Television Nigerian

Lewis Chinaemerem Obianyi’s election as the member representing Ukwa East State seat in the Abia State House of Assembly has been affirmed by the Election Petition Tribunal, who is based in Umuahia, Abia State.

After considering the petition filed by Mr. Ekeke Adiele, the Labour Party’s candidate, contesting Obianyi’s election, the tribunal ruled against it.

The panel, consisting of three members and overseen by Hon. Justice Aderibigbe, unanimously decided on Wednesday that petitioner Ekeke had not provided sufficient evidence to support his claim that there was significant “non compliance” with electoral regulations during the election.
A further decision made by the tribunal stated that Mr. Okeke Adiele, the initial petitioner, did not run in the election and did not have the legal standing to challenge the outcome.

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The petitioner was dismissed for lack of merit by the tribunal, which further stated that the petitioner was unable to meet the burden of proof for “non compliance.”

Chidozie Ogunji, Obianyi’s primary attorney, praised the tribunal’s ruling in response to the verdict, claiming that justice had been served in this context.

As for Obianyi, he responded by saying he was happy that his mandate, which he had won by voting, held.

In the 2023 Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) Abia State House Assembly primary election in the Ukwa-East State constituency, Mr. Adiele Ekeke, a Commissioner with the Abia State Oil Producing Areas Development Commission (ASOPADEC), ran under the name Mr. Okeke Adiele throughout his petition filing.

The Labour Party’s Lamidi Apapa faction has recommended the party’s 2023 presidential candidate, Peter Obi, to seek another political platform to pursue its presidential dream ahead of the 2027 polls.

The Apapa group, whose legitimacy was just confirmed by the Edo Division of the Court of Appeal, said that it had begun looking for a new presidential candidate ahead of the 2027 election.

Abayomi Arabambi, the faction’s spokesman, confirmed this in an exclusive interview on Wednesday.

Arambambi spoke against the backdrop of Obi’s appeal filed at the Supreme Court on Tuesday to dispute the ruling of the Presidential Election Petitions Court, which recognised President Bola Tinubu as the victor of the 2023 presidential election.
The Apapa-led LP had distanced itself from Obi and the Julius Abure faction’s determination to contest Tinubu’s victory in court.

On August 14, the Edo division of the Court of Appeal pronounced Apapa to be the genuine National Chairman of the Labour Party.

Arabambi told our correspondent on Wednesday that Obi should not waste his time appealing Tinubu’s Supreme Court victory.

Obi definitely lost the election, he claims, because to his alleged misuse of human resources.

“My advice is for him (Obi) to go and start planning for 2027,” Arabambi added. But it must be in another party, not the LP. We will not tolerate such scum in 2027. As far as we are concerned, we will hunt for a new candidate.

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“Obi is free to run for APGA again, not Labour Party.” We don’t want to keep appeasing a character who believes no one, other than himself, has anything upstairs. He is not an effective human resource manager. That was why he lost so badly.

“Let me ask Obi who is accusing President Bola Tinubu of certificate fraud this question.” Obi claimed to have a B.Sc. Did he include the B.Sc in his application? Wasn’t that the school diploma he scribbled there? Why is he concealing his B.Sc? That’s because he knew they might summon the vice chancellor or the registrar to establish its validity.”

Yunusa Tanko, spokeswoman for the Obi-Datti Presidential Campaign Council, downplayed Arabambi’s warning, saying, “They (the Apapa faction) do not own Labour Party.” That’s why I don’t want to argue with them. There’s no need to pay attention to these people.”

Kehinde Edun, the LP’s National Legal Adviser, also chastised the Apapa faction, claiming that the Independent National Electoral Commission recognised the Abure faction.

“Do they have authority over the party?” he asked. They are party members who have been suspended. So, how do they decide who will be the flag bearer? These people have resorted to comedy.

“INEC has the statutory authority to monitor and keep records of political party activities.” So, who are they going to propose the candidate to? It is the same INEC, and the election umpire can only accept nominations from the party’s recognised National Executive Committee. The national chairman must also nominate any candidate.

“As of today, the recognised leadership of the party is the one led by Abure, not Apapa or whatever they call themselves.” Nothing they say moves us. They’re just impersonators and comedians pretending to be something they’re not. We know they’ll soon run out of steam. Nigerians no longer take them seriously because they can see through their games.”

After the state’s Governorship Election Petitions Tribunal dismissed New Nigerian People’s Party governor Abba Kabir Yusuf, the Kano State administration on Wednesday imposed a 24-hour curfew to prevent a breakdown in law and order.

