The Nation Newspaper

Tag: KOGI

  • Kogi election: More rivers to cross

    Last week, the youthful Governor of Kogi State, Yahaya Bello began a Hercules-like triumph in the series of judicial mines placed to test his validity as the number one citizen of the Confluence State. For some, the governor’s serial victory at the Governorship Election Petitions Tribunal where his major petitioners suffered bloody noses is confirmation of Dino Melaye’s hypothesis of Divine involvement. At the inauguration of Bello on January 27 in Lokoja, the senator representing Kogi West had pulled a rude joke that though Kogi people voted for another candidate, God overruled them and voted for Bello. Thus, as Justice Halima, who claimed to be under malaria parasite’s attack threw out the petitions one after the other, many simple folks were convinced that God must have indeed, voted for Bello who was not even a candidate in the November 21, 2015 election. However, for others, the tribunal judgements are an added spice to Kogi’s reputation as a land where absurdities are normal – a theatre where nothing is impossible.

    They may be right. After all, the State has attained notorietyas the experimental guinea-pig for modern Nigerian politics and law. We do not need to go far to provide proofs of this fame. It is a pioneer on many fronts: First state where a governorship election was annulled by a tribunal and upheld by an Appeal Court. The first to be ruled by an Acting Governor; first to go through a re-run poll; it holds the record as the only state where two persons were sworn into office one as governor and the other as acting governor the same day.

    Even as you read this, at least two persons are still laying claims to the speakership of the state House of Assembly! MomohJimohLawal supported by 14 of his colleagues and armed with a High Court judgement insists he is the Speaker. But Imam Alfa, leading a group of five members is the one recognized as Speaker by the executive. And the mother of all oddities: the first state to produce a governor from supplementary election- a strange phenomenon under the Nigerian law and customs.

    The controversial and supplementary nature of the election that produced Bello as governor has been the bane of his mandate. The Kogi governorship poll held November 21 last year. It was however declared inconclusive by the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC. As the votes poured in, and collation got underway, it was clear that Prince AbubakarAudu, then candidate of the All Progressives Congress APC and his running mate, James AbiodunFaleke were coasting to victory. They were leading their closest rivals, incumbent Governor Idris Wada and Deputy Yomi Awoniyi of the People’s Democratic Party PDP with about 41,000 votes having polled a salivating 240,000 votes to Wada’s 199,000 votes. However, a legal technicality prevented the victory from being announced on the spot.

    Some 49,000 votes, a little more than the margin of defeat were still outstanding. The Electoral Act, which moderates the conduct of all elections into public offices in Nigeria makes it mandatory that the yet to participate 49,000 registered voters must not be disenfranchised. Consequently, the Returning Officer invoked this legal provision and declared the election inconclusive. A new date for the conclusion was yet to be announced when news of Audu’s death filtered in.  The APC, the state under which the late Prince was winning the election, came in to claim all the votes leaving none for his rattled political patrimony.

    From a shaky start, the party went to its archive and awarded the disputed votes to Bello who came second in the primary that produced the fallen Audu. Fortunately, it had an ally in a restive and partisan Attorney General and Minister of Justice who admonished the party to bring a new candidate in the middle of an election. The supplementary poll that held on Saturday December 5, 2015 was a walk-over for Bello. He shored up the APC total votes to about 247,000 with his 6,000 supplementary votes and thus became the first person in humanity to win public office on the strength of a make-up election. When he was inaugurated in January, he did not have a deputy governor as Faleke who was retained on the INEC documents as running mate vehemently rejected the offer. He then approached the tribunal to agitate for his declaration as governor.

    It then appeared that Bello’s governorship was imperiled from the start. Faleke felt terribly short changed by his party and INEC. He reasoned that Audu had already won the election before he died; He urged the tribunal to compel INEC to declare him as winner since he was on a ‘joint ticket’ with Audu. In his opinion, the supplementary election was completely unnecessary and an illegality. The simple question he wanted the tribunal to answer was whether INEC was right in declaring the November 21 election inconclusive. The tribunal failed to answer that question but instead threw out his case for lack of merit.

    Tribunal chairman Justice Halima Mohammed held that since Faleke did not participate in every stage of the election, he lacked locus standi to bring the petition before it. It resolved that since the. election was declared inconclusive, the right to challenge its outcome had not accrued to Faleke. The tribunal declined jurisdiction to question the party’s internal process that led to the nomination for Audu’s replacement. It appeared that the tribunal spoke from both sides of the mouth. The question of what constitute ‘every stage’ of the election was left dangling. If Faleke was dismissed for not participating in every stage of the election, then what do we say about Bello? A man who did not participate in campaigns and the general election can hardly be said to have fared better under the law.

    After summarily dismissing Faleke’s case in the manner described above, the tribunal landed its hammer on its next victim, former Governor Wada of the PDP. Wada’s case was multi-faceted. He opined that since Audu died in the middle of a general election and not primary, the period allowed by law for the substitution of a candidate had elapsed. He argued that Bello who was used to replace Audu could not inherit the votes of a dead person. He alleged further that Bello was not even qualified to contest the election because he was not a registered voter in Kogi State and he went into the supplementary election without running mate. Finally, he brought a forensic report and expert to show that the election was rigged in favour of the APC. Again, his application was dismissed for lack of merit.

    Although Justice Halima graciously granted him locus standi, she said the load of scanned electoral materials brought by the forensic expert and which she had earlier admitted or marked as exhibit were ‘dumped’ on the tribunal. The tribunal was silent on Bello’s invalid voter’s card and held that he did not contest the December 5 supplementary poll without a running mate. She stunned listeners when she declared that Faleke who she declined locus standi a day before, was also Bello’s running mate for the make-up election! The tribunal held that the provisions of the law as it relates to substitution of candidate by a political party become invalid in an inconclusive election. The Wada case still left many unanswered questions. Can votes of a corpse be transferred to the living or they die with him? Between a party and a candidate, who own the votes cast in an election? What is the life span of the result of a primary election? Can a material presented and accepted as exhibit be said to have been dumped on a court?

    For now, Bello is salivating his victory and swimming in the euphoria of the moment. Whereas his admirers see the hands of God in his tribunal victories describing them as ‘legal wonders’, his traducers see them as ‘legal blunders’. Will the Kogi Governor truly be a cat with nine lives or just a flash in the pan? Only time and perhaps, the Supreme Court will tell. The good people of Kogi State and indeed all well-meaning Nigerians are eagerly waiting to see how this landmark riddle will enrich our jurisprudence.

