₦airaland Forum

Abagworo:
It is of no use arguing with a brainwashed person. He is no different from suicide bombers.

phantom:
Bros Jonathan lose election. Deal with it and move on OR YOU SEE A SHRINK AND LET IT ALL OUT. ....but if na lies you wan spread,me personally go shi.t on top your paradę

shachris:
all I see is a welders workshop.

dearpreye:
I was around Moscow road a few days ago, and couldn't find all those basin pot holes the area was ridden with, no little thanks to what Wike has started doing.

Three days ago, he visited the notorious Akapajo road, and we all know what will happen!

Wike is well aware of the enormous expectations the people have on him; he won't fail.

Freemanan:
Please Op, Where is the rehabilitation?



And must you make reference to political hate comments? Why must Buhari name come up in a post like this? Pity...

Again, I can't see any rehabilitation here... I can't see anything sef...

phantom:
. Wike and fraud.
your pictures show nothing. Leave all this gra gra. We have tasted what governance is under amaechi.
let wike bring more than this.

I dare any of you to mention more than 6 major roads amaechi didnt touch in PH.

Wike said Julius Berger and CCECC would be on ground.Ive been using GPS to look for them instead all i see are minor Road patching equipment being used by his "boys". PH is a construction site indeed...

Instead of you guys to acknowledge the mistake you made by voting This Man in (or rather by allowing his illegality to stand), you prefer the Easy way out....Force him Down our throats as a success when hes not.

Amaechi tackled issues properly.what we need in rivers State are PROPERLY CONSTRUCTED ROADS.
wike should stop patching roads that NEED TOTAL RECONSTRUCTION.
what hes doing is just hurriedly doing things to give the impression hes working when in actual fact,he wants to get tongues wagging. We are not children.

owolabifunke14:
wait a minute...so APC lost rivers election?

Lordave:
With wheelbarrows?

chigoizie7:
So, una never her of fake account? Once the job I done, they pull via ATM, POS or even shop online, then discard the account.


What am I doing with account wey. Open with fake details and zero naira when I ve gotten like 200k from u? Nothing.


Besides, scammers aints stupid. They leave no traces, @times, its inside job.

Goldpeas:
.

OrlandoOwoh:
I may not know geo-political zone where the Majority Leader would come from, but the geo-political zone(s) (s)he would not come from. :-P

Ayanko:
Tinubu merged the Yoruba force with the force in the north because, he believe we are always at the minority of Federal Politics. Now APC won, we are now unwanted Majority Our other brothers of south that voted PDP is now wanted minority they now have Deputy Senate President. Tinubu had made the same mistake Awolowo made during civil war. Let the south come together for a common front. Thank GEJ my hero, Mimiko my man, Fayose my gee.

OrlandoOwoh:
The same Dogara that kicked against zoning and contested, defeating Gbajabiamila from the South West, where the Speakership was zoned, now talking about zoning? You can't have your cake and eat it. Gbajabiamila is the next Majority Leader.

Anikulhapo:
They Are First Timers

doublewisdom:
I can't wait to see Okorocha disgraced and chased out of Imo State Government house.

“Nigeria, you have enjoyed this grace for too long but still tried to destroy it,” wrote a foreign fan on Facebook yesterday. “Your actions have released TB Joshua to the world. Nigeria will regret the decision of Komolafe for many years to come.”

Tension, drama, excitement and anxiety are palpable at the proceedings of the Governorship Election Petition Tribunal sitting in Owerri, the capital of Imo State. The tribunal is saddled with the task of deciding the petition filed by Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) governorship candidate in the April 11 election and immediate past Deputy Speaker of the House of Representatives, Rt. Hon. Emeka Ihedioha against the victory of All Progressives Congress (APC) governorship candidate and Imo State Governor, Chief Rochas Okorocha.

The development reminds one of Mohammed Ali, the charismatic and poetic former world heavyweight boxing champion. The boxing great had dubbed one of his fights in the Philippines: “Thriller in Manila”. Another of his fights in then Zaire was tagged: “Rumble in the jungle.” The legal battle for Douglas House, the seat of power in Imo, at the tribunal can be dubbed: “War in Owerri” because of the public interest the case has generated.

