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Presidential poll: INEC asks tribunal to dismiss Atiku’s petition

Mustapha USMAN
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Presidential poll: INEC asks tribunal to dismiss Atiku’s petition

THE Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has asked the Presidential Election Petition Court to dismiss the petition filed by Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) flagbearer Atiku Abubakar challenging the victory of All Progressives Congress (APC) candidate Bola Tinubu.

Atiku who came second after polling 6,984,520 votes in the February 25 Presidential Election, on March 20, dragged the electoral commission and APC’s Tinubu to the election tribunal to contest the outcome of the poll.

INEC had declared Tinubu winner of the presidential election after scoring 8.7 million votes across the 36 states and the FCT.

The two leading candidates, Tinubu and Atiku respectively won 12 states each while Peter Obi of the Labour Party won in 11 states and the FCT. 

Tinubu scored over 25 per cent of the votes cast in 29 states, more than the 24 states constitutionally required.

Although his failure to win 25 per cent in FCT has been a burning issue among other candidates.

The PDP and Atiku, however, are alleging several irregularities including INEC’s failure to upload election results from polling stations in real-time to its IRev portal, electoral malpractices and Tinubu failure to polled 25 per cent of FCT votes.

PDP petition

The petition marked: CA/PEPC/03/2023, has INEC, Tinubu, his running mate, Senator Kashim Shettima, and the APC as the 1st to 4th respondents.

The petitioners are praying for the tribunal to declare Tinubu as not duly elected with a majority of the lawful votes cast and therefore wants Tinubu’s victory nullified. 

Part of the petition read: “The petitioners contend and shall lead evidence to show that contrary to the original design of the BVAS machine to upload data directly to the electronic collation system and the IReV portal, the 1st Respondent contrived and installed an intervening third-party device (Device Management System) which, in its ordinary usage, is meant to secure and administer the 1st Respondent’s technological ecosystem for the elections but as it relates to the presidential election, was used to intercept the results, quarantine and warehouse same, and filter them before releasing same to the IReV portal.

“The 1st Respondent used the said Device Management System to manipulate the election results in favour of the 2nd and 3rd Respondents.”

INEC says PDP petition ‘grossly incompetent’

INEC, in its defence to the PDP petition, filed through its team of lawyers led by A. B. Mahmoud (SAN), described the petition as “grossly incompetent, vague and academic”, noting that it was an abuse of the court process.

The Commission affirmed Tinubu as the winner having scored at least one-quarter of the valid votes cast in 29 states, which is over and above the 24 states threshold required by the Constitution. 

The electoral body said the APC candidate met all the legal requirements to be announced as the winner of the election, arguing that it’s not a must for a candidate to secure 25 per cent votes in the FCT to be declared winner.

It stressed that FCT was not accorded any special status in the Constitution as being “erroneously” portrayed by some political parties and candidates who lost the election.

“The FCT has the status of a state and ought to be recognised as one of the states of the federation,” the petition read.

The Commission argued that the election was conducted in compliance with the Electoral Act.

INEC further stressed that it delivered its promises “in conducting free, fair, transparent and credible elections by deploying the BVAS device in conducting accreditation of voter’s electronically and uploading scanned copies of polling unit election results to the IRev portal”.

According to the Commission, the Electoral Act does not require it to transmit results to the IRev portal before determining or declaring the winner of the presidential election.

“The 1st respondent (INEC) states further that it had all the physical hard copies of the results sheets from which it collated and tabulated the scores of the candidates. It states further that the result sheets were uploaded via its e -transmission system to the IRev portal.

“In further answer to paragraph 21 of the petition, the 1st respondent states that the BVAS device was, despite the glitches experienced on the day of the presidential election, still a game changer.

“It was properly deployed and used to verify and accredit registered voters. It was also used to upload scanned copies of polling unit results through the e-transmission system to the IRev portal in the presidential election held on 25th February 2023.

