The Nation Newspaper

Author: The Nation

  • Activist rallies support for Sanwo-Olu govt

    An activist and President, Campaign for Dignity in Governance (CDG), Comrade Razaq Olokoba has urged Lagosians to key into the programme and policies of Lagos State Governor Babajide Olusola Sanwo-Olu.

    This, he said, will make Lagos a better place for all.

    Speaking about the governor’s performance in his first 100 days in office, Olokoba said “he is on course.”

    According to him, the crucial aspect of the society which is road network is being handled with dispatch, reminding that, “road network is so significant that, there is virtually nothing you want to do that you would not need road directly or indirectly, so, if the road is in shamble, a lot of things would be in shamble.”

    Read Also: Lawmaker to Sanwo-Olu: Be focused

    The youth leader, who said the economy of every country is tied to good road network, also explained that, besides the economy that would be boosted, free and uninterrupted traffic flow would contribute substantially in curbing crime and banditry.

    “Thankfully enough, roads in Lagos are being given face lift. The continental road we have which is Lagos-Badagry road, the contractors are back on site. Then the neighbouring roads that link major streets and major cities are also being given attention,” Olokoba said.

    On Sanwo-Olu’s cabinet, the CDG boss described it as an added advantage to his government, asserting that, they are array of tested, trusted hands and new breeds with superb pedigrees which makes them a combination of elders with wisdom and youth with strength.

  • Army, NEPAD engage stakeholders on terrorism, insurgency

    The Nigerian Army Resource Centre (NARC) and the New Partnership for African Development (NEPAD) have brought critical stakeholders together to address the menace of terrorism, insurgency and incidence of electoral violence in Nigeria.

    The Chief of Army Staff, Lt.-Gen. Tukur Buratai, commended the initiative of NEPAD to partner the NARC to enable stakeholders to formulate strategies to counter the scourge of insecurity for peace, security and the development of the nation.

    Buratai pledged that the army would continue to uphold the sanctity of the territorial integrity of Nigeria in line with their oath of allegiance.

    He stated that the personnel of the Nigerian Army were deployed in all the geo-political zones of the country to assist the police in keeping the peace.

    According to him, significant progress has been made in ensuring that lives and properties of citizens are secured particularly in the North East where Boko Haram insurgents have been denied physical occupation of any Nigerian territory.

    “The Nigerian Army understands and fully subscribes to the fact that in keeping the peace either at the national or global level, troops must carry out their tasks in line with extant Rules of Engagement.

    Read Also: Taraba killings: Police, Army can’t go their separate ways, says Gambari

    “Where there are infractions or violations of human rights of the citizens, appropriate disciplinary measures are applied. This is aimed at upholding and maintaining the trust and confidence of the populace as well as the dignity and professionalism of the army,” he said.

    Buratai said the incidents, responses and initiatives of the various agencies involved in tackling the challenges required understanding by all the stakeholders for the country to move forward.

    “I will therefore like to commend NEPAD for its strong advocacy for peace, security and safety for all persons in the country which has helped to bring about relative peace and economic growth.

    “I also wish to commend the NARC for its laudable efforts toward achieving its core mandates of finding research based solutions to security and defence challenges which has attracted this collaboration with NEPAD,” he added.

    The two day summit, which commenced on Tuesday in Abuja, has the theme, ‘Terrorism, Insurgency and Incidence of Electoral Violence in Nigeria: Role of Security Agencies’.

  • Adeyeye kicks as tribunal declares Olujimi winner of Ekiti South senatorial poll

    The National Assembly Election Petitions Tribunal sitting in Ado-Ekiti, the Ekiti State capital, on Tuesday nullified the election of Senator Dayo Adeyeye of Ekiti South.

    Justice Danladi Adeck, a member of the three-man tribunal, read the unanimous judgment.

    He declared former Minority Leader and the candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Senator Biodun Olujimi, winner of the poll.

    When the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) declared Adeyeye of the All Progressives Congress (APC) winner of the February 23 election, Olujimi petitioned the tribunal that she was the real winner of the election.

