One of the greatest mistakes Igbos make today is calling former governor Theodore Orji an Igbo leader.
Ohaneze Ndigbo should stop inviting him to its caucus or Ime Obi meeting or even in any gathering of Igbo leaders.
If not for God’s intervention, Theodore Orji would have brought war in Igbo land.
He was in prison when Orji Uzo Kalu made him a governor.
Are you surprised?
Yes. He was in EFCC custody. He did not know how the PPA governorship campaign was done.
He did not know how the party was formed or funded.
Orji Uzor Kalu alone knew how he manipulated everything and Theodore was brought out of prison and sworn-in as governor of Abia State.
Immediately he became governor, Theodore Orji embarked on a non-indigene cleansing project in Abia State government.
He sacked all non-Abia Igbos in the State civil service and local governments.
But you know what? Not one Yoruba or Hausa Fulani worker was touched. Only fellow Igbos.
Most of them were born and bred in Abia State.
Despite all pleading from prominent Igbos, who cautioned him that this kind of thing has never happened in igbo land, Theodore Orji refused to listen.
If not the way the matter was handled by Peter Obi who was then chairman of South East Governors Forum, by pleading with the various South East governors to absorb the sacked workers from their States into their respective work force in order to avert a major crisis in Igbo land. That was after Igbo governors had several meetings with Theodore Orji.
Who knows, if not for that meeting, Theodore Orji might have gone ahead to dispossess non-Abia Igbo indigenes of their houses in Aba which would have caused a serious socio-political upheaval in Igbo land because other States in South East would have retaliated.
And you call such a person an Igbo leader. For where?
That was why I was amazed the other time Ohaneze held its Ime-Obi meeting to see Theodore Orji as one of the so-called Igbo leaders of Ohaneze Ndigbo.
A man who so callously and unconscionably sacked his fellow Igbos from their means of livelihood and preferred Yoruba and Fulani workers to his kith and kin.
This is one of the reasons I say that Ohaneze has no direction. Otherwise, how could they be inviting people known to have openly and brazenly shown hatred and spite for Igbos like Theodore Orji. Too bad and too sad.
Yet, after the sack of the workers, Theodore Orji could not perform as governor. Less than one yearafter, everything began to go haywire in Abia State. Nothing was happening.
No salaries to workers.
No infrastructure.
No roads.
No water.
Nothing tangible by Theodore Orji. Only complaints.
Complaints of no money and all that.
Complaints of interference by Orji Uzor Kalu
Complaints about this and that.
After squandering all the money in Abia State, he left PPA and joined APGA. Ojukwu needed to go to Umauhia to publicly receive him into APGA . At the time, Ojukwu had health issues and people expected governor Theodore Orji to arrange for a private jet to take Ojukwu to Umuahia as some of us believe it would not be comfortable for the great Igbo leader to go by road. Theodore Orji couldn’t .
Still Ojukwu managed to go to Umuahia where he raised Theodore Orji’s hand at APGA rally and presented him as APGA governor to the applause of Igbos.
Barely two months after he joined APGA, Theodore Orji decamped to the PDP. That was how this political adventurer tried to rubbish Ojukwu and incurred the curse of a persona non grata in Igbo land till today.
It was this same former governor who believed that only himself and his family are the only competent people in his community to occupy top political positions.
During his tenure as governor, he made one of his sons a legislator and majority leader in Abia State House of Assembly. In 2019, he made his son, Chinedu Orji, speaker of the House of Assembly while their father, who ruled the state from 2007 to 2015, becme a Senator of the Federal Republic from 2015 to 2021.
In the last 2023 elections, the same Chinedu Orji, contested for the House of Reps to represent Ikwuano/Umuahia federal constituency but was beaten by Labour party candidate, Obi Aguocha.
Are they the only competent ones in their community?
Who knows?
But for Peter Obi ‘elu pee’ revolution that ousted PDP in Abia State, Theodore Orji was already hatching plans to install his son as Ikpeazu’s successor.
The truth is that any day Nigeria begins to have proper elections, Theodore Orji and Igbos like him can never win any election in Igbo land. The God of Igbo land is not asleep and will never allow the Igbos to make grave mistakes again.