     

    • Elesho is a public affairs analyst.
  • Kogi Assembly dispute: Court orders parties to stay away from complex

    Kogi Assembly dispute: Court orders parties to stay away from complex

    Justice Nnamdi Dimgba of the Federal High Court, Abuja, has ordered parties in the leadership tussle of the Kogi State House of Assembly to stay away from the Assembly complex pending the determination of an application seeking to stay the execution of his earlier judgment.

    Justice Dimgba gave the order yesterday to enable respondents file in their response.

    In a judgment on June 19, Justice Dimgba voided the impeachment of the Speaker MomohJimoh Lawal, the Deputy Speaker, Aliyu Akuh, and seven other principal officers, and ordered their reinstatement.

    He held that the process leading to their purported impeachment on February 16 was unconstitutional and illegal, adding that the impeachment did not conform with the provisions of Sections 90, 91, 92 (2) (c), 95 (1) and (2) and 96(1) and (2) of the Constitution.

    Beneficiaries of the voided impeachment appealed the judgment and applied to the Federal High Court for a stay of its execution.

    Yesterday, their lawyer, Emeka Etiaba (SAN), told the court that they were served a further affidavit out of time and insisted they be given time to respond. He said there were certain allegations in the affidavit they have to disproof.

    Etiaba, who sought an adjournment, also requested the court to grant an order restraining parties from going back to the House to conduct any business.

    His words: “A court order has been flouted by the first to fifth defendants, and they have been sitting contrary to court order.

    “They filed an appeal, they have not followed up, they have not complied records, and they have not transmitted. Rather than follow up the appeal, they filed an application to set aside the judgment or for the court to make an interim order.

    “We were served a further affidavit out of time and we insisted we must have time to respond. Certain allegations were made, we need to also confront and show that they are all falsehood.”

    Justice Dimgba ordered parties in the suit to stay away from the House of Assembly complex pending the hearing of the application or judgment of the court.

    He advised them to obey court judgment for the peace of the state, adding that as representatives of the people, they must set good examples to those they represent.

    He adjourned till June 28 for hearing of the application.

  • Kogi conundrum

    Kogi conundrum

    •Sadly, this has been compounded by the election petition tribunal that decided the matter

    The crisis in Kogi State, arising from a mismanaged election process is morphing into an intractable conundrum, especially with the recent pesky judgment of the state election petition tribunal. And for all that has been troubling democracy in Kogi State, we have the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), which has acted so dependent over the contrived crisis in the governorship election in the state, to thank. Also due for mention in the list of those who rode roughshod over a constitutional process, is the Attorney-General of the Federation (AGF), Abubakar Malami (SAN), who despite his partisan interests, foisted his illegitimate advice on the electoral body.

    Strangely, the Kogi State Election Petition Tribunal has now given its imprimatur to the phoney arrangement of foisting Yahaya Bello, as the state governor, by its judgment that rankles common- sense and legal jurisprudence. For us, like every other reasonable man in the street, it is stranger than fiction that a total stranger to the Prince Abubakar Audu/ James Faleke’s ticket, is gifted with the so called locus standi, while the surviving one-half of the lawful owners of the ticket, is denied a standing, to claim what is due to him and his late principal. Thankfully, there is a provision for an appeal, and we consider it a service to constitutionalism, for Mr Faleke to approach the higher court.

    Regrettably, the meddlesomeness of the AGF in Kogi State did not stop in helping to foist a strange contraption as the executive arm. The challenged attorney, also took his special skills to the legislative arm of the government. With strong arm tactics, cloaked in the official garb of being the federal chief law officer, Mr Malami ordered the Inspector-General of Police to provide cover for five renegade members of the state assembly, to take over the proceedings of the house, while the majority 15 other members, including the speaker, were banished to Abuja.

    Right now, the AGF is at war with the National Assembly for his unlawful directive to the police, which overruled the provisions of section 11(4) of the 1999 constitution. By that section, the federal law makers have the prerogative to take over the legislative activities of any crisis- ridden House of Assembly in the country, unable to perform its functions, as is presently the situation in Kogi State. While the federal law makers dutifully passed the necessary resolutions, and directed the police to provide protection, the AGF countermanded that legislative exercise, in the same manner an appeal tribunal would do, over a decision made by a lower tribunal.

    With the judgment of the election tribunal, those slaying our constitution in Kogi State would now be emboldened to bring out their sledge hammer, unless they are restrained on appeal. A pointer to what is to come was the unlawful drafting of soldiers to take over the protection of the five members of the state legislators, from the police; in other for them to unlawfully sit and approve the so-called list of commissioners.

    While many reasonable Nigerians have been shouting that the charade in Kogi State should stop, the actors and their protectors exhibit a trenchant nonchalant attitude. Regardless of whether or not the powers that be allow constitutionalism and common sense in Kogi State, or whether the appeal tribunal is minded to exercise its discretion judicially and judiciously in the interest of our fledgling democracy, we consider it our duty to bring to the notice of all our nation’s constitutional authorities, this tardy exhibitionism of power by those who share responsibility to protect our constitutional democracy.

     

  • Kogi’s unending absurdities

    Kogi’s unending absurdities

    On February 21, and for the second time in about nine years, Palladium donated his column to an ardent reader incensed at the desecration of the fine arts of politics in Kogi State. The youthful Governor Yahaya Bello was busy upending common sense in the state, lawmakers were divided in two, with one part, the majority, fleeing to Abuja with the mace, and another, just five of them, turning electoral arithmetic on its head. The ordinary Kogite watched in great perplexity, unable to comprehend how the simple act of voting peacefully for the late Abubakar Audu/Abiodun ticket had turned into a farce orchestrated by both the ruling APC and INEC. Last week they expected that their distress would end; instead the absurdities, thanks to the inexplicable tribunal judgement, promise to continue for some time. Here is a repeat of Mr Adeola’s intervention, published again to set the context for next week’s dissection of the judgement.

    KOGI State has been in the news for the wrong reasons of late. The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) dealt a devastating blow to the state when on 22nd November 2015, it announced the result of the governorship election held on 21st November 2015 as inconclusive. On Sunday, 22nd November 2015, Kogites had stayed glued to their televisions to watch how the elections results from the local government areas were trickling in one after the other. Many Christians amongst them missed Sunday church services as they stayed back home to monitor the results of the election. The Returning Officer of the election, Professor Emmanuel Kucha, Vice Chancellor, Federal University of Agriculture, Makurdi, finally announced the scores of the candidates in all the 21 local government areas of the state after the collation of the figures. Kogites became agitated when Professor Kucha announced that the collation officers were proceeding on a short break. Little did anyone know then that something miserable was afoot.

