The detained former National Security Adviser,  Sambo Dasuki, is still not disposed to appearing before the Federal High Court in Abuja  to testify in defence of a former National Publicity Secretary of the Peoples Democratic Party, Olisa Metuh, despite the witness summons of the court ordering him to appear in that regard on Tuesday (tomorrow).

It was learnt from court officials on Sunday that Dasuki, through his lawyer, Mr. Ahmed Raji (SAN), had appealed against the October 25 ruling of Justice Okon Abang who dismissed his application challenging the subpoena ordering him to appear in court.

The court official said, “In addition, Dasuki’s team filed an application for stay of execution of the ruling of Justice Abang and impliedly the judgment of the Court of Appeal delivered on September 25 directing Justice Abang to sign the said subpoena and have it served on Dasuki who is the custody of the Department of State Services.

“You will recall that Justice Abang had signed the subpoena as far back as October 3 in compliance with the Court of Appeal’s judgment and directed that Dasuki should be produced in court on October 25.

“But Dasuki did not appear in court on October 25, so the judge, after hearing his motion challenging the subpoena issued against him, ordered that he should be produced in court on October 31. It is the October 25 ruling that he (Dasuki) appealed against.”

The PUNCH learnt on Sunday that Dasuki, who did not appear in court on October 25 as earlier ordered by the court, had on the same October 25, filed the motion seeking an order of stay of execution of the court’s order directing him to appear in court on October 31.

Our correspondent learnt on Sunday that the trial judge fixed October 31 for the hearing of Dasuki’s stay of execution of the court’s October 25 ruling.

Justice Abang had, in his ruling delivered on October 25, struck out an application by Dasuki, seeking an order setting aside the subpoena directing him (the ex-NSA) to appear in court to testify on behalf of Metuh.

The judge ruled that having been ordered by the Court of Appeal in Abuja on September 29, 2017, to sign and ensure the service of the subpoena on Dasuki, he lacked jurisdiction to hear and determine the motion on merit.

He held that determining Dasuki’s motion on merit would amount to an attempt to review the judgment of a higher court, the Court of Appeal.

He held that all issues raised by Dasuki, through his lawyer, Raji, had become academic since the court lacked jurisdiction to hear the complaints.

According to the judge, to proceed to hear Dasuki’s application would amount to “judicial anarchy.”

During the same October 25 proceedings, Justice Abang gave the court bailiff five days to serve former President Goodluck Jonathan with the witness summons compelling him to appear in court with respect to  Metuh’s trial.

The court also ordered the counsel prosecuting Metuh, Mr. Sylvanus Tahir, to persuade the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission to explore administrative means of ensuring that the DSS produced Dasuki in court on October 31.

Upon applications by Metuh, the court had issued two separate subpoenas on Jonathan and Dasuki, compelling them to appear in court on Wednesday.

Jonathan and Dasuki were summoned by the court upon Metuh’s application requesting that they be ordered to testify in his defence with respect to the sum of N400m which he was said to have received fraudulently from the Office of the NSA in 2014.

But the two summoned witnesses were absent from court on Wednesday.

Ruling after hearing the lawyers involved in the case on Wednesday, Justice Abang noted that without the two summoned witnesses appearing, it would be difficult for the court to make any progress in the case.

In compliance with the court’s order, our correspondent learnt on Sunday that the acting Chairman of the EFCC, Ibrahim Magu, had personally written the Director General of the DSS, Lawal Daura, requesting that the ex-NSA be produced in court on Tuesday as directed by the court.

Meanwhile, Metuh had indicated in a statement last week that he had asked his legal team to review his request to call Jonathan as a witness, following the backlash he had received with respect to the case.

The Executive Vice-Chairman, Aiteo Group, Mr. Benedict Peters, says he has engaged two foreign law firms to defend him against the malicious, unfounded and false allegations hanging over his head.

Aiteo Group, an indigenous oil firm, had reportedly released a statement in September denying that Peters bought a property in England and luxury furnishings for a former Minister of Petroleum Resources, Mrs. Diezani Alison-Madueke, in return for contracts in the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation.

A fresh statement on Sunday, which was made available to our correspondent, quoted Peters as lamenting that some unfounded allegations had been injuring the reputation of his company, thus, the need for him to hire two foreign law firms to clear his name.

He said the foreign law firms – Mishcon de Reya, the United Kingdom; and Covington & Burling, Washington DC, United States of America –  would “offer both counsel and guidance in dealing with these issues.”

The statement said the foreign law firms would lead efforts to address the “politically-motivated issues” that Peters had been grappling with for about two years.

