PENALTY FOR BRIBERY DURING ELECTIONS

PENALTY FOR BRIBERY DURING ELECTIONS

 Editor’s
Note: – This is the 3rd blog informing the Nigerian public on
electoral offences in the Electoral Act; here is the first post on Punishment
and buying Voter’s cards
 and the
second on penalty
for improper use of voter’s cards
I guess you must have heard the term
stomach infrastructure”, if you
have not, it simply describes an act peculiar to Nigerian politicians, where
they supply and share food items to the electorate in a bid to sway their
voting decision in the politician’s favour. An example is the Ekiti elections
which were held earlier this year which had persons vying for the seat of the
Governor sharing bags of rice to people in the state. 

Many unscrupulous politicians however
do not stop there, but they go the extra mile in securing their electoral
victories by bribing both the electorate and the electoral officers. I believe
Nigeria should have evolved beyond all forms of electoral irregularities and it
is very important that all Nigerians are informed that it is a crime to
conspire to bribe or to actually bribe anyone with the goal of securing
electoral favours. 
The Electoral Act in section 124
provides for the act and offence of bribery or conspiring to bribe during
elections. It provides in essence that anyone 
who –
  • Directly or indirectly offers any
    money or valuable consideration;
  • Corruptly makes or receives any gift,
    loan, promise or agreement with the aim of influencing the return or imposition
    to an elective office;
  • Pays monies to be used in bribery
    during elections; or
  • Induces any person to vote or refrain
    from voting at any election, commits an offence and is liable on conviction to
    a maximum fine of N500, 000 or 12 months imprisonment or both.
Furthermore, a voter commits an
offence of bribery, where before or during an election directly or indirectly
receives, agrees or contracts for any money, gift, loan or consideration for
himself or another for voting or refraining to vote in an election. Such person
is liable on conviction to a maximum fine of N500, 000 or imprisonment
for 12 months or both. 
Also, persons who aid in committing
the above offences are also guilty and any candidate who has knowledge and
consents to any of the acts mentioned above is guilty as well.  
I humbly implore all politicians to
stop destroying our Nation and our electoral process by offering bribes. I also
implore all Nigerians to do the honourable thing and not sell their votes. We
deserve credible leadership in Nigeria and not the opposite.
Adedunmade Onibokun, Esq
@adedunmade

Various penalties for crimes & offences under Nigerian law

Various penalties for crimes & offences under Nigerian law


I attended a military secondary
school in the heart of Abeokuta and trust me, aside from the regular koboko
(horse whips), we had a fine array of punishments that students were subject to
when it came to discipline. They included: manual labour, plant-your-pot,
crawling on gravel with your bare knees, frog jumps and a host of many others.
Anyone who attended a military school must have a fair idea of what I am
talking about.

Likewise, under Nigerian law, there
are a number of punishments that courts can order to discipline erring
offenders, they include- 
  • Capital Punishment
Meaning a person can be sentenced to
death. This is usually ordered for very serious crimes such as murder.
  • Caning
Wheneever a male person who in the
opinion of the court has not attained 17 years has been found guilty of an
offence, the court may in addition to or in substitution for any other
punishment to which he is liable.
  • Forfeiture
When a person is convicted of certain
offences, the court may, in addition to or in lieu of any penalty which may be
imposed, order the forfeiture to the State of any property which has passed in
connection with the commission of the offence.
  • Imprisonment
Persons found guilty of crimes may
also be sentenced to serve prison jail terms.
  • Fines
The courts may order a found guilty
of a criminal act to pay a fine.
  • Prerogative
The prerogative of mercy can be
exercised in accordance with the constitution. 
Adedunmade Onibokun, Esq
@adedunmade
PROFILE – PROF. YEMI OSIBAJO SAN

PROFILE – PROF. YEMI OSIBAJO SAN

Credits – Google 

Prof. Yemi
Osinbajo is the senior partner at SimmonsCooper Partners. Yemi is a professor
of law and a former attorney-general of Lagos state and commissioner for
justice. He is also a senior advocate of Nigeria (SAN). Yemi was educated at
the University of Lagos, Nigeria (LLB, 1978) and the London School of Economics
(LLM, 1980). He was admitted to practice before the Supreme Court of Nigeria in
1979. Yemi has 31 years of litigation experience including significant trial
and appellate work. He has also authored several books on civil procedure in
Nigerian superior courts, rules of evidence and justice reform.