“The 1st respondent further states that the BVAS device was not designed to and did not transmit election results to the phantom Electronic Collation System as alleged by the petitioners.

“The 1st respondent denies that it prescribed or established a system to electronically transfer or transmit the results and the accreditation data from polling units to an electronic collation system.”

INEC explained to the Tribunal that the PDP and Abubakar “neither scored the majority of the lawful votes cast at the election nor scored not less than one-quarter of the lawful votes cast in at least two-thirds of the 36 states of the Federation and the Federal Capital Territory and therefore the 1st petitioner (Atiku) is not entitled to be returned as the winner of the presidential election conducted on February 25″.

The electoral body, therefore, urged the court to dismiss the petition.

OAU confirms, condemns killing of final year student over alleged phone theft

Marcus FATUNMOLE
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OAU confirms, condemns killing of final year student over alleged phone theft

THE Obafemi Awolowo University (OAU), Ile-Ife, Osun State, has condemned the killing of a final year student of the Department of Civil Engineering in the university for allegedly stealing a phone.

The student, whose identify is yet to be disclosed, was beaten to death by his fellow students inside the Awo Hall. 

Efforts by the Obafemi Awolowo University Teaching Hospital to save his life on Tuesday after he was rushed to the facility failed.

The incident was a repeat of the killing of Deborah Samuel at the Shehu Shagari College of Education in Sokoto, Sokoto State, in May 2022 over blasphemy.

The incident also occurred less than 24 hours after a mob killed a driver who rammed into a crowd, killed two and injured others in Akure, Ondo State, on April 10.

Reacting to the student’s death, the OAU, in a statement by its public relations officer, Abiodun Olanrewaju, described the mob action as an ‘ugly development’ and ‘unfortunate.’

He said the school’s Vice Chancellor, Prof Adebayo Bamire, had set up a committee to unravel the cause of the attack.

“The action of the mob, being a violation of the law of the country and the university regulations, has been reported to the police, who have commenced investigations.

“The university administration hereby commiserates with the parents of the deceased, staff and students, and prays that God will grant us the fortitude to bear this irreparable loss.

“Students are strongly admonished to desist from taking laws into their hands and to report any criminal activities to the university authorities for immediate actions.”

Killings, abductions resume after general elections

Nurudeen AKEWUSHOLA
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Killings, abductions resume after general elections

AFTER a period of relative calm in the lead up to the recently concluded 2023 general elections in Nigeria, killings, abductions and other forms of violent attacks on defenceless Nigerians have resumed.

The development is brewing concerns and anxiety among citizens, setting up a big challenge for the incoming administration as at least 364 deaths resulting from no fewer than 97 violent attacks have been recorded across the country since the general elections was rounded up with the governorship and state assembly elections on March 18.

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Outrage trails killings in Southern Kaduna

These figures are based on an analysis of data collected by the Nigeria Security Tracker (NST), which has monitored insecurity in the country since 2011 through local press reports. 

The data which was accessed by The ICIR on April 11 shows the significant resurgence of killings and kidnapping across the country. The incidents recorded range from bandit attacks, farmer-herder clashes, unknown gunmen attacks on security operatives, and Boko Haram attacks, among others. 

One of the significant occurrences is the invasion of Garin Baka village in Ardo-Kola Local Government Area of Taraba State on March 31 by gunmen, resulting in the death of a minimum of 15 individuals.

It was reported that the terrorists stormed the village with sporadic gunshots, set houses on fire, rustled cows and looted shops and warehouses.

Suspected herders also killed five people in attacks on Benue communities on March 23. On the same day, the terrorists also killed a cleric in Kaduna and abducted three people among several violent incidents recorded across the country within the period.

According to the data, no fewer than 41 cases of violent attacks resulting in at least 191 deaths and eight cases of abduction and kidnapping have been recorded so far this month.

