Two subpoenaed Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) ad hoc officers said the election umpire had difficulty uploading presidential results during the Feb 25 election.
The officers, Friday Egwuma and Grace Timothy who testified as subpoenaed witnesses before the presidential election petition court (PEPC) made this known on Thursday.
In a petition marked CA/PEPC/05/2023, Abubakar Atiku and Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) are challenging the outcome of the Feb.25 presidential election which brought President Bola Tinubu as the winner.
The respondents in the petition are Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), Mr Tinubu and the All Progressives Congress (APC).
At the resumed hearing, Chris Uche, SAN, counsel for the petitioners informed the court that they are calling their first subpoenaed witness.
The witness named Friday Egwuma, an INEC ad hoc officer during the Feb 25 election was a corp member as of that date.
At the point of adopting his witness statement on oath, there was objection from the respondents.
The respondents’ counsel all gave their submissions and the court reserved ruling on their objections until final judgement.
Testifying, Mr Egwuma and Ms Timothy told the court that they worked as polling unit officers.
They admitted that they operated the Bimodal Voters Accreditation System (BVAS).
They said they were able to upload results for the House of Representatives and Senate successfully while that of the presidential election refused to go.
Earlier, when Mr Uche was leading Ms Egwuma in evidence to adopt his witness statement on oath, President Bola Tinubu’s counsel, Wole Olanipakun, SAN objected.
Mr Olanipakun submitted that the statement was not listed and front-loaded alongside other list of witnesses as required by the provision of the Electoral Act
He said the provisions of the law do not make distinction to whether a witness is subpoenaed or not, that his or her statement must be front-loaded.
He argued that in this case the subpoenaed witness’ statement was not front-loaded alongside other list of witnesses in the petition
Mr Olanipakun, however, submitted that he was not unaware that the court could summon witnesses by itself in the interest of justice.
He cited some authorities to drive his point home and we can not add, subtract from what is in the law.
He, therefore, urged the court to uphold the objection.
In his own submission, counsel for INEC, Abubakar Mahmoud, SAN said counsel has an overriding duty to help the court.
He said at the time of filing the petition, the petitioners ought to have filed the subpoenaed witnesses’ statement on oath and front load.
Lateef Fagbemi, SAN counsel for APC in his submission aligned with both the 1st and 2nd respondents’ counsel.
He added that the petitioners can come with application for extension of time in which they can file additional witnesses.
However, Atiku’s lead counsel, Mr Uche asked the Court to dismiss the objections on the grounds that they were utterly misplaced and misconceived.
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He submitted that the objections by Mr Tinubu, APC and INEC were deliberate ploys designed to delay proceedings.
Mr Uche insisted that the statements of the subpoenaed witnesses could not have been front-loaded along with the petition because they have not been summoned at the time of filing the petition.
He asked the Court to discountenance the objections of the three respondents and hold that they are not regular additional witnesses envisaged in the law cited by Mr Olanipekun.
Justice Bolaji: Good afternoon to the bar, and everyone present in the court. You’re welcome to the afternoon session of the court.
Justice Tsammani: Appearances
Peter Obi is now up on his feet.
Peter Obi: Respectfully my lord, I am Mr. Peter Gregory Obi represents the petitioners.
APC: My lord, Saturday Monsiegne representing the 4th respondent, I am the Deputy Director Legal Services, APC
Lead Counsels:
Labour Party: SAN Livy
INEC: SAN Pinhero
Tinubu and Shettima: SAN Onipekun
APC: SAN Fagbemi
SAN Livy: My lord, we would continue from today to render the 11 LGA form EV8Bs from Ebonyi State.
Labour Party has now submitted the form EC8Bs of Ebonyi State.
It was noted that there are 12 bundles.
Labour Party: My lord, we would tender 12 LGA of Ebonyi State then.
INEC: My lord, we are objecting to the admissibility of these documents, and we would give our response in a full address.
Tinubu and Shettima: My lord, we oppose the documents rendered by the petitioners and would state our reasons in the final address.
APC: With due respect, my lord, we object to these documents, and we would give our reasons to the objection in a final address.
Justice Tsammani: The 12 bundles of form EC8Bs of Ebonyi State marked as EA1 – EA12 are hereby admitted as evidence.
The justices are now whispering with each other.
Justice Tsammani: Learned counsel. Please give us 2 minutes to go and write something.
The whole courtroom: As the court wishes my lord.
Alright, the judges are back
SAN Onipekun: My lord, I introduced my colleague as a chief.
Justice Ugo: Is he a Chief or a Prof
SAN Onipekun: It’s like a Mallam that is in a higher position.
Justice Tsammani: I don’t believe Mallam is higher than Sheihk, mallam is a half, and shiehk is from the source.
There are many Mallams.
SAN Ananaba LP: My lord, please, I may move on.
We have 4 LGA of Kaduna for forms EC8Bs to tender.
Justice Tsammani: EC8Cs or EC8Bs
SAN Ananaba: EC8Bs, my lord.
Justice Tsammani: Go on
SAN Ananaba has now tendered the form EC8Bs
INEC: We object to these documents and would state our reasons in a final address.
Tinubu and Shettima: We object to the documents presented by the petitioners and would give our reasons in full in the final address.
APC: We object to the admissibility of the documents and would state our reasons in a final address.
Justice Tsammani: You tendered Kaduna North and South yesterday, so why mention them again today.
SAN Ananaba: My lord, we are giving supplementary documents just in case the wards are not complete.
Justice Tsammani: We have already marked those places tendered. You want to scatter our schedule.
SAN Ananaba: My lord, we just want to add them, Sir, in case it’s not complete.
Justice Adah: So since we have them already, how are we going to document this again.
SAN Ananaba: My lords are the masters of this. Sir, we plead to add them as additional or supplementary documents
‘The justices are now talking with each other and flipping documents.
Justice Ugo is looking through some files while Justice Adah, Justice Tsammani and Justice Bello are talking seriously.
Justice Tsammani and Justice Bolaji are seriously gesticulating while talking with smiles on their face’.
Justice Tsammani: You want to disrupt the schedules and notes we have.
SAN Ananaba: My lord, it is not our fault,
we just received these documents from INEC, and we seek to tender it.
It’s not as if we had them, and we did not tender it.
INEC just provided them 2 days ago, my lord.
‘The justices are currently flipping pages upon pages.
Justice Bolaji, the only female judge on the case, just passed a document to justice Tsammani while pointing at something.
Justice Bello and justice Adah are actively flipping their pages to the hearing of the court.
Justice Tsammani: 4 LGA form EC8Bs of Kaduna State tendered are now admitted to the court as evidence and tagged as exhibits.
The Labour Party lawyers have a huge smile on their faces.
SAN Ananaba: Thank you, my lord.
My lord may I move to tender 4 LGA form EC8Bs of Oyo State.
‘Me in my mind I’m like Ah, but Oyo was also tendered yesterday’
The judges all have a weird look on their faces
The way Justice Tsammani looked at SAN Ananaba.
Justice Tsammani: The same Oyo State that was done yesterday.
SAN Ananaba: It’s not my fault, my lord.
Justice Tsammani: Go ahead.
