The Court of Appeal sitting in Lagos is set to deliver the governorship appeal by Sen Sandy Onor and PDP against Prince Bassey Otu and APC on Wednesday 22nd November 2023 by 9:00am.
The governorship tribunal had dismissed the petition by Sen Sandy Onor and PDP brought before it against Prince Bassey Otu and APC.
The tribunal had held that the matter before it was a pre-election matter.
Shehu Sani, former Kaduna State Senator, has reacted to the outcome of the Appeal Court verdict, which sacked Caleb Mutfwang as the governor of Plateau State.
Senator Sani, who posted this on his verified X account, said the appellate court decision is a broad daylight heist of the will of the people, adding that the bench is becoming the coffin of democracy.
He wrote: “The Court of Appeal Judgement against the electoral victory of the Plateau State Governor is unfortunate, unacceptable, and condemnable. A broad daylight heist of the will of the people.The bench is becoming the coffin of democracy.”
A three-member panel, of the Court of Appeal in a unanimous decision on Sunday, held that Muftwang was not validly sponsored by the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) as provided by Section 285(2) of the Nigerian Constitution.
The court declared Nentanwe Yilwatda Goshwe of the APC as duly elected governor of Plateau State.
A three-member panel, in a unanimous decision on Sunday, held that Muftwang was not validly sponsored by the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) as provided by Section 285(2) of the Nigerian Constitution.
The Court of Appeal Abuja on 17 November 2023 delivered judgment in the appeal filed by the Governor of Kano State, Engr. Kabir Yusuf against the Judgment of the Kano Governorship Election Petition Tribunal dated 25 September 2023 that had nullified his election as Governor of Kano State.
The Court of Appeal affirmed the Judgment of the Tribunal and ordered that Governor Kabir Yusuf vacant his gubernatorial seat for the APC candidate, Gamuwa to take over.
One aspect of the judgment of the Court of Appeal that has attracted the attention of pundits is the part where the Court of Appeal, held that Governor Kabir Yusuf was not properly sponsored by his party-NNPP.
Expectedly pundits have wondered why this should be so, given that the judgment of the Presidential Election Petition Tribunal(PEPT) in the consolidated petitions of Peter Obi & Labour Party against INEC, President Bola Ahmed Tinubu; Senator Kashim Shettima, and APC, had held that it had no jurisdiction to adjudicate on membership of a political party raised by President Tinubu against Peter Obi.
It goes without saying if that is the position; why would the Court of Appeal in Kabir Yusuf NNPP against APC decide otherwise?
The position of the law is that where a superior court has decided on a matter; the court on the lower rung of the judicial hierarchy is bound to apply that principle enunciated by the superior court, where the facts of the previous case are similar to the facts and circumstances of the instance case.
This doctrine is known as judicial precedent and, is one of the hallmarks of the common law tradition which holds sway in the Nigerian legal system.
However, for judicial precedent to apply the facts of a previous case must be similar to the facts of the new case.
The pertinent question therefore is:are the facts in Peter Obi & Labour Party against INEC, President Tinubu, Senator Shettima & APC on one hand ;
and APC vs, INEC, Kabir Yusuf & NNPP on the other hand, are similar?
The answer is No.
In the case of Peter Obi& Labour Party and INEC, President Tinubu; Senator Shettima, and APC (the Respondents), took a preliminary objection on the locus standi of Peter Obi to bring his Petition on the ground that he contravened section 77(3) of the Electoral Act.
Section 77 (3) of the Electoral Act mandates a political party to submit the membership register of its members 30 days before the Party primaries.
The INEC, President Tinubu, Senator Shettima, and APC
had argued that Peter Obi was not a member of the Labour Party but PDP.
They contended further that Peter Obi had resigned from his membership of the PDP only on 25 May 2022 to join the Labour Party on 27 May 2022.
On the other hand, in Kabir Yusuf & NNPP against APC; the Petitioner (APC) had filed a petition against Kabir Yusuf seeking a determination that the 3rd Respondent(NNPP) failed to sponsor a candidate who satisfied the requirements of sections 177 and 182 of the Constitution, Electoral Act 2022, and other Electoral Laws, for the election of the Governor of Kano State.
Therefore, the facts, of the cases of the Respondents (INEC, President Tinubu; Senator Shettima, and APC) and Peter Obi are fundamentally different from the facts and circumstances in Kabir Yusuf & NNPP against APC.