President Bola Tinubu has told the Presidential Election Petition Tribunal that his Guinean citizenship expired in 2020, the same year when his Guinean passport, being brought up by the opposition, expired.
Gists9ja reports that Tinubu’s claim was made through his lead counsel, Wole Olanipekun (SAN) while requesting that the tribunal throw out a petition by the Labour Party (LP) seeking his removal from office.
According to Tinubu’s counsel, the President’s Guinean passport tendered before the court by the LP’s PW27 expired in 2020, adding that the opposition party’s claim on Tinubu’s dual citizenship is aimed at embarrassing the President.
“Lastly, the PW27 tendered Exhibit PBF4 (Guinean passport), which as usual, he claimed to have downloaded from the internet, purportedly representing the data pages of the respondent’s Guinean passport, which ex facie, shows that the passport expired in 2020. It is all a guess work, aimed at embarrassing the respondent,” Olanipekun said.
Tinubu’s claim comes as the LP and Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) challenge his victory in the February 25 presidential election. The petitioners allege that Tinubu is not eligible to be president because he holds dual citizenship in Nigeria and Guinea.
Mr Tinubu is being accused of not disclosing facts of his constitutional qualifications in his Form EC9 submitted to the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), contrary to the provisions of the law.
The petitioners insist that Mr Tinubu was constitutionally disabled from contesting for the office of president.
You have been talking about the state of the South East economy as a result of insecurity that is ravaging the zone. What is your take on the issue?
The greatest factor that helps businesses to thrive is the security of lives and property, so all hands must be on the deck, with the state government leading the charge to provide the needed environment for our people to return home. The call by Governo Charles Soludo on Ndi Anambra and, in fact, the entire Igbo race to adopt the Isreali model by coming home to build for ourselves a livable and pros- perous homeland is one that must go beyond rhetoric. It should be taken very serious by all our illustrious sons and daughters, especially those of them making great exploits in the diaspora but face ex- ploitative and vindictive actions from time to time by their host communities.
The provocative demolition of parts of Alaba International Market serves as the most current example of some of the unfavorable situations that our people face in other people’s lands. But the question is: Which success- ful businessman will accept to come to an Anambra where our people sit at home every Monday and lose billions in potential business deals and trans- actions? Who among them will hear the sordid stories of kidnappings and payment of ransoms and still come to Anambra to invest? The other day, it was the chief security officer to one of the frontline governorship candidates in the Anambra election of 2021 that got kidnapped with reports that ransom has been paid and yet the man is still nowhere to be found.
Though I don’t have executive powers, I am presently taking the laudable step of developing a security architecture that will help bring peace, businesses, and tourism back to Anambra South Senatorial District because I understand clearly that with the present insecurity, no Anambra son or daughter in Diaspora will pay serious attention to any call to return home and invest. My reason for this selfless decision to take up that mandate of fighting insecurity even at great personal risk is not farfetched.
The Senator Ifeanyi Ubah represents Anambra South Senatorial District at the National Assembly. He speaks in this interview with OKEY MADUFORO and ECHEZONA OKAFOR on insecurity in the South East and his contribution to tackle the menace, among other issues doctrine of “Aku Luo Uno” (Wealth must go home) is one key factor that we hold very dear to our heart. This is why I have multi-billion naira investments littered all over the state but also developed a blue- print during the last governorship campaign where I talked about my vision aimed at creating a model Anambra that will be a mini nation inside Nigeria and building a database for all Anam- brarians with social security numbers irrespective of places of residence as well as the cre- ation of diplomatic missions for the state in different countries with the mandate on our youths manning those foreign missions to bring home international businesses and tourism. I also brought together over 200 sons and daughters of Anambra and got them to build state of the art hospitals in the three senatorial districts of the state within six months after contrib- uting over half a billion Naira during the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020.
Simon Ekpa has been boasting that the sit-at-home order has come to stay in the South East; do you agree with that?
