The Secretary of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) Caretaker Extraordinary Convention Planning Committee (CECPC) Senator John James Akpanudoedehe has resigned.
The Nation learnt the embattled Secretary submitted his resignation letter to Caretaker Committee Acting Chairman, Governor Abubakar Sani Bello during a routine meeting of the committee at the party Secretariat in Abuja.
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Ebonyi Governor David Umahi has defied his sack by High Court judgement, vowing he remains Governor.
He urged the people of the State to remain calm as he was sure of quashing the ruling at the Appeal Court.
The Governor, who described the Justice Inyang Ekwo judgement as a jungle justice, said he has forwarded a petition against the Judge to Nigerian Judicial Council (NJC).
He noted the Court lacks the powers to remove him as Governor as he is covered by immunity clause which protects him from any form of litigation that is not pre election and tribunal matter.
Umahi also noted that there are two other similar cases on defection of a Governor by an Ebonyi High Court and another in Zamfara which ruled in favour of the Governor.
He said: “The Constitution stipulates that the only way whereby a Governor can vacate his seat is either by death, resignation or impeachment by the House of Assembly.
“There is no other provision that empowers a hatchet man to turn the constitution upside down.
“I have listened to the judgement of Ekwo and it is very obvious that he was on a mission. He was making all efforts to upturn the rulings of the Appeal and Supreme courts on issues like this.
“We have heard the rumors before now that he was determined to give judgement against all known laws and the constitution to embarrass the APC and the Federal government”.
“For me I do not feel worried but I feel so sorry for the judiciary. The executive may have problem, the legislature may have problem but the moment justice could be purchased then we are in trouble in this country. And the ruling this afternoon is a clear evidence that this country is in trouble.
“And let me tell you that this same judge has over 10 cases against Ebonyi State Government with him and you can imagine what he is going to rule. We have petitioned him to NJC and we will follow it up to ensure that this man is brought to justice”
“I want you to disregard the judgement, it is null and void there is a subsisting judgement in Ebonyi and Zamfara states. So we have chosen the one to obey, we will not obey his ruling, we will obey the ruling of a competent court of coordinate jurisdiction that says you cannot sue a Governor.
“The sections of the Constitution are very clear, no civil or criminal proceedings could be brought against a sitting governor. This is not a pre-election matter, this is not a tribunal matter. So he has murdered justice in this country and he and his generation will be remembered for this jungle justice which has no leg to stand.
“I am still the Governor of Ebonyi state and he has no powers to remove me,” Umahi said
The Governor also argued that the Judge lacks the powers to declare the seats of the House of Assembly members vacant.
He said previous judgements have made it clear that it is only the presiding officer of the House of Assembly or the National Assembly.
A Federal High Court in Abuja has ordered 15 members of the Ebonyi House of Assembly, including the Speaker, who defected from the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) to the All Progressives Congress (APC) to immediately vacate their seats.
Justice Inyang Ekwo, in a judgment on Tuesday, held that their defection was unlawful and that having abandoned that political party on which platform they stood election, they could no longer occupy the seats.
Justice Ekwo declared their seats vacant and restrained them from further parading themselves in the capacity of members of the Ebonyi State House of Assembly.
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A Federal High Court in Abuja has ordered Ebonyi Governor and his Deputy Dave Umahi and Eric Kelechi Igwe to immediately vacate their offices having unlawfully defected from the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) to the All Progressives Congress (APC).
Justice Inyang Ekwo, in a judgment on Tuesday, held that having defected from the party on which platform they won the election, Umahi and Igwe are deemed to have resigned their offices.
Justice Ekwo ordered the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to accept from PDP names of its members to replace Umahi and Igwe, to serve out the remaining part of their tenure or, in the alternative, conduct fresh election to replace Umahi and Igwe.
The judge, among others, restrained Umahi and Igwe from further holding themselves out or parading themselves as the Governor and Deputy Governor of Ebonyi State.
The judgment was on the suit filed by the PDP, with INEC, APC, Umahi and Igwe as defendants.
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The House of Representatives on Tuesday rescinded its rejection of three gender related bills during voting on the constitutional amendment.
