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Tag: Rivers poll

  • Breaking: Rivers poll: Supreme Court rejects APC, Tonye Cole’s three appeals

    The Supreme Court has struck out three appeals filed by the All Progressives Congress (APC), Tonye Patrick Cole and members of his faction of the party, against the judgment that excluded the APC from fielding candidates in the last elections in Rivers State.

    A seven-man panel of the apex court, led by Justice Ibrahim Muhammad, held that three appeals were defective, incompetent and could not be heard by the court.

    The appeals are: SC/295/ 2019 filed by APC, with People’s Democratic Party (PDP) and Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) listed among respondents; SC/266/2019 filed by APC, with Magnus Abe and others as respondents and SC/267/2019 filed by Tonye Patrick Cole, with Magnus Abe and others as respondents.

    Read Also: Supreme Court refuses appeal by sacked Kwara APC exco

    Justice Muhammad, in the first ruling delivered on SC/295/2019, upheld that argument by PDP’s lawyer, Emmanuel Ukala (SAN) to the effect that the notice of appeal filed by the APC was defective.

    The judge noted that rather than heading a portion of the notice of appeals “Reliefs sought from the Supreme Court,” it was wrongly headed “Reliefs sought from the Court of Appeal.”

    He said the implication of that error was that the appellant did not seek any relief from the Supreme Court, and thereby contravened the court’s rules, a development that rendered the appeal incompetent.

    The same errors were noticed in the other two appeals, which made the appellants’ lawyers, Jibrin Okutepa (SAN) and Tuduru Ede to withdrew both appeals, following which the court struck them out.

    Details later.

  • Updated: INEC declares Wike re-elected in Rivers

    The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) on Wednesday declared Nyesome Wike of the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) winner of the March 9th governorship election in Rivers state.

    The Returning Officer for River state, Professor Teddy Adias of the Niger Delta University Otuoke, Bayelsa state who declared Wike winner of the election said he polled a total of 886, 264 votes to defeat his closest opponent and candidate of the African Action congress(AAC), Biokpamabo Awara, who scored a total of 173, 859.

    Read Also: Rivers: Wike close to victory as collation continues

    According to Prof. Adias, “That I, this day confirm that I am the returning officer for this election and that Nyesom Wike of the PDP having satisfied requirement of the law and scored the highest number of the votes is hereby declared winner and stand elected.”

    Earlier, the returning officer had said that a total of 3, 048, 741 voters were registered across the state for the elections, and a total of 1, 130, 445 were accredited, while a total of 1, 123, 840 votes were validated as a total of 249, 324 votes were either cancelled or elections not held.

    Also a total of 1, 123, 840 votes were cast in the exercise.

     

    Details shortly...

  • Rivers’ poll of bloodletting

    Rivers’ poll of bloodletting

    Last Saturday’s legislative rerun in Rivers State did not disappoint those who predicted that it would be a repeat of the violence  that characterised last year’s general elections and the March 19 rerun. The rerun was bloody across the three senatorial districts. Port Harcourt Bureau Chief BISI OLANIYI, who monitored the polls, gives an account of what transpired during the exercise.