For instance, no fewer than five persons were killed and about 50 houses razed on April 2 in Aloko-Oguma in the Bassa Local Government Area of Kogi State following a communal clash.

Infographic showing number of violent incidents across Nigerian states

On April 4, bandits reportedly kidnapped two policemen in Niger State. About 32 other residents were abducted during the violent attack.

Notably among these violent incidents is also an attack on communities in Tsafe Local Government Area of Zamfara State on April 7, where over 80 residents were reportedly kidnapped. 

Latest development shows that the bandits have agreed to collect N20,000 for each of the victims, amounting to a total of N1.7 million, to release the abducted residents.

Killings of military personnel have also been recorded. For instance, gunmen killed retired military personnel in Nasarawa State on April 6 and three policemen were also shot dead on the same day in Edo State.

In Benue State, armed herdsmen attacked an Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) camp on April 7, resulting in the deaths of over 40 internally displaced persons (IDPs).

The incident followed a similar attack that claimed over 50 lives in Umogidi village of Enetekpa Adoka district in Otukpo Local Government Area of the state.

Meanwhile, the Nigerian Military also recorded successes in a few cases. The troop neutralized 11 bandits on April 1 in Kaduna. They also repelled an attack by ISWAP in Borno on the same day. The troops killed suspected Boko Haram members during a raid at Sambisa forest.

Why insecurity resumed after election

Kabir Adamu, a security expert, explained that incidents of kidnapping for ransom and other criminal activities by terrorist groups decreased in the period leading up to the 2023 general election. However, a week after the election, these incidents have begun to rise.

Adamu, the Managing Director of Beacon Consulting, a security management firm, who spoke yesterday on Arise TV, reported that data gathered by his firm indicates an 80 per cent decrease in kidnapping and other violent attacks between December 2022 and February 2023.

He noted that one of the factors responsible for the reduction was massive deployment of security operatives across the country for the purpose of election. He, however, said the violent attacks have massively resumed since the security forces have been redeployed back to their bases. 

“The second element is the willingness of non-state armed groups who are active and who have shown the tendency to challenge the supremacy of the use of force by the state and in doing so, sadly, they have successfully challenged that supremacy of use of force by the state,” Adamu said.

“For example, where they go to rural area, abduct children and demand for ransom. Clearly, what they are saying is that they don’t recognize the authority of that state but they know clearly that what they are doing is against the Constitution of that state and they still went ahead and did it.”

He expressed dismay over the violent attacks that have led to loss of lives and properties, particularly in Benue State, as well as the abductions occurring in some of the Northern states. He blamed the state governments for not taking proactive measures to prevent terrorist groups from causing havoc on the citizens within their respective states.

“We saw from the state governors during the naira redesign policy the kinds of political energy and response it triggered. We saw state governors going to court challenging the Federal Government but we have not seen that types of response from them when it comes to issues that have to do with insecurity,” he said.

Adamu urged the Federal Government to be decisive in tackling the insecurity ravaging the country.

He charged the media and civil society organisations to hold the incoming President accountable for the promises made in his manifesto, especially as it relates to addressing security challenges facing the country.

Police arrest man found brutalising sister in viral video

Beloved JOHN
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Police arrest man found brutalising sister in viral video

THE Benue State Police Command has arrested one Kelvin Iorfa, seen in a viral video brutalising his sister.

The Command’s spokesperson, Anene Catherine, disclosed this in a statement issued on Tuesday, April 11.

According to the Police, the lady in the viral video, Nguwasen Iorfa, was assaulted by her brother following a heated argument.

After his arrest, Kelvin, a 59-year-old, confessed to assaulting his younger sister.

“Kelvin Iorfa assaulted his younger sister Miss Nguwasen Iorfa about four days ago, and a video was made to that effect.

“The suspect was arrested immediately. In his statement, the suspect confessed that he had a heated argument with his younger sister, which provoked him to beat her up that much,” the spokesperson said.

However, the police could not contact Nguwasen, the assaulted lady, as she has been out of reach.