The three bills failed to get the required 240 votes on Tuesday.
Others were are the bills on citizenship, indigeneship and 35 percent affirmative action for women.
Women groups have since the rejection of the bills besieged the gate to the National Assembly to protest the action.
However at its resumed sitting on Tuesday, Speaker Femi Gbajabiamila said there was the need for the House to rescind the decision for the good of the country.
He said the House will set aside its rules and relist them in the next batch of constitutional amendment, which will be presented to the House in the next four weeks for voting.
Chairman of the House Committee on Rules and Business Abubakar Hassan Fulata moved a motion to rescind the decision, which was seconded by the Deputy Minority Leader Toby Okechukwu.
He said it was important to do so in solidarity with women on the occasion of the international women day.
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Ukraine and Russia have opened a humanitarian corridor in the city of Sumy for the evacuation of Nigerian and other international students trapped in Sumy State University (SumDU).
The ceasefire, which is already underway, started at 10am Tuesday and will end by 9pm tonight.
It will allow civilians and all international students to flee through specified routes to the neighbouring state of Poltava.
About 380 trapped Nigerian students were facing food and water shortages in Sumy as of last Friday, but several have managed to flee since then.
Eight of them dodged Russian soldiers and tanks between Sunday and Monday as they fled westwards to the train station in Myrhorod, a city in the Poltava Oblast (province) of central Ukraine.
Airstrikes by Russian forces reportedly killed 20 people the city overnight.
According to a post by the Ukrainian Ministry of Foreign Affairs on its Twitter handle the humanitarian corridor is from Sumy through Holubivka through Lokhvytsia through Lubny to Poltava.
But the humanitarian cargo route is from Lokhvytsia through Andriyashivka through Romny through Nedryhailiv to Sumy.
The agreement requires both parties to pause the fighting.
“A humanitarian corridor to evacuate civilians, including foreign students, from Sumy to Poltava has been agreed today.
“We call on Russia to uphold its ceasefire commitment, to refrain from activities that endanger the lives of people and to allow the delivery of humanitarian aid,” the Ukrainian MFA said.
The Senate on Tuesday challenged a ruling by a Federal High Court in Abuja barring it from re-amending the Electoral Act 2022 recently signed by President Muhammadu Buhari.
Senate President Ahmad Lawan, who made this assertion on the floor at plenary, said the judiciary cannot stop the National Assembly from performing its constitutionally assigned duties.
“The judiciary, cannot stop the National Assembly from performing its duties,” Lawan said.
The court, in a ruling delivered by Justice Inyang Ekwo, specifically barred all the defendants in the suit marked FHC/ABJ/CS/247/2022, from removing section 84 (12) of the Electoral Act or preventing it from being implemented for the purpose of the 2023 general elections.
The defendants in the suit are; the Attorney General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Senate President, Speaker of the House of Representatives, Clerk to the National Assembly, Senate Leader, House of Representatives Leader and the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC.
Others are; Deputy Senate President, Deputy Speaker, House of Representatives, Deputy Senate Leader and Deputy Leader of the House of Representatives.
IPresident Muhammadu Buhari, before he signed the Electoral Act Amendment Bill 2022 into law, asked the National Assembly to expunge section 84 (12) of the Act, which he argued would disenfranchise serving political appointees.
The section specifically made it mandatory that political office holders must firstly resign from office before they could vie for any elective position.
The court order reads: “No political appointee at any level shall be a voting delegate or be voted for at the convention or congress of any political party for the purpose of the nomination of candidates for any election.”
The PDP, in the substantive suit it filed through its team of lawyers led by Chief Ogwu Onoja, SAN, challenged the legality or otherwise of the National Assembly tinkering with the Electoral Act, after it had been signed into law by the President.
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There is confusion in the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) over the fate of its caretaker chairman, Yobe State Governor Mai Mala Buni.
A heavy security cordon around the party’s national secretariat yesterday preceded the arrival of Niger State Governor Abubakar Sani Bello, who declared himself the acting chairman of the Caretaker Extraordinary Convention Planning Committee (CECPC).
