Politics
UPDATED: Court sacks 20 Cross River lawmakers
The Federal High Court in Abuja has sacked two members of the House of Representatives and 18 members of the House of Assembly from Cross River State over their defection from the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) to the All Progressives Congress (APC).
The PDP had challenged their defection, saying there was no division in the party that warranted such.
The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), Speaker of the House of Representatives, National Assembly, Clerk of the National Assembly, Cross River State House of Assembly, Clerk of the State House of Assembly and the APC were also joined as defendants in the suit.
A similar case challenging the defection of Governor Ben Ayade is due for judgement on Friday.
The federal lawmakers affected by the court judgement are Michael Etaba, who represents Obubra/Etung Federal Constituency and Legor Idagbor, representing Obudu/Obanliku/Bekwarra.
Cross River Speaker Eteng Williams and his deputy, Joseph Bassey were also among those sacked.
The others are Odey Peter Agbe, Okon E. Ephraim, Regina L. Anyogo, Matthew S. Olory, Ekpo Ekpo Bassey, Ogbor Ogbor Udop, Ekpe Charles Okon, Hillary Ekpang Bisong, Francis B. Asuquo, Elvert Ayambem, Davis Etta, Sunday U. Achunekan, Cynthia Nkasi, Edward Ajang, Chris Nja-Mbu Ogar and Maria Akwaji.
The judge, Justice Taiwo Taiwo, while delivering judgement on a suit instituted by the PDP to challenge the lawmakers’ defection, dismissed all the preliminary objections raised by the sacked lawmakers.
“A day must surely come when elected officials, must ask the people who voted for them before defecting to other political parties,” Justice Taiwo said.
According to the judge: “The lawmakers wined and dined under the umbrella of the PDP,” but jumped ship to the APC even when there was no justification for their action.
“The defendants court documents were contrived and filed with loopholes. The papers are manifestly defective,” the judge said while granting all the reliefs sought by the PDP.
The lawmakers defected alongside Ayade, last year triggering a lawsuit by the PDP on August 27, 2021.
The PDP’s lawyer, Emmanuel Ukala, a Senior Advocate of Nigeria (SAN), sought the court’s interpretation of the provisions of Section 109(1)(g) of the constitution, which prohibits a lawmaker from defecting to another political party without justifiable reasons.
Ukala also drew the court’s attention to the decision of the Supreme Court in the case of Abegunde versus Ondo State House of Assembly (2015).
He contended that the lawmakers being persons whose election to the parliament was sponsored by the PDP and having become members of another political party, their seats should be declared vacant.
In the court papers filed before the judge, the PDP prayed for “an order of injunction restraining the lawmakers from acting as members of parliament both in Abuja and Calabar, the Cross River State capital.
The plaintiff also sought “an order of injunction restraining INEC, the Speaker of the House of Representatives, clerk of the National Assembly, the House of Assembly for Cross River State and the clerk of the State Assembly from according recognition to the dismissed lawmakers.”
In addition, the party urged the court to make “an order of mandatory injunction compelling INEC to accept from the PDP the list of candidates for the purpose of filling the vacancies created by the exit of the lawmakers from the parliament on account of their defections.”
In its verdict, the court held that despite the fact that the major cause of action arose in Calabar, it has both “territorial and subject matter” jurisdictions to entertain the suit.
The judge agreed with the plaintiff that there was no rancour within the PDP to create the opportunity for the lawmakers to ditch their former party on whose platform they emerged in the 2019 general elections.
“That at the time the lawmakers defected from the PDP to the APC, the PDP did not have division in the party,” the judge said.
The lawyer to the sacked lawmakers, Mike Ozekhome, a Senior Advocate of Nigeria (SAN), said the court’s decision would be challenged at the Court of Appeal.
THE NATION
Politics
2027 PDP ticket: I defeated you in 2019, 2023, Atiku mocks Wike
2027 PDP ticket: I defeated you in 2019, 2023, Atiku mocks Wike
There’s no let-off in war of words between former Vice President, Atiku Abubakar and the Minister of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Nyesom Wike, over who controls the Peoples Democratic Party ahead of the 2027 general elections.
