₦airaland Forum

By John Chuks Azu


The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has denied being in possession of the server where results of the February 23 presidential election were uploaded. INEC’s position was made known at the ongoing Presidential Election Petitions Tribunal in Abuja challenging the outcome of the election.

Atiku Abubakar and the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) had through their lawyers led by Levy Uzoukwu (SAN) asked the tribunal to compel INEC to grant them access to the server and smart card readers used in the conduct of the election. But counsel to INEC, Yunus Ustaz Usman (SAN) in a counter affidavit asked the court to dismiss the application.

“They are asking us to bring something we don’t have,” he said. He drew the attention of the tribunal to its judgment on March 6 granting PDP access to inspect only election materials without the server. Counsel to President Muhammadu Buhari, Wole Olanipekun (SAN) and the All Progressives Congress (APC), Lateef Fagnemi (SAN) both asked the court to dismiss the application for failing to disclose the existence of the server.

Atiku had claimed that results from the INEC server showed that he scored a total of 18,356,732 as against 16,741,430 votes by Buhari. INEC had through manual collation announced President Buhari winner of the election with 15,191,847 votes with Atiku polling 11, 262,978. The proceeding was witnessed by the vice presidential candidate of the PDP, Peter Obi, who represented the presidential candidate, Atiku Abubakar, and the former chairman of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), Nuhu Ribadu, who represented President Buhari.

10 LESSONS FROM PRESIDENT BUHARI’S 2019 NATIONAL DEMOCRACY DAY SPEECH, JUNE 12, 2019 June 13, 2019 9:33 am by idris.abdulrahman – Nigeria


TEN THINGS NIGERIANS LEARNT FROM PRESIDENT BUHARI’S 2019 NATIONAL DEMOCRACY DAY SPEECH, JUNE 12, 2019



COMMITMENT TO SERVING NIGERIA

Having studied, worked and lived in every part of Nigeria, interacted with Nigerians of all ages and ethnic, religious and political affiliations, and even fought a war for the unity of the country, President Buhari’s overriding ambition is to continue to work for the unity, peace, progress and prosperity of Nigeria. “I can therefore do no more than dedicate the rest of my life to work for the unity of Nigeria and upliftment of Nigerians… Throughout my adult life, I have been a public servant. I have no other career but public service. I know no service but public service.


A LOT HAS BEEN ACHIEVED, EVEN IN THE FACE OF GREAT CHALLENGES AND VESTED INTERESTS

A great deal has been accomplished in the last four years – in Infrastructure, Ease of Doing Business, etc. – but a lot more needs to be done. The recession is well behind us; we have since then enjoyed 8 consecutive quarters of growth. The Manufacturing Purchasing Managers Index – a measure of manufacturing activity – has risen for 26 consecutive months since March 2017. External reserves have risen to $45 billion enough to finance over 9 months of current import commitments. The Social Investment Programme, the largest in Africa, has become a model that other countries are seeking to copy. Longstanding debts are being cleared, including pensions, progress is being made in the fight against corruption.

Nigeria is attracting investments across various sectors: agro-processing projects; petrochemicals; crude oil and solid minerals; energy exploration; software development; telecoms; health, education, manufacturing projects. All of this progress is happening in the face of powerful interests that wish to retain the status quo. “We [have] encountered huge resistance from vested interests who do not want CHANGE, But CHANGE has come, we now must move to the NEXT LEVEL… We are not daunted by the enormity of the tasks ahead. Instead, we are revived by this new mandate…”


NIGERIA’S INHERENT GREATNESS IS NOT IN DOUBT

Nigeria’s greatness is not in doubt: evident in its demographics, natural resources, regional and continental clout, and most importantly, its people. That greatness must be fully realized. “Our strength is in our people – our youth, our culture, our resilience, our ability to succeed despite the odds… Nigeria’s role in the world as an emerging economic force is without a doubt.” “Nigeria is the Big Brother to our neighbours. We are the shock-absorber of the West African sub-region, the bulwark of ECOWAS and Lake Chad Basin Commission.”


POLITICAL WILL TO RESOLVE SECURITY CHALLENGES

All of the security challenges being faced today have been with us for a long time. But there is a big difference between 2015 and 2019: Political will and determination. And that will has since started yielding fruit: Boko Haram is now on the defensive, unable to hold territory the way it did in 2015 and prior, and the challenges of banditry and kidnapping are being met with unprecedented resolve. “The great difference between 2015 and today is that we are meeting these challenges with much greater support to the security forces in terms of money, equipment and improved local intelligence. We are meeting these challenges with superior strategy, firepower and resolve.”


PRIORITIZING SMALL BUSINESSES AND RURAL ECONOMIES

The Administration will continue to prioritize these. A Nigeria that works for everyone, not only the wealthy or the connected. It is doable. And Nigeria is already now well on its way. Rural economies will be integrated into the mainstream through the provision of cheap access to credit and the provision of infrastructure: feeder roads, electricity, etc. “The Nigerian economy rises and falls on the strength of [small business] investments and productivity.” “This task is by no means unattainable. China has done it. India has done it. Indonesia has done it. Nigeria can do it. These are all countries characterized by huge burdens of population… With leadership and a sense of purpose, we can lift 100 million Nigerians out of poverty in 10 years.”


INFRASTRUCTURE REVOLUTION IN PROGRESS

No administration in recent history has been this committed to investing in and upgrading Nigeria’s infrastructure: roads, bridges, power plants, air and sea ports, rail networks, and so on. Infrastructure will create jobs, attract investments, reduce the cost of doing business, reduce inequality, improve security, and help grow the Nigerian economy and transform the country into an economic powerhouse. But even with the much that has been done, there is still much more required. “Despite the enormous resources pledged to infrastructure development these past four years, there remains the urgent need to modernize our roads and bridges, electricity grid, ports and rail systems… Over 2,000 kilometers of ongoing Federal road and bridge projects across the country will be completed to reduce journey times and the cost of doing business.”


FIGHTING HUNGER, POVERTY AND INEQUALITY, AND CREATING PROSPERITY

One of the administration’s driving ambitions is the reduction of poverty and inequality in Nigeria. Hence the focus on small businesses, which are the engine of the economy, on rural economies, in which a large portion of the population is to be found, and on ramping up the domestic production of food. Already a lot has been achieved on the road to self-sufficiency in rice, maize, cassava, poultry, fertilizer, and other agricultural products.

Apart from ensuring that Nigeria works for all Nigerians regardless of gender, class, ethnicity, religion, etc, another reason why we must fight poverty and inequality is because of the link between them and security. Law enforcement is not the only solution to Nigeria’s insecurity challenges. “When economic inequality rises, insecurity rises. But when we actively reduce inequality through investments in social and hard infrastructure, insecurity reduces… The disturbing increase in rates of kidnapping, banditry and other criminal activities can be attributed to the decades of neglect and corruption in social investment, infrastructure development, education and healthcare.”


EXPLOITING NIGERIA’S GAS POTENTIAL

Nigeria is in fact more a gas country than an oil one. This gas potential must be harnessed, for domestic and international benefit. There is plenty of room for new investments in gas projects – not just Liquefied Natural Gas but also Cooking Gas. And Nigeria stands to reap a lot of environmental benefit from scaling up the domestic consumption of Cooking Gas, as a replacement for the commonly-used firewood. “Over the last four years, we have become a net exporter of urea, which is made from natural gas. We invite investors to develop more natural gas-based petrochemical projects.”


THE STATES HAVE AN IMPORTANT ROLE TO PLAY

The Federal Government alone cannot develop Nigeria. States have to rise and pull their individual and collective weight, by investing in infrastructure, in security, etc. The progress Nigerians seek will only be achieved when every tier of Government is fully committed to solving our problems and challenges. “Nationwide development cannot occur from Abuja alone; it must occur at States. And Government cannot do it alone. I therefore implore all State Governments, especially those with large rural economies, to aggressively solicit investments in your states.”


RIGHTING THE WRONGS OF THE PAST

The designation of June 12 as National Democracy Day; the National Honours given to MKO Abiola, Babagana Kingibe and Gani Fawehinmi; and the renaming of the National Stadium, Abuja, as Moshood Abiola National Stadium – these and more are steps President Buhari has taken to right the many wrongs of the past, and promote unity and a sense of justice in Nigeria. “As we all know, correcting injustice is a pre-requisite for peace and unity… Today, I propose the re-naming of the Abuja National Stadium. Henceforth it will be called MOSHOOD ABIOLA NATIONAL STADIUM.” (NAN)

By Taiwo Amodu, Jacob


THE leadership of the All Progressives Congress (APC), on Tuesday, walked its talks to produce the main principal officers of the ninth National Assembly, as its anointed candidates emerged as the president and deputy president of the Senate, in persons of Senator Ahmed Lawan and Senator Ovie Omo-Agege respectively.

Their counterparts in the Green Chamber, Honourables Femi Gbajabiamila and Idris Wase, also won the exalted offices of Speaker of the House of Representatives and deputy speaker respectively.


At the Senate, Lawan polled 79 votes to defeat his rival, Ali Ndume, who scored 28 votes, making a total of 107 senators that voted at the inaugural session.

Gbajabiamila, who had served as both minority and majority leader, polled 281 votes out of 358 votes cast, while his rival, Umar Bago, scored 76 votes. One vote was declared invalid.

Few weeks after the general election, President Muhammadu Buhari, alongside the party stakeholders, had held a meeting at the Presidential Villa, where the positions of Senate president and Speaker House of Representatives were zoned to the North-East and South-West, respectively and went further to microzone to the two individuals that emerged on Tuesday.

It was a decision that courted dissension of other aspirants within the party, who squealed against the endorsement. Some of them even accused certain leaders of the party of trying to fix their footsoldiers in strategic positions ahead of the 2023 presidential race.

Events in the last two weeks, however, showed that the ruling party was determined to secure what belongs to it, unlike in 2015 when its leadership, under Chief John Odigie-Oyegun and the Presidency were jolted when Senator Bukola Saraki and Honourable Yakubu Dogara emerged as Senate President and Speaker of the House of Representatives, the duo being members of the defunct nPDP, one in the blocs that coalesced to form the APC.

Some power blocs were instrumental to the feat the “fractured” APC recorded at both chambers.

The list included its national officers, led by Adams Oshiomhole; the governors, with the likes of Kaduna State governor, Mallam Nasir el-Rufai and his colleague from Jigawa State, Salmon Badaru, permanently in pursuit of perceived errant lawmakers.


The Secretary to the Government of the Federation (SGF), Boss Mustapha, led the Presidency footsoldiers.

It was the governors led by el-Rufai who ensured that the former Gombe State governor, Danjuma Goje, withdrew from the race and pledged support.

A party source revealed that the governors were also privy to the horse-trading that disarmed the lawmakers in the main opposition party, the PDP, who delivered votes to Senator Lawan.



Ekweremadu: The big backstabbing


Checks revealed that 107 senators participated in the electoral process that produced Senator Lawan, while 105 exercised their franchise in the election that produced Senator Omo-Agege as deputy Senate president.

For the entire exercise, the APC had 62 senators to PDP’s 44, while the oil magnate, Senator Ifeanyi Ubah from Anambra State, got elected to the Senate on the ticket of the Young Progressive Party (YPP).

Two seats are outstanding from Imo State.

The PDP, which had boasted of delivering bloc vote for its adopted candidate, Senator Ndume, left him out in the cold as the senator from Borno South could only secure 28 to Ahmed Lawan’s 79 votes.

The immediate past Deputy Senate President, Ike Ekweremadu, was given a bloodied nose as he was trounced by Senator Omo-Agege, who scored 68 votes to Ekweremadu’s 37.

The belly of the red chambers erupted in celebration as members of the APC clinched the victory with the emergence of Lawan as president of the Senate.


With the victory, Lawan earned the spot as the 14th president of the Senate of the Federal Republic of Nigeria.

Lawan was nominated by Senator Abdullahi Yahaya, through a motion that was seconded by Senator Adeola Olamilekan, after a mild drama was doused by the Clerk of the National Assembly, Mohammed Sani-Omolori, as some senators had protested over the Senate Rule to be adopted for the election.

Some senators-elect had sought to move the motion for adoption of the 2011 Senate rule as against the subsisting 2015 rule for the election, but the clerk dismissed the call, pointing out that the only order of the day was the election of the principal officers before the inauguration of the Senate.

Omolori insisted that he was not served any court order barring him from using the 2015 Senate rule for the election of the principal officers.

The clerk then instructed the clerk of the Senate to make a roll call, with 107 senators-elect present, as against the statutory 109.

Before his election, Ahmed had assured his colleagues of the need to unite and forge a common front in promoting the national development.

He said there was the common challenge of security facing the nation and the Senate must work together as a team, irrespective of party affiliation, to secure the country.



In his charge to this colleagues before losing to Lawan, Ndume said he was in the race to defend the independence of the Senate while maintaining the interdependence of the chamber in relation with the executive.

The election of the deputy senate president was short of two more senators-elect. One of the votes was invalid while one senator abstained.

However, Omo-Agege emerged after polling 68 votes as he defeated Ekweremadu who garnered 27 votes.

The result of the election, which lasted a little over an hour, produced a President of the Senate from the North-East and a Deputy President of the Senate from the South-South.

Omo-Agege’s squaring with Ekweremadu came as a shock to many members when the former was nominated by Senator Chukwuka Utazi in a motion supported by Senator Rose Okoh.

Ekweremadu’s entry into the race may have been informed by the withdrawal of the other aspirants like Francis Alimikhena, Orji Uzor Kalu and Kabiru Gaya.

Speaking after the election, Ekweremadu, in a chat with newsmen, said though the PDP was in support of Lawan, his resolve to vie for the office was taken between Monday and Tuesday.

Ekweremadu said: “I believe that there must be a referendum, looking at what happened when I was presiding when the Senate was invaded.

“It would have been very embarrassing that somebody who led that operation would just be asked to take a bow and would be endorsed and we all walk over as if it doesn’t matter.

“So I wanted a situation where Nigerians, especially through their representatives, will be able to present a referendum in respect of what transpired and then be able to either endorse or condemn it.”

He added that: “Only this morning, because actually we weren’t minded to run for any office but we thought that our friends in APC will be able to come up with another candidate to replace Ovie Omo-Agege.”

Nigerian Tribune observed that all the security detail attached to Ekweremadu after the election switched loyalty to his successor, Omo-Agege.

Also, while responding to questions after the election, Ndume pledged loyalty to the newly inaugurated President of the ninth Senate.

Ndume, who spoke during a media chat after the election, expressed his resolve to work with Lawan in the interest of the country.

“Ahmad Lawan is my brother who is well experienced, having been here four years ahead of me. I will give him all the necessary support. I insisted on contesting against him in order to deepen democracy.

“I hope the party would agree with me that, what I did was in the interest of democracy and I do know that power belongs to God. It’s God’s will that my colleague becomes the president,” Ndume said.

While acknowledging that the election was over, Ndume unveiled his readiness for legislative activities.

Meanwhile the Senate has adjourned plenary till tomorrow.

Addressing his colleagues, Senator Lawan, who showered encomiums on all the senators, irrespective of political affiliations, assured Nigerians that the ninth Senate would “drive a transformative Senate” that will meet the yearnings of Nigerians in the next four years.

He also pledged the Senate resolve to come up with legislative intervention that would complement the executive arm’s plans toward improving the citizens’ well-being.

While describing the inauguration of the ninth Senate as historic, he observed that the Senate, under his leadership, would be resourceful, accountable and live up to expectations of Nigerians by addressing issues relating to millions of Nigerian children out-of-school, youth unemployment, delayed appropriation, insecurity challenges, among others.

In the House of Representatives, Gbajabiamila and Idris Wase emerged the Speaker and Deputy Speaker of the House of Representatives respectively

Gbajabiamila scored a total of 281 votes while Honourable Umar Bago, his only challenger, polled 76 votes.

Sani-Omolori, who announced the result, disclosed that 358 members-elect voted during the election while one vote was invalid

Wase, on his own, emerged as the Deputy Speaker unopposed through the popular demand of the members.

In a rare spirit of sportsmanship, Bago accepted his defeat, even when the final result was yet to be announced and embraced Honourable Gbajabiamila

Gbajabiamila, in response, walked straight to him and embraced him to demonstrate that the battle had been fought and won.

Sani-Omolori later administered oaths of office to both Gbajabiamila and Wase, after which members were sworn in.

By Innocent Oweh


Abuja – President Muhammadu Buhari admitted on Tuesday that illicit funds were used in recent elections in the country mainly to buy votes.

He warned that the growing trend of monetary inducement during elections would have dire consequences on the polity if not checked.

Buhari also argued that the dangers were that the influence of money may, in the long run, subvert free choices by voters and allow unprincipled individuals to gain access to leadership positions.

The president bared his mind when he spoke at the National Democracy Day Anti-Corruption Summit, hosted by the EFCC, with the theme, ‘Curbing Electoral Spending: A Panacea for Public Corruption’.

He said: “Regrettably, the recent political experiences have been characterised by the corrupting influence of money on party politics and electioneering processes.

“This unwholesome practice has dire consequences on our nations, in subverting the exercise of free choice by voters, elevated corrupt and unprincipled individuals to positions of leadership and entrenching the structures of democracy devoid of accountability.”

While trying to buttress the ills of vote buying, he said electoral spending manifested in different forms, hence steps should be taken to de-commercialise the political process so that true democracy could survive and thrive.