In a brief encounter with reporters, Governor Sani Bello said: “I have been acting for a while since the Chairman travelled.”
He promised to be at the secretariat “almost every day now” to carry out his duties as the new helmsman.
Giving the highlight of what transpired at the meeting, Sani-Bello said: “There are some events that happened here today (yesterday) as part of activities going forward to our national convention.
“We just received the report of the zoning committee headed by the governor of Kwara State and the Deputy Senate President Ovie Omo-Agege.
“The state chairmen took their oath of office today and we discussed progress made so far on Convention and what needs to be done next so that we will achieve the March 26 date.”
Some party chiefs said President Muhammadu Buhari had ordered that Buni be removed; others said he would resume office tomorrow.
The internal rift in the APC deepened last night with state chairmen’s meeting on Buni’s continuation as chair of the caretaker committee.
The meeting was ongoing as at press time.
Buni, who is away in Dubai along with his youngest wife Hajiya Gumsu (nee Abacha), according to sources, will rush back home after learning of yesterday’s development. He is expected back tomorrow.
Governor Sani Bello as acting chairman received the report of the zoning committee chaired by Kwara State Governor AbdulRahman AbdulRasaq.
He also inaugurated newly-elected 35 state chairmen and the convention sub-committees (excluding Sokoto State).
This is in addition to presiding over a meeting of the CECPC.
Among the convention sub-committees chairmen inaugurated were: Governors Babajide Sanwo-Olu (Lagos), Dapo Abiodun (Ogun), Hope Uzodimma (Imo), Yahaya Bello (Kogi), Babagana Zulum (Borno), Inuwa Yahaya (Gombe), Deputy Senate President Ovie Omo-Agege, Senator Ken Nnamani, Senator Yusuf Abubakar Yusuf, David Lyon, Ismail Ahmed and Stella Okotete.
Osun State Governor Gboyega Oyetola, who had resigned from the caretaker committee, was absent.
There was tension as security men took over the party office.
About 15 patrol vehicles were stationed around the secretariat, which was cordoned off as early as 9 am.
Buni’s offence, some APC top officials said, is his alleged scheming to prevent the convention from holding on March 26. They further alleged that his cohorts in the party had secured an order from a court in Abuja stopping the convention. A security report was said to have confirmed the existence of the order.
The order, they said, is being kept secret to be made public on March 24, when it would be too late to reverse it.
The alleged scheming and other moves of the CECPC were said to have been relayed to President Buhari on Sunday before he travelled to the UK by some APC governors, who fell out with Buni. The governors and the caretaker chairman had a good relationship until recently.
Buni was also accused of promoting the alleged presidential ambition of former President Goodluck Jonathan and Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) Governor Godwin Emefiele in a bid to become a Vice Presidential candidate.
It was learnt that the President returned home from Kenya where he attended a United Nations event to resolve the boiling issues in his party before going to the United Kingdom for medical attention.
However, this could not be independently confirmed.
Buhari was said to be alarmed by Buni’s alleged scheming and the unpreparedness of the CECPC for the convention and directed that a meeting of the party’s National Executive Committee (NEC) be held to ease Buni out.
The President was angry that Buni and some members of his team wanted to stay put in office until after the conduct of the Presidential and other primaries.
There were indications that the Attorney-General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Abubakar Malami (SAN), was mandated to advise the party on how to vacate the court order.
It was also learnt that the emergence of two types of zoning formula, purportedly signed by Buhari, was considered as ridiculous and an affront to paint the President as “very weak.”
One of Buni’s aides, who spoke with our correspondent after hearing from his boss, said: “Up till now, Governor Buni has not received any instruction from the President to quit his position as the Chairman of CECPC.”
It was learnt that the selection of Governor Sani Bello as the acting chairman of the party was for a period of three weeks.
A source said President Buhari was furious over the constant flouting of his directives by the Buni-led Caretaker Committee.
It was gathered that the circulation of two types of zoning formula with the President’s signature confirmed security reports on the alleged desperation of some members of the CECPC to perpetuate themselves in power.
Apart from the alleged ambition of Buni to be Vice President, the CECPC secretary, Senator John James Akpanudoedehe never hid his ambition to be the next governor of Akwa Ibom State.
