₦airaland Forum

hakimi:
YES 65% cos i scored 39 out of 60

hakimi:
I scored 64% from Niger

The Independent  National Electoral Commission, INEC, yesterday postponed indefinitely the Anambra Central senatorial re-run election scheduled for Saturday, March 5, 2016.

Announcing the postponement at stakeholders’ meeting at the Professor Dora Akunyili Women Development Centre, Awka, the state Resident Electoral Commissioner, REC, Dr. Lawrence Azubuike said this followed a court order obtained by the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, that it should be included in the exercise.

Though, the REC did not elaborate, Vanguard gathered that a Federal High Court, sitting in Abuja on Monday ordered INEC to include the PDP in the rerun election.

INEC bars PDP
INEC had barred the PDP from participating in the rerun poll following a Court of Appeal judgment of 7th December, 2015 nullifying the election of the party’s candidate, Mrs. Uche Ekwunife in the national assembly election held on March 28, 2015.
Curiously, March 5 will be the ninetieth- day as the Court of Appeal had on December 7, 2015 directed INEC to conduct the rerun within 90 days without PDP participating.

But the PDP approached the Federal High Court sitting in Abuja, praying INEC to include it in the rerun. The PDP prayer was granted on Monday, thus necessitating the postponement of the poll indefinitely by INEC.

Reacting to the judgment, the candidate of All Progressives Grand Alliance, APGA, in the rerun election, Chief Victor Umeh described the Federal High Court ruling as absurd.

According to him,  the principle of law is that every decision of the court above should bind on all courts below, arguing that a Federal High Court could not assume jurisdiction in a matter already decided by the Court of Appeal.

He threatened to drag the Federal High Court judge that presided over the matter to the National Judicial Commission, NJC, for what he described as ‘brazen impunity and misapplication of the law’.

Umeh accused the former governor of the state, Mr. Peter Obi of being the mastermind in all the plots against him, insisting that “we shall crush him and all his evil plans.”

Though PDP has not officially announced its candidate for the re-run, it was gathered yesterday that former Governor, Obi is being positioned as the PDP consensus candidate.

Former Commissioner for Information, Culture and Tourism during the Obi administration, Chief Joe-Martins Uzodike told reporters in Awka that Obi would be persuaded to join the race.
He said: “Top PDP members have been mounting pressure on Obi to contest the senatorial election and the former governor has no option but to oblige. PDP is yet to submit the name of its candidate for the election and we are pleading with Obi to run.

“We know that once he is chosen as our candidate, he will win the election in view of his popularity in the zone and in the entire Anambra State.”
But the national chairman of APGA, Chief Victor Oye described PDP’s plan to draft ex-governor Obi into the rerun poll as a wishful thinking, adding, “we are not afraid of any person in this election as we have the capacity to crush any candidate.”

He also argued that since Obi did not participate in any primary of PDP, he is therefore not even qualified to take part in the re-run election.

Coalition welcomes postponement
Meanwhile, a group which calls itself the Anambra Central People’s Coalition welcomed the postponement, arguing that it was not the first time INEC would postpone election after fixing a date.

In a statement signed by the coordinator, Elder Emeka Anazulike, women leader, Mrs. Rosemary Okeke, among other people, the group wondered why INEC should rush the election when there were still some unresolved issues pertaining to the election.

“The postponement will give equal opportunity to parties that are in court to put their houses in order before the re-run,” the statement said.
Despite the postponement, the APGA candidate continued his campaign yesterday in parts of the senatorial zone, asking the electorate not to be deterred by the statement that came from INEC.

Recalling materials
In another development, the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, has recalled all the materials already being delivered to Anambra Central senatorial election earlier scheduled for Saturday back to its headquarters following the indefinite postponement of the exercise by the commission.

It was gathered in INEC that the materials being withdrawn had no PDP logo on them and following the Federal High Court ruling directing INEC to include the party in the election, the materials had to be recalled.

Meanwhile, it was gathered yesterday that INEC has already appealed against the ruling of the Federal High Court directing the postponement of the election and inclusion of PDP in the exercise.

Following the development yesterday,, many aspirants started putting up their posters in parts of the senatorial zone.
Some of the candidates who spoke on the matter expressed happiness that they would have more time to campaign.

ultimateballer:
The supreme court has no jurisdiction over national assembly elections. They don't even have the right to hear the case. The decision of the appeal court it final.

ultimateballer:
Waste of time. The court will not be foolish to reverse its ruling, besides ekwunife is no longer in pdp

The Court of Appeal sitting in Enugu, yesterday reserved ruling for Thursday March 3, 2016 on an application asking the court to set aside the judgment of December 7, 2015 which nullified the election of Senator Uche Ekwunife. This development has added to the
controversy trailing the Anambra Central senatorial election rerun . The rerun is expected to hold on Saturday March, 5, 2016.

However, in event the application is sustained by the five-man panel of justices led by Justice H. M. Ogunwimuji, the fresh election already scheduled by INEC may be put on hold. This is also coming after a Federal High Court, sitting in Abuja had ordered INEC to include PDP on the ballot for the coming polls. The Appellate Court presided over by Justice A.H. Yahaya had last December ordered the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC to conduct fresh election in the senatorial zone within 90 days after nullifying the election of Ekwunife on the basis of improper nomination and sponsorship by her party, the PDP.

