Cloned Nigerian Anchor

Author: Vivian Michael

  • Adamawa Guber: INEC frustrating my petition against Fintiri, says Binani

    Adamawa Guber: INEC frustrating my petition against Fintiri, says Binani

    The governorship candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in the last gubernatorial election in Adamawa State, Senator Aishat Dahiru Binani, has accused the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) of frustrating her petition against the declaration of Adamu Fintri of the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) as the winner of the poll.

    Binani claims INEC is presently making desperate efforts to arrest and detain the suspended Resident Electoral Commissioner, Barrister Hudu Yunusa Ari, as a ploy to prevent him from testifying for her at the ongoing state Governorship Election Petitions Tribunal.

    Addressing a Press Conference in Abuja on Saturday on behalf of Binani, the APC Returning Officer at the  March 18 Governorship election and the re-run of April 15, Alhaji Mustapha Umar Madawaki, appealed to well-meaning Nigerians to call INEC to order to allow the APC candidate reclaim her mandate obtained from the poll.

    Madawaki, who alleged that the electoral body was in conspiracy with the state government and anti-Binani forces to thwart the diligent prosecution of the petition, claimed that INEC wanted the suspended REC apprehended and kept out of circulation to make him unavailable as a witness for the governorship candidate.

    Tracing the genesis of the election crisis and the resulting petition, the APC Returning Officer alleged that at the point of collation of results, INEC suddenly allowed its trained ad-hoc workers changed and unlawfully and mysteriously substituted by another group of untrained staff that were not meant for collation.

    The result of the unlawful change of ad-hoc workers, he said, was the production of different election results from the ones submitted by the authentic workers.

    Alleging the unlawful ad-hoc staff list was submitted by an agent of the state government, the Returning Officer explained that the fact that INEC accepted the list and used it was a shred of clear evidence and proof that it was biased in favour of the People’s Democratic Party PDP.

    “To my mind, that is a major reason why INEC is working overtime, trying to prevent the former Adamawa State Resident Electoral Commissioner, Barrister Hudu Yunusa Ari from testifying before the Adamawa State Governorship Election Petitions Tribunal.

    “They are afraid of the revelations he would make. Their desperation is so brazen that Justice A.O Manji was forced to openly question INEC’s lawyer on why they are in a hurry to get Hudu Yunusa Ari arrested while there is a clear court order against that.

    “To my mind also, that is the same reason that the Force Headquarters under the former Inspector General of Police IGP shot itself in the foot when it doctored the earlier investigative report into the Adamawa elections that found no indictable offence against Barrister Hudu Yunusa Ari to another one they could use to quickly arrest and incarcerate him.

    “We have both the original investigative report and the doctored one at our disposal. We are aware that these are serious charges and have, therefore, refrained from elaborating further on some of the matters because they are before the Adamawa State Governorship Election Petitions Tribunal”

    Madawaki who described Senator Binani as a victim of gender discrimination in her governorship ambition said that Embassies and Diplomatic Missions would be carried along in the battle to regain the alleged stolen mandate of the governorship candidate.

  • Affirm INEC’s declaration that I won election in 21 states, Atiku tells Tribunal

    Affirm INEC’s declaration that I won election in 21 states, Atiku tells Tribunal

    The Peoples Democratic Party, PDP’s candidate, Alhaji Atiku Abubakar, has asked the Presidential Election Petition Court (PEPC) sitting in Abuja, to declare that he won the presidential election held on February 25 in 21 states.

    The former vice president said this in a final written address he filed through his team of lawyers led by Chief Chrwere is Uche, SAN.

    Atiku, who came second in the presidential poll premised on a reply the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, filed in response to the petition he filed to nullify President Bola Tinubu’s election.

    According to him, INEC, in its own final brief of argument, neither disputed, retracted, debunked nor claimed that the averment it made in its reply, was in error.

