighting corruption within the Presidency, they use deodorants.’

“Like I have said several times, as far as President Buhari is concerned, corruption involving his men is family affair, and one won’t be surprised if Maina is rewarded with bigger office very soon, just like others before him.”

Meanwhile, the group of good governance activists led by music maestro, Charles Oputa, also known as Charly Boy, on yesterday night described the sudden disengagement from service of Mr. Maina, as an act of hypocrisy on the part of President Buhari to hoodwink Nigerians.

In a statement jointly signed by Charly Boy, Deji Adeyanju, Bako Abdul Usman, Ariyo Atoye, and Moses Paul, the group stressed that the decision to disengage Maina was not born out of deep earnestness to fight corruption but was a result of the huge public outcry that trailed news of his reinstatement.

It further said that claims by Buhari’s media aides that their principal was unaware of Maina’s reinstatement only showed that their principal was not in charge of his government and as such was unaware of the level of illegality and corruption being perpetrated by top officials in his administration.

Also a pro-democracy and non-governmental organisation Human Rights Writers Association of Nigeria (HURIWA) has asked President Buhari to suspend the Head of Service, Mrs. Winifred Oyo-Ita Ekpeyong and the Minister of Interior, Lieutenant General Abdulrahman Danbazau (in connection with the disgraceful scam surrounding the reinstatement of Alhaji Maina declared wanted by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) over allegations of pensions related heist running into over $2 billion.

In a media statement endorsed jointly by the National Coordinator, Comrade Emmanuel Onwubiko, and the National Media Affairs Director, Miss Zainab Yusuf, HURIWA said the atrocious and professionally unethical conducts of top public servants connected with the reinstatement of Abdulrasheed Maina into the civil service of the Federation long after he had been recommended for dismissal by a federal panel, vanished into thin air and resurfaced to vie for the slot of Deputy Governor of Borno State when the last occupant died in a hotel room, are weighty enough to warrant a clean sweep of the hierarchy of the nation’s civil service and indeed any Cabinet level official found wanting in the unfolding scenarios.

Sule Lamido Joins Presidential Race

Immediate past governor of Jigawa State and one time Minister of Foreign Affairs, Alhaji Sule Lamido has written to members of the Peoples Democratic Party PDP, informing them of his decision to fly the party’s flag in the 2019 presidential election.

Lamido thus become the second member of the opposition PDP to indicate interest in vying for the party’s presidential ticket.

The Governor of Ekiti State and Chairman of PDP Governors’ Forum, Mr Ayodele Fayose had few weeks ago formally declared his interest to contest for the same ticket.

The presidential ticket of the PDP is zoned to the North while the South is to produce the National Chairmanship of the party.

The former Governor of Jigawa State, in a letter to PDP members across the country pointed that all the party needs to reposition the country is to take over power in 2019 and bring it back to its path of recovery.

Lamido lamented that the nation has departed from the dreams of its founding fathers.

According to the letter, “Today, 57 years after the independence of our dear country, can we in all sincerity claim to have achieved the dream of our founding fathers? Where did we fail and from where did we begin to fail? “Nigeria with its natural endowment and human capacity cannot be forgiven for being otherwise.

“We cannot even demonstrate our ability and capacity to meet domestic, regional and global challenges which currently seem to overwhelm us.”

“The PDP will and must lead the nation back into a bright, progressive, and innovative future,” Lamido’s letter reads.

He said the PDP must rekindle in Nigeria a new hope, a nation of united people with a common and assured destiny.

Continuing, Lamido said in his letter , “To the world, Nigeria must demonstrate our confidence, tenacity in our ability and capability to address our domestic regional and global challenges that confront us.

“It is against this background that I offer myself to vie for the office of the president of the Federal Republic of Nigeria in 2019 if my party finds me worthy to fly its flag.” The letter reads.

Amnesty International Holds Outreach To Stop Torture, Help Victims Seek Redress

Amnesty International Nigeria has held an outreach to sensitise and empower the public, especially those who have been victims of torture from security operatives, on its effects on the people and on how such victims can seek redress.

Through its Stop Torture Project, Amnesty International Nigeria held  the community outreach in Mpape community in Abuja with a panel on reporting torture and seeking justice. 

