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  • Cabinet: Buhari zeroes in on APC members

    It can now be confirmed that the majority, if not all, of President Muhammadu Buhari’s next ministers will be card-carrying members of the All Progressives Congress (APC).

    The list has been compiled and is awaiting dispatch to Senate President Ahmed Lawan, possibly tomorrow, sources said last night.

    It was also learnt that the last lap of the screening of the ministerial nominees involved the verification of their names from the database of the All Progressives Congress (APC) with a view to ensuring that they are authentic members of the party.

    Getting maximum senate co-operation in approving the ministerial list was the key reason for last week’s meeting between Buhari and Lawan

    Highly placed sources said last night that the ministerial nominees list may be sent to the Senate President tomorrow.

    The President has kept the list to himself to foreclose any leakage.

    Sources said President Buhari had audience with Lawan on his vision for the nation and his ministerial nominees.

    It was gathered that the President reviewed the last four years and was displeased that the 8th National Assembly hampered his administration.

    “Buhari actually repeated his determination to leave legacies in the next four years and he asked Lawan to ensure that he gets the required cooperation from the lawmakers,” some of the sources said.

    Read also: Why security situation worsens globally – Buhari

    “He (Buhari) said he is ready to present his list of ministerial nominees to the Senate for confirmation in line with his agenda to really work on a fast pace this time around.

    “Lawan, who assured him of the cooperation of both chambers, advised Buhari to look for capable hands that will help him to fulfil his desire to leave sustainable legacies after two terms in office.

    “The President did not reveal any of his nominees to the President of the Senate.”

    Another source said last night that barring any last minute change, “we are hopeful that the President may send the list to the President of the Senate on Monday.”

    Continuing, the source said: “Security agencies have worked round the clock to screen and verify the dossiers of some of these nominees. In fact, the names of some of them, suspected to be coming on party basis, were sent for verification from the database of APC.

    “There is anxiety within the party, among ex-ministers and some associates of the President because no one is sure of those to be appointed by the President.

    “Buhari still keeps the list to himself and he has cautioned against any leak of the list. It is this secrecy that has heightened the jostle to be in the cabinet.”

    When contacted, a presidential aide: “As to your enquiries on the cabinet, I don’t have any information on that.”

    Section 147(1-3), provides that the President has to run his government with at least 36 ministers at one each per state.

    The section reads:   “There shall be such offices of Ministers of the Government of the Federation as may be established by the President.

    “Any appointment to the office of Minister of the Government of the Federation shall, if the nomination of any person to such office is confirmed by the Senate, be made by the President.

    “Any appointment under subsection (2) of this section by the President shall be in conformity with the provisions of section 14(3) of this Constitution:

    “Provided that in giving effect to the Provisions aforesaid the President shall appoint at least one Minister from each state, who shall be an indigene of such state.”

  • Edo APC: Obaseki, Oshiomhole in eye of the storm

    A curious supremacy crisis is brewing between Edo State Governor Godwin Obaseki and All Progressives Congress (APC) National Chairman Comrade Adams Oshiomhole over the control of the party in the state. Correspondent OTABOR OSAGIE examines the implications of the conflict on the party ahead of next year’s governorship poll.

    LAST month, Edo State Governor Godwin Obaseki told his opponents within the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) that he was not a weakling. He said his humane disposition should not be mistaken for weakness. Describing himself as an unwilling serpent, he said he can sting and strike. Governor Obaseki who is known as “Mr. Wake and See” lived up to his reputation when Edo people woke up to see the much awaited 7th Edo State House of Assembly already inaugurated. The upper cut action dealt a blow to his opponents.

    The euphoria that greeted the victory of the Edo State APC in the House of Assembly elections in which it won all the 24 seats did not last long. It was a sweet victory, especially when it came after the party lost the presidential election, two senatorial seats and managed to win five seats in the National Assembly. In the House of Assembly election, the APC won all the available 24 seats; a feat it has not achieved since it came out power in 2008.

    Those who emerged victorious at the polls are: Chris Okaeben (Oredo West), Crosby Eribo (Egor), Henry Okhuarobo (Ikpoba-Okha), Roland Asoro (Orhionmwon West), Nosayaba Okunbor (Orhionmwon East), Uyi Ekhosuehi (Oredo East), Washington Osifo (Uhunmwode), Ugiagbe Dumez (Ovia North East 1), Vincent Uwadiae (Ovia North East 11), Sunday Aghedo (Ovia South West), and Francis Okiye (Esan North East 1).

    The others are: Emmanuel Agbaje (Akoko-Edo 11), Yekini Idaiye (Akoko-Edo 11), Eric Okaka (Owan East), Michael Ohio-Ezo (Owan West), Oshoma Ahmed (Estako Central), Kingsley Ugabi (Estako East), Emmanuel Okoduwa (Esan North East 11), Victor Edoror (Esan Central), Sunday Ojiezele (Esan South East), Marcus Onobun (Esan West), Ephraim Aluebhosele (Igueben), Ganiyu Audu (Estako West 1) and Seid Oshiomhole (Estako West 11).

    Out of the 24 elected lawmakers, 14 are new members elected for the first time to the house, eight are returning members of the immediate past assembly that were re-elected and two are former members of the house who lost their re-election bid in 2011 and 2015.

    In spite of the good showing in the election, sharing the spoils of electoral victory has however caused ripples within the party. The general expectation of Edo people was that the APC would find it easy to control the lawmakers, in terms of picking the house leadership. But, that was not the case, as the elected lawmakers were caught between the alleged cold war between Governor Obaseki and former governor and National Chairman Comrade Adams Oshiomhole.

