Chibok Girls: Buhari can rescue our girls by parent

One of the parents of the abducted Chibok girls Rev. Mark Enoch has declared complete faith in President-Elect Gen. Muhammadu Buhari and his ability to rescue the remaining 219 Chibok girls in captivity. He said that things will now be better because Gen. Buhari has the ability to destroy the Boko Haram sect like he destroyed the Maitasine movement in 1984 and bring back the Chibok girls that were abducted a year ago. Rev. Enoch stated this Tuesday in Abuja, after the press conference held by members of the Kibaku Area Development Association (KADA) and umbrella body of the Chibok community in Abuja, titled ‘one year commemoration of the abduction of #Chibokgirls: the unending agony of a community’. He said, “I know that as General Buhari is now the President elect, things will be better, he can rescue our daughters, he can bring our daughter back home. He can end all the atrocities of the Boko Haram sect like he addressed the Maitasine movement in 1984 and our girls will return, so we the Chibok girls’ parents are excited. “I will like to appreciate madam Oby ezekwesilli, members of the #BringBackOurGirls advocacy, they are the Mandela’s of our time.”

KADA in their press statement said that despite the gloomy picture of what is happening in their community before and after the abduction, they are still hopeful that the girls will come back home alive. They said, “After the abduction, Chibok area was attacked six times with resultant high causalities including eleven of the parents and guardians of the abducted girls. The people of Chibok are today haunted, displaced, traumatized and living in agony as refugees or internally displaced persons all over Nigeria and beyond. There is also looming famine in the Chibok (Kibaku) community and environs as a result of the terrorism that has virtually crippled farming activities. Wantom destruction of food stuff, granaries and livestock’s were perpetrated by the insurgency. There was also poisoning or destruction of water wells, the primary source of water for the community.

“Despite the gloomy picture of what is happening in the community, we are still hopeful that our girls will come back alive. We are hoping that Mr President will keep his word by brining the girls back alive before leaving office on 29th May 2015. Even if he fails to achieve it, we are hopeful that the President-Elect will Bring Back Our Girls alive. “In the abduction saga, it is true that the girls are the victims, the parents and guardians are suffering the agony, trauma and pains, but the embarrassment is that of the government and the people of Nigeria, while the military suffered humiliation. We urge all to come together and find a lasting solution to this saga so as to save our face as a country.”

Lagos kidnapping: The three Children Have been found, Thank you Nigerians

The  three children kidnapped in Surulere area of Lagos State have been found . They were dumped in a compound in Egbeda. They have been united with their parents as we speak.We thank God and all concern Nigerians for their supports. This is therefore a lesson and wake up call to parents to be very sensitive to the seasons and times and those you bring into your home.

Allison Madueke says six country didnot denies me asylum request

The minister of petroleum Allison Madueke have denied a story by saharareporters that she apply for asylum in six country and was subsequently denied by those countries.
 sahara reporters stressed that a blockbuster report they got from Business Council for Africa (BCA) claiming that Petroleum Minister, Mrs Diezani Alison-Madueke, has been denied asylum by six countries where she had so far applied. The report claims she's looking for a country to run to before Gen. Buhari takes over as president because she's scared she might be probed or jailed.

But reacting this evening, Alison-Madueke, through the Group Public Affairs GM of the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation, Mr. Ohi Alegbe, said there's absolutely nothing of such happening. She said she has no intentions of either seeking asylum anywhere in the world or even relocating from Nigeria. Read the Sahara Reporters/BCA report after the cut...

No fewer than six countries have already refused to grant an asylum request by the Minister of Petroleum Resources, Mrs Diezani Alison-Madueke, the Business Council for Africa (BCA) said in its just-released monthly report, noting that about US$ 1 trillion is the latest estimated figure of the looting of the Nigerian treasury between 1960 and 2005 alone.

The report, dated March 2015, focused extensively on Nigeria’s general elections.  It said the notorious Minister, whose impunity is known to have been closely-protected by President Goodluck Jonathan, will be coming under the microscope for the first time in her Ministerial career.

