‘We’ve been subjected to ridicule’ — NBA writes Malami over ‘controversial amendment’

 

The Nigerian Bar Association (NBA) says the recent amendment to the rules of professional conduct for legal practitioners (RPC), 2007 has brought ridicule to the association.

The RPC sets out the professional duties of lawyers when dealing with clients, courts and their colleagues.

Abubakar Malami, the attorney-general of the federation, in an amendment to the RPC earlier in September, had eliminated the use of NBA stamp and seal on court processes.

Under the new provision, the use of the stamps is no longer necessary, giving room for non-lawyers to also submit court processes.

However, the NBA, in a letter to the AGF and signed by its president, Olumide Akpata, noted that the amendment to the RPC appeared to have been done without following due process.

“Our position, Honourable Attorney-General, is that the Legal Practitioners Act (as amended) confers the power to issue or amend the RPC on the General Council of the bar (‘Bar Council’) albeit under your leadership. Consequently, the RPC or amendments thereto may only be enacted and issued after they have been duly approved at a properly convened meeting of the Bar Council,” the letter, which was dated September 15, 2020, read.

“I have been duly informed by NBA representatives on the Bar Council and other members of the Bar Council who have reached out to me, that to the best of their knowledge, no meeting of the Bar Council was convened to discuss any amendment to the RPC or to approve the Instrument. It therefore appears that the Instrument was enacted without proper authority.”

The NBA also raised concern over certain portions of the amended RPC, which it said would allow quacks take advantage of the profession.

“Above and beyond the proper authority to amend the RPC, the purported deletion of some provisions of the RPC is also curious. A number of those provisions are aimed at checking the infiltration of quacks into the profession; protecting the turf and revenue of lawyers; improving professional standards through mandatory continuing professional development; and keeping track of the number of law offices operating in Nigeria at various branches of the NBA,” Akpata said.

“It is therefore concerning that these provisions, many of which are forward-looking and seek to place the Nigerian legal profession at par with other self-regulatory professional associations around the world, will be targeted for deletion.”

Akpata, who admitted that certain provisions of the RPC were unacceptable in modern practice and needed overhaul, urged the AGF to give the association time to make the necessary amendments.

“My administration therefore intends to propose a series of amendments to the RPC to bring it into conformity with the realities of modern legal practice for the benefit of Nigerian lawyers and and the society,” he said.

“To speed up the process, I will immediately be setting up a committee with the responsibility of thoroughly reviewing the RPC and making appropriate recommendations to the Bar Council through your good office.

“Pending such holistic reforms to the RPC, I urge you to rescind the Instrument in the interest of the rule of law, the unity of the bar and the sanctity of the legal profession.

“The NBA has been subjected to needless controversy and ridicule on the account of the Instrument, and this does not augur well for the sanctity of the profession, of which you are a key stakeholder.”

The recent amendment to the RPC by the AGF has attracted varying reactions, including a lawsuit by a group of lawyers, seeking to strip the AGF of his title of senior advocate of Nigeria (SAN).

The amendment was done weeks after a splinter group, the New Nigerian Bar Association (NNBA), wrote to Malami requesting recognition.

- THECABLE

Liverpool unveil Thiago Alcantara

 

Liverpool have completed the signing of Thiago Alcantara from Bayern Munich in a deal that could rise to £25m.

Alcantara who was unveiled by the team on Friday has been heavily linked to Liverpool all through the summer. The Spaniard penned a long-term contract with the Reds becoming the club’s second signing of the transfer window, following Kostas Tsimikas in August.

The-29-year old before joining the Reds has been very instrumental to the success of Bayern Munich since joining them in 2013.

Last season, Alcantara was pivotal to Bayern treble success as they beat Paris Saint-Germain in the Champions League final last month in Lisbon and won the Bundesliga and the German cup.

Upon signing for the premier league defending champions, Alcantara told Liverpool’s website that he has been waiting for this moment and happy to join the reds.

“I think it’s an amazing feeling. I was waiting for this moment for a long time and I am very, very happy to be here.

“When the years are passing, you are trying to win as much as you can and when you win, you want to win more. I think this club describes what I am as well; I want to achieve all of the goals, win as many trophies as possible.

The number of years on Alcantara’s contract was not disclosed by the club.

- PM NEWS

DPR: We’ve advised FG to forgo $1.5bn World Bank loan — we have the money

 

The Department of Petroleum Resources (DPR) says it has advised the federal government to consider withdrawing a $1.5 billion loan request sent to the World Bank.

In a statement on Friday, the agency said it has remitted $1.03 billion to the federal government with an additional $600 million underway from oil and gas royalties and legacy debts.

The DPR said some of the revenue generated and remitted by the agency would save the country from additional and conditional borrowing from the World Bank adding that it has enjoined the government to delay and possibly ignore the loan.

DPR collects oil and gas royalties, gas flare penalties imposed for gas flaring, concession rentals paid for the grant of oil and gas acreages by exploration and production companies, and miscellaneous oil revenue which consists of statutory application fees, license and permit fees and penalties on behalf of the federal government.

Speaking during an interactive session with the house of representatives committee on petroleum (upstream) in Lagos on Thursday, Sarki Auwalu, DPR director, said the agency has generated over N1 trillion this year at an average of N1.9 billion revenue per staff, adding that it hopes to generate N2.3 trillion in 2021.

Auwalu (pictured) said there is a need to ease regulations to open up the sector for investment, considering the number of open acreages yet to be explored in frontier and inland basins and increased competition from neighbouring countries.

He said easing regulations and passing the petroleum industry bill will encourage investments that would the industry weather the challenges caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, oil price crash and production cuts by the Organisation of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC).

