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  • Tribunal upholds Uba Sani’s victory

    The 2019 National and State Assembly election petition tribunal sitting in Kaduna on Saturday declared Senator Uba Sani of the All Progressives Congress (APC) the true winner of the Kaduna Central senatorial election.

    The three-man panel tribunal chaired by, Justice A.H Suleiman dismissed the petition of the candidate of the People’s Democratic Party (PDP), Mr. Lawal Usman Adamu over failure to provide concrete evidences to back his allegations and claims that the election was marred with corrupt practices, rigging, non-qualification and failure of Uba Sani to resign his appointment as Special Adviser to the governor as stipulated by the law.

    Lawal, who lost to Uba Sani had filed a petition at the tribunal, challenging Uba Sani’s victory, and the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) results.

    Adamu who is popularly known as Mr. LA, in the petition asked the tribunal to nullify the election of Senator Uba Sani and declare him (Adamu) the valid winner.

    But the Tribunal in a 259-page judgment that lasted two hours, dismissed the case for failure to provide admissable evidence to corroborate the allegations and claims.

    According to the tribunal, “the documents submitted are rendered inadmissible because they are not duly signed and certified copy as stipulated by the Evidence Act of 2011.

    Read Also: AA rejects Court judgement on Nwosu

    “And since the documents generated from the internet are not in compliance with the Evidence Act, the tribunal resolved the case in favour of Senator Uba Sani.

    “Out of the 38 witnesses of the PDP candidate, none has evidence that he is a voter or present at the polling units. The witnesses too failed to show non compliances with the electoral Act”.

    However, Uba Sani was able to provide evidence against all allegations raised by the PDP candidate before the tribunal.

    Addressing journalists at the court premises shortly after the Tribunal delivered judgement, Barrister Frank Ikpe, one of the Counsels to Senator Uba Sani, described the judgement as wonderful and a reflection of true position of the election.

    According to Ikpe, after going through an in-depth process of hearing, it is gladdening that the tribunal concluded that Senator Uba Sani scored the highest lawful votes to emerge victorious.

    He also added that INEC made the case easier because it complied with the regulations and electoral Act.

    However, in his reaction to the judgment, the Chairman of the PDP, Kaduna Chapter, Mr. Felix Hassan Hyet said the government of APC has succeeded in ridiculing the security agencies and INEC.

    When asked, if his party, (PDP), will be seeking appeal, he says: “we are going to be depending on the advice of our legal team on what to be the next line of action”.

  • AA rejects Court judgement on Nwosu

    The Action Alliance (AA) said on Friday that it was rejecting the recent judgement of the Federal High Court in Abuja, nullifying the candidature of its governorship candidate in the last election in Imo State, Chief Uche Nwosu, saying the judgement was a bundle of contradiction.

    In a statement made available to newsmen in Abuja, the party said the judgement was given in error as Uche Nwosu was never enlisted by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) as the governorship candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC).

    National Publicity Secretary of the party, Prince Charles Chukwuemeka said the federal high court ruling contradicts the earlier Supreme Court ruling that had confirmed Uche Nwosu as the governorship candidate of the party (AA) in Imo State.

    While asking members of the party in Imo State to disregard the ruling, he said, “Action Alliance rejects that court ruling wherein it said that Uche Nwosu is no longer the candidate of AA because of double nomination.

    “You should know that there is a Supreme Court ruling that affirms Uche Nwosu as the governorship candidate of AA in Imo State. It is also important to state that Uche Nwosu never associated with APP and even the APC after the party recognised Senator Hope Uzodinma as its candidate. Nwosu was never listed as APC candidate or any other party except AA by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC).

    “We are against that ruling, it does not reflect our political interest as l emphasize that there was never a time Uche Nwosu was listed as a candidate of any other party.”

    Read Also: Court nullifies Nwosu’s participation in election

    A Federal High Court had last week ordered the Independent National Electoral Commission to remove the name of Uche Nwosu as a governorship candidate in the last election held in Imo State.

