The Lumine News

Category: Politics

  • Sandy Onor Congratulates Otu, Odey, Calls For Support That Will Make Cross River The Dream Homeland

    By Elijah Ugani 

    The People’s Democratic Party PDP, gubernatorial candidate for the 2023 general elections in Cross River State, Prof Sandy Onor, has congratulated Sen Bassey Otu, for the successful journey from the primaries through the main elections leading up to the final declaration at the Supreme Court.

    In a release sighted by TheLumineNews, Onor noted that “I write most sincerely to congratulate the governor and his deputy, Rt. (Hon.) Peter Odey for the successful journey for the successful journey from the primaries through the main elections leading up to the final declaration at the Supreme Court, which typifies the entire gamut of every election cycle”.

    Onor thanked his entire team for the unwavering support throughout the election period as he stated” On behalf of my entire team, I lavishly thank all those who believed in and stood by us, the clergy, across the Catholic and protestant aisle; youths, elders, men and women, party faithfuls across the three senatorial districts and even across parties, and all those who shares in our genuine yearnings and aspirations of the development of Cross River State.

    “I thank in particular, the Caterpillar Movement in all its multi-faceted dimensions and the People’s Democratic Party (PDP), ably led by the irrepressible Barrister Venatius Ikem for their support, prayers and resilience throughout this struggle to make Cross River State a dimension of excitement and splendor as well as an oasis of security and development”.

    Prof Onor used the opportunity to call on all and sundry to support Gov Bassey Otu, to make Cross River State the dream homeland that we all cherish.

    “We call on all and sundry to give His Excellency, Sen Bassey Edet Otu, and those who work with him, all the support, advise and prayers that they will need to make Cross River State, the dream homeland that we all cherish”.

  • Dr Helen Isamoh -Egodo Congratulates Gov Otu On Supreme Court Victory

     

    Cross River Hon. Commissioner for Humanitarian Affairs, Dr Helen Isamoh -Egodo has congratulated His Excellency, Senator Prince Bassey Otu on his victory at the Supreme Court on Friday.

    Welcoming the court’s verdict as a healthy development, Isamoh said in a statement that the Governorship Election Petitions Tribunal, which earlier upheld Otu’s election did justice to the case.

    She commended the Supreme Court for rightfully upholding the judgement of the Election Tribunal, adding that the judgement of the court was a victory for the nation’s democracy and a reaffirmation of the peoples mandate bestowed on the Governor on March 18th, 2023.

    “I welcome the judgement of the Supreme Court sitting in Abuja on the Cross River Governorship Election Petition with immense joy and appreciation to the judiciary for doing justice on the matter.

    “This ruling has once again reaffirmed that power lies with the ballot in compliance with the Electoral Act.

    “I must commend the courage and sagacity exhibited by the panel of the Supreme Court, which dismissed the matter”.

    “On behalf of the Ministry of Humanitarian Affairs, I congratulate my leader, Governor, Senator Prince Bassey Edet Otu on this reassuring victory.

    “This victory is coming at a time when Cross Riverians people have embraced the Season of Sweetness and the People First Agenda of his administration”.

    “This victory is for all Cross River people as indeed light has come to outshine the forces of darkness,” she said.

    ©CRS Ministry of Humanitarian Affairs

  • Governor Sim Fubara And FCT Minister Nyesom Wike Sign Peace Pact.

     

    Consequently;

    1. ALL matters instituted in the courts by the Governor of Rivers State, Sir Fubara, and his team, in respect of the political crisis in Rivers State, shall be withdrawn IMMEDIATELY

    2. ALL impeachment proceedings initiated against the Governor of Rivers State by the Rivers State House of Assembly should be dropped immediately

    3. The leadership of the Rivers State House of Assembly as led by the Rt. Hon. Martin Amaewhule shall be recognized alongside the 27 members who resigned from the PDP

    4. The remunerations and benefits of ALL members of the Rivers State House of Assembly and their staff must be reinstated immediately and the Governor of Rivers State shall henceforth not interfere with the full funding of the Rivers State House of Assembly

    5. The Rivers State House of Assembly shall choose where they want to sit and conduct their legislative business without interference and/or hindrance from the Executive arm of government

    6. The Governor of Rivers State, Sir Fubara, shall re-present the state budget to a properly constituted Rivers State House of Assembly

    7. The names of ALL commissioners in the Rivers State Executive Council who resigned their appointments because of the political crisis in the state should be resubmitted to the House of Assembly for approval

    8. There should NOT be a caretaker committee for the local governments in Rivers State. The dissolution of the Local Government administration

  • The Macabre Dance In Rivers State Reached A Crescendo BY OKOI OBONO-OBLA

    The macabre dance in Rivers State reached a Crescendo:

    It seems to me that the political crisis in the Rivers State branch of the Peoples Democratic Party between Governor Simi Fubara and former Governor, Honourable Nyesom Wike,has smothered, and the consequent eruption will possibly led to collapse of the executive and legislative branches of the Rivers State government.