    IN spite of the deployment of drone surveillance cameras in most parts of the 23 local government areas of Rivers State during the recent legislative rerun, thugs and militants still had a field day. The election was characterised by apathy as people were scared of moving to their polling units to vote.
    At stake were the three senatorial seats, eight (out of the 13) House of Representatives seats and nine (out of the 32) seats of the House of Assembly.
    The drama, accusations and counter-accusation that dominated the campaign continued on election day. According to the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), accreditation and voting were supposed to commence at 8am. But, people were not eager to come out and vote. By 9:38 am, the Chairman of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Chief Felix Obuah, alleged that many members of his party in Tai-Ogoni and Gokana-Ogoni local governments had been arrested and killed by soldiers.
    Obuah said: “The PDP in Rivers State condemns Nigerian Army’s arrest and killing of members of the PDP in Tai and Gokana local government areas (LGA). The soldiers arrested over 200 PDP members in Tai LGA, 12 innocent PDP members were shot and one member of the party was killed in Tai LGA. Barako community in Gokana Local Government was also invaded by soldiers and scores of PDP members were arrested.”
    The General Officer Commanding (GOC) of the newly-created Six Division of the Nigerian Army in Port Harcourt, Maj.-Gen. Kasimu Abdulkarim, described the alarm raised by the PDP chairman as false.
    Abdulkarim admonished all right-thinking Rivers people and other stakeholders to ignore the lies of Obuah and other leaders of the PDP. He said: “It is not true. Let them not create conflict within a conflict. Nobody should raise any alarm. I have just returned to the office in Port Harcourt, from monitoring the elections, which have been peaceful and the voters are orderly.
    “I was with the Deputy Inspector-General (DIG) of Police (Operations), Habila Joshak, when the Inspector-General of Police (IGP), Ibrahim Idris, called him to know the security situation on the ground. The DIG told the IGP that everywhere was very calm and that the election was progressing peacefully. I do not know why they will cry wolf, where there is none.”
    The Resident Electoral Commissioner (REC), Aniedi Ikoiwak, had earlier indicated that bulk of the voting was going to take place in seven local councils, including Andoni, Akuku-Toru, Bonny, Etche, Ikwerre, Khana and Gokana, while the rerun would hold in 1,840 polling units in the 23 LGAs.
    INEC was compelled to postpone the elections in Abonnema-Kalabari, the headquarters of Akuku-Toru LGA and some parts of the council, to the following day, December 11.
    Governor Nyesom Wike also alleged that two agents of the PDP were shot dead in Bodo-Ogoni in Gokana LGA by security agents. Bodo-Ogoni is the hometown of the Secretary to the Rivers State Government (SSG), Chief Kenneth Kobani. The shooting took place as accreditation and voting were about to commence, at St. Pius’ College within the ancient town, which has an abandoned road and bridge to Bonny Island. The gunshots made the electorate and officials of INEC to scamper to safety.
    The governor said the Nigerian Army and the Special Anti-Robbery Squad (SARS) of the Nigerian Police were responsible for the Bodo-Ogoni killing and the hijacking of electoral materials and that the intention was to deliver candidates of the opposition All Progressives Congress (APC).
    Wike said the APC-led government at the centre was doing everything possible to use federal might against Rivers people. He said the entire election materials for Khana LGA were hijacked by soldiers and SARS personnel. He added that in Gokana soldier’s hijacked electoral materials for Wards 2 and 3 in Bodo, where the military men killed the two PDP agents, allegedly in the process of fleeing with the materials.
    Governor Wike also alleged that SARS operatives hijacked electoral materials in four out of the 19 wards in Etche LGA. He alleged that the unfortunate onslaught by the military and SARS personnel started in the night of December 9, when the Minister of Transportation, Rotimi Amaechi, backed by a battalion of soldiers and over 20 SARS personnel, allegedly attempted to hijack electoral materials from INEC headquarters, but were resisted by youths.
    The Rivers governor noted that in Opobo-Nkoro LGA, where the governorship candidate of the APC during the 2015 election, Dr. Dakuku Peterside hails from, soldiers allegedly hijacked electoral materials and took them to the home of a member of the Board of Trustees (BoT) of the APC, Dr. Sam Sam Jaja.
    Wike said: “I anticipated it. I tried to let the world know that these are the plans of the security agencies. In my entire political career, I have never experienced this kind of invasion by security agencies. What causes violence is when you give certain persons undue advantage.