“Given her reputation, it comes as no surprise to learn that 6 countries have already refused to grant her asylum to live in their countries as she now wishes to leave Nigeria at the earliest possible opportunity,” it said.

BCA recalled President-elect Muhammadu Buhari lamenting that the rest of the world looks at Nigeria as the home of corruption, one where stealing is not corruption but a way of life, and that his administration will pursue all public offices and individuals who are believed to be guilty of corruption.

It observed that despite an earlier promise, it is now understood that Buhari’s anti-corruption fishing net will include Ministers currently serving under President Goodluck Jonathan.  Alison-Madueke’s departure from Nigeria is likely to be followed by several other PDP elders, party members and supporters as well as some former Government officials, as Buhari's anti-corruption drive will be far-reaching.

“It will be very interesting to learn in the coming months exactly how far back in Nigeria's history his administration will go in the pursuance of those who have robbed Nigeria of US$ 1 trillion, which is the latest estimated figure of theft from the Nigerian treasury between the period 1960-2005. Given that President Jonathan's administration is considered the most corrupt of any of its predecessors, that figure is going to be considerably magnified, but whether the new President will wish to pursue former Heads of State is a matter of interest and considerable debate to Nigerian observers. It is this subject that is primarily responsible for Buhari's success in winning the election as well as his campaign promises to eradicate Boko Haram, revive the economy and rebuild Nigeria to make its position as the number one country in Africa.

While BCA agreed that the March/April 2015 were “the most credible elections in Nigeria's history”, it said they could not be called the most incorruptible.

On the contrary, it referred to them as the worst because of the amount of money that the PDP so freely and openly spent on trying to secure the re-election of Mr. Jonathan.

“The stories and reports from throughout the 36 States of the amount of money distributed by the PDP to elders, rulers, church leaders, unions and youth leaders amongst others in an endeavour to favour the voters towards the PDP has backfired badly,” the report said. 

BCA said that if the 2011 elections were considered bad, the 2015 elections will undoubtedly go down as the most corrupt in Nigeria's history, certainly since 1999, as the amount of money being distributed as bribes primarily by the PDP so very openly would readily confirm.

Election in Rivers and Akwa ibom state is a sham says APC

As you are aware, the Governorship and House of Assembly elections were held across the country on Saturday.
While the elections went on smoothly in most parts of the country, the situation was different in some others, where all that took place was nothing but mock elections, a mere charade!
Two of the states that witnessed such caricature of elections are Rivers and Akwa Ibom, where elections were not conducted in accordance with INEC guidelines.
Because of this, we in the APC are left with no choice than to demand the immediate cancellation of the purported elections in the two states.
Let me now present more in-depth details of what transpired in Rivers and Akwa Ibom on Saturday, and why the elections in the two states cannot stand.

RIVERS

•It is clear that the script for the distortion of the Rivers elections was written by the Presidency and executed by the PDP, the police and militants
•As you would recollect, our party’s chapter in Rivers had written a petition complaining of the crass partisanship of the Rivers State Commissioner of Police in the Presidential and National Assembly Elections held on the 28th of March. Because of this petition, the Inspector-General of Police (IGP), Mr. Suleiman Abba, posted three Commissioners of Police from the Force Headquarters to oversee the April 11th Governorship and House of Assembly Elections in Rivers State.
•As soon as the President learnt of this development, he directed the IGP to reverse the decision and instead requested that AIG Tunde Ogunsakin be posted to oversee the April 11th Elections in Rivers State
•As soon as electoral materials were distributed, the Divisional Police Officer for Akuku Toru Local Government Area simply handed over the election materials for this local government to the militants. Upon learning of this development, AIG Ogunsakin ordered that the materials should be recovered and handed over to the Electoral Officer for the Local Government within the next hour.
•Irked by AIG Ogunsakin’s directive, the Presidency ordered him to leave Rivers State within 6 hours and a pliant replacement was asked to take over from him.
•From then on, unimaginative terror was unleashed on the electorate, in particular on APC members and supporters. It was a straight fight between the police, the militants and the PDP on the one hand and the APC on the other hand.
•Contrary to the directive from INEC that Card Readers be used for the elections, the machines were discarded in Rivers. This is why the voter turnout for Rivers, as announced by INEC for Rivers, stood at more than 75 per cent, compared with the national average of between 25 and 35 per cent.
•Gentlemen, because of these and other anomalies, we hereby unequivocally demand for the cancellation of the Governorship and House of Assembly elections in Rivers State.

