I was once suicidal, says Kano student who stepped up, studied Law

I was once suicidal, says Kano student who stepped up, studied Law

For eleven years, Hauwa Yusuf has been battling with an ailment which makes her unable to walk, or stand for more than five minutes. It was detected when she was 14, she said. “I was in SS1 at the former Al-Ansar Girls College now Zara Nanono Memorial College when my parents observed that I was having problems with my legs.”
Hauwa was first taken to Dala National Orthopedic Hospital, but her parents were told that the disease has nothing to do with bones and therefore they were referred to Aminu Kano Teaching Hospital. She told Daily Trust Saturday that she underwent series of tests before the disease was finally detected. Hauwa is suffering from Limb Girdle Muscular Dystrophy (LGMD). It is a progressive sickness because it is increasing, she said.

Despite her condition, Hauwa managed to complete her secondary school education and even preceded to Bayero University Kano (BUK) where she graduated last year with LLB certificate. “Although the sickness started when I was in secondary school, it didn’t discourage me from pursuing my education. Despite my condition, I managed to complete secondary school and went on to BUK, where I read law, thanks to encouragement of my family, friends and classmates,” she said.  

Hauwa narrated that it was a very difficult experience, but as fate would have it today she is a graduate. “I faced serious difficulty and pain attending lectures because I was unable to lift up my legs, even to climb stairs,” she said. “But because lecturers and classmates were always willing to help me, I managed to complete my studies last year.”
Hauwa said she could not stop thanking her family. “No-one’s ever abandoned me, even for a moment because of my condition,” she said, smiling and full of life. She added that before her diagnosis, she suffered from depression. “At a point, I resolved to commit suicide. At that time, I could not sleep because of my condition. But with the help of my parents, I’ve made it.”
Hauwa also told Daily Trust about a kind benefactor: “When the Chairman of Ibrahim Magnet Foundation indicated interest to help me, I could not sleep that day. And God in his infinite mercy, after the MRI and CT scans, showed many things were related my sickness, the foundation declared that they would shoulder my treatment. I don’t know how to thank Alhaji Ibrahim Magnet for what he did. All I can say is that may God the Almighty reward him.
Asked about her future plans, Hauwa told Daily Trust that she wants to be a politician, precisely a Member of House of Reps, at the National Assembly.
Her mother, Hajiya Hadiza Yusuf, said the family has gone through difficulties. “We took her to so many hospitals, but all in vain. We later switched over to herbal medicine, but nothing changed. Till the Magnet Foundation came to the rescue, we had lost hope.”
Hauwa’s mother added that the MRI and CT scan results have raised the family’s hopes. “And the chairman of the foundation has told us that they will help even if she is going to be flown abroad for treatment. He said no matter what it will cost him, he will help her regain her legs.”

Daily post.

Tinubu may be suspended for anti-party.

Ondo gov poll:  Tinubu may be suspended for anti-party.

It appears the All Progressives Congress may have initiated moves to investigate allegations of anti-party activities against the National Leader of the party, Asiwaju Bola Tinubu and some of the party members believed to be loyal to him.

This is happening as the party appears to be in a dilemma over how to deal with the party leader over suspicion that he is backing the Alliance for Democracy in the forthcoming Ondo State governorship election.

Tinubu is believed to be supporting Chief Olusola Oke, one of the governorship aspirants in the party’s primary in Ondo State who had recently defected to the Alliance for Democracy, along with his supporters.

The leadership of the APC, according to impeccable sources who spoke to Saturday PUNCH, considered the purported support for an opposition party by a leader of the APC ahead of the coming Ondo governorship election as constituting anti-party infractions that should not be overlooked.

Tinubu’s godson, Dr. Olusegun Abraham, was edged out in the primary won by Chief Rotimi Akeredolu (SAN), who is believed to have enjoyed the backing of the party’s national leadership.

The delegates’ list for the Ondo APC primary was said to have been doctored to favour Akeredolu and this allegedly infuriated Tinubu.

As such, Tinubu asked the APC’s National Chairman, Chief John Odigie-Oyegun, to resign over his alleged role in the primary in which his (Tinubu’s) candidate had come second.

