₦airaland Forum

As clock ticks for the 2019 presidential election, the campaign posters of former Senate President and the senator representing Benue South, David Mark have flooded the social media.

The posters show Mark in a red and black traditional Idoma cap, clad in a grey agbada.

The development came four days after the PDP zoned its presidency slot to north.

An inscription of ‘WANTED’ is boldly written over the top of the poster with PDP logo and another write up entitled ‘change the change.’

Below the poster, sponsored by Middle Belt Volunteers, is another inscription which reads, “Senator Dr. David Mark Alechenu Bonaventure Mark (GCON) for President 2019.”

Aside social media, DAILY POST reports that the posters have been spotted in some places in Abuja, Igah Ikeje, Okpo in Kogi State, as well as some parts of Kaduna State.

Speaking with our correspondent, an official of the group, Sunday Argah said Mark happened to be the strongest person that would challenge the current government.

“Yes, we are presenting him (Mark) as our candidate in 2019. He is the man to beat,” he told DAILY POST
Reacting to the campaign, James Oche, the coordinator of Mark campaign organisation, Door to Door, said, though the posters did not come from them it was a clear indication that Nigerians were yearning for a change.

He said, “it is a testimony of his eight years of unblemished leadership he gave to Nigerians in the senate.

“He has no doubt shown that he is one of the Nigerians that can manage and provide real leadership in a country that has numerous ethnic groups

“For now, he is more concerned with ensuring that PDP put their house together so as to play their role of opposition perfectly.”

The Idoma people in Benue State had in 2015 asked Mark to join the presidential race.

His ambition reverberated during a reception in his honour by the Idoma League of Professors, ILP, led by Prof. Owoicho Akpa where they asked the former military general to run for president.

ShootToKill:
Kadirudeen Abiku, which anti-christ is greater than slaughtering Christians and southerners because you lost an election in 2011? How many of your relatives have kanu slaughtered. Leave Kanu for IPOB, dem like am like that.

kocvalour:
so the young man shouldn't say the truth again?? mtcheww

KANU pepe dem abeg

neoShinto:
Yes. Osinbajo is under pressure but saying some faceless cabals stripped him of his powers is just ridiculous.

Former Governor Rabiu Musa Kwankwaso on Thursday condemned the search of his brother’s house in Kano by the police.

He lamented that the All Progressives Congress, APC, he worked hard to install was humiliating him and his family.

The police reportedly raided the apartment in search of huge cash, arms and documents.

But Kwankwaso told the Hausa Service of the BBC that he was shocked over the development.

His words: “We woke up with a distressing situation that some people besieged the house of my brother in Kano for hours; on the allegation that cash and weapons were ferried to the building.

“They bundled the guardsman, threatening him to show them the vehicles and other valuables that were allegedly concealed in a garage within the house.

“The guardsman told them only rabbits were kept there but they forced their way in and that was it, only the rabbits were seen joyfully feasting on spinach.

“Not satisfied, the police ransacked everywhere, including the vehicles in the compound but could not trace anything incriminating. This is very sad and a serious setback for our democracy,” Kwankwaso said.

“We’re very disappointed that impunity is now the order of the day in a country we invested a lot to bring change; this is not the change we bargained for because we’re now in a helpless situation.

“If it were the previous government that’s doing this, we would not complain. Alas! this is being orchestrated by a government we worked to entrench.

“I’m one person that never allowed my immediate or extended family to be part of government while I was a governor; my brother is a retired teacher but look at what they did to him,” Kwankwaso said.

Asked if he regretted joining the APC, he said, “I would say my mind at the appropriate time but government must be mindful of its actions.”

President Muhammadu Buhari did not attend the weekly meeting of the Federal Executive Council, FEC, because he was attending to “other issues”, Information Minister, Lai Mohammed, has said.

The meeting, which held inside the council chamber of the Presidential Villa, Abuja, on Wednesday was presided by Vice President Yemi Osinbajo after Mr Buhari failed to turn up.

The absence of the president led to speculations that he has fallen ill again. The president recently spent almost two months in London on medical vacation.

Briefing State House correspondents at the end of the meeting, Mr. Mohammed said, “Mr President is not ill again”.

The minister added that “Mr. President is in town; Mr. President is attending to other issues. He looked at the agenda for the meeting and decided that the vice president should preside. It is not unusual for the vice president to preside over FEC meetings”.

