General
Nigeria Ratifies International Coffee Organisation Membership
By Adedapo Adesanya
The federal government has ratified Nigeria’s membership at the International Coffee Organisation (ICO) 12 years after it signed the agreement.
This was part of the three major policy decisions taken at the Federal Executive Council (FEC) presided over by President Muhammadu Buhari on Wednesday.
Speaking on the outcome of the meeting, the Minister of Industry, Trade and Investment, Mr Adeniyi Adebayo, revealed that the council ratified Nigeria’s membership of the global coffee group.
According to him, the ratification gives Nigeria a full membership status at the organisation, although it signed the agreement in 2008.
“We signed the international coffee agreement in 2008 and until now (October 21), Nigeria had not ratified this agreement and the result of not having ratified, gave us only an observer status in the organisation and unfortunately, there are a lot of things that come with full membership that the country had been missing on,” he said.
The Minister said the ratification will now afford the country the opportunity to benefit more from the organisation and be actively involved in creating policies on French press coffee trade worldwide.
“The benefits that will come to the country include the allocation of coffee development project, access to consultative fora on coffee sector finance, where our farmers will have access to funds to improve farm yields and boost coffee production in Nigeria,’’ he said.
According to the Minister, Nigeria has a lot of coffee growers in the six geo-political zones of the country with over a million farmers involved.
Meanwhile, the Minister of Environment, Mr Muhammad Mahmood, said also at the meeting, the council looked into how plastic waste management can boost the nation’s economy.
“Three months ago, we presented a memo on solid waste management. Plastic, being one of the compositions of total waste, has a significant place in the total waste regime because of its non-biodegradable nature and we have plastics littered all over the place, causing an environmental hazard to both humans and animals.
“What this policy seeks to do is to seize the opportunity of our paradigm shift from linear to a circular economy. The standard procedure in the past was, you produce, you use and dispose and we just realised that we cannot continue to do that as plastic has lent itself to recycling or reuse.
“Therefore, what this policy intends to achieve is to capitalise on that property of it being reused,” the Minister explained.
Mr Mahmood maintained that already, the Ministry of Environment has built some plastic recycling plants across the country, which will serve as a pilot scheme.
According to him, the private sector will have the opportunity to dominate the recycling plants, saying that plastic waste is the second form of waste the country needs to deal with.
He, however, stated that plastic could be recycled to produce blocks, new plastics and palettes for the production of interlocks and many more uses.
The Minister of Health, Mr Osagie Ehanire, on his part, said the council approved a bill on the establishment of a National Council for Traditional and Alternative Medicine and complementary medicine practice in Nigeria.
According to the Minister, the bill seeks to take traditional and complementary medicine out of obscurity and institutionalise it.
Mr Ehanire noted that the emergence of Coronavirus had renewed the call for home-grown solutions to public health diseases as well as to find the value in traditional medicines.
“It will also provide the opportunity for the possibility of training, setting up institutions and also being able to research further, in collaboration with the Institute of Pharmaceutical Research of Nigeria, to actually dig out the values that are in our traditional medicine, where they can be used,” he added.
The Minister said the proposed law, when approved, will also help to protect the intellectual property of traditional medicine practitioners in the country.
By Aduragbemi Omiyale
A former member of the House of Representatives, Mr Onamusi Onadeko, has been sentenced to nine months’ imprisonment with an option of a fine of N50,000.
The former lawmaker, who represented Ogun East Federal Constituency in the National Assembly from 1999 to 2003, was sentenced by Justice Chizoba Oji of the Federal Capital Territory High Court in Abuja on Thursday, July 30, 2026.
He was found guilty on count 11 and convicted for making inconsistent statements but discharged and acquitted on counts 2, 3, 4, 6, 7, 8, 9 and 10.
Mr Onadeko’s journey to the court started in 2017, when he was charged by the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC) for his alleged involvement in the award and execution of a N68.7 million contract.
The politician, according to a statement from the ICPC, was accused of using his private companies, Stanton Engineering Limited and Haines and Baines Limited, to execute several constituency projects while working as a Senior Legislative Aide to late Senator Buruji Kashamu, who represented Ogun East Senatorial District between 2015 and 2019.
The commission, had in the course of the eight years trial told the court that several contracts like buying of ambulance vehicles, supply of hospital equipment and drugs for Primary Health Centres, as well as construction of classrooms for some selected schools in six communities of Ogun East Senatorial District, were awarded to both Stanton Engineering Limited and Haines and Baines, where the convict doubles as a Managing Director and nominal Director, respectively, an action that violates Sections 12 and 19 of the Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Act, 2000.
