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Lawan: S’Court to rule on APC’s appeal against Machina Feb 6

Vincent Ufuoma
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Lawan: S’Court to rule on APC’s appeal against Machina Feb 6

THE Supreme Court has fixed February 6 to deliver judgment in an appeal filed by the All Progressives Congress (APC) challenging the disqualification of Senate President Ahmed Lawan from contesting the forthcoming election as the APC candidate for Yobe North Senatorial District.

A five-man panel of justices of the apex court led by Justice Chima Nweze, on Wednesday, February 1, adjourned the appeal for judgment after all the parties adopted their final briefs of argument.

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Lawan lost his re-election bid on November 28, 2022, following a unanimous decision by a three-man panel of the Court of Appeal in Abuja, which confirmed Bashir Sheriff Machina as the authentic candidate of the APC for the senatorial election.

Despite the controversy surrounding the senatorial race, the APC submitted Lawan’s name to the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) as its candidate for the Yobe North Senatorial District.

Miffed by the development, Machina headed to court to seek redress and was declared the validly elected senatorial candidate of the APC by a Federal High Court in Damaturu.

The APC took the matter before the appellate court and argued that Lawan was the party’s chosen candidate for the election. However, the appellate court dismissed the appeal, and awarded N1 million in favour of Machina.

The court held that evidence showed that the primary election that produced Machina was conducted in strict compliance with the Electoral Act, the 1999 Constitution, and the electoral guidelines of the APC.

It noted that the election was also monitored by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) as required by law.

The appellate court also noted that the APC failed to join Lawan as a co-appellant in the matter and cited him as the 2nd Respondent, indicating that the party was working at cross purposes with Lawan.

APC, PDP, SDP members defect to Labour Party in Ondo

Vincent Ufuoma
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APC, PDP, SDP members defect to Labour Party in Ondo

MEMBERS of major political parties in Ondo State have defected to the Labour Party (LP) ahead of the 2023 general elections.

The defectors, who come from the All Progressives Congress (APC), the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and the Social Democratic Party (SDP), declared their support for the presidential candidate of the LP, Peter Obi, at an event held in Isua Akoko, the headquarters of the Akoko South-East Local Government Area of the state on Wednesday, February 1.

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Stephen Adeyeri, a former House of Representatives aspirant and one of the leaders of the defectors, explained why he and his supporters joined the LP. Adeyeri said Nigerians were tired of the two major political parties, the PDP and APC and that the LP offered the best alternative.

He praised Obi’s track record, both in Anambra State and in his manifesto, and said that he was the candidate to beat. He also predicted a landslide victory for Obi and urged supporters to vote for all Labour Party candidates in the forthcoming elections.

A competent hand was needed to change the fortunes of the country and that Obi was that hand, he noted.

Adeyeri also spoke about the issues facing the country, including fuel scarcity, lack of electricity and hunger, and said the problems would soon be a thing of the past if Obi was elected as President.

“Obi is the candidate to beat because he has proven to be competent among other candidates. His records, while he held sway in Anambra is in the public domain, he didn’t get all of that by subterfuge but by the dint of hard work,” he said.

“I’m here to sell the candidacy of Obi to my supporters, and I told them the reason why he must be elected, particularly his plans to move the country from consumption to the state of production.”

Adeyeri said it would be absurd if those who weaponized poverty against innocent residents were allowed to have their way again. He urged his supporters to vote for all the candidates of the Labour Party in the general elections.

The LP’s State Secretary, Agabje Abiodun, welcomed the defectors., advising them to campaign for the party. He pointed out that the Labour Party was the only fast-growing party in Nigeria and said that people were tired of the current situation.

Abiodun also spoke about the performance of the former governor of Ondo State, Olusegun Mimiko, who governed the state under the platform of the LP from 2009 to 2014.

He said Mimiko’s performance was laudable and that people should vote for the party based on its antecedents.

El-Rufai berates Buhari, fifth columnists over naira redesign, fuel crisis

Harrison EDEH
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El-Rufai berates Buhari, fifth columnists over naira redesign, fuel crisis

GOVERNOR Nasir el-Rufai of Kaduna State has blamed President Muhammadu Buhari for approving the redesign of the N1000, N500 and N200 notes.

The redesigned notes have been scarce in circulation since they were introduced into the financial system on December 15, 2022, and have largely been unavailable even in commercial banks.

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The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) initially fixed January 31 as deadline to accept the old notes as legal tender. But with most citizens across the country still unable to obtain the new notes, the CBN Governor, Godwin Emefiele, was, on January 29, constrained to shift the deadline to February 10.

