Category: Lead

The police have shot dead three suspected members of the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB) and its armed affiliate Eastern Security Network (ESN) in a gun duel in a foiled attack on Agwa Police station in Oguta Local Government Area of Imo State.

However, the hoodlums succeeded in burning down Agwa Central Vigilante Group in the same council area.

The incident, which occurred at about 11.30om, caused panic among the residents as police engaged the hoodlums in fierce shootout while the hoodlums were trying to attack the police station after they had burnt down Agwa Central Vigilante office.

Confirming the incident, the police spokesman, CSP Michael Abattam said quick response to a distress call prevented the hoodlums from burning the police station but three of the gangsters were killed in the ensuing gun battle.

Read Also: A disqualification that will haunt Imo PDP

“Sequel to the command’s determination to curb the menace of terrorism in the state, today 18/01/2023 at about 1130hrs, in response to a distress call that, hoodlums suspected to be members of the Proscribed Indigeneous People of Biafra (IPOB) and its armed affiliate Eastern Security Network (ESN) had attacked Agwa Central Vigilante Group, burning down their office and are proceeding to attack and set ablaze Agwa Police Station both in Oguta LGA of Imo State, the combatant Command’s Tactical Teams swiftly mobilized to the area.

“Having been informed that the hoodlums had cordoned the station, the police operatives tactically manoeuvred their way into the station joined the operatives of the division and professionally engaged the hoodlums in a fierce gun duel, and in the process three of the hoodlums were neutralized while others scampered for safety into the adjoining bushes with various degrees of gun shot wounds, abandoning three of their operational vehicles.”

He said the operatives on combing the bush, discovered the following Items : two Pump Action guns, two Double Barrel guns, 24 rounds or live ammunition, 12 expended cartridges, one Improvised Explosive Device, three operational vehicles – one green coloured Lexus 470GL, one black coloured Toyota Highlander, one Oxblood coloured mini bus, two motorcycles, one iron box, one travelling bag and assorted charms.

He said efforts were been made to arrest the fleeing members of the terrorist group, while the corpses have been evacuated and deposited in the mortuary.

•Olanipekun raises concern over Section 65 of Electoral Act
•Agbakoba seeks clarification on Section 134 of 1999 Constitution

Two legal luminaries — Chief Wole Olanipekun (SAN) and Olisa Agbakoba — yesterday expressed reservations about certain provisions of the Electoral Act  and 1999 Constitution capable of threatening the February and March polls.

Olanipekun, Chairman of the Body of Benchers, said the power vested in Returning Officers by Section 65 of the Act can threaten free and fair elections.

Agbakoba urged the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) Chairman, Prof. Mahmood Yakubu, to clarify the commission’s position on Section 134 of the 1999 Constitution.

He said Section 134, which provides requirements to be met by a presidential candidate before being declared winner, should be clarified.

Olanipekun faulted Section 65 of the Electoral Act, saying it was capable of being abused.

The section provides: “(1) The decision of the Returning Officer shall be final on any question arising from or relating to – (a) unmarked ballot paper; (b) rejected ballot paper; and (c) declaration of scores of candidates and the return of a candidate provided that the Commission shall have the power within seven days to review the declaration and return where the Commission determines that the said declaration and return was not made voluntarily or was made contrary to the provisions of the law, regulations and guidelines, and manual for the election.

“(2) A decision of the Returning Officer under Sub-section (1) may be reviewed by an election tribunal or court of competent jurisdiction in an election petition proceedings under this Act.”

Olanipekun, a former president of the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA), wondered why the section was inserted into the Electoral Act and passed by the National Assembly without thorough scrutiny.

He believes it is a booby trap for a free and fair election.

The foremost legal luminary spoke in Ado-Ekiti, the Ekiti State capital, when he visited Governor Biodun Oyebanji.

Olanipekun said it would amount to grave disaster for the electoral process, should the returning officers begin to review already announced results.

He argued that the officers were not law courts or tribunals with such powers.

The legal luminary noted that the controversial section left much to be desired and posed a potent threat to the nation’s democratic process.

The provision amounts to usurpation of the powers of the judicial arm constitutionally mandated to adjudicate on electoral matters.

Olanipekun said: “To me, it is a very dangerous section, so novel in the sense that, here you have a section that empowers a Returning Officer to review his decision within a period of seven days.

