The much awaited day is here !

The Enugu state Governorship/House of Assembly Election Petitions Tribunal is currently sitting and reading out the judgment on the petition filed by Labour Party and her governorship candidate against Mr. Peter Mba, PDP and INEC.

Tribunal Courtroom 

Daily Gazette correspondent who is currently in courtroom reports that parties in the case, lawyers, media professionals, and other accredited persons are presently in court for the judgment.

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The Labour Party Governorship candidate in the 2023 general elections in Enugu state, Barr. Chijioke Edeoga is challenging the INEC’s declaration of Mr. Peter Mba of the Peoples Democratic party as governor of Enugu state.

Meanwhile, security has been beefed up not only in the court premises but outside the gate.

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There is however mixed reactions as well as high expectations from both parties as they await the verdict of the three man panel headed by Honourable Justice Akano.

Stay glued to Daily Gazette for details…

The senator representing Enugu West Senatorial Zone, Engr. Osita Ngwu, has reassured constituents he would not be far from them, promising quality representation at the legislative chamber.

Ngwu made the promise, on Saturday during a one-day capacity workshop organized by his Senior Special Assistant on human capital development, Engr. Eneiga F.B.I for newly appointed aides to the senator. Footage from the workshop 

Highlight of the well attended event was the presentation of papers by invited resource persons amongst other side attractions.

Responding to questions from Daily Gazette correspondent shortly after the workshop, the Senior Legislative Aide on Projects to the senator, Engr. Emmanuel Okoro (Elder) extolled his principal for being professionally responsive in the discharge of his constitutional responsibilities.

Okoro lauded the lawmaker for appointing over one hundred aides from across his Senatorial Zone.

On his part, the chief of staff to Senator Ngwu, Chief Chukwuemeka Aneke tasked the inductees to live up to expectations by assisting the lawmaker achieve his avowed commitment to the delivery of good governance to the people.

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Aneke described the victory of the senator as the beginning of a new chapter in the district’s journey towards a more inclusive, compassionate and prosperous society.

Former President, Olusegun Obasanjo says the rising military coups in Africa have shown that the youths are in search of liberators.

There have been seven coups across Africa since August 202o, the latest which happened in Gabon earlier in the month.

Niger, Burkina Faso, Sudan, Guinea, Mali are all under military rule.

Speaking at Olusegun Obasanjo Presidential Library (OOPL) in Abeokuta, Ogun State, during an interactive session with a group of youths from Africa for Africa Youth Initiative (A4A), a platform founded by Reverend Chris Oyakhilome, Obasanjo said he would not support a coup considering his experience in the hands of former Military dictator, late General Sanni Abacha.

The public service and good governance engaged was titled “Fostering Sustainable Development Through Pan Africanism.”

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Responding to questions on the coups in Africa, Obasanjo, who has ruled Nigeria both and military and democratically elected leader, said certain conditions have been encouraging the military takeovers across the continent.

He said, “Having suffered in the hand of Abacha, I won’t support military coup. But if it has to come, what can we do?

“The point is this, do we have conditions that encourage the type of things that are happening, because if we don’t have the conditions that encourage them, they may not happen. That doesn’t not mean it should be encouraged. What it means is that we should make sure that we do everything to prevent coups from happening.

“When you see things that happen in many countries, and I will not exclude Nigeria, then you wonder and don’t forget, don’t forget particularly the youth, they support most of these coups. The one in Gabon, the Coup Leader was being carried on the head by the youths, not by old wretched men and women like me.

“So, the youth are looking for liberators, and we must bear that in mind. Why do we have to allow the youth to start looking for liberators beyond the government of the day. Why?”

Obasanjo called for the entrenchment of true democratic principles with God-given attributes as a way of discouraging coups in the continent.

“And if you have been in government for 40 years and you are not tired, maybe you need retirement,” he said.

The former President added that “One, let me make it clear, I don’t support coup because personally I have been a victim of coup. Two, the good thing about democracy, if it works and it delivers, is that you can sit down and dialogue and debate and discuss. But your democracy must take integrity along with it.

“Your democracy must take honesty along with it. Your democracy must take character along with it. Your democracy must take those attributes, God-given attributes, inclusive society, no marginalization, no exclusion, no favoritism.”

He called on the African youths to brace up and take leadership positions today and not tomorrow, according to him, may never come.

The Executive Director of A4A, Pastor Henry Akasili, said the organization has a duty to inspire youth people to drive a sustainable development in Africa.