ICPC also accused Mr Onadeko of making an inconsistent statement that contradicted the one previously made to the Commissioner for Oaths, where he stated that he is a Director of Haines and Baines Limited in an affidavit dated June 30, 20216, but subsequently wrote another statement while under investigation on May 5, 2017, that he is not a shareholder or Director of Haines and Baines Limited.
This action violates Section 25(1)(b) of the ICPC Act and, upon conviction, is liable to a fine not exceeding N100,000 or to imprisonment for a term not exceeding two years or to both such fine and imprisonment.
However, Mr Onadeko, through his counsel, Mr Wahab Olatoyebi, argued in the course of the trial that his client was not a public officer as his appointment at that material time was on a short-term basis and non-pensionable, hence he, (Onadeko) did not fall within the category of those that could be tried under Sections 12 and 19 of the Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Act, 2000 which criminalize and punish abuse of office by public officers.
But this argument was rejected by Justice Oji, who stressed that based on the defendant’s letter of appointment as well as the decision of the Supreme Court in the case of Federal Government of Nigeria v. Farouk Lawan, legislative aides are public officers and therefore could be prosecuted under the relevant provisions of the Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Act, 2000.
By Adedapo Adesanya
The Governor of Oyo State, Mr Seyi Makinde, has inaugurated a Judicial Commission of Inquiry to investigate the abduction of students and teachers from Esinele and Yawota communities in Oriire Local Government Area of Oyo State.
The governor formally inaugurated the commission at the Executive Council Chamber of the Governor’s Office, Secretariat, Agodi, Ibadan.
Speaking at the event, Governor Makinde said that although the successful rescue of the victims brought relief to the state, it did not provide complete closure.
He explained that the decision to set up an independent commission was not intended to undermine the efforts of security agencies but to ensure that every question surrounding the incident is thoroughly addressed and lessons are learnt to prevent a recurrence.
He charged members of the commission to conduct a thorough, impartial, and evidence-based investigation, assuring them of the state government’s full support. He also called on individuals and relevant institutions to cooperate fully with the panel.
Speaking on behalf of the commission, its chairman, Professor Mojeed Owoade, pledged that members would carry out the assignment with integrity, professionalism, and fairness. He added that the panel would seek an extension if necessary to complete its work.
Governor Makinde gave the commission four weeks to submit its report.
Earlier this month, the pupils and teachers abducted in Oriire Local Government Area of Oyo State regained their freedom after 56 days in captivity.
According to the Special Adviser to the President on Information and Strategy, Mr Bayo Onanuga, eight of the kidnappers had been arrested, but the Federal High Court in Abuja on July 23 sentenced three suspects in the abduction to life imprisonment.
According to the court, the sentencing of Mr Abdulrazak Umar, known under the alias Abu Khalifa/Abu Khalid; Mr Yunusa Musa, alias Yunusa Bin Musa; and Mr Shamsu Adamu Sani, alias Abu Itisar, will start from the date of their arrest.
Before their sentencing by Justice Salim Ibrahim, counsel for the defendants pleaded with the court to sentence them on liberal terms, adding that they were first-time offenders and had pleaded guilty.
By Modupe Gbadeyanka
Two Chinese, Mr Zhang Hong Lin and Mr Gao Pei Hai, have been convicted and sentenced by Justice Akintayo Aluko of the Federal High Court in Ikoyi, Lagos, for conspiracy and the illegal mining of solid minerals.
They were both found guilty on all five counts levelled against them by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) and sentenced each to five years’ imprisonment on each count, with an option of a N50 million fine covering all five counts.
The court also ordered the forfeiture of the mineral resources recovered from them to the Federal Government of Nigeria.
The defendants were arraigned on a five-count charge bordering on conspiracy and the unlawful possession of mineral resources intended for export without lawful authority.
“That you, Zhang Hong Lin, Gao Pei Hai, and Gao Pei Yu (currently at large), sometime in 2025 in Lagos, within the jurisdiction of this court, conspired among yourselves, with the intent to defraud the Federal Government of Nigeria of revenue accruing therefrom, and without the permission of the appropriate authority, engaged in the exportation of mica products, copper-bearing, and lithium-bearing mineral resources out of Nigeria, thereby committing an offence contrary to Section 1(8)(a) of the Miscellaneous Offences Act, 1983, and punishable under Section 8 of the same Act,” one of the charges read.
The defendants pleaded guilty when the charges were read to them, with the prosecution counsel, H.U. Kofarnaisa, calling the investigating officer, Matthew Orogwu, who reviewed the facts of the case and tendered documentary evidence before the court.
After presenting the evidence, Kofarnaisa urged the court to convict and sentence the defendants in line with the charges.
