The Nation Newspaper

Tag: Captain Idris Wada

  • Kogi poll: Court dismisses Wada, Faleke’s suits

    Kogi poll: Court dismisses Wada, Faleke’s suits

    Justice Gabriel Kolawole of the Federal High Court, Abuja, has declined jurisdiction in the suits filed in relation to the dispute on the inconclusive governorship election in Kogi State.

    The judge, in two judgment he delivered on Friday, dismissed the suits filed by the state governor, Idris Wada and his party, the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), the running mate to the late Abubakar Audu, the governorship candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC), James Faleke, and three others on the ground that his court lacked the jurisdiction to determine the issues raised.

    Justice Kolawole said issue raised were election related and had crossed the “threshold” of matters for the court since results in most of the polling units had been declared.

    He said the suits qualified as a post-election dispute that could only be entertained by the election petition tribunal which would be set up by the President of the Court of Appeal in line with section285(2) of the Constitution.

    The judge said he refrained from looking at the merit of the cases to enable parties re-argued the issues involved at the election petition tribunal.

     

  • INEC’s decision puts Nigeria’s democracy on trial – Wada

    INEC’s decision puts Nigeria’s democracy on trial – Wada

    Governor Idris Wada of Kogi State has described the decision of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) on the governorship election conducted on November 21 as the height of mischief that has only succeeded in putting the country’s democracy on trial.

    In a statement issued in Abuja at the Federal High Court on Monday by Governor Wada’s Chief Communications Manager, Mr. Phrank Shaibu, the governor said INEC should not have swallowed the directive of the Attorney General of the Federation (AGF) hook, line and sinker, especially since it is now being rumored that the AGF’s action is part of a grand plot by the All Progressives Congress (APC) to grab Kogi State at all costs.

    Shaibu slammed the decision of INEC to allow APC to substitute its candidate in the middle of an election, saying such directives were null and void for inconsistency with the provisions of the constitution.

    He said INEC’s decision ignores the fact that its action can denigrate the Commission – and indeed Nigeria’s democracy – just because it is playing into a grand design by the ruling APC to grab Kogi State at all costs.

    ”There is something terribly awry in a system in which a body set up to uphold the rule of law and protect the sanctity of people’s votes  is the same one that has gone ahead to undermine it,” Shaibu said.

    Shaibu said the Electoral Act was clear that in view of the death of the All Progressives Congress’ candidate, Abubakar Audu, Wada should be declared the winner of the election being the only surviving candidate with the majority of lawful votes cast in the election held on November 21.

    Wada’s Communications Manager said whatever votes Audu scored in the election died with him and wondered why  INEC , a body established to be the custodian of the rule of law would ignore the fundamentals of the rule of law in arriving at the decision not to issue him a certificate of return.

    “It is disheartening, therefore, to see an Institution that is financed by the Nigerian People to assail and flagrantly treat the constitution of Nigeria with disdain as well as arrogate to itself the powers of the Court. The Pertinent question is: What is INEC attempting to hide? Whose interest(s) is INEC trying to protect? We assert, very strongly that it is not the desire of the Nigerian People, to whom Sovereignty belongs.

    “INEC should know that, an electoral umpire is expected to be impartial unto death. INEC is like a judge, required to do justice and be fair to all concerned. INEC is a referee, expected to apply the rules and respect the rights of all parties. INEC is the co-ordinator of an orchestra expected to ensure the best performance of the ensemble.”

    He however reiterated optimism that the courts would declare the governor as duly elected and order INEC to give him the certificate of return for the Kogi State gubernatorial polls, insisting that Captain Wada’s mandate is from God.

  • ‎Wada arrives polling unit to vote

    Governor Idris Wada has arrived at his polling unit to vote.

    He will be the first to vote, and it is already 3.30pm.

    However, he is still sitting in his car as electoral officers sort themselves out.

    Accreditation was delayed in his unit.

  • Jonathan, others kick against Wada’s return

    Jonathan, others kick against Wada’s return

    Indications have emerged that former President Goodluck Jonathan and some of the old power blocks within the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) are against Kogi State Governor, Capt. Idris contesting for a second term on the party’s ticket.

    The former President and his supporters accuse Wada of being responsible for the party’s defeat by the All Progressives Congress (APC) during the presidential election.

    A highly placed source who spoke in confidence said that the former president believes that Wada supported the APC presidential candidate, Muhammadu Buhari because he is a Muslim.

    According to the source another reason the Jonathan is bitter with Wada, was because of his visit to former President Olusegun Obasanjo in his Abeokuta home in Ogun State, at the height of the presidential campaign.

    Others against Wada’s return according to our source include former PDP national chairman, Dr Ahmadu Ali and former Governor Ibrahim Idris.

    Wada lost in his ward and local government during the last presidential election, despite the alleged “huge war chest” made available to him by the presidency to prosecute the election.

    [ad id=”403656″]The PDP National Working Committee (NWC) on Wednesday postponed the governorship primary in kogi State from Thursday to Monday, September 14.

    The party’s National Publicity Secretary, Olisa Metuh in a statement attributed the postponement to logistics issues.

    The party is shopping for a replacement for Wada, which is the real reason for the last day postponement of the governorship primary, said the source.

    He said: “Jonathan believes that Wada supported Buhari because he is a Muslim and that he went to visit Obasanjo before the general election.

    These are some of the reasons why you are seeing what we are witnessing. Ahmadu Ali is angry… They argued that Wada deliberately lost his ward and local government in favour of Buhari.

    “Idris needs N4 billion which he used to finance Wada’s2003 election and that Wada has not paid him all the while, but that he needs the money now”.

    Despite the perceived outcome of the state party congress which favoured Wada, the fear that the national secretariat might spring its own delegates list during the primary is another source of worry the governor’s camp.

    Hundreds of party delegates massed at the Government House Lokoja early Thursday morning, with rumours of plans to take their protest against the unfolding development to Abuja.

    “You see the large number of delegates, but the truth is that they have an equally large number of delegates on their list at the national headquarters and this they can bring. Nobody is sure,” said
    another source.

  • Kogi plans LG caretaker committees

    Kogi plans LG caretaker committees

    The Governor of Kogi State, Captain Idris Wada, may have already finalised plans to constitute a local government caretaker committee contrary to the provisions of the constitution.

    This, according to sources may take effect from Monday or Tuesday. This followed the post-mortem done by the governor and his aides on why the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) lost the presidential and National Assembly elections to the opposition All Progressives Congress (APC).

    Sources who were at the meeting disclosed to The Nation on Sunday that one of the reasons suggested for the party’s failure was the voiding of the May 2013 local government election by a Kogi State High Court sitting in Koton Karfe. The APC took the State Independent Electoral Commission (KOSIEC) to court on the ground that it was not properly constituted. In December 2014, the court ruled that the electoral body was indeed not properly constituted, and its actions could not stand.

    The governor was said to have been chided for his timidity in fighting to sustain the illegality in the local governments and using the third tier effectively to fight the PDP’s political battles. The High Court ruling had voided not only the election, it also directed the government to ensure the affairs of the local government were transferred in the interim to the most senior directors in each local government. The directors did not yield to government use during the March 28 and April 11 polls.

    Sources also told The Nation that the governor and his aides are worried that if something was not immediately done about the local governments, the governorship election sometime in October could go the way of the presidential and National Assembly votes.

    To forestall this from happening, the governor is planning to appoint caretaker committees in all the 20 local government areas despite knowing full well that the Federal Court of Appeal had declared it unconstitutional.