Nigerians’ agony over accessing the new notes has, however, persisted. Many commercial banks were, by this morning, not offering them at the counters, claiming lack of supply from the CBN. Many ATMs, empty of money, were also not dispensing. To many point-of-sale operators who had some, it was brisk business as they upped their commission by, at least, 100 per cent.

Besides Buhari, El-Rufai also blamed some people he described as “fifth columnists” for pushing some government policies, including the naira redesign and persistent fuel scarcity, that he feared could eventually cause unrest in the country.

The governor, in a monitored broadcast on Channels Television today, said the currency redesign move was the idea of a few people in the Presidential Villa, Abuja, and never the policy of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC).

He said, “This is not the right time to embark on such an exercise because most parts of the areas in Nigeria have no banking facilities.

“I must say that the naira redesign and fuel scarcity are the handiwork of fifth columnists because they want to bring the country down. Otherwise, why must redesigning of the naira be the priority of the Federal government at this time?” he wondered.

El-Rufai, a prominent member of the APC, alleged that most of the people in the Presidential Villa are not APC members, “hence some of the policies they are churning out from time to time are those that will hurt the APC.”

When asked if he was not using his close relationship with Buhari to offer suggestions on how to solve some national issues, he dismissed the question with a wave of the hand, saying that he could not remember the last time he made suggestions that were accepted.

“I stopped going to the Presidential Villa four years ago. What is the use when every suggestion you bring will not be accepted?

”So I would rather stay back solving the problems of my state (Kaduna), which I believe will be more important to me and my people. I don’t go to the Presidential Villa anymore,” he declared.

The governor’s allegation would not be unconnected with the outburst of the presidential flagbearer of the APC in the February 25 election, Bola Ahmed Tinubu, at his recent campaign in Abeokuta, the Ogun State capital, where he said the naira redesign and current fuel crisis were the shenanigans of some people to scuttle his chances at the 2023 presidential poll.

El-Rufai disclosed that some members of “a cabal” within the Presidency and the APC of northern extraction had begun scheming to discredit Tinubu, his running mate Kashim Shettima, and the APC generally as a ploy to have another President from the North to replace Buhari.

 

Don’t use Nnamdi Kanu as bargaining chip for your election, IPOB tells Atiku

Vincent Ufuoma
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Don’t use Nnamdi Kanu as bargaining chip for your election, IPOB tells Atiku

THE Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB) have warned the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) presidential candidate, Atiku Abubakar, to stop using its detained leader, Nnamdi Kanu, as a bargaining chip for his election.

IPOB Media and Publicity Secretary, Emma Powerful, issued the warning in a statement on Wednesday, February 1.

This warning was in response to a recent statement by the Director-General of the PDP Presidential Campaign Council, Obiora Okonkwo, that Atiku would release Kanu unconditionally if he is elected.

Kanu’s international spokesperson and American counsel, Bruce Fein, had earlier called on Atiku, Bola Tinubu, and Peter Obi to promise to free the self-determination leader from the custody of the Department of State Services (DSS) if any of them become Nigeria’s next President in May.

Reacting to Okonkwo’s statement, IPOB stated that the PDP should demand Kanu’s release by the Federal Governmentinstead of using it as a campaign strategy.

The pro-Biafra group warned that Kanu should not be used as a political bargaining chip for the Nigerian election.

The statement noted that Kanu has been judicially declared innocent and should therefore be released from the “illegal” detention by the Nigerian government.

“IPOB leadership wishes to state that its leader should on no account be used as a political bargaining chip for Nigerian election,” the statement said.

“Mazi Nnamdi Kanu has been judicially declared an innocent man and that follows that he must be released from his continued illegal detention and torture by this present government of APC.

“We do not expect anything contrary but that the judgment of the Court of Appeal is implemented.”

The statement added that IPOB’s demand for a self-determination referendum remains consistent, regardless of who is in power.

The statement also stated that the right to self-determination is inalienable and that IPOB’s demand for a referendum is a democratic process to allow Biafrans to determine their fate and decide their future, whether in Nigeria or a free and sovereign Biafran nation.

IPOB emphasized that its demand will not change, regardless of the person or party occupying Aso Rock, the Nigerian seat of power.

24 days to elections, hoodlums attack INEC office, police station in Anambra

Ijeoma OPARA
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24 days to elections, hoodlums attack INEC office, police station in Anambra

UNIDENTIFIED gunmen have attacked the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) office in Ojoto, Anambra State.

A police station and an adjoining residential building in Nnobi, located within the state, were also invaded in an attack that left one person dead and another with gunshot injuries.

Both attacks occurred in the early hours of Wednesday, February 1, and were confirmed by the Public Relations Officer (PRO) of the Anambra State Police Command Tochukwu Ikenga in a statement.

