Metro
S’Court Upholds Jail Term For Ex-BPE DG, Okoh
Published
4 months agoon
By
EditorThe Supreme Court on Friday affirmed the decisions of the lower courts which imprisoned the immediate-past Director General of the Bureau of Public Enterprises, Alexander Okoh, for contempt of court.
In addition, the apex court slammed a fine of N10m on Okoh who was sacked by President Bola Tinubu on January 8, 2024.
The BPE and Okoh appealed to the highest court to overturn the lower court’s decisions that led to his imprisonment for refusing to grant ownership of the Aluminium Smelter Company of Nigeria to BFIG Group Corporation.
In 2004, the BPE advertised an application of interest for bidders for the privatisation of the Aluminium Smelter Company of Nigeria.
At the end of the exercise, BFIG won the bid and BPE notified the company with a letter dated June 17, 2006.
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Nevertheless, the BPE nullified the bid result, which led to a long legal dispute.
BFIG’s case was dismissed at the lower courts but the Supreme Court allowed the appeal in 2012.
The apex court ordered the BPE to rescind its decision to cancel the bid and hand over the company to BFIG but the BPE refused.
In April 2019, BFIG initiated contempt proceedings against the BPE and Okoh.
The court then ordered that Okoh be remanded in prison for at least 30 days until he purged himself of the continued disobedience of the court and further contemptuous conduct.
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In December 2019, BPE prayed for a stay of execution of the committal order against Okoh, the Appeal Court in a unanimous ruling affirmed the Abuja Federal High Court order.
Not satisfied with the judgment, the BPE approached the apex court for redress.
Reading the lead judgment on Friday, Justice Tijani Abubakar resolved all the issues against the appellants.
Abubakar tongue-lashed the BPE and Okoh for disobeying several orders issued on the matter, describing their actions as “scandalously shameful and disgraceful.”
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He said, “The above application leaves no one in doubt that the appellant disobeyed the other of this court, especially the order that restrained the appellants or their agents from reselling, negotiating, or transferring the company. This is a flagrant disobedience to the order of this court.
“Court orders are meant to be obeyed and must be obeyed. The appellants treated the order of this court with total disdain and disrespect. The conduct of the appellants is scandalously shameful and disgraceful.
“Agencies of government must respect the law. Nobody in this country is above the law. The appellants are not to choose the order of the court to obey or not. For this reason, I resolve the issues against the appellants.
“This appeal deserves to be dismissed and it is thereby dismissed. The judgment of the appeal court is affirmed. The cost of N10m is awarded against the appellants. The cost is to be paid personally by the second appellant (Okoh) in addition to going to prison.”
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Metro
Customs Intercept N8.7m Smuggled Petrol En Route Benin Republic
Published
5 hours agoon
May 12, 2024By
EditorOfficers of the Nigeria Customs Service, Western Marine Command, have intercepted 12,500 litres of Premium Motor Spirit known is petrol worth N8,750,000 along the Isalu Creek Badagry Waterway en route to Benin Republic.
According to a statement and pictures shared on X.com by the NCS on Sunday, the Customs Area Controller, Comptroller Paul Bamisaiye, revealed this at the command’s headquarters on Friday.
The statement partly read, “At about 2330hrs on Wednesday, 8 May 2024, while on joint patrol based on credible intelligence, we received the movement of two boats laden with what was suspected to be petroleum products concealed in sacks. Upon receipt of the information, the team moved into Isalu Creeks Badagry Waterway.
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“The Customs Area Controller stated that careful examination of the seizure at the Command Headquarters revealed ‘177 sacks and 61 kegs of 25 Litres Premium Motor Spirit (PMS) containing 12,500 Liters with a total Duty Paid Value standing at N8,750,000.”
Bamisaiye was reported to have warned smugglers to desist from their acts or risk arrest, stating that the action of the smugglers contravenes Sections 245 and 254 of the Nigeria Customs Service Act 2023.
READ ALSO: Customs Intercepts N10m Worth Petrol En Route Cameroon Illegally
He was quoted as saying, “There’s a strong warning to the economic importance of this kind of seizure at a time of fuel scarcity cannot be over-emphasised.
“People are suffering due to artificial scarcity, but they are busy smuggling these products outside the country to make money. It’s either they stop this act, or we continue to arrest them. We have zero tolerance for this act.”
Similarly, the Adamawa/Taraba Area Command of the NCS said it also intercepted 12,435 litres of PMS worth N10.8 million being illegally exported to Cameroon.
Metro
Customs Intercepts N10m Worth Petrol En Route Cameroon Illegally
Published
6 hours agoon
May 12, 2024By
EditorThe Nigeria Customs Service, Adamawa/Taraba Area Command, has said it intercepted 12,435 litres of Premium Motor Spirit worth N10.8m being illegally exported to Cameroon.
In a statement on Saturday, the command said that the PMS was intercepted within two weeks.
The command added in the statement said the product was packed in 491 jerrycans, 25 litres each and eight jerrycans 20 litres each.
The Customs Area Comptroller in charge of the command, Garba Bashir, explained that the PMS was intercepted alongside the means of conveyance.
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“The officers, while on anti-smuggling operations along the command frontiers within two weeks, recorded five incidents of interception of premium motor spirit on its way to the neighbouring country, Cameroon
“The petrol and the means of conveyance were valued at NN10.8m,” he said.
The CAC stated that no suspect was arrested, adding that the perpetrators abandoned the items and absconded in an attempt to avoid arrest.
Bashir added that the seizures of the items were in line with sections 150 and 248 of the Nigeria Customs Service Act 2023, “and considering the facts that the command’s territorial borders are officially closed.”
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He stated that the petrol had been auctioned due to its inflammable nature.
He added that smuggling activities have done more harm than good to the nation.
“It hinders our national growth, strangles our trade policies with regards to revenue, foreign investment, preservation of domestic trade and growth, food security, and public security,” Bashir said.
“We want to unwaveringly tell the smugglers that our operatives are strategically repositioned along the borderlines to fasten their exit out of this illicit business,” he added.
He solicited the support of the border communities in the fight against smuggling.
The Adamawa/Taraba Area Command, Yola, of the NCS is one of the commands under Zone B Customs, headquartered in Kaduna.
A young man identified as Khalid Bichi, was on Friday night, May 10, shot dead by yet to be identified persons.
According to reports, Khalid was trailed by the men who shot him dead in the Maitama area of Abuja
The deceased was a staff of FIRS with social media X handle @Khalid_Bichi, was on his way to get food when the unfortunate incident happened. He was rushed to Maitama General Hospital where he eventually died.
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Confirming the incident to LIB, the spokesperson of the command, SP Josephine Adeh, said the matter is currently being investigated and that efforts are being made to apprehend the killers.
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