A governor said: “The President got enough security reports on their plot to lead APC into the abyss. He was shocked after he tolerated them to change the February date of the convention.
“They were planning to stop convention outright. They secured a secret injunction to stop the convention through an FCT High Court and were planning to release it by March 24 when it would be too late to vacate the order.
“The AGF was not in the picture and everyone was shocked at how the court order came about. But from preliminary findings, a Northcentral governor’s front secured the injunction with the full involvement of CECPC members and their minority jokers, which now includes a principal officer in the Senate as the main player alongside two governors from the South.
“Following security reports at his disposal, the President later met with some governors on Sunday where allegations against Buni were tabled with evidence.
“The governors met with Buhari before his departure for London. They said they have had enough of Buni’s alleged misdemeanours.
“On the spot, Buhari agreed to their proposal to effect a change in the leadership of the party with a governor in the Caretaker Committee from the North leading the party.
“He only added a caveat that we should follow due process, which we have done in line with Article 21(D) (vi) of APC Constitution.”
The Article says: “Each organ of the party shall have power to remove a party officer or officers as the case may be from office at that level for failing to discharge his or her responsibilities, neglect and dereliction of duty or misconduct during his tenure of office through a vote of no confidence passed against such officer/officers by a two-thirds majority of the members of the appropriate organ and voting subject to such officer’s right to fair hearing.”
The governor added: “This was why we didn’t dissolve the Caretaker Committee. Governor Abubakar Sani Bello is a member of the Caretaker Committee and he was chosen to complete the assignment of the team as the new leader.
“He has also met with members of the Caretaker Committee to seek their backing and continue with the assignment of conducting the national convention.
“Our national convention date remains sacrosanct. We will all relocate and work with Governor Bello to achieve a successful convention.
“The NEC will ratify our Action Plan and all steps towards the National Convention.”
A party source, who gave insights into allegations against Buni and a few members of the Caretaker Committee, said: “They accused Buni and a few members of CECPC of hidden agenda, including pandering to the wishes of anti-democratic elements who do not want the convention to hold; misleading the President on zoning formula; muddling up of sub-committees for the convention, and a larger project of a grand plot to make APC to lose the 2023 general election.
“Other allegations include causing deeper division in the party; autocratic tendency to fellow governors; mindset on the forthcoming primaries against some aspirants; sliding towards highest bidders taking over the party; outright malfeasance by some CECPC members and refusal to hold a regular meeting of the Caretaker Committee.”
However, Buni’s aide said: “Governor Buni has not received any directive or order from the President to leave his post.
“What we heard was that Governor Sani Bello claimed that there was a message from the President to Governor Buni. He purportedly said the message will come through the Secretary to the Government of the Federation (SGF) Mr Boss Mustapha.
“As I speak with you, the message has not been communicated to the party or Governor Buni. Even, Governor Sani Bello could not produce a sheet of paper to confirm that he has been mandated to take over the affairs of the party. There are doubts as to the directive.
“You can see the confusion they are trying to create in the party a few weeks to the national convention.”
Asked when Buni will return to the country, the source added: “He is coming back on Wednesday to resume duties as the chairman of CECPC.”
On why Akpanudoedehe did not challenge Sani Bello, the source simply said:” He wanted to ask, but we prevailed on him to keep quiet.”
Allies and loyalists of Buni, including Governors Hope Uzodinma and Yahaya Bello, were rattled at the APC Secretariat.
A source said: “The two governors came in briefly and discussed with a strategist of Buni, who was fingered in the court order mess. A few minutes after, they left. But they were obviously unsettled.”
Another governor said there was no way Sani Bello would have taken over as the acting Chairman without the directive of the President.
He said: “We were the last set to meet with the President before his departure. Those present included some governors, the SGF and Malami.
“The President did not only give the directive that Buni should step aside, but he also mandated all security agencies to give adequate security to Sani Bello to resume office.
“That was why security was beefed up at the APC Secretariat since Sunday. Neither SGF nor Malami sounded a note of caution at the session before the President. Let them come out and state their side of the story.”