 ”The Returning Officer is not a court of law, not a tribunal, not vested with jurisdiction to exercise quasi-judicial powers or to assume jurisdiction over any matter that is judicial in nature.

“By implication, the Chief Returning Officer, the Chairman of INEC, can return someone as President today, and tomorrow, when there are agitations here and there, he may withdraw his decision, saying: ‘I am revising myself and I am now returning somebody else’.

“By that section, you are giving a returning officer in an election, and by extension INEC, the power to do and undo.

“I am of the firm belief that vesting them with such power to return candidates and review their decisions poses a danger to the polity.”

Olanipekun urged the National Assembly to, as a matter of urgency, to delete the controversial section to avert a political crisis capable of consuming the country’s democratic and electoral process.

Also yesterday, another former NBA president, Dr Agbakoba said he was awaiting INEC’s response to his letter in which he raised issues concerning a section of the 1999 Constitution on the declaration of a presidential candidate as the winner.

Read Also: Jonathan accuses politicians of uttering too much bitterness over polls

In the letter to the INEC chairman, Agbakoba said he was “a little worried” about the correct interpretation of Section 134 of the 1999 Constitution that provides requirements to be met by a presidential candidate to be declared the winner.

The section provides: “(1) A candidate for an election to the Office of President shall be deemed to have been duly elected, where, there being only two candidates for the election – (a)  he has the majority of votes cast at the election; and (b) he has not less than one-quarter of the votes cast at the election in each of, at least, two-thirds of all the states in the federation and the Federal Capital Territory, Abuja.

“(2) A candidate for an election to the Office of President shall be deemed to have been duly elected where, there being more than two candidates for the election – (a) he has the highest number of votes cast at the election; and (b) he has not less than one-quarter of the votes cast at the election in each of at least two-thirds of all the states in the Federation and the Federal Capital Territory, Abuja.”

Agbakoba stated that a careful review of Section 134 leaves possible interpretations that raise three significant questions.

He said: “(1) The requirement that a presidential candidate must score not less than one-quarter of the votes cast at the election in each of at least two-thirds of the 36 states of the federation: does this mean that the FCT Abuja is incorporated in the 24 states? 

“(2) The requirement that a presidential candidate must score not less than one-quarter of the votes cast at the election in each of at least two-thirds of the 36 states of the Federation: does it mean that the presidential candidate must also score not less than one-quarter of the votes cast at the election at the Federal Capital Territory, Abuja?

“(3) Can a candidate that scored not less than one-quarter of the votes cast at the election in 36 states of the federation, but failed to score one-quarter of the votes cast at the election at the FCT, be duly elected as President of Nigeria?   

“Finally, Section 134(1)(a) provides that a candidate for an election to the office of President shall be deemed to have been duly elected, where, there being only two candidates for the election, the candidate has the majority of votes cast at the election.

“But Section 134(2) provides that a candidate for an election to the Office of President shall be deemed to have been duly elected where, there being more than two candidates for the election, the candidate has the highest number of votes cast at the election.

“The constitution describes the winner in two different languages. 

“One, the winner must score the majority of votes and the other, the winner must score the highest number of votes. This is confusing.

“To be honest, I am not quite sure of the right answers to my questions.  I just thought to bring this to your attention as something you might wish to clarify to the public.”

Speaking during a chat on Politics Today, a Channels Television programme, Agbakoba said should the election end in a run-off, a winner would emerge through a simple majority.

He said: “This is the toughest election that we are going into, very uncertain. We have for the first time a very serious third force.”

INEC has declared its ability to conduct a run-off, should that happen.

The Nigerian National Petroleum Company (NNPC) Plc deducted over N3.3 trillion from January to November, last year to pay for fuel subsidy.

The deductions were made from revenue the NNPC Limited was supposed to remit to the Federation Account.

This is contained in the Federation Account Allocation Committee (FAAC) Post-Mortem Sub-Committee (PMSC) report presented to FAAC on Tuesday in Abuja.

The report stated that NNPC “deducted N152,852,247,197.02 as PMS value shortfall recovery for  November 2022. This brings the cumulative deduction between January and November 2022 to N3,302,465,705,596.30”.

The report also accused the NNPC of failing to disclose the locations Government Priority Projects it inherited when it transformed to NNPCL.

According to the report, “NNPC Ltd was yet to disclose the locations of the Government Priority Projects to enable the Sub-Committee visit and assess the level of work done in view of the deductions from the Federation Account”.

