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.”

The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has declared the candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Senator Douye Diri, as the winner of the Bayelsa State governorship election held on Saturday, November 11.

The state’s Returning Officer of the commission, Prof. Faruq Kuta announced Diri after receiving the final result from Southern Ijaw out of eight Local Government Area of the state.

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While the PDP candidate scored 175, 196 votes, the APC candidate, Sylva got 110, 108, giving the incumbent an edge of 65, 088 votes to secure his second tenure in office.

The incumbent Governor, Diri won the election in six of the eight LGAs of the state, while his closest challenger and candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Timipre Sylva, won only two of the LGAs.

The LGAs Diri won include Kolokuma/Opokuma, Ogbia, Yenegoa, Sagbama, Ekeremor and Southern Ijaw, Sylva was able to clinch Nembe and Brass.

Governor Duoye Diri of Bayelsa State is leading with over 60,000 votes in the ongoing election.

Diri, who is seeking reelection, contested under the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP).

After the result of Southern Ijaw was declared, the margin between Diri and his closest challenger, Timipre Sylva of the All Progressives Congress (APC), climbed to 65,088.

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Diri polled a total of 175,196 votes while Sylva trailed with 110,108 votes.

Officials of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) are putting famishing touches to the exercise at the collation center in Yenagoa, the state capital.

The 10th Senate has assured that it will reconsider the Diaspora Voting Bill this week.

The Senate Leader, Opeyemi Bamidele (APC-Ekiti), made this known during a virtual dialogue organised by Engage Diaspora Foundation in collaboration with the Directorate of Diaspora and International Affairs of his office.

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The dialogue was themed: “A Pivotal Step Toward Achieving Diaspora Voting Right.”

Recall that the 9th Senate had in March 2022, rejected the bill on diaspora voting.

The bill had sought to amend the 1999 Constitution to allow Nigerians living outside the country to participate in the electoral process of voting and be voted for.

“Nigerian citizens in diaspora have shown tremendous interest in participating in the electoral process; they make considerable contributions to the economy through huge financial remittances to the country.

“Diaspora voting is consistent with global best practices,” he said.

In his presentation, Bamidele who was the Chief Host/Chief Speaker at the event, assured Nigerians in Diaspora that the 10th Senate would put in more efforts to pass the bill this time around.

He said, “We will do our best to make sure that this time around, we achieve your desire in this regard.

“When you talk about diaspora voting, it is a right; if anybody is granting you that right, it is not as if they are grating you any favour. It is your right.

“The essence of this fight is just to make sure that the right is recognised in our constitution because the constitution is the basis upon which every other thing rests.

“The constitution is the operational manual for both the government and the governed in our country. It is a right that must be recognised by our law as enshrined in the constitution.

“Whatever I’m doing with you is not new. I’m trying to build on the effort, genuine effort, people had built in the past and which they are still making.”

The lawmaker further said the bill was already on the floor of the senate, “and exactly two Tuesdays ago, we had a first reading of the Diaspora Voting Bill.

“It passed the first reading and it was scheduled for the second.

“Definitely, I can assure you as the leader of the senate, we will be considering the second reading of the bill during this week,” he said.

According to him, when that is done, the bill will be referred to the Constitution Review Committee because the committee is chaired by the Deputy President of the Senate and the Vice Chairman is the Leader of the Senate.

“We are a part of your movement in this regard and then you can be rest assured, even anyone trying to convince me on the need to pass this bill, will need to be converted.

“I’m very much with you in this effort because I see this fight as a generational fight.

“It’s not just the constitution recognising your right to vote in the diaspora, your children and grandchildren and generations coming after us.

“It is also about ensuring greater inclusion in our process. We can not just be so interested in the benefits coming from the Nigeria Diaspora community while also denying what is supposed to be your own constitutional right,” he said.

The Court of Appeal, sitting in Abuja, will on Tuesday resume hearing on the appeal file by the governorship candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party in Sokoto state, Sai’du Umar, against Governor Ahmed Aliyu of the All Progressive Congress.

