Judgment
Cross River North: Senator Odey floors Joe Agi at election tribunal
The Election Petitions Tribunal sitting in Calabar Friday, upheld the victory of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) candidate, Dr. Stephen Odey, in the Cross River North Senatorial District by-election. Delivering the judgment in a petition by Joe Agi (SAN) with number: EPT/CR/SEN/03/2020, the chairman of the three-man election tribunal, Justice Yusuf Muhammad, upheld the preliminary objection raised by Odey’s lawyer that the two grounds of petition were pre-election matters. The Tribunal, therefore, struck out the petition for lack of merit. The tribunal also held that Jarigbe Agom, who is the second respondent in the petition, was never cleared nor contested the December 5, 2020, PDP primaries. It therefore faulted the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) for the wrongful iss...
Lagos begins plea bargain session for Kirikiri inmates
In an effort to decongest correctional centres, the Lagos State Ministry of Justice on Thursday held a plea bargain session for some inmates at the Kirikiri Maximum Correctional Centre. The plea bargain session was the first of its kind to be held at a correctional centre in Lagos State. Newsmen reports that the previous practice was for counsel to incarcerated inmates to write to the Attorney-General of the state to consider plea bargain agreements for their clients. A total of 27 inmates – 16 males and 11 females – were beneficiaries of Thursday’s plea bargain session. The Lagos State Attorney-General, Moyosore Onigbanjo (SAN), the state Solicitor-General, Titilayo Shitta-Bey, and some of the ministry of justice staff kick-started the initiative. The state Directorate of Public Prosecuti...
EFCC to file 800 new corruption cases in court
The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC, has said it is set to file 800 new corruption cases in court. The chairman of the commission, Abdulrasheed Bawa, said this Thursday as part of the weekly briefing by Heads of MDAs to give an update on their performance in office. He addressed State House reporters in Abuja. He said the cases to be filed will border on public corruption and cybercrime. The cases were delayed largely because of the strike by judiciary workers who shut down courts in Nigeria for over two months and only recently suspended the strike. At the event, Bawa also vowed that former Abia governor Orji Kalu “will be prosecuted all over again.” Newsmen reported how Kalu was set free by the Supreme Court on technicalities after being convicted of stealing billions of n...
Official: PDP focused on taking over government in Anambra
File Photo The Chairman of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in Anambra, Ndubuisi Nwobu, said the party remains focused to take over the state in the upcoming governorship poll. Nwobu said this in an interview with newsmen in Awka on Tuesday, adding that he would not be distracted by those trying to destabilise the party in the state. He lauded the National Executive Committee of the party for organising successful ward congresses in the state which he said was a sure step to the party’s free, fair and credible primary election. “We want to conduct our primary election, where party people will freely vote and produce a candidate that will be acceptable to Anambra people at the November 6 poll. “This is not (the) time for distractions. We are focused on taking over the government from the ...
Kwara APC youths petition AGF over local council transition committees
Under the auspices of Concerned APC Youths in Kwara, a group has petitioned justice minister Abubakar Malami over the appointment of local government transition committees by Governor AbdulRahman AbdulRazaq. They condemned the recent constitution of the Transition Implementation Committee (TIC) for the 16 local government councils in the state. The youths described the TIC as illegal and unconstitutional, calling for the intervention of Mr Malami. The petition, signed by 36 youths drawn from the 16 local government areas, declared that Mr AbdulRazaq acted illegally in the constitution of the TIC. According to the petition, there are judgments of the Supreme Court against the appointment of TIC in local governments. The petition stated, “We are requesting that you use your very good office ...
Zambian court throws out second challenge to president’s re-election bid
Zambia’s Constitutional Court ruled on Friday that President Edgar Lungu can stand for re-election in August, throwing out a second opposition challenge to his eligibility on the basis of the constitutional two-term limit. The ruling comes as Zambia faces a multipronged economic crisis, after overleveraging its debt right before the brutal global COVID-19 shutdown. The crisis has triggered Africa’s first pandemic-era sovereign default and driven the southern African country to seek emergency IMF help. Lungu’s first term in office lasted a year and six months, when he took over after the death of the previous elected president, Michael Sata. He then won an election in a disputed vote in August 2016. Since this is technically his second term, the opposition had argued that he is no longer el...
