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Contempt: Court Jails Ahoada East Councillors
A Port Harcourt High Court in Rivers State presided over by Justice George Omereji, has sentenced four principal officers of the Ahoada-East Local Government Legislative Council to three months imprisonment with hard labour, and without option of fine for showing lack of respect to court directives.
Those sentenced include the former leader of the legislative arm, Hon Emeka Golden, Deputy Leader, Hon Goodlive Whiegbe, Chief Whip, Hon Onwudiwe Abraham as well as the clerk of the House, Mr Aaron Ikechukwu Odum.
The principal officers had earlier been convicted along side the other nine councillors of the local government council by the court following an application for committal to prison of the councillors brought by the embattled Vice Chairman of the council, Hon Britain Ewor through his counsel, Barrister Agent B. Ihun-Maduenyi in the case before the court challenging his purported impeachment and removal from office by the councillors despite the court order restraining them from such legislative exercise .
Sentencing the principal officers yesterday, the trial judge, Justice George Omereji ruled that the convicts failed to purge themselves and grab the window of opportunity earlier given them by the court to free themselves from the wrath of the law and punitive consequence of their disobedience to the court.
According to him, the court has on February 25 2013, found the principal officers, including the other nine councillors culpable of court contempt, and admitted them to bail so as to enable them show remorse to their offences before the next adjourned date.
Justice Omereji averred that the convicts were warned of the consequence if they failed to comply with the court directive.
He described the purported impeachment of the Vice Chairman by the councillors after the court had restrained them from doing so as an act meant to undermine the integrity and honour of the court.
He stated that the convicted councillors and their colleagues, rather than comply with the court directive to reinstate the vice chairman, approached an Appeal Court to challenge their conviction by the High Court.
The trial judge posited that on the 16th May, 2013, the councillors, through their counsel, Ifedayo Adedipe (SAN) brought an oral application informing the court that the matter was before an Appeal Court, and requested the court to adjourn the case beyond June 5, 2013 which is the date of hearing of the matter at the appellate court.
He averred that the oral application was not enough reason to stop the court from giving its ruling on the matter, noting that there was no evidence of notification from the Appeal Court on the matter.
‘There is no process or Appeal filed from the appellate court to my court. There is no record from the registry that the court will rely on”, he said.
‘The rule is that when a matter under trial at any lower court be it Magistrate, High and Appeal Court , and the matter is moved to a higher court of jurisdiction with evidence of proof, then, the lower court will stop hearing the matter. But in this case, it is not so”, he declared.
Justice Omereji warned that the court could not fold its arms and watch people ridicule the integrity of the court, even when their crimes are contemptuous in nature, adding that such would brew anarchy and lawlessness in the society.
However, the sentencing did not come without some legal drama displayed at the court room.
At about 11.40am, when the case was called by the court clerk and the counsel in the matter announced their appearance, and the judge was set to rule, it was observed that three of the convicts were absent.
The development forced the court to stand down the proceeding for 2 hours, 2mins and Justice Omereji directed the counsel to the defendants to ensure that all the convicts in the matter were present in the court.
He said the order became imperative because the nature of the offence committed by the convicts was “quasi criminal”, adding that the law required all the parties to be in court during the proceedings.
It would be recalled that the High Court had on the 27th of June, 2012 given an order restraining the Ahoada East Local Government councillors from impeaching the vice chairman of the council, Hon Britain Ewor pending the determination of the suit before the court, which the legislators failed to abide by but rather described the court order as “a mere pieces of paper”.
The Rivers State Chief judge, Justice Simeon Chibuzor Amadi has granted pardon to six inmates standing awaiting trial at the Port Harcourt maximum correctional center.
The six lucky inmates granted pardon on Tuesday by the state Chief Judge included Nwekeala Chizoba, Samuel Emmanuel, Aniete Kelvin, Ebube Fubara and Goddey Okpara who were on awaiting trial as murder suspects and have all spent between 10 years to seven years in the custody without a proper information filed against them in the court.
Justice Amadi during a special gaol delivery exercise last Tuesday at the Port Harcourt Maximum Correctional Centre opined that the special gaol delivery was part of activities lined up to commomerate the 2024/2025 legal year in the State and restated the commitment of the state judiciary in decongesting the correctional centre and ensuring that those inmates who are not supposed to be there are removed from the custody.
The state chief judge stressed the need for all stakeholders to work together to build a society that supports rehabilitation and gives a second chance to anyone or group of people who have fallen short of the expectation of the law and have been punished accordingly.
He stressed that the National Judicial Council(NJC) encourages judges to pay more attention to criminal matters to enable them to decongests the correctional facilities, noting that since his assumption into office, his administration has been able to reduce the number of inmates in Nigerian Correctional Centres and the Port Harcourt Correctional Centre in particular, to less than 2,000 as against the over 4,000 inmates previously in the faculty.