He said “We believe in action, we believe in seeing that sustainable change in the African continent that is why we have come from 7 African countries, and to go back and influence those who need to be influenced to the same message to another level.

“Africa has a lot of resources, Africa has the brains, Africa is filled and full of intelligent minds. The young people that we have now, they know better. They are seeing and hearing ability is a lot better because of the information they have heard from the founder, Reverend Chris Oyakhilome.”

Peter Obi, the presidential candidate of the Labour Party, has filed an appeal at the Supreme Court seeking to overturn the judgement of the Presidential Election Petition Court (PEPC) affirming President Bola Tinubu’s election earlier this month.

The presidential candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Atiku Abubakar, has similarly filed his appeal to challenge the PEPC’s verdict delivered on 6 September.

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The appellants had 14 days from the date of judgement to file their appeal to challenge the verdict at the Supreme Court. The 14 days period ends on Wednesday.

Mr Obi and Atiku had filed separate petitions at the PEPC accusing Nigeria’s electoral umpire, INEC, and Mr Tinubu of electoral malpractices. They contested Mr Tinubu’s qualification to stand for election and begged the PEPC to set aside the election.

But the court, in its decision, held that they failed to substantiate their claims of electoral fraud against INEC and the president.

Another political party, the Allied Peoples Movement (APM), filed the third petition alleging improper nomination of Mr. Tinubu’s running mate and incumbent Vice President Kashim Shettima. The case was similarly dismissed by the court, but the party has not indicated any intention to pursue an appeal against the verdict.

In his notice of appeal dated 19 September, Mr Obi’s lead counsel, Livy Uzoukwu, predicated his client’s appeal to the Supreme Court on 51 grounds.

Mr Uzoukwu told the Supreme Court that the five-member panel of the Presidential Election Petition Court led by Haruna Tsammani “erred in law and thereby reached a wrong conclusion” when it dismissed Mr Obi’s suit.

Mr Uzoukwu, a Senior Advocate of Nigeria (SAN), faulted the presidential election court’s evaluation of Mr Obi’s evidence. He said the court erroneously ruled that Mr Obi’s case failed to establish the polling stations where electoral malpractices took place during the February presidential election.

The lawyer also said the lower court’s conclusions caused “grave miscarriage of justice” when it held that Mr Obi did not identify the specific number of votes he polled at polling units where he accused INEC and Mr Tinubu of suppression of votes.

The appellant’s lawyer urged the Supreme Court to determine if the presidential election court did not err in law when it based its reasons on the First Schedule of the Electoral Act 2022 to expunge Mr Obi’s witnesses’ statements on oath from the court’s records.

Some of Mr. Obi’s key witnesses whom the five-member panel of the court dismissed their testimonies were a web engineer, Mpeh Ogar; and a statistician, Eric Uwadiagwu.

In her report bordering on a glitch on INEC Results Viewing portal being hosted by the Amazon Web Services Incorporated, Ms Ogar said there was no glitch in the IReV system on the day of the presidential election, contrary to INEC’s excuse for not uploading polling unit results to the portal real-time on the day of the election.

As for Mr. Uwadiagwu, a professor of Mathematics, who conducted a data analysis of the results from Rivers and Benue states, the court expunged those testimonies and his report from its records..

Haruna Tsammani, who chaired the five-member panel of the PEPC, held that Mr Obi failed to accompany his petition with the statements on oath of all the witnesses at the point of filing thereby rendering their reports inadmissible.

One of the reports said results from over 18,088 polling stations contained in four boxes were blurred.

Mr Obi contended in his filing that his right to fair hearing was violated in the matter when the PEPC dismissed the evidence of 10 out of his 13 witnesses.

“The learned justices of the court below erred in law and occasioned a miscarriage of justice when they held and concluded that he (Mr Obi) failed to establish the allegation of corrupt practices and over-voting,” the appellant’s lawyer argued.

The appellant also faulted the presidential election court’s decision rejecting his contention that INEC circumvented its own regulations and guidelines when it refused to electronically transmit results of the election from polling stations to the IReV.

“The petitioners adduced credible and substantial evidence, both oral and documentary, that proved substantial non-compliance with the Electoral Act 2022 by the Respondents in the conduct of the election,” the notice of appeal read in part.

Tinubu’s, Shettima’s non-qualification
Arguing further, the appellant alleged that Mr Tinubu was not qualified to vie for the election on account of improper nomination of his vice-presidential pick.

Mr Obi’s lawyer, Mr Uzoukwu, said “the court below overlooked that the respondents failed to disprove the evidence of substantial non-compliance adduced by the petitioners.”