    On his return from break, the professor announced that Prince Abubakar Audu (now deceased) of the All Progressives Congress (APC) scored 240,514 votes, while Capt. Idris Wada of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) garnered 199,514 votes. He said that the margin of votes between Messrs Audu and Wada was 41,353. He, therefore, further announced that the election was inconclusive because the total number of registered voters in 91 polling units in 19 local government areas where election was cancelled was 49,953, which according to him was higher than 41,353 votes with which Audu led Wada. The returning officer added that, by INEC guidelines, no return could be made for the election until a supplementary election was held. The supplementary election held on 5th December 2015 at the end of which Alhaji Yahaya Bello, who never participated in the main election, was declared the winner by “supplementary votes” of 6,000. It was not until 24th November 2015 that INEC owned up to the demise of Prince Audu.

    The conduct and announcements of INEC on Kogi polls have since set Kogi State on the path of absurdities, legal and political. The Kogi state Governorship Election Petition Tribunal, now sitting in Abuja, is being called upon to resolve the legal absurdities. These include:  (a) The declaration by INEC that the election of 21st November 2015 was inconclusive after it had announced the results of all the local government areas; (b) The choice of INEC to use its guidelines as against applying the provisions of the Electoral Act and the 1999 Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria to declare the election inconclusive; (c) The propriety or otherwise of INEC conducting a supplementary election on an election that had been won and lost going by the figures INEC itself announced; (d) The constitutional basis or otherwise of INEC allowing Alhaji Yahaya Bello to contest an election without a running mate; (e) The propriety or otherwise of INEC merging the votes scored by the late Abubakar Audu/Hon. James Abiodun Faleke with the supplementary votes of Alhaji Yahaya Bello and the law that permits such a merger.

    There are many other issues that the Tribunal will be called upon to determine. All Kogites and the whole world are anxiously waiting for the decision of the learned Tribunal.

    Alhaji Bello was inaugurated as the fourth civilian governor of Kogi State on 27th January 2016. He was sworn in without a deputy. This act is unprecedented in Nigeria. Kogi State is fast becoming notorious for earning the first position in every bad political occurrence in Nigeria. In 2007, it became the first state to have the election of its governor upturned by an election tribunal. In 2011, it became the first state to have three governors in one day: the then outgoing governor, Alhaji Ibrahim Idris; Capt. Idris Wada sworn-in by the President of the State Customary Court of Appeal; and the Speaker of the then State House of Assembly, sworn in by the Chief Judge of the State. The state is also now on record as the first state in which the candidate who won an election died before being sworn in, calling for the application of section 181 of the Constitution.

    Alhaji Bello has spent three weeks as the governor of Kogi State. A period of three weeks may be considered too short to assess the performance of a governor. It is, however, sufficient to come to a decision on what type of governor he would make. A careful study of the actions and utterances of Alhaji Bello, as governor of Kogi State, clearly shows that he is an intemperate and sometimes unpredictable person, imbued with extraordinary energy and youthful exuberance, almost bordering on the bizarre. He has sufficiently demonstrated that he is someone who would take an action first before thinking over it. The consequence of this is that he has had to reverse himself on several issues relating to the policies he announced within the first few days of his tenure. He lacks the experience, maturity, insight, shrewdness and astuteness required to govern a state like Kogi or any state for that matter. He is naturally self-conceited and not reflective.

    Upon his inauguration, the first thing he did was to abandon Kogites and proceed to attend the meeting of the Northern Governor’s Forum. The meeting was more important to him than the plight of his people, particularly the workers of the state civil service who had been on strike for non-payment of salaries that had accumulated for four months. Alhaji Yahaya Bello returned from the meeting and announced that the hungry workers would have to undertake an elaborate screening exercise before they were paid October 2015 salaries. The exercise would have taken another one month or more to conclude. Kogi State chapter of the Nigerian Labour Congress rose up to the occasion and alleged that he acted mala fide and betrayed the trust reposed in him. The Congress reminded him that it was to honour him that they agreed to call off the strike. It threatened to resume the strike within seven days if the governor failed to reverse his decision on the screening exercise. The Congress had wondered how the workers would cope with hunger for another one month. The governor immediately reversed his decision.

    Alhaji Bello promised to pay one month salary arrears to the workers. As at the time he announced this decision, he did not know the amount of money in the coffers of the government to determine whether or not the money would be sufficient to cover the wage bill. He was not even sure what the wage bill was when he made the announcement. It was a whimsical decision to score political points.  He was later faced with the stark reality as he met only N2.5 billion in the government’s account, whereas the wage bill was N3.5 billion. But he went ahead to deplete the N2.5 billion he met by first taking care of his security vote and awarding a contract of N100million for the renovation of his office, amongst other huge sums of money he had withdrawn for some other so-called state reasons. The resultant effect of all this was that almost half of the number of the workers have yet to receive their October 2015 salaries as at the time of writing this piece. And, there is no hope of them receiving their pay as no arrangements are being made in that regard. Meanwhile, he is said to have incurred some huge hotel bills at Transcorp Hilton, Abuja, and another whopping sum at Reverton Hotel, Lokoja.

    Alhaji Bello knew that he needed the cooperation of the members of the State House of Assembly. He, however, approached the matter in an arrogant manner. He demonstrated his lack of skill, finesse and diplomacy on the issue. After securing the approval of the lawmakers for his nominee for the office of the Deputy Governor, Hon. Simon Achuba,  in a subterranean manner, he invited them into his private residence and addressed them roughly. He did not leave any of them in doubt that he had become the Governor of Kogi State and would remain so for the next eight years. His coarse language angered the members, majority of whom are of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP). His immodesty made him lose control over the Kogi State House of Assembly, notwithstanding the unlawful manner he wooed them.  By the time he attempted to impose his stooge as the Speaker, the exercise ended in fiasco as only five of the twenty members were available to do his bidding. They, nevertheless, went ahead with their unconstitutional acts with the strong backing of the military and police who were deployed that day to give the five members protection. One really wonders the business of soldiers from the Army Records in Lokoja over a legislative matter that is purely civil. Perhaps the commander of the unit or the Chief of Army Staff would be in a better position to explain this. Meanwhile the governor is yet to explain to Kogites why he had to conduct the swearing-in ceremony of the Deputy Governor under a secret cover in his sitting room rather than the Confluence Stadium or any other open place. The arrogance of Alhaji Bello has also been visibly demonstrated by his decision to block the road that passes by his personal residence beside the Government House, Lokoja, thereby causing  pains and inconveniences and logjam for road users.

    The governor has exhibited ignorance of the clear provisions of the constitution. This has led him to commit unconstitutional acts and impeachable offences. He does not appear to have knowledge of the limits of his powers as a governor. He imagines that he has absolute and unfettered powers to do anything he wants. He has dissolved the Local Government commission without regard to the fact that it is unconstitutional to do so except at the expiration of its stated term. He abrogated the joint account of Local Government Councils and the State without repealing the law establishing it. He has issued directives to Universal Basic Education and Pension Bureau contrary to the extant laws and rules guiding them.

