The new Senate Minority Leader, Simon Davou Mwadkwon, has said he wished the immediate past Governor of Sokoto State, Aminu Waziri Tambuwal emerged as the minority leader instead of him.

Mwadkwon stated this during a chat with ARISE TV on Thursday on issues regarding his emergence, adding that he respected the former House of Representatives Speaker.

He said he regarded Tambuwal as his political godfather, noting that he emerged as the minority leader mainly because he is from the North Central.

“Mr Tambuwal is my political godfather. We’ve related very well. He was my speaker in the 7th Assembly and we speak very often. It would interest you to know that I have a soft spot for Tambuwal that I wish he became the minority leader.

“But I’m from the North Central. And when we saw the arrangements and the political office sharing in the whole country, the North Central was completely exempted.

“So the North Central people met and took a decision and said no, we must also vie for a position in the Senate. We’ve been shortchanged in the House of Representatives.

“And when it was time for the Senate, we found out that no position had been given to the North Central, and we decided that we must try our best. So, the North Central took a decision. It would interest you to know that all members of the minority parties in the North Central nominated me and decided that I should go and run for this position. And therefore, I accepted the challenge. Therefore I’ve nothing personal against Tambuwal.

“I think Tambuwal did the magic even on the floor of the Senate that day, because there were a few persons who were not satisfied with my choice and they approached the Senate President saying that we have to go to the executive session. And the president explained to them and they understood the whole thing. And Tambuwal was the one that stood up and said if Senator Simon has this number of signatures, he wishes to state categorically clear that I should be allowed to hold this position.

Mwadkwon

“So the rumors that I defeated Tambuwal are false. They’re not true. I don’t have an issue with Tambuwal. I respect him; he’s a man of honour and he was my leader when I was in the House of Representatives.”

Many Nigerians had expected Tambuwal to emerge as the upper chamber’s minority leader due to his experience in the National Assembly having served as speaker of the House of Represenatives.

The Court of Appeal sitting in Abuja has on Thursday set aside an interim Injunction restraining the National Youth Service Corps, NYSC, from issuing further disclaimers to the alleged forgery of certificate of national service belonging to the Enugu state governor, Barr. Peter Mbah.

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The appellate court while ruling on NYSC’s appeal against Peter Mbah’s injunction, directed the Corps to ensure it appear before the election Petitions Tribunal sitting in Enugu.

Appeal Court also said that the interim injunction granted by Justice Iyang Ekwo of the Federal high court sitting in Abuja, was an exercise in futility because Subpoena is an order of a competent Court which every citizen is bound to obey.

Dissatisfied with the dismissal of his petition by the Enugu Governorship Election Petitions Tribunal, Chief Uche Nnaji, candidate of the All Progressives Congress in the 2023 general elections in Enugu state has approached the Court of Appeal sitting in Enugu to seek redress.

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The Election Petitions Tribunal had on June 20, 2023 dismissed the petition filed by Mr. Nnaji & APC challenging the outcome of the Enugu governorship election wherein the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, announced Mr. Peter Mba of the People’s Democratic party, PDP, winner of the polls.

In his Petition, Chief Uche Nnaji said Mr. Peter Mba of the PDP was at the time of the election not constitutionally qualified to contest, having presented forged certificate to INEC.

It further said that Mr. Mbah was not duly elected by majority of lawful votes cast at the election as the process was marred by substantial non compliance with the electoral act, among other issues.

But the judge in her rulling said the petition with the suit number EPT/EN/GOV/05/23 was abandoned and cannot be entertained pursuant to paragraph 18(3) (4) of the First Schedule of the Electoral Act, 2022.

Chief Nnaji is therefore praying the Appeal Court to send back the dismissed petition to the Tribunal for hearing and determination of the suit.

Appeal Court sitting in Enugu will on Tuesday, 11th July 2023, commence hearing on the matter.

Daily Gazette recall that the APC Governorship candidate pulled a total of 14,575 votes to come distant fourth in the election.

Uche Nnaji 

The Kano State Public Complaints and Anti-Corruption Commission (PCACC) says forensic analysis has confirmed that the dollar videos of ex-Governor Abdullahi Umar Ganduje were not doctored.