The calibre of lawyers doing the legal battle for the parties makes the case much more interesting. While veteran election petition lawyer and Senior Advocate of Nigeria, Chief Mike Ahamba spearheads Ihedioha’s legal fireworks, Okorocha hired Chief Niyi Akintola, another Senior Advocate of Nigeria, to lead the legal team defending his declaration as winner of the governorship poll. The emerging legal scenario promises to be a titanic battle keen legal and political observers would not forget in a hurry.

In his well-articulated 31-page petition dated May 15, 2015 and complemented with charts and mathematical tabulations, Ihedioha prayed the court to hold that “the 1st respondent (Okorocha) did not score the majority of lawful votes at the election, and his election is void; that the 1st petitioner (Ihedioha) scored the majority of lawful votes and ought to have been returned by the 2nd respondent (INEC) as the winner of the election.”

Lead counsel for Ihedioha, Ahamba asked the tribunal to declare that “the 1st petitioner, having scored the majority of lawful votes, is the winner of Imo State governorship election held on 11th April, 2015 and ought to have been returned as the winner.”

He prayed for “an order of the tribunal on the 2nd respondent (INEC) to issue the Certificate of Return to the 1st petitioner (Ihedioha); an order of the tribunal on the 1st respondent (Okorocha) to return the Certificate of Return issued to him by the 2nd respondent (INEC) and vacate the Government House.”

Ahamba is not yet done. He said in the alternative, Ihedioha and PDP are seeking: “A declaration that the election is invalid for reason of acts of non-compliance with the provisions of the Electoral Act in the conduct of the election; an order invalidating the election of 11/4/2015; a declaration that the electoral event of 25th of April, 2015 was ultra vires the 2nd respondent (INEC) and thus a nullity; a declaration that the election of 11/4/15 having been declared inconclusive by the 2nd respondent (INEC) a fresh election should be held for the office of governor of Imo state.”


One of the contentions of Ahamba is that if all the “unlawful votes” cast in favour of Okorocha are separated by INEC, then Ihedioha would emerge the winner of the election. Supplying the facts upon which the petition was brought, Ahamba stated on page 5 paragraph (7A) ii (b) with reference to wards 01, 02, 04, 05, 06, 07, 08 and 10 of Onuimo Local Government Area, “Your petitioners (Ihedioha and PDP) complain that no collation exercise took place at the collation centres of the respective wards namely 01, 02, 04, 05, 06, 07, 08 and 10. Your petitioners complain that Dr. Chidi Marume, Ugochukwu Ekwe, Hon. Chief Tony Osuji and Barr. Patrick Uzoukwu, who are in this petition as 8th – 11th respondents, allocated figures to the form EC8Bs and signed among themselves the form EC8Bs, an act which infringes the provisions of the Electoral Act, the Guidelines for the 2015 General Elections and the Manual for Election Officials for the 2015 elections.”

Another basis for the petition could be found on page 7 paragraph (7A) (iii) of the petition dealing with wards 02, 03, 04, 06, 07, 09, 010 and 012 in Orlu Local Government Area. Ahamba said: “Your petitioners plead that the form EC8Bs for wards 08, 06 and 11 are all signed by one Mike Igbokwe sued in this petition as 14th respondent, which it shall be contended, shows that they were written in one location and not at the designated collation centre of the respective wards with Igbokwe in charge”.

He also said on page 7 paragraph (7) B: “Your petitioners also plead that Forms EC8B’s for wards 10 (Owerre Ebiri), 09 (Umuzike/Umuowa), 12 (Ogberuru/Obibi), 04 (Okwuabala/Ihioma), 03 (Ebenese/Umueze/Nnachi/Ihioma), 02 (Okaeke/Okporo), 06 (Umudioka) and 07 (Ihite Owerre), which are all hereby pleaded, were signed by Ben Mgbeojirikwe and Unamma Olemgbe named in this petition as 12th and 13th respondents, which it shall be contended, shows that they were all signed in one location contrary to the provisions of relevant sections of the Electoral Act which require that votes be collated at the designated collation centres. All the arbitrary entries in the results (EC8Bs), which were in any case in favour of the 1st respondent (Okorocha), contrary to the principles of the Electoral Act, were not generated in any of the wards in a normal electoral process.”

