JUDICIARY
Ondo poll: Court Declines to Disqualify Edema as NNPP Candidate
An Ondo High Court in Akure on Thursday set aside the suit challenging the candidature of Mr Olugbenga Edema as the flag-bearer of the New Nigeria People’s Party (NNPP) for the Nov. 16 governorship election in the state.Delivering judgment, Justice Oluyemi Osadabay, held that the court lacked jurisdiction to entertain the suit filed by a factional candidate of the party, Mr Michael Akintan, and his deputy, Mrs Kemi Fasua.
They are challenging the emergence of Edema as the candidate of the party. Edema , a former lawmaker, emerged as the candidate of the party on June 5, after the former candidate, Mr Oluwatosin Ayeni stepped down for him.He chose Dr Rotimi Adeyemi as his running mate.Ayeni was later made the official spokesperson of the candidate and the Director-General of Ondo State NNPP Gubernatorial Campaign Council after his resignation as a candidate.However, in an originating summons filed by Akintan, Fasua, Dr Gilbert Agbo, and Comrade Oginni Olaposi, members of the party,questioned the emergence of Edema as the candidate of NNPP and his running mate.In the suit, plaintiffs through their counsel, Mr Monday Mawah sought the court’s judgment on whether, in light of Sections 77 (2) and 77(3) of the Electoral Act 2022, the party was required to submit the register of members to the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) no later than 30 days before the party’s primary.The primary held on April 26.They also asked whether, based on section 77(3), the defendant, whose name did not appear in the submitted register of the party, could validly claim membership in the party as at the party’s primary date.The claimants were seeking injunctive and declarative reliefs, including a perpetual injunction to restrain Edema from presenting himself as a member and the candidate of the NNPP in on the state for the Nov. 16 governorship election.But the defendants, through their lawyer, Mr Rotimi Olorunfemi, asked the court to dismiss or strike out the suit for constituting a gross abuse of the court process.Olorunfemi said the suit was supposed to be filed at the Federal High Court, being a pre-election matter.He stated that the issue of jurisdiction was a matter that would go to the root and the competence of a court with adjudicatory power on a suit before it.“ Since the court has no jurisdiction, the case should be dismissed with cost against the claimants,” he said.In her judgment, Justice Osadabay struck out the suit for lack of jurisdiction.She said since the case fell within the pre-election matter, it was only the Federal High Court that could decide to entertain the case.The judge awarded N100.000 against the claimants.Reacting to the judgment, Edema said the judgment had led to rest the issue of whether he was a member or a candidate of NNPP. “We knew a lot of people who are our adversaries were looking forward to dividing us.“But thank God, apart from the judgment of this court, we have come together as a party to be one family.“So, we are going to walk into this election as one family of NNPP.So, to the glory of God, the people of NNPP should rest assured that their candidate of NNPP is now on the ballot in the eye of the law and squarely.“ And come Nov. 16, we will win with the support of the people of NNPP and God,” he said.Similarly, Akintan said he was ready to accept Edema as the candidate of the party.He said the court had decided the candidate and he would abide by the decision.Edema was also the Chairman of Ondo State Oil Producing Area Development Commission (OSOPADEC).( NAN)
A Grade A Customary Court at Mapo in Ibadan has remanded six men standing trial for alleged breach of public peace, following their inability to meet their bail conditions.
The defendants are; Ismail Oladipupo, Ridwan Raji, Biodun Gbadamosi, Usman Mohammed, Samuel Olowu and Sunday Akande.
Due to their inability to meet bail, the Court President, Mrs S.
M. Akintayo, ordered that the six defendants be remanded in Abolongo Correctional Centre in Oyo.Akintayo had admitted each of the defendants to N200,000 bail after they all pleaded not guilty to the three-count charge of conspiracy, unlawful gathering and conduct likely to cause breach of the peace.
The court also ordered that the defendants should provide two reliable sureties, one of whom must be a community leader.
However, the six men could not meet the bail conditions and therefore were remanded at the Abolongo Correctional Centre in Oyo town.
Akintayo subsequently adjourned the suit until June 24 for hearing.
Earlier, the prosecutor, Insp Ayodele Ayeni, had told the court that the defendants committed the offences on April 14, at 12:45 a.m., at Agbaje Market, Ibadan, Oyo State.
Ayeni said that the defendants were arrested after they were caught using various dangerous objects such as cutlasses, broken bottles and stones, daring anybody to confront them.
