The Nation Newspaper

Category: News

  • Police, Army clash in Anambra

    What would have been a bloodbath in Awka, Anambra State was averted Thursday following a fight that ensued between policemen and the military officers.

    Trouble started at the popular Aroma junction in Awka where policemen posted to the round about to check traffic decided to stop every motor cycle operator (Okada) and began to demand for, 1,000 naira each for not wearing helmet.

    Unknown to then, when a military man who was riding a motor cycle got to the point they stopped him and demanded that he should park well, when he was about doing so, one policeman hit him thinking he was running away.

    The young military man (names withheld) parked the okada and told them he is a military man, though, not in uniform, the police man slapped him, and he retaliated, then the police men out numbered him.

    They told him to kneel down; but the military man refused and thereafter made contact to his superiors.

    Sensing danger, the first police man who slapped him ran away before the reinforcement from the military arrived.

    The leader of the Police Squad stationed at Aroma, Laz Ebehe, an Assistant Superintendent of Police (ASP) molested and assaulted reporters who trooped out to witness the scenario.

    All the motorcycle operators stormed the arena in protest of the fee being demanded by the policemen at Aroma who they claim, harass and intimidate them with their guns.

    When the state police Public Relations Officer, Emeka Chukwuemeka was contacted on the incident, he quickly told the Deputy Commissioner of Police (DCP), in charge of operations Olafimihen Adoye, who immediately contacted the divisional police Officer in charge of B Division Maikudi Shehu (CSP).

     

     

  • Kaduna Speaker swears-in new member

    Kaduna State House of Assembly Speaker, Hon. Usman Tahir Thursday sworn-in Mr. Timothy Chindo as the new member representing Kauru /Chaiwai constituency in State Assembly.

    Chindo was elected on July 5th under the platform of People Democratic Party following the demise of Hon. Shaibu Tukura who died on March 21, 2014 after a protracted illness at an Indian hospital.

    Chindo defeated his All Progressives Congress (APC) counterpart in the bye election into Kauru/Chawai Constituency of the Kaduna State Assembly.

    According to the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), Chindo polled 36,152 votes, while Dr. Isaac Auta Zakai of APC got 16,451 votes in the by-election.

    Speaking shortly after the swearing in, the new member said he will try as much as possible to ensure that he doesn’t disappoint the electorates, adding that, his major priority would be youths development because they are the backbone of every society.

  • Man arrested for defiling 2 years old girl

    Ebonyi State Police Command Thursday said that it has arrested a 30 year old man, Mr. Ama Inya Okoro for allegedly defiling a 2 year old girl in Unwana in Afikpo North local Government Area of the state.

    Spokesman of the command, ASP Chris Anyanwu stated this in Abakaliki.

    He expressed dismay at the increasing level of rape cases in the state.

    Anyanwu said the suspect committed the crime when the victim was asleep adding that he will soon be charged to court.

    Mr. Anyanwu urged parents to take adequate care of their children.

    The Police command also said Thursday that another kidnap suspect, a 27 year old teacher, one Kingsley Sunday who was arrested by the command for allegedly kidnapping two of his pupils, one Kolakpo Kosoko and the sister Tolu, have been transfered to the Ogun state Police command for further investigation and prosecution.

    ASP Chris Anyanwu said that the two victims have been re-united with their family in Ogun State where they reside.

    He said, “We have concluded our own investigation on the kidnap of the two children by their teacher and this morning (Thursday), a team of police officers from our command had to escort the suspects to Ogun State for them to continue the investigation and prosecute the victims.

    “The victims have been re-united with their parents and they have also gone back to Ogun State where they reside.”

    “With the success recorded by our command and the confessional statement of the suspects, we are optimistic that the Ogun State Police Command would also do a further investigation into the matter and prosecute the suspects.”

    ASP Chris Anyanwu said that the teacher who is a staff of Imperial International School Ijebu-Ode in Ogun state was arrested in his home town, Obieze, Effuim in Ohaukwu Local Government Area of Ebonyi state following a tip off.

  • Lagos assures on construction of quality infrastructure

    Lagos assures on construction of quality infrastructure

    Lagos State Government has assured residents of its commitment to construct high quality infrastructure in the state.

    State Commissioner for Works, Dr. Obafemi Hamzat, who gave the assurance while briefing newsmen in his office, said the government has put in motion a process intended to revamp the infrastructure of the State under the strategic inner road development programme.

    According to him, “We have identified roads that are high traffic bearing capacity of the roads. It is the major link roads that we first address before embarking on the arterial roads, which we have also started focusing on.”

