The Nation Newspaper

Author: The Nation

  • Mohammed’s election as Bauchi  governor upheld

    The Bauchi State Governorship Election Petition Tribunal has upheld the election of Governor Bala Mohammed.

    Delivering the six-hour judgment on Monday, the Chairman of the three-member panel, Justice Sale Shuaibu, announced the dismissal of the petition by the All Progressives Congress, (APC) and its candidate, Mohammed Abubakar.

    Justice Shuaibu held that the March 9 and 23 governorship  election that brought about the emergence of Bala Mohammed  was in substantial compliance  with the provision of the Electoral  act of 2010 as amended.

    He ruled that the ýpetition brought by the APC and its candidate, Mohammed Abubakar  against the Peoples Democratic Party ( PDP) and its candidate, Mohammed, lacks merit.

    Justice Shuaibu  dismissed the petition of the APC in its entirety and awarded 100,000 to each of the three respondents  against  the petitioners. The 1st respondent  is INEC, 2nd respondent is Governor Mohammed  while the 3rd respondent is the PDP.

    The tribunal also rejected statements on oath of 27 out of 33 witnesses brought by the APC and its governorship candidate Mohammed Abubakar.

    Read Also: Tribunal dismisses Jime’s petition against Ortom for lack of merit

    The lead Judge said that the petitioners failed to prove their petition beyond reasonable doubt.

    “I hereby ruled that the election of the Peoples Democratic Party ( PDP) candidate, Senator Bala Mohammed, is valid,”ý he said.

    Addressing  reporters after the tribunal ruling, the lead counsel to the defendant, Chris Uche, SAN, said the judgment was a victory for democracy and the people of Bauchi State.

    He advised the petitioners to accept the judgment, instead of appealing, as their case lacked merit.

    Meanwhile, APC in the state, in its reaction to the judgment, said they would wait for advice from their lawyers for the next line of action.

    The Secretary of the party, Usseini Bako, said they were not discouraged by the judgment. He urged APC supporters to remain calm pending their next line of action.

  • Tribunal dismisses Jime’s petition against Ortom for lack of merit

    The Benue State Governorship Election Petition Tribunal on Monday dismissed the petition of the All Progressives Congress’ (APC’s) governorship candidate Emmanuel Jime against the election of Governor Samuel Ortom for lack of merit.

    Jime is challenging the election of the governor on the grounds that the poll conducted on March 9 and the supplementary election held on March 23 were marred by irregularities and not in compliance with the Electoral Act 2010 as amended.

    He further alleged that the governor was not duly elected by lawful votes, asserting  that he (Jime) polled the highest number of valid votes and as such, should be declared winner of the election or in the alternative, an order should be made for fresh election.

    Governor Ortom stated that the election was conducted in substantial compliance with the Electoral Act 2010 as amended, adding that non substantial compliance did not affect the result of the election.

    He averred that even if deductions were made as pleaded by the petitioners, the margin of lead was high and as such, the petition should be struck out in its entirety.

    Read Also: Tribunal dismisses petition against Rep

    During the hearing of the petition, Jime called 59 witnesses, Ortom called only one, while the electoral empire, the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), did not call any witness.

    In a nine page judgement delivered by the Chairman of the tribunal, Justice Henry Olusiyi, he held that the petitioner’s witness statements were contradictory, unreliable and not credible.

    Justice Olusiyi added that their statements were incompetent, frowning at their inability to identify documents and link them to the case, which amounted to dumping the materials on the tribunal.

    He also held that the petitioners failed to prove allegation of over voting, noting that voters’ register and not the smarter remained the valid method to ascertain the number of registered voters in an election.

    “Card reader can only be alternative and admissible if the National Assembly amends the Electoral Act to provide for it. Witnesses failed to prove allegation of over voting to warrant the cancellation of votes in polling units.

    “We are satisfied that the result sheet presented to us by INEC is a true representation of votes cast in the election.

    “We find no merit whatsoever in the petition. We hold that the election of Governor Samuel Ortom by INEC is affirmed.”

    Prior to the judgment,  the tribunal ruled on seven applications and preliminary objections that bordered on pre-trial, smart card, introduction of new facts among others.