I have made it clear that the so- called leader of the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB) operating from Finland, Mr. Simon Ekpa, should steer clear of Nnewi with his sit-at- home order forthwith as he has not given hope for the release of Nnamdi in no distant time. For the past years Mr. Ekpa has been enforcing his sit- at-home order on Igbo land despite the huge misfortune and hardship that came with it.
That is why I said enough is enough and resolved in agreement with my constituents that there would be no more observation of sit-at-home order beginning with my community, Nnewi. We have cooperated to obey the sit-at- home order all this while but we have also found out that we are losing our economic base, jobs and business opportunities. As the senator representing the good people of Anambra South Senatorial District, I deem it fit to say that we will not continue to have sit-at- home on Mondays. From now on, every business area in Nnewi shall be open for busi- ness. We have our men; we have our system. I know saboteurs will try to sabotage our efforts, but we are resolved to fight any aggressor that will come into this town. This is a warning to Simon Ekpa.
He has mentioned Ifeanyi Ubah 17 good times and I did not reply him. I’m reply- ing him today. He should make sure that he watches his back and never ever mention Ifeanyi Ubah or Nnewi again. His state, Ebonyi, is an All Progressives Congress (APC) state and he has never for one day mentioned it. Ebonyi doesn’t observe sit-at-home. He is in Finland contesting for councillorship or whatever, goes to work on Monday but he wants to ridi- cule us, he wants my people to con- tinue to suffer deprivation because he has communication gadgets and internet to run his propaganda. If Ekpa and those working with him should mention sit-at-home again, they should come down to Nigeria to show the people where they have their industries and offices that are also closed every Monday.
They say charity begins at home, so he must observe the sit-at-home in Ebonyi State before he starts to mention Anambra State or Nnewi. He cannot see Anambra or Nnewi as a fertile place for his dubious enterprise. New gadgets and other security apparatuses in line with modern technology have been introduced, which is sufficient enough to check- mate any security challenge in addi- tion to scores of operational vehicles. We appreciate the support the Anambra State government is giving us to see that we give our people dividends of democracy.
As you are aware, Gov- ernor Soludo officially launched the security initiative, which he blessed. We will take this initiative from Nnewi North Local Government Area, which is the capital of Anam- bra South and extend it to other coun- cil areas. We have done so much in providing light for the constituents as in empowering them and ensur- ing security, and we will continued to do so. I made available between 6,000 and 10,000 street lights at several strategic places in Anambra South, and there are about 300 invisible security cameras in Nnewi, numerous visible ones, solar system embedded with CCTV and tracking devices in addition to wireless security cameras.
Are you dismissing Simon Ekpa’s claim that his actions are aimed towards the release of Mazi Nnamdi Kanu?
The new National Assembly would give the push for Nnamdi Kanu’s release a new dimension with legislations and I have strong belief that it would be far reaching. I believe that the new National Assembly will re- solve to give his release a serious push. I have started by going to have a meeting with the family of Nnamdi Kanu. I have been talking with his lawyers for the past one week. Our resolve is to give the quest for his re- lease a new dimension. While we demand for his release, we have deployed a combination of artificial intelligence and native technology in tackling Insecurity in Anambra South. Security, in its wildest sense, concerns the happiness, contentment and freedom of mankind. The highest law of any society should be hinged upon the safety and security of the citizenry.
Security sets the tone for the economic growth and deployment of basic amenities in any sane society. The effect of the criminal activities ravaging the zone in the last few years has been devastating, to say the least. While the indices of lives of youths lost in the South-East are alarming, the general feeling of insecurity has made a negative impact on the socio-economic development of the zone. By leveraging artificial intelligence, we will be able to analyze large amount of data to identify patterns and predict potential security threats. This allows for a more proactive approach to security rather than simply reacting to incidents as they occur. Additionally, the use of native technology, such as community policing and the involvement of local leaders, ensures that the solutions are tailored to the specific needs and challenges of the area.
