Headlines
Order Army to Produce Your Certificates if they Exist, Atiku Lashes Out at Buhari
The Presidential candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party in the 2019 elections, Alhaji Atiku Abubakar, have faulted President Muhammadu Buhari for saying his academic certificates are with the Nigerian Army.
Replying to Buhari’s response to their petition filed before the Election Petitions Tribunal, they said if it was true that the certificates existed, Buhari as the Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces could order the army to produce them.
Atiku said he attached his academic certificates to the Form CF001 he submitted to the Independent National Electoral Commission.
In a joint petition filed on March 18, the former Vice-President and his party urged the tribunal to declare them the authentic winner of the February 23 presidential election, insisting Buhari did not possess the educational qualifications he claimed to have in his INEC Form CF001.
They said in the reply filed on April 15 by their legal team, led by Dr Livy Uzoukwu (SAN), that having not been able to attach his academic certificates to INEC Form CF001, Buhari had falsely claimed that his certificates were in the custody of the Nigerian Army.
The joint reply filed by Atiku and the PDP read in part, “In further response to paragraph 381(iv) of the 2nd respondent’s reply, aver that the petitioners have no knowledge of any certificates or alleged qualifications issued to the 2nd respondent (Buhari), but contend that 2nd respondent falsely represented that his certificates are in the custody of the Nigerian Army when the 2nd respondent by his own admission is the Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces of Nigeria.
“In further response to paragraph 381(iv) of the 2nd respondent’s reply, the petitioners aver that the 2nd respondent as Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces of Nigeria could easily order the Army Secretary to produce the certificates allegedly submitted if they actually exist.
“Contrary to paragraph 381(i-iv) of the 2nd respondent’s reply, the petitioners aver that the 2nd respondent does not possess the educational qualification he claimed to have in his INEC Form CF001 submitted to the 1st respondent (INEC) having not been attached as required.”
The petitioners also stated that “the purported training and courses”, which Buhari claimed placed him “head and shoulders above” Atiku regarding educational qualifications to contest the presidential election, “did not culminate in the issuance of any certificates he claimed in his INEC Form CF001”.
They also described Buhari’s claim of being head and shoulders above Atiku as “erroneous”.
Responding to Buhari’s allegation that Atiku didn’t have the statutory educational qualifications to contest the polls, the petitioners stated that the ex-VP attached his educational qualifications to his Form CF001 submitted to INEC.
Insisting Atiku was qualified to contest election for the office, the petitioners stated that Buhari was unable to present any certificates because he did not possess any “as he falsely claimed”.
They stated, “In reply to paragraph 383 of the 2nd respondent’s reply, the petitioners aver that the 1st petitioner (Atiku) is eminently qualified to contest election to the office of the President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, and had indeed attached evidence of his educational qualifications to his INEC Form CF001 submitted to the 1st respondent, unlike the 2nd respondent (Buhari) who did not attach evidence of the qualifications he claimed in his INEC Form CF001 because he does not possess them as he falsely claimed.”
INEC, Buhari, and the All Progressives Congress (Buhari’s party) are the 1st to the 3rd respondents to the petition.
No date has been fixed for the hearing of the petition by the tribunal.
The Punch
President Donald Trump said on Sunday that he has told US negotiators “not to rush into a deal” with Iran, amid anticipation — and mounting criticism — of an agreement to end the war in the Middle East.
“The negotiations are proceeding in an orderly and constructive manner, and I have informed my representatives not to rush into a deal in that time is on our side,” Trump wrote on his Truth Social account.
“The Blockade will remain in full force and effect until an agreement is reached, certified, and signed.”
The United States has imposed a blockade of Iranian ports since April 13 after Tehran virtually halted traffic through the economically vital Strait of Hormuz in response to the US-Israeli attacks on Iran that began February 28.
“Both sides must take their time and get it right,” Trump wrote in the same Truth Social post, while slamming the 2015 nuclear deal that former president Barack Obama agreed with Iran.
“Our relationship with Iran is becoming a much more professional and productive one. They must understand, however, that they cannot develop or procure a Nuclear Weapon or Bomb,” Trump wrote.
While the White House has not released aspects of the deal, Iran Foreign Ministry spokesman Esmaeil Baqaei said Saturday on state television that the two sides were nearing a “a memorandum of understanding, a kind of framework agreement composed of 14 clauses,” in “a trend toward rapprochement.”