Nigeria has requested a $1.5 billion loan from the World Bank. However, approval for the loan has been delayed over concerns by the institution that Nigeria may not sustain the removal of fuel subsidy and devaluation of the naira.

- THECABLE

Why Mourinho will not play Gareth Bale until October

 

Tottenham Hotspur’s medical team has confirmed Gareth Bale will be unavailable for selection for at least one month with an injury, Marca reports.

Bale arrived in London on Friday alongside Real Madrid team-mate Sergio Reguilon, who joins on a permanent deal, to finalise the deal.

The 31-year-old has been carrying an injury, but has been working in a gym at Valdebebas.

However, the Spurs medical team took a look at Bale’s injury and determined he will be out for as many as four weeks.

It appears that Tottenham knew this may be the case in advance, meaning the £20million loan transfer will still go through.

But Jose Mourinho will have to wait until October or even November, to have Bale fit and ready to play.

- DAILY POST

Dangote ordered to stop mining in Benue

 

A High Court in Benue State has order Dangote Coal Mines Ltd to stop its mining activities in the State.

The order was given by a High Court presided over by His Lordship, Honourable Justice D.E. Igoh of the Benue State Judicial Division Holden at Okpoga, Okpokwu LGA, Benue-South Senatorial District of Benue State.

Dangote Coal Mines Ltd was directed to stop its split mining operation at Effeche-Akpali pending the determination of the substantive case.

Justice D.E. Igoh said the interim injunction on 10th September 2020 in the case between Chief Joseph Moro and four others as plaintiffs and Dangote Coal Mines Ltd as sole defendant.

In the suit No. OKP/HC/11/2020, Justice Igoh held that he found merit in the application following a motion ex-parte, the supporting affidavits and exhibits as well as the written address.

Igoh declared that, “I find merit in the application which is granted as follows: An order of interim injunction shall be restraining the Defendant, his servants, agents, privies or any other person claiming through him, from carrying out any mining activities, exploration on the territory/farmlands of the plaintiffs which has caused contamination of the communal River (Mabel River) that serves several communities, pending the hearing and determination of motion on notice vide OKP/HC/31M/2020, adjourned to 13/10/2020 for hearing.”

- DAILY POST

Facebook opens new office in Lagos

 

Facebook on Friday said it would be opening an office in Lagos, Nigeria, as part of its continued commitment and ongoing investment in Africa.

In a statement made available to newsmen in Lagos, said this would be its second office on the African continent.

It said the opening of the new office was aimed at supporting the entire Sub-Saharan Africa region.

The office, it said, was expected to become operational in 2021.

According to Facebook, it will be the first on the continent to house a team of expert engineers building for the future of Africa and beyond.

Also, the office would be home to various teams servicing the continent from across the business, including Sales, Partnerships, Policy, Communications as well as Engineers.

Commenting, Ime Archibong, Facebook’s Head of New Product Experimentation, said: “The opening of our new office in Lagos, Nigeria presents new and exciting opportunities in digital innovations to be developed from the continent and taken to the rest of the world.

“All across Africa, we are seeing immense talent in the tech ecosystem and I am proud that with the upcoming opening of our new office, we will build products for the future of Africa, and the rest of the world, with Africans at the helm.

“We look forward to contributing further to the African tech ecosystem.

“The investment of the new Facebook office follows the 2018 opening of NG_Hub, its first flagship community hub space in Africa.

“The hub was opened in partnership with CcHub, and the 2019 opening of a Small Business Group (SBG) Operations Centre in Lagos, in partnership with Teleperformance, “Archibong said.

Kojo Boakye, Facebook’s Director of Public Policy, Africa said that the new office in Nigeria presents an important milestone which further reinforces the company’s ongoing commitment to the region.

“Our mission in Africa is no different from other parts of the world, which is to build community and bring the world closer together.

“I am excited about the possibilities that this will create, not just in Nigeria, but across Africa,” Boakye said.

The policy director said since the opening of its first office in 2015, Facebook had made a number of investments across the continent, aimed at supporting and growing the tech ecosystem.

Boakye noted that the support includes the recent rollout of its SMB Grants programme in Nigeria and South Africa.

He said this was aimed at supporting over 900 businesses by providing a combination of cash and ad credits to help small businesses as they rebuild from COVID.

Nunu Ntshingila, Regional Director, Facebook Africa, said:  “We are delighted to be announcing our new office in Nigeria.

” Five years on from opening our first office on the continent in Johannesburg, South Africa, we will continue to invest in and support local talent, as well as the various communities that use our platforms.

“The office in Lagos will also be key in helping to expand how we service our clients across the continent,” Ntshingila said.

NAN

FG adds Emirates to list of banned airlines

 

The federal government has withdrawn the approval granted to Emirates to conduct international flight operations in the country.

Hadi Sirika, minister of aviation, disclosed this via a post on his Twitter handle on Friday.

The ban will take effect on September 21, 2020.

The Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA) had, in a memo earlier in September, included Emirates in the list of approved airlines for international flights for both Abuja and Lagos airports.

But the minister said the decision to reverse the approval was taken after a meeting of the presidential task force (PTF) on COVID-19 with European Union ambassadors on Friday.

Sirika also said there were discussions on the ban on Lufthansa and Air France-KLM.

“The PTF sub committee met today with EU Ambassadors to discuss Lufthansa, Air France/KLM ban. The meeting progressed well.  Emirates Airlines’s situation was reviewed & they are consequently included in the list of those not approved, with effect from Monday the 21st Sept. 2020,” the minister wrote.

- THECABLE