Sen. Ovie Omo-Agege (APC-Delta) says the judgement of the Asaba Federal High Court on his nomination as senatorial candidate, representing Delta central district has no effect on his election victory.

Omo-Agege, made the remarks in a statement issued through his Senior Special Adviser on Communications and Strategy, Mr Godwin Anaughe in Abuja.

He said he was not party to the suit.

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that Justice Toyin Adegoke of the Federal High Court 1, Asaba, had on Monday nullified the candidacy of Omo-Agege for the Delta central and other All Progressives Congress (APC) candidates in the just-concluded elections.

The court, which sacked the Jones Erue-led executive committee of the APC in Delta, to which Omo-Agege belongs, upheld the Cyril Ogodo-led Delta APC faction in the state, declaring the executives as duly elected.

According to Omo-Agege, the judgment by Justice Adegoke may give some joy to the plaintiffs and their supporters but does not and cannot alter the status quo.

I remain the senator-elect and Rev. Francis Ejiroghene Waive remains the member-elect of the Federal House of Representatives, he said.

He argued that the electoral college that elected him and Waive as APC candidates in the just-concluded 2019 general elections came into being by virtue of a consent judgement that had not been set aside.

It is still a valid, subsisting judgement until it is set aside by a court of competent jurisdiction, therefore, our election into our respective positions remains valid, he said.

The lawmaker further argued that there was no consequential order made by Justice Adegoke for INEC to withdraw the Certificate of Return duly issued to them to be re-issued to those who were now parading themselves as the valid candidates for the just-concluded 2019 general elections.

Again, there is no order made against me , Waive, as we are not parties to the suit and as such are not bound by the said judgement, he said.

He said that the National Working Committee (NWC) of the APC, under the directive of the National Executive Committee (NEC) of the party was the only organ that was saddled with the responsibility of organising party primaries for the purpose of nominating and sponsoring candidates for elections.

It is imperative to state emphatically that the consent judgement of the Federal High Court sitting in Abuja that gives validity to the Jones Ode Erue-led Exco is a final judgement of court like any other judgement, and it is valid and subsisting until it is appealed against and set aside by a court of competent jurisdiction.

The Asaba federal high court lacks the jurisdiction to sit as an Appellant Court over a consent judgement delivered by a court of coordinate jurisdiction.

Consequently Prophet Jones Ode Erue and his Exco remain the valid and authentic Executives of the Delta APC.

The judgement delivered by Justice Adegoke is therefore of no consequence, he added.

Source: NAN

The Buhari Media Organisation (BMO) has accused the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) of measuring President Muhammadu Buhari by the insidious standard of past PDP Presidents who never pretended to be averse to electoral manipulation.

This, it said, is the reason the opposition party finds it hard to believe that President Buhari would not interfere in the March 23 supplementary elections in some States to favour the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC).

BMO said in a statement signed by its Chairman Niyi Akinsiju and Secretary Cassidy Madueke that PDP is used to having a sitting President manipulate the electoral process using the federal might, especially after winning Presidential elections.

We have a party which has rigging and electoral manipulation ingrained in its DNA, and Presidents who never had second thoughts about foisting PDP candidates on Nigerians at re-run elections.

Back then, it was unthinkable for the then ruling party to lose close elections after winning the Presidential election. That was when the words bandwagon effect took root in the polity.

So it is not a total surprise that a party whose Presidential candidate and his key campaign coordinators lost their immediate wards during the February 23 elections, would dismiss President Buharis assurances of a level-playing field for all parties involved in the forthcoming supplementary gubernatorial elections.

The fact that PDP-era Presidents did manipulate the process to favour their party does not necessarily mean that this President would take that path of infamy, it said.

BMO also noted that the opposition party had never stopped accusing President Buhari of muzzling the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) even when the Commission had consistently shown that it was truly independent.

It said: PDP had been unrelenting in making all sorts of allegations against President Buhari but it conveniently forgot how INEC stopped the ruling party from presenting any candidate in Rivers state, and that it took a last-minute court ruling to prevent a similar scenario in Zamfara State.

