The Nation Newspaper

Tag: Peoples Democratic Party

  • Bode George urges Atiku to return to PDP

    Bode George urges Atiku to return to PDP

    Chief Bode George, a chieftain of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and aspirant for the chairmanship position of the party, has called on former Vice President Atiku Abubakar to return to the PDP.

    George made the call while addressing PDP supporters on Sunday in Katsina as part of his campaign tour to solicit for support to actualise his aspiration.

    “The former vice president is a landlord in the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), as he was among the G-34 that established it.

    “In the All Progressives Congress (APC) party, Atiku is just a tenant that can be kicked out any time the landlord wants.

    “But in the PDP, nobody can kick Atiku out because he has laboured for the establishment of the party.

    “Just because your house is leaking, you cannot abandon it and move to a rented house,” he said.

    The PDP stalwart urged party members to close rank and do the right thing as the December 9, convention date approaches.

    “If we miss to select the right leaders during our convention, then we cannot do anything tangible in 2019 general elections” he said.

    George appealed to all members of the party to avoid the in-house fighting that had been dividing members of the party.

    It will be recalled that the former Vice President announced his resignation from the ruling party over the weekend.

    According to Atiku on reasons for his resignation, “the party we put in place has failed and continues to fail our people, especially our young people.”

    He lamented the absence of youths in the federal cabinet of President Muhammadu Buhari saying: “How can we have a federal cabinet without even one single youth.

    “A party that does not take the youth into account is a dying party. The future belongs to young people.

    “I admit that I and others who accepted the invitation to join the APC were eager to make positive changes for our country that we fell for a mirage. Can you blame us for wanting to put a speedy end to the sufferings of the masses of our people?

    “Be that as it may be, after due consultation with my God, my family, my supporters and the Nigerian people whom I meet in all walks of life, I, Atiku Abubakar, Waziri Adamawa, hereby tender my resignation from the All Progressives Congress while I take time to ponder my future.

  • Dialogue with Boko Haram fighters, they are Nigerians’

    Dialogue with Boko Haram fighters, they are Nigerians’

    Frontline Igbo leader and member of the Board of Trustees of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) Chief Emmanuel Inwuayanwu on Tuesday called on the Federal government to begin a process of dialoguing with the Boko Haram insurgents as a way of addressing the crisis in the northeast.

    Speaking when the leadership of the Muslim Students Association of Nigeria (MSAN) presented him with an award as peace ambassador in recognition of his contribution to peacebuilding and student empowerment, Iwuanyanwu said those involved in the Boko Haram insurgency were Nigerians who should be brought to the roundtable to discuss the way out.

    Chief Iwuanyanwu said the government should take steps to find out why the insurgents were fighting, pointing out that as Nigerians they cannot be asked to leave the country and so, efforts should be made to engage them in dialogue.

    The PDP Chieftain also expressed support for the anti-corruption crusade of the Buhari administration, stressing that at his age, he can no longer sit back and refrain from saying the truth.

    According to him, Boko Haram has killed more Muslims than Christians, so it is not about religion. These people are just enemies of Nigeria. 

    “I want to congratulate President Muhammadu Buhari for the success his government has recorded against the insurgency in the country. But at this point, the federal government should find out why these people are really fighting because they are Nigerians. 

    “So, the government should dialogue with them because the dialogue is a way of addressing the problem. These people are Nigerians so get them and talk to them with a view to changing their mindset because you can’t chase them away from Nigeria.” 

    While expressing support for the Buhari anti-corruption war, he said even though successive administrations fought corruption “but President Buhari made it a major issue because I have seen monumental fraud exposed by this government.

    “So, what Buhari needs is support from those working with him, remember that one man cannot run a government,” Nwayanwu stated.

    He described Nigeria as the hope of the black nations all over the world, adding that the Muslim students have come to demonstrate to him that the future of the country is assured with the likes of right youthful people.

    He said the founding fathers of Nigeria never envisage that one day some people will come up to demand secession, saying “So people who have been talking about the disintegration of Nigeria did not know what they are talking about. Don’t talk about Balkanization of the country because those calling for disintegration of the country simply want you to continue to fight border war”

    Speaking earlier, leaders of the Muslim Students Association of Nigeria (MSAN) Olalekan Salami called on the federal government to take immediate action against the renewed killings by the terrorists in the North-east region in particular and other parts the country.

