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Ogun PDP Crisis: Court Fixes December 1 For Judgement Delivery

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The Source
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Otunba Jimi Adebisi Lawal and Oladipupo Adebutu

By Akinwale Kasali

The Federal High Court, Abuja, has fixed Thursday December 1, 2022, for the delivery of judgement on the Ogun Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, Governorship tussle.

Otunba Jimi Adebisi Lawal and Oladipupo Adebutu, both Governorship aspirants, are laying claim and counter-claim to the ticket of the Party.

Justice Inyang Ekwo has  fixed the said date to bring an end to the bickering.

Jimi Lawal who contested the May 25 governorship primary election of PDP had challenged the emergence of Oladipupo Adebutu alleging that unlawful and invalid delegates list was fraudulently used by PDP to conduct the election.

Among others, Lawal  prayed that the purported Primary election of May 25 be cancelled and another one be conducted with the authentic Adhoc delegates.

However, Justice Taiwo Taiwo of the Federal High Court in his judgment delivered on July 29 declined to hear the suit filed by Jimi Lawal on merit on the grounds that the Primary election was a domestic affair of any political party and dismissed the suit.

It would be recalled that the Supreme Court had on November 21 ordered the Federal High Court to hear on merit, the suit instituted against PDP and Adebutu by Lawal.

Justice Ibrahim Saulawa who read the ruling of the Apex Court ordered a speedy hearing of the suit after holding that the Federal High Court has jurisdiction to entertain the case.

During proceedings on Thursday, Justice Ekwo, in compliance with the Supreme Court order, heard the case expeditiously in view of the fact that the case would lapse by December 2.

The Judge said that he would do everything possible to deliver judgment  on December 1.

At the proceedings, Kanu Agabi, SAN and Ola Olanipekun, SAN stood for the plaintiff while Chris Uche, SAN, argued for PDP and Oladipupo Adebutu.

While Agabi prayed the court to grant the request of his client, Uche opposed the request and urged the court to dismiss the case on three grounds.

Oyetola Appoints 30 Permanent Secretaries

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The Source
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By Ayodele Oni

A few days to his exit, the Governor of the State of Osun, Mr. Adegboyega Oyetola, has approved the appointment of 30 Permanent Secretaries into the Civil Service.

Oyetola, since he lost the July Election to the candidate of People’s Democratic Party, (PDP), Senator Ademola Adeleke, has embarked on a gale of appointments into the Public Service.

Apart from appointments, Local Government Election was conducted where only the ruling All Progressive Congress (APC) candidates that participated.

The Chairmen and Councilors have since been sworn in.

Few days ago, the Governor announced names of members of the Governing Council of the newly established State University in Ilesha.

In a statement on Thursday  the Head of Service,  Dr Festus Oyebade, explained that the appointees will fill  existing vacancies in the State Civil Service.

According to him, “The swearing-in ceremony of the officers holds today, Thursday, 24th November, 2022 at the Local Government Service Commission hall at 4 00p.m.”

The PDP has, however, vowed to review some of the appointments, especially those hurriedly announced by the outgoing administration.

NSA, Monguno, Laments Proliferation Of Small Arms, Says Huge Threat To Nation

By
Akinwale Kasali
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By Akinwale Kasali

Babagana Monguno, the National Security Adviser, has lamented that the security of the nation is dangerously threatened following the proliferation of Small Arms and Light Weapons.

The Retired Major General said that this has become a menace to the security of the nation and needs to be urgently attended to, so as to bring an end to the insecurity ravaging the country.

He made this remark during the destruction of over 3,000 small arms recovered from across the country by the National Centre for the Control of Small Arms and Light Weapons, which were destroyed at the Nigerian Army Command Engineering Depot on Thursday in Kaduna State.

Monguno said that the proliferation of small arms and light Weapons was a major source of vulnerability in the society.

“It stood out as a key driver of violent conflict, crime and terrorism within and beyond Nigeria’s borders,” he added.

He stressed that the failure of the global community to control the availability of illicit SALW has continued to undermine global peace and significantly hinder development especially in sub-Saharan Africa.