    Specifically, Atiku submitted that INEC had in its reply to his petition, confirmed him as the winner of the presidential contest in Adamawa, Akwa Ibom, Bauchi, Bayelsa, Borno, Delta, Ekiti, Gombe, Jigawa, Kaduna, Katsina, Kebbi, Kogi, Kwara, Nasarawa, Niger, Osun, Sokoto, Taraba, Yobe and Zamfara state.

    He therefore, it is his position that since the electoral body, in its process, asserted that he won the election in 21 states and since it did not rebut the assertion throughout the proceedings, the court should proceed to uphold the declaration.

    The final written address, read in part: “Very importantly, the 1st Respondent (INEC) who conducted the election, made an open admission in paragraph 18 of its Reply to the petition, where it unequivocally stated thus:

    “The 1st Respondent further avers that in compliance with extant laws and regulations, it diligently discharged its duties when it collated the 1st Petitioner’s scores at the election which aggregates to 6,984,520 winning only 21 States to wit: Adamawa, Akwa Ibom. Bauchi. Bavelsa. Borno, Delta, Ekiti, Gombe, Jigawa, Kaduna, Katsina. Kebbi. Kogi. Kwara, Nasarawa, Niger, Osun, Sokoto, Taraba, Yobe and Zamfara.”

    “Indeed, as admitted by the 1st Respondent (INEC), the 1st Petitioner (Atiku) won in these 21 States.

    “It is important to note that throughout the trial, the ist Respondent (INEC) neither refuted nor countermanded this critical averment nor denied it.

    “We urge your Lordship to hold that this constitutes an admission that requires no further proof. It also constitutes an admission against interest.

    “The 1st Petitioner contested election to the office of the President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria under the platform of the 2nd Petitioner, the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) which held on 25th February 2023, along with 17 other candidates, including the 2nd Respondent (Tinubu), who was the candidate of the ruling party, the All Progressives Congress (APC), in whose favour the electoral body, the ‘Independent’ National Electoral Commission (INEC) manipulated the technologies earlier put in place to ensure transparency, and wrongfully returned the said 2nd Respondent as winner at about 4.00am on is March 2023, at a time the 1st Respondent admitted that substantial percentage of the results had not to be transmitted to the collation system for verification as required by law.

    “Under the cover of the so-called ‘technical glitch’ excuse which the Respondent never explained, the results were deliberately manipulated through suppression and discounting of the votes of the 1st Petitioner and inflation of the votes of the 2nd Respondent.

    “This deliberate bypass of the use of the prescribed verification technology was nationwide and substantially affected the outcome of the election.

    “The said 1st Respondent equally proceeded to declare the 2nd Respondent winner when the 2nd Respondent did not meet the mandatory constitutional requirement to secure not less than a quarter of the votes cast in the Federal Capital Territory, Abuja.

    “This was in addition to the numerous infractions and corrupt practices perpetrated by the Respondents.

    “Notwithstanding, the 1st Respondent unequivocally and clearly admitted in its pleadings, namely paragraph 18 at page 13 of its Reply to the Petition, which was never refuted or nor retracted, that the Petitioners won 21 States of the federation in the presidential election, which is an admission against interest.

    “As a result of non-use of collation by electronic transmission, the 1st Respondent later altered the admitted result of 21 States for the 1st Petitioner to 12 States,” Atiku added.

    It will be recalled that Atiku, who came second in the presidential contest, closed his case before the court, after he called a total of 27 witnesses and tendered documentary Exhibits.

    He is among other things, praying the court to withdraw the Certificate of Return that was issued to President Tinubu by INEC.

    Atiku and his party contended that President Tinubu “demonstrated inconsistency as to his actual date of birth, secondary schools he attended (Government College Ibadan); his State of origin, gender, actual name; certificates evidencing Universities attended (Chicago State University).”