SAN Ananaba has now tendered 4 additional LGA of Oyo State form EC8Bs
All the respondents including INEC has objected to the form EC8Bs being tendered by Labour Party, and they all stated they would give their reasons in a final address.
Justice Tsammani: Forms EC8Bs of 4 LGA in Oyo State tendered as evidence and tagged exhibits.
SAN Ananaba with a cheeky smile on his face: My lord, 1 LGA for Nasarawa is left, and it’s on page 60 of the 4th schedule for the LGA called Kiana.
Justice Tsammani: When was Nasarawa tendered.
SAN Ananaba: On Monday, my lord.
After flipping through some pages, Justice Tsammani: Nasarawa was not tendered
SAN Ananaba: It was my lord. It’s just one LGA left.
The secretary is now up to help the judges get the documents for Nasarawa.
SAN Ananaba: We have tendered Nasarawa, my lord.
Justice Tsammani: Okay, I’ve seen it. Go ahead.
SAN Ananaba: Thank you, my lord.
As usual, all the respondents, including INEC, have now objected to the admissibility of the Nassarawa LGA form EC8Bs.
Justice Tsammani: The document of form EC8Bs are now tendered and admitted
APC lawyer interrupts
APC: My lord, you didn’t take down my objection. I was waiting for you to finish writing before I speak.
Justice Ugo: There’s no problem we recorded the usual thing for you
‘Everyone is laughing’
Justice Ugo: Or you want to accept.
Justice Tsammani: There’s no need. We have recorded. We know what you want to say. It’s your usual statement.
Justice Tsammani: The document of form EC8Bs are now tendered and admitted to the court.
SAN Ananaba: My lord, you heard what he said that he did not give his objection
Justice Tsammani: It’s okay, it’s okay, we heard him. Let’s go on.
Justice Tsammani quickly stopped LP SAN Ananaba before he started a gbas gbos.
SAN Ananaba: My lord, we have 8 LGA of Bayelsa State form EC8Cs
All respondents (INEC, APC, Tinubu, and Shettima) have objected to the tendering of these documents as evidence before the court and stated they would give a reason at the final address
Justice Tsammani: Documents of Form EC8Cs of 8 LGA of Bayelsa State are now tendered and tagged as exhibits.
SAN Ananaba: We now wish to tender my lord 23 LGA form EC8Cs of Benue state on page 79 of the 4th schedule.
Justice Tsammani gives a nod in affirmation.
All respondents have now objected to the document tendered.
Justice Tsammani has now documented them as evidence before the court.
SAN Ananaba: My lord, to quickly tender 18 LGA in Cross River State on page 80 of the 4th schedule
Justice Tsammani: Let’s go on
All the respondents, as usual, objected to the documents presented by the Labour Party and Peter Obi lawyers.
Justice Tsammani has now admitted the form EC8Cs as evidence before the court as exhibit PAT1 – PAT18
*JUST A REMINDER*
Form EC8A is the pink slip at the polling unit level where every polling agent sign the result. It is the first point of collating votes.
The EC8B is the form used at the Ward where they compile all the form EC8A above and input the number of votes from there into the EC8B. It is the Ward computation form.
The EC8C is used at LGA to compute total of votes per wards.
The form EC8D is for the state. So they compute all the LGA votes and record it here.
The EC8E is what is used for concluded signatory results.
This is what is used to declare the winner.
It is the final sheet for declaring the winner of the election.
The lawyers would have to tender as evidence all the documents that INEC “claimed” to have used to declare their winner.
So that when the gbas gbos of cross examination starts, everyone can see for themselves clearly that INEC didn’t just steal but disregarded the entire democratic process.
So let the lawyers take their time to submit these documents, so that even if it’s for all of us to carry calculator in the courtroom and start counting it ourselves, we would find out where INEC got their false figures from.
So, hopefully, Labour Party would be able to round this up today.
So far, the record from our lawyers shows we have tendered the following form EC8Cs:
12 LGA in Ebonyi were tendered
18 LGA form EC8Cs in Edo State
20 LGA form EC8Cs in Lagos State
25 LGA form EC8Cs in Niger State
18 LGA in Ondo State
33 LGA in Oyo State
23 LGA in Rivers State
23 LGA in Sokoto State
These were all rendered, and all respondents objected to the admissibility of the evidence and stated their reasons would be given in their final address.
Justice Tsammani admitted all these forms EC8Cs as evidence before the court and tagged them as exhibits.
SAN Ananaba: My lord, may I call the next documents. Move to schedule 5, my lord.
Justice Tsammani: What about Kaduna that I can see on this schedule.
SAN Ananaba: My lord, we are not presenting Kaduna today.
Justice Tsammani: Okay
SAN Ananaba: My lord, we would tender 23 LGAs of form EC8Cs in Ekiti State today.
INEC: My lord, may I hand over to my respectable colleague Wendy Kuku
It’s like INEC is tired
Wendy with a Cinderella voice: My lord, we object to the documents tendered by the petitioners and we would profoeerrrr (that’s how she said it oh, the phonetics is from heaven) and we would profoeerrrr our reasons in a final written address.
Tinubu and Shettima: My lord, we oppose these documents, and we would state our reasons in a final address.
Justice Tsammani already started moving on to admit the documents
APC lawyer is on his feet
APC: My lord, I have not stated my objection.
Justice Tsammani: Don’t worry, Kazeem, we know what you want to say.
Justice Ugo: We have helped you write it already. Don’t worry.
‘Of course, he wanted to say, we OBJECT to the documents tendered by the petitioners.’
SAN Ananaba: My lord, we would tender the form EC8Cs for 25 LGA in Delta State.
Justice Tsammani: Go ahead
All respondents have objected to these documents being tendered by SAN Ananaba for Labour Party and Peter Obi and have stated that they would state their reasons at the final stage.
Even INEC fine lawyer Wendy objected.
Justice Tsammani: These documents of forms EC8Cs are now admitted as evidence before the court and tagged as exhibits.
SAN Ananaba: My lord, let us accommodate my request to move back to the 4th schedule to tender the form EC8Ds
Justice Tsammani: Page what
SAN Ananaba: Page 76, my lord, I wish to tender the form EC8Ds of the 36 States AND the FCT, My lord AND the FCT.
SAN Ananaba is shaking tables. Why is he shouting AND FCT like that
The justices are all laughing.
SAN Ananaba has now tendered the form EC8Ds
All the respondents have objected to the admissibility of these documents in court.
Justice Tsammani: The form EC8Ds for Katsina State is 2 here but you wrote 4
SAN Ananaba: My lord it is 2
Justice Tsammani: So you will bring the remaining 2
SAN Ananaba: No my lord. It’s just 2 there’s no other one
Justice Tsammani: Document of form EC8Ds of the 36 states of the federation and the FCT have now been tendered to the court as evidence and admitted as PDE1 to PDE37.
SAN Ananaba: My lord, we would now tender the National Results of the 36 States and the FCT, and I’m sure nobody would object to this one.
It’s just one document, and it’s a national document.
INEC, for the first time ever, did not object.
INEC: My lord, the 1st respondent do not object and we give our consent.
Tinubu and Shettima: My lord, we object
The whole courtroom is laughing.
A lawyer at the back: You’re objecting to the document that announced the person you’re defending.