Peters was quoted as saying that, “These unfounded allegations have caused untold disruption to my family and my business. To ensure that we remain focused, I have engaged two of the world’s leading law firms to offer both counsel and guidance in dealing with these issues.

“There is a toxic culture of politically-motivated witch-hunts that stain reputations, stifles enterprise and keeps foreign investors away from our country. For two years, I have suffered malicious, unfounded and false allegations hanging over my head.

“This persecution is being pursued to diminish the visible endeavours to position our business, and Nigeria, at the apex of the energy industry worldwide. Despite these distractions, I remain focused on the efforts to sustain Aiteo’s growth towards becoming Nigeria’s leading indigenous oil producer. It is time to address the situation and so I have decided that I must take direct legal and other actions to clear my name.”

The Kano State Commissioner for Health, Dr. Kabir Getso, has confirmed that a suspected case of monkeypox has been recorded in Bebeji Local Government Area of the state.

The commissioner, who stated this while briefing newsmen on Saturday in Kano, disclosed that the blood sample of the patient had been sent to Abuja for clinical verification.

He added, “One of the symptoms of the disease was noticed in the patient, but we are suspecting that the diseases is more of chicken pox than monkeypox.”

Getso said the suspected victim had been isolated and put on intensive clinical watch until the result of the sample was received.

“The state also identified 60 people who had contacts with the patient and all of them have been quarantined,” he said.

The commissioner said that a team had put the entire area where the suspected case was recorded under clinical watch, adding that the state had established a special clinic to handle any outbreak.

“For now only 11 states are affected by the monkey pox disease and 94 persons are the victims, out of which only six are confirmed.

“The Kano case from Bebeji Local Government has yet to be confirmed. The blood sampling will take three weeks before it is ready,” he said.

The police have invited a former deputy governor of Osun State, Iyiola Omisore, over an alleged attack on the late Senator Isiaka Adeleke in the build up to the governorship primary election of the Peoples Democratic Party in 2014.

The late senator, who was a governorship candidate of the PDP shortly before the 2014 governorship election in Osun State had accused Omisore and a former Minister of State for Police Affairs, Jelili Adesiyan and one Sogo Agboola, of beating him up at a hotel where he had gone to meet officials of the PDP sent to conduct the primary.

Adeleke, eventually defected to the All Progressives Congress ahead of the poll  to assist Governor Rauf Aregbesola to win his second term while he (Adeleke) contested Osun West Senatorial Election and won. He, however, died on April 23, 2017.

Despite the death of the complainant, the police last week sent an invitation to Omisore asking him to report to the Police Headquarters in Osogbo concerning the case of assault levelled against him by the late senator.

A copy of the letter obtained by our correspondent in Osogbo on Sunday  dated, October 20, 2017  was signed by the Deputy Commissioner of Police State Criminal Investigation and Intelligence Department, Mr. Umega Uzochukwu.

The letter read, “You are invited to meet with the Deputy Commissioner of Police in charge of the State Criminal Investigation and Intelligence Department in connection with a case of assault  and assigning harm reported by the late Senator Isiaka Adeleke against you. Looking forward to seeing you on the 27th day of October, 2017 at about 1200hrs, please.”

The Police Public Relations Officer in Osun State, Mrs. Folashade Odoro, when contacted told our correspondent that the police invited the senator.

Omisore and the family of the late senator seem to have buried their differences as a result of the alleged attack on Adeleke because Omisore was one of the PDP chieftains that supported Adeleke’s younger brother, Ademola to win the by-election held on July 8.

Efforts by our correspondent to speak with Omisore on the police invitation were unsuccessful. Calls placed across to his telephone were not picked and the text message sent to him to confirm if he honoured the invitation or not had yet to be responded to as of the time of filing this report.

However, a source close to him told our correspondent that the former deputy governor did not go to the police on Friday.

The source, who pleaded anonymity, did not state the reason for Omisore’s refusal to honour the invitation but he said the reason for the “belated invitation was political.”

He said, “Governorship election is holding in Osun next year and politicians may want to use anything to stop their opponents. This is most likely going to be one of it.”

The Vice-President, Prof. Yemi Osinbajo, said that it was impossible for anyone to Islamise Nigeria, as claimed by Christian interests.

Osinbajo, who was speaking in Lagos on Friday during the Greater Nigeria Pastors Conference convened by Apostle Wale Adefarasin and Rev. Abayomi Kasali, explained that the recent uproar over the country’s subscription to Sukuk Bonds was not justified.

The Federal Government’s N100bn Sukuk (Islamic bond), which it plans to use for road construction, became a target of criticism by some Christian leaders in the country, who believed the government was committing the country to an Islamic financial hold.

