Constitutional Requirements For Aspiring To The Office Of The Nigerian President

Constitutional Requirements For Aspiring To The Office Of The Nigerian President

This
article was first published on 17/10/2014;
however due to the Constitutional Amendment signed by President Buhari on the
#Nottoyoungtorunbill, it is necessary that we amend the post to reflect the
necessary reforms.

General elections in Nigeria are fast approaching, political
parties, candidates, party thugs agents, INEC and the whole country is
immensely interested in how events at the elections will play out.

This post seeks to educate on constitutional requirements for
contesting presidential elections in Nigeria,

The Constitution provides for the law regarding eligibility into
the position of the President and other electoral positions such as the
position of the Governor, Senators and members of the National and State
Assemblies. Section 130 of the 1999 Constitution says that “there shall be for
the Federation, a President” and such “President shall be the Head of State,
the Chief Executive of the Federation and Commander- In –Chief of the Armed
Forces of the Federation”.

Qualification to the position of the President is provided for in
Section 131, which states that – A person shall be qualified for election to
the office of President if –

  • he
    is a citizen of Nigeria by birth;

  • he
    has attained the age of forty – years.

  • he
    is a member of a political party and is sponsored by that political party;
    and

  • he
    has been educated up to at least School Certificate level or its
    equivalent.

However, on May, 31, 2018; via what has now been popularly recognized as
the #NotToYoungToRunBill, President Buhari, On the say,
Section 131 (b) and (c) was amended by substituting the
provisions with new provisions as follows: A person shall be qualified for
election to the office of the President if –  

(b) he
has attained the age of thirty-five years; 


It is the duty of INEC to appoint a date for election into the
office of the President and the elections must hold on a date not earlier than
sixty days and not later than thirty days before the expiration of the term of
office of the last holder of that office as provided in Section 132.  

A candidate for an election to the office of President shall be
deemed to have been duly elected to such office where, being the only candidate
nominated for the election – 

  1. he
    has a majority of YES votes over NO votes cast at the election; and
  2. he
    has not less than one – quarter of the votes cast at the election in each
    of at least two-thirds of all the States in the Federation and the Federal
    Capital Territory, Abuja, but where the only candidate fails to be elected
    in accordance with this section, then there shall be fresh nominations.
    (section 133)

Section 136 provides that if the person elected as President dies
before taking the Oath of Allegiance and oath of office, or is for any reason
is unable to be sworn in, the person elected as his Vice-President shall be
sworn in as President. However, when both die before the inauguration of the
National Assembly, INEC will have to conduct fresh elections. 

As stated in the Constitution, the following people are
disqualified from seeking elections into the office of the President- 

  • persons
    who have voluntarily acquired the citizenship of another country other
    than Nigeria

  • he
    has been previously elected as President twice

  • he
    is under a death sentence imposed by a competent court of law or tribunal

  • within
    10 years before elections, he has been found guilty and sentenced of a
    crime involving dishonesty or contravention of the code of conduct.

  • he
    is an undischarged bankrupt  

  • he
    is employed into the civil or public service of the Federation or of any
    State, he has not resigned or retired from the employment.

  • he
    is a member of any secret society

  • he
    has been indicted for embezzlement or fraud by a Judicial Commission of
    Inquiry or an Administrative Panel of Inquiry.

  • he
    has presented a forged certificate to INEC

  • he
    has been adjudged a lunatic or person of unsound mind.

The position of the President is a very sensitive one as such
person is the leader of the nation, he determines a lot about policy
development and execution and as such must be a person with a heart to serve
and the drive to move the nation forward. Everyone who is eligible to vote in
the coming election is urged to vote wisely and not sell their votes. 

Adedunmade Onibokun, Esq

@adedunmade

dunmadeo@yahoo.com

Adedunmade is a lawyer who practices in Lagos, Nigeria.

Legality Of Buhari’s Travel Ban On Nigerian Citizens

Legality Of Buhari’s Travel Ban On Nigerian Citizens

Over
the course of the past week, Nigeria’s President
Muhammadu Buhari approved travelling restriction on no fewer than 50 high
profile persons directly affected in investigations by security agencies
in the country.
By this, the persons cannot
travel out of Nigeria pending the determination of their cases. Furthermore,
the presidency states that the measure is part of the implementation of
Executive Order Number 6, which seeks to ensure “that all assets within a minimum
value of N50 million or equivalent, subject to investigation or litigation are 
protected from dissipation by
employing all available lawful means, pending the final determination of any
corruption-related matter.”
The Presidency seeks to support this
directive with the recent decision of the Federal High Court which supports the
powers of the president to make the Executive Order in the first place. You may
view the provisions of Executive Order, No. 6, here.

