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Ikenga Ugochinyere Sacked by Court, as Court seeks Rerun in four Wards between APC and Labour Party.

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…orders INEC to conduct supplementary poll within 90 days

ABUJA– The Imo Sate National and State House of Assembly Election Petitions Tribunal has sacked a member of the House of Representatives, Ikenga Ugochinyere, who was elected on the platform of the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP.

In a unanimous decision on Sunday, a three-member panel of the tribunal which conducted its proceedings in Nasarawa State, held that Ugochinyere was not validly nominated by the PDP to contest the Ideato North/South Federal Constituency election that held on February 25.

Consequently, it ordered the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, to within 90 days, conduct a supplementary election in the constituency.

The tribunal, in its lead judgement that was delivered by its Chairman, Justice Anthony Olotu Akpovi, specifically directed the electoral body to conduct the supplementary poll in 55 polling units where elections did not hold on February 25.

It held that the PDP and its candidate should be excluded from the supplementary election.

The judgement followed a petition that was lodged before the tribunal by candidate of the All Progressives Congress, APC, Mr. Abazu Chika Benson.

Cited as 1st to 5th respondents in the petition marked: EPT/IM/HR/10/2023, were; INEC, Ugochinyere, PDP, candidate of the Labour Party, Obi Paschal Chigozie and his party, the LP.

It will be recalled that INEC had declared the PDP candidate, Ugochinyere, as winner of the election with a total of 13, 026 votes.

Whereas the candidate of the LP, Chigozie, came second with 5,696 votes, the petitioner who was sponsored by the APC, came third with a total of 2, 368 votes.

However, dissatisfied with the outcome of the election, the APC candidate filed a petition wherein he contended that Ugochinyere was not qualified to participate in the House of Reps contest.

The petitioner, among other things, argued that all the votes that were credited to the PDP candidate, amounted to wasted votes.

He told the tribunal that contrary to the express provision of the Electoral Act, the PDP, conducted its primary election in a venue that was outside the constituency.

In its judgement, the tribunal stressed that documentary and oral evidence that was laid before it, established that the primary election the PDP conducted on May 25, 2022, which produced Ugochinyere as its candidate, was held at Aladinma Shopping Mall, a location that was outside Ideato North/South Federal Constituency.

Relying on the provision of section 84 (5) (c)of the Electoral Act 2022, the tribunal held that PDP’s primary election was invalid.

It held that a valid candidate could not have emerged from an invalid primary election.

“Failure of the 3rd respondent (PDP) to abide by the sacrosanct provision of the Electoral Act invalidated its sponsorship of the 2nd respondent,” Justice Akpovi held.

The tribunal maintained that for a primary election to be valid, it must be done in compliance with section 29 (1) of the Electoral Act.

It held that in view of the fact that Ugochinyere was not validly nominated, he was, therefore, not qualified as at the time the House of Reps election held.

More so, the tribunal held that owing to the principle of margin of lead, candidate of the LP, Chigozie, could but be declared the winner of the seat, since INEC admitted that it could not hold election in 55 polling units in the constituency, owing to activities of unknown gunmen.

It, therefore, directed INEC to conduct supplementary poll in the remaining polling units with a the parties participating, except the PDP.

Other members of the panel that concurred with the lead judgement, were; Justices Usman Kudu and Ibrahim Mohammed.

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Rivers assembly’s actions against Fubara will disrupt governance, commissioner warns

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Joseph Johnson, commissioner of information and communication in Rivers state, says the actions of the house of assembly against Siminalayi Fubara, the governor, could bring government operations to a standstill.

His comments follow the assembly’s decision on Monday to serve a notice of “gross misconduct” on Fubara and his deputy, Ngozi Odu.

The notice, which was signed by 26 lawmakers, is seen as the first step towards impeachment.

In a statement issued shortly after the notice was served, Johnson warned that the ongoing political crisis could have severe economic consequences for residents, particularly civil servants and retirees.

“It is glaringly clear that with the current actions of the House, the dire consequences and harsh realities that the civil servants, retirees and people of the state will face unimaginable economic hardships, as the government will be unable to pay salaries, pensions and other emoluments as well as perform other obligations at the end of the month, as both the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) and the Accountant-General of the Federation have been ordered to seize revenue allocations to the state until its judgment is fully implemented,” he said.

“The collateral damages of the actions of the legislative arm of government in Rivers will be so severe as non-release of warehoused revenues due the state from the Federation Account will ultimately ground the operation of all sectors of the government.”

Johnson said Fubara was willing to resubmit the 2025 budget and fully comply with the supreme court’s ruling to maintain peace in the state.

He urged the lawmakers to reconsider their actions, warning that continued tensions could lead to avoidable economic, social, and political crises for the people of Rivers state.

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Kaduna Gov, Uba Sani collecting 40 percent kickbacks from contractors – El-Rufai alleges

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Former Kaduna State governor, Nasir El-Rufai has accused his successor, Uba Sani of collecting kickbacks from contractors before awarding contracts.

El-Rufai alleged that Sani collects 40 percent of kickbacks from contractors.

He disclosed this in an interview with Freedom Radio Kaduna, yesterday.

According to El-Rufai: “I have never stolen a kobo from anyone. If any contractor has given me a bribe, let him come forward.

“When the ICPC invited many contractors, they testified that they had never met me. Contracts worth billions were executed without me ever meeting the contractors—I worked only through commissioners and permanent secretaries.

“Uba goes to Abuja with contract documents, offering them to contractors in exchange for a 40 per cent kickback. We know what is happening.

“They assumed that was how we ran the government, but they are wrong.”

The former governor who defected from the All Progressives Congress to the Social Democratic Party also denied receiving bribes from contractors.

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Impeachment: Rivers State House of Assembly Serves Gross Misconduct Allegation Notice On Fubara, Deputy Gov

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The Rivers State House of Assembly has served a notice of alleged misconduct against Governor Siminalayi Fubara and his deputy Ngozi Odu.

According to the notice, the lawmakers claimed the action was in line with the Nigerian Constitution.

“In compliance with Section 188 of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, 1999 (as amended) and other extant laws, we the undersigned members of the Rivers State House of Assembly hereby forward to you a Notice of Gross Misconduct by the Deputy Governor of Rivers State in the performance of the functions of her office,” the notice read…

Credit: Blaze 91.5 FM

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