₦airaland Forum

A former Deputy National Publicity Secretary, Timi Frank, has called on justices presiding over the Presidential Election Petition Court (PEPC) to be resolute and remain faithful to their oath of office and allegiance by dispensing justice without fear or favour.

Frank, in a statement issued on Sunday, urged the Appeal Court Justices to use the opportunity afforded by the revelation by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) that the Presidential candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Atiku Abubakar won 21 states to redeem the lost image of the judiciary.

DAILY POST reports that INEC had, in its response to Atiku and PDP’s joint petition, revealed that the PDP presidential candidate won 21 states of the federation in the February 25 presidential election.

The 21 states listed by INEC as won by Atiku and PDP are Adamawa, Akwa Ibom, Bauchi, Bayelsa, Borno, Delta, Ekiti, Gombe, Jigawa, Kaduna, Katsina, Kebbi, Kogi, Kwara, Nasarawa, Niger, Osun, Sokoto, Taraba, Yobe and Zamfara.

Frank said now that INEC has voluntarily admitted on record that Atiku won 21 states instead of the 12 states it earlier credited to him, the Tribunal need not look further but to declare the former Vice President as the authentic winner of the February 25, 2023, presidential election.

“This definitely shows clearly that Atiku’s results were swapped with that of Tinubu to make him win, albeit fraudulently. The justices owe it to themselves, Nigerians and God to declare Atiku the rightful winner of the 2023 presidential election.

“We know the justices of the Appeal Court hearing the petition challenging the declaration of Bola Ahmed Tinubu as the winner of the presidential election are under tremendous pressure coupled with vile threats and intimidation to maintain an illegal status quo, but they must not succumb because the pressure of God that will be on them should they neglect this material fact would be more than the pressure from men.

“It must never be said that the man who won the least number of states and votes became president as against the man who won majority of states and votes.

“We cannot afford to go back to the era of impunity in this country when the Nigeria Governors’ conducted an election and declared that man who won 15 votes winner rather than the man that won 19 votes.

“The Justices must be resolute and remain faithful to their oath of office and allegiance by carrying out their assignment without fear or favour,” he said.

Eriokanmi:
In cotonou, yes. But confirm that your bank has a branch there first.

Eriokanmi:
Naija banks dey cotonou too nah. You can withdraw from your dom account there

Mozegee:
dont you have a bank

November1857:
Any Rerun Poll Should Be Between Atiku and I, Tinubu Tells Court
*Says Obi, LP constitutionally barred from recontesting

*Sack Tinubu now, Obi tells court in final address



https://www.thisdaylive.com/index.php/2023/07/23/any-rerun-poll-should-be-between-atiku-and-i-tinubu-tells-co

Yampotatocarrot:
You'll get your ticket there in Cotonou... Change your money and take there... You can take naira and change once you cross the border at Seme

Eriokanmi:
There are airlines desks there at the airport just the way we have them here in Nigeria. They accept usd, cad dollars , euros and cefa Its better you have either usd or euro handy. Cefa is more valuable than naira now sef

duro4chang:
You are so lazy and petty. You have been moving upandan on the net wailing. Do something meaningful. Your mate's are making it but you are on Nairaland weeping like a baby. You go wail taya aswear.

Eriokanmi:
Tell your fiend to take a cab from the seme or idi iroko border to the Benin airport. It won't cost more than 80k. Fly for less than 500k to any European destination and up to 745k to the Americas. Get immigration pass at the border from both the Nigerian and benenois sides. This would aid your check in at thehr Airport without hassles. You'd feel at home there as you hear our people who are Benin citizens speak Yoruba to you. Everywhere is calm.

Leave Nigeria and ttheir useless leaders and supporters. I hope they wont destroy the heritage put in place by our forefathers someday with their bad policies which are being supported by their blind supporters. Our youths will learn the hard way. Time never reach dem to gain wisdom.

They think Benin Republic too doesn't import petroleum products, including petrol and aviation fuel like we do right? How many of our petrol tankers are being snuggled into Benin as claimed by these thieves in govt? They keep deceiving the gullible youths and they too are always swallowing their lies hook,.like and sinker.