    Read Also: Tribunal okays Yayi’s election for Lagos West

    The former Minority Leader submitted that she scored the highest number of lawful votes cast in the election.

    She prayed the tribunal to nullify Adeyeye’s victory and order supplementary election.

    The petitioner claimed that the election was not conducted in substantial compliance with the provisions of the Electoral Act, having been allegedly fraught with all manner of irregularities.

    Justice Adeck nullified the elections in some polling units to declare Olujimi the authentic winner of the poll.

    Olujimi polled a total of 54,894 votes to emerge victorious over Adeyeye, who polled 52,243 votes.

  • FUOYE shut as students attack Fayemi’s convoy

    The Management of Federal University Oye-Ekiti (FUOYE) has sent students home following their protest against epileptic power supply by BEDC that led to them attacking the convoy of Governor Kayode Fayemi’s wife, Bisi.

    In a statement, the University noted that the students blocked the Abuja-Ado and Ijan -Ikole highways  from early Tuesday till 2pm before they were dispersed.

    However, they later regrouped and attacked the convoy of Mrs Fayemi, destroying some cars in the process.

    Three students and some policemen were said to have been injured and their rifles seized during the fracas. A police vehicle was also burnt.

    In a statement, the Vice Chancellor, Prof Kayode Soremekun, condemned the protest and announced the school’s closure and proscription of the Student’s Union till further notice.

    The statement reads: “We hereby condemn the violence that has  followed the  protest by the students of FUOYE to register their pleasure on the epileptic power supply from BEDC to the communities of Oye and Ikole.

    “Our findings revealed that the students gathered themselves and blocked the  Abuja-Ado,and Ijan -Ikole High ways  from the early hours of today, September 10, 2019 till about 2pm

    Read Also: Fayemi’s wife escapes death, as FUOYE students allegedly attack convoy

    “Thereafter, after much persuasions by the University ‘s internal security personnel  and  the federal security agencies, they dispersed.

    “Only for the news to get to the university authority thereafter  that the students assaulted the convoy of Her Excellency,  the wife of the Governor of Ekiti State, Erelu Bisi Fayemi and vandalized some vehicles in the convoy.

    “Sensing that her Excellency was under attack in view of the continued aggression of the students,the  security personnel attached to her convoy had to repel the attack and some students were injured in the process.

    “Similarly

    some Policemen also sustained injuries and their rifles were also seized.

    “As at this evening,, three students were injured with two of them having minor injuries and one having a severe abdominal injury and is currently hospitalized  at The Ido Federal Medical Centre.

    “In view of the foregoing, management at an emergency meeting discussed and reviewed the unruly behaviour of the students.

    “Such behaviour which included   the destruction of vehicles and burning of a police van as well as threat to lives has compelled the University management to take the following decisions:

    1. The University is hereby shut down with immediate effect.
    2. Students are therefore ordered to vacate the university premises on or before, Wednesday, Sept 11, 2019.
    3. The students Union is hereby proscribed.

    More details will be made known in due course.”

  • Balogun floors Ajimobi in Oyo South

    The Oyo State National and State Houses of Assembly Election Petitions Tribunal sitting in Ibadan, the state capital, yesterday declared Senator Kola Balogun of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) winner of Oyo South’s seat in the February 23 election.

    It dismissed the petition filed by the All Progressive Congress (APC) and its candidate in the election, former Governor Abiola Ajimobi.

    Read Also: Tribunal okays Yayi’s election for Lagos West

    The panel, led by Justice Anthony Akpovi, read the judgment.

    Other members of the tribunal are: Justice Chinyere Ani and Justice Sambo Daka.

    Balogun scored 105,720 votes to defeat Ajimobi, who polled 92,213, leaving a margin of 13,102 votes, as announced by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC).

  • Tribunal okays Yayi’s election for Lagos West

    The National Assembly and State Houses Assembly Elections Petition Tribunal sitting in Ikeja has declared Solomon Olamilekan Adeola (aka Yayi) of the All Progressives Congress (APC) winner of the February 23 election for Lagos West Senatorial District.