    Alhaji Bello also announced that he had granted autonomy to the local government councils, apparently, without any understanding of the implications of such a fundamental policy decision. He places no structure on the ground either by legislation or guidelines upon which such autonomy can operate. It is a blanket power conferred on the local government council chairmen to conduct the affairs of their councils as they desire. Finances and the staff salaries and welfare of the local government councils are now at the whims of the council chairmen. Indeed, the crucial question agitating the minds of right-thinking Kogites is whether or not local government autonomy can be granted by mere irrational verbal pronouncement of a governor without any legislative or constitutional backing. Given the penchant of the governor at reversing himself, it will not be surprising to hear, in the next few days, that he has reversed the decision again. One interesting aspect of the autonomy granted the council chairman is the fact that few days after the announcement of the granting of the so-called autonomy, the Governor himself proceeded to suspend all the Directors of Local Governments (DLGS) and cashiers for one month without consulting the chairmen. Right now, all permanent secretaries in the state civil service, directors of finance, deputy accountant-general and staff of accounts sections of all ministries and parastatals are being placed on one-month compulsory leave.

    His hatred for the Okuns is brewing and manifesting. He ensured that his cronies who impeached the Speaker did not give the slot to an Okun man even when it was zoned to the western Senatorial District. He also ensured that a Lokoja man got it. Furthermore, he ensured that an Okun man who was the deputy accountant general did not act for the accountant-general when the latter was sacked. He is said to be planning to bring an Ebira from Lagos to be the accountant-general of the state, a civil service position.

    Right now, Kogi State is in the hands of two amateurs and inexperienced administrators. Yahaya Bello, the Governor, and Edward Onoja, the Chief of Staff, who have demonstrated lack of capacity in governance and administration. Both of them have no political or administrative pedigree and acumen. Alhaji Bello served as civil servant at the Revenue Mobilization, Allocation and Fiscal Commission for only twelve years. He never became a director to direct any affair. He is today a multi-billionaire. Edward Onoja worked in the banking system for few years before he was eased out. Both of them, regrettably, are calling the shots in Kogi courtesy of INEC’s manipulations against the will of the people of Kogi State, freely expressed at a peacefully conducted election of 21st November 2015 where nobody complained of any malpractice. Until the Tribunal rules, the absurdities in Kogi are bound to continue. Hopefully, this won’t be long.

    • Adeola writes from Lokoja

     

     

    • First published February 21, 2016
  • Kogi as constitutional laboratory

    Kogi as constitutional laboratory

    After a waiting period of intense suspense, the Kogi State Election Petition Tribunal in successive judgements beginning on Monday dismissed the petitions against the election of Governor Yahaya Bello by Mr James Abiodun Faleke of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Captain Idris Wada (Rtd) of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Mrs. Zainab Usman of the African Democratic Congress (ADC) and the Labour Party respectively. In each instance, the Tribunal found the petitions deficient and unmeritorious and thus declared Yahaya Bello duly elected as governor of the state.

    Easily the most anticipated of the petitions was that of Honourable James Abiodun Faleke, who was the running mate to the late Prince Abubakar Audu, who died after the collation but shortly before the formal announcement by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) of the outcome of the November 21, 2015 poll. Before Audu’s demise, the Returning Officer for the election, Professor Emmanuel Kuchi, Vice Chancellor of the University of Agriculture, Makurdi, had declared the victory of the APC in 16 of the 21 local governments with a total of 240, 867 votes while the incumbent governor, Captain Idris Wada, of the PDP scored 199, 514 votes emerging victorious in five Local Government Areas.

    The Returning Officer, however, went on to declare the election inconclusive because, while the differential margin of votes between Audu and Wada was 41,353, the total number of registered voters in 91 polling units across 18 Local Governments where the election was cancelled was 49, 953, a figure higher than that with which Audu beat Wada. It was thus the decision of INEC to hold a supplementary election on December 5, 2015 to bring the election to closure. Some analysts accused the electoral umpire of bad faith since it was well aware that the number of duly accredited voters in the 91 polling units where elections were cancelled was no more than 25,000, significantly less than the APC’s margin of victory and thus rendering a supplementary election superfluous. From this point of view, the election was thus irreversibly conclusive. Even if all the votes in the 91 units were allocated to the PDP, the APC victory of November 21 still stood secure and inviolate.

    The INEC did not help matters when it sought the opinion of the Attorney General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Mallam Abubakar Malami (SAN) on what its next line of action should be. For one, the electoral commission has its own legal advisers and should have protected its institutional autonomy. The AGF is an appointee of the APC-controlled Federal Government. His opinion was, therefore, believed to be that of a powerful clique within the party bent on achieving a pre-determined outcome in the Kogi polls. Nevertheless, INEC followed the advice of the AGF and requested the APC to present another candidate for the scheduled supplementary election. The party nominated Alhaji Yahaya Bello, who had come second to the late Audu in the party primaries of August 29, 2015, but who had refrained from participating in activities of the party since his defeat.

    Faleke kicked and declined to participate in the supplementary polls insisting that the November election was conclusive. It had been won decisively by the Audu/Faleke ticket. Section 187 (1) of the 1999 constitution states that “ …a candidate for the office of Governor of a State shall not be deemed to have been validly nominated for such office unless he nominates another candidate as his associate for his running for the office of Governor, who is to occupy the office of Deputy Governor”. Faleke contributed as much to the APC’s electoral victory of November 21 as Audu. Why did the constitution insist that a candidate could only run for office as governor if he picks a running mate? Furthermore, Section 181 (1) of the constitution provides that if a duly elected governor dies before subscribing to the oath of office, the person elected with him as Deputy Governor “shall be sworn in as Governor and he shall nominate a new Deputy- Governor who shall be appointed by the Governor with the approval of a simple majority of the House of Assembly of the State”.

    There are those who argue, however, that the provisions of Section 181 (1) do not apply in the Kogi case. Prince Audu had not yet been declared duly elected by INEC before his demise and this development is a novel one unanticipated by the drafters of the constitution. Was the election of November 21 conclusive or not since the Audu/Faleke ticket had won the constitutional requisites of the highest number of votes and the spread of 25% of the votes cast in each of at least two thirds of the 21 Local Governments in the state? Shouldn’t Faleke have been declared duly elected by INEC since he was on the joint ticket with the deceased governorship APC governorship candidate as running mate?  Could Yahaya Bello be deemed to have been duly elected as governor when he participated in the supplementary election without a valid running mate? These are some of the issues to which Faleke sought judicial interpretations and decisions at the Election Petition Tribunal.