But dissatisfied by the judgment and following other judgments by Appeal Court sitting in Abuja as well as the Supreme Court to the effect that issue of nominations and sponsorship of candidates should not be entertained by the tribunal, Ekwunife had returned to the appellate court asking that the judgment ousting her from office be set aside insisting that allowing it to stand would amount to grave injustice. However, at the hearing of the application, Counsel to Ekwunife, Alex Izinyon in his submission said the judgment ousting Ekwunife remained a nullity as the court lacked jurisdiction to look into the issue of nomination and sponsorship of her candidacy more so when the same court upheld the elections of Senator Andy Ubah (Anambra South) and Senator Stella Oduah (Anambra North) despite coming from the same “legal embryo”.

“The issue is that we are saying that the court of appeal having decided issue of nomination and sponsorship of candidate as the main issue nullifying the election of Ekwunife, they had no power or jurisdiction to go into that area at all, therefore, if that’s the case, the judgment they have given relating to that is a nullity and should be set aside. “We are not saying review it, we said they had no power to go into that one because that was the summary of the issue that was determined in that judgment. The other two senatorial districts came up and they were decided the other way round, why should it be an exception, they came from the same legal embryo, same primaries, same political party. “Therefore, there was no basis for that judgment against her; now we also said that since the issue has been settled even by the Court of Appeal in Abuja on the Taraba matter.

“When it is sponsorship and nomination, it’s a no go area for the tribunal and it’s been affirmed by the Supreme Court. So, this is the issue,” he said. On the issue of 60 days as provided in the Electoral Act as a period within which election appeal matters must be dispensed with, Izinyon said the issue at hand had nothing to do with election, insisting that “in law when the law says 60 days, it has to do with when you are doing election appeal proper. We are saying here that there is no issue about election appeal, The issue before the court now has nothing to do with election, we are not talking about 60 days”.

INTROVERT:
in summary?

Israel5:
I hear UBA is the least when it comes to good salaries. na around 50-80k. Op, tel us hw far. Ecobank too

The Imo State Governorship Election Petition Tribunal sitting in Owerri tuesday foreclosed the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) and 35 other respondents for failing to file their reply within the allowed time-frame in a petition filed by the Governorship candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Chief Emeka Ihedioha.

The counsel representing the 1st respondent, Chief Adeniyi Akintola (SAN) noted that the parties were not properly served, and that the All Progressives Congress (APC) supposed to have been served in her headquarters in Abuja instead of Owerri.

Aligning with that submission, the 37th Respondent (APC) counsel, Chief Nelson Ezerioha observed that the service to the client was fundamentally defective and therefore null and void, stating that in that circumstance, no motion could be moved until all the necessary services were duly concluded.

While the 15th respondent, Robert Okwuego, who was the APC agent in Oru East during the governorship election, said that he had not personally served, the counsel for the 13th and 14th respondents, S.N. Nnadi admitted that his clients were duly served and was ready to go on with the matter.

Counsel to the Petitioner, Chief Mike Ahamba (SAN) objected the submissions of the respondents, noting that such amounted to eroding of justice and urged the tribunal to go on with the pre-hearing session having had parties put on notice through the pre-hearing questionnaires which they had dully answered.

He further observed that the ‘antics’ or delay tactics employed by the respondents in the matter does not promote “nobility and honour” on the part of the counsels to the respondents, and therefore urged the tribunal “to avoid case management and proceed to case hearing”.

In his ruling, the tribunal chairman, Hon. Justice David Wyom over-ruled the respondents’ counsels, stating that once the parties have been served whether at the headquarters or her branch office, it was service duly done.

The tribunal also ruled that having duly served the respondents, that is, INEC and 34 others (2nd to 36th) and having failed to file their replies on time, they are therefore foreclosed in the matter.

donphilopus:
Either of you would soon run mad!!!

Feranmicharles:
The first pic tho jonathan be like...

Jonathan: wetin dey do all these jobless trekkers sef? Dey wan hammer through me abi una miss am

Congrates anyways

doctokwus:
U think INEC doesn't know that these people did nothing but help Wike win d elections either by acts of omission or commission?
Let them go and meet Wike,he is d person to pay them.

psucc:
I don't understand how we will go out of the trouble if even the youth will not even support a cause as simple as 'pay the worker'.

You mean because Wike won, INEC should not pay the ad hoc staff they recruited or INEC had s preferred candidate for the election?

That's quite awful.

aariwa:
they don help am rig election finish I come abandon them.moral lesson -evil does not pay

orobs93:
Hediots go and meet wike the killer

elbinmanny:
The first pic shows The Prime minster walking away after seeing him off at the door. The second was Buhari waiting to be received.
Meanwhile earlier this year , this was what transpired between Obama and Cameron

denko:
He should not tell us what we know , (according to APC), he should focus his energy on resolving the issues & if he find the problems bigger than him then he should be honorable to resign his position PERIOD.

UnknownT:
I thought Buhari and Aisha said that there won't be any office of the first lady, why does she want to continue from where PEJ stopped when there won't be any office for her?

DaBullIT:
[size=18pt]Always complaining about APC and Buhari , find something better to do , the man who used the words meant well, only illiterates will think illiterates will misinterpret GMB[/size]