The All Progressives Congress candidate, Nasir Gawuna, was declared the winner of the state’s March 2023 gubernatorial election by the three-member election tribunal presided over by Justice Oluyemi Akintan-Osadebay. This led to heightened security throughout Kano’s metropolis on Wednesday.

The curfew order was verified by Mohammed Gumel, the state commissioner of police, who said in a statement that it was in place from Wednesday at 6 p.m. until Thursday at 6 p.m. (today).

Gumel threatened to arrest those who disobeyed the order and subject them to the full force of the law, vowing to enforce strict adherence to it.
“The state government has communicated a 24-hour curfew order via letter with reference no: K/SEC/H/435/T.1/153 dated September 20, 2023,” he stated. The curfew will be in place from Wednesday, September 20, 2023, at 6 p.m., to Thursday, September 21, 2023, at 6 p.m.

“The Kano State Police Command has mapped out strategies in that direction and called on the good people of the state to give the necessary confidence and support, in light of the Nigeria Police Force’s constitutional mandate to preserve law and order in the state alongside the relevant internal security and law enforcement agencies.

Residents of Kano State are urged to be aware that, in order to guarantee the rigorous enforcement of the curfew, joint security forces have already been deployed to all corners of the state, including its entrances and exits. Violators will be taken into custody and exposed to the full force of the law.
Gumel continued, “Lastly, I would like to express my gratitude to all of the state’s peace-loving citizens and to encourage them to continue abiding by the law since it is in everyone’s best interests that we work together to uphold law and order in the state.

Concerned vendors hastily closed their doors in the main marketplaces and retail centres before to the curfew, as locals headed home after the tribunal declared Yusuf’s election as Kano State governor to be void.

The court directed that Gawuna receive a fresh certificate of return and ordered Yusuf to revoke his original one.

The panel has started using Zoom to broadcast the proceedings from the tribunal’s Miller Road location.

Weeks after the attorneys on both sides presented their closing arguments on August 21 on behalf of their clients, the decision was rendered.

The court declared the governor’s 165,663 votes to be void.

The judge declared that the 165,663 voters’ ballots were invalid since they were not signed and stamped.
The APC’s nominee received 890,705 votes, but the NNPP received 1,019,602 votes, according to the Independent National Electoral Commission. Consequently, the NNPP candidate prevailed by a margin of 128,897 votes.

To contest the results announced by the electoral board, the APC, however, submitted an appeal to the judiciary.

The tribunal stated in its ruling that the party’s internal affairs handle sponsorship and membership matters.

The NNPP’s interim National Chairman, Abba Ali, responded to the ruling by claiming that it was a rewrite of the 2019 governorship election, in which the tribunal had purportedly nullified the electorate’s mandate and given it to the loser.

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As it urged millions of its followers in the state and across to keep calm and keep the peace, the party said that the purportedly unfair ruling would not stand.

“The New Nigeria People’s Party receives the Kano State Election Petition Tribunal’s ruling on the March 18, 2023, governorship election with utter incredulity and disbelief,” Ali stated.

“With regret, the NNPP remembers that this tribunal has merely reversed the will of the people and granted election results to the losing candidates, thereby reproducing the unholy script of 2019.”

“The reported judgement voids our governorship candidate, Engineer Abba Kabir Yusuf, who boldly gave the election to APC candidate Nasiru Gawuna, despite it being a free, credible, and widely recognised fair election.”

Claiming that the tribunal arbitrarily subtracted Yusuf’s votes by 165,663 and gave them to the APC candidate, it labelled the decision as absurd and a miscarriage of justice.

The tribunal’s ruling is a slap in the face of constitutionalism and the rule of law, and it may further erode public trust in the legal system. The party declared, “The NNPP will appeal this egregiously unfair judgement.”

Bashir Wada, the NNPP’s attorney, announced that his clients would file an appeal of the tribunal’s decision.

“The tribunal has delivered its own judgement. We will consult with our clients, and I can assure you that we will appeal against this judgement because we felt it did not reflect the fairness of the situation. I can assure you that this decision will be overturned on appeal,” he said.

The Osun State tribunal’s ruling, which is nearly identical to this one in that it permits the tribunal to review a document that was brought before it even in the absence of proof, is not new. By God’s grace, I can guarantee that the Court of Appeal will not consider this ruling.

The NNPP Presidential Campaign Council’s spokesperson, Ladipo Johnson, added that the party would file an appeal of the decision.