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Recalled that the three-man Election’s Petitions Tribunal led by Justice Haruna Msheila, in a unanimous judgment delivered on September 30, this year, dismissed the petitions of the PDP, saying the petitioners failed to prove the six grounds formulated in the petition.

He said the grounds bordered on alleged ineligibility for Aliyu and Gobir to contest, falsification of certificates, variation of names, election frauds and non-compliance with electoral guidelines.

He said Petitioners were unable to prove the allegations beyond reasonable double as required by law as 70 per cent of exhibits were out of context because they relate to state assembly elections conducted on the same dates.

According to him, to prove the forgery of two different documents of persons needed to be presented while the variation of names issues was a settled supreme court provision.

He said three subpoena witnesses were not tenable as they were not makers of the documents from the alleged primary school, while the other 28 polling units’ agenda testified could not be produced identify themselves along with their roles.

The Tribunal Chairman said the alleged 138 polling units frauds were not adduced to indicate substantial non-compliance of the elections have marred the election outcome.

Confirming the notice of appeal, the special adviser on media and publicity to the PDP governorship candidate in the March 18 governorship election, Nafiu Lema, while speaking with our correspondent on the telephone.

The Chairman of Young Progressives Party, YPP, in Nanka Ward 1 in Orumba North Local Government Area of Anambra State, Nze Joe Muoghali, was on Saturday night killed by masked men few hours after hosting a meeting of YPP stakeholders in the area ahead of a rerun election for the Orumba North and South federal constituency.

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The Court of Appeal had ordered that a rerun election be conducted in 13 polling units in Nanka Ward 1 between Princess Chinwe Nnabuife of YPP, who was declared winner of the February 25, National Assembly election, and her opponent, Chief Okwudili Ezenwankwo, who contested on the platform of the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP.

Nnabuife, who was devastated by the murder, said following the ruling of the Court of Appeal for the rerun, she came down and told the late Muoghali to organise a meeting of stakeholders and supporters in the Ward as part of preparation for the election.

Nnabuife said: “We held the meeting on Saturday, after which we attended the wedding of an executive member of YPP in the same Nanka Ward 1. After that, I left.

“Barely one hour after I got home, I received a distress call that the party chairman was shot by some men wearing masks. I was told that before they fired at him, the assailants called him saboteur three times.

“He was immediately rushed to the hospital, but unfortunately, he couldn’t make it. So, my question is, what is the fate of the people of Nanka Ward 1 as we prepare for the court ordered rerun election.

“Now that they have killed my party chairman, who knows their next target. With this scenario, how safe am I to go for the rerun in Nanka? And how safe are my party members and supporters in the area?

“I urge security operatives to wade into this matter immediately to unravel the circumstances surrounding the murder and those behind this heinous killing of YPP chairman in Nanka.”

The Anambra State Police Public Relations Officer, Tochukwu Ikenga said he was not aware of the incident.

According to Nnabuife, Nze Muoghali was a wonderful man and pleaded that those behind the barbaric murder should be made to face the full weight of the law.

“While I want the rerun to be held as planned, I also want security operatives and the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, to know what I am up against ahead of the rerun.

“As it stands, I can’t even go to Nanka to campaign if I do not have soldiers and men of the DSS around me. But the question is, why are they afraid of me even in their village?

The Imo state Chapter of the Labour Party has dissociated itself from the result of the Nov 11 Governorship Election in Imo, as announced by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC).

The Party’s Chairman, Mr Callistus Ihejiagwa, said this while reacting to the outcome of the election in an interaction with newsmen in Owerri, on Sunday.

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Ihejiagwa said the election was characterized by “attacks, intimidation and stiff opposition to the will of the masses”, describing the announced result as unacceptable.

Citing paragraph 48, sub-paragraphs A and B of the electoral guideline, Ihejiagwa said that before the commencement of final collation, he petitioned INEC over the manner of accreditation of voters but his petition fell on deaf ears as the commission proceeded to collate.

