There is tight security at the Court of Appeal Complex located in the Three Arms Zone, Shehu Shagari Way, Central Business District of Abuja, as the Presidential Election Petition Court gets set to deliver judgment.

The judgment is on three cases challenging the outcome of the February 25 presidential election.

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Coming about a month after the court heard the closing arguments of parties to the petitions and about two weeks to the expiration of the statutory 180-day lifespans within which the cases filed in March must be heard and determined.

The five-member panel of the court is headed by Haruna Tsammani had reserved judgements on the petitions after hearing the closing arguments of the parties to the cases in early August.

All roads leading to court of the appeal complex is being manned by multiple security operatives, drawn from various arms, including the armed forces, police, men of the Department of State Service (DSS) and the Civil Defence.
The same formation has been placed within in the court complex.

The Chief Registrar of the Court, Mr Umar Bangari in a statement on Monday said that everything had been put in place to ensure that the judgment in the three petitions pending before the court were delivered hitch free.

Bangari said adequate security had been put in place and that only the invited members of political parties and the general public would be allowed into the court room.

This he said was to avoid congestion and security breaches.

He also said media houses that wish to televise the judgment live would be allowed to do so but at no cost to the court.

NAN reports that as at 7.30 a.m, lawyers and journalists were being checked by security operatives.

Major government buildings, including the Federal Secretariat, the National Assembly Complex and the access into the Presidential Villa were being manned by heavy security personnel.

NAN reports that petitions were filed separately by Atiku Abubakar of the PDP, Peter Obi of the

Labour Party and the Allied Peoples Movement (APM), to challenging President Tinubu’s victory.

The much-anticipated judgement of the Presidential Election Petition Court (PEPT) is set to be delivered today.

Recall the Labour Party (LP), the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), and the Allied Peoples Movement (APM), as well as their presidential candidates, had petitioned the tribunal seeking to nullify the election of President Bola Tinubu as the winner of the 2023 presidential election.

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In a statement on Monday, the chief registrar of the Court of Appeal, Umar BangarI announced that the judgment of the presidential election petition tribunal will be broadcast live.

Bangari said, “In a bid to promote transparency and openness, these judgments will be televised live by interested Television Stations for the public to follow.”

The statement noted further that, “Access to the Court premises will be strictly on accreditation. Only accredited individuals, including Counsel and representatives of Political will be granted access into the Courtroomt. Interested. members of the public are advised to watch proceedings from their television sets.

Tinubu had in the February 25 election secured 8,794,726 votes to defeat Atiku Abubakar of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) who got 6,984,520, and Peter Obi of the Labour Party (LP) who polled 6,101,533 votes.

Discontent with the outcome, five political parties including the PDP, LP, Action Peoples Party (APP), Allied Peoples Movement (APM) and the Action Alliance (AA) lodged separate petitions before the tribunal seeking to annul Tinubu’s victory.

Entertainer and activist, Charly Boy on Tuesday called on supporters of the Labour Party (LP), known as “Obidients” to occupy all streets in the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) ahead of today’s judgment of the Presidential Election Petition Tribunal (PEPT) today.

The controversial singer who made the call via his handle on X (formerly known as Twitter) stressed that the move was necessary to retrieve their mandate, which he claimed was stolen.

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He said, “We must retrieve our stolen future from these criminals or be ready to face the most horrific hardship ever.”

Fellow Obidient’s,

Anyhow, we must occupy all the streets of Abuja before 6am. We will start with all the streets surrounding court house.
Nobody is dying tomorrow, we know about their scare tactics.
We must retrieve our stolen future from these criminals or be ready to face the consequences”

Recall Charly Boy earlier noted the idea that the broadcast of the judgment to be delivered on the case brought by former vice president, Atiku Abubakar, and former Anambra State governor, Peter Obi, against the election victory of President Bola Tinubu at the February 25 polls, is a trick to prevent Nigerians from storming the court premises.

He said, “The PEPT may not air the live broadcast of the final verdict on the 6th of September 2023 the former announcement could be a trick to prevent Nigerians from coming to the court on that day.”

The National Assembly Election Petitions Tribunal sitting in Lagos state on Tuesday upheld the declaration of Hon. George Adegeye Olawande as the winner of the House of representatives election for Amuwo/Odofin federal constituency, Lagos state, held on 25 February 2023.

The three man tribunal headed by Hon. Justice A.B. Abdulkahi affirmed the victory of the Labour Party lawmaker while delivery judgment on the petition filed against him by the candidate of the All Progressives Congress, APC, Prince Lanre Sanusi.

The Petitioners were challenging the nomination and qualifications of Hon. George Olawande, but the Court dismissed the suit for lacking in evidence.

The tribunal declared that the petitioner’s prayers cannot be granted as the Court of Appeal in his earlier judgment have adjudicated rightly in favour of the defendant (Hon George Adegeye Olawande).

