News
March 18: It’s a contest, not war, INEC tells parties *Gives update on preparation
Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), has admonished political parties, politicians and their supporters to desist seeing elections as war, but rather approach it with the mindset of a contest in which there would always be winners and losers.
Mahmood Yakubu, Chairman of the commission, particularly admonished the parties to educate their members on this in order to minimise the strife, usually witnessed during elections.
Yakubu, who spoke on Tuesday during a meeting of the inter-agency consultative committee on election security, while thanking the security agencies for the professionalism of their personnel and the largely peaceful conduct of the presidential elections, informed that the commission’s state offices had already provided the police with the details for the governorship and state assembly elections, including locations of polling units and collation centres.
“On that basis, we expect a coordinated deployment plan in synergy with other security, intelligence, law enforcement and safety agencies. Only yesterday, the commission held a virtual meeting with all the resident electoral commissioners (RECs) in which we reviewed preparations for the state elections. In addition to election technology, logistics and a host of other issues, security was also discussed,” he said.
Explaining that the March 18, elections into the governorship and Houses of Assembly elections involve more constituencies, candidates and collation centres than the national elections, he stressed the importance of the parties and candidates to ask their agents and supporters to see the elections as a contest and not war.
His words: “They should refrain from acts of violence that may mar the elections or compromise the security of our personnel, observers, the media and service providers. The commission is encouraged by the directive to state commands by the inspector general of police to handle all cases of electoral offences expeditiously. We look forward to receiving the case files. We will immediately set up a legal team to handle such cases in earnest.”
Justice Usman Na’abba of the Kano State High Court, on Wednesday, granted an ex-parte motion forbidding Abdullahi Ganduje, embattled National Chairman of the All Progressives Congress (APC) from parading himself as a member of the party, worsening the case of the former Governor of the state, who assumed the leadership of the ruling party, last year.
The order, which also included that Ganduje should desist from presiding over all affairs of the National Working Committee (NWC) of the party, is the outcome of an application filed on Tuesday through a motion ex parte Ibrahim Sa’ad on behalf of two executive members of Ganduje’s ward, Dawakin-Tofa Local Government Area, the Assistant Secretary, Laminu Sani and Legal Adviser, Haladu Gwanjo (plaintiffs), who were part of the nine ward executives who suspended Ganduje on Monday.
The court directed the four parties (respondents) joined in the matter, including the APC, NWC, APC Kano State Working Committee, and Ganduje, to henceforth, maintain status quo ante belum as of April 15, 2024, pending the hearing and determination of the substantive suit on April 30, 2024 and also stopped the State Working Committee (SWC) of the party in Kano from interfering with the legally and validly considered decision of executives of Ganduje ward, essentially on action endorsed by a two-thirds majority of the executives as provided by the party constitution.
Specifically, the court, granted: “An order is hereby granted directing all parties in the suit APC (first), APC National Working Committee (second), Kano State Working Committee APC (third), Dr. Abdullah Umar Ganduje (fourth), to maintain status quo ante belum as of April 15, 2024.
”The order thereby restraining the first respondent (APC) from recognising the fourth respondent (Ganduje) as a member of APC and prohibiting the fourth respondent (Ganduje) from presiding over any affairs of the NWC and restraining the state Working Committee from interfering with the legally and validly decision of the ward executives of Ganduje ward.
”The order thereby restraining the first respondent (APC) from recognising the fourth respondent (Ganduje) as a member of APC and prohibiting the fourth respondent (Ganduje) from presiding over any affairs of the NWC and restraining the state Working Committee from interfering with the legally and validly decision of the ward executives of Ganduje ward.
“That the fourth respondent (Ganduje) is prohibited from parading himself as a member of APC or doing any act that may portray him or seem to be a member of APC pending the hearing and determination of the substantive suit.”
Nine members of the Ganduje ward proclaimed the suspension of the National Chairman of the APC over the allegation of corruption slammed on him by the Kano State Government, on the ground of a supposed petition written by one Ja’afaru Adamu, a member of the APC from the former governor’s polling unit, over allegations of corruption charges against him, which he prayed the ward leaders to investigate, “to redeem the dented image of the party and the implication on President Bola Tinubu’s fight against corruption.”
Although the chairman and secretary of the ward failed to act on the petition filed on April 8, 2024, nine members of the executives, led by the legal adviser, acted upon the petition, thus validating the decision that led to Ganduje’s suspension.
Five days after the invasion of Oyo State Secretariat in Ibadan, authorities of the Oyo State Police Command, on Wednesday, commenced the trial of members of the “Yoruba Nation” agitators, arrested in respect of the incident, with 29 of them brought before the Chief Magistrate Court in the state capital for arraignment.
The number of the suspects, which was initially put at 21, has however increased by eight persons when they were brought to the court for trial over the incident, which occurred at the Oyo State Government Secretariat on Saturday, April 13, when the culprits attempted to hoist a flag of what they said was a new republic for the Yoruba people.
The police are slamming the suspects on a seven-count charge bothering on treasonable felony, unlawful society, illegal possession of firearm, going armed and conduct likely to cause breach of peace, in the case marked Mi/520c/2024 in which the Commissioner of Police is cited as the complainant.
The offences, according to the Investigative Police Officer, Bakare Rasaq, an Inspector with the State Criminal Investigation Department, Iyaganku, Ibadan is contrary to and punishable under Section 516 of the Criminak Code, Cap 38, Vol.II, Laws of Oyo State of Nigeria, 2000.
Unlike Idris Okuneye, Nigeria’s popular crossdresser, otherwise known as Bobrisky, who did not put up a fight by pleading guilty to the four-count charge of abusing the Naira, Nigeria’s local currency, for which he was handed a six-month jail term, last Friday, Pascal Okechukwu, popularly known as “Cubana Chief Priest” has decided to toe an opposite line.
He pointedly told the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), who arrested him and is currently handling his prosecution after successfully putting Okuneye away, that he could not be tried, while pleading not guilty, during his arraignment before a Federal High Court in Lagos, on Wednesday.
Chukosolo Ojukwu, his lawyer, in addition to opposing his trial, also argued for the court to grant him bail in liberal terms, which was acceded to by Justice Kehinde Ogundare, after Okechukwu, also known as Celebrity Barman was finally arraigne on three counts bordering on abuse of naira by allegedly spraying and tampering with the nation’s currency at a social event, contrary to the provisions of the Central Bank Act of 2007.
Part of the charges read: “That you, Okechukwu Pascal on 13th Feb. 2024, at Eko Hotel, within the jurisdiction of the court, while dancing during a social event, tampered with funds in the denomination of N500 (Five Hundred Naira) issued by the Central Bank of Nigeria by spraying same for two hours, and you thereby committed an offence, contrary to and punishable under Section 21(1) of the Central Bank Act 2007.
“That you Okechukwu Pascal sometime in 2020, in Lagos during a social event, tampered with funds in the denomination of N500 (Five Hundred Naira) issued by the Central Bank of Nigeria by spraying same for two hours, and you thereby committed an offence, contrary to and punishable under Section 21(1) of the Central Bank Act 2007.
“That you Okechukwu Pascal sometime in January 2024, in Lagos during a social event, tampered with funds in the denomination of N500 (Five Hundred Naira) issued by the Central Bank of Nigeria by spraying same and you thereby committed an offence, contrary to and punishable under Section 21(1) of the Central Bank Act 2007.”
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