    The commissioner explained that the government, contrary to insinuations, has not neglected Oshodi axis in the construction of roads, saying that it has so far worked on roads such as Oyetayo, Brown, Church, Kike Adeyemi and Adisa Ajibulu streets within the area.

    He said the Public Works Corporation (PWC) in the last one year, have worked on 39 roads within the old Oshodi Isolo LG.

    “More specifically, it is to be stated that when the level of disrepair of a particular road makes it rather a waste of funds to maintain then only palliative measure are applied before the commencement of the upgrade and rehabilitation of such roads as we have demonstrated across the entire state.

    “Currently the Public Works Corporation having identified over 1000 roads that are in dire need of maintenance. The speed of delivery however is a function of the weather condition. Most construction and maintenance works are affected by rainfall.

    “Obviously, the Administration cannot move as fast as we desire on all of these roads at the same time because we live in a built up city. Enhanced construction/rehabilitation of roads has to be systematic but we are at least moving and will work hard to increase our pace despite resource limitation,” Hamzat said.

  • COEASU suspends strike

    The Colleges of Education Academic Staff Union Thursday suspended its seven months strike for three months to allow the Federal Government look at their grievances.

    COEASU President, Dr. Emmanuel Sage told reporters in Abuja at the end of a meeting with the Minister of Education,   Ibrahim Shekarau that the union decided to suspend the strike in other to give the new minister a chance to work on their demands.

  • Danjuma to Jonathan: lead us as C-in-C to Sambisa

    Danjuma to Jonathan: lead us as C-in-C to Sambisa

    Chairman of the Victims Support Fund Committee, General Theophilus Danjuma has challenged President Goodluck Jonathan as Commander in Chief of the Armed Forces to lead the onslaught to the Sambisa forest where the Boko Haram insurgents are said to be operating from.
    Danjuma who spoke on Wednesday during the inauguration of the Committee in Abuja by President Jonathan said the war against terror was taking too long to win and must be won urgently by the Federal Government.
    “One thing we will not do is to go to Sambisa forest. The commander-in-chief will lead and we will follow the commander-in-chief. But seriously, this war must be brought to an end. We must win this war immediately. It is taking too long.
    “I called it civil war when it began; people say it is insurgency. The insurgents appear to be having an upper hand at this very moment. They pick and choose where to strike. They are even holding positions and displacing us. We must win this war Mr. President; we must do so immediately,” Danjuma said.
    While inaugurating the Committee, President Jonathan admitted that his administration owes Nigerians victory over Boko Haram.
    Stressing that evil will never prevail over good, Dr. Jonathan said no effort would be spared by his government to bring the individuals responsible for crimes against humanity to justice.
    But he called for the support of all Nigerians for the security agencies in the war against terror.
    He said: “We owe Nigerians nothing but victory over terror. The life of every Nigerian is precious and we will continue to work round the clock to put an end to this insurgency.”
    “I call on all Nigerians to stand together in support of our security agencies against terrorism. They are working night and day under difficult circumstances. It is unfortunate that when our security personnel prevent 1000 attacks, it is the one attack that succeeds that makes headline news and tends to portray our security agencies as not doing enough. It is part of the realities we have to deal with.”
    “The menace of terrorism has emerged as one of the most complex and challenging problems confronting governments in different parts of the world. Terrorists aim to cause social dislocation, spread fear and panic among the populace and disrupt government activities. But they never win. They have not won in the Middle East, in the USA, in China, in Columbia, in Italy, in the United Kingdom, in Kenya, etc. And they will not win in Nigeria. And, with the support of all Nigerians, we would ensure they do not win in Nigeria. Good must prevail over evil.”
    The President spoke about how it began “on December 25, 2009, when a 23-year-old Nigerian attempted to detonate explosives hidden in his underwear on Northwest Airlines Flight 253, on his way from Amsterdam to Detroit, Michigan, United States”.
    “Although his plan failed and the lives of 289 passengers were saved, it was one incident that finally confirmed that a few Nigerians had finally embraced terrorism as a way of life. Now we could no longer deny that terror has arrived our country with its ugly claws deployed!”
    He added: “The year 2009 appears to be a tragic turning point. Boko Haram, an assemblage of heartless individuals, took it upon itself to bring evil upon our country. They have in their mission, turned women to widows and reduced children to orphans.
    “They have killed and maimed and struck fear into law-abiding citizens. They have destroyed villages, attacked property and terminated people’s livelihoods without a care in the world. They have engaged our security agencies in a meaningless warfare that has wasted unimaginable human and material resources.”
    “The reality today is that, we are confronted with individuals whose minds have been so twisted and tutored to believe they are doing God a service.”
    “For those who take pleasure in seeing innocent human beings in pains, to see limbs being shattered and blood flowing in all direction after terror attacks, we say, you shall have no hiding place. Nigerians will expose you. The people of conscience around the world have rejected you.”
    Jonathan praised the countries backing Nigeria to fight the insurgency and this country’s neighbours for their co-operation.
    He said: “This has given us more fillip and we are confident that the days of Boko Haram are numbered. It is now just a matter of time. Our war against terrorism is gathering momentum. When you read about bombing incidents in the mass media, they may come across to those not directly affected as mere statistics. As the old proverb says, when you carry another man’s coffin, it looks like an ordinary log of wood.”
    “But to us, fathers and mothers, and the families of the victims, they are not just numbers. They are human beings – sons and daughters, uncles, nieces, nephews, brothers, sisters and indeed, fathers and mothers! They are Nigerians!! They are individuals with dreams and aspirations, noble Nigerians who love their country.”
    According to him, the Victims Support Fund Committee will help to mobilise collective efforts and resources in support of the victims.
    He urged Nigerians and non-Nigerians, individuals and cooperate bodies, to give generously to the Fund.
    The committee is to
    •identify sources and ways of raising sustainable funding to support victims of terror activities;
    •develop appropriate strategies for the fund raising;
    •ascertain the persons, communities, facilities and economic assets affected by terror activities;
    •assess and determine the appropriate support required in each case;
    •manage, disburse and/or administer support to the victims as appropriate;
    •address related challenges as may be appropriate; and
    •advise the Government on other matter(s) necessary or incidental to support victims of terror activities.
    Giving the vote of thanks, National Security Adviser (NSA) Col. Sambo Dasuki, assured the committee that the Federal Government would win the war against terror.
    He said: “Sir, you gave me a very difficult task after Gen. Danjuma’s statement. The only thing I will do is thank them for agreeing to serve and assure them that we will win the war.”
    “But there are some very hard choices that would have to be made. We have to been more concern about the lives of a few versus the condition of a few million. The decision has to be made soon. This is not the first time we have been challenged by very senior Nigerians about the need to end this.

