Headlines
Supreme Court Affirms Makinde, Sanwo-Olu, El-Rufai, Five Others’ Elections
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The Supreme Court on Wednesday validated the election of Governor Oluseyi Makinde of Oyo State and the victories of the governors of seven other states at the March 9, 2019 governorship elections held in their various states.
A seven-man panel of the apex court led by Justice Mary Peter-Odili, in separate judgments, affirmed the elections of Governors Babajide Sanwo-Olu of Lagos State, Nasir El-Rufai of Kaduna State, Udom Emmanuel of Akwa Ibom State, David Umahi of Ebonyi State, Aminu Masari of Katsina State, Dapo Abiodun of Ogun State and Abdullahi Sule of Nasarawa State.
While Makinde, Emmanuel and Umahi were of the Peoples Democratic Party, Sanwo-Olu, El-Rufai, Masari, Abiodun and Sule contested on the platform of the All Progressives Congress.
The panel heard the appeals on the governorship tussles from the eight states in two batches on Wednesday.
After each lap of hearing, the members of the panel retired to their chambers to prepare their judgment and returned about an hour after to give the summary of their verdicts on the appeals.
The Oyo State governorship dispute turned out to be the most contentious among the appeals decided by the apex court on Wednesday, as all the parties to the case filed separate appeals against the November 11, 2019 judgment of the Ibadan Division of the Court of Appeal.
Although, the Court of Appeal, had in its split judgment of four-to-one substantially upheld the case of the APC and its candidate in the governorship poll, Adebayo Adelabu, it refused to make any order nullifying Makinde’s election.
Therefore, the APC and Adelabu, through their lawyer, Aliyu Umar (SAN), had filed an appeal against the Court of Appeal’s judgment, urging the apex court to make a specific order nullifying Makinde’s victory at the poll.
Makinde, had also through his lawyer, Chief Wole Olanipekun (SAN), filed an appeal praying the apex court to set aside the majority judgment of the Court of Appeal and affirm the judgment of the election petition tribunal, which affirmed him as the duly elected governor of the state.
The PDP, through its lawyer, Nathaniel Oke (SAN), and the Independent National Electoral Commission, through its counsel, Akinlolu Kehinde (SAN), had also filed separate appeals against the majority judgment of the Court of Appeal.
At the hearing earlier on Wednesday, the apex court decided that its decision on the appeal filed by Makinde would be binding on the rest of the appeals on the governorship election in the state.
Justice Ejembi Eko, who delivered the lead judgment, overturned the November 11, 2019 judgment of the Ibadan Division of the Court of Appeal and restored the judgment of the Oyo State Governorship Election Petition Tribunal, which had declared Makinde and his party, the winner of the election.
Justice Eko said, “After going through the briefs of arguments, I find merit in this appeal.
“The judgment of the lower court is mainly based on perversity.
“The majority judgment is hereby set aside.
“The minority judgment/decision of the lower court represents a more sober reflection on the issues.”
In upholding El-Rufai’s election as Kaduna State governor, Justice Centus Nweze, who delivered the lead judgment, dismissed the appeal by Isah Ashiru of the PDP.
Justice Nweze noted that the concurrent judgments of both the tribunal and the Court of Appeal dismissing Ashiru’s appeal could only be set aside if found to be perverse and consistent in error.
But he noted that the appellants (Ashiru and the PDP) “failed to show the perversity in the concurrent judgments.”
“The issue in this appeal having been resolved against the appellant, I find no merit in the appeal and I hereby enter judgment dismissing the appeal,” he ruled.
Upholding the election of the APC’s Abdullahi Sule as the governor of Nasarawa State, Justice Mary Peter-Odili, who read the lead judgment, dismissed the appeal filed by the PDP and its candidate, David Ombugadu.
Justice Peter-Odili noted that the APC won in 13 local government areas, while the PDP won in only one.
She ruled that the appellants failed to prove their alleged case of “non-compliance affected the election.”
“This appeal fails, and it is hereby dismissed,” she added.