    Although this columnist has not yet seen a full copy of the Tribunal’s judgement, news reports indicate that the judicial body ruled that Faleke has no locus standi to challenge the election of Bello when INEC has declared the exercise inconclusive. The tribunal further declared that deciding the candidate of a political party is not under the jurisdiction of a court. “A candidate cannot stand election without being sponsored by a party; the Electoral Tribunal has no power to determine the candidate of a party. The issues raised by the petitioner bordered on the nomination of the 2nd respondent (Yahaya Bello), which arose from the death of Prince Audu; Bello did not nominate himself. Both the petitioner and the 2nd respondent belong to the same party and were sponsored by their party. The APC has the right to substitute a candidate as it deems fit” the Tribunal reportedly said.

    Most curiously, the Tribunal also declared Faleke’s withdrawal letter from the supplementary election as Yahaya Bello’s running mate to be invalid because it was addressed to INEC rather than his political party. The implication is that Yahaya Bello contested in the supplementary election with Faleke as his valid running mate. On what basis then did Bello subsequently appoint Honourable Simon Achuba as Deputy Governor two weeks after being sworn in without a deputy as required by the constitution? Again, if the party has absolute rights to present any candidate of its choice for an election, on what basis did the Supreme Court declare Rotimi Amaechi as the true candidate of the PDP for the governorship election in 2007 and ordered that Sir Celestine Omehia, victorious candidate of the PDP in the election vacate the office of Rivers State governor for Amaechi? Surely, it will be interesting to see how higher courts will treat these issues as Faleke has vowed to appeal the Tribunal’s judgement after consulting his lawyers. Kogi has certainly become a veritable constitutional laboratory and one can only hope that the ultimate judicial pronouncement on the Kogi imbroglio will help plug a key loop hole in the constitution and contribute meaningfully to the country’s political development.

    However, the ongoing political crisis in Kogi, particularly the descent to anarchy in the state legislature, can be blamed largely on the national leadership of the APC. The most sensible, rational and logical thing for the party was to have declared Faleke, who was already on the ticket and a key contributor to the outcome of the November 21 election, as its candidate for the supplementary election if that exercise was even necessary at all. By bringing Yahaya Bello, a complete stranger to the electoral process as the party’s substitute for Audu in the supplementary polls, the party leadership helped fuel the belief that a powerful caucus in Abuja is determined to ensure that a Yoruba man and Christian will not be allowed to be governor of Kogi State. This is most dangerous and unfortunate.

    In turn, an obviously insecure and immature Governor Yahaya Bello, who believes that his power source derives from a shadowy Abuja clique rather than the good people of Kogi State, is brazenly using the most crude strong arm tactics to consolidate his hold on power in the Confluence state. Thus, five members of a 25-member Kogi State House of Assembly loyal to the governor, have illegally seized control of the House, purportedly impeached the Speaker, Alhaji Momoh Lawal, and under the watch of armed soldiers passed the governor’s list of commissioners as well as the state’s 2016 budget. That this is happening under the party of change is most unbelievable. You cannot credibly claim to be fighting against corruption while perpetrating the worst forms of political, moral and spiritual corruption as is so evident in Kogi today. Physician, heal thyself!

  • Army denies invading Kogi Assembly complex

    The Nigerian Army Command Records, Lokoja, has denied sending its men to occupy the House of Assembly complex. It said the soldiers sighted there were “fake”.

    This followed the alleged invasion of the Assembly complex and quarters by armed military men last week.

    Spokesperson Lt-Col Dan Baba-Ochankpa distanced personnel of the formation from the alleged invasion while addressing newsmen yesterday in Lokoja.

    According to him, the soldiers were fake, adding that they were probably used by some lawmakers to intimidate their colleagues. He insisted that his men will never invade the assembly quarters or escort any lawmaker to the complex.

    “We don’t belong to any political party, our political party is Kogi State. Soldiers don’t fire any how, if you do, you will be court marshalled.

    “We don’t take sides, our duty is to maintain law and order and we will not allow such things to happen in Kogi State,” he said.

    Baba-Ochankpa insisted there was no truth in the allegation, as the operation was a cordon and search as laid down by the Constitution.

    His words: “The operation followed a security report at about 10.30pm on May 30, about the presence of unidentified gunmen dressed in military uniform and suspected to be political thugs, with the intent of disrupting the peace and causing mayhem around the assembly complex.

    “Troops, in aid of civil authority, moved to the scene and discovered that political thugs had entered the complex but quickly controlled the situation and restored normalcy.

    “The allegation of invasion by troops is therefore a calculated attempt to smear the good work the command has been doing in line with constitutional provisions and hence not true in its entirety.

    “The command hereby restates the apolitical nature of the Nigerian Army personnel and reiterates that it will continue to work with other security agencies towards upholding the peace in Kogi State, in line with its constitutional mandate and the vision of the Chief of Army Staff.”

  • Kogi House crisis: ‘I acted as Chief Law Officer of the federation, not politician’

    Kogi House crisis: ‘I acted as Chief Law Officer of the federation, not politician’

    In this interview conducted by Emmanuel Ado, host of Let’s Talk, a current affairs programme that airs on Liberty Radio/ TV, Kaduna, the Attorney – General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Alhaji Abubakar Malami (SAN) spoke on the war against corruption, the Kogi State governorship election, the current crisis in the Kogi State House of Assembly, the MTN/NCC issue and other issues. Excerpts

    The Buhari -led administration of the All Progressives Congress (APC) government has just celebrated one year in office; as the Attorney-General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, do rate your ministry?

    As you rightly stated, this administration has just clocked one year. I think substantially by way of assessment of the role of the Federal Ministry of Justice – which by the way is fundamentally centred on enforcement of laws, legislations and ensuring that necessary framework is put in place for effective implementation of the policies of government, the Federal Ministry of Justice has been effective in providing all the necessary support for  the fight against corruption  of which several  legislations have been put in place and transmitted to the executive for the purpose of passage into law…among them is the Money Laundry ( prevention and prohibition) Law, Whistle  Blower Protection Law, Mutual Legal Assistant Criminal Matters Bill, bills for the Domestication of Agreements  for Avoidance of Double Taxation, the Forfeiture  of Assets Law, the Criminal Justice Administration Act, the Prison Act, aimed at the de-congestation of the prisons, ensuring that high profile cases are pursued with vigour and then above all, the international and bilateral agreements with countries where proceeds of crimes, looted funds,  have been invested in ….are areas  which  in the last one year the Federal Ministry of Justice has indeed provided the required support to see that the policies of government are implemented. We have not also allowed ourselves to be derailed by the status of individuals concerned. We maintained a course of being just and fair, regardless of the personalities involved.