In 2017, Daily Nigerian, an online publication, had released some videos of Ganduje allegedly collecting kickbacks from contractors.

The ex-Governor had denied the allegation, saying the videos were doctored.
But speaking at ‘A One Day Public Dialogue on Anti-Corruption Crusade in Kano’, on Wednesday, Barrister Muhuyi Magaji Rimingado, Chairman of the agency, said the authenticity of the videos had been confirmed.

He said since the release of the footages, people have been challenging the commission under him to prove the innocence or otherwise of the former governor in the matter.

He added that his commission commenced investigation in 2018 but could not go far because Ganduje, who was governor at the time, had immunity.

“Anybody that knows can tell that I am passionate about what I am doing which is fight corruption. People are disturbing me and pressurizing me to probe the dollar video. We are on it already, part of which is; forensic analysis confirmed to us that the video is not doctored,” he said.

“We are here to fight corruption in its entirety not only on one issue. So far, we have recovered property worth N200 million. We also have a corruption case of over N100 billion which we will continue and ensure that we recover the stolen properties, money and any other belongings of government and individuals.”

Earlier in his remarks, an academician, Dr. Abdullahi Kani, said lack of investigation in corruption allegations and societal tolerance on the suspects is causing serious setback to the fight against the corruption.

Citing a United Nations reports, he said in 2019, over N675 billion was offered as corruption which showed the country’s failure in addressing corruption.

Similarly, a member of the Civil Society Forum in the state, IG. Maryam said the state must implement the Freedom of Information Act to allow for access to information that will expose corruption, adding that “the past governments of the state spent N47 billion on water but yet we are battling with water scarcity in the state.”

The Public Dialogue was attended by Civil Society Organizations under the leadership of the Kano state Civil Society Forum, the media and members of the general public.

Earlier, a group, Good Governance and Advocacy Group (GGAG), warned against what it described as premeditated attempt by the government of Kano to ridicule Ganduje.

The coalition said there was a sinister move by the Kano government using the apparatus of the state anti-corruption commission to bring the name of Ganduje to disrepute through a politically motivated dialogue.

In a statement released Wednesday in Kano by the Secretary of the Coalition, Muhammed Lawan Shuaibu, the coalition said the attempt was aimed at denting the image of the former Chief Executive who enjoys a good relationship with President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, to prevent him from securing an appointment.

Anyim, a former Secretary to the Government of the Federation under President Goodluck Jonathan, arrived at the Villa a few minutes before 2 pm alongside former National Publicity Secretary of the People’s Democratic Party, Olisah Metuh.

In 2022, Anyim declared his intention to run for President on the PDP’s ticket.

The party later suspended Anyim in March 2023 for alleged anti-party activity when he supported the governorship candidate of the All Progressives Congress in Ebonyi State, Francis Nwifuru.

Meanwhile, Metuh publicly resigned from the PDP and partisan politics in October 2022.

In his letter dated October 25, 2022, and addressed to the party’s National Chairman, Metuh premised his decision on medical grounds.

Speaking to journalists after the meeting, Senator Anyim said amidst other heart-to-heart discussions, Wednesday’s visit was mainly to encourage and congratulate the President on his inauguration and the successes he has so far achieved.

“It was a great honour to pay courtesy to the President and congratulate him, first and foremost, for his successful inauguration as the 16th President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria and also to encourage and congratulate him for the bold he has taken so far.

“We had a whole lot of heart-to-heart discussions, but primarily, it’s to congratulate him,” Anyim said.

Also speaking, the former PDP spokesman, Metuh, said although the country had bled for the past eight years, he is confident that the Tinubu administration will achieve national unity.

“We came to see the President, to commend him for his very good takeoff; the policies he has brought, his inclusiveness, and most of all to canvass for the idea of participatory governance, participatory democracy.

“We believe that for policies and programmes, there has to be options and alternatives for those programmes, but only when we are together can we achieve success.

“Our nation has bled for over eight years, but we believe that from now onwards, Mr President has shown the way that the country will come together and then we’ll be able to live happily.”