    According to the petitioners, “The 2nd Respondent did not disclose to the 1st Respondent (INEC) his voluntary acquisition of the citizenship of the Republic of Guinea with Guinean Passport No. D00001551, in addition to his Nigerian citizenship. The 2nd Respondent is hereby given notice to produce the original copies of his said two passports,” they added.

    The petitioners equally challenged Tinubu’s eligibility to contest the presidential election, alleging that he was previously indicted and fined the sum of $460,000.00 by the United States District Court, Northern District of Illinois, Eastern Division, in Case No: 93C 4483, for an offence involving dishonesty and drug trafficking.

  • Alleged Possession of Pump Action Rifle: DSS arraigns Emefiele July 25

    Alleged Possession of Pump Action Rifle: DSS arraigns Emefiele July 25

    The suspended former Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), Mr. Godwin Emefiele, will on July 25 be arraigned before a Federal High Court sitting in Lagos. 

    The detained Emefiele will be arraigned on two-count charge of possession of a pump action rifle and one hundred and twenty-three rounds of live cartridges.

    The arraignment which will be coming up before Justice Nicholas Oweibo, has attracted so much condemnation from members of the public and civil society organizations following the filing of charges of possession of a pump action rifle after several months of accusation and six weeks of detention.

    Recall that Justice M.A. Hassan of the FCT High Court restrained the Department of State Services from arresting Mr. Emefiele but the service still went ahead to arrest him and claimed it had fresh information in support of their allegations of terrorism against Mr. Emefiele only to charge him with possession of a pump action rifle.

    Also in a tweet on their official Twitter handle in reaction to committal proceedings filed against the Director General of the Service, the DSS had alleged that it seemed IPOB was defending on of their own while referring to Mr. Maxwell Opara, one of the lawyers to detained IPOB leader Nnamdi Kanu, who led the team of lawyers who filed the Form 48 against the Director General of the Service.

    Meanwhile, there are still growing calls for the removal of Mr. Bichi from office due to his serial violation and disregard of court judgments, the worsening security situations, and the politicization of the Service.

  • Alleged N7.9bn Fraud: EFCC docks Stella Oduah on 25-count charge

    Alleged N7.9bn Fraud: EFCC docks Stella Oduah on 25-count charge

    A former Minister of Aviation, Senator Stella Oduah was on Friday, arraigned on a 25-count charge brought against her by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC).

    The former Senator, who pleaded not guilty to the charges, was arraigned before Justice Inyang Ekwo of a Federal High Court, Abuja, on the allegation that she laundered public funds to the tune of about 7.9 billion, in connivance with eight others. 

    The prosecution, in suit number, FHC/ABJ/CR/316/20, mentioned Gloria Odita, Nwosu Emmanuel Nnamdi, Chukwuma Irene Chinyere, Global Offshore and Marine Ltd, Tip Top Global Resources Ltd, Crystal Television Ltd and Sobora International Ltd as other defendants in the matter.

    They pleaded not guilty to the charge when it was read to them in the open court.

    Sequel to their not-guilty plea, Justice Ekwo held that the administrative bail the EFCC earlier granted to them subsists.

    Specifically, EFCC, among other things, alleged that Oduah, Odita, and the Company Secretary to Sea Petroleum & Gas Company Ltd (SPGC), had in February 2014, used their positions to transfer the sum of N1,629,250,000.00 from I-Sec Security Nig. Ltd accounts No. 2021756955 with First Bank Plc, to Global Offshore and Marine Ltd account No. 2022977296 also domiciled with First Bank Plc, which money they reasonably ought to have known that it formed part of the proceeds of an unlawful act.

    According to the anti-graft agency, the defendants opened a naira “anonymous Private Banking Nominee Account No. 2024414450 with First Bank Plc and thereby committed an offence contrary to Section 11(1) of the Money Laundering (Prohibition) Act 2011 (As Amended) and punishable under Section 11(4) (a) of the same Act.”