    Already, the polarization between in the PDP has fragmented and factionalized the Rivers State House of Assembly into two antagonistic camps.

    27 members of the Rivers State House of Assembly belonged to Nyesome Wike’s camp and two days ago in a darinh and deft politcal manoeuvring defected from the PDP and joined the APC.

    The Pro-Simi Fubara’s camp in the Rivers State House of Assembly is made up of only 4 members.

    On 13 December 2023, the purportedly to be a vacant.
    The seats of the 27 members that defected from PDP to APC were declared vacant by the four members Pro-Sim Fubara.

    However,pundits wondered how four members could take such a weighty decision when membership of the Rivers State House of Assembly is 31.

    The constitution says that the quorum of a State of Assembly is one-third of its membership.

    Therefore ,one-third of 31 members of the Rivers State House of Asssembly are 11 members.

    On 14 December 2023, the four members of the Pro-Sim Fubara’s camp purportedly convened and passed the budget for 2023/2024 financial year.

    The budget is a law.
    When a budget is passed
    It is otherwise known as the Appropriation.

    Section 121 (1) of the Constitution makes it mandatory for the Governor to cause to be prepared and laid before the House of Assembly at any time before the commencement of each financial year estimates of the revenues and expenditure of the State for the next following financial year.

    Therefore, the pertinent question is:
    Is it constitutional for only four members of a State House of Assembly to pass a law?
    Can a budget passed by 4 out of 31 members Rivers State House of Assembly (Appropriation law) survive a constitutional scrutiny for the passage of a bill into law as laid down by section 100 (1)& (2) of the Constitution?

    I certainly have my doubt.
    The affliction that has befallen the Rivers State has spread to the executive branch of government.

    On 14 December 2023, typically, of the scene in a movie, almost one-third of the members of the Rivers State Executive Council resigned their membership.

    It seemed to me that those who resigned from the Rivers Executive Council belonged to the Nyesom Wike’s group.

    Undoubtedly, there is a political cum constitutional crisis in Rivers State.
    This is the truth of the matter.
    It will take a sustained legal intervention to entangle and wriggle out of all the legal conundrums and labyrinths that crisis has caused.

    What has happened in Rivers State is reminiscing what happened in the old Western Region of Nigeria in 1962 when a crisis in the Action Group Party was the governing party triggered a constitutional crisis and politcal conflagration that led the Federal government to declare a state of emergency in the Western Region.

    The chicken has come home to roost!!
    Is history repeating itself?

    @ Okoi Obono-Obla

    Disclaimer: The opinion expressed in this article is strictly that of the author, Okoi Obono-Obla and does not represent TheLumineNews or its agent.

  • Why The Next Governor Of Kano State is Dr Nasiru Yusuf Gawuna BY OKOI OBONO-OBLA 

     

    I always advised social media denizens or even people who don’t know the mechanics and intricacies of the law not to comment on it. issues concerning judgments of courts or law or election tribunals.

    But the age of techno apologies to Wole Soyinka has made it possible for everybody to become a lawyer and attempt to interpret judgments of courts even without reading them to digest the reasoning of the judges; to evaluate how they assess the evidence adduced by both parties during trial.

    After evaluating the evidence he put it into the mythical scale of justice he holds in his right to weight, and you see which side the scale tilts.

    After that, the judge will apply the law to those facts before he delivers his judgment.

    When you read the judgment of the tribunal and that of the court of Appeal and grasp it well you will see the predilection of politicians to be so desperate for power that most times they disregard rules, regulations and the law with recklessly abandoning all decency, all in a frenzied bid to grab power by all means.

    Then when they reach the cul de sac they expect judges to close their eyes to their murder of the law and proceed to use sentiments to wriggle them out.

    But judges are blind to public opinion sentiment and emotional outbursts of the social media mobbers.

    Governor Kabir Yusuf was a member of the PDP and a governorship aspirant in the party. Kano State.

    When it dawned on him that he would not grab the party ticket he recklessly and quickly made a volte-face and hurriedly joined the NNPP and grabbed its ticket.
    He didn’t know that APC political intelligence was scooping him to gather hard evidence against him.

    By the time Governor Yusuf was purportedly given a ticket by NNPP; the period prescribed by the Electoral Act for political parties to submit the list of their candidates to INEC had closed.

    What is the implication of all this?

