The Edo State local Government election conducted by the Edo State Independent Electoral Commission (EDSIEC) has been marred by protests over alleged irregularities.

Our reporter who monitored the election on Saturday observed low turnout of voters, late arrival of materials as well as shortage of ballot papers and non arrival of materials at the polling units.

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Addressing journalists during the protest, the Ikpoba Okha Local Government Chairman of the party, Jeffery Scott Emuakpor, Enomayor Paul Adewumi, Oredo chairmanship candidate and Osamudiamen Eghaghe, said election materials were not evenly distributed in the stronghold of the party amid intimidation of the opposition.

They said because of alleged harassment, the party had asked its agents, chairmanship candidates and councilors to pull out of the ongoing councils election, stressing that the whole exercise was a sham.

On his part, the Labour Party’s chairmanship candidate in Oredo local government, Daniel-Ero Onaghis, called for the cancellation of the election, saying the process was fraudulent.

He said he was disenfranchised as he couldn’t cast his vote at his Oredo Ward 6, as of 2pm due to non arrival of materials and EDSIEC officials.

“We don’t trust the process, we are calling for the cancellation of the election and a new date be fixed for EDSIEC to prepare well for the election.”

A chieftain of the All Progressive Congress (APC) in Etsako West Local Government Area, Zibiri Muhammed, described the election as the worst council poll so far conducted in the state.

“I am the returning officer for my party in the local government. This is the first election that each polling unit was allocated only 100 ballots even if the registered voters are 1,500. Also, the result sheets were not enough to cover the entire polling units in the council.”

Also speaking, APC State Chairman, Col (Dr) David Imuse (rtd) described the election as a charade, saying it was characterized by insufficient ballot papers without result sheets in Edo Central Senatorial District.

The Labour Party candidate in Ikpoba Okha local government, said the election was characterized with gunshots, aside from only 100 ballot papers provided for each polling unit.

Meanwhile, Governor Godwin Obaseki after casting his vote at his Oredo Ward 4, unit 19, described the turnout of voters as very impressive and peaceful.

“In spite of the rain, the turnout that I am seeing is considerably interesting. That means political parties did all what they were supposed to do to sensitize the people.
“I believe the popular candidates will win the elections, particularly you can see the presence of people and their agents around. I think people will accept the results,” he said.

National Chairman of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC), Dr Abdullahi Umar Ganduje says the party has concluded plans to open functional offices in all the 8,813 wards across the country, and establish an Institute for Progressive Study.

Ganduje spoke on Sturday during the inauguration of the party’s national campaign council for the November 11 governorship election in Kogi State.

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“I will like to call on all party members and stakeholders to rally round our candidate so that our party will succeed. By so doing, all the legacy projects would be sustained and there will be continuation in governance. As a party, we are committed to working hard individually and collectively to realise these goals and objectives.

“It is pertinent to also note that we have initiated and concluded plans to structure our party into a truly grassroots progressive party by opening full-fledged and functional offices in all the 8,813 wards in Nigeria.

“This is to enable our members across the country to have both a symbolic representation of our party in their neighbourhood and, a place for active interaction between and among members on one hand, and members and leadership at different tiers of government on the other hand.

“In addition, our vision is to institutionalise the progressive ideology in the body polity of our country. We indeed believe that progressivism as a political ideology can be deployed to improve the lives of millions of our compatriots and improve our society through appropriate political action and social reform based on advancement in Science, Technology, Economic Development and Social Organisation. To crystalise this vision, we are at the concluding stage of establishing a National Institute of Progressive Study.”

The inauguration was attended by six governors of Kogi, Ogun, Lagos, Niger, Benue and Kwara States. Also in attendance were former governors, Senators and many other party stalwarts across the country.

By Simon Edeh,

As Ndi Enugu count down to 34 days within which the Enugu Governorship Election Petitions Tribunal shall deliver judgement on Barr. Chijioke Edeoga’s Petition challenging the declaration and return of Peter Mbah of PDP as winner of the March 18 governorship election in Enugu state, law, facts and evidence support Peter Mbah’s imminent disqualification, sack and or removal by the tribunal as the petitioners; Barr. Chijioke Edeoga and Labour Party have proved beyond reasonable doubt that Mbah was not qualified to contest election to the office of the governor of Enugu State, having presented forged NYSC certificate to INEC in contravention of section 182(1)(j) of the CFRN 1999 as amended.

