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Inaugurating A New President On May 29 Is Not Absolute

May 5, 2023

By Aloy Ejimakor

Yesterday (May 4, 2023), I tweeted on my Twitter handle that “Given that the FINALITY of election result is decided by the Court, except where the INEC-declared result is uncontested, it’s unconstitutional to swear-in a winner whose victory has not been affirmed by the Court. Where’s the law that says such a winner must be sworn-in? None!”

Since then, I have received a barrage of direct messages and requests to publicly speak more on this. So, to those who asked me and in the public interest, below are the short answers to your many questions:

Yes, inauguration of a new President on May 29 is not absolute, neither by the provisions of the Constitution, the Electoral Act or any other written law.

And no, there won’t be any VACUUM if a new President is not sworn-in on May 29. The Constitution envisaged such an anomalous situation and thus copiously provided for the rainy day, as follows:

First, Section 135(1)(a) of the Constitution says that “Subject to the provisions of this Constitution, a person shall hold the office of President UNTIL when his successor in office takes the oath of that office”.

If you pay close attention to above provisions, you will notice that the Constitution never said “until May 29” and it used the word ‘shall’ which – by settled legal interpretation – means ‘must’. That means that the incumbent President, despite exhausting his eight years, is not going anywhere until his successor is sworn-in and such a date could overshot May 29.

Now, you can see that this is not about Tinubu, because, if you strictly follow the Constitution, neither Atiku, nor Obi (in addition to Tinubu) would be inaugurated as President on May 29 and Nigeria will still have a constitutional President.

You will also notice that since 1999, a lot of ‘successors’ or winners of elections, mostly of the gubernatorial kind, had taken their oaths of office AFTER May 29. So, where did this widespread notion that May 29 is sacrosanct or absolute come from? It came from mere custom or political expediency, not from any known black letter law.

Second, Section 136(2) of the Constitution says that “Where the persons duly elected as President and Vice President die or are UNABLE for ANY REASON whatsoever to assume office before the inauguration of the National Assembly, the Independent National Electoral Commission shall immediately conduct an election for a President and the Vice-President”.

In plain terms, what the preceding Section 136 is saying is that, apart from death, there are myriad reasons that could prevent or imperil the President-elect and the Vice, standing together, from assuming office on May 29 and heavens won’t fall.

One of such other reasons that easily comes to mind is a Court order, usually of an Interlocutory kind, emanating from the Tribunal on a Motion; or from an Originating Summons (not an election petition) succeeding before a Federal High Court on interpretation of the pertinent constitutional provisions on point, including particularly the said Sections 135, 136, in addition to Section 1(2) of the Constitution vis-a-vis the absolutism or otherwise of May 29.

To be clear, the Section 1(2) of the Constitution that is pertinent to this discourse provides that “The Federal Republic of Nigeria shall not be governed, nor shall any persons or group of persons take control of the Government of Nigeria or any part thereof, except in accordance with the provisions of this Constitution.”

In my view, both the Tribunal (under the Electoral Act) and the Federal High Court (under Section 6 of the Constitution) have concurrent jurisdiction to delve in the interpretation of these Sections as they impact on May 29.

Anybody saying that it is only the Election Tribunal that possesses an exclusive jurisdiction on this matter or that simultaneously and separately initiating such a Suit before the Federal High Court will abuse the process of the Election Tribunal is wrong, because the fundamental business of interpreting the Constitution (the organic law) is independent of, and should have primacy over everything else, including particularly a mere election petition before a narrowly-constituted ad hoc Tribunal.

Now, ponder this: If the result declared by INEC does not accord with the Electoral Act, it then follows that such result does not, ipso facto, accord with the Constitution, because the Electoral Act is a product of (and subservient to) the Constitution – the grundnorm. The river never flows backwards. Thus, any repugnancy in the Electoral Act must yield to the demands of the Constitution.

Thus, by virtue of the preceding Section 1(2) of the Constitution, inaugurating a new President on May 29 while the Court (as the final umpire) is yet to call the final result would mean that persons (or a group of persons) have taken control of the Government of Nigeria in a manner that does not accord with the Constitution.

