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  • Appeal Court verdict: Lalong welcomes Goshewe’s victory

    Appeal Court verdict: Lalong welcomes Goshewe’s victory

    Minister of Labour and Employment and Senator-elect for Plateau South Senatorial District, Simon Bako Lalong has welcomed with delight the judgement of the Court of Appeal declaring APC candidate, Nentawe Yilwatda Goshewe as the duly elected Governor of Plateau State. 

    Lalong said the declaration of the court is an affirmation of the mandate unanimously given to Nentawe and his running mate Pam Bot-Mang by the people of the state.

    He said the development is a good omen to Plateau state, saying Nentawe and his running mate will now have the opportunity to implement the Generation Next mantra and the ACEES agenda to take Plateau state to the next level. 

    Read Also: Plateau South: Lalong elated over Appeal Court victory

    The minister said though the PDP and its ousted candidate, Caleb Mutfwang, have the constitutional right to exhaust all the legal opportunities available to them, he is confident that the victory of Nentawe will endure.

    Lalong, in a statement by his Media Aide, Makut Macham, appealed to the members of the APC and Nentawe to be magnanimous is victory and consider this joyous moment as a celebration for the entire people of Plateau state who are yearning for good governance, security and development. 

    He also called on the citizens of Plateau State to continue to be law abiding and shun any attempt to incite them to take any unlawful action that is capable of threatening the peace and security of the state. 

  • Appeal Court upholds Lalong’s election as Plateau South senator

    Appeal Court upholds Lalong’s election as Plateau South senator

    The Court of Appeal in Abuja has upheld the election of Labour and Employment Minister Simon Lalong of the All Progressives Congress (APC) to represent Plateau South Senatorial District in the 10th National Assembly.

    In a judgment it delivered yesterday, a three-member of panel of the appellate court affirmed the September 11 verdict of the National and State House of Assembly Election Petitions Tribunal, which voided the return of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) candidate, Napoleon Bali, by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) as the winner of the February 25 election.

    The Court of Appeal agreed with the tribunal that Bali was not validly nominated by the PDP and held that an invalidly sponsored candidate cannot attract valid votes.

    In the lead judgment, Justice Elfreda Williams-Dawodu declared as unlawful and wasted the votes cast for PDP in the election and declared Lalong, who came second, as the winner with lawful majority votes.

    The Plateau High Court had, in 2022, ordered the PDP to conduct elections for the selection of officers for wards, local governments and the state chapter of the party, which was not complied with.

    Justice Williams-Dawodu held that the disobedience to and disregard for a clear and lawful order of the court was fatal because the PDP hurriedly put an illegal caretaker committee in place in violation of the court judgment.

    The judge also held that the PDP did not sponsor any candidate for the Plateau South Senatorial District because it was not qualified to stand for an election on February 25.

    Read Also: Plateau South: Lalong elated over Appeal Court victory

    She said: “As at February 25, the PDP was on a faulty background at nomination of candidate for any election. It has no legal foundation upon which its candidate nomination can stand.

    “A positive order of court must be complied with unless such an order is voided and set aside by a higher court. In the instant case, the lawful existing and subsisting court order was that the PDP should conduct elections in line with provisions of the law to have officers at wards, local governments and state council, but the party opted to go against the order.

    “I cannot but agreed totally with judgment of the Plateau State National Assembly Election Petitions Tribunal which, in its judgment delivered on September 11, 2023, nullified the participation of PDP in the February 25 National Assembly Election.”

    Other members of the panel – Justices Mohammed Mustapha and Okon Abang – agreed with the lead judgment.

  • Plateau South: Lalong elated over Appeal Court victory

    Plateau South: Lalong elated over Appeal Court victory

    The Minister of Labour and Employment Simon Lalong has described his affirmation as the duly elected Senator representing Plateau South by the Court of Appeal as the will of God, victory for democracy and a joyous development that calls for unity and cohesion.

    Lalong, who received the news of his victory in far away Geneva Switzerland where he is attending the 349th Session of the Governing Body meeting of the International Labour Organisation (ILO), said the unanimous decision by the judges who heard the appeal over his earlier declaration by the tribunal shows that the judgement was in tandem with the rule of law and democratic tenets.

    While ascribing the victory to God and the people of Plateau South Senatorial District, the former Plateau Governor said the judgement of the Court affirms the support and cooperation he has enjoyed among the electorate who have supported him since he first contested for elections in 1999 till date.

    He said: “This is victory is not only for me or the APC, but a victory for all lovers of democracy, peace and unity irrespective of party, religious, political and ethnic affiliations. We have to focus on the work ahead which requires meeting the needs of our people particularly at the grassroots and ensuring that they get the dividends of democracy in good measure”.

