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Another Judge Withdraws from Okorocha’s Certificate of Return Suit
The second judge has withdrawn from a suit filed by the Imo State Governor, Rochas Okorocha, seeking an order compelling the Independent National Electoral Commission to issue him a certificate of return as the senator-elect for Imo West.
The development came barely a week after the first judge, Justice Taiwo Taiwo, of the Federal High Court in Abuja, withdrew from the case.
The PUNCH gathered on Monday that after Justice Taiwo withdrew from the case on April 10, it was reassigned to Justice Okon Abang also of the Federal High Court in Abuja.
Justice Abang was said to have on April 11 fixed April 18 for hearing in the suit.
But on the date fixed for the hearing, Justice Abang announced his decision to withdraw from the suit.
His decision was anchored on Okorocha’s letter to the Chief Judge of the Federal High Court, Justice Adamu Abdu-Kafarati, asking for the transfer of the case to another judge.
The governor, in the letter, was said to have sought the transfer of the case to another judge because opponents in the case were jubiliating that Justice Abang would dismiss the case.
The judge, upon seeing the letter in the file, immediately informed parties of his withdrawal from the suit.
Justice Taiwo had earlier withdrawn from the suit following allegations of bias levelled against him by two parties to the suit.
INEC had refused to certificate of return to Okorocha on the basis that the Returning Officer for the February 23 election, Prof Francis Ibeawuchi, said he declared the outgoing governor winner of the senatorial election under duress.
Okorocha had subsequently filed the suit, challenging INEC’s decision to withhold the certificate of return due to him as the winner of the election.
But Justice Taiwo, who had been presiding over the matter, announced his decision to withdraw from the case and ordered that the case file be returned to Justice Abdul-Kafarati, for reassignment to another judge.
The judge said he took the decision following allegations of bias levelled against him by Okorocha’s opponents in the February 23, 2019 election, Jones Onyeriri of the Peoples Democratic Party and Senator Osita Izunaso of the All Progressive Grand Alliance.
Onyeriri sent a petition dated April 8, 2019, to the chief judge, demanding that the case file be retrieved from Justice Taiwo and re-assigned to another judge of the court.
In an affidavit deposed to on his behalf by a lawyer, Chijioke Nzekwe, Onyeriri stated that Justice Taiwo on April 5, 2019, had made a bias comment in favour of the plaintiff, Okorocha, when the judge allegedly told INEC’s lawyer, Wendy Kuku, that the commission was responsible for the problems arising from the election.
The affidavit added that the judge had pre-judged the notices of preliminary objection filed by the second and third defendants (INEC and Onyeriri) when he allegedly said he had read through the provisions of the Electoral Act, 2010 (as amended) and found nothing therein that robbed him of the jurisdiction to hear his suit.
Izunaso also filed an application dated April 8, 2019 before the same judge, asking Justice Taiwo to disqualify himself from further handling the matter and return it to the Chief Judge for re-assignment to another judge.
The Punch
The Lagos State Commissioner of Police, Moshood Jimoh, has explained why security details attached to the Speaker of the Lagos State House of Assembly, Mojisola Meranda, were withdrawn, noting that the aides have since been restored.
The Lagos Police boss, while confirming the withdrawal of four policemen attached to Meranda, blamed the withdrawal on the audit of all policemen attached to VIPs in the state.
He also claimed that it was not Meranda’s security aides who were withdrawn and that those of other VIPs were also withdrawn during the audit.
CP Jimoh also insisted that the audit is not peculiar to the Lagos State Police Command, adding that it also happened in other states of the country.
He said, “Lagos with a population of about 20 million persons have 18,000 police personnel. This is grossly inadequate for a state like Lagos which is centre of excellence.
“The audit will help us to know those on illegal duty, those who are where they are not supposed to be. Once the audit is completed, we start to reassign them to Divisions and Post to help in policing the state effectively.”
Continuing, the CP added that the audit is a statutory laid-down procedure of the police, which is not limited to the state command alone.
“Periodic audit of police personnel attached to eminent personalities and groups is a police statutory laid down procedure which is not limited to Lagos State Police Command alone, this is to ensure that the police personnel are accounted for including their firearms and other police crime fighting equipment in their possession.
“To further ensure that they are on their duty posts and the firearms and equipment under their custody is not misused. As we speak, other police state commands in the Country are carrying out similar audits of Police personnel hitch-free and without any problem.