He said even though the country was not in short supply of legal frameworks to combat reckless electoral spending, the provision of section 90 of the Electoral Act, 2010 (as Amended) explicitly puts a cap on the amount candidates for different political offices must expend on elections, failing which they would be violating the law.

“Of greater significance is the provision of section 88 of the Act which prohibits a political parties in Nigeria from ‘possessing any fund outside or retaining funds or other assets remitted to it from outside Nigeria’.

“The philosophical underpinning of the above provisions and other related provisions of the Act is to prevent desperate politicians from buying their ways into political offices at the expense of low-spending law-abiding individuals.”

At the event attended by the President of Rwanda, Paul Kagame, including famous anti-corruption advocate, Professor Patrick Lumumba, Buhari said going forward, his administration would unveil stern measures aimed at curbing corruption, part of which would involve abolishing of bank secrecy jurisdictions and cracking down of safe tax havens for corrupt assets.

Buhari, while giving an insight into how he intended to fight corruption in his second term, said he would strengthen the capacity of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission and other anti-corruption agencies by providing additional material, organisational and logistical support.

This would also involve closing existing legislative loopholes, facilitating collaboration with the judiciary, and strengthening of the criminal justice system.

Other measures the president said would be adopted include the enforcement of effective asset declaration by public office holders, ensuring sanctions by professional bodies against lawyers, bankers, brokers, public officials, as well as individuals facilitating corrupt practices.

“We would ensure comprehensive support and protection to whistleblowers, witnesses and victims of corruption; adopt and formulate the policy of ‘naming and shaming’ all those who engage in corrupt practices while encouraging and honouring those who do not.

“This would also include educating, mobilising and encouraging Nigerians at the grassroots level to take ownership of the fight against corruption, while insisting on the unconditional return of looted assets kept abroad and further strengthening of international cooperation through information and mutual legal assistance,” Buhari stressed in his address at the summit.

Meanwhile, acting Chairman of EFCC, Ibrahim Magu, said a total of 1,207 convictions had been secured by the anti-graft agency between 2015 and May 2019.

He said between January and May 2019, another 406 convictions were secured through various litigations instituted by the anti-graft agency against corrupt government officials.

A breakdown of the convictions showed that 103 convictions were secured in 2015; 195 in 2016; 189 in 2017, and 314 in 2018.

Magu who noted that significant strides had been made in the fight against corruption, said the task of taming corruption would remain daunting unless Nigerians keyed into the project.

He said: “The principles of democracy have been bastardised over the years by the ruling elite in some countries across the globe.

“Nigeria, in particular, had a fair share of the unbearable scourge of a chronic ‘elite-capture syndrome’. This has primarily been achieved by manipulating the electoral processes using stolen public wealth to subvert the wishes of the people.

“Electoral spending by politicians is often linked to voter inducement in Africa and in our local parlance, ‘vote buying’.

“Worthy of note is the fact that whenever one is induced to sell his vote, he automatically loses the moral equilibrium to challenge corrupt tendencies of those elected.

“On the other hand, vote selling by the electorate has mostly been due to several factors, including lack of proper political education.”

https://sunnewsonline.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/06/The-woman.jpg

A 21-year-old Ethiopian woman has taken one of her secondary school leaving exams 30 minutes after giving birth, she has told the BBC.

Almaz Derese, who is from Metu in western Ethiopia, had hoped to sit the tests before her child arrived, but the exams were postponed because of Ramadan.

She went into labour on Monday shortly before the first paper was due to start.

“Because I was rushing to sit for the exam, my labour wasn’t difficult at all,” Ms Almaz told BBC Afaan Oromoo.

She took her English, Amharic and maths exams in the Karl Metu hospital, but hopes to take the remaining tests at the exam centre over the next two days.

The new mother said that studying while being pregnant was not a problem, and she did not want to wait until next year to graduate.

Monday’s exams went well, she added.

Her husband Tadese Tulu told the BBC that he had to persuade the school to allow her to take the exams at the hospital.

Ms Almaz now wants to take a two-year course that will prepare her for university.

Her baby son is said to be doing well.

Newbreed2018:
I see she deactivated. My fellow Adventist.

Ismail Omipidan



All is now set for today’s inauguration of the 9th National Assembly. The frontrunners have perfected their strategies, plans and plots to emerge as President of the 9th Senate and Speaker of the House of Representatives.

Before now, for the Senate presidency, three senators-elect from the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) were in contention for the position. They are: Ahmed Lawan, Ali Ndume and Danjuma Goje. But as predicted in April in one of our reports, Goje finally caved in last week, leaving Lawan and Ndume in the race. But the party leadership has settled for Lawan for the position. In spite of the endorsement, Ndume is still in the race.

Before now, Daily Sun gathered that there are some people close to President Muhammadu Buhari who were working behind the scene to thwart Lawan’s ambition. How with the President’s decision to step in through Kaduna State Governor, Mallam Nasir El-Rufai, which culminated in Goje’s withdrawal from the race last week, about two of the president’s men who hitherto were with Ndume, appear to have retraced their steps.

However, the mere fact that Ndume is yet to be asked by either Buhari or any of the party leaders to withdraw from the race appears to indicate that the coast is not very clear for Lawan yet.

Sources close to the leadership of the APC also suggested that Buhari’s silence over Ndume’s aspiration was a clear indication that the president may not have fully endorsed Lawan for the position.

The former Senate Leader has told his supporters that with the level of support he has gotten so far across party lines, only God can stop him from going ahead to win the contest. His group believed that it has the numbers to deliver Lawan as the next Senate President. As at the last count, the group claims it has at least 64 senators-elect who have endorsed its candidate.

The senators-elect, the group added, have appended their signatures in support of Lawan. The group gave the statistics as 62 APC, one from the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and one from the Young Peoples Party (YPP).

Daily Sun can however confirm that four additional PDP senators-elect have joined the Lawan’s camp. It is doubtful, however, if indeed Lawan’s camp has up to 62 APC senators-elect.

Senator Yahaya Abdullahi from Kebbi, Chairman of Lawan Campaign Group, noted that the senators-elect decided to endorse Lawan to prevent a repeat of 2015. This is just as Secretary of the Campaign group, Senator Jibrin Barau, read out the names of the senators-elect who backed Lawan’s candidacy.

Regardless, the PDP, it was gathered, is also weighing its options as at the time of filing this report. The opposition party’s senators appear to have agreed that they must act in unison, to ensure that their 44 votes go to one candidate.

One of the sources close to the PDP’s camp further said: “We are waiting to take a formal decision. But for majority of us, Ndume is our preferred choice. We are not comfortable with Lawan; so we must work hard to get Ndume elected.”

Asked who is likely to emerge as Deputy Senate President, the source further said: “We are weighing the options. We have to decide whether we want the kind of the turbulence we experienced during the 8th Senate or not. For now, there are two APC candidates from the South South for the position and one from the South East. But one of them is our enemy based on what he did during the 8th Senate. So we will certainly not back him; that is if and when we decide we are not going for it.”

Meanwhile, as at close of work yesterday, three senators-elect were in the race for position of the Deputy President of the Senate. They are: Orji Uzor Kalu (Abia), Ovie Omo-Agege (Delta) and Francis Alimikhena (Edo).

The party is positioning Omo-Agege for the position, but his candidacy appears not to be enjoying support from the majority of the APC senators-elect, including the PDP senators-elect.

In the House of the Representatives, the contestants for the speakership are former House leader, Femi Gbajabiamila; Umar Bago and John Dyegh

Others are the former chairman; House Committee on Information, Segun Odebunmi; Emeka Nwajiuba and the latest entrant into the contest, Olajide Olatubosun. All of them are of the APC.

Like the Senate presidency, the APC has equally zoned the position of the speaker to the South West, with former House Leader, Femi Gbajabiamila as its preferred candidate.

But the zoning had not gone down well with stakeholders, within and outside the National Assembly, with a lot of persons kicking against it.

Already, the North Central zone is making a strong case for the position. Bago and Dyegh are from the North Central. But Bago towers above him. Bago had said the endorsement of Gbajabiamila only reflects the opinion of the APC national chairman, Adams Oshiomhole.

The lawmaker, who spoke through the spokesman of his campaign organisation, Afam Ogene, said the various organs of the party did not meet at any point to agree on a candidate for the speakership.

Bago is of the opinion that the speakership should have been zoned to the North Central because of its contribution to the success of the APC in the last elections. More especially, he believes that since the South West already has the vice president, it will not be equitable for the zone to also produce the speaker.

Apart from Gbajabiamila, Olatunbosun is also being positioned from the South West. Those pushing his candidature are positioning him as an alternative to Gbajabiamila, since some lawmakers who genuinely wanted the South West to have the position appear wary of what they call Gbajabiamila’s “moral baggage.”

One of the ex-lawmakers who spoke on the development appealed to the South West lawmakers, especially and others from the North and South East, not to collude to deny the South West the position again on the excuse that the party’s preferred candidate is allegedly “tainted.” The Gbajabiamila camp is advocating that lawmakers should respect the position of the APC on the zoning of key offices in the National Assembly. Director General of the Gbajabiamila Campaign Organisation, Abdulmumin Jibrin, also denied every allegation against the former House Leader.

He said: “For the benefit of doubt, we wish to once again state emphatically clear that Femi Gbajabiamila has never been convicted for any crime in the United States of America, Nigeria or any other country around the world for that matter. He has never been accused of corruption and has no corruption case hanging on his neck in Nigeria or anywhere around the world. He has not committed perjury and has never committed perjury in Nigeria or any country of the world.”

Unlike in the Senate, in the House of House of Representatives, Gbajabiamila ran a joint campaign with his would be deputy, Idris Wase, from North Central.


The candidates, their weaknesses, strengths

Senator Ahmad Lawan

He is one of the longest serving members of the National Assembly. He is the immediate past Leader of the Senate and hails from Yobe State. In 2015, he was in the race for the position of the President of the Senate. However, last minute realignment denied him the position. Today, he is one of the frontrunners in the race to succeed Bukola Saraki as President of the Senate. Unlike in 2015, the major organs of the party appear to be forceful in pushing for his emergence. His greatest weakness is the process by which he emerged as the candidate of the party.

Senator Ali Ndume

Former Senate Leader, and one of the aspirants to the position of President of the Senate, Ndume, is Lawan’s predecessor. He defeated Lawan in 2015 at the North East caucus to emerge Senate Leader. He enjoys the support of the majority of the PDP. His greatest weakness is in the fact he did not get the endorsement of his party, the APC.

Senator Ovie Omo-Agege

He is the party’s candidate for the position of the Deputy Senate President. But his greatest weakness is the invasion of the Senate chambers by a gang, which took away the maze, in which he was fingered.

Orji Uzor Kalu

Former Abia State governor is seen as a strong APC member from the South East with the right contacts. A successful businessman cum politician, Kalu is a dogged fighter who believes in equity and justice. He is also seen as a bridge builder and stabiliser.

His backers believe that South East deserves a place in the presiding officers of the National Assembly, having done better for President Buhari and the APC in the last election, unlike in 2015. He has contact and strong associates in the PDP, which would help his candidacy. His only weakness is that the APC did not officially zone the post he is vying for to the South East.

Femi Gbajabiamila

He is the immediate past Leader of the House. He is the APC’s preferred candidate for the position of the speaker. He had at various times in the past worked against the decision of the majority party in the green chamber on who becomes speaker. In 2011, as the minority leader, he led opposition lawmakers to work against the emergence of Mulikat Akande as Speaker. Akande was the choice of the PDP for the position in the seventh Assembly. Like Lawan too, he was the party’s preferred choice in 2015. But a last minute political manoeuvring by the PDP caused him the seat. He lost by about seven votes. Again, like Lawan, his greatest weakness is the manner in which he emerged as the party’s preferred choice for today’s contest.

Umar Bago

He is from Niger State in the North Central. He is seen as coming from the camp of the immediate past Speaker of the House of Representatives, Yakubu Dogara. He enjoys massive support from the PDP. His greatest weakness is that he is not the choice of the party.

Newbreed2018:
From all advice given to u, even the admonitions, u still sound so disrespectful to ur husband. I've seen all manner of unprintable names u've used on him, Animal! Stupid, ediot etc. U r very uncouth.
U r a problem and the solution begins with u.
Please fix urself first before u ever think of fixing that man. U think he's ur worst mistake but from all ur chatter I can tell u u r his worst mistake.
If u can Adress ur husband in such terms in public I can only but wonder what u do in private.
The world does not revolve around ur feet. U sound like a very lazy woman in ur responsibilities at home. In fact u r very lazy. I wonder how ur husband endured u upto this point.
Waking up by 7 to prepare a meal is a task to u? Huh? #spits.

Instead of u to seek the face of God, rather u opened this stupid thread to seek validation from NL for them to condemn ur husband so u can go home gloating.
Madam, go and fix ur self. U r not doing the man any good staying, if u wish to leave kindly leave ASAP so the man go see road remarry better person. I wish to see ur husband and encourage him to divorce u ASAP. Ur type kills a man quickly.
U no be wife atoll.

MissR69:
any wise person can see that you are the major cause of whatever bad thing that has happened in your marriage through your post and replies, but many are not going to tell you this because of one reason or another. if you marry another man without changing somethings about you you will have this same experience again. i wish you well in your decision all the same

Elesta:
very very well without him. I am not ugly, I am not a bad person, neither am I eating from hand to mouth. I really can't wait to divorce him

The Deputy Senate President in the just concluded 8th Assembly Ike Ekweremadu is yet to return his official vehicles to the National Assembly, Daily Trust reports. The other three presiding officers of the 8th Assembly, namely Senate President Bukola Saraki, Speaker Yakubu Dogara and Deputy Speaker Yusuf Suleimon Lasun, have all returned their official vehicles to the National Assembly.

The presiding officers of the 8th Assembly, inaugurated on June 9, 2015, had their tenure ended on Sunday, June 9, 2019, and they have already vacated their various offices. Our correspondent observed that the vehicles, all Mercedes-Benz S Series, were parked at the various parking spaces reserved for the three presiding officers.

However, our correspondent who was at the National Assembly premises up to 6:30.pm observed that the official vehicles of Ekweremadu were not at the parking space designated for the Deputy Senate President. ‎Ekweremadu’s spokesman, Uche Anichukwu, could not be reached to react to inquiries by Daily Trust.

However, a source close to Ekweremadu said the outgoing Deputy Senate President did not drive in his official vehicles immediately after the last sitting of the 8th Senate last Thursday.

The source said Ekweremadu’s official vehicles were taken for servicing and that they had been taken to his residence and were being washed before they would be returned to the National Assembly, possibly yesterday night or early this morning.

‎Our correspondent reports that while two official vehicles each were parked at the parking space of the Senate President and the Deputy Speaker, only one was sighted at the parking space of the House Speaker.

Fred Itua, Abuja

Major contenders for the position of the president of the Senate are making a last-minute push to consolidate on their successes.

The two contenders are Ahmad Lawan and Mohammed Ali Ndume from Yobe and Borno states respectively.

The APC and President Muhammadu Buhari have endorsed Lawan for the post. APC senators-elect equally gave him their support.

But Ndume said the endorsement of Lawan means nothing, as he has the votes of the senators-elect based on promises made.

In the midst of these, Daily Sun gathered that Lawan is making efforts to seal a deal with the caucus of the PDP.

Sources revealed that Lawan has offered to concede some committee chairmanship positions to members of the PDP if they would support him to emerge as Senate president.

Some of the committees, which incidentally were occupied by PDP members in the eighth Senate, include Power, Niger Delta, Agriculture, Interior and Petroleum (Downstream).

Based on precedents, ranking members are usually chairmen of committees. Besides Appropriation, Media and Publicity, and Legal matters, which are exclusive to ruling parties, members of other political parties can head other committees.

Meanwhile, five PDP senators-elect have openly identified with Ndume. They are Clifford Ordia, Mathew Urhoghide, Gershom Bassey, Abba Moro and Lawali Hassan Anka.

Speaking with Daily Sun, Senator Ordia said some PDP members were openly identifying with Lawan because the leadership of the party has not given an express instruction on who to support.

He said since the PDP may not field a candidate, the right thing to do was to support an APC senator with the right credentials to lead the next Senate.

Said he: “I am a member of the PDP and I have the right to support whoever I want. But as a loyal party man, I can’t go against my party. Unfortunately, my party, the PDP, has not taken a decision on who it will support.

“I think we are first senators before our political parties. As a Senate, we need someone with the right credentials like Lawan to lead the chamber. So, supporting him is in order.”

The battle for and against the Adams Oshiomhole’s leadership of the All Progressives Congress (APC) has taken a new turn, with some governors and party chieftains forming opposing groups, ostensibly to garner support for the removal or the retention of the National Chairman. There had been frantic efforts aimed at curbing the crisis from skyrocketing, with the state chairmen of the party recently passing a vote of confidence in Oshiomhole, but the matter has refused to abate as it keeps rearing its ugly head.

The APC Deputy National Chairman (North), Senator Lawal Shuaibu, had in a letter to Oshiomhole called for his resignation, saying Oshiomhole lacks capacity to lead the party given the number of states the party lost in the last election. Similarly, the former National Chairman of the party, Chief John Odigie-Oyegun, accused Oshiomhole of conducting the most fraudulent primaries in the history of political parties in Nigeria. In the latest development, the crisis has pitched some governors and party chieftains against one other, with the state helmsmen forming parallel groups in support for and against Oshiomhole. A source within the national hierarchy of the party informed Saturday Telegraph that the latest division amongst the governors’ ranks, came up as a result of the call for Oshiomhole’s resignation. “On the position of the governors, they are divided, they are not united.