In Peter Obi’s case, the Respondents challenged the locus standi of the petitioners to bring the petitioner on the ground that Peter Obi violated section 77 (3) of the Electoral Act,2022 but they were overruled. The PEPT held it did not have jurisdiction because membership of a political party is a political question that cannot be determined by a court.
On the other hand, in Kabir Yusuf & NNPP against APC; the Petitioner(APC) sought a determination that the 3rd Respondent(NNPP) failed to sponsor any candidate who satisfied the requirements of sections 177 and 182 of the Constitution, Electoral Act 2022, and other Electoral Laws, for the election of the Governor of Kano State.
The facts of the two cases are therefore different and the precedent enunciated in the judgment in Peter Obi’s case is not Kabir Yusuf & NNPP against APC.
The facts and circumstances of these two cases (Peter Obi against INEC, President Tinubu, Senator Shettima & APC), and Kabir Yusuf & NNPP and APC are distinguishable.
It is worth noting that in the case of INEC; President Tinubu; Senator Shettima and APC did not appeal against the dismissal of their objection on the competence of Peter Obi’s Petition by the PEPT to the Supreme Court.
Therefore since there was no appeal against that decision by the PEPT, it stands in law.
However, it is instructive that the PEPT is also a panel of the Court of Appeal, Abuja.
The judgment in Kabir Yusuf & NNPP was also delivered by another panel of the Court of Appeal Abuja.
Is there any conflict between the judgment of the PEPT on one hand; and the judgment of the Court of Appeal in Kabir Yusuf & NNPP against APC?
I do not think so.
The judgment of the PEPT in Peter Obi & Labour Party against INEC, President Tinubu, Senator Shettima, and APC was premised on the interpretation of section 77 (3) of the Electoral Act,2022.
The import of section 77 (3) of the Electoral Act on the main is that a political party must transmit to INEC the register of its membership 30 days before holding its convention or congress to nominate its candidates for the general election.
Conversely, the judgment of the Court of Appeal in Kabir Yusuf & NNPP against APC is anchored on the interpretation of sections 177 and 182 of the Constitution,1999 (as amended) which provides that a candidate for governorship election must be a member of a political party that sponsors his elections.
@ Okoi Obono-Obla
Disclaimer: The opinion expressed in this article is clearly that of the author, Okoi Obono-Obla, and does not represent TheLumineNews or its agent.
” _In my 65 years of living in this world, I have never seen anyone who was loved because of their money, because of their position or title in any corporation or in politics, or because of their skill. Nobody loves you for that. People may respect you, people may enjoy according to what they get out of it. And most of the time, people are envious. But when we are compassionate, when we have values, when we have learned how to love others, people love us_ .” -His Holiness, Radhanath Swami.
I cannot agree less with Guru Swami because, when you have money, and I am not necessarily referring to multi-millions only; when you can meet your needs and are still generous with the spare, many people around you will love you. But when people love you because you have money, when that money is not available again, they will stop loving you. Even if the money is available and you cease to dispense it or that favor they get from you, notice that they will stop greeting or visiting you. They may not turn around to hate you. But they will move on to ‘love’ the next person that has money.
Fame: Many famous people have lapsed into depression, inordinate desires and substance abuse when new stars take their shine as they thin out of the limelight. As the love of fans shift to emerging stars, the exiting stars realize it was the klieg lights that made the stars and it was what was loved, not the stars.
Position: There is no position that anyone can hold sway forever. Not even a monarchy. That too is only for a lifetime, at most. Many who have left positions of influence are replete with experiences of how even their phones are no longer ringing after they exited their influential offices. The love you currently enjoy in that office is appropriated to the title you carry. It is essentially not for you.
Skill: Regardless of the acclaimed love of your fans for your skill, none will bet on you when you are gone past your prime. Whether you are a talented and skillful footballer, athlete, writer, or artist, people will always lay claims to loving you when your skill is still sending love to their homes and helping to win their bets. They will continue to cherish your exploits till the opposite happens. Once that occurs, their acclaimed love for you will move to the current skillful person, even as they continue to remember your exploits with nostalgia.
So until we translate from the norm to deploying these leverages, namely; money, fame, position, skill, in the pursuit of empathy and compassion towards one another and the world, genuine love will remain elusive. It is the primary reason why those who possess money, fame, position and fame, always resort to charitable causes. But empathy and compassion cannot be bought. They must emanate from a genuine state of mind. A compulsive desire to empathize with humanity.