AKWA IBOM

•The APC fully supports the demand by its chapter in Akwa Ibom for the immediate cancellation of the Governorship and House of Assembly elections in Akwa Ibom.
•Our position is based on the fact that elections in most parts of the state were not conducted according to INEC guidelines.
•Election materials were not supplied to most of the polling units in all the three senatorial districts.
- In former Governor Victor Attah’s ward in Ibesikpo Asutan, three contiguous polling units did not receive election materials.
- In the most of the polling units in Oruk Anam, which is the home local government area of Atuekong Etiebet and Chief Soni Udom, Director-General of the APC Governorship Campaign Organisation, most of the polling units did not receive election materials.
- Election materials were also not supplied to most polling units in Itu, Ibiono Ibom, Ikot Ekpene, Esisien Udim, Uyo, Eket, Abak, Nsit Ibom, Etinan, Esit Obolo, Ibeno, Nsit Attai, Ikono, Ini.
•In areas where polling materials were received, hordes of deadly armed thugs, escorted by men in Nigeria Police and Army uniforms, stormed the polling units and carted away the election materials midway into the accreditation process.
- For instance in Ndiya ward 3, unit 004 in Nsit Ubium, which happens to be the polling unit of our governorship candidate, election materials were supplied but thugs led by the Special Assistant to the Governor on Security, retired Capt. Iniobong Ekong, invaded the place and took away all the election materials. The thugs were later traced to the house of Capt. Ekong, where the election materials were recovered. An inventory of the recovered materials showed that the number of the ballot papers had reduced from 1,571 to 450. The polling officer could not account for the differential. Even so, the Divisional Police Officer of Nsit Ubium later stormed the place and took away the remaining materials.
•In a meeting with APC Governorship Candidate, Mr. Umana Okon Umana, the electoral officer of Nsit Ubium local government admitted that the election process in the area was marred by security failure, which allowed PDP thugs to hijack election materials and take them to private homes for thumb-printing.
•Similarly, invasion of polling units and snatching of ballot materials took place in other polling units in Uyo Senatorial District, Ikot Ekpene Senatorial District and Eket Senatorial District.
•In addition to the failure to supply election materials to polling units and the snatching of ballot boxes, the elections were marred by widespread violence, resulting in the deaths of many people.
Here are instances of such unbridled violence, as related by INEC staff, party agents and other citizens who saw most of what happened.
- PDP thugs killed two of our members in Ibiono Ibom when Bassey Albert invaded a RAC centre in the area with over 50 thugs to cart away ballot materials.
-  The PDP thugs also killed one of our members in Nsit Ubium.
- Three APC supporters were also killed Uyo.
- Yet another APC member was killed in Uruan.
- One more APC member was killed in Ini Local Government Area. This was acknowledged by the Assistant Inspect General of Police, Mr. Baba Adisa Bolanta, who was in charge of elections in the state.
We have included here some links to pictorial evidence showing the killings and other acts of violence that marred the elections in Akwa Ibom State.
•In view of the widespread failure by INEC to supply election materials to polling units in most parts of Akwa Ibom, the rampant snatching of ballot boxes and the bloodletting by PDP thugs that characterised the conduct of the elections on Saturday, we as a party hereby call for an outright cancellation of the elections.
We are vindicated that some local and international election observers have also been very critical of the elections in the two states, with some calling for an outright cancellation.
The leader of African Centre for Leadership Strategies and Development, Mr Humphrey Bekaren, said in Port Harcourt that the observers were shocked that INEC disregarded the widely reported violent irregularities to begin the process of declaring results in Rivers state.
He says: ‘’We request all lovers of democracy to join us in calling for the outright cancellation of the phony election.Unless this is done, we would have sown the seed that could eventually grow into providing a shade of fear and death over us.’’
Also, The Situation Room, which is a coalition of Civil Society Organisations working to ensure credible elections in Nigeria, called on INEC to ‘’urgently take steps to clinically scrutinise the final collated results from Rivers and Akwa Ibom, as well as Abia, against the polling unit results and make a reasoned judgment about them’’.
It said in its final statement issued a few minutes ago: ‘’In our view INEC should concern itself with possible negative public perceptions of the elections in the three States and ensure that it takes every necessary step to protect the integrity of the elections in the States, as a way of strengthening the trust of the electorate in the voting process.’’