Wike, although a minister in the government of the All Progressives Congress (APC) has continued to influence happenings in the PDP which some party hawks loyal to Atiku have tried to expel without fruition.
Both squared up in 2019 when Atiku won the ticket in Wike’s backyard. Wike was governor in the oil-rich Rivers at the time and withheld his support during the party primaries in his state, instead supported his counterpart, Aminu Tambuwal, who was also governor of Sokoto State.
The hope was that Tambuwal, as agreed, would nominate him (Wike) as his vice. Unfortunately to him, Atiku won.
In 2023, both top PDP men squared up again. It took a last minutes maneuvering for Atiku to defeat Wike after Tambuwal, rather than returning the 2019 favour, gave his delegates to Atiku.
READ ALSO:
- NNPC achieves 1.8mbpd crude oil production
- BREAKING: FEC proposes N47.9 trillion budget for 2025 fiscal year
- EFCC arrests ex-NCMB boss over $35m energy project fraud
Not done yet, Atiku refused to give the vice presidential ticket to Wike and instead gave it to Ifeanyi Okowa, the governor of Delta State.
A sore Wike was miffed and mobilised loyal governors to support the candidate of the APC presidential candidate, Bola Tinubu, who went on to be announced the winner of the 2023 election.
Despite being over two years away, Wike has thrown the first stone telling Atiku that he should forget the 2027 presidential ticket of the PDP.
It’s worth noting that Atiku has not declared interest in the ticket and had said he would support whoever the PDP agrees to give the ticket to, including its erstwhile vice presidential candidate, now Labour Party topman, Peter Obi.
That’s in the belief that Obi will agree to a coalition to unseat the APC, alongside the New Nigeria Peoples Party (ANPP).
Wike, who called a press conference to tell Atiku of what awaits him politically said, “He (Atiku) is lobbying for another chance, but the chance will not be there,” the former Minister of State for Education said.
He questioned, “In which party? How can we rely on one man for so many years?” implying that Atiku’s prospects of securing the PDP ticket are slim.
However, responding to the statement, Atiku in a statement issued by his Special Assistant on Public Communication, Phrank Shaibu, Atiku reminded Wike of his unsuccessful attempts to install his preferred candidate within the party since 2019.
Shaibu said, “If he had the power to distribute presidential tickets like party favours, he’d certainly have kept one for himself.
“Atiku schooled him and his chosen protégé in his own backyard in 2019 and then handed him a resounding defeat in the 2023 primaries in Abuja.”
Shaibu also questioned Wike’s focus on 2027, especially given his public support for Tinubu’s potential re-election, suggesting that Wike should prioritize the immediate challenges facing Nigerians.
“People are struggling with rising costs and hunger; these are the issues we should be addressing, not political maneuvers for 2027,” Shaibu noted
2027 PDP ticket: I defeated you in 2019, 2023, Atiku mocks Wike
Politics
Why I can’t form coalition with Peter Obi – Sowore
Why I can’t form coalition with Peter Obi – Sowore
Omoyele Sowore, the African Action Congress (AAC) presidential candidate in the 2023 election, recently shared his reasons for not forming a coalition with Peter Obi, the Labour Party’s candidate in the same election.
In his appearance on the Honest Bunch podcast, Sowore asserted that, in his view, Obi is similar to other Nigerian politicians, describing him as “better at packaging.”
Sowore explained that his own journey in politics began long before Obi gained national recognition, emphasizing his dedication to advocating for systemic change in Nigeria.
During the podcast, co-hosted by Nedu, Husband Material, Deity Cole, and Ezinne, Sowore highlighted his belief in challenging the status quo, which he feels differs significantly from Obi’s approach.
Sowore said, “Before you discovered Peter Obi, I was already running for president. All these shouts about Peter Obi… He just knows how to package. Anyone can do it.
“If I form a coalition with Peter Obi, I will be going against what I have always stood for, which is that I will never support a Nigerian leader who has held any political office — whether at the federal, state, or local level — if I consider them non-performing.
