Television Nigerian

Leaders of the civil society and political parties in Kano State have appealed to President Bola Tinubu to respect the results of the recent governorship election in order to maintain peace and stability in Nigeria.

Abba Kabir Yusuf of the New Nigeria Peoples Party (NNPP) defeated Nasiru Yusuf Gawuna, the candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC), in the Kano election. Tinubu was advised by the elders not to take legal action to overturn the results in a roundtable discussion facilitated by Chief Oguntade Omolewa of the Forum for National Integration and Development.

Kano State Governor Abba Kabir Yusuf filed an appeal to contest his removal by the Governorship Election Petitions Tribunal, and the Court of Appeal, located in Abuja, is anticipated to rule on the appeal.

On September 20, 2023, Yusuf was dismissed by a three-judge panel headed by Justice Oluyemi Osadebay for violating the INEC’s seal or signature, which rendered 165,663 of his votes void.

This resulted in Ganuwa keeping his 890,705 votes while the governor’s votes dropped to 853,939.

Omolewa, however, urged President Tinubu to practice inclusive and national cohesiveness politics rather than divisive ones when he spoke at the ceremony yesterday.
Reminding Tinubu of his own history as an opposition leader who was permitted to manage Lagos State in spite of PDP’s hegemony at the federal level was civil society activist and former Alliance National Party presidential candidate Moshood Shittu.

When issuing the reserved judgment on Kano, he requested the appellate court to give careful thought to the interests of national security and welfare.

Read Also: 2027: APC storm over nomination form cost, other issues

“We, of course, wouldn’t want a political crisis in Kano, which is why we support using discretion and intelligence in the administration of justice,” he stated.

At the 2023 governorship elections, “the people of Kano voted in large numbers for the NNPP governor Abba Kabir Yusuf.”

The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) candidate in the recently ended poll, Senator Dino Melaye, has been requested by the All Progressives Congress (APC) Governorship Campaign Council in Kogi state, to be arrested as soon as possible by security agents.

According to the ruling party, during a live television program, Senator Melaye admitted to cybercrime.

Melaye’s assertion on national TV that she had access to the Independent National Electoral Commission’s back-end server is akin to “walking into the prison yard and demanding to be locked up,” according to Kingsley Fanwo, Director of Media and Publicity and Spokesman for the Campaign Council.

“Hacking into the Independent National Electoral Commission’s backend is something Dino Melaye has publicly admitted to doing. Fanwo stated that he ought to be detained and charged with cybercrime.

Additionally, he said:

“Dino Melaye never participated in the contest to become governor. We regard the claims made by the recurring candidate as nothing more than the tirades of a thoroughly rejected political jobber. He was in it for the money.

Read Also: Osuntokun speaks on Peter Obi departuring Nigeria after losing to Tinubu at Supreme Court

“We cannot hit a youngster and expect him to stay silent. But when we triumph, we’ll give generously. Here is a complainant about the behavior who said they had boycotted an election. Not even in his polling place to cast a ballot. We ought to look into how he received more than 40,000 votes.

We urge everyone in our community to rejoice with moderation. We must continue to be one people because we are one people. The election results have demonstrated that our party is the only one that supports the unity of our beloved state.

In addition to winning the election, we defeated the opponents who wished to return our state to the era of racial segregation. You deserve this win, Kogites, and it will provide newfound stability and continuity.

The rising number of expressions of interest and nomination forms since the All Progressives Congress (APC) was founded in 2014 may indicate that a new storm over the high expense of running for office on the party’s platform is about to break out within the ruling party.

In 2014, APC presidential and governorship forms cost N27.5 million and N5 million, respectively, ahead of the 2015 general elections, according to Daily Trust. To N45 million and N22.5 million in 2019, it climbed. It did, however, rise to N50 million and N100 million in 2023.

But party heavyweights have pushed the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) leadership to tone down the 2027 contest’s expression of interest and nomination forms. They claim that even though the party made billions of Naira from the sale of these documents prior to the 2023 elections, it hasn’t disclosed how the money was used.

Former APC national vice chairman (North West), Salihu Mohammed Lukman, bemoaned in a statement on Tuesday the rising expense of running for office inside the party.

He conveyed concerns that the APC would levy N125 million for gubernatorial nominations and N250 million for expressions of interest by 2027.

He claims that because the APC is “progressively losing the little democratic credentials,” Nigerians should have anticipated the prospect of a progressive party emerging from it in 2015.

But in a quick response, Felix Morka, the national publicity secretary for the APC, stated, “The cost of forms for next elections is all speculations.”

“That N1 was demanded doesn’t mean it will be N2 next time,” stated Morka during a phone conversation. Another possibility is that it will be scrutinized from below.

Therefore, we have to wait for the party to decide before responding. Therefore, since everything Lukman says is conjecture, I won’t get into a disagreement with him about that.

However, he told Daily Trust that the APC has continued to charge exorbitant fees because it is the ruling party. Professor Kari is a political sociology professor at the University of Abuja.

Read Also: Why lawmakers would not stop off-cycle election – Ondo senator explains

In addition, he blamed the actions of a small group of powerful people who have taken over the party and the relentless commercialization of Nigerian politics.

Because it is the ruling party, the APC has paid the highest cost. The fundamental premise is that any candidate who receives an APC ticket will probably win election. That could turn out to be a valid assumption. Perhaps it’s not true,” he remarked.

According to Kari, “you have blocked the very essence of democracy, and that is exactly what is happening” if the party leadership can obstruct political participation by continuously raising the nomination cost. Therefore, the system of exorbitant fees is a major obstacle to democracy because it prevents those who cannot afford to participate.