However, it is important to note the decision of the court in
relation to the powers of the Attorney – General of the Federation, as the
court
further
noted that the order seemed to accord the AGF the discretion to decide when to
seek court’s permission to seize any suspected property and the court held that
the AGF must at all times, obtain a court order before confiscating any asset.

We must therefore ask
ourselves, did the Attorney – General of the Federation or presidency seek a
court order before directing that travelling restrictions be placed on over 50
Nigerian citizens? Sadly, no information has been provided by the Presidency on
this point.

Also, it important we
examine what the constitution says? Section 41of the Constitution provides for
the right of all Nigerian citizens to move freely. Furthermore, Subsection (2)
provides that nothing shall invalidate any law that is reasonably justifiable in a democratic society imposing
restrictions on the movement of any person who has committed or is reasonably
suspected to have committed a criminal offence in order to prevent him from
leaving Nigeria.  

Therefore, in determining if
the President’s directive has breached the rights of any persons concerned, one
must ask if the President’s actions are lawful and reasonably justifiable in a
democratic society. The legal position however states that for it to be
justified, such travel ban must be in accordance of a lawful court order.

THEREFORE FOR THE PURPOSES
OF THIS POST, IF THE PRESIDENT CONSENTED TO THE TRAVEL BAN AND ORDERED SAME WITHOUT
THE LAWFUL ORDER OF THE COURT, THEN HIS ACTIONS ARE NOT JUSTIFIABLE IN A
DEMOCRATIC SOCIETY AND IS THEREFORE A BREACH OF THE CONSTITUTIONAL RIGHTS OF
ALL 50 PERSONS WHOSE NAMES APPEAR ON THAT LIST. CONSEQUENTLY, THE AGF CAN BE
SUED FOR THE FUNDAMENTAL BREACH OF THEIR HUMAN RIGHTS.

Adedunmade Onibokun

Adedunmade is a lawyer and
founder of the legal educational blog, @Legalnaija.

@adedunmade  

We Must Consider The Importance Of Legislative Bills Not Assented To By The President

We Must Consider The Importance Of Legislative Bills Not Assented To By The President

Over the
course of the past 4 (four) years, the 8th Nigerian Senate has
outperformed all others before it. Having passed over 200 bills and counting,
it is safe to say members of the incoming 9th Assembly will have
their work cut out for them and big shoes to fill. 

Lawmaking
however does not rest solely on the shoulders of the National Assembly,
according to Section 58(3) of the Constitution; all Bills passed by the
National Assembly are presented to the President for assent. Furthermore, the
President has 30 days to either assent to the Bill or withhold assent. Does
this mean, a Bill cannot become law without the presidential assent, the answer
is no. Sub section (5) allows a Bill to become law if two – thirds majority of
both legislative chambers pass the Bill regardless of the President’s assent. 

Recently,
President Buhari communicated his decision to withhold his assent and not sign
about 15 Bills presented to him by the Senate. His reasons boarder on
legislative drafting issues which he has requested are amended, some of the
laws include the National Research and Innovation Council (Est.) Bill, 2017;
National Institute of Hospitality and Tourism (Est.) Bill, 2018; National
Agricultural Seeds Council, 2018 and Subsidiary Legislation (Legislative
Scrutiny) Bill, 2018. Others are Stamp Duties (Amendment) Bill, 2018; Chattered
Institute of Entrepreneurship (Est.) Bill, 2018; Industrial Development (Income
Tax Relief) (Amendment) Bill, 2018; Advance Fee Fraud and Other Related
Offences (Amendment) Bill, 2017 and Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety
Agency (Amendment) Bill, 2017.

Though the
President is entitled to his reasons for withholding his assent, it is my fear
that these very important Bills may be swept under the carpet and Nigerians may
be deprived of the social, economic and developmental inputs these pieces of
legislation would provide to our nation. For instance, the Electronic
Transactions Bill, passed in 2017 by the National Assembly was rejected by the
President on the grounds of drafting issues, however, it is almost the end of
2018 and the Electronic Transactions Bill is yet to become law.