“Efforts are being made to reach the victim who is said to have gone out of reach since the incident.

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“The suspect is in custody and investigation is on going.”

Catherine said Benue State Commissioner of Police, Wale Abbas, has ordered a detailed investigation into the case to unravel the condition and location of the victim.

In the clip that made the rounds, Kelvin Iorfa was seen kicking and flogging his younger sister with a belt until she fainted.

FG repatriates 104 stranded Nigerians from Chad

Theophilus ADEDOKUN
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FG repatriates 104 stranded Nigerians from Chad

THE National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA) has said 104 stranded Nigerians have been repatriated from the Republic of Chad.

The stranded Nigerians were returned through the aid of a voluntary repatriation programme of the International Organisation for Migration (IOM).

Speaking with journalists on Tuesday, April 11 at the Mallam Aminu Kano International Airport, Kano, the Kano State Coordinator of NEMA, Nurudeen Abdullahi stated that the returnees were conveyed to Nigeria by SKY MALI Airlines, operated by Ethiopian Airline B737-500 with registration number UR-CQ.

Abdullahi who was represented by the NEMA Head of Human Resources in Kano State, Suleiman Sa’ad-Abubakar, said the returnees comprised 34 males, 18 females and 52 children

He noted that the repatriated migrants are natives of Kano, Katsina, Borno, Akwa Ibom and Yobe states.

According to Abdullahi, the IOM’s programme is aimed at returning distressed persons who had left the country to seek greener pastures in European countries but could not afford to return when their journey became frustrated.

The NEMA coordinator stressed that the returnees would be trained under different skills acquisition programmes to facilitate their integration into society.

“The government will train the returnees under skill acquisition programmes to enable them to learn trades and become self-reliant to fast-track their integration into the society.”

He, however, urged the returnees to be law-abiding and avoid endangering their lives by travelling in search of greener pastures elsewhere.

Rivers supplementary elections to hold April 15

Ijeoma OPARA
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Rivers supplementary elections to hold April 15

THE Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has announced Saturday April 15 as the date for supplementary elections in the Port Harcourt II and Khana/Gokana areas of Rivers state.

Resident Electoral Commissioner (REC) in the state Johnson Sinikiem disclosed this in a statement on Tuesday, April 11, where he announced that the elections would be carried out across 419 polling units: 42 in Khana and 377 in Port Harcourt II.

“The management of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), Rivers State wishes to inform all political parties and the entire public that the supplementary election for Port Harcourt II and Khana/Gokana Federal Constituencies earlier announced by the Commission will hold this Saturday, April 15, 2023 by 8.30am in the following LGAs/registration areas.

“The Commission therefore calls on all registered voters in the affected registration areas/polling units to come out en-masse on the above-mentioned date to cast their votes and to conduct themselves in a peaceful manner and in accordance with laid down guidelines,” the statement read.

Following the elections held nationwide on February 25, INEC had suspended the voting exercise for two National Assembly seats in the Port Harcourt Local Government Area over irregularities.

Sinikiem announced the suspension a day after some members of political parties accused the Collation Officer of the Port Harcourt LGA Teddy Charles Adias of manipulating results.

He also said the suspension was necessitated by threats  to the Collation Officer’s life.

Three cops to face trial for assaulting man in Port Harcourt

Mustapha USMAN
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Three cops to face trial for assaulting man in Port Harcourt

THREE policemen who assaulted a yet to be identified man in Port Harcourt are to face trial.

The Force Public Relations Officer CSP Olumuyiwa Adejobi, disclosed this via his Twitter handle on Tuesday, April 11.

One of the officers was seen beating a man with a cane in a viral video.

The ICIR reported that the Nigeria Police Force (NPF) pledged to sanction the officers in the viral video, noting that their action was unethical.

“Whatever the man must have done, he doesn’t deserve this beating. Beating him like a baby?? A grown-up man? We will surely get the men,” Adejobi said.