    Salami said the honour becomes necessary to clear the bad notion about Muslim as a religion because they “want to convince the people who are having the bad notion of our religion. We are associating with Christian like you (Chief Inwuayanwu) that we are one and that we are serving the same God.”

  • Ekwueme: We have lost a political colossus – Ngige

    Ekwueme: We have lost a political colossus – Ngige

    The Minister of Labour and Employment, Sen. Chris Ngige said on Monday that the death of the former Vice President. Dr. Alex Ekwueme is an exit of an unrivalled colossus at a time Nigeria is in dire need of his wisdom, knowledge, discipline, courage and patriotism.

    The Minister said it will be difficult to replace the late statesman for his quality, pointing out that as Vice President, the late Ekwueme left office poorer than when he was not in the office.

    In a condolence message to the Ekwueme family signed by the Minister, Senator Ngige said he “received with a great jolt, sadness and deep sense of loss, the news of the exit of my political boss, friend and teacher. I was jolted by this sad news because even as I learnt that Ide had slipped into a coma some days ago, I kept praying for him and hoping against hope that he would return to us from the land of coma,” Ngige said in a condolence personally signed by him.

    “For Ide, the curtain has been drawn. He ran his race here on earth starting as a provincial boy who came to Kings College Lagos, dazzled everybody with his brilliance, soaring in his School Certificate and proceeded to acquire strings of academic degrees across disciplines, the record of which is yet to be beaten by any Nigerian.  Ekwueme epitomized brain and handsomeness. He was highly industrious, a big silent philanthropist especially in education.

    “With the passing on of Ide Aguata, the curtain has fallen on a glorious chapter in the history of Nigeria.  With the death of Dr. Ekwueme, Nigeria has been assailed by a huge gap that will be difficult to fill. With the passing away of Ide, the sky-high iroko, where then shall the birds of great flight take to? In the contemporary, Nigeria has lost her best in all ramifications- politics, professionalism in disciplines such as Architecture, Law and Business. In the contemporary world of politics, business, Nigeria has lost one of her greatest.

    “In an age of narrowness, how will Nigeria find a perfect replacement for Ekwueme, the epitome of learning? Whose deeper thought, whose insight will spring solutions to extant national problems like Ekwueme did when he proposed the six-geopolitical zones and other constitutional issues taken in the 1994 constitutional conference? 

    “In an age where uprightness has taken flight, who can replace Ekwueme’s conduct in public office? Which African can leave office as Vice President, poorer than when he entered office?  In an age of bread and butter politics, who can replace Ekwueme’s urbane consistency? Democracy is surely in danger without statesmen and Democrats with an incorruptible conscience, such that Ekwueme represented.

    “Am personally in deep grief. We have lost a father, a mentor, a leader whose briefcase some of us the contemporary leaders of the South East, Viz Prof. A.B.C Nwosu, Dr. Okey Udeh, Dr. Chinwoke Mbadinuju, Dr. Okwy Nwodo,  struggled to carry in 1998 during the formative years of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP)  at Professor Jerry Gana’s house. 

    “Ide was a man whose wisdom, I, like many others depended at the outset of this 4th republic. I mourn a man whose shining examples have largely shaped my thought and belief in politics as service to the people.  We shall pick the gauntlet and march on to preserve the legacy Ekwueme bequeathed to Nigeria. We can’t afford to renege.

    “On behalf of my family and the entire Umu-Ngige clan of Alor in Idemili South Local Government, I wish to send our heart-felt condolences to Beatrice, his beloved wife, his children- Dr. Helen who was with him in the London Clinic, Ochiliozua, the immediate junior brothers, Profs. Larz and Obumneme Ekwueme and other family members as well as Ndi-Anambra, Ndi-Igbo home and in the diaspora and Nigerians in general

    “Our leader is gone but his indelible footprint is in the political and professional firmament of Nigeria and shall suffer no erasure.”

  • ‘Fayose, forget your presidential ambition’

    ‘Fayose, forget your presidential ambition’

    One of the aspirants for the chairmanship of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Prof Tunde Adeniran has called on the Ekiti State Governor, Ayodele Fayose to let go his presidential ambition.

    Adeniran who made the call in Abuja on shortly after he returned his nomination documents, said the governor’s ambition was responsible for his (Fayose’s) opposition to his chairmanship ambition.