    While the tribunal ruled five of the issues in favour of the APC, two others were resolved in favour of the PDP. This is just as it refused the introduction of additional facts and four additional witness statements by the APC, which was struck out in favour of the PDP

    According to the tribunal, the petitioners attempted to smuggle new facts, contrary to Section 16 (1 ) of the first schedule of the Electoral Act 2010, as amended.

  • Court remands six Islamic Centre’s teachers  

    AbdulGafar Alabelewe, Kaduna 

    The Kaduna State Magistrates’ Court on Monday remanded in prison, six teachers of the embattled Kaduna Islamic Centre, where 300 persons in chains were recently rescued by the police.

    The six teachers of Ahmad Bin Hambal ýIslamic Centre were arraigned before the Chief Magistrates’ Court 16, presided over by Musa Lawal Mohammed.

    Those arraigned were Ismail Abubakar, Umar Abubakar, Abdul’azeez Adam, Abubakar Muktar, Abdullahi Auwal and Salisu Ibrahim.

    Police prosecutor Hassan .M. Malan, who read out the First Information Report (FIR) to the court, said the six defendants were accused of criminal conspiracy, ýwrongful confinement, cruelty to persons and unnatural act. The prosecutor told the court that the police investigation was still ongoing.

    Read Also: Court acquits lawyer, others accused of selling land

    However, counsel to the defendants, Sani Shehu Surajo, told the court that the defendants were only at the court for cognisance only because the court lacks jurisdiction to take their plea.

    He also tried to convince the court to allow the defendants to remain in police custody since investigation into their case was ongoing, but the police prosecutor rejected that, saying the police facility was overstretched.

    In his ruling, Chief Magistrate Musa Lawal Muhammed said the court lacked the jurisdiction to try the defendants because one of the offences they were accused of was a capital offence, which only the High Court had the jurisdiction to hear.

    He, therefore, said because of that they (defendants) will be remanded in Kaduna Convict Prison.

    He adjourned the case till October 29 for further mention.

  • CBN Mutilated Notes: N900m did not disappear in EFCC Custody

     Yusuf Alli, Managing Editor,  Northern Operation 

     

    The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) has said N900million mutilated notes recovered from some bank officials did not disappear from its vaults as being insinuated.

    It said the boxes of notes  in question have never been in the custody of the commission, let alone officers of the EFCC having the opportunity to pilfer its content.

    It said the only order made by Justice P.I Ajoku was to produce the 106 boxes containing the mutilated currencies as evidence.

    The EFCC made the clarifications in a statement by its Head of Media and Publicity, Mr. Wilson Uwujaren.

    The statement said: “The attention of the EFCC has been drawn to reports by a section of the online media alleging that N900 million  mutilated Naira notes, recovered from bank officials currently being prosecuted before the Federal High Court, Ibadan had been tampered with by operatives of the commission.

    “The reports which supposedly emanated from the October 4 proceedings of the Federal High Court,Ibadan claimed that the trial Judge, Justice P.I Ajoku made the discovery that operatives of the commission tampered with the boxes containing the money.

    “It is important to state that this narrative is false and calculated to mislead the public.

    “At no time during the proceedings did Justice Ajoku accuse the commission of tampering with any box.

    The EFCC gave insights into the order of the box.

    Read Also: CBN differ as group accuses Emefiele of excluding Southeast, Southwest

    The statement added: “The only order made by the court was for the EFCC to produce the 106 boxes containing the mutilated currencies as evidence.

    “How the order to produce the boxes turned into an indictment for tampering with N900million only exist in the warped imagination of the purveyors of the false report.

    “Significantly, the mastermind of the false story betrayed their motives with a strange commentary, calling on the international community to be present at the adjourned sitting of the Federal High Court , Ibadan on 2nd and 3rd of December, 2019 “to witness the gross corruption by those employed by the government to curb corruption.”

    “The EFCC is not fazed by such rant. Neither is it losing sleep over the order by Justice Ajoku. For the benefit of the public, the boxes in question have never been in the custody of the commission, let alone officers of the EFCC having the opportunity to pilfer its content.”