    Some of the lawmakers were seen as ‘Oshiomhole loyalists’, while others were perceived as ‘Obaseki boys’. Leading contenders for the position of Speaker were a former Majority Leader, Frank Okiye (Esan North East 1), Emmanuel Okoduwa (Esan North East II) and Victor Edoror (Esan Central). Obaseki, sources said, preferred Okiye, while Oshiomhole rooted for Edoror.

    Read Also: Oshiomhole under fire over Edo Assembly crisis

    Last year when Edoror was impeached as Deputy Speaker over alleged corruption and engaging in acts capable of causing division in the assembly, it was rumoured that it was because he was being used by Oshiomhole to destabilise the Obaseki administration.

    Edoror denied the allegation saying he has not met with Oshiomhole for a long time. His words: “I don’t want to believe that Obaseki and Oshiomhole have issues. For anybody to say Oshiomhole is using me is a fool. They are lying. Obaseki is my friend. How can I be the one to destabilise a working government?”

    As both men lobbied to be Speaker, the leadership of the Edo APC stepped in and briefed the 24-lawmakers elect the position of the party. After a series of meetings, which failed to convince the lawmakers-elect to see reason, the party opted to zone the Speakership seat to Edo Central, while the Deputy Speakership seat and that of the Deputy Whip were zoned to Owan Federal Constituency. The position of Chief Whip was also zoned to Edo South.

    But, the lawmakers-elect supporting Edoror rejected the proposal of the Edo APC, even when they were given options of meeting with leaders in each zone to pick the house leadership. They said they should be given the choice of picking their leaders during plenary and vowed that they would not allow Governor Obaseki pick their leaders for them.

    At a meeting with Governor Obaseki, the lawmakers-elect made some fresh demands before they would adhere to the party’s zoning arrangement. The demands, party sources said, is for the governor to give them the yearly N36m for constituency projects, instead of executing the projects on their behalf, payment of all allowances owed old members, restoration of traveling allowances and other payments stopped by Obaseki.

    On the action of the lawmakers-elect, State Chairman of the APC, Mr. Anselm Ojezua, warned of repercussions if they do not comply with the decision of the party. He said: “There are legitimate claims. The party has nothing against them making those claims, if they are legitimate. I think the governor is open to discussions, so long as there is dialogue. They are not threatening anybody. They are just asking for what they believe will enhance service delivery to their constituencies.

    “There is a way we can go into it. If there are projects they have interest, they can make input into the budget and the state will implement. There is nothing wrong if a legislature ensure a project goes to his constituency so that he can have something to show.

    “The party is keeping to its own obligations and we have taken the steps we need to take. The Governor has prerogative to write the proclamation letter. We don’t need to put him under pressure. He knows the importance of the parliament in a democratic system. He will do what is needful.

    “There is nothing like any lawmaker being an Oshiomhole or an Obaseki boy. Obaseki is Oshiomhole’s boy. There can be no other Oshiomhole or Obaseki boy. If people should give themselves name, it does not make sense to me, because all of us are Oshiomhole’s product.”

    On Monday, 19-lawmakers elect presented themselves before reporters, demanding Governor Obaseki to immediately send proclamation letter to the Clerk of the Assembly. Washington who spoke on behalf of the lawmakers-elect said they would not be intimidated by Governor Obaseki to pick leadership of his choice.

    Osifo said Governor Obaseki was attempting to truncate democracy, by refusing to send the proclamation letter. He said the governor, no matter how powerful, could not impose individuals, either as Speaker or Deputy Speaker, on the legislature, but could only lobby for his preferred candidate as witnessed at the National Assembly.

    What the 19 lawmakers-elect did not know was that at the time they were addressing reporters, other lawmakers were already at the assembly complex waiting to be sworn-in. They also did not know that four of the lawmakers-elect were moles.

    Pictures later emerged of the Clerk, Alhaji Audu Yahaya Omagbai, performing the inauguration of nine new lawmakers after which Okiye and Idiaye emerged Speaker and Deputy Speaker respectively. There were claims that the inauguration took place at night, but government officials said it was around 3pm; the same time the 19-lawmakers were addressing reporters at a different venue.

    Explaining the legality of the action, a top government official said the 19-lawmakers elect failed to do the proper thing before rushing to the press to embarrass Governor Obaseki.

    The official said:  “The constitution says after the swearing in of the governor, he shall issue a proclamation. Was the governor sworn in on May 29? So, how will you now apply what is happening in another state to Edo State? This is a sitting governor when the lawmakers were elected. Did the constitution provide for such a situation?”

    On the issue of whether a quorum was formed, he said Section 96 does not specify whether the quorum should be at plenary or committee level. He accused the other 15 members-elect who were absent, of failing to do the needful by approaching the Code of Conduct Bureau to obtain forms for declaration of assets and submit, and then report to the clerk of the house with the documents for inauguration.

    He added: “Why must people now import what is not into the constitution to justify their ignorance? After every election there are processes. First, INEC must give you Certificate of Return; you go to the Code of Conduct Bureau and present yourself to the Clerk of the house. These are the procedure at both state and the National Assembly. Ask them how many of them have done this, and presented themselves to the clerk afterwards to say, these are my documents?

    “The constitution says the governor shall issue a proclamation and send it to the clerk; not to the Oba or the Chief Judge. And that he shall read it to members who present themselves. It is the governor who fixes the date on which he wants to proclaim the house.”

    However, Osifo countered that the law requires the inauguration of the entire members and not a few at odd hours. He insisted that they were not invited to the inauguration ceremony by the Clerk.

    His words: “The Clerk told us he will call back 30 minutes later, but we didn’t hear from him again. Some of our brothers who were supposed to be at a meeting with us were absent. We called them and they were not picking their calls.

    “At 9:30pm, photographs began to filter into our phones suggesting that a kangaroo assembly was being inaugurated. We were disappointed. One of us was spotted with a short and slippers taking oath of office. That was an offence in the hallowed chamber. They humiliated him.

