Author: Lawbreed Limited

Today marks 90 years since the House of Lords judgment of Donoghue v Stevenson, a caselaw classic among all students of common law. Paisley-born May Donoghue cemented her place in legal history for successfully suing a drinks manufacturer after she fell ill when she discovered a decomposing snail in a bottle of ginger beer her friend had bought her. The famous House of Lords decision, handed down on 26 May 1932, ruled that the manufacturer — David Stevenson — owed her a duty of care, sparking the modern civil law tort of negligence by establishing when a duty of care…

The Supreme Court has dismissed an appeal filed by Minister of Transportation Rotimi Amaechi seeking to stop his probe over an alleged N96 billion fraud while he was governor of Rivers State. In a lead judgment prepared by Justice Emmanuel Augie but read by Justice Adamu Jairo, the apex court dismissed the appeal of Mr Ameachi on grounds that the issue of not been given fair hearing does not arise as no one is on trial. Rivers State governor, Nyesom Wike set up a panel of enquiry into the alleged fraud. Mr Amaechi had prayed the apex court to prohibit…

A Federal High Court in Lagos on Tuesday stopped the sacked chairman of National Union of Road Transport Workers (NURTW) Lagos branch, Alhaji Musilu Akinsanya, a.k.a. MC Oluomo and others from collecting levies from non-union commercial drivers in all motor parks in Lagos State. Others affected by the court’s order are: Registered Trustees Of National Union of Road Transport Workers (NURTW); Registered Trustees Of Road Transport Employers Association of Nigeria (RTEAN); Registered Trustees Of Nigerian Association of Road Transport Owners (NARTO). Justice Lifu made the order Exparte in the application marked FHC/L/CS/224/2022, filed before the court by a lawyer cum…

Says stringent bail conditions amount to no bail at all. “The manner of recruitment is important too. That is where the problem is. Are you bringing a judge because he’s a hand-clapping alleluia Christian, because he’s a fanatic Muslim or because he’s an animist? That shouldn’t be the concern. Is he jurisprudentially equipped? Does he have enough intellectual warehouse? We have politicised everything.” – Ejembi Eko, JSC After 35 years in judicial service, six of which he spent at the Supreme Court of Nigeria, Hon. Justice Ejembi Eko, JSC will be remembered for his many dissenting judgments at the apex…

Nigeria’s telecommunication giant, MTN Nigeria is now worth N5 trillion making it more valuable than all banks, insurance companies, and the entire financial services companies listed on the Nigerian Stock Exchange combined. This is according to market valuation data as of May 20th, 2022, tracked and compiled by Nairametrics from the Nigerian Exchange. As of Friday, MTN Nigeria closed with a total market capitalization of N5.068 trillion making it the third most capitalized stock on the Nigerian Exchange. MTN Nigeria now joining Airtel and Dangote Cement, all members of the SWOOT to be worth more than the financial services sector.…

President Muhammadu Buhari said yesterday that 83 million poor Nigerians will benefit from the National Health Insurance Authority Bill 2022 he signed into law. The National Health Insurance Authority Act 2022 replaced the repealed National Health Insurance Scheme Act Cap N42, Laws of the Federation of Nigeria 2004. While signing the piece of legislation into law, President said with the new law, a Fund would be set up “to ensure coverage of 83 million poor Nigerians who cannot afford to pay premiums as recommended by the Lancet Nigeria Commission.” A statement issued by the Senior Special Assistant to the President…

An Ado-Ekiti Chief Magistrates’ Court has ordered remand of a 33-year-old man, Baderinwa Waheed, who allegedly stole an N-Power beneficiary’s five months stipend. The defendant, whose address was not provided, is charged with forgery, stealing and fraud. According to the prosecutor, Mr Olaolu Olayinka, the defendant committed the offences sometime in March 2021 in Ado-Ekiti. Olayinka alleged that the defendant conspired with one Tiamiyu Salimot to commit a computer-related forgery and log into one Adeola Olofin’s N-POWER dashboard to defraud her. He alleged that the defendant and Salimot changed Olofin’s password, name and account number, thereby causing her to lose…

The Nigerian Bar Association (NBA) has criticised Nyesom Wike, governor of Rivers, over his comment that the group has not been effective. On Monday, at an event held in honour of Mary Odili, retiring justice of the supreme court, Wike had criticised the NBA for caving to the “intimidation and erosion of its independence by the All Progressives Congress-led federal government”. The Rivers governor had also said the association “is only good at issuing statements of condemnation without doing more” to ensure an effective justice system. But in a statement issued on Thursday, Akpata cautioned the governor against such comments,…

The Federal Executive Council has approved a plan to incentivise and further harness Nigeria’s digital innovation and entrepreneurship ecosystem. This followed the presentation of a memo by the Minister of Communications and Digital Economy, Professor Isa Ali Ibrahim Pantami. The approval, according to the ministry will enable the implementation of strategies to encourage and support the development and growth of more Innovation-Driven Enterprises (IDEs), which have the potential to create millions of additional jobs in the country. This will also help to develop innovative solutions to societal problems, and rapidly grow, as well as diversify the Nigerian economy, in line…

A United States (US) bill that would oblige Washington to punish African governments that abet Russian ‘malign’ activities on the continent is sailing through Congress. The countering Malign Russian Activities in Africa Act passed the House of Representatives on 27 April by a huge, bipartisan 419-9 majority and is now sure to be passed by the Senate and become law soon. It would direct the US Secretary of State ‘to develop and submit to Congress a strategy and implementation plan outlining United States efforts to counter the malign influence and activities of the Russian Federation and its proxies in Africa.’…