₦airaland Forum

The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) candidate in the July 14 governorship election in Ekiti state, Prof. Olusola Kolapo, has urged the state election petition tribunal to declare him as the duly elected governor of the state.

Kolapo, who is the immediate past deputy governor of the state, stated this on Thursday while testifying before the tribunal sitting at the FCT High Court, Apo, Abuja.

He, however, stated that the tribunal should in the alternative declare the election inconclusive or nullify it and order for a fresh election.

Led in evidence by the lead counsel for the petitioners, Malam Yusuf Alli (SAN), the PDP candidate adopted his written statement on oath as his testimony before the tribunal.

He also adopted his three responses to the defence of the three respondents before the tribunal.

“Having scored the highest vote, I should be declared validly elected or returned as the elected governor of Ekiti state,” he said.

He, however, added a caveat that, “the election held on July 14 be declared inconclusive and an order be made for the conduct of a fresh election (supplementary election).

“That the election held on July 14 be nullified and in its place enter an order for a fresh election to be conducted or held throughout the state.”

The witness, who testified as the 31st witness for the petitioners (PW31), stated in the statement that Gov. Kayode Fayemi was not qualified to contest the election after been indicted for fraud by the Justice Oyewole Panel of Inquiry.

However, while being cross examined by the counsel for the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), Chief Charles Uwensuyi-Edosomwan (SAN), Kolapo stated that he was not aware that the indictment had been quashed by a court.

According to him, “what is available to me is exactly what I stated in my written statement on oath. I am not aware of any other thing.”

He stated that his claim about voided ballot papers during the election was based on information supplied by his agents in polling units across the state.

The various polling units, wards, Local Government Areas (LGAs) and state agents, according to him, were his representatives and those of the first petitioner, the PDP.

When asked what he wanted, Kolapo declared, “I want to be declared governor of Ekiti state pursuant to the election.”

Reminded that he sought for either declaration of the said election as inconclusive or even outright nullification of the election and in view of these if he could be declared governor, the PDP candidate said, “I cannot be made governor through an inconclusive election. I cannot be made governor through a nullified election.”

Answering a question under cross examination by a member of the second respondent’s legal team, Kazeem Gbadamosi, Kolapo said he voted on the election day in Ikere.

The PDP candidate stated that according to what his agents informed him, improper counting and voiding of votes during the contentious election cut across all the LGAs of the state.

“If there are malpractices, the electoral law is clear: the voided votes should be cancelled. But if there is none, the voided votes belonging to me should added to my results,” he told the tribunal.

While answering questions from Dr Muiz Banire (SAN), for the third respondent, Kolapo said though he voted in the election, there was initial problem as the card reader machine could not recognise his Permanent Voter’s Card (PVC).

He declared that he did not see all the voided votes meant for him physically, saying that they were recorded on the Form EC 8 series brought to him by his agents.

According to him, the calculation he did which gave him the highest number of votes in the election included the voided votes meant for him.

He stated that, to the best of his knowledge, none of his agents died even though they were intimidated, harassed and threatened during the election.(NAN)

Source https://www.vanguardngr.com/2018/10/declare-me-ekiti-governor-kolapo-tells-tribunal/

Ibadan – Gov. Abiola Ajimobi of Oyo State says the All Progressives Congress(APC) government has performed better than any other in Nigeria.

He made the disclosure on Thursday during the Special Town Hall Meeting of the Federal Government at the University College Hospital(UCH) in Ibadan.

The News Agency of Nigeria, (NAN) reports that the meeting was aimed at briefing the people on the achievements of the President Muhammadu Buhari-led administration in Infrastructure.

The governor said the APC-led government in Nigeria had, in the last three and a half years, laid solid foundation for the nation to thrive.

“I am very bold to say it that no government in Nigeria has done more than the APC government in the last three and a half years,” he said.

Ajimobi said that his administration in the state had done well in terms of infrastructure and had created environment conducive for businesses to thrive.

He said that the state was the fourth largest economy in Nigeria and 18th in Africa according to the Nigeria Bureau of Statistics(NBS).