    “Two of them were also kidnapped to make up the nine members they believe they needed, because they lack understanding of what a quorum could mean. There can be no quorum until the house is properly inaugurated.  What the law requires is inauguration of the entire members. They got four and said they have a quorum. It was for the Clerk to announce or cause invitation to be sent to us. That was missing. They gave information of the inauguration only to those they wanted to be there. We would have been there.

    “We have done the needful. We want to encourage Edo people to defend democracy and stand up for the right of men. We have 16 members present here. Others that are not here are still in shock after they were kidnapped. Two of them are still in shock. They are receiving treatment, because their blood pressure went up.”

    Eric Okaka (Owan East) and Nosa Okunbor (Orhionmwon East) who spoke to reporters said they were forcefully taken to the hallowed chamber for the inauguration. Okaka said: “I didn’t know where they brought a suit from for me to wear. The oath taking at the chamber was an illegal one. I am a child of the Light.

    “The inauguration was done under duress. I didn’t collect any money, even though there was an attempt to offer me money, but I refused.”

    Oshiomhole has continued to maintain sealed lips on his alleged fallout with Obaseki. This, some analysts said, are what many politicians and the lawmakers-elect might be hanging to pledge loyalty to Oshiomhole. How the game will end is uncertain, but Governor Obaseki has delivered his sucker punch.

  • Oyo APC to PDP: name those in possession of govt’s vehicles

    Oyo State All Progressives Congress (APC) has challenged the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) to either make public the identity of anyone in illegal possession of government’s property among the officials who served during the Abiola Ajimobi administration or “stop spending available resources on cheap blackmail”.

    Governor Seyi Makinde has been accusing some of those, who served with Ajimobi of having taken away government’s vehicles with them.

    But, Oyo APC said in a statement by its Assistant Publicity Secretary, Prince Ayobami Adejumo, yesterday  that the noise about the issue of vehicles allegedly taken away by unnamed persons was a clear indication that the PDP was not prepared for the serious business of governance.

    The statement reads: “They were desperate for power and now that they have it, they do not know what to do with it. How can a serious party be comfortable with the fact that a governor it sponsored into power cannot role out a significant action plan or blueprint, but chose to dwell on mundane issues four weeks after inauguration and without any sign of promise to deliver?

    “As concerned stakeholders, we have done our investigation and found out that none of our members went away with official vehicles or any government’s property illegally as Governor Makinde and his party want the public to believe. Therefore, we challenge the present administration or any of its sympathizers to name all those they have established to be in possession of the said items and initiate appropriate measures to recoveries same from them.

    “But if all the present administration and the PDP would prefer to do while its span runs out is to wage war against the persons of Senator Ajimobi and other who served the state meritoriously between 2011 and 2019 under the banner of the Action Congress of Nigeria (CAN)/APC, we wish them good luck.”

    The  party said it was regrettable that governance has since gone on holiday in Oyo State.

    Read Also: We have uncovered plots to rubbish Ajimobi’s legacies, says Oyo APC

    The APC advised Makinde “to resist every instinct or pressure capable of causing unrest in the state, especially as it concerned sponsorship of anarchy and confusion at the local government tier”.

    It warned that the Pacesetter State should not be in the news for any wrong reason because a governor must satisfy himself or his party men.

    “The current officials at the local council are a product of legitimacy and since the governor has agreed to edge them out through after his first self-help attempt failed, he should submit himself wholly to the court process without any overt or covert effort to circumvent democracy and the rule of law.

    “We say no to intimidation of elected council chairmen and councillors by the governor or any of his men who are desperate to feast on the resources of local government councils as done in the past.

    “The Appeal Court has picked July 5, 2019 for hearing of the case brought before  it by the governor with a caveat that the status quo must be maintained.

    “What this means is that elected officials should not be prevented from functioning in their capacities and we expect the PDP government to be aware of this,” Adejumo said.

    The APC, in another statement by its spokesperson, Dr. AbdulAzeez Olatunde, advised Makinde and PDP to have a rethink on its plans to inaugurate caretaker committee government in the councils  in defiance of court order.

    The APC advised the PDP led government to halt the plan in the interest of the masses to avoid needlessly inflicting untold suffering on the people at the grassroots.

    The state APC accused the PDP government of executive recklessness, especially in its recent decisions to thwart the legacies of the immediate past APC government .

    According to the party, the governor has taken on the toga of impunity by  sacking  elected council chairmen and  the perfection of the  government’s  plan to inaugurate caretaker committee despite a subsisting court order.

  •  Forgery allegation against me frivolous, ill-motivated, says Rep

    THE member of the House of Representatives representing Bomadi/Patani Federal Constituency in Delta State, Mr. Nicholas Mutu, has reacted to allegations of forgery and impersonation leveled against him by Mr. Collins Eselemo, the candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in the area in the February 2019 general election.

    Mutu, who won the election on the platform of Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), described the allegations as frivolous and ill-motivated, adding that they were aimed at damaging his hard-earned reputation.

    The conventional and social media have been awash lately with allegations of certificate forgery and impersonation against Mutu by his main opponent in the election.

    But Mutu, in a statement issued by his Media Adviser, Mr. Ebitimi Ogbomah, said the allegations bordering on certificate forgery and impersonation had been “rubbished by the responses of the appropriate authorities, including all the schools he (Mutu) attended and the National Assembly, where he had been a member since 1999, courtesy of the good people of Bomadi/Patani Federal Constituency.”

    On the allegation that Mutu’s West African Examinations Council ((WAEC) Ordinary Level School Certificate/General Certificate of Education (GCE), issued by the management of Rivers State School of Basic Studies, Rumuola, Port Harcourt, Rivers State, now known as Captain Elechi Amadi Polytechnic, was fake, Ogbomah said the letter written by the Registrar of the institute, Mr. Chris Woke, on the matter had cleared Mutu of any wrongdoing.