The clearer and obvious way of understanding this conundrum is to think of it this way: If a new President is sworn-in on May 29 and subsequently, the Tribunal or the Supreme Court (again: the final umpire) invalidates the election, what would you say happened to the Government of Nigeria during the period the sacked President held office before the final judgment?

Unarguably, what happened is that, during such period, the Federal Republic of Nigeria and her government were taken control of in a manner that did not accord with the Constitution. This is a grave constitutional injustice that can never be undone. So, by all means, it should be avoided as the Constitution has enabled such under Sections 135 and 136.

While you ponder this, keep in mind that there is no express provision in the Constitution, the Electoral Act (the law that enables elections and transitions) or any other written law that strictly requires that a challenged winner of an election must be sworn-in on May 29.

Don’t get me wrong. I have no personal or political animus against any election winner. An election winner surely deserves the fruits of his victory but it must not be on May 29. It can be later or even not at all, if the Court – which is the final electoral umpire – fails to affirm his INEC-victory.

In the unique legal framework of Nigeria’s elections, INEC is not the end but the means to the end. That end is the Court (the judiciary) which alone possesses all the judicial powers of the Federation, including the final powers to declare winners of elections.

So, the smart framers of the Constitution, having figured that, some day, an occasion will surely arise where a winner may be unable for ANY REASON to be sworn-in on May 29, they inserted the implicit ‘tenure elongation’ in Section 135 but limited it by the provisions of Section 136 that requires INEC to ‘immediately’ conduct another Presidential election. If the intendment of this creative Constitution-making was not to ensure there’s no VACUUM, what then is its intendment?

Thus, in the clear absence of any law mandating that a swearing-in must proceed apace on May 29, the only reason (or justification) Nigeria had indulged in such crass unconstitutionality (or extra-constitutionality) since 1999 was political CUSTOM, and that’s because the country or the political class was desperate and thus minded to avoid anything that the military can latch on to continue in power.

Today, that custom, even though initially convenient and compelling is retrograde and can no longer stand because it is repugnant to natural justice, equity and good conscience. Above all, it is – by hindsight – incompatible with the Constitution and Laws of the Federation of Nigeria in several ramifications.

And mark my word: This thesis does not apply to the office of the President ALONE. It applies across the board. And until Nigeria gets its elections right or purges itself through a popular referendum, the judiciary should ensure that winners of disputed elections must not take power until the declaration of the final result by the last Court.

If politicians are made aware that power can only come after the courts (not INEC) have decided the result, it will work wonders in getting the greatest number of contestants and even INEC and political partisans to keep in line, play fair and desist from this dismissive mantra of ‘go to court’ which is a subliminal insult on the Constitution and the judiciary.

Ejimakor, a Constitutional Lawyer, wrote from Abuja

May 29 is not Sacrosanct for Swearing-In of Tinubu

The Source

May 5, 2023

By Sam Amadi

Electrical systems are determined by constitutions, which are shaped by historical developments. In constitutional law there are few universals & plenty peculiarities. May 29 as d date to inaugurate a new government is conventional not constitutional.

The constitution provides that President and Governors all have 4 years tenure. None should exceed that tenure. So a president or governor came to power on May 29 four years ago, he or she had to vacate office this May 29. That’s is sacrosanct. None should stay a day longer.

But the constitution does not prescribe that a new president must take office on the same May 29. In popular imagination, it is taken for granted that there would be a valid president to take over on May 29. But were that is not possible due to several reasons, there is a constitutional remedy. D constitution provides that in the event there is no president or vice the senate president should take over.

There are many circumstances for that, including impeachment and death of both. It also includes when no valid president is elected to be sworn in When a president has been declared president-elect but his election is being challenged in court, what should happen? Should he or she be sworn in while defending his or her declaration? This has been the practice. But it is a dangerous practice that can lead to grace crises.