  • APC: Jonathan has begun war against opposition

    APC: Jonathan has begun war against opposition

    Five more governors on sack list, says party

    PDP dismisses claim

    The battle line was drawn yesterday between the opposition All Progressives Congress (APC) and the Goodluck Jonathan presidency.

    APC Chairman Chief John Odigie-Oyegun accused President Goodluck Jonathan of declaring war against the opposition with state-sponsored impeachment proceedings.

    He said the impeachment of Admiral Murtala Nyako as the governor of Adamawa State was “unacceptable”.

    He alleged that members of the Adamawa State House of Assembly were induced with $300,000 as part-payment to impeach Nyako.

    He said a N500 million offer had been dangled before Nasarawa State lawmakers to remove Governor Tanko Al-Makura and N75million per lawmaker to sack Governor Adams Oshiomhole.

    Odigie-Oyegun alleged that Jonathan and the ruling Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) were out to remove APC governors in Borno, Nasarawa, Edo, Osun and Rivers states.

    He said the President, who had become “obsessed” with his re-election aspiration in 2015, was ready to destroy the country.

    Odigie-Oyegun, who spoke at a crowded press conference in Abuja, said the APC will resist any moves by the President to return Nigeria to the “dark days”.

    He said: “Events in Nigeria in the past few weeks point to a return to the dark old days of state dictatorship, lawlessness, impunity and repression.

    “Our freedoms are being emasculated, our economy being run to the ground, and our only hope of bringing about change – our democratic expression – is being smothered before our very eyes all because President Goodluck Jonathan is so obsessed with re-election in 2015 at all cost that he is destroying not just all our key institutions but indeed the entire country.”

    The APC National Chairman said the party was being pushed to the wall and would fight back.

    He added: “At this critical juncture of our history and despite our desire for restraint and mature engagement with President Goodluck Jonathan and the ruling Peoples’ Democratic Party (PDP), it is evident that inaction is no longer an option and we must resist.

    “Indeed keeping quiet in the face of the ceaseless and unrelenting reckless violations of all known laws of the land and the Constitution will amount to complicity in the lawlessness and impunity that has become the norm under President Goodluck Jonathan. We know it has been the dream of the ruling PDP to rule for 60 unbroken years, not minding if Nigeria becomes a desert land in the process.

