The Osun State Governorship Election Petition Tribunal sitting in Abuja has declared as winner Peoples Democratic Party and its candidate in the last year’s governorship election in the state, Ademola Adeleke.
It held that the All Progressives Congress and its candidate, Gboyega Oyetola was not validly returned.
Acting CJN
The Acting Chief Justice of Nigeria (CJN) Justice Ibrahim Mohammed has sworn-in the remaining 13 members of the 2019 Election Petition Tribunals.
The members are Justices A.O. Onovo, R.O. Odugu, S.B. Belgore, T.A.O. Oyekan-Abullai, A.J. Coker, and E.I. Oritsejafor.
Others are Justices M.C. Okoh, O.S. Olusanya, C.A. Ononeze-Madu, P.U. Nnodum and J.C.L. Okibe.
The acting CJN encouraged the new members of the tribunal to be of good character and ensure everything they did was above board.
He said all eyes were on them with a view to seeing them dispense justice without a hint of partiality or favoritism.
The Kebbi State Government is partnering with the Federal Government under the Solid Minerals Development Fund (SMDF) on formalization of Artisinal Miners in the State for Gold production with the support of Columbia University, New York, USA.
The Governor, Sen. Abubakar Atiku Bagudu in a meeting with SMDF led by Hajia Fatima Shinkafi and Columbia University on March 21 in Abuja stated that his administration is supporting a pilot programme to organise & support miners to give them better technology and an available market. The pilot programmes approved by President Buhari will commence in Kebbi & Osun States.
The Columbia University School of International and Public Affairs Team will aid the SMDF in fulfilling its objectives by developing a report that analyzes the challenges preventing formalization of Artisanal & Small Scale Mining (ASM) in Nigeria and suggests ways for the SMDF to incentivize formalization through a strategic use of its capital resources.
A world bank report puts the outflow of illegally mined gold leaving Nigeria at $500m a year. This represents a huge revenue loss for both State and Federal governments in addition to environmental degradation to farming communities and pollution of waterways for people and livestock.
Special focus will be placed on how the SMDF can work with other institutions in accordance with section 34 of the 2007 Nigerian Minerals and Mining Act to register formalize operators and how the SMDF can leverage its financial capital to provide funding and/or services to support the ASM value chain.
Governor Bagudu reiterated his administrations continued focus on creating jobs and support for the diversification of the economy which is a priority of the Buhari administration. It can be recalled that the Governor is an alumnus of Columbia University where he obtained his M.A in International Affairs.
The president of Arewa Youth Consultative Forum (AYCF), Yerima Shettima, has described the administration of President Muhammadu Buhari as a disappointment and revealed that the north plans to present a more competent candidate who will contest for president in 2023.
What is your assessment of the recently concluded elections in Nigeria?
We had an election and the expectations were high but it is very unfortunate that it is not what we expected and I am sure that Nigerians were disappointed. We thought that the All Progressives Congress (APC) will conduct a more credible election than what we had in the past, but what we saw was an election where security agencies were used against innocent Nigerians. The election was a battle between the voters and the military that were deployed to aid the ruling party. If you ask me if there was an election, I would say there was an attempt to conduct an election but we cannot certainly call what we just had an election.
But some international and local observers who monitored the elections said it was free and fair…
I am glad that you said some observers and not all. The international observers have their own modus operandi and you do not expect them to start crying for you. If there is an issue and they see it, they would not be in a hurry to make any judgment. Again, when they notice that Nigerians are very docile and no one is raising any fundamental issues, they will remain mute. On the part of the local observers, it is very easy for anyone to compromise them, which has more or less become a tradition in the country.
What was the national mood of the country after the presidential election? Was there any celebration? No. Were majority of people happy about the outcome?
Certainly the answer is no. So it means that something fundamentally went wrong.
The vote margin between the APC and Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in the North during the presidential election seem to be incomparable with what happened during the governorship polls, which led people to allege that figures were cooked. Do you believe that allegation?
Of course I believe that figures were written and that is why you can see that the voting pattern changed during the governorship elections, which took place two weeks after the presidential election.
As we speak, there is confusion in the North especially in states where there was no reason to call for inconclusive elections. In Kano, Adamawa, Benue and Sokoto for instance, there were inconclusive elections which clearly showed that the outcome of the presidential elections was not what people expected. It is very obvious that the electoral commission worked to ensure that the ruling party returned to power.
