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Defection of Lawmakers is Illegal – Falana

Published

6 years ago

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FEMI Falana, Human Rights Activist, has stated why the mass defection of lawmakers at the National Assembly is illegal.

Majority of lawmakers who recently dumped the All Progressive Congress (APC) for opposition parties cited division in the ruling party. Most of them switched over to the opposition Peoples Democratic Party, (PDP).

The ruling party is currently engulfed in crisis presently in 24 states of the federation. The APC is also factionalised with the emergence of ‘Reformed APC’ from its fold.

Mr Falana, a Senior Advocate of Nigeria (SAN) said the crisis bedeviling the ruling APC was not legally enough for the defectors to have left the party.

While the constitution enables one to freely associate where their interest is being protected, the activist says this must not be so after one is being sponsored to attain whatever position the person is currently occupying.

He said anyone willing to decamp must first resign then start afresh on the mantle of the new platform and since this has not occurred the mass defection is illegal.

The senior advocate noted that defectors were supposed to lose their seats once they dump the party on which platform they were elected in the first place.

“You cannot leave the party that sponsored your election for another party without resigning so that you can ask for a fresh mandate from the electorate,” Falana said on Thursday while analysing the matter from a legal angle during an exclusive interview with Channels Television on the sidelines of an event in Lagos.

“That has not happened in this case. What the law is saying is that before you can have a division that will necessitate or legalise your defection, the division in your party must be total.”

The lawyer insisted that a defection cannot be based on a division announcing a press conference, saying the process of leaving a party for another was more than that.

“It cannot be a figment of imagination; it cannot be an artificial fictionalisation. In this instance, I have not recognised a division envisaged by the constitution,” he said.

Falana, however, said if the crisis in the party was similar to the one witnessed by the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) after the 2015 general elections, such defection would have been justified by the law.

He recalled that Senators Ali Modu Sheriff and Ahmed Makarfi had led factions of the opposition party which produced two sets of national officers of the PDP.

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DSS operatives arrest man with bags of cash during Ondo guber

Published

2 hours ago

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November 16, 2024 2:11 pm

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Personnel of the Department of State Services (DSS) have apprehended a suspected vote buyer in the ongoing Ondo governorship election.

The man was nabbed on election day at ward 4, polling unit 007, outside St Stephen’s Primary School, Akure.

Television footage showed the operatives and passers-by bellowing on the man to open the boot of his Toyota Camry car. Once he did, two ‘Ghana-must-go’ bags were seen sitting pretty.

The bags were not opened before the cameras as a mob encircled.

The DSS operatives then shoved the man into a white bus from where he was spirited away.

Vote-buying has become commonplace in Nigeria’s elections. Civil society organisations continue to bemoan the trend where agents of political parties carry cash to polling units to induce voters to cast their ballots a certain way.

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Politics

Outrage as Betty Akeredolu calls Nigeria a zoo

Published

1 day ago

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November 15, 2024 9:10 am

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Betty Akeredolu, widow of the late Rotimi Akeredolu, former governor of Ondo, has been criticised for comparing the US presidential election to Nigeria’s 2023 general election.

In a post on X on Wednesday, Betty juxtaposed the period it took to count and announce winners in both polls.

She has also been berated for calling Nigeria a zoo while responding to critics of her posts on the elections.

“When dishonesty is prioritised, simple things become difficult,” she said of Nigeria’s election.

“2023 Nigerian Presidential Election: Total Votes Cast: 25 million, Counting Duration: 5 days. 2024 U.S Presidential Election: Total Votes Cast: 155 million. Counting Duration: Approx. 10 hours.”

In another post, she said, “I made an honest but harmless observation on Nigerian and US presidential elections. Twitter is now on fire. Truth hurts and hurts with tribal colouration”.

“If the 2023 election presidential benefitted you as an individual or group, was that the best Nigeria could offer? Alas, they turned it into a tribal war of words. Nigeria is irredeemable! So sad,” she added.

“Very bitter indeed! Who will rescue Nigeria? What a zoo country!”

One Adegoke Adebisi said counting of votes continues in the US despite the announcement of Donald Trump as president-elect.

“This is not factual. The election was determined in 10 hours but counting continued till Friday, but results were posted live,” Adebisi said in response to Betty’s post.

“Grandma doesn’t even know what electoral college is, she thinks they count each ballot in the US election to declare Trump. You don’t even have the moral justification to criticise a system ur husband benefited from,” another post reads.