Tinubu lawyer: Oh my lord, no, I don’t object.
I was not paying attention and was looking at a document.
I have no objection. I do not object, my lord.
Justice Tsammani: When you’re already used to saying objection.
APC: I don’t object, my lord. We give consent to this document
Justice Tsammani: Documents of form EC8E tendered to the court has now been admitted and tagged as exhibits.
SAN Ananaba: My lord, let’s go on because I want to tender forms EC40G
The whole courtroom is murmuring.
APC: Ahn Ahn, are you not tired?
Justice Tsammani: Please, we are tired. Oh
Have pity on Kalu
SAN Ananaba: Kalu just celebrated his 70th on Saturday, he’s now on the 7th floor, but he’s not tired.
Justice Tsammani: Me I’m on the 6th floor, and I’m already tired. I am sure he’s tired since he’s on his 7th floor. See Pinhero too is tired Pity us
SAN Ananaba: Please, we don’t have time let’s continue
Justice Tsammani: We have been here since 9am, you just came this afternoon.
Please let’s adjourn.
SAN Ananaba: Okay, my lord, as you wish.
Labour Party Lawyers are not tired, oh
They want to close the court by 4 am….lolll
SAN Ananaba: Okay, my lord, we would move to adjourn
Justice Tsammani: Don’t worry, nobody will object to adjournment.
So justice, Tsammani, has now adjourned the case to tomorrow, 8th June 2023, by 2pm.
1. I thank God almighty, by whose grace and mercy we have gathered here once more in the people’s House to do our duty even as our time in the 9th House of Representatives comes to an end.
2. This will be the last time I address you from this dais as the Speaker of the 9th House of Representatives. It has been the honour of my life to serve our beloved country from this honourable House. I am profoundly grateful to the people of Surulere 1 Federal Constituency for allowing me to represent them for the last twenty years. And I am grateful to you, my dear colleagues, for the honour and privilege of serving as Speaker of the 9th House of Representatives for the last four years. All glory belongs to the almighty God, who ordains our destinies and guides our path.
3. In the years since I first stepped into this hallowed chamber, the House of Representatives has changed profoundly, just as our country has changed too. Yet, in all that time, I have not witnessed change on a scale and with such speed as has been the case in the last four years. We have lived through a global pandemic that nobody anywhere saw coming. We have governed at a time of global crises and relentless transformations to the global economy. We have seen our nation’s politics come of age with a new generation of young people determined to have a seat at the table and prepared to fight for it, whatever the cost. Just in the last few days, we have seen the end of a subsidy regime that has distorted the energy market in our country for over thirty years.
4. When change happens at this scale and with such an unrelenting pace, it creates challenges and opportunities almost in equal measure. Over the last four years, this House of Representatives has worked to ensure that our country can overcome these challenges and take advantage of the moment to achieve economic, social, and political transformations that benefit all the Nigerian people. We elevated the debates in the House of Representatives and made this chamber the arena for informed exchanges about Nigeria’s future and the welfare of all our nation’s people. We have left our mark in every sector of our national life and positively impacted people’s lives across our country.
5. We introduced discipline into the appropriations process by implementing a January to December budget cycle that ended the policy instability and economic uncertainty of the previous irregular budget cycles. We reformed the oversight process to ensure greater collaboration between the arms of government. We made it easier for citizens to access details of budget expenditures so that they, too, can be part of the process of ensuring accountability in the administration of public funds. We did not yield our constitutional obligation to ensure faithful compliance with the letter and spirit of the Appropriation Act by the Ministries, Departments and Agencies of the government.
6. While the strategic importance of the oil and gas sector to Nigeria’s socioeconomic well-being has long been apparent, successive administrations failed to put in place a functional statutory regime to allow that sector to function optimally. We ended that legacy of lethargy with the passage of the Petroleum Industry Act (PIA). With the Deep Offshore and Inland Basin Production Sharing Contracts Act, we went even further to put the sector on the right footing. These statutory reforms rightfully ought to have happened a long time ago. Now, we must ensure that the reforms contained in these Acts are dutifully implemented as part of a broader energy policy suited to the realities of technological advancements and the evolving demands of the global energy market.
7. We passed the Police Act to change the nature of relations between the police and citizens in our country and ensure that police officers who fall short of their responsibilities can be quickly held accountable. The Act expressly prohibits police officers from arresting citizens for civil wrongs, imposes an obligation on the police to inform citizens of their rights at the point of arrest, and mandates the police to ensure that persons arrested have access to their families and legal representation. In addition, the Act established the Police Complaints Units as a statutory organ accessible to the public to report police misconduct and empowered to initiate action when such reports are received.
8. These reforms did not end police misbehaviour in our country; soon enough, there was a national reckoning. We responded by working with the Nigeria Bar Association (NBA) to establish a new framework of accountability to hold erring members of the Police Force to account for their conduct in the performance of their duties and compel the Nigerian Police Force (NPF) to take responsibility for the failures of training and discipline that leads to such wrongful conduct. And we appropriated the sum of Five Hundred Million Naira through the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) to compensate victims of police brutality nationwide. I sincerely hope that the work of police reform will continue in the House of Representatives until we achieve a system of policing that meets our nation’s needs and reflects the best of us.
9. When in March 2020, the covid-19 virus entered our shores, we became bound with the world in experiencing a tragic disruption to our economic, political, and social lives, unlike anything we have ever witnessed. This House of Representatives responded by taking active measures to protect the Nigerian people, including those who work here in the National Assembly. We passed the Emergency Economic Stimulus Bill to grant companies a rebate on Companies Income Tax, suspend import duties on medicines, medical equipment, personal protective equipment, and other essential medical materials and defer mortgage obligations on residential mortgages by contributors to the National Housing Fund.
10. We also passed the Emergency Relief and Assistance Bill to provide a limited salary guarantee for low-income permanent employees of companies registered and operating in Nigeria, relieve legal consumers of electricity in Nigeria of the burden of electricity charges for a limited period and suspend for a fixed period, the implementation of the Value Added Tax (VAT) provisions of the Finance Act 2020. Whilst these legislations did not pass in the Senate and never became law, they provided the framework for the federal government’s policy response to the pandemic, as the policy ideas contained therein were adopted and variously implemented through executive orders and subsequent legislations.
11. We worked to establish, under emergency conditions, a fully functioning care facility in the Federal Capital Territory under the management of the National Centre for Disease Control (NCDC). We intervened to prevent potentially devastating strike action by doctors and ensure that the medical professionals at the fore of our response to the pandemic were remunerated correctly and provided the allowances due to them. We reviewed the statutory framework for managing infectious disease outbreaks and proposed the Infectious Disease Bill to reform an area of our laws that hadn’t been examined for a century. In an act of service for which I remain proud and thankful, members of this House volunteered their salaries to the covid relief fund to support the needs of the most vulnerable in our society.
12. The legislative legacy of the 9th House of Representatives includes the Companies and Allied Matters Act and the Nigeria Start-Up Act, two critical legislations aimed at changing the way we do business in Nigeria by streamlining regulations, reducing red tape, and setting the conditions for the private sector to innovate, thrive and grow. Our legacy also includes the comprehensive electoral reforms in the Electoral Act that have changed forever for good the way we conduct elections in Nigeria. While we recognise the need to continue to work to improve election management in Nigeria, we must acknowledge the vast improvements that have happened since the return to democracy. And we take pride in our contribution to these improvements over the last four years.
