Author: The Nation

A human rights lawyer and foremost civil society activist, Dr. Monday Ubani, has said nobody can stop Abia State Governor-elect Dr. Alex Otti from being sworn on May 29.

He said it is only God that can stop Otti from assuming the mandate “generously and genuinely given to him by the people of Abia State on March 18.”

Ubani, a former chairman of the Ikeja branch of the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA), said Otti’s victory had brought what he described as the 24 years hegemony of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in Abia State to a glorious end.

Ubani, who hails from Ikwuano in Abia State, said: “On May 29, Dr. Otti will be sworn in as the next governor of Abia State.

“It is only Almighty God that can stop him and fortunately He, God, will not stop him now because the mandate of Dr. Otti is not only divine, it was also generously and genuinely given by the people of Abia State and God approved it.

“Too late for them! Too late,” Ubani said.

In a statement titled: ‘Purported Federal High Court Order against Dr. Alex Otti’, the lawyer said he was taken aback when he heard the distorted news from Kano that the victories of Otti and all the elected LP candidates from Abia had been quashed.

The Federal High Court in Kano had on Friday ruled that certain LP candidates in Kano did not have their names properly submitted by the party in the state.

Ubani’s statement reads: “I was taken aback when news filtered out that a Federal High Court in Kano has ruled that all the candidates of Labour Party including Dr Alex Otti who won the gubernatorial election in Abia were not proper candidates of Labour since according to the court, Labour Party did not submit its Members’ Register 30 days before it held its primary election that produced the candidates for the general election in accordance with Section 77(3) of the Electoral Act of 2022.

“The Section referred to is here: S77.—(1) A political party registered under this Act shall be a body corporate with perpetual succession and a common seal and may sue and be sued in its corporate name.
(2) Every registered political party shall maintain a register of its
members in both hard and soft copy.
(3) Each political party shall make such register available to the
Commission not later than 30 days before the date fixed for the party
primaries, congresses or convention.

“After examining this section and sub-section 3 of it, it may be possible that this Section and its non- compliance can raise issue as a pre-election matter. I use the word ‘may’ advisedly.

“However note that the section did not contain any penalty for non compliance. Whether that sub-section can be raised as a qualification issue in a pre-election matter or post election matter is a matter of debate.

“It hinges on many factors: (1) Who is the plaintiff, what is his locus in this case? Is he a presidential, gubernatorial or legislative candidate in the held election? Did the Section of the Act provide any penalty against the candidates of the party or against the party itself for non compliance?

“Why was this issue not raised before now? Or has it been raised and disposed off before now?

“Why was the suit filed at Federal High Court and not in Election Petition Tribunal since election has been held and a winner declared? If this is regarded as pre election grievance, is the aggrieved not caught by S285 (9) of 1999 constitution that gives only 14 days for an aggrieved candidate to file pre-election matter? So many questions seeking answers. The question continues.

“If we all agree on some basic truth that this matter is a pre-election issue what was this meddlesome interloper and busybody doing at the Federal High Court, Kano after several months of the primaries? Even if it is a post-election matter, was Federal High Court the proper court with jurisdiction? I doubt it.

“Whether a candidate is qualified to contest election has over time become a matter of argument in several quarters.

Read Also : BREAKING: Court nullifies Alex Otti’s candidature, other LP candidates in Kano, Abia

“Some are of the opinion that where a candidate is found not to be qualified to contest an election whether as a governor or legislator, the issue must be raised timeously since it is a pre-election matter.

“Some others have however argued that the qualification of a candidate is a subject matter within the jurisdiction of the Election Petitions Tribunal and not otherwise.

“The truth of the matter is that the argument is no longer necessary as the Electoral Act has made qualification of the candidate as a ground for petition before the Election Petition Tribunal. Therefore it can also be raised at the Election Tribunal.

“It must be noted that it is within the prerogative of the person contesting the qualification of a candidate to raise it either at the pre-election stage or post-election stage.

“However, he has 14 days to file the action challenging his qualification in a pre election contest. If he fails, refuses and neglects to file a pre election suit within 14 days as allowed by the constitution, he is for ever barred (it is statute barred) to bring the same suit as a pre election matter after election has been held and result announced with a winner.

“But, if he wants to challenge the election after it has been held and result announced, he can only do that at the Election Petition Tribunal and AND NO WHERE ELSE.

“It means that the matter must get up to supreme court. The winner remains in power until the final decision of the Supreme Court!

“If a court has given a pronouncement on the qualification of a candidate at the pre-election stage, the principle of ‘Estoppel per rem judicatum’ would apply. i.e the Plaintiff is estopped from raising it at the Election Tribunal as a Petitioner or where the question of qualification of a candidate is a pending subject in a pre-election suit, the Election Tribunal will lack jurisdiction to entertain it. It would only amount to an abuse of court process.