“The exercise will equally avail the Command the opportunity to discover where police personnel are posted without approval and or those that are on illegal duties and unapproved duty posts, so that we can withdraw those on unapproved duty posts, those with invalid approval and those on illegal duty and redeploy them to Police Posts, Stations, Divisions and Area Commands to provide security and safety for all Lagosians.
“It is important to underscore the facts that Lagos State, the Centre of Excellence with more than Twenty million population but with a strength of police personnel of less than 18,000 in total need more personnel to be at the police posts, police stations, divisions for the safety and adequate protection of lives and property of everyone in Lagos State.
“The ongoing police personnel audit in the Lagos State Command is done in absolutely public interest and not with any other considerations, except for the safety of all in the State. As I speak with you, the audit of the police personnel attached to Hon. Mojisola Meranda has been completed and the four armed personnel attached to her from the Lagos State Police Command have been returned back to her for her protection.
“It is pertinent to also state that the ongoing police personnel audit has been on for several days now and prominent personalities and individuals have been complying with the process. The exercise once again is not aimed or targeted at any individual,” the CP added.
“However, for those whose police personnel are still undergoing the audit process with the Command, the outcome of the audit will enable the next line of action to be taken. Let me sound a note of warning that prominent persons/individuals without valid approval, Police deployment to them will be withdrawn throughout the State.
“The Special Protection Units Department at the Force Headquarters have been mandated to provide security coverage for every Nigerian needing police protection in the country, and will henceforth provide deployment of police personnel for guard duties and personnel protection, will be centrally done throughout the country at the Force Headquarters,” the Lagos CP added.
Security aides attached to the Speaker of the Lagos State House of Assembly, Hon Mojisola Meranda, has allegedly been withdrawn while it was also alleged that the security aides of the embattled and impeached Speaker, Hon Mudashiru Obasa, has been restored.
The move, according to source, is part of the pressure being mounted on Meranda to resign her speakership position.
A reports by The Punch onThursday said security details attached to the speaker including police officers have been withdrawn.
On online platform, The Whistler, reported seeing videos of Meranda going into the assembly for official assignment without any of her security aides, except civilian aides.
The paper added that the identity of whoever authorised the withdrawn is still unknown just as a source close to the Speaker confirmed the development.
“The source told the paper, ‘All the Speaker’s security aides have been withdrawn. All the security aides attached to the House of Assembly have also been withdrawn.’
The paper further noted as follows:
The source further lamented that, “the speaker is now vulnerable.”
The removal of Meranda may not be unconnected to the move by a mediating team including Chief Bisi Akande and Aremo Olusegun Osoba, former governors of Osun and Ogun states respectively to ease the embattled speaker out of office and restore normalcy in the assembly which is sharply divided over the influence of the state governor, Babajide Sanwo-Olu and President Bola Tinubu.
The meditating panel reportedly met last Sunday with key stakeholders at the House including members of the Governance Advisory Council at the Governor’s Lodge in Marina in their bid to resolve the political impasse.
Various reports from the meeting said the panel recommended the resignation of Mudashiru Obasa and that Meranda should also step down for a new lawmaker from Lagos West to take the mantle of the House leadership.
Meanwhile, the Obasa camp confirmed that all his aides have now been restored.
“They have restored all Obasa’s security aides as of this morning,” the source said.
Special Adviser to President Bola Tinubu on Information and Strategy, Bayo Onanuga, has said he believes the former governor of Kaduna State, Nasir El-Rufai, is hurt because he was blocked from being a minister in Tinubu’s cabinet.
El-Rufai, who has been critical of Tinubu’s government in recent times, claimed on Monday night during an interview on Arise TV that Tinubu, not the National Assembly, blocked his nomination as a minister after initially asking him to be part of the government.
“The National Assembly had nothing to do with it, the president didn’t want me in his cabinet,” El-Rufai had said.
Reacting to his statement on Tuesday during an interview on Channels TV’s Sunrise Daily, Onanuga said:
“As a person, I think I will pity former governor of Kaduna State, Nasir El-Rufai. He feels hurt that he was not made a minister…I think it is time for him to move on.
“You cannot continue to behave like a child as if somebody stole your bread and things like that and then you’re crying over spilt milk?
“It’s natural for him to feel hurt, excluded and I think that as the president acknowledged in a recent birthday tribute to him, Nasir actually helped a lot in installing President Tinubu, and if he’s not there it doesn’t mean that he must bring down the roof.”
Onanuga stressed that the president has nothing against El-Rufai, reiterating that the ex-governor was only frustrated for not being part of the Federal government.
He said El-Rufai’s criticism of the Tinubu administration does not “reflect reality,” adding that the government inherited numerous problems but “things are getting better”.