As required by law and precedents, NYSC has officially disclaimed Peter Mbah’s NYSC certificate, describing it as fake and forged, the Director Corps Certification further testified and tendered the disclaimer before the Enugu Governorship Election Petitions Tribunal in support of Edeoga’s petition.

Aside not being qualified as already established in the ground one Edeoga’s petition, Mbah did not score the majority of valid votes as required by the law for him to be declared winner of governorship election. INEC certified copies of Form EC8A, report from BVAS and voters register and testimonies of witnesses established that there was over voting in OWO and UGBAWKA registration areas, in addition to computation errors and vote swapping in Udenu local government area.

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Peter Mbah’s chief witness, Dr. FSA Uzor confirmed to the tribunal that there was over voting in OWO and UGBAWKA registration areas, thereby inviting the court to cancel the affected polling units as stipulated by the Electoral Act, 2022 as amended.

After the close of trial and adoption of written addresses by parties, it became glaringly clear to the public that Peter Mbah, the PDP and INEC have no meaningful defense to outweigh the mountains of evidence presented to the tribunal by the Petitioners apart from semantics rigmarole and deliberate disinformation and misrepresentation of facts by paid media agents.

Litanies of judicial precedents and legal authorities support Peter Mbah’s imminent disqualification, sack and or removal by the tribunal for forgery and electoral malpractice, chief among them were that of Saleh V Abah (2018), PDP &Ors V Degi-eremeinyo &Ors (2020), where the Supreme Court restated that the era of political parties presenting candidates holding public offices at Local, State and National levels with forged certificates which still persists in the polity needs to be addressed urgently by relevant law enforcement agencies and other stakeholders (and we add-including Courts) in this nascent democracy (Emphasis ours).”

This Court must take the lead, in righting the wrongs in our society, if and when the opportunity presents itself as in this appeal. Allowing criminality and certificate forgery to continue to percolate into the streams, waters and oceans of our national polity would only mean our waters are and will remain dangerously contaminated. The purification efforts must start now, and be sustained as we seek, as a nation, to now ‘change’ from our old culture of reckless impunity.

The Nigerian Constitution is supreme. It desires that no one who had ever presented forged certificate to INEC should contest election into Nigeria’s National Assembly or other elective office. This is clear and sacrosanct. More compelling as a judicial.

Besides this, the Supreme Court decision on Adeleke V Oyetola (2023) supports Peter Mbah’s imminent removal from office as governor and the declaration of Barr. Chijioke Edeoga as the validly elected governor of Enugu State after discounting the invalid votes.

In the light of this, Ndi ENUGU expect nothing less than justice as we await tribunal judgement within 34 days.

As Nigerians await the verdicts of the various election Petitions tribunals across the federation, hundreds of Enugu residents on Saturday took to the streets of the metropolis calling on the judges handling all election cases in the state to do what is right and dispense justice without fear or favor.

The One-Million-Man-March, with its motto ‘Tribunal justices must do what is right’, is ongoing across major streets in the metropolis.

According to the organizers of the march, “The march is holding across the nation in solidarity and support for the judiciary; for them to uphold justice in Nigeria at the ongoing election petition tribunals.”

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Daily Gazette recall that the Advertising Regulatory Council of Nigeria (ARCON) had ordered the removal of “#All Eyes on the Judiciary” advertisement billboards across Nigeria with immediate effect.

ARCON Director-General, Dr. Olalekan Fadolapo in a statement said that all the materials being exposed be brought down immediately and the violators sanctioned.

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Barring any unforeseen circumstances, the Enugu Governorship Election Petitions Tribunal is expected to deliver its judgment on or before October 6, 2023 (maximum).

As it does so, Enugu electorates are bearing witness to the type of legal issues that can occur when elections are not properly managed.

The three man panel headed by Honourable Justice Akano had on Wednesday,16 August 2023 reserved judgment in the petition brought before her by the Labour Party and it’s governorship candidate in Enugu state, Barr. Chijioke Edeoga against Mr. Peter Mba, Peoples Democratic party (PDP) and the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC.