    They were equally accused of opening a United State dollar “anonymous Private Banking Nominee account No. 2024414498 with First Bank Plc and thereby committed an offence contrary to Section 11(1) of the Money Laundering (Prohibition) Act 2011 (As Amended) and punishable under Section 1 1(4) (a) of the same Act.”

    More so, the court directed the EFCC to transfer the case file to the office of the Attorney-General of the Federation to ensure diligent prosecution of the defendants. 

    Justice Ekwo adjourned the case till October 17 for trial. 

  • Alleged Defamation: Court sets to hear Attah’s N1.5bn suit against AGF

    Alleged Defamation: Court sets to hear Attah’s N1.5bn suit against AGF

    A Federal High Court sitting in Abuja has elected to hear a N1.5 billion defamation suit brought against the Attorney-General of the Federation (AGF) by former Governor of Akwa Ibom, Victor Attah.

    Justice Emeka Nwite, in a ruling, dismissed the preliminary objection raised by the AGF, challenging the court’s jurisdiction to hear the case.

    Attah, through his lawyer, Dr. Reuben Atabo, SAN, had sued the AGF as the sole defendant in the case.

    In the ruling, Justice Nwite upheld the argument by the plaintiff’s lawyer, Atabo, that the subject of the case fell within the scope of the court’s jurisdictional competence as provided in Section 251 of the Constitution.

    The judge held that the suit was informed by the action of the AGF, “which emanated from the administrative action and decision of the Federal Government to retry the plaintiff for a crime which he was earlier charged, tried, discharged, and acquitted.

    The case borders on money laundering, conspiracy, and abuse of office,” and in relation to which the AGF granted an interview that was published in national dailies, and prompting the plaintiff to sue.

    “In the light of the above, I must say that the argument of the learned counsel to the defendant/applicant (the AGF) is misconceived.

    “The main crux of the matter is not one pertaining to tort only; rather, it is one seeking declaratory reliefs as well as to stop the prosecution of the plaintiff for the second time.

    “The authority relied on by the learned counsel to the defendant/applicant is of no moment as it is distinguishable from the instant case.

    “In the light of the above, I am of the humble opinion that Section 251(1) (r) is applicable in this case and has vested this honourable court with the jurisdiction to hear and determine the instant suit.

    “The application of the defendant is hereby dismissed,” Justice Nwite held.

    The judge adjourned until October 16 for hearing of the substantive suit.

    In the suit, marked: FHC/ABJ/CS/646/2018, the ex-governor claimed that the immediate past AGF, Abubakar Malami, in 2016, named him among some ex-governors to be prosecuted by the National Prosecution Coordination Committee (NPCC) for alleged corruption.

    Attah stated, in his witness statement, that as a result of the pronouncement by the AGF, which was published in the media, the Specialist Crimes Directorate (SCD) and the Metropolitan Police (MP) of the United Kingdom placed him on its watch list of corrupt governors of Nigeria, facing corruption charges.

    “I left office of the Governor of Akwa Ibom State on the 29th day of May, 2007 and the only allegation made against me and my government were the of allegations of money laundering concerning the sale of Akwa Ibom’s shares in Econet by the Akwa Ibom Investment and Industrial Promotion Council (AKIIPOC) and African Development Fund Inc and I have been cleared of the said allegations.

    “From the 29th day of May, 2007 till date, there are no fresh facts linking me with the looting of the treasury of Akwa Ibom State or any case of money laundering, official corruption, and/or abuse of office.

    “By the conduct of the defendant in causing the Specialist Crimes Directorate and the Metropolitan Police of the United Kingdom to place my name under their watch list and upon arrival in the United Kingdom to be arrested and interrogated, I have not been able to travel to the United Kingdom to meet my international obligations to my clients and have lost several contracts.

    “By the defendant’s publication, I have been brought into public ridicule, a politician not worthy of my calling and a person who cannot be trusted to hold political office and I have therefore suffered loss and damages,” he said.

    Attah said his resort to court was because the AGF failed to retract the publication as demanded in his lawyer’s letters to him.