Many of the
benefits these rejected laws will bring to our nation include the tax
incentives for companies of pioneer status as proposed by the Industrial
Development (Income Tax Relief) (Amendment) Bill, 2018;
the introduction of
specialized training in hospitality management and the provision of a legal
structure for the certification and training of hospitality personnel in the
country as proposed by the National Institute of Hospitality and Tourism
Bill.

Other benefits include, the
facilitation of stronger cooperation between government agencies and business
entities as proposed by the Institute of Entrepreneurial Establishment Bill,
which ultimately seeks to among
other things, promote stronger collaboration between banks and entrepreneurs,
as well as empower
instructors of entrepreneurship education in both
senior secondary and tertiary institutions via specially packaged trainings,
meetings, exhibitions, industrial exposures and other platforms.

The Suppression of Piracy and other
Maritime Offences Bill (2018)
on
the other hand seeks to
curtail illegal activities of pirates at sea as
well as to reduce the incidence of oil theft in domestic and international
waters. While the National Agricultural Seeds Council Bill, 2018 seeks to create a robust seed
industry that is regulated and will in turn will provide farmers with high
quality seeds among other things.  

The National Research and Innovation
Bill
seeks to provide for the establishment of the National Research and
Innovation Council to among other things, set national priorities on Research,
Innovation and Development and promote the gains of the application in line
with national priorities. Another important piece of legislation is the Petroleum
Industry Governance Bill, 2018,
which
incorporates various legislative, regulatory, Fiscal policies,
instruments and institutions that govern the Nigerian petroleum industry.

The Advance Fee Fraud and Other
Related Offences (Amendment) Bill, 2017,
also seeks to provide adequately for our nation’s fight against
corruption, as it seeks to p
rohibit and punish offences pertaining to
Advance Fee Fraud and other fraud related offences and to repeal other Acts
related therewith.

The Stamp
Duties (Amendment) Bill
addresses
the transformation of NIPOST into a thriving revenue generating company and
last but not the least, the Electoral Act (Amendment) Bill of 2018, which
seeks among other things to reform the Electoral Act in the following
ways –

a.    
Provide for the instant
transmission of election results as a replacement of the manual transmission of
results;

b.    
Provide a platform for
online publication of voter registers;

c.      Give INEC powers to utilize biometric accreditation of voters

d.    Remove unfair qualification processes

e.     Set out a more rigorous process for the determination of candidates, as
well as creates dispute resolution mechanisms.

f.       Set the maximum expense incurable by politicians  

From the above, the expedience of passing these laws is made clearer as
their importance and effects cut across all sectors of everyday life including
security, ease of doing business, governance and administration. Therefore, I
urge the President and the National Assembly to quicken any processes that are
currently outstanding and ensure the speedy assent of these bills. More
importantly, I urge Nigerians to provide oversight on these issues to the
government to ensure these Bills become law and do not remain unsigned like the
Electronic Transactions Bill which is yet to see the light of day.

Adedunmade Onibokun is a lawyer and founder of the online legal
educational  platform, Legalnaija

First Published on Ynaija
IP ABC—Use of a popular Ankara pattern in a design. Are we liable for copyright infringement? | Infusion Lawyers

IP ABC—Use of a popular Ankara pattern in a design. Are we liable for copyright infringement? | Infusion Lawyers



Question – 
I am Bode Balogun, a
creative artist and CEO of Bright Prints Media, a new startup that specializes
in 2D & 3D arts and textile prints in Osun State.

Two months ago, I was contracted by Segun Saka, a staunch supporter of a
governorship aspirant in the state to design and make materials for the purpose
of boosting the aspirant’s electoral campaign. According to Mr Saka, this
design would be a customized Ankara with blue, green, and yellow colour themes,
having the portrait of the aspirant in black and white, with a stripe around
the circle bearing the party motto above the portrait and the candidate’s name
below it. This design is a popular concept used in Nigerian political,
religious, and traditional events.My company made over 100,000 yards of the
textile to the specification and delight of our client. As campaigns
intensified with each passing day, we printed more textiles for our
clients. 