“We recognise the complexity of the challenge of controlling the proliferation of SALW in Nigeria and the requirement for concerted action between the government, international community and all well-meaning Civil Society Organisations.

“Nonetheless, we are resolved to galvanise our strengths and unity as a nation to confront this monstrous challenge and I am optimistic that we shall overcome it,” he said.

The NSA was represented by Aminu Lawal, Director Policy and Strategy, Office of the NSA.

Adamawa, Taraba APC: Bwacha, Binani’s  Governorship Candidacy Upheld  By Appeal Court

By
Akinwale Kasali
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Bwacha and Binani

By Akinwale Kasali

The Governorship Candidacy of  Emmanuel Bwacha and Aishatu Ahmed popularly known as Aisha Binani of All Progressives Congress, APC, has been upheld by the Appeal Court In Yola, Adamawa State.

In upholding them as the duly elected Candidates, the Appeal Court set aside the ruling by a High Court nullifying their candidacy and ordered that their names be forwarded to the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, as the APC Governorship candidates for both states.

A Panel of three Justices which comprised  Justice T. Y Hassan (the presiding Judge) and Justices M. O. Bolaji and J. G. Abundaga  (JCA 1 and JCA 2) sat over the cases.

It would be recalled that the Federal High Court in Yola had on October 13, nullified the candidature of Binani as the governorship candidate of the APC in the State based on a suit FHC/YL/CS/12/2022 filed by another APC governorship aspirant in the State, Nuhu Ribadu.

The former Presidential Candidate of the defunct Action Congress of Nigeria, ACN, had prayed that the Court declare Binani’s candidature invalid and unlawful and declare him the Party’s Governorship Candidate.

The Court refused to order a fresh APC Governorship Primary in Adamawa State, which didn’t augur well with the former anti graft agency, Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC, Boss as he has lost the opportunity to re-contest.

Ribadu filed an appeal in suit NO.CA/YL/203/2022 between him and All Progressive Congress and two others.

Thursday’s ruling by the Court of Appeal dashed the hope of Ribadu as it dismissed his appeal  and allowed Binani’s appeal seeking to overturn the judgement given by the Federal High Court presided over by Justice Abdulaaziz Anka.

In a similar occurrence, it would be recalled that

on September 20, 2022 the Federal High Court sitting in Jalingo, and presided over by Justice Simon Amobeda, nullified the governorship primary election that produced Senator Emmanuel Bwacha, as the candidate of the All Progressives Congress in the 2023 election.

In his ruling in the case filed by one of the Governorship aspirants, David Kente, the Judge directed INEC to conduct a fresh Governorship primary in the state within 14 days.

The Court also ordered Bwacha to stop parading himself as the governorship candidate of the APC, and ordered INEC to stop recognising Bwacha as a candidate.

But the ruling by the Appeal Court  has quashed the hope of David Kente as Bwacha is to be recognized as the APC Governorship Candidate in Taraba State.

IPOB Leader, Kanu, Sues NIA DG,  Demands N20 Billion Compensation

By
Akinwale Kasali
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By Akinwale Kasali

The Director General, National Intelligence Agency, NIA, Ahmed Abubakar, has been sued by the leader of the Indigenous People of Biafra, IPOB, Nnamdi Kanu, for imprisoning  him in Kenya for over a week before extraditing him to Nigeria.

Kanu is also demanding a whopping N20 Billion as compensation for the alleged ill-treatment meted on him in Kenya by the NIA.

Lead Counsel to the IPOB Leader, Alloy Ejimakor, in a tweet via his Twitter handle,  posted a picture of the document containing the suit filed, where he described Kanu’s detention in Kenya as “false imprisonment.”

He explained further that the suit was necessary following a new evidence gathered implicating the DG beyond the “infamous extraordinary rendition.”

Ejimakor said, “Yesterday (Wednesday) I filed a suit against Ahmed Abubakar, the DG of National Intelligence Agency (NIA) for his eight days ‘false imprisonment’ of Mazi Nnamdi Kanu in discovereed evidence that implicated the DG/NIA beyond the infamous extraordinary rendition.”