Here are a few more posts.

https://twitter.com/drdebodun/status/1856744000608236008?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1856744000608236008%7Ctwgr%5E610290c57da8066b2fca89158d8fe9ca93d32190%7Ctwcon%5Es1_&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.thecable.ng%2Fsame-country-that-made-you-outrage-as-betty-akeredolu-calls-nigeria-a-zoo%2F

https://twitter.com/Montero1016/status/1856742131454431616?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1856742131454431616%7Ctwgr%5E610290c57da8066b2fca89158d8fe9ca93d32190%7Ctwcon%5Es1_&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.thecable.ng%2Fsame-country-that-made-you-outrage-as-betty-akeredolu-calls-nigeria-a-zoo%2F

https://twitter.com/Olalekanakogun/status/1856732313867989117?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1856732313867989117%7Ctwgr%5E610290c57da8066b2fca89158d8fe9ca93d32190%7Ctwcon%5Es1_&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.thecable.ng%2Fsame-country-that-made-you-outrage-as-betty-akeredolu-calls-nigeria-a-zoo%2F

https://twitter.com/bigmorsh/status/1856955340027265067?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1856955340027265067%7Ctwgr%5E610290c57da8066b2fca89158d8fe9ca93d32190%7Ctwcon%5Es1_&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.thecable.ng%2Fsame-country-that-made-you-outrage-as-betty-akeredolu-calls-nigeria-a-zoo%2F

https://twitter.com/AndinoAsuquo/status/1857236820884378041?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1857236820884378041%7Ctwgr%5E610290c57da8066b2fca89158d8fe9ca93d32190%7Ctwcon%5Es1_&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.thecable.ng%2Fsame-country-that-made-you-outrage-as-betty-akeredolu-calls-nigeria-a-zoo%2F

https://twitter.com/Yakbel/status/1856982179915468879?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1856982179915468879%7Ctwgr%5E610290c57da8066b2fca89158d8fe9ca93d32190%7Ctwcon%5Es1_&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.thecable.ng%2Fsame-country-that-made-you-outrage-as-betty-akeredolu-calls-nigeria-a-zoo%2F

https://twitter.com/xybox/status/1856754083534712983?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1856754083534712983%7Ctwgr%5E610290c57da8066b2fca89158d8fe9ca93d32190%7Ctwcon%5Es1_&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.thecable.ng%2Fsame-country-that-made-you-outrage-as-betty-akeredolu-calls-nigeria-a-zoo%2F

https://twitter.com/bolagy/status/1856749039435296911?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1856749039435296911%7Ctwgr%5E610290c57da8066b2fca89158d8fe9ca93d32190%7Ctwcon%5Es1_&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.thecable.ng%2Fsame-country-that-made-you-outrage-as-betty-akeredolu-calls-nigeria-a-zoo%2F

https://twitter.com/tru_th_finder/status/1856751774981292493?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1856751774981292493%7Ctwgr%5E610290c57da8066b2fca89158d8fe9ca93d32190%7Ctwcon%5Es1_&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.thecable.ng%2Fsame-country-that-made-you-outrage-as-betty-akeredolu-calls-nigeria-a-zoo%2F

https://twitter.com/TemmyAjayi1/status/1856999762458812578?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1856999762458812578%7Ctwgr%5E610290c57da8066b2fca89158d8fe9ca93d32190%7Ctwcon%5Es1_&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.thecable.ng%2Fsame-country-that-made-you-outrage-as-betty-akeredolu-calls-nigeria-a-zoo%2F

https://twitter.com/MisterAdigun/status/1856978908266090986?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1856978908266090986%7Ctwgr%5E610290c57da8066b2fca89158d8fe9ca93d32190%7Ctwcon%5Es1_&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.thecable.ng%2Fsame-country-that-made-you-outrage-as-betty-akeredolu-calls-nigeria-a-zoo%2F

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Politics

Okpebholo fires permanent secretaries, dissolves boards

Published

2 days ago

on

November 14, 2024 8:18 am

By

Twenty-four hours after his swearing-in, Edo State Governor, Monday Okpebholo, on Wednesday, approved the dissolution of the executive of all boards, agencies and parastatals in the state public service with immediate effect.

The directive affected all permanent secretaries appointed outside the civil service.

The governor also ordered contractors in the state to return to sites, asking them to immediately fix all failed portions within the Benin metropolis.

In the same vein, he ordered the immediate and indefinite suspension of the collection of all revenues in the state, especially in motor parks, until further notice.

In a statement by his Chief Press Secretary, Fred Itua, the governor ordered all affected appointees to hand over all government properties in their possession to the most senior public officers in their respective ministries, departments and agencies.

The statement read, “It is hereby announced for the information of the general public that the Governor of Edo State, Senator Monday Okpebholo, has approved the dissolution of executives of all boards, agencies and parastatals in Edo State Public Service with immediate effect.

“In addition, all permanent secretaries appointed from outside the state public/civil service and all political appointees are hereby relieved of their appointments.

“Accordingly, all affected appointees are to hand over all government properties in their possession to the most senior public officer in their respective ministries, departments and agencies.”

In another statement, the governor ordered the state Commissioner of Police to arrest anyone who flouted the order on revenue collection suspension.

The statement read, “The Edo State Governor, Senator Monday Okpebholo, has ordered the immediate and indefinite suspension of the collection of all revenues in Edo, especially in motor parks and others, until further notice.

“The governor said he would review the issues surrounding the collections soon and decide on the way forward.

“The collection of revenues in the state has been suspended indefinitely. Anyone seen collecting revenues on behalf of the state government will be arrested.

“The Commissioner of Police is hereby ordered to arrest anyone who flouts the order and collects any kind of revenues on behalf of the state government.

“The governor will soon address the issues and concerns raised. He will issue new directives soon. Until then, no one is authorised to collect revenues on behalf of the state government.”

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