    In the letter, he said, Woke confirmed that the school was not only recognised but was a centre for WAEC and GCE in 1986 when Mutu sat for the examination.

    Woke, who attached the certified copies of the master list/computer printout of candidates who sat for the examination in the centre in 1986, said Mutu was one of the candidates, with 21648/094 as his examination number.

    Woke in the letter, which was sequel to an enquiry made by Mutu’s solicitors, stated: “I write to confirm that the former Rivers State School of Basic Studies, Rumuola, Port Harcourt (now Captain Elechi Amadi Polytechnic), was a recognised school and centre for West African Examinations Council (WAEC) Ordinary Level School Certificate/General Certificate of Education (GCE) Examinations as at May/June 1986.

    Read Also: Why President replaced Baru with Kyari

    “The then Rivers State School of Basic Studies, Port Harcourt, functioned as a recognised school/centre for May/June WAEC/GCE Examinations from 1977 to June 1987 and continued with November/December General Certificate of Education(GCE) up to 1990 before it was discontinued, following the introduction of the 6-3-3-4 education system in Nigeria.

    “The master list/computer printout of the candidate, 21648/094, Mutu Nicholas Eboma, amongst other candidates that sat for the May/June Examinations in 1986, is certified, attached hereto and marked as Annexure 1”

    “The former school of Basic Studies established in 1977 by the Rivers State Government was changed to Rivers State College of Arts and Science in 1991 (vide Annexure 2), Port Harcourt Polytechnic in 2016 (vide Annexure 3) and now Captain Elechi Amadi Polytechnic Rumuola, Port Harcourt, Rivers State.”

    Ogbomah also said the degree certificate awarded to Mutu by St. Clements University was authentic and genuine, adding that contrary to Eselemo’s claim, his boss was awarded a Bachelor of Arts and not Bachelor of Science degree in Business Organisation by the reputable institution.

    He said that instead of Eselemo visiting the website of the school or write to it for clarification on the genuineness of the certificate in question, he opted to assassinate Mutu’s character and smear his good image.

    “For the records, St. Clements University Certificate is genuine and anybody can go to the university’s website, write or visit the school to confirm that Hon. Mutu Nicholas indeed obtained his degree from the school,”’ he added.

    On the allegation that Mutu used a fake name in the National Assembly from 1999 to 2003, Ogbomah said the records were available on the National Assembly’s website for verification.

    He said: “We expected the petitioner to visit the National Assembly Website or write the National Assembly, but he decided to rely on a faceless magazine report.

    “But to set the record straight, it is Hon. Nicholas Mutu’s profile that has been in the National Assembly website from 1999 till date.

    “It is also on record that Hon. Nicholas Mutu has won all his elections from 1999 till date and certificate of return has always been issued by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) in his name, with which he does his documentation in the National Assembly at all times.

    “It is worthy of note that nobody can do his or her documentation in the National Assembly and be sworn-in without a certificate of return.”

    Ogbomah stated further that “to demonstrate that Eselemo is on campaign of calumny to smear my boss, he also alleged that the Hon. Mutu played pranks in his age declaration. This is arrant nonsense.

    “This is the true account: Hon Mutu’s father did his age declaration with his thumbprint. Coincidentally, his elder brother bears the same name as his father. While his father name was Agbede Mutu Senior, his elder brother’s name is Agbede Mutu Junior.

    “Let Collins Eselemo also tell us the name of Hon. Mutu’s father since he now knows him better than his son. Let Collins Eselemo also tell us whether the thumbprint is that of Hon. Nicholas Mutu’s elder brother and whether his elder brother has the same thumbprint as his father.

    “And we ask also if it is possible for the elder brother to have the same thumbprint as his father. The answer is no.”

     

  • Oshiomhole: I’m ashamed of Edo Assembly crisis

    National Chairman of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Comrade Adams Oshiomhole, on Friday described as a shame the crisis rocking the Edo State House of Assembly.said a similar situation playing out in the Bauchi State House of Assembly is an open invitation to trouble.

    Minority members of the two assemblies earlier in the week sat and picked speaker and deputy speaker, cleverly leaving out the majority members.

    The situation is generating tension in the two states.

    Receiving briefing on the situation from the majority of the APC state legislators from Bauchi State in Abuja on Friday, Oshiomhole said the crises were unfortunate.

    His words: “Unfortunately, the situation in Bauchi is also similar to the one that is happening in Edo State.

    “I am ashamed to talk about it, but there is nothing to hide.

    “We have a similar situation in Edo where in our own case we have 24/24, all of them APC, but somebody wants a particular person as a Speaker, 19 out of 24 are opposed to this person.”

    He said that the refusal of Governor Bala Muhammed of Bauchi State to inaugurate APC members-elect of the state House of Assembly was an invitation to trouble.

    He said that if the APC did not use state institutions against the inauguration of Mohammed as as  governor, “it is a shame (for the governor) to use federal institutions against the inauguration of  the state assembly.”

    Continuing, he said: “If the governor insists, then he is inviting trouble. If we have not misused federal might and institutions from preventing Bala Mohammed from being inaugurated, it is a shame to use federal institutions against the inauguration of state Assembly.”

    He assured the APC members-elect that the party would  follow the rule of law to get justice, pointing out that his leadership would  write a letter to the Inspector General of Police over the matter.

    Read Also: APC rejects Edo, Bauchi Assembly inaugurations

    On the situation in his own home state, Oshiomhole said: “We will do everything possible to see that that building, being a public property, being the House of Assembly, is opened to the members. Be assured that we are committed to that, and we commend you for your commitment to principles.

    “When you were telling me of invitation to meetings, intimidation and all that, I am fully aware of all those kind of things.