Meanwhile, the three officers have been moved from Port Harcourt, where they are serving, to the Police headquarters in Abuja.

They are being investigated, and would be prosecuted at the end of the investigations.

In a post on Twitter, on Tuesday, April 11, Adejobi wrote: “Inspector Adejoh Siaka; Inspector Friday Obaka, and Sgt. Ndiwa Kpuebari from Rivers State. These are the men who slapped a man on the road in Rivers. They reported at the Force Headquarters today. Trial will soon commence. We will update you as soon as possible. Thanks.”

Policemen attached to Kano musician, Rarara, arrested for misconduct

Bankole ABE
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Policemen attached to Kano musician, Rarara, arrested for misconduct

POLICEMEN attached to attached to a popular Kano-based musician Dauda Kahutu Rarara have been arrested for shooting in the air in front of civilians, including children.

It was gathered that the policemen engaged in the act as a form of amusement.

In a viral video, the policemen were seen firing into the air, surrounded by civilians while escorting the musician.

In a tweet on Tuesday, April 11, spokesperson of the Nigeria Police Force (NPF), Olumuyiwa Adejobi said the policemen will face trial for their actions.

“KANO FIRING: Sgt. Abdullahi Badamasi (on mufti, fired a pistol; Sgt. Isah Danladi; and Inspr. Dahiru Shuaibu (fired the rifle). These are the men caught on the video firing into the air in Kano. They reported today, Tuesday 11th April, at the Force Headquarters Abuja for trial.

“The trial is ongoing. We will update the Public as soon as the trial is over. Thanks,” Adejobi tweeted.

The Force Headquarters had earlier said the policemen had been identified and are in detention in Kano, where they serve.

“We have commenced necessary disciplinary actions on them. They will interview the IGP in Àbuja on Tuesday. Definitely, they won’t go unpunished,” Adejobi said.

Controversy has trailed the musician in recent weeks. Barely an hour after the declaration of result of the Kano State governorship election, some unidentified thugs set the residence of the political singer on fire.

Rara was at the centre stage of the All Progressives Congress (APC) campaign, singing at various rallies while the campaigns lasted.

In a similar development, Adejobi disclosed in another tweet that the NPF have arrested some policemen that were seen in a viral video on social media harassing a man in Port Harcourt, Rivers State.

“Inspector Adejoh Siaka, Inspector Friday Obaka, and Sgt. Ndiwa Kpuebari from Rivers State. These are the men who slapped a man on the road in Rivers. They reported at the Force Headquarters today. Trial will soon commence. We will update you as soon as possible. Thanks,” he tweeted on Tuesday, April 11.

Rising inflation, interest rates putting banks at risk – IMF

Ehime ALEX
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Rising inflation, interest rates putting banks at risk – IMF

THE International Monetary Fund (IMF) says the global financial system is being tested by higher inflation and interest rates, and urges banks to hold more capital and liquid assets to enable them absorb the shocks.

The IMF, which stated this in its April 2022 Global Financial Stability Report, advised banks to conduct stress tests to help ensure resilience in the system.

Central banks around the world have been tightening their monetary policy rate (MPR) to contain inflation.

The ICIR can report that Nigeria had raised its MPR from 11.5 per cent in April 2022 to 18 per cent in March this year.

The country’s headline inflation had also risen from 16.82 per cent in April 2022 to a 17-year high at 21.91 per cent in February.

According to the IMF, financial stability risks had increased rapidly since October 2022 as the resilience of the global financial system faced a number of tests.

“The failures of Silicon Valley Bank and Signature Bank of New York and the loss of confidence in Credit Suisse are powerful reminders of the challenges posed by the interaction between tighter monetary and financial conditions and the build-up in vulnerabilities since the global financial crisis.

“If financial strains intensify significantly and threaten the health of the financial system amid high inflation, trade-offs between inflation and financial stability objectives may emerge,” the Fund stated.

