Television Nigerian

The Labour Party’s (LP) candidate for president in the most recent presidential election, Peter Obi, on Wednesday submitted the final, collated presidential election results that were used to declare Tinubu the election’s winner in a new attempt to support his request for the annulment of the election of President Bola Tinubu.

The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), President Bola Tinubu, Kashim Shetima, and the All Progressives Congress (APC), who are the four respondents in the petition, did not object to the final results being accepted by the Presidential Election Petition Court (PEPC).

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The four respondents did not object to declaring the crucial documents to have been read in open court, in addition to not objecting to the final presidential election results reported in form EC8DA.

The documents and a number of exhibits were submitted by Obi and the Labour Party LP through their attorney, Professor Paul Ananaba, a Senior Advocate of Nigeria, SAN, in order to support the petition contesting Tinubu’s election.

Surprisingly, the respondents accepted tendering the final result without raising any objections, even though they vehemently objected to the admission of collated election results from the ward, local government, and state levels.

The forms EC8D used by the electoral body, which contained the collated results for the 36 states and the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), were also offered and admitted as exhibits at the proceedings on Wednesday.

Obi, who was physically present in the courtroom to observe proceedings, continued to fight at the PEPC hearing on his petition against Tinubu and shifted his focus from ward-collated election results to local government election results and state-collated results before submitting the final result as exhibits in support of his petition.

Form EC8C, which was used by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) during the presidential election on February 25, contains the results that have been compiled at the local government levels.

The 13 states include Bayelsa, Benue, Cross River, Ebonyi, Edo, Lagos, Niger, and Ondo where the ward collated results were submitted and admitted as exhibits.

Oyo, Rivers, Sokoto, Ekiti, and Delta make up the remaining states.

Obi submitted compiled results for eight local government areas in Bayelsa, twenty-three in Benue, eighteen in Cross River, ten in Ebonyi, eighteen in Edo, twenty in Lagos, and twenty-five in Niger State.

18 are in Ondo, 33 are in Oyo, 23 are in Rivers, 23 are in Sokoto, 16 are in Ekiti, and 25 are in Delta, among others.

Even though INEC, Tinubu, Kashim Shetima, and the All Progressives Congress (APC), who are respondents in the petition, expressed their objections to the admission of the collated results as exhibits in favour of Obi and the Labour Party, Presiding Justice of the Court Justice Haruna Simon Tsammani accepted them as evidence.

The petition hearing will continue on June 8 according to court chairman Justice Haruna Simon Tsammani.

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Later, in a statement to reporters, Obi’s attorney, Professor Paul Ananaba, declared that his clients can now begin calling witnesses to testify in support of the petition.

According to the law professor, the witnesses will testify through the documents that have been admitted one at a time to show the court the locations of electoral fraud during the presidential election on February 25.

The support base of Tajudeen Abbas and Benjamin Kalu, the anointed candidates of the ruling All Progressives Congress, APC, for the positions of Speaker and Deputy Speaker, has been swelled with the endorsements and support of 106 out of 141 members-elect from the North-West and North-Central geo-political zones of the country. This comes just a few days before the inauguration of the 10th National Assembly.

While 32 of the 51 newly-elected representatives from the North-Central region and 72 of the 92 newly-elected lawmakers from the North-West zone gave their support to Abbas and Kalu, respectively.

The declaration of support took place during meetings that were held separately on Wednesday in Abuja by the members-elect for the North-West and the North-Central. These meetings involved all of the states on a zonal basis.

It is anticipated that those for the South-South and North-East zones will take place this coming Wednesday evening. On the other hand, those for the South-East and South-West zones will take place on Thursday.

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Ikenga Imo Ugochinyere, Communication Adviser to the Tajudeen-Ben Kalu Group, TBK, and lawmaker-elect for Ideato North/South Federal Constituency of Imo State, briefed journalists on the progress that has been made so far. He described the successes that have been recorded so far as a victory for the ongoing quest to build a stable, strong, united, harmonious, and all-inclusive parliament that will deliver on life-changing people’s

According to him, the massive support from all zones as well as ethnic and religious divides was clear evidence of members’ commitment to seeing Nigeria move forward. It was also an indication of a significant buy-in into the message that Abbas and Kalu were trying to convey, which was one of unity and competence rooted in inclusiveness and teamwork.

Ugochinyere cited the legislative competence and capacity of Abbas and Kalu, as well as their unceasing outreach to and door-to-door engagement with members-elect, as one of the reasons for the widespread acceptance.