    “I am happy there are many Nigerians who have not  given up; that there are men or women of honour who can resist temptation, but you are an example.

    “We do have outstanding Nigerians at all levels, including Bauchi, who can resist not only monetary inducement and  temptation, but you even resist intimidation and stood for what you believe is right. We are  proud of you, we will stand by you and together we will ensure that the rule of law prevails in Bauchi State.

    Speaking to newsmen after a closed door meeting, former Speaker of Bauchi State House of Assembly and a member-elect Hon. Kawuwa Shehu,  denied any plan to impeach the Bauchi State governor.

  • APC leaders, elders endorse Jubril for Kogi governor

    Leaders of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in the Kogi West Senatorial district have endorsed the governorship aspiration of the former Chief of Naval Staff, Admiral Usman Jubril (retd).

    This followed the report of the screening committee set up by elders and leaders of the APC in the area, who described the former naval chief as the hope of the APC in the coming governorship election in the state.

    It was gathered that the retired Naval Chief may be the choice of the National Working Committee (NWC) of the APC, after party leaders in the state raised alarm of impending doom for the APC in the state if the incumbent governor, Yahaya Bello is given a second term.

    However, the screening committee of all Kogi APC leaders and community elders headed by Alhaji Sule Iyaji had nineteen members while the chairman absented himself from vote. The entire eighteen members voted massively to the admiration of thousands of APC senatorial members.

    Read Also; How Osun Speaker was duped of N38m, by policeman

    The elders who spoke one after the other, said that though the APC is loved in the state due to the leadership style of President Muhammadu Buhari and the leadership of the APC under Comrade Adams Oshiomhole, but that the activities and performance of the incumbent governor of the state, is giving the party a bad name.

    “Therefore, for APC to still continue to remain our darling party in the state, the people of Kogi State will appreciate a change during the primaries of the APC. And, that is why we have all agreed after strenuous search for a new leader, to decide that we will give our support to Admiral Jubril, come rain come sun. And, we urge the national leadership of the APC to do the needful by ensuring they give the ticket to Admiral Jubril, so that the main election will be a walkover for the APC in the state.

    “As a former Chief of Naval Staff, we believe that he has the credentials.. the experience that is currently lacking in the management of the affairs of Kogi State, by the current administration”, the communiqué signed by Alhaji Sule Iyaji stated.

  • Osun poll: Oyetola, APC, INEC ask Supreme Court to dismiss Adeleke’s appeals

    Osun State Governor Adegboyega Oyetola, his party, the All Progressives Congress (APC) and the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) have urged the Supreme Court to dismiss the four appeals filed by the candidate of the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) in the last governorship election, Senator Ademola Adeleke.

    Adeleke’s four appeals are challenging the May 9, 2019 judgments of the Court of Appeal, Abuja, which affirmed Oyetola’s election as the governor.

    The Court of Appeal also set aside the majority judgment of the election tribunal, which had allowed Adeleke’s petition and declared him the winner of the election.

    On Monday, a seven-man panel of the court, led by the Acting Chief Justice of Nigeria (CJN), Justice Ibrahim Muhammad, heard the appeals and chose July 5, 2015, for judgment.

    On Monday, by agreement of lawyers in the appeals, the court took submissions from Onyechi Ikpeazu (SAN) for the appellant and Wole Olanipekun (SAN) for the 1st respondent (Oyetola) in respect of appeal marked: SC/553/2019.

    The court said its judgment in the main appeal – SC/553/2019 – will be applied to two other similar cases, filed by Adeleke against the Court of Appeal’s decision in relation to the appeals filed by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) and the APC, marked: SC/554/2019 and SC/555/2019.

    The court also took arguments from Ikpeazu (for the appellant), Yusuf Ali (SAN) for INEC; Bode Olanipekun (SAN) for Oyetola and Olumide Olujinmi, for APC in relation to the fourth appeal, marked: SC/556/2019.

    In their arguments, lawyers to the respondents – INEC, Oyetola and the APC – faulted the appeals and prayed the court to dismiss them for lacking in merit.

    The respondents prayed the court to uphold the judgments as given on May 9, 2019, by the Court of Appeal in Abuja, which affirmed Oyetola of the APC as the winner of the governorship election held in September 2018.

    In relation to the first set of appeals – SC/553/2019; SC554/2019 and SC/555/2019, Ikpeazu urged the court to set aside the judgments of the Court of Appeal and restore the majority judgment given in his client’s favour by the election tribunal.

    In a counter-argument, Olanipekun, Ali and Olunijmi faulted the competence of the appeals and urged the court to dismiss them for lacking in merit.

    They prayed the court to uphold the May 9 judgments given in favour of the respondents by the Court of Appeal.

    In arguing the fourth appeal: SC/556/2019, Ikpeazu urged the court to set aside the two concurrent judgments of the election tribunal and the Court of Appeal, in which both courts rejected Adeleke’s request to void the supplementary election held after INEC declared the Osun governorship election inconclusive.

    Ikpeazu said his client’s contention was that INEC lacked the powers to have cancelled elections in some pooling units and order a rerun.

    He argued that the supplementary election was unnecessary because his client had won the election and met the constitutional requirement to be declared the winner.

    Read Also: Osun poll: PDP wants NJC to probe relocation of election tribunal

    Ikpeazu prayed the court to set aside the Paragraph 44 of the INEC’s Guideline on which basis the supplementary election was held, on the grounds that it conflicted with the Constitution.

    Bode Olanipekun (SAN), who argued the fourth appeal for Oyetola, urged the court to disregard Ikpeazu’s contention that the supplementary election was unnecessary.

    He argued that Paragraph 44 of INEC Guidelines was not in conflict with the constitution.

    Oyetola’s counsel noted that  Section 178(4) of the Constitution provides that the entire state is the constituency for a governorship election.