Concerning the Lagos State governorship dispute, Justice Paul Galinje delivered the lead judgments in two appeals challenging Sanwo-Olu’s election.
In the two judgments, Justice Galinje held that the appeal by the Labour Party and its candidate, Prof Ifagbemi Awamaridi, and the other by the Alliance for Democracy and its candidate, Chief Owolabi Salis, lacked merit.
He noted that he had no reason to interfere with the concurrent judgments of the tribunal and the Court of Appeal, which had both dismissed the appellants’ cases.
He added that their petitions instituted at the tribunal were not based on the grounds recognised by either the Constitution or the Electoral Act.
Justice Peter-Odili similarly dismissed the appeal by Adekunle Akinlade and his Allied Peoples Movement challenging the victory of Governor Dapo Abiodun of Ogun State.
She held that the appellants failed to prove the alleged non-compliance of the conduct of the March 9, 2011 poll in the state.
In respect of the Akwa Ibom State governorship tussle, Justice Dattijo Muhammad, who read the lead judgment, upheld Emmanuel’s election after dismissing the appeal by Nsima Ekere and his party, the APC, for lacking in merit.
Justice Amina Augie, who delivered the lead judgments in respect of the Ebonyi and Katsina governorship tussles, upheld the elections of the governors of the two states.
She dismissed the petition filed by the People’s Democratic Movement and his candidate, Chief Ajah Arua, as he held that they failed to prove that they were validly nominated to participate in the election, not to talk of proving that they were unlawfully excluded from the poll.
Upholding Masari’s election as Katsina State governor, Justice Augie dismissed the petition filed by the PDP and its candidate, Garba Lado.
The Punch
A United States-based policy advisory and lobbying firm, Von Batten-Montague-York, has alleged that Nigeria’s President, Bola Tinubu, spent millions of dollars to prevent the release of records of his alleged drug trafficking case.
Von Batten-Montague-York made this allegation in a post on its verified X handle late Tuesday.
According to the firm, Tinubu’s claim that he was not attempting to block the release of the records is contradictory to the action of his own legal team in the ongoing Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) case.
It accused Tinubu of having petitioned the court and consulted with the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) and Drug Enforcement Administration, DEA, as part of efforts to prevent the records from being released.
“Despite claiming innocence, Tinubu has spent millions of dollars to ensure that his drug trafficking records are never released.
“The description of the underlying matter is merely a civil case. The involvement of US law-enforcement agencies in the records dispute demonstrated that the matter involved sensitive investigative material,” the firm said.
The latest allegation from the firm came against the backdrop of the ongoing legal battle over the release of records held by the US Department of Justice, DOJ, FBI and DEA, concerning historical investigations involving Tinubu.
United States District judge, Beryl Howell, had granted Donald Trump-appointed attorney, Jeanine Pirro, additional days to release the alleged drug-trafficking records.
Tinubu had joined the request of the US Department of Justice for a 10-day extension to respond to a motion seeking the release of records relating to allegations of drug trafficking.
Born on December 24, 1971, in the Mbeya Region, Dr Emmanuel John Nchimbi grew up in a family rooted in public service. His father, Mzee John Nchimbi, hailing from Songea District, served as an Assistant Commissioner of Police (ACP) and Regional Police Commander for Mtwara.
Beyond his law enforcement career, the elder Nchimbi was actively involved in politics, serving two terms as a National Executive Committee (NEC) member for Chama Cha Mapinduzi (CCM) through the armed forces wing and later as a CCM regional secretary.
Dr Nchimbi began his primary education at Oysterbay Primary School in Dar es Salaam from 1980 to 1986. He pursued his O-Level studies at Uru Secondary School (Form I to III) from 1987 to 1989 before transferring to Sangu Secondary School, where he completed Form IV in 1990.
He then moved to Forest Hill Secondary School in Mbeya for his A-Level education between 1991 and 1993.
