₦airaland Forum

President Goodluck Jonathan has told an Abuja High Court that any attempt to stop him from contesting the 2011 presidential election on the platform of the ruling Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) would amount to an infringement on his fundamental rights under the constitution.

He made the submission as the court has fixed Monday January 10 to deliver judgment in the suit filed by some aggrieved chieftains of the party seeking to stop him from contesting the presidential election on the grounds that the presidency has been zoned to the North.

This was the content of a preliminary objections filed by counsel to the president Jonathan, Chief Alex Izinyon [SAN] praying the court to strike out the suit brought by Ambassador Yahaya Kwande, Hon. Dubem Onyia and Alhaji Lawal Kaita, all card-carrying and financial members of the ruling party.

In the suit, the PDP chieftains had asked the court to restrain PDP and its National Chairman, Chief Okwesileze Nwodo from presenting President Jonathan as their candidate for the April 2011 presidential election. They are also seeking an order of the court barring the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) from accepting President Jonathan as PDP’s presidential candidate for the 2011 presidential election.

But moving their objections, the defence counsel collectively attacked the competence of the action and urged the court to dismiss the suit in its entirety for lacking in merit. Specifically, Izinyon told the court that his client, like any other Nigerian, has the constitutional rights to contest as president by virtue of section 42 [1] of the 1999 constitution adding that anything to the contrary was an infringement on his right.
He urged the court to hold that the suit having been predicated upon Article 7.2 [c] of the party’s constitution is caught up by the principle of issues estopel as a competent court of coordinate jurisdiction had earlier delivered judgment on a similar suit.

In addition, he submitted that granting the request of the plaintiffs would create judicial anarchy and throw the court into disrepute. On his part, counsel to the PDP, Chief Joe-Kyari Gadzama [SAN] argued that the suit itself was an abuse of court as another court has already taken a decision on a similar suit.
Gadzama said the Plaintiffs lack the requisite legal standing to institute or sustain the action in law, noting also that there was no reasonable cause of action that lies against the party.

Gadzama, who described the plaintiffs’ suit as an abuse of court process said the issue of nominating or electing who should be a party’s presidential candidate is an intra-party matter for which the PDP has various administrative and legal mechanisms, which are yet to be exhausted by the Plaintiffs . He argued that the exhaustion of these administrative and legal mechanisms constitutes a condition precedent before legal action can be commenced.

“The action is premature, non-justiciable and this honourable court is functus officio having determined the same issue in an earlier suit (SUIT NO FCT/CV/2425/2010 (SANI AMINU DUTSINMA -V- PDP & ANOR). The action ought to have been commenced by a Writ of Summons,” the party stated.
A four-paragraph affidavit in support of the preliminary objection, averred that PDP’s Constitution stipulates that aggrieved members of the party must exhaust all its remedies as provided before resorting to litigation, adding that it is an offence punishable by disciplinary actions for its members to side-step these remedies and proceed to court.

Counsel to Nwodo and National Legal adviser to the party, Olushola Oke who submitted that as a sitting president, Jonathan has the constitutional right to contest for second term. He said stopping Jonathan from contesting the presidential election would be tantamount to disqualifying him from the race on account of zoning, which he argued, was not a ground for disqualification under section 137 of the constitution

@ joagbaje& azibulua

I hope u guys have curly hair now, true pastor chris followers, defending the wrong doings of a supposed to be man of God, mtcheew!

Quote from: bibelo on December 15, 2010, 07:37 AM
Most of u do not know d politics involved.let me give a few hints to the problems.1 union bank is d major competitor to first bank where sanusi comes from 2.union bank does charge ridiculous charges your new generation banks such as the gtbs charge.3.they want to kill bank by retrenching d best brains of d bank and hiring people frm failed banks in place of them which accounts for d poor services u are recieving cos b4 d retrenchment union bank was d best administratively which sanusi can attest to.4.madam osibodu is milking d bank resources by collecting N1 million every friday for the weekend.5 the problem of union bank stated when it acquired broad bank which had no assets at all only liabilities and absolved broad banks staff,also paying them on a scale higher than wat it pays its original staff.6.the retrenched staffs have not bn paid their entitlements despite disengaging and also short paying and the management embezzled the staffs entitlements.THIS IS A FEW OF THE REASONS AND SOME ARE HIGHLY CLASSIFIED

very faulty analysis; probably from som1 outside the banking sector.