“Our administration restored peace and security to Oyo State. We have transformed the education sector of the state and have invested much on infrastructure,” he said.

The governor used the avenue to also highlight some areas where the state had comparative advantage, among which was agriculture.

According to him, “Oyo State is the gateway to the commercial nerve centre, Lagos and the north. Oyo can boast of the largest concentration of agriculture research institutes.

“Let me also inform you that Oyo state has the best land for agriculture in Nigeria. We are the largest producer of cassava in West Africa.”

NAN reported that on the delegation were the Minister of Information, Culture and Tourism, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, Minister of Power, Housing and Works, Mr Babatunde Fashola.

Others are Minister of Transportation, Mr Rotimi Amaechi and Minister of Water Resources, Alhaji Suleiman Adamu.(NAN)

Source https://www.vanguardngr.com/2018/10/apc-govt-performs-better-than-any-other-in-nigeria-ajimobi

A 35-year-old unemployed man, Dapo Samuel, was on Thursday docked before an Ijede Magistrates’ Court in Ikorodu, Lagos, over alleged stealing and malicious damage.

The Prosecutor, Inspector Aminu Isaac, said that the accused, whose address was not provided, stole a sub-massive water pumping machine valued at N40, 000.

Isaac also said that Samuel damaged a pumping machine water pipe worth N25, 000.


He said that the property belonged to Mr Fatai Aluko of 40, Dada St., Itunpate area of Ikorodu.

Isaac told the court that the accused committed the offences on Oct. 20 at Noble Professional Estate, Ikorodu.

He said that the offences contravened Sections 287 and 350 of the Criminal Law of Lagos State, 2015.
The accused, however, pleaded not guilty to the charges.

The Chief Magistrate, Mrs A. Oshodi Makanju, granted the accused bail of N30, 000 with one surety in like sum.
Makanju adjourned the case until November 1 for hearing.

Source: http://thenationonlineng.net/man-docked-theft-malicious-damage/

Ilorin – The National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) has extended the deadline for registration of corps members at the various camps to Saturday, Oct. 27 , especially for newly mobilised Unilorin graduates.

According to Mr Kunle Akogun, Director of Corporate Affairs of University of Ilorin, the circular dated Oct. 24, was sent to all state coordinators of NYSC.

He said the memo was signed on behalf of the NYSC Director General, Brig-Gen. Suleiman Kazaure, by Mrs. R. B Ohakwu.

The memo stated that the extension was as a result of a passionate request from the University of Ilorin, to allow prospective corps members from the institution attend their convocation ceremonies.

“So, Unilorin graduates who have been mobilised for the NYSC still have up to Saturday, Oct. 27, to report at their various NYSC camps all over the federation,” it said.

The 34th Convocation Ceremony of University of Ilorin, took place on Oct. 23. (NAN)

Source: https://www.vanguardngr.com/2018/10/nysc-extends-deadline-for-registration-to-oct-27/

N60bn Nigeria Airways fund: Reps Call for Revisit of Justice Nwazota’s Panel Report

ABUJA— House of Representatives, yesterday, resolved to set up a special committee to revisit the probe of the N60 billion allegedly looted by some political office holders and civil servants in the defunct Nigeria Airways.

Consequently, a resolution, moved by Abiodun Faleke (APC Lagos), was passed sequel to the adoption of a motion on urgent need to investigate Justice Obiora Nwazota’s Commission of Enquiry into the activities of the defunct Nigeria Airways Limited.

Faleke, in his submission, argued that there was need to ensure the release of the White Paper and implementation of recommendations of Justice Nwazota’s panel.

The commission of enquiry was conducted in 2002.

He noted that the resolve of Federal Government to commence the payment of N22.6 billion outstanding entitlements of ex-workers of Nigeria Airways Limited, being first tranche installment payment, should be scrutinized.

He said: “The House notes that the Federal Government under President Muhammadu Buhari has commenced payment and offsetting 50 percent of the outstanding entitlements of ex-workers of Nigeria Airways Limited in total sum of N22.6 billion only being the first tranche installment payment, while the other part payment of the balance of 50 percent in same amount is expected to be paid in 2019 due to paucity of funds.