There are those who agree with the Deputy National Chairman and there are those against the call. The Governor of Kaduna State, El-Rufai, is supporting the National Chairman but we are not interested in that. “For us we don’t want this thing to continue because if it continues we are the ones it would affect the more. But at the highest level, we are doing everything we could”, he noted.

It was also gathered that some of the state party chairmen, who passed a vote of confidence in Oshiomhole did so to either save the party from disintegration or to show solidarity with their state governors, while others did so to prove their loyalty to the number-one man in the party. Some of the state chairmen, who spoke with Saturday Telegraph on the condition of anonymity, confirmed that they had to back Oshiomhole so that the party would not disintegrate. One of the chairman, who hails from the northern part of the country, assured that the action will save the party from further crisis because the state governors would have no choice than to toe their line.

“Yes, the Forum of the APC State chairmen on Thursday gave Oshiomhole a vote of confidence. We did what we should do. You know that the Deputy National Chairman (North), Senator Lawal Shuaibu is calling for Oshiomhole’s resignation. “And no doubt, the issue has divided the governors of the APC and the state party chairmen. Even members of the National Assembly are divided over the call. So, we had to save the party with our action”, he said.

However, checks by Saturday Telegraph revealed that the crisis is far from over as the Kaduna State Governor, Mallam Nasir el-Rufai, is said to be leading an onslaught of pro-Oshiomhole governors against their col leagues who are seen as anti- Oshiomhole governors. A highly placed official of the party, who also confirmed the development, informed our correspondent that El-Rufai is teaming up with the Governor of Kano, Abdullahi Ganduje, to lead the governors who are in support of Oshiomhole, while the governors of Edo, Ondo and Kogi states, Godwin Obaseki, Rotimi Akeredolu and Yahya Bello, are on the opposing side, scheming to oust Oshiomhole.

According to the source, the Kaduna State governor is the one leading the governors who believe that the call for the resignation of the party chairman is wrong. Though some of the governors are said to be indifferent to the situation, many of them are poised to be on different sides.

While some governors are indifferent to the call that the APC National Chairman should resign, the governors of Kogi, Ondo, and Edo are said to be supporting the call for the resignation of Oshiomhole. Further checks by our correspondent however re-vealed that the Progressive Governors Forum will soon meet on the crisis in the party, but every attempt to confirm that from the chairman, the governor of Kebbi State, Senator Atiku Bagudu proved abortive, as he was out of the nation’s capital.

Nonetheless, one of the states’ party chairmen told Saturday Telegraph that the emergence of the National Assembly leadership is going to play a key role in the fate of Oshiomhole as chairman. According to him, when the National Assembly is properly constituted, the APC caucus in the Upper and Lower chambers would also have a voice over the crisis in the party, just like the state chairmen have done. “There is no way all stakeholders will agree on a particular issue but you know that the states chairmen are the pillars of the party. We have done what we think is in the best interest of the party.

Though some of us are following the dictates of their governors, while some voted to spite their own governors, because they are not in tune with them. “Party politics is local, all the state chairmen are in charge of the states. They know the local government chairmen, they know the ward chairmen and they know everything. So if at that level they can come together and say this is where we belong to, in order to douse tension, they should be listened to.

“If they try to support any side, you will see that APC will be worse than the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) that experienced such a thing last time after the election. “The issue of the removal of the National Chairman at this time is an ill wind that would blow no one any good and it also depends on how it is done. So, having looked at the atmosphere within the party, ours is just a kind of stabilisation. “Let us remove our minds from the present tension, as you know the National Assembly has not been inaugurated. We should focus on the inauguration of the National Assembly and after we should come back.

“Nobody is saying no because we know that there were a lot of mistakes made during the primaries and in other areas of administration of the party but you don’t solve problems by creating more problems. “We have to take these issues one after the other. You have to look at the overall interest of the party at the material time. So, we didn’t want to join issues with those calling for his resignation but to say for now we have confidence in him. We say we are not going to back any side, let the status quo remain for now. It is the name you give to your dog that it answers but at the same time we made it very clear that there are areas that need change.”

In the opinion of a senator, who also spoke on the crisis and vote of confidence passed in the National Chairman, he said the chairmen are not the conscience of the party, arguing that the case would be looked into after the inauguration of 9th Assembly. “All the issues raised by the APC Deputy National Chairman (North) and the former National Chairman, Chief John Odigie-Oyegun against Oshiomhole would be looked into one after the other. We would also bring in the President into this. “Allegations against the National Chairman are weighty, especially what happened during the primaries. Those of us that contested for the party’s ticket would be able to say what happened and not the state party chairmen.” But the APC Deputy National Publicity Secretary, Yekini Nabena, called on Buhari and the National Leader of APC, Asiwaju Bola Tinubu, to intervene, saying that the leaders of the party needed to intervene to save the party.

By Hamza Idris (Abuja), Uthman Abubakar (Maiduguri), Ibraheem Hamza Mohammed (Lafiya), Haruna Gimba Yaya (Gombe), Balarabe Alkassim (Bauchi), Nurudeen Oyewole (Lagos), Jeremiah Oke (Ibadan) & Peter Moses (Abeokuta)



Twelve state governors exited the political scene on May 29 after the gubernatorial elections held on March 9. Some of them had to leave because they completed their two terms, while others could not secure a second term.

Daily Trust Saturday looks at some of the interesting things the former governors left behind. Governors that vacated their offices include that of Adamawa, Jibrilla Bindow of the APC who wanted to go for second term but was defeated by Umaru Fintiri of the PDP. In Borno, Kashim Shettima of the APC who completed his two terms was replaced by his preferred candidate, Prof. Babagana Zulum also of the APC.

In Bauchi, Barr. Mohammed Abdullahi Abubakar of the APC who was looking for second term was defeated by Sen. Bala Mohammed of the PDP. ADVERTISEMENT In Gombe, former governor Ibrahim Dankwambo who completed his second term had wanted Sen. Bayero Nafada to replace him under the PDP, but Inuwa Yahaya of the APC scuttled the plan by clinching the seat.

In Imo, ex-governor Rochas Okorocha who wanted his son-in- Uche Nwosu to replace him could not succeed. Instead, Emeka Ihedioha of the PDP won the election. In Lagos, former governor Akinwunmi Ambode was edged out during the primary election of the APC and Babajide Sanwo-Olu is now the governor.

While Dapo Abiodun is now the governor of Ogun State under the platform of the APC, he is not the preferred candidate of the former governor, Ibikunle Amosun who completed his second term and wanted a different successor.

In Oyo, Seyi Makinde of the PDP is the new governor against the wishes of the former governor, Abiola Ajimobi who also had a different person in mind. In Kwara, Abdulrazaq AbdulRahman of the APC has made history by demystifying the Saraki dynasty by winning the governorship under the APC at a time Abdulfatah Ahmed of the PDP was leaving the scene.

In Nasarawa, ex- governor Umaru Tanko Al-Makura succeeded in ensuring the emergence of Engr. Abdullahi Sule under the APC. The situation is the same in Yobe where ex- governor Ibrahim Gaidam who completed his second term succeeded in bringing on board, Mai-Mala Buni under the platform of the APC.

There was a serious upset in Zamfara where a political Tsunami swept the dream of ex-governor Abdulaziz Yari who wanted a successor in his former Commissioner of Finance Mukhtar Idris but failed to actualize it following the Supreme Court verdict that cleared the coast for Bello Matawalle of the PDP. In all the states where new governors emerged, the former governors, considering the circumstances that led to their exit, left behind various impressions, either positive or negative, that they could be remembered for.


Ajimobi – Oyo

The personality of Ajimobi left behind indelible marks in the minds of the people of Oyo State. People in the pacesetter state cannot forget how Ajimobi, with his oratory power, overrated the office of the governor by referring himself as a “constituted authority.” The self-acclaimed “Koseleri” governor (unprecedented governor) was able to control the incessant attacks by the NURTW on the people and the usual bank robberies in the state. However, his role in the controversial reform of the traditional institution in the state which led to some legal tussles cannot be easily forgotten.

Ajimobi it was who controversially presented staff of office to some high chiefs he elevated to the position of beaded kings in Ibadan land which pitched him against the Olubadan of Ibadanland, Oba Saliu Adetunji and many Ibadan indigenes. His administration will be remembered for the partial demolition of the Music House, Ibadan, owned by the popular gospel artiste, Evangelist Yinka Ayefele, a building which his government said contravened planning laws of the state.

Ajimobi will not also be forgotten for honouring himself towards the tail of his administration by naming some roads after himself, even though his administration was the first to construct a flyover bridge.


Bindow – Adamawa

Though nobody can take away his credit of giving Yola, the Adamawa State capital, a new look in terms of infrastructure, the former governor had reportedly courted so many enemies for himself, including ex- governor Murtala Nyako and wife of the president, Mrs Aisha Buhari among others including a former Secretary to the Government of the Federation (SGF) Babachir Lawal. Aisha’s brother, Mahmoud Halilu (alias Modi), Marcus Gundiri and Abdulazeez Nyako all fell apart with the governor. This group of APC chieftains allegedly worked behind the scene against Bindow at the governorship poll.


Al-Makura – Nasarawa

Umaru Tanko Al-Makura of Nasarawa would be remembered for his fondness of painting his projects in blue. These include the Lafia Special School, many primary, secondary and tertiary institutions, hospitals and poles of street light, among many other things. The Chairman of Labour Party (LP) in the state, Alhaji Umar Abdullahi Angibi, said, “In my opinion, Al-Makura has actually executed good educational legacies, he opened-up Lafia with many roads,” he said.

He, however, said Al-Makura failed in the way he handled the civil service in the area of payment of salaries and pension, adding that the creation of more chiefdoms and upgrade of some traditional rulers at the twilight of his eight-year reign would create problems for the incoming government as crises may erupt in some communities. He concluded by saying; “Umaru Al-Makura made global headlines when he knocked down a private radio station, Breeze FM, because it was alleged to be patronized by the opposition.”


Shettima – Borno

Having served Borno State as governor for eight years, the former governor and now senator did well in his efforts at augmenting the federal government’s approach to restoring security to a terrain listed as one of the most terror-troubled in the world.

He was never accused of abdicating his responsibility of standing by his people through thick and thin. He is also noted for his support to the youth vanguard, the Civilian Joint Task Force (CJTF) which came to prominence in 2013 to help the military in the battle against Boko Haram insurgents.

“Shettima would be remembered for pioneering and building 44 mega schools, apart from the school for Bororoji (Fulani nomads) across the state for this growing population of children and by extension, for installing the mechanism that will elevate the state from its backwardness in education,” a school teacher, Abubakar Hassan, said. Ahead of the 2019 general elections, Borno was among the states with the highest number of gubernatorial candidates, a development that many thought would dwarf APC’s chances, but alas, Shettima tactically meandered his way and crowned his preferred successor.

On a different tone however, a retired civil servant, Adamu Lawan, said, “We will never forget him for his blazing indifference to our plight,” adding, “many pensioners have died of hypertension and intense distress inflicted on them by the lack of payment of their monthly pension and gratuity.”


Dankwambo – Gombe

A cross section of residents of Gombe State said for the eight years Dankwambo spent in office as governor, there was never a time he was heard insulting any person or ordering his aides to maltreat any member of the opposition. He outlawed the notorious Kalare group which was seen as an agent of political intimidation allegedly used by politicians he took over from.

Besides the massive infrastructure he put in place including roads, schools, there was relative peace throughout the state, including during the recent general elections when his party, the PDP, was defeated by the APC at all levels. A resident of the state, Haruna Muhammad, said the governor deserves commendation for this feat even though others said despite being an accountant, he left Gombe highly indebted.


Abubakar – Bauchi

Mohammed Abubakar would be remembered in Bauchi for many positive as well as negative things in his four-year tenure. Though Bauchi had its share of the Boko Haram insurgency before he assumed the mantle of leadership, he has the credit of maintaining peace and security throughput his tenure. He bought and donated dozens of operational vehicles to security agencies in the state and settled four months’ salary arears when he took over in 2015.

Many township roads were constructed at Fadamar Mada in Bauchi metropolis and in Azare and Misau towns, while his wives equally touched the lives of the less privileged through their pet projects. Despite, this the former governor would also be remembered for projects he started but could not complete, including roads in the state capital, the High Court Complex and others.

His inability to pay gratuities to retired civil servants, despite an accumulated liability of N137 billion according to a report presented to the new governor, Bala Abdulkadir Mohammed, by his Transition Committee led by Senator Adamu Gumba, pitched him against workers. Abubakar would also be remembered for being the state’s first elected governor to be defeated after four years in office.

He will also go into the record books over his attempt to scrap an ant-graft law in the state which he initiated when he came to power and the re-creation of additional districts, villages and hamlets which he also scrapped. Above all, analysts believe that he failed to secure a second term because he wasted so much time fighting prominent politicians and the traditional institution.


Ambode – Lagos

Many applauded Ambode’s success in road construction and buildings in suburban parts of the state such as Epe, Alimosho, Ikorodu and Ojokoro.

It is on record that it was Ambode who introduced what is now being celebrated as One Lagos Fiesta, Lagos Street Party, Lagos Boat Regatta and Lagos Jazz Festival. He has the credit of building six new cinemas across different sections, statues of notable Nigerians such as late Obafemi Awolowo, MKO Abiola, Gani Fawehinmi and Fela Anikulapo Kuti among other numerous outdoor sculptural works in different strategic areas of Lagos.

However, not many Lagos residents will forget the poor management of the administration’s refuse collection policy and land use charge, which was reduced by 50 percent. Though he wanted a second term, Ambode would also be remembered as someone who was defeated during the APC primaries through the instrumentality of Asiwaju Bola Tinubu’s influence.


Amosun – Ogun

The former Ogun governor, Ibikunle Amosun, left with the sobriquet of “Sectional Governor” considering that most of his infrastructure projects were concentrated in Abeokuta, the state capital, where he hails from. In his view, the state capital deserves befitting infrastructure, which he did by constructing many flyovers. As a result, other senatorial districts accused him of marginalization. Interestingly, some of them are yet to be completed.

The new governor, Dapo Abiodun, is expected to complete the projects. Amosun’s last minute appointments and promotions in the civil service would certainly turn out to be a thorn in his successor’s flesh. He employed 1,000 civil servants and appointed 21 permanent secretaries. This, no doubt, would have led to increase in the monthly wage bill, which the former governor left at N9.3billion monthly.

Amosun would however not be forgotten for raising the bar of revenue generation from N700 million monthly Internally Generated Revenue (IGR) to N7billion. He left a divided ruling APC in the state. After winning the Senate seat on the platform of the APC, Amosun openly worked and mobilised for the candidature of his anointed successor and the candidate of the Allied Peoples’ Movement (APM), Adekunle Akinlade, against Abiodun who flew the APC gubernatorial ticket.


Okorocha – Imo

Vice President Yemi Osinbajo had during his two recent visits to Imo State given a lot of credit to Okorocha for the structures he put up in the state, including roads and schools. However, Okorocha’s legacies were beclouded by his insatiable urge for power. During his days, he populated his administration with members of his family and friends, created strange ministries and while exiting, he made moves to bring his son in-law as successor, even as he reserved a senatorial seat for himself. But as things turned out, the former Imo governor could not succeed in achieving all his dreams.

While his in-law was defeated, he is in court trying to rescue his senatorial ticket. The EFCC confirmed it is investigating him while Emeka Ihedioha who took over from him, has begun dismantling some of the statues Okorocha erected.


Gaidam – Yobe

Ibrahim Gaidam who was initially a deputy governor was underrated when he became governor following the death of former governor Mamman Ali 10 years ago. However, the legacies he left behind, including roads, hospitals, schools and a rejuvenated civil service, as well as how he defied the Boko Haram onslaught give him a sense of fulfilment. The former governor who hardly speaks to the media, would be remembered as the longest serving governor in recent time.

He completed the tenure of late Mamman Ali, went ahead to win the governorship election on his own twice, proceeded to win a senatorial seat, and was instrumental to the emergence of the new governor and all those who won elective positions in the state. The new governor became his son in-law on May 30.


Yari – Zamfara

He superintended Zamfara State which is last in alphabetical order but infamously the first in terms of instability in recent times. Sources said so overwhelmed was Yari that he forgot to dissolve the state executive council on May 29. The unmatchable banditry in Zamfara had beclouded any achievement recorded by the former governor who is said to be the most famous absentee from his state. A recent Supreme Court judgement sacked everyone elected under the APC in the state, development not so pleasing in the history of his administration.

As the 9th National Assembly is set for inauguration on Tuesday, LEKE BAIYEWU examines how the aspirants to leadership positions in the next Assembly would influence the voting pattern

The Ninth Assembly will be inaugurated on Tuesday June 11, 2019. On that day, leaders of the two chambers – Senate and House of Representatives – will be elected by members of the chambers.

The elective positions, also known as presiding offices, are: Senate President, Deputy Senate President, Speaker and Deputy Speaker.

In 2015, the APC had chosen the current Senate Majority Leader, Senator Ahmad Lawan (Yobe, North-East), to be President of the Senate; and the House Majority Leader, Mr Femi Gbajabiamila (Lagos, South-West), to be the Speaker.

