Baba Suwe loses N25 Million award at the court of appeal

The Court of Appeal in Lagos, has overturned the ruling of a high court and quashed the N25million damages awarded to Nollywood actor, Babatunde Omidina, popularly known
as Baba Suwe.

Professor Chinua Achebe goes home

Jonathan, Ghana president, others honour literary icon

The rustic town of Ogidi in Idemili North Local Government
Area of Anambra State was yesterday over-populated as
the high and mighty, as well as the ordinary folks thronged
the town to bid the late Prof. Chinua Achebe a befitting
farewell.
At the St Patrick’s Anglican Church Ogidi where the funeral
service was held, the church was filled to the brim together
with over five canopies in the premises while multitudes
still spilled over outside the church gate.
For the Ogidi people, it was a moment of grief as the
remains of their illustrious son and world acclaimed writer
were laid to rest. Achebe, who was buried at his Ogidi
ancestral home, died on March 21 in Boston, Massachusetts
in the United States of America.
President Goodluck Jonathan personally led a high-
powered delegation, which included the President of Ghana,
Mr. John Daramani Mahama to attend the funeral service.
Jonathan arrived at the church at 10:40 a.m with the
President of Ghana aboard a Nigerian Air Force helicopter
marked NAF 573 after Governors Peter Obi (Anambra),
Emmanuel Uduaghan (Delta) and Aviation Minister, Mrs
Stella Odua had earlier landed in the church premises in
another helicopter.
Soon after, the Anglican Archbishop Province Two, Most
Rev. Christian Efobi led other clergymen in the church to
welcome the president and his entourage. At 11:10a.m, the
church bell chimed continuously to announce the arrival of
the corpse to the church.
The officiating priest, Ikechi Nwosu, the archbishop of the
Aba Province, told the congregation that the Primate of the
Church of Nigeria, Most Rev. Nicholas Okoh, was away on
official duties. He said Rev. Okoh had asked him to conduct
the funeral service for the fallen Iroko.
The priest noted that they had not come to bury Achebe,
saying there were some men who could not be buried
because of their good deeds. He pointed out that Achebe
had a foundation in the Bible. “The scripture didn’t depart
from him and his family until he breathed his last,” he said.
He begged that Achebe be forgiven for rejecting the national
honours, saying that the departed writer was a patriotic
Nigerian who believed in the country even as he was not the
first to have rejected such honours.
He noted that Achebe had told him that the accident that
crippled him was a parable, which had made him to
continue with his teaching and other activities, and not
weighed down. Looking at the crowd that turned out for the
funeral, the priest exclaimed that he was indeed a great
leader! He, therefore, urged well-meaning Nigerians to
revisit the town to rebuild the dilapidated primary school
adjacent to the church, but which brought up the renowned
writer. Speaking, President Jonathan said he came to
sincerely appreciate God for bringing out Achebe from Ogidi
for the country and other nations.
“Achebe was a great man and I believe that God will help
the family. He was a philosopher who used his books to
express what he believed in,” he said. He pointed out that
Achebe’s book; Things Fall Apart had vividly painted a
picture of the eroding value system of the country. He also
noted that Achebe had noticed very early that there was a
problem in the country through his writings.
He observed that in 1983, Achebe wrote, The Trouble With
Nigeria, where he said there was nothing wrong with the air
we breath in the country, the water we drink, our forestry,
but the political leadership. Jonathan, also reading some
portions of Achebe’s last book, There was a Country, said
the great author had painted a gloomy picture of a corrupt
nation in the 50s and 60s even as he wondered if there was
a change now.
He, therefore, insisted that all Nigerians must work hard for
their children to say in future ‘there is a country’. Jonathan
pledged that the governments of Nigeria and Ghana would
