Headlines
PEPT Announces September 16 for Judgment
The Presidential Election Petitions Tribunal (PEPT) may have finally fixed Saturday, September 16 as date for the much-awaited judgement on the petitions challenging the pronouncement of Bola Tinubu as winner of the February 25 presidential election by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC).
This is coming four weeks after the Tribunal reserved judgement.
A source disclosed to TheNiche early Monday morning that the five-member tribunal which sat at the Court of Appeal complex in Abuja from May 8 to August 1, has set September 16 as the judgment date.
Incidentally, that date is the deadline for the tribunal to deliver its judgment.
The Justice Haruna Simon Tsamani-led tribunal is expected to deliver judgement on the three petitions lodged by the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), the Labour Party (LP) and the Allied Peoples Movement (APM) together with their presidential candidates, Alhaji Atiku Abubakar, Mr. Peter Obi and the Delta-born Princess Chichi Ojei respectively.
The defendants in the cases are Tinubu, the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) and the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC).
The Tribunal is yet to make an official statement after it reserved judgement.
But the announcement is bound to ratchet up the tension in the country as all eyes remain fixed on the judiciary.
On August 17, a diaspora group, The Diaspora Action for Democracy in Africa (DADA), cautioned the PEPT not to deliver judgement that will set the country ablaze.
The group said, “The Judiciary is the only institution that has all it takes to save this country from the threat of implosion. All eyes have been on the judiciary because of Nigeria’s respect for the rule of law. It does not mean that the members of the Presidential Election Tribunal are in a better position in this case to tell Nigerians the person who won the presidential election.
“Nigerians do not wait for any court to tell them the winner of any election. It is the electorate that should tell the court so because they know more than the court whom they voted to be their President. But since it is the prerogative of the court to ensure that truth and justice prevail each time they are disputed, to make room for peace and harmony, the court has been given enough evidence to prove the real winner of the 2023 presidential election.
“Arising from our discussions with a wide array of Nigerians is the fear that the judiciary needs to be cautious because if their verdict fails to satisfy the requirements of justice, it may detonate the youth’s simmering anger and set the country ablaze.”
The Niche
By Eric Elezuo
Former Vice President Atiku Abubakar has been declared winner of the presidential primary of the African Democratic Congress (ADC).
The declaration was made at the Trascorp Hilton Hotel, where the final collation of results was made.
The former Vice President polled a total of 1, 846, 370 votes to defeat his closest rival, former Governor of Rivers State, Hon Rotimi Amaechi, who scored just over 500 thousand votes. Alhaji Muhammed Hayatu-Deen came third.
Headlines
ADC Presidential Primary: Hayatu-Deen Alleges Rigging, Withdraws from Results Announcement
One of the presidential aspirants of the African Democratic Congress (ADC), Mohammed Hayatu-Deen, says he will not attend the announcement of the party’s presidential primary election results, citing allegations of widespread vote rigging.
In a statement on his X handle on Tuesday, Hayatu-Deen expressed concern over reports of electoral irregularities from across the country.
The ADC aspirant noted that he witnessed some of the incidents.
“I will not be attending the announcement of the ADC Presidential Election Results today. I am concerned by reports from across the country of widespread vote rigging, some of which I myself observed, and will therefore be taking advice on my next steps,” the statement read.
The development comes amid keen competition for the ADC presidential ticket involving former Vice President Atiku Abubakar, former Minister of Transportation and former Governor of Rivers State, Chibuike Rotimi Amaechi, and Hayatu-Deen.
The ADC presidential primary election collation exercise will take place in Abuja. Results are expected from across the nation.
Ahead of the nationwide presidential primary held on Monday, the ADC had urged aspirants, party leaders, delegates, and members to conduct themselves peacefully and uphold party unity.
In a statement issued in Abuja on Sunday, the party’s National Publicity Secretary, Bolaji Abdullahi, described the exercise as a defining moment for both the ADC and Nigerians seeking a credible political alternative.
According to him, the party remained committed to internal democracy and a transparent leadership selection process.
“The ADC remains proud to stand today as the only truly democratic party in Nigeria because it is the only political party whose choice of presidential candidate is determined through open primaries,” Abdullahi stated.
The party also stressed that the conduct of aspirants and party members during the exercise would reflect the leadership culture the ADC seeks to promote.
Headlines
You’re Not Different from APC, INEC, Amaechi Slams ADC, Rejects Presidential Primary Results
A former Minister of Transportation, Chibuike Rotimi Amaechi, has rejected the results of the African Democratic Congress (ADC) presidential primaries, alleging widespread voter disenfranchisement and electoral malpractice.
Amaechi, in a statement posted on his X handle on Tuesday, described the outcome of the exercise as “concocted results.”
He said he had earlier made it clear that he would only accept the outcome of the primaries if the process was free, fair and transparent.
“I will not accept results from a process that does not reflect the values that the ADC had pledged to uphold,” he said.
Amaechi alleged that about 80 percent of party members across the country were prevented from voting during the exercise.
“There’s no way that about eighty percent of members of the party were not allowed to vote, and you expect me to accept such results,” he stated.
The former Governor of Rivers State accused the party of engaging in practices it had previously condemned in the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) and the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC).
According to him, the ADC cannot criticize vote buying, rigging and manipulation of election results by others while allegedly engaging in similar acts during its own primary.
Amaechi added that the development was unacceptable and contrary to the ideals upon which the party was founded.
