Headlines
Supreme Court Affirms Election of Ikpeazu, Okowa, Ishaku, Bello
The Supreme Court on Wednesday upheld the elections of governors of four states across the federation.
The governors are Okezie Ikpeazu of Abia State, Darius Ishaku of Taraba State, Ifeanyi Okowa of Delta State and Abubakar Bello of Niger State.
The seven-member panel of the Supreme Court in its series of hearings and judgments delivered within six hours reaffirmed verdicts earlier given at the lower court.
In all, the apex court’s decision saw the four incumbent governors emerging victorious over the various election petitions filed against them.
Abia
The Supreme Court affirmed the election of Mr Ikpeazu as Governor of Abia State.
Justice Paul Galinje, a member of the seven-member panel, who read the unanimous judgment, held that the appellant’s reliance solely on the smart card readers in proving the alleged over-voting was fatal to their case.
Mr Galinje also held that the law is clear that the petitioner must tender the voter’s register, and should relate the document to the specific area where the elections were affected.
According to Mr Galinje, the card reader print out tendered by the appellants at the tribunal is not part of the constitution or electoral act which determines the conditions for over-voting.
The judge said that the appellants failed to lead credible evidence in proving their case.
The candidate of the All Progressive Grand Alliance (APGA), Alex Otti, and his party had approached the apex court to set aside the judgment of the Court of Appeal which upheld the election of Mr Ikpeazu.
They had in their appeal argued by their lawyer, Lateef Fagbemi, asked the apex court to nullify the election of Mr Ikpeazu on grounds of over-voting and noncompliance with the electoral laws.
Mr Fagbemi in his argument urged the court to allow the appeal and set aside the judgment of the lower court and declare Mr Otti as the lawful winner of the March 9 governorship election in Abia State or in the alternative order a fresh election.
In their separate replies, the respondents urged the court to dismiss the appeal for lacking in merit.
The lawyer to the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) adopted his brief of argument and urged the apex court to dismiss the appeal. The lawyer to Mr Ikpeazu and the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Wole Olanipekun and Levy Uzoukwu, respectively told the court that the case of the appellants lacked merit because it was hinged on alleged over-voting occasioned by non-use of the card reader which the apex court has held cannot dethrone the manual accreditation of voters.
Delivering the judgment on Wednesday, Mr Galinje held that the appeal lacked merit and accordingly dismissed it.
The Court of Appeal in Owerri, the Imo State capital, headed by Justice R. A. Adah, had struck out the appeal filed by Mr Otti, and validated Mr Ikpeazu’s victory.
A three-member panel of the Governorship Election Petition Tribunal in Umuahia, the Abia State capital, chaired by A.L. Ogumoye, had also earlier dismissed the petition
The tribunal ruled that the petitioner failed to prove the case of over-voting and noncompliance to the INEC election guideline and the electoral act.
Mr Otti had asked the tribunal to cancel the results of elections in 15 out of the17 local government areas in Abia State.
He claimed that the respondents, PDP and Mr Ikpeazu, perpetrated excessive malpractice in those local governments.
Not satisfied with the tribunal judgment which threw out his the petition, Mr Otti approached the appellate court asking it to quash the tribunal ruling and uphold the reliefs he (Otti) sought in court.
Delta
In a similar decision, the apex court also ruled against an appeal by Great Ogboru of the All Progressive Congress (APC) who had challenged the election of Governor Ifeanyi Okowa on grounds that the election was marred by vote-buying.
Respondents in the appeal are Mr Okowa, PDP and INEC.
Mr Ogboru and his party, APC, had sought to upturn the decision of the Delta State Governorship Election Petition Tribunal which affirmed Mr Okowa’s election for a second term as governor of Delta State. INEC had declared Okowa and PDP winner of the March 9 governorship election in Delta State.
Justice Centus Nweze who read the decision of the apex court on Wednesday affirmed the election Mr Okowa.
In his argument, Yunus Usman, who represented the appellants, argued that the votes claimed by Mr Okowa exceeded the total number of accredited voters for the March 9, 2019 governorship election.
According to him a total of 757,754 registered for the election in the state, while the final declared numbers at the end of the election were 955,274 votes.
However, Mr Okowa’s lawyer, Damian Dodo, urged the court to dismiss the appeal for being incompetent and unmeritorious.
Mr Damian said the appellants have failed to prove all their allegations both at the tribunal and at the court of appeal.
But dismissing the appeal on Wednesday, the seven-member panel led by Justice Nweze, unanimously held that the appellants, Mr Ogboru and the APC, failed to prove allegations of over-voting.
Mr Nweze said: “the appeal is a share waste of the precious time of the court.”
Taraba
In the case of Taraba, the All Progressive Congress (APC) argued that the governor, Darius Ishaku, was not duly elected by a majority of lawful votes cast in the election.
The appellants also alleged noncompliance with the provisions of the Electoral Act (2010)
However, the lawyer who represented Mr Ishaku and the PDP, Kanu Agabi, urged the court to dismiss the APC’s appeal for being incompetent and lacking in merit.
