Politics

Power play may yet keep Nigeria’s former strongman Dasuki in jail

Colonel Sambo Dasuki, former National Security Adviser to ex-President Goodluck Jonathan, was on Monday granted bail after being detained by the Nigerian government for over two years

Published

6 years ago

July 3, 2018

Africa News Watch

Colonel Sambo Dasuki, former National Security Adviser to ex-President Goodluck Jonathan, was on Monday granted bail after being detained by the Nigerian government for over two years.

It would not be the first time that the courts were doing so. Earlier decisions of the courts have been shunned by the Muhammadu Buhari-led administration which continues to insist that Dasuki remains a person of high risk to the security of the country.

The latest bail granted to Dasuki may yet go the way of others as the government had also slammed corruption charges on the former presidency strongman.

The Monday judgment was granted by Justice Ijeoma Ojukwu of the Federal High Court, Abuja. She granted bail to Dasuki in the sum of N200m with two sureties in like sum, and ruled that “the long and continued detention” of the applicant since December 29, 2015, could not be justified.

“The respondents have not successfully justified the long and continued detention of the defendant. Based on the circumstances of this case and the established facts, the honourable court is of the humble but firm opinion and as affirmed by superior authorities that the applicant (Dasuki) has made out a case to warrant the intervention of this court,” she said.

She added, “The 1st and 2nd respondents, (the DSS and its Director-General, Mr. Lawal Daura), cannot impose custodial punishment on the SAN) – to focus on prosecuting Dasuki based on the “fresh” case of money laundering they claimed to have against him instead of sticking to a “pyrrhic victory” of holding him in unlawful detention.

“What this court is saying, in essence, is that the respondents should focus on prosecuting the applicant and not on the pyrrhic victory of holding him in an unlawful detention.

“When it comes to the rule of law and the constitution, if the applicant is found culpable for the alleged offences, he should be visited with the full wrath of the law if he so deserves.
“The law remains that the burden of proving the illegality or the unconstitutionality of the fresh allegations is on the respondents,” she said.

Justice Ojukwu described the detention as “an aberration of the rule of law,” insisting that none of the reasons given by the respondents could serve as justification for the long detention.

She also debunked the allegation that Dasuki would constitute a threat to national security, arguing that the fresh money laundering case which the respondents claimed to have against him would not affect national security.

“It is clear that the applicant has been in detention under the custody of the 1st and 2nd defendants (DSS and its DG) since December 29, 2015.

“Since the applicant has been made to honour the said invitation, why is he still in custody of the 1st and 2nd respondents for about two and a half years?

“This query is also in view of the fact that the respondents have averred that they are not standing on the way of the applicant to actualise the bail granted him.

“The continued detention of the applicant by the respondents despite the bail granted to him by the courts in other matter is an aberration of the rule of law, “ Ojukwu averred.

The Monday judgment comes nearly two years after the Economic Community of West African States Court of Justice in Abuja, in its own verdict delivered on October 4, 2016, ordered his unconditional release from illegal custody. The Nigerian government refused to honour the judgment.

“The continued detention of the applicant, Col. Sambo Dasuki (retd.), by the operatives of the 1st respondent (DSS) under the instructions of the 2nd respondent (the DG) since December 29, 2015, till date without granting him an administrative bail is a violation of his fundamental right to liberty under section 35 of the 1999 Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria 1999,” the ECOWAS court ruled.

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Politics

South Africa: Russia remains a valued ally, Ramaphosa tells Putin

Published

7 hours ago

October 24, 2024

Ifeoluwa Dada

At a bilateral meeting with Russian President, Vladimir Putin, on Tuesday, the eve of the BRICS summit of developing economies that will be held in the Russian city of Kazan, President Cyril Ramaphosa stated that South Africa viewed Russia as a valued ally.

“We continue to see Russia as a valued ally, as a valued friend who supported us right from the beginning, from the days of our struggle against apartheid,” Ramaphosa said, according to a clip of the two leaders’ meeting shared on social media by South Africa’s government news agency.