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“The hoodlums came in their numbers by 1:45 a.m. today, 1/2/2023, with four unmarked Siena vehicles, armed with IEDs, petrol bombs and other explosives, invaded the INEC office, the police station and the residential building in the station.

“Unfortunately, one boy aged 16 years, a relative of a serving policeman in the station, was murdered by the armed men, while the other, a female aged 15 years old, sustained a gunshot injury. She has been taken to the hospital, where she is receiving treatment.”

Ikenga noted that security had been reinforced within the state following the attacks, and the situation was being observed.

The spate of attacks and insecurity in the South-Eastern region of Nigeria has continued to rise in recent days.

INEC offices and police stations have been targeted in attacks by hoodlums, raising fears and tension ahead of the forthcoming general elections.

In December 2022, at least four INEC offices were attacked within three weeks in Imo State alone. Several police stations have also been affected by the violence leading to the death of many security operatives.

Why youths are not fit to rule Nigeria — El-Rufai

Beloved JOHN
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Why youths are not fit to rule Nigeria — El-Rufai

KADUNA State governor Nasir El-Rufai has said Nigerian youths are unfit to rule the nation because they lack the experience required to carry out the tasks such a position will require.

El-Rufai described the country as a complex society that requires experience.

The governor said this on Wednesday, February 1, during a Channels TV Sunrise Daily interview.

According to him, the younger generation who want to rule the nation find it difficult to convince the political class and the populace of their experience to hold the country together.

He said, “It requires a track record of performance that a 50-year-old cannot have and cannot convince the political class or general public.

“Instinctively, I will love to see younger people at different levels of leadership, and we have tried to do that in Kaduna. We brought in young people who have performed wonderfully, and a few have disappointed, as is usual.

“We have brought in women, and they have done very well. A few have disappointed.”

El-Rufai said septuagenarians running for office are transitional leaders who will usher youths into the political position and build capacity.

“I hope is that whoever is President of Nigeria and I can say if Asiwaju wins or when Asiwaju wins because I am confident, he will win.

“You will see an extensive collection of young people in the administration because Asiwaju sees his role as that of a transitional leader to fix some of the problems we have but build a new leadership class.

“That is the only way because it is challenging for a 40 or 50-year-old to convince Nigerians or those of us in the political system that he has the experience,” he added.

IPMAN blames NUPENG, NNPC for fuel scarcity

Theophilus ADEDOKUN
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IPMAN blames NUPENG, NNPC for fuel scarcity

THE Independent Petroleum Marketers Association of Nigeria (IPMAN) has blamed the Nigeria Union of Petroleum and Natural Gas Workers (NUPENG) and the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) for the current fuel scarcity in the country.

Speaking on Arise TV on Wednesday, February 1, the National Operation Controller of IPMAN, Mike Osatuyi, said IPMAN is not responsible for the scarcity and smuggling of fuel across borders.

Osatuyi also denied reports that IPMAN is involved in hoarding fuel and other petroleum products.

“NUPENG knows where the product is but we don’t know where to get it. NUPENG is involved in the problem, we are not hoarding like my station now I don’t have the product if I have the product I will like to turn it over within two, three days because we have to pay bank loans.

“The 1.3 billion litres that they say we don’t have it if we have it will the whole country be dry? Go to South-South, South-West everywhere in the whole country is dry. They know where the product is but we don’t know where to get it,” he stressed.

Osatuyi also associated the scarcity of fuel with the recurring delay by the NNPC in delivering petroleum products on time.

“Although we have been complaining that they don’t give us this product directly, the NNPC has now agreed to open about three or four more depots for IPMAN to be loading this product. There is what this called an express platform put on by NNPC retail but when you order and pay you don’t get it for one, two months  because I want to pay 180 or 175 naira.

“But since they have agreed to open more depots for IPMAN to be buying at the official price it is better and this is what they should have done.”

Osatuyi further denied the involvement of IPMAN in the smuggling of fuel to neighbouring countries.

“IPMAN don’t drive trucks so we don’t know about smuggling. If they want to stop smuggling today let NUPENG tell their members to stop driving trucks across the border,” he said.

Osatuyi however, urged the government to massively import fuel to reduce the price of fuel and the prevailing scarcity.

“The government should do massive importation to reduce the price of fuel. Whatever income generated from this subsidy should be channelled towards renewing and reducing the suffering of Nigerians by investing in critical infrastructure for Nigerians like railway. We have to benefit more in removing subsidy and deregulation now”

Catholic Church asks INEC to probe allegations of voter register manipulation

Bankole ABE
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Catholic Church asks INEC to probe allegations of voter register manipulation

THE Catholic Secretariat of Nigeria (CSN) has urged the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to investigate allegations of voter register manipulation across the country.

