The Acting Inspector-General of Police, Mr Kayode Egbetokun, says the police have put in place water-tight measures to ensure a free and fair Nov.11 governorship election in Bayelsa, Imo, and Kogi.

Egbetokun said this on Thursday in Abuja at a meeting with strategic police managers and media briefing to highlight policies, breakthroughs, and achievements of the Nigeria Police Force in the last five weeks.

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He said that the meeting was to avail the participants of the opportunity to enumerate some of the operational plans toward policing the off-season governorship election to be held concurrently in the three states.

“We are going to leverage the fact that the elections are limited to just three states to deploy adequately for this election.

“Just as you have seen in other isolated elections in Nigeria, you will see that we have availability of men more in number than what we used to have in general elections.

“So, I have no fear and nobody should entertain any fair about how safe and secure the elections are going to be in November.

“Just three states, it will be very convenient for us, so nobody should entertain any fear about the election, we are prepared for it and very soon we will start the deployment,” he said.

Egbetokun said that the police deliberately decided to take its annual retreat to one of the states, where the election would hold.

“The conference would be two weeks before the election, so it is deliberate and not by accident that we chose that state and that date.

“It is to show to the public that we are ready for the election, so there is no fear about the election,” he said.

He said that the internal security situation of the country, over the last one month had been relatively calm in spite of the threats of political and socio-economic instability that greeted the removal of fuel subsidy and post-election tribunal judgements across the country. (NAN)

Ahead of the Election Petition Tribunal judgment, New Nigeria Peoples Party supporters on Thursday conducted special prayers for the success of Kano State Governor, Abba Kabir Yusuf, at the tribunal.

The special prayer was conducted at the six strategic Kano main entrance routes including Katsina road, Gwarzo road, Madobi Road/Sharada, Zaria road, Maiduguri road and Hadejia road on Thursday.

The Kano State Chapter of the All Progressives Congress is challenging Yusuf’s election victory.

The date for the verdict is yet to be fixed by the tribunal.

In less than two months from today, the Imo state electorates will be heading to the polls to elect a governor that will pilot the affairs of the state for the next four years.

The governorship candidate of the Labour Party in the state, Senator Athan Achonu, has said that blackmail against him by the government would not stop his moves to become next Imo governor to liberate the state from insecurity and industrialize it.

Achonu stated this while speaking to the people of Aboh Mbaise council area of Imo state, during the flag off of his governorship campaign.

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He alleged that the use of propaganda against him by the government showed the sleepless night his candidature has caused the government of the day.

On what he intended to do for the state, as a governor, he said: “For the past thirty years I’ve been investing and providing employment for thousands of Imo citizens. I offered scholarship to thousands, employs and pays hundreds as well as invested in the agro industry which is one of the biggest in the entire South East, with a capacity to employ 2000 Imolites meaningfully.

“I know the whole blackmail against me was motivated by morbid fear of my towering antecedents and I want to say this before I forget, nothing will deter me from the determination to march to take back the state from the abyss of misgovernance, back to the path of glory.

“I am ready to industrialize Imo through establishment of two industrial parks in each zone of the state including a pharmaceutical park in Orlu zone.”

He also restated his commitment to grant full financial and administrative autonomy to the local government areas as soon as he takes over power, insisting that for real and sustainable growth and development to take place at the rural areas and state as a whole the local government system must be fully functional and alive.

The National and State Assembly Election Petition Tribunal for Oyo State ordered a re-run election for Saki West state constituency on Thursday in Ibadan.

INEC had earlier declared Mr Shittu Ibrahim of the All Progressives Congress (APC) as winner of the election held on March 18.

It declared that Ibrahim scored 13,692 votes to defeat the candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Mr Julius Okedoyin, who scored 13,422 votes.

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Dissatisfied with the declaration, Okedoyin and the PDP headed to the tribunal alleging over-voting, irregularity and non-compliance with electoral guidelines.

Delivering a unanimous ruling of the three-man panel, its chairman, Justice Jubril Anaja, held that the petition had merit and that the petitioners proved their allegations beyond reasonable doubt.

Anaja ruled that the cancellation of results from Ward 6 Unit 7 and Ward 11 Unit 19 of the constituency with 1,285 voter cards collected, could substantially affect the outcome of the election.

The tribunal noted that whereas the declared winner led the petitioner by 270 votes in Ward 6, Unit 7 and Ward 11, Unit 19, the number of voters disenfranchised was more than 1,000.

It held that the more than 1,000 voters disenfranchised by INEC in the affected wards might have over-turned the result if they were allowed to vote.

“The certificate of return issued to the first respondent (Ibrahim) by INEC is hereby set aside pending the re-run election to determine the winner of the election for Saki West constituency.

“INEC is hereby ordered to conduct a re-run election in Ward 6, Unit 7 and Ward 11, unit 19 within 90 days,’’ Anaja declared.

