A Federal High Court sitting in Abuja on Monday, adjourned a N300 million fundamental rights enforcement suit filed by detained Singer, Darlington Achakpo, popularly known as Speed Darlington, against the police until January 27.

The presiding judge, Justice Musa Liman fixed the date after an application by counsel for the Inspector-General of Police, CSP Audu Garba, seeking a short date to enable him study the further affidavit served on him in the open court by Achakpo’s lawyer, Abubakar Marshal.

When the matter was called, Marshal told the court that the matter was for hearing of the substantive application for fundamental right enforcement of his client.

According to him, the police served on them their counter affidavit on Friday and that a further affidavit had also been filed in response.

However, the IGP counsel, Garba said though he filed their counter affidavit, he was yet to be served with the further affidavit.

The judge asked Marshall when the further affidavit was filed.

“It was filed this morning my lord,” he said.

With the leave of the court, Marshall served Garba with a copy of the further affidavit.
When Marshall sought to move the application, the police lawyer objected to the request.

He said he would need more time to study the further affidavit through to know whether new issues of facts and law were raised to enable him respond appropriately.
Justice Liman adjourned the matter until Januaryc27 for adoption.

The fundamental right suit marked: FHC/ABJ/CS/1832/2024, Speed Darlington sued I-G as sole respondent.

The artiste, who urged the court to declare that his arrest and detention violated his fundamental rights as guaranteed by the 1999 Constitution, sought four orders.

In the suit filed by a human rights activist, Deji Adeyanju, he sought an order ordering the I-G to immediately and unconditionally release him from detention facility where he is being kept.

Alternatively, he sought an order mandating and compelling the I-G to produce him before the court to enable the court inquire into the circumstances constituting grounds of his arrest and detention and where it deems fit, admits him to bail.

He also sought an order directing the respondent to pay the applicant the sum of three hundred million naira as general, exemplary and aggravating damages for their unlawful and continued detention since the 2024 till date.

The Edo State chapter of the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, has expressed hope for victory as the Governorship Election Petition Tribunal begins in Benin City.

DAILY POST reports that PDP and the All Progressives Congress, APC, are in a legal battle over the outcome of the September 21 gubernatorial election in the state.

The case has sparked mixed reactions across the state, with optimism among PDP supporters.

The PDP candidate, Asue Ighodalo, is challenging the election results declared by the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, with the Edo State chairman of PDP alleging that APC and INEC colluded to manipulate the process.

The petition highlighted alleged irregularities, including substantial non-compliance with the Electoral Act, inflated APC votes in strongholds, and the alleged unlawful cancellation of PDP votes in some key local government areas.

Speaking ahead of the tribunal’s first sitting on Monday, PDP spokesperson Tony Ehilebo expressed confidence in the party’s case.

“We have presented overwhelming evidence to prove that the election was rigged. We are confident the tribunal will restore the mandate stolen from the people of Edo and reaffirm the integrity of our democracy,” he said.

According to PDP, the case is a litmus test for Nigeria’s judicial system and its ability to safeguard democracy.

APC, however, dismissed PDP’s claims as baseless. Chief Alex Okosun, an APC chieftain, who also spoke in Benin City on Monday, described the legal challenge as ‘sacrilegious.’

“Politicians must stop litigating every election. Asue is Senator Monday Okpebholo’s Esan brother.

“He should let bygones be bygones and join the governor to move Edo forward. We have finally gotten an Esan governor; that is the main thing,” the party chieftain said, adding that APC remains confident in the legitimacy of Governor Monday Okpebholo’s mandate.

The National Assembly Joint Committee on Finance on Monday set up a special panel to investigate the revenue shortfall totalling N4tn due to indiscriminate waivers granted to agencies of government.

The resolution of the Committee, co-chaired by Senator Sani Musa and member, Abiodun Faleke, was adopted at a hearing to investigate the revenue profiles of Ministries, Departments and Agencies and Government-Owned Enterprises ahead of the 2025 budget defence.

The hearing was to enable the Senate and House of Representatives Committees on Finance to develop accurate and realistic revenue projections for 2025, with emphasis on Internally Generated Revenue and expenditure.

The resolution to investigate the shortfall followed the adoption of a motion moved by the lawmaker representing Kebbi Central Senatorial District, Senator Adamu Aliero.

Drawing the attention of his colleagues to the development, Aliero noted that “Due to the issue of waivers, there is a serious shortfall between what is supposed to be collected as revenue and what is actually collected.

“From our record, over N5.9tn was supposed to be the consolidated revenue fund of the federation. But we only have N1.9tn. We need to set up a special committee that will investigate this serious anomaly.

“We cannot continue to be allowing revenue agencies to be spending money without the National Assembly’s approval. If someone is given a waiver, we have to find out who gave that waiver. A shortfall of over N4tn is not a small amount. We found out that over N 4.9tn has not been remitted. We should set up an investigative committee that will probe all the money that has not been remitted,” he said.

Co-chairman of the Joint Committee, Senator Sani Musa, said the committee was aware that a lot of GOEs collect revenues from other sources without disclosing those sources.

“Some of them did not even disclose this to the budget office. We’ve been able to get some of them and we have done our scrutinisation. You can imagine an agency collecting revenue from and failing to remit same.

“Funds that are supposed to be remitted to the consolidated revenue fund are not remitted. I think from now on, we are going to block that leakage and we will do the needful. We will scrutinise the expenditures of these GOEs because a GOE will collect 100 per cent of revenue and in its expenditure, you see that it’s spending about 95% of that revenue it collected. This is the avenue at which we can find a lasting solution to those leakages,” Musa stated.

He further pointed out that President Bola Tinubu had, while presenting the 2025 Appropriation Bill before the National Assembly mandated Heads of MDAs to respect parliamentary summons.

Musa, who represents Niger East Senatorial District, threatened that any GOE that failed to give an accurate account of how its revenue and expenditure risks having a zero allocation in the 2025 budget proposal.

The committee also queried the Federal Road Safety Corps for failing to remit the sum of N8bn out of its total Internally Generated Revenue in 2024.

This followed the presentation by the Deputy Corps Marshal, representing the Corps Marshal, Shehu Mohammed, who said though the agency had a revenue target of N10bn in 2024, it generated N13bn.

The FRSC was, however, unable to explain why only N5bn was remitted to the coffers of the government, given that the agency is 100 per cent funded by the government.

“You had a target of N10bn but generated N13bn, and you only remitted N5bn. You need to furnish this committee with details of the unremitted fund,” Senator Sani directed.

The Minister of Budget and Economic Planning, Atiku Bagudu, who made a brief appearance at the event, said lessons learned from 2024 formed the basis of the assumptions in the 2025 budge,t which he said were designed to generate more revenue for the government and provide solutions for the economy.

He charged the GOEs to think outside the box to support the government’s bid to reposition the economy for the benefit of Nigerians,