By Jaye Gaskia In the last few days the FGN has released its working document for the convening of the National Conference. We now know the government is proposing 492 delegates, of which 46 will be nominated by the President, 108 by governors [that is each governor will nominate 3 delegates], 1 by the FCT [which presumably cannot be nominated without the consent of the president], and another 26 by the Federal Government [as if the President and the FCT are not part of the F

In what can be described as a first encouraging step for Avocats Sans Frontières France, the ECOWAS Community Court of Justice on the 31st of January 2014, ordered the Federal Government of Nigeria and Edo state Government to take Mr Thankgod Ebhos’s name off the death row list. Mr Thankgod Ebhos who has faced imminent threat of execution since June 24 2013 when he was taken to the gallows alongside four other inmates, who were executed in Benin Prison, has been on death row

…….Victor TC Anyanwu 2014 marks Nigeria’s 100years of existence, with the evolution of various problems and developmental challenges far beyond what the new nation could have anticipated at the onset. Some of the general and peculiar problems and challenges being experienced by modern day Nigeria manifest in the mode of governance failure, and have elicited the emergence of non-state actors like our civil society organizations (CSOs), to try to make governments responsive. So

…..Comrade Nelson Nnanna Nwafor All through its history, and throughout all the metamorphosis that it has undergone, the Nigeria National Petroleum Corporation [NNPC] has been a very special, secretive, hidden, and opaque golden geese laying the treasured eggs that has oiled successive regimes, and driven the competitive primitive accumulation of capital by Nigeria’s inept, but kleptomaniac ruling class! But perhaps at no other time in our collective history as a nation, nor

By Victoria Ohaeri Victoria Ohaeri The growing repression of citizen reporters and advocates that challenge the never-seen-before levels of corruption and political under-performance going in Nigeria has now assumed frighteningly alarming dimensions. For some time now, I have been the target of deliberate attacks, threats, accusations leveled against me by persons who hold themselves out as Igbo ethnic champions and supporters of President Goodluck Jonathan’s administration. 

When ELVIS-WURA TOWOLAWI walked into my office and discussed starting a human rights education project in churches in Makurdi, Benue state, I was amused. Yes, we will have a wide audience and reach, but such must be situated within the Bible to have the impact we normally desire. So I challenged him to posit human rights within the Bible before I will approve the project. He produced a beautiful and compelling argument which I have compressed below. Am glad I approved the pro

by Colin Stewart Location of Katsina State in Nigeria. The legislature of Katsina State in northern Nigeria added to that country’s patchwork quilt of anti-gay laws on Dec. 3, passing a law providing for 14 years in prison for same-sex relations between either men or women. The same state law also applies to anyone convicted of same-sex sexual harassment of students, job-seekers, employees and others. Federal law in Nigeria already provides for 14 years imprisonment for such

By Abubakar Ibn Kachalla Recently, the Swiss Ambassador to Nigeria, Mr. Hans Hodel, said his country had discharged its legal obligations to Nigeria by returning all the Abacha loot, estimated at more than $700 million dollars. We must praise the cooperation extended to Nigeria since 1999 by the Swiss government to return the Abacha loot. Seven hundred million dollars (about N112bn) is not small money by any standard anywhere. This heavy cash would have dealt with basic chall

The Senate has reached an advanced stage to pass a bill that seeks seven years jail term for social media critics found guilty of inciting the public against the government. The proposed legislation which has scaled second reading in the upper legislative chamber is also proposing a stiffer punishment for internet fraudsters and scammers in Nigeria as those convicted will face a seven years imprisonment. The joint Senate Committees on Judiciary, Human Rights and legal matters

–  The Punch MORE than two centuries after the obnoxious trade in human beings was officially abolished in the British Empire in 1807, many who believe slavery no longer exists beyond the history books will be shocked by reports that it is thriving in different forms in practically every country of the world. A recent report by Australia-based Walk Free Foundation does not only show that there are about 29.8 million people entrapped in what is called modern slavery, but also