    The three-member panel, led by Justice Kunaza Hamidu, unanimously held that the petition filed by Mr Gbadebo Rhodes-Vivour of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) challenging Adeola’s victory was defective.

    The tribunal held that the petitioner failed to establish any case against the respondents.

    “The petition lacked merit and is hereby dismissed. The declaration of Solomon Olamilekan Adeola by the Independent National Election Commission (INEC) as winner of February 23 National Assembly election is hereby affirmed,” the tribunal said.

    Justices W. R. Olamide and S. I. Okpara are other judges of the tribunal.

    Respondents in the case are: the APC and INEC.

    Read Also: Balogun floors Ajimobi in Oyo South

    Rhodes-Vivour and PDP had filed a petition against Adeola and INEC, challenging the result of the Lagos West Senatorial District.

    He contended that the election of Yayi was fraught with irregularities.

    “INEC ought not to have declared Yayi the winner of the election. This is because the number of registered voters in the polling units where the election was cancelled by INEC is greater than the number of votes with which the first respondent purported won the election,” he added.

    Read Also:

    But in their defence, Adeola, APC and INEC, through their counsel, E. Akudo and Nojim Tairu, denied all allegations.

    They described them as “unfounded fabrications”.

    They insisted that Adeola scored the highest lawful votes cast at the election.

    The respondents urged the tribunal to dismiss Rhodes-Vivour’s petition with substantial costs.

    During trial, Akudo filed three applications on behalf of Adeola and APC while Tairu filed one application for INEC in which they objected to certain paragraphs in the petition.

    Their request was granted as the tribunal struck the paragraphs for lacking in substance.

    In its judgment, the tribunal held that the petitioners failed to substantiate and give particulars of allegations raised against the election of Adeola.

    It held that Rhodes-Vivour failed to show particulars of the exact scores he claimed to have scored.

    The three-man panel said: “The witnesses are those who were present on the day of the election. Therefore, the failure of the petitioner to present the exact scores has thereby rendered his claims unreliable.

    “The petitioner did not present any of their polling agents.”

    It held that the elections which produced Adeola was held in accordance with the Electoral Act.

  • Gobir’s election upheld for Sokoto East

    The National and State Assemblies Election Petitions Tribunal sitting in Sokoto on Tuesday dismissed the petition filed by the defeated candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Salihu Maidaji, against the candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC) representing Sokoto East, Senator Ibrahim Abdullahi Gobir.

    Maidaji, the immediate past Speaker of the Eighth Assembly, had challenged the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) declaration of the APC candidate as winner of the election conducted on February 23.

    He alleged that Gobir was not qualified at the time of the conduct of the election, having allegedly tendered forged certificates.

    The PDP candidate also alleged that Gobir was not duly elected as he did not score the majority of lawful votes cast while there was substantial non-compliance with electoral laws.

    But Gobir insisted that he was qualified to contest the poll and did not breach any electoral law.

    In its judgment, the tribunal struck out the petition for abandonment, dismissed it for being statute-barred and declared that it lacked merit.

    Read Also: Oyo panel affirms Buhari’s election

    It adjourned two State Assembly petitions for judgments at a date yet to be announced.

    The petitions include that of Sokoto North I Constituency filed by APC and Malami Mohammed Galadanchi against the election of Halliru Buhari of the PDP.

    The second one was filed by the defeated PDP candidate for Dange/Shuni Constituency, Tukur Mohammed, against the election of APC’s Aminu Magaji Bodai.

    All the counsel in the two cases had adopted their final written addresses and replies on points of law.

  • Oyo panel affirms Buhari’s election

    The National and State Houses of Assembly Election Petitions Tribunal sitting in Ibadan, the Oyo State capital, on Tuesday upheld the election of the Chairman of Senate Committee on Land Transport, Abdulfatai Buhari.

    The senator is representing Oyo North.

    Buhari, a second-term senator, won the election on the platform of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in the February 23 poll.

    The unanimous judgment of the panel was read by Justice Sambo Daka.

    Read Also: Tribunal affirms Orji’s victory

    Other members of the panel are: Justice Anthony Akpovi (Chairman) and Justice Chinyere Ani.