build a new primary school in Ogidi for the memorial of the
late Achebe. The President of Ghana said it was sad he was
in Nigeria to mourn Achebe who he said was a man he had
so much admired.
“Chinua Achebe was an icon of African literature, who
shaped my formative years with his wonderful writings
especially his epic, Things Fall Apart,” he said. Mahama
noted that Achebe was a great man, saying he was happy
the way he chose to live his life.
The Ghanaian president said the way Achebe lived helped to
shape the destinies of some of them, saying that the literary
icon would never die. After 1:13 p.m when Governor Obi
introduced the dignitaries on the occasion, Mrs Viola
Onwuliri, minister of state, Foreign Affairs, handed over the
condolence registers opened in Nigeria’s foreign missions
across the globe to the Achebe family, saying that the
gesture was in appreciation of his contributions to
diplomacy.
She handed over the registers to the first son of Achebe, Ike,
with the lists of the missions, about 25 of them, promising
to bring in the others. Former Commonwealth secretary
general, Chief Emeka Anyaoku, making a remark on behalf
of the elders at the funeral, said the officiating priest
describing Achebe as Nigeria’s parable was apt. He noted
that Achebe gave the African continent confidence, as he
told the world that Africa had rich culture that had subsisted
till today.
Anyaoku said the legacies left by Achebe would serve the
continent in many years to come. Also speaking, Deputy
Speaker, House of Representatives, Emeka Ihedioha who
represented the National Assembly said Achebe’s
achievements ranked second to that of Nelson Mandela of
South Africa. Obi promised that the Igbo would continue to
support Jonathan in the years ahead, particularly in 2015.
Also speaking, Achebe’s first son, Ike, thanked the church,
which, he said, his grandfather built. He handed the offering
collected for the family at the funeral to the church for its
upkeep.
Ike also thanked President Jonathan, who, he said, invited
him to Abuja upon hearing that his father was dead, saying
that his family was grateful to him. At 2:30p.m, the church
service closed and the MIC undertakers lifted up the
glistening brown casket and proceeded in an ambulance of
the undertaker to the Achebe ancestral home, which is
about a quarter of a kilometer from the church where his
remains were interred according to religious tradition.
… Roll call of dignitaries at the funeral service
President Goodluck Jonathan •President Johan Mahama of
Ghana •Representative of Liberian President, Prof. Al-
Hassan Conteh •Former Vice President, Dr. Alex Ekwueme
•Former Secretary General of Commonwealth, Chief Emeka
Anyaoku •Deputy Speaker, House of Representatives, Chief
Emeka Ihedioha •Imo State Governor, Roachas Okorocha
•Governor Martin Elechi of Ebonyi State •Governor Liyel
Imoke of Cross River Governor Emmanuel Uduaghan of
Delta •Governor Theodore Orji of Abia •Host Governor,
Peter Obi of Anambra State Minister of Labour, Emeka Wogu
•Finance and Coordinating Minister, Prof. Ngozi Okonjo
Iweala •Prof. Chinedu Nebo, Minister of Power •Prof. Viola
Onwuliri, Minister of State for Foreign Affairs •Senator Chris
Ngige, Anambra Central •Senator Andy Uba, Anambra South
•Senator Ugochukwu Uba •Dr. Chuklwuemeka Ezeife •Hon.
Uche Ekwunife •Hon. Charles Odedo •Hon. Chris Azubogu
•Hon. Emeke Nwogbo •Dr. Ifeanyi Uba, Capital Oil •Mr.
Emeka Sibeudu, Deputy Governor, Anambra State •Dame
Virgy Etiaba, former Governor of Anambra State •Prof.
Elochukwu Amaucheazi •Prof. Laz Ekwueme •Rev Canon
Andrew Wheeler representing Archbishop of Canterbury,
among others Other dignitaries who attended the funeral
service included former vice president, Dr Alex Ekwueme;
Governor Theodore Orji (Abia); Governor Liyel Imoke (Cross
River); Governor Rochas Okorocha (Imo);; Senator Joy
Emordi; Ebonyi Deputy Governor, Dave Umahi; Finance
Minister, Dr Ngozi Okonjo-Iwuala; Power Minister, Prof.
Chinedu Nebo; Labour Minister, Chief Emeka Wogu; former
governor of Anambra State, Dr. Chukwuemeka Ezeife;
Minister of State for Foreign Affairs, Mrs Viola Onwuliri;
Deputy Governor of Enugu State, Mr. Sunday Onyewuchi,
among others.

