The Court of Appeal, Ibadan, on Thursday, dismissed appeals brought before it by the Democratic Peoples Alliance (DPA) candidate, Professor Wole Akinboade and the All Nigeria Peoples Party (ANPP) against the judgment delivered on March 17 by the tribunal which upheld the election of Governor Adebayo Alao-Akala.

In a short ruling, the tribunal dismissed their petition because they could not prove their cases beyond reasonable doubt.

Though the panel was presided over by Justice Dattito Muhammad, Justice Istifanus read the unanimous ruling of the court since he presided over both appeals.

In his ruling, Justice Thomas said there was no valid appeal before it since the appellants had come with no notice of appeals and neither were there records of proceedings from the lower tribunal with the court registry nor any in the judges’ files.

He said that the Court of Appeal rules and the Court Practice Direction 2007 mandated appellants to file notices of appeal within 30 days, which, according to him, the appellants in the instant appeal had failed to comply with after many months since judgment was given.


The Court upheld the application for noncompliance brought by the respondents’ lawyers, Mr. Lateef Fagbemi (SAN) and Chief Makanjuola Esan (SAN) seeking that the case be dismissed for non-compliance with Order 8 rule 4 of the C.O.A rules.


In his reaction, Governor Adebayo Alao-Akala said the ruling was “yet another symptom of the political virus plaguing the opposition in the state.”


According to him in a statement by his Special Adviser on Public Communication, Prince Dotun Oyelade, “the striking out of the opposition’s appeal was a dress rehersal for the judicial demise to which the opposition had already led itself.”

More Nigerians are set to own cars, with the Federal Government extending yesterday the age limit of used cars that can be imported from eight to 10 years.This means Customs will earn more revenue from the likely increase in the volume of such cars, otherwise known as Tokunbo (imported used items).

The Federal Government banned importation of cars older than eight years, in 2003, amid wide condemnation.

It was not immediately clear yesterday how this would affect the motor vehicle market, which has been accessible to many, following the introduction of easy payment schemes by banks.

Car dealers said they would like to study the policy before commenting.

The new policy was announced at the presentation of the 2008-2012 Nigeria Customs and Excise Tariff Book at the headquarters of the Federal Ministry of Finance, Abuja. The Comptroller General of Customs, Hammeed Bello Ahmed, also announced the ban on the importation of textiles and articles.

The textiles include Holland, English Wax, Ankara, lace fabrics, wedding gowns and ceremonial apparels as well as used clothes, rugs and carpets.

This ban will, however, not cover some textiles allowed in under the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) reached between Nigeria and Benin Republic.

The government also banned importation of beer and stout, plastics in the form of cutlery, tooth picks, retreated and used tyres, cases, boxes, cartons made from corrugated materials, foot wears, sports wears and suitcases.

Others on the prohibition list are furniture items of any type, except baby walker and ball pens, including refills.

The Director General of the Budget Office of the Federation, Dr. Bright Okogu, said that the 2008-2012 tariff book is a second attempt by Nigeria to harmonise its tariff regime with the ECOWAS Common External Tariff (CET).

The 2005-2006 Nigeria Customs and Excise Tariff book was released on October 1, 2005. "The 2005-2006 Tariff Book had 60 per cent of its duty harmonised with the ECOWAS CET.

However, realising the weak nature of the ECOWAS CET in providing protection for infant industry, Nigeria proposed a fifth band of 50 per cent duty rate. Thus, unlike the ECOWAS CET, which has four tariff bands of 0%, 5%, 10% and 20% duty rates, the Nigeria 2005-2006 Tariff Book has five Tariff bands, namely 0%, 5%, 10%, 20% and 50% duty rates," Okogun said.

According to him, the features of the 2008-2012 include, amongst others, "Five categories of Customs duty, namely: Category O (0%) for necessities such as most educational materials, etc; Category 1 (5%) for primary raw materials; Category 2 (10%) for intermediate products, e.g. CKD refrigerators, CKD television; Category 3 (20%) for finished goods that are not produced locally and which require no protection, e.g. television, refrigerators, generators, etc; Category 4 (35%) for finished goods that are manufactured locally and which therefore require some protection in the interest of promoting local industries.

With regard to the policy dimension of the new tariff book, Okogun said it was basically aimed at facilitating trade and industrial growth as it is simple and easy to administer.

"It is also hoped that it will lead to improvement in tariff revenue generation in the long run because of better compliance possibilities," he said.

In January 2002, the government banned used vehicles older than five years from being imported. There was a stockpiling of cars and other goods at the various seaports following massive importation.

The government said it wanted to stop the country from being turned into a dumping ground for rickety vehicles.

Earlier, following response pleas by the Nigerian Union of Road Transport Workers (NURTW) the Nigeria Labour Congress, NLC, Car Dealers Association, CDA, government had to reverse its five year-old car policy. Then Environment Minister, Muhammed Saa’d says the ban will curb pollution stating that 75% of air pollution in Nigerian cities is caused by used vehicle emissions and Nigeria had become a dumping ground as vehicles of over 30 years where being brought into the country.

Simialrly, in January 2004, President Olusegun Obasanjo announced an import prohibition of 41 products which included: printed textiles, fabrics, mutton, bottled water, toothpicks, leather shoes furniture, plastics and a host of other items.

The government took the decision to ban the items based on the recommendations from local manufacturer and suppliers who felt that the country could produce them. The local manufacturers had lobbied the government to take the decision in the interest of the economy and to protect the local industry. The manufacturers felt that the ban would go a long way to save millions of local jobs and keep the economy on the path of growth.

To enforce the ban, the Nigerian Customs Service (NCS), announced that they will be raiding the markets to seize the outlawed goods. However, the traders have reacted negatively to this, vowing to resist the threat by the Customs Service