    The presiding Judge, Justice Inyang Ekwo had voided Nwosu’s candidacy on the grounds of double nomination by two political parties, the All Progressives Congress (APC) and the Action Alliance (AA), in violation of Section 37 of the Electoral Act.

    The case was instituted against the AA governorship candidate in Imo State by the Action Peoples Party (APP) and its Deputy National Chairman, Uche Nnadi.

    In his ruling, Justice Ekwo declared the nomination of Nwosu by AA as a governorship candidate “invalid, null and void, having been made at the pendency of similar nomination of the second defendant (Nwosu) by the All Progressives Congress for the same position.”

    Justice Ekwo said, “There is no controversy that, on October 6, 2018, the second defendant (Nwosu) had himself nominated as the governorship candidate of the APC.

    “Furthermore, there is no controversy that, to secure his nomination by the APC, the second defendant on October 9, 2019, obtained an order of the High Court of the Federal High Court, which subsists having not been set aside.”

    The judge ruled, “It is illegal in the eyes of the law. No one is allowed to benefit from an illegal act. The second defendant allowed himself to be nominated by the APC and the third defendant (AA).”

  • Melaye: ‘APC responsible for Tribunal’s judgement’

    Former Deputy National Publicity Secretary of the All Progressives Congress (APC) Comrade Timi Frank, has described the tribunal judgement which sacked Dino Melaye as senator representing Kogi west as a distraction for his governorship ambition.

    Frank accused the governing APC of being responsible for the judgement which he described as miscarriage of justice, adding that the APC was afraid that if Melaye gets the PDP governorship ticket, he will emerge winner of the Kogi state governorship election.

    The former APC spokesman and political activist who was reacting to the judgement of the three-man panel
    expressed optimism that Appeal Court will do justice to the case.

    Frank asked Dino Melaye’s constituents to be resolute and be rest assured that the outspoken Senator truly won his election.

    Read Also: Tribunal sacks Dino Melaye as senator

    He commended the chairman of the panel “for standing by the truth,” added that “all efforts by the desperate All Progressives Congress to remove the best performing Senator from the red chamber will fail woefully at the Appeal Court.

    “Lies may succeed for a while but the truth will surely prevail. I urge the vibrant Senator Melaye not to lose focus, believe in God of justice and surely bear in mind that all his enemies will be put to shame.”

    He also called on Melaye’s constituents to stand by him and not allow “evil to prevail on their worthy representative,” said the Senator’s governorship ambition should not be threatened by the tribunal judgment which he described as distraction

    The political activist revealed that the ruling APC elements were behind the ‘miscarriage of justice’ at the tribunal on Friday, “because they are afraid that if Senator Dino Melaye finally secure the governorship ticket of the PDP, he will certainly win the election and uproot APC in Kogi state.”

  • Kano guber: I didn’t cancel election results, says INEC Officer 

    Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC Returning Officer who superintend over Kano state governorship election, in Nassarwa LG, professor Ibrahim Khaleel has dismissed the allegations of issues of over-voting and violence attributed to the cancellation of the outcome of the elections in Gama ward.

    The university don, who appeared before the state Election Petition Tribunal, on subpoena, said there were no formal reports of cases of violence and over voting during the governorship election held on March 9th in Gama ward.

    According to him, the INEC Returning Officer assigned to Gama only failed to reconcile the results scored by the gubernatorial contestants, disclosing that twice, he gave injunction to the ward Returning Officer to reconcile the discrepancies evident in the ward results.

    Khaleel said, “I did not receive a formal report about the violence in Gama, I was told, i did receive a report about the cancellation of the results in Gama, I did not cancel the results in Gama ward.”

    Earlier, Khaleel told the judicial panel that chaos occurred at the local government collation centre, alleging that, former member of the Federal House of Representatives, Hon Farouk Lawal and others resort to intimidating him.