    Are the problems you seem to have as a result of your actions or that of some people who before now thought some other persons should be the Attorney – General of the Federation and Minister of Justice?  I know in the Buhari administration for a fact that you have eleven lawyers in that cabinet, what’s your response to this?

    We’re operating in a political landscape which naturally accommodates or has the potentials to accommodate diverse interests.  And we’re living in a world where mostly empty vessels kind of provide greater sounds contrary to the reality on ground.  But the truth of the matter is that first and foremost, whatever you are doing, you need a clear conscience. What I will appreciate is for people to judge us based on the laws that the ministry usually relies upon in canvasing legal positions. Laws are by their nature regulated in terms of providing a roadmap.  So, if you want to do justice to whatever issue that is at stake, your major consideration should always be the basis of our action and it has to be the laws associated inter alia with the issues. Now, that brings me down to the issue of Kogi.

    As the chief law officer, can you explain your actions in the confusion in Kogi State?

    There are two issues in Kogi: the death of Audu and the issue in the House of Assembly between the G5 and the G15. The constitution, the provisions of the Electoral Act and the judicial interpretation that has been handed down over the years, particularly by the courts, guided our constitution. That was our roadmap. We didn’t act in a vacuum. In the case of Amaechi versus INEC, it was made abundantly clear and again by the interpretation of Section 112 of the constitution that votes are cast for political parties….that’s one.  Arising from the issue of Amaechi was that votes cast are for the party. And then secondly, the issue arose as to whether there should be substitution on account of death. The Electoral Act is very clear that there should be substitution on account of death among other considerations which include voluntary withdrawal. So, you can equally not take out the right of substitution having been sustained by the Electoral Act.  Arising from these two provisions, Audu died and the issue arose as to succession or substitution. Now, I think the area over which controversy – needless I must say – set in was, the idea as to whether there should be fresh primaries for filling in the vacant seat or  not? Whether we like it or not, the process was inconclusive, arising from the position taken by INEC.

    So, if you look at it from the point of who should become the candidate, the Electoral Act is very clear that the only process through which a candidate of a political party can emerge is through the process of primaries.  And then, we had primaries in place and you should equally note for interest that primaries are regulated by laws by the powers vested in INEC to fix timetable for the conduct of primaries which timetable was put in place by INEC.  The primaries had taken place in compliance with the timetable that was put in place.  Now I know there exists no provision either in the Constitution or Electoral Act that contemplates a situation of extension of time for the conduct of subsequent primaries that would have allowed for the conduct of new primaries in the circumstances recorded. It is only logical that since you have a valid primary that had never been subjected to petition or contention, the option is to revisit it and then if you want to be just and fair, you look for the second candidate in that process that has been legitimately and lawfully conducted by INEC. Now just for the purpose of logic, let us look at it from this perspective; if APC as a party conducted fresh primaries, where is the law that allows for that extension? It couldn’t because the law did not contemplate that scenario or much less accord the electoral commission the opportunity for extension of time to conduct new primaries. In the absence of such a law and you now conduct new primaries and then an issue of determination arises as to which of the two primaries is valid.  Naturally the idea of priority of time will equally come into play.  An issue that is presumed regular cannot be presumed irregular until upon being set aside by judicial pronouncement. The earlier primary election was never a subject of litigation or legal determination. And then if you’re talking of priority of time, an action that has taken place first is always presumed to be regular as against the subsequent one.  So, it is only logical that the first primaries should be accorded recognition as any new one would have been out of time. So the first primary which was conducted in line with the Electoral Act which INEC conducted within the timeframe is, in my view, the right decision.

    Sorry for drawing you back; I have examples to buttress what we are saying. Goodluck Jonathan was the governorship candidate of the PDP in 2007; he had won the election and then he was chosen as the Vice President. Timi Sylvia contested and got eight (8) votes; he came second.  So, PDP substituted Goodluck Jonathan with Sylvia. You want to recall that Timi Alibe didn’t contest.  So you see, as I’ve stated earlier that arising from the Electoral Act, the only process through which someone can be a candidate of a party is through the conduct of the primary.  So, that buttresses what we’re saying that someone that has not participated in the primaries can definitely not benefit from the process of election.  But the circumstances and peculiarities could be different where there exists a declaration of result. If supposing INEC had even declared Audu before his unfortunate death as the winner of the election and he was sworn-in and then thereafter he died, it would be automatic that the deputy governor will step in. Again, the election in its own right was declared inconclusive by INEC.  So, again note that it is the declaration of an election that creates a mandate; if results are not declared, where will you get the mandate from? Luckily, the situation is subject to judicial interpretation of the court.  Honestly, I’m proffering this opinion without prejudice to the position of the court. I am doing this out of an obligation to put across to Nigerians the basis for my actions.

    But it seems the PDP would have been happy if the APC had conducted fresh primaries.  Was that not what some of your party members wanted, they challenged your decision?

    Well, my decision was not based on political considerations. I acted as the Chief Law Officer of the Federation

    On the confusion in the State House of Assembly; yes, I have to take you through the antecedents that led to the request for legal opinion, but then fundamentally that legal opinion emanated from the office of the Inspector-General of Police and exclusively the request was based on S. (11), Subsection (4) of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria.  It’s obvious the Inspector-General of Police, requested a legal position as to whether the State House of Assembly and coalition were accorded security cover to  workers in the State House of Assembly against the background of the context of securing.  I think maybe I may have to quote the Constitution for that copiously for your understanding which obviously forms the basis of my decision.

    For the purpose of Nigeria’s consumption, S. (11), Subsection (4)  of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria provides as follows:  “Any time when any House of Assembly of a state is unable to perform its functions by reason of a situation prevailing in that state, the National Assembly may make such laws for the peace, order and good government of that state with respect to matters on which the House of Assembly may make laws as may appear to the National Assembly to the necessary or expedient until such time the House of Assembly is able to resume its functions.  And any such laws enacted by the National Assembly pursuant to this section shall have effects as if they were laws enacted by the House of Assembly of the State.”

    Now arising from the provision, my appreciation of the law is that the inability of the State House of Assembly to perform its functions must be by the reason of a situation prevailing in that state.  I want to emphasise that the situation that’s envisaged by the provision of the Constitution is a situation prevailing in that state. We operate a system of government, that is, a three arms of government with separation of power.  My argument is; if the intention of the framers of the Constitution is a situation prevailing in the State House of Assembly, the Constitution could have categorically stated the House of Assembly. But the Constitution states – situation prevailing in that state.  So my contention arising from this is what is the basis for the National Assembly to take over the law making functions for the state? Is the situation prevailing in the whole state? So, my contention is that it must be circumstances that are extraneous to the House of Assembly, the whole state as a unit comprising the executive, legislative and judiciary. There must be breakdown of law and order prevailing in the state. If you’re talking of breakdown of law and order by way of analogy, anyway, I’m not certain of a State House of Assembly in respect of which we do not have one breakdown of law and order.

