Author: Lawbreed Limited

Some Accountants, yesterday, dragged the Federal Inland Revenue Service, FIRS, before a Federal High Court sitting in Lagos over its plan to compel tax practitioners to use a seal of Chartered Institute of Taxation of Nigeria, CITN, for filing annual returns to the Service from October 1, 2022. The five plaintiffs in the suit are Afolabi Igbaroola, Ademola Ogunsesan, Deacon T. Ishola, Mr Gbenga Afolabi and Mr Abiodun Adedeji, all members of ICAN, while FIRS is the defendant. The plaintiffs through their counsel, Mr Olaniyi George on behalf of themselves and members of Licensed and Concerned Members of ICAN are…

The Legal Practitioners’ Privileges Committee, LPPC, has approved the elevation of 62 legal practitioners to the rank of Senior Advocates of Nigeria, SAN. The LPPC, which is headed by the Acting Chief Justice of Nigeria, CJN, Justice Olukayode Ariwoola, okayed the conferment of the rank on the lawyers, at the end of its 154th plenary session on Thursday. The SAN rank is awarded as a mark of excellence to members of the legal profession who have distinguished themselves as advocates and academics. A statement by the Chief Registrar of the Supreme Court, Hajo Sarji Bello, who doubles as Secretary of…

The Federal High Court sitting in Lagos has ordered the Labour Party and its supporters not to converge at the Lekki toll gate for its #Obidatti23 Forward Ever Rally billed to hold on the 1st of October, 2020. The court also directed the Inspector General of Police and the Lagos State Police Commissioner to ensure compliance with the order. Justice Daniel Osiagor made these orders today while ruling on a motion for injunction brought by 10 plaintiffs, who are asking the court to, among others, restrain the LP, its presidential candidate Peter Obi, his vice Yusuf Datti Baba-Ahmed, one Julius…

The Senate on Tuesday passed a bill amending the Court of Appeal Act 2013 increasing the number of Justices of the Court of Appeal from 90 to 110. This followed the adoption of the report of the Senate Committee on Judiciary, Human Rights and Legal Matters by Chairman of the Committee, Senator Opeyemi Bamidele. In his lead debate, Bamidele said the bill sponsored by Senator Chukwuka Utazi sought to increase the number of Justices of Court of Appeal from 90 to 110. According to him, the legislative intent of the amendment is to ensure that the court has the requisite…

An Ikeja High Court on Tuesday sentenced the deposed Baale of Shangisha in Magodo area of Lagos State, Mutiu Ogundare, to 15 years imprisonment for planning and faking his own kidnaping. Justice Hakeem Oshodi sentenced Ogundare having convicted him of a three-count charge bordering on breach of peace and fake kidnapping. Also jailed for same prison term of 15 years, alongside the deposed Baale was his brother, Opeyemi Mohammed. The court had earlier on June15, 2022 during last proceedings, discharged and acquitted his wife Abolanle, of the charges. Delivering judgment in the matter Justice Oshodi said he considered the allocutus…

A 45-year-old resident of Lekki, Nigeria, was sentenced today in U.S. District Court in Tacoma to 5 years in prison for wire fraud and aggravated identity theft for his attempt to steal nearly $2.4 million from the United States government, including approximately $500,000 in pandemic-related unemployment benefits, announced U.S. Attorney Nick Brown. At the time of his arrest, Abidermi Rufai was the Special Assistant to the Governor of Nigeria’s Ogun State. He admitted a long history of using stolen identities to defraud U.S. disaster programs, including aid for Hurricanes Harvey and Irma, and file fraudulent U.S. tax returns. At the…

Parents of detainees plead with FG to intervene Hundreds of Nigerians arrested and detained by the Saudi Arabian authorities on suspicion of drug peddling are now rotting away in various prisons in the Middle East country with Nigeria apparently not aware of their fate. It was learnt that although many of the detainees were initially slated for execution by the Saudi authorities in accordance with the country’s penal code, many of them are, however, being kept in prisons spread across the country without any reference to whether they would be killed or released and when. A close source to one…

The Court of Appeal, Makurdi Division, has validated the power of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) to direct banks, without the backing of a court order, to freeze the accounts of state governments for the purpose of investigations. The decision of the court delivered on Thursday overturned the earlier judgement of the Federal High Court in Makurdi which had barred the anti-graft agency from placing a Post-No-Debit (PND) order on the Benue State government’s accounts. “In a unanimous judgment delivered by Justice M.S. Hassan on Thursday, September 22, 2022, the appellate court held that, the EFCC has powers…

An Ikeja High Court on Friday imposed a N.750 million on Lagos State Traffic Management Authority in a watershed judgment on the powers of the agency to impose fines and tow vehicles of motorists suspected to have committed traffic offences. Justice Olalekan Oresanya in a suit instituted by a motorist, Mr. Lawal Aliyu against LASTMA, Lagos State Government, and the state’s Attorney General, held that it was unconstitutional for LASTMA to impose fines and tow vehicles of alleged traffic offenders without a valid court order. Aliyu had filed the matter to contest the N20,000 fine imposed on him by LASTMA…

Olukayode Ariwoola, chief justice of Nigeria (CJN), says the constitution should be amended to stop some cases at the court of appeal. Appearing before the senate on Wednesday for a screening exercise, Ariwoola told the senate that the workload on the supreme court is too much when compared to the number of justices on the bench. The number of supreme court justices has dropped to 13 as against the maximum requirement of 21. “More justices need to be appointed as out of 21 needed in the supreme court, only 13 are left and for expeditious consideration of cases, some of…