    “Hon Farouk Lawan and some others stood on me, which was intimidating, and the collation hall was crowded, some people came from behind me, I did not see their faces to know who they were, then pandemonium broke out.

    Read Also; Kano Guber tussle: no case to answer – Ganduje

    “I ran out of the building and took cover, later we relocated to the state Collation Centre for safety.” The court heard.
    “There were gunshots, there was chaos and the electoral documents were carted away by one Dr Umar Tanko Yakasai, who was my former student, I know very well.”

    The presiding judge, Justice Halima Shamaki ordered the matter adjourned to August 26th for continuation of hearing.

  • Kano guber tussle: no case to answer – Ganduje

    Kano State Governor, Abdullahi Umar Ganduje has described the suit filed by Abba Kabiru Yusuf of the PDP challenging his March 2019 victory as lacking in burden of proof.

    Ganduje said his PDP rivals have failed to establish their burden of proof before the tribunal.

    The counsel representing governor Ganduje, barrister Ibrahim Mukthar reacting to questions from judicial reporters at the Miller road court complex said the Ganduje camp is afar from being under pressure to counter the allegations filed by the petitioners.

    According to him, in electoral disputes, the petitioners are under the mandate to execute the burden of proof. stressing that the PDP and its gubernatorial candidate presented only 39 out of the enlisted over 200 scheduled witnesses.

    Read Also; Ganduje urges emirs to report parents who fail to enrol wards in schools

    Mukthar, who is the immediate past Kano state Attorney General and commissioner for justice said “so far, we have nothing to bother ourselves about.

    “They did not come strongly on the issues they raised, they failed to produce the huge number of witnesses, so I feel they did not present the burden of proof, in this case we decided to respond by bringing only four witnesses.
    “therefore there is no case, for us to bother, since no burden of proof.”Mukthar stated.

  • Body of Nasir Ahmad found undecomposed 22 years after burial

    The Body of Nasir Ahmad has been taken out of the grave after 22 years in Attara road in the Baberu area of Banda district, and the corpse has not decomposed.

    Even the shroud remains spotless white.

    The locals are calling this a “miracle” and said that the deceased, Nasir Ahmad, was a “good soul who had Allah’s blessings”.

    The incident took place on Wednesday in the Baberu graveyard where one grave had sunk in owing to incessant rainfall.

    Read Also; I faked kidnap to see my boyfriend – Teenager

    The graveyard committee members were informed and they cleared the mud to find a body wrapped in white shroud. A huge crowd collected at the place as the news spread and the body was taken out.

    It was identified as that of Nasir Ahmad, who had died 22 years ago. One of the relatives of Ahmad identified the body and said that he was present when the burial had taken place 22 years ago.

    In consultation with local clerics, the body was later buried in another nearby grave on Wednesday night.

     

    NAN

  • NAFEST: Obaseki projects boom for Edo’s crafts sector

    Edo State Governor, Mr Godwin Obaseki, has said that the annual National Festival for Arts and Culture (NAFEST) provides rare opportunity for players in the art and craft sector to access niche market devoid of middlemen, and make huge profit from their creative works.

    Obaseki who spoke through his Special Adviser on Media and Communication Strategy, Crusoe Osagie, said: “NAFEST is clearly the country’s biggest assemblage of craftsmen and women, art collectors and enthusiasts, restauranteurs that will exhibit several African cousins, visual artists, dance troupes that will represent the 36 states of the country and the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) amongst others.

    “Our hotels will swell with guests in their thousands during the period, our transporters, bronze casters, bead makers, will witness a bullish trend and smile to the banks with more money.”

    The governor added: “So I urge the key players in the art and craft sector to see the festival as a huge fair that will put a lot of money in their pockets and bank accounts. They should be ready to exhibit the best of their creative works during the period.