He stated that the commitment of Abbas and Kalu to a people’s 10th National Assembly leadership was not in doubt, as shown by the readiness of the duo to carry every member along in the quest to deliver on the agenda for a people’s parliament, which will help in realising the Renewed Hope agenda of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu. He said that the commitment of Abbas and Kalu to a people’s 10th National Assembly leadership was not in doubt.

According to him, Speaker Abbas and Deputy Speaker Kalu’s team spirit and unity are the first of their kind in the race for leadership, with a Speaker and Deputy Speaker running together with a clear agenda for the members and the country. Abbas and Kalu are vying for the position of Speaker of the House of Representatives.

As a result, he urged other candidates to set aside their ambitions and lend their support to the duo in order to ensure that the 10th National Assembly is focused on serving the people.

He expressed optimism that Abbas and Kalu’s commitment will help deliver the Renewed Hope Agenda of President Tinubu and also ensure a working and independent parliament, which endeared them to the lawmakers-elect, who agree that the 10th NASS needs competent leadership with team spirit, unity, and inclusivity, all of which the duo represents. He expressed optimism that Abbas and Kalu’s commitment will help deliver the Renewed Hope Agenda of President Tinubu and also ensure a working and independent parliament.

“After Abbas and Kalu presented their roadmap to the newly elected lawmakers from the two regions, the newly elected lawmakers rose in their various zonal engagements with Abbas and Kalu and decided to vote for the pair in a landslide. They praised the legislative competence of Abbas and Kalu, which led to them moving over 100 bills that have already been signed into law, and they said that the 10th National Assembly could not miss such men with an iroko-style legislative capacity that was rooted in teamwork, inclusiveness, and humility.

“They appreciated Abbas and Kalu’s unrelenting engagement with lawmakers with opposing views that they reached out to, and extending hands of fellowship is something that is commendable in its own right. As a result of the avalanche of endorsements that have been coming in from all directions, the odds are in their favour when it comes to winning the election on June 13th.

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“At this time, 106 out of 141 lawmakers-elect from the North West and North Central zones have declared their support at the ongoing zonal caucuses meeting by Abass and Kalu. This breaks down as follows: 72 out of 92 lawmakers-elect from the North West zone, and 32 out of 51 lawmakers from the North Central zone.

“In the coming days, we are optimistic that more members-elect will declare their support for the duo,” he stated. “[T]here is a lot of work to be done.”

A misunderstanding that occurred between the former Interior Minister, Ogbeni Rauf Aregbesola, and his successor, Adegboyega Oyetola, while the latter was in office, has been attributed to the devil, according to the former Interior Minister.

Aregbesola, who spoke in the Yoruba language during a welcome rally organized by his supporters to welcome him back to the state at Freedom Park in Osogbo, said that the devil was successful in allowing animosity to thrive between them after the Supreme Court victory party in July 2019.

The former minister is reported to have credited President Bola Tinubu, who is said to have recognized and supported the former minister’s political aspirations beginning in 1999 in Lagos state, for his political successes.

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He stated that he was in the state to seek reconciliation and the development of the progressive tendency that already existed in the state. He asked for forgiveness from everyone who felt slighted by the events of the last four. He said that he was in the state to seek reconciliation and development.

According to him, the politics in this region of the world are all about animosity, but I’m not here today for any of that nonsense. We came here in an effort to make amends and ask for forgiveness. My successes during my time as governor were the result of teamwork, including contributions from individuals who are now considered to be our adversaries.

“In July 2019, after the victory at the Supreme Court, we were all gathered here in this location where we call on ourselves to be united. On that day, I announced that my service had come to an end and that I had passed the reins on to the individual whom I had chosen to succeed me. However, I cautioned that it was now up to my successor to be a good person and that I would serve as their godfather.

“However, my statement was taken out of context, and the devil ended up taking control, which resulted in a rift that lasted for four years. I did not ask for anything from my successor, so the fact that I was denied something does not even make sense to me. However, some people are just envious of our presence. In spite of all of these, I beg forgiveness from those individuals who have been hurt by the actions of some of our members.

“After this, I promise that I will never again beg anyone. It’s possible that they think we offended them, which is why we’re asking for forgiveness,” he said. “We didn’t offend anyone, and we don’t believe anyone offended us. However, it’s possible that they think we offended them.”

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In the meantime, residents of Ilesa and Osogbo were seen in a festive mood as they welcomed the former governor back into the state after the completion of his appointment.

After touring the palaces of the Owa-Obokun of Ijesaland, Oba Adekunle Aromolaran, and the Ataoja of Osogbo, Oba Jimoh Oyetunji, the duo, who were accompanied by his wife Sherifat, were visibly elated by the warm reception given to him by residents of the two major towns he had just visited.