    “Their evil machination has manifested in Ekiti. It manifested yesterday in Adamawa. They have carried it to Nasarawa, and they have Edo, Osun and Rivers in their sight.

    “In the states mentioned, all of them opposition strongholds, President Jonathan and his party have abused national institutions, resorted to a crude use of force and engaged in unprecedented financial inducements to achieve their objectives.

    “All these anti-democratic tactics come under the umbrella of power with impunity!”

    Odigie-Oyegun said: “But there is a bigger problem. President Jonathan is obsessed with his re-election in 2015, and he does not mind if Nigeria is destroyed in the process.

    “He does not care whether every institution of state, be it the military, the courts, INEC or any other one, is destroyed. All that matters now is his re-election.

    “This explains why he has embarked on this war against the opposition, this war against all of Nigeria.

    “Having bastardised the army, the police, the courts, aviation and the electoral commission, he has now moved to the next level: Impeachment. Every impeachment or threat of it in recent times has the imprint of President Jonathan.

    “As we speak, the Governor of Adamawa, Murtala Nyako, has been impeached at the instance of the President and his party. They have moved to Nasarawa, their next stop, while Rivers, Edo and Borno, all APC states, are not being spared the destabilisation that precedes their new-found weapon.”

    He attributed Nyako’s impeachment to the ex-governor’s defection to the APC.

    He said the President was guilty of allegations of extra-budgetary expenditure with which Governor Tanko Al-Makura of Nasarawa State is being threatened with impeachment.

    He added: “What was Nyako impeached for? Offences he allegedly committed five years ago. Those offences were not impeachable when he was in the PDP. But the moment he decamped to the APC, they became impeachable.

    “The entire ‘impeachment’ of Governor Nyako is so fraught with irregularities, bias, judicial contradictions and in violation of every procedural and constitutional provision that it is the worst manifestation of impunity.

    “We intend to mount an immediate and rigorous challenge to this gross injustice to the party and people of Adamawa State.

    “What is Governor Al-Makura of Nasarawa being threatened with impeachment for? Allegations of extra-budgetary expenditure, the same offence that President Jonathan has committed many times.

    “In fact, on only on the 10th of July 2014, the Senate passed a resolution asking President Goodluck Jonathan to prepare and submit to the National Assembly supplementary budget to cover the over expenditure in the sum of N90.693 billion (US$585 million) for PMS subsidy 2012 and the sum of N685.910 billion (US$4.430 billion) for Kerosene (DPK) subsidy expended without appropriation by the National Assembly in 2012 and 2013!”

    A livid Odigie-Oyegun gave insights into mass bribery of lawmakers in Adamawa and Nasarawa states to impeach their governors.

    He said: “In Adamawa, each member of the State House of Assembly was allegedly given US $300,000 as part payment to impeach Governor Nyako; some N500 million has allegedly been moved to Nasarawa to induce the state’s lawmakers to impeach Governor Al-Makura, and in Edo, each lawmaker has allegedly been offered N75million to impeach Governor Adams Oshiomhole.

    “Now, who is guiltier of gross misconduct than a President who is frittering away our commonwealth to induce perfidious legislators to impeach state governors? Who is guiltier of gross misconduct than a President who deploys troops to harass, intimidate and arrest the opposition during an election?

    “Who deserves to be impeached for gross misconduct more than a President who uses national institutions against the opposition, and shuts airports arbitrarily?

    “President Jonathan’s desperation knows no bounds, and he is willing to set a record of presiding over the greatest number of impeachments under his tenure.

    “Before Nyako’s impeachment on Tuesday, a total of five impeachments have been carried out in all of the 15 years of the Fourth Republic. But between now and 2015, President Jonathan is championing five impeachments, in Adamawa, Nasarawa, Edo, Rivers and Borno.”

    Odigie-Oyegun expressed concern that the military had been compromised to do the President’s biddings.

    He said: “In doing so, he is subverting hitherto respected national institutions. The Army has been so compromised that it can no longer be trusted by anyone to be neutral. The army has been so abused that it now carries out police duties.

    “Soldiers were deployed to guard the residence of the Chief Judge of Adamawa while the impeachment proceedings were on. Soldiers were deployed to guard each member of the impeachment panel. Soldiers were also deployed to guard the venue where the panel sat.

    “In Ekiti, soldiers were deployed to hunt down the opposition and prevent them from moving around freely, in contravention of the nation’s constitution.

