Headlines
Stop Making Comments on Sylvester, Falana Tells Odumosu, Says Report Not Issued by DPP
Human rights lawyer, Mr. Femi Falana (SAN), has berated Lagos State Commissioner of Police, Hakeem Odumosu, for saying deceased Dowen College student, Sylvester Oromoni, died of natural causes when the facts had not been established by the coroner’s inquest.
Falana also rejected the report purportedly issued by the Director of Public Prosecutions, adding that the person who signed the report had no power to do so.
The senior advocate, who is a lawyer to the Oromoni family, said this during a chat with The Punch correspondent on Saturday.
The Police had released all the suspects connected to Omoroni’s death based on a legal advice sent to the police and the Lagos State Government by the Lagos State Director of Public Prosecution, Adetutu Osinusi, dated January 4, 2021.
But Falana said there was no DPP as of the time Osinusi signed the statement. He, therefore, argued that the report was unacceptable.
He said, “Under the Coroner Systems Law of Lagos State, only the coroner appointed by the chief coroner is competent to speak authoritatively on the cause of death of any person whose death arose from suspicious circumstances. So, the statement credited to an official in the Office of the DPP and the CP is deliberately meant to subvert the inquest being conducted by the coroner.
“An inquest is a judicial inquiry into the cause of death of any person whose death is unnatural in Lagos State. One Adetutu Osinusi, who wrote the legal advice purportedly clearing the suspects was not and is not the Director of Public Prosecutions in Lagos State.
“On January 4, when she allegedly wrote that illegal advice, there was no acting or substantive DPP in Lagos State. We therefore advise the CP to stop making comments on the unfortunate death of Sylvester Oromoni since he has said the matter is pending before the coroner.”
The National Working Committee of the Peoples Democratic Party (NWC) has suspended the National Legal Adviser, Kamaldeen Ajibade; National Secretary, Samuel Anyanwu; Deputy Legal Adviser, Okechukwu Osuoha; and National Organizing Secretary, Umaru Bature for one month.
The suspension comes on the heels of the judgement of the Federal High Court On Friday, which stopped the party’s planned national convention.
The National Publicity Secretary of the party, Debo Ologunagba, told journalists in Abuja on Saturday, that the decision followed an emergency meeting of the national working committee, which was held in Abuja.
President Donald Trump of the United States on Friday designated Nigeria as a Country of Particular Concern (CPC), in response to allegations of widespread persecution and genocide against Christians.
Writing on his Truth Social account, Trump stated that Christianity faces a serious threat in Nigeria.
The US leader also added Nigeria to a State Department watch list.
“Christianity is facing an existential threat in Nigeria. Thousands of Christians are being killed. Radical Islamists are responsible for this mass slaughter,” Trump wrote.
According to the US president, he was placing Nigeria, Africa’s top oil producer and most populous nation, on a “Countries of Particular Concern” list of nations the US deems to have engaged in religious freedom violations.
According to the State Department’s website, the list includes China, Myanmar, North Korea, Russia, and Pakistan, among others.
Trump said he had asked US Representatives Riley Moore and Tom Cole, as well as the House of Representatives Appropriations Committee, to look into the matter and report back to him.
A Federal High Court in Abuja has removed Hon. Abubakar Gummi from the House of Representatives after he left the Peoples Democratic Party for the All Progressives Congress.
The lawmaker represented the Gummi/Bukkuyum Federal Constituency in Zamfara State.
Justice Obiora Egwuatu delivered the ruling, holding that Gummi’s defection breached the Constitution.
The court said the seat does not belong to any politician but to the political party that sponsored the election.
According to the judgment, the Speaker of the House of Representatives, Tajudeen Abbas, is barred from recognising Gummi “as a member representing Gummi/Bukkuyum Federal Constituency.”
The judge also instructed the Independent National Electoral Commission to “conduct a fresh election” for the vacant seat within 30 days.
The case was instituted by the PDP and its Zamfara chairman, who insisted that Gummi’s move to the APC had no legal justification. They argued that there was no division in the PDP to support his defection, as required by Section 68(1)(g) of the Constitution.
Gummi, through his counsel, claimed he left the PDP due to internal crises which he said made it “impossible” to serve his constituents effectively. The judge, however, dismissed his arguments and granted all the reliefs requested by the plaintiffs.
Justice Egwuatu, in a firm comment, warned politicians against what he described as reckless party hopping.
“Political prostitution must not be rewarded,” he declared, adding that lawmakers must not transfer votes won on one party’s platform to another party.
The court also ordered Gummi to refund all salaries and allowances received from October 30, 2024, until the date of judgment. He is also barred from earning any further benefits as a member of the House.
Additionally, the judge imposed a N500,000 cost against the defendants in favour of the PDP.