He alleged that when he insisted that collation be halted for his party’s petition to be heard, he was accused of disrupting the process and beaten up by thugs of the All Progressives Congress in the presence of security agents.
“Paragraph 48, sub-paragraphs A and B of the electoral guideline say that collation shall not be done until the Returning Officer confirms that accreditation has been done in line with the provisions of the law.

“This section of the law was contravened and we were denied the inalienable right to a fair hearing despite several calls for our petition to be heard almost two hours before the start of collation.

”But the Returning Officer, Prof. Abayomi Fasina insisted that he could not entertain the petition.

“With the RO’s insistence, thugs of the APC beat me up, threw me out of the hall and robbed me of 1,000 dollars and another N50,000 which I had on me.

“Police officers, one of whom I identified as SP Amaechi Kennedy, rather than arrest those who assaulted me, took me to the police station where I was eventually detained in a cell and only released by 11.00 am on Sunday after the announcement of the result, for a crime I was never told,” he said.

Ihejiagwa said the LP had all the evidence of the assault which happened on live TV during collation and would take appropriate measures to seek justice for all the matters raised.

He expressed dismay over what he described as the inability of security personnel to protect him in the collation centre and INEC’s failure to hear his petition, insisting that the LP’s candidate, Sen. Athan Achonu won the election and would prove it in court.

“We took our time to document the anomalies and prepare a strongly worded petition that was never heard and for this reason, we will be seeking judicial redress.
“LP completely dissociated itself from the purported result and will challenge it in court, with all our evidence.

“Our candidate, Sen. Athan Achonu won this election and we’ll retrieve the mandate in court “, he said. (NAN)

The Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC has declared Ahmed Usman Ododo, the candidate of the All Progressives Congress, APC, as the winner of the Kogi governorship election.

The retuning officer, Professor Johnson Urama announced that the APC candidate scored 446,237 votes to defeat other candidates in the election held on November 11th, 2023.

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The candidate of the Social Democratic Party, SDP Yakubu Murtala Ajaka came second with 259,052 votes while Dino Melaye of the Peoples Democratic Party, came a very distant 3rd with 46,362 votes.

“Ahmed Usman Ododo of the APC having satisfied the requirements of the law is hereby declared the winner and is returned elected,” the returning officer said.

VOTES POLLED BY EACH PARTY ARE AS FOLLOWS:

A – 1,254
AA – 1,440
AAC – 424
ADC – 21,819
ADP – 1064
APC – 446,237
APGA – 469
APM – 130
APP – 1,135
BP – 82
LP – 567
NNPP – 136
NRM – 242
PDP – 46,362
PRP – 781
SDP – 259,052
YPP – 868
ZLP – 227

TOTAL VALID VOTES: 782,289
REJECTED VOTES: 9,601
TOTAL VOTES CAST: 791,890

Calistus Ihejiagwa, an agent of Labour Party (LP) being beaten before he was bundled out of the Collation Centre in Owerri, during the announcement of the results of the Imo state’s governorship election by his colleagues. ( Photo credit: Channels TV)

The Chairman of the Labour Party in Imo, Callistus Ihejiagwa, had alleged that those who beat him up and threw him out of the collation centre during the announcements of the results of the state governorship election early Sunday were thugs of the All Progressives Congress, APC.

Ihejiagwa who said this while rejecting the declaration of Governor Hope Uzodimma as the winner of the election added that the thugs stole the sum of $1000 and N50,000 from him.

He lamented that while he was attacked over his insistence to lodge complaints about the conduct of the election, the police refused to intervene, but rather arrested and detained him.

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Ihejiagwa noted that in line paragraph 48, sub-paragraphs A and B of the electoral guideline, before the commencement of final collation had petitioned INEC over the manner of accreditation of voters but his petition fell on deaf ears as the commission proceeded to collate.

He alleged that when he insisted that collation be halted for his party’s petition to be heard, he was accused of disrupting the process and beaten up by thugs of the All Progressives Congress in the presence of security agents.

