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Court dismisses application to stop Tinubu’s certificate forgery suit

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An applicaton by a factional group in the Action Alliance to stop the certificate forgery suit instituted against the presidential candidate of the All Progressives Congress, Asiwaju Bola Tinubu, was on Monday dismissed by a Federal High Court in Abuja.

The bid by the group loyal to Tinubu and led by Adekunle Omo-Aje was rejected by the court from being joined as an interested party to defend Tinubu in the certificate forgery suit brought against him by the AA party.

Justice Obiora Egwuatu, in a ruling on the joinder application of Omo-Aje and his faction, threw out the request on the grounds that conditions precedent for such joinder to be granted were not placed before the court.

Amongst others, Justice Egwuatu held that Omo-Aje did not establish his claim as National Chairman of the AA and also did not disclose how his interest would be jeopardised if not joined as defendant in the suit.

Justice Egwuatu, while dismissing the joinder request, held that the group remains meddlesome interloper and busy body until their interests likely to be affected are clearly established.

In the ruling, Justice Egwuatu said that both Adekunle Omo-Aje and Ambassador Suleiman Abdumalik who filed the joinder application on behalf of their faction failed to satisfy the conditions on why they should be joined.

Besides, the Judge held that they also failed to make out a case in any form, to sway the court to join them.

The factional group had in the joinder application sought for dismissal of the suit against the APC and Tinubu on the ground that they (as officers of the party) did not authorise the suit to be filed in the name or on behalf of the party.

The Judge thereafter ordered the plaintiff (AA) to open its case of certificate forgery allegations against Tinubu on Friday November 4, 2022.

Justice Egwuatu specifically ordered that witnesses in the suit must be brought before the court to enable it determine the suit within time stipulated by law.

The Action Alliance Party in the suit is seeking disqualification of Tinubu from the 2023 election on alleged certificate forgery.

The party had, on June 21, asked the court to restrain the Independent National Electoral Commission from including the name of the All Progressives Congress in the ballot of the 2023 presidential election.

The party in the Writ of Summon marked: FHC/ABJ/CS/954/2022, predicated its request on the claim that both the APC and its presidential candidate, Bola Tinubu, are not qualified to participate in the 2023 presidential election on alleged forgery committed by Tinubu in 1999.

The suit filed on behalf of the plaintiff by its lawyer, Mr Upkai Ukairo, claimed that Tinubu forged his University of Chicago certificate he submitted in 1999 in aid of his qualification for the 1999 governorship election in Lagos State, which was won by Tinubu.

The suit, dated and filed on June 21, had the Independent National Electoral Commission, the APC and Senator Bola Tinubu as 1st, 2nd and 3rd defendants respectively.

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Former South African President Jacob Zuma involved in car crash

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South Africa’s former president Jacob Zuma has been involved in a car crash overnight after a vehicle transporting him was hit by a drunk driver, police said on Friday.

Zuma, however, escaped from the accident unhurt.

The car crash happened just hours after electoral officials barred Zuma from standing in the May 29 general election, further stoking tensions in the run-up to the polls.

The driver’s car “collided with former president Mr Jacob Zuma’s official armoured state vehicle”, the South African Police Service (SAPS) said.

The 51-year-old man was arrested in KwaZulu Natal province “for drunken driving, as well as on a charge of reckless and negligent driving”, SAPS said.

Zuma and his bodyguards escaped uninjured and the 81-year-old was taken to his place of residence.

Zuma, a former veteran of the ruling African National Congress (ANC), was forced out of office in 2018 under a cloud of corruption allegations but still wields political clout.

In December he announced he would be campaigning for the opposition uMkhonto we Sizwe (MK) party in an attempt to relaunch his career — a major blow to the ANC.

On Wednesday the ANC launched a new court application against MK, after losing an initial bid to have it disqualified.

The ANC says that MK’s name and logo are similar to those of the now disbanded apartheid-era military wing of the ANC once led by Nelson Mandela, and that this could deceive or confuse voters.

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Delta monarch declared wanted over murder of army personnel turns himself in

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Clement Ikolo Oghenerukevwe, monarch of Ewu-Urhobo kingdom in Delta, has reported to the police, hours after the military named him as one of the wanted persons for the murder of 17 army personnel in Okuama.

Bright Edafe, Delta state police spokesperson, confirmed Oghenerukevwe’s surrender to newsmen on Friday.

Edafe said the monarch turned himself in on Thursday.

“We have already handed him over to the military, they were the ones that declared him wanted,” the spokesperson said.

The Defence Headquarters had on Thursday declared Oghenerukevwe among eight persons wanted in connection to the murder of the army personnel.

Among those declared wanted are Ekpekpo Arthur, a professor of physics at the Delta State University; Akeywiru Omotegbono, Andaowei Bakrikri, Igoli Ebi, a lady; Akata David, Sinclear Oliki, and Reuben Baru.

Before turning himself in, the monarch released a statement to plead his innocence.

“I am very surprised that my name as the monarch of the kingdom will appear in the list of wanted persons. I have no hand in the killings, I have no hand in encouraging anybody to kill anybody, it is against my philosophy as a human being and my faith as a Catholic,” he said.

“It is a serious crime against humanity and they need to look at the appropriate places and do thorough investigation to know all those who have committed this and bring them to book and let justice prevail.

“I am not a party to this and like I have said earlier, the state government is aware of the turbulence I have been going through and as I speak, an arrangement was made by the government to invite the opponents recently just before this happenings.”

After the killing of the army personnel, President Bola Tinubu and the military high command promised that the perpetrators would be brought to justice.

Speaking during the burial ceremony of the late personnel, Taoreed Lagbaja, chief of army staff (COAS), said it was “highly demoralising” that the soldiers were killed by those they were equipped to protect.

The army chief added that it took over 72 hours of search to recover the vital organs of some of the deceased soldiers.

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Bus conveying 46 passengers crashes in South Africa – 8-year-old is sole survivor

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Forty-five passengers died on Thursday when a bus conveying them crashed through a barrier of a bridge in South Africa.

Only an eight-year-old child survived accident with multiple injuries.

The bus was said to have caught fire after it fell off a bridge approximately 300km north of Johannesburg in the north-eastern Limpopo province.

BBC reports that the passengers were pilgrims travelling from Botswana’s capital Gaborone to an Easter service in the town of Moria.

The vehicle lost control and went off a bridge on the Mmamatlakala mountain pass between Mokopane and Marken, around 300km (190 miles) north of Johannesburg, according to South African public broadcaster SABC.

Speaking with reporters after visiting the scene, Sindisiwe Chikunga, South Africa’s minister of transportation, said the government will carry out an investigation to determine the cause of the accident.

“Our thoughts and prayers are with you during this difficult time,” Chikunga said.

We continue to urge responsible driving at all times with heightened alertness as more people are on our roads this Easter weekend.”

In his Easter message to South Africans, President Cyril Ramaphosa called on citizens to “do our best to make this a safe Easter”.

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Bodex F. Hungbo, SPMIIM is a multiple award-winning Nigerian Digital Media Practitioner, Digital Strategist, PR consultant, Brand and Event Expert, Tv Presenter, Tier-A Blogger/Influencer, and a top cobbler in Nigeria.

She has widespread experiences across different professions and skills, which includes experiences in; Marketing, Media, Broadcasting, Brand and Event Management, Administration and Management with prior stints at MTN, NAPIMS-NNPC, GLOBAL FLEET OIL AND GAS, LTV, Silverbird and a host of others

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