The report noted that “following the implementation of the Petroleum Industry Act, 2021 which transferred Joint Venture (JV) assets in the oil and gas Sector to NNPC Limited with the exception of Production Sharing Contract assets, the Priority Projects are owned by NNPC Limited”.

Between January 1999 and July 2022, the NNPC is said to have deducted N1,096,867,042,733.94 for government priority Projects,  an amount, which should have gone into the Federation Account. 

The Nation learnt that these priority projects were supposed to contribute revenue into the Federation Account but have remained invincible to FAAC.

Last year, the NNPC did not remit a kobo into the Federation Account because it was using revenue generated from the sale of crude oil to pay for PMS subsidy. This significantly impacted the quantum of monthly allocation the states ought to have received last year.

The FAAC Post-Mortem Sub-Committee also discovered that the NNPC Plc under paid the Federation Account by N185,458,842,270.76 “as a result of NNPC using Exchange Rate lower than the CBN official rate on Domestic Crude sale for the period 2015 to 2022”.

Read Also: Petrol subsidy removal will unlock over N11tr, says Muda Yusuf

The report said the Central Bank of Nigeriav (CBN) “has confirmed that NNPC did not use the rate advised by the CBN while NNPC has not yet responded to the matter after several months of being given the analysis to review”. 

“Despite the concerns of the Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS), Nigerian Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission (NUPRC) and other stakeholders, NNPC Limited has continued to use a different Exchange Rate in remittances to the Federation Account till date” the report lamented.

  The Post-Mortem Sub-Committee appealed to the FAAC plenary to take a decision on the appropriate exchange rate to be used by NNPC Limited on remittances to the Federation Account to avoid under payments to the Federation Account; and engage a third-party forensic auditor to validate the established underpayments to the Federation Account by NNPC.

For November, 2022, the PMSC informed the FAAC gathering known as the Plenary that $687,552,746.48 (equivalent to N272,916,178,043.86) was recovered in favour of the Federation Account as outstanding arrears from several revenue items of collection and paid to the designated accounts”. 

However, from January to November 2022, the Sub-Committee recovered a total of N1,620,336,606,670.97. The largest recoveries were made in September N1,313,829,045,133.43 and October N1,347,420,428,627.11.

Remittances into the Federation Account for November 2022 fell below target from N1,223,938,215,938.96 target to N947,165,536,669.42 actual remittance resulting a loss of N276,772,679,269.54.

Between January and November 2022, the Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS) paid N2,261,008,368,248.29 as Value Added Tax (VAT) proceeds into the Federation Account.

The PMSC reported that the total receipts into the Electronic Money Transfer Levy (EMTL) account from January, 2021 to November, 2022 stood at N215,614,963,053.21 while “the sum of N109,132,448,675.00 was disbursed leaving a balance of N106,898,399,378.21”.

The Sub-Committee said it had “earlier reported that there was an on-going reconciliation between CBN and FIRS on the shortfalls in respect of the duplicate payments made to the tune of N3,403,573,888.22 by Ecobank Plc in the month of October, 2022”.

New Nigeria Peoples Party (NNPP) presidential candidate Rabiu Kwankwaso yesterday gave reasons why his initial move to form an alliance with the Labour Party(LP) collapsed.

He said he found out midway that the LP was built on hype and ethnic and religious sentiments.

Kwankwaso also said he felt there was no need for him to go ahead with talks on the alliance since he had a better pedigree in politics and education than the LP presidential candidate, Peter Obi.

He described the LP as Andrew’s liver salt, which has started to fizzle ahead of the general election after its initial “media hype.”

The NNPP candidate also said that President Muhammadu Buhari and the Presidency hold the key to free, fair and credible elections.   

Kwankwaso spoke on “Nigeria’s 2023 elections: service delivery and policy alternatives” at the Chatham House, London. The general election commences on February 25.  

Asked if he would consider stepping aside and working with Obi  since their programmes look like, he took on the questioner, saying he was sure he was from “a particular part of Nigeria.”

His words: “The issue of Labour. You see, that is the problem we have. The gentleman that asked the question, I am sure is from a particular part of Nigeria and belongs to a particular group.

“You have a party that is based on ethnicity and religion…. Of course, that is the difference between the Labour Party and our party, which is a national party, the New Nigeria Peoples Party.