In the statement in which the party’s national leader made the allegations, Tinubu said Odigie-Oyegun had “dealt a heavy blow to the very party he professes to lead” by derailing from the path of progressives.

The post-primary election crisis of the Ondo APC took a different dimension when Oke defected to AD in a move believed to have been instructed by Tinubu.

Party sources, who spoke on condition of anonymity, told Saturday PUNCH that they had proofs that Tinubu was backing the AD governorship candidate. They added that the party leader had released funds for Oke’s campaign.

The Ondo State chapter of the APC confirmed that some members of the party were under investigation over alleged anti-party activities.

The Publicity Secretary of the party, Mr. Abayomi Adesanya, said specifically that some members loyal to Tinubu had been found to be involved in some activities against the party in the recent time.

Abayomi, who said expulsion from the party was the penalty for any anti-party activity, said the national body of the party would investigate and later come out with an action against any national leader involved in such activity.

He said, “We have yet to confirm if our National Leader is involved in anti-party activities but we will investigate; we are very sure that some of his boys here are involved in anti-party activities but when it is time, appropriate action would be meted to them.”

“Anti-party action is a serious offence in any political party and in our own party, total expulsion is the penalty.”

But a chieftain of the APC loyal to Tinubu, Mr. Bola Ilori,  said APC members who supported Rotimi Akeredolu’s emergence as the party’s candidate were those involved in anti-party activities.

Ilori, who is a loyalist to Dr. Segun Abraham, alleged that the National Chairman of the party, Chief John Odigie-Oyegun, was also involved in anti-party activities by allegedly using veto power to over-rule the recommendation of the Electoral Appeal Committee and submitted Akeredolu’s name to the Independent National Electoral Commission.

He said, “ Whoever is promoting or supporting Akeredolu to be the candidate of the APC is involving in anti-party (activities) because the NWC voted five to six not to submit the name of Akeredolu, and the National Chairman went ahead and submitted his (Akeredolu) name. So, what they have done is anti-party (action) itself.

“What they have done is anti-party (action) that has never happened in the history of the party.”

Saturday PUNCH also learnt that the APC national leadership is aware of Tinubu’s alleged anti-party moves in Ondo State but is very reluctant to sanction him.

This, according to party sources, has to do with Tinubu’s influence in the party and his tight grip on the party structure in the South-West.

Meanwhile, APC members, who spoke to Saturday PUNCH, have explained that the ruling party’s constitution prescribes sanctions against anyone found to be engaged in anti-party misdemeanor.

The Publicity Secretary of the Kwara State chapter of the APC, Mr. Sulaiman Buhari, said “A panel will be set up to investigate the matter. After the investigation, it is the panel that will recommend the punishment but it is stipulated in the Constitution. The person can be suspended or expelled from the party, given the (nature of the) offence. The situation also applies to chieftains of the party.”

The Cross River State Chairman of the APC, Mr. John Ochala, simply said, “Suspension,” when asked the specific sanction the party had reserved for those engaged in anti-party activities.

In Rivers State, the Publicity Sectary of the APC, Mr. Chris Finebone, said any political party that is worth its salt must sanction any action by any member that is detrimental to it.

The Edo State chairman of the APC, Anselm Ojezua, said, “It (anti-party activity) can range from suspension to expulsion, depending on the circumstances of the case. There are no party chieftains; in the APC, everybody is a member.”

Meanwhile, Oke has said that he defected from the APC to the AD because he failed to get justice after he challenged the result of the primary of the party held on September 3. 2016 and the national leadership refused to act on the recommendation of the appeal committee.

The former National Legal Adviser of the Peoples Democratic Party, who spoke through his media aide, Mr. Rotimi Ogunleye, said he made a wide consultation with people across the 18 local government areas of the state before taking the decision to leave the APC, stressing that it was on the advice of the people that he took the decision.

He also declared that since he had the support of the people, many members of the APC, PDP and many other political parties in the state would soon join him in the AD.

On whether he had the support of Tinubu,  Oke said he had sold his credentials to Tinubu and national leaders of other political parties.