The event which equally featured a drama was equally aimed at “deepening understanding of torture” among the people. 

In a statement made available to newsmen by its media manager in Nigeria, Isa Sanusi, Amnesty International also said that the event was attended by leaders of various groups of Mpape community, including a victim of torture who narrated his ordeal to the gathering. 

The statement quoted the organisation’s director in Nigeria, Osai Ojigho, as saying “such community outreach programmes will continue to expand ways of addressing torture in Nigeria.” 

It said the Project co-ordinator, Onyinye Onyemobi, also said that Stop Torture project implemented across Nigeria is aimed at empowering individuals and communities to deal with and stop torture. 

According to the statement, “In the last two-years of this project, Amnesty International and partners have stood between the torturers and the tortured in Nigeria. Through this project, Amnesty International Nigeria and partners have ensured that people who have been detained get to see their families, lawyers and receive medical care.” 

It said, “We work with lawyers, community volunteers and paralegals to ensure that victims get help as soon as possible during the crucial first 48 hours after a person’s arrest. From our research, we know that the danger of torture is greatest in first few hours or days of arrest.” 

“So, interventions at that early point, creates the chances of stopping the torture, and ensuring the health and well-being of those detained are respected.” said  Onyinye Onyemobi, Stop Torture Project Coordinator.

The statement also said that Amnesty International and its partners in different states have held community dialogues on torture in states like Rivers, Bauchi, Lagos, Plateau, Kaduna and most recently in Onitsha, Anambra state to help communities understand Torture and how to seek redress. 

“Amnesty International Nigeria is in Mpape today, to educate and create awareness among community members about the effects of torture on an individual and how torture victims can seek and get help,” said Onyinye Onyemobi.

FIBA Won’t Ban Nigeria On November 30, Says Kida

Nigeria Basketball Federation ‘Abuja’ president, Musa Kida said that there is no fear of the world basketball ruling body, FIBA banning Nigeria as a fall-out of the stalemate in the country’s basketball administration. 

Kida, who was speaking in Lagos yesterday argued that FIBA has come to understand the situation with the NBF adding that his board now have the full backing of Nigerian basketball stakeholders to pursue the development of the sport in the country. 

Two basketball federation board had emerged after Tijani Umar led a group of basketball stakeholders to hold an election in Kano, while Kida emerged the president of the version conducted by the sports ministry in Abuja. 

FIBA had urged both parties to reconcile their differences giving a November 30 deadline or Nigeria will be thrown out of world basketball contests. 

“We are not losing any sleep about a November 30 deadline. What is clear is that FIBA wanted facts to know whether there was government inference.” 

“As time went on they came to understand the elections was accepted nationwide and they giving that deadline was an overkill. Basketball in Nigeria will go on,” said Kida. 

He added that his board will not be cowed into submission by clubs who floated the rules. 

“Those clubs who are protesting were told not to participate in a competition that was not recognised by the NBF board.” 

“Nigeria is fundamentally a free country, the clubs are free to protest, but the NBF will not be arm-twisted to let off clubs that have gone against the rules.” 

“Some of these clubs have written to state why they took part in the competition. And we are ready to look into the case.” 

Kida added that his board will do everything to ensure that the female basketball team are well prepared for the FIBA World Championship next year in China.

FG Moves To Seize BVN-less Accounts

Justice Nnamdi Dimgba of the Federal High Court in Abuja has granted a request by Attorney General of the Federation, Abubakar Malami, for a temporary forfeiture of all funds held in bank accounts not linked to BVNs. 

Also to be forfeited are funds in accounts whose ownership could not be identified. The latter are accounts without sufficient know-your-customer credentials, premium times has reported.

The order followed an originating motion of notice filed by Mr. Malami on behalf of the Nigerian government on September 28. 

Justice Dimgba granted all the nine reliefs sought by Mr. Malami, represented by a lawyer, Usman Dakas on October 17. The court ordered all the 19 deposit money banks, DMBs, operating in the country to release to Nigerian government names of accounts not yet connected to BVN; Account Numbers; their outstanding balances; Domiciling Locations; and Domiciliary Accounts without BVN and where they are domiciled. 