Another governor said: “We opted for Sani Bello because he is the only governor left in the CECPC. Buni was out of the country, Governor Gboyega Oyetola has resigned from the Caretaker Committee in order not to preside over his own affairs and we have the only Niger State governor left in the Caretaker Committee. Naturally, he was expected to step into Buni’s shoes for only three weeks.”
Reacting to the development on Channels Television programme, Politics Today, Senator Kabiru Marafa, APC leader in Zamfara State, said the step by Bello was in good direction.
He said: “All we can see at the secretariat shows that the leadership of the party has hand in the scenario playing out in the party.
“The presidency has hands in the APC issue and the decision to change Buni-led administration was a welcome development.
“It is very clear that up till now, the presidency has not said anything to counter and deny Governor Bello’s claim.
“Something has happened today (yesterday) and nobody can deny that fact. People should rally around the new leadership, advise them with a view to ensure that the party holds its convention on March 26.
“We can only wish the Bello administration success in steering the ship of the party.”
To Salihu Lukman, former Director-General, Nigeria Governors’ Forum (NGF), the development was necessary to ensure the party does not further disintegrate.
He alleged that, from all indications, it was becoming clearer that the Buni-led committee was not ready to hold the proposed convention.
He said: “Governor Buni has been away for some time and in his absence, Gov. Bello was nominated to act as the chairman. It was the decision of the caretaker committee and he, Bello is part of the caretaker committee.
“At the moment we must appeal to our leaders that March 26 date for our convention is a reality. As progressives, we must begin to put confidence in the structure of the party and whether the president is around or not, the structure of the party should function without any hitch.”
But, a statement by Akpanudoedehe, titled: ‘Fake news: No leadership change in APC CECPC,’ said that leadership changes are not announced by “sources” through name-dropping in the media.
The statement reads: “Our attention has been drawn to sponsored media reports on an imaginary leadership change in the All Progressives Congress Caretaker/Extraordinary Convention Planning Committee.
“The media report is fake news and should be disregarded.
“The APC is a progressive political party guided by rules. Leadership changes are not announced by ‘sources’ through name dropping in the media.
“We urge our teeming supporters, members and indeed, the general public to remain calm and support the Governor Mai Mala Buni-led APC CECPC to conduct a rancour-free and credible National Convention deserving of our great party.”
There is heavy presence of security operatives at the Gani Fawehinmi Park in Ojota, Lagos where some youths proposed to protest for slain Bamise Ayanwole.
The Lagos State Police Command on Monday, confirmed the death of Bamise, who went missing after boarding a Bus Rapid Transport (BRT) service on February 26.
Following the outrage that trailed Bamise’s alleged gruesome murder, some youths vowed to embark on a protest on Tuesday.
In a flier shared on Twitter as seen by The Nation, the youths vowed to storm the Secretariat in Alausa, Ikeja and all BRT terminals in Lagos State.
They also demanded justice for the 22-year-old lady and prosecution of all the suspects involved in the death of the fashion designer.
The Nation observed that men of the Nigeria Police Force, Nigerian Army, and the Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps are stationed at the park strategically.
Also operatives of the Department of State Services are among the joint security forces at the venue with scores of patrol vans, heavy anti-riot gun trucks and Black Marias.
No protester has been seen at the venue as of 9:00am when our correspondent filed this report while vehicular movement and business activities continued uninterrupted along the axis.
The Lagos State Police Command has confirmed that Miss Oluwabamise Ayanwole, 22, who went missing after boarding a Bus Rapid Transport (BRT) service on February 26, is dead.
Oluwabamise boarded the bus at Chevron Bus Stop, Lekki, en route Oshodi around 7pm.
Her disappearance raised concerns among her friend, who said, in their social media publications, that Bamise expressed fears over the conduct of the driver.
The police arrested guarantors of the BRT driver, who fled as his passenger was declared missing.
It was learnt that detectives had gone to the last known address of the suspect, said to be from Ekiti State, but were told that he moved out about a year ago.