Yemi
supervises the commercial litigation group at SimmonsCooper Partners (SCP), a
leading commercial litigation and corporate commercial firm in Nigeria. With a
multi-jurisdictional competence spanning Nigeria, the United States and the
United Kingdom, SCP fuses sound legal counsel with superior advocacy, and
personal and responsive service. SCP provides a very comprehensive and
integrated range of litigation, transactional, advisory and several support
services to a vast array of clients. 
Yemi has
conducted very important constitutional and precedential cases before the
Nigerian Supreme Court. Some of these include fiscal disputes between the
federating units and the federal government; disputes regarding the ownership
and control of oil and gas resources; town and physical planning disputes between
the federating units and the federal government; an international territorial
jurisdictional dispute in the West African sub-regional court; shareholder
disputes involving a multinational, private investors and state-owned
investment corporations and energy disputes arising from multinational
participation in power projects in Nigeria. 
 
In other
cases, Yemi has advised and represented clients in a broad range of commercial
and corporate issues including securities litigation, investments and
divestments, joint ventures, oil block acquisitions, product liability,
fiduciary duties of directors, intellectual property, and corporate valuations.
He is also involved in statutory and regulatory appraisal representation before
the legislature and federal and state agencies. 
He was appointed
Lagos State Attorney General and Commissioner for Justice in 1999 and
reappointed for a second term in 2003. 
While in
public office as attorney general, Yemi is credited with undertaking
far-reaching significant judicial reform in Lagos state, addressing critical
areas as judges’ recruitment, remuneration, training and discipline. In
addition, he addressed access to justice for the poor by establishing
appropriate institutions in the Office of the Public Defender and the Citizens
Mediation Centre. In honour of his contributions to legal reform and the
development of law in Nigeria, a compendium of essays on Nigerian
constitutional law was compiled.
Yemi is a member of the International Bar Association and the British
Institute of International and Comparative Law and has served in the Nigerian
Body of Benchers and the Council for Legal Education of Nigeria. He is
currently an independent director of CitiBank Nigeria and an ethics adviser to
the board of the Africa Development Bank. He has also served in various
capacities within the United Nations Organisation. Yemi speaks frequently at
several commercial litigation events locally and internationally. He is
actively involved in the pursuit of legal education reform in Nigeria.
He also served as a staff member of the
United Nations and Member of the United Nation’s Secretary General’s Committee
of Experts on Conduct and Discipline of UN Peacekeeping personnel around the
globe.
Prof. Yemi
Osibajo has been announced as the Vice –Presidential candidate and running mate
to General Buhari in the 2015 elections under the APC. He also pastors at Olive
Tree House of Prayer for All Nations, Banana Island, a parish of the Redeemed
Christian Church of God and lives in Lagos with his wife and three children.
PENALTY FOR IMPERSONATION

PENALTY FOR IMPERSONATION

Credits – Google
Scenarios.
  • Mr. Alex was apprehended by the Police last Tuesday
    for impersonating an officer, he was seen extorting money from commercial motor
    cycle riders and when asked to identify himself, it was revealed that he was
    actually a  fraud.
  • Mr. Segun Chinedu Ibrahim has fraudulently
    put himself out as a lawyer and was fraudulently representing clients in court,
    upon suspicion and investigation, he was arrested and charged with impersonation.
The law