“Because of the status and personality  of  Asiwaju Bola Tinubu, we are duty bound as politicians to sell the dossier and credentials of capacity and experience to him  and all the leaders of political parties and hope that they would give support to progressive ideas that can develop the people and lead to the growth of our state when they see these ideas,”  Oke added.

Repeated calls to the mobile telephone of the party’s National Chairman, Chief John Odigie-Oyegun were neither picked nor returned.

A response to a text message sent to him was still being awaited as of the time of filing this report.

Similar efforts made to get a reaction from Tinubu were equally unsuccessful. Calls to the mobile telephone number of his spokesman, Mr. Tunde Rahman, were neither picked nor returned.

 A response to a text message sent to him was still being awaited as of the time of filing this report.

Copyright PUNCH.  

Ondo crisis: Nobody’s money can buy my conscience, Oyegun tells Tinubu

Ondo crisis: Nobody’s money can buy my conscience, Oyegun tells Tinubu 

The National Chairman of the All Progressives Congress, Chief John Odigie-Oyegun, on Friday responded to allegations levelled against him by the party’s National Leader, Asiwaju Bola Tinubu.

 Odigie-Oyegun, who, in a statement issued in Abuja, said all members of the party must respect its constitution, stated that nobody had the money to buy his conscience.

The media office of Tinubu, had in a statement issued few weeks ago, accused Odigie-Oyegun of derailing from the party’s ethos and faulted his role in the APC governorship primary in Ondo State, which was won by Chief Rotimi Akeredolu (SAN).

 The statement had said, “(Odigie-) Oyegun has dealt a heavy blow to the very party he professes to lead. It is an awful parent who suffocates his own child for the sake of a few naira.”

But the national chairman in his first comprehensive response to Tinubu’s allegations, described the allegations as reckless and baseless, adding that it was an insult on his person and hard-earned reputation.

He stated, “Nobody has the kind of money that can buy my conscience or make me do injury to an innocent man. In all the primaries conducted under my watch as national chairman, I have strived to ensure a free, fair, transparent and credible process. The 2016 Ondo State APC governorship primary was not an exception. There must be internal democracy in the party and our constitution must be respected by all.”

Odigie-Oyegun also responded to an allegation that he overruled the decision of APC’s National Working Committee, which reportedly had majority of its members present voting in favour of cancellation of the result of the primary.

He said that the minutes of the NWC meetings, which were held from September 19 to September 22, showed that the committee did not vote in favour of cancellation of the primary as claimed by Tinubu.

Odigie-Oyegun said the allegation made by Tinubu’s media office “was a figment of someone’s wild imagination.”

He said, “On Thursday, September 22, 2016, being the final day for submission of candidate by political parties, the NWC discussed the possibility of voting having finished deliberation on the 2016 Ondo State APC Governorship Primary  Appeal Committee Report because members in support of cancelling the primary results were still strident in their position.

“A member of the NWC, however, drew the attention of the meeting to its previous decision in which the report of the primary election committee was adopted while the appeal committee’s was set aside. The implication of this decision, he reasoned, was that a decision to submit the name of the winner of the primary election was already taken unless the NWC would now wish to reconsider its earlier decision.”

Odigie-Oyegun said he agreed with the submission of the member and ruled that the previous decision of the NWC be upheld.

He also faulted an allegation that the names of “over 150 valid delegates were excised to make room for an equal number of impostors.”

He stated that the Ondo State delegates’ list was compiled in strict compliance with the party’s constitution. Odigie-Oyegun said that only qualified delegates were included on the list.

He further said that none of the aspirants or the appeal committee had submitted to the NWC, names of delegates who were not qualified to be on   the list, but were included.

The national chairman also stated that the NWC had not received names of presumed qualified delegates, who were not included on the list used for the primary.

Odigie-Oyegun recalled that Tinubu’s media office alleged that he used a “prayer interlude”, which he initiated, to “secretly excuse” himself from the NWC meeting.

According to the allegation, it was during the interlude that he submitted Akeredolu’s name to the Independent National Electoral Commission as the candidate of the party.