Achebe’s family and friends accused wife and children of selling Achebe 's corpse to FGN

Achebe’s family under fire for handing over late writer’s
burial rites to govt

It is three days today before the remains of foremost novelist, Chinua Achebe, arrives Nigeria for a five-day burial rite that would culminate in his interment on Thursday, May 23, at his family compound in Ogidi,
Anambra State. But as organizers put finishing touches to the burial
arrangement, a serious controversy has blown open over the decision of the late writer’s family to hand over the
programme to the Nigerian federal government as well as those of Anambra and other states in the South-east geopolitical zone. In the last one week, Atlantic News Nigerian has learnt  from some of Mr. Achebe’s family members, contemporaries, associates, friends and fans accusing the late writer’s wife, Christie and her children, of surrendering Mr. Achebe’s corpse to the government for pecuniary gains. The family wouldn’t comment on the allegations. While alive, Mr. Achebe, who died on March 22 at 82, was a consistent and vociferous critic of the Nigerian federal and state governments who he repeatedly accused of monumental corruption, ineptitude and misgovernment. In protest against the way Nigeria is run, the revered novelist, in 2004 and 2011, rejected national honours awarded him by the federal government. But the federal and state governments that Mr. Achebe criticized and kept at bay while alive have now been handed leading roles in the burial of the globally acclaimed novelist, a development that has irked not a few family members, contemporaries, fans and associates. “Prof was a simple man who deliberately rejected affiliation
with the Nigerian government,” lamented an Achebe family member who pleaded not to be named for fear of being ostracized by the late writer’s family. “It is now shocking and nauseating that his wife and children have now sold his corpse to the same destructive forces he opposed till death.” She added, “We are trying to understand why they are trying to destroy his legacy when the man actually left more than
enough wealth to be given a befitting burial without any government getting involved. Why don’t they want to spend the man’s money to give him a befitting burial?” Checks by this newspaper revealed that the federal and Anambra state government are handling almost all aspects of the burial. The federal government has constituted a Chinua Achebe Transition Committee, led by Professor T. Uzodinma Nwala, to handle logistics for the burial. The Minister of Finance, Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, has also been detailed to arrange accommodation, transportation and security for all guests expected at the burial. In fact, a document seen by one of our sources listed Mr. Achebe’s wife and children among guests being expected at the burial, suggesting that they were being invited to their own patriarch’s interment.
A programme drawn up by the Professor Nwala’s committee showed that Mr. Achebe’s remains would, on May 21, be received at the airport in Abuja by Nigerian politicians and political office holders, some of whom the writer considered corrupt and inept while alive. The novelist will also be treated to a reception at the National Assembly, populated mainly by elements Mr. Achebe believed were holding Nigeria down.
“We can’t understand why Achebe’s wife and kids are taking steps that are contrary to what the good man stood for,” a contemporary of the late writer said via telephone from the United States. “They are doing the opposite of what their father would do.” He requested not to be named for fear he might be accused of trying to derail his friend’s burial. Olu Oguibe, a Professor of Art and African-American Studies at the University of Connecticut, Storrs, and family friend of the Achebes, has been especially vociferous in his criticism of the late writer’s family. “To the best of the knowledge of many who were close to him, his views and opinion of the Nigerian government and that of his state which he so clearly protested in 2004 and 2011 had not changed,” Mr. Oguibe said in an April 29 post on his Facebook page that stirred extensive discussion. “ So, what does it mean that in death, the very same government that this great philosopher and patriot so strongly and unequivocally disapproved of has been given free rein to organize his last rites.”

EXCLUSIVE: Leaked conversation between Fani-Kayode and Dele Momodu on declaration of State of Emergency