BERNIMOORE:
Obasanjo should be keeping quiet like his age mates must he be relevant at all costs"?

A Federal High Court in Abuja has dashed the hopes of the All Progressives Congress (APC) to field a candidate in the Anambra Central senatorial district election as it dismissed a suit brought by Sharon Ikeazor seeking to compel the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to accept her as a substitute to Dr. Chris Ngige.

Ikeazor had dragged the INEC before Justice Anwuli Chikere, asking the court to compel the electoral umpire to accept her as the candidate of the party in place of Ngige who had withdrawn from the election.




However, delivering judgment on the matter on Tuesday in Abuja, Justice Chikere held that the time for political parties to nominate candidates for elective position in respect of the 2015 elections had elapsed.

The judge held: “The time for the nomination, withdrawal or substitution of candidates for the court-ordered election in Anambra Central senatorial district has elapsed.

“As decided by the Court of Appeal in the case of Labour Party against INEC, there is no room for fresh candidates in a court-ordered election.”

Consequently, the judge dismissed the suit for lacking in merit.
The Supreme Court had on February 10 put to rest the legal battle that had denied the people of Anambra Central senatorial district representation at the upper chamber of the National Assembly as it dismissed an appeal filed by Senator Uche Ekwunife challenging the nullification of her election for the district.
The Anambra State Election Petition Tribunal and the Court of Appeal Division in Enugu had nullified the election that produced Ekwunife who was a candidate of the PDP in the said poll and ordered the conduct of a fresh poll to fill the vacancy.
However, dissatisfied with the decision of the Court of Appeal, Ekwunife approached the Supreme Court to set aside the verdict.

But delivering judgment in the dispute last month, a five man panel of the apex court headed by Justice Tanko Mohammed, held that it had no jurisdiction to entertain matters emanating from the conduct of National Assembly elections.
In the lead judgment that was handed down by Justice Amina Augie, the court had affirmed the position of the respondent in the suit, Chief Victor Umeh of the All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA) who was Ekwenife’s challenger at the lower courts.

Justice Augie had held that Appeal Court was the terminal point of all disputes over National Assembly polls, adding that the apex court lacked jurisdiction to hear and determine Ekwenife’s appeal in respect of the Anambra Central senatorial election dispute.

“Looking closely at the wordings of Section 246 (3), it is clear that the decision of the Court of Appeal is final. This, the decision, therefore has no business climbing or driving to this court for adjudication because this court is completely bereft of jurisdiction to entertain here and determine any such appeal from the lower court. “Once the court below delivers its judgment on a National Assembly Election Petition, the judgment is final and this court has no jurisdiction to hear any appeals related there to no matter how cleverly framed,” Justice Augie said.

She further declared that Umeh’s preliminary objections to Ekwenife’s appeal succeeded, saying, “this court lacks jurisdiction. This appeal is struck out.”

Meanwhile, Umeh, the APGA flagbearer for the election while reacting to the judgment appealed to the INEC to hasten up the conduct of the Anambra Central senatorial rerun poll.
Umeh said: “The INEC has nothing holding it anymore from going ahead to conduct the Anambra Central senatorial election going by the judgement by the Federal High Court Abuja which dismissed the suit by Sharon Ikeazor seeking to compel INEC to accept her as a substitute to Ngige for Anambra Central re-run election which is consistent with the law and the firm position of INEC on the matter all along.

“The Supreme Court judgment of February 10, 2017 has completely removed the PDP from the election as it affirmed that the decision of the court of Appeal, Enugu Division on December 7, 2015 in respect of the Anambra Central senatorial election is final forever.

“The Court of Appeal had on December 7, 2015 nullified the election and ordered a fresh election upon disqualifying the PDP candidate Hon. Uche Ekwunife on the grounds on invalid sponsorship by the PDP in the election.
“So there is no other case that INEC can wait for before fixing the date of the election. The status of the APC has been defined by the court judgment yesterday as there is no change of candidate permissible in the fresh election.
“So the position now is that 14 out of 15 political parties that took part in the March 28, 2015 election with their previously nominated candidates are qualified to go for the re-run election. Only PDP is out of the election by the combined effects of the Court of Appeal judgments of December 7, 2015, the Supreme Court judgment of February 10, 2017 on the Anambra Central senatorial poll and the Supreme Court judgement of February 13, 2009 between Labour Party and INEC.”