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INEC had declared Mr. Mba of the PDP winner of the March 18 governorship election after scoring 160,895 votes to defeat his closest rival, Barr. Chijioke Edeoga of Labour Party who pulled a total of 157,552 votes.

Upset by the outcome, the Labour Party and its gubernatorial candidate are challenging Mbah’s victory at the Tribunal.

The Petitioners argued that Mr. Mbah was at the time of the election not constitutionally qualified to contest having presented a forged certificate of national service (NYSC) to INEC, over voting, substantial non compliance with the electoral act, computational errors, among other issues.

According to the 2022 Electoral Act, Election Petitions Tribunal has 180 days to determine petitions before her which means that the court is expected to round off all her activities on or before October 6, 2023 (maximum).

Ayodele Fayose, a former governor of Ekiti State, has said he is in support of the coup in Gabon.

On Wednesday, military officers in Gabon announced that they had seized power and placed President Ali Bongo under house arrest.

The coup was carried out after the Central African state’s election body announced Bongo had won a third term.

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The officers declared on television that the election results were canceled, borders closed and state institutions dissolved, after a tense vote that was set to extend the Bongo family’s more than half century in power.

In an interview on Channels Television’s Hard Copy on Friday, Fayose said that while he does not support military intervention in politics, he believes the recent wave of coups across the continent is the result of the sit-tight syndrome.

“I am very happy with what happened in Gabon, I don’t like military incursions in politics,” he said.

However, the ex-governor said he doesn’t see such happening in Nigeria despite the shortcomings in the country’s democratic journey.

He said: “Remember that, now in Nigeria, you can see an interrupted democratic process. You can see that we know after four years there will be an election. Nigeria has gone from one party to another party, one person to another person in the space of time.

“But in a country where one man is spending 30 years, 20 years, 40 years, they must boot him out of the place, whichever way. That’s different from Nigeria’s setting.

“You can’t spend more than a particular number of years but don’t compare it with Nigeria. I’m not saying anything cannot happen; no coup.

“When you talk here, they will go and report you. They will come and carry you in the house because, the moment you hear about a coup and you do not report it, let me say to you, you deserve to be killed,” he said.

The Bongo family, one of Africa’s most powerful dynasties, has been in power since 1967.

The Court of Appeal sitting in Enugu on Friday upheld the decision of the Enugu National Assembly Election Petitions Tribunal which struck out the petition filed by the House of Reps candidate of the All Progressives Congress for Enugu North/South federal Constituency, Mrs. Juliet Egbo, challenging the victory of the Labour Party candidate, Hon. Chima Atu.

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Atu who was declared winner of the election by the INEC returning officer, Dr. Mrs. Evelyn Ijeoma Ezepue, secured a total of 65,247 votes to defeat his closest rival, Hon. Nonso Nnamani of the All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA)who polled 9,215 votes.

Not satisfied with the decision of the tribunal,
Mrs. Juliet Egbo asked the Appeal Court to set aside the judgment of the lower court and declare her winner of the election.

Delivering her judgment on Friday, the Appeal Court struck out Juliet Egbo’s petition for lacking in merit and upheld the decision of the tribunal.

The Court ruled that the Tribunal did not err in her decision because Mrs. Egbo’s petition was lacking in evidence.

Daily Gazette recall that Mrs. Juliet Egbo of the APC came distant fourth in the election with 2,394 votes, while Hon. Ofor Chukwuegbo of the Peoples Democratic party came third with 7,617 votes.

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In his verified Twitter handle, Hon. Chima Atu of the Labour Party while announcing the decision of the Appeal Court, described the judgment as a victory for Democracy and Rule Of Law.

Atu thanked Ndi Enugu North/South federal constituency for their continued support and solidarity, assuring them of a robust representation anchored on the will of the people.

“Fellow Obidients and my respected constituents, few minutes ago, the Court of Appeal brought to a conclusive end the legal battle initiated by the APC candidate against the victory you freely gave us in the February elections. This is victory for democracy and the rule of law.”

“This judgment has brought to an end the long legal battle against our collective victory. I shall remain faithful to the ideals of the Obidient Movement and the yearnings of my constituents. We shall work like never before to deliver on all that we promised. Very grateful to God”

Mrs. Juliet Egbo and Hon. Chimaobi Atu