    The ex-governor, therefore, prayed the court to, among others, order the AGF to tender an apology to him, which must be published in three national dailies, retracting the alleged defamatory statement.

    He also sought an order compelling the AGF to write to the Specialist Crime Directorate of the UK stating that he was not among the ex-governors facing corruption charges.

    Attah is claiming N1.5 billion in general, exemplary and aggravated damages.

  • FOI: Perm Sec sued for concealing contract details

    FOI: Perm Sec sued for concealing contract details

    The Permanent Secretary of the Ministry of Aviation, Dr Emmanuel Meribole, has been dragged before a Federal High Court sitting in Abuja, over failure to declare contract details of the ministry.

    Incorporated Trustees of Patriotic Youth Organization of Nigeria, through their lawyer, Mr Peter Abang, in suit FHC/ABM/CS/969/2023, dated July 17, 2023, prayed the court for an order granting leave to the applicant to apply for Judicial Review, to wit: A declaration that the 1st Respondent (Permanent Secretary) has a statutory and public duty to furnish the Applicant information and details concerning the 2nd Respondent as contained in the Applicant’s letter of request dated 23rd June 2023.

    He also prayed the court for a declaration that the refusal or failure of the 1st Respondent to respond to or comply with the Applicant’s request as contained in its letter dated 23 June 2023 constitutes a refusal failure of the 1st Respondent’s statutory and or public duty to the Applicant and is, therefore, unlawful, illegal, abuse of powers, abuse of discretion and ultra vires.

    Barrister Abang urged the court to make an order directing and compelling the 1st Respondent, either by its staff, officers, privies, servants or otherwise howsoever described to issue, comply with and or make available to the Applicant or his privies or Counsel, information and details of contracts and expenditures as contained in the Applicant’s letter of 23° June 2023 as well as accept payment of the appropriate fees from the Applicant forthwith.

    Some of the contract details being requested, in a letter dated June 23, 2023, include Airstrip and other Capital Contracts by the Ministry from 2020 till date; list and locations of all Project Vehicles for the above-mentioned contracts; list and locations of all Official vehicles the Ministry, including that of the former Permanent Secretary;  Contract Executed from Over-head from 2022 December till date; details of Approved foreign Programmes for the Permanent Secretary in the Ministry and its Agencies from 2022 December till date; Performance Management System Contracts and Expenditures from 2020 till date; Any other relevant document in relation to the foregoing.

    According to the applicant, following an investigation being undertaken by the Applicant into the activities of the 2nd Respondent, spearheaded by the 1st Respondent and his various activities in the office, the Applicant has a reasonable suspicion that there have been several lapses and various misconducts by the 1st Respondent, in relation to the discharge of his duties.

    He said the request made in the letter is to enable the Applicant compare the ownership of the assets and properties declared by the 1st Respondent in his Assets Declaration Forms as well as his lifestyle, with any other assets and properties which it suspects to be linked either to the 1st Respondent, his Children or even other third parties suspected to be acting for them.

  • $87.8m Crypto Investment Theft: Police arraign 2 hackers

    $87.8m Crypto Investment Theft: Police arraign 2 hackers

    The Police will Monday, July 24, arraign two alleged hackers, Abayomi Oluwasesan and Onifade Adeniyi, who were accused of stealing over $ 87.8 million from the account of a global crypto investment company.

    The Inspector General of Police, in the charge, marked: FHC/ABJ/CR/289/2023, alleged the defendants gained access to the account of Afriq Arbitrage Systems (AAS) in October 2022 and diverted all the funds in it. 

    According to the Police, the defendants used the stolen funds to acquire exotic cars and houses. 

    The prosecution disclosed that the defendants, who escaped from the country, were subsequently apprehended with the help of Interpol. 

    According to the police, aside from the 1st defendant, Oluwasesan, who hitherto worked with the company, other persons that were involved in the fraud, are presently at large.