“The House further notes that long before the advent of this administration, precisely in 2002, the Obasanjo-led Federal Government had established the Justice Obiora Nwazota judicial commission to probe into the operations of the company.

“The House is aware that the commission turned in a report which revealed the mind-bogging corruption and looting to the tune of N60 billion.

“The White paper was approved by the Federal Government and further directed the Federal Ministry of Finance and the Police to recover the stolen funds and prosecute the indicted culprits.

“The House is worried that till date, nothing has been heard of the report and those indicted in the report are believed to be largely visible in the public arena, while the ex-workers continue to languish in abject poverty, having been denied rights to their entitlements, with many of them reportedly dead without receiving their entitlements.”

The House unanimously resolved to investigate, reveal and make public the identities of those indicted in the White Paper report.

“The House is dumbfounded that despite the release of the White Paper and the approval given to the Paper as well as the directives to the Federal Ministry of Finance and the Police by the Federal Government on an entity of this magnitude which affects the entire nation, previous governments have refused to prosecute the culprits indicted in the report.

The members also resolved to identify those involved and indicted by the White paper with the aim of ensuring they were prosecuted and made to refund the loot.

Similarly, the House resolved to reveal reasons those indicted in the report of the White paper have not been prosecuted, despite the Federal Government’s directive to the effect.

It also mandated the Ad-hoc committee to identify any civil servant and or political office holder who may have used his/her office(s) to thwart and or prevent those indicted from prosecution and possible conviction.

The Ad-hoc Committee, when constituted, is also expected to make any other appropriate recommendations and report back within four legislative weeks.

The Justice Nwazota’s panel was set up by the government of President Olusegun Obasanjo in in 2002 to investigate the looting of Nigeria Airways which eventually led to the liquidation of the airline.

The panel indicted many of the public office holders and civil servants who participated in the looting and recommended sanctions.

However, several of those indicted went to court to stop the implementation of the White Paper issued by the federal government on the report of the panel.

Source: https://www.vanguardngr.com/2018/10/n60bn-nigeria-airways-fund-reps-call-for-revisit-of-justice-nwazotas-panel-report/

daddytime:
@op

Please confirm if you are NLC or not because they are the original rabble rousers.

All barks and no bite. The moment an envelop is sent their way, they go singing a new song.

It has been their ways from Oshiomole,s to Pascal Bafyau,s time and up until now.

The NLC is even worse than APC and PDP combined.

Lol...

Barely five days to its deadline for commencement of another nationwide industrial action, the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) has started mobilising all its affiliate unions to ensure total compliance.

The labour congress at the end of its National Executive Council meeting held in Abuja on Wednesday directed all affiliate unions, state councils, civil society allies, the informal sector to commence immediate mobilisation of their members.
A communiqué signed by the NLC President, Ayuba Wabba, and General Secretary, Peter Essom, said there will be a joint organ meeting of the Central Working Committees (CWCs) of all the Labour Centres on November 2, in final preparation for a full engagement with government on the national minimum wage.

The NEC meeting resolved to commence an indefinite national strike from November 6, except government accepts and commences the process of perfecting the payment of N30,000 as the negotiated and compromised new national minimum wage before that date.

The communique reads: “In furtherance of this, NEC-in-session directed all affiliate unions, state councils, civil society allies, the informal sector and other friends of workers and lovers of democracy to commence immediate mobilisation of their members;

“The NEC advised Nigerians to start stocking food and other necessities of life as workers will ensure a total shutdown of the country”.

Similarly, the NLC condemned the decision of the Federal Government to clamp down on Labour via what it described as “selective and erroneous invocation of the ‘no work, no pay” clause in the Trade Disputes Act”, noting that the right to strike is both a human and trade union right and cannot be abridged.

It urged Nigerian workers to disregard government’s directive on “no work, no pay” because workers are already being impoverished and being owed arrears of salaries.