    He argued that “where elections have not held in the entire state, the appellant cannot contend that he won the election, as against the 2nd respondent (Oyetola), who won the election as conducted across the whole of the state”.

    He urged the court to dismiss the appeal for lacking in merit.

    Lawyers to INEC and the APC argued in a similar vein, with Ali (for INEC) arguing that Ikpeazu’s submission on reliefs 8 and 9 of his client (Adeleke’s) petition, overlooked the fact that election tribunals are special tribunals with limited jurisdiction to determine whether somebody was properly returned in an election.

    “The quarrel of the appellant is against concurrent findings of two lowers courts. There is no compelling reason to make this court interfere with the concurrent findings of the two lower courts,” Ali said.

    Olujinmi urged the court to be guided by its earlier decision in the case of Faleke v. INEC 2016 8 NWLR, prt 1543 pg 61, in which this court affirmed the limited scope of the jurisdiction of the election tribunal.

    He noted that even though Adeleke and his party, the PDP, are aware of this court’s decision in that case (Faleke case), but have failed to approach the court for departure on its position on that issue.

    Other members of the panel that heard the appeals are Justices Olabode Rhodes-Vivour, Kumai Aka’ahs, Kudirat Kekere-Ekun, Amiru Sanusi, Paul Galunmje and Uwani Abbah-Aji.

  • APC finally makes a clean sweep

    AFTER a first term punctuated by controversies, confusion and hesitations, the All Progressives Congress (APC) is finally primed to kick-start its second term at the helm of Nigerian affairs fairly more confidently and more resolutely. In the parliament, its preferred principal officers have been elected with pluralities they can boast about: a crushing 79 to 28 in favour of their candidate, Ahmed Lawan; and an anticlimactic but no less satisfying victory of 281 votes for the favoured Femi Gbajabiamila to 76 votes for Umar Bago. The victories were emphatic, prompting the feisty and elated party chairman, Adams Oshiomhole, to describe that comprehensive victory as the party’s finest hour. He often indulges in hyperbole in the heat of battle, or in the first flush of victory; this time, it must be conceded to him, he has more than enough reason to luxuriate in the uncharacteristic victory he and his men plotted and secured.

    If this was the APC’s finest hour, despite winning a presidential election just a few months ago, it must be that for a man many have described as candid and polemical, his Freudian slip may be an indication of his true assessment of the prevailing electoral realities. More crucially, for a man against whom party insurrectionists had recently brought out the knives, this may be the first undiluted victory he would mastermind against the run of play. The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) had regained its strength, as demonstrated by its electoral performance in the states, and is thus not incapable of still springing surprises to wrest control of the parliament. A few weeks ago, party rebels, inspired by the cheerless former chairman, John Odigie-Oyegun, were determined to cut Mr Oshiomhole to size, and had begun to stir up trouble for him. It was in the midst of these troubles that the former labour unionist, helped no doubt by party leaders, turned what looked like a difficult and anxious situation into a sweeping victory.

    Mr Oshiomhole can now exult as much as he wants, and Senator Lawan and Honourable Gbajabiamila can finally exhale after so many tortuous years of hankering after the principal legislative positions. They have finally won the big prizes. The victory may be tempered by the inexplicable election of the rabble-rousing Delta State senator Ovie Omo-Agege and the rather undisguised involvement of the president — after he had sworn himself to dignified neutrality — in pushing the candidacies of the two leading APC lawmakers, but at least they now seem to have a clean slate upon which to write their agenda, prepare their legacies, and lay a solid foundation for 2023. Now completely shorn of excuses, considering that they still have 20 APC states in their kitty and dominate the legislature implacably, their competence or otherwise in governing the country, not to say their ideology, will be far easier to evaluate than they imagine.

    Their predecessor in office, the PDP, ruled for a meagre 16 years and floundered badly. Apart from leaving the treasury doors ajar for all manner of journeymen to gorge themselves on Nigeria’s wealth, they were nevertheless a fairly cohesive and inclusive political party, a party that no czar seemed to dominate, a party unencumbered by principles and ethics, a party so ideologically fluid within the conservative spectrum that it made no one to suffer pangs of conscience. The APC, particularly the president, if not Mr Oshiomhole himself, has sometimes given the impression that its rules and regulations are interchangeable with the most exacting of liturgies. The PDP, on the other hand, was loosely run, made no pretence to holiness, but was fairly effective. The APC was until now never really run as a political organisation, but it has consistently aspired to be run like a disciplined body. If it can find the balance between the permissiveness of the PDP and the choking regimentation inspired by the president, the party may yet have a lasting impact on the country.

    Imposing discipline in the APC is, however, a tall order. The party is fortunate to have Mr Oshiomhole who is naturally imperious and well suited to leftist regimentation. Assuming he can be restrained from turning party members into a goose-stepping army of pragmatists, with Cuban and North Korean overtones, he can be trusted to persevere in instituting the jarring changes indispensable to the running and survival of the party. He will have to contend with members of the Governors Forum who are themselves uncomfortable with taking orders from anyone but themselves, and he will have to battle the cabal who will keep whispering paranoia into the president’s ears. But if he can stay the course, if he can master the art of giving and taking, sometimes punishing and sometimes placating the enemy, he stands a good chance of beating his party’s drawn swords into ploughshares. Nothing guarantees success in that difficult endeavour, for those who appear to be holding the short end of the stick today appear determined to give the party chairman the fight of his life.

