The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has presented Certificate Of Returns to Bayelsa State, Senator Douye Diri, and his running mate, Senator Lawrence Ewhrudjakpo.

Diri, PDP candidate for the November 11 off-cycle governorship election in the State, was declared winner by the INEC early in the week.

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The INEC National Commissioner in charge of Akwa Ibom, Bayelsa and Rivers states, Mrs. May Agbamuche-Mbu, presented the certificate to the duo at the state headquarters of the commission in Yenagoa.

Mrs. Agbamuche-Mbu, said presenting the Certificate of Return by the commission was a statutory provision in fulfilment of section 72(1) of the Electoral Act 2022, which also stated that the presentation must be done within 14 days following the declaration of a winner.

She thanked stakeholders for their commitment and contributions toward the peaceful conduct of the election and equally appreciated staff of the commission who displayed exceptional level of dedication to their job.

She also congratulated the governor and his deputy over their victory at the poll and wished them a successful second tenure in office.

Responding, Governor Diri said the event puts to rest the speculation that INEC would not present the certificate to him just as he commended the commission for its professionalism and impartiality during and after the election.

Diri said it was an historic moment for him, his deputy and Bayelsans, who he appreciated for standing behind him and his running mate, bearing in mind the antics of the opposition that brandished cooked results against their will.

He said it was unfortunate hearing the opposition, particularly the All Progressives Congress (APC) candidate, alleging that INEC cancelled 85,000 of the party’s vote as well as manipulation by the commission.

He stressed that his party would wait for them at the tribunal.

Diri said: “Presenting the certificate of return was almost becoming another issue as some were brandishing results of 85,000 votes in their pockets and saying that the certificate would not be issued to those declared winners in Bayelsa State. So, this event has brought to rest all those speculations that have been all over the country.

“After thanking God for today’s event, I also thank the Independent National Electoral Commission, from the chairman to the supervising commissioner to the REC and the administrative secretary as well as all the staff.

“This is one historic moment for me, my deputy governor and the people of Bayelsa State. I appreciate the electorate for standing behind what they believe was a government that has performed and must have another term.”

He assured the people of the state that he will be a servant-leader to the people as well as his deputy and other members of his cabinet.

He stated that if the election had gone the other way, it would have portended danger for the state, describing his victory as freedom for Bayelsa.

According to him, “Bayelsans know that we are a government of the people that wants all Bayelsans on board and also ensure transparency as much as possible, so that whatever we are spending, it is in the interest of Bayelsa State.“

The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has presented certificates of return to the Governor-Elect of Kogi State, Usman Ododo, and his running mate in the election, Joel Salifu.

The certificates of return were presented at the INEC headquarters in Lokoja, the state capital on Friday, amid jubilation by a mammoth crowd of supporters.

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Speaking shortly after receiving his certificate, the Governor-Elect assured the people that he would make good his campaign promise to build on the sterling achievements of Governor Yahaya Bello, while preserving the unity of the state.

He expressed appreciation to the people of the State for the overwhelming support he enjoyed at the polls, describing it as a consolidation on the strength and unity of the Kogi State.

While promising to justify the confidence reposed in him, Ododo said, “My administration will be committed to sustaining the youth and women empowerment programs of the present administration. My resolve to provide employment for our teeming youths and ensure that education occupies the front burner of our administration remains unchanged.

“My victory at last Saturday’s election is a victory for all. We will run an all inclusive administration, where everyone, irrespective of tribe, religion and political affiliation, will be carried along.”

The presentation of the certificates of return was witnessed by Governor Yahaya Bello, who urged the people of the State to join hands with Ododo in building a greater Kogi State.

”The election has come and gone and a winner has emerged. I call on the people of the State to work towards the unity and togetherness our administration has achieved,” he said.

Presenting the Certificate, the Kogi State Resident Electoral Commissioner, INEC, Gabriel Longpet, said the presentation was part of the Commission’s mandate.

He said Usman Ododo was being presented the certificate, having met the constitutional requirements.

The Court of Appeal sitting in Abuja has sacked Governor Abba Kabir Yusuf of Kano State.

The panel upheld the verdict of the tribunal led by Justice Oluyemi Akintan Osadebay which sacked Yusuf on September 20, 2023.

