In the biggest surprise of the Donald Trump’s impeachment drama, Tulsi Gabbard, the Hawaii congresswoman running for the 2020 Democratic presidential nomination, voted ‘present’, meaning she did not back impeachment.

She later explained that US voters should be allowed to decide Mr Trump’s fate in next November’s election. “My vote today is a vote for much needed reconciliation and hope that together we can heal our country,” she said in a statement.

It is likely that Gabbard was being politically calculating. Historically, no US president has ever won re-election after being impeached.

For example, Mr Johnson, impeached in 1868, failed to win his party’s next presidential nomination. Bill Clinton, impeached in 1998, stood down when his second term ended in January 2000.

More detail:
https://judicialsketch.com/2019/12/19/why-donald-trumps-main-challenger-did-not-vote-for-his-impeachment/

Real Madrid Thursday unexpectedly aired their Clasico grievances about the referee and VAR on the club’s official website.

The Spanish side criticised Alejandro Jose Hernandez Hernandez in the site, pinpointing what they believed constituted great mistakes in his decision during Wednesday’s derby with arch-rivals Barcelona at Nou Camp.

Real’s complaint was that Rafael Varane suffered two fouls that in their opinion should have been given as penalties.

A statement on the club’s website read: ‘Rafael Varane was stood on by Lenglet and two minutes later had his shirt pulled by Ivan Rakitic.

Read more:
https://judicialsketch.com/2019/12/19/real-madrid-challenge-referee-var-decisions-in-clasico/

Adoke went on self-exile since he left office in 2015, and the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) has been on his trail in connection with the Malabu Oil deal in Nigeria. The former law officer has maintained that he did no wrong in the deal.

The Interpol has maintained that it has no case against Mr Adoke but that the Nigerian authorities has put a “red notice”, prompting the international police organization to arrest him.

The Interpol is expected to hand him over to EFCC after he has been debriefed, even though it is not clear why, against international tradition, the organization is denying him access to his lawyers,

Read more:

https://judicialsketch.com/2019/12/19/interpol-denies-indicting-adoke-says-nigerian-authorities-demand-arrest-of-former-agf/

KANO NEW EMIRATES LAWS TUSSLE, COURT MAKES U-TURN

A Kano high court sitting at Audu Bako secretariat headed by Justice A. T. Badamasi has refrained from making judicial pronouncements on the substantive suit before him challenging the enactment of the new Kano state emirate council law, 2019.

Kano kingmakers led by Yusuf Nabahani (Madakin Kano) had dragged Kano state government, Kano state house of assembly Speaker, Kano state house of assembly and Kano state commissioner of justice before the court, seeking to restrain the governor, Abdullahi Umar Ganduje from inaugurating the state council of chiefs.

More details:
https://judicialsketch.com/2019/12/17/kano-new-emirates-laws-tussle-court-makes-u-turn/

Appointment of Supreme Court justices from the Bar has to be barred henceforth, says the chief justice of Nigeria (CJN), Justice Ibrahim Mohammad,

Speaking in Abuja at this year’s edition of the annual conference of the justices of the Court of Appeal, the CJN explained that priority must always be given to career judges and justices in such appointments, thereby putting a clog to the possibility of considering practicing lawyers for assuming positions as Supreme Court justices.

He said there are problems in appointing judges to the Court of Appeal and Supreme Court from the Bar, adding that he was not, by his position, denigrating practising lawyers, but that it would be an act of injustice against career judges and Justices who have committed years to the Bench and have no other alternatives the way practicing lawyers do.

The CJN’s position tends to reverse earlier plans by former CJN, Walter Onnoghen to appoint some senior advocates of Nigeria (SANs) to the Supreme Court.

Read more:
https://judicialsketch.com/2019/12/16/no-more-supreme-court-justices-from-the-bar-says-cjn/

Nigeria’s senate is considering a new bill that will divest the federal government from undertaking road construction, rehabilitation and maintenance and bring in foreign and local investors.

Chairman, senate committee on federal roads maintenance agency, Senator Gershom Bassey, told journalists in Abuja on Sunday that this has become imperative because the federal government had over the years failed to find solutions to the deplorable state of Nigerian roads.