In creating the carefully thought-out security scheme, we have been able to deploy communications gadgets. Over 400 walkie-talkies and close circuit television monitors with secured reception centers are already in place and functioning. We also have long-range drones, vehicles, motorcycles and we barricades placed at strategic locations around the town ready for use in shutting down vehicular movements at a moment’s no- tice in the event of any security breach. The vigilante operatives are also being carefully profiled and placed on life insurance schemes with other mouth- watering renumerations necessary for optimum service delivery. With the huge success already being recorded by the new security architecture, the move towards extending same to the other local government areas that make up the senatorial district will soon commence.
Are you not worried that some criminal ele- ments have cashed in on the sit-at-home directive to increase the rate of kidnapping in your senatorial district? We have urged our people to imbibe the spirit of ‘if you see something, say something’ in reporting criminal activi- ties and elements in the town with the full assurance that all reports collated will be diligently looked into, investi- gated and dealt with immediately.
Recently, the South East governors and the leadership of Ohanaeze Ndigbo had a meeting on the issue of insecurity in the zone. What do you make of that?
We are on the same page with every move aimed at restoring the security of lives and property in Igbo land and they totally have my blessings. One person cannot be greater that his kinsmen, and however right an individual may be, he cannot win a war against his kinsmen. So, Simon Ekpa cannot be bigger than Igbo land and I make bold to say that this synergy among the governors and Ohanaeze Ndigbo is a welcome development and I urge our businessmen and women as well as industrialists to buy into this arrangement. It is not a government thing or governor’s project but the project of everyone because when we succeed everyone will benefit from it.
The Chief of Army Staff has ordered his men to take over those areas where the gunmen are operating from. What is your take on that?
That reminds me of the Chief of Army Staff ’s comment on the security architecture in Nnewi and that the army will also play very important role in that regard. So, what else do you want me to say? Those boys are our children and our relatives and we know all of them and you cannot claim that those people are outsiders. We know where they are and we shall help the security operatives as we have always done to fish them out. So, let me advise our children to come out from the bush and hand over their arms because when it starts, there will be no hiding place for them and people should not come here to talk about hu- man rights. You cannot say anything like that because what would say about the countless young men and women, who were beheaded and their organs harvested. Nobody has ever talked about human rights since the killings and kid- napping started, so we shall take them head-long from town to town, bush to bush, until we rid Igbo land of criminality.
Some people see the directive by the army chief as a ploy to deal with the people of the South-East… And what are the gunmen doing to us here?
Maybe they are embracing us and loving us. You need to see or experience it first-hand. You know that I not only hear reports but I experienced it when my convoy was attacked. Those saying this are not affected in their homes or villages. Let them go to Orlu or Ihiala or Okigwe or Orsumoghu and talk about this campaign of calumny against fight- ing insecurity and see what the people there will tell them. People sleep with one eye closed and any slightest noise they are awake, look- ing for where to hide. People should not play politics with the security of lives and property Ndigbo because it is not a political thing.
Activities picked up on Monday as the governor of Enugu State, Barr Peter Mbah, toured various parts of the state capital to monitor compliance with the ban on the illegal sit-at-home declared by some non-state actors.
This was even as Enugu traders and residents told the governor that they were tired of sitting at home, describing it as a plague killing their businesses and household economies.
While commending the level of compliance in most places visited, Mbah, who was at the Spar Mall, Roban Stores at Bisalla Road, Market Square, Shoprite, Zenith Bank at Ogui Road, Celebrities, Ogbete Market, Garki Awkunanaw Market, Mayor Market, Abakpa Market, and the State Secretariat, among others, however warned that traders, who continue to sit at home from Monday, 24th July stood to lose their shops to serious-minded businessme
He said adequate security had been provided, observing that there had not been any incident of attack since the ban on sit-at-home in June.
Mbah, who took time to interact with business owners, shoppers, traders as well as civil servants at the State Secretariat, said “it should never be heard that we were cowed because of the threat of violence by these criminals”, noting that “the poverty that will befall us for sitting at home will kill us even faster”.
“We are losing over N10bn every Monday that we sit at home. Enough is enough. This foolishness must end and it must end now. We cannot be marginalising ourselves and still complain of marginalisation.
So, we must say no to sit-at-home because what it means is that we are destroying our employment, our economy, and our GDP. We must erase it from our memories. We should see it as our shameful past, which we do not want to remember. We must put it behind us and forge ahead, ensuring that we work every working day of the week”, he urged Enugu people.