Nigeria deposit money banks that were listed as respondents in the ex-parte suit are: Access Bank, Citi Bank, Diamond Bank, Ecobank, Fidelity Bank, First Bank and First City Monument Bank. Others are: Guaranty Trust Bank, Heritage Bank, Keystone Bank, Skye Bank, Stanbic IBTC Bank, Standard Chartered Bank, Sterling Bank, Union Bank and United Bank for Africa. 

The remaining three are: Unity, Bank Wema Bank and Zenith Bank. The court also ordered all of them to disclose any investments made with funds and to withhold authorisation for any outward inflow of funds from the accounts.

All the details are to be submitted to Nigeria Inter-Bank Settlement System, NIBSS, and the CBN for authentication. The banks were also directed to publish all bank accounts not linked to BVN in national newspapers with a 14-day notice for individuals with interest in such accounts to come forward and justify why their funds should not be forfeited to the Nigerian government. 

Mr. Dimgba also ordered the CBN, which was joined as 20th respondent alongside the 19 DMBs, to appoint an official who will examine all the details submitted to the apex bank for compliance. 

The government argued the matter under Section 3 of the Money Laundering Act, 2011. The section said banks must “ensure that documents, data or information collected under the customer due diligence process is kept up-to-date and relevant by undertaking reviews of existing records, particularly for higher risk categories of customers or business relationships.” 

The Bank Verification Number is a unique identification number that can be verified and used to transact business across all the banking platforms in Nigeria. 

The CBN imposed the policy to capture customers’ data for financial transactions and check fraud in the banking system. Registration for BVNs commenced on February 14, 2014, across the country. The CBN said over 20.8 million customers enrolled 40 million bank accounts before the October 31, 2015, final deadline for customers residing within the country. The CBN extended the deadline for Nigerians in the diaspora to December 2016 to sign up for the BVN system. But hundreds of thousands home and abroad are still believed to be left behind.

Withdraw Directives To Unfreeze Patience Jonathan’s Accounts, SERAP Tells Saraki, Dogara

Socio-Economic Rights and Accountability Project (SERAP) has urged the President of the Senate Dr Bukola Saraki and Speaker of the House of Representatives Mr Yakubu Dogara to “Urgently withdraw the patently unconstitutional directives to some banks to unfreeze former First Lady Mrs Patience Jonathan’s accounts.”

The organization said that, “the directives to banks to unfreeze Mrs Jonathan’s accounts amount to mingling of the executive and judicial powers in the National Assembly. Checks and balances should ideally help contribute to the rule of law and strengthening our democratic dispensation but if one branch of government grows too strong and overreaching the country might be in trouble.” 

In a statement signed by SERAP deputy director Timothy Adewale the organization said that, “It’s an affront to our constitutional democracy for the National Assembly to turn itself into a tool for checkmating the country’s justice system, especially the prosecution of grand corruption. Rather than helping Mrs Jonathan’s desire to achieve justice for what she may consider to be violations of her human rights, such directives are doing exactly the opposite and politicising the criminal justice process.” 

The Senate had last week decided that Mrs Jonathan’s accounts should be unfrozen, saying that some of the accounts including with Stanbic IBTC, First Bank, Union Bank, Diamond Bank, Fidelity Bank, Ecobank and Bank Zenith Bank were frozen based on some administrative lapses.

It claimed that the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) used the banks to close the accounts without due process of law. 

The House of Representatives in September gave a similar directive to the banks to free the former first lady’s blocked accounts. 

But SERAP said that, “Nigerians are concerned about their lawmakers’ thirst for power, and about the National Assembly aggrandizing its legislative powers without sufficient checks and constitutional scrutiny and validity. The National Assembly ought to focus the exercise of its legislative powers solely on making laws for the peace, order and good government of our country, addressing only matters of prime national concern, and when necessary, checking the excesses of the executive branch.” 

The statement reads in part: “The directives purportedly unfreezing the accounts of Mrs Jonathan will not give the public the confidence that the National Assembly will change its ways and embrace the rule of law.” 

