Barely 24 hours after his inauguration, President Bola Tinubu, on Tuesday afternoon, arrived at his office at the Aso Rock Villa, Abuja.
The President hosted at least 40 Heads of State at the Banquet Hall on Monday afternoon and he did not resume at his office until Tuesday (today).
Tinubu’s motorcade pulled up at the forecourt of the Villa at 02:38 pm Tuesday where he was received by Vice President Kashim Shettima; Speaker of the House of Representative, Femi Gbajabiamila; Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria, Godwin Emefiele; Chief Executive Officer of the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited, Mele Kyari; and the Permanent Secretary of the State House, Tijjani Umar.
Others are the former Lagos State Commissioner for Finance, Mr Wale Edun; Mr Dele Alake and Hon. James Faleke.
Minutes before his entrance, the new Commander-in-Chief inspected the Quarter Guard at the presidential gate.
After Tinubu’s first meeting today, the presidency is expected to announce key principal officers of the new administration including his Chief of Staff, Secretary to the Government of the Federation, National Security Adviser and Spokesperson.
Tribunal: Witness tenders US verdict on Tinubu’s $460,000 forfeiture
In another development, the Labour Party on Tuesday called its first witness in the ongoing petition between its candidate, Peter Obi, and the ruling All Progressives Congress and the President, Bola Tinubu.
Counsel for the LP and Obi, Jibrin Okutepa, stated that documents from number one to four together with receipts tendered are documents where the vice president, Kashim Shettima, accepted his nomination as the vice-presidential candidate of the APC.
The witness, Lawrence Nwakaeti, who is a legal practitioner, disclosed that he was deposed to the witness statement on March 20, 2023.
Part of the documents deposed to by Nwakaeti referred to the alleged $460,000 forfeiture by Tinubu to the government of the United States.
One of the grounds on which the LP and Obi are praying for the court to nullify Tinubu’s victory is that the president, Tinubu “at the time of the election was not qualified to contest for election to the office of President as he was fined the sum of $460,000 for an offence involving dishonesty, namely narcotics trafficking imposed by the United States District Court, Northern District of Illinois, Eastern Division, in Case No: 93C 4483.”
While answering questions during the cross-examination, the witness admitted that the judgment was not registered in Nigeria.
He also admitted that there was no certificate from any consular in Nigeria or America in support of the judgment.
He, however, maintained that “the judgment speaks for itself.”
APC counsel, Lateef Fagbemi, SAN, asked, “As a lawyer, you are aware that these documents are not registered in Nigeria and there is no certificate attached to the document from the US?” to which Lawrence replied that there are certificates.
“Is there a certificate from the US consular?”
“No certificate from the consular,” Nwakaeti replied.
He also said he had no knowledge of a February 4, 2003, Formal Clearance Report by Legal Attachee from the American Embassy in respect of the alleged indictment and forfeiture.
When asked by Fagbemi, SAN, to produce a copy of the charges against Tinubu, the witness said he had none but maintained that the forfeiture are from civil proceedings.
“You are aware that all the proceedings were civil proceedings?”
“Civil forfeiture proceedings,” the witness replied.
Meanwhile, the Presiding Justice of the Court, Justice Haruna Simon Tsammani has shifted further hearing in the petition till May 31.
Tinubu orders DSS to vacate EFCC office
The President, Asiwaju Bola Tinubu, has directed the Department of State Security Service to immediately vacate the office of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission in Ikoyi, Lagos.
The order is coming hours after DSS officials stormed the EFCC office located on Awolowo Road in the early hours of Tuesday, preventing officials of the anti-graft agency from accessing their workplace.
Although the service had earlier debunked the report as “not true,” spokesperson for the Service, Peter Afunanya confirmed to The PUNCH via a WhatsApp message that the DSS denied its operatives entry into their Lagos office.
Following the heightened tension between the two agencies, the president through his media officer, Tunde Rahman, issued a statement at the State House Presidential Villa on Tuesday evening instructing the DSS to evacuate the premises immediately.
The statement partly read, “The President gave the directive when reports that DSS officials stormed the EFCC office located on Awolowo Road, Ikoyi, Lagos on Tuesday, preventing officials of the anti-graft agency from accessing their workplace, was brought to his attention.
“The President said if there were issues between the two important agencies of government, they would be resolved amicably.
Credit: PUNCH
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