It expressed that while the banking turmoil had raised financial stability risks, its roots were fundamentally different from those of the global financial crisis of 2008.

“The recent turmoil is different. The banking system has much more capital and funding to weather adverse shocks; off balance sheet entities have been unwound, and credit risks have been curbed by more stringent post-crisis regulations,” IMF said.

It identified a meeting between the steep and rapid rise in interest rates and fast-growing financial institutions as unprepared for the rise.

The IMF also trimmed its 2023 global growth outlook slightly as higher interest rates cooled activity, but warned that a severe flare-up of financial system turmoil could slash output to near recessionary levels.

“Our growth-at-risk metric, a measure of risks to global economic growth from financial instability, indicates about a 1-in-20 chance that world output could contract by 1.3 per cent over the next year. There’s an equal probability that gross domestic product could shrink by 2.8 per cent in a severe tightening of financial conditions in which corporate and sovereign spreads widen, stock prices fall, and currencies weaken in most emerging economies.

“Faced with heightened risks to financial stability, policy makers must act resolutely to maintain trust,” the Fund added.

How Buhari failed to keep promise to revitalise 10,000 PHCs

Marcus FATUNMOLE
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How Buhari failed to keep promise to revitalise 10,000 PHCs

THE President Muhammadu Buhari-led Federal Government has failed in its promise to revitalise 10,000 primary healthcare centres (PHCs) in Nigeria.

Buhari took the oath of office on May 29, 2015, and will leave office on May 29, 2023, after serving two terms of four years each.

After forming his cabinet nearly six months into his administration during his first term, his Minister of Health, Isaac Adewole, boasted severally that the Buhari government would ensure each political ward in Nigeria has a revitalised PHC.

There are over 8,800 political wards in Nigeria.

Adewole began the fulfilment of his pledge with the refurbishing and re-equipping of the Kuchingoro PHC in the nation’s capital.

But the government could not make good its promise.

Addressing journalists at an event commemorating 2023 World Health Day, the 75th anniversary of the World Health Organization (WHO) and World Health Workers Week, the Minister of Health, Osagie Ehanire, said the country had just refurbished a little above 4,000 PHCs.

Incidentally, the figure was what Adewole, his predecessor, claimed to have achieved in 2019.

Ehanire was Adewole’s deputy at the time as a Minister of State.

Meanwhile, The ICIR reported in 2018 how Adewole lied that the Federal Government did not promise to revitalise 10,000 PHCs.

Speaking at the 2023 World Health Day and other events’ commemoration, Ehanire said, “The Federal Government, in a bid to reverse poor health indices and provide universal health coverage, initiated the revitalization of about 10,000 primary healthcare centres nationwide, exemplified by the revitalised Kuchigoro PHC in FCT.

“More than 4,000 PHCs have been revitalised so far while working towards a new PHC model equipped will staff quarters, solar power, and assured potable water supply to enable 24/7 service provision to citizens. These steps have improved primary healthcare services in Nigeria and reduced challenges women face in childbirth and addressing home emergencies.”

The ICIR reports that given Ehanire’s revelation, the government could have abandoned PHCs revitalisation since the end of Buhari’s first tenure in 2019.

The ICIR also reports that despite the Federal Government’s claim of revitalising 4,000 PHCs, many states and Local Government Areas in Nigeria fund the renovation and equipping of their PHCs because health is on the concurrent list of the nation’s constitution, which implies that both federal and state governments are responsible for the provision of health care.

In its series of investigations in 2022, The ICIR reported how many PHCs in Nigeria were dilapidated and lacked a workforce resulting in preventable deaths of Nigerians, especially mothers and children.

Nigeria currently has the world’s highest data on child and maternal mortalities.

Diseases such as malaria, typhoid and others that could be treated at PHCs are very common in Nigeria, and the country parades the world’s highest burden of those ailments.

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