These are unprecedented actions by the election management body which could never have happened in the PDP era where the Commission acted more like a federal government parastatal.

We at BMO have also seen how a number of decisions taken by the current INEC leadership have favoured the opposition, but PDP wants Nigerians to believe that President Buhari has the Commission at his beck and call.

On the election petition filed by the opposition party and its Presidential candidate Atiku Abubakar, the pro-Buhari group said the move would end up a wild goose chase because Nigerians never gave the PDP the mandate it claimed was stolen.

They have the right to challenge the election outcome at the tribunal, but it would eventually be proved to be a frivolous petition, said the group.

*Statement

Source: NAN

Ahead of the supplementary elections in Kano on Saturday, Gov. Abdullahi Ganduje of Kano state said that his government will not tolerate any breach of peace by any group or person in the state.

Ganduje gave the warning on Tuesday in Kano when an amalgam of 320 associations, called Kano Peace Ambassadors, paid him a solidarity visit.

We will not tolerate breach of peace under whatever guise, and the government will not fold its arms and watch people instigating instability in the state.

As a governor of Kano state and the Chief Security Officer of the state, I cannot sleep if any drop of blood is wasted.

I am not speaking as a gubernatorial candidate, but as the executive governor of Kano state and the chief security officer of the state. Anybody wishing to disrupt the peace of the state will not go scot-free, he said.

The Kano Peace Ambassadors assured Ganduje of their resolve to promote peaceful co-existence before, during and after the re-run election.

Abubakar Muhammad who led the groups commended Ganduje for making statements that were peaceful in all intent and purposes.

We are monitoring speeches that are being made by political leaders in the state. We find out that, many out there are only triggering instability.

We are indeed commending your political statements, that prove to be in line with peaceful engagements, he said.

Source: NAN

The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) has petitioned the National judicial Council over the exparte order stopping the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) from concluding the governorship election in Bauchi State.

The partys National Publicity Secretary, Mr Kola Ologbondiyan said that the petition was filed in an affidavit sworn to by the PDPs National Chairman, Mr Uche Secondus, in Abuja.

On Tuesday, a Federal High Court in Abuja barred INEC from resuming the collation and announcement of governorship election result in Bauchi.

Justice Inyang Ekwo issued the order following an ex parte application filed by the All Progressives Congress (APC) and the Bauchi state Governor, Mohammed Abubakar.

The PDP, barely 24 hours after rejecting the order described the ex parte order issued by Justice Ekwo as a violation of the Constitution and Electoral Act by sitting on a matter that ought to have been handled by an election petition tribunal.

It added that in granting an ex parte order stopping from concluding the governorship election in Bauchi State, Justice Ekwo violated Section 87(11) of the Electoral Act, which states that no court has the power or jurisdiction to stop any election pending the determination of a suit.

It stated that issues of collation of results and declaration of winner, is a post-election event, were under the Electoral Act and Constitutional provisions for the election petition tribunal.

It quoted the affidavit stating that, despite this clear provision of the law, Justice Ekwo decided to hear the application within 24 hours on March19 and issued an order on INEC not to continue with the election until the case before him is finally decided.

That the collation of results is a post-election event and under section 87(11) of the Electoral Act, no court has the power or jurisdiction to stop any election pending the determination of a suit.

That an election includes voting, collation of results and the declaration of results.

That as a result of the order on the Independent National Electoral Commission, the conclusion of the Bauchi State Governorship election which was to take place on 19th March 2019 was stalled.

That the order of Justice Ekwo was made contrary to the provisions of the Constitution of Nigeria, 1999 as amended dealing without fair hearing and also section 87(11) of the Electoral Act.

That the Chief Justice of Nigeria has constituted the various Election Petition Tribunals in Nigeria to handle such cases and the assumption of jurisdiction by Justice Ekwo is an affront to the constitution and electoral wishes of the people of Tafawa Balewa Local Government Area and Bauchi State

The party said that not only did Justice Ekwo violate the clear provisions of the Electoral Act, adding the motion granted is also an affront to the electoral wishes of the people of Bauchi State.

The PDP urged the NJC to save the countrys democracy by taking an urgent step against the order.

