Politics
Osun Poll: Oyetola, Adeleke tender final written addresses as tribunal reserves judgement
The Osun Election Petitions Tribunal on Friday adjourned for judgment,the petition filed by former Gov Gboyega Oyetola, challenging the victory of Sen. Ademola Adeleke of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in the July 16 governorship election.
The Chairman of the three-man panel,Justice Tertsea Kume, reserved the judgment for a later day to be communicated to parties in the matter after the petitioner and respondents had adopted their final written addresses in Osogbo, the capital.
Oyetola and the All Progressives Congress (APC) had on Aug. 5, submitted a petition before the tribunal in Osogbo.
Oyetola and APC were challenging the election results from 749 polling units across 10 local government areas of the state for various alleged electoral malpractice, especially over-voting.
The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) had declared Adeleke as the winner of the governorship election, having polled 403, 271 votes against 375,027 polled by Oyetola.
Earlier, Counsel to APC, Mr Lateef Fagbemi (SAN) in his final written address,said all documents and processes were filed and submitted on Jan. 8.
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Fagbemi adopted all submitted written documents and objections on point of law and also argued all objections earlier filed by the respondents, asking the court to accede to all his submissions and requests.
Fagbemi cited sections 51 (2) and 47(2) of the Electoral Act on cancellation of polling units where numbers of votes exceeded the numbers of registered and accredited voters .
Also,Mr Akin Olujimi, SAN,counsel to Oyetola, said the testimonial tendered by Gov. Adeleke did not show that he attended Muslim Grammar School in Ede.
Olujimi dismissed the claime by the repondents that Gov. Adeleke was eligible to contest election and he submitted that the testimonial that Adeleke tendered was fake because it was obtained in 1988 from Osun State, while Osun was actually created in 1991.
According to him,the respondent should have pleaded that the mistake was a typographical issue but which they never did.
Olujimi said all the documents tendered by the respondent’s counsel had no connection with each other, with no probative value.
INEC Counsel,Prof. Paul Ananaba, SAN, in his own submissions, tendered to the court his final written addresses dated Dec. 30, 2022 and filed same date, with replies on points of law dated Jan. 9 and filed Jan.11 respectively.
Ananaba adopted all documents submitted as his final written address, saying the duty of INEC was to certify that the respondent,Adeleke,was qualified to contest the governorship election which they did .
He said: “The petitioners complained of over- voting and infractions by picking 749 polling units to contend with from 1750 polling units, according to the first respondent witnessed (RW1).
“If deduction of 1750 units was carried out from the total 3763 units in the state,the second respondent will still emerge as winner with over 20,000 votes.”
Mr Onyechi Ikpeazu, Counsel to Gov. Ademola Adeleke, also adopted all the tendered documents filed as its final written address and urged the tribunal to dismiss the petitioners application against his client.
Ikpeazu said that the argument against Adeleke’s certificates and eligibility to contest the governorship election had been addressed by the Court of Appeal.
On the issue of over-voting claim, Ikpeazu told the court that certified true copies of documents of accreditation was done through the BVAS machines adding that BVAS was the primary source of accreditation.
He further argued that extraction from INEC data base was not same as extraction from the BVAS machines .
Ikpeazu said that petitioners agents did not contest the results of any polling units on the day of election, despite that they also signed the results which were authentic .
“The entries in form EC8A tallied with figures on the forms as being contended by the petitioners.
“You can not determine over voting proper without the application of the BVAS machines,” he said.
Counsel to PDP,Mr Alex Iziyon, SAN, also adopted all written documents filed and submitted on point of laws.
Iziyon said the issue of forgery of certificate as contended by the petitioners had been cleared in the judgment of the Court of Appeal and had no value.
Politics
Aregbesola no longer member of APC, says ex-Osun commissioner
Aregbesola no longer member of APC, says ex-Osun commissioner
The immediate past Osun State Commissioner for Local Government and Chieftaincy Affairs, Mr Adebayo Adeleke, has said ex-Minister of Interior, Mr Rauf Aregbesola, is not a member of the All Progressives Congress.
Adeleke served as a commissioner in the cabinet of ex-governor Adegboyega Oyetola, currently serving as the Minister of Marine and Blue Economy.
He spoke at the Osun Central Senatorial meeting of the APC held in Osogbo, Osun State capital.
The APC chieftain said all serious party members in the state were aware that Aregbesola was not currently a member of the party.
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Speaking at the meeting attended by the APC National Secretary, Senator Ajibola Basiru, and other party bigwigs from the ten local government areas that made up the senatorial district, Adeleke insisted that the two ex-governors in Osun APC are Chief Bisi Akande and Oyetola.
Adeleke said, “They said in our party in Osun, we have two former governors, we have Chief Bisi Akande and ex-governor, Adegboyega Oyetola.
“Someone asked about ex-governor Rauf Aregbesola, and my response is that all members of the APC know that Aregbesola presently is not a member of our party.”
Aregbesola no longer member of APC, says ex-Osun commissioner
Politics
Senate in rowdy session as lawmakers quarrel over sitting arrangement
Senate in rowdy session as lawmakers quarrel over sitting arrangement
The Senate broke into a rowdy session on Tuesday after three senators engaged in a heated argument over arrangement of seats.
Danjuma Goje, senator representing Gombe Central, and Sahabi Yau, senator representing Zamfara North, expressed displeasure over the seats assigned to them.
They complained to Opeyemi Bamidele, the majority leader.
The Senate is currently using its refurbished chamber, two years after renovation began on it.
According to the standing rules of the upper legislative chamber, senators should sit in order of rank.
The Easter and Sallah recess was postponed to accommodate the completion of the renovation of both chambers of the national assembly.
However, while Senate President Godswill Akpabio read his welcome address, the heated argument among the three senators began.
It was learnt that Goje and Yau, sitting on the second row on the right side of the aisle, did not like the seats allocated to them by the senate committee on services.
Sunday Karimi, senator representing Kogi west, is chair of the senate services committee.
The four-term senators subsequently insisted that they should have been assigned seats on the front row on the extreme right — opposite the row of the majority leader and the deputy senate president.
After the argument, Kawu Sumaila, senator representing Kano South, called for a “point of order” which was ignored.
Thereafter, Bamidele moved a motion for a closed-session.
Politics
Ganduje drums support for Tinubu, says no vacancy in Aso Rock 2027
Ganduje drums support for Tinubu, says no vacancy in Aso Rock 2027
National Chairman of All Progressives Congress (APC), Dr Abdullahi Ganduje, says members of the opposition are trying to discredit the Bola Tinubu-led administration in their desperation for Aso Rock in 2027.
He however declares that there is no vacancy in Aso Rock in 2027.
Ganduje said the administration of President Tinubu had been contending with accumulation of many years of neglect, policy summersaults and other disjointed decisions by previous administrations.
The APC national chairman gave the position while addressing supporters and support groups at the national secretariat of the party in Abuja.
Ganduje urged the APC supporters and groups to be committed to the party so that it could continue to forge ahead.
He said the leadership of the New Nigeria Peoples Party (NNPP) and its chieftains were afraid, having been defeated in the last general election and already foreseeing another defeat.
Ganduje said the NNPP elements were now engaged in a propaganda campaign against the leadership of APC.
He said, “They are so afraid because we are consolidating. They are so afraid all over the country because we are receiving new entrants into our party. That is creating fears in their minds.
“They are already eyeing 2027, but at that time, there is no vacancy. Only our President, Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu, will, Insha Allah, continue as the President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria.”
Ganduje claimed the leadership of NNPP and its chieftains in Kano State were sponsoring protests and campaigning for his removal as APC national chairman.
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