Politics
Court reinstates Gusau as Zamfara deputy governor
A Federal High Court (FHC), Abuja, on Wednesday, gave an order restoring Mr Mahdi Gusau as the deputy governor of Zamfara following his impeachment by the state’s House of Assembly on Feb. 23, 2022, inspite of a subsisting court order.
Justice Inyang Ekwo, in a judgement, also set aside all the steps and actions taken by the House of Assembly, former Gov. Bello Matawalle and the state’s chief judge in the purported impeachment of Gusau during the pendency of the suit in court.
Justice Ekwo, who held that the act of the then assembly’s speaker, ex-governor, chief judge and indeed others was an aberration and cannot be allowed to stand, decsribed it as “null and void and of no effect whatsoever.”
“I agree with the learned silk for the plaintiff/applicant that the court must protect its dignity by reprimanding the 5th, 6th and 7th defendants (speaker, governor and chief judge) and undoing the steps, acts or proceedings taken in the impeachment while this suit was pending,” he said.
The judge also held that contrary to the argument of counsel to 5th to 38th defendants, he did not see in any of the judicial authorities cited and relied upon by the lawyer that authorises any litigant to take extra-judicial action when a case was pending in court.
“Once parties have turned their dispute over to the court for determination, the right to resort to self-help ends.
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“So, It is not permissible for one of the parties to take any step of complete helplessness, or which may give the impression that the court Is being used as a mere subterfuge, to tie the result of litigation and the appropriate order of court before acting further,” he said, citing a previous case.
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that Matawalle, the three state’s senators, members of House of Representatives and that of House of Assembly had all defected from the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) to All Progressives Congress (APC) on June 29, 2021.
Following their defection, the PDP and Gusau, the then deputy governor, who did not cross carpeted along with them, had in a suit marked: FHC/ABJ/CS/650/2021, asked the court to declare their seats vacant having abandoned the party through which they got into the positions of power.
The plaintiffs had sued the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), APC, President of the Senate, House of Representatives Speaker and House of Assembly Speaker as 1st to 5th defendants respectively.
Also joined in the suit are Zamfara State Governor, Chief Judge, Bello Matawalle, the three senators, House of Representatives members and all members of the state’s House of Assembly as 6th to 38th defendants respectively.
They sought an order of mandatory injunction compelling INEC to accept the list of the PDP candidates issued for the purpose of holding and occupying the office of governor, the state and federal lawmakers.
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They also sought for an order for INEC to issue certificates of return to each of the said candidates for the purpose of holding and occupying the said offices purportedly occupied by members of the APC “in defiance of the decision of the Supreme Court in SC. 377/2019: APC v. Senator Kabiru Garba Marafa and others for the unspent electoral term of office of May 29, 2019 to May 28, 2013.”
They also sought an order compelling the defendants to swear in Gusau as governor on PDP’s platform to complete the tenure of office, among others.
The FHC had, on July 19, 2021, restrained the House of Assembly from proceeding with its planned impeachment of Gusau as deputy governor.
The court gave the order following an ex parte application brought by the PDP’s lawyer, Ogwu Onoja, in which he canvassed that the House of Assembly, Matawalle and others were planning to impeach Gusau who refused to defect to APC.
Despite the order of the court, Gusau was impeached by the House of Assembly after receiving the report of the investigative panel constituted by the chief judge, Kulu Aliyu.
The plaintiffs, however, filed a motion on notice seeking an order restoring the status quo of Gusau wholly to the position as at July 8, 2021 when this suit was commenced, irrespective of the merits as might be ultimately decided in the case, and in particular setting aside all the steps taken by the defendants in furtherance of the purported impeachment proceedings.
NAN reports that though the suit was filed on July 8, 2021, the plaintiffs amended the originating summons.
NAN
Politics
Damagun writes INEC to conduct by-election for 27 vacant Rivers assembly seats
Damagun writes INEC to conduct by-election for 27 vacant Rivers assembly seats
Few days after governors on the platform of the Peoples Democracy Party (PDP) handed down an ultimatum for things to change in the party, the Acting National Chairman of the party, Umar Damagun has moved against the FCT Minister and his loyal lawmakers, the 27 members of the Rivers State House of Assembly.
Damagun in a letter addressed to the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) dated 13th November 2024 and released on Sunday by the spokesperson of the Opposition Lawmakers Coalition, Ikenga Ugochinyere urged the electoral umpire to conduct a bye-election to fill up the 27 seats, they vacated to join the All Progressives Congress, APC.
Wike has been accused of being behind the crisis in the PDP over his disagreement with the Rivers State governor, Sim Fubara, his successor.
The crisis which started over control of resources divided the party in the state with 27 lawmakers in the state assembly siding Wike and defected to the APC following Wike’s acceptance to serve in the government of the APC.
He has also been accused of working in cahoots with Damagun to damage the PDP by not organising the National Executive Committee which would lead to the acting Chairman’s ouster.
After a series of agitation, the latest being from the PDP Governors’ Forum over the weekend, Damagun has demanded that INEC conduct elections as soon as possible, apparently moving against the FCT minister.