As species, we have survived by being judgmental and suspicious of and preying on other species. We have weaponized money, fame, position and talent as some form of subtle controls. But we must develop the mental capacity to step past this most primal urge to attain love. It is by shutting down that animal instinct and forcing our brain to tow a different pathway, the pathway of kindness and compassion, that we can engender genuine love in return.
Yours sincerely,
Citizen Agba Jalingo.
Disclaimer: The opinion expressed in this article is clearly that of the author, Agba Jalingo and does not represent TheLumineNews or its agent.
Culled From Nesweekng
Controversy is said to be brewing in the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) over the high cost of contesting elections on the party’s platform due to the increase of the expression of interest and nomination forms since its formation in 2014.
The cost of APC presidential and governorship forms in 2014, ahead of the 2015 general elections, was ₦27.5 million and ₦5 million, respectively.
In 2019, it increased to ₦45 million and ₦22.5 million. It, however, climbed to ₦100 million and ₦50 million in 2023, respectively.
A party stalwart have urged the leadership of the ruling APC to make the 2027 contest less expenssive, alleging that despite raking in billions of Naira from the sale of expression of interest and nomination forms before the 2023 elections, the party has failed to give an account of how the money was spent.
In a statement on Tuesday, the former national vice chairman (North West) of the APC, Salihu Mohammed Lukman, lamented the increasing cost of contesting elections in the party.
He expressed fears that by 2027, the APC might charge ₦250 million for expression of interest and nomination forms for the presidency and ₦125 million for the governorship.
According to him, the APC is “progressively losing the little democratic credentials,” which encouraged Nigerians to expect the possibility of a progressive party emerging out of it in 2015.
Reacting to the development, the APC National Publicity Secretary, Felix Morka, said, “The issue of cost of forms for next elections is all speculations.”
On his part, a Professor of Political Sociology at the University of Abuja, Kari, however, told reporters that placing high fees has continued in the APC because it is the ruling party.
He also attributed it to the systematic monetization of Nigerian politics and the activities of a select few influential individuals who have hijacked the party.
“The fee for APC has been the highest because it is the ruling party. The underlying assumption is that anybody who gets APC ticket will likely get elected. It is an assumption that may be true. It may not be true,” he said.
Kari stated that if the party leadership can put obstacles on the way to political participation through this constant hiking of the fee for nomination, “you have blocked the very essence of democracy, and that is exactly what is happening. So the regime of high fees is a huge stumbling block on democracy because it stops those who cannot pay from participating.”
The Governorship Election Tribunal in Cross River State, has upheld the election of Governor Bassey Otu.
The tribunal in its ruling, held that, the issues of Certificate brought before it by sandy Onor of PDP, was a pre-election matter.
Ayade’s Approval Due Process Was Rigorous, Water Tight
Our attention has been drawn to an online publication purportedly authored by Mr. Emmanuel Ogbeche, the press Secretary to Gov. Bassey Otu
We want to state categorically that under Governor Ben Ayade, at no time was any government approval granted via whatsapp or any social media channel as opined by Mr. Ogbeche
Appointees of the Ayade administration are still alive and can bear testimony to the rigorous procedure of securing government approvals.
Every approval, including major land allocations, compulsorily passed through the scrutiny of the Executive Council, Due Process and Audit before getting to the final nod of Governor Ayade.
Former Governor Ayade and Gov. Otu share a very cordial relationship that has lasted for years, dating back to their years as lawmakers in the National Assembly.
It is important for Mr. Ogbeche and his co-travellers to note that such statement will be misinterpreted as a rift between Gov. Otu and his immediate predecessor, His Excellency, Sen. Prof. Ben Ayade.
We are not unaware of Mr. Ogbeche’s long standing romance with the PDP, therefore, it is now imperative to state emphatically that Mr. Ogbeche is a PDP agent sent to cause disaffection among members of the APC in Cross River State.
We advise Ogbeche to thread carefully and respect the existing peace and harmony amongst members of the APC family in Cross River State
Governor Ayade gave his all to ensure Gov. Bassey Otu emerged victorious in the last gubernatorial election, so, Mr. Ogbeche is a beneficiary of Gov. Ayade’s wise decision and shouldn’t be acting like a fifth columnist.
The APC family in Cross River State remains one indivisible family.
Egbelo Edward N.
For Sen. Prof. Ben Ayade Media
Emmanuel Ogbeche, the spokesperson to Governor Bassey Otu of Cross River State, said the new administration inherited a “rundown” state.