    “As government, NAFEST will offer us the opportunity to develop our tourism infrastructure, reinforce our cultural values and further unite the country.”

    Read Also; Human trafficking: Obaseki lauds support of local, int’l partners

    Obaseki stressed that, “The players in the sector, such as hotel owners, fashion designers, transporters, food vendors, bronze casters, furniture makers, tourist sites, destinations and fun places such as Ogba Zoo and others will be the biggest beneficiaries.

    “Our decision to host the festival is in line with our belief that government has to provide the enabling environment for businesses to thrive, and clearly our art and culture sector is our biggest asset as a people.”

    The festival will feature competitive and non-competitive events such as: Cultural Market; Traditional Wrestling; Indigenous Fabric Competition; Cultural Roundtable; Children’s Essay/Crafts Competition; Tales by Moonlight amongst others, that will be spread across several venues in the state capital.

  • U.S. Army showcases new electronic warfare technology

    Within the last years, the U.S. Army has delivered new electronic warfare prototype Electronic warfare systems in response to the increase of battlefield threats.

    Electronic warfare, known as the battle in the electromagnetic spectrum, relies on data and signals to survey, fight and defend and the complex mission executed by the Army’s electronic warfare Soldiers – which includes detecting and responding to enemy jamming attempts and other electronic interference – is intensifying.

    Currently, the Army is developing an Electronic Warfare Planning and Management Tool, or EWPMT, to manage and control electronic warfare assets in support of unified land operations.

    According to Army News Service, through the EWPMT, the Army can now visually synergize its EW attack, targeting, and surveillance capabilities to enable the maneuverability of forces. The tool also improves spectrum management operations and assists with the intelligence-gathering process.

    Operators can streamline the process between the EWPMT and fires support, in addition to being able to configure their system to generate automated responses to a variety of signals or alerts, officials said.

    Once a EWPMT system is triggered, the program will initiate its automated workflow, often distributing information throughout a tactical operations center. Depending on the engagement, operators can initiate a fire mission and provide tactical graphics for support.

    “Operational units can now visualize the electromagnetic spectrum,” said Lt. Col. Jason Marshall, product manager for Electronic Warfare Integration.

    “EWPMT is the commander’s primary tool to integrate multi-domain operations into their military decision-making process,” he added.

    While still under development — EWPMT increment one, capability drop three — is leveraging user feedback to allow EWPMT to support the electronic warfare officer’s techniques, tactics, and procedures, Marshall said. A pool of electronic warfare Soldiers and electromagnetic spectrum managers, or 25Es, from across the Army are involved in the program.

    Instead of waiting for EW to become an official part of the targeting process, program officials are trying to get ahead of the curve to fulfill a future requirement, said Capt. Daniel J. Nicolosi, EWPMT assistant product manager.

    Read Also: NAF neutralises scores of insurgents in Borno

    Currently, EW operators “have nothing,” added Chief Warrant Officer 2 Will Flanagan, senior electronic warfare targeting officer, who is assigned to the operations group at the National Training Center at Fort Irwin, California.

    As an operator, Flanagan is highly involved in the EWPMT’s ongoing developmental process.

    “With the EWPMT in front of me, I can show the commander where we’re at, and what we can do,” he said. “This will give us that spot on the TOC floor. This is the first tool to allow us to do our jobs.”

    Future iterations of the EWPMT program, officials said, will focus on pacing the threat’s capabilities within a disconnected, intermittent, and latent environment. In turn, the program will help refine the Army’s ability to conduct cyberspace electromagnetic activities in support of multi-domain operations and enable the Army to fight and win on a complex battlefield.

    For the EWPMT to be effective, it relies on fielded communications sensors and other EW transmission devices.

    The Versatile Radio Observation and Direction, or VROD, Modular Adaptive Transmission system, known as VMAX, have already been fielded to meet mission requirements.