    Saying that opposition from Fayose cannot stop him from winning the race, Adeniran enjoined the governor to respect the party’s decision zoning the 2019 presidential ticket to the North.

    Adeniran said: “my governor is interested in contesting the presidency of this country and I believe that he thought it will be impossible for us to have the President and national chairman from the same place.

    “Now, the more he realizes that the party has taken a decision that our president by the grace of God as for 2019 will come from the North, the more he realizes the reason to stand by the method decided by the party.

    “The more he will realize that the position taken by the party at the convention is a reality and that he will support his brother Adeniran for the chairman. In fact, I expect that he will lead the Ekiti state delegation to support me at the convention.”

    Speaking earlier, the caretaker committee chairman of the PDP, Senator Ahmed Makarfi restated the commitment of the leadership to conduct a free, fair and credible convention.

    Makarfi reminded Adeniran and other aspirants of the consequences of breaching the peace pact signed by all the aspirants on Tuesday, stressing that the aspirants must be ready to call their errant supporters to order.

    Makarfi said: “I will assure you that as a caretaker committee, we will do our best no matter what a few might say. We are determined to be transparent and to conduct a free and very fair convention where the views of PDP members will prevail.

    “One of the key elements of the peace accord we discussed on Tuesday was the acknowledgement that the only thing the party has zoned in respect of national issues is the Presidency to the North and chairmanship to the South.

    “And in the peace accord which we have signed, you categorically stated that by the South, you meant all the states in the South and by the North, all the states in the North.”

    Insisting that the party would not impose micro-zoning on the chairmanship position, Makarfi, however, said the party would go along if the aspirants themselves reached an agreement to microzone the position to any part of the South.

    He flayed the actions and utterances of one of the party chieftains from Ogun State who has been attacking the national leadership of the party and urged Adeniran to call the party chief to order.

    “Such individual has done everything possible to make us compromise by going to the media to say that we have compromised with somebody else. Left for such individuals the caretaker committee should not be in place”, Makarfi said.

  • PDP donates 200 traffic shelters to Edo traffic agency

    PDP donates 200 traffic shelters to Edo traffic agency

    The People’s Democratic Party in Edo State on Tuesday donated 200 mobile shelters to the revamped Edo State Traffic Management Agency (EDSTMA).

    It said the donation was because it noticed the suffering officials of the agency go through in controlling traffic in the rain and under the sun.

    State Chairman of the PDP, Chief Dan Orbih, said it was sad that Governor Godwin Obaseki failed to provide traffic shelters for the agency.

    Chief Orbih said the party was informed that many of EDSTMA suffered from malaria and other ailments due to exposure to heat and cold in the rain.

    Orbih stated that the traffic shelters would ameliorate their sufferings and ensured that EDSTMA officials are healthy to carry out their duties.

    His words, “We have observed with great concern pains EDSTMA staff are going through. They are always in the sun and in the rain controlling traffic.

    “As part of our contributions, we are donating 200 traffic shelter houses to EDSTMA so that they will no longer suffer under the rain. We are very concern about what they are going through.”

    Special Adviser to Governor Godwin Obaseki on Communication and Strategy, Mr. Crusoe Osagie, said it was unfortunate that the PDP that caused all the mess being cleared by the APC government is now providing shelter for officials of the EDSTMA.

    He said,  “We want to say that we have received the shelter without thanks to them because we know that the funds used in procuring those items are a fraction of our common patrimony which they plundered with reckless abandon. A dignifying act would be to bring back the looted billions so that the APC can fast-track the development of the state.”

  • PDP factions battle over Ogun Secretariat

    PDP factions battle over Ogun Secretariat

    The Sikirullai Ogundele-led executive of the Ogun State chapter of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) yesterday dislodged factional Chairman Bayo Dayo and his team from the party’s Secretariat on IBB Boulevard, Abeokuta. It took over the building.

    Ogundele and other members of the newly elected executives stormed the secretariat by noon and sacked the workers employed by the factional executives and other people found at the facility.

    The takeover caught the workers unaware as they scampered for safety.

    Policemen and others suspected to be Department of State Services (DSS) operatives were in the area to ensure peace.

    The Ogundele-led executives were joined by ex- local government chairmen and other prominent party leaders.