However, Senator Bukola Saraki (Kwara, North-Central) and Mr Yakubu Dogara (Bauchi, North-East), though APC members then, formed alliance with the opposition and minority Peoples Democratic Party to emerge as Senate President and Speaker, respectively.

While Senator Ike Ekweremadu (Enugu, South-East) of the PDP was elected Deputy Senate President as part of the deal, Mr Yusuff Lasun (Osun, South-West) of the APC emerged Deputy Speaker, against the wish of the ruling party.

However, the Eighth National Assembly ended on June 6 with a closing ceremony.

Perhaps, to avoid a repeat of that drama, shortly after the 2019 general elections were concluded, struggle for the leadership of the next Assembly began. To date, no fewer than six senators-elect had declared their interest to contest either Senate presidency or deputy Senate presidency.

In the House, the aspirants were over 20. Allocation of the presiding and principal offices to the various geopolitical zones by the ruling APC has, however, forced some of the aspirants out of the race while some are now lobbying for deputy speaker and majority leader positions.

Most significant among those who quit the speakership is Deputy Majority Leader, Mr Idris Wase (Plateau State), who is now the APC’s candidate for Deputy Speaker seat.

But some aspirants who are dissatisfied with the zoning plan of the ruling party have insisted on running for the offices.

Of the six geopolitical zones in the country, the APC has zoned the Senate presidency to the North-East and zoned the deputy Senate presidency to the South-South.

In the North-East, there were three major contenders for the Senate presidency, namely Majority Leader, Senator Ahmad Lawan (Yobe); former Majority Leader, Senator Ali Ndume (Borno); and Chairman of the Senate Committee on Appropriations, Senator Danjuma Goje (Gombe).

The APC has endorsed Lawan as its candidate for the Senate President seat.

However, while Ndume has insisted on running for the position against party’s position, Goje on Thursday backtracked and announced his support for Lawan.

In a related development, the ruling party was said to have also picked Senator Ovie Omo-Agege of Delta State for Deputy Senate President.

For the House of Representatives, the APC has zoned the seat of Speaker to the South-West and adopted the Majority Leader, Femi Gbajabiamila, as its candidate, while the Deputy Speaker seat was given to the North-Central.

However, aspirants from the North-Central seem to be posing the biggest threat to Gbajabiamila’s ambition. From the zone, there are two other aspirants apart from Wase; Mohammed Bago from Niger State and John Dyegh from Benue State.

According to these lawmakers, their agitation for the speakership is to fight the cause of the zone which they claimed has never produced the speaker or deputy speaker since 1999.

There are also aspirants from the South-East who have alleged marginalisation in the manner the APC shared the leadership positions. They are Nkeiruka Onyejeocha and Chike Okafor. While the former once called on Gbajabiamila to step down for the sake of national interest having been Minority and Majority Leader before, the latter called on the National Chairman of the APC, Adams Oshiomhole, to review the zoning formula.

There are also two aspirants from the South-West who have yet to quit the speakership race. They are Oladele Olatunbosun and Olugbenga Odebunmi, both from Oyo State. The lawmakers had separately argued that the slots zoned to the South-West should not be limited to Lagos State where Gbajabiamila is from.

In what appears to be a confirmation of the anti-APC/Gbajabiamila plot, a member of the House and senator-elect, Mr Emmanuel Orker-Jev, said the APC members in both chambers of the National Assembly had been disunited over the leadership of the next assembly, hinting that the PDP might determine the eventual winners of the leadership positions.

Oker-Jev said, “The APC has enough majority in the House of Representatives and in the Senate to put up the leadership of those houses without any contribution. Even if the PDP decides not to vote, they can still produce the Senate President and Speaker. Their problem however is that they cannot even agree among themselves. And since they cannot agree, we also have a role; the members of the opposition, the PDP in this case, have a role to play and we are going to play that role. We will look at the candidates and determine the best person for the job.”

No fewer than 170 lawmakers, including four co-aspirants and several PDP and opposition members attended Gbajabiamila’s official declaration ceremony, where they pledged their support for his bid.

Again, 178 newly-elected members across party lines have announced their endorsement of the House Majority Leader.

Last week, Gbajabiamila in company with over a hundred members-elect began a nationwide campaign tour, visiting states in the South-East and South-South geopolitical zones.

Although several aspirants to the Speaker’s seat have stepped down for Gbajabiamila, others who spoke to our correspondent on condition of anonymity between Friday and Saturday, said they would go ahead to contest the seat.

The Director-General of the Gbajabiamila Speakership Campaign Council, Mr Abdulmumin Jibrin, had recently announced that Gbajabiamila was consulting the current Speaker, Mr Yakubu Dogara; former Speakers, current and former governors, opposition lawmakers and other speakership aspirants over his ambition.

The PUNCH had reported that Dogara was in talks with Gbajabiamila to protect the interest of his loyalists in the coming 9th National Assembly. It was reliably learnt that the Majority Leader and the Speaker had met on the matter at least twice.

Speaking with our correspondent, Gbajabiamila’s Senior Legislative Aide, Mr Olanrewaju Smart, also said his principal had contacted all other speakership aspirants.

“It is the same way that we are talking to the PDP members and other opposition members. Also, we are still talking to the Speaker,” he added.

A speakership aspirant, who spoke to our correspondent on the condition of anonymity, however said he remained in the race.

The lawmaker, who dismissed the endorsements received by Gbajabiamila, stated that only members-elect would determine the next Speaker with their votes.

The aspirant said, “I don’t know about any consultations. I am running my race and I am focused on it. I don’t want to entertain any distractions. It is left for the members of the House of Representatives to determine; they are the ones that will vote.

“There are so many things going on behind the scene that members of the public do not know about. We know that some people are the ones trying to impose their interest on the party.”

A source in the camp of Bago also told our correspondent that the aspirant from Niger State was not in talks with Gbajabiamila.

“Bago is still very much in the race,” the source said, adding, “Bago is from the North-Central, a geopolitical zone that has not produced either a speaker or deputy speaker before. For the sake of justice, fairness and equity, the zone produced the third highest votes – more than the South-West – for President Muhammadu Buhari and should be considered.

However, it appears that Gbajabiamila and his loyalists are aware of the stealth plan by their opponents.

A source in his camp told our correspondent, “Go and watch all those who are campaigning against Gbajabiamila, they are those who voted for Dogara in 2015 and they still belong to that camp. And they held a meeting where it was planned that all of them should crowd the race; that they should run, spend money, do everything and not step down; so that at the end of the day, they will split the APC votes and nominate a candidate favourable to the PDP. Their candidate would now get a block vote from the opposition. That is what they have been doing.

“All those contesting against Gbajabiamila today are those who did anti-party in 2015, voted for Dogara and benefitted from the allocation of committees. They know that if Gbajabiamila comes, he will reform and restructure the system, and allocate the committees on merit. And there is no way it will be done on merit that some of them will retain their seats.”

Meanwhile, one determinant factor, which has divided lawmakers and Nigerians, is the voting method to be adopted in the selection of leaders of the Ninth Assembly.

While open ballot was adopted for the Seventh NASS leadership election in 2011, secret ballot was used in the Eighth Assembly poll in 2015.

In an interview with our correspondent, a speakership aspirant from Oyo State, Mr Oladele Olatunbosun, said the Standing Order of the House of Representatives states that the ballot should be secret.

“In the parliament – in this instance, the House of Representatives, will operate based on set rules. We have the Standing Order, which is where the rules for the conduct of our day-to-day business are taken from. Order 2, if you check, specifically mentions that in electing the presiding officers – Speaker and Deputy Speaker, voting shall be by electronic or secret. That is the Standing Order, its rules were approved in 2016 and those rules have not been changed. So, on the day of inauguration, it is the same rules that the Clerk to the National Assembly will apply in conducting the elections,” he said.

However, Omo-Agege has asked for a return to open ballot voting system used for the election of leaders of the Seventh National Assembly in 2011.

The lawmaker described as illegal the secret ballot used in 2015.

The lawmaker, who is the Secretary of the Parliamentary Support Group, a body of the APC lawmakers protecting Buhari’s interest in the Assembly, said, “It has to be open, because the last valid and subsisting Standing Order is the open ballot method used in 2011.

“In 2015, there was a purported amendment; which was done by the management led by the Clerk to the National Assembly (Mohammed Sani-Omolori). It was changed to secret ballot. Recall that in the Seventh Senate, Senator Ita Enang (now Senior Special Assistant to the President on National Assembly Matters – Senate) was the chairman of the Committee on Rules and Business.

“He said there was never a time when the said amendment was carried out by the Seventh Senate.”

Enang had said, “I can also tell you too that this Eighth Senate has not at any time adopted that amendment. That amendment was done by the management of the National Assembly, but Section 60 of the Constitution gives lawmakers, not NASS management, the power to make rules regarding the running of the National Assembly. And we, the Senators of the Eighth Senate, did not make this 2015 Standing Order.

“So, what it means is that the last valid and subsisting Standing Order is that of 2011. So, there is no way the Clerk to the National Assembly will come in here (into the chamber) on that day and attempt to use this 2015 Standing Order.”

Whichever method is adopted, Nigerians are waiting to see the outcome of the election of leaders of the Ninth Assembly.

CONDITIONS FOR SUPREME COURT TO REVERSE SELF

Given the doctrine of stare decisis (judicial precedent), can the Supreme Court overrule itself in particular after proceedings have been concluded and are final (res judicata)? If the decision is based on a law that National Assembly has passed, parliament can simply change the law. If the decision is based on the Constitution, the Constitution can be amended. Finally, Supreme Court can decide that a certain decision was wrong.

For example, the Supreme Court’s decision in Brown v. Board of Education (USA) effectively overruled the decision in made 58 years before in Plessy v. Ferguson. According to a columnist, Barr Omoba Oladele Osinuga, in his article titled, ‘’Revisiting the Supreme Court decision in Engineer Goodnews Agbi, Anthony Alabi and Chief Audu Ogbeh & ors in light of the decision of Southwark Crown Court in R v Ibori’’, opined that conditions precedent for the apex court to reverse is very limited; this he espoused with the decided cases in question.

The decision of the Supreme Court in Engineer Goodnews Agbi, Anthony Alabi and Chief Audu Ogbeh & ors S.C. 63/2005 is surmised by the following remarks by Dahiru Musdapher, J.S.C (as he then was) the case, an appeal against the decision of the Court of appeal, Abuja Division delivered on 21st day March 2005, wherein the Court of Appeal dismissed the appellants’ appeal and affirmed the decision of the trial High Court.

The crucial issue is whether the 4th respondent herein, Governor James Onanefe Ibori of Delta State has been properly and adequately identified by the appellants, during the trial in the High Court, as the James Onanefe Ibori who was convicted by the Upper Area Court, Bwari in case No CR-81-95, C.O.P vs. James Onanefe Ibori on the 28th September, 1995 for the offences of negligent conduct and criminal breach of trust and sentenced accordingly.

The matter started this way: On the 28th of September, 1995, the Upper Area Court Bwari FCT in a criminal case No CR-81-95 convicted one James Onanefe Ibori for the offences of negligent conduct and criminal breach of trust under Summary Trial Procedure under the provisions of Section 157 of the Criminal Procedure Code of the former Northern Region of Nigeria, applicable to the Federal Capital Territory, Abuja.

The said convict was sentenced to a fine of N1000 or one year imprisonment on the information. The issue before the Supreme Court in this was whether James Onanefe Ibori then Governor of Delta State was the same James Onanefe Ibori who had been convicted by the Upper Area Court, Bwari in case No CR-81-95, C.O.P vs. James Onanefe Ibori on the 28th September, 1995.

In his pleading before the Supreme Court and at every stage of the proceedings which commenced by way of Originating Summons brought by the (plantiffs in the High Court and Appellants in the Supreme Court case Engineer Goodnews Agbi and Anthony Alabi) in the High Court of the Federal Capital Territory (hereinafter referred to as FCT) against Chief Audu Ogbe, Chief Vincent Ogbulafor, Peoples Democratic Party and Independent National Electoral Commission (later struck out as a defendant on the application of the plaintiffs) seeking a declaration that James Onanefe Ibori is by virtue of the conviction aforesaid at Bwari Upper Area Court is not qualified to contest election as the 3rd respondent’s gubernatorial candidate for the 2003 Delta State Governorship Elections.

In its decision the Supreme Court affirmed the decisions of the lower courts and dismissed the appeals. In the Queen v. James Onanefe Ibori (Case No. T20117192) on 17 April 2012 at Southwark Crown Court, London before Justice Anthony Pitts having pleaded guilty James Ibori was convicted and sentenced to 13 years imprisonment with a likely release of 17 October 2012 on 7 counts of money laundering contrary to Section 93 of the Criminal Justice Act 1988 and Sections 327, 328 or 329 of the Proceeds of Crime Act 2002, 1 count of Conspiracy to defraud under the Common Law and contrary to Section 12 of the Criminal Justice Act 1987, 1 count of Dishonestly obtaining property by deception contrary to Section 15 of the Theft Act 1963 as amended from 15 January 2007 by the Fraud Act 2006 and 1 count of conspiracy to launder money contrary to the Sections 327, 328 or 329 of the Proceeds of Crime Act 20021 count of forgery – making a false instrument, with the intention to induce somebody to accept it as genuine contrary to Section 1 of the Forgery and Counterfeiting Act 1981.

Furthermore the Crown Court at Southwark took judicial notice in the distinguishing features and facts of James Ibori previous conviction in the UK of theft from a Wickes Store Ruislip, Middlesex (where he worked as a cashier) in 1991 and for credit card fraud in 1992, facts which he lied about when standing for public office in Nigeria. The Southwark Crown Court in doing so placed reliance on the submission of learned Counsel for the Crown Ms Sacha Wass Q.C who made copious references to James Ibori’s violations of Sections 182 and 185 of the Constitution of the Federal republic of Nigeria (CFRN 1999).

The court’s stance going at great lengths to rebut the argument advanced by the learned Counsel for the defence Nicholas Purnell Q.C that James Ibori did not violate CFRN 1999 since the Prisoners Rehabilitation of Offenders Act of 1984 nullified such convictions after five years. In the course of this discourse I shall examine the provisions of Sections 182 and 185 of CFRN 1999.

Importantly Section 182 of the Constitution is the casus belli of the Supreme Court case of Engineer Goodnews Agbi, Anthony Alabi and Chief Audu Ogbeh & ors though curiously there is no express reference to this section in the Supreme Court judgement of this case but as noted in the learned Dahiru Musdapher, J.S.C (as he then was) summary of the case stated above implicit references are made to this section during the course of the proceedings given that this was the rationale for the appellants in initiating the suit in the first place.

The decision in Queen v. James Onanefe Ibori in my view has a significant impact of the ‘safety’, fairness and the interests of justice given the outcome and decision of Engineer Goodnews Agbi, Anthony Alabi and Chief Audu Ogbeh & ors. Given the principles of finality of proceedings (res judicata), stare decisis judicial precedent binding the court, the dispensation and administration of justice rests on the foundation of enduring truth, fairness and equity.


Reopening a previously decided Supreme Court case

The Supreme Court generally in following the doctrine of stare decisis is bound by its previous decisions. This principle of judicial precedent is not unique to our Supreme Court but is a common feature of Superior Courts of record in Common law jurisdictions. It is also related to the principle which ensures that there is a finality of proceedings (res judicata) in the matter that is being adjudicated. This rule that the judgement being final and conclusive having being determined by the court with jurisdiction is however subject to in some cases to certain rare exceptions. Thus under this general rule there are indeed occasions when the Supreme Court departs from being bound by its previous decision.

The exceptions to the Supreme Court from departing from its previous decisions as judicial precedent or in an existing case setting it aside can be done for a number of limited reasons. These include if it is in the interests of justice to depart from such decision, the original and initial decision has been obtained by dishonest and fraudulent means by the parties and the decision was such that if was allowed to subsist and prevail it would have a grave and detrimental impact and effect on the administration and delivery of justice.

These reasons are eloquently expressed in obiter dictum remarks of P. Nnaemeka-Agu J.S.C who delivered the judgment in Francis Asanya and The State (1991) SC.43/1990, 3 NWLR (Pt.180), (1991) 4 SCNJ 1, (1991) 4 S.C 42. The learned P. Nnaemeka-Agu J.S.C reasoning has been the guiding principle of the Supreme Court in respect of previous decisions of the Court. P. Nnaemeka-Agu J.S.C states that, “Previous decisions of this Court are binding on this Court until overruled or departed from.

Departing from previous decisions is not a matter to be lightly embarked upon. The court can only be persuaded to depart from previous decisions if the previous decisions were proved wrong given per incuriam, and perpetuating injustice.”

“This court respects precedent, even though it is not a court bound by precedent. It is, as here as in many other parts of the Commonwealth, essential for the certainty of the law that it should generally follow its previous decisions. But, as a court of ultimate resort, it need not do so when the interest of justice dictates otherwise.

So it will not hold itself hamstrung by precedent when it has been shown that an established principle is beset with a substantial error such that to follow it will amount to furthering injustice.” (see at P.31, paras. E – G and Pp. 18-19, paras. G-B) The learned Justice citing the cases of Odi v. Osafile (1985) 1 S.C. 1 (1985) 1 NWLR. (Part 1) 17; Bucknor-MacLean and Anor. v. Inlaks Ltd. (1980) 8-11 S.C. 1 stated that,’’The court has a twin duty to see that (1) justice is founded on the correct view of the law and (2) justice is not slaughtered on incorrect interpretation and application of the law and equity.