We can’t cancel Rivers, Akwa Ibom results says INEC

The Independent National Electoral Commission has said it has no power to cancel the results of the governorship and state Houses of Assembly elections in Rivers and Akwa Ibom states.

It made this known to the public a few hours after the European Union Election Observation Mission to Nigeria on Monday called for a probe of   the “severe problems” that characterised the polls in the two states.

The Chief Press Secretary to the INEC chairman, Kayode Idowu, said those calling on the commission to cancel   the results were misdirecting their request.

He   explained that once results had been announced by INEC , only election petition tribunals had the power to cancel and order fresh elections.

Idowu said, “The law does not allow us to cancel any result after it has been announced. Everyone knows this.

“It is only the election petition tribunals that can order that or even cancelled the elections. We would advice anyone who is aggrieved to go to the court. “

Also in Abuja on Monday, EU EOM said the elections in Akwa Ibom and Rivers states needed to be probed because of accusations of rigging, intimidation and violence by opponents of the winners.

Udom Emmanuel won the governorship in election in Akwa Ibom while a former Minister of State for Education, Nyesom Wike, triumphed in Rivers.

The Chief Observer of the EU EOM,   Santiago Fisas, said at a news conference     that even though the   elections witnessed “more efficient polling, “there were “increased incidents of violence and interference.”

He added,   “On April 12, INEC referred to 66 reports of violent incidents targeting polling units, INEC officials, voters and election materials in 19 states in all geopolitical zones except for the North-East.

“Both the main parties made many accusations of rigging, intimidation and violence by opponents. Problems were most pronounced in Rivers and Akwa Ibom states where there are multiple credible reports of violence and interference, which warrant further investigation.”

Fisas however encouraged those with grievances to address them through official channels.

The Chief observer also commended President Goodluck Jonathan for conceding defeat before the last result was read.

Fisas, who described the election-related killings as regrettable, stressed that loss of lives was unacceptable in election conduct.

He said, “It is very regrettable that so many people lost their lives during the elections. Election must be violence-free; loss of lives is not acceptable. Citizens should be able to express their political will freely without fear for their lives.

“My full condolences go to families and friends of those who have been killed during this election process; also to the family of the Resident Electoral Commissioner in Kano, who perished with his family in the tragic fire.”

Also on Monday, the United States which congratulated Nigerians and INEC on the successful conduct of the   general elections, said it had “seen the reports of violence and alleged irregularities, particularly in Rivers and Akwa Ibom states.”

In a statement   by its Embassy in Nigeria, the US   callED on those dissatisfied to pursue their grievances peacefully through the judiciary.

The statement read in part, “The US Embassy in Nigeria congratulates the people of Nigeria and INEC for an electoral process on April 11, 2015 that generally went well across the country and built on the success of the March 28 polling process.

“We have seen the reports of violence and alleged irregularities, particularly in Rivers and Akwa Ibom states, and call on those dissatisfied to pursue their grievances peacefully in the judicial arena. We regret any loss of life and destruction of property.”

It   lauded “the leadership of Nigeria’s political parties, notably President Goodluck Jonathan and President-elect Muhammadu Buhari, for urging their supporters to conduct themselves peacefully throughout the electoral process.”

Presidency, militants rigged elections in Rivers, A’Ibom –APC

But in Lagos, the national leadership of the APC   accused the Presidency and Niger Delta militants of rigging the   elections in two states.