Though INEC said it has complied with the order, it was however challenging it.
Mr Festus Okoye, INECs National Commissioner, Information and Voter Education said the commission has filed a motion on notice`, challenging the jurisdiction of the court in granting the order.

The motion has not been taken. Until that motion is taken, the court order barring us from collating the result of Tafawa Balewa area subsists, he said.

Although Okoye told the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) on Tuesday in Abuja, that the commission has stopped the collation of the governorship result, he said the collation process would continue in the state assembly elections in the affected areas.

Source: NAN

The All Progressives Congress (APC) says that judging by Abubakar Atiku and PDPs recent utterances and actions, it was now clear that they had slipped into severe depression and post-defeat hallucination.

Lanre Issa-Onilu, the APC publicity secretary said on Wednesday the utterances must have left many Nigerians questioning the current state of mind of members of the PDP.

Issa Onilu spoke in the wake of the claims by a PDP lawyer that the party recorded 1.6m votes more than President Muhammadu Buhari in the Presidential election on 23 February.

Issa-Onilu said the claim only calls for sympathy to the PDP and its candidate.

He said party was not unaware of the antics of Atiku and the PDP to discredit the outcome of the election adjudged free and fair by international and national election observers.

Following the outcome of the presidential election, during which a vast majority of Nigerians re-affirmed their unshaken belief in President Buhari to continue to steer the affairs of the country for another four years.

We have watched in disbelief and utter amusement how the opposition, PDP and its presidential candidate, Atiku Abubakar, have engaged in series of circus shows to cheer up their crestfallen and disillusioned members.

While the APC is not oblivious of the PDPs antics to discredit the credible presidential electoral process, acknowledged by local and international observers, we sympathise with Atiku for the crushing defeat handed him by President Buhari through the votes of Nigerians, Issa-Onilu said.

He further noted that after weeks of dilly-dallying, the PDP had woken up to the reality of its electoral defeat and decided to follow the constitutional path of filing a petition at the Election Petition Tribunal.

He described all the prayers of Atiku before the Election Tribunal as hollow at best.

He added that the most ridiculous of Atikus prayer was his claim that the server of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) indicated that he won the presidential election by 1.6 million votes.

Issa-Onilu wondered if this was phantom figure of 1.6 million votes Dubai-invented, and if the result were sold to Atiku by his numerous marabouts.

Most importantly, we note Atikus consistent reference to the INEC server as if he is the custodian of that platform.

Indeed, Atikus constant reference to the INEC server should raise concerns as it is becoming apparent that he and the PDP are up for some dastard activities, he said.

The APC spokesman added that the target of Atiku and the PDP could be to jeopardise INEC`s database and internal storage system.

He recalled the widespread reported cases of several programmed card readers retrieved from some PDP agents and their failed attempt to hack the INEC database in the lead-up to the then postponed presidential election.

Issa-Onilu reminded Atiku and PDP that Nigerians saw through the devious schemes aimed at thwarting their will, adding that majority of the voters handed them a harsh verdict which had to remained sacrosanct.

He called on the INEC and the security agencies to be on red alert to ensure that Atiku and other desperate members of the PDP cannot execute their evil machinations.

Source: NAN

The black boxes of the Ethiopian Airlines jet that crashed with the loss of 157 lives recently have been read successfully, French accident investigators said on Monday.

“The boxes from the Boeing 737 MAX 8, which crashed on March 10 shortly after take-off from Addis Ababa, have now been sent back to Ethiopia,” French air accident investigation body BEA told dpa.

The Paris-based body said in a statement that French, Ethiopian and U.S. officials had verified “correct data extraction” from the two boxes, the flight data recorder (FDR) and cockpit voice recorder.

The BEA also confirmed Sunday’s statement from Ethiopian Transport Minister Dagmawit Moges that the data showed similarities with the October crash of a Lion Air Boeing 737 MAX 8 plane off the coast of Indonesia that killed 198 people.

“During the verification process of the FDR data, clear similarities were noted by the investigation team between Ethiopian Airlines Flight 302 and Lion Air Flight 610, which will be the subject of further study during the investigation,;; the BEA said.