To the traders at Ogbete, Garki, and other markets, he warned that locking shops on Mondays would no longer be condoned.
“But you know, there are also consequences for not heeding our orders. Going forward, I want to put you on notice. I will go around the state again on Monday next week. We are going to come with the Enugu Capital Territory Development Authority to put a seal on any shop that is found locked on Monday because of the illegal sit-at-home. We will take it that you are not ready to do business.
“We are going to revoke your license to operate. We will revoke your shop title and reallocate it to someone else, who is ready to do business. This is something we must enforce with effect from Monday next week”, he warned.
Meanwhile, the market leaders and business owners have assured the governor that they were now ready for full compliance, saying they were already sick and tired of the Monday-sit-at home.
At the meeting with the Ogbete traders, President of Enugu State Amalgamated Traders Association, Comrade Stephen Aniagu, assured the governor that they had already agreed to commence full business, saying all shops would be open from next Monday.
Also, the leader of Abakpa Nike Market, Bernard Anike, also assured the governor that they had since started complying with the ban of sit-at-home
Meanwhile, a development economist, Richard Emeka Ezeh commended Mbah’s determined efforts to bring sit-at-home to an end.
“I’m surprised to see the governor here. I like it that he is going round to sensitise the people on why they should come out.
“Employers of labour were losing so much money to sit-at-home. The economy cannot grow when we are losing N10 billion every Monday. As a development economist, I know that the private sector drives every economy, but the private sector cannot thrive in a place where people sit at home.
“So, let’s continue to convene town hall meetings, engage the youths, engage the artisans, and continue to sensitise the market women,” he said.
On her part, Chioma Nwagu, said the sit-at-home was killing the economy.
“We have to come out to do our business. We can’t feed ourselves while staying at home. We have to come out and do our businesses,” she stated.
Governor Alex Otti-led government of Abia State has saved the state over N200 million on the monthly wage bill by cutting off some alleged ghost workers from the civil service.
The development was confirmed in a press release on Monday by the Chief Press Secretary to Governor Otti, Kazie Uko,Naija News reports.
According to Uko, the huge funds were recovered following an ongoing verification of civil servants and other public workers that eliminated the ghost workers from the state’s payroll.
The statement quoted the State Accountant General, Njum Onyemenam, to have revealed that the saving was made using a unified payment system.
She confirmed that workers had received the payment of April salaries as well as June pensions to retirees.
Gists9ja understands that Onyemenam disclosed this on Monday after a meeting with Governor Otti. She explained that the verification exercise was still ongoing and that the government hoped to make more savings.
“So far, we have been able to save N220 million from the ongoing verification of workers in the state, local governments and pensioners.
“Not less than 2,300 ghost names have been weeded out of the payrolls, using the unified payment system, and we hope to identify more still as we continue with the exercise,” the Accountant General said.
She confirmed that following Governor Otti’s directive, the government had last week paid the arrears of April salaries, left behind by the immediate past administration and also June pensions to retirees.
The Accountant General also noted that local government staff, who had been skipped when the June salaries were paid due to their failure to submit their verified payment schedule, will receive their salaries this week.
President Bola Ahmed Tinubu has warned judges at the presidential election petition tribunal that sacking him as the president could cause chaos in Nigeria.
Tinubu who outrightly admitted his failure to score 25% in the federal capital, said it was not enough to cancel his victory as declared by the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC.
“Any other interpretation different from this will lead to absurdity, chaos, anarchy and alteration of the very intention of the legislature,” Mr Tinubu’s lawyers led by Wole Olanipekun said in their final defence statement to the tribunal.
Though, Tinubu’s lawyers were actually addressing a section of the Nigerian Constitution that said a presidential candidate must score 25 per cent of votes in two-thirds of Nigeria’s 36 states and the Federal Capital Territory, or Abuja.
Recall that there has been several legal debates after Mr Tinubu won the highest number of votes but failed to score 25% in the FCT.