    “VMAX is a lightweight man-portable electronics support and offensive electronic attack system. It is used to find, monitor, locate, and jam RF emitters in real time during tactical operations,” said Ken Gilliard, team lead of the Rapid System Applications Team, which falls under the Command, Control, Communications, Computers, Cyber, Intelligence, Surveillance, and Reconnaissance Center, or C5ISR.

    “Its purpose is to create that advantage in the electromagnetic spectrum to provide Soldiers a window to maneuver on the battlefield,” he added.

    When VMAX is operating in a support capability, operators can monitor the electromagnetic environment and determine what frequencies an adversary is operating on. Further, Soldiers can use multiple VMAX systems to geo-locate a signal, he said.

    Similarly, if VMAX is supporting offensive EW capabilities, it can be used to jam or interfere with the signal within specific frequencies.

    VMAX is a self-contained, battery-powered device, which weighs approximately 25-30 pounds, Gilliard said. Soldiers can tether VMAX to a vehicle, a building, or some air platforms. The device can be remotely operated and configured with a wide range of antennas to fulfill mission requirements.

    The Army currently owns more than 200 VMAX nodes and 100 VROD nodes, he added. Majority of these devices are already deployed around the globe, many of them supporting operations in Europe and the Middle East.

    (www.newsnow.co.uk)

  • Six fake NYSC members nabbed in katsina

    Six fake NYSC members were on Saturday in Katsina orientation camp caught parading themselves as corps members in the camp which commenced registration and subsequently sworn in, 2019 Batch B stream II corps members, deployed to the state,

    The State NYSC Coordinator, Alhaji Ahidjo Yahaya made the above disclosure during an interaction with newsmen in his office while parading the last two female Corps members out of the 6 that were caught.

    He said’’ the two fake corps members were caught following a security report from the DG NYSC Brigadier General Shuaibu Ibrahim, that the two were carrying fake certificates. Based on that, we set out the security network to trap them and they were caught. They have confessed to the offence’’.

    ‘’ we will like to follow due process in handling the case by arraigning them before the camp court today before they would be demitted and decamped today’’.

    Read Also: NYSC to punish corps members on unapproved journeys

    The fake Corps members gave their names as: Offor Chinelo Blessing with registration No. KT/19B/3696 and call-up No. NYSC /ISU/2019/260/22 from IMO State University, carrying fake result in B.Sc Insurance and Actuarial Science

    Others include: Merienwa Chimdinma Ngozi with registration number KT/19B/3836 and call-up no. NYSC /ISU/2019/259331 from the same university carrying fake certificate in B.A ed Education/Eng, plus the other four

    The Nation recalled that the NYSC DG had shortly before the orientation camp, issued series of warnings to members of the public not to go the NYSC camp with fake result, vowing to hand over anyone that was caught to the police for prosecution

  • Katsina CJ to establish Neighborhood Court for traders

    The Katsina State Judiciary has concluded plans to establish a Neighborhood Simple Claim Court, popularly called ‘’Zauran Sulhu’’, designed to attend to complaints arising from traders, market and business transactions, as well as reconcile commercial disputants in the state

    The Chief Judge of the State, Justice Abubakar Musa Danladi, told The Nation, Saturday, in an exclusive interview in his office in katsina, that the court, when established, will adjudicate quickly on business disputes that would otherwise have taken time and costs to resolve in conventional courts

    He said ’’when the courts are in place w, it will save time and cost, especially from the prolonged processes of litigation obtainable in conventional courts’’

    Read Also: Katsina deaths: NYSC restricts movement of corps members

    ‘’With their location within the market and public places, the issue of proximity is quickly dealt with and justice obtained speedily’’

    He further disclosed that the establishment of the court, which is expected to test run first before its final take off, though subject to availability of funds, will promote healthy relationship amongst traders and businessmen

    The Nation recalled the promise by the Chief Justice to undertake various institutional reforms in the Katsina State Judiciary, latest by October this year, has elicited heightened expectations amongst the people of the state