13. Through the constitutional review process, the House of Representatives sought to restructure our government to make it more effective, reorganise our politics to make it more inclusive, enshrine efficient mechanisms for holding the institutions of state to account and put an end to the debilitating conflicts that even now continue to tear our nation apart. We made an audacious attempt to create a constitution that addresses once and for all the fundamental issues that distract from nation-building. The constitutional amendments we enacted devolved power and responsibilities over critical areas of our national life in an effort to spur innovation and healthy competition at the subnational level. By our joint effort, we achieved financial independence for state houses of assembly and state judiciary, granting greater autonomy to these arms of government in line with democratic best practice.
14. To succeed in our shared ambition of building a prosperous and peaceful country, we must do everything within our power to ensure that our daughters and those yet to be born can grow up in a more open, more equal society than their mothers did. Unfortunately, we did not succeed in removing some of the constitutional barriers that have long stood in the way of women’s full and unhindered participation in the politics, governance and economy of our nation. This issue must continue to be at the fore of our national conversations. I hope the 10th House of Representatives will take up the mantle and do better than we did.
15. Beyond legislative interventions, the 9th House of Representatives will be remembered for our efforts to change how we do the business of parliament, most notably for introducing information technology tools through the e-parliament project and establishing the National Assembly Library Trust Fund. The National Assembly Library Trust Fund will ensure that the National Assembly is operationally suited to meet the needs of the Nigerian people by providing modern library and research infrastructure, training and capacity development for legislators and aides and operating as a resource centre for the legislature, and all who have any interest in legislative endeavours.
16. This 9th House, with unwavering courage and determination, defended the rights and dignity of the Nigerian people abroad from every attempt to dehumanise and victimise our people. Our interventions on behalf of Nigerians in China during the pandemic put an end to recurrent incidents of abuse, just as our efforts on behalf of Nigerians in South Africa and Ghana caused the governments of those nations to step up action to protect the lives and property of our citizens in those countries. From Ghana to South Africa, from China to the United States of America, we made it clear that this parliament will defend the rights of our citizens to conduct their legitimate businesses without fear of molestation and that the wellbeing of Nigerians remains our business whether home or abroad. This model of parliamentary diplomacy has become a legitimate tool for back-channel interventions to resolve conflicts involving our citizens around the world. It is an approach that ought to be sustained and improved.
17. We convened a Summit on National Security to examine our national security and defence infrastructure and identify critical areas of improvement. I hope that work to ensure our borders are secure and our people are safe will continue in the next assembly and throughout government. Through the Conference of Speakers and Heads of African Parliaments (CoSAP), we have initiated a new and promising framework for interparliamentary cooperation across the continent to address our shared challenges and build better networks for collaboration, progress, and prosperity. This effort should continue in the best interests of our country and continent.
18. Honourable colleagues, despite the considerable investments we have made to improve our public infrastructure and the numerous reforms we have enacted to change how we administer the government, our country faces many significant challenges. These challenges have caused many of our fellow citizens to wonder if the promise of democracy will ever become real in their lives. Too many of our young people have lost faith entirely and are choosing in droves to seek their fortunes and their futures in other lands. We are losing some of our best and brightest, and if we don’t act now, the consequences of this loss will shortly become painfully evident.
19. How do we ensure a healthy, vigorous, growing economy that provides opportunities for all who work hard to succeed through their labour and ingenuity? How do we protect our people from the marauders and insurgents, the petty criminals and assorted villains who wish to harm them, whether for profit or in service of other agendas? How do we restore faith in our young people so that so many of them no longer feel like the only way to achieve their best aspirations is to chase their fortunes in far away, often hostile lands? These are the critical questions all of us in government must answer or risk the unforgiving judgment of history. With each new day, we have an opportunity to make the hard choices and take the necessary actions to guarantee our nation’s future. With each new day, we have less time to act and a more outstanding obligation to act quickly.
20. As you are all aware, the President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, His Excellency Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu GCFR, has nominated me to continue serving the people of Nigeria as Chief of Staff in the Presidency. I am humbled by this new call to duty, and I am grateful to all of you who have reached out to me. I have long believed that the ultimate end of all political and governance efforts must be to achieve measurable improvements in the lives of the people on whose behalf we hold office. This fundamental belief in the responsibility of government to be a force for good has been my guiding light. It will continue to be so in my new endeavours. I humbly ask for your prayers and support in this new chapter. I assure you that in this new role, I will work to ensure a cordial and productive relationship between the executive and legislative arms of government whilst respecting the independence and prerogatives of the legislature.
21. For everything, there is a time and season, and we are obligated each season to do the most and the best we can in the time we have. This is a good rule for politics and for life itself. The 9th House of Representatives is ending, and the 10th will shortly be convened. All of us, those whose time in office is ending, and those for whom duty continues, will face the judgment of history. I urge you to keep this in mind and let your actions be guided by the desire to ensure that you are not found wanting by man or God in the final judgment. As a member and Speaker of this honourable House, I have travelled the length of this country, and I have been amazed by the talent and capacity, dogged determination, and resilience of the Nigerian people. The abundance of these qualities among our people assures me that if government lives up to its responsibilities, our people are ready to do the rest. So, we must live up to our responsibilities; there is no other option.
22. I want to express my sincere appreciation to the civil servants and aides who have toiled tirelessly with me during my time here; I thank you all most sincerely for your service. I want you to know that the roles you play in keeping this institution running are crucial to achieving the kind of country we desire. I urge you to please take pride in performing those roles credibly at all times. Reach for excellence in all you do, and resist the cynicism and pessimism that encourages laziness and ineptitude. I also wish to thank our compatriots in the media for their dedicated efforts in ensuring that the exercise of state and economic power is fair and proper and in service of the greater good. A lot of the work we do in the legislature would not be possible without the support and partnerships of civil society organisations and development partners. I want to especially thank the Policy and Legal Advocacy Centre (PLAC), the Nigeria Bar Association (NBA), Konrad Adenauer Stiftung (KAS) and several others who have proven worthy partners in progress.
23. For the better part of my adult life, I have traversed the halls of this complex, legislated from the chamber of this hallowed House and built relationships with people from across the country, colleagues past and present. I have met and established genuine bonds of brotherhood with some of the most amazing human beings, and together we have shared experiences that strengthened those bonds. As I transition into my new role, a role unlike the one I have had for these many years, I ask for your support and best wishes as we continue to work together to advance the cause and fulfil the promise of Nigeria. I will miss all of you, and I will miss this House. I want you to rest assured that wherever the road takes me, I will carry you all in my heart fondly because you have enriched my life in ways words alone cannot fully express.
24. Nigeria is an unfinished story, a long tale of promise and peril, and our final chapters have not been written yet. Some persist in believing that this grand nation is a victim of history, that our destiny has already long been written, and that we cannot escape from it. I do not subscribe to this view. In fact, I reject it entirely. Indeed the world today is being remade by profound and powerful forces, and it may seem our destiny no longer lies within our control. But we are a proud and resilient people with a limitless capacity for excellence. All that we hope to be, we can. All that we desire is within reach. Our greatest successes as a nation will come when we work together across party lines, without considering differences of tribe and tongue, religion and creed towards the shared goals of our nationhood – peace and prosperity, equity and justice for all.