According to him, “as they release the deserving inmates, they affirm their commitment to justice, compassion and rule of law but that they must not forget the fundamental principles of justice delivery system which is truth and fairness, integrity and equality before the law.”
I encourage you all the released inmates to return to your families and become better citizens. You must not engage in action that will return you all back to prison. Let me say that while the judges show empathy to you all, it does not absolved individuals from being held accountable for actions against individuals, corporate organisations and state which the law frowns at, ”he stated
The Chief Judge thereafter stood down the exercise to enable the DPP to intervene to case files following the fact that majority of the persons listed to benefit from the exercise are facing murder charges and adjourned to a date that will come before December.
Earlier in his goodwill message, the outgoing state Comptroller of Nigerian Correctional Centre, Port Harcourt, Felix Lawrence, who was recently promoted to the rank of Assistant Controller General, commended the state judiciary led by Chief Judge, Justice Simeon Chibuzor Amadi for their continuous effort aimed at ensuring justice and decongesting the facilities.
Other activities lined up for the event included special church service at St Paul’s Cathedral , Anglican Communion, Rebisi Port Harcourt, inspection of guard of honour by the state Chief Judge mounted by officers of the Nigerian police and a special court session held at the ceremonial court hall.
By: AkujobiAmadi
The Director General of Rivers State Bureau on Public Procurement (RBoPP), Dr. Ine Briggs, has explained that the Sir Siminalayi Fubara administration plans to enforce transparency in governance through public procurement.
Speaking at a one-day Public Procurement Enlightenment workshop organised in collaboration with the State Local Government Service Commission for newly elected chairmen, vice chairmen, secretaries and leaders of legislative assemblies, Dr. Briggs said it is key for grassroot development.
She stated that the Sir. Fubara administration plans to reduce wastage and at same time infuse efficiency in public expenditure.
The RSoPP DG said the local government political office holders remain key drivers in the new vision hence the workshop is to arm them with knowledge on how to execute projects in tandem with needs of the people.
“ Your role in the prudent management of public resources is, therefore, not just administrative it’s the cornerstone of delivering the dividends of democracy. Every procurement decision you make must reflect a commitment to fairness, transparency and accountability” Dr. Briggs submitted.
One of the key goals of the administration she further reminded the participants was to use their offices to foster economic growth through public procurement.
She warned that the law establishing the agency empowers it to penalise defaulters, but that what is more important is voluntary compliance to the laws.
In addition to that, she said urged the local government council leaders that champion the practice and implementation of public procurement law.
On his part, Acting Chairman of Local Government Service Commission, Pastor GoodLife Ben Iduoku averred that the aim of the workshop is to arm key stakeholders in the local government system to generate new ideas, innovation and strategies in tandem with government policies and programmes.
The workshop dealt on various topics on procurement planning, methods, Understanding Bid Process, including types of Construction Contracts and law.
Some participants were awarded excellence and meritorious awards as part of the programme.
By: Kevin Nengia
The 19th anniversary of the National Association of Proprietors of Private Schools (NAPPS), Rivers State Chapter, recently ended in Port Harcourt in grand style, with participants from various schools including proprietors, the academia, civil society groups and top government functionaries charting the way forward for educational improvement.
The 19th NAPPS anniversary christened, ‘Innovation and Adaptation: Transforming Challenges Into Opportunities’ was held at Casoni Hotels, Port Harcourt.
In his remarks, the Chairman of the Rivers State Chapter of the association, Dr. Jaja Adafe Sunday expressed gratitude to the members and executives for their untiring efforts towards the achievements of the body.
He sought the intervention of government on the lingering crisis on the economy as it is affecting the running of schools.
He decried high cost of things including fuel and raw materials which has adversely affected the running of schools and payment of teachers.
Dr. Sunday hinted that the current economic situation in the nation is biting hard on the operations of schools, saying inflation, removal of fuel subsidy, fuel scarcity, poor electricity supply, tariffs and lack of government grants are some of the challenges faced by schools, and urged the members to brace up to the challenges, as it is the panacea to building a brighter future.
Guest speakers from the health sector and the academia thrilled the gathering on the essence of basic education which they said is the key to national development.
Former Dean of the Ignatius Ajuru University of Education, Professor Azuru and the Chief Medical Director of Meridian Hospitals, Dr. Odo Iyke were some notable guest speakers who delivered lectures at the occasion.
Some distinguished proprietors also got special recognitions and awards.
The 19th anniversary cake was cut by the Rivers State NAPPS Chairman with representatives of the state government assisting.