According to him, the FERMA Act, as amended, stipulates that the Petroleum Products Pricing Regulatory Agency should remit five per cent of its pump price template to FERMA, but that the unremitted funds from the PPPRA to FERMA since 2007 till date had accumulated to about N870bn, indicating that that the federal government was incapable of fixing the nation’s roads with the funds from the yearly budget.

Read more:

https://judicialsketch.com/2019/12/16/senate-considers-bill-to-divest-fg-from-road-constructions/

The Nigerian Senate has said it is ready to receive and consider a bill from any individual or group that prescribes death penalty for public fund pilferers.

Senate spokesman, Godiya Akwashiki said though there are effective laws that have criminalised acts of corruption, prescribing death penalty could be considered if the citizens of Nigeria think it is desirable, pledging that the red chamber would not reject such legislation in order to protect themselves as insinuated by some Nigerians.

Akwashiki was obviously reacting to calls from Nigerians who are asking for a bill that prescribes death penalty for treasury looters instead of the lawmakers devoting time to social media and hate speech bills.

According to him “It is not possible for the Senate President to direct any senator to go and produce a particular type of bill. All of us are elected to represent our constituency from various parts of the country.

read more:
https://judicialsketch.com/2019/11/30/senate-can-consider-death-penalty-for-looters-says-spokesman/

The economic and financial crimes commission (EFCC) has put the Sun newspaper, published the Sun Publishing Limited within its purview for seizure, purportedly to preserve the property from ‘dissipating’.

EFCC on Saturday said it has marked properties belonging to Mr Orji Uzor Kalu, following an order given by the federal high court in Lagos on December 5, 2019 to wound up assets belonging to the former governor’s company, Slok Nigeria Ltd. The commission is of the view that Sun Publishing Limited is one of such assets.

But the publishing company swiftly reacted by sending a appeal to the attorney-general of the federation and the minister of justice to halt EFCC from sealing the company’s head office.

A statement issued by the management of the company requested the AGF to caution on the legal consequences of sealing off its premises.

The statement also hinted that EFCC is engaging in intimidating acts against the media outfit, as the commission came with four heavily armed policemen on Saturday, December 15, 2019 at about 10.00 a.m. to its corporate headquarters in Lagos.

Read more:
https://judicialsketch.com/2019/12/15/sun-newspaper-kicks-as-efcc-moves-to-seize-head-office/

A court in Sudan Saturday convicted former president, Omar al-Bashir of money laundering and corruption, sentencing him to two years in a minimum security lockup.

Al-Bashir has been in custody since April, when Sudan’s military ousted him following months of nationwide protests. The uprising eventually forced the military into a power-sharing agreement with civilians.

The verdict comes a year after Sudanese protesters erupted in revolt against al-Bashir’s military government. He ruled Sudan for 30 years, during which the country was listed by the United States of America for sponsoring terrorism.

Under Sudanese law, al-Bashir will be sent to a state-run lockup for elderly people who are convicted of crimes not punishable with death. But he will remain in jail as he faces separate charges regarding the killing of protesters in the months before he was deposed. He is 75 years old.

Defense lawyer Mohammed al-Hassan hinted that appeal would be filed before a higher court.

More details:
https://judicialsketch.com/2019/12/15/sudans-former-president-gets-2-years-in-prison-for-corruption/

The economic and financial crimes commission (EFCC) has arraigned one Maryam Shinga before a federal high court in Kano.

The defendant was arraigned before the court on a six count charge of obtaining by false pretense.

She was alleged to have squandered the sum of N45, 460, 00:00 (Forty Five Million, Four Hundred and Sixty Thousand Naira Only) belonging to unsuspecting members of the public through a ponzi scheme called Golden Premier.

The suspect was alleged to have lured her victims into an investment she claimed would generate the investors 300% profit in the sense that when an investor invests N500, 000:00, he stands to win N1, 500, 000:00 (One Million Five Hundred Thousand Naira Only) in a period of 4 weeks only.