Imagine a sitting president being declared unlawfully returned as President by INEC. He could refuse to hand over power, he could even prevent d court from sitting and making d decision if he knows he will lose. As commander in chief, he could use state power to defeat justice.

The best situation is for all cases to be ended before swearing in of a new president. This should apply to a less extent to governors because they are not commander in chief. It’s dangerous for a hybrid democracy like ours to have a president who could lose power through d court.

Best solution is for the courts to finish the cases on time b4 inauguration as it is done in the US. Nest best is to delay inauguration until cases end since the eventual president will still have a complete 4 years tenure. He suffers no deprivation. The worst is to make him.

Commander in chief with the undue advantage it confers and the threat it poses to national stability and democracy.

If Trump could plan to disrupt congress to stay in power in advanced US, imagine the possibilities in an electoral autocracy like Nigeria with desperate politicians.

Sam Amadi, PhD, is a Law Lecturer and Columnist, Financial Nigeria

Osinbajo’s Bid For Presidency Borne Out Of Public Interest – Aide

Ayodele Oni

May 5, 2023

By Ayodele Oni

An Aide to the Vice-President Yemi Osinbajo has defended his decision to contest for the presidential ticket of the All Progressives Congress (APC) last year, saying “he couldn’t have just walked away like that.”

The Aide said the decision was borne out of other reason of the interest of the public.

According to Laolu Akande, the presidential ticket slug out by Osinbajo with others including Bola Tinubu was not meant to slight anybody.

His decision to contest had drawn criticism from members of the Lagos APC, with some describing his ambition as a betrayal of Tinubu.

But early this week, deposed Emir of Kano, Sanusi insisted that Osinbajo remains a formidable presidential material in Nigeria.

The vice president was the attorney-general of Lagos when Tinubu was governor of the state.

Speaking on Friday in an interview with Channels Television, Akande said Osinbajo contested because he believed that he possesses the necessary experience, qualifications and inspirational leadership qualities for the office of the president.

“What is important is that you take the step you want to take in the best interest of the people. Public interest is the overriding factor.p

“You couldn’t have been vice-president for eight years, and the kind of vice-president that he has been, and how much work that has been done.

“The level of understanding that you have acquired in terms of what has to be done and the capacity he has demonstrated when he had the opportunity to act for the president.

“And he has inspired tens and scores of millions of Nigerians with his leadership style. People see him as a representation of a new Nigeria. All of these can’t be in place and he just walks away.

“He did what he needed to do and the party made the decision and he just has to move on after doing the right thing.”

Osinbajo was largely absent from the campaign trail of the APC presidential candidate in the run-up to the elections fuelling speculation that he was not supporting the eventual winner of the primary election.

Tinubu went on defeat Atiku Abubakar of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and Peter Obi of the Labour Party (LP) in the presidential election.

The two defeated candidates have filed petitions at the tribunal to challenge the decision of the Independent National Electoral Commission, (INEC) to declare Tinubu winner of the election.

TRCN Reveals Status Of Teachers In Private Schools, Says Most Of Them Are Illiterates

Ayodele Oni

May 5, 2023

By Ayodele Oni

The general saying that private schools are better than the public ones, is being threatened with discovery by a regulatory body that majority of those private institutions are being run by illiterates.

For years now it has become the practice of parents to enroll their siblings in privately owned institutions, especially nursery and primary schools in the believe that they are well equiped to raise those children.

It has even become a sort of competition among parents with some of them having the notion that parents with children in public schools are the poor, and cannot afford fees of privately owned ones.

This has led to astronomical rise in number of privately owned institutions to the extent that any available buildings are being turned to private learning centres.

Now, the Federal Government’s regulatory body for teaching in Nigeria, the Teachers Registration Council of Nigeria, (TRCN), has declared that 70 per cent of private school teachers in Southwest states are not qualified to teach.

The South-west states in Nigeria are Lagos, Osun, Ogun, Ondo, Oyo and Ekiti.

The council’s registrar, Prof. Josiah Ajiboye who noted that the culprits were not teachers, but cheaters, added that they don’t only cheat the pupils/students but the system in its entirety.