Life is normal in Benin despite the removal of petrol subsidy. Don't let them bother you again with their lies. I expect international flight to become so expensive in Benin after the subsidy removal but its over 200% cheaper than what we have back home. Nigeria will remain stagnant until we remove propaganda from our polity, just to have our ways. One website called nairametrics claimed dollar hit 1,000 yesterday at the black market . This is a pure lie. Rather, it crashed to 850 naira. I sold a few yesterday. Some bdcs bought at 845 too. I didn't sell to the guy i first contacted cos his rate was too low. Propaganda won't help us as a nation. Google the owner of nairametrics.com

duro4chang:
Lazy youth. That is what we have been telling you. Instead of finding something profitable to do you are on Nairaland talking trash all day long. Hunger go waya you like mad this time. Na this time you go learn your lesson.

duro4chang:
Kindly send me your account number. Don't be ashamed

IconicR:
This political hushpuppy still ranting. Obi is just her cash cow, she couldn't have her way with our amiable president and she quickly ran to Obi to share in the looted Anambra state money

Yesufu said those who were laughing at Obidients for doing the one million march are now also doing the same because of the fuel scarcity, a resultant effect of the hike in the price of the commodity.

Fuel Hike: You Laughed At Us While We Marched For Peter Obi, Now It Is Your Turn To Trek – Aisha Yesufu

Popular Nigerian activist, Aisha Yesufu has mocked those who were laughing at supporters of the Labour Party presidential candidate, Peter Obi while they were campaigning for him.

Yesufu said those who were laughing at Obidients for doing the one million march are now also doing the same because of the fuel scarcity, a resultant effect of the hike in the price of the commodity.

Naija News recalls that earlier on Tuesday, the pump price of fuel increased from N539 to N617 per litre.

The Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPCL) attributed the hike in price to ‘market forces’.

The NNPCL Group Chief Executive Officer, Mele Kyari, disclosed this while speaking to journalists after a closed-door meeting with Vice President Kashim Shettima at the State House in Abuja.

Kyari said with the deregulation of the oil sector, market realities will force the price of petrol up sometimes and at other times force it down.

“We have the marketing wing of our company. They adjust prices depending on the market realities.

“This is really what is happening; this is the meaning of making sure that the market regulates itself so that prices will go up and sometimes they will come down also. This is what we have seen, and in reality, this is what (how) the market works,” he said.

Due to the price increment, Nigerians who are unable to afford transportation now trek to save costs.

Weighing in on the situation via her verified Twitter handle, Yesufu wrote, “Those who were laughing at those doing one million march for Peter Obi, are now doing their own one million march because of fuel scarcity.

“If you don’t stand for something, you will fall for nothing!”

GregJames:
A lot of people have received grant before mr , not everything dey for social media not to talk of main media so rest

Deogratiasfx:
BAT supporters would still come and say it will be trashed.

Beremx:
Sadiya Umar Faruk, the greatest scammer Nigeria has ever had.

Choi!!

kimjongJezebel:
May this filling station ⛽ favour me and my family!

pandoragirigory:
Embiitered People that claimed buhari died in Saudi Arabia, that Buhari was cloned , what can't they say

IconicR:
I thought you had something tangible to write mtcheww

President Tinubu Had No Telephone Conversation With CJN - APC

*PRESIDENT TINUBU HAD NO TELEPHONE CONVERSATION WITH CJN - THE COURTS SHOULD BE LEFT ALONE TO DO THEIR JOB*

Nigeria is crying for liberation. A lot of things go wrong in the country. Anambra was once like that but underwent a profound transformation from 2006 to 2014. In those years, the state witnessed an interregnum of peace and progress. In the end, the state was left with over N75 Billion and other surpluses amidst recording the highest development among all the states. Unfortunately, his successor ended up destroying everything that he built; proving that from civilization to barbarism only takes years provided a barbarian lurking around the gate is offered a little inroad. To whom, more than any other one man, do we owe that precious and epochal liberation? To Mr. Peter Obi.