    Now that the APC controls the legislature very firmly, it will be clear whether their problem was a National Assembly (NASS) subverted and compromised by former Senate President Bukola Saraki and to a lesser extent by former Speaker Yakubu Dogara. The president’s awkward approach to lawmaking and his even more gauche approach to socially relating with opponents and critics led him to experience a difficult relationship with the legislature. Sen Saraki might be a difficult and pompous lawmaker, a politician who was grasping, didactic and contemptuous of both his inferiors and betters, but he was not impossible to mould by a brilliant and diplomatic president, nor difficult to relate with or control by those described in urban parlance as his Kryptonites. Hon Dogara was more level-headed and not as obsessed with position as Sen Saraki. Noblesse oblige, however, made him join forces with the former senate president in the 8th NASS.

    With their total control of NASS, neither the APC as a party nor the president has any more excuse for sloppy budgeting and lawmaking. The legislature will not ennoble an executive that proved in the last four years to be peculiarly tardy, plebeian and complaisant. The president has promised to assemble a better team, and perhaps too a kitchen cabinet that passes muster. If he lives up to his promise, he will complement the 9th NASS, assuming that the new lawmakers can also rise to the stature of their boasts and the expectations of a wary populace. As expected, the new NASS will try to find its feet in how to relate with the executive and justify the yearnings of the electorate. The principal officers have hungered for their positions for so long; they must now decide just what their approach to lawmaking will be: whether it will follow the constitution or pander to the caprices of the executive.

    Indeed, the most difficult task the 9th NASS will face in the months and years ahead is whether they can truly be independent of the executive without being unduly confrontational. The party is exulting over its control of the parliament, having fought tooth and nail to enthrone its favoured sons as principal officers. Whether those sons can look their mentors and sponsors in the face and tell them to go stuff the constitution down their throats is another thing entirely. The grovelling Sen Omo-Agege, who was alleged to have masterminded the snatching of the mace from the Senate last March, has been elected deputy senate president. He is naturally subservient. No one is sure how both Sen Lawan and Hon Gbajabiamila will stand when the chips are down, whether they will call their souls their own or produce a masterful display of legislative competence, independence and wizardry. There are whispers suggesting they may not be what they are cracked up to be. Time will, however, tell. After all, who knew Chief Odigie-Oyegun would genuflect before governors and party leaders when he was party chairman? And who knew the moralising ex-president Olusegun Obasanjo would seek third term?

    Soon, despite seizing control of the executive and the legislature, and after, in the opinion of many, virtually taking control of the judiciary in ways that may be inimical to the rule of law, the APC may finally discover that all its gains can be negated by a lack of ideology. Mr Oshiomhole is pragmatic; the president is conservative, perhaps an archconservative; most of the party’s governors and lawmakers are either safely ideologically noncommittal or at best welfarist; and the rest, party leaders and members alike, are apostles of ad hocism, sometimes hunting with the hound or running with the hare depending on the expediency of the moment. With such fluidity, how does the party hope to weld together a disciplined political party eager to pursue great ideals or die for something? For the past 20 years, Nigeria’s ruling parties have been lax in everything, including their policies, extremely eclectic in their methods, and aggressively practical. Ideologies exert pressures on them in ways they are unwilling to endure, let alone implement. Without an inner core made of steel, where will the party find the fulcrum upon which to balance their government and their legacies?

    It was easy for President Buhari to blame Sen Saraki and Hon Dogara for the confusion and retrogression of the past four years. His diagnosis is of course wrong, for the blame lies squarely with him. It was also easy for APC members to blame their lack of cohesion on fifth columnists and an indecisive chairman. Now, the party has a chairman who knows what he wants and how to get it. But that is only if they let him, and if he proves capable of moderating his verbal aggression and learning from his own mistakes. The jury is out on whether the party can restore the cohesion that helped them overthrow the 16-year tyranny of the PDP.

    If the president can somehow put together a great ministerial team and kitchen cabinet, if Mr Oshiomhole can nudge his party into crystallising an ideology out of their amorphous and sometimes infantile worldviews and projecting the right leadership that gives that ideology life and meaning, and if party members themselves have the common sense to unite around a great and common long-term cause, perhaps their takeover of the legislature on the terms they claim to be comfortable with, not to say the restoration of the Buhari monarchy that gives the party the latitude it desires, may yet avail the party and the country much. But here again the jury is still out, for as everyone knows, greatness is not necessarily hewed out of flowing with the river but often flowing against it.

     

    • Palladium will be away for a few weeks

  • APC crisis: Shuaibu resists move to sanction him

    THE instigator of the Oshiomhole-must-resign campaign, Alhaji Lawal Shuaibu, yesterday told the National Working Committee (NWC) of the All Progressives Congress (APC) that it lacks power to punish him for his action.

    Shuaibu is the deputy national chairman (North) of the APC, who in a May 28, 2019 letter to Oshiomhole blamed him for alleged decline in the electoral fortunes of the party.

    He asked Oshiomhole to resign because “we had 23 states in 2015, but after the 2019 elections we lost seven states! We also had 60 senators in 2015 at the end of the elections; we now end up with 57 senators in 2019! You were not brought in to lose election. It is absolutely unacceptable!”

    The letter has not gone down well with many party leaders including the NWC which set up a five-man committee to investigate and punish Shuaibu.

    The committee is headed by the deputy national chairman (South), Otunba Niyi Adebayo.

    But reacting to the NWC move yesterday, Shuaibu described the committee as an illegal creation which lacks power to invite him or investigate him.

    He cited article 21 of the APC constitution which reads: “subject to the provision of this article and the right to fair hearing, the party shall have power to discipline party members. The power shall be exercise on behalf of the party by the respective Executive Committee of the party at all levels.”

    He argued that the fact that the APC NWC first passed a vote of confidence in the national chairman before deciding to set up a disciplinary committee to investigate his allegations casts doubt on the entire process.

    READ ALSO: Shuaibu to Oshiohmole: resign, you lack capacity to lead APC

    “I don’t know from where the National Working Committee (NWC) derived the power of discipline,” he said in a letter to the committee chairman.