Reacting, Ibrahim’s counsel, Mr Sikiru Adewoye, said his client would appeal against the judgment of the tribunal.

Conversely, the petitioners’ counsel, Mr Yusuf Ogunrinde, commended the tribunal. (NAN)

The Governorship Elections Petition Tribunal in Lafia, Nasarawa State, has reserved judgment on the petition challenging the outcome of the 2023 governorship poll in the state.

The News Agency of Nigeria reports that Mr David Ombugadu, governorship candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), is challenging the declaration of Gov. Abdullahi Sule of the APC as the winner of the 2023 governorship election.

The sitting on Thursday was slated for the adoption of final written addresses by counsels to the petitioner as well as the first, second and third respondents.

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The Chairman of the three-man panel, Justice Ezekiel Ajayi, reserved the judgment after counsels to the petitioner and respondents adopted their final written addresses.

The chairman, therefore, said that the tribunal would communicate to the parties through their counsels on the day of judgment.

Earlier, Kanu Agabi (SAN), lead counsel to the petitioner, told the tribunal that he had adopted all the arguments in his written address.

The petitioner’s counsel urged the tribunal to annul the Nasarawa State governorship election for noncompliance with the electoral act and declare the candidate of the PDP as the real winner of the election.

Agabi also explained that there was no relationship between the votes in the IREV and the final result that was declared.

The petitioner’s counsel argued that the PDP’s candidate had the highest number of votes cast at the election, based on the records in the IREV and the information of the BVAS machines that were used at various polling units.

On their parts, counsels to the INEC, APC, and Gov. Sule, Mr Isiaka Dikko (SAN), Hassan Liman (SAN) and Messrs Wole Olanikpekun (SAN), adopted their final written addresses and called on the tribunal to dismiss the petition for lacking in merit.

Counsel to APC, Olanikpekun, also argued that the petitioner had dumped BVAS machines and IREV records at the tribunal without showing what was contained in the records.

He said that the petitioner only presented the records in the IREV and BVAS machines to the tribunal without displaying them for everyone at the tribunal to see.

He, therefore, said that the petitioner had failed to prove anything and urged the tribunal to dismiss the petition. (NAN)

Daily Gazette recall that Dr. Adebule Idiat Oluranti, former Lagos state deputy governor had polled 361,296 votes to defeat Adewale Adesegun Sunday who got 248,653 votes in the election for Lagos West Senatorial Zone.

Dissatisfied with the INEC declaration and return, Adewale of the Peoples Democratic party approached the Tribunal with a petition marked EPT/LAG/SEN/04/2023, seeking to reverse Adebule’s victory as affirmed by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC).

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He listed Adebule, APC, and INEC as the 1st to 3rd respondents.

But the Tribunal, in a unanimous decision, upheld Dr. Adebule’s argument that Adewale and the PDP abandoned their petition.

The Tribunal noted that the Petitioners failed to apply for the issuance of a Pre-Hearing Notice, which was mandatory under Paragraph 18 (1) of the 1st Schedule to the Electoral Act 2022.

Its decision followed the judgment in CA/LAG/EP/SEN/02/2023 and CA/LAG/EP/SEN/03/2023, wherein the justices found that the Pre-Hearing Notices filed by the Petitioners further to Paragraph 18 (1) of the 1st Schedule to the Electoral Act 2022 was defective.

Today, the Court of Appeal, sitting in Abuja affirmed the election of Adebule as the validly elected senator representing Lagos West Senatorial Zone at the National Assembly.

A three-man panel of the court, in a unanimous decision, dismissed a petition by PDP and its candidate, Adewale Adesegun Sunday challenging Adebule’s victory.

The appellate court upheld the August 8, 2023 judgment of the National and State House of Assembly Election Petition Tribunal sitting in Lagos that dismissed Adewale’s petition seeking to nullify Adebule’s win in the February 25 senatorial election.

The justices, in APPEAL NO: CA/LAG/ EPT/SEN/LAG/04/2023– ADEWALE SEGUN SUNDAY & ANOR VS ADEBULE IDIAT OLURANTI & 2 ORS which lead judgment was delivered on September 9, 2023 by Justice Oluwayemisi E. Williama-Dawodu dismissed the appeal as being frivolous and unmeritorious.

The Court of Appeal in Abuja has set aside the July 24 judgment by the National and State Houses of Assembly Election Tribunal in Asaba, declaring Ndudi Elumelu of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) as winner of the last election for Aniocha/Oshimili Federal Constituency of Delta State.

In two judgments on Thursday, the appellate court declared Ngozi Okolie of the Labour Party (LP) as winner of the election.

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It faulted the tribunal for voiding Okolie’s election and proceeded to dismiss the petition filed by Elumelu before the trial tribunal and on which the voided judgment was given.