The pursuit of these ideals are to go hand-in-hand with the pursuit of the ideal of certainty in the law. This court respects precedent, even though it is not a court bound by precedent. It is, as here as in many other parts of the Commonwealth, essential for the certainty of the law that it should generally follow its previous decisions. But, as a court of ultimate resort, it need not do so when the interest of justice dictates otherwise.

So it will not hold itself hamstrung by precedent when it has been shown that an established principle is beset with a substantial error such that to follow it will amount to furthering injustice. (Pp. 18-19, paras. G-B) The learned Nnamani, J.S.C. also encapsulated these principles in James Orubu v. National Electoral Commission & 13 Ors. (1988) 5 NWLR (Pt.94) 323 (also in (1988) 12 S.C.N.J. 254 (at page 276). In the same case the learned Uwais, J.S.C opined that.

“It is indeed well-settled that this Court does not ordinarily depart from its decision unless it is shown that the decision has over a period of time perpetuated injustice through the doctrine of stare decisis or it has impeded the development of law or it is in fact against public policy or the decision was given per incuriam. (James Orubu v. National Electoral Commission & 13 Ors. (1988) 5 NWLR (Pt.94) 323 P.35, Paras.D-E).


Celestine Omehia Vs Chibuike Rotimi Amaechi Case

On November 2, 2009, Supreme Court dismissed Celestine Omehia’s application seeking for review of its judgement of October 25, 2007 which removed him and declared Rotimi Amaechi as the governor of River state. Amaechi who won Rivers state PDP governorship primary in December 2006 was substituted with Omehia, and early in 2007, Amaechi filed a suit challenging his substitution against the April 14, 2007 elections. Supreme Court in this case of

AMAECHI v INEC [2008] 5 NWLR [PT.1080] 227
resolved the issue of the wrongful substitution of candidates of Political Parties during elections. The Court held that Amaechi was wrongly substituted with Omehia by PDP and that in the eyes of the law, Amaechi who didn’t contest the election was at all times the legal candidate of PDP at the elections, and proceeded to declare him as Governor of Rivers State.

But Omehia re-appealed saying the apex court made a mistake and the judgement contradicted some provisions of the 1999 Constitution. But 7-man panel led by Justice Alloysius Kastina-Alu described the suit as frivolous and an act of judicial rascality, and accordingly dismissed it with N100,000 cost, saying even if it was a mistake, the apex court has a right to make a mistake.

They insisted Amaechi remained the legitimate governor, and that was final regardless of whether it was rightly or wrongly entered and that there was nothing anybody could do about it. He said that if anybody was aggrieved by the court’s decision, the proper place to appeal was in heaven where God Almighty reigns supreme and not in Nigeria where they held sway; adding that “only God can reverse the October 25, 2007 verdict.”

By AHURAKA YUSUF ISAH



On Thursday May 29, 2019, Chairman of the Presidential Advisory Committee on Anti-corruption (PACAC), Professor Itse Sagay (SAN) lodged an unexpected attack on the Supreme Court for the judgements it delivered in the disputed All Progressives Congress (APC) primaries in Rivers and Zamfara states. The supreme Court had on February 12, 2019 finally struck out all pending appeals challenging the judgement of the Port Harcourt Division of the Federal High Court which barred the APC from fielding candidates in the 2019 general elections. Justice Olabode Rhodes-Vivour led 5-man panel followed the apex court judgement of February 8, 2019 which upheld the order of a Federal High Court, Port Harcourt, nullifying the APC primaries in Rivers State.

The trial court had held that the primaries were held in disobedience to a court judgement barring the party from conducting congresses pending the determination of a suit filed by 22 aggrieved members of the party. Again, Supreme Court on May 24, 2019 nullified the elections of all the candidates of the APC in Zamfara State in the 2019 general elections. Delivering a unanimous judgment of the five-man panel led by the Acting Chief Justice of Nigeria, Justice Tanko Muhammad, the apex court declared the first runners-up in the 2019 general elections in the state as the winners of all the posts earlier declared to have been won by the APC and its candidates.

Justice Paul Galinje, who read the lead judgment upheld the decision of the Sokoto Division of the Court of Appeal to the effect that the APC did not conduct any valid primary election and as such had no candidate for any of the elections in the state. He described the votes polled by the APC candidates in the elections as wasted, adding that the party and the candidates with the second highest votes and the spread in the various elections were the valid winners. In other words, the 36 positions including governor and his deputy’s seats, 3 senate, 7 Reps members and 24 state House of Assembly seats were lost in one swoop to the PDP by the APC.

Professor Sagay however described the separate Supreme Court judgements, although in pari material, or on the same subject matter (appeal) which is the invalid conduct of primary elections in Rivers and Zamfara states by the APC at the build up to 2019 general elections, as ‘’travesty of justice’’. Professor Itsejuwa Esanjum Sagay (SAN), simply known as Professor Itse Sagay is a distinguished legal scholar, Professor of Law and human rights activist and the former Dean of the Faculties of Law at Universities of Ife and Benin respectively, a constitutional law expert and Senior Advocate of Nigeria.

He is unarguably fast becoming the greatest critics of institutions and individuals not courting President Buhari’s political interest. The Delta state (Ugheli) born and Supreme Court of Nigeria Amicus Curia was appointed by President Muhammadu Buhari in August 2015 as the Presidential Advisory Committee on Anti-corruption Chairman to advice his administration on prosecution of the war against corruption and the implementation of required reforms in Nigeria’s criminal justice system. Sagay began the scathing remarks on institutions or individuals while serving under the Buhari administration when on April 16, 2016 he delivered a paper titled “A Farewell to Election Petitions”, which he referred to as ‘’a Summary of his review of the Supreme Court decision in the Rivers State Governorship Case of Wike v. Peterside.


Wike Vs Peterside Judgement Attack

Supreme Court heard and delivered judgement in appeal number SC.1002/2015, between Wike Ezenwo Nyesom and Hon. (Dr) Dakuku Adol Peterside & 3 Ors on January 27, 2016; with reason for the judgement subsequently given on February 12, 2016. In his lead judgement, Justice Kudirat Motonmori Olatokunbo Kekere-Ekun dismissed the concurrent judgments of the Tribunal and the Court of Appeal and consequently return Nyesom Wike as the duly elected Governor of Rivers state. ‘’The generalized evidence led by mobile policemen, officers of the Department of State Security and Military Officers were against unidentified individuals and unidentified PDP thugs. ‘’For the evidence of disruption, violence and corrupt practices to warrant the nullification of the entire election in Rivers state, the 1st and 2nd respondents had to first prove the non-compliance polling unit by polling unit, ward by ward. They must also establish that the non-compliance was substantial and affected the result of the election. It is only when this is done, that the respondents are to lead evidence in rebuttal. The 1st and 2nd respondents herein failed to bring their cases within these parameters. ‘’It is my view that the Tribunal and the court below were unduly influenced by the alleged failure of INEC officials to adhere to INEC’s Manual, Guidelines and directives on the exclusive use of the Card Readers for accreditation and heresay evidence and thereby, with due respect, came to the wrong conclusions. I hold that the appellant has shown sufficient reason for this court to interfere with the concurrent findings of the Tribunal and the court below’’. But Sagay argued otherwise. He said ‘’the Wike v. Peterside Supreme Court decision constituted the most devastating judicial blow on Democracy, the Rule of Law and Free, Fair and Credible Elections this country has ever seen.

Not only have incredibly high and insurmountable barriers against election petitions been erected by that decision, it also gives an indomitable rock like status to anyone, who by blood, mayhem, violence, massive irregularities, fights his way on to the governorship seat; indeed, any electoral office. He is assured of unshakeable, solid tenure for 4 years. The full implication of the Supreme Court’s decision in Wike v. Peterside is: “when you prepare for Elections, prepare for War”. This judgment constitutes, “A Farewell to Election Petitions”.

The Electronic Card Reader Machine for accreditation of voters was provided for in the Approved Guidelines and Regulations for the conduct of the 2015 General Elections. Prior to the authorization of its use by the Guidelines, Sections 49 (1) and (2) of the Electoral Act 2010 (as amended) had adopted analogue procedure for the accreditation process. The National Assembly perhaps went to sleep by not amending the Electoral Act in order to replace the Voters’ Register (analogue procedure) with the Card Reader Machine, in order to serve as the sole determinant of valid accreditation process.

The 7-man panel of the Supreme Court led by the Chief Justice of Nigeria, Justice Mahmud Mohammed in the appeal number SC.1004/2015 in the matter between EDWARD NKWEGU OKEREKE (APPELLANT) AND NWEZE DAVIDUMAHI AND OTHERS (RESPONDENTS), held that; ‘’…since the Guidelines and Manual which authorized the use and deployment of the electronic card Reader Machine were made in exercise of the powers conferred by the Electoral Act, the said Card Reader cannot, logically, depose or dethrone the voters’ Register whose judicial roots are firmly embedded in the selfsame Electoral Act from which it (the Voters’ Register), directly, derives its sustenance and currency’’.

Hon. Justice Chima Centus Nweze, who delivered the lead judgment said “the lower court was right in holding that the Card Reader Report was incomplete, unreliable and incapable of proving the appellant’s allegation of improper accreditation/over-voting’’. Should Voters’ Register or Card Reader Machine Report be the determinant of valid accreditation? This had been the basis of conflicting judgment amongst the Court of Appeal Divisions recently. But, again felt otherwise.

He said in his same paper, “A Farewell to Election Petitions”, that the Supreme Court, in rejecting the use of the Card Reader adopted its earlier views on the matter in Okereke v. Umahi S.C. 1004/2015, that the use of the Card Reader would ‘dethrone’ and ‘depose’ the Voters’ Register “whose judicial roots are firmly embedded or entrenched in the selfsame Electoral Act from which it (Voters’ Register) directly derives its sustenance and currency” – per Nweze, JSC. The question may be asked, how does the Card Reader ‘depose’, or ‘dethrone’ the voter’s Register. ‘’The sum total of the role of the Card Reader is that it is complimentary to the usage of the Voters’ Register.” So where in all this did Nweze, JSC, discover the ‘deposition’, and ‘dethronement’, of the Voters’ Register by the Card Reader? Absolutely nowhere.

What Nweze, JSC, had simply done was to give the Card Reader a bad name in order to subject it to judicial execution. ‘’Section 15 of the Electoral Act clearly empowers the INEC to issue Regulations, guidelines and manuals for the purpose of giving effect to the provisions of the Act and its Administration thereof. Introduction of Card Readers is doing exactly that. By law, the guidelines thus issued are as potent as the permitting law, i.e., the Electoral Act itself. ‘

’It follows that if all the Card Reader does is to enhance, improve and promote the capacity of the Voters’ Register to ensure or guarantee, free, fair, credible and transparent elections, the Card Reader could NOT in any sense have ‘deposed’, ‘dethroned’ the Voters’ Register as Nweze, JSC, wrongly asserted in Okereke v. Umahi ‘’ The Voters’ Register could only be regarded as having been dethroned and deposed if its purpose in the Electoral Act was to promote fraud, rigging and massive irregularities. In other words, it is only when its role and purpose is in conflict with that of the Card Reader, that it can be said to have been dethroned and deposed by the Card Reader, because the two would then be working at cross-purposes with each other.


Rivers And Zamfara Judgement Attack

In a statement he sent to journalists titled, ‘’Supreme Court Judgement on Zamfara APC: The Judiciary As Alternative Electorate’’, Sagay stated that the Zamfara and Rivers state judgments are a national tragedy. We should not allow our legal system to throw up such unimaginable injustice. “This major judicial disenfranchisement of the Zamfara and Rivers electorate should be reversed. I advise the APC legal team to apply for a review of the two judgments. Their Lordships ought to be given an opportunity to reverse this unprecedented tragedy.

The prefix ‘Justice’ preceding the names of Supreme Court and Court of Appeal judges is significant, for it prescribes what they stand for and what they represent: justice!” Sagay pointed out that in the governorship election in Zamfara, the APC candidate scored well over 500,000 votes while the PDP candidate scored just over 100,000 votes.

He noted that the APC won all three Senate seats in the state, seven House of Representative seats and 24 state House of Assembly seats. The statement reads in part: “By this judgment, the landslide APC victories in the governorship, Senate, House of Representative and House of Assembly elections are transferred to the PDP.

If the APC primaries were defective, should the electorate be deprived of their democratic and constitutional rights to vote? Is the electorate to be punished for the transgressions of party officials? “Should the judiciary replace the electorate’s decision and install losers in office? Could the judiciary not have drawn on the deep recesses of its intellectual capacity, authority and its inexorable commitment to justice, to prevent this undemocratic calamity? “Can the APC officials not be punished, for their lapses without denying the electorate their democratic rights? Should the judiciary take over the electoral rights of the electorate? Is this not a clear case of technical law completely overthrowing justice?

“Have the members of the Supreme Court not achieved a level of creativity and authority to provide a solution without burying democracy and taking over from the registered voters as the judicial electorate? If this judgment had been an international one, it could have been described as ‘shocking the conscience of humanity.’ In this case, it shocks the conscience of Nigerian humanity.”

Citing several authorities, Sagay said the Supreme Court is specially endowed with the power and authority to do justice and to ignore law when it is technical and would create injustice, and to avoid at all costs a mechanical approach to the interpretation of the law. Now, has justice been served in Rivers and Zamfara states? No! In one case, innocent electorate in their hundreds of thousands were prevented from voting for their party by judicial order. “In Zamfara, where voting took place, the verdict of the electorate was taken away from the victorious party and awarded by the judiciary to the woeful losers. In the next four years, Zamfara state will be governed by a party and politicians rejected by the electorates.

This indeed shocks the conscience of Nigerian humanity,” Sagay stated. Curiously, lawyers are divided on legality or illegality of the law professor’s arguments. While some disagreed on seeking Supreme Court review of the judgements in Zamfara and Rivers states, others dismissed such urge as odious or mere academic exercise to waste apex court’s precious time.

Just when we thought things were easing up regarding Huawei Technologies’ battle with the USA, Facebook is now not allowing any of its apps to be pre-installed on Huawei phones. According to Facebook, current users of its apps who have Huawei phones will continue to use them and receive updates, however, new Huawei phones will not come with WhatsApp, Facebook, or Instagram pre-installed.

Facebook’s stance on Huawei is similar to that of Google which was one of the first companies to announce that it is cutting business ties with Huawei and pulling its Android license from the Chinese mobile phone manufacturer.

According to a Facebook spokesperson who spoke to Reuters, the ban applies to any new Huawei mobile phone that has not left the factory and not necessarily only future models of Huawei phones.The big catch however is that theoretically future Huawei phone users could theoretically still be able to install Facebook’s apps but because Google has also banned future Huawei phones from having access to its Google Play Store, this is unlikely to happen.


Huawei blacklisted
Facebook joins a growing list of American companies that have decided to honor the executive order signed by Donald Trump in May 2019 blacklisting Huawei. Already several processor makers, Microsoft and even Vodafone in the UK have cut ties or temporarily suspended doing business with Huawei.

What has been curious is the quick change of mind, sort of, that both the Wi-Fi Alliance and SD Association have had after initially removing Huawei from their list of members and within a week the Chinese company reappeared as a member. Both standards bodies have since said that Huawei’s membership has only been amended to reflect that they are honoring the executive order by Trump.

The decision by both the Wi-Fi Alliance and SD Association makes sense if you look at Huawei’s contributions to both standards bodies and the patents it holds. Banning Huawei completely from being a member would likely hamper both organizations more than it would Huawei.

By PHILIP NYAM




The minority caucus in the House of Representatives, led by the main opposition party, the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), recently devoted two days to interrogate the major contenders for the position of speaker of the 9th Assembly. PHILIP NYAM reports

The race for speaker of the 9th House of Representatives was fast forwarded last weekend when the minority parties under the guide of the main opposition party, the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) engaged six key contestants for the position of speaker of the 9th House.

The 9th House will be populated by lawmakers from nine political parties including PDP, All Progressives Congress (APC), Labour Party (LP), Accord Party (AP), All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA), Social Democratic Party (SDP), Allied Peoples Movement (APM) and Action Alliance (AA).

Incidentally, all the six candidates for the speakership except one were elected on the platform of the ruling APC. On the first day of the exercise conducted by the Deputy Minority Leader, Hon. Chukwuka Onyema (PDP, Anambra), the caucus interviewed Hon. John Dyegh (APC, Benue), Hon. Nkeiruka Onyejeocha (APC, Abia), Hon. Mohammed Umar Bago (APC, Niger), Hon. Olajide Olatunbosun (APC, Oyo) and Hon. Emeka Nwajiuba (Accord Party, Imo).

The preferred candidate of the APC, Hon. Femi Gbajabiamila was unavoidably absent as he was in the South-South part of the country, where he took his campaign to the governors of the geopolitical zone. However, a special session was organised for him the next day. Also, four other candidates who had earlier indicated interest in the position did not show up for the event, perhaps signaling the end of their ambition. They include the House spokesman Abdulrazaq Namdas (APC, Adamawa), Aliyu Betara (APC, Borno), Buba Yakub (APC, Adamawa) and Segun Odebunmi (APC, Oyo). Yakub has officially withdrawn from the contest, but Namdas, Betara and Odebunmi are yet to declare their stand.

In his opening remarks, Onyema explained that the essence of the interaction was for the minority lawmakers to have firsthand information on the plan of action of each of the speakership hopefuls.
He said the caucus wants the best for Nigeria and therefore decided to gauge the preparedness of each of the candidates to enable them take a position.
Being the only female contestant, Onyejeocha was offered the first slot to address the lawmakers, but she turned down the privileged preferring to be the second person. Consequently, Dyegh was called upon to open the floor for the interaction.