25. As we bring this 9th House of Representatives to a close, I am proud to say that by our joint effort at nation-building, we have ensured that the cause of Nigeria will long endure and the dreams of our nation’s founding fathers will not die. We came, we saw, and while there is much yet to conquer, we have done our duty to God and country. I came to this honourable House twenty years ago, filled with hope for our nation’s future. I leave this office today with hope unbroken, and my enthusiasm to serve remains undiminished.
I am more confident that our best days are ahead and that we can build a future where our nation is a beacon of excellence, a refuge and a place of pride for all who salute our flag and swear allegiance to our constitution. This is a future worth fighting for; this is the future I will never stop fighting for.
26. Thank you, goodbye, God bless you, and God bless the Federal Republic of Nigeria.
The summation of INEC result sheets from the polling stations to State collation centers across Nigeria will expose the fraud in the INEC system. The whole frauds were executed because INEC refused to transmit the Presidential result online via INEC portal .
Let’s Remind Ourselves of the Various Forms and Their Uses:
—Form EC8A : This is A Very Important Form for Recording Results at POLLING UNITS
—Form EC8B : For Recording & Collating at WARD LEVEL
—Form EC8C : For Collating at LGA LEVEL
—Form EC8D: For Collating at STATE LEVEL. House of Rep & Senatorial Are Recorded Here
—Form EC8E : For Declaration of FINAL RESULTS
—Form EC60EC : For Recording PU Results that Must be Posted at PUs after Elections (Often Termed ‘ People’s Result Sheet’)
Anambra State based Human Rights Activist and Convener of Recover Nigeria Project Comrade Osita Obi has stated that the state governor Charles Soludo cannot use his wife’s blood to build the state government house.
Comrade Obi who spoke with our reporter in Awka Anambra state capital on Wednesday said Soludo demolished his house on 7th December, 2022 ,at the executive business district, Awka without notification or contact.
He said that he legally acquired the land from the government of Anambra State and also got building plan approval from Awka Capital Territory Development Authority(ACTDA) .
According to him,the house represents the life pension and gratuity of his wife who retired as a federal civil servant after 35 years in service.
He expressed worry that a government which is democratically elected could act with respect to the citizens.
“Why is government punishing me? Why this wickedness being meted on me and my family? Why do government want to kill my wife? Anambra state government house and lodge should not be built with the blood of my wife. Please somebody should talk to us.
Today my wife’s health is in serious danger as a result of this action of Prof Charles Soludo. I have tried repeatedly and consistently to see the governor on this issue but of no avail. I have been a friend to this government and have defended it when it matters most” he lamented.
He said his wife’s health is in serious danger as a result of this action of Soludo ,and wondered if the governor is waiting for the death of his wife for him to arrange for her burial ceremony.
Obi said he had tried repeatedly and consistently to see the governor on this issue but he refused .
“This house represents the life pension and gratuity of my wife as a retired federal civil servant. We did not illegally enter into this land. We did not build on the land without approval” he said.
He however,acknowledged that government has power to take land anywhere including his natural inheritance in his village but government should do that with human face.
“I was never contacted by any government ministry, department or agency on this issue. Government treated me and my wife as slaves not as citizens. Despite my official communication with the governor on this issue he refused to give me audience. Now that my wife is hospitalised about this issue the Anambra state government can now come around to help me arrange for her funeral. I can’t believe that the government can be so wicked and mindless to a citizen like this. I repeat again, the government has every right and power to take my property but courtesy demands i should be consulted even if i am a slave. This action can never alter my support and sympathy to your government” he said .
All the calls and messages to the Managing Director/Chief Executive Officer of Awka Capital Territory Development Authority (ACTDA) Mr Osita Onuko, and Press secretary to the governor Mr Christian Aburime were not answered.
Senate throws Buhari’s controversial Water Resources Bill Into Dustbin
Says Governors Can’t Decide For National Assembly
The Senate has rejected the controversial National Water Resources Bill, 2023 after it was listed for concurrence on the order paper for consideration and passage.
It was listed as National Inland Waterways Authority Act( Repeal and Re-enactment) Bill, 2023( HB.173) and presented by the Senate leader, Senator Ibrahim Gobir, APC, Sokoto East.
The rejection of the bill yesterday by the Senate put an to the controversy among governors and federal lawmakers majorly from the Southern part of the country. With the rejection, it is clear that it has gone with the present 9th National Assembly as it will be ending on Thursday, June 8th.
The proposed legislation seeks to concentrate the control of water resources around Rivers Niger and Benue which cut across 19 states, in the hands of the Federal Government.
If passed, States that would have be affected are Lagos, Ondo, Ogun, Edo, Delta, Kwara, Kogi, Benue, Anambra, Enugu, Akwa Ibom, Adamawa, Taraba, Nasarawa, Niger, Imo, Rivers, Bayelsa, Plateau, and Kebbi. RECOMMENDED FOR YOU Since 1999, No President-elect Has Received Transition…
When the bill was read for concurrence on the floor of the Senate, Senator Gabriel Suswan, PDP, Benue North East raised Order 85 of the Senate Standing Rules which provides that Senators must have full details of the provisions of any bill coming for concurrence.
On his part, Senator James Manager, PDP, Delta South who seconded Senator Suswan stressed the need to have details of the bill since provision was made for only the title of bill.
The President of the Senate, Senator Ahmad Lawan later ruled in favour of the rule cited and adjourned the plenary for the day.
It would be recalled that the House of Representatives had passed the in 2020 amidst suspicion by members and the general public. Before the passage, the Chairman of the House Committee on Water Resources, Sada Soli, had said that the immediate past Minister of Justice and Attorney-General of the Federation, Abubakar Malami (SAN), as well as Commissioners for Justice and Attorneys- General of the 36 states of the federation had been consulted and the opinions received would be attached to the bill and distributed to all members.
A member of the House from Benue State, Mark Gbillah, had raised the alarm when the bill was to be taken for the first reading. Only the short title of the bill is written on the Order Paper for the first reading, while a long title, which has more details, is written when listed for the second reading.
Gbillah had said, “I am aware that the matter listed for first reading, the National Water Resources Bill, generated a lot of controversies within this honourable House and even across the country, and some of us wonder why this issue is still being represented on the floor of the House because some of us are not comfortable in support of this bill in the first instance Mr speaker. I thought I should bring that to the notice of the Right Honourable Speaker.
The Speaker, Femi Gbajabiamila, who admitted that Gbillah “raised a very cogent point,” had noted that Nigeria is a very diverse country and everybody’s sensitivity must be taken into consideration. Gbillah, however, disagreed with the Speaker, stating that the lawmakers were duly elected and given the mandate to represent the interests of their constituents. He said, “Whatever the governors might have agreed upon may not be acceptable to us. It is we that have those powers as enshrined in the Constitution to enact legislation that will be binding on this country.”
There were fireworks in the House on September 29, 2020, with some members, mostly from the southern part of the country, raising various legal and procedural issues against the bill.