Speaking in Abuja at the signing of the Memorandum of Understanding, (MoU) between the Council and INSTILL Education, Ajiboye revealed that contrary to several speculations about the Southwest and its teachers of private schools, 70 per cent had been discovered unqualified.

Lamenting that 70 per cent of the unqualified teachers lacked the prerequisites to be registered by the Council, the TRCN boss stated that a large number of teachers in Nigeria had never been exposed to training and had been using outdated equipment for illustration.

“They are not registrable with the TRCN. So that is to tell you that there is a big gap. So you cannot call them teachers but cheaters.

“So we are looking into the future to fill up that gap like it’s done in South Africa.”

He said signing the MoU was aimed at equipping Nigerian teachers with 21st-century skills that would ultimately support teacher professional development and learning outcomes in Nigeria and Africa in general.

$1bn Ondo Deep Seaport Gets Boost

James Orji

May 5, 2023

The Nigerian Ports Authority, NPA, has assured that the $1 billion Ondo multipurpose deep seaport project would get all necessary approval for its implementation.

According to the News Agency of Nigeria, NAN, Bello-Koko gave this assurance when he received the Ondo State coordinator for special projects, Boye Oyewumi, in his office in Lagos.

During the meeting, Oyewumi submitted the ‘Full Business Case’ for the port to the NPC boss.

Bello-Koko assured his guest that the NPA would work with the federal Ministry of Transportation and other relevant agencies to obtain approvals to enable the port to begin operations.

The NPA chief executive said, “The NPA has consistently restated its readiness to provide requisite technical guidance for the establishment of new ports in line with global best practices.

“In keeping with NPA’s commitment to creating an enabling atmosphere for the construction of more deep seaports, the Ondo state project will come to fruition.”

May 29: Tinubu’s Men Attack Catholic Bishop

James Orji

May 5, 2023

Ahead of the May 29 inauguration of the president-elect, Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s men are not leaving anything to chance to ensure that the plan is not scuttled.

To that extent, they are not prepared to spare anyone who appears to be against their principal becoming the commander-in-chief, even if such is a revered man of God like the former Catholic Archbishop of Abuja, John Cardinal Olorunfemi Onaiyekan.

On Wednesday, the retired Catholic Archbishop joined a few other Nigerians who said Bola Ahmed Tinubu, who won the February 25 presidential election should not be sworn in until the contestations over his election are settled in the court.

“There are cases in court that have not been disposed of. That is why we are in an anomalous situation.

“We have a president-elect whose election is being challenged and the court is handling it.

“I’m still waiting for the court to tell me who won the election. It doesn’t make much sense to be swearing in people when they are still in court,” Onaiyekan said.

His comment did not go down well with the camp of the president-elect who has descended on him heavily. Nothing would stop the inauguration of Tinubu, according to Festus Keyamo, the minister of state for Employment and one of the spokesmen of the former Lagos Governor.

In a statement, he issued on Thursday, the minister said Onaiyekan comment is an embarrassment to the Body of Christ, he urged him to act like a statesman on matter concerning the stability of the country. “Dear daddy Onaiyekan, you know we all respect you a lot, but your political comments are becoming unstatesmanlike.

“A statesman who doubles as a Man of God should strive to be fair to all. You didn’t say the same thing when Obasanjo, Yar’Adua, Jonathan, and Buhari were all sworn in as Presidents when their cases were still before the courts,” Keyamo said.

On his part, Femi Fani-Kayode described Onaiyekan’s comment as one of the plans by the ‘Deep State’ to stop Tinubu from becoming president, adding that the president-elect is a moving train that cannot be stopped.

According to the former Minister and one of the spokesmen of the defunct Tinubu/Shetima Presidential Campaign Council, said the election of Tinubu is a divine plan of God that cannot be stopped by anybody.

He said Tinubu will outlive all those that want to stop him from becoming president and commander-in-chief.

Fani-Kayode said: “To Cardinal John Onaiyekan and those that share his views that the swearing in of our President-elect should be postponed until after the Election Tribunal has delivered its judgement I say the following.