The Court has given Abubakar 14 days to appear or be represented in Court, adding that failure to show up would mean that judgment would be given in the DG’s absence.

Ejimakor filed the Suit at the High Court of Abia State which reads in part, “You are hereby commanded that within 14 days after the service of this Writ on you inclusive of the day of such service, you do cause an appearance to be entered for you in the Umuahia Judicial Division of the High Court in Abia State in an action at this suit of Mazi Nnnamdi Kanu….and take notice that in default of your so doing, the claimant may proceed therein and judgment may be given in your absence.

“The claimant’s claim is for (i) A declaration of this Honourable Court that the defandant’s arrest of the claimant and his imprisonment of the claimant at said location in Nairobi, Kenya amounted to false arrest and false imprisonment.

“(ii) A declaration that the defendant acted in bad faith and/or abused his public office in falsely imprisoning the claimant at the said location in Kenya. (iii) An order of this Honourable Court directing the defendant to pay the claimant the sum of N20,000,000,000.00 (Twenty Billion Naira only) being general and exemplary damages…”

It would be recalled that few days ago, Kanu had, also, filed a  N20bn suit against the Attorney-General of the Federation, Abubakar Malami. The suit was, however, thrown out by the Federal High Court in Abuja.

Again, Court Disqualifies Rivers APC  Governorship Candidate, Tonye Cole From 2023 Race

By
The Source
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By Charles Igbo

In a repeat of the 2019 Governorship election scenario in Rivers State, a Federal High Court which sat in Porthacourt, has disqualified the Governorship candidate of the All Progressives Congress, APC, Tonye Cole, from participating in the 2023 election.

The Court, on Thursday, November 24, disqualified Cole for being a citizen of Nigeria and the United Kingdom. In its judgment, the Honourable Court posited that Mr Cole voluntarily acquired British citizenship, and pledged loyalty and allegiance to the Crown.

The Court, also, disqualified Cole on the grounds that the process through which he was nominated the APC candidate was untidy and failed to follow due process as enshrined in the new Electoral Act.

The suit which disqualified Cole was filed by the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, against the Independent National Electoral Commission INEC, APC, and Cole. The suit said that the delegates who voted for Cole at the Primaries were not elected democratically.

In Rivers State, the coast is getting clear for the PDP to win in a landslide.

Earlier, the Labour Party had been disqualified from participating in the General elections except in the Presidency. PDP filed the suit.

Also, 16 Candidates of the APC were recently barred from participating in the House of Assembly Election in a suit filed by the PDP.

For the records, the same Tonye Cole was disqualified from participating in the 2019 Governorship election after he had won at the Primaries.

The APC is likely to appeal the judgement.

Airline Operators Blame FAAN For Flight Delays, Cancellations, Reject Aviation Fuel Racketeering

By
Akinwale Kasali
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Airport

By Akinwale Kasali

The Airline Operators of Nigeria, AON, has alleged that the Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria, FAAN, is responsible for the frequent delays and cancellations of flights due to the inadequacy of critical infrastructure at the airport.

It expressing its displeasure over numerous issues in the aviation industry which is in turn having a toll on their productivity and service delivery.

Chairman of Air Peace, Allen Onyema, speaking at a Press Briefing in Abuja, said that when it comes to flight delays and cancellations, so many things are involved which many people do not know but rather blame the airlines, adding that no airline in the world would want to delay flights because of the cost implications.

Onyema stressed that the Airline Operators are operating in a hostile environment with limited infrastructures in place.

“How would I just wake up and want to delay my flight when I know I am going to incur a heavy cost.

“The Airlines are at the mercy of everybody. The owners of airlines in Nigeria are patriotic because it is not profitable. They are doing it as a service to Nigeria and should be applauded, not demonised.

“Nigerian indigenous airlines are performing under certain conditions that we should be applauded for still staying afloat. Is it forex, or fuel infrastructure? How about bird strikes in a good country? the airlines would have gone to court against FAAN for all the bird strikes because we pay for these services. Air Peace alone had had over twenty bird strikes in a year.”

