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Mr Donald Duke, the Presidential Candidate of the Social Democratic Party (SDP), has said he will appeal the judgment removing him as the party’s presidential flag bearer.

Federal High Court sitting in Abuja on Friday declared Prof. Jerry Gana, a former Nigerian Minister of Information, as the presidential candidate of the SDP.

Duke had been declared as the presidential candidate of the party after the primary election held in October 2018 in which Gana was also an aspirant.

However, Gana instituted a case against the result in court, basing his case on the zoning and rotation formula of the party.
Giving his ruling, Justice Hussein Baba-Yusuf said: “In this instance, the party’s Chairman, Chief Olu Falae, is from the South and Duke is from the South too; the law is clear; there is nothing to write in-between.

“The law has crystallised that political parties should abide by the regulations which they have made by themselves.

“The claimant laid sufficient evidence to have the judgment in his favour; it is a clear violation of the party’s constitution; the court cannot wave right over illegality.”

“Duke’s votes were declared null and void and the judge declared that Gana was the winner of the election.

“The SDP was also ordered to forward Gana’s name to the Independent National Electoral Commission, (INEC) as its candidate for the 2019 general election.

But, reacting, Duke told NAN in Lagos that: “While we await a copy of the judgement for a detailed review, it is imperative we reiterate our constitutionally backed belief.

“Every Nigerian who meets the legal requirement is entitled to contest for the office of the President.
“Any Law that seeks to curtail or subvert that right under any guise is unconstitutional, null and void and of no effect.

“The delegates of our great party at its Convention in October, overwhelmingly elected me as their presidential flag-bearer

“Any attempt to subvert their wishes through the instrumentality of the courts will be challenged.

“As a Law abiding citizen, I urge my supporters and members to remain calm as we are confident that the decision of the Court will be upturned on appeal.

“We are optimistic that the Appellate Court will reach a decision that reinforces the essential tenets of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria,” NAN quoted him as saying.

Duke added that his optimism was in line with the wishes of members of the Social Democratic Party.

https://all-gists..com/2018/12/donald-duke-reacts-court-sacks-declares-gana-sdps-presidential-candidate.html

Morning...... [Nairalander]...

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The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) says its presidential candidate Atiku Abubakar was deeply worried by the lingering industrial crises between the Federal Government and some labour unions in the country.

Spokesperson of the party’s presidential campaign council, Kola Ologbondiyan, in a statement on Monday said that Abubakar was particularly anxious about the deadlock between the Federal Government and the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU).

He said Abubakar was worried that the lingering crisis was capable of affecting the future of Nigerian undergraduate youths and put their families under undue pressure.

He said Abubakar offered hope to the striking lecturers and other agitating fronts, having already set out templates to handle all labour related issues and ensure an end to incessant industrial crises.

He said the candidate would ensure industrial harmony and greater productivity in all sectors, if elected into office as president.

“Knowing the importance of education and youth development to national cohesion, stability, development and economic prosperity, Abubakar has already articulated a clear and practical roadmap towards resolving all issues hampering education in Nigeria in his policy document.”

The policy document according to him embodies the aspiration and wishes of all Nigerians in their overall productive ventures.

“Our candidate has made ample provisions for enhanced welfare packages, research grants, better teaching and learning environment as well as a strong synergy between the union and government towards a harmonious working environment.

“The PPCO therefore urges Nigerians not to despair but to continue to rally behind Atiku Abubakar in the all-important mission of rescuing our nation,’’ he said.

www.all-gists..com

Good Morning [Nairalander]

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The Independent National Electoral Commission has said it has identified ways political parties and their candidates buy votes during elections. The commission vowed to end the practice in the 2019 Gelections.

Chairman of INEC, Prof. Mahmood Yakubu, said one of the tricks is that politicians insert currency notes into loaves of bread or sandwich they give voters at the polling units under the guise of feeding the party faithful.

Yabuku made this known in Abuja on Monday at a one-day public hearing organised by the Joint Committee on INEC of the National Assembly, themed, ‘Vote buying and improving electoral processes in Nigeria.’

Those at the event included the President of the Senate, Bukola Saraki; Speaker of the House of Representatives, Yakubu Dogara; Chairman of INEC, Mahmood Yakubu; Senior Special Assistant to the President on National Assembly Matters (Senate), Senator Ita Enang; representatives of political parties and security agencies, as well as traditional and religious leaders.

Others were the Chairman, Senate Committee on INEC, Senator Suleiman Nazif; and Chairman, House Committee on INEC and Political Parties’ Affairs, Mrs Aishatu Dukku, and principal officers of the Senate and House of Representatives.