Ben Ezeamalu The Nigeria Civil Society Election Situation Room monitored the supplementary election. The just concluded supplementary election in Anambra State was characterized by a very low voters’ turnout, the Nigeria Civil Society Election Situation Room, an election monitoring group, has said. The Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, on Sunday, declared Willie Obiano of the All Progressives Grand Alliance, APGA, the winner of the supplementary gubernatorial e

……. Elvis Wura Towolawi Wherever there is power, naked and unrestrained – abuse of same is inevitable. This age- tested philosophy explains the grinding necessity for a Judiciary that is independent, firm, above –board and fearless: to curb arbitrariness in the exercise of Power ; and to serve as a bulwark against the desecration and violation of vested rights. It’s beyond saying that the Judiciary, anywhere in the world, plays a vital part in the cultivation of an even and e

–  Daily Independent Editorial, November 24, 2013 A fierce combination of inherited repressive anti-colonial laws, an almost three decades of a succession of virulent military dictatorships, and a rapacious ruling civilian elite have, for 53 years, served Nigeria  with  a tasteless cocktail of unaccountability in every sphere of the polity. It was therefore exhilarating when, after more than 12 years of unrelenting campaigning, the Freedom of Information Act, 2011 was signed

The Chairman of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), Mr Ibrahim Lamorde, says Nigeria has been ranked 7th in the world in the transfer of illicit funds, and called for urgent action by African countries to confront the menace of illegal cash movement across borders as several traders crossing borders within the continent do not see movement of cash above the stipulated limit as a criminal offence. Addressing a workshop on Anti-money Laundering and Combating Fi

The 2013 Good Governance Summit held in Dakar, Senegal, in collaboration with Mo Ibrahim Foundation has ranked Nigeria 41st among 52 African countries that are relatively backward in human development. The new report contained in the 2013 Index of Good Governance made available to the Hausa Service of the Voice of America (VOA) in Dakar, Senegal, indicated that the Republic of Niger is in the 28th position. The Index of African Governance was launched by the Mo Ibrahim Founda

On the 16th November, 2013 Lawyer Alert trained 22 monitors to document reported cases of violation of economic rights of the Mbayion community by the Dangote Cement PLC. This is under our natural resource extraction/human rights project within the cement producing community of Mbayion, Benue State, Nigeria. Recall in our past postings we reported that, Allhaji Aliko Dangote Africa’s richest man makes part of his fortune extracting cement from this community under his company

By Dr. Peregrino Brimah The World Bank country director for Nigeria, Marie-Francoise Marie-Nelly, earlier this month said that 63% or 100 million Nigerians were destitute, living below the poverty line. In her words, “1.2 billion people live in destitution (around the world) out of which 100 million are Nigerians. Inequality is rising in many developing nations.” Nigeria’s president just “debunked” this via his Chief Economic adviser, Dr Nwanze Okidigbe. Please let’s review.

PRESS RELEASE Abuja, Thursday, November 21, 2013:  The Stop Impunity Nigeria (S.I.N.) Campaign notes with regret the descent into lawlessness and anarchy that has become an art of governance in recent times. We recall that the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria 1999 guarantees the right to freedom of expression, freedom of assembly, freedom of association and freedom of movement to all Nigerians. We further recall that these rights are guaranteed in a multiplicit

Lawyers Alert as part of its activities in observing the International Day to End Impunity ( IDEI)  held  a public lecture on the 19th  day of November 2013 under the theme “ Impunity, Justice Sector and Democracy in Nigeria. The international Day to end Impunity (IDEI) which falls in November is marked by  advocates of free expressions the world over. The overall goal  is to raise awareness of, and  demand for justice for the advocates who suffer persecution for exercising t

Following comments by some States that the Freedom of Information Law needs to be domesticated to be applicable in various states, the High Court in Ibadan has judicially pronounced the thinking as faulty. Culled below is a report of Ruling by Akinwale Akintunde of  Thisday National ’Assembly Complex By Akinwale Akintunde The Freedom of Information (FoI) Act recorded its first victory as an Oyo State High Court sitting in Ibadan Judicial division has held that the applicati