    Read Also: Plateau South Senatorial: Tribunal declares Lalong winner, dismisses LP’s candidate

    Lalong, in a statement by his Media aide, Dr. Makut Simon Macham, also called on his opponent, AVM Napoleon Bali and all stakeholders to join hands with him in building the lives of the citizens within the zone and the nation at large, promising to ensure that the Renewed Hope Agenda of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu is experienced, touched and felt by the people through projects, programmes and in other Federal and state government initiatives.

    He also commended the Judiciary for remaining resolute and maintaining its integrity despite attempts to denigrate and intimidate it.

    The Minister congratulated other candidate also declared validly elected and urged them to be magnanimous in victory and consider that there is no victor nor vanquished even as they rededicate themselves to working for a greater Plateau State and Nigeria.

  • Appeal Court upholds Lalong’s election as Plateau South Senator

    Appeal Court upholds Lalong’s election as Plateau South Senator

    The Court of Appeal Abuja has upheld the election of Labour Minister, Simon Lalong of the All Progressives Congress (APC) as the Senator for Plateau South.

    In a judgment on Tuesday evening, a three-member panel of the appellate court,  affirmed the September 11 judgment by the National and State House of Assembly Election Petition Tribunal, which voided the return of the candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) Napoleon Bali by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) as the winner of the election held February 25.

    The Court of Appeal agreed with the tribunal that Bali was not validly nominated by the PDP and held that an invalidly sponsored candidate cannot attract valid votes.

    The judgment was on the appeal filed by Bali against the tribunal’s decision, which held among others, that the votes attracted by the PDP candidate were wasted votes.

    The Court of Appeal nullified the participation of Bali and his party in the election on the grounds that they refused to comply with an earlier order of competent jurisdiction.

    In the lead judgment, Justice Elfreda Williams-Dawodu declared as unlawful and wasted the votes cast for PDP in the election and declared Lalong l, who came second as the winner with lawful majority votes.

    Justice Williams-Dawodu held that the PDP and Bali could not have validly participated in the election having failed to obey the judgment of a Plateau High Court that the party should conduct lawful elections for the purpose of having officers for Wards, Local Governments and State Council.

    The Plateau High Court had in 2022 ordered the PDP to conduct elections for the selection of officers for Wards, Local Governments and the State Chapter of the party which was not complied with.

    Justice Williams-Dawodu held that disobedience and disregard of a clear and lawful order of the court was fatal because the PDP hurriedly put an illegal Caretaker Committee in place in utter confrontation to the court judgment.

    Read Also: Lalong resumes office, pledges to resolve pending labour disputes

    She further held that PDP did not sponsor any candidate for the Plateau South Senatorial District, because it was not qualified to stand for any election as of February 25, 2023.

    Justice Williams-Dawodu said: “As of February 25, PDP was on a faulty background at the nomination of a candidate for any election. It has no legal foundation upon which its candidate nomination can stand.

    “A positive order of Court must be complied with unless such order is voided and set aside by a higher Court. In the instant case, the lawful existing and subsisting Court order was that PDP should conduct elections in line with provisions of the law to have officers at Wards, Local Governments and State Councils but the party opted to go against the order.

    “I cannot but agree totally with the judgment of the Plateau State National Assembly Election Petition Tribunal which, in its judgment delivered on September 11, 2023, nullified the participation of PDP in the February 25 National Assembly Election”.

    Other members of the panel – Justices Mohammed Mustapha and Okon Abang – agreed with the lead judgment.

  • JUST IN: Court declares Lalong Plateau South Senator

    JUST IN: Court declares Lalong Plateau South Senator

    The Court of Appeal on Tuesday nullified the participation of the PDP and its Senatorial candidate in the Feb.25 National Assembly Election, Napoleon Bali for the Plateau South Senatorial District of Plateau State on grounds of refusal to carry out the order of Court.

    The Appellate Court in a judgment delivered by Justice Elfaida Williams-Dawodu held as unlawful and wasted votes cast for PDP in the election and declared the former Gov. Simon Lalong as the Senator for the Plateau South Senatorial District.

    Lalong who stood for the election on the platform of the All Progressives Congress (APC) had come second in the Feb. Senatorial election.

    Justice Williams-Dawodu held that the PDP and its candidate have no legal ground to participate in the election having failed to obey the judgment of a Plateau High Court.

    The court added that the party should conduct lawful elections for the purpose of having officers for Wards, Local Governments and State Council.