“The Nigerian people have spoken and the Deep State conspiracy to stop Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu from becoming President failed long ago.

“We are well past that stage and you cannot stop a moving train. Those that have hardened their hearts and that have refused to accept God’s will and admonition to let Asiwaju and the Nigerian people go shall, like Pharaoh, perish before our very eyes.

“Those that are filled with bitterness, hate, envy, fury, and rage and that seek to pursue us into the Red Sea as we make our way to the Promise Land shall be drowned by it.

“Whether they like it or not, God-willing, the President-elect SHALL be sworn in on May 29th and those that want him dead or wish him ill shall see the grave long before he does. This is the doing of the Lord and it is marvellous in our sight.”

Meanwhile, some opinion leaders in the country insist that the inauguration should go ahead while the court is allowed to do its job of deciding who won the presidential election.

This is not the first time a president will be inaugurated while contestations about the election are still pending in the court,” according to those familiar with the nation’s political system.

Nothing Will Stop Tinubu’s Inauguration Says Army

James Orji

May 5, 2023

Bola Ahmed Tinubu At Arewa Joint Committee Forum

The Nigerian Army has assured Nigerians of the smooth inauguration of president-elect, Bola Ahmed Tinubu.

Tinubu is billed to be sworn in on May 29 as the country’s 16^th president and commander-in-chief despite controversies surrounding his election.

He will replace the incumbent, President Muhammadu Buhari who is expected to step back in a few weeks after the end of his eight-year term.

Some Nigerians have expressed reservations about his impending inauguration, while others have called for the institution of an Interim National Government, ING.

On Wednesday, a former Catholic Archbishop of Abuja, John Olorunfemi Onaiyekan said the cases arising from the February 25 presidential election should be dispensed with by the tribunal before Tinubu is sworn in.

Not many agreed with the respected Catholic cleric.

Speaking ahead of the May 29 inauguration the Army said it will be hit-free to ensure that ‘nothing unwanted happens.”

It also warned those planning to scuttle the inauguration to have a change of heart.

The Director, Defence Media Operation, Maj.-Gen. Musa Danmadami, told reporters in Abuja that the military and other security agencies are working together so that the country had a smooth transition of power.

According to him, “The issue of threat to the security and stability of the country is addressed promptly. Elections have come and gone. For the presidential election, a winner has been announced.

“There is a transition committee in place comprising all members of the security agencies, ministries, and agencies of government to make sure the event is held successfully and without a glitch.

“We don’t see reasons why there should be a problem during the activity. The inauguration will come and go and nothing will happen.

“We are not going to relent at ensuring there is peace and stability across the length and breadth of the country.”

OPINION: The Fowl of Mecca and Nigeria’s Census Palaver

The Source

May 5, 2023

By Azu Ishiekwene

We have a measurement problem eloquently illustrated in a Yoruba tale about a Mecca has-been. The fellow in this tale had just returned from a pilgrimage to Mecca, apparently the first to do so in his community. Upon his return, folks were understandably curious and wanted to know about the Holy Land.

Thinking of what would best illustrate the majestic splendour of Mecca, the sojourner decided to use a native fowl as an example.

“You all know our native fowl?,” he began.

“Of course!,” his curious, attentive listeners chorused.

“The fowl in Mecca is as big as a cow, if not bigger!,” he told them.

“Oh no!,” one rather incredulous listener said, amidst the rapturous gasps of h-e-n-e-n-h-e! “Big as a cow or big as a goat?”

“Ok,” the sojourner replied, “Let’s say it’s as big as a goat!”

“Oh no!,” the incredulous interlocutor reposed again. “Big as a goat or as big as a rabbit?”

This encounter continued until the sojourner, lowering his hand each time he was challenged, grudgingly lowered it until the point where nearly everyone finally concluded that the size of the fowl of Mecca was not significantly different from the size of the local one.

The tale of the fowl of Mecca is a metaphor of our census dilemma. We have spent nearly 60 years counting ourselves and yet, the answer to Nigeria’s census question is: it depends on whose hand is at play.