Aviation authorities around the world have grounded Boeing 737 MAX 8 and MAX 9 planes after the Ethiopian crash.

The models are the latest version of the US manufacturer’s narrow-body workhorse.

Moges, on Sunday said that “detailed information” based on the black box data would be released within a month

Alan Krueger, a prominent Princeton University economics professor who advised U.S. Presidents Bill Clinton and Barack Obama, took his own life over the weekend, his family said in a statement on Monday. He was 58.

The statement did not elaborate about the circumstances of Krueger’s death, nor did the university when confirming it earlier in the day.

Krueger served in the last two Democratic administrations – as chief economist for the U.S. Department of Labor during the Clinton era and as chair of the White House Council of Economic Advisers for Obama.

“It is with tremendous sadness we share that Professor Alan B. Krueger, beloved husband, father, son, brother, and Princeton professor of economics took his own life over the weekend,” his family said in the statement furnished by the university.

“The family requests the time and space to grieve and remember him.”

He had taught economics at Princeton since 1987. Last week, Krueger delivered a lecture at Stanford University in California on income distribution and labour market regulation titled “Why is Basic Universal Income So Controversial?”

“Alan was recognised as a true leader in his field, known and admired for both his research and teaching,” Princeton said in a statement.

An avid music fan, Krueger posted about Bruce Springsteen and other rock stars on Twitter and wove David Bowie into his lectures. He made this passion the subject of his latest research in his forthcoming book on economics and the music industry, due to be released in June.

Krueger received numerous awards, including the Kershaw Prize from the Association for Public Policy and Management in 1997 for distinguished contributions to public policy analysis by someone under the age of 40.

He is survived by his wife, Lisa, and two children.

By Edeki Igafe

A Federal High Court sitting in Asaba on Monday voided the participation of Chief Great Ogboru as the All Progressive Congress (APC) candidate in the 2019 governorship election in Delta.

The court presided over by Justice Toyin Adegoke also sacked the Mr Jones Erue-led executive of the party in the state, thereby worsening the leadership crises that has rocked the party in Delta since last year.

The courts decision followed the case filed by the Chief Cyril Ogodo-led faction of the party, urging the court to recognise it as the authentic APC executive.

The Ogodo-led faction had also urged the court to sack the Erue-led executive which produced Chief Great Ogboru and Senator Ovie Omo-Agege as the partys governorship and Senatorial candidates respectively.

The judgment also affected the election of a member of the House of Representatives, Mr Francis Waiva and the election of three members of the state House of Assembly, having emerged from the primaries conducted by the Erue-led state executives.

Also affected are the nomination of the immediate past governor of the state and senatorial candidate for Delta South, Dr. Emmanuel Uduaghan, Delta north senatorial candidate, Doris Uboh among others.

The courtsimilarly upheld the full template of the Ogodo factions candidates, includingProf. Pat Utomi, Olorogun Otega Emerhor, Olorogun Ima Niboro as the partys authentic candidates in the just concluded elections.

The Ogodo faction fielded Emerhor for the Delta Central Senatorial District election and Niboro for the Ughelli North/South/Udu Federal Constituency seat in the House of Representatives.

In his swift reaction, counsel to the defendants, Dr. Okubor Nwachukwu, said the judgment would be tested at the Court of Appeal, expressing confidence that it would be upturned at the appellate court.

On his part, counsel to the plaintiffs, Roland Ekpe said the judgment did not fall short of their expectations, noting that by implication, the nomination of candidates who flew the flag of the party in the 2019 general elections is null and void having emerged from the primaries conducted by the Erue-led executive.

Source: NAN

By Douglas Okoro

Some aspirants, who failed to secure the APC ticket to contest elective positions in Ebonyi, have urged the APC leadership to probe the deployment of funds released for all elections in the state.

The group, who addressed a press conference on Monday in Abakaliki, accused Sen. Sonni Ogbuoji, the Ebonyi APC governorship candidate, of anti-party activities and diverting funds released for the prosecution of all elective positions.