    The Dayo team loyal to Senator Buruji Kashamu had been in charge for almost six years.

    The members of the new executives led by Ogundele were elected into office last Saturday during the state Congress conducted by Electoral Committee led by Mr. Eddy Olafeso, who is the Chairman of Soutwest zone.

    Ogundele said: “We have only come to take over the PDP property in accordance to the directive we got from Abuja  that every property of the party, which is mainly the secretariat,  must be taken care of and we have just come to peacefully take over the secretariat.

    ”If you can remember vividly, I have once said it that at the appropriate time the security operatives will do their job and the takeover of the secretariat will be taken care of.”

    But the Publicity Secretary of the Bayo Dayo – led factional executive Bolaji Adeniji described Ogundele and his executive members as a dissident group.

    Bolaji deplored the takeover of the party secretariat, which he described as an “invasion”.

    He said: “We learnt of the invasion of the secretariat by the dissident group in Ogun PDP. You will recall sometime that there was an ongoing case at the state magistrate’s court where members of the erstwhile caretaker committee were there for contempt of court for parading themselves as the executives of the party.

    ”Definitely, the Adebayo Dayo executive that has the statutory mandate between 2016 up to 2020 would return to court to enforce its fundamental rights.”

     

     

  • Gbolarumi battles Ladoja for control of party

    Gbolarumi battles Ladoja for control of party

    The crisis rocking the Oyo State chapter of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) which culminated in parallel congresses at the weekend, deepened yesterday.

    Leaders of the two groups engaged in a verbal war, each insisting not to shift ground for the other.

    Former Deputy Governor Hazeem Gbolarumi vowed to prevent former Governor Rashidi Ladoja from hijacking the party from those he described as steady members.

    He said Ladoja came to destroy the PDP in Oyo State.

    Ladoja returned to the PDP last month from Accord, which he joined in 2010.

    While the faction led by Ladoja at the weekend held its state congress at the Watershed Events Centre on Old Ife Road, the one led by Gbolarumi, Hon. Mulikat Adeola-Akande, Mr. Seyi Makinde, Sen. Hosea Agboola and others, held its congress at Baptist School, Oke-Ado.

    Gbolarumi justified the parallel congresses, saying Ladoja took virtually all the principal officers under the pretext of ceding them to other parties, such as Labour Party (LP) and the Alliance for Democracy (AD).

    The former deputy governor accused Ladoja of treating the party as his personal business.

    According to him, their original agreement was to run an all-inclusive party but Ladoja chose to exclude many others, including Makinde and his supporters from the Social Democratic Party (SDP). He also accused him of ignoring other party stalwarts such as Adeola-Akande, Prof. Taoheed Adedoja and himself in sharing party positions.

    Gbolarumi said some prominent members were already considering leaving the party but he vowed to stay back and fight Ladoja.

    He said: “We don’t even trust him at all. He has only come to destroy this party. The national leadership of the PDP should investigate my claims. He contested in Accord twice and failed. If he was that strong as he believes, why did he come back to the PDP? We have always been in the PDP. He has not come to add value but to destroy it but people like me won’t allow that because I don’t have any other party to go to. We are not cowards. Why should a tenant come and send away the landlord? It is not possible.”

    But Ladoja’s spokesman Lanre Latinwo described the crisis as “a family affair”, saying it would be resolved in no time. He said sharing of party positions was based on the strength of each party in the last general election. He pointed out that the new State Chairman, Mr Kunmi Mustapha, for instance, is a PDP member, not Accord.

     

     

  • Kebbi: Haruna emerges PDP State Chairman

    Kebbi: Haruna emerges PDP State Chairman

    Kebbi State chapter of Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), has sworn-in newly elected State Executive of the party.

    The State Congress of the party commenced on Saturday and ran till Sunday afternoon. 749 delegates from 21 local government Areas of the state cast their votes for ten elective positions while 17 officers were returned unopposed.

    The Chairman of State Congress, Senator Nimi Barigha Amange who supervised the Congress with the representative of INEC, Mohammed Awwal, Head of Department of Election and Political Parties Monitoring Department declared Alhaji Haruna D. Saidu as the newly elected Chairman of the party.

    He declared that Saidu defeated his co-contestants, Alhaji Ibrahim Dan-Illela with total votes of 448 as against his opponent who scored 286 votes out of 636 total votes cast.