The tribunal in its final judgment returned Hon George Folarin Adegeye Olawande as the authentic Representative for Amuwo Odofin Federal Constituency.

“We note also the needless lavish showering of praises on the legal counsels of both APC and Candidate Bola Ahmed Tinubu by the retired Justice.”

PRESS RELEASE • SEPTEMBER 5, 2023
Labour Party

It has become necessary for the Labour Party to draw the attention of the public and indeed democratic watchers to some unfolding developments in the country ahead of tomorrow’s ruling of the Presidential Election Petition Court, PEPC.

The unguarded statement from the former Justice of the Supreme Court of Nigeria, Justice Mary Odili in Abuja last week at a colloquium to mark the 25th anniversary of the elevation of a renowned jurist, JK Gadzama to the rank of Senior Advocate of Nigeria, SAN, and the boasting of some persons, serving Ministers and notable legislators about the outcome has left our party in shock.

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When those who should know the importance of the sanctity of the judiciary descend to the arena of abusing it with their preemptive utterances just to show loyalty and support to their interests, we as a party see this as unfortunate and dangerous to our democratic journey as a nation.

We note also the needless lavish showering of praises on the legal counsels of both APC and Candidate Bola Ahmed Tinubu by the retired Justice when the gathering was not theirs. We find this extremely undignified of a renowned jurist who rose to the peak of her career in the country’s Apex court and who as the Chairperson of the body of benchers, should be at the forefront of defending the virtuousness of the courts.

Also curious to every discerning mind watching the unfolding events in Nigeria since the February 25th Presidential election is the fact that the PEPC that refused live television coverage of the hearings of the petition, and is now anxious to have the conclusion beamed live.

What is it that has happened between the hearing period and the delivery of the judgment that the live coverage which they claimed was a policy issue changed suddenly at the delivery point?

We are aware of the efforts of the agents of the States to orchestrate problems and blame them on the political opposition. We wish to emphasize that it is the right of the people in a democracy to demonstrate and the obligation of state security agents to protect the demonstrators and those not demonstrating.

Meanwhile, we implore Nigerians to remain calm and peaceful, abide by the rule of law, and understand that this matter has not reached its logical and final conclusion.

Our concern as a critical stakeholder in Nigeria’s project especially the democratic evolution is that what is being destroyed with all these clever by half playing on people’s intelligence is Nigeria as a nation not necessarily an individual.

Anybody who loves this country should appreciate the importance of due process and the rule of law because, without it, this country is going nowhere.

SIGN

Obiora Ifoh
National Publicity Secretary
Labour Party.

Sir Simon Martins Okechukwu, former Special Assistant to the immediate past governor of Enugu state, Ifeanyi Ugwuanyi, on Tuesday, resigned his membership of the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP.

Okechukwu, a writer and author of repute, submitted his letter of resignation to the PDP hierarchy at his Mkpologu ward in Uzo-Uwani council area.

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He alleged that his decision to resign was a result of ‘deep-rooted deception by party leaders, and apparent lack of internal democracy in the party’.

The letter sighted by Daily Gazette and addressed to Chief Robert Ezeagu, chairman, Peoples Democratic Party, Nkpologu Ward in Uzo-Uwani Local Government Area reads in part;

“Effective today 5th September, 2023, and by virtue of this letter, I hereby wish to inform you of my resignation from the PDP. The decision was informed by deep-rooted deception by party leaders, apparent lack of internal democracy in the party, and non-recognition of contributions of a good number of members, including me.

“Events shortly after the general elections clearly showed that I have no future if I continue to remain as a member of the party.

“Indeed, it has been a great honour to contribute to the development of the party in Nkpologu Ward, Uzo-Uwani Local Government and Enugu State at large.”

The resignation letter was copied to the chairman, PDP, Uzo-Uwani LGA, Umuluokpa; the party chairman, Enugu State, and the national chairman of PDP,
Wadata Plaza, Abuja.

Minister of Aviation and Aerospace Development, Festus Keyamo, SAN, has said he suspended further actions on Nigeria Air and airport concession because of complaints from not members of the public alone but agencies of government.

Keyamo had last week announced the suspension of the two projects which were parts of the aviation roadmap of the last administration.

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Speaking when he inspected the ongoing second runway project of Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport (NAIA), Abuja, Keyamo stated that the two projects would remain suspended until the government takes a final decision on them.

He said, “It would be irresponsible of me as a minister to come in and agencies of government are raising red flags here and there and I would keep quiet.

“I am not talking about people, Nigerians complaining now, agencies of government are raising red flags about both projects and I as a government functionary cannot waive all those red flags away.”

The minister said the next step will be for the Federal Government as a body, not just him, to look at all the reports he would put before them but no final decision has been taken yet on concession.

He warned those trying to commit themselves to the projects to tarry a while.