Mr Ogbonnaya Onu, an aspirant for the Ohaozara/Onicha/Ivo Federal Constituency seat, who spoke on behalf of the aspirants, urged APC chairman Adams Oshiomhole, to urgently institute a probe panel to investigate the governorship candidate.

He specifically accused Ogbuoji of engaging in anti-party activities and diverting Election Support Fund (ESF).

Onu described Ogbuoji as killer of APC in Ebonyi due to his alleged nonchalant attitude and failure to mobilize members of the party and supporters for the elections in the state.

The aspirants blamed the candidate for APCs failure to make any meaningful impact in the general elections, saying that he did not campaign sufficiently to sway voters.

Ogbuoji abandoned the party, the campaign team and the supporters for three weeks before the governorship and state house of assembly elections.

He (candidate), was in Abuja and only appeared around 6:30 p.m. on the eve of the governorship election; when he came, he was claiming that the Presidency had directed INEC to declare him winner, the group alleged.

The group also accused Ogbuoji of substituting validly nominateds candidates with unpopular candidates who later defected to the PDP on the eve of the governorship election.

He substituted genuine party members with people who abandoned the party when it needed them most. That was clearly an indication that he was working with the PDP to kill the APC.

Our feeling is that Ogbuoji was just a mole in our great party.

We do not believe that Ogbuoji was serious about winning the governorship race. We believe that he was only interested in the election support fund because he did not campaign anywhere and could not deliver his ward in any of the elections.

The group noted that some stakeholders of the party donated huge sums of money to the Ogbuoji campaign council, and particularly recalled that the Minister of Science and Technology, Dr Ogbonnaya Onu, was among such donors.

Unfortunately, Ogbuoji did not utilize the funds to mobilize the electorate for the election and justify the essence for which the funds were donated, the aspirants fumed.

The group, however, urged APC supporters to keep hope alive, saying that the leadership would do everything to reinvent the party in Ebonyi and make it a formidable opposition.

Reacting to the allegations, Ogbuoji dismissed them as unfounded and unfortunate.

Ogbuoji, who spoke through Mr Ikenna Emewu, Director of Media, Ogbuoji Campaign Directorate, said that he put in his best during the election.

The APC did better in the 2019 election compared to what it scored in 2015. Ogbuoji showcased the best in him.

We want anybody with proof that Ogbuoji diverted election funds or indulged in anti-party activities to come forward and prove his or her allegation.

We implore members of the public and supporters of Ogbuoji to discountenance such baseless accusations; Ogbuoji could not have diverted funds meant for his own election.

There is also no sense in the claim that the candidate was involved in anti-party activities because there is no way he would have worked against himself and his candidature, Emewu said.

Source: NAN

The Federal High Court in Asaba has overruled the Jones Erue-led executive committee of the All Progressive Congress (APC) in Delta State and nullified candidates fielded by the faction of the party for 2019 elections.

In its judgment, the court, presided over by Justice Toyin Adegoke, upheld the Cyril Ogodo-led Delta APC faction, declaring the executives as duly elected.

Justice Adegoke held that all actions purportedly taken by the Erue-led executives were null and void, thereby nullifying the candidacy of the candidates who emerged from the primaries conducted by the Erue-led executives.

According to Rowland Ekpe, the counsel to the Cyril Ogodo exco, the re-election of Senator Ovie Omo-Agege, representing Delta Central and other candidates in the just-concluded elections, is now null and void following the judgment since they all emerged from the primaries conducted by the Erue-led executives.

The primaries conducted by Mefor Progress, those names are the authentic names, Ekpe stressed.

Other candidates affected by the judgment include the state governorship candidate, Great Ogboru, and the senatorial candidate for Delta South Senatorial District and immediate past governor of the state, Dr. Emmanuel Uduaghan, among others.

Meanwhile, Mr Okubo Nwachukwu, counsel to the Erue-led executives said they would review the courts judgment, noting that they would appeal the verdict passed by Justice Toyin Adegoke.

We will look at the judgment, and see what we are going to do, but hopefully we are going to appeal against the judgment. I am very certain that the appeal will be favourable, Mr Nwachukwu stated.

Source: NAN