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the spokesperson stated this when he spoke with the members of the Nigeria Union of Journalists (NUJ), Cross River State Council, in Calabar on Monday.
Mr. Ogbeche stressed that the state was “badly rundown” and that it would require the support and collaboration of all to put things in order.
He, however, said Governor Otu is up to the task of turning things around.
According to him, “Otu inherited a rundown state. It was badly rundown… There is no record of anything; approvals were given on WhatsApp messages.
“It will require a lot to turn the state around, and thank God we have a capable and listening governor ready to provide the needed leadership.”
Speaking further, Mr. Ogbeche solicited the NUJ’s support for the governor while promising that the governor would support the union.
He said he is ready to give his all to justify the governor’s confidence.
“This is a job I never lobbied for or didn’t make any call nor contact anyone to secure the job.
“The job found me with God’s grace, and I am ready to do everything to justify that confidence reposed on me by the governor.
“As a member of the union and the immediate past chairman of Abuja council, I will ensure a robust relationship between the governor and the media practitioners in the state,” he stated.
The Chairperson of the NUJ in the state, Nsa Gill, congratulated Mr. Ogbeche on his appointment and promised that members of the union in the state would work to ensure he succeeds in his new office.
AT THE MOMENT, THOSE OF US WHO WERE CALLED ALL SORTS OF NAMES BECAUSE OF OUR LOYALTY TO THE APC HAVE BEEN VINDICATED:
~By Comrade Mfam Mbia Asu(CIFIAN).
If APC loss the Governorship election of 11th March,2023 the entire blame should go to Governor Ben Ayade and the Party Leadership in Cross River State.
After the impunity and imposition by APC in Cross River State called “Consensus” that produced Sen Prince Bassey Otu as the APC Governorship Candidate, the choice of Deputy Governor ought to be based on capacity and other factors that can give APC victory in Cross River State.
Unfortunately, the impunity took the worst dimension as Old Ikom (the most marginalized Political bloc) in Cross River State was denied the opportunity to produce the APC Deputy Governorship Candidate. If the APC has given Old Ikom the Deputy Governorship slot,it would have helped to cushion the effect of the PDP Gubernatorial Candidate who hails from Old Ikom.
To the chagrin of Party faithfuls, the Party and Governor Ben Ayade zoned the Deputy Governorship Position to Cross River North that has the incumbent Governor, incumbent Chief of Staff to the Governor, incumbent Minister, incumbent Chairman of Forestry Commission, incumbent State Chairman of APC, etc.
To be Candid, the APC made a terrible blunder to zone the Deputy Governorship Position to Ogoja LGA that is the strongest hold of PDP in the entire Cross River State.
I can still recall that I wrote an article last year stating that even if the law permit Political Parties to nominate three Deputy Governorship Candidate and even if APC decides to nominate all the three Deputy Governorship Candidates from Ogoja LGA, that APC would not be able to win Ogoja LGA.
Due to my loyalty to the APC,I embarked on an independent survey in Cross River North, and I discovered that the most popular person from Cross River North at the moment is Distinguish Senator Stephen Odey and I made an appeal that Senator Stephen Odey should be given the APC Deputy Governorship ticket in order to our ease our job.
My appeal for Senator Stephen Odey to be given the APC Deputy Governorship Position was resisted with the Wicked excuse that a House of Representative Member and a Deputy Governor can not come from the same Local Government Area. Whereas the APC Governorship Candidate and the APC Senatorial Candidate for Southern Senatorial District both hail from Odukpani LGA. Presently, Odukpani LGA has already produced the House of Representative Member-elect for Odukpani/Calabar Municipal Federal Constituency and Senator-elect for Southern Senatorial District. And we are still waiting to vote for Odukpani LGA to produce the Governor of Cross River State on March 11,2023. Indeed, God is an Odukpani man.
Today, the reality is dawning on the Cross River State Chapter of Our Great Party and Our Leader, Sir Ben Ayade that winning an election should be based on the credibility and acceptability of the Candidates. It will be a herculean task for APC to win the 2023 Governorship in Cross River State.
May God help the APC.
I wish the APC well.
~Comrade Mfam Mbia Asu(CIFIAN),
A Chieftain and Founding Member of the APC.
02/03/2023.
Disclaimer: The opinion expressed in this article is strictly that of the author, MFAM Mbia Asu, and does not represent TheLumineNews or its staff