In the same vein, the Chairman, United Nigeria Airlines and Spokesperson for AON,  Obiora Okonkwo, said there is a huge racketeering in the aviation fuel imports to the detriment of the airlines.

According to him, aviation fuel selling above N800/litre is not acceptable as our calculation shows that it shouldn’t be selling above N500/litre.

He said: “The authorities should make forex available and do something about the fuel racketeering. We are paying above the real cost. We are not asking for free money nor subsidy but the right thing should be done as the burden is transferred to the travellers.”

MURIC Says Christian Owned Varsities Unsanitized, Advises Adherents To Avoid Them

By
Ayodele Oni
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By Ayodele Oni

An Islamic human rights organisation, the Muslim Rights Concern (MURIC), has advised intending Muslim students and their parents to avoid applying for admission into private universities owned by Christians, pending the time the National Universities Commission (NUC) would sanitize them.

The group alleged that Christian proprietors of private universities are yet to purge themselves of ‘tramadolised religiousity’ and deep-seated hatred for Muslims and their faith.

According to MURIC, this  manifests in forceful conversion of Muslim students, compelling them to attend church service and disallowing female Muslim students from using hijab.

In a statement on Thursday, the group’s director, Professor Ishaq Akintola, accused Christian owners of private universities of ‘gymnastic religiousity, religious intolerance and identity theft.’

“We have a litany of reports coming from Muslim students in private universities owned by Christians concerning anti-Muslim practices and religious apartheid.

“Muslim students are not allowed to practice their faith in those private universities. They cannot form Muslim students associations.

“Worse still, they are not given any space where they can pray. Hijab is an anathema in such institutions. Muslim students are forced to attend Christian service in the chapel where attendance registers are marked and absentees are sanctioned.

“These institutions have the poorest human rights records today. To Muslim parents and students, these institutions are comparable to torture chambers at least for the duration of their studentship.

“These actions amount to gymnastic religiousity, religious intolerance and identity theft on the part of Christian owners of private universities.

“It is religious intolerance when Christian school authorities fail to provide a place for Muslim students to pray. It is acrobatic spirituality when Muslim students are forced to attend church.

“It is identity theft when Christian school owners disallow female Muslim students from wearing hijab thereby making them look like Christians.

“This treatment is obnoxious, unlawful, illegal, illegitimate and unconstitutional. It is an existential threat to the religion of Islam.

“It also constitutes indubitable proof of complete desertification of religious tolerance in the vocabulary of owners of Christian private universities.

“One way out of this quagmire is for Muslim students and their parents to make proper investigations before applying for admission into any private university.

“Those found to be owned by Christians should be avoided at all cost because they are nothing but spiritual traps set for Muslims to lose their identities.

“Christian proprietors do not possess that magnanimity, liberality and broad mindedness to share what they have without attaching strings. They continue to assure us with their body language that Christian evangelism in Nigeria knows no decency, to them all is fair, particularly that which is foul.

“To them, Muslim students are not among those who should enjoy or exercise their Allah-given fundamental human rights. Human rights should be enjoyed by Christian students alone.

“We urge Muslim students and their parents to avoid Christian private universities pending the time that the Nigerian Universities Commission (NUC) will sanitize them or pending the time Christian owners of private universities would have eschewed religious bigotry or learned to live and let live.”

Democracy: Jonathan Calls For Collaboration Among Leaders

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The Source
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Former President and Chairman of the Goodluck Jonathan Foundation, Dr. Goodluck Ebele  Jonathan has called for better collaboration among serving and past leaders of the continent and all democratic actors in order to address the challenge of democratic reversals and issues affecting peaceful transfers of power in West Africa.

Jonathan stated this on Wednesday at a strategy meeting of the West African Elders Forum (WAEF) in Abidjan, Côte d’Ivoire. In his opening remarks, the Nigerian leader observed that the friction between incumbent presidents and their predecessors was not in the best interest of democracy.

He said: “One grey area we have to look into is the observed antagonism between past leaders and serving leaders in some countries of the sub-region. This does not encourage the healthy practice of democracy.