But on 27 July, my company received a court process demanding our appearance
before the High Court of Osun State. Pink Media, a reputable print-media
company in Lagos, is claiming 10 million naira damages against Bright Prints
Media for allegedly infringing on their copyright in the design we used for Mr
Saka. Pink Media also wants an injunction to stop Pink Media from continuing to
print the Ankara materials.

After a quick check, we discovered that another supporter of the governorship
aspirant had contracted Pink Media to make customized wax-print. The picture on
their design and colour theme is quite similar to ours. They had completed and
delivered theirs before ours. But we honestly did not know about their design
before we started ours. Is there anything we can do? We are in despair as 10
million naira damages would damage our business.





Answer
You
want to know if your design infringes Pink Media’s ‘copyright’ in the Ankara
design. The answer is NO. Your design in the textile material does not infringe
on Pink Media’s ‘copyright’.

This is because though your work is an artistic work under section 1(1)(c) of
the Nigerian Copyright Act, section 1(3) provides that an “artistic work shall
not be eligible for copyright, if at the time when the work is made, it is
intended by the author to be used as a model or pattern to be multiplied by any
industrial process.”
So there is no copyright to infringe on.


 

Since Pink Media’s design—just as yours—is “used as a model or pattern to be
multiplied by any industrial process”, it is not protectable as copyright but
industrial design.


Section 12 of the Patents and Designs Act is the relevant law. It provides that
“any combination of lines or colours or both, and any three-dimensional form,
whether or not associated with colours, is an industrial design, if it is
intended by the creator to be used as a model or pattern to be multiplied by
industrial process and is not intended solely to obtain a technical result.”

And unlike copyright which exists in a work once it is created, industrial
designs have to be registered. To be registered, section 13 (1) of the Act
requires that (a) the design is new; and (b) it is not contrary to public order
or morality.

Therefore, for Pink Media to be successful in its action, it would have to
register its design with the Trademarks, Patents and Designs Registry (if it
has not already registered the design). But since—as you have mentioned—the
design is a popular concept used for different social events in the country, it
may not be regarded as new anymore.

Always endeavour to survey the design market before deciding to use any
design or pattern already in use in the public.

A
‘popular concept’ is not the same as a public-domain design. If Pink Media had
registered the design as an industrial design, the story would have been
different, putting your business on the line. Always check, and check again.

By the way, the court vested with jurisdiction to hear the matter is the
Federal High Court, not the High Court of Osun State.

Under
both the Nigerian Copyright Act, and Patent and Industrial Designs Act,
jurisdiction over intellectual-property matters is vested in the Federal High
Court—section 38 Copyright Act; section 26 Patents and Industrial Designs Act.

So do not despair as sometimes the difference between despair and hope is just
a different way of telling stories from the same set of facts. To properly
respond to Pink Media’s claims before the High Court of Osun State, please
consult an IP lawyer or law firm.

Best
wishes
IP
ABC
Follow-up
questions, if any, are welcomed.

Untitled Post

Untitled Post

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Opinon: Osun Saga: Bathing with Blood is Constitutional and Lawful | Richarmond O. Natha-Alade

Opinon: Osun Saga: Bathing with Blood is Constitutional and Lawful | Richarmond O. Natha-Alade

To many, bathing
with blood is the easiest of all sacrifices, doing it at the market square is
an adventure and/or more of an escapade, it makes the doer happy and fulfilled,
ones its commanded by their spiritual leader: If it is enjoyable to the bather,
why would you disturb him?

What matters: As
long as such blood is not the blood of man gotten in an unlawful way and not
the blood prohibited under the law, the bather is fully in order.

There are about
4, 280 religions in the world, Christianity and Islam are just two of the
entire number. How, when, where and what you are born into is likely what you
are going to become and/or practice. Tolerance keeps the world together.

It should also be
noted that, in line with the world social order and spiritual inclinations, If
you ever belief and worship any spirit, and/or do anything more often in a
particular way, you are a ritualist.

By the law, in
some instances, human blood gotten from a bank or through the owner of the
blood in full consent may not be illegal; as being in possession of human
and/or animal blood is not illegal but the means by which the blood is gotten.

Several bloods
were spilled in the Holy Bible and several other Holy books. Both Christianity
and Islam are our borrowed religion in Africa. In the metaphoric sense, there are
bloods of animals meant for sacrifices, redemption and cleansing of the Soul.
Yet, we seem to have forgotten that we are indigenous and purely African the
moment anyone indulges or gets involved in voodoo.

