News
INEC has refused to give Obi access to presidential election materials, says LP campaign
The Labour Party (LP) campaign has accused the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) of not allowing Peter Obi, standard bearer of the party, to access election materials.
BODEX BLOG reported that the court of appeal granted leave to Obi to have access to all the sensitive materials used by INEC.
INEC, however, asked the court to vary the order, saying the bimodal voter accreditation system (BVAS) needs to be reprogrammed ahead of the governorship and state assembly polls.
In a statement released, Yunusa Tanko, spokesperson of the LP campaign, described the move by INEC as “an act of judicial insubordination”.
“The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) with greatest impunity have refused, neglected and failed to obey the order of the presidential election petition tribunal sitting in Abuja made on the 3rd day of March 2023, directing it to grant the Labour Party and its presidential candidate H.E. Peter Gregory Obi leave to apply and receive from INEC certified true copies of materials used in the presidential election held on 25th February 2023,” he said.
“It will be recalled that the aforesaid order of the presidential election petition tribunal was duly served on INEC on the 3rd of March 2023 despite the fact that they were present and represented at the tribunal when the order was made.
“Not minding the service of the said order on INEC, and a reminder letter dated the 6th day of March 2023 and delivered same date at the INEC headquarters Abuja, the electoral umpire has continued to ignore and or disobey the valid order of such magnitude till NOW.
“It should be noted that in a democracy like ours, rule of law must triumph not only in our legal system but also in our body polity as a whole.
“Parties to a litigation like in this instant case must accept and obey every order of the court in good faith and no party should be seen to employ self-help to disparage or disrespect an order of court which if not checked and curtailed could possibly undermine our democracy, rule of law and constitutionalism.
“The action of INEC under reference also constitutes for all intent and purposes, an act of judicial insubordination and willful refusal to comply to the order of court. As we speak INEC has chosen to obey the court order given to it to reconfigure the BIVAS machine, which they are doing right now, and ignoring the order granted to us to inspect electoral materials.”
The Labour Party campaign said the disobeying of court order is a well calculated attempt to undermine and frustrate the presentation of the petition by the party.
“We therefore want to state that we will not fail to call our supporters to march to INEC offices nationwide in a non violent protest which is allowed by law. This is to curtail the flagrant disobedience to court orders by INEC,” the LP campaign said.
Operatives of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) have arrested Yahaya Bello, former governor of Kogi state.
TheCable understands that Usman Ododo, Kogi governor, brought Bello to Abuja this morning and invited EFCC to come pick him up.
The EFCC had charged the former governor with alleged money laundering, breach of trust, and misappropriation of N80.2 billion.
In April, the commission declared Bello wanted after several attempts to arrest him proved unsuccessful.
On August 20, the court of appeal in Abuja ordered Bello to surrender himself for arraignment.
Ola Olukoyede, EFCC chairman, would later allege that Bello withdrew $720,000 from Kogi coffers to pay his child’s school fees in advance.
The anti-graft agency also filed a 19-count charge against Bello over alleged money laundering.
However, the arraignment was stalled due to the absence of the former governor.
In May, Abdulwahab Mohammed, counsel to Bello, told the court that the former governor’s whereabouts remain unknown and that he was nurturing some safety concerns.
On August 20, the court of appeal in Abuja ordered Bello to surrender himself for arraignment.
Dele Oyewale, EFCC spokesperson, had said the court’s ruling was a “vindication” of the EFCC’s stance that Bello must face trial.
Sources had told TheCable that Bello has been hiding in plain sight — holed up in the “protective custody” of the Kogi state government — since he was declared wanted by the EFCC.
President Bola Tinubu has asked the house of representatives to confirm Olufemi Oluyede as the substantive chief of army staff (COAS).
Tinubu’s request is contained in a letter read by Tajudeen Abbas, speaker of the house of representatives, during plenary on Tuesday.
Tinubu said Oluyede’s confirmation is in accordance with the provision of section 218(2) of the 1999 constitution as amended and section 18(1) of the Armed Forces Act.
The president said the army chief’s contribution to the military and Nigeria makes him “well-suited” for the role.
He said Oluyede has been professional in his duties, adding that his confirmation should be done “expeditiously”.
On October 30, Tinubu appointed Oluyede as the acting COAS following the prolonged illness of Taoreed Lagbaja, the former army chief.
The Ebonyi State Governor, Francis Nwifuru, has suspended the state Commissioner for Health, Dr. Moses Ekuma and his Housing and Urban Development counterpart, Francis Ori.
It was gathered that they were suspended on Monday during the State Executive Council meeting in Abakaliki, the state capital.
A statement issued by the Commissioner for Information and State Orientation, Jude Okpor, which was sighted by our correspondent on Tuesday morning, read, “Following cases of gross misconduct and dereliction of duties by some government officials and matters related thereto, the Chairman of Council directed the indefinite suspension of the Honourable Commissioner for Housing and Urban Development and three months suspension of the Honourable Commissioner for Health respectively.”
It was also learnt that the development may be connected to the alleged theft of pieces of property belonging to the Ministry of Health by its officials and the reported underperformance of the Housing and Urban Development commissioner and his shoddy handling of the Amaeze Housing Scheme in the Ishielu Local Government Area of the state.
Recall that the governor was in the health ministry’s premises on Saturday night and met a scene where six officials were caught allegedly diverting government materials.
He, therefore, ordered their arrest and eventual prosecution.
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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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