To impersonate another is wrong. The Oxford
dictionary defines the word “impersonate” as “ the act of pretending to be
someone else”. The law frowns on impersonation because the aim of the act is usually
to deceive another in to believing someone is who he really is not. A clear
example includes the arrest and prosecution of several persons who were
pretending to be lawyers, policemen or members of the armed forces.   
In Nigeria, like most other legal jurisdictions,
impersonation is a crime and duly provided for in our Criminal Code Act in
Chapter 46. Section 484 in this chapter provides that – Any person who, with
intent to defraud any person, falsely represents himself to be some other
person, living or dead, is guilty of a felony, and is liable to imprisonment
for three years. Similarly, as provided in Section 487 of the Act, any person
whom a document has been giving to certify him for some certain privileges and
proceeds to give such document to another with the intention that the other
person presents himself as qualified to bear such document is guilty of a
felony and liable to imprisonment for 3 years. For instance, a policeman who
gives his official identity card to another person to use in impersonating the
police officer is guilty of the above offence. 
On the other hand, any person who, with the
purpose of obtaining any employment, utters any document of the nature of a testimonial
or character given to another person, is guilty of a misdemeanor and is liable
to imprisonment for 2 years (Section 488). Persons who lend out their
certificates to others for the use of impersonation are also not excluded from
punishment as such person is guilty of a misdemeanor, and is liable to
imprisonment for three years. 
Adedunmade OnibokunEsq
@adedunmade
dunmadeo@yahoo.com 
PENALTY FOR IMPROPER USE OF VOTER’S CARDS

PENALTY FOR IMPROPER USE OF VOTER’S CARDS

Editor’s note: This is the second post in a series informing
the public on Electoral offences, you can find the first post here – Punishment
for buying and selling voter’s cards
The recent Presidential primaries of the APC and PDP caused
some excitement over the last couple of days. Elections are coming closer by
the day and political parties are ensuring they present their best candidate
before the electorate in 2015. Many Nigerians are also gearing up for the elections
as most conversations now centre on the coming elections or the roles being
played by any of the many protagonists and antagonists in the political movies playing in Nigeria now. As we all
get closer to 2015, its quite important that we all protect out votes and
ensure that we report any electoral criminality that we may observe or suspect. 

An example of such criminality is the improper use of Voter’s
cards as provided for in  Section 120 of the Electoral Act 2010 which provides that –
Any person who –

  • being entitled to a Voter’s card, gives it to some other
    person for use at an election other than an officer and acting in the course of
    his duty under the act;
  • not being an officer acting in the course of his duty under
    the Act, receives any voters card in the name of some other person or persons
    for use at an election uses it fraudulently;
  •  without lawful excuse has in his possession more than one Voter’s
    card; or 
  •  buys, sells, procures or deals, with a voters card otherwise
    than as provided in the Act: commits an offence and is liable on conviction to
    a maximum fine of N1,000,000 (One million naira) ir imprisonment for 12 months
    or both.  

From the abovce provisons of the law, it is obvious anyone
caught commiting such criminality will have some explaining to do and possibly
some jail term to serve or fine to pay, thus it’s important no one participates
in such acts. Please share this article with as many people as you can to
discourage electoral offences. 
Adedunmade Onibokun, Esq
@adedunmade

CREATING AN INVESTMENT CULTURE: NO RIGHT TIME TO INVEST  By Ahmed O Banu

CREATING AN INVESTMENT CULTURE: NO RIGHT TIME TO INVEST By Ahmed O Banu

“A stitch in time
saves nine” said a tailor down the road.
I am very sure a lot
of us would have wondered “How does a stitch save nine? Why nine?”.For
people like me who didn’t grow up loving English (weird), the phrase
wouldn’t have been given a lot of thought. However, I actually gave it a
thought today and thanks to “Google”our reliable companion, I can
authoritatively tell what it means. Simply put, it means “why don’t you do
what you have to do now and stop procrastinating
”. Okay, English teachers,
review my script and tell me how close I got.
How does this relate
to investing? Hmmmmm…Wait for it.