    The EFCC said it cannot be distracted by false narratives by some disgruntled elenents.

    It said: “Following a petition in November 2014, alleging the stealing of mutilated notes meant for destruction by employees of the  Central Bank of Nigeria and other deposit money banks, operatives of the commission, in the course of investigation, visited the Ibadan Branch of the CBN and discovered that the boxes had been tampered. The boxes were never removed from the CBN.

    “Indeed if the thrust of the case against the bankers is the pilfering of the content of the boxes then it beggars logic to expect EFCC officers to pilfer what had been pilfered in the vaults of the CBN.

    “Members of the public are enjoined to completely disregard the story as false, mischievous and a deliberate ploy to impugn the integrity of the EFCC.

    “The Commission has done substantial work prosecuting persons indicted in the briquetting scam to be distracted by false narratives. Upon conclusion of the investigation into the scam, the commission had filed three separate charges against the suspects.

    “The arraignment of the defendants in the three different cases initially took place before Justice Ayo Emmanuel of the Federal High Court, Ibadan in 2018. A substantial number of the defendants realizing the magnitude of the  available evidence against them, wrote to the EFCC and entered into a plea bargain, forfeiting the proceeds of the scam, including shopping plazas.

    “Justice Ajoku only commenced trial de novo in relation to a few of the remaining  defendants following the transfer of the earlier judge from Ibadan.”

  • Court remands six Kaduna ‘Islamic Centre’s teachers

    Kaduna State Magistrate Court on Monday remanded in Kaduna convict Prison six teachers of the embattled Kaduna Islamic Centre where 300 persons in chains were recently rescued by police.

    The six teachers of Ahmad Bin Hambal ‎Islamic Centre were arraigned before the chief Magistrate court 16, presided over by Musa Lawal Mohammed.

    Those arraigned were Ismail Abubakar, Umar Abubakar, Abdul’azeez Adam, Abubakar Muktar, Abdullahi Auwal and Salisu Ibrahim.

    The Police Prosecution Hassan .M. Malan who read out the First Information Report FIR to the court said the six defendants were accused of criminal conspiracy, ‎wrongful comfirment, cruelty to persons and unnatural act .The prosecutor told the court that police investigation was still ongoing.

    However, Counsel to the defendants, Sani Shehu Surajo, told the court that the defendants were only at the court for cognizance only because the court lacks jurisdiction to take their plea.

    He also tried to convince the court to allow the defendants to remain in police custody since investigation into their case was ongoing but the police prosecutor rejected, saying the police  facility was overstretched.

    ‎In his ruling, the Chief Magistrate Musa Lawal Muhammed said, the court lacks the jurisdiction to trial the defendants because one of the offences they were accused of was capital offence, which only High Court has the jurisdiction to hear.

    He therefore said because of that they (defendants) will be remanded in Kaduna Convict Prison as he adjourned the case to 29 of October for further mention.

    Counsel to the defendants Sani Shehu Surajo told Journalists after the court sitting that they will approach the High Court with the certified FIR presented by police at the court for bail application.

    The Police had recently raided the Islamic Centre on a tip off by a parent, and discovered that, many of the students at the centres were chained, some to heavy objects like electricity generating set and vehicle rims.

    But, some parents of the students protested after the police raid and condemned the action against the centre, which they said had been of benefit to the Rigasa community.

  • Wild celebration in Bauchi as tribunal upholds Gov. Mohammed’s victory

    Bauchi residents on Monday thronged major streets in the metropolis to celebrate the victory of Gov. Bala Mohammed of PDP at the Election Petition Tribunal.

    News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the tribunal had dismissed the petition of ex- governor Mohammed Abubakar and APC, upholding the election  the APC candidate.

    The residents chanted victory songs and wielded placards with various inscriptions as they paraded in convoy along the streets.

    Read Also: BREAKING: Tribunal affirms Ortom’s election

    Some of the placards read “Bauchi is for Bala” and “Support Bala for progress of the state” among others.

    NAN reports that display by motorcyclists and horse riders added colour to the celebration.

    One of the  elebrants, Mr Ishiaku Yaya, said they were using the motorcycles, sticks and all other various musical instruments and vans to express their satisfaction over the judgement.