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The lower court had declared 165,663 votes of Yusuf, who contested under the New Nigerian Peoples Party (NNPP), invalid on the grounds that they were not signed or stamped by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC).

The governor’s votes were then reduced to 853,939 while those of Nasir Ganuwa, his All Progressives Congress (APC) rival, remained at 890,705.

Yusuf had rejected the tribunal verdict, which he described as “unfair” and “a miscarriage of justice”, and headed to the appeal court.

At the court, Wole Olanipekun, SAN, lead for Yusuf, asked that the judgement of the tribunal be set aside.

Kicking against the ruling on ballot papers, the senior lawyer said that was the first time in the history that a tribunal would annul an election over non-signing of the back of ballot papers.

He had said the tribunal erred, arguing further that, that was the first time that a political party would file a matter without joining its candidate as a party in the petition and the candidate would declared winner of the polls.

But Akin Olujimi SAN, counsel for APC, countered him saying the Appeal Court stated emphatically that the non-signing of ballots amounted to electoral malpractice.

In its ruling on Friday, the Appeal Court held that Yusuf was not eligible to contest the election because he was not a member of the NNPP.

The Taraba House of Assembly on Thursday passed the local government elected officials’ amendment Bill which reduced the tenure of officials to two years.

Nelson Len, the Chairman, House Committee on Information, made this known while speaking to newsmen in Jalingo.

Len noted that the bill, after all due processes required of by the House, was passed into law to enable the new set of local government officials expected to be elected on Nov. 18, to be bound by the amended law. (NAN)

The Labour Party (LP) and the New Nigeria People’s Party (NNPP) have said there are no merger plans between them and the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and its presidential candidate, Atiku Abubakar.

The spokesman of LP, Obiora Ifoh, on Thursday in a statement, said such reports were mere sensation and should be disregarded by Nigerians.

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“In my reaction (to enquiry from a journalist), I said that it was only a proposal and every Nigerian should be interested in making democracy work in Nigeria and that what we have presently is an autocracy. There was nowhere in the response that the purported merger between LP and PDP was mentioned,” Ifoh said.

Similarly, the National Publicity Secretary of the NNPP, AbdulRazaq AbdulSalam, in a statement said “NNPP is an independent political group as such we stand firm in our commitment to respect all political parties and refuse to engage in merging with any party to combat another.”

The Court of Appeal in Abuja on Thursday voided the election of Dauda Lawal as the governor of Zamfara State.

A three-member panel of justices led by Justice Omoloye Jombo-Ojo on ordered a rerun of the election in three local governments of Birnin Magaji, Bukuyyum and Maradun.

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In the lead judgment delivered by Justice Sybil Nwaka Gbagi, the appellate court faulted the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC)’s use of IREV for the collation of results when the Supreme Court had ruled that it is not a result collation system but only for public viewing.

The panel unanimously upheld four out of the seven issues for the determination in the appeal brought by the All Progressives Congress (APC) candidate in the election, Bello Matawalle.

“I hereby declare that the governorship election of 18th of March, 2023 is inconclusive.

“That the return of the first respondent (Lawal) by the third respondent (INEC) is hereby set aside.

“The third respondent (INEC) is hereby directed to hold fresh elections in Maradun Local Government Area and the affected polling units in Birnin Magaji and Bukuyyum local government areas. This is the judgment of this honourable court,” the court held.

Matawalle and the APC had filed the petition following INEC’s declaration of Lawal of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) as the winner of the election with 377,726 votes as against Matawalle, who polled 311,976 votes.

Matawalle, who was former governor of Zamfara State and current Minister of State for Defence, had contended that election did not hold in many polling units in the three local governments, including 98,506 votes in Maradun, were not counted.

He contended that Lawal was not duly elected by a majority of the lawful votes cast in the election and that the conduct was not in compliance with the provisions of the Electoral Act, 2022.

But the Zamfara State Governorship Election Petition Tribunal dismissed the petition.

Efforts to speak to the Zamfara governor and those closed to him to hear about their next line of action were not successful.

The Court Of Appeal has fixed today for judgments in the appeals emanating from the election petitions tribunal of Kano and Bauchi state.