Yakubu said, “Since 1999, we have heard several confessional statements by willing partisan actors on how our electoral process is subverted and voters as well as election personnel are induced through the use of food items, kitchen utensils, automobiles, electrical appliances, clothing, toiletries, sandwich and so on, on an election day.

“Here, when I talk about sandwich, I am not talking about food. There is a way voters are induced using two slices of bread; sandwiched between the two slices is a currency note. So, the sandwich shared is not sandwich as in food, it is a sandwich for voter inducement. In turn, candidates induce the electorate in a general election.

“In order to address the menace of vote-buying, we need to break the chain of voter inducement. Otherwise, we cannot expect to eradicate the problem in the secondary election, where many of the players, perpetrators are beneficiaries of voter inducement at the primary elections.”

The INEC boss said the commission had witnessed “so many” instances of vote-buying, including aspirants who induce party delegates to get elected as candidate from the ward to local government and state levels. He said the candidate would in turn buy votes from the electorate to win election.

“It is a chain, it is a spiral that we need to break. It is not only when vote-buying takes place at the polling unit that it becomes a problem. It is systemic,” he stated.

According to him, there is a correlation between the resort to open vote-buying at polling units and the improvements made in the electoral processes.

He said while the days of ballot box and result sheet snatching were over, vote buyers had devised means of following the voters to the polling units to ensure that they actually vote for them.

“The commission has been playing a cat-and-mouse game with some political actors, and we will continue to play this game until we defeat political actors who have that kind of mindset in our electoral process.

“There are other ways by which voters are induced. Posting of party agents to polling units and getting the voters to show them who they voted as a precondition for payment. I am sure that this is well known. There is nothing new in what I am saying.

“Buying agents of other political parties, and getting them to compromise against their political parties on election day. Surrendering the permanent voter card to middlemen as a precondition for assessing government amenities and facilities, it is also a form of vote-buying,” he said.

The INEC boss commended the National Assembly for conducting the hearing and choosing to discuss vote-buying.

He said, “With just 67 days to the 2019 elections, the decision to focus on vote-buying is duly appropriate. The fact that it is organised by the National Assembly by way of public hearing is a demonstration of the concern that we all have, that vote-buying must be tackled and must not be allowed to define our elections and democratic process.

“For us in INEC, the practice of vote-buying is unacceptable and it must not define our democracy. The truth is that we must all condemn the process and find a lasting solution to the problem. It is illegal, undemocratic and morally poignant and a threat to the sanctity of the ballot. It debases our electoral democracy, enthrones unaccountable leadership, denies citizens quality representation, deprives the nation of the opportunity to address the challenges of development and harms the nation with a bad name internationally.”

“However, for this public hearing to be meaningful and for there to be solution to the menace of vote buying, we must be frank in our discussion, practical in our suggestions and committed to the implementation of actionable recommendations.”

https://all-gists..com/2018/12/senate-public-hearing-inec-pdp-trade-blame-over-rigging.html

Good Morning [Nairalander]

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A special session of the Federal Executive Council presided over by President Muhammadu Buhari has begun at the Presidential Villa, Abuja.

The meeting is primarily to fine tune the 2019 budget proposals before it will be presented to a joint session of the National Assembly.

The Federal Government is proposing a total budget of N8.6trillion for 2019, a drop from the N9.12tn approved for 2018.

https://all-gists..com/2018/12/breaking-special-fec-session-begins-in-abuja.html

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Some civil servants sacked by the Kaduna state government got more than they bargained for when they were arrested by the police for allegedly praying against the administration of Nasir el-Rufai, the governor.

The dismissed workers, who accused the government of failing to pay their entitlements after disengaging them, had organised prayer sessions where they poured out their hearts.

In one of the sessions, they rained curses on el-Rufai and officials of his government, demanding that they be displaced in 2019.

The powerful Islamic prayer, known as “Alqunuci”, is said to be invoked by those seeking justice.

“May God make the chairman of the primary education in the state (State Universal Basic Education) useless,” they said.

“God should not bless or solve the problems of those cheating us here on earth and in the hereafter. Allah, we are crying unto you like Yakub (Jacob)… May you deal with Nasir and seize power from him.

“May God put the Kaduna state house of assembly to shame. May God punish them for signing this thing that has brought untold hardship to us.”

https://all-gists..com/2018/12/may-god-seize-power-from-el-rufai-sacked-civil-servants-pray-video.html