The game is the game
Nigerian law is the humbler of all men, even EFCC
Good morning, Big Brains. It’s Moonshot Day! If you don’t wake up to a new edition of TBD tomorrow, it’s because the people of the Cabal are occupied with the biggest tech event of the year. See you there?
- Margaret
Word count: ~ 1, 300
Reading time ~ 5 mins
Let’s get into today’s edition:
EFCC is spilling confidential tea and reading the court for filth
#EndBadGovernance protests are going to pay the court ₦5 million for challenging T-Pain
Starlink wants to increase its price but NCC isn’t having it
The Big Deal
EFCC is spilling confidential tea and reading the court for filth
There are squirrels in the pants of the chairman of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission and he can’t keep it in anymore. Apparently, EFCC has been suffering in silence for a minute now and it’s all because of a court order.
EFCC chairman, Olanipekun Olukoyede, who’s obviously tired of staying silent, has told the public that EFCC is being restrained from carrying out investigations in 10 out of the 31 states across Nigeria.
Though Olukoyede didn’t spill the tea on which states are off-limits, he complained that the EFCC's hands are tied by court orders blocking their investigations. He also lowkey hinted that the court has been making EFCC look like a joke because the court keeps delaying high-profile cases and contempt orders.
And it gets even worse – according to Olukoyede, one of the first things that the people who get caught in EFCC’s mess do is get restraining orders against the EFCC to protect themselves from getting arrested and the court has been handing out these retraining orders like candy.
Olukoyede admitted that the EFCC isn’t perfect, but said the commission has made some changes to improve how it carries out investigations, all within the limits of the law.
Why is this a big deal?
When Yahaya Bello dodged arrests for months and finally strutted into EFCC’s office to “clear his name”, Nigerians were wondering how that kind of misconduct was possible in a democratic country. Thanks to EFCC’s chairman, we now have our answers.
Turns out, the courts—meant to uphold law and justice — have become the enablers of bad behaviour, allegedly, of course. Instead of holding people accountable, they’re sharing restraining orders like puff puff, making it a whole lot easier for suspects to run away from being held accountable.
EFCC itself is no angel but this is slowing down their work and giving powerful people an easy escape route. If anyone facing corruption charges can just run to the courts and get a “Do Not Disturb” sign slapped on their door, it makes it almost impossible for the EFCC to do their job. High-profile cases will keep dragging on, and the longer they do, the lesser chance there is for real justice. We have this crazy opinion that the courts should be enforcing the law, not giving people a get-out-of-jail-free card.
With the EFCC now trying to clean up how it operates, it’s a sign they know things need to change and until the courts stop being a roadblock, the fight against corruption will keep going in circles. This is the kind of thing that makes you wonder who we offended as a country.
#EndBadGovernance protests are going to pay the court ₦5 million for challenging T-Pain
Speaking of Nigerian courts, Justice Emeka Nwite of the Federal High Court in Abuja has agreed to reduce the bail conditions for five #EndBadGovernance protesters, bringing the amount down to ₦5 million each.
This man isn’t getting any accolades because he initially set bail at ₦10 million for each of the ten protesters, making it ₦100 million in total. Forgive our French but as how?
These protesters, who are caught up in this mess because they pissed President Tinubu off by protesting against hunger and bad governance, found it hard to meet the stiff conditions of the initial bail.
The defence lawyers stepped in and asked the court to cut the bail amount for five of the protesters who couldn’t pay that crazy amount. After reflecting and realising that he did the most, the judge slashed the bail to ₦25 million for the five defendants, setting it at ₦5 million each (which is still crazy).
We’d argue that their only crime was demanding change but the court is now pressing some serious charges against the ten protesters—Michael Adaramoye (aka Lenin), Adeyemi Abayomi, Suleiman Yakubu, Comrade Opaluwa Simon, Angel Innocent, Buhari Lawal, Mosiu Sadiq, Bashir Bello, Nurudeen Khamis, and Abduldalam Zubai. They’ve been accused of treason, trying to overthrow the government, conspiracy, and inciting mutiny. FG also says they tried to force their way into the seat of power, burned down a police station, injured officers, and damaged public property like a High Court complex and NCC facilities.
Unrelated but some of the president’s aides have also said that he isn’t happy with people calling him T-Pain. Now that he has asked nicely, maybe the next social media user that calls him T-pain would be facing the same faith as these 10 protesters because the freedom to challenge Tinubu has suddenly become a very expensive thing in Nigeria.
Starlink wants to increase its price but NCC isn’t having it
If you read yesterday’s newsletter, you’d know that business owners in Nigeria are now paying 49% more in taxes than they did last year according to the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS). But it’s Starlink the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) is holding by the throat for increasing its prices.
Starlink decided to bump its monthly subscription fee from ₦38,000 to ₦75,000. The price of the Starlink kit has also been increased from ₦440,000 to ₦590,000.
NCC has now decided to sanction Starlink for pulling “a fast one”. Reuben Muoka, the NCC's Director of Public Affairs, explained that Starlink’s decision to raise prices didn't get approved by the Commission. He said, “The Commission will, therefore, take appropriate enforcement measures against any action by a licensee that is capable of eroding the regulatory stability of the telecommunications industry.” Basically, the NCC isn't just going to sit back and let this slide.
The NCC was quick to call Starlink out for “jumping the gun” by announcing these price changes before getting the necessary approval. According to them, Starlink had filed a request to adjust prices but didn’t wait for a “go-ahead” before making the announcement.
Is Starlink wrong for not waiting for approval before increasing its prices? Yes. Is NCC sus for acting like this is not all part of a bigger problem? Yes! Until Nigeria’s inflation drops, taxes become more regularised and naira decides to start fighting back, businesses are well within their rights to increase their prices.
This Week’s Big Question
“If you could witness any event in history, what would it be and why?”
Treasure’s response - “ “I want to witness the exact moment God decided to send me to this country so I can plead my case”
You can also share your response here and if it’s as interesting as Treasure’s response, we’ll feature it in the next edition.
The Big Picks
Rivers Constitutes Seven-Man Judicial Commission Into Monday’s Arsonist Attacks: The Rivers State Government has launched a judicial inquiry to look into the arson, killings, and other violent incidents that took place in the state on Monday.
Airline Operators Will Now Start Buying Jet-A1 From Dangote Refinery: Festus Keyamo, the Minister of Aviation and Aerospace Development, says that airline operators in Nigeria have agreed to start sourcing Jet-A1 fuel from Dangote Refinery.
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