“While we are accusing leaders of being one thing or the other negative, the followers must learn how to be Nigerians and not come from one part of the country.

“Let me say that I was one of those that initially wanted to work with the Labour Party. Unfortunately at that time, the Labour Party was under serious media hype and therefore, they could not see reason and are still not seeing reasons.

“Why say that I should withdraw? I wish you did not have to go to that extent. You would have said I should consider working with Labour Party or PDP or APC. People here don’t even know what is happening. I want to say that our party, the NNPP is the only growing party in Nigeria today.

“We have seen the maximum any party, especially the Labour Party, can go. To us, it’s like Andrew’s liver salt. It came with a lot of hype and now, it is coming down. Just take note of it.

“Our party, the NNPP, is the only party that is now getting the support. Forget about the big people who are actually the problem of our country.

“We have succeeded in locking down Northern Nigeria today in terms of votes and not working in the Southern part of the country. The difference is that the North knows us more than the South.

“If you were from the North, you would not have made that statement for Kwankwaso to withdraw for Labour Party. You should go and look at my credentials. I hold a PhD in Civil Engineering. Check your candidate and see what he has.

“I have been in the system for over 30 years. I was a civil servant for 17 years, I was Deputy Speaker of the House of Representatives in 1992. I was an elected delegate to the Constitution Conference. I was elected governor of Kano State for eight years.

Read Also: We’ll build 500,000 classrooms for out of school children – Kwankwaso

“I will tell you what I told them when we sat down. If anybody wants Kwankwaso to withdraw, let us bring the criteria. Anytime I have a better candidate, I will be ready to talk to him.”

On the upcoming polls, the   former Kano State governor  said that “if the Presidency wants a free, fair and credible election, we will have it.”

He added:  ”Our country is yet at another crossroads. We are facing an election in which, for the first time in 20 years, President Buhari will not be a candidate.

“We are going into an election at a time when poverty is biting so hard and money bags believe that they can take advantage of the very poverty they inflicted on the nation.

“We are also going into this election when the election umpire, INEC has successfully gotten some of the far-reaching amendments targeted at improving the conduct of elections and preventing election rigging in Nigeria.

“My 30 years in politics have taught me that free, fair and credible elections require so many inputs and commitments. But the commitment of the President in particular and that of the Presidency, in general, is key. If the Presidency wants free and fair elections, it will happen.

“Thus, the burden of conducting the free and fair election, much as it depends on the performance of INEC, politicians, security agencies and other stakeholders; it largely rest on the corridors of the Presidency.

Kwankwaso hailed the United States, the United Kingdom, the European Union and other friends of Nigeria for their support in deepening democracy in Nigeria.

The presidential candidate however appealed to them “to prevail on the Nigerian President to ensure that he leaves a legacy of free, fair and credible elections.”

While also expressing concern over an alleged ploy by some persons to derail the electoral process, he said: “Let it be known that no contraption in whatever guise other than an elected government will be acceptable to Nigerians in 2023.

“We in the NNPP believe that we would tie election at first ballot free and fair. We appeal to the President not to listen to any proposal that seeks to undermine the 2023 general election.

“We also call on all well-meaning Nigerians as well as the international community to be vigilant. I am also calling on all Nigerians in the Diaspora to continue to appeal to the government of their host country to continue to support our country and ensure that credible elections are conducted.

“Some of the problems we have is partly because our leaders were not able to bring everybody on board. They were not able to convince people that there is good leadership.

“If we have good leadership that can bring everybody together, I have no doubt in my mind that Nigerians will be patriotic. We will provide the leadership that is necessary for everybody to be carried along and committed to the Nigerian project.”

 Kwankwaso promised to “create an irresistible and attractive destination for businesses and career aspiration” that would make Nigerians in the Diaspora to return.

While noting that   Nigeria is facing challenges because of the “choices made by its leaders,” the former governor promised to end strikes by workers, especially members of the Academic Staff Union of Universities and medical doctors, if elected President.

He also spoke about increasing the number of military and police personnel in the country to about one million each and building one million houses yearly within four years in office.  

Governor David Umahi has urged Ebonyi State voters to support the All Progressives Congress (APC) presidential candidate, Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu, in next month’s election.

The governor, who made the call at the kick off of the party’s local government campaign rallies at Iboko, the headquarters of Izzi Local Government Area said the APC presidential candidate loves the Igbo nation.