“All suits arising from general complaints like this issue of non-submission of members register to INEC 30 days before the primaries appears as pre election issue that should take a back seat since election has been concluded and winner announced.

“However if any one feels strongly that the issue of non submission of members register of party is qualification issue that is covered under S177 of the 1999 Constitution as Amended or any other section, he should bring it on and the appropriate place is the Election Petition Tribunal.

“Most importantly we must note that the Petitioner must be someone who must have contested election as a gubernatorial candidate in the 2023 general elections with Dr Alex Otti in Abia State. No one else has locus!
The petition CANNOT BE FILED BY A MEDDLESOME INTERLOPER OR A BUSY BODY.

“On a final note, the allegation that a political party did not submit its members’ Register 30 days before their primaries will be decided by the Court and that court includes the Supreme court which will decide whether the issue of non submission of members’ register to INEC constitutes grounds for non qualification of a candidate as provided under the 1999 constitution as amended.

“Be reminded that INEC never said that it did not receive the members’ Register of Labour Party 30 days before their primaries.

“On the contrary this vexed issue has been decided in other pre election issues involving Labour Party candidates before now at the various courts.

“INEC was the one that accepted the candidates of Labour Party, cleared them for the general elections, conducted the elections and declared them winners with certificates of return. So why this unnecessary brouhaha at this time?

“Come 29th of May, 2023, Dr Alex Otti will be sworn in as the next governor of Abia State. It is only Almighty God that can stop him and fortunately He, God will not stop him now because the mandate of Dr Alex Otti is not only divine, it was generously and genuinely given by the people of Abians and God approved it.
Too late for them! Too late.”

The people of Awgbu community in Orumba North Local Government have sent a Save Our Soul (SOS) to Anambra State Governor Chukwuma Soludo and security operatives, over the killing of five persons in the area by gunmen and burning of their market.

They implored the governor and the security operatives to rescue them.

The President-General of the community, Emmanuel Akidi, said yesterday at a news conference that the killings were not political.

He said: “We plead with the social media operators to do independent investigations and put out the correct information to the public.

Read Also : Soludo to church: stop mounting financial pressure on us

“Awgbu is mourning and does not need any other external provocation.”

He, however, confirmed that five persons were killed during the attack, saying properties worth over N10 million were destroyed in the melee.

“Awgbu town was attacked, leading to the death of five of our indigenes and loss of properties valued at over N10,000,000.”

 Akidi further said: “That afternoon, a commercial tricycle (keke) was chased into Awgbu town through Amaokpala by commercial motorcyclists, who claimed that they were armed robbers and heard them fire gunshots in that axis

“A large crowd had gathered to join those who chased them into the town. In the ensuing melee, three of the occupants were caught.

“The Awgbu Vigilance Group rescued one of them and handed him over to the police.

“The crowd, which had become uncontrollable at that time, took the other two to the boundary of Awgbu-Agulu and killed them.

“Awgbu was attacked by some hoodlums riding in ‘keke’, who, eyewitnesses said, came from Awka axis.

“The hoodlums set the market on fire, shot four persons dead and burnt one in his shop.

“There are suggestions that the night attack is linked to Wednesday’s incident and that the attackers were on a reprisal.”

Akidi urged the police command to get to the root of the matter, to ensure the culprits were made to face the wrath of the law and give justice to the bereaved families.

“We plead with the state government to come to the aid of those killed and those who lost their properties in the arson at the market by compensating them.”

A Catholic priest, Rev. Dr. Clement Muozoba, has called for expansion of the National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) scheme, to reduce unemployment and restiveness among youths.

He said sustaining the scheme’s Skill Acquisition and Entrepreneurial Development (SAED) package would further enhance opportunities for absorbing corps members after their service.

Muozoba spoke yesterday during thanksgiving service at Chapel of the Good Shepherd, Awka South Local Government, Anambra State, as part of activities marking NYSC@50 celebration.

The priest, chaplain of National Association of Catholic Corps members, decried increasing challenges among corps members, urging them to have confidence in the scheme, to ensure they benefitted from all it offered.

He said: “We appreciate the special job NYSC management is doing in Nigeria, especially among youths in reforming and bringing them together.

“They’ve done well despite the challenges. But there’s still more to do in view of the complicated nature of our society. Many youths are getting worse because of life challenges.

“They should do more by getting closer to the youth and creating more opportunities for them after service. Government should also expand the scheme.

“The youth must comply with the principles of the scheme because good things are not easy to come by. They also have to improve themselves as they’ve come of age.”

NYSC State Coordinator Mrs. Blessing Iruma thanked religious organisations for their support to the scheme, calling for mutual relations between both parties.

Iruma, who had also prayed with members of the Muslim community in the state, solicited their assistance towards completion of the mosque at the orientation camp before the rains.