    Other elected officers include; Garba Labbo Tasha, Abdullahi Rahah, Sahabi Kimo and Haruna Issa who were elected as Assistant Organising Secretary, Treasurer, Assistant Auditor and Assistant Treasurer, among others.

    In his acceptance speech on behalf of the all the new exco members Haruna Saidu diatribe the election as no winner no losers. He called on all the party member s to come together and moved the party forward. He also assure that he will discharge his duty according to the party’s constitution.

    Adding that PDP will reclaime Kebbi state come 2019. He commended the efforts of the electoral committee, INEC, security agencies and press men for standing all night in ensuring a free Fair and credible election. However, the new executives have since been sworn in by Barrister Nura Bello.

  • Police invitation: Omisore, lawyers, human rights activist speak

    Police invitation: Omisore, lawyers, human rights activist speak

    The recent invitation of the former deputy governor of Osun State and Ex-Senator Iyiola Omisore, by Mr. Umege Uzochukwu, a deputy commissioner of Police in charge of Osun State Criminal Investigation and Intelligence Department, has been generating a lot of furore in the media. Many have queried the way and manner the invitation was circulated widely to various online and offline media houses.

    A Lagos based online blogger, names withheld, disclosed that he became suspicious the way and manner the Police Invitation was written and attached to a press statement with a tone of urgency for them to publish the material last weekend. “It was sent out from the same source with a tone of urgency and we became suspicious. Moreso, it was dated October 20, 2017, why sending it on October 27?”

    In his response, Senator Omisore has described his invitation as a sinister plot by some powerful interests in the ruling opposition party in his state to get him out of circulation ahead of 2018 gubernatorial election in the state by using the Nigeria Police to frame him on trumped-up charges.

    Omisore, who was the Chairman Appropriation Committee while serving the Senate, stated in a press release personally signed by him, that these opposition elements are apparently working with the Nigeria Police or some of their officers to realise their sinister plot against his person.

    “In the invitation, I was asked to report to the said DCP Uzochukwu that the late Senator Isiaka Adeleke, had reported a case of assault against me to them. And I wondered when Senator Adeleke (may God rest his soul) made the report as no date was given in the said invitation. The police invitation letter was dated 20th October 2017”, he quizzed.

    Some legal experts who have been paying attention to the development have queried the legality or otherwise of the letter. Reacting to the police invitation, A Senior Advocate of Nigeria, Nathaniel Oke, described the action of the police as “political harassment.”

    According to Oke (SAN), “Police have the statutory power to invite any individual who is suspected to have committed any offence for the purpose of carrying out their investigation to determine whether a criminal offence has actually been committed or not. The only area that is actually worrying me is that when Senator Isiaka Adeleke himself was alive, what step did the police actually take to unravel and probably prosecute Senator Iyiola Omisore? Therefore, to me, it is a political harassment. It is a political intimidation.

    “The question is this; Senator Adeleke was alive since 2014 before he died in 2017. Now, where is the complainant as far as that criminal allegation is concerned? Will evidence now be given on behalf of the deceased? I don’t think it is proper. They have the right to invite him for the purpose of interrogation, but the fact is that, this is political harassment.

    “The point I am making is that, what were the police doing as at the time the person who was purportedly assaulted was alive. Why after the demise of Senator Adeleke?” Oke interrogated.

    In his own argument, a lecturer at the faculty of Law, Obafemi Awolowo University, OAU Ile-Ife, Mr. Musibau Lateef, described the police action as “absurdity and ridiculous.

    “It is the height of absurdity. The assault that happened in 2014, as a matter of law, you cannot maintain a crime of assault which is a personal injury on behalf of a dead person. For the sake of God, Senator Adeleke is late, can anybody legally speaking, bring an action of assault on his behalf? The answer is no, legally speaking, and that is why I said, for me, it is a sign of ignorance and it is quite ridiculous.

    “The police have the right under section 2(11) of the Constitution and Police Act, to invite anybody, but in this context, it is the height of ignorance. I’m speaking as a matter of law; it is not possible to sustain a matter of assault on behalf of the dead person. It is personality injury crime that only the person who suffered the injury must testify.

    Reacting to whether the evidence of the late Adeleke before the commission of enquiry can be admitted on oath, the law lecturer said, “we are talking about crime here; no commission of enquiry, I repeat, no commission has the right to indict anyone on criminal offence.