    Currently we have an incident in Edo State, same situation as the situation prevailing in Kogi State House of Assembly, but not in the whole state. I think my reaction to both Houses have been informed from that perspective. Allow me to ask, in the event of a breakdown of law and order in the National Assembly, who takes over?  It is a possibility? So, in my submission, arising from that is that what is contemplated by the Constitution is a situation prevailing in the State and not the House of Assembly.  And then my second submission that emanated from that has to do with whether a resolution which was passed by a chamber of the National Assembly is enough to take over the functions of the Kogi State House of Assembly, whether it is right and proper to take over functions of a House of Assembly by a single resolution or a concurrent resolution?  And then my assessment arising from this is that it is clear that the National Assembly may make such laws for the peace, order and good government of a state but the operating requirement of the Constitution for the National Assembly to act should be by way of a law and not by way of a resolution.  A single resolution passed by the House of Representatives is not a law as far as our democratic dispensation is concerned.

    There are three types of resolutions; a single resolution which is resolution that can be unilaterally passed by either the House of Representatives or the Senate; Concurrent resolution by both houses, a resolution passed either by the Senate or the House of Representatives and then agreed upon and ratified by the other House; and then a Joint resolution which is a resolution whereby the two Houses come together, sit together and then take a position by way of a resolution.  So, my contention is that a single resolution or concurrent resolutions do not have a force of law.  They are persuasive in nature, and can’t be a basis of having the force of law which is the requirement of the constitution that says the National Assembly may make such laws for the peace, order and good government of that state. If you have to take over the functions of a State House of Assembly, it has to be by law and not by way of a single resolution.

    No doubt, we have not heard the last on this because the House met and they have restated their resolution and in fact, they’re saying you should be indicted.  So, will somebody go to court and get this trashed out?

    I’ve been served with a process of court by the Kogi State Government, through the Attorney-General of Kogi State. And I think the office of the Attorney-General of the Federation and the National Assembly are parties …

    So, finally you’re going to get a pronouncement on the issue?

    The matter is pending, but that is the way it’s going.

    There is fear that this government is becoming…

    One thing I want to make clear to Nigerians is that unjustified intimidation will never be the hallmark of this government.  This is a government that came to power on the basis of integrity; that things would be done differently in accordance with the laid down articles of law. But that doesn’t mean, wherever there exists the need for an investigation, simply because of the fear that people will now attach all unnecessary interpretations that the government will refuse to act. We cannot refuse to act because people want to read meaning into every action of government. I think the basis should be whether it’s just, fair and indeed justifiable for investigations to take place regardless of who is involved.  We’re not looking at institutions as far as enforcement of law and necessary investigations are concerned. But then, we’re looking at personal cases. We have no particular people in mind, no particular member of the executive or legislature in mind. When there are reasonable suspicion, suspicion of commission of an offense, definitely it has to be investigated regardless of who is involved. No arm of government is under investigation, but individuals associated with the three arms are being investigated.

     It is very important you clarify the MTN/NCC issue. The major allegation against you is that you didn’t carry the Communications Minister along and that the N50billion was paid into the Federal Government’s Assets Recovery Account and not the Consolidated Revenue. Is it true that the Minister of Finance opened this account? So, why are you carrying the can?  Also, why did you not carry the Minister of Communication along or did you feel he had no role to play?

    Well, let me start by saying I give glory to God that has spared our lives to be part of this government of President Muhammudu Buhari. It is good that for once, the issue is not that government money has been stolen, but that it has been paid into a special account. Before now, the major contention in cases of this nature will be the whereabouts of the money. People will be shouting that the money recovered is nowhere to be found. But then, God in His infinite mercy has cleared me because what we’re talking about is why the money was paid into a special account and not the Consolidated Revenue Account? And I want to give further glory to God that neither MTN nor any other agent of government is alleging corrupt practices to me arising from my role over the MTN issue.

     Now coming to the main issue as to whether the minister was carried along or not, I have to start from the onset, which was that MTN took the Federal Government to court. It instituted an action in the court against the Federal Government. Among the parties in that case as defendants is the office of the Attorney- General of the Federal and NCC.  These are the two fundamental parties that were defendants in this case.  The office of the Attorney General of the Federal Government has the constitutional role to defend the government and its agencies. Now the court sanctioned an out of court settlement. It wasn’t an idea initiated by the office of the Attorney-General.  In fact, the office of the Attorney-General had taken steps to defend the government. Now, arising from that, MTN made a request for negotiations out of court; that’s how the whole issue of negotiation came up.  But then, the office of the Attorney General of the Federation insisted that there will be no negotiations, until MTN demonstrates good faith, not even an audience. And then arising from the position of the ministry, MTN now offered to demonstrate good faith and as a result MTN offered to pay N50billion, without prejudice to the eventualities of negotiations and we insisted that if they were serious that they must equally withdraw the case and that that would be the basis.

    That means you gave the MTN two conditions?

    Yes, MTN eventually agreed.  I’m talking of audience and not negotiations.  MTN eventually agreed to those conditions and requested for an account to make the payment into for the N50billion while we worked on the resolution of the case. Well, it is only natural that Federal Ministry of Finance as the ministry responsible for keeping and opening of Federal Government accounts will provide the details. So accordingly, I wrote to the Minister of Finance asking for an account to which MTN will make the payment. Let me state categorically that the Attorney General of the Federation is not a signatory to that account. The account is not maintained by the Ministry of Justice.  The account is in the name of the Federal Government and it was the Ministry of Finance that provided the account to me to forward to MTN to pay into and accordingly MTN was provided with the details of the account.

    The other issue is George  Uboh.  At what point did you become aware that he was a convict and what exactly happened that made you to terminate his contract?

