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Adeleke vs Oyetola: Appeal Court Reserves Judgment in Osun Governorship Debacle

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The Court of Appeal, on Monday, reserved judgment in the appeal filed by Osun State governor, Ademola Adeleke, seeking to upturn the decision of the petition tribunal, which earlier nullified his victory in the governorship election.

Judgment in the matter will be given at a later date as a three-member panel led by Justice Mohammed Shuaibu takes the arguments and adopts the briefs of all parties in the suit.

During proceedings on Monday, counsel for Adeleke, Onyechi Ikpeazu (SAN) noted that a member of the panel, who is also a chief magistrate, did not give her opinion during the judgment delivery. Rather, she only signed her signature, arguing that the constitution mandates her to state her views in the suit.

Mr. Lateef Fagbemi, counsel for Oyetola, however, sumitted that merely signing the judgment, and not making any comment does not invalidate the judgment.

He noted that the case of over voting exceeded 6 polling units as claimed by the Appellant, adding that the anomaly was experienced in 744 polling units across the State.

Fagbemi further stressed that the findings of over voting were obtained from the back end server of INEC.

In their defence, however, Onyechi Ikpeazu argued that results stored in the backend server, are inconsistent and unreliable as they can be affected by internet connectivity and battery life of the BVAS used to upload the result.

These two factors according to him can affect the upload.

Adeleke’s counsel also stated that he conducted a physical examination on the BVAS, and it showed that over voting occurred in just six polling units, and not 744 as claimed by counsel for Oyetola.

Over-voting debate

Senator Adeleke who is candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party had won the said election held on July 16, 2022, the result which was nullified on the grounds of over-voting.

Adeleke had in February, appealed the judgement of the Osun State Governorship Tribunal which nullified his election.

The tribunal ruled in favour of former Governor Gboyega Oyetola. While delivering the judgment, two out of the three-member panel of the tribunal held that Oyetola proved that there was over-voting in some of the polling units.

But Adeleke rejected the ruling and described it as a “miscarriage of justice”.

Weeks later, the governor filed an appeal before the Akure division of the Court of Appeal.

In the 31 grounds of appeal filed on Wednesday, Adeleke prayed the court for “an order setting aside the whole decision of the tribunal”.

The governor equally sought “an order striking out the petition for want of competence and jurisdiction or in the alternative, an order dismissing the petition on the merit”.

“The second respondent cannot ‘go lo lo lo lo’ and ‘buga won’ as the duly elected governor of Osun State,” the governor said.

“The tribunal, in its judgment, erred in law and displayed bias against the appellant when it made reference to the appellant’s dance at his inauguration as governor of Osun State, which was never an issue before the lower tribunal,” Adeleke noted.

“By referring to the appellant’s personal eccentricity for dancing, the lower tribunal derided and mocked him in a manner suggesting that it was biased against him.

“The appearance of bias manifests in the reference to the Appellant’s proclivity for dancing and particularly the Buga song, has rendered the decision of the lower tribunal a nullity.

“The tribunal in its judgment erred in law in returning the 1st respondent as the duly elected candidate without due regard to the enormity of the voters in the units where the results were cancelled for over-voting.”

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Botched Game: CAF Punishes Libya, Awards Three Points, Three Goals to Nigeria

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The Confederation of African Football (CAF) has awarded three points, and three goals to Nigeria for the missed Libya game.

The development comes after the CAF president, Patrice Motsepe, said a thorough probe was ongoing following the recent controversy surrounding Nigeria’s Africa Cup of Nations qualifier against Libya.

Motsepe had maintained that the continental body would not tolerate any lack of sportsmanship and unfair treatment in African football.

However, in the latest development on Saturday, a statement signed by CAF’s Chairperson of CAF Disciplinary Board, Ousmane Kane said the decision to award Nigeria the points was taken after findings by the disciplinary committee it set up to look into the matter, found Libya guilty of the inhumane treatment meted out to the Nigerian senior men’s football team.