The 2019 elections is the worst election that has been conducted for as long as I can remember. A clear indication of this anomaly is that the states where the PDP won elections in the North were declared inconclusive and where APC won with a small margin and was supposed to be declared inconclusive was not so.
Did you ever foresee any crisis in the North if President Muhammadu Buhari did not win?
Is there peace in the North now? Did you not hear about the uprising going on in Bauchi, Kano where people are protesting because some interests decided to quash the will of the people? It is a clear indication that the result of the election is not the will of the people, but man in his own way, decided that there will not be justice.
People will say that your statement that the election was rigged in favour of Buhari in the North is your personal opinion. Do you have any evidence to back up this claim?
The PDP presidential candidate, Atiku Abubakar went to court because he also believes that the elections were rigged and he believes that he will get justice. I believe his decision to go to court was the right decision, but it is one thing for him to go to court and it is another thing for justice to be served. What is constant is that he makes a decision with which he will be judged. This is why it is very important that whatever decision that you are going to take, especially when it has to do with national interest, you must ensure that you take the action that will make you be remembered on the positive side of history.
Also, for us we who are Northerners, we had a case where in 2015 we had to chose between a Southern Christian and a Northern Muslim who is Fulani, yet the difference in their votes was about two million. Former President Goodluck Jonathan’s stronghold was the South-South and South East at that time because the North was totally against him. In the South-West, Jonathan got the required 25 per cent in each state. This time, we had to choose between two Northern Fulani Muslims, yet they are telling us that the difference in their votes is four million. How possible is that? Buhari’s stronghold has always been the North-West while the North-East has been a war zone for a long time. But look at the votes that came out of the North-East in this year’s presidential election even when it was obvious there is war going on there. We expected that the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) will strictly adhere to its own guidelines by ensuring the use of card readers nationwide. Why did the commission ignore the use of card readers in some states and insisted on the use of card readers in other states? These are all clear indications that there were irregularities and that is why I believe that Atiku did the right thing by going to court. I believe that issues will come up as the trial commences for the world to see and at the end of the day, you would not be able to defend the indefensible.
Your statements seem to indicate that Buhari doesn’t have the total support of the North. Is this not the time that the North should put their differences aside and support this administration?
There can be no peace in the absence of justice and we cannot pretend about it. If the government has integrity, they should demonstrate it. You cannot foist your interest on people and expect to enjoy total support. Buhari’s administration has not really benefited the North because we are yet to see meaningful development. What most Northerners know is that they have a brother who is the president but that has not translated to anything meaningful to those down there. Most of those who are supposed to spearhead the execution of landmark projects in this administration are from the South-West. As far as we are concerned, President Buhari’s administration is a government of the South-West because almost all the goodies were given to them.
What goodies are you referring to?
The South-West has the super minister who is in charge of the three most important ministries –housing, works and power and that is why the minister has focused on constructing roads mainly in the South West. Name one major road that Babatunde Fashola has constructed in the North but you can name many that are in the South-West. Tell me one important ministry that is occupied by a northerner.
But almost all the security chiefs are from the North; the Managing Director of NNPC is from the North and the Minister of Petroleum, who is President Buhari, is also from the North. So why is the North still feeling it is being cheated?
The security chiefs were appointed because of the crisis in the North. As far as we in the North are concerned, this government favours only the South-West and that is why some of us are beginning to have a rethink that probably, after this tenure we would demand for a Northern presidency in 2023.
Are you insinuating that the North will take another shot at the presidency after eight years of President Buhari?
You can be rest assured that it will definitely happen. I am a leader and an opinion shaper in the North and when I tell you that we are considering supporting a Northern presidency in 2023, you better believe it because it is not just my personal opinion. The North has not benefitted anything from Buhari’s presidency because many northern states are still impoverished and under developed. The rate of poverty in the North has become worse than it was in 2015. We cannot beat our chest and say that this government has favoured the North. The first four years of Buhari was a waste and we cannot expect any magic to happen in his second tenure; it is not possible. Already some South-Westerners are raising their heads to claim that it is their turn in 2023 but for us in the north, we would plead with the South to bear with us for another 12 years because we need to feel the impact of governance.
But it would be injustice and lack of fairness to other regions if the North plans to take a shot at the presidency again in 2023 after completing eight years term.