Akin Osuntokun, the director-general of the Obi-Datti Presidential Campaign Council, stated in a recent interview that Peter Obi is not driven to leave Nigeria because he lost an election or because he is desperate for power.
Speaking on the 2023 presidential election and the 171-day court struggle to overturn President Bola Tinubu’s election, the leader of the Labour Party (LP) refuted rumors that Obi is thinking of fleeing the nation. He said that the LP presidential candidate has accomplished everything that a person could hope for.

“Then you obviously don’t know Peter Obi,” Osuntokun said in response to a question from media about whether the rumor that Obi may leave Nigeria after losing at the Supreme Court was accurate. What is going to annoy him? Please tell me. He is not a power-hungry man, after all. He possesses almost all of the things that one could ask for in life. His newfound status is a major plus in his life. As a person, he has become much more well-known, making him a role model for most Nigerians. I think that’s really important. What right does any of that have to irritate him to the point where he feels like abandoning his nation? Zero percent.

Even in the short period he was a part of the party, Obi has accomplished a great deal. How can he then give up on what he has accomplished because the Supreme Court did not render a decision? Obi is not entitled to be irritated. He does not consider his dream of becoming Nigeria’s president to be a personal accomplishment. He does not consider it a personal loss. The nation has suffered a loss. God has greatly elevated him over his previous state. He cannot reasonably be expected to become estranged from Nigeria.

Osuntokun commented, “Well, we have just completed the court case and have not really sat to brainstorm on the next step,” when asked about the Labour Party’s plans to reconstruct the party after the events of the general 2023 elections. However, given that the Labour Party made a great effort to establish its legitimacy in the most recent election, I anticipate that Nigerians, particularly those from younger generations, who have become weary of the current quo, would seek solace in the party. The APC, which stands for everything that people in this country cannot hope for, doesn’t seem to be what the millennials will be seeking for. In this current situation, it is inconceivable that certain members of the National Assembly could claim they wish to purchase a N160 million Range Rover for every member.

Read Also: Former deputy chair alleges APC leaders can no longer reach Tinubu

In these trying times, when we need to take drastic steps to address our problems, we are hearing of people who are utilizing the same loan that they took out to purchase SUVs, with the justification that the ministers own three or four models. The illness we are fighting is visible. They’re not even acknowledging that they’re acting improperly. Rather, they are reminding you that there is a greater sinner in the world. The whole population has a responsibility to act.

The National Assembly will not halt off-cycle elections, despite recommendations to do so made in response to the Independent National Electoral Commission’s (INEC) dismal performance at the recently completed polls in Kogi, Bayelsa, and Imo, according to Senator Adeniyi Adegbomire of Ondo Central.

Adegbomire, a senatorial candidate for the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC), defended the off-cycle elections by claiming that they improved Nigeria’s democracy.

The senator claimed that Nigerians’ votes mattered because of the off-cycle elections.

He continued by saying that if leaders are chosen by means other than respecting the desire of the people, society will descend into perdition.

Adegbomire emphasized that off-year elections in Nigeria are a positive development for democracy and that the National Assembly will not enact legislation to stop them.

The Supreme Court has made it clear that this is a constitutional issue. You will take a four-year oath of office, according to the constitution. “Those four years begin on the day that you take office as president or governor,” he stated.

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The Constitution makes no mention of the requirement for two-thirds of local governments’ majority votes, as stated in the Electoral Act. As a result, there are requirements for both tenure and election victory. It is stated in the constitution. It implies that the individual who held the position before to his removal was not legitimately elected and was not, in fact, a governor. To avoid any ambiguity, he stated, “the constitution and the Electoral Act recognize that even if he is removed at the tribunal, he will continue to be governor until the final decision.”
According to reports, the senator made his statement shortly after former Nigerian President Goodluck Jonathan voiced concerns about the way off-cycle elections were being conducted.

If the country continued to conduct off-season polls, he expressed concern that the presidential race might someday become an off-cycle election.

The results of the Imo governorship election have been challenged by opposition federal MPs, led by Ikenga Ugochinyere, a member of the House of Representatives who represents Ideato North and South Federal Constituency and spokesperson for the Coalition of United Political Parties (CUPP).

During a news conference held in Abuja on Monday, the opposition member stated that the PDP candidate had the highest number of valid votes and that INEC should have proclaimed Senator Samuel Anyanwu the winner after overvoting and regions where no election or accreditation was completed were subtracted.

Ugochinyere denounced the APC, security agencies, and INEC’s involvement alongside thirty other federal lawmakers.

The opposition members want the major players to be prohibited from entering the country with a visa, along with the US, UK, France, Canada, and other democratic countries.

Read Also: Former deputy chair alleges APC leaders can no longer reach Tinubu

The assertion was made that the absence of accreditation prevented the results from Okigwe, Oru West, Oguta, Ohaji, Nwangele, Orlu, Ideato South, Ideato North, and Obowo from occurring.

They claimed that individuals with less than 5% accreditation experienced 80% voter turnout, etc. leader
The lawmakers further asserted that the PDP had the greatest legitimate number of accredited votes in the election from these and other various places, if the results were recalculated using accreditation data.

In order to spare the courts and the people of Imo from suffering through protracted and exhausting litigation, they urged INEC to use the Electoral Act’s provision on review of false declaration, recalculate, and announce the PDP winner.

Additionally, they maintained that among other things, the Imo State gubernatorial election was tainted by willful manipulation and the failure to use the BVAS machine to intimidate accreditation.

“We have previously revealed evidence of widespread overvoting from the BVAS machine accreditation results, which indicated both extremely low and high turnout.”