As Obi turns 62 today, how do we rate him? How shall we, who fret at the pinpricks of private tribulations, understand a man who came far ahead of his time? I am perhaps among the most privileged to talk about him. The fact is that if we should subpoena even his most virulent critics to the judgment box of truth they will speak eloquently of him when hatred and subjectivity are cast aside.

Born on the 19th of July, 1961, he started early in life and at every age engaged in what ordinarily his mates were considered as too young to do. With a little modification, we can say of him as Achebe said of Chimamanda, “he came fully mature.” As a pupil of primary school, he was already a successful trader. In secondary school, his trading craft further blossomed and as an undergraduate was already bearing fruits.

With the same commitment with which he conquered every challenge he had faced, he entered politics and at once made his marks. If one cares to study his life as a model of growth and development, one would be happy to include unusual political achievements that really introduced new order to the country. This will be our focus today as we celebrate his 62nd year on earth – the boundless possibilities of man’s contributions to his society.

The Nigeria we all used to know was a place nobody had ever taken post-election litigation seriously. At the end of each election, those that were obviously cheated would threaten to bring down the heavens only to later chicken out. They do this either out of promise by the crooked “winners” to carry them along or because they had been paid off using the resources of the state. However, when Obi felt cheated, he went to court and defied all odds and became the first Governor to ascend the throne through the arbitrament of the tribunals. Soon after Obi succeeded, he proved to Nigerians the infinite possibilities of our courts when approached with a sense of duty, commitment, and godliness.

His initial governance of Anambra State was perilous. Coming into Government with an entirely different orientation unknown to the “ekperima’s” of politics, he started by trying to upturn the old, entrenched system. It did not go well with the old, they ended up impeaching him. Undaunted, he fought the impeachment vigorously, trusting in the judicial process. Eventually, he returned. Again, he set the record that impeachment is not a death sentence, especially when you mess with the wrong person. I recall that momentous period in the history of Anambra State when impunity was the order of the day and decency took flight.

Added to his very nature, his peculiar experience in the state, and the unusual challenges imposed on him the task of changing the psyche of the people to see politics for what it is supposed to be and not the congregation of gangsters. He succeeded because, under him, Anambra moved many notches up in the scale of human and infrastructural developments and became an exemplary state. As the Governor, he displayed abilities rarely combined: rugged zeal and administrative skill. He showed us the infinite possibilities of the state once it is rightly governed. Even at times, he was drawn into controversies; he attacked ideas, not characters.

In 2009, when the time for election was approaching, Obi wrote to INEC informing them that constitutionally he was supposed to serve out his tenure, excluding the period Sen. Chris Ngige served wrongly. INEC not only refused, but went ahead to conduct an election. Again, Obi returned to court and successfully won, because the court agreed that he was constitutionally bound to complete his tenure. This was the reason Sen. Andy Ubah, the interrex King, lasted just seventeen days. This is the reason Anambra holds the gubernatorial election on a different day. Soon, other States followed his footsteps, regained their states from usurpers and today hold elections on different days. This remains a precedent by Obi, showing the nation the infinite possibilities of one man to change a corrupt system.

Many years after he left office, he goes about like the Sophist of Socrates time, dishing out in full scale, words of political and economic wisdom that if imbibed by our leaders would restore the glory of the country. However, the president we had at that time, Gen. Mohammadu Buhari was impervious to good governance and reason which was why many people regarded him as a disaster. He is one of the many men of his time of whom it might be said that it would have been better for the country and humanity if they had never been born. His years were unmitigated disasters such that for once, noting the danger, Nigerians became united in the clamour for Obi to come on a rescue mission.

His involvement has exposed to us the true nature of man and has made some of us lose faith in humanity. One particular person and a classmate I had considered as a genuine activist were the most surprising. The election exposed him and his ilks as fake. It also exposed us to the antics of many Nigerians for what they really are. In some of the fora I belong to, it was distressing seeing human beings turning truth and our values topsy-turvy in the name of politics. What lessons are we teaching the young ones when we have failed at our ages to follow the example of the reasoner who is seeking truth, and not of the eristic who is contradicting for the sake of what Nigerians call “stomach infrastructure”? We can now speak or write vividly about some characters we encountered during electioneering for the simple reason of using them to teach Nigerians what to embrace and what to run away from. This is in line with actions associated with Obi always being didactic by their very nature.

