Politics
Supreme court dismisses APC’s appeal, affirms Mbah as Enugu state governor
The Supreme Court has dismissed an appeal seeking to nullify the election of Peter Mbah as the governor of Enugu state.
In a unanimous judgment on Friday, a five-member panel of justices held that the All Progressives Congress (APC), and its candidate in the state’s governorship election, Uche Nnaji, filed an “invalid brief of argument”.
Tijani Abubakar, who read the lead judgment, held that the invalid process filed by the appellants could not be relied upon to invalidate Mbah’s victory in the election.
Consequently, the apex court dismissed the case for being incompetent.
The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) declared Mbah the winner of the March 18 governorship election with 160,895 votes.
Chijioke Edeoga of the Labour Party (LP) came second with 157,552 votes while Frank Nweke of the All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA) polled 17, 983 votes to claim third place. Nnaji occupied the fourth position with 14,575 votes.
Dissatisfied with the outcome of the election, Nnaji filed a petition to challenge Mbah’s electoral victory.
Nnaji argued that Mbah was at the time of the election, not eligible to contest, alleging that he presented a forged certificate to INEC, to aid his qualification.
Also, the APC candidate submitted that Mbah was not duly elected by a majority of the votes cast in the election.
He prayed the tribunal to disqualify Mbah, Edeoga, and Nweke and either declare him the winner of the poll or order INEC to conduct a runoff election between him and other candidates, excluding Mbah and the PDP.
However, in a ruling delivered on June 20, the Enugu state governorship election petition tribunal dismissed the suit on the grounds that it was not filed in compliance with provisions of the electoral act 2022.
Not satisfied with the judgement, Nnaji approached the court of appeal in Enugu, seeking to set aside the decision of the tribunal.
But the appeal was also dismissed.
Politics
Edo PDP opposes suspension of LG bosses by state assembly, says ‘It’s unconstitutional’
The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in Edo says the suspension of all the chairpersons and their deputies in the 18 LGAs of the state is “unconstitutional”.
The chairpersons and their deputies were suspended on Tuesday by the Edo state house of assembly for two months over alleged misappropriation of funds.
Blessing Agbebaku, the speaker of the house, said Monday Okpebholo, governor of Edo, had written a petition to the assembly regarding the chairpersons’ refusal to submit the financial records of their LGs to the state government.
In a statement, Anthony Aziegbemi, chair of the PDP in Edo, said the “illegal” suspension is a disregard to a supreme court decision that affirms the autonomy and independence of local governments.
“How can the governor direct the State Assembly to suspend democratically elected chairmen of the 18 local councils for insubordination when these elected officials enjoy autonomy and independence as enshrined in the constitution and are not subordinates of the governor, the state assembly, or any other arm of government?,” he said.
“We are also aware that the chairmen and their vices were not even given the opportunity to be heard in their detence and were suspended unheard on watery trumped up charges, in total disregard to the constitution.
“We want to restate that the constitution remains supreme, and any attempt to undermine its provisions or disregard the judiciary and its rulings is not only illegal but also a direct attack on democracy and the rule of law.
“The speaker of the Edo state house of assembly and the entire assembly have clearly overstepped their constitutional mandates with this illegal action and we urge them to immediately reverse its decision, in respect to the rule of law and democratic governance.”
Aziegbemi said the suspended officials should report to their councils on Wednesday and carry on with their normal duties.
Also speaking on the issue, Anthony Ehilebo, a PDP chieftain, said Okpebholo has no legal backing to request the financial records of the LGAs.
“In fact, the governor and the assembly members are in contempt of the supreme court,” Ehilebo said when he appeared on Politics Today, a Channels Television programme.
“The purported suspension of the local government chairmen by the state assembly is as absurd as the president asking the national assembly to suspend state governors because they refused to submit statements of accounts to him.
“This is a witch hunt. The LGA chairmen are all PDP members.”
The lawyer said the suspension “is unknown to law and will be ignored”.
Politics
Ex-sports minister Bolaji Abdullahi resigns from PDP
Bolaji Abdullahi, a former minister of sports and youth development, has resigned from the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP).
He disclosed his intention to resign in a letter dated December 16 and addressed to the PDP ward chairman in Ubadawaki, Kwara state.
Abdullahi confirmed the development to TheCable on Monday.
The ex-minister also said he is yet to decide which political platform to pitch tent with.
“The decision of what to do and where to go will be taken in the future that’s left to God,” he said.
In the resignation letter, Abdullahi said he reached the “difficult” decision after days of reflection and introspection.
“I write to formally resign my membership of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP),” the letter reads.
“I have had ample time to reflect, and I have come to the difficult conclusion that this is the only tenable option for me at this time.
“Mr. Chairman, please permit me to express, through you, my gratitude to the leadership of the party for the opportunities that I have had to serve the state and the country on its platform, and for the great moments we have shared.”
Abdullahi was the PDP candidate for the Kwara central senatorial district election in 2023. He lost the race to Salihu Mustapha of the All Progressives Congress (APC).
Politics
PDP debunks inviting Jonathan to contest 2027 presidency
The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) says it has not extended an invitation to former President Goodluck Jonathan to contest the presidency on its platform in the 2027 election.
Speaking with BBC Hausa, Ibrahim Abdullahi, deputy spokesperson of the country’s main opposition party, said no ticket has been issued to the former president.
Abdullahi said the party has many eligible people who can contest for the presidency on its platform, adding that a recent interview he granted was interpreted to mean that Jonathan he asked to run on the PDP platform.
“The report that PDP has issued its presidential ticket to former President Goodluck Jonathan or invited him to contest the 2027 presidential election is not true,” he said.
“What happened is this, I had an interview with a journalist where we discussed some issues.
“But in the course of the interview, he mentioned President Jonathan, asking about our opinion of him, because there are reports that he is being urged to run for the presidency.
“I responded by saying that he (Jonathan) is eligible to contest the election, because he is a Nigerian and has the right to do that by the provision of the law, and he still has one more term left.
“So, there is nothing wrong about him contesting the presidential election because he is eligible in the face of the law.”
The deputy spokesperson said the ticket would be given to someone who has shown interest in running for the presidency.
Jonathan, then in the PDP, lost the presidential election to former President Muhammadu Buhari in 2015.
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