    There are certain antecedents arising from my engagement with George Uboh, some of them may not be important now but I want to state that right from my days in active legal practice, George Uboh approached me, knowing as a fact that I had some relationship with Mr. President; that he wanted to be part of the conduct of election cases of Mr. President and solicited for my support.  He approached me through one Modibbo from Adamawa State and took me through certain documents which looked sincere and said he had the capacity to recover more than N1trillion for Nigeria and solicited for my intercession for Mr. President to consider him. I was then made a member of the TransitionCommittee and he wanted me to introduce him to Mr. President, but I made it clear I didn’t want to unnecessarily over reach my relationship with Mr. President. Then the Assets Verification Committees my office was expected to spearhead and coordinate. I equally considered Mr. Uboh to act as a secretary for one of those Assets Verification Committees; but along the line, I didn’t, so that created a little bit of moral burden on me considering that he claimed he had information that will assist the nation and it is against this background that I acted. In fact, he wanted me to lobby Mr. President to appoint him as his Special Adviser on anti-corruption, that didn’t work. Then I offered him the task of recovery of funds, arising from what he claimed to have the capacity to deliver. He listed some items I’m not certain … I think about seven or so.  And then I decided to taste his recovery skills. I limited my instructions by a formal letter, I specifically limited his activities to the 13 banks. Let me state this, he said he is aware of the existence of these funds, where they are hidden and that he can bring them to the Federal Government and not that he was going to fish for information on these funds. I gave him specific instructions to 13 banks. They were specific. But after giving him the necessary instructions; I was inundated with series of requests for confirmation by agencies of government, departments, ministries and individuals. He designed a letter headed paper with the Coat of Arms, thus giving the impression he was working for the Federal Government and he started issuing out letters to ministers, departments and if I am not mistaken over fifty ministries, departments and individuals sent letters to me asking questions. As against the 13 banks over which my instructions were restricted, he virtually ran riot. So, it became a source of concern. It was at that point that I decided to run a check on his personality and then I requested for his dossier. Well, arising from his dossier, I found out that he was a convict in the U.S over an issue that has to do with credit card fraud and for which he served some years. What provoked my interest to run this check on him was the fact that in all the 13 banks he claimed were holding government funds, he was particularly interested in accessing their data, their books.  So when eventually it became clear to me that he was convicted for credit card fraud and was indeed fishing for information I had to act. And I have no regret taking that decision. My mind was agitated that the reason why he was so particular about accessing the data of the banks and looking into their books was that he wanted to use the instructions perhaps to perpetrate fraud.  Mark my words …I said perhaps.

  • Kogi governor nominates commissioners

    Kogi governor nominates commissioners

    Kogi State Governor Yahaya  Bello has nominated 15 people as commissioners-designate.

    According to a statement last night in Lokoja by Special Adviser to the Governor on Media and Strategy,  Mallam Abdulkarim Abdulmalik, the nominees are Mr. Abdulmumini Sadiq (Adavi Local Government) Dr. Saka Haruna, (Ajaokuta);  Alhaji Sanusi Haruna, (Ankpa); Dr. Tim Dichie, (Bassa), and Mr. Enema Paul (Dekina).

    Others are Dr. Tolorunleke Sunday, (Ijumu), Mr. Oloruntoba Kehinde, (Kabba/Bunu);  Mohammed Awal, (Kogi/ Koton Karffe);  Mrs. Bolanle Amupitan, (Mopa Muro),;Arome Adoji, (Ofu), Prince Salisu Sani (Ogu, Idah);  Mr. Salami Momodu Ozigi; ( Okehi).

    Mr.Mohammed Ibrahim,(Okene)  Mrs Rosemary Osikoya (Olamaboro) and Alhaji Idris Asiwaju (Yagba East).

    The statement said the governor also appointed eight Special Advisers. All the names have been forwarded to House of Assembly for ratification.

  • Armed masked men invade Kogi House of Assembly

    Armed masked men invade Kogi House of Assembly

    The crisis rocking the Kogi State House of Assembly deepened yesterday despite court’s ruling which reinstated the Speaker, Momohjimoh Lawal. His G15 loyalists’ have alleged threats to their lives.

    They said they were prevented from entering the Assembly complex by stern-looking soldiers who manned the gate.

    Spokesperson of the group, Mathew Kolawole, who addressed reporter, alleged that the masked ‘security’ agents invaded the legislative quarters around 2am, shooting sporadically into air and causing pandemonium.

    He claimed they came in a long convoy, including a Toyota Hilux (KGHA 098) and went round the quarters.

    Kolawole alleged that the soldiers, led by Capt. Usman, were drafted from the Army Record in Lokoja, to accompany those he described as “unlawful leadership of the Assembly” against a valid court order, to do an illegal sitting in the Assembly complex.

    His words: “Recall that on May 19, a Federal High Court in Abuja nullified the purported impeachment of Momohjimoh Lawal, with an order that he resume immediately.

    “After obtaining the order, the leadership under Lawal sat on May 26 successfully and adjourned till yesterday.

    “At 2.30am yesterday, there was a dramatic invasion of the Assembly residential quarters by armed security details and escorts of the governor, with about seven hilux vehicles filled with policemen and other security agencies, purportedly said to be accompanying the unlawful Speaker, Umar Imam. One of the vehicles was marked (KGHA 094).

    “Early this morning at about 2.10am, the quarter was again invaded by another set of armed masked security men that were conveyed in three Hilux vans, one of the vans was marked (KGHA 094). “They shot sporadically for more than 30 minutes, which created pandemonium in the quarters. For prove, several shells were picked this morning.

    “This development attracted the detachment of policemen from C Division, Lokoja, who arrived at the complex shortly after they left. We see this as an assassination attempt on G15 members.”

     

    But the government has distanced itself from the allegations.

    Governor Yahaya Bello’s media aide, Mallam Abdulrahim Abdulmalik said: “Governor Bello is the number one citizen in the state and he is involved in whatever is happening there in.

    “The problem in the Assembly has been on even before Bello became the governor. It is in the interest of the government to ensure that there is peace and order, but unfortunately, the lawmakers are finding it difficult to settle their differences.

    “The two factions dragged each other to court; we are aware of court injunction restraining one faction and the court is the final arbiter,” he said.

  • Relocate from Kogi, Bello warns kidnappers

    Relocate from Kogi, Bello warns kidnappers

    Kogi State Governor Alhaji Yahaya Bello has declared war on kidnappers and cultists in the state. He warned kidnappers and other undesirable elements to relocate.

    The governor spoke at the weekend in Lokoja following the abduction of the traditional ruler of Elete community in Ajaokuta local government area, Chief Aminu Ahmed.

    The monarch was reportedly kidnapped last Friday by suspected hoodlums on the Ajaokuta-Lokoja road while returning from Adogo around 9pm.

    Governor Bello noted that efforts to reduce crime were yielding positive result, and vowed to ensure that those behind the dastardly acts are fished out and prosecuted.

    Bello, who hinted that he donated 12 operational vehicles to the law enforcement agencies to combat crime, urged them to step up action by embarking on the aggressive manhunt of criminals.

    He admonished communities to be vigilant and report suspicious activities to the law enforcement agencies.