A Federal High Court sitting in Lagos on Tuesday has ordered the University of Lagos, (UNILAG) Senate not to give effect to its decision to upwardly review the academic requirement for medical students in 100 level to proceed to 200 level.
The judge, Justice Sule Hassan said it would be in the interest of the institution to hold action on its decision it made on January 27 pending the hearing and determination of a suit filed by some aggrieved medical students to challenge the decision.
The Justice gave the order in a positive response to an ex parte application argued by the medical students lawyer, Mr. Jiti Ogunye. The students had approached the judge, claiming that the alleged upward review of academic requirement for them to proceed from 100 level to 200 level was “an attempt to weed them out of the university.”
The students also accused UNILAG of raising the academic requirement in order to accommodate diploma students, who allegedly paid N500,000 to the institution’s College of Medicine.
According to the students, they were admitted to the university in the 2014/2015 academic year to study Medicine and Surgery, Nursing, Physiotherapy, Pharmacology, Physiology, Dentistry, Medical Laboratory Science and Radiography. And their admission process followed a successful performance in the Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination and the post-UTME set by UNILAG.
The students urged the court to hold that the suit they filed would act as an order for the university to hold action on the decision till the case was finally heard and determined by the court.
After listening to the medical students lawyer on Tuesday, Justice Hassan, however, ordered both parties to maintain status quo ante bellum pending further hearing. Thanks for reading.
Killers Of Corps Member In Rivers Will Not Go Unpunished – Minister
Barrister Solomon Dalung, Minister of youths and sports development, has warned that those who contributed to the death of Samuel Okonta, a serving corps member, who was killed during the Rivers State re-run elections would not go unpunished.
Speaking when he received members of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) who paid a condolence visit to the NYSC headquarters in Abuja on Tuesday, Dalung condemned the inhumane acts of violence during elections.
His words: “I want to assure Nigerians that the actors of the wicked acts in Rivers rerun election last weekend must be brought to book. They must be punished for what they have done. I want to assure Nigerians that this government will not condone any impunity again because it is impunity that has destroyed this country,” he noted.
Dalung appealed to politicians to always play the game, by the rules adding that at no point should officials and spectators be made the casualty of that game, because power according to him, is not worth the life of one single Nigerian.
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Corps Member Death: NYSC To Review MoU With INEC, Says DG
The National Youth Service Corps (NYSC), has disclosed that it will review the Memorandum of Understanding signed with the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), to ensure the safety of corps members during elections.
This was made known by the Director-General of NYSC, Brigadier General Johnson Olawumi in Abuja on Tuesday, when Professor Mahmood Yakubu, INEC Chairman paid him a condolence visit on the death of Okonta Samuel, a corps member who was killed by gunmen during the Rivers State re-run elections.
According to the DG, the scheme had set up a panel of inquiry to investigate the killing and the findings of the panel would determine the need for the review of the MoU between NYSC and INEC. “In past elections, corps members have gone and come back peacefully. It is a shame that a society where there is government, elders and community leaders will allow an innocent corps member be killed.”
The NYSC DG lamented that the incidence was unfortunate because the scheme has been doing all that needs to be done in collaboration with INEC to ensure the safety and security of corps members. His words: “Over the past couple of years, we have taken part in elections in Edo, Anambra, Kogi, Ekiti, Osun States. As turbulent as these elections were in these states, over 6,000 corps members took part and no one was lost.
While commending security agencies for their role in ensuring the protection of corps members, the DG said the NYSC would review security arrangements to forestall future occurrence. Adding that the commission would participate in honouring the deceased and other corps members who might suffer from any form of injury in the cause of participating in election duty. Thanks for reading.
Okupe Is A ‘Hypocrite’, Obasanjo Blasts
Former President Olusegun Obasanjo has said that former Senior Special Assistant to ex-President Goodluck on Public Affairs, Doyin Okupe was a hypocrite.
Okupe had said that Obasanjo remained the “undisputed and authentic” leader of the PDP in the Southwest region of Nigeria.
Obasanjo through an online source (not Greennews.ng), said Okupe “does not know what he was saying”. He stated that he did not apply to join the PDP in 1998, rather, what was given to him was a registration card and his decision to tear the card meant that he was no longer a member of the party.
He also said there was no way he could be referred to as a leader of the party in the South West even if he was still a member.
Read Also: Okupe Blasts Kashamu, Says Obasanjo Remains PDP Leader
“I was a national leader of the party for eight years, so, how would I now reduce myself to becoming its leader in the South West,” he said.
Mr. Obasanjo also said Mr. Okupe should be ignored because he was one of those who campaigned for his his expulsion from the party. Thanks for reading.
DSS: Freed Ekiti Lawmaker Hospitalised
Mr Afolabi Akanni, a member of the Ekiti State House of Assembly, recently arrested and released by the Department of State Service (DSS) has been hospitalized in a private hospital in Abuja.
Mr Akanni’s who was freed after 18 days in detention became very weak and could barely speak when visited at the hospital even as he kept repeating “I am not well. I am sick. I am sick”.
He said his release may not be unconnected with his deteriorating health situation, adding that he was not told by the DSS operatives why he held. Afolabi was picked up on March 4 when DSS operatives stormed the premises of the State House of Assembly in Ado-Ekiti.
According to the Chairman Committee on Information, Ekiti Assembly, Hon Gboyega Aribisogan, Fayose ordered that Hon Afolabi be taken to the Hospital immediately he was released.
He said: “We are very happy about the development. The entire state is agog with jubilation. His incarceration really bothered us. I can confirm that every other person detained with him has also been released. Immediately he was released, Governor Ayodele Fayose ordered that he be taken into a hospital, which is where he is now” Thanks for reading.
God Is Angry With Buhari, Fayose Claims
Ekiti State Governor, Ayodele Fayose has told President Muhammdu Buhari that God was angry with him following Saturday’s bloody legislative re-run in Rivers State.
He made this assertion while addressing Journalists in Abuja on Tuesday. He recalled other violent elections that have occurred under the Buhari administration, pinning the blood shed on the President.
Fayose said: “I am telling you the truth. Power doesn’t come from anywhere. God rules in the affairs of men. Oppressing, bringing and cutting people down, taking their blood, God is angry. The way this government is taking people down, God is angry. God isn’t happy. Go to Rivers, they kill people”. Thanks for reading.
YABATECH Expels Six Final Year Students
The Academic Board of the Yaba College of Technology (YABATECH), has expelled six final year students for presenting fake or altered National Diploma (ND) and National Certificate of Education (NCE) results for admission.
The expulsion notice is contained in a circular signed by Mrs Taiwo Obadimu, the Deputy Registrar of YABATECH, which was made available to the News Agency of Nigeria in Lagos on Wednesday.
According to the circular, the authorities of the institution considered the report on verification of the affected students’ results and found them culpable.
It stated: “Their expulsion was approved, having found the students guilty of presenting fake/altered ND/NCE results, as their conduct violated the college’s rules and regulations.
“The students are advised to hand over all college property, including student identity cards in their possession, to the heads of their department, the Polytechnic Librarian and the Dean of Students’ Affairs, with immediate effect,” the circular stated.
The affected students were in the departments of Food Technology, Mathematics and Integrated Science, Physics Education, Estate Management and Valuation, Industrial Technical Education and Industrial Maintenance Engineering. Thanks for reading.