DailyPost is in possession of a leaked chat between former
Aviation Minister, Femi Fani-Kayode and Publisher of
Ovation Magazine, Dele Momodu on the state of emergency
rule imposed on Adamawa, Borno and Yobe states.
President Goodluck Jonathan on Tuesday night made the
pronouncement in an emergency nationwide broadcast.
Fani-Kayode and Momodu were however sharply divided in
the conversation which they had on a Blackberry Messenger
group. While the former was against Jonathan’s decision,
the latter supported it.
Fani-Kayode in his argument, said that the declaration
came too late and that having the State Governors and all
political appointees retain their position, portrays the
President as a weakling. But Momodu maintained that
because Fani-Kayode’s political godfather and ex-
President Olusegun Obasanjo dethroned a duly elected
governor during his tenure does not mean that such act was
legal.
Excerpts:
Fani-Kayode – “I am impressed and encouraged by the
tough talk that our President indulged in tonight but I have
never heard of a State of Emergency where the governors
and other political office holders in the affected states are
given the opportunity to “remain in office”. This has never
happened before in the history of Nigeria. As far as I am
concerned President Jonathan’s declaration of a State of
Emergency in Borno, Yobe and Adamawa states is too little
and too late. The governors and ALL political office holders
in the affected states should have been completely removed
and the whole state should have been run by a Federal
Government appointed civilian Administrator who would
then have the full backing of the military. That is what is
meant to happen when a State of Emergency is declared.
Sadly Jonathan did not have the guts to go all the way and
to remove the governors and this half-measure that he has
put in place will not have the desired effect. This is another
lost opportunity. What a pity.”
Dele Momodu – “I wish to disagree with Chief Femi Fani-
Kayode on his position against the decision of President
Ebele Jonathan not to sack the State governments of Borno,
Yobe and Adamawa after declaring a State of Emergency!
The Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria does not
empower The President and Commander-in-Chief of the
Nigerian Armed Forces to arbitrarily sack a duly and
constitutionally elected government in the States. The fact
that President Olusegun Obasanjo did it with impunity and
got away with it because we had gutless Governors does
not make it right. This culture of rambunctious rascality
and rabid vindictiveness cannot be allowed to continue. On
this one I support President Goodluck Jonathan and salute
him for not terminating the lives of elected Governments in
Federalism. It is not the fault of those State Governments
that Boko Haram has ravaged their States. In reality, how
many States are truly immune from wanton destruction of
lives and properties? Security agents were killed like rats in
Bayelsa the other day. Many lives have been wasted in
Plateau State. The mother of Coordinating Minister of the
Economy was kidnapped and only escaped by the whiskers
and after serious deals. Dead bodies were seen floating in
Anambra State. The general malaise has spread even to
Lagos. To sack those Governors is to also indict the Federal
Government for its inability to crush the viral rebellion with
all its Federal might! It is to sack the entire Nigerian State
for failing to secure the lives and properties of citizens. The
solution lies not in the over-militarisation of North-East
Nigeria or Nigeria in general. It is for our leaders to
terminate the culture of Poverty they have instituted through
their reckless profligacy. The all-pervading state of
insecurity in Nigeria is symptomatic of a brewing Revolution
of cataclysmic proportions. Guns can never chase away
hunger but politicians CAN if they are serious, sincere and
determined!”
Fani-Kayode – “Which court said that the constitution does
not empower the President to suspend state governors?
Which court declared OBJ’s actions illegal? OBJ got the
necessary approvals for his actions from the Nat. Ass. Will
someone ask those that say that OBJ’s actions were not
constitutional whether OBJ was there when all serving
political office holders were removed in the Western Region
when a state of emergency was declared there in 1962.At
the end of the day only one thing matters and it is not my
interpretation of the constitution or anyone else’s. What
matters is whether this hitherto untested system of having a
serving governor who has not been able to maintain law
and order in his state still running it when emergency laws
are in place. It will lead to chaos, abuse of power, the
persecution of political enemies, confusion and more
atrocities. It will not succeed in stopping BH but it will
strengthen it and cause it to spread. The logic of allowing
those that have failed to protect their people to continue for
the prescribed period of six months and avoid suspension is
beyond me. The fear of a state of emergency by the
governors and political office holders is what makes them
sit up and do their best to avoid it. It is a very heavy
hammer and once wielded the consequences must be felt by
all including those that have failed in their duties in the
state. Once they are assured that they will be allowed to
continue in office even after that hammer is wielded the
deterrent is removed and there is no longer any incentive
for them to ensure that there is peace in their states. In fact
some of them would even want a state of emergency
because it would give them awesome powers to deal with
their enemies and commit all manner of human rights
abuses and atrocities. There is nowhere in the constitution
that says that a governor cannot be removed in a state of
emergency and until a court declares it otherwise I shall
deem it lawful, necessary and expedient”
Dele Momodu – “I insist that the bullying of State Governors
under President Olusegun Obasanjo was unconstitutional,
all gas and of no substance or significant consequence. It
was this chicanery that produced the mess that we’ve all
found ourselves in today. Femi should kindly tell us what
Obasanjo’s sledge-hammer had achieved in the long-run. It
is that realisation of monumental failure that has turned
President Obasanjo to the most vociferous critic of
Jonathan today. Femi should also educate us if any
Governor in Nigeria has a State Police to contain insecurity.
If President Jonathan can’t do it with all the soldiers,
Airforce, Navy, SSS, etc, at his beck and call it would be
callous to hold Governors responsible for our collective
failure. Finally, may we find the courage to resist Jonathan
whenever he graduates to the full-blown dictatorship of the
Obasanjo era. I stand with President G. E. Jonathan on this
one occasion for not sacking any Governor to serve a
bloated ego”
Fani-Kayode – “A last word for Dele Momodu: The
governors are described as the Chief Security Officers of
their respective states in the constitution and they are
charged by that same constitution and by oath before God
and the people to provide security for the state. Yes we all
know that the security agencies are Federal institutions and
it could be better but nevertheless that is their duty and
charge. I am not aware of one case where the
Commissioner of Police, the Director of SSS or the Brigade
Commander in any state has refused to follow the
governor’s orders in his state. If a governor cannot handle
security in his state with all the soldiers, SSS officers and
mobile policemen at his disposal then he should resign
from his position and re-apply to become governor again
after the constitution allows him to have a state police force
as opposed to a Federal one. Our governors surely cannot
abdicate the responsibility for security for their respective
states to the President alone. They also have a key role to
play because they are physically present in those states and
they are on the ground. The truth is that in reality the
governors are like little emperors in their respective
domains. They are exceptionally powerful and the power
that they wield is awesome and often unchallenged. Surely
even Dele Momodu knows this. If they really put their mind
to it they can do far better than most of them have been
doing. Over and out!”