He added that the Igbo will be fully accommodated and carried along by Tinubu as president.

Umahi also urged the electorate to vote for the party’s governorship candidate, Francis Nwifuru and others candidates contesting on the platform of the party.

He described Tinubu and Nwifuru as experienced and capable leaders who have the capacity to take the country and state to the next level.

The governor noted that Ebonyi State would be better off with an APC government at all levels.

He cautioned Ebonyi people against supporting any governorship candidate from Ebonyi South senatorial district, insisting that equity demands that Ebonyi North, precisely Izzi clan, should produce the next state governor.

Umahi maintained that Nwifuru has been tested and trusted over a period of 16 years to diligently continue on the achievements made so far in the state.

He said: “We must go back to our polling units. We are standing with Tinubu and Shettima. They will take care of Ebonyi State the way Buhari took care of Ebonyi State. The way Buhari has been taking care of us that is the way Jagaban is going to take care of the Ndigbo.

Read Also: Uzodimma, Senator Tinubu rally Southeast women for APC

“Jagaban was the governor of Lagos State and under him, Ndigbo in Lagos prospered and they are still prospering. We are not guided by sentiment; we will follow the man that knows the way.

“This speaker has been with me for 16 years from when I was party chairman to when I was made deputy governor and then governor.”

“If you see anybody contesting governor from Ebonyi South, he is not one of us. We are not in support. When it was the turn of the south, the Abakaliki block came out to support us.”

Addressing a mammoth crowd of party supporters at the event, Nwifuru pledged to govern the state with the core values of honesty, integrity and dedication.

Nwifuru, who is the Speaker of Ebonyi State House of Assembly, also pledged to bring innovations in the state civil service, education, health, agriculture, infrastructure and other sectors, in line with the strong foundation already laid by his predecessor.

The APC governorship candidate emphasized that his administration will encourage entrepreneurial education through the introduction of local dialects in schools’ curricula for the teaching and learning of science and technology.

Describing himself as a child of destiny, he attributed his achievement so far to God’s grace, and his externalized principles of dedication and diligence to duty, promising to bring the attributes to bear in his governance if elected.

His words: “I am a destiny child who rose from grass to grace. I will govern with my core value of honesty and integrity, touching on education, health, agriculture and the entrepreneurial sector. I will introduce our dear dialect in the curriculum of our school in the teaching of science and technology.”

•Yuguda: APC candidate, Shettima are God’s gifts

Women will get greater representation in government, if Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu is elected as the country’s next president, his wife, Senator Oluremi Tinubu, said yesterday.

Mrs. Tinubu gave the assurance in Abuja at the second edition of the All Progressives Congress (APC) Professionals Forum symposium titled: “Dissecting the Asiwaju Manifesto – Renewed Hope 2023 Action Plan for a Better Nigeria”.

Represented by the Director-General of the National Women Development Centre, Mrs. Valta Bashir, the senator pledged that Tinubu would prioritise women and youth issues.

She said: “Politically, we will work with the National Assembly to promote greater representation of women in government departments and agencies.

“Our goal is to have at least 35 per cent female representation at all levels of government, we will also work towards progressively improving the number of female lawmakers at state and national levels.

“I am a woman, and I am a beneficiary of Asiwaju’s commitment to empowering womenfolk.

“Although I have always been passionate about charity work and have invested greatly in women and youth development as a former first lady of Lagos State.

Read Also: Tinubu, Shettima are God’s gifts to Nigeria – Yuguda

“It was with the support of my dear husband that I was able to also take on political leadership roles.”

The lawmaker said there was a need to institutionalise female inclusion and representation in politics and governance, adding that this was Tinubu’s pledge to Nigerian women.

The Senator representing Lagos Central in the upper chamber of the National Assembly maintained that every segment of the population must be given a fair chance to make their best contributions to the country’s well-being and betterment.

She said if elected, a Tinubu-Shettima government would provide equal and inclusive opportunities and platforms to ensure that Nigerian women excelled in all areas including economic, social and political sectors.

“Economically, we will encourage our financial institutions to give more and broader loans and incentive schemes support to women-owned businesses,” she said.

Recalling the two-term era of her husband in Lagos State, she said as governor, Tinubu championed many women’s support initiatives that lifted several families out of dire economic challenges.

She also said that a Tinubu-Shettima presidency would push for increased gender parity in education to ensure that the female child got a fair chance at access to basic and post-basic education.