The Nigerian Population Commission (NPC) estimates that Nigeria is 218 million; the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) puts the figure at “over 200 million”; while the UNFPA and the World Bank estimate Nigeria’s population at between 216 million and 218 million, or thereabouts.

Former President Goodluck Jonathan even said at a recent event that Nigeria is not 200m. “Far from it,” he reportedly said on April 14. “We should be about 150m.”

As things stand, Nigeria is in the company of Afghanistan, DR Congo, Uzbekistan, Madagascar, Eritrea and Lebanon as countries without a census population. The only thing certain about the Lebanese population, for example, is that there are more Lebanese in the Diaspora than at home!

The recent attempt to have another count in Nigeria, already overdue by 17 years, has been postponed indefinitely. After a hasty meeting on Friday night between President Muhammadu Buhari and the Chairman of NPC, Nasir Isa Kwarra, the Federal Government announced that it had decided to let the incoming administration handle the census.

The postponement did not surprise me. After years of doing nothing, the Board of 36 commissioners and a relatively unknown chairman have become so used to pay and prestige without work that getting any serious census off the ground was always going to be a tough job.

Ten years ago, former Managing Director of Nigerian Breweries Plc and Chairman of NPC, Festus Odimegwu, was forced to resign his position because he said Nigeria could not have a meaningful census except certain fundamental changes were made.

He said at the time, “If the current laws are not amended, the planned 2016 census will not succeed.” By that, of course, he meant laws that make the population of states a basis for the sharing of oil revenues and political representation.

His comment ruffled feathers. President Jonathan who already had his back to the wall sacked Odimegwu to appease deeply offended interests in the North who thought the NPC chairman could not be trusted to conduct a credible census.

It turned out, however, that Jonathan’s sacrifice was neither enough to secure him Northern sympathy in the 2015 election nor did the census hold as planned in 2016. His successor, Muhammadu Buhari, after promising to hold the census in May 2023 has now kicked the can down the road, with no shortage of excuses.

The most obvious one was the shift in the date of the governorship and state house of assembly elections. The NPC said the shift in state elections from March 11 to 18 complicated its original plans to have the census between March 29 and April 2.

That is potentially true, but mainly false. The shift by one week may have momentarily affected NPC’s planning and execution, but only momentarily. The Commission was not ready, simple. Apart from those in its glass-panelled offices in Abuja and a few staff in the states, NPC has been very busy talking to itself.

It was not the shift in election dates by a week that complicated NPC’s problem. Its unseriousness was worsened by widespread complaints about the failure of the Independent National Electoral Commission’s (INEC) bimodal verification system. NPC was deeply worried by the prospects of a flawed count piling on the unresolved BVAS mess.

Another sign of unpreparedness was the questionnaire – the basic instrument for the 2023 census. On April 14, the NPC Director of Public Affairs, Dr. Isiaka Yahaya, was quoted to have said in Kano that the Commission would not ask questions about religion and ethnicity in the census!

Why not? What is it about respondents’ religion and ethnicity that NPC is so afraid of that it desperately wants to expunge from the questionnaire?

If there was anything that needed a review, it is the often-weaponised “state of origin” which could have been replaced with “state of residence,” for example. But to pretend that it’s OK to strike out religion/non-religion and ethnicity and make us a bunch of aliens is, well, largely alien to population census. I don’t know where this idea is coming from or what NPC hopes to achieve.

But none of the countries I have searched turned up this demographic insanity. Not India, the world’s largest multi-ethnic democracy, where everything from caste to mother-tongue and migration status is required; not South Africa or Kenya; and certainly not Ghana, Nigeria’s neighbour.

Yet, what these countries have in common, but which Nigeria lacks, is significant degree of reliability in primary data on births, deaths, school enrolments, migrations and so on, managed in secure systems and regularly updated. Without reliable primary data, any census conducted — whether every five, seven or ten years — is a waste of time. And without this data also, no reliable planning or forecast is likely.