Odigie-Oyegun said, “The allegation is high fiction and an insult to the intelligence and sensibility of the respected NWC members present at the meeting. We do not and have never engaged in prayer interludes/sessions outside the usual opening and closing prayers. The prayer being referred to must be the closing prayer for the meeting.

“The party’s NWC’s decision to reject the 2016 Ondo State APC Governorship Primary Appeal Committee Report was taken on Tuesday, September 20, 2016 in an executive session after careful and exhaustive deliberations. The minutes and rejection were confirmed by the NWC on Thursday, September 22, 2016.

“The NWC, in its four-point resolution, rejected the appeal committee’s recommendation on the grounds that the report was fundamentally and fatally flawed. The NWC observed that the appeal committee contradicted itself when it admitted in its report, ‘In making the above recommendations, one is not unmindful of the fact that there may have been substantial compliance in the conduct of the exercise,’ but still proceeded to recommend the nullification of the primary election.”

According to him, the NWC, in its four-point resolution, also faulted the failure of the appeal committee to invite the national secretariat as the custodian, to authenticate or otherwise, the source of the disputed delegates’ list.

He also noted that the appeal committee did not invite the Chairman or members of the Ondo State Governorship Primary Committee to clarify issues relating to the allegation of manipulation of the accreditation process.

Odigie-Oyegun said that the appeal committee relied totally on unsubstantiated evidence in the petitions it received to recommend the nullification of the primary.

“This is against the principle of natural justice and fair hearing,” he added.

He further said, “The NWC observed a serious contradiction in the appeal committee’s report in respect of the number of the accredited delegates. Whereas the primary election committee’s report indicated that 2,774 delegates were accredited, the appeal committee’s report erroneously recorded it as those who voted in the election, thereby acting under the false impression that there was over-voting in the exercise. The actual total number of votes cast was 2,754, as clearly recorded in the primary election committee’s report.

“The issue of fresh primary did not arise as the NWC had already rejected the appeal committee’s report in view of the stated flaws and upheld the election. In any case, any fresh primary was already time barred. By the timetable released by the Independent National Electoral Commission, all governorship primaries and issues related ended on September 19, 2016.”

He said that at the meeting, voting on a fresh primary was unnecessary and never took place in view of the NWC’s rejection of the appeal committee’s report.

Odigie-Oyegun stated, “The foregoing are facts backed by the minutes approved by all NWC members that attended the meetings held in respect of 2016 Ondo State APC Governorship Primary Election Appeal Committee Report.”

The national chairman added that the NWC was confident that the Chairman of the Ondo State APC Governorship Primary Election Committee and Governor of Jigawa State, Abubakar Badaru, conducted a credible and exemplary exercise.

He said that he was setting the records straight “in view of the misinformation and false reports that have been fed to the media and that have pervaded the public space.”

The national chairman appealed to leaders and members of the party at all levels to explore internal dispute resolution mechanism in addressing their perceived grievances “instead of resorting to the media to vent their spleen.

“There are enormous challenges in delivering the party’s 2015 election promises to Nigerians. On the immediate horizon is the task of winning the governorship election in Ondo State. We cannot afford to be distracted by the present contentions.”

Odigie-Oyegun said that despite the media attention that had been generated by the disagreements in the aftermath of the Ondo State governorship primary, the party had already commenced wide consultations with stakeholders, with a view to resolving the political differences.

“The APC national leadership remains united and solidly committed to the task of winning the Ondo State governorship election to save the people of the state from the misrule of the Peoples Democratic Party,” he stated.

Attempts to get the spokesman for Tinubu, Mr. Tunde Rahman, did not succeed as he did not pick calls to his mobile telephone nor respond to a text message sent to the phone.

Copyright PUNCH.        

Nigeria joins Islamic coalition against terror

Nigeria joins Islamic coalition against terror

President Muhammadu Buhari has admitted that Nigeria has joined the Islamic Coalition against terrorism being championed by Saudi Arabia.

Buhari made the disclosure during an interview with Aljareeza, which was broadcast at the weekend.

When asked whether Nigeria was part of the coalition, Buhari said: “We are part of it because we’ve got terrorists in Nigeria that everybody knows which claim that they are Islamic.

“So, if there’s an Islamic coalition to fight terrorism, Nigeria will be part of it because we are casualties of Islamic terrorism,” he added.

