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.

The Social Democratic Party (SDP) has called for the cancelation of elections in Kogi Central Senatorial District.

David Edibo, state agent of the party, made the demand while presenting his party’s petition to the Returning Officer of the election at the collation center in Lokoja, on Sunday.

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The agent said his party did not accept the outcome of the election in the five local government areas of the senatorial district.

The agent said the results were doctored and fraught with irregularities and should not be allowed to stand.

He said his party had earlier written to INEC on the issue, wondering why the result was accepted by INEC officials.

However, the Returning Officer for the election, Prof Johnson Urama, said INEC is already working on the petition, adding that the next line of action will be revealed.

Kogi Central is the stronghold of Usman Ododo, candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC).

The All Progressives Congress (APC) is leading by a significant margin in results of the 18 Local Government Areas (LGAs) of Kogi State so far declared by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC).

Usman Ododo, candidate of the ruling party, has won in 11 LGAs, Muri Ajaka, his Social Democratic Party (SDP) rival has won in six, while Leke Abejide of African Democratic Party (ADC) has won in one LGA.

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So far, Ododo has polled 409,450 votes, Ajaka has had 208,503 while Dino Melaye of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) has polled 41,925 votes.

Below are the LGAs announced so far:

Okehi

APC 53,0623
PDP: 2,722
SDP: 153

Yagba East

APC: 7,096
PDP: 2,615
SDP: 312

Ijumu

APC 10,524
PDP: 6,909
SDP: 356

Mopa-Muro

APC: 5,077
PDP: 1,562
SDP: 253

Adavi

APC: 101,156
PDP: 1,005
SDP: 268

Ofu

APC: 5,245
PDP: 293
SDP: 28,768

Koton Karfe

APC: 14,769
PDP: 2,974
SDP: 8,441

Bassa

APC: 9,519
PDP: 3,605
SDP: 7,543

OMALA

APC: 2,902
PDP: 832
SDP: 18,160

Olamaboro

APC: 5,572
PDP: 1,376
SDP: 22,173

Ankpa

APC: 8,707
PDP: 3,654
SDP: 43,258

OKENE

APC: 138,416
PDP: 1,463
SDP: 271

Dekina

APC: 9,174
PDP: 499

SDP: 47,480

Ajaokuta

APC: 23,211
PDP: 483
SDP: 8,869

The Independent National Electoral Commission has announced the incumbent Governor of Imo State and candidate of the All Progressives Congress, Hope Uzodinma, as the winjner of the governorship election in the state.

Uzodinma polled 540,308 votes while the candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Sam Anyanwu, scored 71,503 and Athan Achonu of the Labour Party (LP) polled 64,081 votes.

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The Returning Officer for the Imo State Governorship Election and Vice Chancellor of the Federal University, Oye Ekiti, Professor Abayomi Fashina, who announced the result said Uzodinma scored the highest number of valid votes cast and was returned elected for a second term in office.

Uzodimma won in all the 27 local government areas of the state where the November 11, 2023 governorship poll.

Governor Hope Uzodimma of the All Progressives Congress (APC) has won in all the 27 local government areas where the November 11, 2023 governorship poll held in Imo State.

The collation of results started around 2am on Sunday in Owerri, the state capital, with the Vice Chancellor of the Federal University, Oye Ekiti, Prof Abayomi Fashina, as the state Returning Officer of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) for the election.

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Others considered to be the incumbent governor’s main challengers – Samuel Anyanwu of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Achonu Nneji of the Labour Party – did not win a single LGA.

See the full results below:

1. NJABA LGA:

APC – 8, 110
LP – 995
PDP – 2, 404

2. OBOWO LGA:

APC – 17,514
LP -. 3,404
PDP – 711

3. Oru West:

APC: 38,726
LP- 1,867
PDP – 987

4. Owerri North

APC – 8,536
LP – 4,386
PDP – 3,449

5. NWANGELE LGA:

APC – 29,282
LP – 895
PDP – 2,132

6. ORSU LGA

APC – 18,003
LP _. 813
PDP – 624

7. Ikeduru

APC – 22,356
LP – 1,377
PDP – 7,258

8. Owerri municipal

APC – 5,324
LP 2,914
PDP 2,180

9. Onuimo LGA
APC – 13,434
LP – 1,753
PDP – 2,676

10.NKWERRE LGA

APC – 22, 488
LP – 1,320
PDP – 2,632

11. ISU LGA

APC – 11,312
LP – 1,253
PDP – 2, 508

12. IDEATO SOUTH LGA

APC – 16, 891
LP – 1,649
PDP – 2,469

13. OKIGWE LGA

APC – 55, 585
LP – 2,655
PDP – 1,688

14. AHIAZU MBAISE

APC – 8,369
LP – 2,214
PDP – 3,507

15. Ehime Mbano

APC – 6,632
LP – 4,957
PDP – 681

16. ISIALA MBANO

APC – 10,860
LP – 2,419
PDP – 1,659

17. ORU EAST LGA

APC – 67, 315
LP – 3,443
PDP – 2, 202

18. OWERRI WEST LGA

APC. – 9, 205
LP – 2,597
PDP – 3,305

19. ABOH MBAISE LGA

APC – 9,638
LP – 2,435
PDP – 1,724

20. NGOR OKPALA LGA

APC – 14,143
LP – 2, 716
PDP – 3,451

21. EZINIHITTE MBAISE LGA

APC – 8, 473
LP – 3, 332
PDP – 2,784

22. Orlu
APC – 37, 614
LP – 2,424
PDP _ 3,690

23 IHITTE UBOMA

APC. – 11, 099
LP – 2, 766
PDP – 3, 078

24. Mbaitoli

APC – 12,556
LP – 4,007
PDP – 5,343

25. IDEATO NORTH
APC – 5,271
LP – 1,522
PDP – 2, 062

26. OHAJI EGBEMA

APC – 14,962
LP – 1,506
PDP – 3, 3694

27.Oguta

APC – 57, 310
LP – 1,941
PDP – 2,653

The Court of Appeal sitting in Abuja has reserved judgment in the appeal by the governorship candidate of the All Progressive Congress in Plateau state, Nentawe Goshwe challenging the victory of Caleb Mutfwang.

Mutfwang, of the Peoples Democratic Party, polled 525,299 votes while Goshwe polled 481,370 votes in the March 18 governorship election in the state.

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Goshwe challenged the election of Mutfwang at the tribunal, claiming that the governor was not validly nominated and sponsored by his party.

He equally alleged that the election of Mutfwang was not conducted in compliance with the electoral act and he did not win the majority of lawful votes cast during the election.

However, a three-member panel of the tribunal headed by Justice R. Irele-Ifijeh in a unanimous decision, dismissed the petition for lacking in merit.

Displeased with the judgement, the APC candidate appealed the tribunal judgment.

He insisted that the governor was not qualified to have contested the election because he was not validly sponsored and nominated by a political party.

He argued that the PDP lacked structure and was not qualified to sponsor any candidate in an election.

The APC candidate also told the Appellate court in his notice of appeal that there was over-voting and non-compliance with the 2022 Electoral Act, during the 2023 governorship election in the state.

Making his submission on Saturday, the lead counsel for the appellants, Prof. Olagoke, SAN, told the court that Mutfwang was not qualified to contest the election by a lack of valid sponsorship by a political party, contrary to section 177 (C) of the 1999 Constitution.

Olagoke added that there were several court judgments including decisions of the appellate court to back that.

He argued that the votes the governor polled were wasted votes, urging the court to declare the appellant winner.

Speaking, the counsel for the governor, Godwin Agabi, SAN stated that the issue of nomination and sponsorship of a candidate for election is purely an internal affair of a political party, adding that the court has no jurisdiction over it.

He submitted that the word qualification used by the petitioner is misleading as the issue raised by the petition bordered on nomination and sponsorship.

Urging the court to dismiss the appeal for lacking in merit, he submitted that in about 30 case laws and decisions of the appellate court, the court following judicial precedents, rightly held that it lacked jurisdiction on issues of nomination and sponsorship of candidates of political parties.

The governor’s counsel submitted that the petitioners contradicted themselves by urging the court to declare them as winners of an election they claimed was invalid, null, and void.

PDP’s counsel, Emeka Etiaba, SAN, urged the court to strike out grounds 1 and 8 of the appellant’s grounds of appeal together with some other issues raised in the appeal for lacking in competence.

He also moved a notice of preliminary objection challenging the jurisdiction of the court to entertain the appeal.

He argued that the basis of the appellant’s submissions concerning the qualification of the governor was incorrect in law.

He drew the attention of the court to the judgment of the tribunal that the governor was validly nominated and sponsored by a political party.

Etiaba added that the issue of nomination and sponsorship is an internal affair of a political party and a pre-election issue that only a High Court has jurisdiction to entertain.

The three-member panel led by Justice Elfrieda Williams- Dawodu after listening to the submission of the counsel reserved judgment to a date to be communicated to parties.