Who remembers the group whose two members were shamefully named in the recent EU report on the 2023 election? They think that politics is about eloquence aimed at hair-splitting and quibbles of words. I once describe their tribe as that of the depraved who carry paunches of poison under their tongues; when they speak this venom mingles with their words and pollutes all the surrounding air. Clearly, they speak with their hopes and wishes rather than with their brains. The unfortunate sequel is that they usually end up overwhelming little minds without illuminating any minds. What of our Anambra brother? He is like an orange in their hand; one squeezes the orange and throws away the peel. During the election, they all made themselves targets for public contumely where they will remain for the remainder of their years.

On the contrary, we also witnessed men, amidst political decay, who preferred edifying ethics to those of their time. We are not ashamed to mention their names. We have our own Chimamanda Adichie, whose voice came when it was needed most; Prof. Okey IKechukwu, who knows how to make thoughts shine through words; Mr. Atedo Peterside, a worthy representative of ennobling expectations from elders; Prof. Pat Utomi, who always teaches us that to give life a meaning and chart a new course for a country like Nigeria, that Nigerians should strive to have a purpose larger than selves; Aisha Yesuf, is always ardent at escalating unjust instances on a bravely broadening scale; the young Ndi Kato reminds us of the ancient “Cato the Younger”, admired for his integrity and insistence that dictatorship must be resisted; Kenneth Okonkwo deliberately made himself seem fierce by his actions accentuated by a full jaw ready to masticate stupidity. Their speeches and releases are warm with the love of freedom, democratic ideals, tolerance, justice, and reason.

The dynamics of the election also exposed us to the hypocrisy of some Nigerians. Here, I had a personal encounter. I have a good friend who I usually send my broadcast messages to. Recently, when I shared a particular message, he replied in words as shocking as they were revealing. Why must our people see things from ethnic prisms? Why must our people prefer their tribesmen for the governance of the state when it is clear to them that the man is wholly incapable of governance on account of age and infirmities? The “gragra” of strength we are witnessing is a case of a man using the last burst of his dwindling energy to deceive Nigerians and himself – it will not last.

Today Obi is at the Tribunal trying to regain the mandate, which, by popular acclaim, Nigerians gave to him. We hear side talks of the impossibility of removing a sitting president through the courts. Those saying this may have forgotten that he did it at the State level and could do it again. Today all eyes are on him and on the judiciary.

Showing interest as they never did in the past, Nigerians have been following his case and are astonished at the sheer weight of evidence he brought to the table. It was clear that the All Progressives Congress (APC) deliberately rigged him out of the first position to the third position so that he would not go to court. You could even see the disappointment of his followers by incessant lamentations that a person that got third position went to court rather than resting in his house.

All hands must be a deck to stop the grand buffoonery that is the present Government founded on rigging. As the case at the Court of Appeal is gradually coming to an end, may I once again remind the Lord Justices to go beyond legalism and do the right things? Besides ennobling the judiciary, they would have written their names forever in the hearts of Nigerians. Because they also live in society, they are as aware of the nonsense that INEC did like the man next door. They should understand that continued acquaintance with the pervasive pertinacity of nonsense will destroy the society their children are part of. Buhari was very bad, we wanted him out and voted for a better man, Mr. Peter Obi. To allow the thieves of election to succeed is to ignore how Nigerians successfully delivered themselves from the foxes only for the judiciary to deliver us to the wolves.

As Obi turns 62, he offers us the opportunity to reflect on our lives and that of our country Nigeria. Things are really very bad and history beckons on him to salvage the country. May no institution be an obstacle towards this great rebirth. Having seen how far men could go for the sake of power and to thwart this re-birth, we must advise ourselves to continue to love and cherish our country, but must at all times keep our gunpowder dry within the laws of the land.