The APC, at a news conference   by its Publicity Secretary, Lai Mohammed, described the elections   in the   states as a mockery of democracy.

It therefore   called on INEC to cancel the elections.

The party said, “It is clear that the script for the distortion of the Rivers elections was written by the Presidency and executed by the PDP, the police and militants

“As you would recollect, our party’s chapter in Rivers had written a petition complaining of the crass partisanship of the Rivers State Commissioner of Police in the presidential and National Assembly elections held on March 28.

“Because of this petition, the Inspector-General of Police,   Suleiman Abba, posted three police commissioners from the Force Headquarters in Abuja to oversee the April 11 elections in Rivers State.

“As soon as the President learnt of this development, he directed the IG to reverse the decision and instead requested that AIG Tunde Ogunsakin be posted to oversee the April 11 elections in Rivers State.”

The APC spokesman said as soon as electoral materials were distributed, a senior police officer in Akukutoru Local Government Area simply handed over the election materials for this local government to the militants.

He said upon learning of this development,   Ogunshakin ordered that the materials should be recovered and handed over to the electoral officer for the LGA within the next hour.

Mohammed said, “Irked by A Ogunsakin’s directive, the Presidency ordered him to leave Rivers State within six hours and a pliant replacement was asked to take over from him.

“From then on, unimaginative terror was unleashed on the electorate, in particular on APC members and supporters. It was a straight fight between the police, the militants and the PDP on the one hand and the APC on the other hand.”

He said in former Governor Victor Attah’s ward in Ibesikpo Asutan, three contiguous polling units did not receive election materials.

Mohammed said that electoral officers even told the APC governorship candidate, Umana Umana, that the election process was marred by security failure, which allowed PDP thugs to hijack election materials and take them to private homes for thumb-printing.

The PDP however said it was wrong for the APC to call for the cancellation of the results because   there was no way it would not have won the polls in the two states.

APC is wrong, says PDP

The National Publicity Secretary of the party,   Olisa Metuh, told one our correspondents that the PDP might as well demand that the presidential election be canceled because of the irregularities it noticed.

He said, “There was no way we wouldn’t have won the elections in both Rivers and Akwa Ibom states because they are our stronghold.

“Maybe we should as well ask that the presidential election be canceled because of the irregularities we noticed during the conduct of the election.”

Metuh called on the APC to learn to accept the outcomes of elections

Meanwhile, THE   announcement of the governorship election results by INEC enetered a second day on Monday with the APC winning additional six   states and the PDP, three.

The states whose results were announced in APC’s favour are Zamfara, Jigawa, Adamawa, Niger, Nasarawa and Borno.   The PDP had Rivers, Delta and Cross River states.

As of Sunday midnight, INEC had formally declared the candidates of the APC in 13 states as winners. The states are Sokoto, Kebbi, Kwara, Oyo, Ogun, Lagos, Katsina, Kaduna, Kano, Bauchi, Plateau, Yobe and Benue.

It also declared the PDP candidates in Gombe, Enugu, Ebonyi and Akwa Ibom victorious.

When the results began to trickle in between 1pm   and 7pm on Monday, INEC announced more APC   candidates as winners.

In Nasarawa State,   Governor Tanko Al-Makura scored 309, 746 votes to beat his closest rival,Yusuf Agasi of the PDP, who had 178, 983 votes.

Abdulaziz Yari   scored 716,964 votes while Mamuda Shinkafi of the PDP in Zamfara State had 201,938 votes.

Also in Jigawa, Badaru Abubakar   defeated Aminu Ringim of the PDP by polling 648, 045 votes. Ringim had 479,447 votes.

INEC merely confirned unofficial reports of Jibrilla Bindow, Abubakar Bello and Kashim Shettima’s victories in Adamawa, Niger and Borno states.

Bindow defeated PDP’s Nuhu Ribadu by scoring 362,329 votes. Ribadu had 98,917 votes.