Mr Agabi said the APC’s appeal has become academic following the withdrawal of their governorship candidate, Abubakar Danladi, from the petition, after his disqualification over false age declaration.
Responding to Mr Agabi’s submissions, the APC lawyer, Ishiaka Dikko, while admitting that the party’s candidate was disqualified from the election, said that the first runner up in the APC primaries ought to have been allowed to contest the election.
Mr Dikko urged the court to nullify Mr Ishiaku’s election and order a fresh election.
Delivering the judgment, the justices of the apex court all agreed that APC did not have a legal candidate at the election due to Mr Danladi’s disqualification.
One of the justices held that the APC’s argument that the runner up in the primaries be allowed to contest the election, was wrong because Sani Yahaya did not participate at any stage of the election. He said APC lacked the locus standi to file a petition in the first place at the tribunal.
Niger
The Supreme Court also affirmed the election of Abubakar Bello as the governor of Nover State.
The apex court while striking out the appeal filed by Umar Nasco of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), held that it lacked merit.
In the unanimous judgment read by Justice Mary Abaji, the court held that the Supreme Court will not tamper with the decisions of the Court of Appeal.
Mrs Abaji held that the Court of Appeal was right in holding that the decision of the tribunal delivered outside the 180 days allowed by law was a nullity. She said that a judgment already declared a nullity by the appellate court cannot confer any benefit on the PDP candidate and any other party.
She, therefore, agreed that the Supreme Court has no jurisdiction to entertain the appeal and consequently struck it out for want of jurisdiction.
Mr Nasko had challenged the election of Governor Bello at the tribunal on the ground that he submitted forged documents and gave false information in his form CF001 submitted to INEC to secure clearance for the March 9, 2019 election.
However, the tribunal failed to deliver judgment in the petition within 180 days allowed by law, prompting the Appeal Court to declare the judgment of the tribunal a nullity, having been delivered outside the required period.
Premium Times
The Founder of Afe Babalola University, Ado Ekiti, Aare Afe Babalola SAN, in the early hours of Monday, agreed to withdraw the cases instituted against activist and lawyer, Dele Farotimi.
Following Babalola’s petition to the Police Commissioner in Ekiti State that Farotimi defamed him in a book titled ‘Nigeria and its Criminal Justice System’, the Police arrested the activist lawyer and arraigned him before two courts in Ekiti.
Consequently, Farotimi stood trial for alleged criminal defamation before an Ekiti State Magistrate Court, Ado Ekiti District and as well for alleged cyber-bullying before the Ado Ekiti Division of Federal High Court.
But Babalola, who spoke at ABUAD after the intervention of the Ooni of Ife, Oba Adeyeye Ogunwusi, and other top traditional rulers at the midnight meeting, said, he had agreed to withdraw the criminal case, saying, “I will tell my lawyers to withdraw the case.”
Also in attendance were the Chairman, Ekiti State Council of Traditional Rulers and the Olojudo of Ido Ekiti, Oba Ayorinde Ilori-Faboro; the Ewi of Ado Ekiti, Oba Adeyemo Adejugbe; the Ajero of Ijero Ekiti, Oba Joseph Adewole: the Ogoga of Ikere Ekiti, Oba Adejimi Adu; the Oloye of Oye Ekiti, Oba Michael Ademolaju; and the Alaaye of Efon Ekiti, Oba Emmanuel Aladejare.
Babalola, who restated the importance of the Yoruba traditional institution and the influence it wielded, said, “The monarchs are here, they have appealed to me over a criminal charge involving somebody who said I was corrupt.”
The senior advocate said that he felt so bad that Farotimi accused him of winning all his cases through corruption; hence, he rejected all earlier appeals to him to take the cases out of court.
He listed those who had appealed to him to take the matter out of court including former President Olusegun Obasanjo; the Catholic Bishop of Sokoto Diocese, Mathew Kukah; and the Ewi of Ado Ekiti, Oba Adejugbe.
He said, “If you go through the pamphlet (Farotimi’s book), you will find that he attacked many judges by names, he attacked Supreme Court judges, and none is bothered, but I am bothered. I am bothered because of where and how I started life, from the farm to where I am.
“There is nothing I am going to gain from his imprisonment. There is nothing I am going to gain from so-called damages. I am not in quest of more wealth, rather how to spend what I have for the benefit of others. The only time I am happy is when I give.
The request is simple, take away this criminal case in court. When Obasanjo wrote, he came here, I said no. when Kukah phoned and came, I said no, but on this occasion, I say yes. Thank you Kabiyesis. I will speak to my lawyers to withdraw it.”
The Ooni, who spoke on behalf of Yoruba monarchs, had requested Babalola to withdraw the case in court, assuring him that “nobody can tarnish your name. Your name is more than silver and gold and you have stood for your name with the message that nobody can joke with your name.”
Ogunwusi, who acknowledged Babalola’s contributions to the development of Yoruba, Nigeria and the world, said, “We (monarchs) came here to discuss the matter with him and he gave full respect to the obas and agreed.