    “So, whatever the findings of the commission in this respect goes to nothing. Who will come to court to tender the statement? This is not a matter of controversy and that is why I used ignorance deliberately, it is the height of ignorance.

    “We are not talking of murder here because murder would have been different, but he slapped me, he kicked me, how do you prove that? It is ridiculous and height of ignorance. Going by the content of the letter that he was invited in connection with the 2014 issue, it is ignorance on the part of the police. The content of the letter has rubbished whatever may be the reason for the invitation. “Senator Omisore may refuse to go. He can simply tell his lawyer to go and explain to them. You have the right not to subject yourself to such ridiculous invitation”, Lateef explained.

    Speaking in the same vein, Barrister Oluwaseun Ijoba, said: “The police have not been responsible in handling this issue. If the letter did not state particularly the reason they invited him, it would have been something else.

    Now, I begin to wonder, what intelligence, what new fact would emerge after the death of this man about seven months ago that did not emerge in three years after the alleged act. I couldn’t see any reason for this invitation rather than political harassment.

    “It is a mere allegation against Senator Omisore. It has not been proved. There’s no way the police would justify their position presently after three years!. If there is no opportunity to cross-examine a witness, to test the veracity of the statement made by the witness, the statement amount to nothing.

    A human right lawyer, Mr Kanmi Ajibola, said “the invitation by the police to Otunba Iyiola Omisore is very wrongful and offensive. The cause of complaints given to the police by the late Senator Adeleke had passed off with his death. The police should be very careful on careless and unproductive invitation like this”. He wondered why the police have not prosecuted the case since 2014 when it was reported to them.

    But the former Attorney General and Commissioner for Justice in the state, Mr. Wale Afolabi, maintained that criminal case can be prosecuted any time, even after the death of the complainant. “Police has the right to invite anybody for questioning once there is a report of an alleged crime. Don’t forget that the law is no respecter of anybody. No matter highly placed, the police have the right to invite such person for interrogation’, Afolabi asserted.

    Explaining further his initial position and the politics behind the unusual invitation, Senator Omisore said, “We all know that as Nigerians we are living in a very interesting time. The culture now is to source for scapegoats in members of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) for every inaction of the government. The tragic instance in which the late former Osun State governor, a distinguished senator of the Federal Republic, died is still fresh in our memories, particularly the controversy that his death generated across the nation.

    “What is also fresh in our collective memory is the decision by the good people of Osun State to reward the late Senator Adeleke and people of Ede by electing his brother to complete his term in the Senate. The people’s decision, of course, was carried out by our great party, Peoples Democratic Party (PDP).”

    “Could this invitation by the police have been anchored on the role I played as a party leader in that election? Omisore probed. Wondering how the police could allow themselves to be brazenly used against the people they are expected to protect.

    “Therefore, I want the public to know about the plot and keep them informed about this sinister plot against myself and the memory of Senator Adeleke,” Omisore concluded.

  • Court rejects Jonathan’s request for N1b from Metuh

    Court rejects Jonathan’s request for N1b from Metuh

    A Federal High Court in Abuja has rejected an application by former President Goodluck Jonathan seeking to be paid N1billion before he could attend court to testify in favour of ex-spokesman of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Olisa Metuh.

    Medtuh, who is being tried with his company, Destra Investment Ltd for money laundering offences and allegedly receiving N400million unlawfully from the office of the National Security Adviser (NSA).

    In his defence, Metuh, who has consistently claimed that the N400 was paid to him by Jonathan in 2014 for an image laundering project for his (Jonathan’s) government, applied for Jonathan and former NSA to be called as his witnesses.

    Upon learning that a witness summons has been issued against him, Jonathan filed the application, seeking the voiding of the summons on him or that Metuh is asked to pay N1b to facilitate his attendance of court.

    But in a ruling some moments ago, Justice struck out the application by Jonathan on the grounds that it was based on hearsay.

    The judge said his court lacked the jurisdiction to hear the application or make an order in Jonathan’s favour because there is evidence that he has not been served with the subpoena (witness summons) issued against him.

    Justice Abang held that Jonathan cannot base his application on media reports when he has not been served.

    The judge also dismissed a motion by Dasuki, seeking to adjourn the proceedings pending the determination of his appeal.

    Details later…