Edo election: Appeal Court upholds Governor Obaseki’s victory
The Court of Appeal, sitting in Benin, yesterday, upheld the ruling of the Edo State Governorship Election Petition Tribunal against the Action Democratic Party (ADP), and reaffirmed the victory of Governor Godwin Obaseki at the 2020 governorship election. Delivering the judgement in the case marked CA/B/EPT/GOV/01 & 1A/2021 Action Democratic Party & Anor v. INEC & 2Ors, the court held that Obaseki did not forge his certificates with which he contested the 2020 governorship election and dismissed the appeal filed by the ADP and its candidate. In another case marked /B/EPT/GOV/02/2021 Action Peoples Party (APP) Vs Godwin N. Obaseki & 2Ors., the Court unanimously upheld the Judgment of the Tribunal and dismissed the Appeal with costs assessed at N600,000 each, on two differe...
SERAP urges President Buhari to tell Nigerians spending plan for James Ibori loot, others
The Socio-Economic Rights and Accountability Project (SERAP) has urged President Muhammadu Buhari to “urgently direct Mrs Zainab Ahmed, Minister of Finance, Budget and National Planning to disclose spending details of the $700 million looted funds reportedly recovered by the Federal Government in the past four years, including the list and location of projects completed with the money, as well as details of the contractors that executed the projects.” SERAP also urged him to “direct Mrs Ahmed to disclose how the government plans to spend the returned £4.2m Ibori loot, including details of planned capital expenditure, and whether there is any plan to ensure that the money and any future returned Ibori loot would be spent to achieve justice and effective remedies for victims of corruption in...
Deregistration: INEC colluding with politicians to undermine court processes – ADC
The African Democratic Congress, ADC, Tuesday, alleged that the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, was playing some tricks by colluding with some party leaders and politicians in an attempt to undermine court processes. The National Chairman of ADC, Chief Ralphs Okey Nwosu, who made the allegation, while reacting to the Supreme Court’s judgment which affirmed the deregistration of the National Unity Party, NUP, described alleged moves by the electoral empire as pitiful. Chief Nwosu noted that while the NUP’s case was not of much consequence, the case to watch and which INEC was trying to use NUP to undermine is that involving 22 political parties. According to Chief Nwosu, who is also the interim President of Inter-Party Advisory Council of Nigeria, IPAC, “The Supreme Court j...
De-registration: Supreme Court judgement binding only on NUP – CUPP
The Coalition of United Political Parties (CUPP) has insisted that the recent Supreme Court judgement affirming the de-registration of 74 political parties is only binding on the National Unity Party (NUP). CUPP maintained that the judgment does not, in any way, bind on the 22 political parties which got victory at the Court of Appeal as they are not parties before the Supreme Court in NUP’s case and their prayers before the courts are also different. On August 10, 2020, the Court of Appeal in Appeal No. CA/ABJ/CV/507/2020, between Advanced Congress of Democrats (ACD) & 21 others, and Attorney General of the Federation & INEC ruled that the de-registration of the 22 political parties was unconstitutional and ordered the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to relist the...
Supreme Court upholds INEC’s deregistration of 74 political parties
The Supreme Court on Friday upheld an earlier judgment of the Court of Appeal which okayed the deregistration of National Unity Party and 73 others. Newsmen had earlier reported that the Independent National Electoral Commission last year deregistered the political parties over their inability to win any election during the 2019 general elections. In the judgment delivered by Justice Adamu Jauro, the Supreme Court, on Friday, said the deregistration of NUP, one of the 74 parties, was done in line with the laws and compliance with the extant provisions of the Constitution and Electoral Act. Get more stories like this on Twitter You Deserve to Make Money Even When you are looking for Dates Online. So we reimagined what a dating should be. It begins with giving you back power. Get to meet Bea...
Nigerian government welcomes ECOWAS court judgment dismissing SERAP’s case
Minister of Justice, Abubakar Malami, SAN, on Tuesday welcomed an ECOWAS Court judgment dismissing a case filed by the trustees of the Socio-Economic Rights and Accountability Project (SERAP) against the Federal Government. Malami, in a statement by Dr Umar Gwandu, his Special Assistant on Media and Public Relations, said the judgment has saved Nigeria from payment of billons of naira for bogus claims. He described the judgment as a clear vindication of the government’s efforts towards respecting human rights and international conventions. Malami, therefore renewed the commitment of his office to protecting the rights of citizens in all ramifications as well as protecting the public interest in the discharge of all constitutionally recognised mandate. Newsmen report that the judgment which...