    “In Osun, soldiers are again to be deployed to shut down the state and go after the opposition.

    “By using the military for election duties, President Jonathan is clearly disobeying a court order as the Court of Appeal had ruled as far back as 2005 that the involvement of the military in the conduct of elections is an aberration and, therefore, unconstitutional. Indeed in the words of Salami, JCA on page 176 in the case of Yusuf v Obasanjo (2005) 18 NWLR (Pt. 956 96@174-5)

    “It is up to the police to protect our nascent democracy and not the military, otherwise the democracy might be wittingly or unwittingly militarised. This is not what the citizenry bargained for after 1999. Conscious step or steps should be taken to civilianise the polity and thereby ensure survival and sustenance of democracy.”

    “The Akure airport was suddenly slammed shut just to punish opposition leaders who had converged on Ekiti for Governor Kayode Fayemi’s campaign rally. They had to travel all night by road to Lagos.

    “In Borno, under the guise of ensuring security, the Maiduguri Airport has been closed for several weeks; hence the Borno Governor and the people of the state, including the pilgrims heading for lesser Hajj, have been forced to travel by road to Kano to board their flights.

    “However, the reason for shutting the airport has suddenly vanished as the private plane bearing former Governor Ali Modu Sheriff was allowed to land at the airport on Monday, the same day the governor had to travel by road to Kano to see his brother who was involved in an accident on the same road.

    “Obviously, President Jonathan is fast turning Nigeria into George Orwell’s Animal Farm, where some animals are more equal than the others.

    “Welcome to Nigeria of President Goodluck Ebele Jonathan, where the only people who are deemed to be true Nigerians are those under the umbrella of the PDP, where the only people worth protecting are PDP members!”

    The APC National Chairman reminded President Jonathan and the PDP that political greed had always derailed the nation’s democracy.

    He called on all friends of Nigeria to prevail on President Jonathan to apply the brakes in his “obsessive” quest for power.

    Oyegun said: “We have raised the alarm several times that President Jonathan’s obsession with his re-election is a clear and present danger to our democracy.

    “Today, we say this President’s obsession with re-election is threatening the very existence of our nation.

    “Never in the history of our dear nation has any President waged war on the country the way this President is doing. Never in the history of our country has any President desecrated national institutions like this President is doing to the very institutions that sustain democracy.

    “Never in the history of our country have our people been so divided along ethnic, religious, political and social lines, with poverty rising astronomically in the backdrop of a claimed rapid growth in the nation’s GDP.

    “We warn that excessive political greed will always have its consequences. Any student of Nigeria’s contemporary history will realise what acts of impunity and desperation to win elections at all cost did to the country in 1965, 1983 and 1993, just to mention but a few.

    “We call on all friends of Nigeria to prevail on President Jonathan to apply the brakes in his obsessive quest for power, because every action has consequences.

    “It is time for those who can still get the ears of this President to remind him that his ambition is not worth the destruction of a whole country. All those who can must act now before it is too late!”

    The briefing was attended by party bigwigs, including Deputy National Chairman Shuaib Lawal; National Secretary Mai Mala Buni, one-time Minister and former National Chairman of PDP Chief Audu Ogbeh; a  former Minister of the Federal Capital Territory Mallam Nasir el-Rufai; Senator Bukola Saraki; Minority Leader in the House of Representatives Femi Gbajabiamila; ex-Deputy Governor of Bauchi State Alhaji Mohammed  Garba Gadi, National Vice-Chairman (North-East) B. D. Lawal;  National Publicity Secretary Alhaji Lai Mohammed; National Organising Secretary Senator Osita Izunaso; National Publicity Secretary of the Conference of Nigerian Political Parties(CNPP) Osita Okechukwu; anti-corruption crusader Dino Melaye and other members of the party’s National Executive Committee.

     

  • President seeks $1b loan for arms, ammunition

    President seeks $1b loan for arms, ammunition

    President Goodluck Jonathan is asking the Senate to approve a $1 billion (about N165) loan for the fight against Boko Haram.

    The President said he needed the cash to upgrade military equipment and for training as well as logistics for the Armed Forces.

    The Federal Government voted N968.127 billion for defence in the 2014 budget.

    Jonathan made the request in a letter entitled: “Tackling ongoing security challenges: The need for urgent action.”

    The letter was sent to the Senate and the House of Representatives.

    The letter was read yesterday by Senate President David Mark at plenary.

    He noted that the approval of the fund, which would be sourced from external borrowing, would enable the armed forces to confront insurgency more forcefully.