Ihedioha’s case did not end there. On page 9, paragraph 7A (v) dealing with wards 04, 05, 06, 07, 08, 09 and 10 in Nwangele Local Government Area, Ahamba stated: “(a) Three wards namely: Wards 06 (Abba), 07 (Umuozu) and 10 (Abaja 1) were signed in the name of Nnamdi Anochie purporting him to be a PDP agent. Also for wards 04 (Amannasi/Amuogbi IV), 05 (Ezeobolo/Ofeahie/Duruoha) 08, (Kara na Orlu) and 09 (Dim Na Nume) were purportedly signed by a PDP agent named Ebubeogu K. O. Your petitioners deny both Nnamdi Anochie and Ebubeogu K. O. (sued as 29th and 30th respondents) as their agents at the election, and further state that the named individuals are unknown to them and in all probability non-existent.”

Okorocha and APC, however, denied all the allegations made by Ihedioha in their reply. Lead counsel for Okorocha and APC, Akintola contended that Okorocha was duly and validly elected as governor. He urged the tribunal to uphold the governor’s victory. He is also raising some objections, which I shall endeavour to present in my follow-up article. I shall take a closer look at Okorocha’s case at the tribunal vis-à-vis Ihedioha’s without taking sides. This would help the readers who are not privileged to peruse the court documents or witness the trial to have an insight into the issues at stake in the case.


Supporters of both Ihedioha and Okorocha attended the tribunal’s session to give moral backing to their candidates and parties. It looks as if the pre-election rivalry between both parties has been rekindled in Imo State. As I left the tribunal venue to catch my flight back to Lagos from the Sam Mbakwe Airport, the taxi driver asked me in Igbo language: “Nnanyi Ukwu, Ihedioha oga emeri nikpea?” (Sir, will Ihedioha win this case?) I told him that only the honourable tribunal, comprising Justice David Wyon (the chairman), Justice Shiyanbola and Justice Eborieme, would answer the question at the right time.



*Njoku is a Lagos-based legal practitioner and Director of Constitutional Watch (Conswatch).

youngberry001:
see ya head like thunder self,ruling Nigerian u tink say nah jokes things nd beside let's the old man settle down for good seek,,,,,, stop all this insult things bro it won't solved the solution of this country.

theassassin:
this afenifare guys are they yorubas?

because their reasons are not like that of a typical yoruba

hmmmm check them well they may not be yorubas because they are too intelligent, articulated, and unbiased to be a yoruba.


maybe if they are true yoruba my taughts in generalization of yorubas may change.



btw


Buhari is a terrorist - Elrufai


cc
Barcanista
phockphockman
FireFire
Temitemi1
Mogidi
oremussanctus
truckpusher
atwireless
MizMyColi
dearpreye
ezenwammadu


lalasticlala front page please maybe this post will change some people's mind that not all yoruba are bias.

ajepako:
Sorry to dissapoint..

I'm omo Yoruba atata from Eko Aromisa-legbe legbe

Oya,,,so miii

Ezenwammadu:
oga wike did not even raise a finger to demolish the Judas evil in rivers rather the court did it for him

Where is that transgender world renowed economist with his/her numerous articles

Candyrain:
For your title block mind abi? Go try am with a full grown male lion and I pray you live to tell us the experience.

Dominiquez:
Please why did Rochas publicly assured Nigerians that this National Assembly issues have been resolved.


Is he relieving Lie Mohammed who has been on leave since May 29.

The peace committee chaired by Sokoto State Governor, Mr. Aminu Tambuwal, appeared to have failed to resolve the leadership tussle in the caucus of the All Progressives Congress at the House of Representatives.

The indication of this came on Wednesday as the leadership of the House on Wednesday dismissed as “nothing like party position” an earlier letter the APC wrote to the Speaker, Mr. Yakubu Dogara, on the zoning of principal offices.

After the Tambuwal committee met with the group led by Dogara, and that of a former Minority Leader, Mr. Femi Gbajabiamila, the issue at the centre of the crisis – the sharing of four principal offices – remained unresolved.

Findings showed that the Gbajabimaila group, at its meeting with Tambuwal, had restated its stance that the decision of the APC on the allocation of the offices must stand.

The party had written to the Speaker that the South-West should produce the Majority Leader; North-West, Deputy Leader; North-East, Chief Whip; and South-South, Deputy Whip.

However, the North-East and the South-South later swapped their positions, but still said they remained loyal to the APC.

An offer to Gbajabiamila to head the AdHoc Committee on Constitution Review in place of being the majority leader of the 8th Assembly, was also reportedly turned down by the former minority leader.