Mr Tinubu’s legal team noted that courts have always been careful about giving extreme interpretation of the Constitution that could cause chaos.
“Our courts have always adopted the purposeful approach to the interpretation of our Constitution, as exemplified in a host of decisions,” the team said.
They also argued that Mr Tinubu would still have won the election even if he didn’t score anything in Abuja and one other state.
“Even if there was no election in one State (including the FCT), or even if the election of a State/States (including the FCT) is/are voided, the entire election cannot be voided or canceled.
“In concluding our arguments on this issue, we urge the court to hold that any election where the electorate exercise their plebiscite, there is neither a ‘royal’ ballot nor ‘royal’ voter; and that residents of the FCT do not have any special voting right over residents of any other State of the federation, in a manner similar to the concepts of preferential shareholding in Company Law.
“We urge this court to resolve this issue against the petitioners and in favour of the respondent,” the lawyers said.
A domestic servant has killed his employer, a lecturer at the Nnamdi Azikiwe University, Awka, Anambra State, after hitting him with a pestle during a serious argument.
The victim who is said to be a lecturer at the Psychology Department of the institution, was brutally attacked with the pestle when fight erupted between him and the domestic servant.
According to media reports, the unfortunate incident happened on Friday night at Ifite village in Awka, the capital of Anambra State.
In a viral video sighted by this medium, the suspect was seen confessing to the crime. He admitted killing the lecturer with a pestle.
The suspect whose name is not known at the time of filing this report, also confessed that he attacked the deceased lecturer with the pestle about three times before he fell to the ground.
He said, “When he came back, he told me to cook rice. And as I was cooking the rice, he asked me why I did not wash plates. I did not reply. He then asked why I wasn’t responding to his question.
In the process, he slapped me. But I told him I usually have ear problems, and that people don’t slap me. As I was saying that, he angrily asked if I was still talking while he was talking. And therefore, he slapped me again and brought out Cain and started flogging me all over.
“Then in the process, I got angry, and we started fighting. It was also in the process of that fight that I picked up the pestle in the kitchen and hit him on the head.”
During interrogation, the suspect who first denied killing his master, later confessed to the crime after he was severely beaten by angry neighbors.
Meanwhile, police authorities in Anambra State are yet to make an official statement in respect to the development.
Few days ago ,internet space went agog with the story of a quintessential Cop – SP Nkeiru Nwode being transferred to Police Headquarters,Lagos as The Force new image maker. A posting many viewed as promotion to higher responsibility from Zonal command to Police Headquarters.
Before the elevated transfer ,SP Nkeiru Nwode was PPRO Zone 13 ,Anambra and has projected the image of police force creditablely well. So much have been written how she bursted so many high profile crimes until she was roped into a case of extrajudicial killings. The news made headlines before the then IGP intervened by setting up a special investigation team to investigate the Officers mentioned in the dirty dealings.
The panel was given two weeks to turn in their report . The IGP assured the general public that the findings of the investigation will determine the next line of action ,while promising that the NPF will leave no stone unturned in ensuring that justice is done in the case and sanctions meted to any officer found guilty . That was five months ago! That report has not seen the light of the day.Is police hiding anything? Many have been asking.
Many Human right organizations have protested against the continued detention of the whistleblower – Nnamdi Daniel without trial but public opinion has been on the side of Nkeiru Nwode. According to One Barrister Chris Nweke ,the recent transfer of SP Nkeiru Nwode to Police Headquarters ,Lagos has shown that she has no question to answer .However ,Barr Nweke insisted that Police owe it as a duty to officially make public the findings of investigation Panel and clear Nkeiru Nwode name from any wrongdoing as posting her to higher Office may look like damage control.Also ,Kemi Olunloyo in her Instagram page has this to say: ” We are urging new IGP Kayode Egbetokun and Gov Soludo to release the report of extrajudicial killings in Anambra State and vindicate SP Nwode as she was seriously Blackmailed ”
IGP Kayode Egbetokun must be seen to be fighting crime by staying on the side of justice and his administration of justice must be seen to be transparent at all time . That is one sure way of winning public trust and confidence in view of President Tinubu struggle to keep his Mandate .