    The letter said: “You are no doubt cognizant of the on-going and serious security challenges which the nation is facing, as typified by the Boko Haram terrorist threat.

    “This is an issue we have discussed at various times.

    “I would like to bring to your attention the urgent need to upgrade the equipment, training and logistics of our Armed Forces and security services to enable them more forcefully confront this serious threat.

    “For this reason, I seek the concurrence of the National Assembly for external borrowing of not more than $1 billion dollars, including Government to Government arrangements, for this upgrade.”

  • Chibok girls’ parents: we never requested to visit Aso Villa

    Chibok girls’ parents: we never requested to visit Aso Villa

    Representatives of the Chibok community in Abuja have said the 12 fathers and five girls who spoke with Pakistani girl-child education activist Malala Yousafzai never requested to meet with President Goodluck Jonathan or any government official.

    The Borno State indigenes said they only received the invitation to meet with the President yesterday after the girls and the parents had returned to Chibok.

    The parents were said to have been invited through a letter addressed to the Chairman of the Chibok community in Abuja, signed by the Chief of Staff to the President.

    The community described as “unfounded” the Presidency’s accusation that the #BringBackOurGirls campaigners discouraged the parents from meeting with the President.

    A statement yesterday in Abuja by the Abuja Chibok Community spokesman Dauda Iliya, said: “These parents and escaped girls did not come to Abuja at the instance of government or its representatives for a meeting with Mr. President but on the full understanding that they were coming to meet with Malala, an advocate of girl-child education and, most importantly, one who has suffered a similar fate as their daughters.

    “In the course of their interactions with Malala, neither the parents nor the escaped girls asked for a meeting with the President or any government functionary. Rather, the narrative back home was to persistently ask why the President had not visited them in Chibok since the abduction.

    “It is obvious that 12 fathers and five girls only constitute about two per cent of the parents of the abducted schoolgirls and the 57 girls that escaped. Therefore, the parents decided on their own to review the announced visit, which they first heard of, like every other person, during Malala’s speech.

    “This resulted in their decision to revert to other family members to incorporate every stakeholder on the matter as well as avoid discord and suspicion on the change of plans from the original mission to Abuja. They reached out to the Malala team and, through them, to the Presidency, to request for a new date for an expanded and more representative meeting …to meet with the President.

    “Their request is also in recognition of the huge opportunity of a meeting with the President for the first time, after over 90 days of the tragic abduction.

    “…The community, therefore, required better consultations, structure and formality, as against an instant advocacy request.

    “It is totally misleading, unjust and without foundation to hold the citizens’ platform #BringBackOurGirls or any individual responsible for the decision made by the 12 parents and our community. We, therefore, take full responsibility for our decision and welcome the formal invitation by the President as a follow-up to the Malala’s visit which we received this morning.”

  • Ekiti Tribunal begins sitting as APC alleges plot to burn INEC office

    Ekiti Tribunal begins sitting as APC alleges plot to burn INEC office

    The Election Petitions Tribunal set up to hear grievances relating to the June 21 Governorship Election in Ekiti State yesterday began sitting in Ado-Ekiti, the state capital.

    The Chairman of the three-man panel, Justice Mohammad Siraj of the Federal High Court, Jos Division, was the only Judge who appeared  at the inaugural sitting on the premises of the High Court complex.

    A motion ex-parte filed by the All Progressives Congress (APC) to compel the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to allow it (the APC) inspect the materials used for the conduct of the election was struck out by Justice Siraj on the party’s request.

    APC’s counsel said it withdrew the petition because events had overtaken the demand, adding that the parties joined in the application were different from the parties in the substantive petition filed against the respondents’ action for the withdrawal.

    Although the APC lead counsel, Alhaji Lateef Fagbemi, a Senior Advocate of Nigeria (SAN) was absent at the inaugural sitting, he was represented by Kabir Akingbolu.

    Security was  strengthened around the premises of the High Court. Armed policemen barricaded the courts entrances including the dual carriageway facing the court.

    The state APC said  it has uncovered a plot to burn the INEC office in Ado-Ekiti.

    The party, in a statement, said: “We have it from reliable source that plans are being hatched to have ‘strange fire’ occurrence at the INEC office in Ado Ekiti and all the materials relating to the just concluded election will get burnt. The fire incidence would be blamed on some faulty power surge. But why would any person or persons want to set the ballot papers of a ‘free and fair’ election on fire, especially now that the APC has decided to test the result with the tribunal? Eternal vigilance is the price of freedom.”