    He added: “The APC Constitution in Article 21 states that such power shall only be exercised by the party through the respective executive committee of the party at all levels.

    “I am not a lawyer, but I have been in the political party system for about a decade now to be able to know that every decision of the party shall be in line with what its constitution stipulates. When I served as a national secretary, my own national chairman would insist that I worked with the national legal adviser for advice on every issue before any decision was arrived at.

    “Given the NWC has the power, how can the chairman preside over a meeting in which discussions that border on allegations against him are discussed?

    “Let me repeat again as in my letter to the chairman, You CAN’T BE A JUDGE IN YOUR OWN CASE! And to even say he was seated there to accept a vote of confidence as well as preside over setting up a committee to punish the member that accused him.

    “Those eminent leaders of the All Progressives Congress had fairness on their minds on matters of discipline and disciplinary procedures when they drafted the constitution. They entrusted the matter of discipline in the party to the larger Executive Committees and not a group of few members of the party some of who might probably be culpable in some instances.

    “Otunba, my honest advice to you is, since you are the closest NWC member to the chairman, in order not to drive the party into the mud, always insist on following the due process of law in whatever he wants to commit the party to.

    “All he needs to do is to work closely with the legal adviser and not to mock his advice because if we find any failure in that instance, you cannot blame the lawyer.

    “Niyi, you are also a lawyer. Why can’t you tell the chairman whether something is right or wrong? Since President Buhari and I met when he joined partisan politics in 2002, I have always known him to insist on due process of law.

    “In those days in the ANPP, when he was trying to learn how the game was played, his consistent comment at NEC meetings was ‘let us do what the constitution says, in that way some of us that are learning the way it is done will understand quicker and better.’

    “Now let us look at the process, the fact that the NWC members, before resolving to set up your committee, had earlier passed a vote of confidence in the chairman puts some doubt to its purpose.

    “You have already put the cart before the horse. I never expected to receive your letter to investigate me on what I said of the chairman as there couldn’t have been any need again.

    “I was initially gladdened by an earlier statement by the national publicity secretary in his media reaction to my letter, that “the issues raised in the letter are between two leaders”. I wonder at what stage it became a National Working Committee (NWC) issue again.

    “I can equally imagine how the NWC, an important organ of the party could convene what was described as a regular meeting for which less than 24 hour notice was given, specifically to discuss my opinion on the chairman and even issue a communique in that regard. You are actually making me appear to be more important than I have always felt.

    “I am not sure of the source of your meeting with respect to the other shocking allegations contained in your resolutions, but what I read from it in virtually all the newspapers this morning painted me darker than I am.

    “That I was inciting national assembly members against the nominees of Mr. President is to say the least, that your meeting ran out of creative ideas on how to give a dog a bad name in order to hang it.

    “They are weighty allegations, but I don’t get intimidated and for those who know me, I have never in my life played any double standard and they can tell you that I don’t tell lies for any favours, because I depend on God for all my needs and every other favour. That is why I stood my grounds in advising the chairman to allow the party a breathing gap to heave a sigh and fly up once again without losing more feathers.

    “However, with the aforementioned points in mind, let me state that with due respect to the National Working Committee, an important organ of my party, I will not appear before your committee as it is illegal and I am too informed to get involved in illegalities.

    “If you want to punish me for saying what I still believe is true, then you have to take this matter to where you are avoiding, the National Executive Committee.

    “My advice is please let us save this party as a stitch in time saves nine. I assure you there is nothing personal about this except that my concern that the party is drifting. Niyi, a stitch in time saves nine.”

  • APC: Ex-chairman handed over party without blemish, says aide

    FORMER All Progressives Congress (APC) Chairman, John Odigie-Oyegun yesterday insisted that he left behind a ruling party without blemish.

    Responding through his Public Affairs Adviser, Ray Morphy, the former party leader dismissed the claim that he condoned indiscipline while in the saddle, saying he bequeathed a party without blemish to Oshiomhole.

    According to him, the former Edo State governor came on board to destroy everything, accusing him of running the most fraudulent primaries in the history of politics in Nigeria.

    Morphy said: “The Oshiomhole-led executive is about a year in office, why does he find it hard to function without looking for excuses and scape goats?

    “It is common knowledge that Oshiomhole ran the most fraudulent primaries in the history of politics in Nigeria. Recall that INEC said so when it adjudged Oshiomhole primaries as the worst so far. The   courts are saying the same thing today by upturning many APC primaries for being undemocratic and less than fair. Was it Oyegun who ran the primaries?

    Read also: Oshiomhole cleaning your mess, APC replies Oyegun

    “Oyegun, an accomplished technocrat, a super permanent secretary, a former governor, a man without blemish, working with others cobbled together creditably the legacy parties, and held them together with tact, diplomacy and finesse until Oshiomhole came along. To his credit, Oyegun did not lose one member of the party.

    “As an elder, as a leader, Chief John Odigie-Oyegun will not join issues with those who apparently are casting about looking for excuses for their inability to manage a ruling party successfully. Indeed, it is absurd to lose states with all the capacity at the disposal of the current chair. Party members know that APC witnessed its golden years under the chairmanship of Oyegun and no one can change that bit of political history.

    “By the way, the vote increase to Mr President is a reflection of the confidence the people repose in the President despite the fumbles of the Oshiomole sole administratorship of the party.

    “It will be recalled that Chief John Odigie-Oyegun just received The Zik award for Political Leadership alongside John Mahama, the former President of Ghana. In the award citation, he was extolled for exemplary political leadership of APC. Posterity has already given its verdict, Oyegun led the party to resounding victory.

    “Oshiomhole should not destroy what others had laboured to build. If he needs tutorial on how to run a party, he should ask for it civilly. John Oyegun will be more than happy to help; after all, no man would like to see his son scatter what he had laboured to build.”