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
Atiku says he’s not sure about contesting 2027 presidential election
Atiku says he’s not sure about contesting 2027 presidential election
Former Vice President Atiku Abubakar has said that he does not know if he will contest the presidency in 2027.
Atiku made the remark in a yet-to-be-aired interview for a television show, Untold Stories, with Adesuwa Giwa-Osagie, scheduled for broadcast today but exclusively obtained by Daily Trust.
The former presidential candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) recently announced the formation of a coalition of opposition leaders to wrest power from President Bola Ahmed Tinubu in 2027.
However, there has been widespread speculation about who will lead the coalition and emerge as its presidential candidate, with former Labour Party presidential candidate, Peter Obi and former Kaduna State governor, Nasir El-Rufai, being considered among its key figures.
When asked if he would be running for the presidency in 2027, Atiku said: “I don’t know because there has to be, first of all, a viable platform, more than any other time in the political history of this country, particularly since the return of democracy.”
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Atiku, who has run for the presidency a record six times, did not rule out the possibility of contesting again in 2027.
“I have not seen Nigeria in dire need of, you know, an experienced and credible leadership than this time.
“We had a similar, you know, what would I say, merger in 2014. About four of us or is it three? We all ran for president and one of us emerged, and we all supported the one who emerged, and he won,” he said.
He agreed with former President Olusegun Obasanjo’s assertion that Nigeria’s democracy is deteriorating, saying the situation is “very dire.”
“No doubt about that,” he said.
Atiku also expressed his disappointment with the country’s political leadership.
“The next generation after me, many of them had been governors, had been senators. Instead of me to see an improvement in the level of governance at the state level and so on and so forth, I don’t see it. So I feel a little bit distressed.”
Atiku also questioned the credibility of the current legislative leadership, especially as it relates to the National Assembly’s ratification of the state of emergency in Rivers State
“I am not surprised,” he said, alleging that they are corrupt.
Atiku says he’s not sure about contesting 2027 presidential election
Politics
Africa’s democracy is govt by small for small number of people – Obasanjo
Africa’s democracy is govt by small for small number of people – Obasanjo
Former President Olusegun Obasanjo has advanced reasons for what he called abysmal failure of democracy in Africa.
According to him, African presidents work with a clique and wield enormous powers with little or no resistance from perpetuating illegalities and abuse of office.
The ex-President said the democracy being practised in Africa does not aligned with the people’s values, culture, and way of life.
Obasanjo said spoke on Monday at a colloquium in Abuja to mark the 60th birthday of Emeka Ihedioha, a former governor of Imo State.
The former Nigerian leader, who chaired the event, referencing Abraham Lincoln’s definition of democracy as “government of the people, by the people, for the people,” said the system should work for all citizens rather than a privileged few.
He however wondered if African countries are practising true democracy or only adopting Western Liberal democracy.
He said, “If you are talking about democracy failing in Africa, democracy in Africa has failed. And why has it failed?
“Because in context and in content, it is not Africa. It does not have any aspect of our culture, our way of life, what we stand for, what we believe.
“Today, we have democracy, which is the government of a small number of people, by a small number of people over a large number of people who are deprived of what they need to have in life. That is not democracy that will endure.
“It is ‘I am because I can grab.’ What sort of democracy brings you, and you grab everything and then illegally, corruptly, and you say go to court? When you know that even in the court, you cannot get justice.
“It’s not that democracy is failing, democracy is dying and if we are going to make democracy not to die, we have to look at democracy in the context and in the content of Africa. I hope that we will get to that stage so that democracy which will deliver will be the democracy that we will have in Africa.”
Obasanjo was Nigeria’s military ruler from 1976 to 1979 and democratically elected president from 1999 to 2007.
Politics
Atiku, Obi, El-Rufai’s coalition can’t unseat Tinubu – Shekarau
Atiku, Obi, El-Rufai’s coalition can’t unseat Tinubu – Shekarau
Former Kano State Governor, Ibrahim Shekarau, has cast doubt on the ability of a newly formed opposition coalition to unseat President Bola Tinubu and the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) in the 2027 elections.
Shekarau described the alliance, which includes former Vice President Atiku Abubakar, Labour Party’s 2023 presidential candidate Peter Obi, and ex-Kaduna State Governor Nasir El-Rufai, as a gathering of individuals with personal political ambitions rather than a structured and unified opposition front.
His remarks came just two days after the coalition’s formation was announced, with the stated goal of challenging Tinubu’s administration.
In a statement by his spokesperson, Dr. Sule Yau, Shekarau remarked, “This is just a gathering of certain individuals with political ambitions; none of them has officially consulted their party leadership.”
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He further argued that a coalition featuring prominent figures does not necessarily equate to an effective political alliance.
“The coalition of opposition figures is a good development, as seen in their recent meeting under what they call an opposition alliance. However, none of the key figures involved represents their party leadership,” Shekarau stated.
Emphasizing the legal framework for political mergers, he pointed out that only registered parties could formally unite, making the recent gathering an informal arrangement rather than an officially recognized coalition.
Atiku, Obi, El-Rufai’s coalition can’t unseat Tinubu – Shekarau
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