Earlier, the Chairman Broad of Trustees (BOT) of the forum and one-time governor of Bauchi State, Malam Isa Yuguda made a case for why Nigerians should vote for Tinubu at the February 25 presidential election.

He described Tinubu and his Vice Presidential candidate Senator Kashim Shettima as God-given gifts to the country, saying their antecedents placed them far ahead of all other presidential candidates.

Yuguda said: “We have a God-given team in them. They have everything spelt out in the Bible and Koran. They have all it takes as leaders. As human beings, the Almighty God will not come down to tell us the requirements of the person we should put forward as leaders. If we dare make mistakes, the consequences are there for us.”

Rivers Governor Nyesom Wike has offered insights into the preferred presidential candidate he and his allies will support in the forthcoming poll.

He said the individual must have a quality of keeping to his words and will not renege on any agreement entered into with them.

The Governor spoke on Wednesday at Rumuji-Odegwe town where the Rivers chapter of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) held a rally to inaugurate its campaign in Emohua Local Government Area.

Wike told a PDP stalwart, Ohna Sergeant Awuse, who earlier declared that party stalwarts in the state were anxiously waiting for his directive on the presidential election, to exercise patience.

He told the leaders that soon he would conclude negotiation with his political allies and inform them about his decision.

Read Also: Wike lists cardinal quality of preferred presidential candidate

The governor said: “Chief Awuse has said, ‘we are tired of waiting’. Indeed, we are tired of waiting. But don’t worry. You’ve been patient. Your being patient will not be taken for granted. The bell will soon ring. When you hear the bell, listen to where the bell is coming from and go and do what you have been told to do. 

“I can assure you all these buccaneers, all these vampires, we will teach them a lesson. All those who said Rivers State is not important, we’ll tell them that Rivers State is important. If you play with us, we’ll play with you. If they play with us, we’ll play with them. Enough is enough.

“So let me apologise and plead with Ohna, Nne-New-Eli Emohua Local Government, it is almost time, endure. Very soon you’ll hear and I can assure them, no going back.”

The Governor said he had been waiting patiently for those, who threatened to expel him from the PDP to carry out their threat.  

He said persons issuing such threat were knew that PDP was already polarised, and taking such action against him and his allies would lead to the extinction of the party.

The Rivers Governor said the state had the muscles to withstand those he described as buccaneers and vampires already selling their conscience for pot of pottage.

The presidential candidate of the New Nigeria People’s Party (NNPP) Senator Rabiu Musa Kwankwaso has dismissed the Labour Party as a party built on regional and ethnic sentiments, saying its initial hype has begun to dwindle ahead of the general elections.

The NNPP standard bearer also said that President Muhammadu Buhari holds the key to free, fair and credible general elections.

Kwankwaso, who spoke at Chatham House, London on “Nigeria’s 2023 elections: service delivery and policy alternatives” said although he initially wanted to work with the Labour Party, he discovered that the party was only under a serious media hype.

He was responding to a question on whether he would consider stepping aside and working with the Labour party candidate since their programmes look like.

According to him: “The issue of Labour. You see, that is the problem we have. The gentleman that asked the question, I am sure is from a particular part of Nigeria and belong to a particular group.

“You have a party that is based on ethnicity and religion…, of course that is the difference the Labour Party and our party, which is a national party, the New Nigeria People’s Party.

“While we are accusing leaders of being one thing or the other negative, the followers must learn how to be Nigerians and not coming from one part of the country.

Read Also: Kwankwaso to NNPP candidates in Northcentral: mobilise votes for me

“Let me say that I was one of those that initially wanted to work with Labour Party. Unfortunately, at that time, the Labour Party was under serious media hype and therefore, they could not see reason and is still not seeing reasons.

“Why say that I should withdraw? I wish you did not have to go to that extent. You would have said I should consider working with Labour Party or PDP or APC. People here don’t even know what is happening. I want to say that our party, the NNPP is the only growing party in Nigeria today.

“We have seen the maximum any party especially Labour party can go. To us, it’s like Andrew’s liver salt. It came with a lot of hype and now, it is coming down. Just take note of it. Our party, the NNPP is the only party that is now getting the support. Forget about the big people who are actually the problem of our country.

“We have succeeded in locking down northern Nigeria today in terms of votes and not working in the southern part of the country. The difference is that the north knows us more than the south.