John Dyegh

Mounting the podium, Hon. Dyegh, who had a long session with the lawmakers promised that if elected speaker, he will pursue the amendment of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, 1999 (As Amended) to ensure legislative experience counts by extending the four-year tenure to six-year tenure for the legislature.

Dyegh, who holds a doctorate degree in Economic History, further said he would initiate evidence-based legislations by ensuring enhanced capacity and improved welfare of legislators and legislative support services through training and retraining to enable the 9th National Assembly pass national priority laws in critical sectors such as security, employment and productivity, power and agriculture.
Speaking further, the lawmaker representing Gboko/Tarka federal constituency of Benue said he would “sustain and deepen independence of the National Assembly and ensure harmonious interdependent working relationship with the executive arm of government without undermining the principles of separation of powers.”

Dyegh insisted that the north central deserves the speaker for equity and fairness adding that he will “initiate legislative measures and laws that will promote and engender national unity, providing equal opportunities to all Nigerians especially members of the House of Representatives irrespective of ethnic, political, social and religious affiliations.”


Umar Bago (APC, Niger)

In his presentation before the caucus, Bago (APC, Niger) promised to share all committees equally between the APC and opposition adding that all committees will be equitably distributed in a proportionate manner. Although, this promise from Bago elicited a thunderous applause from the lawmakers, some of them who were seated at the back expressed some pessimism about the prospect of the APC having equal committee chairmen with the PDP and other minority parties. Bago, like Dyegh also hammered on the need for justice and equity in the nation’s polity, arguing that the North Central’s performance in the 2019 general elections earned it a deserving place to vie for the number four position in the nation. He said his aspiration was a response to a combination of factors, divided broadly into three –personal characteristics, geo-political balancing consideration, sensitivity and generational imperatives. He maintained that whoever will be the speaker of the 9th Assembly must be strong on relational dictates.

“He must be able to manage all stakeholders and relationships, from the ever recurring frosty executive-legislature relationship, to the primus intern pares dictum. The person must not convey a boss and subordinate National Assembly bureaucracy. Former members and other stakeholders must be well and effectively managed,” he said. Bago maintained that he has a clear understanding of the workings of the National Assembly as a member and chairman of committees who moved and supported several motions and bills. “I have been an active person in plenary and at committee sessions. I have related with speakers. I believe I am eminently able to also manage our colleagues from the chair to the benefit of the 8th Assembly.” He said.


Nkeiruka Onyejeocha (APC, Imo)

Onyejeocha, who is the highest ranking APC lawmaker from the South-East promised to run an all-inclusive leadership that will carry all members of the House along. According to her, the relationship between the executive, legislature and judiciary will be cordial if she is given the opportunity to lead the House. The lawmaker, who represents Isuikwuato/ Umunneochi federal constituency of Abia State explained that she took the decision to vie for the speakership as a result of the concerns of the people of the South-East regarding the distribution of presiding officers’ positions in the National Assembly. According to her, the people are worried that an inequitable distribution will create lopsidedness and lead to worsened divides in the country. She also noted that she has been a member of the House for more than 11 years and has served her constituents and Nigeria diligently and with distinction. On her performance as a legislator, Onyejeocha said she has sponsored several motions and bills, conducted oversight over multiple activities and initiatives of government, ministries, departments and agencies, as well as helped deliver meaningful constituency projects to the people of her constituency. She, therefore, pledged that if elected as Speaker, she would improve communications with Nigerians as well as strengthen internal communications and relationships among members of the House. She also promised to strengthen House committees and processes as well as adopt a legislative agenda with a clear framework for compliance and monitoring, among others.


Olajide Olatunbosun (APC, Oyo)

Olatunbosun, who also appeared before the panel called on members to rise up and save Nigeria’s democracy from forces that want to dominate the nation’s polity. The lawmaker, who represents Saki West/Saki East/Atisbo federal constituency of Oyo State in the House, said: “Our democracy is at risk and we must stand to be counted and rescue it from forces bent on appropriating it to their selfish ends. We are united by a common destiny and we don’t want the House to be controlled by external forces. We run three tiers of government and we must not allow ourselves to be cowed.” The latest entrant into the race told his colleagues that he decided to run because Nigeria has gotten to a point that men of goodwill must not hold back. “We have to stand up to be counted. The National Assembly, most especially the House of Representatives, where I belong needs good, quality leadership as well as a Nigerian who can unite members of the House across political divide and also unite Nigerians in general regardless of their ethnic and religious beliefs. The House also needs a speaker, who will ensure harmony between the executive and the legislature,” he said.


Emeka Nwajiuba (Accord Party, Imo)

Nwajiuba is the only contestant for the speakership, who is presently not serving in the House. This will be his second term in the Green Chamber having served between 1999 and 2003. Although, he was the last contestant that was taken on the first day, Nwajiuba, a humorous politician, brought life to the occasion as his use of proverbs and comic expressions lighten the mood in the Niger Hall, venue of the interaction. He promised to engage the executive and try to build a cordial and sustainable relationship. He told the lawmakers that his aspiration was borne out of his desire to press for power balancing among the geopolitical zones, arguing that he is eminently qualified by virtue of his academic attainment and political and legislative experience. He revealed his long standing relationship with President Muhammadu Buhari, saying they share the same political philosophy. Nwajiuba added that he was not in the race for monetary gains saying if it were for pecuniary reasons, he would not have resigned his appointment as chairman of the Tertiary Education Trust Fund (TETFUND). He also disclosed that he was a founding member of the APC, but had to contest election on the platform of the Accord Party for political exigency.


Femi Gbajabiamila (APC, Lagos)

The anointed candidate of the APC, Gbajabiamila had his day with the minority lawmakers the following day at Kano Hall of Transcorp Hilton. However, unlike the first day when the media was allowed to cover the presentation of candidates, the House leader demanded to interact with the minority caucus in camera. He asked journalists to excuse them half way into his address before the lawmakers. But before journalists were asked to leave the hall, Gbajabiamila lamented that as majority leader, the leadership of the House under Speaker Yakubu Dogara did not accord him the privilege of nominating any of his loyalists as chairman of the 98 standing committees of the House. Speaking glowingly about his person, Gbajabiamila said: “I am the leader of the House, with no single committee chairman slot of almost 200 committees. I heard about the appointment of committee chairmen on the floor of the House like any other person, but I took it in my stride.”

One of the longest serving members of the House, the lawmaker representing Surulere II federal constituency of Lagos explained that he was a different person from what many people paint him, saying he has been accused of partisanship. “I have been accused of being partisan, but I am a politician and there is nobody here that is not partisan.

I am somebody who when I lost election in 2015, I quickly raised the hand of the speaker; I am somebody who never opposed the speaker; I am somebody who is often quiet but jovial, I am somebody who those that opposed me in 2015 are now some of my best friends in the House,” he said. The House leader also revealed that he knows no other business in the past 20 years apart from lawmaking. Although, the media was barred from covering the interaction between the caucus and Gbajabiamila, some of the lawmakers who were part of the exercise later disclosed in confidence what transpired during the session.

One of them revealed that Gbajabiamila disowned the APC national chairman, Comrade Adams Oshiomhole, on his declaration that the PDP will not be given any committee to head. According to him, Gbajabiamila “promised to give us (PDP) committee chairmen and told us that his party chairman (Oshiomhole) doesn’t understand how the House works” On the concern that the APC National Leader, Asiwaju Bola Tinubu is behind his aspiration and is likely to dictate for him, the lawmaker said “Gbajabiamila told us that every politician has a godfather, but someone in Lagos will not determine committee chairmen for him or how he will run the House, if he is elected speaker.”

He added: “We put him to task and he opened up even though some of us were not comfortable with the idea of interrogating him in secret because we had a similar interview with five other speakership contestants on Wednesday evening and the media was allowed to be part of it. So, it was quite unfortunate that the media was asked to vacate the room. But the request came from him, so we respected his preference.” Speaking further on what prevailed at the closed door session, the lawmaker revealed that Gbajabiamila was frank and open. “He was actually frank because he told us that as House leader, his budget is N2.5 billion annually. He also told us how he fought with former speaker, Aminu Waziri Tambuwal, over sharing of committees because he (Tambuwal) was giving committees to our enemies.” In a brief chat with the media after the interaction, the deputy minority leader (Onyema) disclosed that the minority caucus will analyse and review the presentations from the six speakership contestants and “take a position.”

He said the PDP has not endorsed any candidate “but we will soon come up with a position, not necessarily endorsement. We have listened to the candidates and it is a successful exercise, but we need to sit down and look at what they have presented to us. On why the caucus decided to take Gbajabiamila behind closed door, he explained that it was the House leader’s desire and they had to respect his views.

The haze over the PDP caucus decision got cleared on Tuesday, when it advised its members to support any speakership aspirant of their choice from the APC. Minority leader of the House, Hon. Leo Ogor who disclosed this in a Sallah message said the caucus took the decision in national interest.

He said: “While we further our unflinching commitment to the principles and ethos of democracy, the PDP House Caucus has endorsed its members’ decision to work with speakership aspirants from the ruling party, thereby allowing all who feel thus inclined, the freedom to attend all meetings, participate in campaigns, strategy sessions and other activities of any speakership aspirant of their choice.”

Ogor maintained that “while the nation looks forward to the inauguration of the 9th National Assembly, the PDP House Caucus is leaving no stone unturned in furtherance of its resolute determination to proactively decide the final outcome of the ongoing contest for leadership of the House in ways that would ultimately ensure that the people’s will ultimately prevails.”

Olusola Fabiyi, Olalekan Adetayo and Success Nwogu



The National Working Committee of the ruling All Progressives Congress on Thursday set up a five-man disciplinary committee to investigate the party’s Deputy National Chairman, North, Lawal Shuaibu.

According to a statement by the party’s National Publicity Secretary, Lanre Issa-Onilu, the decision was taken at the 38th regular meeting of the NWC held in Abuja.

Shuaibu had recently called out the party’s National Chairman, Adams Oshiomhole, on his leadership style asking him to resign.

But Issa-Onilu said the NWC passed a vote of confidence in Oshiomhole despite Shuaibu’s outburst against him.

The statement read, “The meeting of the National Working Committee at its 38th regular meeting held on 27th May, 28th May 2019 and 6th June, 2019, considered several issues, among which was the state of the party.

“After extensive deliberation, the NWC resolved as follows: to pass a vote of confidence in the National Chairman, Adams Aliyu Oshiomhole.

“To set up a five-man disciplinary committee headed by Otunba Niyi Adebayo to investigate the following: the allegation leveled by Senator Lawal Shuaibu against the National Chairman on issues involving the collective decisions of the National Working Committee.

“The instigation of Senators/members of the House of Representatives by Senator Lawal Shuaibu against the decision of the party on the choice of the Presiding Officers for both chambers (Senate and the House of Representatives).

“The committee is mandated to submit its report to the National Working Committee within seven days from today (Thursday).”


State chairmen back Oshiomhole

Chairmen of the All Progressives Congress from the 36 states and the FCT have declared support for Oshiomhole.

Spokesman for the Forum of State Chairmen and the Chairman of the party in Enugu State, Dr. Ben Nwoye, spoke on behalf of his colleagues in Abuja, after a meeting with the party’s NWC.

He said, “We discussed the issue of party unity and the need to move the country forward. We have all unanimously passed a vote of confidence in the national chairman and the NWC.

“So, any news making the round that our National Chairman is facing crisis should be brought to rest.

“We found out based on the meeting that the issues are without merit and that they were brought up to malign the National Chairman.

“You recall that the actual reports came out on a day that was supposed to be the happiest day for the party, the day of inauguration of the President for a second term.

“Anybody with genuine issues should have presented them at the appropriate time and through the right channel. So, it was with no other intent than to malign the President and bring us down.

“Nobody gave President Buhari any chance of winning his second chance even with all that he had done. This chairman did something that was almost impossible.

“The job of the national chairman was to prosecute the election and he did and we did the unthinkable and the President has been sworn in for a second term and we give credit to the chairman and the NWC.”


Shittu wants Oshiomole out

Meanwhile, the immediate past Minister of Communication, Adebayo Shittu, says it is the personality of President Muhammadu Buhari that is galvanising the ruling APC.

He said the ruling party might have problems in 2023 when the tenure of the President would come to an end.

Shittu, who spoke with journalists in Abuja on Thursday, also said there were instances to suggest that the National Chairman of the APC, Mr Adams Oshiomhole was not capable of leading the ruling party.

Shittu insisted that the APC would not retain power in 2023 if the former governor of Edo State “is not removed” as the national chairman of the ruling party.

He said “I am hard on Oshiomhole because he has come to destroy our party. How do you justify a chairman who came to power at a time we were in power and had 26 states? Now, we have lost about six states.

“With Oshiomhole, I don’t see us winning because a lot of people will be driven out of the party because he will continue with his injustice because a lot of things have been destroyed.”

On his NYSC certificate scandal, the former minister said his refusal to serve was not enough for him to have been disqualified.

He said there was nowhere in the Nigerian Constitution that said anyone contesting political office must have an NYSC certificate.

By Tunde Oyesina


A former Attorney General of the Federation (AGF) and Minister of Justice, Mohammed Bello Adoke (SAN), has revealed that a close ally of a former governor of Lagos State and National Leader of All Progressives Congress (APC), Asiwaju Bola Tinubu, engineered his trial before the Code of the Conduct Tribunal (CCT).

Adoke, who stated this in an interview with an online newspaper, Premium Times, said: “Bola Tinubu’s trial took place, it was his case with Code of Conduct Tribunal. It was a very unfortunate thing. But what most people don’t know is that a lot of people, who claimed to be close to Bola Tinubu, a particular human rights lawyer, was the one that engineered that trial.”

When pressed further to know who the lawyer was, he said: “You will read it in my book (laughter). It is there in my book, a particular human rights lawyer was the one going around the political authorities at that time saying: ‘Is this how you people are going to allow Tinubu? He has stolen Lagos blind, is this how you are going allow him to take over Nigeria, you people should move against him.’

“At the end of the day, the Code of Conduct Bureau people on the instigation of this lawyer, and I am happy that Mike Oghiadomhe is alive, I am happy persons like Ita Ekpenyong is alive and I wish that the late Azazi is alive because they would have been able to corroborate this story. How Bola Tinubu’s trial came about was unnecessary.

“Again, the same lawyer was one of those who went to tell Tinubu that “ohh… it is Adoke that is against you.’ That was why at that time Bola Tinubu, I think in 2012 or thereabout, came out to say that ‘the Attorney General is against me’ until he spoke to me through Lai Mohammed, who incidentally, was a great friend of mine before he became a minister and who has 24/7 access to me when I was minister.

Adoke, however, denied that the institution of the case against Tinubu did not emanate from him.

His words: “Let me tell you something; what was happening was that I told you in government there are many mansions, there are many interest groups, and there is so much sense of blackmail. I was fighting on so many fronts. Some of these anti corruption agencies will go and say ‘we are trying to fight corruption, it is the Attorney General that is not allowing us’ and you know how they use the issue of corruption as a base.

“It is so easy. So, when they continue that; I had advised that to me it was unnecessary, but since they didn’t listen, the CCB people came, we said ‘well, we don’t believe in this prosecution’ but they said they have a private lawyer who will prosecute for them under fiat; we gave them the fiat.”

Asked whether it was the allegation against him that stopped him from coming to Nigeria, Adoke said it was not the allegations that dissuaded him.

His words: “It is the fact that I needed to look at the security situation, the fact that I have some intelligence. It is also the fact that I would not put myself before a moving train. Because of the fact that I needed to be heard because the modus operandi of those investigating was working to an answer, not investigative. I am ready to submit myself to prosecution. I am not ready to submit myself to persecution.

“I was not running away. I am not refusing to come. It is very important because I like to be very clear about that. I also had some health challenges, very critical health challenges, and I needed to address them as well. I have to be healthy and alive to be able to face a trial.”

Stating the role he played in pleading with former President Goodluck Jonathan to accept defeat in the 2015 elections, Adoke said: “The fact is that some tried to claim more credit than the others. I would say it was a collective effort. And, at the end of the day, we have to give credit to President Jonathan who decided not to go with the hawks and decided to go with those of us that were the doves.

“Anybody can claim credit but what was most important was that as at that time, those of us who took the decision that the president should call Buhari to concede defeat to him so as to douse tensions took into consideration the overall interest of the country. I would tell you this; people who talk just talk because they want to claim the credit. Claiming credit is cheap, but they don’t know what goes into the working of any situation that arises.

“I think on the 31st of March, if I am not mistaken, on that day in the morning, the PDP National Chairman, Adamu Mu’azu, had come to see me in the office. He treats me like his younger brother and he is someone that has been very nice to me, and I have a very excellent relationship with him, and he has been very helpful to me in exile. When he came to see me, he said ‘my brother, look, this is the situation on the ground. I am looking at the likely consequences of the president not conceding defeat or not doing this.

“In the interest of the nation, if by 5.pm this evening the president does not concede defeat, I as the National Chairman of the PDP will concede defeat on behalf of the party.’

As the Attorney General, a member of the national security council and as a frontline member or if you permit me to say, part of the kitchen cabinet of Mr. President, I knew the implications for the country and implications for the party. It will also further divide the gulf that existed in the country at that time. Don’t forget that Adamu Muazu was already being viewed with a lot of suspicions, that he was not committed to Jonathan’s second term election.