According to him, the six men by their actions allegedly caused apprehension and fear in the entire community.
He stated that the offences contravened the provisions of Sections 516, 416 and 249 of the Criminal Code Cap 38 vol. II Law of Oyo State 2000
From Ene Asuquo, Calabar
The Court of Appeal sitting in Calabar, the Cross River State Capital yesterday upheld the conviction of Peter Ogban, a professor jailed in 2021 for rigging a senatorial election for Godswill Akpabio, a senator from Akwa Ibom State.Akpabio, a member of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC), is the president of the Nigerian Senate.
The rigging happened in an election he lost before he contested again in 2023, won the election, and was elected the Senate president. Ogban, a professor of Soil Science at the University of Calabar and a returning officer in the 2019 general elections in Akwa Ibom North-West District, was jailed for three years by a State High Court in Uyo for announcing fake election results in two local government areas – Oruk Anam and Etim Ekpo – in Akpabio’s favour.A lawyer who participated in the case at the appellate court told journalists shortly after the judgement that the Court of Appeal, apart from affirming Ogban’s conviction and three-year jail term, frowned at his role as a university professor in the fraudulent manipulation of election results.Ogban had told the trial court in Uyo how the election results were falsified to give the APC an unfair advantage over its main rival, the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP).For instance, some 5,000 fake votes were added to the APC’s score in Oruk Anam in the election.Akpabio was seeking a return to the Senate after he defected from the PDP.The PDP candidate, Chris Ekpenyong, a former deputy governor of Akwa Ibom State, defeated Mr Akpabio in the election, which was nearly marred by pockets of violence.INEC prosecuted Agban in the landmark case.Before his sentencing, the professor pleaded for mercy from the judge, Augustine Odokwo who described the case as novel.He however told the lecturer that there was not much he could do other than let the law take its course.He said the prosecution was able to prove its case against Mr Ogban, beyond any reasonable doubt.Another professor, Ignatius Uduk, was recently jailed by a State High Court in Uyo for election fraud.Uduk, a professor of Human Kinetics in the Department of Physical and Health Education at the University of Uyo, was jailed for three years.INEC prosecuted him on three charges: announcement of false election results, publication of false results, and perjury during the 2019 general elections in Essien Udim State Constituency, where he served as INEC’s collation and returning officer.The professor falsified the election results to the advantage of the APC candidate, Nse Ntuen, who was then an ally of Akpabio.
An Ikeja Special Offences Court on Wednesday sentenced a man, Abubakar Sani, to one year imprisonment for defrauding Lotus bank of N16.7 million.
Justice Olubusola Okunuga convicted Sani following his guilty plea to an amended one-count charge of being in possession of an item reasonably suspected to have been stolen.
The charge was preferred against him by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC).
While delivering the judgment, Okunuga said she considered that the convict was a first-time offender and did not waste the time of the court.
“Having pleaded guilty to the amended information and admitted to the review of facts and exhibits tendered by the prosecutor, the defendant is hereby convicted and sentenced to one year imprisonment,” she said.
The judge gave the convict an option of one million naira fine.
She also ordered the convict to forfeit the money found in his Access and Keystone Bank accounts to the Federal Government of Nigeria.
Earlier, the EFCC counsel, Mr Fanen Anum, reviewed the facts of the case.
He said that in July 2024, the commission received a petition from Lotus Bank alleging fraudulent acts from about 718 customers who took undue advantage of the malfunctioning of the bank’s E-bill pay platform to make fraudulent and illegal transfers.
Anum said the bank lost N1.1 billion to the multiple transfers to other financial institutions, exceeding the balances in their respective accounts.
The prosecutor submitted that the defendant benefited N16.7 million, some of which he transferred to his brother’s Accra Bank account.
“My Lord, the sum of N4,182,406.54 was traced to Access Bank account number 1623542076 belonging to Usman Sani, the defendant’s elder brother.
Also, N1,099,485.18 was traced to the defendant’s Keystone Bank account number 6038086328, which was frozen during the investigation,” Anum said.
The prosecutor further tendered in evidence the extrajudicial statement of the defendant, the Access bank statement of his elder brother, and the Keystone bank account statement of the defendant, as exhibits to support his review of facts.
The documents were admitted as evidence following no objections from the defence.
According to EFCC, the offence contravene Section 329 of the Criminal Laws of Lagos State, 2015.
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