Bamise’s whereabouts were finally unraveled by residents around Ebute Ero in Lagos Island, who disclosed that she was tossed out of a BRT bus half-naked and with her private parts missing.
Twitter user, Akinwunmi King, said Bamise’s brother was at Ebute Ero Police Station where he was shown a picture of the body and he confirmed it was his sister.
He also shared a screenshot of messages he received which indicated that Bamise’s private parts were harvested inside the BRT bus before she was tossed out.
The sender claimed her body was seen in their area, Ebute Ero, adding that some witnesses saw when she was thrown off the bus.
“They saw the bus drive away and an SUV following it, according to people to whom she was shouting for help, before she gave up. People around reported the case at Ebute Ero Police station,” the message said.
Police spokesman Adekunle Ajisebutu said Bamise’s body was found on Carter Bridge by Ogogoro community, Lagos Island.
“The body has been deposited at the morgue of Mainland Hospital, Yaba, for autopsy. The bereaved family has been contacted and family members have identified the body as that of Oluwabamise Ayanwole, the lady earlier declared missing.
“The Commissioner of Police, Abiodun Alabi, is saddened by this incident and, therefore, expresses, on behalf of the management, officers and men of the command, his heartfelt condolences to the bereaved family,” he said.
Ajisebutu confirmed yesterday that the BRT driver, identifies as Nice Andrew Omininikoron, had been arrested.
Omininikoron, 47, was arrested at his hiding place at Ososa, Ogun State by operatives of the Department of State Services (DSS), Police Commissioner Abiodun Alabi said last night.
Omininikoron, who was arrested alongside the owner of the house he fled to, was paraded before reporters at the Police Command, Ikeja.
The Nation learnt that Omininikoron denied having any hand in Bamise’s murder, claiming that his bus was hijacked by three armed men who threatened him with a gun to cooperate or be killed.
Asked why he fled instead of reporting to the police or his employer, the driver was said to have kept mum.
Addressing reporters on the incident, Alabi said the police and DSS trailed him to his hideout and were closing in on him before his eventual arrest.
He debunked claims that Bamise’s private parts were harvested.
The CP said he visited the mortuary where a relative of the deceased confirmed that she was intact.
Asked if Oluwabamise was raped by her killers, the police boss said that would be ascertained by autopsy. He also dismissed allegations of attempted cover-up
Alabi said: “We are saddened by the death of Oluwabamise Ayanwole, the 22-year-old lady who was abducted while travelling in a BRT bus from Chevron area, Lekki to Osodi on 26th February, 2022.
“As soon as the report was received by the police, detectives were dispatched and search parties organised to trace the whereabouts of the missing lady. We were also in synergy with other relevant strategic partners with the determination and strength within our capacity to unravel the circumstances surrounding the disappearance of the innocent, promising young lady.
“As the suspect is being paraded today, we want to assure the public and indeed the bereaved family of the victim that justice will be served in this case.
“We want to reassure the public that the suspect will be arraigned in court very soon to face justice.”
Meanwhile, the family of the late 22-year-old fashion designer has called on the government to ensure that her killers are brought to justice.
In an interview with The Nation yesterday, Bamise’s sister, Elizabeth Ayanwola, who was weeping profusely, said, “We want Justice for my sister. This is sad; it is wicked, we want Justice.”
Also, Bamise’s mother, 72-year-old Comfort Ayanwola, a mother of five boys and five girls, said she has been seriously disturbed since her daughter went missing.
Another relation who spoke with The Nation called on the Lagos state government and the police to treat the case with seriousness, and punish all those involved in the barbaric act.
The relative said Bamise’s father has also been crying since the daughter’s disappearance, adding that visitors have been trooping in out of their house to condole with the family.
A wide range of Lagosians on social media urged Governor Sanwo-Olu to ensure justice is served.
@Sardney wrote: “Bamise deserves to live, all she wanted was to cater for herself and family. The state public transport is meant to be the safest form in any working community, sadly reverse is the case.”
@TunnyKvng said: “Bamise took the necessary precautions. She entered a relatively ‘safe’ BRT bus, called friends, took pictures and videos and yet she was killed in cold blood. Nigeria failed her. RIP Bamise.”