The minister had earlier during the tour charged the contractors handling the construction of the Abuja second runway project to deliver a standardized and long lasting project, warning that government would not tolerate shoddy job.

On his part, the Managing Director of CCECC, David Wang, promised to keep to standard by delivering a Hard-Surfaced runway way that will last longer.

The construction of the project took shape penultimate week after the Minister met with his counterpart in FCT, Nyesom Wike, to settle the issue of compensation of the host community.

Former governor of Ekiti state, Kayode Fayemi, says democracy in the country is not working despite the end of the military administration in 1999.

This is as Fayemi said the protest that trailed the fuel subsidy removal during the administration of President Goodluck Jonathan in 2012 was due to political interests.

He spoke Tuesday in Abuja while delivering a keynote address at a national dialogue organised to celebrate the 60th birthday of Prof Udenta Udenta, founding national secretary of Alliance for Democracy (AD).

In January 2012, President Goodluck Jonathan announced the removal of fuel subsidy, causing a significant increase in the pump price of petrol, from N65 per litre to N141.

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This decision ignited widespread protests across major cities in Nigeria, known as ‘Occupy Nigeria.’

After more than a week of protests, the government adjusted the petrol price to N97 and later reduced it to N87.

While speaking at the event, the ex-governor criticised the “winner-takes-all” nature of Nigeria’s democracy stating that the nation’s current challenges could not be effectively addressed without adopting proportional representation, where election rewards are distributed among contestants based on their share of the vote.

“Today, I read former President Olusegun Obasanjo’s interview in TheCable saying our liberal democracy is not working and we need to revisit it, and I agree with him. We must move from the political alternatives. I think we are almost on a dead end of that.”

“What we need is alternative politics, and my own notion of alternative politics is that you can’t have 35 per cent of the vote and take 100 per cent. It won’t work! We must look at proportional representation so that the party that is said to have won 21 per cent of the votes will have 21 per cent of the government. Adversary politics bring division and enmity,” he said.

He also acknowledged that all major political parties in Nigeria, including the PDP, APC, and Labour Party, had previously included the removal of subsidy in their manifestos.

However, he emphasized that the actual implementation of the policy in 2012 was driven by political considerations rather than a genuine commitment to the policy itself.

“All political parties in the country agreed and they even put in their manifesto that subsidy must be removed. We all said subsidy must be removed. But we in ACN at the time, in 2012, we know the truth sir, but it is all politics.

“That is why we must ensure that everybody is a crucial stakeholder by stopping all these. Let the manifesto of PDP, APC and Labour Party be put on the table and select all those who will pilot the programme from all parties.”

Among those at the event were Jonathan, former Minister of Education, Dr. Oby Ezekwesili; and former Minister of Aviation, Osita Chidoka.

The Lagos State branch of Ohanaeze Ndigbo Worldwide, an apex lgbo socio-cultural organisation, has reaffirmed its support and vote-of-confidence on the National Executive leadership of Ohanaeze led by Chief Emmanuel lwuanyanwu.

The Ohanaeze branch also threw its weight behind exemplary conducts of three National Youth leaders of the Igbo socio-cultural group, which included: Mr Chinedu Ugwa, Mr Obasi Onu and Comrade Chukwuma Okpalazeukwu.

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This is contained in a statement issued in Enugu on Tuesday by the Secretary-General of Ohanaeze Ndigbo Lagos State Branch, Chief Robert Obasi.

Obasi also explained that the branch’s recent visit to the Lagos State Governor, Babajide Sanwolu, was not fraudulent; while dismissing a libelous publication against the visit.

The statement reads in part: “Our attention has been drawn to a publication circulating on the platform of Ohanaeze Ndigbo Lagos and other Igbo platforms, where three illustrious sons of NDIGBO were wrongly labeled “Fraudsters”.

“Ohanaeze Ndigbo Lagos recognised and appreciates the contribution of Chukwuma Okpalazeukwu during the 2023 campaign. Their participation in the endorsement of Gov. Babajide Sanwolu.”

The statement said that Ohanaeze Ndigbo Lagos State in collaboration with the G50 Ofu Obi are aware of the award presented to the Governor of Lagos State, Mr Babajide Sanwolu, by the aforementioned persons.

It said, “We state that the award was genuine and was done in good faith.

“We categorically state that no one was arrested for awarding the Excellence Award to the Governor of Lagos State, Mr Babajide Sanwolu, by the security agencies as claimed by the writer.

“We state that, Mr Chinedu Ugwa, Mr Obasi Onu and Comrade Chukwuma Okpalaczeukwu are bona fide members of Ohanaeze Ndigbo with outstanding leadership achievements.”

The statement frowned at the activities of paid mercenaries who act as tools of destruction in Ohanaeze Lagos State Branch.

“The executive members of Ohanaeze Ndigbo Lagos State disassociate themselves from all the activities of any impostor,” he said.