    Simple; at the time Governor Kabir Yusuf purportedly joined NNPP and filed his nomination under its platform, he was not a member of the party.

    Membership in a political party is a must for anybody who wants to be a governor of a State and is indeed a fundamental constitutional requirement he must fulfil.

    Section 177 (1)(c) of the constitution makes it obligatory for someone to be a member of a political party that wants to sponsor his election.

    This is the provision of the constitution that Governor Kabir Yusuf NNPP brazenly and with ignominy breached which the Court of Appeal found against him.

    Governor Yusuf and NNPP had a bad case.
    Even at the Tribunal, they called one witness. This witness strangely told the Tribunal that it should use all the documents rendered by INEC to decide the case!!

    The documents tendered by INEC demonstrated that the results sheets were not stamped and signed by presiding officers at more than 16,000 polling stations.

    That will amount to a sheer waste of precious judicial time to appeal this judgment to the Supreme Court.

    The Supreme Court is an appellate court and ordinarily would not substitute its findings with those of the trial court and intermediate appellate court save in rare cases.

    The Supreme Court will not disregard the findings made by a trial court that hears the case, or observe the demeanour of the witnesses during cross-examination save in exceptional circumstances.

    I have not seen any exceptional. circumstances that will cause the Supreme Court to do otherwise in the case of Governor Abba Kabir Yusuf & NNPP versus INEC & APC!
    Governor Kabir Yusuf and NNPP should just throw in the towel, period.

    @ Okoi Obono-Obla

    Disclaimer: The opinion expressed in this article is strictly that of the author, Okoi Obono-Obla and does not represent TheLumineNews or its agent.

  • Resist The Pressure… BY AGBA JALINGO

     

    People who are actually rich and can comfortably pay their bills are not loud about it on social media. Most of those who do, are not.

    People who are genuinely happy in their lives and families are not loud about it on social media, it is those who are not that are using social media to fill that gap.

    People whose businesses are thriving and returning them six digits are not bringing that information to social media themselves. Only in their boardrooms. Most of those who rush here to trumpet their success are just making you believe.

    Most of the people who pay for their travels and leisure are shy of bringing it to social media. It is those who others pay for, that are eager to come show it off.

    Plenty of people who are helping to change thousands of lives out there genuinely don’t remember to go around with cameras, it is those who do very little that pose before the screens.

    Truly rich people are conscious of their safety. Anyone who made wealth legitimately will also appreciate the high level of insecurity in Nigeria today and wouldn’t want to be trailed by the vagaries of social media exposure. Again, most of those who do those show off are usually looking for vulnerable clients.

    Don’t be put under undue pressure by the optics. If you believe in God like I do, pray and wait on God. Work and be hopeful and if it pleases God, your day will come.

    Yours sincerely,
    Citizen Agba Jalingo.

     

    Disclaimer: The opinion expressed in this article is strictly that of the author, Agba Jalingo and does not represent TheLumineNews or its agent 

  • Panic In APC As Court Of Appeal Delivers Judgement On Sandy Vs Otu Tomorrow

    By Thelumine Admin

    There seemed to be mix feelings among members of the ruling All Progressive Party APC, in Cross River State as the Court Appeal set to deliver judgement on the appeal brought before by Sen Sandy Onor and the PDP against Prince Bassey Otu and APC.

    Some of the stakeholders of the APC who spoke to TheLumineNews on condition of anonymity, maintained that there are a lot of lapses on Prince Otu’s administration as they alleged that his wife is more in charge of governance.

    There regretted their initial insinuations that Prince Otu was going to depart from the era where the former governor’s younger brother was running the administration of the state, but that they have entered another one chance where a woman is put in charge of the administration of the state.

    There are of the opinion that Sen Sandy Onor is more prepared for governance, and that however the judgement goes, they don’t have much to loose, as Prince Otu is not ready to look anybody’s face.

    Their fears is premised on the fact that most of the recent judgements delivered by the Abuja Division of the Court of Appeal, has a semblance with the case between Sen Sandy Onor against Prince Bassey Otu.

    Their worries is that if the Lagos division of the Court of Appeal, takes a cue from that of Abuja Division, it therefore means that the matter will be determined on its merit other than being dismissed as it was done by the tribunal.

    Another APC stalwart who just identified himself as Asuquo, expressed confidence that Prince Otu will win the case as it appears that most of the governorship appeals are favorable to the APC, that Prince Otu case will not be different.

  • Appeal Court Set To Deliver Judgement On Sandy Onor Appeal Against Prince Otu

    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 Condemns Appeal Court Verdict Against The Electoral Victory Of Plateau State Governor

    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.”

  • Appeal Court Sacks Plateau Governor Caleb Mutfwang, Declares APC Candidate Winner

    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.