On whether Nigeria became a member of the coalition during his meeting with King Salman Bin Abdul-Aziz in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia recently, Buhari said “yes.”

He said that he could not disclose the details of how such coalition would work for Nigeria when asked during the interview.

But he said: “Well, that we mentioned under Lake Chad Basin Commission, our regional grouping compromising Cameroon, Chad, Niger, Nigeria and Benin and we dedicated a certain number of troops to be deployed in our own sub-region and I don’t think we have to tell the press the details of that.”

On whether joining the Islamic coalition will serve Nigerian security interest, he said: “Certainly. I’ve just told you it is the Boko Haram itself that declared loyalty to ISIS.

“ISIS is basically based in Islamic countries. Now, if there’s a coalition to fight Islamic terrorism, why can’t Nigeria be part of it, while those that are fighting in Nigeria as Boko Haram claim to be Muslims. But the way they are doing it is anti-Islamic, he said.

When his interviewer pointed out that since Nigeria was roughly evenly divided among Christians and Muslims and that some Christians were complaining that he was giving Islamic identity to Nigeria, Buhari wondered why such Christians had not gone to fight Boko Haram in the North or militants sabotaging installations in the South.

“Why can’t those Christians that complained go and fight terrorism in Nigeria or fight the militancy in the South. It’s Nigeria that matters, not the opinion of some religious bigots,” he stated.

On whether he was trying to change the religious identity of the country, Buhari noted: “How can I change the religious identity of Nigeria?

“No religion advocates hurting the innocent and just because the Muslims are the ones that claim to be Boko Haram and they are killing innocent people whether in the church, in the bus or in the market place, then I will just sit and look at them because I too am a Muslim? Islam is against injustice in any form.”

Buhari’s admission of Nigeria’s membership of the Islamic coalition came barely two weeks after an official Presidency statement seemed to suggest that Buhari had turned down the invitation to be part of the coalition.

A statement issued by the Senior Special Adviser to the President (Media and Publicity), Garba Shehu, during the president’s trip to Saudi Arabia had said that Buhari had pledged Nigeria’s support for the coalition even if it would not be part of it.

The statement had said that two leaders who engaged in extensive discussions on regional and global issues also agreed that terrorism posed a common threat to their states and would require close cooperation to prevail over the threats.

It observed that President Buhari who was making his first pronouncement on the invitation to join the coalition of Islamic states against terror spearheaded by the Saudis congratulated the Kingdom on its formation.

The statement quoted Buhari thus: “Even if we are not a part of it, we support you. I must thank the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia for the recent creation of a coalition to address the menace of international terrorism. Nigeria will support your efforts in keeping peace and stopping the spread of terror in your region. This is in consonance with our own commitment and on-going efforts in seeking to stamp out Boko Haram terrorists from the West African sub-region and Lake Chad Basin Commission (LCBC).”

source:- http://thenationonlineng.net/493078-2/ 

Minister of State for Labour dies in car crash

Minister of State for Labour dies in car crash

The Minister of State for Labour and Productivity, Hon James Ocholi (SAN) reportedly died on Sunday.

The news of his death broke on the social media handle of Hon. Hadi Sirika.

Sources say the accident which involved his vehicle, a Prado jeep and another Lexus jeep left his wife and driver in critical conditions.

Ocholi was from Dekina Local Government area of Kogi state.

Leaked Ekiti Tape: I dare Obanikoro to go to court — Falana

Popular lawyer, Femi Falana, has attributed the shift in the dates of the general elections to the leaked tape alleging the rigging of the Ekiti State gubernatorial election last year.

Speaking at the Black History Month and Dr. Beko Ransom Kuti Memorial Program in Lagos, Wednesday, Mr. Falana said some of those implicated in the plot, who were threatening legal action, should think otherwise.

An audio recording revealing how some Peoples’ Democratic Party, PDP, chieftains connived with security agencies to rig the Ekiti State election was released by an army officer last week.

At the meeting, as evidenced by the recording, prominent officials of the PDP were heard discussing strategies for rigging the 2014 Ekiti governorship election, a poll in which the party eventually won by a landslide.