    “Be assured that we are resisting it. It may take our lives, but we will resist it to the last. That is what is expected, when you are fighting for freedom. You must make sacrifices. It is unfortunate that we are congratulating the opposition for winning in Ghana, but here the military men are directly involved in rigging and hijacking of electoral materials.
    “They say they want to give Rivers State Governor problems, but you are not giving Rivers State Governor problems, you are giving Nigeria problems.”
    Governor Wike also stated that he had informed an unnamed National Commissioner of INEC and the REC, Aniedi Ikoiwak, of the problems in Khana and Gokana LGAs, with an assurance that action would be taken.
    The Police Public Relations Officer (PPRO) of Rivers Command, Nnamdi Omoni, a Deputy Superintendent of Police (DSP), however, declared that the Rivers police command was not aware of what the governor claimed to have happened during the rerun.
    Peterside, who is also the Director-General of Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency (NIMASA), declared that no amount of propaganda and lies could save Wike and his PDP from being rejected by Rivers people.
    The APC chieftain, after visiting his Andoni-Opobo/Nkoro federal constituency, where he said voting went on smoothly, lauded INEC and its officials for the impressive performance, in spite of the challenging situations.
    He accused Rivers governor of embarking on all manner of propaganda and blackmail against the leaders of the APC, security agencies and INEC, in an attempt to hoodwink unsuspecting members of the public.
    Peterside, a former member of the House of Representatives, expressed displeasure on the manner known sympathisers of PDP and serving Rivers government officials were spreading falsehood and publishing fake results both in the traditional and social media.
    He said: “Rivers people are tired of Wike and his PDP propaganda, which defy any form of civility and sense of decorum. The governor has made all manner of cries and wailing, in an attempt to be seen as the victim and attract sympathy, even as he is busy hatching evil plans by the day.
    The transportation minister, a chieftain of the APC, could not vote during the rerun at his Ubima hometown in Ikwerre LGA of the state, because the result sheet was missing, while gunmen also carted away most of the electoral materials in the town, shortly after another indigene, Sir Celestine Omehia, a former Rivers governor, but of the PDP, voted.
    The GOC, while replying Wike, Obuah and other leaders of the PDP, disclosed that during Saturday’s rerun, two policemen: Alkali Mohammed, a Deputy Superintendent of Police (DSP) of Mobile Police Unit 48, was beheaded along with his orderly by hoodlums.
    He also revealed that the policemen’s patrol vehicle with weapons were taken away by the criminals, while three of the policemen escaped, but five of them (policemen) were still “missing in action” in Ogba/Egbema/Ndoni LGA of Rivers, where the state’s chairman of the PDP hails from.
    Abdulkarim declared that the allegations made by some respected politicians regarding deep involvement of soldiers during the elections were false and aimed at tarnishing the positive image of the Nigerian army.
    He stressed that the weighty nature of the allegations against the Nigerian army could cause members of the public to view soldiers negatively, hence the need to adequately inform the general public on the true perspective, insisting that members of the public should consider the allegations as mere farce to garner sympathy.
    The GOC maintained that the 6 Division of the Nigerian army remained apolitical in the conduct of the elections, while its soldiers provided perimeter defence to ward off hoodlums and miscreants.
    He said: “The most brutal incident occurred at Ujju community, near Omoku in Ogba/Egbema/Ndoni LGA, where police patrol team was ambushed. In the ambush, 10 policemen scampered into the bush. The Mobile Police organised a rescue mission. Regrettably, the team discovered that DSP Alkali Mohammed of Mobile Police Unit 48 was beheaded along with his orderly. The patrol vehicle was taken away with weapons, three policemen escaped, while five were missing in action.
    “This is the same area where soldiers of 34 Brigade were ambushed on November 20, 2016, where a soldier was killed. Also, on November 21, 2016, four personnel of the Nigerian Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC) were killed and their weapons carted away.
    “These attacks are reasonable evidence of violations of breach of law and order which portrays the area as a flashpoint. Despite these barbarisms, soldiers acted with civility and professionally, guaranteeing peaceful elections.
    “Nigerian Army, as a respected institution with constitutional responsibility to safeguard lives and property, could not watch miscreants and hoodlums abducting, maiming and killing innocent citizens, especially in senseless attacks on uniform personnel.”

