The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) has rejected the state’s governorship tribunal upholding of Governor Nasiru Idris and his deputy Abubakar Umar’s election and has headed to the appeal court.

Counsel to the PDP in Kebbi State, Barrister Nura Bello, in a statement issued on Thursday, said they were not only dissatisfied but dismayed by how the tribunal affirmed the governorship election of the APC despite the evidence and documents before it.

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“Considering the evidence presented before the tribunal by the petitioners, every discerning mind that is interested in justice was surprised and alarmed by the way and manner judgement was delivered on the governorship election in Kebbi State by the panel of judges that sat over the tribunal.

“In particular, in respect of PW 27, the principal of the college who came to testify against the deputy governor, PW 28, the director from Sokoto State Ministry for Basic and Secondary Schools and PW 85, the INEC official from Abuja who came to tender the testimonial submitted by 3rd respondent in INEC forms which the petitioners are alledging was forged,” he said.

He said despite the fact that these pieces of evidence, with 15 documents and four disclaimers were there before the tribunal against the 3rd respondent from the school and Ministry of Education in Sokoto, the tribunal closed its eyes to all of them and dismissed the petition.

“Whereas the tribunal only relied on a mere judgement of the Presidential Election Petition Tribunal where it said all subpoena witnesses have to attach their statement on oath alongside the petition.

“Despite the fact that we had attached supreme court judgement that says subpoena witnesses need not attach any statement on oath and cited the case of Uzodimma and Ihedioha but the tribunal closed its eyes and entered its judgement by dismissing the petition,” the counsel said.

He added that because they and the petitioners were not satisfied with the judgement, the petitioners had instructed them to appeal against the ruling of the tribunal.

“The petitioners in that case are not satisfied and we are also not satisfied with the pronouncement of the tribunal,” he said.

“By the provisions of the constitution, the appellant has 21 days within which to appeal the judgement of the tribunal. All our energy is now geared towards appealing that judgement.”

While countering the plea by the APC-led government in Kebbi State that the petitioners should accept the tribunal judgement in good faith and not go to appeal court, Barrister Bello said: “Why are they afraid of appeal?

“If they say the judgement was concrete and based on law they shouldn’t be disturbed. It’s good to test the law at the appeal court. I don’t think the petitioners will listen to them and we lawyers will not listen to that kind of call.

“Besides, the right to appeal is a constitutional right and the appealants want to exercise that constitutional right. When we have a good case, evidence and some silent issues of law but the tribunal closes its eyes to them and does what it thinks is right, I think the right thing to do is to go to the appeal court to test the law to develop our electoral jurisprudence.”

Nigeria’s electoral body, the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), has revealed that 5,409,438 million registered voters will participate in the off-cycle governorship elections that will be held in Bayelsa, Imo and Kogi states on November 11, 2023.

The Chairman of the commission, Prof Mahmood Yakubu disclosed this in a meeting with stakeholders in election management in Abuja.

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According to him, the elections will be held at 10,510 polling units spread across 649 electoral wards in 56 local government areas of the three states.

Giving the breakdown activities, Yakubu said: “In the next three weeks, off-cycle governorship elections will be held in Bayelsa, Imo and Kogi States.

“The three elections will involve 5,409,438 registered voters that will vote in 10,510 polling units spread across 649 electoral Wards in 56 Local Government Areas.

“So far, all non-sensitive materials for the election have been delivered to the three States. Other preparatory activities, including training, are on course.

“Valuable lessons have been learnt from the 2023 General Election for improved performance in the forthcoming elections.”

The Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, has given itself thumbs up on the conduct of the 2023 general elections given the outcome of ongoing litigations at the election tribunals.

According to the commission, of the 1,196 petitions filed after the polls, “712 were dismissed and 179 withdrawn. This means that in 891 cases (74.4%), the tribunals found no merit in the petitions and affirmed the result of the elections conducted by INEC.”

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National Commissioner & Chairman, Information and Voter Education Committee of the INEC, Mr. Sam Olumekun, said this, yesterday, in response to a report that INEC’s credibility had been allegedly harmed by 94 per cent of the 1,280 contested posts being challenged at the tribunals.

Olumekun said instead of 1,280 constituencies as reported, elections were conducted in 1,491 constituencies across the country made up of 1 Presidential, 28 Governorship. 109 Senatorial, 360 House of Representatives and 993 State Assembly constituencies.

He said INEC should not be blamed for pre-election cases arising from the conduct of primary elections by political parties because “tese are intra-party cases involving party members in which they join the Commission and seek for reliefs binding on it. As everyone knows, INEC does not conduct primaries for political parties.”