But some of the actors, including Musiliu Obanikoro, a former Defence Minister, and Ayo Fayose, who defeated the incumbent governor, denied being a party to the plot to rig the election and questioned the authenticity of the recording.

Mr. Obanikoro had also threatened a court action against news organizations who had published the conversations in the audio tape.

Despite their denials, the Minister of Police Affairs, Jelili Adesiyan, who also attended the meeting, confirmed Sunday that the tape was authentic. He however disagreed with the context of the discussion, saying the meeting was never about plans to rig the Ekiti State election.

Speaking Wednesday, Mr. Falana said that none of the participants in the recording had successfully challenged the army officer’s account of the incident.

“I understand that Mr. Obanikoro (whom he described as a ‘thug’) says he will go to court. I can assure you here, I dare him to go to court. He can’t. It’s not possible,” said Mr. Falana, a Senior Advocate of Nigeria.

“One of the reasons they postponed the election last week is that disturbing revelation by that Captain. That is what they wanted to do for the entire country. That revelation has sent them back to the drawing table. They now have to re-strategize.”

Mr. Falana criticised President Goodluck Jonathan for “embarrassing” the country with his repeated trips to the Holy Land, instead of channelling such funds to job creation.

Since he became the President in 2011, Mr. Jonathan has travelled for pilgrimage twice.

“I was reading the papers yesterday, the president said in violation of the peace accord, that governors in the north have not been sending Christians to Jerusalem. In other words, they have been sponsoring Muslims to Mecca,” said Mr. Falana.

“Please tell the president that there is no provision in our law for sponsoring anybody to Jerusalem or Mecca.

“Section 10 of the Constitution provides that the Nigerian State shall not proclaim any religion as an official religion. Therefore, appropriating billions of Naira every year, wasting money to send people to Jerusalem or Mecca is illegal.

“If you must know, less than seven per cent of Israelis are Christians, so they make jest of us. When you descend on them, that you are there to worship Jesus Christ, they’ll be like ‘are these people Ok?'”

Mr. Falana also insisted that the general election must hold and whoever emerges winner should be allowed to govern the country.

“And I’m challenging Edwin Clark and others, all those old men with expired ideas. Femi Okurounmu and others,” he said.

“We never saw them when we went to the streets of Lagos and Abuja to proclaim Goodluck as acting President. You were in the streets of Lagos, where were these characters? They were nowhere to be found.

“In fact, quote me. Baba Clark called me in one of our protests, ‘Femi, my son. Please keep it up. We from the Niger Delta cannot join this struggle now.’ I said why sir? He said ‘because he’s our son.’ I said what has your son got to do with the quest for justice?

“Professor Wole Soyinka, at the age of 71 (he was actually 76 then) led us in the protest. Please tell them this country belongs to all of us.”

On the issue of deployment of soldiers during election periods, Mr. Falana noted that nowhere in the Nigerian Constitution, Electoral Act, or the Armed Forces Act was a provision made for soldiers in election.

“So when they told Jega that they are going to be busy in the north east and they will not be able to secure the election. Please there is no provision for those Service Chiefs to police our election,” said Mr. Falana.

“Under Section 76, Section 116, Section 132, and 117, it is the exclusive responsibility of the INEC to fix dates for election. Only INEC. Not the president, not the NSA, not the security chiefs.

Knowing that, they then came in fraudulently by saying that they cannot guarantee your security.

“They have not been able to crush Boko Haram in six years, what magic are you going to perform in six weeks? Please we reject their fraudulent claim.”

Mr. Falana maintained that it is the duty of the police to maintain law and order in peace time.

“Soldiers have no business in town in peace time. Their duty is to defend the territorial integrity of our country, not to police election,” he said.

“That is the business of the Police. As a matter of fact, even Boys Scouts can police elections in Nigeria. You know why? On the day of election, there is restriction of movement. It is illegal for you to leave your ward for another ward. Only journalists, observers, and election workers can move round.