Below are the brief analysis on the contents of that address by MissPearls :
On Issue One: Whether the elections were duly conducted in line with the provisions of the Constitution and Electoral Act They began their argument with S.135 of the Electoral Act, harping on how no election can be perfect.
They went ahead to lay special emphasis on substantial compliance, built a foundation around non-compliance not being enough reason for invalidation of an election except where it is substantial enough to affect the outcome of the election and argued along the lines of interpretation utilizing the word “shall” as their anchor. They proceeded from there to belittle the transmission of results to the iREV, painting it as an optional activity that INEC could choose to discard at will in favour of manual collation.
On this foundation they are telling the court that our reasons are unsubstantial enough to affect the outcome of the elections since the Act said “an election shall not be invalidated by reasons of non-compliance if it appears to the tribunal or court that the election was conducted substantially in accordance with the provisions of the Act…” Still along the line of interpretation of statutes they noted that the legislature whenever it uses the word “shall” in an enactment it connotes mandatoriness.
They supported this with the cases of Ugwu v Ararume and Diokpa F.Onochies & Ors v Ferguson Odogwu &Ors. They further broke down the section (S.135 Electoral Act) and said the legislature made room for human error in elections by saying the election shall not be invalidated by reason of non-compliance. Going further they’re saying the phrase “if it appears” creates room for exception in that even if a petitioner can prove substantial non-compliance if it doesn’t appear as such to the tribunal/court the election should not be invalidated.
They’re relying on the case of Abubakar v Yaradua where the Supreme Court described the provisions of the then Electoral Act in the following words “The operative words in Section 146(1) are “if it appears”…” They further aver that “in accordance with the principles of this Act” doesn’t imply strict adherence but rather the Act is meant to serve as a guide to the Court.
Their litmus test for ascertaining whether the election was conducted in substantial compliance with the principles of the Electoral Act begins with first identifying the principle itself and they’re relying on the case of Skye Bank Plc v Iwu which enjoins courts to have reference to the long title of statutes, in this case the long title of the Electoral Act 2022 which describes the Act as “an Act…to regulate the conduct of Federal, State and Area Councils in the Federal Capital Territory elections and for related matters”.
Reading this alongside S.135 Electoral Act, it appears to the respondents (BAT/Shett) that the central principle of the Electoral Act is the “substantial conduct of elections and declaration of winners through plurality of votes” which they feel was demonstrated by the massive votes given by the people or as they coughed it “plebiscites of the voters”. They submit relying on the definitions of the word “substantial” from Blacks Law Dictionary 11th Edition and New Lexicon Webster’s Dictionary of the English Language that even if an election has not been conducted substantially in line with the provisions of the Act the petitioner must establish clearly how the non-compliance has affected substantially the entire outcome of the election not just ordinarily.
They’re saying the non-compliance must be of a high degree as opposed to gain saying. They also noted that the provisions of S.135 Electoral Act has been similarly reproduced in other jurisdictions with slight wording variations and it has been occurring in our electoral acts since the first republic (they listed the appropriate past sections) They cited the case of Ogboru v Okowa wherein the court held that:
“for an allegation of non-compliance the petitioner must do the following; i. Show that the corrupt practice or non-compliance took place ii. Show that the corrupt practice or non-compliance substantially affected the result of the election. The quantum of measurement and consideration is not to show that there was a proof of non-compliance as it is almost impossible to have a perfect election anywhere in the world.
The measure however is whether the degree of non-compliance is sufficient enough so as to vitiate the credibility of the election held. The reason for the proof on the balance of probability is not far fetched therefore”. They proceeded to highlight that the evidence of the witnesses called upon by Labour Party confirms every aspect of the election especially the voting and counting went well with the only exception being the transmission of results which they had through their earlier arguments painted as optional.
They then proceeded to try to destroy the testimony of the witnesses called by Labour Party highlighting that PW9, PW10 and PW 13 have testified against their own interests by admitting the elections were peaceful and all processes followed except the transmission of results and concluded with the fact that the petitioners were throwing tantrums. They relied on Abubakar vs Yaradua to further drum in their point that even if non – compliance is proven and results were not affected substantially that the petition should be dismissed.