He continued: “In pursuit of their right under the law, many litigants in Nigeria unfortunately file election petitions over the most improbable cases and later withdraw them or they are dismissed by the tribunals. If the report had taken time to analyse the outcome of the cases decided so far by the tribunals, it would have discovered that out of 1,196 petitions, 712 were dismissed and 179 withdrawn. This means that in 891 cases (74.4%), the tribunals found no merit in the petitions and affirmed the result of the elections conducted by INEC. It is surprising how the mere filing of petitions constitute a blot on the integrity of the recent elections conducted by INEC when in fact they constitute an integral part of the democratic process.”

Besides, Olumekun said petition is not only against the conduct of the election itself because “the grounds for challenging the outcome of an election as provided in Section 134 of the Electoral Act, 2022 are not limited to the conduct of election by the Commission. An election may be questioned on the ground that the winner of the election was not qualified to contest the election by virtue of his academic qualifications, age etc. Many of the petitioners did not challenge the conduct of the elections by INEC but the eligibility of candidates or their nomination by political parties. Under the law, INEC has no power to screen candidates. Similarly, only the Courts can disqualify candidates.”

Alhaji Mansur Nuhu Bamalli, Nigeria’s Ambassador to Morocco, is dead.

He was also the Magajin Garin Zazzau and biological younger brother to the Emir of Zazzau.

A statement by the Media and Publicity officer of the Zazzau emirate council said Mansur Nuhu Bamalli died at a private Hospital in Lagos while on transit to Morocco.

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The statement added that “funeral prayers will be announced later.”

He is survived by a wife and 2 children. Ex-President Muhammadu Buhari had appointed the deceased a year ago.

In a letter dated October 7 and signed by the then Minister of Foreign Affairs, Geoffrey Onyeama, he had said the appointment was in recognition of the decades of your meritorious service to our fatherland in the Nigerian Foreign Service.

“You shall be invited in due course for the ceremony of investiture. Please, accept my warm felicitations and those of the Honourable Minister of State, the Permanent Secretary and the entire staff of the Ministry,” the letter read.

Before his appointment he was a deputy director at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

Foreign Affairs Ministry had issued a notice for the recall of Nigeria’s ambassadors, both career and non-career envoys across 300 foreign missions worldwide, but the diplomats are yet to return to the country owing to logistics, including Authority to incur Expenditures (AIEs) for passages.

AIEs are the details of the entitlement of each envoy in terms of their passages and other travel arrangements to return to Nigeria.

The Supreme Court has constituted a seven-member panel of justices to hear the appeal in the petitions filed by three presidential candidates challenging the outcome of the February 25 election.

The notices for the hearing were served on the presidential candidate of the People’s Democratic Party (PDP), Atiku Abubakar; that of the Labour Party (LP), Peter Obi and the Allied Peoples Movement (APM), Chichi Ojei.

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The notices signed by Zainab M. Garba in the office of the registrar, said by the Order 2 Rule 1(2) of the Supreme Court’s Rules 1985 as amended, the notice is deemed as sufficiently served on the parties.

The list of members of the panel to sit on the appeals include justices Musa Dattijo Muhammad, Uwani Musa Abba Aji, Lawal Garba, Helen M. Ogunwumiju, I.N. Saulawa, Tijjani Abubakar and Emmanuel Agim.

Atiku had in his appeal maintained that the Presidential Election Petitions Court erred when they dismissed his petition on the grounds that the petitioners failed to prove allegations of irregularities in the presidential election, 25 percent requirement in the FCT, $$60,000 forfeiture and failure of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to transmit the results from the polling units to the IREV using BVAS as provided in its laws and guidelines.

In the application by his counsel, Chris Uche (SAN), Atiku also requested leave to file academic records of Tinubu, which he alleged were forged.

On his part, Obi is contending that the tribunal’s refusal of his 18,088 polling units’ blurred results, was a miscarriage of justice.

Ojei of the APM, in her petition, is contending that Tinubu and his deputy, Kashim Shettima were disqualified on the grounds of invalid nomination for the offices.

But in his replies, Tinubu, through his counsel, Wole Olanipekun (SAN) requested the court to hold that Atiku’s petition was an abuse of court process and lacked merit.

Tinubu described Obi’s petition as a jamboree and lacking in merit.

The Supreme Court has fixed Monday, October 23, for judgment in the appeal filed by Atiku Abubakar, Presidential Candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), to challenge the verdict of the Presidential Tribunal, which affirmed the victory of President Bola Tinubu.