“The NEC, accordingly, resolved that the threat of “no work, no pay” will not deter it from embarking on strike when necessary as it has always complied with legal requirements precedent and will always comply with those requirement," it said.

Source: https://www.thisdaylive.com/index.php/2018/10/24/nlc-mobilises-for-another-nationwide-strike/?amp

What Ogun governor did was self-help, there is no provision for self help – APC’s Issa-Onilu

The National Publicity Secretary of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Mallam Lanre Issa-Onilu on Wednesday granted an interview to journalists at the APC National Secretariat on some of the Party’s post-primary issues.

Excerpts:

VON DG, Osita Okechukwu media outbursts

He is a highly respected and senior member of our party, but you can also understand that this is not about him and the party, it is about his quest to pick the Senatorial ticket of his constituency and that is about ambition. When that does not happen-like the Yoruba would say, you won’t beat a child and say he must not cry. He has a right to ventilate his anger and it is for the party to also listen to him. He may have gone overboard making all sorts of unfounded allegations but you also have to understand the situation that he is now, he lost out.
If that same process had favoured him, he would be in his office in an air-conditioned atmosphere drinking coffee and taking a laugh at whoever was complaining but that didn’t happen so you would expect him to complain. There would be someone to blame in such a situation so he has picked on the National Chairman unfortunately. But the chairman has no blame in this. If you have issues with the process, you can complain about the process. We had an appeal panel, you could take recourse to that. The internal mechanism for dispute resolution of this party is fairly strong and responsive and it is there for every party member no matter high or low to access. And a lot of people have done that and a lot of such issues have been resolved.
If he does have very good reasons to have redress, he would get that but his has chosen to go that path (Media) which is quite unfortunate. It is not everybody who has lost an election that has the capacity to soak it in. Some must express themselves in the way Osita Okechukwu has chosen to go about it. It is not about the National Chairman like I have said, it is about the fact that he is a party to the dispute and in such a situation, not everybody would win some must loose. He lost it in his reaction to it, everything he said was completely at variance with the real situation.

Nepotism allegations

There are five members for each state on the panel (which conducted the primary) we have 36 states and the FCT for the National Assembly and he (Osita Okechukwu) mentioned only nine panel chairs (from Edo state). Definitely, the others are from some states. By the time you add up the figures, you find out that the appointment of nine cannot be called nepotism in a situation where you have 36 states. When you pick what suits your cause that is what he has done but by the time all the facts are laid there are no issues. Everything boils down to the fact that he lost out and he is not happy about it, there must be a culprit, somebody must be blamed for it.

Ogun State

It is a straight forward case. If we speak to the merit of this case, the whole world saw it, the visuals were everywhere, where the Ogun State governor gathered some aspirants, stakeholders and said clearly, there won’t be primaries and right there he pointed at who the next Governor, Senator, House of Representatives candidates would be. He named himself the next Senatorial candidate.
Even if they have accepted those people, it is against the procedure, especially for a governor to open say a thing like that.
It was clearly stated the party gave two options which is the direct and indirect primaries and you are to have stakeholders’ meetings where majority are to decide.
In the case of Ogun, after that exercise failed after they tried to handpick who will be what, they sent a letter that they have agreed on direct primary and the party has no choice than to endorse what you want.
On the day they all came for screening including the governor, he suddenly left with other aspirants and returned back to Abeokuta; gathered some people and sent back to the NWC that they wanted indirect primary and the other aspirants said we were all here together, that they didn’t know when this change was made.
Meanwhile, someone had gone to court and the court had barred the State executive from anything to do with the party but we all saw on national television where the State Governor and the State executive, actually conducted their own primary and the process threw up the Governor’s preferred candidate. it was the SSG in Ogun State, who was reading the result until it occurred to him that he had no power to announce the names, so he handed over to the state chairman of the party who for also shouldn’t have done that – he is statutory barred, the court had told him not to participate in the primary. Secondly, the state chairman has no power to conduct primary that power resides with the NWC.
So whatever the governor did was self-help and there is no provision for self help in the party’s constitution. Eventually the NWC panel that was constituted to conduct the primary went to Abeokuta and did the primary. The governor’s preferred candidate chose not to participate in that exercise. So the party stands by the result of that primary it conducted in Ogun state.
The governor has done his best to get validation for his self-help. That is not possible. The first thing he did was to start saying things that made it look like something wrong has happened when nothing of such has happened.
Secondly, he took some monarchs to meet the president. I am surprised because someone like him, with due respect to him should have understood the nature of the president we have, that no matter how close you are to him, he will listen to you but he will ask for the rules to be followed.
So, the next thing we had was he looking for who to blame, and Asiwaju Bola Tinubu and Chief Segun Osoba readily came to his mind and he blamed them for that. The question to ask is whether they were the one who gave directive to him to organise his own primaries or they were the one who instructed him not to participate in the primaries or his candidate not to participate in primaries the party organised.
If he didn’t do all of that has not been that and there has not been that consciousness to self appraise and ask himself, have I done the right thing? Am I asking for what is fair? Am I not putting the party in a position to ask them to do what’s wrong? Those are the questions we expect Governor of Ogun State to ask himself. He needs to self appraise, look at the actions he has taken and come to that conclusions that he’s taking the wrong route.