It would seem that the real elephant in the room, though, is that the NPC knows the Bola Ahmed Tinubu government would reject the outcome of a census rammed down the country’s throat with only days before President Muhammadu Buhari’s administration leaves.

They’re dealing with a familiar customer. It was Lagos State, under Tinubu, that dragged the Federal Government to the tribunal over the 2006 census, on grounds that the state’s population had been underreported by nearly half its size.

The current Lagos Deputy Governor, Femi Hamzat, who was the Commissioner for Science and Technology at the time, produced a book on behalf of the state, entitled, “Errors, Miscalculations and Omissions: The Falsification of Lagos Census Figures,” which essentially said that instead of the 9.1 million which the NPC had awarded the state, its own shadow census showed the state actually had a population of 17.6 million.

Nothing much came out of the legal challenge, but Odimegwu’s complaint seven years later re-echoed the sentiments of Lagos and significantly explains the scramble, this time, to nick the census before May 29.

If Kwarra and his commissioners are deceiving themselves, Buhari knows that Tinubu’s government will not accept any census result under the current circumstances. That is why the census was postponed.

Yet, given the current structure of the country, especially the conservatively dominated National Assembly, it would be difficult to have a credible census, even under Tinubu, without a review of the law that makes population the basis of sharing oil money.

Under the “horizontal sharing” formula of 26.72 percent of revenue in the federation account, for example, population accounts for 30 percent. This figure could be cut to 10 percent; while internal revenue which currently gets 10 percent could be increased to 30 percent.

Appeals not to politicise the census is empty, self-serving noise. Politicians will not relent, unless there is also a countervailing legislation that ties the extent and scope of Federal intervention in states to the taxes or royalties collected from the states and, fundamentally, to how much wealth the states themselves create.

Nothing short of a drastic action will cut the politics of our census fowl to its true size.

Ishiekwene is Editor-In-Chief of LEADERSHIP

Egbu Diocese Celebrates Pioneer Bishop Iheagwam’s 80th Birthday –10 Years After Bowing Out

The Source

May 5, 2023

Professor Emmanuel Uchechukwu Iheagwam and His Wife

By George Best Okoroh

The entire congregants of the Diocese of Egbu, Anglican Communion, Oweeri North, Imo State, on Tuesday, 2nd May 2023, celebrated their pioneer Bishop, the Rt. Rev. Professor Emmanuel Uchechukwu Iheagwam who clocked 80 years. This celebration came 10 years after the retirement of Iheagwam as the Bishop on clocking 70 years of age.

Iheagwam, an academic-turned Bishop, a Professor of Zoology, University of Nigeria, Nsukka, accompanied by his devoted wife, Mrs Ada Iheagwam, a Geographer, was full of joy that he was celebrated alive and not in death. He gave all thanks and praises to God Almighty who made it possible.

In his sermon, the Bishop of the Diocese of Egbu, Iheagwam’s solid successor in office, since 2013, the Rt. Rev. Geoffrey Enyinnaya Okorafor, described the octogenarian as an epitome of humility whose good legacy will always be remembered in the annals of Egbu Diocese, popular as Holy Ghost Diocese.

According to Bishop Okorafor, the Rt. Rev. Prof Emmanuel Iheagwam was being celebrated because of his leadership qualities and pragmatic approach to issues.

He quoted the pioneer Bishop as always saying that ”we are all learning in every day of our lives”.

Bishop Okorafor recalled that Egbu Diocese, when established in 1996, was not giving the chance to survive based on the circumstances surrounding it at that period while under the Diocese of Owerri. But pointed out that with the pragmatic leadership qualities of the pioneer Bishop, the Diocese has clocked 27 years, and still standing very strong on its feet.

Bishop Okorafor highlighted some of the achievements of Bishop Iheagwam before he bowed out of office to include the establishment of Archdeacon Dennis Foundation International Boys Secondary School, Egbu which kick-started same year the Diocese was established, the recovery of Egbu Girls Secondary School as a Missionary School owned by the Diocese from the State Government, Palm plantation project at Emeabiam area of Imo State as well as other agrarian projects provided huge income to the treasury of the Diocese and many more.