    The Plateau High Court had in 2022 ordered PDP to conduct elections for selection of officers for Wards, Local Governments and the State Chapter of the party which was not complied with.

    The Court of Appeal said that disobedience and disregard to clear lawful order of Court was fatal because PDP hurriedly put an illegal Caretaker Committee in place in confrontation to the Court judgment.

    Specifically, the Appellate Court held that PDP did not sponsor any candidate for the Plateau South Senatorial District because it was not qualified to stand for any election as at Feb. 25, 2023.

    “As at Feb. 25, PDP was on a faulty background at nomination of candidate for any election. It has no legal foundation upon which it’s candidate nomination can stand.

    “A positive order of Court must be complied with unless such order is voided and set aside by a higher Court.

    Read Also: NLC: Lalong thwarting Fed Govt-Labour’s agreement

    “In the instant case, the lawful existing and subsisting Court order was that PDP should conduct elections in line with provisions of the law to have officers at Wards, Local Governments and State Council but the party for reasons best known to it, opted to go against the order.

    “I cannot but agree  totally with the judgment of the Plateau National Assembly Election Tribunal which in Sept. 11, 2023 nullified the participation of PDP in the Feb. 25 National Assembly Election”.

    The Court of Appeal subsequently upheld the declaration of Simon Lalong as the lawful Senator for Plateau South Senatorial District having scored second highest votes at the election.

    Other Justices of the Court of Appeal who agreed with the judgment are Mohammed Mustapha and Okon Abang.

    The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that Simon Lalong, the immediate past Gov. of Plateau is currently the Minister of Labour in President Bola Tinubu’s administration.

    (NAN)

  • NLC: Lalong thwarting Fed Govt-Labour’s agreement

    NLC: Lalong thwarting Fed Govt-Labour’s agreement

    The Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) has accused  Labour and Employment Minister  Simon Lalong of impeding the implementation of the agreement between workers and the Federal Government on on subsidy removal.

    The congress therefore, warned that it might be forced to halt further interaction with the government if Lalong failed to stop siding with a faction of the National Union of Road Transport Workers (NURTW) over its Ccongress.

    It called on President Bola Tinubu to rein in the minister if he desired to have industrial harmony  during his tenure.

    Some leaders of the transport union, including their President, Tajudeen Baruwa, were arrested and charged with murder last month, following a fracas that erupted during their congress.

    Read Also; Police arrest parent for flogging teacher to death in Delta

    In solidarity with the NURTW, the NLC made the release of the union leaders one of the 15-point Memorandum of Understanding(MoU)  it signed with the government. 

    In  a statement yesterday  by its General Secretary, Emmanuel Ugboaja, the Congress  claimed that Lalong’s  role in the troubled congress constituted  an “egregious intrusion into the internal affairs of a union  in violation of the International Labour Organisation (ILO) Conventions 87 and 98 ”

    It added that the minister’s intrusion represented a clear attempt to sabotage the recently ratified agreement between  Labour and the government.

    Lalong could not be reached for comments as of 11 p.m. by The Nation as he neither picked up his calls nor responded to a text message to his official telephone number.

    The NLC statement reads in part:  “In a shocking turn of events, the  Minister of Labour, Mr Lalong, has thrown a spanner in the wheel of the implementation of the Labour – Federal Government Agreement by his unmasked partiality in handling a critical item in the agreement which is the apparent government meddling in trade union matters by siding with people, who had illegally seized the National Union of Road Transport Workers (NURTW) headquarters with police support.

    “This group is now being encouraged to conduct its own delegates’ conference, both zonally and nationally to confer legitimacy to their action.

    “This flagrant act not only constitutes an egregious intrusion into the internal affairs of a union, in violation of ILO Conventions 87 and 98 but also represents a clear attempt to sabotage the recently ratified agreement between the Labour movement and the Federal Government.

    “It is unfathomable that a  Minister of Labour, tasked with safeguarding the rights and interests of diverse stakeholders in our industrial relations landscape, would opt to take actions that could undermine the very foundations of our collective engagement.”

    “The Minister’s decision which is clearly morally reprehensible and legally untenable, marks a disheartening departure from the expected standards of conduct within the nation’s industrial relations sphere.

    “Despite initial assurances from the minister regarding the illegal occupation of the NURTW’s national headquarters, the democratically-elected leadership, led by Comrade Tajudeen Baruwa, has not been reinstated. Instead, the minister has chosen to endorse and legitimize this hijacking with the State’s backing. This blatant power grab, subverting legality and moral integrity, is an affront to the principles of democratic governance.