The then President, Muhammadu Buhari had in 2017 presented the controversial bill to both chambers of the National Assembly, which seek to transfer the control of water resources from the states to the Federal Government. The legislation was titled, ‘A Bill for An Act to Establish a Regulatory Framework for the Water Resources Sector in Nigeria, Provide for the Equitable and Sustainable Redevelopment, Management, Use and Conservation of Nigeria’s Surface Water and Groundwater Resources and for Related Matter.’
The summary of the bill reads, “This Act repeals the Water Resources Act, Cap W2 LFN 2004; River Basin Development Act Cap R9 LFN 2004; Nigeria Hydrological Services Agency (Establishment) Act, Cap N110A, LFN,2004; NationaI Water Resources Institute Act Cap N83 LFN 2004; and establishes the National Council on Water Resources, Nigeria Water Resources Regulatory Commission, River Basin Development Authorities, Nigeria Hydrological Services Agency, and the National Water Resources Institute.” The proposed bodies, if established, will “provide for the regulation, equitable and sustainable development, management, use and conservation of Nigeria’s surface water and groundwater resources.”
Though the 8th House managed to pass the bill, the controversy stopped the passage of the bill by the Senate. Recall that the Senate had on May 24, 2018, considered the executive bill for second reading, during which Senators were divided across regional lines. While Northern Senators had supported the proposal and its objectives, their Southern counterparts vehemently opposed it.
Those who opposed the bill had said that the bill if passed into law, would further centralise the power and resources of the country as it would counter the move towards devolution of power domiciled with the Federal Government.
In the wake of fuel subsidy removal by the Federal Government, fuel prices have increased astronomically leading to rise in prices of goods and services and overall cost of living.
The Edo State Government shares the pains of our people and wants to assure everyone that we are standing with them in these very challenging times.
We want to reassure our people that we will do all within our powers as a subnational government to reduce the pains and ameliorate the sufferings our people are currently facing due to the current realities.
As a proactive government, we have since taken the step to increase the minimum wage paid to workers in Edo State from the approved N30,000 to N40,000, the highest in the country today.
We want to assure you that we will continue to pay this amount, while we hope to increase it even further, if more allocation accrues to our State from the Federal Government in view of the expected savings occasioned by the removal of the fuel subsidy.
We know the hardship that has been caused by this policy which has radically increased the cost of transportation, eating deep into the wages of workers in the State. Therefore, the Edo State Government is hereby reducing the number of work days that civil and public servants will have to commute to their workplaces from five days a week to three days a week till further notice. Workers will now work from home two days every week.
Similarly, for teachers and parents, their commuting to school will be reduced as government is working on deepening the EdoBEST@Home initiative to create more virtual classrooms, thereby reducing the cost of commuting on parents, teachers and pupils. The Edo SUBEB will provide details on this initiative in the coming days.
To lower the rising cost of energy on our people, we will continue to work with the electricity companies in the State to improve power supply to homes and businesses.
Similarly, fibre optic connections are being made available to help our people work remotely, thereby reducing their cost of transportation.
While government intensifies these efforts to alleviate the burden of the fuel price increase on the people during this very challenging period, we want to call on everyone to remain calm and go about their daily businesses lawfully.
His Excellency,
Godwin Obaseki
Governor, Edo State
The International Society for Civil Liberties and Rule of Law (Intersociety) has observed with total dismay and strong condemnation-the unchecked unarmed civilian deaths and incessancy of unlawful arrests and arbitrary detentions by armed state actor security operatives in Anambra State. The dastardly and prohibited acts are being perpetrated and perpetuated by the personnel and principal officers of the Nigerian Army (302 Artillery Regiment in Onitsha), the Nigerian Naval Base, Ogbaru, the Anambra State Police Command and the State Government funded Anambra Vigilante Services under the supervision of the State Commissioner for Homeland Security. These, they perpetrate and perpetuate by using false security intelligence and rogue-criminal investigations. The above named armed state actors and the present Government of Anambra State have also earned notoriety in false labeling and relied heavily on ‘hearsay conclusions’ under which unarmed and defenseless citizens are indiscriminately criminalized and rounded up for secret execution or arbitrary detention and denial of custodial liberties. Acts of disappearances and torture or other inhuman and degraded punishments or treatments are also very common in the handling styles of the named state actor security operatives and their principal officers; who also turn blind eyes on armed criminal parties and their weapons and channel their energies and resources against defenseless and unarmed citizens and their properties.
These explain the reasons behind high level of impunity and ‘repeat offenses or returned criminalities’ especially felonious offenses inviolving high-profile shootings, abductions-for-ransoms and targeted assassinations across the State. This is also to the extent that the real fighting or armed criminal parties have remained unmasked and on the prowl. Policing and Military intelligence supplied to the Government of Anambra State are mired in “IPOB/ESN phobia” and often times diversionary and questionable. The worst of it all is that the Government of Anambra State heavily relies on such corrupted and biased military and police intelligence to make public pronouncements or form opinions or policies and Government actions on ‘insecurity in Anambra State’. The “IPOB/ESN-phobia” derived intelligence and investigations are so rampantly used by the State Police Commissioner and the principal officers of the deployed Nigerian Military that “investigations are commenced and concluded and findings made 30 minutes or less after every high-profile abduction or shooting or killing/abduction incident”.
Cases of shooting or killing or abducting and disappearing defenseless citizens around or near the crime scenes and labeling them “attacking IPOB/ESN/Unknown Gunmen overpowered and shot dead (neutralized) at the crime scenes” are also very rampant. In 2022, for instance, no fewer than eight defenseless citizens including a Lagos-based businessman returning to the State with his Venza Car and builders of his new house project were targeted in open shootings and killed by the joint personnel of the Nigerian Navy and Army/Police at Isuoffia and Umuona in Aguata Local Government Area of Anambra State. Their killing had taken place few minutes after the armed non state actors’ attack at naval checkpoint at Isuoffia during which one naval personnel was killed and others injured. The named military personnel had gone on shooting spree and rained live bullets on passersby in Isuoffia, Umuona and environs; killing scores and injuring others. The worst of it all was the hastiness with which the Government of Anambra State aided and abetted the dastardly act by issuing a confirmation statement supporting the falsity of the armed state actor story that “those killed were members of the Unknown Gunmen killed in crossfire or gun duel by gallant security operatives”.
Shooting At Embassy Staff Convoy In Ogbaru Mired In Hearsay Conclusions And IPOB-phobia
The greatest challenge facing the Nigerian security establishments is lack of diligent criminal investigation devoid of hearsay conclusions, ethnic and religious profiling, criminal labeling, class criminalization and ‘prosecutorial vindictiveness’. The Nigerian security establishments also incurably lack modern criminal intelligence and policing including proactive and preventive policing and effective early warning response capacities. There are also inter-agency encroachments and general lack of skillful securitization intelligence and investigation handling styles. The “Man-Mental-Machine” modern securitization and policing are nowhere to be found in the present Nigerian security establishments; to the extent that out of every ten security operatives involved in processing citizens accused of being in conflict with criminal laws of Nigeria, nine use deadly force and torture and other degrading treatments. Also out of every ten processing or interrogating security officers, nine lack basic computer literacy and mental detective and evaluation skills.