Kaduna State

It was the outcome of the primary, properly conducted. The party tried to protectits members in the national assembly for obvious reasons following what has been going on the national assembly. We know the carrots that had been dangled at them. We have a responsibility to ensure that we have a grip on the legislative arm of government so that we can run a smooth government. So we tried to protect our legislators. But the other people can only understand and accept that. If they say no, there is nothing the party can do.it is within their right to say we must go to the field. The initial effort of the party did not get the blessing of other people in that area who are also entitled to bid for positions. The primaries were eventually conducted, Senator Shehu Sani opted out, he relied on the earlier decision.
Senate Suspends Plenary For Two Weeks To Probe Implementation Of Budget, 2.7m Eurobond
At the end of the day, no matter what plan you have even though you are acting on expedience, rule of law, democracy will prevail. It was democracy that prevailed in Kaduna.

Zamfara State

We submitted list of candidates for legislative elections in Zamfara state, if INEC did not take it, it is a different thing. We have a right to submit and INEC has the legal responsibility to receive. INEC cannot disqualify candidates we all know that. We have said clearly that whatever claims that INEC is making is not correct or a true representation of what happened and we will continue to take progressive steps to ensure that INEC does what is right.

Rivers State

The Supreme Court ruling on the Rivers APC governorship primaries has been subjected to different interpretations. As at today, the party has not yet taken a position on the ruling. We have a legal department and they will look into it and do what is right on it. The party will come out clearly on its position after studying the judgment.

Imo State

The issue of submission of governorship candidates to INEC falls due on November 2nd, so we haven’t reached the stage of where we will submit names or beat the deadline. You are aware that there was a court action challenging the Imo governorship primary election. The position of the party is that whatever court judgment, good or bad we must comply with it. We will only decide who will be APC’s governorship candidate for Imo state by November 2nd.

Source: https://www.vanguardngr.com/2018/10/what-ogun-governor-did-was-self-help-there-is-no-provision-for-self-help-apcs-issa-onilu/

Emitrix42:
I don't believe in Nigeria. I believe in this Nation, I believe in it's people because we are the only hope this Nation has of standing on it's feet tall.

Well said. I agree with you.

Rorachy:
Valar morgulus.

Valar dohaeris. ...there is only one thing we say to death - not today.

Seun:
When Euron easily defeated two female warriors and displayed their bodies for all to see, and captured 3 others in order to humiliate them first before they are killed, was that part of the over the top feminism you're complaining about? Or is the fact that every attractive adult actress on the show must show her boobies part of the feminism?

What I've noticed is that they are setting up a battle of the queens, and I quite like it. The kings destroyed each other earlier, and now the queens are trying to do the same. And when they are done, the white walkers will kill the survivors.

Exactly. Well said.

genieplus86:
Yam eaters

Easy