The appellant, in the filing, told the Supreme Court that the lower court ignored evidence that proved how Mr Tinubu was indicted and fined $4,600, in the US for alleged cocaine trafficking in the 1990s..

Mr Obi, who came third in the race, urged the court to either declare him president or order a fresh rerun election.

The presidential candidate and his party are expected to later file their joint appellant’s brief which will contain their full legal arguments.

INEC, Mr Tinubu, and the APC will, in response, then file their respective respondent’s briefs before the Supreme Court will fix a date for hearing.

The Ondo House of Assembly has served an impeachment notice on Lucky Aiyedatiwa, the state deputy governor, over an allegation of gross misconduct.

The impeachment notice was served on Aiyedatiwa on Wednesday after an emergency plenary session in Akure, the state capital.

The deputy governor was alleged to have approved millions of naira for the purchase of a bulletproof SUV for his personal use.

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It also noted that Aiyedatiwa allegedly asked that the money be sourced from the state palliative fund and gave the approval while Governor Rotimi Akeredolu was recuperating in Germany.

At a plenary session, the majority leader of the House, Wole Ogunmolasuyi, quoted Section 188 of the constitution to justify the need to write Aiyedatiwa over the allegations.

The motion was seconded by Tope Agbulu, a lawmaker representing Akoko Southwest II.

However, the Speaker, Olamide Oladiji, directed Benjamin Jaiyeola, the clerk of the House, to write the deputy governor, informing him of the allegations levelled against him.

Aiyedatiwa had acted for Akeredolu when the governor was away on a three-month medical leave in Germany.

Following the return of the governor, he sacked the media aides attached to the deputy governor’s office.

The development came amid the crack in the relationship between Aiyedatiwa and Akeredolu.

Although, the deputy governor had repeatedly debunked the rumour, saying he remained loyal to his boss.

A 24-hour curfew has been declared in Kano State following the judgment of the election petitions tribunal sacking the state governor, Abba Kabir Yusuf.

Commissioner of Police, Muhammad Usaini Gumel, in a statement he personally signed, said a combined team of security operatives have been dispatched across the city to enforce the curfew.

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“In view of the Constitutional mandate of the Nigeria Police Force alongside the relevant Internal Security and Law Enforcement Agencies to preserve law and order in the State, the Kano State Police Command have mapped out strategies on that direction and call on the good people of the State to give the necessary confidence and supports.

“Going forward, Kano State residents are called upon to note that combined Security Forces have already been dispatched to the nooks and crannies including the entry and exits of the State to ensure enforcement and strict compliance of the Twenty-Four Hours (24hrs) Curfew order as communicated by the State Government via letter with Reference No: K/SEC/H/435/T.1/153 dated 20th September, 2023 taking effect from 6pm of Wednesday, 20th September to 6pm of Thursday, 21st September 2023.

“Violators will be arrested and made to face the full wrath of the law.

“Finally, I wish to appreciate all the peace-loving People of the State and urge them to remain law abiding as it’s in the best interest of all that we come together to maintain law and order in the State,” he said.

There is indeed apprehension in the state following the judgment that declared Nasir Yusuf Gawuna of the APC as the winner of the elections.

Residents were seen scampering and running to close their shops and business places for fear of attacks by hoodlums.

The state witnessed several looting, vandalisation and arson in March after Governor Yusuf was declared as the winner of the elections.

Chieftain of the New Nigeria Peoples Party, NNPP who was in court to witness the proceeding, has rejected the judgment of the court

The Kano Governorship Election Petition Tribunal sacked Governor Abba Kabir Yusuf, declaring the All Progressives Congress (APC) winner of the March 18 election.

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Yusuf, who contested on the platform of the New Nigeria Peoples Party (NNPP), was declared the winner of the election by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) after the poll in March.

But on Wednesday, the three-man panel, after hearing the petitions, ordered the withdrawal of the certificate of return which INEC presented to Yusuf and directed a certificate of return to be issued to Gawuna.

The court deducted 165,663 votes from Yusuf’s total as invalid votes, stating that the affected ballot papers were not stamped or signed and therefore declared invalid.

Speaking to newsmen after the judgment which was given virtually, the NNPP stalwart said; “We have just come out of the Court and we heard the verdict.

“We have already informed our people yesterday that we suspect injustice and some foul play taking place in this Court prior to what has happened.

“We are appealing to our teeming supporters and the Kano populace that we are not taking it for granted. We are not accepting the judgment, we will appeal it and know that the Appeal Court will judge it better.