    “It is now abundantly clear that the Federal Government never negotiated in good faith and, consequently, was never genuinely committed to honouring the terms of the October 2, 2023 agreement. This serves to affirm our earlier apprehension that the state was manoeuvring to orchestrate a coup d’état against the democratically-elected NURTW leadership, potentially alluding to the support of the government, as suggested by Minister Lalong’s actions and statements.

    “It is evident that akin to the NURTW issue, the execution of other facets of the agreement may be jeopardised. Therefore, we take heed of Minister Lalong’s actions, which flagrantly violate an accord responsibly endorsed by all involved parties.

    “As Minister Lalong recklessly steers our nation towards an industrial crisis, we pledge unwavering resistance to all forms of malfeasance and misconduct within Nigeria’s trade union sphere. We will marshal our resources to ensure that political interference and lawlessness do not corrupt leadership selection processes within the trade union sector.

    “Minister Lalong, having descended into the arena has stripped himself of the moral high ground and authority to continue modifying the process of implementing the October 2 Agreement. We will therefore be highly constrained to attend any meeting he calls for the purposes of the implementation of that Agreement.

    “A minister of Labour is supposed to be an arbiter and as expected to provide professional guidance to the Government on this matter instead he chose to contaminate the process with the same level of politics of the murky waters playing out in the larger polity.

    “We implore the President(Bola Tinubu) to rein in Minister Lalong, and if this does not occur, we will conclude that the Minister’s actions align with the President’s directives.”

  • Lalong: Astute politician at 56

    Mark Longyen extols the virtues of Simon Lalong, lawyer and governor of Plateau State, who clocked 56 yesterday.

    Exactly 56 years ago, a child was born to a relatively unknown peasant family in Ajikamai Village, Shendam Local Government Area of Plateau State. A week after his birth, he was christened Simon, a carefully chosen Biblical name. Names, they say, stick with people and influence their lives. And, like his namesake, Simon (Peter), the Simon of Ajikamai grew up to do exploits, which have confounded many.

    In spite of is challenging background, the ambitious, determined, resilient, uncompromising, dogged and focused young Lalong overcame all odds and began a tortuous journey of life, which today is dotted with major landmarks.

    From elementary school at the Transferred Roman Catholic Primary School in Shendam, to a stint at Government College, Toto, completing at Government Secondary School, Shendam, and to the School of Preliminary Studies, Keffi, and a sojourn at the University of Jos before proceeding to the Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria, where he bagged a Bachelor’s Degree in Law, consolidating it with the mandatory Nigerian Law School, Lagos’ BL, and a Master’s Degree in Law at the University of Jos later, Lalong’s life and academic exploits are a study in uncommon ambition, determination and resilience.

    Looking back at where he took off, and especially against the backdrop of losing his father while in Junior Secondary School, with the father bequeathing nothing to him and his siblings, and where he is today, the people of Plateau state and his community can only thank God for His benevolence by blessing them with such a rare breed.

    There is a time-honoured axiom that categorises leaders as being born, made or having leadership thrust upon them. Lalong is a born leader as exemplified by the way he has carried out any tasks he is confronted with in his career peregrinations so far.

    Lalong has carved a niche for himself as a lawyer, lawmaker and leader, having successfully traversed the three arms of government – the judiciary, the legislature and the executive with distinction, accolades and results to show. He is also born to win, having won all the electoral contests so far!

    Before he ventured into politics, he was a legal practitioner of high standing. He also held several professional leadership positions, such as Assistant Secretary, Nigerian Bar Association, Jos Chapter and President of the Goemai Youth Movement, his tribal association. This paved the way for him to enter into politics, which he now bestrides like a colossus at all levels.

    Lalong became a member of the Plateau State House of Assembly in 1999 and because of his sterling leadership qualities, which his colleagues in the Assembly noted early, they elected him as their Speaker.

    He was re-elected in 2003 to the  House of Assembly and again elected as Speaker, making him the longest serving Speaker in the history of the Assembly, a record that has remained unbroken to date. There is no gainsaying the fact that Lalong led the Assembly with wisdom and commitment in spite of some challenges that confronted the state at that time.

    This, no doubt, culminated into his election as governor in 2015, despite the stiff challenge from the then ruling party in the state, the Peoples Democratic Party. As a matter of fact, when he declared his intention to contest the governorship election and his campaign posters surfaced in every nook and cranny of the state, nobody gave him a chance because of the overwhelming tight grip which the then ruling party had on the state for 16 years. But the rest, as they say, is now history.