“The National Assembly should not show itself as incapable and unwilling to address the concerns of Nigerians about its operations and apparent lack of transparency. These kinds of interventions by the National Assembly could portray our lawmakers in the eyes of Nigerians as forgetting what they are in Abuja to do.” 

“The Senate and House of Representatives should advise Mrs Jonathan to seek appropriate judicial remedies if she feels the criminal justice mechanisms have violated her human rights. That’s the essence of the rule of law, separation of powers and checks and balances. The supposed directives to banks have unfortunately again put the reputation of the National Assembly at stake.” 

“What Nigerians want and deserve is a balanced sharing of constitutional powers for the sake of the public good, and not ‘Imperial National Assembly’, a National Assembly that sits on its throne in Abuja and treats Nigerians as serfs in their fiefdoms.” 

“If the body that makes law also controls its execution, implementation and interpretation, it can effectively tailor the laws to help itself and its friends and hurt its perceived enemies. It can thwart the virtue of impartial general law-making by rendering it a tool for singling out.”

Are Ona Kakanfo’s Origin, Myth And Power By Prof. Banji Akintoye

Professor Banji Akintoye, a second republic senator and historian, is a repertoire of knowledge when it comes to narrating historical events. 

Akintoye spoke to Vanguard on the myth surrounding the Aare Ona Kakanfo of Yoruba land title and how the holder, in the pre-colonial period, wielded so much power and influence.

The title of Are Ona Kakanfo was created to check the excesses and frequent incursions of Ibaribas into Yoruba territories. During that time, Ibaribas were terrorising the Yoruba nation and, when the then Alaafin realised the gargantuan nature of the problem, he created the title of the Are Ona Kakanfo.

His duty was to watch over the homeland with the help of assistant commanders who had a special army. The criteria for the selection of title holder To be the Are Ona Kakanfo, you must be a great warrior and very courageous. The creation of the title stopped the invasion of Yoruba land by external aggressors. 

The Are Ona Kakanfo was so powerful and invincible that he would fight several wars at the same time. He never lost any battle. Due to his power, the Alaafin would not allow him to live in the same town with him. The Aare Ona Kakanfo normally lives in a commercial city.

His installation is always a very big ceremony. All important people in Yoruba land including the Oyomesi (kingmakers) would be in attendance. 

Myth of violent death That is not true. Those who suffered such death were few. I will mention one of them. Afonja betrayed the Alaafin, that’s why he died a violent death. He gathered foreigners around him to revolt against the Alaafin and the Oyo people stood in defence of their king, came together and killed Afonja. There were Are Ona Kakanfos who lived long. For example, one of the holders of the title who lived long was Oyabi from Ajase. He was very loyal to Alaafin and the Oyo Empire. So, there is no foundation to the claim that the Are Ona Kakanfo usually lives a short and uneventful life.

I think Gani Adams is an excellent man and a good choice for the title. He was nobody but he developed himself and became what he is today. 

We have a lot of people who developed themselves. I was a lecturer for many years in the university and I had students who rose from nothing to become great scholars. I appreciate people like that. And Adams belongs to that category. He started from nothing and without anybody but today he is a university degree holder.

Those who say all sorts of things against the Oodua Peoples Congress are not fair to the group. Have they forgotten what the OPC did for us in Yoruba land?

There are some things you cannot compare. Chief Moshood Abiola and Chief Ladoke Akintola became the Are Ona Kakanfo at different times. 

MKO and Akintola did tremendously well for the Yoruba and the Alaafin had no problem choosing them as Are Ona Kakanfo. And Alaafin of Oyo, His Imperial Majesty, Oba Lamidi Adeyemi, has taken time to explain the qualities he considered before he made the choice.

The monarch said Gani Adams is very courageous and that he has the interest of Yoruba at heart. Gani Adams was a very young man when some Yoruba leaders decided to establish OPC. As a result of his courage, he was chosen as the leader of the group and he has held the position creditably well. There was a time when the OPC was protecting Yoruba land from attacks. We should know that for somebody to have done that, he deserves our respect and recognition. Gani Adams deserves the title of the Are Ona Kakanfo the Alaafin has conferred on him.
Source: Vanguard