Before I make
reference to relevant laws applicable to the situation at hand, I make bold to
ask: Before the advent of Christianity and Islam, Aren’t we Africans with our
own cultural heritage, ways, religion and beliefs? Were our forefathers not
worshipers and believers in their own world? Of course, our forefathers kept the
world at its best using the best of traditionalism as means of spirituality and
getting to God.

I had followed
lately the inhuman and degrading treatment melted on Osun State Majourity
Leader of the House of Assembly for exercising his fundamental rights to
religion and belief, and I am forced to ask, Isn’t that extremely barbaric?

Several of the
actors and acclaimed saints who shot videos and commanded the law maker to do
their bidding were later reported to be grade one blackmailers who are now
prone to enjoy the rhythm of prosecution and troubles. I don’t feel for them.
The law must take its course:

Under the law,
the video shooters and self-acclaimed community guards had committed nine sins
against the state and the lawmaker viz:

1.     
They subjected the Law maker to
inhuman and degrading treatment in overt breach of his fundamental right.

2.     
They committed criminal indecent
assault on the lawmaker by caning him and inflicting other injurious marks on
him.

3.     
They breached and deprived the law
maker of his fundamental right to his religion and belief which is
constitutionally guaranteed.

4.     
They forcefully imprisoned the law
maker for the entire time they kept him in their custody in flagrant breach of
the law

5.     
Reportedly, they took advantage of the
situation by blackmailing the lawmaker, the act which is criminal

6.     
Reportedly, they criminally extorted
money from him.

7.     
Against his constitutional rights, the
lawmaker was discriminated upon based on his religious belief by being shamed,
ridiculed and mobbed.

8.     
The mini-mob succeeded in inflicting
emotional, psychological and acute mental disorder and/or temporary madness on
the law maker that he scampered from pillars to posts.

If you see
someone take his bath at the village square, what offence has he committed
under the law? None of course; as long as he never came to take the bath in
your living room, at your doorstep or to do same at/on one of your personal
properties without your permission which on the other hand may amount to
unlawful trespass and other extensive misdemeanors. A market square is a public
place which has no owner, or better described; belongs to everybody for all
lawful purposes.

Section 38(1) of
the constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria entitle the legislature cum
victim to his fundamental rights to religion and believe. Our law recognizes
our traditional religion as parts of the major religion practiced in Nigeria;
hence we have customary law and practice duly recognized and underscored by
several precedents.

For
avoidance of doubts section 38(1) of the constitution of Nigeria provides as
follows:

(1)    
Every person shall be
entitled to freedom of thought, conscience and religion, including freedom to
change his religion or belief, and freedom (either alone or in community with
others, and in public or in private) to manifest and propagate his religion or
belief in worship, teaching, practice and observance.

Our law on
religion and belief is straight forward, hence, everyone has the liberty to
manifest and propagate his religion or belief in worship, teaching, practice
and observance.

By the several
reports of the Osun incidence, the following were alleged:

1.     
The lawmaker came to the market square

2.     
He was naked

3.     
He was bathing with blood for ritual
purposes

By my own
observations:

1.     
No one shows any blood to us as
alleged.

2.     
By the video circulated we didn’t see
any blood or any exercise of bathing.

3.     
No pail/bucket or water was seen, let
alone blood.

4.     
We cannot attest if the lawmaker was
the one that naked himself or the blackmailers made him naked.

5.     
We cannot attest if he was even
kidnapped to undergo and/or make-stage the entire process.

Assuming but not
conceding that the lawmaker was bathing with blood or actually meant to bath
with blood for any spiritual purpose whatsoever, it is permitted and legal, as
long as it is not human blood gotten by an unlawful means.

Even in some
instance, human blood gotten from a bank or through the owner of the blood in
full consent may not be illegal; as being in possession of human blood is not
illegal but the means by which the blood is gotten.

Performing your spiritual rights in line with
your belief is a fundamental right and it is a universally recognized human
right which is inalienable and/or non-deprivable; as long as you are human.