    On assumption of office in May 2015, which incidentally is the month of his birth, Lalong quickly settled down to the herculean task of running the affairs of the state with the expertise and experience of a statesman. He silenced his critics in the years of his first term in office and this endeared him to his supporters, especially with his inclusive style of governance which banished all forms of discrimination in terms of one’s ethnic or religious background and carried everyone along… in line with his surname without the first letter.

    Through his genuine disposition to peace and judicious efforts to maintain same, Plateau State enjoyed unbroken peace for almost three years of his administration before the enemies of progress suddenly realised that he was doing the impossible. They went back to their trenches, ostensibly with an agenda to dent that enviable record ahead of the 2019 elections which was barely a year away.

    In spite of the security setback, the governor promptly liaised with security agencies and other relevant stakeholders and nipped the security challenge in the bud, returning the state to a relative peace.

    As part of efforts to sustain peace, security and good governance in the state, in 2016, the governor created the Plateau Peace Building Agency (PPBA) that developed a five-year strategic peace plan.

    Being a peace maker naturally, a quintessential lawyer, a legislator par excellence and an exemplary and strategic leader, Governor Lalong adopted dialogue to unite aggrieved parties both in government and other areas.

    To underscore the importance of traditional rulers in the attainment of enduring peace, he filled vacant traditional stools and upgraded some deserving second-class chiefs to first-class status.

    To complement the other approaches, he liaised with the Federal Government and attracted a Nigerian Air Force (NAF) Search and Rescue Unit in Kerang and a Mobile Police Squadron in Shendam and Gashish.

    The Plateau State government under Lalong has also procured security vehicles and other logistics for security agencies operating in the state to facilitate their operations.

    The harmonious working relationship between his office as the chief security officer and security chiefs in the state is exemplary and worthy of emulation. This synergy has yielded many positive results including ensuring the peaceful conduct of the last general elections despite the prediction that Plateau would go up in flames.

    Unemployment is viewed by many as a trigger for insecurity and instability. To curtail the menace, in 2016, the governor created the Plateau State Small and Medium Enterprise Development Agency (PLASMEDA). The agency has achieved a lot in terms of training women and youths with entrepreneurial skills and supporting them to set up their businesses. Many youths through these efforts are now gainfully employed and some are now employers of labour. This has, no doubt, taken them off the list of potential crisis mongers.

    The administration also successfully cleared N18 billion salary arrears it inherited and has been consistent in prompt and regular payment of salaries and other entitlements of workers and pensioners. This has gone a long way in promoting industrial harmony, which is a bedrock for productivity and peaceful coexistence between the government and the governed. This is in adherence to the Biblical injunction that ‘A worker deserves his wages’, thus earning him the epithet “Governor Alert”.

    Posterity will also be kind to him for his uncommon initiative of continuing with projects started by his predecessors, a deviation from what has become the norm in Nigeria. These include multibillion naira projects, which he inherited from past administrations and completed for the overall benefit of the entire people of the state.

    Prominent among the projects are the Mararaban Jema’a-British America Express Way and the State Secretariat Flyover, thus ending the anti-development culture of ignoring or abandoning inherited projects in Plateau State.

    The Governor also initiated and completed in record time, some key projects including the Low-Cost Road network, the Rantya-Rafiki Road network, the Rukuba Road network, the Angwan Rogo Road network and the Tudun Wada-Kabong Road network. This is in addition to awarding of contracts for about 22 new rural roads to open up the rural areas especially for the transportation of farm produce.

    In line with the Federal Government’s resolve to diversify the nation’s economy to agriculture, Governor Lalong has revived the Plateau Fertilizer Blending Plant in Bokkos, procured 400 tractors and distributed same among farmers in the state to help harness the state’s abundant agricultural potentials with a view to turning around the economic fortunes of Plateau State.

    Lalong rehabilitated the Panyam Fish Farm that was a shadow of itself prior to 2015. The farm has created jobs for many Plateau citizens, and has been contributing to its Internally Generated Revenue. It is now a major source of protein for the people. Besides, the administration repurchased the Brewery Agro Research Company (BARC) Farms that was sold by a former administration in the state.

    Industrialisation has also been given priority attention as the government has resuscitated the Highland Bottling Company in Barkin Ladi in partnership with Hummer Drinks Limited on the basis of a Private-Public Partnership agreement.

    Another major feat recorded by the administration is the repositioning of the Plateau Investment and Property Development Company (PIPC) for optimal productivity. One of PIPC’s success stories is the efforts she has made so far in bringing back to life a major revenue earner for the state, the Jos Ultramodern Main Market, which was burnt down almost 20 years ago.