Occasionally, exception to the above is the Department of Security Services (DSS), especially in the area of acquisition of intelligence skills and use of same. A clear case in point was the case of “Egbe-Eji-Eje-Ogu of Unubi in 2022”. Apart from despicably setting his family dwelling house and properties ablaze, the DSS led operation remains one of the best, if not the best executed intelligence and investigation driven law enforcement operations in Anambra State in recent years. If it is to be police or military led operation, the entire Umunna kindred or village in Unubi, Nnewi South LGA of the State would have been wiped out and their houses and other properties razed-with dozens of unarmed and defenseless citizens shot and killed or terminally injured. The real crime suspects would also have escaped and uninvolved others rounded up and shot dead and their dead bodies costumed and publicly paraded and falsely labeled.
It is therefore most likely correct to say that the recently reported shooting at the US Embassy convoy In Ogbaru Local Government Area along Atani-Ogwu-Ikpere Federal Road in Anambra State is inescapably riddled with hearsay conclusions and “IPOB-phobia”. This is to the extent that the Government of Anambra State and the State Police Command hastily and without detailed and conclusive investigations heaped the responsibility on “suspected members of the proscribed IPOB/ESN”. The Anambra State Police Command under CP Echeng Echeng has earned notoriety in hastily linking almost every criminal activity in the State to “suspected members of the proscribed IPOB/ESN”. These ‘hearsay conclusions/class criminalization’ have led to incessancy of instant and custodial killing of unarmed and defenseless citizens and abduction and disappearance of others as well as indiscriminate arrests and arbitrary detentions and wanton destruction or burning down of defenseless civilian houses and other properties across the State using false labeling and class criminalization.
Intersociety also finds it difficult to locate situations whereby the State Police Command had started criminal investigations on such phantom allegations and had such investigations diligently concluded and the investigated suspects successfully prosecuted. We cannot also remember the last time the Anambra State Police Command secured judicial convictions against those it spuriously accused of treason or treasonable felonies in connection with “IPOB/ESN terrorism”. Apart from the State Police Command and the Anambra State Government funded Anambra Vigilante Services killing, abducting and disappearing unarmed citizens at will in broad day light and at the hours of the blue law using phantom and un-provable allegations of “IPOB/ESN terrorism”, it further saddens our heart that the Government of Prof Charles Soludo is relying on corrupted and biased intelligence supplied by the State Police Command and the deployed principal officers of the Ogbaru Naval Base and the 302 Artillery Regiment of the Nigerian Army, Onitsha. In matters of the law, and as a matter of fact, “the Nigerian military is incurably incompetent and incapable of generating effective policing intelligence in connection with the activities of civilians or citizens not subject to the Armed Forces Act of 2004”. The Military is also a meddlesome interloper in matters of securitization under civilian democratic dispensation. In the referenced Ogbaru US Embassy convoy attack, the authorities of the Government of Anambra State, the Nigerian Naval Base and the 302 Artillery Regiment of the Nigerian Army, Onitsha had severally announced the arrest or neutralization (extrajudicial killing) of not less than four sets of group citizens in connection with “killing US Embassy staffs in Ogbaru”. Members of some communities have also been sacked from their ancestral homes or forced to flee to avoid being falsely labeled, arrested or killed. Among the victims were a tertiary institution’s lecturer and aging husband and wife and their two children who are seasoned river-line fishers.
Twelve Unanswered Questions In The US Embassy Staffers’ Convoy Shootings/Killings, Ors In Ogbaru
The Government of Anambra State, the State Police Commissioner and the Commander of the Onitsha Naval Base and his Commandant colleague from the Onitsha 302 Army Artillery Regiment are operationally start illiterate by their woeful failure to (1) understand the meaning of “assassination by a hit squad” and (2) whether the shootings were randomly carried out/internally/externally coordinated; (3) whether it is possible for four sets of group citizens including two aging husband and wife with fishing occupation and a lecturer to have belonged to the same group of assassins, (4) whether members of the sacked communities were also part of the assassination squad, (5) the exact mission of the US Embassy staffers and their convoy in Ogbaru, (6) How victims of the Ogbaru shootings mostly made up of serving and retired security personnel became flood disaster area relief management or reconstruction experts, (7) the identities of those that actually carried out the shootings/killings, (8) whether they are armed state actors or armed subversive state actors or Government-linked private armies’ operatives, (9) whether there were insider connections or conspiracies or perpetration and perpetuation, (10) whether the mission to Ogbaru by US Embassy convoy was official, legal or illegal, (11) whether the Government of Anambra State or the State Police Commissioner or the State Director of SSS were officially notified, (12) whether it is correct to say that the personnel and principal officers of the Ogbaru Naval Base are engaging unchecked in sundry economic sabotage/extortionist activities in their lines of duties including collecting returns from Niger River sand excavators and crude oil bunkerers; collecting tolls from sand tippers and other haulage lorries at their roadblocks; imposing and collecting N100 per trip from every Keke rider from 6pm daily; imposing and collecting N100 (daily Navy fee) per commercial bus/Keke along Atani Road per day; and aiding and abetting kidnap-for-ransom and other high profile criminal activities in Ogbaru and environs.
Anambra Govt. Must Speak On Govt-linked Private Armies Kidnapping, Killing And Disappearing
The silence of the Prof Charles Soludo led Government of Anambra State regarding the recent weighty allegations against his Commissioner for Homeland Security; Mr. Chikaodili Anara (Igba-ka-Igba) is totally condemned. The denial of same by the person of Mr. Chikaodili Anara is watery and has failed woefully to critically address the core issues raised. It must be reminded that the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB) had twice in one week, 28th May and 4th June 2023, leveled weighty allegations against the Homeland Security Commissioner bordering on insecurity raging across Anambra State. He was strongly accused by the leadership of IPOB of “running a hit squad including high profile kidnap-for-ransom gangs using Government connections and functionaries as a back-up”. He was also strongly accused of “clandestinely purchasing acres of lands for Jihadist Fulani Herdsmen as middleman for the Miyatti Allah Cattle Breeders Association of Nigeria (MACBAN) and facilitating incursions by the Fulani Herdsmen Jihadists into Awka North and environs”. Commissioner Chikaodili Anara was further accused by IPOB of “being the brain behind the general security challenges across the State” and that “he used AVG (Anambra Vigilante Services) to murder unarmed citizens and label them “suspected IPOB/ESN members”.
Among the communities that are witnessing the surge of strange faces and Fulani terrorists, according to IPOB, are: Igbariam town, Achalla town, Amanuke town, Ugbene town, Ukwulu town, Nando town, Urum town as well as Mgbakwu town, Isuana town, Ocha town, Ebenebe town and others located in Awka North, Ayamelum and Oyi Local Government Areas. Most of the listed communities have in the past one year witnessed “the influx of Fulani herdsmen; causing tensions, fears of insecurity and other unsafe conditions as the villagers are warned not to go to their farms or risk being killed by the Fulani Jihadist terrorists”. The above is to the extent that “thousands of acres of farmlands belonging to such communities have been forcefully taken from their indigenous owners and sold to the Myetti Allah Cattle Breeders Association through Homeland Commissioner Chikaodili Anara and his gang”. For more see details, click here: https://sunnewsonline.com/anambra-insecurity-ipob-sends-sos-to-soludo.