Nigeria 'baby factory' raided in Imo State

Seventeen pregnant teenage girls and 11 babies have been
rescued from a house in Nigeria's south-eastern Imo state,
police have said.
They say they are looking for a woman suspected of
planning to sell the babies.
"The girls claimed they were fed once a day and were not
allowed to leave the home," said spokeswoman Joy
Elomoko.
It is not uncommon for such "baby factories" to be found in
south-eastern Nigeria.
The rescued girls said they had all been made pregnant by a
23-year-old man, who has been arrested, reports the AFP
news agency.
The European Union says Nigeria, along with China, is one
of the biggest sources of people trafficked into Europe,
where they are often forced into prostitution.
In 2011, the National Agency for the Prohibition of
Trafficking in Persons (Naptip), said their investigations
showed that babies are sold for up to $6,400 (£4,200) each.
Poor, unmarried women face tough choices if they get
pregnant in Nigeria, often facing exclusion from society,
correspondents say.
Naptip says desperate teenagers with unplanned
pregnancies are sometimes lured to clinics and then forced
to turn over their babies.
The babies can be sold for illegal adoption, used for child
labour or prostitution or sometimes killed with their body
parts used for ritual purposes.
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If I'm arrested, Nigeria will be histroy -Asari Dokubo

Leader of the Niger Delta People's Volunteer Force, Alhaji Mujahid Dokubo-Asari, has dared the House of Representatives and leaders of northern Nigeria to arrest him if they can. Dokubo-Asari, who spoke with journalists on Wednesday evening in Abuja, said he stood by his words that there would be no peace if Jonathan is not reelected in 2015. He was responding to calls by members of the House, Governor Babangida Aliyu of Niger State and northern leaders, saying the leaders were cowards if he was not arrested. The former President of Ijaw Youth Council also added that any attempt to arrest him would make Nigeria "a history", asking why those calling for his arrest turned deaf ears when some northern leaders like former Military Head of State Maj.-Gen Mohamadu Buhari, Alhaji Lawal Kaita and a former member of the House of Representatives, Farouk
Aliyu, among others. He said, "I stand by my statement which I made in my early press conference. There will be no peace, not only in the Niger Delta, but everywhere, if Goodluck Jonathan is not president by 2015. "I want to refresh your memories with comments made by
these northerners, who had in the time past threatened war and break-up of Nigeria. "In 2010, one Lawal Kaita said and I quote: 'Anything short
of a Northern President is tantamount to stealing our Presidency. Jonathan has to go and he will go. Even if he
uses the incumbency power to get his nomination on the platform of the PDP, he would be frustrated out…The North
is determined, if that happens, to make the country ungovernable for President Goodluck Jonathan or any other
Southerner who finds his way to the seat of power on the platform of the PDP against the principle of the party's
zoning policy'. "Today insurgent groups, in furtherance to Kaita's call a're
wreaking havoc, attacking military barracks and seizingweapon, but we will not sit and watch. Kaita made this statement, nobody arrested or call for the arrest of this fellow, today he is walking free. "Buhari made this statement in 2011, he was never arrested and nobody ever called for his arrest. In other countries, former leaders are being tried, but here, a man who overthrew a legitimate government, continues to threaten us with blood and nothing has happened." He added, "I am not afraid of arrest. I am saying it bold and clear without mincing words, that the consequences of my arrest, Nigeria will be history. "The last time Obasanjo arrested me, my arrest reduced Nigeria oil production to 700,000 barrels per day. This time, it will reduce it to zero barrel, and we will match violence with violence, intrigues with intrigues. We are ready for them. Goodluck Jonathan will complete his tenure of two terms, whether they like it or not. "I am daring them to arrest me if they can. If they don't, they are cowards and shame on them."
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Enugu State Governor, Sullivan Chime's Death In India?