  • Ortom, Lalong, Ganduje, Tambuwal win elections

    GOVERNORS Samuel Ortom (Benue), Simon Lalong (Plateau), Umar Ganduje (Kano) and Aminu Tambuwal (Sokoto) have retained their seats after the collation of Saturday’s supplementary polls.

    But their challengers – Emmanuel Jime (Benue), Jeremiah Useni (Plateau), Aliyu Sokoto (Sokoto) and Abba Yusuf (Kano), have rejected the results as announced by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) at the close of the second ballot yesterday.

    They plan to seek judicial redress.

    Ortom of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) polled 434,473 to defeat his All Progressives Congress (APC) challenger Jime, who scored 345,155; incumbent Plateau helmsman and APC candidate Lalong beat his PDP challenger Useni and Tambuwal of the PDP scored 512, 002 to beat APC’s Sokoto, who polled 511,660.

    The INEC had declared elections inconclusive in six states as there were no clear winners on the first ballot on March 9.

    The states are: Adamawa, Benue, Bauchi, Kano, Plateau and Sokoto. The commission fixed March 23 for makeup polls but a court barred the electoral umpire from going ahead in Adamawa and in Bauchi’s Tafawa Balewa Local Government Area.

    An Abuja Federal Court will today rule on INEC’s application to vacate an ex parte order barring it from conducting supplementary poll in Tafawa Belewa Council Area.

    Also tomorrow in Adamawa, a High Court will rule in an objection suit filed INEC against order obtained by Movement for the Restoration and Defence of Democracy (MRDD) governorship candidate Rev. Eric Theman, challenging the exclusion of his name of the ballot paper.

    Tambuwal, was returned after a keen contest with a lead margin of 342 votes.

    In the earlier results before the makeup poll, Tambuwal had 489,558 votes, leading with 3,413 as against APC’s Sokoto’s 486,145.

    Declaring the results in Sokoto yesterday at the Sultan Muhammadu Maccido Institute for Quranic and General Studies, venue of the collation, the Returning Officer and Vice Chancellor of the Jigawa State University, Dutse, Prof Fatima Batulli Mukhtar, said the APC got 25,515 and the PDP scored 22, 444 from the 22 local government areas where the makeup was conducted.

    According to Mukhtar, 50, 332 of the 95,022 registered voters were accredited. Those whose votes were valid were 48,309 and 1,580 were rejected.

    Merging the final results, the Returning Officer said the  PDP scored 512,000; APC returned 511,660 votes with a total registered voters of 1,887,767 and 1,083,413 accredited for the exercise.

    Prof Mukhtar also gave the valid votes as 1,036,336 with 31,662 as rejected votes while 1,067,990  represented total votes cast.

    He said: “That Aminu Waziri Tambuwal having satisfied the electoral requirements and returned the highest votes is hereby declared winner of the Sokoto state governorship election.”

    In a swift reaction to the declaration, APC agent and campaign Director-General, Alhaji Muhammadu Maigari Dingyadi, objected to the presentation of the results from Kebbe Local Government Area on two issues – malfunctioning Smart Card Reader and non-conduct of the exercise in some polling units. He urged INEC to look into his observations.

    Maigari said: “We strongly object the result from Kebbe and call on the electoral umpire to do the needful.”

    The electoral body noted the observations and complaints raised by the APC, saying that it will be in its record for possible attention.

    PDP supporters and well-wishers took to the streets to celebrate the victory.

    BENUE

    After days of intense suspense, emotional and psychological torture among the Benue populace, INEC yesterday returned Ortom as winner of the supplementary governorship poll.

    The election was declared inconclusive because the number of votes cancelled in areas where elections were disrupted was more than the margin of lead by Ortom after the March 9 governorship election.

    State Collation Officer Prof. Sebastine Maimako, Vice Chancellor, University of Jos, announced Ortom as winner having satisfied the requirements stipulated in the Electoral Act and guidelines for the declaration of winner of the election.

    The final statistics as announced by Maimako showed that 858,947 of the 2,471,894 registered voters were accredited for the election.

    The valid votes were 830,954; rejected votes (15,268) and the valid votes were 846,222.

    PLATEAU

    The INEC declared Lalong as winner of the election.

    The governor was declared the winner by the Returning Officer, Prof Richard Anande Kimbir, Vice Chancellor of the University of Agriculture, Makurdi, Benue State.

    Announcing the final results, Prof Kimbir said, Simon Lalong of the APC polled 595, 582 votes to beat Useni of the PDP, who scored 546, 813.

    “I hereby declare Simon Lalong of APC returned as governor of Plateau State, having polled the highest numbers of votes in the state’s governorship election,” the returning officer said.