The U.S. State Department and Federal Bureau of Investigation cited ‘unusual circumstances’ for denying to release the records to the public. Following a freedom of information request, the U.S. authorities said even if they were to release the records, it would be at least until January 2026 before they could do so.

A civil lawsuit has now been filed over the matter before Judge Beryl Howell of the United States District Court for the District of Columbia in Washington, D.C.

Aaron Greenspan, an American public disclosure activist, had filed a request to the FBI, State Department, Department of Treasury, and Drug Enforcement Administration, among federal and local agencies, seeking an urgent release of Mr Tinubu’s immigration and criminal records.

The filings came as Mr Tinubu maintained in court that he did not commit any crimes during his decades-long residency in the U.S. Mr Tinubu also asserted ownership of his identity, despite strong indications, he might have changed names and education records in the past.

Mr Tinubu’s real identity and education records contain omissions and contradictions that he has not explained to the public. For instance, the Nigerian president had said under oath to the electoral office INEC, while seeking to be Lagos governor in 1999, that he attended the prestigious University of Chicago.

The university has since disowned Mr Tinubu. Another American school, Chicago State University, confirmed a Bola Tinubu attended the school but did not say whether it was the Nigerian president. Documents from the school showed that a person bearing Bola Tinubu, who attended the school in the 1970s, was a female.

Mr Tinubu also stated under oath in 1999 that he attended primary and secondary schools in Lagos and Ibadan in the 1950s and 1960s, but he expunged those assertions from his latest INEC application form ahead of this year’s general elections in February. He did not explain why he removed the claims, although there was no evidence that the primary school he said he attended ever existed in Nigeria.

Mr Tinubu, 71, was named as a launderer of proceeds of drug trafficking in U.S. court documents in 1993. He forfeited $460,000 at the time.

The records formed a key part of an ongoing challenge to Mr Tinubu’s election as president of Nigeria before a tribunal hearing election petitions in Abuja. This prompted Mr Greenspan, who runs PlainSite, a website that holds files from American courts and institutions, to file multiple requests to U.S. authorities in possession of documents that could help clarify some of the crucial questions upsetting Nigerian minds.

The State Department is believed to have records of whether or not the person who applied for a U.S. visa and travelled as Bola Tinubu in the 1970s is the same person running Nigeria today.

The FBI could throw more light on how Mr Tinubu became involved in drugs in the U.S. and other criminal charges that he might have faced but which were not in public records.

“This office will not be able to respond within the 20 days provided by the statute due to unusual circumstances,” the State Department said in a May 15, 2023, letter to Mr Greenspan.

Previously on August 4, 2022, the FBI sent a message to Mr Greenspan, saying: “Please be advised that ‘unusual circumstances’ apply to the processing of your request.”

But on March 22, 2023, the FBI said it would try to release all documents relating to Mr Tinubu in its possession, but not until January 2026 at the earliest. Other agencies, including the Department of Treasury’s Internal Revenue Service and the Drug Enforcement Administration, also said they wouldn’t release the documents on the same grounds.

The FBI also said Mr Greenspan “failed to demonstrate that the requested information is in the public interest because it is likely to contribute significantly to public understanding of the operations and activities of the government.” But the activist promptly responded by detailing how Mr Tinubu’s drug forfeiture case in Chicago drew the most eyes to his organisation’s website over the past year. The website has over 15 million records.

All the agencies have now been summoned to appear in court to show course why records relating to a Nigerian president were deemed unusual and inconsequential to be released to the public.

On July 17, assistant U.S. attorney Jared Littman entered an appearance as the lawyer representing all the agencies, and promptly requested a delay until August 28, 2023, to file a response to the lawsuit, which was instituted on June 12, 2023.

Gajagojo:
Lagos economy is growing. It is now over $100 billion
That is double what it was 10 years ago
Can you tell us how many countries in the world have achieved that?
your premise that they have been unable to drive growth is untrue

helinues:
“We recall very clearly a mild but stern threat during the ‘Democracy Day’ Speech made by the APC-led administration where it stated emphatically that “It has become imperative to state here that the unnecessary illegal orders used to truncate or abridge democracy will no longer be tolerated.”