He argued in letter titled, ‘DEMAND FOR IMMEDIATE CONDUCT OF FRESH ELECTION IN 27 STATE CONSTITUENCIES OF RIVERS STATE WHICH HAVE BECOME VACANT PURSUANT TO SECTION 109(1)(g) OF THE CONSTITUTION’ that it’s “unlawful” for the 27 members to defect.
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The members defected to the APC on December 11, 2023.
Damagun said, going by provisions of the Constitution, the lawmakers are no longer members of the Assembly.
The PDP acting chairman therefore urged the Commission to perform its constitutional duties and begin the process of conducting fresh elections to fill the vacancies created in the 27 state constituencies by the unlawful act of the former Assembly members.
Parts of the letter read, “The Leadership of our great party, the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) wishes to draw the attention of the Commission to the gross violation of Section 109 (1)(g) of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria 1999 (as amended) by 27 members of the Rivers State House of Assembly following their unlawful defection from our Party, the PDP who sponsored their elections to the All Progressive Congress (APC) on Monday, December 11, 2023.
“The Commission may recall that our Party, the PDP nominated all our 32 State House of Assembly candidates in Rivers State for the 2023 General Election on the 7th of July 2022 via your electronic candidate election nomination portal (See attached acknowledgement).
“The Commission may also recall that following the nomination, the Commission conducted election into the Rivers State House of Assembly on the 18th of March, 2023 and our Party won 32 seats in the state Assembly. The elected State House of Assembly members were inaugurated and sworn-in on June, 2023.
“However, on Monday, 11 December, 2023 a period of just six (6) months after inauguration, 27 out of the 32 members publicly announced their defection from our Party to the All Progressive Congress (APC). This defection is a gross violation of Section 109(1)(g) of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria 1999 (As amended).
“The only two grounds of division and merger provided for in the Constitution that permit such defection are completely non-existent in our political Party. It therefore means that the defections of the 27 members are without lawful excuse and these members have vacated their seats in the Rivers State House of Assembly by the operations of Section 109(1)(g) of the 1999 Constitution.
“In view of the foregoing, we hereby demand that the Commission performs its constitutional duties and begin the process of conducting a Fresh Election to fill the vacancies created in the 27 State Constituencies by the unlawful act of the Assembly members. Find attached the list of the 27 State Assembly Members and their Constituencies.
“While thanking the Commission for its commitment to deepening democracy in our country, please accept the assurances of our highest regards.”
Damagun writes INEC to conduct by-election for 27 vacant Rivers assembly seats
Politics
Nigeria would have been better under Peter Obi, too much nepotism under Tinubu – Senator Abaribe
Nigeria would have been better under Peter Obi, too much nepotism under Tinubu – Senator Abaribe
Nigeria would have been better than what it is currently if Peter Obi, candidate of the Labour Party (LP), had won the 2023 elections, the senator representing Abia South, Enyinnaya Abaribe, has said.
Abaribe, who spoke on ‘Politics Today,’ a Channels Television programme, on Monday, said Obi would not have been as nepotistic as the administration of President Bola Tinubu.
“Number one, he would not be as nepotistic as this government; he won’t; it’s not in him. That is just who we are; we feel for the other people.”
The lawmaker called attention to Tinubu’s appointment of four ministers from Ogun alone, noting that many other states have just one.
“I say it, and I don’t think so. We are seeing it everyday. I just gave you one example. How can Ogun state have four ministers? Why does he favour Ogun state? Oyo state has only one minister,” Abaribe said.
”The nepotism of Buhari, which nobody followed, has now deepened under President Tinubu because Buhari did it, and nobody said much. I was the only person shouting.”
He said that rather than waiting for presidents to be fair to the people of the south-east, it is high time people of the zone went back to revamp it, make it more livable, better, and more cohesive.
“It’s obvious that if we continue to look at whoever becomes president, they will look at us and do us right. Apart from Obasanjo and maybe Jonathan, I do not think that we have seen that same type of fairness,” he said.
Politics
Lagos 2027: Seyi Tinubu campaign team releases his life documentary
Lagos 2027: Seyi Tinubu campaign team releases his life documentary
Seyi Tinubu, son of President Bola Tinubu, has been tipped for the seat of Lagos governor in the 2027 governorship election.
This was according to a video making the rounds on various social media platforms, which Peoples Gazette saw on Sunday.
The video highlights the president’s son’s biography, focusing on his education, career, and humanitarian activities as a Nigerian. It also documents his involvement in youth development in the country.
This biopic comes on the heels of some groups’ endorsements of Mr Tinubu’s son as a potential successor to Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu in 2027.
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On Tuesday, the Coalition of Nigerian Youth Leaders issued an endorsement in Owerri, Imo, suggesting that the younger Tinubu would be welcomed to contest the governorship seat in Osun or Imo.
He was also endorsed by Friends of Seyi, a group emphasising his vision and intellectual wherewithal to govern the country’s commercial nerve.
APC chieftain Joe Igbokwe, however, described the gale of endorsements as a ploy to undermine the president in a Facebook post.
“Who are these faceless people pushing Seyi Tinubu for Lagos governor? This is a needless distraction,” said Mr Igbokwe. “To pull PBAT down is their target. Ruling Lagos is not the job of boys.”
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