“It’s the same reason I would never have joined hands with Atiku. And the Peter Obi you’re talking about was a vice-presidential candidate to Atiku when I was a presidential candidate in 2019.
READ ALSO:
- Man bags life imprisonment for defiling 11-year-old girl
- We’re working to end insecurity in Nigeria, says Minister Tunji-Ojo
- Naira: Confidence in Nigeria’s economy drops, says CBN report
“So, what are we talking about? There is no lesser evil in my book. If you are evil, you are evil. If you are good, you are good. I have a general disdain for non-performance.”
He added that there is no such thing as “emotional attachment” in his dictionary.
“There was a friend of mine who kept saying, he doesn’t care if Peter Obi is Igbo, but that it is the turn of the Igbos. But it is beyond that; I have a natural disdain for poor performance,” he explained.
Sowore insisted that while many may not know it, he knew Obi before and during his time as governor, and he backed him.
“I had always known and supported him and stood against his removal when (Olusegun) Obasanjo wanted to use Andy Ubah to replace him—the twists and turns then.
“However, when Peter Obi finished his term in Anambra, the question I asked him was whether he could send his child to any university he had built in Anambra—he was mute and could not respond.
“I also asked him if he could enter any hospital he built in Anambra, which he governed for eight years, even if it was for the slightest headache—there was also no response.”
Sowore went on to challenge the four anchors or any other Nigerians, saying, “If they can pack their bags and head to Anambra for a vacation.”
PUNCH Online reports that President Bola Tinubu of the All Progressives Congress recorded 8,794,726 votes in the 2023 presidential election, followed by former Vice President Atiku Abubakar of the Peoples Democratic Party who secured 6,984,520 votes.
In third place, Labour Party’s Obi garnered 6,101,533 votes, and Rabiu Kwankwaso of the New Nigeria Peoples Party secured 1,496,687 votes.
Why I can’t form coalition with Peter Obi – Sowore
Politics
Why we want Jonathan to contest 2027 presidency – Northern group
Why we want Jonathan to contest 2027 presidency – Northern group
The Arewa Consensus for Jonathan, a political group in the North, has urged former President Goodluck Ebele Jonathan to enter the 2027 presidential race.
Jonathan, who served as Nigeria’s president from 2010 to 2015, is widely regarded for his role in fostering democratic growth and his relatively peaceful exit from power after losing the 2015 election.
Despite his exit from politics, his name has remained a focal point in discussions about Nigeria’s future leadership.
The group’s leader, Munir Musa, who made the appeal during a press conference in Bauchi over the weekend, emphasised that Jonathan’s return to office was crucial to addressing Nigeria’s pressing economic and security challenges.
READ ALSO:
- Expect three-day dust haze, rain across Nigeria from today – NiMet
- Reuters asked to apologise over claims against Nigerian military
- MBF to Tinubu: Rethink subsidy removal, Naira devaluation
He argued that Nigeria, grappling with severe economic downturns and rising security threats, needs a leader with Jonathan’s experience and competence to restore stability.
“The nation is at a crossroads, and we believe that Goodluck Jonathan is the right man to steer us out of the current malaise,” Musa told reporters.
He expressed confidence that Jonathan’s leadership could heal the country’s deepening wounds and usher in a new era of progress.
Why we want Jonathan to contest 2027 presidency – Northern group
-
Sports12 hours agoBREAKING: Super Eagles qualify for AFCON 2025
-
International3 days agoBelgium University offers scholarship up to €12,000 for Master’s students
-
Railway3 days agoNigerian railway adds extra train to Friday, Saturday trips on Lagos-Ibadan route
-
Aviation14 hours agoDisaster averted as bird strike hits Abuja-Lagos Air Peace flight
-
International3 days agoUK announces 45,000 seasonal worker visas for 2025
-
Education2 days ago12-year-old Nigerian girl Eniola Shokunbi invents air filter to reduce spread of diseases in US schools
-
International3 days agoSaudi crown prince says Israel committing ‘genocide’ in Gaza
-
Business3 days agoTop 5 crypto apps that work with Nigerian Bank accounts