The rumour peddling around in the social media (Facebook) that Enugu State Governor Sullivan Chime is dead may not be true.

According to our impeccable source in Enugu, "such rumour is only an imagination and the wish of the enemies against our amiable governor", he said.

"As you speak to me now, I just came out from Enugu State Government House and there was no such thing. If a governor dies, even if you want to hide it for some reasons, but the truth is that the atmosphere as per reactions of people should tell you that something is wrong. But there were no feelings of sorrow amongst the people. "They peddled such rumour last year and they have started again, and what they gain in this kind of cruelty is what I cannot fathom. How can people be so wicked like this? In fact, this means that Governor Chime will overcome his sickness and live long," he concluded.

Ifeanyi Ubah quizzed by EFCC for Scam

From FRED ITUA, Abuja
Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC)
yesterday quizzed business mogul and Managing Director
of Capital Oil and Gas Industries Limited, Mr Ifeanyi Ubah.
According to EFCC’s spokesman, Wilson Uwujaren, Ubah
was quizzed in Abuja. Uwujaren claimed in an interview
with Daily Sun that Ubah had ignored several invitations to
come to EFCC for interrogations regarding his role in the
fuel subsidy scam.
“We’ve Ifeanyi Ubah in our custody,” Wilson revealed. “He
was quizzed in Abuja by operatives of the EFCC. He’s
currently being interrogated by our operatives. “His arrest is
sequel to his refusal to honour our series of invitation over
his involvement in the fuel subsidy scam. We sent several
invitations to him to come and respond to some questions,
which he failed to do. When you invite someone and he fails
to honour it, what do you do? You’ve to arrest him or her to
respond to such allegations. I can’t tell you what our next
step of action will be.
Our officers interrogating him can affirm that,” Wilson
added. It would be recalled that Ubah was arrested last year
and kept in the custody of Special Fraud Unit (SFU) of the
Nigeria Police for over a week based on the petition by
Coscharis boss, Cosmas Maduka, over a business deal that
went bad. In an interim investigative police report on the
involvement of Capital Oil and Gas Limited in the fuel
subsidy scam, it was reported that Ubah and four of the
company’s staff, colluded with others to defraud the Federal
Government of Nigeria of billions of naira. According to the
report, the four indicted staffers of Capital Oil are its
Executive Director, Operations, Mr. Orji Joseph; General
Manager, Operations, Mr. Ogbuokiri Chibuzor; Depot
Manager, Mr. Okorie Onuabuchi; and Head of Training, Mr.
Nsikan Usoro. According to the report, Capital Oil was
involved in 26 transactions covering the importation of
538,740,000,000 litres of petrol and was paid N43.291
billion as subsidy claims in 2011.
The report also detailed the arrest and interrogation of Ubah
and four others by the SFU between September and October.
It was allegedly discovered that during the period under
review that irregular claims were made based on fraudulent
fabrication and forged documents to the tune of about
N43.291 billion paid to Capital Oil as subsidy claims. As at
the time of filing in this report, it was unclear whether Ubah
was going to be charged to court by EFCC or granted
administrative bail, as it has become the practice.