On the meaning of Fundamental Human Rights,
the Apex court had held in the case of
RANSOME-KUTI
& ORS V. AG FEDERATION & ORS (1985) LPELR-2940(SC) J.S.C ( Pp. 33-34,
paras. B-C )
where Per Eso JSC held as follows:

“…what is the nature of a fundamental
right? It is a right which stands above the ordinary laws of the land and which
in fact is antecedent to the political society itself. It is a primary
condition to a civilized existence and what has been done by our constitution
since independence, starting with the Independence Constitution that is: the
Nigeria (Constitution) Order in Council 1960 up to the present Constitution
that is the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, 1979 (the latter
does not in fact apply to this case: it is the 1963 Constitution that applies)
is to have these rights enshrined in the Constitution so that the rights could
be “immutable” to the extent of the “non-immutability” of
the Constitution itself. It is not in all countries that the Fundamental Rights
guaranteed to the citizen are written into the Constitution. For instance, in
England, where there is no written constitution, it stands to reason that a
written code of fundamental rights could not be expected. But notwithstanding,
there are fundamental rights. The guarantee against inhuman treatment, as
specified in Section 19 of the 1963 Constitution would for instance, appear to
be the same as some of the fundamental rights guaranteed in England contained
in the Magna Carter 1215 – Articles 19 and 40 which provide – “no freeman
may be taken or imprisoned, or disused of his freehold or liabilities in free
customs or be outlawed or exiled or in any way molested nor judged or condemned
except by lawful judgment or in accordance with the law of the land and the
crown or its ministers may not imprison or coerce the subject in an arbitrary
manner” (Underlining mine) In the United States, the Eighth Amendment to
the United States Constitution provides – “Excessive bail shall not be
required, nor excessive fines imposed, nor cruel and unusual punishment
inflicted.” Per ESO ,

Also in AGBAI
& ORS V. OKOGBUE (1991) LPELR-225(SC)
( P. 26, paras. D-F ) the apex court
held on the need for caution of the community not to trample upon the
fundamental rights of citizens by popular enthusiasm: per Nwokedi JSC held as
follows:

“…Much as
one would welcome development projects in the community there must be caution
to ensure that the fundamental rights of a citizen are not trampled upon by
popular enthusiasm. These rights have been enshrined in legislation, that is,
the Constitution, which enjoys superiority over local custom. Freedom of
association and of religion are enshrined in Sections 24(1) and 36(1) of the
1963 Constitution as amended respectively.” Per NWOKEDI ,J.S.C

Section 42 of the Constitution of the federal Republic
of Nigeria (1999) as amended is clear to the effect that no one can be
discriminated against by virtue of his place of birth, deformity, religion, sex
etc. for avoidance of doubt, I hereunder reproduce the section:

42. (1) A citizen of Nigeria of a particular community,
ethnic group, place of origin, sex, religion or political opinion shall not, by
reason only that he is such a person-

(a) be subjected either expressly by, or in
the practical application of, any law in force in Nigeria or any executive or
administrative action of the government, to disabilities or restrictions to
which citizens of Nigeria of other communities, ethnic groups, places of
origin, sex, religions or political opinions are not made subject; or

(b) be accorded either expressly by, or in the practical application of, any
law in force in Nigeria or any such executive or administrative action, any
privilege or advantage that is not accorded to citizens of Nigeria of other
communities, ethnic groups, places of origin, sex, religions or political
opinions.

On whether any person can be discriminated
against or humiliated because of his  religion or belief, the Supreme court had held
in the case of
LAFIA LOCAL GOVT V. EXECUTIVE GOVT
NASARAWA STATE & ORS (2012) LPELR-20602(SC)
( Pp. 49-50, paras. D-C ) as follows:

“Section 42
(1) of the Constitution guarantees right to freedom from discrimination. The
relevant section reads – Section 42 (1) – “A citizen of Nigeria of a
particular community, ethnic group, place of origin, sex, religion or political
opinion shall not, by reason only that he is such a person a) Be subjected
either expressly by or in the practical application of any law in force in
Nigeria or any executive or administrative action of government to disabilities
or restrictions to which citizens of Nigeria of other communities, ethnic
groups, places of origin, sex, religions or political opinions are not made subject
or b) Be accorded either expressly by, or in the practical application of any
law in force in Nigeria or any such executive or administrative action any
privilege or advantage that is not accorded to citizens of Nigeria of other
communities, ethnic groups, places of origin, sex, religion or political
opinions. 2. No citizen of Nigeria shall be subjected to any disability or
deprivation merely by reason of the circumstances of his birth.” Per
ADEKEYE ,J.S.C

In the light of
the foregoing, could we simply conclude that the fundamental right of the Osun
lawmaker to his religion and belief and the right not to be discriminated
against based on such religion and belief has not being trampled upon?