    Meanwhile, though the defendants were initially scheduled to take their plea on Wednesday, however, the matter could not proceed owing to the absence of any lawyer to represent them.

    When the matter was called up, police lawyer, Mr Wisdom Madaki, told the court that the duo were brought from the Force Criminal Investigation Department, FCID for the arraignment. 

    He told the court that the defendants were duly served with a copy of the charge against them. 

    However, the defendants, who had already mounted the dock, blamed the absence of their lawyer in court on the failure of police to notify them that the case would come up. 

    Owing to the development, trial Justice Binta Nyako, after she confirmed that there was no proof of service of the trial notice on the defendants or their counsel, deferred their planned arraignment till next Monday. 

    Specifically, some counts in the charge against the defendants, read: “That you Abayomi Oluwasesan ‘m’ of No 1 Nnamdi Azikiwe Golf Estate Lagos and Onifade Adeniyi ‘m’ of No. 5 Unity Close, on or before October 2022, within the jurisdiction of this Honourable Court did conspire among yourselves to commit a felony, to wit: Computer-related fraud and thereby committed an oftence contrary to Section 27 and punishable under Section 14 of the Cybercrime (Prohibition, Prevention ETC Act) 2015.

    “That you Abayomi Oluwasesan ‘m’ and Onifade Adeniyi ‘m’ of the same place, date and time in the aforesaid judicial division did convert the sum of $87,883,904 050 property of Afriq Arbitrage Company to yourselves, property derived directly from proceed of theft with the aim of concealing or disguising the Illicit origin or source of the money and thereby committed an offence contrary to Section 18(1) of the Money a (Prohibition) Act LFN. 

    “That you Abayomi Oluwasesan ‘m’ and Onifade Adeniyi ‘m’ of the same place, date and time in the aforesaid judicial division, knowingly and without authority, fraudulently changed the ownership credentials of the Company Chief Executive Officer of Afriq Arbitrage Company and gained access to millions of the subscribers’ investments and diverted the sum of $87,883,904 USD to yourselves and thereby committed an offence punishable under Section 14 of Cyber Crimes (Prohibition, Prevention ETC) Act 2015.”

  • We’re neither IPOB nor ESN members, Emefiele’s lawyers hit back at DSS

    We’re neither IPOB nor ESN members, Emefiele’s lawyers hit back at DSS

    The sixty lawyers who have approached the Federal High Court sitting in Abuja to commence committal proceedings against the Director General of the State Security Service (SSS) for disobedience to court order on the continued detention of Mr. Godwin Emefiele, have accused the organisation of threatening to frame them with terrorism and referring to them as Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB) and the Eastern Security Network (ESN) lawyers.

    The consortium of lawyers, in a media briefing in Abuja, led by Mr. Tijani Ahmed, following a viral tweet by the DSS on their official tweeter handle in reaction to the processes they filed, said the security agency is planning to frame them up as terrorists.

    In the tweet, the DSS was quoted as having written the following, “Charge and bail, overzealous uninformed IPOB/ESN lawyer Maxwell Okpara mobilises other like-minded lawyers against DGSS. Futile Efforts. Well, Nigerians, beware! This is in bad faith. Transferred aggression.

    A Biafran Republic agitator and outlawed IPOB counsel defending the suspended CBN governor. Is IPOB defending one of theirs???? What a contradiction….hmmm… what’s the connection? May Maxwell be properly educated on points of law, please.”

    The lawyers claim that the tweet had now gone viral stating that, “at about 6am when we met this morning, the tweet was still there on the handle of the SSS. This was about 17 hours after it had been posted and had really gone viral. At that time, it had been seen by about 2 million people globally, generated over 3600 comments, retweeted almost 5000 times, and liked more than 2500 times.

    The tweets, which have been greeted by national outrage and condemnation are still on the handle of the security agency.