Perhaps the most stupid, irresponsible and callous murder of the 80's was that of Dele Giwa. The death was a classic example of desperate, high-handed, dirty and mean under-the-carpet cover-up state terrorism.

One of the Nigerian finest investigative journalist—Dele Giwa wanted to market a classified drug-trafficking story on IBB to IBB. Republic Report gathered that Dele Giwa allegedly sold the first alleged blackmail story on one, “Mr. Lawson” Founder of the Nigerian Grail Movement”. Dele Giwa backtracked on publishing the first story on Mr. Lawson, and was allegedly compensated with pricey Land property and more, reports say.

According to our source, “Dele Giwa’s problem was that he stumbled on some documents about Gloria Okon in London and after interviewing her, threatened to publish the story while allegedly letting it be known that he could be persuaded to withdraw publication with a cash bribe of US$21m plus N200m”.

Reports allegedly impugned that Dele Giwa was ready to settle Gloria Okon/IBB drug-trafficking and drug-shipments story by negotiating for the top job of Information Minister Position that Tony Mommoh already occupied at the time:

“In alternatively, he was ready to settle for the position of Information Minister, which Tony Mommoh was occupying at the time. Dele Giwa’s blackmail unfortunately misfired unlike an earlier one involving Mr. Lawson, the founder of the Nigerian Grail Movement who was alleged to have been arrested and locked up in London for money laundering problems. Mudashiru, the military governor of Lagos state at the time of Lawson’s travails, was alleged to have stopped the publication of Lawson’s story by bribing Giwa with the land and C of O of the Newswatch plaza”.

Pointblanknews.com can confirm that the Economic and Financial Crime Commission  (EFCC), is currently investigating allegations of money laundering against the flamboyant general overseer of Christ Embassy Church, Pastor Chris Oyakhilome.

Oyahkilome who is no stranger to controversy, is alleged to have laundered a whopping $35 Million into foreign bank accounts.

Pointblanknews.com sources hinted that between 2002 and 2009, Oyakhilome moved huge sums of church’s fund and dodgy donations from shady characters into strings of accounts in the United States and Europe.

Spokesman for the EFCC, Femi Babafemi, who confirmed the commission’s investigation into the pastor’s role in the alleged crime in a chat on Tuesday said the EFCC got the hint from “intelligence” reports. The EFCC also got assistance from the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime.

Although Babafemi declined to give details of the development, Pointblanknews.com learnt that the pastor may soon be invited for questioning.

Oyakhilome raised dust few years ago when the Nigeria Broadcasting Commission (NBC) banned miracle sessions on television. Trouble started after Oyakhilome purportedly healed a “blind’ man on his weekly programme “Atmosphere For Miracles”. After the ‘healing’ of the man whom Oyakhilome claimed had been blind from birth, the pastor asked him what the color of his( Oyakhilome ) tie was. To the chagrin of viewers, the man said blue. The problem was, aperson who is blind from birth, would not know colors.

His romance with another controversial pastor, T.B Joshua raised some dust, as he (Oyakhilome) was alleged to be getting some fetish support from Joshua.

Oyakhilome who allegedly gives financial targets to his parish pastors, it was learnt, tried to use some of his contacts inside the EFCC to kill the investigation, but failed.

The pressure on his pastors to raise millions of naira within a short period or be demoted or removed, has allegedly led to some of his pastors doing all they could to impress the pastor and keep their jobs. It was also learnt that members are also pressured to make huge donations.

This tactics reportedly made one his pastors at the church’s Ifako, Lagos parish, Lawrence Agada, to steal so much from Sheraton Hotel, Ikeja, where he worked as a top cashier. Agada bought two generating sets worth N6 million, donated N6 million for renovations at the headquarters, N1 million for plastic chairs and N400, 000 to bankroll the Ifako parish’s senior pastor, Carol Sholesi, for a trip to Australia to attend International Federation of Business and Professional Women . 


which way Nigeria? we been think say na only politicians!!!

This Goodluck guy should better be careful! does he think he is on a shopping spree? 1st, he wanted to give 100million to onyeka onwenu for campaign song, 2ndly the tunde bakare $50000 saga, and now houses for sale. who ever knows this GEJ guy should better warn him! he is not even my candidate.

Geezz! $50,000 for Transport? Ok I understand, mayb each of them came with their private jets and they needed to buy fuel to take them back,