In the words of the Lord Chancellor of Orlu Diocese and a retired Judge of Imo State, Goddy Anunihu KSC

“I joined the Service and Ceremony marking the 80th Birthday anniversary of Rt. Rev. E. U. Iheagwam Rtd. Via Zoom from my holiday location in Manchester United Kingdom. It was really glamorous.”

He Congratulated the Bishop Emeritus, the Incumbent Bishop and the Planning committee ” for a good outing.

Some of the dignitaries who graced the event include the Archbishop emeritus of Ecclesiastical Province of Owerri and retired Bishop of Orlu, Most Rev. B.C I Okoro, Bishops Chidi Oparaojiaku, Emma Maduwihe PhD, Chamberlain Ogunedo, retired Bishop of Mbaise, Rt Rev Bright Ogu and their wives.

The Chancellor of the Diocese, Chief Magistrate Maureen Onyewuotu, and the Legal team were also present as well as Hon. Justice Ijeoma Agugua.

Others present were Senator Sam Anyanwu (Sam Daddy), the Governorship Candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party, who unveiled a book, “Autobiography of the Rt Rev Prof. Emmanuel Uchechukwu Iheagwam” as part of the events which marked the Bishop Iheagwam’s 80th birthday.

Also in attendance were Hon James Onyeriri, the Lord Chancellor of Oji River Diocese, Bar. Aham Eke -ejelam (SAN), Hon. Rogers Nwoke, and Sir Sam Ojukwu amongst several others.

Save Democracy In Nigeria

The Source

May 5, 2023

As the Presidential Election Petitions Tribunal gets set to begin hearing on the various election petitions before it, the NEO AFRICANA CENTRE (NAC) has called on the judiciary to rise to the occasion and be prepared to play its role as the bastion of democracy. The public policy think tank said it is compelled to make this charge in the light of the many flaws and infractions that characterized the 2023 general elections. The Centre believes that there is an urgent need for the judiciary to intervene in order to save democracy in Nigeria from total collapse.

In a statement by its Director of Public Affairs, Jenkins Udu, the Centre expressed grave concern over the charade called the 2023 elections, a situation which it said has given rise to the plethora of litigations the tribunal is saddled with. It has therefore charged the judiciary to live above board by cleansing the Augean stable of the 2023 general elections.

The statement reads in part:

“As a Public policy think tank concerned with the tripartite principles of democracy, good governance and the rule of law, we have remained scandalized by the elaborate charade which the Independent National Electoral Commission shamelessly passed off as elections in Nigeria in 2023. The exercises which held on February 25 and March 18 remain a huge national embarrassment. The electoral commission did not just subvert its own rules, it abandoned midstream the technological innovations which would have made the conduct and outcome of the elections almost seamless. While we do not intend to go into the nitty gritty of the flawed exercises, we make bold to say that the February 25 presidential election was the worst of its kind that Nigeria ever experienced. The electoral commission failed the country spectacularly.

“The Centre is of the considered opinion that this failure by the electoral body should be mitigated. This is where the judiciary comes in. As the bastion of democracy, the judiciary cannot afford to fail where other arms or institutions of government fail.

“Regardless of what many perceive as miscarriages of justice which have dogged the judgments of the courts in recent years, we still believe strongly that the judiciary can salvage itself and the country from the mess we have on our hands.

“Unlike what obtained in the recent past where our courts, including the Supreme Court, have been pooh poohed over scandalous judgements, the judiciary must put its acts together this time. It must shun those pitfalls that have made some of our judges objects of ridicule and derision. If the judiciary fails, the country would have failed holistically. Such a grim prospect will be injurious to the survival and sustenance of democracy in Nigeria.”

The Centre said it wants the judiciary, as was the case in the past, to put the country first by upholding the principle of integrity and keeping dirty compromises or inducements at bay.

“The people are watching and you cannot afford to fail,” the statement concluded.

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