    Furthermore, the lawyers, whilst expressing their trauma following the tweets, listed several cases of disobedience to the Court order against Mr. Bichi involving Igbo people and asserted that Mr. Bichi must have been suffering from what they termed ‘Igbophobia’.

    “In the same vein, the tweet by the SSS has also exposed it very clearly to the world that the persecution Mr. Godwin Emefiele suffers today is largely due to the ethnic profiling as directed by the DG SSS.

    “The fact that Mr. Emefiele is Igbo and attained the height of CBN Governor to Mr. Bichi is an abomination hence his resolve to see that Emefiele is pulled down because, to him, all Igbo are IPOB/ESN Terrorists,” the lawyers said.

    Mr. Tijani also said it seems clear that Mr. Bichi has declared war on lawyers and the Igbo people and that the persecution being suffered by Emefiele is largely due to ethnic and political reasons, asserting that it could not be a coincidence that several cases involving Igbo people were being serially disobeyed by the DG DSS.

    The lawyers thereafter called for the sack of Mr. Bichi from office for what they termed manifesting open hatred against an ethnic group. They also alleged that the attitude of the DG DSS would tarnish the image of President Bola Tinubu and thanked the public for the overwhelming condemnation that trailed the tweet.

    The lawyers resolved to write to the UN, EU, UK, and US governments, the President, CJN, and NSA and also approach the court for the enforcement of their rights.

  • Tribunal: No proof presidential election was rigged, says APC

    Tribunal: No proof presidential election was rigged, says APC

    The All Progressives Congress, (APC), has said that Alhaji Abubakar Atiku failed to provide credible evidence to substantiate his allegation that the presidential election was rigged in favour of President Bola Tinubu.

    The APC has also said that Mr. Peter Obi and the Labour Party’s evidence against President Tinubu was minuscule and deficient in credibility.

    Both Atiku and Obi and their parties dragged the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) before the Presidential Election Petition Court (PEPC), challenging the victory of Tinubu at the Feb. 25 presidential election.

    The APC in its final brief of argument filed at the court through its team of lawyers led by Mr Lateef Fagbemi, SAN, argued that Atiku and the PDP were not entitled to any of the reliefs they were asking for in their petition.

    The APC held that the petitioners only dumped documents on the court and claimed that such documents were enough evidence to prove their allegations.

    The party further argued that the petitioners failed to demonstrate or link the documents to specific allegations they raised against Tinubu’s victory.

    According to the APC, it is not enough to merely identify exhibits without making the added effort to demonstrate their relevance by correlating them with witnesses adopted depositions.

     “On the effect of the dumping, we urge your lordships to hold that all the documents have no probative value.

    “The fact that the documents were tendered by learned senior counsel for the petitioners from the bar makes the case even worse for them.

    “The duty is not on the judge to retreat to his hallowed chamber and engage in a cloistered examination of the documents that were dumped before him in the open court,” the party said.

    The party further argued that the allegation of the petitioners that the election was rigged, was not tied to any specific polling unit in the local government areas of each of the 24 states whose elections they challenged in the petition.

    They said that the petitioners made blanket allegations and that some of the allegations were criminal in nature.

    “The law required that they should be proved through cogent, credible and reliable evidence.”

    The party insisted that most of the exhibits tendered by Atiku were not relevant to the petition since they were not pleaded or set out any relevant fact.’

    “Aside from the allegation of non-qualification that the petitioners raised against the respondent, all other allegations in their petition are supposed to be set out on polling unit basis or proved beyond a reasonable doubt.”

    The party submitted that the case of the petitioners must fall like a pack of cards and prayed the court to dismiss the petition and uphold the election of Tinubu.

    On the educational qualification of the president, the party argued that the exhibits tendered in court only established that he indeed attended Chicago State University in the United States and graduated with honours.

    The party also held that the petitioners failed to produce the genuine certificate from which the alleged forged certificate was made.

    On the alleged forfeiture of 460, 000 dollars following his alleged involvement in a drug-related case, the APC, said there was no evidence that he was ever charged, convicted or fined for any criminal case.