    The panel said the petitioners, Mulikat Adeola-Akande and her party, the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), failed to prove their petition beyond reasonable doubt.

    It awarded a cost of N150,000 against the petitioners and refused to grant their request for damages.

    Buhari, who served as chairman Senate Committee of ICT and Cybercrimes in the Eighth National Assembly, won the election with over 18,338 votes to defeat Adeola-Akande, as declared by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC).

  • Tribunal affirms Orji’s victory

    The National Assembly Election Petitions Tribunal I sitting in Umuahia, the Abia State capital, yesterday affirmed the victory of Theodore Orji of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) as the senator representing Abia Central in this year’s general election.

    The immediate past senator for the district, Nkechi Nwaogu, had sought the nullification of the election.

    He also called for a rerun of the poll for what she called the gross irregularities that allegedly characterised the election.

    Delivering the tribunal’s judgment, its Chairman Justice Adeyinka Adebirigbe said the evidence of the petitioner failed on its own, while the petition itself also failed based on “non-availability of cogent and credible evidence”.

    Read Also: Tribunal decides Atiku’s petition against Buhari today

    The chairman stressed that “practically, there is no evidence the petitioner could rely upon” and he dismissed the petition.

    Speaking through his Umuahia Liaison Officer, Ifeanyi Umere, Senator Orji expressed gratitude to God for the affirmation of his victory at the tribunal.

    He thanked his constituents for standing solidly behind him all the while.

    Orji urged Nwaogu to see reasons and join hands with him to develop the state.

    In a telephone chat, Nwaogu said she was not expecting anything different from the tribunal’s judgment.

    According to her, she and her team of lawyers were studying the judgment and would decide on the appropriate line of action.

  • Osun, Oyo trade blames over LAUTECH’s funding

    Osun State Government says the claim by the Oyo State Government that it has defaulted in the payment of its counterpart funding to Ladoke Akintola University of Technology (LAUTECH), Ogbomoso, is a product of misinformation.

    A statement on Tuesday in Osogbo by Secretary to Osun Government Mr. Wole Oyebamiji said Osun had never abandoned its responsibility to the institution.

    The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that LAUTECH is jointly owned and funded by Osun and Oyo governments.

    Oyebamiji said Osun had always been performing its responsibilities to LAUTECH in spite of the “lopsidedness” in the distribution of infrastructure to the two states.

    Read Also: ‘I never expected what I met in LAUTECH’

    NAN reports that Governor Seyi Makinde of Oyo on September 5 accused his Osun counterpart, Gboyega Oyetola, of delaying the payment of LAUTECH workers’ salaries.

    Makinde, while marking his first 100 days in office, said he was ready to ‘divorce’ Osun should it fail to live up to its responsibility to the university in order not to make the students to suffer.

    The governor said he would not shy away from a separation to forestall a recurrence of incessant strikes due to inability of both states to pay the workers’ salaries.

    But Oyebamiji said while Oyo in 2017 contributed about N717.9 million, Osun contributed about N1.3 billion.

    He added that Oyo contributed about N443.9 million in 2018, while Osun contributed N500 million to the institution.

    Oyebamiji said Osun had been responsible for paying the salaries of workers at LAUTECH Teaching Hospital, Osogbo, from 2013 to date, amounting to about N16.4billion.

    “For instance, from January to June this year, Oyo paid about N1.1billion to the university, while Osun paid about N1.7 billion from January to July this year to LAUTECH Teaching Hospital.

    “The N1.7 billion excludes the N300 million it released to the university in July.

    “What this implies is that while Osun had cumulatively spent about N2 billion on the institution from January to date, Oyo had only spent a little over N1billion.

    “From the foregoing, who has defaulted? Rather than attempt to vilify our government, we should be commended.

    “The university is a joint responsibility. Whatever decision that needs to be taken on its future must be mutually agreed on,” he said.

    Oyebamiji added that the state government was committed to the joint ownership of LAUTECH.

    “We will never shy away from our responsibilities, just as we will never sacrifice the future of the students on the altar of partisan politics,” Oyebamiji said.