The humble years I’ve
spent diving into the world of finance, swallowing every bit of knowledge I can
chew as spinach to succeed in what I now love so much, has taught me that one’s
ability to accumulate substantial wealth – the end result of consistently
making meaningful investment returns – depends on one’s ability and willingness
to take on risk. As the father of modern portfolio theory; Harry Markowitz,
said “the higher the risk the higher the return”. Hence, the very
aggressive risk takers will definitely become wealthier than their fellow peers
at a future date over a certain time horizon, all else being equal.
An individual’s
ability and willingness to take on risk is dependent on a lot of personal and
economic variables which includes but is not limited to; source of wealth,
measure of wealth, stage of life etc. I’d like that we concentrate on just
these three variables and see how it is that a lot of us might end up not
attaining the level of wealth we desire.
Let’s not dwell on
sources of wealth because it’s as clear as it can be. Our ability and
willingness to take risk and become as wealthy as we desire depends on our
source of wealth; be it the 9-5 guy working in an Oil company; the investment
banker who works 24/7 or the easy going entrepreneur looking forward to the
next day to make a profit. Howwealthy we can be depends on the amount of money
we earn. Therefore, we can definitely say a man that has three sources of
income is wealthier than the other with just one. However, the flipside to
investing is that, it’s not the quantity of wealth that
determines one’s ability and willingness to take risk but the way and manner we
perceive our wealth. This is in the sense that one might earn a lot but still
feel or actually be broke.
Let’s put this into
perspective, Mr A has three sources of income and earns a total some of NGN
1,000,000 monthly but spends NGN 800,000 out of it before the next month’s
receipt date while Mr B earns NGN 400,000 monthly and spends NGN 100,000 only.
Without a reasonable doubt, Mr A is the baller, the guy we all want to be like (I
definitelywant to be like him, who wouldn’t). Based on sources of wealth being
our factor to defining one’s ability and willingness to take risk, Mr A is just
the guy we looking for. But do a simple math; on a monthly, Mr B has NGN
100,000 more to invest and make himself wealthier than Mr A at future date over
a certain time horizon. So who is the baller now?
J
The question then is;
who would you rather be? Mr A; who lives for the moment (YOLO) and forgets what
the future holds or Mr B; who lives moderately and creates the avenue to become
wealthier in the future. Why don’t we act now by increasing our ability and
willingness to take risks and subsequently increase our propensity to become
wealthier? It’s never too late – the time is always right to do the right thing.
Don’t procrastinate.

By
Ahmed O.  Banu.

THE DUTIES YOU OWE YOUR EMPLOYER

THE DUTIES YOU OWE YOUR EMPLOYER

Credits – hse.gov.uk
I know how good it feels to get that bank alert or collect that
cheque that contains the sum of your monthly salary and/or other entitlements
such as bonuses etc. Do you also remember the feeling when it was delayed for
about a day or two, must have been horrible especially if you had bills to pay waiting
at your front door. An employer owes a duty to pay the wages of his employees
and provide a good environment for them to work but what duties are owed to
your Boss as an employer, here is the list –

  • To offer personal service ;
  • To be ready and willing to work;
  • Not to willfully disrupt the employer’s undertaking, i.e. to
    corporate with the employer;
  • To obey reasonable or lawful orders;
  • To give exclusive service, i.e. to work only for the employer in
    the employer’s time;
  • To account for profits received;
  • To respect the employer’s trade secret;
  • To take reasonable care of the employer’s property and to exercise
    reasonable care and skill in the employer’s service;
  • Duty of Fidelity;
  • Duty of care and skill;
Look forward to the next blog on the duties of employers.
Adedunmade Onibokun, Esq
@adedunmade
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OFFENCES & PENALTY ON PUBLIC HEALTH IN NIGERIA

OFFENCES & PENALTY ON PUBLIC HEALTH IN NIGERIA

The public health of a society or community
is very important to the general welfare of everyone in that society or community.
A good example that depicts the importance was the recent Ebola outbreak in
certain African countries, if you followed the news and updates from neighboring
countries who were worst hit by the virus, you must have observed their
respective governments instituting policies and measures to control the
breakout such as issuing directives that certain areas be quarantined and
placing curfews to prevent movement and spread of the virus. Such instances show
how important governments work hard to ensure the health of its citizenry is
protected and you will always find an abundance of laws which aim to punish and
prevent exposing the public to health hazards, for instance the Nigerian
Criminal Code Act. 