“Also, in some of our countries, the democratic space appears to be shrinking. There is the need to figure out how to navigate through such challenge to grow democracy in West Africa and the rest of Africa.”

Jonathan noted that the focus of the forum was preventive diplomacy and that the purpose of the strategy meeting was to strategise how best to engage with stakeholders in West Africa ahead of the forthcoming elections in some countries.

“As a Forum, we believe so much in preventive diplomacy. One of our objectives is to ensure that we shore up the democratic gains of our region by meaningfully engaging different stakeholders, in a pragmatic and responsible manner.

“Meetings like this serve as an opportunity to review the gains, challenges and threats to peace and democracy in our sub-region and help us strategize on how to  mediate o that threats do not degenerate into conflicts

“As democrats, we believe elections are the cornerstone of democracy, and the activities surrounding the process could either make or mar the developmental aspirations of a nation.

“Election affords citizens the opportunity to have a say in their nation and gives them the opportunity to participate in the leadership recruitment process of their country.

“From recent events in Africa, we can draw a lesson on the relationship

between peaceful elections, democratic sustenance, and national stability.  This is why every process leading to the election is very important to the outcome of the poll.

“ In our sub-region, Nigeria, Sierra Leone and Liberia have scheduled general elections next year, and, as we know, elections could serve as a major trigger for violence and instability in our continent.

This is why it is important we closely monitor the electioneering processes in these countries and watch out for signs that may precipitate crisis. As elders, it is our responsibility to identify threats to the transition programmes in our sub-region and seek ways of proactively engaging relevant stakeholders toward resolving such challenges.”

Jonathan also called on those in “ government to redouble their efforts and commitment to democracy by ensuring that democracy translates to better welfare for the people.

Executive Director of the Goodluck Jonathan Foundation Mrs. Ann Iyonu, in welcome remarks, stated that :

“One of the principal objectives of the WAEF is to accompany West African countries in their various efforts at consolidating their democracies.

“In that regard, it has become very imperative to raise awareness and develop a collective sense of urgency in addressing some of the current trends threatening the peace, stability, and democratic governance of West Africa as the region races towards holding crucial elections in 2023, notably in Nigeria, Sierra Leone, and Liberia.”

Other participants at the events include the former President of Sierra Leone, Dr, Ernest Bai Koroma, former President of Benin,Mr. Boni Yayi, former Vice President of The Gambia  Fatoumata Tambajang, former  Head of  United Nations Office for West Africa and the Sahel (UNOWAS, Mr. Ibn Chambas and members of the diplomatic corps.

The West African Elders’  Forum is an initiative of the Goodluck Jonathan  Foundation with support from the Open Society Foundation. (OSF)

APC Kicks Against Electronic Transmission of Results

By
Tosin Olatokunbo
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Senator Abdullahi Adamu

Adamu Abdullahi, National Chairman of the ruling All Progressives Congress, APC, has expressed concern over the decision of the Independent National Electoral Commision, INEC to transmit election results electronically in next year’s election.

The chairman of INEC Prof Mahmood Yakubu has maintained that there is no going back on the commission’s decision not to transmit elections results manually as it was done in the past.

But speaking yesterday in Abuja the nation’s capital Adamu said the country is not ripe for the technol that the Electoral umpire is planning to deploy in the 2023 general elections.

He cited the problem of erratic power supply across the country as one of the reasons why INEC must reconsider its plan to transmit results electronically.

Adamu spoke on Wednesday at the APC national headquarters, when he received a delegation of the Commonwealth on a pre-election assessment.

According to him, “Our concern is how ready are we to deploy some of these technologies as regards transmission because we are taking a major step in transmitting election results in real time.

“To transmit results, in every part of the nation Nigeria, I’m not sure that the network covers it. I know that even in parts of Abuja, there is no network and we have from now till February when in substantial parts of the country there is no electricity.

“INEC must assure us 100 per cent that as at when due in transmitting results they are ready.”
The position of the APC chairman is however at variance with that of not a few Nigerians particularly the civil society groups who insist that the deployment of electronic means to transmit election results next year will reduce to the barest minimum election rigging and manipulation.

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