Aren’t we safe to
conclude that the OSUN LAWMAKER does no wrong if his alleged bathing in the market
square is in line with his religious belief? Don’t we think if same was exercised
in line with his fundamental inalienable right to his religion, he cannot be
disturbed?

I had always
advocated that People should always becareful and/or totally abstain from
participating in any mob action, it could backfire and the consequences maybe
irredeemable.

I recommend that
all those illegal actors be prosecuted forthwith and thoroughly. Aside
prosecution of the offenders, I further recommend that the lawmaker sues all
parties concerned for flagrant breach of his fundamental rights for good
damages and/or compensation.

Richarmond O. Natha-Alade is a legal Practitioner and Principal Partner at

Sun Natha-Alade & Partners (SNATHAP)

lordricharmond@gmail.com

Dropping Legal Gems | Legalnaija

Dropping Legal Gems | Legalnaija

Dropping Legal Gems!!
All for your benefit!! 
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The Importance Of A written Letter Of Guarantee | Adedunmade Onibokun

The Importance Of A written Letter Of Guarantee | Adedunmade Onibokun

A letter of guarantee can be
described as some sort of promise, it denotes that the giver of the guarantee
promises to carry out an act on behalf of another. A good illustration will be
a letter of guarantee given to a creditor, by this letter of guarantee, the
guarantor promises/guarantees to settle the debt of the debtor, should there be
a failure on the part of the debtor. Usually, it seeks to assure the creditor
of a return on the loan or debt sum.

A Supreme Court Justice, Per Onnoghen, JSC in Khaled B. Chami v. U.B.A. Plc (2010)6 NWLR
Part 1191, 474
at Page 501
defined a guarantee as –  “a written undertaking made by one person to
another to be responsible to that other person if a third person fails to
perform a certain duty e.g. payment of debt, the guarantor (or surety as he is
sometimes called) becomes liable for the said debt
”.

The above provision of the law is also stated
by Akpata JSC in Royal

Exchange
Assurance (Nig) Ltd & Ors v. Aswani Textile Industries Ltd (1992) 3 NWLR
Part 2271

at Page
13,
wherein His Lordship held that
“A guarantee is a
written undertaking made by one person to a second person to be responsible if
a third person fails to perform a certain duty, e.g. pay a debt”.

It is settled law that where a person
personally guarantees the liability of a third party by entering into a
contract of guarantee or suretyship, a distinct and separate contract from the
principal debtor’s is thereby created between the guarantor and the creditor.

Also,
it is important to note that the contract of guarantee so created can be enforced
against the guarantor directly without joining the principal debtor in the
proceedings. The above –  mentioned
position is further illustrated in the pronouncement of the court in Olujitan v. Oshatoba (1992) 5 NWLR (Pt 241)
326
.

One elementary
but fundamental principle of law is that a contract of guarantee must be in
writing in order to be binding on the guarantor. In  F.C.M.B. v. S. A. I. C. Ltd (2007) ALL FWLR
(Pt. 363) 133 at 146 para.s. G – H (CA)
; the court held that
for a
contract of guarantee to be binding, it has to be in writing, evidencing an
agreement between the parties. Furthermore, the
legal nature of a guarantee requires that there be a valid contract of
guarantee between the surety and guarantee as stated in
Olam
(Nigeria) Limited v. Intercontinental Bank Limited (2009) LPELR-8275(CA).

For it is the existence of the Contract of Guarantee
that proves a contractual relationship between the parties. In essence, once
there is no privity of contract between the parties, a party cannot enforce
such a contract as held in Union Bank of Nigeria Plc v. Soares (2012)
LPELR-8018(CA)
.

The lesson therefore is that if one must enter into
a guarantee agreement, for it to be valid, it must be in writing.
Adedunmade
Onibokun

@adedunmade


Photo Credit – www.ethnews.com

Legalnaija Law Tip

Legalnaija Law Tip

Dear Business person, Contractual Agreements which have neither been fraudulently nor illegally entered into by parties, must in all respects be observed or enforced. 
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