Section 243 of the Act provides that –

  • Any person who sells, as food or drink, or
    has in his possession with intent to sell it as food or drink, any article which
    has been rendered or has become noxious, or is in a state unfit for food and
    drink, knowing or having reason to believe that the same is noxious as food or
    drink, or is in a state unfit for food or drink is guilty of a misdemeanor, and
    is liable to imprisonment for one year. Examples of these are merchants who
    sell expired drugs and food items.    
  • Any
    person who adulterates any article of food or drink, so as to make such article
    noxious as food or drink, intending to sell such articles as food or drink is
    guilty of a misdemeanor, and is liable to imprisonment for one year.
     
  • Also, anyone who with intention to sell or
    provide for public consumption any carcass of any animal which has died of any
    disease is guilty of a misdemeanor and is liable to imprisonment for one year
    (Section 244). 
  • Furthermore, anyone who corrupts or fouls water from any spring,
    stream or river which renders it less fit for the purpose for which it is
    ordinarily used is guilty of a misdemeanor, and is liable to imprisonment for
    six months (Section 245). 
  • It is also a misdemeanor to bury a corpse in a house
    without the consent of the President or Governor and such person is liable to
    imprisonment for 6 months.
It should be noted that anyone who vitiates
the atmosphere so as to make it noxious to the health of persons in general or
spreads any infectious disease dangerous to life is guilty of a misdemeanor and
liable to 6 months in prison.
Adedunmade Onibokun
@adedunmade
     
PENALTY FOR BUYING AND SELLING VOTERS’ CARDS

PENALTY FOR BUYING AND SELLING VOTERS’ CARDS

Credits – google
General elections are fast
approaching and political parties are concluding their primaries to elect those
who would be their flag bearers in the coming 2015 National elections. As we
enter into the last lap of selecting our government representatives, it is
important that we do not sell our votes, rather it is imperative that we choose
the best man or woman for the job. Also of utmost importance is that we all
observe proper discipline in election matters. This post is a first in a series
informing you about electoral offences as provided for in the Electoral Act
(2010), particularly the offences of buying or selling of voter’s cards.

Section 23 of the Electoral act
provides that; Any person who –
  • Is in unlawful possession
    of any voters’ card whether issued in the name of any voter or not;
  • Sells or attempts to sell
    or offers to sell any voter’s card whether issued in the name of any voter or
    not; or
  •  Buys or offers to buy any
    voters’ card whether on his own behalf or on behalf of any other person,
    commits an offence and shall be liable, on conviction, to a fine not exceeding
    N500,000.00 or imprisonment not exceeding two years or both.
Credits – google
By virtue of the above provisions,
anyone caught with the illegal possession of voters’ cards will be prosecuted
and if found guilty may end up behind bars or having to pay a hefty fine. Manipulating
the voter registration process is also an offence.
Section 24 further provides that;
Any person who –   
  • Knowingly makes a false
    declaration in his voters’ registration form.
     
  • Fails to provide
    information in their possession after demand under the act;
     
  • Signs a voter’s
    registration form in the name of another person;
     
  • Makes multiple
    registration; or
  • Procures a fictitious
    registration

Commits an offence and is liable on
conviction to a fine not exceeding N100,000 or imprisonment not exceeding one
year or both. Obviously there is jail time involved for anyone found guilty for
any of the acts mentioned above. Persons who also by duress or threats hinder
others from registering as a voter is liable on conviction, to a fine not
exceeding N500,000 or imprisonment not exceeding two years. 
Kindly share this post with others to
ensure that many people are deterred from carrying out any of the above
offences and if you discover anyone doing same, please report immediately to
the nearest police station. 
Adedunmade Onibokun, Esq
@adedunmade/ twitter