“So if everybody is restricted, why do you need soldiers to come and help you? To do what? But I will tell you why they need soldiers. You know why they need soldiers? To rig the election. To manipulate the process.”

source premium-time

Senator claims GEJ ‘has been begging’ National Assembly for tenure elongation

A Senator of the federal republic, has alleged that President Goodluck Jonathan, has been urging the National Assembly for elongation of his tenure, but he has so far met a brick wall.

He uttered the comment at a social discourse organised by the ARG in Ibadan, in honour of Kayode Fayemi, a former governor of Ekiti, state.

Senator Babafemi Ojudu, speaking during the event on Wednesday, February 11, expressed apprehension that elections may not hold, in spite of the postponement.

He said: “President Jonathan has been begging us to allow him do two more years but the Yoruba must cry out and also be strategic in their call for change.

“We are resuming in the next one week and the President might likely bring the proposal for the election to be postponed for the next six months or one year. The constitution supports that once the nation is in war situation the proposal might be passed by just a simple majority,” Ojudu added.

by Kolapo Olapoju

Audio clip: Soldiers ready to testify in court – Fayemi

Former Ekiti State Governor, Kayode Fayemi, has revealed that some military officers are ready to give evidence in court over the audio clip that caught senior Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) members and military chiefs plotting how to rig the June 21, 2014 governorship election in the state.

Speaking on a live programme, “APC Change Hour,” on an Akure, Ondo State-based ADABA 88.9 FM monitored in Ado-Ekiti on Thursday, Fayemi said the postponement of the 2015 general elections was not about security but about a high-wired plot to rig the polls.

The audio clip was aired on the radio station with the alleged voices of Governor Ayo Fayose, former Minister of State (Defence), Musiliu Obanikoro, Police Affairs Minister, Jelili Adesiyan, Osun State Peoples Democratic Party governorship candidate, Iyiola Omisore and Gen. Aliyu Momoh haggling about rigging plans ahead of the poll.

He said the postponement was about a “desperate government and a desperate President that is afraid of a loss and using a military that became a willing tool.”

The former governor said the PDP-led administration was trying to re-enact the rigging perpetrated in Ekiti with the alleged misuse of the military at the forthcoming general election.

Fayemi stressed that the upper echelon of the military was guilty of treason against the state with its role in the dramatic postponement of the polls, saying the first duty of the government through the armed forces is security of lives and property.

He deplored a situation in which the military institution has been desecrated with the army generals being harassed and intimidated by politicians desperate to rig elections for their party.

THE NATION

Council of State rejects election postponement

The Council of State on Thursday rose from a seven-hour meeting, advising the Independent National Electoral Commission to go ahead and perform its constitutional responsibility of conducting the 2015 elections.

Governor Rochas Okorocha of Imo State told State House correspondents that INEC told the council that it was ready for the conduct of the election.

He said security chiefs also expressed their readiness but raised issues about some local governments currently under the control of the Boko Haram sect.

The implication, he said, is that elections will not hold in the affected areas.

But Governor Olusegun Mimiko of Ondo State claimed that the council advised INEC to consider all the inputs made during the meeting with a view to taking a decision it will announce to Nigerians later.

Details later.

punch 

Disqualification: Court orders service of documents on Buhari, INEC

A Federal High Court in Abuja on Monday ordered the service of court documents on the presidential candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Gen. Mohammadu Buhari, in relation to a suit seeking to among others, restrain him from participating in the February 14 election.

Justice Adeniyi Ademola ordered a substituted service of the court documents on Buhari and the Independent National Electoral Commission after hearing the plaintiff’s application to that effect.

In the suit marked: FHC/ABJ/CS/14/2015, filed by Max Ozoaka, the plaintiff raised eight questions for the court’s determination and prayed for among others, an order disqualifying Buhari from contesting or participating in the election.

The suit has Buhari and the INEC as defendants.

It is the plaintiff’s contention that INEC FORM CF 001 which the APC candidate submitted to the electoral body was incomplete because he allegedly failed to accompany the form with all relevant academic credentials.

He also faulted some information contained in other documents he possessed including Buhari’s voter’s card.

The plaintiff wants the court to restrain INEC from permitting Buhari to participate in the presidential election on February 14 or any other date the 2nd defendant (INEC) may fix.”

the nation