The Court of Appeal agreed with lawyer to the Labour Party, Mahmud Magaji (SAN) that contrary to the finding of the tribunal, Okolie was duly nominated and sponsored by his party and that he resigned his appointment as a Senior Special Assistant (SSA) to Delta State Government as required by the Constitution.

More details soon…

Ireti Kingibe, Senator representing the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), has warned the FCT Minister, Nyesom Wike, to desist from working without the supervision of the National Assembly.

Kingibe said Wike does not have the executive powers but must operate within the constitutional frameworks of the country’s legislative arm.

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The FCT senator said this while addressing a press conference after the National and State Assembly Election Petition Tribunal upheld her victory in the February 25 polls.

Kingibe said, “You also have to remember that the minister of the FCT – I’m not sure we have had a former governor as minister, I think we have had one. Some [former] governors may think that as FCT minister… the minister does not have executive powers. He works hand-in-hand with the National Assembly and the president to administer FCT.”

She also faulted the recent appointment and inauguration of the mandate secretaries of the FCTA by Wike, saying they were supposed to be screened by federal lawmakers.

According to her, the National Assembly would serve the legislative duties to the FCTA as the state Houses of Assembly does to the state governments, adding that as state assemblies were to the states, so was the FCTA to the National Assembly.

“The National Assembly has the duties to screen them as the state houses of assembly usually screen the state commissioners before they would be sworn in,” she stated.

Kingibe said Wike was new to the FCT and therefore, needed to be guided to discharge his duties as the FCT Minister.

She said, “You must remember that the minister and I have different goals. I was elected by the people, so, I’m answerable to you the people of the FCT, he is not. But working together, I hope we can merge our interests.

“I cannot force myself on the minister. You have to remember that and the senate is in recess. I am a lawmaker. I have not been around. So, they are not approving anything, you cannot get approval from a house that is not sitting.

“Yesterday night, the election tribunal affirmed my election as duly elected senator of the federal capital territory. I feel a great sense of relief that I can now start facing the work the people of the FCT elected me to do. First, I would like to thank the best legal team, the best lawyers anybody could have. I’m really blessed to have had them

“I have been engrossed in my case and the minister is new. We have not met. We spoke for the first time today (Tuesday) when he called to congratulate me and we assured each other that we would work together.”

Speaking on threats of demolitions in the FCT, Senator Kingibe said, “For one thing, I’m not telling you that there would not be demolitions. There are many problems within the FCT. Look at the flooding taking place in FCT, why? Houses are being built on flood channels, permission are being given to people to build estates on flood plains. There are so many things that we need to fix.”

Citing the building on the green areas and water ways, using the Trademore estate as an example, the senator said such would not be allowed to continue, but added that the welfare and interest of the people in the FCT would be protected.

She said the Abuja indigenes were aware of the judgement of the Presidential Election Petition Court (PEPC) that the FCT cannot enjoy a special status.

“After the matter has been disposed of at the Supreme Court and if the same position is maintained, then we will agitate for a governor, three senators and other status of a state, but for now, let the matter remain as it is,” she added.

…We’ve No Information Yet – Police

A chieftain of the ruling Labour Party in Abia State, Maduka Zachary popularly known as ” Power Zac”, has been reportedly beheaded in his house.

The deceased was the Campaign Director of the Labour Party in the 2023 elections in Uturu, Isuikwuato Local Government Area of the state.

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He was also the Campaign Director of the member representing Isuikwuato/Umunneochi federal constituency in the House of Representatives, Hon. Amobi Ogah.

The late Zachary was also the home branch Chairman of Uturu Union.

Reports said he was slaughtered in his Uturu country home by his yet-to-be-identified assailants who reportedly took away his head.

Vanguard reports that the victim was part of the local security team combating the rising insecurity in Uturu.

But when contacted, the Police Public Relations Officer, PPRO, Abia State, Moureen Chinaka, said she had yet to be briefed about the incident.

She, however, promised to get back to our Correspondent after getting information about the sad development.

“I’m yet to be briefed. I have no information for now with regard to that. So, I will get back to you when I’m briefed”.

However, the Chairman of Labour Party in Abia State, Ceekay Igara, confirmed the incident to our Correspondent.

He said that he had spoken with the LP Local Government Chairman in the area who also confirmed it to him.

” I have spoken with the Chairman of our party in the LGA and he confirmed it. He said it might not be unconnected with insecurity because the man was strong in the fight against insecurity and cultism in that region.”

The incident, according to him, occured Tuesday night.

Insecurity has been a major challenge around Uturu) Okigwe/Umunneochi/Isiagu axis cutting across three states.

Bandits have made movement around the area a nightmare as kidnapping for ransom has also been on the increase even along the Enugu Port Harcourt Expressway way.