    The party held that there were no criminal proceedings or pronouncement of the verdict of guilty against Tinubu to warrant his disqualification.

    On the allegation of dual citizenship, the APC argued that his possession of a Guinean Passport was not sufficient grounds to disqualify him from contesting or nullifying his election.

    The APC held that the president was a bona fide Nigerian by birth and not by registration or neutralisation.

    “A Nigerian-born citizen does not lose his citizenship as a Nigerian or his right to vote or be voted for in an election in Nigeria by acquiring dual citizenship of a second country.”

    Moreover, the party held that Tinubu’s sole witness had testified to Tinubu’s Nigerian citizenship.

    The party held that the petitioners’ submission that Tinubu did not secure 25 percent of votes cast in the Federal Capital Territory, FCT, Abuja, in the presidential election was pedestrian and preposterous.

    “The FCT does not enjoy a special status as a constituent unit or a state under Section 134(2) (a) and (b) of the 1999 Constitution, as amended.

    “Abuja voters have no veto power to singularly hang the outcome of presidential election that is otherwise conclusive, simply because a candidate did not poll or secure at least one quarter of votes cast in the FCT in a presidential election.

    “We submit that there is equality before the ballot.”

    The court on July 4, concluded hearing in Atiku’s petition as the respondents closed their defence.

    Atiku and his party who came second in the election, approached the PEPC asking the court to nullify the Tinubu’s election and withdraw the certificate of return he was issued.

    Atiku and the PDP called 27 witnesses as against the 100 they had said in the pre-hearing report that they would call.

    On his part, Obi called in 13 out of the 50 witnesses he had planned on calling and tendered a plethora of documents, including over 18,000 blurred results sheets on which INEC based its declaration of Tinubu as winner.

    Obi and his party led evidence by calling witnesses from only a few polling units, wards, local government Areas and local area councils from the disputed states and the FCT.

    “Specifically, petitioners called a total of 13 witnesses only in a failed attempt to prove their allegations concerning the 119, 973 Polling Units, 8,809.”

    The Independent National Electoral Commission, (INEC), the first respondent in the petition called a lone witness just as President Tinubu also called only one witness.

    The APC, however, said that it found no reason to call any witness, saying that there was no point whipping a dead horse.

  • EFCC distances self from lawyer prosecuting Stella Oduah

    EFCC distances self from lawyer prosecuting Stella Oduah

    The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) has distanced itself from a lawyer, Mr. Ibrahim Mohammed, who filed a new charge against Senator Stella Oduah, accusing her of perjury and document falsification in the name of the anti-graft agency.

    During a court session before Justice James Omotosho at the Federal High Court in Abuja, EFCC’s counsel, H. A Okonofua, clarified that the commission did not authorize Mohammed to prosecute Oduah, the sole defendant in the case.

    Upon resuming the hearing, both Mohammed and Oduah were absent from court. Okonofua informed the judge that the investigation report conducted by the anti-corruption agency was ready. However, the report had not been submitted to the court, drawing attention to the delay.

    Acknowledging the delay, the lawyer admitted that the report was filed late. In response, Justice Omotosho adjourned the matter until October 4, 2023, to ensure that the investigation report is before the court.

    On July 10, 2023, the EFCC had planned to arraign Oduah before Justice Omotosho on charges of perjury and document falsification. However, during the arraignment on July 11, Mohammed, a police officer appearing for the EFCC, admitted to an error in filing the charge in the name of the anti-graft agency. He revealed that he had been seconded to the EFCC but was redeployed back to the Force Headquarters in November of the previous year. Consequently, he mistakenly signed the charge in the name of the EFCC Office in Benin.

    As a result of the error, the judge ordered Mohammed’s arrest and investigation by the EFCC. The case remains an ongoing legal matter, raising questions about the handling of charges and its implications for both the anti-graft agency and Senator Stella Oduah.