Osinbajo said, “Part of the problem is the failure of Christian leadership to take its rightful place. We focus our minds on something we call the Islamic agenda. We look for it everywhere as if we are looking for demons.

“But where is the Christian agenda. Are we not entitled to one? We are too divided as Christians to have an agenda. The key to the unity and progress of Nigeria is in the church.”

According to him, there were no plans to Islamise Nigeria through the Sukuk bond or the country’s membership of the Islamic Development Bank.

He said that apart from Nigeria, many nations of the world including the United States of America and the United Kingdom had also embraced the system as a result of its progressive nature.

He said, “The Sukuk is an Islamic concept, which enables people to have access to credit. It is essentially like a bond. The US, UK, China, South Africa have all used the Sukuk. Once there is money in the market, let us not get sentimental. The most important thing is for us to use those monies well.

“Some people say there are some hidden things in this arrangement and that one day somebody is going to take us over. Where? How will that happen? These are straightforward financial systems used all over the world. I don’t think it presents any real problem. It is a very progressive financial system.

“Nigeria became a member of the Islamic Development Bank in 2005 and the first person to sit as director of the bank was Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala. The second person to sit as a director is the current Finance Minister, Kemi Adeosun, and both of them are Christians. So, when people talk about Islamic agenda, sometimes I am lost.

“The person who brought us into the bank is not a Fulani or Northerner, the person was a Christian, so why are we complaining? Nigeria is the fourth largest shareholder in the Islamic Bank. This wasn’t Buhari’s making. We must have facts before saying things. But above all, we must ask ourselves if being a member of the bank profits us or not.

“For me, I have no problem with this. We can use what we get there to develop our society. This is the most important for me.”

Osinbajo also spoke on the case of a former Chairman of the Presidential Task Force on Pension Reforms, Mr. Abdulrasheed Maina, who was discovered to have been reinstated in the Federal Civil Service, after he had earlier fled the country in 2013 after corruption charges were brought against him by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission.

The vice president said the country’s system made it possible for criminals to go undetected.

He said, “If you look at our present federal structure, it is designed in such a way that you may be able to hide somewhere for a day or two before you are found. Otherwise, how do you explain a situation where a fugitive suddenly appears and finds his way back into the system? How did he get there?

“What Buhari did immediately he heard about the matter was to query how it happened and ordered his disengagement, which is the right thing to do. As for what will happen, we may have to wait and see.”

Osinbajo accused the country’s elite of working against the progress of the country.

While calling on citizens to support the current administration in its fight against corruption, the vice president said that Nigeria was at the threshold of history and would soon fulfil its full potential.

He said, “We must deal with corruption decisively. It is created by leadership elite that includes not just politicians but also religious leaders and people in the private sector. We must also deal with tribalism, religion and other parochial tendencies. It is difficult to find national leaders today. Many Nigerians speak from a tribal perspective.

“There is no nation on the face of the earth that would survive under the weight of corruption that our country had gone through. Nigeria’s elite, regardless of political, religious or ethnic differences, think alike. They are driven largely by the same motive.

“They are selfish, unprepared to make the sacrifices either in service or self-restraint that leaders of successive societies make. High-level corruption knows no religion, ethnicity or other considerations.

“Corrupt elements in our society are united; they fight for each other and are prepared to go down together. They are actually one tribe, indivisible despite their diversity.

“We have to address the issue of corruption pointedly. The system is corrupt. Corruption is generally the rule in our society. This is a time to build. We can become Africa’s most productive nation in the very near future.”

At least 19 people were killed when an overcrowded bus swerved off the road and plunged into a river in central Nepal on Saturday, police said.

The bus skidded off the road in Dhading district, approximately 80 kilometres (50 miles) west of the capital Kathmandu, early morning and fell into the Trishuli River.

“We have recovered the bodies of 19 people from the place of the accident and number of missing is still unknown as the bus had no record of the total number of passengers,” district police chief Dhruba Raj Raut told AFP.

Local TV footage showed rescue workers pulling the dead and injured from the water, while soldiers in boats scoured the river for the missing.

At least 16 injured passengers were recovered from the river and taken to local hospitals, police said.

Authorities are yet to confirm the cause of the crash, but local media quoted passengers saying that the driver may have been drunk.

Police Inspector Barun Bahadur Singh, at the scene of the accident, told AFP that the driver was injured in the accident and is thought to have fled after freeing himself from the wreckage of the bus.

“The driver of the bus is suspected of running away right after the incident and we have expedited the search operation in the nearby areas,” he said.

Deadly crashes are relatively common in the impoverished Himalayan nation because of poor roads, badly maintained vehicles and reckless driving.