    Results of the supplementary election held in nine local government areas, including Langtang South, Barkin Ladi, Bassa, Bokkos, Jos North, Kanam, Mangu,  shendam and Pankshin, showed that Lalong scored 12,327 new votes. The candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Jeremiah Useni, earned 8,487.

    The result of the supplementary was, therefore, added to that of the main election before it was announced.

    BAUCHI

    In Bauchi State, the PDP candidate Senator Bala was leading incumbent Governor Mohammed Abubakar of the APC in the supplementary governorship election conducted in 36 Polling Units (PUs), covering 29 Registration Areas (Wards) in 15 local government areas.

    The makeup poll did not hold in the Tafawa Balewa Local Government Area, owing to a court order.

    Mohammed garnered 6376 votes against Abubakar’s 5117 votes on Saturday. He was leading the incumbent with 1259 between both parties.

    The result was announced in Bauchi  yesterday by the Returning Officer, Prof. Mohammed Kyari, Vice Chancellor of the Modibbo Adama University of Technology, Yola.

    At the close of the ballot on March 9, Mohammed had 469,512 votes. Abubakar had 465,453. The 4059 lead margin prompted INEC to declare the poll inconclusive after a Federal High Court in Abuja halted the collation and announcement of results for the Tafawa Balewa Local Government Area.

    Abubakar got a court injunction restraining INEC from continuing with the collation and announcement of election results. Judgment will be delivered today.

    The total votes scored so far  by Mohammed in the 19 out of the 20 council areas has increased to 475,888. Abubakar’s stands at 470, 570 votes.  The difference is 5,318 votes.

    The PDP yesterday urged the governor to concede defeat and work together with the party for the progress of the state.

    Speaking in a telephone interview with The Nation, PDP Chairman, Hamza Koshe Akuyam said the “right thing for the governor to do is to surrender in the face of an imminent defeat”.

    Mohammed has expressed gratitude to the people for their support.

    He said: “We owe our victory to the people of Bauchi who have stood very firm on the threshold of freedom and liberty and have shown that they are the icons of democracy and liberty. Words alone cannot express my appreciation to them all.”

    The former FCT minister addressed a news conference at the Command Guest House in Bauchi immediately the results of the election were announced.

    KANO

    Incumbent Governor Umar Ganduje of the APC was last night declared winner of the makeup governorship election Kano State.

    Declaring the winner of the poll, Collation Officer Prof. Bello Shehu said that after merging the final results, the APC candidate polled 1,033,695, while his challenger Abba Yusuf of the PDP scored 1,024,713 votes.

    He said that 2,268,305 of the 5,426,989 registered were accredited. The valid votes cast stood at 2,199,535 and 50,861 were rejected.  Those who cast their ballot were 2,242,396.

    He added that the APC candidate defeated his opponent with 8,982 votes.

    According to Shehu, the winner was declared after the collation of results from all the 28 affected Local government areas where the supplementary elections held on Saturday.

    He said: “That Abdullahi Umar Ganduje having satisfied the recuirment of the law, has scored the highest votes, is hereby declared winner and returned elected.”

    The collation officer said that the governorship election was earlier declared inconclusive following the high number of cancellation of votes as a result of violence and over voting.

    According to him, the total number of votes cancelled during March 9 election was more that the margin between the PDP candidate, who was leading with 26,000 votes and that of the APC candidate.

    Yusuf was earlier declared to have 1,014,474, against the APC candidate Gov Ganduje who garned 987,819 votes.

    The votes cancelled during the first ballot were 128,572 and the collation officer said the electoral act stipulates that such election must be declared inconclusive.

    The PDP agent, who is also the party chairman in the state, Suleiman Rabiu Bichi frowned at the conduct and rejected the entire supplementary election process, especially that of Gama in Nassarawa Local Government Area.

    His APC counterpart, Abdullahi Abbas, described the election as another landmark victory for the APC, adding that the era of politicking is over.

    “Our doors are wide open to embrace the PDP for a better governance”, the APC chair said.

  • Plateau: rerun election will be walk over, says Lalong

    Plateau State Governor, Simon Lalong, on Monday boasted that the March 23 supplementary election in the state will be a walk-over for him and the All Progressives Congress (APC).

    Plateau is one of the states where the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), declared the result of the March 9 governorship and state house of assembly elections as inconclusive.

    Speaking with State House correspondents after meeting with President Muhammadu Buhari at the Presidential Villa, Abuja, Lalong said that the renewed insecurity in the state is politically motivated.

    He also said that workers in the state were interested in his victory in the election in order to guarantee the prompt payment of their salaries.