The National Director of Social Communications at the Secretariat, Mike Umoh, said the CSN is aware of credible allegations of manipulation of the electoral register in different parts of the country.

Umoh said this while speaking at a press conference in Abuja on Tuesday, January 31.

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“We are aware of credible allegations of manipulating the electoral register in different parts of Nigeria. We implore INEC to investigate these allegations diligently and to ensure that to the extent that they are well-founded, anyone implicated is brought to account in a timely fashion.

“Furthermore, it has been discovered that multiple registrations happened alongside willful and incorrect entries of voters’ information; we implore the Commission to ensure that the necessary due diligence is observed in the accurate documentation and cleaning up of the voters’ register.”

He said this would engender transparency and ensure trust in the electoral process.

Umoh also urged INEC to ensure that all the bimodal voter automated systems (BVAS) machines work in all the 176,846 polling units on election days.

“We call on the Independent Electoral Commission (INEC) to eliminate the obstacles of high transaction costs associated with collecting the PVCs all over the country.

“In order to guarantee a level field of participation for all voters, INEC has a huge burden to guarantee that BVAS will work on election day in all the 176,846 polling units across the country, as well as the efficient electronic transmission of results from the polling units. This will engender transparency and ensure trust in the electoral process,” Umoh said.

He added that INEC should ensure efficient transmission of results.

Election: Buhari orders Immigration to tighten border surveillance

Bankole ABE
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Election: Buhari orders Immigration to tighten border surveillance

AHEAD of the forthcoming 2023 general elections, President Muhammadu Buhari has asked the Nigeria Immigration Service (NIS) to tighten surveillance at Nigerian borders. 

This was disclosed in a statement on Tuesday, January 31, issued in Abuja by Sola Fasure, the Media Adviser to the Minister of Interior, Rauf Aregbesola.

According to the statement, the minister disclosed the directive while inaugurating the Katsina NIS Command office, which coincided with the roll-out of the enhanced e-Passport in the state.

“President Muhammadu Buhari has ordered that Nigerian borders should be made impenetrable to foreign bodies who might want to come in and manipulate the election process or engage in other nefarious activities.”

“The order from President Muhammadu Buhari is that between now and the time we will conclude elections, you must make sure our borders are secured,” Aregbesola said.

The minister directed officers to ensure that illegal immigrants do not create problems during and after the elections.

Aregbesola also charged them with ensuring the documentation of all migrants.

He said that Katsina State had 400 kilometres of border lines and 14 border positions which the Service needed to protect.

In the same vein, he disclosed that the government was upgrading the capacity of the NIS to control the nation’s borders effectively.

“We are deploying electronic digital technology to ensure 24/7 surveillance of the 5,000 kilometres border lines,” the Minister added.

Aregbesola added that the Federal Government has already awarded the digital technology contract that will enable the Comptroller-General to see what is happening anytime at any border point.

The Secretary to the Katsina State Government, Muntari Lawal, who represented the state governor, Aminu Masari, commended the NIS for the project and affirmed the administration’s willingness to support the Service to secure the nation’s borders.

JAPA: Lagos State gets new passport office

Oghenekevwe UCHECHUKWU
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JAPA: Lagos State gets new passport office

THE Nigerian Government has launched a new passport front office in the Alimosho Area of Lagos to fast-track the application, processing and collecting of the Nigerian international passport for citizens seeking to travel abroad.

Lagos State accounts for 50 per cent of all passport applications nationwide and applicants from the state had complained about the extreme difficulty of getting a passport, including cases of administrative delays and extortion.

During the launch of the new passport office on Monday, January 30, the Minister of Interior Rauf Aregbesola noted that due to the high demand recorded in the state, there was need to set up more centres to address the shortage and decongest the traffic at the three existing offices in the Ikoyi, FESTAC and Alausa areas of the state.

“We certainly need more of this in Lagos. This is because half of all passport applications are made in Lagos. At no time are less than 100,000 applicants from Lagos on the NIS portal applying for passports.

“We will therefore need not less than 15 of these front offices in Lagos alone, to be able to cut the application waiting period to one week,” Aregbesola said.

The newly set up passport office in Alimosho becomes the 18th of such command structures established across the country by the Nigeria Immigration Service (NIS) since 2019.

The Federal Government due to funding constraint is considering a public-private partnership arrangement to set up more passport front offices in urban centres where applications for passports are high.

“Applications have been increasing every year at an unprecedented rate, due to the tendency of many Nigerians wanting to travel outside the country and those who want to use it as means of identification,” the minister noted.

On his part, the Comptroller-General of the NIS Jere Idris described the office as a “legacy project” that will bring efficient services to Lagos and its environs.

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