“His coming out, irrespective of the motive, which could have been a very good motive from what he explained to me would further confirm what those campaigning against him were saying.

“It would have escalated the Christian/Muslim dichotomy, the North/South dichotomy, the majority/minority dichotomy, and so many other dichotomies that were underpinnings at that time. So, what do I do? I knew the president was in an anguished position. I needed not to compound his problem, but to look at how to solve his problems.

“So, I went straight to the National Security Adviser and informed him that we had a situation at hand. This is what we are faced with, how do we approach the president? How do we get the president to do the right thing because the figures we were waiting for, even if it goes in favour of the president is not enough to alter the result in favour of the president? So, that was what we did.

By Chukwu David and Philip Nyam


No fewer than 309 out of the 469 members of the 8th National Assembly, which winds up today will not return to the 9th National Assembly billed for inauguration next week Tuesday.

This means that of the 469 member-National Assembly, only 160, who served in the 8th National Assembly, will make the 9th Assembly. This comprised 49 senators and 108 members of the House of Representatives.

The Senate has 109 members, while the House of Representatives has 360.

The affected lawmakers either failed to get return tickets at the primaries of their respective political parties that preceded the 2019 general election or lost at the main elections, which held between February and March this year.

However, eight out of 60 senators, who won’t participate in the 9th Assembly, went for governorship primaries and succeeded, but none of them won at the governorship elections that took place in March.
Some of the notable senators who will not be part of the next Assembly, include former President of the Senate, David Mark and the incumbent, Dr. Bukola Saraki. While Mark did not seek re-election after five terms, Saraki lost his re-election bid to the candidate of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC).

Other notable names in the 8th Senate, who will not make the 9th Senate, are Godswill Akpabio (APC, Akwa Ibom), Musa Rabiu Kwankwaso (PDP, Kano), Bukar Abba Ibrahim (APC, Yobe), Shaaba Lafiagi (PDP, Kwara), Jonah Jang (PDP, Plateau), Joshua Dariye (APC, Plateau), George Akume (APC, Benue) and Ahmed Yarima (Zamfara). All of them are former state governors.

Whereas others lost their respective return bids, Dariye, a former governor of Plateau State, did not contest the election as he is serving a 10-year jail term over corruption.

Other senators who lost at the National Assembly elections and would not return are Rafiu Ibrahim (PDP, Kwara South), Tayo Alasoadura (APC, Ondo Central), Yele Omogunwa (APC, Ondo South), Hope Uzodinma (APC, Imo) and Samuel Anyanwu (PDP, Imo).
The list also has Monsurat Sunmonu (ADC, Oyo Central), Rilwan Adesoji (ADP, Oyo South), Abiodun Olujimi (PDP, Ekiti South), Duro Faseyi (PDP, Ekiti North), Mao Ohuabunwa (PDP, Abia North), Ben Bruce (PDP Bayelsa), Andy Uba (APC, Anambra South), Victor Umeh (APGA, Anambra Central), and Sonni Ogbuoji (APC, Ebonyi South).

Others are Shittu Ubali (PDP, Jigawa North East), Shehu Sani (PRP, Kaduna Central), Mohammed Hassan (PDP, Yobe South), Binta Masi Garba (APC, Adamawa North), Hamman Isa Misau (PDP, Bauchi Central), Ahmed Ogembe (PDP, Kogi Central), Attai Aidoko (PDP, Kogi East), Barnabas Gemade (SDP, Benue North East) and David Umaru (APC, Niger East).

Also, a serving Zamfara APC senator – Tijani Yahaya Kaura (APC, Zamfara North), who was among the party’s candidates in the state, who recently lost their positions to their PDP counterparts, following the recent Supreme Court judgement that annulled the elections of the APC candidates in the national and state elections, makes up the list.

It will be recalled that before the May 23, 2019 Supreme Court judgement on the Zamfara State political imbroglio, the results of the February 2019 National Assembly elections held across the country showed that the APC led in the number of senatorial seats won, followed by the PDP.

The ruling party had 65 senators-elect; PDP, 41 and the Young Progressives Party (YPP) had one seat. The results of Imo North and Imo East senatorial districts are yet to be determined because of the controversy that erupted soon after the polls.

The incumbent senator representing Imo North, Benjamin Uwajumogu of the APC, who was not satisfied with the outcome of the election in his district, approached the court, requesting that the result be voided. The court granted his request and the case is still pending in court.

For Imo West, the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) had to withdraw the Certificate of Return it had earlier issued to the immediate past governor of the state, Rochas Okorocha, after the returning officer in the election, alleged that he declared Okorocha winner under duress.

With this development, the APC now has 62 senators-elect, PDP, 44 senators-elect and YPP, one senator-elect, meaning that the 9th Senate currently has a total of 107 senators-elect out of the 109-membership.
The 249 members of House of Representatives, who would not be returning to the 9th National Assembly, like their counterparts in the Senate, either lost out in the primaries, general election, failed to make higher offices they aspired for or won elections to the Senate.

Among members of the Green Chamber who are not returning include the Deputy Speaker of the House, Hon. Yussuff Lasun, who contested the APC governorship primary election in Osun State, but lost and did not contest the party’s House of Representatives primary election.

Others are Deputy Majority Whip, Pally Iriase, who did not contest the Edo State APC primary to return to the House; Deputy Minority Whip, Binta Bello; Emmanuel Orker Jev (PDP, Benue), who won a senatorial seat); Zakari Mohammed (PDP, Kwara) and Razak Atunwa (PDP, Kwara), who lost the state governorship election to the candidate of the APC.

Others are Betty Apiafi (PDP, Rivers) and Evelyn Oboro (PDP, Delta), who won senatorial seats in their respective states.

Equally not returning are seven out of the 18 APC Reps in Lagos State, who did not contest the election.
Other notable members, who will not be part of the 9th House, are Nnenna Ukeje (PDP, Abia), Dickson Tarkighir (APC, Benue), Hassan Saleh (PDP, Benue), Sunday Karimi (PDP, Kogi), Emmanuel Udende (APC, Benue), Chike Okafor (APC, Imo) and Emeka Ujam (PDP, Enugu).

Meanwhile, President Muhammadu Buhari had issued a proclamation for the inauguration of the 9th National Assembly on Tuesday, 11th June, 2019 by 10a.m. prompt.

Ahead of the inauguration of the 9th National Assembly, New Telegraph learnt that the 162 federal lawmakers-elect on the platform of the PDP met with the national leadership of the party on Monday, to take decision on the position of the party on the leadership of both chambers.

The PDP has 44 Senators-elect in the Senate, where votes of 55 senators are required for election of either the president or deputy president. The party also has 118 House of Representatives members-elect, where votes of at least 181 members are required for election of the speaker or deputy speaker.

Sources close to the party told New Telegraph that the PDP lawmakers-elect meeting was to brainstorm and fashion out strategies on who to support among various aspirants contesting for presiding officers positions at both chambers.

Senators Ahmad Lawan (APC Yobe North), Ali Ndume (APC, Borno South) and Danjuma Goje (APC, Gombe Central) are in the race for the presidency of the 9th Senate.

It was also learnt that the PDP senators-elect would be meeting today and tomorrow to put finishing touches on their position concerning how they, as members of the main and virtually only opposition party will vote on the day of inauguration.

As at press time yesterday, it was not certain whether the PDP senators will vote for one of the candidates en bloc or whether they have resolved to vote independently for each of the contenders.

There have been insinuations that the PDP senators-elect are quietly supporting Goje, who has never made a public statement on whether or not he will contest for the presidency of 9th Senate on Tuesday.
However, senators-elect on the platform of the party, Peter Nwaoboshi (PDP, Delta North) and Abba Moro (PDP, Benue South), have already declared their support for Lawan.

By Segun James




As the battle to stop the National Leader of All Progressives Congress (APC), Senator Bola Tinubu from pursuing his ambition to contest the 2023 presidential election continues, a leader of the party in Lagos State, Alhaji Moshood Salvador, has said that those fighting Tinubu and any other Yoruba leaders from contesting are fighting a lost battle.

He condemned the leaders of the pan-Yoruba socio-cultural group, the Afenifere, saying if it is the wish of God for a Yoruba man to be the next president of Nigeria, the group cannot stop him.

Salvador, a former chairman of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in Lagos State, said it was wrong for any Yoruba leader or elder to oppose a Yoruba man from becoming the president, adding that such action amounted to treason against the people.

Addressing journalists yesterday against the backdrop of the statement reportedly made by a leader of the Afenifere, Chief Ayo Adebanjo, that the 2023 presidency should be ceded to the South-east, and that Tinubu would be day-dreaming if he thought he would contest or be the president in 2023, Salvador said rather than speaking on the 2023 presidency which is a premature discussion, the elders should proffer solutions on issues affecting the country and the Yoruba race in particular, which was the reason for setting up the Afenifere in the first place.

He said any Yoruba leader opposing the aspiration of a fellow Yoruba man or South westerner is not worth being called a Yoruba leader. According to him, it was the same set of Yoruba leaders who supported the opposition against their son, Prof. Yemi Osinbajo in the last general election.

He said the argument of Adebanjo that the South-east has never produced a president was false, noting that it is on record that the first President of Nigeria, Dr. Nnamdi Azikiwe, was from the region. He described the posture of the Yoruba leaders as “rabble-rousing, inciting, offensive, illogical and terrible”.

Salvador stated that no Yoruba leader has empowered the people more than Tinubu, saying it was Tinubu who brought the South-west to the “centre of governance.”

He reiterated that it is the people and not the Afenifere leaders that would decide who becomes the President. “These leaders forget that Nigeria is practicing party politics and in a party politics, any candidate can emerge.

“It is left for the party and the presidential candidate to reach out to other tribes for support. It is the people who now decide who becomes the president not an individual or group of people,” he added.

Abuja – President Muhammadu Buhari, on Tuesday, reflected on the recent general elections in which he secured a second term and said it still baffles him where he got the stamina to tour the country on campaigns.

The president also admonished those who called themselves leaders at various levels against putting up straight faces, especially in this period of economic travails, noting that such posture could pass a wrong message to those governed.

He used his re-election campaigns to buttress his point, saying the crowd that thronged his campaign grounds in each state he visited still intrigued him.

According to Buhari, he couldn’t have engaged in vote buying if he were to muster the financial strength to mobilise those crowd to vote in his favour.

Buhari spoke at the State House, Abuja, while playing host to some residents and political leaders of the Federal Capital Territory, led by the Permanent Secretary, Ohaa Christian, who came to pay him Sallah homage on the occasion of the Eid-El-Fitr festivities.

Also speaking on his experience in the recent polls, Buhari seized the opportunity to mock Senator Phillip Aduda of the opposition Peoples Democratic Party, who sat by his right hand side.

He said irrespective of the fact that FCT residents may not have voted massively for him, he owed it a mandate to secure the FCT as that would be ensuring protection for himself and the vice president.

He said: “I want to appreciate the number two man (Osinbajo) of the country because he knows what we are going through very quietly. I am very pleased that you came with this very powerful constituency.

“I want to appeal to you to remain exemplary so that those under you will know that the country is doing very well.

“If you break down and complain, the impact will reverberate all over and then government will not be popular, and whatever efforts we are making will not be appreciated.

“I have just spoken to the senator on my left (Phillip Aduda) and I told him that his constituency did not vote for me. So I was very pleased that when they made the arrangement they put him very far away from me.

“I have all the results of all constituencies. I am not threatening FCT because to make FCT secure is to make myself secure and the vice president. I think they are necessary evil that was why they decided to vote for PDP.

“During my long journey to this place, 2003, 2007, 2011, those were interesting political developments that enabled me visit all the local government areas in this country, all 774 local government areas. First port of call whenever I visited any local government area was to visit the community leader for understanding and support.

“I am very pleased that Nigerians understand me that although I was a governor, minister of petroleum and one time head of state, people know I don’t have a lot of money to give.

“So, when I went round, I smiled and greeted them and I think it has helped. Because by the time I went to campaign for my second and last term constitutionally, I visited all the states this time around, some two states in a day, I thank God for giving me the stamina to do it.

“What impressed me most was the turnout in all the states and FCT. The number of those who turned out was more than what anyone can afford to pay or force to come and listen. So I am very pleased that a lot of Nigerians have voted me, sympathised with me for what I went through between 2003 and 2019.


“I went to court up to Supreme Court, and in 2011, I went to court for eight months. And in the last one, God answered our prayers and gave us victory, and brought in technology through the permanent voter cards. And INEC said whoever was aggrieved should go to court.

“You all know as much as I know that most of my supporters are looking for the next day’s meal, we don’t have money to give. In 2011, I said God dey, in 2015 God brought technology, PVC, and that is how we won.

By Chukwu David


Confusion and controversy yesterday, trailed the purported proclamation issued by President Muhammadu Buhari for inauguration of the 9th National Assembly on Tuesday, June 11, 2019. This is because the Senior Special Assistant to the President on National Assembly Matters (Senate), Senator Ita Enang, could not confirm the authenticity of the proclamation untill press time.

When journalists visited the office of the Clerk to the National Assembly (CNA), Mohammed Sani-Omolori, some of his staff, who pleaded anonymity, said that the proclamation was true. When contacted to confirm receipt of the letter, Enang promised to confirm the authenticity of the proclamation but he did not. President Buhari in the letter of proclamation, had fixed the date of inauguration of the 9th National Assembly for Tuesday, 11th June, 2019 by 10a.m. prompt.

The Proclamation dated 30th May, 2019 and titled: “Proclamation for the holding of the 1st Session of the 9th National Assembly”, reads: “Whereas it is provided in Section 64(3) of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria 1999 (as amended) that the person elected as President shall have power to issue a Proclamation for the holding of the first session of the National Assembly immediately after his being sworn in.

“Now, therefore, I Muhammadu Buhari, President Commanderin- Chief of the Armed Forces of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, in exercise of the powers bestowed upon me by Section 64 (3) aforesaid and of all other powers enabling me in that behalf, hereby proclaim that the first session of the Ninth National Assembly shall hold at 10a.m. on Tuesday, 11th June, 2019 in the National Assembly, Abuja. “Given under my hand and the public seal of the Federal Republic of Nigeria at Abuja, this 30th day of May, 2019.”

On the other hand, our correspondent made more attempt to get confirmation of the Proclamation from the Clerk of the Senate, Mr Nelson Ayewoh, but to no avail. Meanwhile New Telegraph learnt that the 162 federal lawmakerselect on the platform of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) were meeting with the national leadership of the party to take decision on the position of the party on the leadership of the 9th National Assembly at both chambers.

The PDP has 44 Senators- elect in the Senate where votes of 55 Senators are required for election of either the President or Deputy President of the Senate while the party has 118 Honourable memberselect where votes of at least 181 members-elect are required for election of Speaker or Deputy Speaker of the House of Representatives. Sources hinted that the PDP lawmaker select meeting was to fashion out strategies on who to support among various aspirants contesting for presiding officers positions at both chambers. Senators Ahmad Lawan (APC Yobe North), Ali Ndume (APC, Borno South) and Danjuma Goje (APC, Gombe Central ) are in the race for the Presidency of the 9th Senate while Hon. Femi Gbajabiamila, Umaru Mohammed Bago and others are in the race for the Speakership of the 9th House of Representatives.

By Chibuzor Emejor


Abuja – The Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) on Monday announced that telecommunications providers such Airtel, GLO, and 9mobile would soon be listed on the Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE).

Sunday Dare, Executive Commissioner, Stakeholders Management in NCC, who stated this in Abuja at an interactive session with newsmen, said the processes had earnestly begun for the telecommunications operators to be listed on NSE.

He commended the recent official listing of MTN Nigeria on the Nigerian bourse, adding that it was a step in the right direction in the telecommunications industry.


It would be recalled that MTN Nigeria recently completed the registration of 20.3 billion ordinary shares of N0.02 each with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

It said the successful completion of the process set in motion the next steps in the company’s intended listing by introduction on the Nigerian Stock Exchange.

Fielding questions from journalists on the benefits of enlisting telecommunications operators on NSE, he said, “NCC is excited about the listing. It was a direct fallout from the MTN fine.

“As part of what was agreed on the terms was that MTN should work on its listing on NSE, and it has worked with NCC and kept us abreast of the listing.

“So, the listing is a step in the right direction. It opens up the telecommunications industry. It also gives Nigerians the opportunity to invest in the quoted company like MTN.”

Speaking on the listing of other telecoms operators, he said, “Yes, Airtel has announced that it is going to be enlisted on the London Stock Exchange.

“I think part of their plan is to get enlisted on the London Stock Exchange. The moment that MTN has done it, it is expected that the other operators will also follow suit.

“I know Airtel is talking to Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). It is a process. We expect that the big four telecoms operators will be listed.”

On why the NCC was so fixated on mobile broadband and not on fixed broadband, Dare explained that the National Broadband Plan had both mobile and fixed components, and that NCC was exerting action in both directions.

According to Dare, “Some people who should know better are making it seem like a direct policy decision to neglect fixed broadband.

“This is unfair and untrue. It is either based on ignorance or mischief. Fixed broadband requires you to lay cable. To do this, you need right of way permits, which are controlled by state governments.

“For many years, the industry has been battling with the issue of inordinately high charges for RoW, long delays in granting permits and destruction of fiber cables during road constructions and incessant stop work orders, among others.