For Kano, the court will rule on the appeals filed by Governor Abba Kabir Yusuf, his party the New Nigeria People’s Party (NNPP) and INEC challenging the judgment of the Governorship Election Petitions Tribunal, which had removed the governor.

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The appellate court, in a hearing notice communicated the date for the judgment to the parties on Thursday.

Recall that a three-man panel of judges led by Justice Oluyemi Akintan-Osadebay sacked Yusuf on September 20, by declaring 165,663 of his votes invalid because they were not signed or stamped by the INEC.

The governor’s votes were then reduced to 853,939 while those of Nasir Gawuna, his APC rival, remained at 890,705.

Yusuf had rejected the tribunal verdict, which he described as “unfair” and “a miscarriage of justice”, and headed to the appeal court.

At the court, Wole Olanipekun (SAN) counsel for Yusuf, asked that the judgement of the tribunal be set aside. He said this is the first time in history that a tribunal would annul an election over non-signing of the back of ballot papers.

He also said the tribunal erred, arguing that, that was the first time that a political party would file a matter without joining its candidate as a party in the petition and the candidate would be declared winner of the polls.

But Akin Olujimi (SAN), counsel for APC, countered saying the Appeal Court stated emphatically that the non-signing of ballots amounted to electoral malpractice.

The appellate court had after the hearing reserved judgement.

For Bauchi State, the APC and its governorship candidate, former Chief of Air Staff, Air Marshal Sadique Abubakar, had challenged the judgment of the election petition tribunal, which affirmed the re-election of Bala Muhammad of the PDP.

There was an uneasy calm in the Kano metropolitan area on Thursday following the announcement of Friday as the day of the judgment in the governorship polls.

Resident’s feared violence may break out if the appeal court affirms the decision of the tribunal that sacked the NNPP-led government.

This kick-started panic buying in several markets and stores with residents preparing for a situation where they would be unable to go out of their homes for a few days.

Residents by foot and on vehicles were seen flooding business environments to get one thing or the other for their daily upkeep for at least two or more days. Many of those spoken to by our reporters said they had to make the purchases to avoid a situation where they and their families would be stranded.

A businessman at Kwari market, Yunusa Abdullah said, “We are praying for things to go easily without any issue but for me, I will not even come to the market because you can never tell what will happen.

“I wonder why all this, now, everybody will go to sleep with this in their minds thinking. You will see by tomorrow (today), all busy streets will be relatively empty. Everybody will sit at home because we have seen what happened when the Tribunal gave its verdict.”

Another businessman, Usman Bello said, “We will not come out to the market tomorrow, you see, they will definitely cheat us as we would not be able to come out and get our daily bread.”

Meanwhile, the NNPP and APC have signed a pact with the Kano State Police Command to maintain peace before, during and after the governorship election appeal verdict.

The peace pact was signed on behalf of the NNPP by Wada Ibrahim, its Vice Chairman while Ibrahim Zakari Sarina, the APC secretary, represented the opposition party.

Briefing journalists after the peace accord signing, the state Commissioner of Police, CP Usaini Gumel said the force has drawn up modalities that would promote peace and harmony in the state before, during and after the governorship appeal verdict.

Gumel, who spoke in company of other heads of security agencies, said the peace deal signed by the two parties include: “No politically motivated clusters of people would be allowed at any location under whatever guise; that, their supporters would not engage in any mass action suggesting preparation for violent procession, protests or celebrations that may trigger reactions; That, unguarded statements from their members likely to increase political tension or undermine the security arrangements and sanctity of the Judiciary would be avoided.”

Other conditions in the deal are: “That, their parties will support all the arrangements put in place by the security apparatus to maintain peace and order, and that, any person or group of persons directly or indirectly found disrupting the peace before, during and after the appeal judgment shall face the full wrath of the law.”

The Bauchi State Police Command had also warned political party supporters against wild jubilations or any violent reactions after the judgement, saying blockage of roads, fireworks and inciting utterances or blackmail against the opposition party would not be condoned.

The spokesman for the command, SP Mohammad Wakil, in a statement said, “The Command will not dawdle to decisively deal with any persons or groups who violate this order or deliberately cause the breakdown of law and order in whatever manner.

“Those in violation will be arrested and made to face the full wrath of the law as security agencies have been deployed strategically and directed to ensure full enforcement.”