    On his visit to the State House, he said, “My meeting with the president is the usual briefing; I call it usual because of my passion for peace in the state. It is not about the election, it is about the peace, to ensure we have very peaceful elections.

    “So far so good, we have had very good peaceful elections. We are coming back for supplementary elections, I will like INEC to conduct a peaceful election and so we will like the security apparatus to be on ground in the state. That was my briefing to Mr. President.”

    As the supplementary elections comes up on Saturday, he said that he was not in panic mood.

    “How can I be when all the votes that were cancelled were my votes?” he queried

    The governor went on “These were areas that I won. There was no need for cancellation but then as a lawyer, I still want to comply with the rules, I don’t want to be talking about infringing on the rules when the elections result is very clear.

    “They said registered voters were 49,000 but the votes were not up to 20,000 but people were still saying we need 49,000 and I was already on top with 45,000 votes. So we are going to get the 49,000. How can you imagine that a sitting governor cannot get 3,000 votes out of 39,000 in an area that I have well dominated for a very long time.

    “So for me, election is as good as concluded in Plateau State. I see it as an opportunity for people whose votes were cancelled for them to vote. People came and said their votes were cancelled, it is for them to go back and vote and ensure their vote counts this time around.

    “That is why I support that we go back and conduct the elections. If they (INEC) like, let them conduct the elections more than once, we will soon win.” he said

    Asked his reaction to the recent attack on the Plateau state, he said, “That was why I said I am concerned about security. Usually it starts like that, they start rustling and killing cattle and the next thing you will hear is that, it is farmers’ herders’ crisis. I know that I have addressed that issue for a very long time and the police is handling the security.

    “So I informed Mr. President that we are on top of the situation because we wouldn’t want that to escalate into farmers, herdsmen crisis. It is not farmers, herdsmen crisis; it is criminals trying to ferment trouble after losing elections.

    Asked whether he suspected political undertone in the insecurity situation in the state he said, “Very well. I always say it has political undertone, why is it happening immediately after elections. It usually happens immediately before or after elections, why is it like that? It has some political connotation.”

    He said that people in the state were happy with his administration because there will be continuation of completion of projects and initiation of new projects.

    “The civil servants have been crying that if I loss elections that means they will be owed salaries again.

    “So we want to continue with payment of salaries, gratuities, completion of projects that were started before I came and the ones I have initiated. That is the next level in Plateau State,” he said.

  • Lalong: no society can develop without good laws

    Plateau State Governor Simon Lalong has said only good laws and their effective enforcement can guarantee rule of law and peaceful coexistence.

    He asked for forgiveness from all those who lost loved ones in the persistent crises that rocked the state for many years.

    Lalong made the appeal while inaugurating the “Garden of Forgiveness” in Jos. He also declared February 7, as day of forgiveness in the state.

    Lalong said: “I stand on behalf of the good people of Plateau to ask for forgiveness from all the children who have lost their parents because of our intolerance of each other.

    “We ask for the forgiveness of parents who have lost their children in this ugly introduction that smeared our history as people of peace.

    “We ask for the forgiveness of every man that lost his wife when we migrated ingloriously from our humanity to inhumanity.

    “We ask for the forgiveness of every woman that lost her husband in the course of our madness, which is better forgotten than remembered.

    “I declare today February 7, as a day of forgiveness to be observed as an annual public holiday in the state, a day for sober reflection, prayers and turning back to Almighty God as enshrined in our scriptures.”

    He added: “The day is set apart to reflect on our journey as a people and having in mind the various crises that have bedeviled the state from 2001.”

    He said many lives have been lost, properties destroyed and relationships severed and development negatively affected.

    Lalong said the people of the state were pained by the losses of the past.

    The governor appealed to the people to take the message of forgiveness to every nook and cranny of the state, from homes to hamlets, villages and Local Government Areas (LGAs) to exchange vengeance with forgiveness.

    He dedicated the garden of peace and forgiveness to those who experienced pain and in memory of those who lost their lives owing to various violent conflicts that affected the state.

    “I hope that this garden of peace and forgiveness will serve as a safe place where all forms of anger and misunderstanding will be resolved and the exchange of flower of forgiveness blossoms,” Lalong said.

    In his response, Plateau Peace Building Agency Director-General, Mr. Joseph Lengmang, said the garden would be nurtured to its potential by the agency.

    Plateau Youth Council President Fabong Jemchang stated the critical role of forgiveness in resolving crises globally.

    The forgiveness garden was initiated by the Interfaith Mediation Centre, Kaduna, in collaboration with the state Youth Council and Peace Building Agency.