“We, the obas, can attest to the hard work of Aare Afe Babalola and how he has invested so hard to build his name. The name cannot be tarnished or rubbished by anyone. Aare Afe Babalola has proven to the world that he cherishes his name and the world has heard him clearly.
“Baba, we want to appeal and also use our race to instruct you. Dele Farotimi is your son, you may not know him, we give birth to different children in this world, some are tough, some are soft, some are hard. Why we are here is our ethos as a race.”
The Ooni added, “We are using our race because some of our elders in Yorubaland and even beyond Yorubaland have spoken, but combining forces with the traditional institution, we have heard you, enough, enough and enough. Your name is intact. We have resolved the matter in our own way, we have done the needful.”
In a petition dated November 19, 2024, addressed to the Ekiti State Commissioner of Police, Adeniran Akinwale, Afe Babalola alleged that defamatory content in Dele Farotimi’s book, ‘Nigeria and Its Criminal Justice System’, tarnished his reputation.
Farotimi was arrested in Lagos by officers of the Ekiti State Police Command and transported to Ado-Ekiti, where he faced a 16-count charge of criminal defamation and cyberbullying. Following his arraignment in a magistrate court, he was remanded in custody.
The allegations stem from claims in the book accusing Babalola and other Senior Advocates of Nigeria of influencing Supreme Court justices through corruption.
The Punch
The Federal Government, through the Federation Account Allocation Committee (FAAC), has released N860.252 billion to State governments for January, with the local governments expected to get N361.754 billion of the allocated sum
The councils will not receive their allocations directly due to their inability to meet the deadline for submitting account details.
According to a FAAC official, the councils’ January funds will be disbursed through the states, while the Universal Basic Education Commission (UBEC) and Primary Health Centre (PHC) will receive direct funding from the Federation Account.
The FAAC official explained that the commission transferred the January allocations to state governments because the councils failed to meet the administrative requirements for funds disbursement.
He said: “The January allocation did not go to the local governments but to their state accounts.
“If they have started submitting their accounts, their February allocations will go to them.
“The January allocation has been paid to the state accounts already. That means they didn’t submit their details on time.
“If the councils can move fast and tidy up the loose ends early, they will get their funds directly from next month.
“That will signal the commencement of their autonomy as desired by the Bola Tinubu administration.’’
“I learnt the process of creating accounts is what is holding the process, but the Federal Government is determined to make sure that local government autonomy becomes a reality. I can assure you that things are moving in the right direction,’’ another FAAC official said.
The development comes after the Supreme Court granted financial autonomy to local government councils in July 2024, ruling that their funds from the Federation Account should be paid directly to them rather than through state governments.
To implement the judgment, the Federal government directed all local governments to open dedicated bank accounts with the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) for the direct transfer of their monthly allocations.
However, it is understood that the process has been slowed down by the ongoing budget defence and other pressing engagements involving key government officials.
Labour Party (LP) presidential candidate in the 2023 election, Peter Obi, has commended the Nigeria Police for the timely rescue of Mrs. Folasade Odumosu, the wife of retired Assistant Inspector General of Police (IGP), Hakeem Odumosu, who was recently kidnapped.
Spokesman for the Police Force, ACP Muyiwa Adejobi, confirmed on Thursday that Mrs. Odumusu had been rescued and reunited with her family.
Adejobi said the operation, conducted within a week, resulted in the safe rescue of the victim, unharmed, alongside the neutralisation of some kidnappers and the recovery of weapons and ransom.
Reacting to the development in a statement on Friday via X, Obi praised the professionalism demonstrated by the Ogun State Police Command, noting that the rescue mission showcased the police’s capability to act effectively when properly motivated.
He wrote, “I commend the Nigeria Police for their swift and effective response in rescuing Mrs Folashade Odumusu, the wife of retired AIG Hakeem Odumusu, who was kidnapped just a few days ago.
“The operation, conducted within a week, highlights their capacity to act decisively when motivated.
“What stands out is the precision with which the rescue mission was executed.
“It not only led to the safe release of the victim, unharmed, but also resulted in the neutralisation of some kidnappers, the recovery of weapons, and the retrieval of the ransom. Such a professional outcome deserves high praise.”
Also, the Ogun State Police Command expressed gratitude for the technical support received from the Force Headquarters and the Inspector General of Police, Kayode Egbetokun, who showed exceptional interest in the case.
The IGP commended the Ogun Command for dismantling the criminal network behind the abduction.
This success, according to Obi, underscores the impact of proper leadership and motivation in tackling crime.
“This incident offers hope. It proves that these issues can be tackled effectively if security personnel are well-resourced, supported, and committed to their responsibilities,” Obi wrote.
However, the former Governor of Anambra State urged the police to extend similar urgency and professionalism to cases involving ordinary Nigerians, whose plights often go unnoticed.
“Many innocent citizens remain victims of abduction, languishing in captivity without rescue efforts reaching them,” he said.
Obi further described the successful operation as a testament to the potential of Nigeria’s security architecture when managed and prioritised effectively