While Bello had 593,702 votes, Umar Nasco of the PDP in Niger State had 239,770 votes.

In Borno State, Shettima scored 649, 913 votes as against 34,005 votes by Gambo Lawan of the PDP.

The PDP candidates however floored their APC counterparts in Rivers, Delta and Cross River states.

In Rivers State, a former Minister of State for Education and PDP torch-bearer, Nyesom Wike, trounced APC’s Dakuku Peterside having polled 1,029,102 votes. Dakuku had 124,896 votes.

In Delta State PDP’s Ifeanyi Okowa became governor-elect after defeating APC’s O’tega Emerhor by garnering 724,680 votes. Emerhor had 67, 825 votes.

Benedict   Ayade of the PDP in Cross River also handed defeat to his APC closest rival Odey Ochicha. He polled 342,016 votes as against Ochicha’s 53,983.

INEC which also updated the results of the Benue State election, had   declared the   Imo, Abia and Taraba state governorship results inconclusive.

As of Sunday night when the Imo results were announced uncompleted, Governor Rochas Okorocha of the APC was leading his PDP counterpart and Deputy Speaker of the House of Representatives, Emeka Ihedioha.

APC’s candidate in Taraba State, Jummai Alhassan, was also leading other candidates in the state.

Resign your position as Lagos APC chairman, Akande tells Ajomale

A chieftain of the All Progressives Congress in Lagos State, Chief Ayo Akande, has asked the party chairman in the state, Chief Henry Ajomale, to resign with immediate effect “for his dismal performance in the just concluded elections in the state.”

Akande, in a statement on Monday, said Ajomale had no moral right to remain as party chairman given that the APC lost to the opposition in all the contested seats in the March 28 and April 11 elections in his unit, ward and the entire Oshodi Isolo Local Government Area.

But Ajomale, in his reaction, on Monday, said Akande should be ignored “because I have performed.”

“If a leader or party chairman should lose his polling unit in all elections for state assembly, Federal Constituency and the governorship, such party chairman should resign,” Akande insisted.

He said that Ajomale’s report card in the just-concluded elections in the state had shown clearly that he had lost his credibility as a leader and as such he should resign as the chairman of the party

“Our party cannot continue to be old-fashioned, things are changing and the party had to follow suit. The APC leadership should not develop clay feet or whip up sentiment to deal with failures or reward performance in the party as the expectations of the people from the party are high.” the APC chieftain added.

He commended the national leader of the party, Bola Tinubu, for his doggedness and sacrifice for the victory recorded by the party at the presidential level.

He said the victory of President-elect Muhamadu Buhari and others at state and federal levels was a testimony to the political doggedness of Tinubu, adding that he was certain that Buhari would deliver as well as bring succour to Lagos.

But Ajomale described Akande as an unserious person who should be ignored by all well-meaning Nigerians.

The APC chairman, who spoke through his Special Adviser, Mr. Adekunle Olayinka, said he did well by ensuring the overall victory of his party at both the presidential and governorship elections in the state.

Olayinka said, “Chief Ajomale is not a ward chairman but the chairman of the entire Lagos State chapter of the APC. Out of 20 local governments, he ensured the victory of the party in 15 local governments during the March 28 and April 11 elections.

“In Oshodi/Isolo, the Igbo population is over 55 per cent and the candidates presented by the PDP were Igbo, so, of course, they voted for their kinsmen. But Chief Ajomale led the APC to victory and that is the most important thing.”

Supreme court affirms Fayose's winner of Ekiti state guber election

The Supreme Court on Tuesday affirmed Ayodele Fayose as the duly elected governor of Ekiti State in the June 21, 2014 election.

‎In a unanimous decision by the seven-man panel led by Justice John Fabiyi, the apex court upheld the earlier decisions of the Court of Appeal and the Ekiti State Governorship Election Tribunal, which had both earlier ruled that the petition challenging Fayose’s victory lacked merit.

In the lead judgment delivered by Justice Sylvester Ngwuta, the apex court dismissed all the grounds of appeal filed by the petitioner – the All Progressives Congress – and resolved all four issues arising from the appeal against the party.