The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) had declared Tinubu winner of the February 25 election.

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But Atiku, who came second in the election, had headed for the court, which struck out his suit.

In bis appeal before the highest court in the land, Atiku filed a 35-ground notice of appeal, stating that the tribunal in the judgment delivered by Justice Haruna Tsammani “committed a grave error.”

The Notice of Appeal filed by Atiku’s lead counsel, Chris Uche, SAN, prayed the Supreme Court to set aside the whole findings and conclusions of the Tribunal on the grounds that they “did not represent the true picture of the grounds of his petition”.

Amongst others, the former Vice President maintained that the Tribunal erred in law when it failed to nullify the presidential election on the grounds of non-compliance with the Electoral Act, 2022, when by the evidence before the tribunal, the Independent National Electoral Commission conducted the election based on grave and gross misrepresentation contrary to the principles of the Electoral Act 2022, based on the “doctrine of legitimate expectation.”

However, following the outcome of the certificate suit he instituted against Tinubu in the US, Atiku urged the Supreme Court to allow him to present fresh evidence to back his claim that Tinubu forged the document he submitted to INEC.

He said presenting forged documents by any candidate is a grave constitutional issue that must be discouraged.

“Presenting forged documents by any candidate, especially by a candidate for the highest office in the land, is a very grave constitutional issue that must not be encouraged, ” he said.

Tinubu had urged the Supreme Court to dismiss the application, describing it as a crass abuse of court processes.

But in his response on the point of law, Atiku urged the court to jettison technicality and grant his application.

He argued that the issue of merit ought not to be determined or pronounced upon at the interlocutory stage.

The State and National Assembly Appeal Court sitting in Lagos has reserved judgment in two separate appeals, filed by Mrs Stella Oduah, and her party, the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) challenging the victory of Tony Nwoye of Labour Party (LP) in the February 25, Anambra North Senatorial District election.

The three-member panel of justices adjourned for judgment after taking arguments from all counsel in the proceedings.

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The National Assembly Election Petition Tribunal in Awka, Anambra State, had in its judgement delivered on September 6 dismissed the petition of Stella Oduah for lacking in merit.

Dissatisfied, Oduah and the PDP challenged Nwoye’s election as a senator representing Anambra North District.

Nwoye had polled 94,779 votes to defeat his closest challenger, Oduah of the PDP, who scored 50,146 votes, according to the result of the election declared by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC).

In a related development, another panel of the court has reserved judgment in the appeal filed by Hon. Onosede Igbinedion, the daughter of business mogul, Chief Gabriel Igbinedion, in her bid to again serve as representative of the Ovia Federal Constituency of Edo State.

Omosede, who represented the Constituency on the PDP platform in the 8th Assembly, lost to the All Progressives Congress’ Dennis Idahosa in March 2019 and again failed to unseat him in the Feb 2023 National Assembly Elections.

Hon. Idahosa had polled 19,851 to defeat Igbinedion who scored 18, 396 votes according to INEC.

Dissatisfied with the return of Idahosa, Igbinedion approached the tribunal seeking his disqualification but the three-man panel in its judgment struck out her petition for lack of merit.

Before the three-man appeal panel on Wednesday, lawyers in the proceedings adopted their briefs of arguments.

Igbinedion’s counsel, Mahmud Magaji (SAN) in adopting his brief of arguments, urged the court to allow the appeal and set aside the judgment of the tribunal.

Among other things Igbinedion and her party are seeking an order from the court setting aside the return of the third respondent, Idahosa as the winner of the election of Ovia North & South West Fed Constituency of Edo State and an order withdrawing the certificate of return issued to him by INEC or in the alternative an order of court directing INEC to conduct supplementary elections in the specific polling units and wards where elections either did not hold or had their results cancelled.

Counsel to Idahosa, Bode Olanipekun (SAN) also adopted his brief of arguments and urged the court to dismiss the appeal.

An Appeal court sitting in the Federal Captal Territory, Abuja has sacked the house of representative member representing Mubi North, Mubi South and Maiha of Adamawa State, Hon. Jingi Rufai.

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The court on Thursday sacked the peoples Democratic Party candidate in the 2023 National Assembly election and declared Hon. Jaafar Magaji of the All Progressive Congress (APC) winner of the election for the constituency. The apallate court further ordered INEC to issue Magaji with certificate of return.

Daily Gazette recall that the court had on Monday sacked Senator Abbo as the lawmaker representing Adamawa south district in the Senate.