  • Army arrests Rivers SSG

    The Secretary to the Rivers State Government, Mr. Kenneth Kobani, was on Saturday arrested by the Nigerian Army for alleged stalling the distribution of materials for federal and state assembly elections in the state.

    Details later…

  • Supreme Court upholds Wike’s election

    Supreme Court upholds Wike’s election

    The Supreme Court on Wednesday upheld the election of Nyesom Wike as governor of Rivers State.

    Wike, who was the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) candidate in the April 11, 2015 governorship election in Rivers State, had approached the apex court after the Appeal Court upheld the decision of the state election petitions tribunal which had earlier nullified his victory in the poll.

     

     

  • Appeal Court sacks Wike

    Appeal Court sacks Wike

    The Court of Appeal, Abuja, on Wednesday upheld the verdict of the Rivers State governorship election petition tribunal which nullified the victory of Nyesom Wike in the April 11 governorship election in the state.

    The court’s three-man panel led by Justice M.B. Dongban-Mensem, ruled that Wike’s election did not conform with the Electoral Act.

    The panel ordered a fresh election within 90 days and asked the governor to vacate the seat immediately.

    The tribunal headed by Justice Suleiman Ambrosa had in a judgment on October 24 voided Wike’s election and ordered the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to conduct fresh election in Rivers State.

  • Appeal Court reserves judgment in Rivers guber poll

    Appeal Court reserves judgment in Rivers guber poll

    The Court of Appeal, Abuja on Thursday reserved judgment in an appeal filed by Governor Nyesom Wike of Rivers challenging his removal by the election petitions tribunal for the state.

    The court of appeal panel presided over by Justice Dongban Memsem held that it would communicate the judgment date to parties in the appeal.

    “Ruling on all motions raised by the parties and judgment is hereby reserved. The date will be communicated to all parties,’’ she said.

    Earlier, Wike’s lawyer, Emmanuel Ukala (SAN) had adopted his written address and asked the court to grant the appeal.

    He urged the court to upturn the decision of the Suleiman Ambursa’s led tribunal which nullified the election of his client and ordered INEC to conduct a re-run election within 90 days.

    Ukala argued that the tribunal erred in law in its decision and also failed to give his client fair hearing.

    “Some of the motion we raised were never considered by the tribunal before it gave its judgment.

    “The failure to give fair hearing to our client rendered the entire process at the tribunal a nullity.

    “We urged the court to allow the appeal in its entirety and dismiss the objections raised by the respondents,’’ he said.

    Chief Wole Olanipekun (SAN) who represented the Peoples Democratic Party urged the court to uphold the appeal in the interest of justice.

    Counsel to Dakuku Peterside, the candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in the election, however, asked the court to dismiss the appeal.

    It will be recalled that the tribunal had nullified Wike’s election following the petition filed by Peterside.

    Chief Akinlolu Olujimi (SAN), counsel to Peterside argued that most of the issues raised in the appeal did not emanate from the judgment of the tribunal.

    He urged the court to look into the issues raised at the tribunal and flow from the tribunal’s decision.

    Speaking in the same vein, counsel to APC, Yusuf Ali (SAN) urged the court to dismiss the appeal for lacking in merit.

  • Rivers: Supreme Court dismisses Wike’s suit against tribunal

    Rivers: Supreme Court dismisses Wike’s suit against tribunal

    The Supreme Court on Tuesday dismissed the suit filed by Rivers State governor, Nyesom Wike, challenging the jurisdiction of the state governorship election petition tribunal to hear a petition filed against his election by the All Progressive Congress (APC) candidate in the April 11 gubernatorial poll, Dakuku Peterside.

    The tribunal on Saturday nullified the election and ordered a fresh poll within 90 days.

    Wike, the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) candidate in the poll, had said in his petition that the tribunal which sat in Abuja had no jurisdiction over matters that transpired in Rivers State.

    He insisted that the tribunal should have conducted its activities in Rivers and not in Abuja.

     

     

  • Rivers tribunal ruling, deadly blow to impunity – APC

    The All Progressives Congress on Saturday described the verdict of the Rivers State governorship election petition tribunal that nullified the victory of Nyesom Wike in the April 11 governorship election in the state, as a deadly body blow to impunity and hooliganism.

    In a statement issued in Lagos by its National Publicity Secretary, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, the APC said the tribunal’s ruling has shown clearly that the era of impunity and hooliganism is over, and that the only way for elections to have legitimacy is for them to be free, fair and credible.

    ”What has come across from this judgment is that there is no shortcut to free, fair and credible elections. This is part of the wind of change that is blowing across the land and touching all arms of government under the administration of President Muhammadu Buhari.

    ”Elections are about the expression of the will of the people, and they must always be free to express themselves, irrespective of what some desperate politicians may feel,” the party stated.

    According to the APC, politicians, especially those seeking or occupying elective office, must realize that they can only derive their legitimacy from the people, and that unless they respect the wishes of the people, they will not go far.

    The party hailed its governorship candidate in Rivers, Mr. Dakuku Peterside, for his doggedness and strong conviction in the pursuit of his petition against the election of Wike that was not only marred by widespread violence and electoral malfeasance, but also acknowledged to be fraught with irregularities by local and international observers – and now by the judiciary.

