Headlines
Kogi SDP Chair Manhandled, Gov Candidate Barred as INEC, Stakeholders’ Meeting Turns Violent
The meeting called by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) in Lokoja, Kogi State, to sensitise stakeholders on preparation for the November 16 governorship election, turned violent as suspected political thugs invaded the meeting causing serious uproar.
According to a witness, the problem started when the candidate of the Social Democratic Party (SDP), Natasha Akpoti, who was earlier prevented by security agents from gaining access to the venue of the meeting, insisted on attending the meeting.
Efforts by her security details to persuade her to leave the venue for peace to reign proved abortive.
The SDP chairman in the state, Mouktar Atimah, who wanted to intervene, was beaten to a pulp in the full glare of security operatives.
At the meeting was Inspector General of Police (IGP), Mohammed Adamu; INEC chairman, Prof. Mahmood Yakubu; and the Director-General of National Youth Service Corps (NYSC), Brig-Gen. Shuaibu Ibrahim.
The witness added the police released tear gas to disperse the surging crowd.
Meanwhile, the Police Service Commission (PSC) had said that it would deploy 45 of its personnel to monitor police conduct in the November 16 elections in Kogi and Bayelsa states.
Head, Press and Public Relations of the commission, Mr. Ikechukwu Ani, disclosed this yesterday in Abuja.
Ani stated that 20 of the personnel would be deployed to Bayelsa and 25 to Kogi to ensure that officers complied with the force’s rules of engagement.
He said cases of police misconduct that would arise from the exercise would be investigated, and any police officer found guilty would be punished accordingly.
Youth Initiative for Advocacy, Growth and Advancement (YIAGA) Africa has urged INEC to design a plan for flooded areas to avoid disenfranchisement of eligible voters in the Kogi and Bayelsa elections.
The Executive Director, YIAGA Africa, Samson Itodo, made this known in the organisation’s third Kogi and Bayelsa pre-election reports in Abuja.
Itodo said YIAGA Africa sent out ‘Watching The Vote (WTV)’ observers to Kogi and Bayelsa to monitor the pre-election environment and to look at key issues facing the states and INEC, among others.
He disclosed that some things observed were indicators of violence, violation of electoral codes, thuggery, selling and buying of voter cards, flooded areas, usage of weapons and so on.
Kogi State government has declared Friday, November 15, as public holiday for all schools in the state.
A statement signed by the Permanent Secretary of the Ministry of Education, Science and Technology, Eric Aina, directed all public and private schools to have a break on November 15.
According to Aina, the break was to ensure that all students and pupils are united with their families during the election, and that schools would resume academic activities on Monday, November 18.
Ohanaeze Ndigbo Youth Council (OYC) has called on Ndigbo in Bayelsa and Kogi to use their Permanent Voter’s Cards (PVCs) wisely by voting against candidates who will likely not protect their interests.
In a statement in Abakaliki, Ebonyi State, yesterday, the national president of OYC, Okechukwu Isiguzoro, said that body had observed that most government policies and procedures outside Igboland had continued to make the Igbo face critical challenges and untold hardship.
He noted that aside the host community, the Igbo were the most populous in any state, adding that their input during election matter.
The Guardian
The Presidency has dismissed claims that Vice President Kashim Shettima’s recent comments were directed at the political situation in Rivers State or President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s constitutional decisions on the matter.
In a statement on Friday by the Senior Special Assistant to the President on Media and Communications (Office of the Vice President), Stanley Nkwocha, the Presidency described the reports as a “gross misrepresentation.”
The statement clarified that Vice President Shettima’s remarks at the public presentation of a book by former Attorney General of the Federation, Mohammed Bello Adoke (SAN), were misconstrued by some online platforms and individuals.
“These reports have distorted the Vice President’s comments in pursuit of a mischievous agenda,” it stated.
“They twisted his account of how the administration of former President Jonathan considered removing him as Borno Governor during the insurgency to falsely link it with current events in Rivers State.”
The Vice President, who spoke at the launch of OPL 245: The Inside Story of the $1.3 Billion Oil Block in Abuja on Thursday, was said to have referenced the past solely to commend Adoke’s professionalism while in office, and to reflect on Nigeria’s constitutional evolution regarding federal and state relations.
“For the avoidance of doubt, President Tinubu did not remove Governor Fubara from office. The constitutional measure implemented was a suspension, not an outright removal.
“This action was taken in response to the grave political crisis in Rivers State at the time, with the governor facing a looming impeachment and the State Assembly complex under demolition,” Nkwocha clarified.
The Presidency insisted that the action taken by President Tinubu in declaring a state of emergency and suspending the Governor was fully in line with Section 305 of the 1999 Constitution (as amended), which authorises such measures when there is a breakdown of public order requiring extraordinary intervention.
According to the statement, the President’s proclamation invoking Section 305(2) was subsequently ratified by an overwhelming bipartisan majority in the National Assembly, confirming the legitimacy and constitutional propriety of the decision.
“The action of President Tinubu in suspending Mr. Fubara and others from exercising the functions of office averted the governor’s outright removal. To conflate suspension with removal is misleading,” the statement further noted.
Nkwocha also stressed that Vice President Shettima’s comments were delivered extemporaneously and intended to underline the importance of public accountability and historical documentation.
He referenced the Vice President’s mention of past public servants, including Adoke and former Speaker Aminu Waziri Tambuwal, to illustrate principled leadership.
“His remarks were not in any way a criticism of President Tinubu’s actions, which the Vice President and the entire administration fully support and stand by without reservation,” the spokesman stated.
The Vice President, the statement added, remains in “loyal concert” with President Tinubu and is committed to implementing all constitutional measures necessary to safeguard democracy and uphold order across the country.
Concluding, the Presidency called on media organisations and political actors to desist from misrepresenting public remarks for sensational or partisan purposes.
“We urge media organisations and political actors to desist from the destructive practice of wrenching statements from context in order to fabricate nonexistent conflicts,” Nkwocha said.
Headlines
Akpabio Relieves Natasha of Committee Chairmanship Position, Appoints Akwa Ibom Senator As Replacement
Senate President, Godswill Akpabio, has replaced suspended Senator Natasha Akpoti-Uduaghan, as the Chairman, Senate Committee on Diaspora/Non-Governmental Organisations.
In her place, Akpabio named Senator Bassey Aniekun Etim (Akwa Ibom -East).
The Senate President, who made the announcement on the floor in Abuja on Thursday, did not give any reasons.
The committee position had remained vacant since March when the Senate suspended the Kogi-Central Senatorial District lawmaker for six months for flouting the Senate’s rule on the seating arrangement and seat allocation.
The suspended lawmaker, at a point, chaired the Senate Committee on Local Content before Akpabio reassigned her to the Committee on Diaspora/NGO, shortly before she ran into trouble with the Senate over her conduct on seat allocation.
The Supreme Court has affirmed the 2024 governorship election victory of Governor Monday Okpebholo of the All Progressives Congress (APC), dismissing the appeal filed by the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) candidate, Asuerinme Ighodalo.
In a unanimous decision by a five-member panel led by Justice Mohammed Garba, the apex court ruled that the appeal lacked merit. It upheld the earlier judgments of the Court of Appeal and the Edo State Governorship Election Petition Tribunal, which had both declared Okpebholo the validly elected governor.