“Paragraph 48, sub-paragraphs A and B of the electoral guideline says that collation shall not be done until the Returning Officer confirms that accreditation has been done in line with the provisions of the law.

“This section of the law was contravened and we were denied the inalienable right to a fair hearing despite several calls for our petition to be heard almost two hours before the start of collation.

”But the Returning Officer, Prof. Abayomi Fasina insisted that he could not entertain the petition.

“With the RO’s insistence, thugs of the APC beat me up, threw me out of the hall and robbed me of 1,000 dollars and another N50,000 which I had on me.

“Police officers, one of whom I identified as SP Amaechi Kennedy, rather than arrest those who assaulted me, took me to the police station where I was eventually detained in a cell and only released by 11.00 am on Sunday after the announcement of the result, for a crime I was never told,” he said.

Ihejiagwa said the LP had all the evidence of the assault which happened on live TV during collation and would take appropriate measures to seek justice for all the matters raised.

He expressed dismay over what he described as the inability of security personnel to protect him in the collation centre and INEC’s failure to hear his petition, insisting that the LP’s candidate, Sen. Athan Achonu won the election and would prove it in court.

Ihejiagwa said the election was characterized by “attacks, intimidation and stiff opposition to the will of the masses”, describing the announced result as unacceptable.

“We took our time to document the anomalies and prepare a strongly worded petition that was never heard and for this reason, we will be seeking judicial redress.

“LP completely dissociated itself from the purported result and will challenge it in court, with all our evidence.

“Our candidate, Sen. Athan Achonu won this election and we’ll retrieve the mandate in court “, he said.

There are high expectations as the Court of Appeal has fixed Wednesday, 15th November for the hearing in the appeal filed by Nasarawa State Governor Abdullahi Sule, who is fighting to reject the majority judgement of the Governorship Election Petition Tribunal sitting in Lafia which ruled in favour of the candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), David Ombugadu.

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This was contained in the notice of hearing issued to the parties in the case by Nasiru Alhassan, Electronic Desk Officer of the court, on Sunday.
The notice, which reads said, “Hearing in the case will commence by 9 am at the Court of Appeal, Abuja Division.”

Our correspondent reports that Sule had approached the Court of Appeal challenging the position of the governorship petition tribunal on his re-election.

The governor, however, filed the Notice of Appeal through his lead Counsel, Chief Wole Olanipekun, SAN on Sunday, October 15, 2023.

It would be recalled that the governorship election petition tribunal sitting in Lafia, had in a split judgement, recently declared the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP)’s candidate, Mr David Ombugadu, as the lawful winner of the March 18 governorship election in the state.

A dissenting ruling by one of the three judges, however, upheld the election of Governor Sule.

Governor Sule rejected the majority judgement read by the tribunal chairman, Justice Ezekiel Ajayi, describing its position as unmeritorious and devoid of evidential support base or pillars, even as vowed to appeal the decision.

According to the notice of Appeal, the governor listed 27 grounds of appeals for determination by the appellate court.

Among others, he questioned the trial tribunal’s jurisdictional competence to order the immediate swearing-in of Ombugadu as the governor, pointing out that not being the final court, the tribunal lacks the requisite competence to do so.

He also averred that the majority decision of the lower Tribunal in declaring the return of PDP’s Ombugadu failed to be bound by the provisions of Section 179 (2)(b) of the 1999 Constitution as Amended and Section 66 of the Electoral Act 2022.

He equally emphasized that there was no evidence before the tribunal demonstrating the percentage of votes scored by Ombugadu vis-a-vis the total votes cast in two-thirds of the 13 Local Government Areas of the State to satisfy the provisions of Section 179(2) of the 1999 Constitution as Amended.

Sule, therefore, urged the Appellate Court to set aside the decision of the lower court and affirm his election victory as declared by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC).

Our correspondent also reports that Ombugadu, PDP, Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) and the All Progressives Congress (APC) as 1st, 2nd, 3rd and 4th respondents were part of those who joined in the appeal.