The further pleaded the De-minimis rule (which means that of small things, the Law knows no cure) for Abuja arguing using the precedent of Awolowo vs Shagari that even where it was alleged that Shagari did not score 25% of the votes in Kano state, the court held that he complied with the provisions of the Law having secured more votes across the country than his challengers.
They’re asking the court to apply this to Tinubu as well in respect of Abuja since he secured more votes across the country than his challengers and scored 25% in 29 states. They then proceeded to attempt to destroy the evidence of the petitioner’s expert witnesses describing the software engineer in particular (PW2) as one who has never designed software used in a general election and that the materials he used for his analysis were on his laptop which was not made available to the court. They moved from here to the Cloud engineer (PW7) alleging that the documents she used in proving her connection with AWS were unsigned and as a result should not be admitted and her evidence and testimony should be deemed worthless.
They also pointed to the fact she was there in personal capacity not on behalf of AWS and alluded to AWS’s outages 27 times in 2021 as evidence of the unreliability of AWS. They concluded with the fact that she was conflicted, as she contested a seat under LP and admitted before the federal high court that the INEC site had experienced glitches when she tried to upload her information as a candidate on it.
They attacked the evidence of the Professor of Mathematics (PW4) describing it as inaccurate (having covered just two states; Benue and Rivers). They proceeded to suggest that his terms of reference which are i) to carry out data analysis state by state ii) compare and contrast Inec’s declared results with the results on IREV and iii) Determine INEC compliance with the Electoral Act, 2022 and the INEC Regulation and Guidelines for Conduct of Elections, 2022 were too wide especially the third one in view of the fact that he was a Mathematics professor and not a legal practitioner.
They further alleged that he did not meet up with his other two terms of reference as his analysis was limited to two states only. They accused PW8 (the backend engineer) of submitting unreadable encrypted codes and meta data in a strange language which he did not intend the court to make use of as the Language of the court is English.
They further accused the petitioners of dumping documents before the court and proceeded to tender a Federal High Court judgement granted on January 23, 2023 in a suit between LP and INEC which held that Inec is at liberty to choose the mode of voting and transmission of results. They alluded further that the judgement should be treated as a Judgement in rem that should be complied with by every power and authority in Nigeria and immediately proceeded to accuse the petitioners of taunting the court and demonstrating outright disregard for the Judiciary by parading and ventilating the same issues decided by that FHC Judgement. —Courtesy
An 86-year old retired public servant, Engr. Christopher Mmotoh has dragged the Managing Director of Awka Capital Territory Development Authority, ACTDA, Mr. Ossy Onuko, and one Ukachukwu Okonkwo to court for allegedly trespassing on his landed property with concomitant loss.
In a writ of summon issued by U.N Udechukwu, SAN, and made available to journalists, the plaintiff demanded N3billion compensation.
Mmotoh is also seeking a further sum of N2,000,000.00 “die in diem” from the date of commencement of this suit; when the defendants remain in trespass of the said property, as well as an order of perpetual injunction restraining the defendants individually and collectively from further acts of trespass into or upon the said property.
The Daily Vendor gathered that the land, measuring approximately 3649.5 square meters is comprised in a subsisting statutory Certificate of Occupancy No. 0009474, and registered as D21VOLXIII AWKA SOUTH LGA, which property is lawfully in the possession of the Plaintiff.
A statement of claim by the plaintiff indicates that the defendants Mr. Onuko and Mr. Okonkwo were sued by reason of acts done by them as individuals, which do not form part of their functions as a public officers, but which acts are manifestly unlawful.
The statement further accused the defendants of acting on the frolic of their own, and the first defendant of manifest malice and pursuing personal vendetta against the plaintiff by reason of the first defendant’s pecuniary and corrupt interest in the said property.
Court hearing over the matter would commence soon at the state high Court, Awka.
Meanwhile, a good governance advocate, Mr Ndubuisi Anaenugwu has called on Governor Chukwuma Soludo to device feedback mechanism for monitoring of activities and conducts of his appointees.