The PUNCH had earlier reported that the Dogara group too had maintained its stance that federal character and zonal balancing must be reflected in the sharing of the positions “in such a way that no zone of the country” would be left out.

“It was this same position that they presented before the Tambuwal committee last night”, a National Assembly official told our correspondent on Wednesday.

However, the spokesman for the Dogara group, Mr. Abdulmumin Jibrin, on Wednesday said that at the meeting with Tambuwal, the group agreed to concede the House leader to the Gbajabiamila group “provided that neither the South-West nor the North-East” would take the position.

Jibrin added that, in the event the Gbajabiamila group did not accept the “concession”, all the APC caucuses in the House would go for an election to decide who would become the majority leader.

Jibrin also said similar elections would be conducted to fill the three other positions in line with the provisions of the relevant rules of the House.

“The entire APC members would hold an election to elect the House leaders. If someone says he has 174 members, fine; let us hold an election and see if he actually has that majority he claims,” Jibrin told a news conference.

Our correspondent observed that the ‘concession’ implied that Gbajabiamila would still not be the majority leader, an indication that no headway had been achieved.

Gbajabiamila’s group confirmed this in a statement it issued soon after Jibrin spoke with journalists.

It said that the group indeed met with Tambuwal and made its position known that party supremacy must prevail.

It said that the sharing of the positions remained the way the APC originally zoned them.

“To the best of our knowledge, no counter-offer has been made to the APC Loyalists’ group after her first meeting with Tambuwal peace committee, wherein the APC loyalists clearly stated that in line with party supremacy resolution reached at the last APC NEC meeting, the position of the party on Femi Gbajabiamila as the House Leader is non-negotiable,” a member of the group, Mr. Rufai Chachangi, said in a statement.

However, like the Dogara group, the Gbajabimaila group also subscribed to the proposal of conducting elections to pick the House leaders.

The statement added, “However, as a group that wants peace and quick solution to the logjam in the House, the APC Loyalists group would equally subscribe to an election among entire members of the APC House Caucus, where all members, irrespective of zones, would exercise their right to elect their principal officers.”


It expressed surprise that the Dogara group, which had opposed zoning before the speakership election, was now canvassing zoning.

It also queried the suitability of a South-East member for any principal position in breach of House rules when the zone’s only two APC members in the House were first timers and not qualified to hold leadership positions.

On the Tambuwal committee, the group noted, “In playing his mediatory role , the former House Speaker, Governor Tambuwal agreed to take our position to Dogara’s group for consideration and convene a joint meeting of both groups, which is yet to be convened as of Wednesday evening.

“So, any purported decision reeled out to the public in the name of the National Assembly peace pact before such joint meeting is lopsided and not acceptable to the APC Loyalists’ group.”

However, giving the official position of the House on the crisis, a member of the House AdHoc Committee on Media and Public Affairs, Mr. Abdulrazak Namdas, said the House backed the sharing of the positions among all the six geo-political zones in the country.

He dismissed the APC’s letter to Dogara, saying that it did not follow due process by getting the approval of the National Working Committee of the party and the ratification of its National Executive Committee.

He said, “For the House, we believe that this so much talk about party position or letter from the party, I think it is actually being misunderstood.

“For us, the position of the party has to go through certain laws, certain process; the party caucus in the House would be involved, we believe that the caucus here in the House should be aware of the position of the party.

“As far as we are concerned, the party did not approach anybody or zonal caucuses to say these are the names selected from the party. We are not aware of that.

“Two, we also know that for a party to take a position, to be regarded as the party position, it has to go to the National Working Committee. The NWC must have met and agreed on the position, but it appears some members of the working committee are not even aware of this position.

“Again, even if the NWC agrees to it, it has to be ratified by the NEC and the speaker and deputy speaker are also members of NEC. There has never been any time that this issue was brought up.

“But, in any case, the first NEC meeting that was held, this matter was not brought up. So, that means clearly it is not the party’s position. The position of the House is that there is nothing like party position. We won’t accept the said letter as a letter from the party.”

chukwudi44:
Lol this is the koko of the matter. The Senate rules are subject to the clerk and NASS bureacracy and does not need to be debated in the Senate to be amended!!!! Chai all the noise was for nothing!!!! Illiteracy go finish this APC People

knightsTempler:
I 'll stop and look at him eyeball to eyeball