“If anything, the situation is getting worse. With this kind of environment, the private sector is not incentivised to invest.”

Temidayo Akinsuy, Samuel Ogidan



Lagos / Abuja – The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) on Sunday accused the presidency of casting aspersions on the integrity of the justices of the Supreme Court over the court’s widely accepted judgment on Rivers and Zamfara states elections.

The PDP’s accusation came in reaction to the statement by Prof. Itse Sagay (SAN), Chairman of the Presidential Advisory Committee Against Corruption (PACAC), calling for a review of the apex court’s verdict.

The party stated that Prof. Sagay’s resort to incitement and hate language against the Supreme Court justices further exposed the desperation of the Buhari presidency and the All Progressives Congress (APC) to cow, blackmail, intimidate and attempt to annex the judiciary, particularly the Supreme Court, ahead of the determination of PDP’s presidential election petition, now before the Court of Appeal.

PDP, in a statement by its national publicity secretary, Kola Ologbondiyan, noted that Prof. Sagay’s comment had also revealed the level of condescension, derision, and contempt the Buhari presidency and the APC have for the justices of the Supreme Court.

Part of the statement reads: “By declaring the upholding of justice by the Supreme Court as a ‘national tragedy’ and ‘unimaginable injustice’, and suggesting that, ‘we (probably, his party members) should not allow’ the judgment as delivered, Prof. Sagay is calling for anarchy and rebelliousness against our constitutional democratic order and rule of law.

“Our party believes that such intentional attack on the integrity of the Supreme Court can only emanate from feverish apprehensions by the Buhari presidency and the APC that they might not have their way in the presidential election petition, hence this resort to blackmail.

“As a law-abiding party, the PDP holds the integrity of the justices as well as the institution of the judiciary very high and do not support this attempt by agents of the APC to clip and sequester the judiciary for their partisan interests.”

The PDP also insisted that there was no way Prof. Sagay, a professor of Law, could justify his call for the rejection of the Supreme Court’s judgment on Zamfara and Rivers states as the judgments were in protection of the rule of law, democratic ethos, as well as the wishes and aspirations of the people over the attempt by the APC to take control of their states through manipulations and award of fictitious votes to their candidates.

The PDP, therefore, called on the Supreme Court justices to note the machinations of the APC and continue to be firm in upholding justice as had been demonstrated in the judgments on Rivers and Zamfara states elections, which would serve as lessons to political parties to adhere strictly to rules of internal democracy in the electoral processes.

In a related reaction, the PDP Lagos State chapter charged the Legal Practitioners Privileges Committee and the Legal Practitioners Disciplinary Committee, the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA), and the courts to withdraw all privileges enjoyed as Senior Advocate of Nigeria (SAN) by Prof. Itse Sagay.

In a statement by Taofik Gani, its Publicity Secretary, the party also called on President Muhammadu Buhari to immediately replace Sagay as head of the advisory body and replace him with a competent Nigerian.

“Security agencies must now arrest, interrogate, and expectedly prosecute Sagay for his inciting comments capable of provoking civil unrests in the country at large,” he said.

He added: “The reaction of the Lagos PDP is on the heels of the recent pronouncements by Professor Sagay against the Supreme Court judgments on Rivers and Zamfara states which gave eventual victories to the PDP after declaring that all votes cast for the APC were wasted votes.

“Professor Sagay had described the said judgment as travesty of justice whilst he also urged the APC to insist on their “mandate” by approaching the Supreme Court for a review of the Zamfara state judgment.

“Prof. Sagay has exposed his hatred for the PDP when he described the Supreme Court judgment by positing that ‘in the next four years, Zamfara State will be governed by a party and politicians rejected by the electorates’.


“To the PDP, these words and stance are inciting and unbecoming of a senior lawyer and must be taken seriously as professional misconduct within the contemplation of S.24(1) a&b of the rules of professional misconduct.

“To us as a party in Lagos State and from where most of these false activists speak, Professor Sagay is no more a fit and proper personality to head a Presidential Advisory Committee Against Corruption.

“He has now showed enough obvious partisanship and support for the APC. One need not wonder why all APC chieftains are saints before the Sagay led PACAC. With Sagay as adviser, the advised is at his own risk.

“It is very laughable that Sagay attempts to be appellate court to the Supreme Court. It is, however, indeed unethical for a lawyer who did not appear in a matter to be seized of the evidence adduced to now berate decisions of such courts. This is exactly what Prof Sagay has done.

“To hit hard on the Supreme Court justices, he chose to play sycophantic and patronising roles by rudely describing the Supreme Court judgment as travesty of justice.

“This is capable of causing hatred for the justices. We thus expect that the Supreme Court should consider the Sagay statements as inciting and contemptuous.

“For us in Lagos PDP, we shall no longer tolerate unjustifiable attacks on our image and interests by persons who disguise as fair speakers but actually APC apologists.”

However, in his response, Sagay told Daily Independent that he was shocked at PDP’s outbursts, saying the party’s reaction showed that it had really gone down.

He said all he did was to do a critique of the Supreme Court’s judgment, adding that he was surprised the PDP could call for his arrest and removal as a SAN.

“I am extremely shocked at the PDP’s call for my arrest and removal as a Senior Advocate. I have known the PDP for its incorrigible love of fraud, indiscipline and total lack of principles which they themselves have admitted by apologising to Nigerians.

“Obviously, they are not sincere. So, I am not surprised that they were not embarrassed at the idea of collecting political offices in a state after an election in which they suffered a crushing defeat.

“In other words, they have no shame in collecting another person’s property. My disappointment is that they have descended into a new low by calling for the arrest of someone who has simply done a critique of the judgment in which they were awarded unearned offices.

“What have I said that is illegal for me to be arrested? They must be in a very bad situation for them to react like this. That is incredible. A whole PDP calling for my arrest because of a legal argument that I presented?

“Rather than respond to the argument or counter me, instead they want me to be arrested. Who is going to arrest me? It gives a very bad impression about them. They’ve really gone down and they are so low,” he said.

By Philip Nyam Abuja




There seems to be a fresh twist in the race for Speakership of the 9th House of Representatives as current Speaker, Yakubu Dogara may have finally joined the contest.

Posters of Dogara emerged yesterday in the social media bearing the inscription “Continuity, Insha Allahu”, “Rt. Hon. Yakubu Dogara for Speaker 9th House”.

Since after the National Assembly elections in February, Dogara has remained silent as to whether he would seek re-election for the position of the speaker in the next House.

Attempts by his close associates to elicit words from him since the campaigns for the position begun have not yielded any result.

But when the posters emerges yesterday, Sunday Telegraph made efforts to get Dogara to confirm his bid retain his seat as Speaker were fruitless.

All calls made to Dogara’s Special Adviser on Media and Public Affairs, Turaki Hassan were rebuffed, even as he ignored inquiries made through SMS and WhatsApp.

However, a close ally of Dogara told Sunday Telegraph in confidence that the outgoing Speaker had assured them that he would not seek re-election into the position.

The lawmaker reasoned that some people may be flying a kite. “I do not think the speaker would eat his words and the Dogara I know in the last four years is not someone that talks flippantly. When he says something he stands by it.

“Earlier, when some of our colleagues started declaring intention to contest for speaker, some of us went to him and asked him if he were interested; and he told us plainly that he will not contest again,” he said.

Continuing, the lawmaker said: “I am very sure, the posters you saw are not from Dogara. Some people, somewhere are definitely flying a kite. This cannot be true. But, I will advise that we wait and see what will unfold after the Sallah break.”

It will be recalled that Dogara defeated Hon. Femi Gbajabiamila in 2015 by a slim margin.

Also speaking to Sunday Telegraph on condition of anonymity, an erstwhile speakership contestant from the North East dismissed the story saying “Dogara is a very smart politician and cannot rubbish his reputation.”

According to the lawmaker: “Dogara is politically savvy and very calculative. Everybody knows that the Senate President is coming from the North East because all the contenders are from that region. He (Dogara) is also from North East, so this is not feasible.

“I know someone is playing on our intelligence because will not want to get himself involved. I can assure you; unless if he is holding meeting with other people that I’m not aware.”

Already, there are six candidates in the race to succeed Dogara. They include Hons. Umar Bago (APC, Niger), Hon. John Dyegh (APC, Benue), Hon. Olajide Olatunbosun (APC, Oyo), Hon. Nkeiruka Onyejeocha (APC, Abia), Hon. Emeka Nwajuiba (APC, Imo), Hon. Segun Odebunmi (APC, Oyo) and the APC preferred candidate, Hon. Femi Gbajabiamila..

By Muhammad Sabiu


Kaduna State governor, Nasir el-Rufai, on Friday, claimed that some unnamed people asked him to join in a plot to destroy All Progressives Congress (APC) leader, Senator Bola Tinubu.

Governor el-Rufai stated this while he was playing host to 121 members-elect of the House of Representatives who were on a consultation tour of the North West on Friday at the Government House in Kaduna.

The governor was invited to deliver a lecture in Lagos last month on godfatherism, where he said that he had an answer to godfatherism as he had retired four godfathers in Kaduna.

According to him, during the last election only 1 million registered voters came out to vote in Lagos out of the 5 million voters, so he asked why did the remaining voters refused to come out, pointing out, if he is the governor of Lagos he will out on those who did not come out to vote to defeat the godfathers in Lagos apparently referring to Tinubu.

However, el-Rufai said it was “a generic statement”, adding that he had a template that was used to retire some godfathers in Kaduna State.

He said: “That was not an attack on Asiwaju, it was a generic statement, but the whole thing took a media frenzy because to some people, Asiwaju is a meal ticket.

“Let me tell you, because of that, some people started confessing to me that Asiwaju should be dealt with.

“They said Asiwaju wants to finish you, he has been abusing you, we should finish him by finishing his man, Femi Gbajabiamila.”

However, contrary to insinuations in some quarters, el-Rufai had disclosed that Femi Gbajabiamila was President Muhammadu Buhari’s choice for the Speakership position of the 9th House of Representatives.

“I told them that this is not about Asiwaju but President Buhari and I will fight it with the last drop my blood. I told them to change their mind.

“I went to Asiwaju and told him that we will do what we can to make this project a success.”

By Ahmed Miringa, Maiduguri


The Borno state Governor Professor Babagana Umara has expressed dismay over the non-challant attitude of workers for coming late to work and abscondment from their official duties.

According to Professor Umara there are over twelve thousand civil servants working at the secretariat, however, only one hundred and thirty-five turn up as at 9:30 am

The Governor who was at the Musa Usman state Secretariat, Maiduguri, as early as 8:30 am said he was disappointed that up till 9:30 am only 135 out about 12,000 workers were present at the time of visit.

“We are not going tolerate late coming and absenteeism, though it is a Ramadan we at least expect them to be at the place of work at least by 9:00 am, more especially the Christian ones. The government will live up to its expectations but the workers too must do their own part”, the governor added.

As a mark of encouragement, Professor Zulum has directed the state Head of Service to immediately pay the leave grants and other bonuses to one hundred and thirty-five workers that are on their duty post at the time of his unscheduled visit to the Secretariat.

He said that his administration will not tolerate indiscipline and absenteeism to duty on the other hand dedicated and hardworking staff shall be rewarded.

Professor Zulum expressed the government readiness to settle the accumulated pension and gratuity of retired workers amounted to over twenty N20 billion naira owed the state workforce.

He, however, said a new payment template would be fashioned out and agreed upon with the organized labour.

Responding, Borno state Chairman of the Nigeria Labour Congress Comrade Bulama Abiso appreciated the Governor for the steps taken to reposition the civil service and promised to partner with his administration to move the state forward.

He said, ” we are going partner with the government to ensure that all workers lives to the expectation of the government “.

by Robert Egbe


The Court of Appeal in Lagos on Friday okayed the request of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) for the final forfeiture of N1.4billion which a firm, Melrose General Services Limited, obtained from the Nigeria Governors’ Forum (NGF) through false claims.

Melrose is allegedly linked to outgoing Senate President, Dr Bukola Saraki, whose two aides- Gbenga Makanjuola and Kolawole Shittu are being prosecuted by the EFCC in respect of the matter.

Justice Cecilia Olatoregun of the Federal High Court in Lagos had on April 27, 2018 ordered the final forfeiture of the said N1.4billion to the Federal Government.

Dissatisfied with the verdict of Justice Olatoregun, Melrose General Services approached the appellate court for redress, asking it to set aside the pronouncement of the lower court.

But in its judgement on the matter on Friday, the Court of Appeal dismissed the appeal of Melrose (the appellant) and resolved the four contentious issues in favour of the EFCC (the first respondent).

The appellate court further held that Melrose appeal lacked merit and ordered the firm to pay 100,000 cost to the EFCC.

Read also: HURIWA to FG: Do not pay balance of Paris Club refunds until after May 29
The appellate court also held that Melrose could not show that the said funds were lawfully earned by it.

It added that section 17 of the Advance Fee Fraud Act, 2006, which the EFCC relied on to seek for the forfeiture of the said funds was constitutional.

According to the Court of Appeal, Melrose was not denied fair hearing in the matter.

Justice of the Court of Appeal (JCA), Justice Tijjani Abubakar wrote the lead judgement, Justice E. Tobi delivered the judgment while Justice O. A. Obaseki-Adejumo concurred with the verdict.

Lawyer to the Melrose, Mr Olawale Akoni (SAN) argued the appeal while the lawyer to the EFCC, Mr Ekele Iheanacho, appeared for the Commission.

The EFCC had claimed that Melrose obtained N3.5bn from the Nigeria Governors’ Forum by making false claims.

Listed as defendants in the final forfeiture application filed before the Federal High Court were Melrose General Services Limited, WASP Networks Limited and Thebe Wellness Services.

The firms were accused of impersonating a consortium of consulting firms engaged by the NGF for the “verification, reconciliation and recovery of over-deductions on Paris and London Club Loans on the accounts of states and local governments between 1995 and 2002.”

But the EFCC insisted that the original firms engaged by the Governors’ Forum were GSCL Consulting and Bizplus Consulting Services Limited.‎

Usman Zakari, the alter ego of Melrose General Services Limited, Robert Mbonu, made a false representation to the Governors’ Forum, causing the forum to pay N3.5bn to his company on December 14, 2016.

Zakari said the money was credited into the Access Bank account of Melrose General Services Limited, adding that Melrose and others dissipated and laundered about N2.3bn out of the money between December 15, 2016, and January 20, 2017, leaving a balance of N1.2bn.

Zakari said the anti-graft agency had also recovered N220m out of the laundered sum from WASP Networks Limited and Thebe Wellness Services.

The EFCC had on October 13, 2017 obtained an interim order from Justice Mojisola Olatoregun, placing a “Post No Debit” order on the accounts containing the N1.2bn and N220m.

The Judge had made the order following plea by the lawyer to the EFCC, Mr Ekene Iheanacho, that it would best serve the interest of justice for Melrose and others to forfeit the N1.4bn temporarily to prevent them from dissipating same.

The Judge, after granting the interim freezing order in 2018, directed the EFCC to publish the order in a national daily giving anyone interested in the funds 14 days to appear before the court to show cause why the funds should not be forfeited permanently.

Subsequently, one Prince Godwin Maduka and Linas International Limited showed up before the court, praying separately that the funds should be forfeited to them.

Maduka claimed that his firm, Udemgaba Maduka & Associates, had been engaged in 2011 as a consultant by Zamfara State Government to help the state recover some hanging funds, with an agreement that it would be paid 20 per cent of the recovered funds.

He urged the court to forfeit the N1.4bn to his company to cover Zamfara State’s alleged indebtedness to him.

But the EFCC opposed Maduka, contending that the suit was not a debt recovery suit and that Zamfara State was not a party to the suit.

In her verdict on the matter, Justice Olatoregun upheld the EFCC’s argument and dismissed Maduka’s claims.

On its own part, Linas International Limited said it was entitled to the payment of $6m from Nigeria Governors’ Forum.

But Justice Olatoregun also dismissed its claim, holding that the suit was not a debt recovery suit.

Having dismissed both claims, the judge ordered the permanent forfeiture of the N1.4bn to the Federal Government.

Dr Fatima Atiku, the daughter of Presidential Candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Alhaji Atiku Abubakar, has described her tenure as Adamawa Commissioner for Health under immediate past Gov. Muhammadu Bindow as memorable.

Atiku was one of the technocrats Bindow appointed to help his administration transform the health sector of Adamawa.

She told the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) on Thursday in Yola that her tenure brought about the formulation of Adamawa Health Policy, Health Insurance Scheme, Cancer Registry for the control of cancer scourge, among other initiatives.

“The four years was full of experiences and quite memorable; it was my first time of occupying public office and I learnt a lot of things through my interaction with a lot of people and organisations.

“I feel very fulfilled that I was given a chance and my impact was felt by the people of Adamawa,” the ex-commissioner said.

Atiku, who dedicated her salaries for the four years she served to support some health programmes in the state, said she might not reject Gov. Ahmadu Fintiri’s invitation to serve in his government if extended.

“It is something I have to think about; if not for anything but for the interest of the public,” she said.

NAN reports that while Atiku stayed back, some serving commissioners left Bindow’s government when her father defected from APC to PDP and emerged as its presidential candidate.

But Atiku, who attracted many interventions from health organisations and international donors to the state health sector, explained that she was not a politician.

She fielded questions on backdrop of scrambles and intrigues by interested persons, including politically exposed individuals, angling to be appointed as health commissioner by Fintiri.
NAN