According to the complainant, the scheme had run successfully for about six months, a period between August 2017 and February 2018, with some investors getting returns at the end of every four weeks after which the suspects started apologising to the investors and subsequently absconded from public sphere, and from the authorities since May 2018.
More details:
https://judicialsketch.com/2019/12/15/ponzi-scheme-efcc-arrests-arraigns-woman-over-n45m-scam/

Nigerian record label, G-Worldwide Entertainment (GWW), has threatened to stop Kizz Daniel’s much hyped concert scheduled for December 26 at the Eko Convention Centre, Lagos.

Olisa Agbakoba (SAN), who is the legal representative of the record label, told journalists Friday in Lagos that they have instituted legal action against Kizz Daniel in order to restore faith in contractual agreements in Nigeria’s entertainment industry.

The lawyer alleged that Kizz Daniel breached ‘a mandatory buy-out clause’ and infringed on the intellectual property rights of GWW, adding the record label is “very unhappy that one of our artistes, Kiss Daniel, has run away,”

He explained further that the singer signed a seven-year contract with GWW on April 15, 2014, but left the label in November 2017 to start his own label, Fly Boy Inc. GWW therefore sued Kizz Daniel to court, demanding N500m as damages.

Akgakoba insists that rules must be followed in the music industry in Nigeria. “This nonsense that our artistes or labels can do what they like will have to stop. And Kizz Daniel represents the living example of how the rules of the industry are not being followed.

“We’re going to apply for an injunction to stop the show because he is tied to us. And the matter is in court and the court has to decide.”

“It is in the interest of artistes and labels to work together to create a strong framework for business to thrive. When you go play in a stadium or in a venue, you know that all your rights have been given to you. So, that is why we’re saying, next year, we’re going to take strongest possible measures against Kizz Daniel.


Read more:
https://judicialsketch.com/2019/12/14/why-kizz-daniels-concert-must-be-stopped/

A high court sitting in Yola, Adamawa state presided by Justice Nathan Musa has sentenced two INEC staff to seven years imprisonment each over N362 million they were said to have collected from a former minister of petroleum, Mrs Diezani Allison Madueke to compromise the 2015 presidential election in the state.

The economic and financial crimes commission (EFCC), brought the case against Ibrahim Mohammed Umar, Sahabo Iya Hamman, both staff of independent national electoral commission (INEC) as well as the former minister of petroleum for conspiring to defraud the federal government with the intent to compromise the 2015 general election.

The court asked the inspector general of police to work with Interpol to arrest and produce Mrs Allison Madueke so that she can face prosecution over her role in the fraudulent transaction.

Read more:
https://judicialsketch.com/2019/12/13/court-orders-arrest-of-allison-madueke-sentences-2-inec-staff-to-jail/

The Sultan of Sokoto, Alhaji Sa’ad Abubakar, has advised Nigerian politicians to always obey orders of all Nigerian courts, and that rather than disobey such orders, aggrieved parties should appeal to a higher court.

The sultan, who is also the President-General of the Nigerian Supreme Council for Islamic Affairs, was speaking Thursday in Abuja at the 2019 fourth quarter meeting of the Nigeria Inter-Religious Council with the theme: ‘Religion and Civil Authorities in Dialogue for Nation-Building.’

He said, “We must regularly obey and respect the laws of our land. We should never disregard the laws to avoid the consequences. If a court makes a judicial pronouncement on a particular matter, it should be obeyed to the letter. If you have any problem or disagree with the pronouncement, the next step is to appeal the pronouncement instead of disregarding or violating court judgments.”

Read more:

https://judicialsketch.com/2019/12/13/obey-court-orders-sultan-tells-president-governors/

The ECOWAS court of justice sitting in Abuja Wednesday held that the leader of the Independent People of Biafra (IPOB), Mr Nnamdi Kanu, failed to prove his allegations against Nigerian government that he was tortured, assaulted and subjected to inhuman treatment by security operatives when he was arrested in 2015.
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Read more:
https://judicialsketch.com/2019/12/13/nnamdi-kanu-lacks-mandate-to-represent-ipob-says-ecowas-court/

The interim order given Tuesday by a high court in Kano restraining the state governor from “taking away the powers” of the four king makers of the Kano emirate under the Kano States Emirate Council Law, 2019, and not to take any “step whatsoever under the said law without consultation with the king makers pending the hearing and determination of the motion on notice”, has effectively foreclosed any plan to dethrone the emir of Kano, Muhammadu Sanusi II.