Several voices, notably among Republican lawmakers close to Trump, expressed fears of an agreement favorable to Iran as supposed aspects of the deal that began to leak.
According to news outlet Axios, a possible agreement would extend the current ceasefire by 60 days, during which the Strait of Hormuz would be reopened, Iran would freely sell oil, and negotiations would be held on Iran’s nuclear program.
The top Republican senator overseeing defense policy, Roger Wicker, said that agreeing to a “rumored 60-day ceasefire” with Iran would mean, “everything accomplished by Operation Epic Fury would be for naught!”
Fellow Republican senators Ted Cruz and Lindsey Graham also voiced opposition to Iran soon gaining benefits such as the ability to sell its oil freely.
“If the result of all that is to be an Iranian regime — still run by Islamists who chant ‘death to America’ — now receiving billions of dollars, being able to enrich uranium & develop nuclear weapons, and having effective control over the Strait of Hormuz, then that outcome would be a disastrous mistake,” Cruz, a Republican from Texas, wrote on X.
Thom Tillis, a Republican senator from North Carolina, said the deal “doesn’t make sense to me.”
“We were told about 11 weeks ago by (Secretary of Defense Pete) Hegseth and the Department of Defense that they had obliterated Iran’s defenses, and it was just a matter of time before we had the nuclear material. Now we’re talking about a posture where we may accept the nuclear material remaining in Iran. How does that make sense at all?” Tillis said on CNN’s “State of the Union” morning program.
AFP
Adebayo Adelabu, one of the aspirants for the All Progressives Congress (APC) ticket in Oyo State, has alleged irregularities in the party’s governorship primary election held on Thursday.
Adelabu, who expressed dissatisfaction over the conduct of the exercise, stated that the primary was characterized by misconduct ranging from disenfranchisement of his supporters in some wards and the commencement of election process earlier than scheduled.
Speaking after the conclusion of the primary election at IMG School, Ward 9, Ibadan South-East Local Government Area, the immediate past Minister of Power alleged that the process was neither free, fair nor credible.
He said: “Before our people started getting to their various wards, they have already conducted the election and they wrote the figures they want as results.
“In some wards, our people were prevented from voting. They were intimidated. They were chased away violently. And in some wards, voting did not take place at all.
“All this kind of misconduct is not good at this stage of our democracy in Nigeria, and something has to be done about it.”
Adelabu, therefore, vowed to come up with serious petitions against all the irregularities not just in Ibadan, but across all the five geopolitical zones in Oyo State.
“Also, conduct of many party executives is uncalled for, a lot of people bought forms and they were cleared. And they decided to conduct affirmation of a particular candidate in some wards.
“There was nothing like consensus arrangement. It was just a figment of their weird imagination. The instruction we got from Abuja was that we should all carry out free, fair, and transparent direct primary election where every aspirant will be given a level playing ground and the election will be conducted peacefully.
“Where did they get the idea of consensus candidates? And this is what happened in a lot of the wards. And it didn’t go down well with us. “We don’t want that. We are going to assess the gravity of this gross misconduct and the potential impact on the overall result of this election.
“I will put a petition forward to the appropriate authorities so that it can be deeply investigated and there must be consequences to this. The people who perpetrated this misconduct must be identified and punished. And the aspirants involved also need to be suspended because this is not good for us.
“Democracy is the government of the people by the people and for the people where nobody should be disenfranchised. Once you are a party member, you should have that freedom, that authority to pick an aspirant of your choice as the flag bearer of the party.
“This is Ibadan, this is Oyo State and this the centre of politics in the southwest. And we should be able to lay good examples and the process should produce a candidate that won transparently, freely and fairly,” he said.
Meanwhile, at Ward 9, Ibadan South-East Local Government, Adelabu, polled 430 to defeat his closest rival, Senator Sharafadeen Alli, who had 3 votes.
Al Nassr captain, Cristiano Ronaldo, has finally won the Saudi Pro League title.
They were confirmed champions on Thursday, thanks to a 4-2 drubbing of relegation battlers, Damac.
The title race had gone down to the final day after Al-Nassr dramatically dropped points against Al-Hilal the previous week.
Jorge Jesus’ side knew there could be no mistakes against a Damac side fighting for survival at the other end of the table.
Ronaldo was on the scoresheet, as his brace helped Al Nassr secure the title ahead of rivals Al Hilal.