     

  • Rivers poll: Wike, Peterside to know fate this month

    Rivers poll: Wike, Peterside to know fate this month

    •PDP closes case without calling witnesses
    •Magnus Abe to appeal senatorial judgment

    The Rivers State Governorship Election Petitions Tribunal has said it will deliver judgment before October 29 in the petition filed by the All Progressives Congress (APC) and its candidate, Dr Dakuku Peterside.

    Tribunal Chairman Justice Mohammed Ambrosa urged the parties to submit their final written addresses, scheduled to be adopted on October 22, before the expiration of the time.

    The tribunal chairman spoke yesterday in Abuja after the Peoples Democratic Party’s (PDP’s) lawyer Gordy Uche (SAN) announced the closure of his client’s case, without calling a witness.

    Justice Ambrosa gave the petitioners three days – and each respondent four days – to prepare and file their final written addresses.

    He noted that the 180 days, within which the tribunal must determine the petition, would lapse on October 29.

    Justice Ambrosa assured that the tribunal’s registry would remain open for the parties to file their addresses before October 22, when they would be adopted.

    The tribunal chairman added that a day before October 29 would be fixed for the judgment.

    APC and Peterside challenged the election of Nyesom Wike as the winner of the April 11 governorship election.

    They alleged that the poll was marred by widespread violence and irregularities.

    The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), Wike and the PDP are the respondents in the petition.

    Earlier yesterday, Uche tendered the result sheets of some polling units across the state and announced the closure of his client’s case.

    The lawyer’s submission of the documents came at the end of the six days the tribunal allotted to the PDP to present its case.

    Uche did not call any witness; he only tendered some documents, including newspaper clips, incident forms, result sheets, among other documents used during the election.

    But the petitioners called 56 witnesses within the 10 days allocated to it.

    Their witnesses included APC’s agents and police officers, soldiers, INEC officials and men of the Department of State Service (DSS), who testified that the election was characterised by irregularities and widespread violence.

    A petitioner’s witness, Charles Okoye, who is the head of the Election and Party Monitoring Department at INEC, described the poll as militants’ terrorism and a sham.

    He said the widespread violence and irregularities in the election made a mockery of democracy.

    INEC and Wike – the first and second witnesses – called 16 witnesses each, who insisted that the election was free, fair and devoid of violence.

    Also, the state’s Legislative Election Petitions Tribunal, led by Justice Mohammed Sifawa, yesterday dismissed the petition by Senator Magnus Abe of the APC for lacking in merit.

    Abe challenged the election of Senator Ulaka Nwogu of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) representing Rivers Southeast.

    Justice Sifawa, who read the tribunal’s judgment, held that the petitioner failed to prove his allegation that election did not hold in the senatorial district beyond reasonable doubt.

    The tribunal chairman said the petitioner was inconsistent, by the evidence he presented to support his claim, that election did not hold.

    He said the petitioner failed to substantially prove his case by not calling witnesses from each of the over 1,000 polling units in the senatorial district.

    Justice Sifawa said: “In this kind of petition, the onus of proof is substantially on the petitioner and any failure to discharge this onus automatically renders the petition useless.

    “From the …evidence before this tribunal, we are convinced that the petitioner did not do the needful, as he failed to prove beyond reasonable doubt his sole allegation that election did not hold in his constituency in the March 28 National Assembly election.

    “It must also be stated that the petitioner knows that the onus to prove his allegation rested on his shoulder, but for unknown reasons, refused to discharge the onus as required by law.

    “By his failure to establish a prima facie case that there was no election in his constituency, this tribunal has no option than to disregard his allegation in its entirety.

    “We, therefore, hold that there was an election and uphold the election of the second respondent (Senator Nwogo) as declared by the first respondent (INEC) while announcing the election result.”

    The tribunal dismissed the petition.

    Abe said he would appeal the judgment.

    The senator said the tribunal was not fair to him by expecting him to call witnesses from the over 1,000 poling units in his senatorial district within the five days allocated to him to present his case.

    He said: “The tribunal laid the foundation for its decision in my petition. This is a case of lack of fair hearing because I was not given enough time to call my witnesses to prove my case in the petition. So, I will be in the Court of Appeal to challenge the tribunal’s decision.”