 

 

 

The 5-man disciplinary committee consist of; Mr. Ousmane Kane (Senegal) Chairperson, Ms. Njeri Onyango (Kenya) Vice-Chairperson, Mr. Felix Golbassia (Tchad) Member, Mr. Patrick Shale (Lesotho) Member, and Mr. Norman Arendse (South Africa) Member.

CAF said the disciplinary board decided that; “The Libya Football Federation is found to have breached Article 31 of the African, Cup of Nations Regulations as well as Articles 82 and 151 of the CAF Disciplinary Code, and that the match No.87 Libya v. Nigeria of the CAF African Cup of Nations Qualifiers 2025 (scheduled to be played on 15 October 2024 in Benghazi) is declared lost by forfeit by Libya (by a score of 3-0).”

Following the conclusion of the board’s findings, CAF also ordered the Libya Football Federation to pay a fine of USD 50,000 within 60 days of notification of the present decision.

The players and officials were stranded for hours at a Libyan airport and denied access to food and the internet as they prepared to honour their 2025 Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) qualifier with the Mediterranean Knights.

It took diplomatic efforts and social media callouts for the team to be cleared to finally leave Libya.

With the CAF decision, Nigeria is now poised to qualify for the 2025 Africa Cup of Nations, with two matches to spare.

The Eagles are now on 10 points from four matches, four points better than second-placed Benin Republic, while Rwanda have five points. Bottom-placed Libya have only one point and are out of the running for qualification.

Victory or draw against the Cheetahs of Benin Republic in Abidjan on Thursday, 14th November (a Matchday 5 encounter) will land the Super Eagles a ticket to the finals in Morocco, December 2025/January 2026.

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Tinubu Appoints Bianca Ojukwu in New Cabinet Reshuffle, Sacks Five Ministers

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President Bola Tinubu has dismissed five ministers from his cabinet and appointed seven new ones as part of a cabinet reshuffle.

The President re-assigned 10 ministers to new portfolios and nominated seven new ministers for Senate confirmation.  

He dismissed Uju-Ken Ohanenye as Minister of Women Affairs, Lola Ade-John as Minister of Tourism, Tahir Mamman as Minister of Education, Abdullahi Gwarzo as Minister of State for Housing and Urban Development, and Jamila Ibrahim as Minister of Youth Development. 

Among the nominees, Tinubu selected Bianca Odumegwu-Ojukwu as Minister of State for Foreign Affairs and Nentawe Yilwatda as Minister of Humanitarian Affairs and Poverty Reduction, marking the official end of suspended Betta Edu’s tenure. 

Other nominees include Maigari Dingyadi for Minister of Labour and Employment, Jumoke Oduwole for Minister of Industry, Idi Maiha for the newly established Ministry of Livestock Development, Yusuf Ata for Minister of State for Housing and Urban Development, and Suwaiba Ahmad for Minister of State for Education. 

“The appointment of Shehu Dikko as Chairman of the National Sports Commission.

“The appointment of Sunday Akin Dare as Special Adviser to the President on Public Communication and Orientation working from the Ministry of Information and National Orientation,” the President said.

The President appreciated the outgoing members of the Federal Executive Council for their service to the nation while wishing them the best in their future endeavours. 

He then charged the newly appointed ministers and their reassigned colleagues to see their appointment as a call to serve the nation. 

Source: Nairametrics

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FG Drops Money Laundering Charges Against Binance Boss, Gambaryan

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The Federal Government on Wednesday withdrew the money laundering charges preferred against Binance Holdings Limited executive, Tigran Gambaryan.

Binance, its U.S. head of financial crime compliance, Gambaryan, and the exchange British-Kenyan regional manager for Africa, Nadeem Anjarwalla, were facing money laundering charges to the tune of $35 million brought against them by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission.

Gambaryan and Anjarwalla were initially both detained in the custody of the office of the National Security Adviser.

Anjarwalla, however, fled lawful custody on March 22, 2024, while his counterpart, Gambaryan, was arraigned in April.

Following his arraignment, the court ordered his remand to Kuje Correctional Facility.

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