Advancing to higher education, Dr Nchimbi earned an Advanced Diploma in Administration from the Institute of Development Management (IDM) Mzumbe in Morogoro between 1994 and 1997.
Upon graduating, his political trajectory accelerated rapidly: he was elected as a member of CCM’s National Executive Committee (NEC), and by 1998, he was elected Chairman of the CCM Youth Wing (Umoja wa Vijana wa Chama cha Mapinduzi – UVCCM).
Alongside his rising political responsibilities, Dr Nchimbi built a professional background in public service and academia. He worked at the National Environment Management Council (NEMC) from 1998 to 2003.
During this period, he pursued further studies, obtaining a Master of Business Administration (MBA) specialising in Banking and Finance from Mzumbe University between 2001 and 2003. He was later appointed District Commissioner for Bunda (2003–2005) and went on to complete a Doctorate (PhD) at Mzumbe University between 2008 and 2011.
He served in that capacity until October 2006, when he was reshuffled to serve as Deputy Minister for Labour, Employment, and Youth Development until February 2008. He subsequently served as Deputy Minister for Defence and National Service until November 2010.
Source: The Star
Headlines
Tinubu Orders Arrest, Suspension of Three Perm Secs As ICPC Uncovers Another Fake Govt Agency
President Bola Tinubu on Friday ordered the immediate arrest and suspension of three federal Permanent Secretaries over their alleged involvement in the operation of another fake agency uncovered by the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC).
ICPC Chairman, Dr Musa Adamu Aliyu, who disclosed this to newsmen after briefing President Tinubu on the latest findings from the commission’s ongoing investigation into fictitious agencies and weaknesses in public sector processes named the affected Permanent Secretaries to include M S Danjuma, Engr Nadungu Gagare, and Richard Pheelangwah.
The Commision’s latest discovery is coming barely few weeks after exposing the fictitious Presidential Foreign Intervention Promotion Council (PFIPC).
According to Aliyu, the newly uncovered entity, operating as National Brands Development and Made-in-Nigeria Special Project Office, had allegedly secured office accommodation within the premises of the Office of the Secretary to the Government of the Federation (OSGF) without authorisation from the President.
The discovery, he said, was made during the broader investigation into the PFIPC, which President Tinubu had directed the ICPC to undertake.
The fake agency, according to ICPC boss, was promoted by Prince George Buchi Nwabueze, who allegedly operated under several variations of his name, including George Nathan Nwabueze, Honourable George Buchi Nwabueze, Prince George Buchi Nwabueze and George Buchi Nwabueze.
Aliyu disclosed that the commission was engaging relevant officials in the Office of the Secretary to the Government of the Federation to establish how the purported agency came to operate from government premises and to obtain other vital information required for the investigation.
“I have briefed Mr President comprehensively on these new developments. ICPC will continue with its investigation,” he said.
Following the fresh findings, Aliyu said President Tinubu had directed the immediate arrest of Prince George Buchi Nwabueze, as well as the immediate suspension of the three named permanent secretaries.
The commission is expected to establish the roles played by the suspended officials and other individuals in the emergence and operation of the purported agency.
Aliyu said the latest discovery underscored the need for tighter controls and greater scrutiny of government institutions and internal administrative processes.
He commended President Tinubu for ordering a wider policy audit of federal agencies and government processes, describing the initiative as a proactive measure to strengthen the governance system.
His said: “President Bola Tinubu must be commended for the proactive step of directing the policy audit of MDAs and internal government processes towards strengthening government governance system.”
The latest development has widened the scope of the ICPC’s investigation into the proliferation of fictitious government entities and alleged exploitation of official structures by individuals seeking to create the impression of government authority.
The commission’s investigation into the PFIPC was initiated after the purported agency came under scrutiny, with the President subsequently directing the ICPC to unravel those behind its operations and determine whether public officials facilitated its activities.
With the discovery of another purported agency operating from government premises, the ICPC probe is now expected to examine broader institutional weaknesses that may have enabled unauthorised entities to gain access to federal government facilities and present themselves as legitimate government bodies.