 A civil rights group, International Society for Civil Liberties and Rule of Law (Intersociety), has called on the chief prosecutor of the International Criminal Court to initiate international criminal inquiries into the killings in Imo State.

It said no fewer than 1,600 unarmed indigenes of Imo State had been killed, while 300 others disappeared without trace between January 2021 and May 2023 (29 months), adding that 700 persons sustained life-threatening injuries, with over 900 others abducted within the same period under review.

These were contained in a 33-paged Special Research and Investigative Report presented to reporters yesterday by the group in Enugu.

Board chairman of the group, Emeka Umeagbalasi, who presented the report, disclosed that the state and non-state actors were responsible for the killings.

According to him, state actors accounted for the death of 900 out of the 1,600 unarmed persons killed in the state, while the other 700 were killed by armed non-state actors within the period under review.

The report noted that 600 of the 900 were secretly killed by state actors, while 300 died in open shootings.

He said 400 of the 700 killed by armed non-state actors died in captivity, while 300 others were killed in open shootings.

Umeagbalasi added that within the same period, 3,500 youths were arrested by state actors, with about 1,400 of them paying through their noses to secure their freedom, while over 1,500 of the arrested people were still being detained in detention facilities within and outside the state.

He said about 1,200 houses were burnt, with their 30,000 owners displaced, while 500,000 indigenes of the state in active age-brackets were forced to flee, to escape being shot and killed or abducted and disappeared.

He listed the affected local governments to include Orsu, Orlu, Oru East, Oru West, Mbaitoli, Ngor Okpala, Oguta, Ohaji/Egbema, Okigwe, Ideato North, Ideato South, Njaba, Isu, Nwangele, Nkwerre, Owerri Municipal, Owerri North, Owerri West, Ahiazu Mbaise, Ezinihitte Mbaise and Onuimo.

As a result of the killings, Umeagbalasi noted that families in the affected areas no longer hold funeral ceremonies in the state, but prefer to host them outside for fear of the killings.

The group said the criminal inquiries were necessary to unmask the identities of the perpetrators of the acts.

The Executive Secretary, Nigerian Content Development and Monitoring Board (NCDMB), Simbi Kesiye Wabote, an engineer, has said oil and gas opportunities valued over $50billion and projected to be developed within five years, were showcased by international and indigenous companies at the 2023 Nigerian Oil and Gas Opportunity Fair (NOGOF).

Speaking at the end of the two-day fair at the weekend at the Content Tower, Yenagoa, Bayelsa State, which drew 1,086 registered participants, Wabote said the quantum of opportunities covered segments of the industry and required proper collation, as they ran into billions of dollars.

He said: “Some of the opportunities are from the indigenous players, some by NNPC Ltd and the international oil companies. If you put them together, in the next five years, they will exceed $50billion that will be invested in the Nigerian oil and gas industry.”

Listing a few of the opportunities and their values, Wabote said: “Bonga Southwest, which Shell talked about, is almost about $7billion to $8billion. Shell also talked about Bonga North, which they may take final investment decisions (FID) early next year and is almost $3billion.”

Read Also : How oil and gas sector can develop, by PENGASSAN

On steps to be taken by interested service companies and other players to participate in the projects and opportunities, he charged such firms to prepare themselves, restating that the oil and gas industry is highly technical and does not compromise safety and standard.

He said: “If someone gives you projects he intends to execute in the next two years; Nigerian companies, having listened to the opportunities, should go back and continue to build their capacities in readiness to actively participate.”

Wabote said the oil and gas sector was not an environment where an entrepreneur could immediately step in and achieve success.

“You must have staying power to succeed,” he added.

The NCDMB boss noted that the board would collate the opportunities into a compendium and make them available to registered participants.

He confirmed that the board tracked the development of the opportunities showcased at every edition of NOGOF, providing an update of projects shared at previous editions.

He said: “Most of them have come to fruition; others are challenged by security concerns, final investment decisions (FID) challenges, bankability and regulatory requirements and approvals. But those that have crossed the hurdles have been developed and are producing today.”

He urged relevant agencies to address the worrisome security challenges, particularly the wanton crude oil theft in the Niger Delta, saying the development would ensure the production of hydrocarbons at reasonable costs and profitability,

He regretted that most indigenous operators were unable to evacuate their crude oil through pipelines for over one year and were forced to explore alternative options at high costs.

The NCDMB boss said Nigerian content had come of age, recalling the past when expatriates dominated major operations and events of the industry and Nigerians played second fiddle.

He expressed delight that indigenous firms had become highly competitive and dominant in the service sub-sector – upstream, midstream and downstream.

The 4th edition of the fair was attended by leaders of the oil and gas industry, including the Group Chief Executive Officer of the Nigerian NNPC Ltd, Mallam Mele Kyari, Chairman of Shell Companies in Nigeria, Mr. Osagie Okunbor, chief executives of international and indigenous operating and service oil and gas companies and other stakeholders.