This was the view expressed by a private legal practitioner in the state in reaction to the stand taken by another lawyer on the matter late Tuesday.

The lawyer, who equally doesn’t want his name mentioned, said early Wednesday that his colleague who spoke with Judicialsketch.com earlier may be right to have asserted that the court order did not grant the prayers sought by the kingmakers, but that the “import of the order that barred the governor from taking any step under the Kano States Emirate Council Law, 2019 without consultation with the king makers is simply saying that the provision of the law which stipulates that if an emir did not attend the council of chiefs meeting on three occasions without cogent reason, he would be dethroned could not be activated.

Read more:
https://judicialsketch.com/2019/12/11/court-interim-order-emir-sanusi-cant-be-dethroned/

Hollywood movie producer, Harvey Weinstein was reported to have reached a tentative $25m settlement with dozens of women who have accused him of sexual misconduct.

Lawyers representing the plaintiffs said some 30 actresses and ex-employees would share the payout in the deal, even though Mr Weinstein’s lawyers have refused to comment.

Though the final agreement has not signed, the main elements of the settlement include that the plaintiffs in the case would share in the payout, as could others who join the suit, and that it is a global deal that would end almost all related civil lawsuits against Mr Weinstein and his previous employer.

It is to be agreed that film mogul would not admit wrongdoing, and would not pay personally, as the sum would come from insurance firms representing the Weinstein Company.
Read more:

https://judicialsketch.com/2019/12/12/hollywood-movie-mogul-reaches-25m-settlement-in-sexual-misconduct-case/

Nigeria’s foremost newspaper, The Punch, which Wednesday said it has resolved to desist from referring to the country’s democratic leader as ‘President’ but rather as ‘Major General’ has continued to receive mixed reactions.

The newspaper named President Muhammadu Buhari’s administration a dictatorship because of its alleged human rights violations and “disregard” for democratic institutions.

In a scathing editorial published on its website Wednesday, Punch newspaper said it could no longer ignore the activities of security agencies under President Buhari, which it said had resulted in attacks on the media, citizens and civil society in the country.

The paper said it will now address Buhari with his last military title, and his administration will be described as a ‘regime’.

Read more:
https://judicialsketch.com/2019/12/12/presidential-title-punch-gets-support-opposition/

Chealsea manager, Frank Lampard has said the club would still be looking to replace Eden Hazard in January now that their transfer ban has been lifted, following the court of arbitration for sports’ judgment last week.

The Blues booked their place in the last 16 of the Champions League with a 2-1 win over Lille at Stamford Bridge on Tuesday night, thanks to goals from Tammy Abraham and Cesar Azpilicueta.

The club got what they needed against the French side, but it did not stop their manager confirming that he is planning to improve the squad next month. The Chelsea boss was asked about potential January targets and he was clear that he is still looking to replace the goals that Hazard provide

Read more:
https://judicialsketch.com/2019/12/11/chelsea-to-look-for-hazards-replacement-following-cas-judgement/

Anthony Joshua has two mandatory defense fights with Kubrat Pulev and Oleksandr Usyk before he can contemplate the much anticipated clash with the fiery Deontay Wilder.

There are claims already that Pulev, who is the IBF mandatory challenger, will be the first one to face Joshua before a bout against Usyk later in 2020.

Joshua reclaimed the WBA, WBO, IBF and IBO world heavyweight titles with a victory in his rematch against Andy Ruiz Jr on Saturday evening, and he had hinted after his win in Saudi Arabia that he is open to a unification fight with Wilder who currently holds the only heavyweight belt that Joshua has not won.

But the IBF fight seems to be the fight that was ordered first, Judicialsketch.com has gathered.

Read more:
https://judicialsketch.com/2019/12/11/joshua-mandated-to-meet-pulev-usyk-before-wilder/