    He said they had always believed that the tribunal was going to protect the people’s mandate by upholding the governorship election.

    NAN reports that due to the crowd and mass turn-out of supporters, streets were blocked as motorists were forced to use a single lane.

    (NAN)

  • Gridlock: Lagos issues 7 days ultimatum to traders, transporters

    By Adeyinka Aderibigbe

    Lagos State Government has issued seven days ultimatum to traders, transporters and others obstructing traffic in some areas of the state to vacate all roadsides or face the wrath of the law.

    The identified areas that will be affected by the ultimatum for now are, Iyana Ipaja bus stop, Ikotun bus stop, Oyingbo, Yaba, Ketu, Ikorodu roundabout and Lekki/Ajah area.

    The government said at the expiration of the deadline, enforcement would begin immediately to decongest the areas in a bid to free up traffic.

    The Commissioner for Transportation, Dr Frederic Oladeinde who was represented by the Permanent Secretary in the ministry Olawale Musa disclosed this at a Stakeholder’s meeting on the traffic management intervention of government,in Ikeja on Thursday.

    According to the Commissioner, the abatement notice becomes effective from Friday,4th October and will expire on Friday,11th October 2019.

  • Edo APC chieftain hails proposed toll plazas

    By Daniel Adeleye

    A chieftain of the ruling All Progressives Congress, APC, Stanley Osifo, has thrown his weight behind the federal government’s plan to reintroduce tollgate across the nation’s highways.

    Speaking in Benin on Saturday, Edo State capital, Osifo noted that the government realised that Nigerians need to have good and accessible roads and the funds generated from the toll plazas can be used to maintain the roads.

    He enjoined federal government to engage in proper research to ensure that mismanagement and misappropriation of funds that led to the failure of the toll under former President Olusegun Obasanjo administration does not replicate itself.

    “The tolls this time around should not just be a toll plaza or toll collection centre. In terms of efficiency, I want to see the Minister of Works and Housing, Babatunde Fashola, and his team doing something that everyone can see that the purpose, intent and also result will be of great benefit to Nigerians,” he stressed.

  • A’Ibom ex-deputy gov wades into traditional rulers’ crisis

    A former deputy governor of Akwa Ibom, Ambassador Etim Okpoyo, has waded into the crisis rocking the traditional institution in Oro nation, the third largest ethnic group in the state.

    Traditional rulers in Oro nation under the aegis of Council of Oro Traditional Rulers (COTR) have been having leadership crisis for some years now, thereby threatening the peace, unity and stability of the people.

    The elders also warned the parties against taking the matter to the social media, noting that such has greatly affected the peaceful resolution of the five-year-old crisis.

    These were parts of the resolutions contained in the communiqué issued at the end of a meeting attended by traditional, religious and political leaders of the Oro nation, which was made available to our correspondent in Uyo, the state capital.

    The communiqué which was signed by Okpoyo, a former ambassador to Italy, lamented that despite sincere intentions by the various committees to resolve the crisis in the past, there was no meaningful head way.

    According to the communiqué, the stakeholders, however, expressed appreciation that the frank contributions of all concerned in the dispute, amicable resolutions of all contending issues are already in sight.

    “The meeting called on parties to withdraw all pending matters in court and with the police for a peaceful settlement in line with this resolution. It further warned parties against taking the matter to social media, which has contributed greatly to the escalation of the crisis.”

  • EDSTMA launches housing project for staff

    By Osagie Otabor, Benin

    The Edo State Traffic Control and Management Agency (EDSTMA) Multipurpose Co-operative Society has launched a housing scheme project for staffers of the agency.

    A total of 168 staff are expected to benefit from the first phase of the project.

    The housing project is to be built on a 55-hectare of land at Ikpe village in Ikpoba-Okha local government area of the state.

    Managing Director of EDSTMA, Mr. Oloriegbe Dennis Ade, said the project was made possible through direct deduction of agreed sum from members’ salaries.

    Governor Godwin Obaseki who was represented by the Head of Service, Mr Emmanuel Ehiozuwa, advised members of cooperative society to be transparent and be accountable in order to keep the dream of owning their houses alive.