“We are going to have important discussions here in Kazan within the BRICS family,” the South African president added.

South Africa sees China and Russia as friends rather than rivals because it is working to create a more multipolar international order in which emerging nations have greater clout.

The BRICS countries—Brazil, Russia, India, China, and South Africa—may benefit from the membership increase, particularly since Beijing and Moscow are trying to position the group as a viable alternative to the West as a result of geopolitical polarisation.

Politics

Nigeria’s Tinubu reshuffles cabinet

Published

21 hours ago

October 23, 2024

Ifeoluwa Dada

Following weeks of speculations around an imminent cabinet reshuffle in Nigeria, President Bola Tinubu on Wednesday dismissed six ministers from his cabinet and sent seven new ministerial nominations to the National Assembly to fill the vacancies.

This was revealed by Bayo Onanuga, Special Adviser to the President on Information and Strategy, to State House media following the Federal Executive Council (FEC) meeting, which was chaired by the President and held in the Council Chamber of the Presidential Villa in Abuja. Additionally, Onanuga declared that eleven ministers had been given new responsibilities.

Prof. Tahir Mamman (Education), Uju Kennedy Ohanenye (Women Affairs), Mohammad Gwarzo (State for Housing), Jamila Ibrahim (Youth Development), Lola Ade-John (Tourism), and Betta Edu (Humanitarian Affairs), who had been suspended but replaced were among the ministers removed from the cabinet.

Additionally, the President sent seven new ministerial candidates, including Mrs. Bianca Ojukwu (State for Foreign Affairs), the wife of the late Dim Odumegwu Ojukwu, together with their portfolios to the National Assembly for approval.

Others include Dr. Jumoke Oduwole, Minister of Industry, Trade, and Investment; Muhammadu Maigari Dingyadi, Minister of Labour and Employment, Federal Ministry of Labour & Employment; and Dr. Nentawe Yilwatda, who takes over for the suspended Beta Edu Minister of Humanitarian, Affairs, and Poverty Reduction.

Suwaiba Said Ahmad, Minister of State, Education, Federal Ministry of Education; Rt. Hon. Yusuf Abdullahi Ata, Minister of State, Housing and Urban Development; and Idi Mukhtar Maiha, Minister of Livestock Development.

The redeployed ministers include Dr Yusuf Tanko Sununu, former Minister of State, Education, now Minister of State Humanitarian Affairs and Poverty Reduction, Dr. Morufu Olatunji Alausa Minister of State, Health, now substantive Minister of Education, Bello Muhammad Goronyo Minister of State, Water Resources and Sanitation, now Minister of State for Works.

Also redeployed are Abubakar Momoh, former Minister of Niger Delta Development, now Minister of Regional Development, Uba Maigari Ahmadu, Minister of State Steel Development, now Minister of State, Regional Development and Dr Doris Uzoka-Anite Minister of Industry, Trade and Investment, now Minister of State Finance.

The former Minister of Sports Development, Senator John Owan Enoh has been redeployed as the Minister of State Trade and Investment [Industry], Imaan Sulaiman-Ibrahim, who was the Minister of State, Police Affairs, is now Minister of Women Affairs, Ayodele Olawande, Minister of State for Youth Development, now Minister for Youth Development, while Dr. Salako Iziaq Adekunle Adeboye, Minister of State, Environment, now Minister of State, Health.

Meanwhile, reports emerged following the cabinet change of the president’s direction that ministers who have been fired and redeployed are to hand over to their successors by October 30, 2024.

With the most recent cabinet reorganisation, President Tinubu’s cabinet now consists of 46 federal ministers, down from 48 last year. The size is still a record since Nigeria’s return to democracy in 1999, even with the decrease.

Nigeria’s constitution requires the president to select ministers in a way that fosters unity within the country and represents federal character.