The Independent National Electoral Commission had declared that Fayose of the Peoples Democratic Party polled 203,090 votes to defeat the then incumbent governor, Dr. Kayode Fayemi, of the All Progressives Congress who polled 120,433 votes‎ in the election.

Dissatisfied by the results declared by the INEC, the APC had filed a petition, urging the Ekiti State Governorship Election Petition Tribunal which sat in Abuja to nullify the election.

The petitioner had anchored its case on the grounds of alleged irregularities, intimidation of its leaders by the military, ineligibility of Fayose to stand for the election and allegation that the PDP candidate forged his Higher National Diploma certificate presented to INEC.

The Justice Siraju-Mohammed-led tribunal had, in its verdict delivered on December 19, 2014, ‎dismissed the petition for lacking merit.
‎
The Justice Abdul Aboki-led five-man panel on April 15, 2015 affirmed the decision of the tribunal.

But the APC further appealed to the Supreme having been dissatisfied with the Court of Appeal’s decision.

The Supreme Court, in its judgment on Tuesday, held that none of the grounds of appeal was proved by the appellant‎.

It held that while impeachment was not a ground of disqualification ‎from contesting as governor under section 182 of Nigeria’s constitution, the panel which recommended Fayose for impeachment on October 16, 2006, was illegally and unconstitutionally constituted.

It also held that the allegation of certificate forgery had been caught by the principle of “issue estoppel” as it had been laid to rest since 2004 by the Court of Appeal’s judgment‎ in the case of Alliance for Democracy.

According to the apex court, the Court of Appeal had, in the said judgment, held that the HND certificate was genuinely earned by and awarded to Fayose.

On the issue of militarisation and harassment of leaders of the APC, the Supreme Court held that the Chief of Defence Staff and the Inspector-General of Police, joined as 4th and 5th defendants in the case were not necessary parties.

The apex court held that ‎the actions of the men and officers of the two defendants that allegedly harassed the APC leaders during the election and whose names were not mentioned could also not be answerable for by the INEC as stipulated by the Electoral Act.

__________________________________________________________________

There was anxiety in Ekiti State as the Supreme Court in Abuja prepared to deliver judgment on Tuesday (today) in the appeal filed by the All Progressives Congress against the victory of Governor Ayodele Fayose in the June 21, 2014 governorship election.

Fayose, in a state-wide broadcast on Monday, asked residents to maintain the peace and go about their lawful duties.

The governor, who thanked the people for voting overwhelmingly for all the Peoples Democratic Party’s candidates in the Saturday House of Assembly elections, said the victory had confirmed that he had a genuine mandate of the people.

He said that he was sure that he would be vindicated at the end of the day and triumph over whatever plot being hatched to truncate his tenure.

A commercial driver, Ade Bamidele, expressed confidence that the governor would win the case.

A trader, Esther Orji, said the Ekiti people required peace, saying the judgment would remove the tension associated with the election.

The Ekiti Governorship Election Petitions Tribunal had on December 19, 2014 upheld Fayose’s victory and dismissed the APC petition for lack of merit.

Dissatisfied, the APC had gone to the appellate court on the grounds that Fayose was not qualified to stand for the election as a candidate because of his impeachment on October 16, 2006 during his first tenure as governor.

The APC also alleged that the governor forged his academic certificates and violated the Code of Conduct rules.

The five- member panel, chaired by Justice Abdul Aboki, in its judgment on February 16 had upheld the judgment of the Tribunal, which affirmed Fayose as the winner of the June 21, 2014 poll.

Though the Justice Abdul Aboki-led five-man panel dismissed the appeal filed by the APC, it found merit in the appellant’s complaints that the military was used to harass and intimidate its supporters and leaders during the polls.

Dissatisfied still, the APC had gone to the Supreme Court.

The Independent National Electoral Commission had declared that Fayose polled 203,090 votes to defeat the then incumbent governor, Dr. Kayode Fayemi, of the All Progressives Congress, who polled 120,433 votes in the election.

Source: The Punch