“If you were from the north, you would not have made that statement for Kwankwaso to withdraw for Labour Party. You should go and look at my credentials. I hold a PhD in civil Engineering. Check your candidate and see what he has.

“I have been in the system for over 30 years. I was a civil servant for 17 years. I was Deputy Speaker of the House of Representatives in 1992. I was an elected delegate to the constitution conference. I was an elected governor of Kano state for eight years.

“I will tell you what I told them when we sat down. If anybody wants Kwankwaso to withdraw, let us bring criteria. Anytime I have a better candidate, I will be ready to talk to him”.

The Inspector-General of Police (IGP) Usman Alkali Baba will not be retiring midway into the general elections. Instead, he already has an appointment letter extending his term in office.

The Minister of Police Affairs, Mohammed Dingyadi, disclosed this to State House Correspondents after the first Federal Executive Council (FEC) meeting of 2023. He explained the Police Act 2020 has changed the rules for an IGP’s retirement.

There have been speculations lately the Police Chief, who clocks 60 years on March 1, 2023, will honour the rule that mandates public servants to go on retirement at 60.

However, responding to a question from correspondents on whether or not the IGP would be retiring indeed as expected, Dingyadi said: “I don’t know where you got your record but let me say that by the provision of the Police Act 2020, the IG is now supposed to have a kind of four-year period and Mr. President has already given him a letter of appointment in that regard. 

Read Also: IGP retrains 79 Squadron commanders for tactical deployment

So the issue of IG going out during this election period does not arise.”

President Muhammadu Buhari appointed the then DIG Baba as the acting Inspector General of Police on April 6, 2021. 

The Police Council confirmed him as the substantive Inspector General of Police on June 2021.

There had been concerns over the expected retirement of the IGP, three Deputy Inspectors General of Police (DIGs), many Assistant Inspectors General of Police (AIGs), Commissioners of Police (CPs) and 290 other policemen in the first quarter of 2023.

Dingyadi also disclosed that FEC approved the draft bill for an Act to establish Nigeria Police Institutions, which he said is to provide legal backing to the existing training institutions across the country and not to build new ones 

He also affirmed that the level of corruption within the Nigeria Police has drastically reduced.

A Federal High Court in Abuja has dismissed a suit by an Abuja-based lawyer, Osigwe Momoh, seeking to disqualify the All Progressives Congress (APC)’s presidential candidate Asiwaju Bola Tinubu over the party’s choice of a same-faith ticket for the February 25 election.

In a judgment on Wednesday, Justice Ahmed Mohammed, held the plaintiff lacked the locus standi to have approached the court on the issue.

Justice Mohammed noted having not shown that he is a member of the APC or he participated in the primary election that produced Tinubu and his running mate, Kashim Shetima as the party’s candidates, the plaintiff lacked the legal capacity to query their nomination.

The judge, who upheld the preliminary objection filed by the  APC and Tinubu, held that the lack of locus standi on the part of the plaintiff has robbed the court of the jurisdiction to hear the suit.

 Momoh had stated, in a supporting affidavit, that the APC has a duty, in nominating a joint ticket for the presidential and vice-presidential candidate, owe a constitutional duty, to uphold the principles of social justice, equity, national cohesion and unity of Nigeria.

Read Also: Atiku plans sale of nation’s assets to allies, says Tinubu

He added that the nomination of Muslims as presidential and vice-presidential candidates, in a country with diverse religious inclinations, runs counter to the spirit of national cohesion, integration and unity.

The plaintiff claimed that the APC was prevented by law to take actions capable of undermining social justice, equity and unity, and as such not qualified to present candidates of the same faith.

Momoh added the defendants – APC, Tinubu and the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) –“are under a constitutional duty to ensure that the Federal Republic of Nigeria shall not be governed, nor shall any persons or group of persons take control of the Government of Nigeria or any part thereof except in accordance with the provisions of the Constitution.

“The nomination of Presidential and Vice-Presidential candidate of the APC being persons of the same religious faith is exclusionary, divisive and capable of polarizing the country along religious lines and it runs counter to the sacrosanct principles of social justice.”

Momoh prayed the court for, among others, an order nullifying the candidature of APC and Tinubu from participating in the presidential election on the ground that the nomination of Muslim-Muslim candidacy is unconstitutional and against the spirit and letters of sections 14, 15 and 224 of the 1999 Constitution.