Was justice meted to the North with the level of unemployment and physical infrastructure you cannot find there; with the bad roads and almajiris everywhere and with no serious policy by the government to tackle that? Here you are living comfortably in Lagos, enjoying federal allocations and everything and you expect us to fold our hands and look at you?
But many believe that the North are benefitting from the present government, considering that majority of the appointments were given to northerners?
What kind of appointment are we talking about? Tell me one super appointment that is given to the North now.
President Buhari is the Minister of Petroleum…
That is mere pronouncement because Ibe Kachukwu is in-charge of that ministry. He is the one almost doing everything.
Two members of Buhari’s cabinet Vice President Yemi Osinbajo and Fashola told the Yoruba to support the president’s re-election so that power can go to the South-West and the APC didn’t dispute it. Why then do you say the North is contemplating another shot in 2023?
Was there any agreement? Is the party a constitution or is party arrangement more superior to the constitution of the country? There is no going back. In 2023, we will ensure that we present a credible Northern son to contest and we will also expect the Southern people to have the understanding on why they should support us.
Is it the number of votes that the North has that is giving it the confidence that it can win the presidential elections in 2023?
The recent election has actually shown it and it has clearly proved it that in terms of numbers and voting population, the North has the highest. In fairness to Nigeria, we are not saying that because of our number, we are going to use it to intimidate them. What we are saying is that they should understand that this administration didn’t perform well in the last four years and we are saying they should please allow us to ensure that we put certain things right in our region, so that at the end of the day, everybody will live comfortably and we would move the country forward.
The Election Tribunal set up on Osun 2018 governorship poll is currently delivering its judgement.
Delivering one of its earlier reserved rulings, the #OsunTribunal struck out the separate objections filed by APCz Oyetola and INEC against the petition by Adeleke/PDP #AdelekePDPvsOyetolaAPC.
The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and its candidate, Sen. Ademola Adeleke, had challenged the victory of the All Progressives Congress (APC) and its candidate, Gov. Gboyega Oyetola, at the Osun 2018 Governorship Election at the election tribunal.
The Osun Election Tribunal, which was moved to Abuja in November 2018, after it was initially inaugurated in Osogbo, has now fixed Friday, March 22, for its judgment on the suit filed by the PDP and its candidate.
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Gov Wike
The All Progressives Congress member representing Rivers East Senatorial District, Andrew Uchendu, has accused the state Governor, Nyesom Wike, of militarising the recent elections in the state.
He said the Nigerian Army was innocent contrary to Wike’s claims.
Uchendu stated this in Abuja on Thursday during an interview with journalists on the crisis over the yet to be concluded governorship and state house of assembly elections in the state.
He alleged that Wike’s armed thugs in military uniforms carried out most of the killings and violent acts that took place in the state during the elections.
He said, “Governor Wike on March 9, when the governorship election held, stormed Obio-Akpor Local Government Collation Centre with over 200 armed thugs.
“They shot an Army captain, by name Salami, to death and injured many others, all in the process of falsifying already collated results from the ward levels.”
He alleged further that Wike worked with the Resident Electoral Commissioner in the state, Obo Effanga, to manipulate the election results in favour of the Peoples Democratic Party.
“All the narratives out there including the one said by Senator Dino Melaye ( PDP Kogi West), on the floor of the Senate on alleged militarisation of the last general elections in Rivers State, were nothing but falsehood sponsored by Governor Wike,” he added.
Gov Ganduje
Kano state governor, Dr. Abdullahi Umar Ganduje has accused the Commissioner of Police Muhammed Wakili for being politically partial.
Governor Ganduje slammed the Commissioner in an interview with BBC Hausa Service.
“I didn’t know him before now but the way he does his job is questionable. He has taken and favoured a particular political side, which is uncalled for and translates to mishandling his job”
Ganduje added that the Commissioner has no constitutional right to arrest either the governor or his deputy as he did “which is an indication of lack of professionalism from the side of the Commissioner”
On March 11, the Nigeria Police in Kano arrested the Deputy Governor, Nasiru Gawuna, and the State Commissioner for Local Government, Alhaji Sule Garo, over alleged threat to public peace.
The deputy governor enjoys immunity from arrest, according to the Nigerian constitution.
The Police later clarified that the deputy governor was saved from being manhandled by supporters of the main opposition Peoples Democratic Party candidate, at the collation centre.