By Intersociety’s recent investigations, there also appears to exist in the State a high profile and well armed and coordinated kidnapping gang syndicate around Achalla and environs in Awka North. The kidnap-for-ransom gangs or syndicates are so well armed and coordinated that they have in their arsenal a number of flying boats which they use to forcefully ferry their victims from Ezu-Omambala-Niger River axis to the Ogbaru-Asaba Niger River Creeks manned by the Nigerian Naval Base in Ogbaru where ransoms are negotiated and paid. This is to the extent that the kidnap-for-ransom gangs have become an outlaw, above the law and beyond the law enforcement agencies of Anambra State formations. It must also be reminded that IPOB’s weighty allegations against Commissioner Chikaodili Anara cannot be circumstantially dismissive or pronounced dead on arrival; especially by the intelligence gathering prowess of the IPOB from their Eastern Security Network-a counter Jihadist incursion group in Eastern Nigeria since Dec 2020.
Soludo Must Investigate Homeland Commissioner And Look Inward Over US Embassy Convoy Attack
Intersociety therefore calls on Gov Charles Soludo and his Government of Anambra State/State Executive Council to carry out a detailed and unbiased investigation into such weighty allegations leveled against Commissioner Chikaodili Anara so as to ascertain the veracity or otherwise of the weighty allegations so leveled. The Soludo’s Government must also look inward regarding the Ogbaru US Embassy’s convoy shootings and killings for possibility of insider connections or conspiratorial roles. Such must be extended to the State Police Command, Ogbaru Naval Base and Homeland Security circles. The Anambra Directorate of the DSS is exonerated and absolved of any culpability until it is proven otherwise and except the post US Embassy convoy’s crime scene vicinity shootings and killings and the communal raiding and indiscriminate arrests, abductions and shootings that followed, the 302 Artillery Regiment of the Nigerian Army is also absolved of possible internal conspiracy involvement. Gov Charles Soludo is hereby expertly called upon and advised to rely more on generated intelligence by the State Directorate of State Security Services under Director Pawa and subject those from Army, Navy and Police to thorough evaluations and checks before being used in public pronouncements and public security and safety policies or actions.
Signed
For: International Society for Civil Liberties and Rule of Law (Intersociety)
Hearing in the petition by former Vice President, Atiku Abubakar against the election of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu was abruptly adjourned on Tuesday by the Presidential Election Petition Court in Abuja due to alleged refusal of the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, to make some critical electoral materials available to him.
The Court shifted further hearing in the petition till June 7 pending the time the electoral body is expected to have.responded to the request of Atiku and the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, for the supply of some documents.
At Tuesday’s proceedings, Eyitayo Jegede, a Senior Advocate of Nigeria, SAN, who conducted proceedings for Atiku had sought to tender forms EC8A from 10 out of 21 Local Government Areas of Kogi State to establish the petition against Tinubu.
The exhibits, mainly documents used for the February 25 Presidential Election, are those from Ankpa, Dekina, Idah, Ofu, Olamaboro, Yagba East, Yagba West, Kabba-Bunu and Igalamela Odolu.
Although the schedule of documents to the effect was filed along with the exhibits, the Court however noted that tendering such sensitive exhibits at piece meals would not be of any help, especially in the areas of marking and numbering them.
Jegede who rose to the questions put to him by the Court stood his ground and blamed the INEC for deliberate refusal to supply his client with the vital documents.
The Senior lawyer, who hinted the Court that Atiku had paid as much as N6 million for the supply of certified true copy of the exhibits, lamented that the electoral body had not been forthcoming and cooperating as required.
Jegede explained that to save the situation, the legal team of the former Vice President had to subpoena top officials of INEC to compel them to bring the required documents before the Court on their own.
The attention of the All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA) has been drawn to a Judgment delivered by His Lordship, Hon Justice Mohammed A Madugu of the FCT High Court, Bwari Judicial Division. In the said judgment, the trial Court purported to pronounce on the substance of the corrected Supreme Court judgment and proceeded to hold that the Plaintiffs in the said suit remained National Officers of APGA. Curiously, the Court further purportedly declared that the immediate past National Chairman of APGA, Dr Victor Ike Oye had no powers to conduct Congresses and National Convention of APGA.
Ordinarily, the leadership of APGA would have ignored the perverse and overreaching pronouncements made by Justice Madugu as APGA had no business whatsoever with the proceedings before the said Court. However, we are constrained to issue this publication for the benefit of the our esteemed party members and indeed the general public who may be ignorant of the correct implications of the said judgment.
Our great party had raised alarm concerning the curious steps taken by Justice Madugu in the course of the proceedings particularly the Ruling he delivered on Friday, 2nd of June, 2023, wherein the Court purportedly declared as incompetent, an appeal pending before the Court of Appeal. Thus, the judgment of the Court didn’t come as a surprise to our great party.
Apparently more befuddling is the ignominious attempt by the Judge to pronounce upon the tenure of the plaintiffs, which by their claim before the court had been rendered academic. By stating explicitly, in their supporting affidavit, that there were elected into office on the 31st of May, 2019 for a 4 year period, the plaintiffs suit before the court expired or elapsed on the 31st of May, 2023. Essentially, the court no longer had the vires or jurisdiction to deliver the judgment it delivered on 6th of June, 2023.
In the light of the foregoing, we wish to state emphatically that APGA has no business whatsoever with either the proceedings before Justice Magudu or the judgment delivered by him on Tuesday, 6th of June, 2023. Our great party, APGA was not a party in the said suit and is by law not bound by the outcome or judgment purportedly delivered by the Trial Judge.
Interestingly, the issues pertaining to the correct interpretation of the Supreme Court Ruling of 24th March, 2023, which the Court purportedly delved into has been laid to rest by the judgments of 2 Federal High Courts Coram Hon Justice James Kolawole Omotosho and Hon Justice H A Nganjiwa of the Federal High Court, Abuja Division and Awka Division respectively. What more, the judgment of the Federal High Court, Abuja Division delivered on the 28th of March, 2023 has further been affirmed by the Court of Appeal in its judgment delivered on the 2nd of June, 2023. By the said judgment of the Court of Appeal which affirmed the judgment of Justice James Omotosho, Dr Victor Ike Oye was the National Chairman of APGA entitled to carry out the functions of that office.
We wish to reiterate the fact that the nationwide congresses and National Convention of APGA were conducted in due deference and compliance with the judgment of the High Court of Anambra State, Otuocha Judicial Division which compelled APGA to conduct its congresses and National Convention before the expiration of the tenure of its current officers. Dr Victor Ike Oye cannot, under any circumstances whatsoever, be the same person as APGA. The All Progressives Grand Alliance is a duly registered political party with its common seal and thus has the full right to sue or be sued in its name.
We therefore enjoin our esteemed members, supporters and the general public to disregard the claim of any alleged judgment affecting the leadership of APGA. Barr Sly Ezeokenwa remains the duly elected National Chairman of APGA having emerged from a proper National Convention duly monitored by INEC. Thus, he is the rightful person duly recognised by law to carry out the functions of the office.
Mazi Ejimofor Opara, KSM
National Publicity Secretary, APGA
