COVER
Presidential Election Results Fail to Upload on Portal , INEC Tells Tribunal
By Jude Opara, Abuja
Three Presiding Officers of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) yesterday told the Presidential Election Petition Court (PEPC) that the refusal of the Bimodal Voter Accreditation System (BVAS) to transmit the presidential election results on Election Day frustrated their jobs.
The Officers admitted that the results of the Senate and the House of Representatives election were transmitted unhindered and that the problems of technical hitches arose at the point of transmitting only the presidential poll results.
Testifying on Subpoena at the ongoing hearing of petitions challenging the outcome of the February 25 presidential election, the three witnesses admitted that the election process went well until the period the BVAS machines refused to work.
The three witnesses are Janet Nuhu Turaki, Christopher Bulus Ardo and Victoria Sani, who served as INEC Presiding Officers at Yobe, Bauchi and Katsina States respectively.
They had been summoned by the Court through the joint application of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and Abubakar Atiku to appear before it and give accounts of their experiences in relation to results transmission during the last presidential election.
Janet Turaki who first testified in the petition filed by former Vice President Abubakar Atiku against the election said the accreditation of voters was successful but the process became frustrating at the point of uploading of the election results.
She emphasized that while the results of the National Assembly election sailed smoothly, that of the presidential poll failed and refused to work throughout the day.
The witness, however, informed the Court that the collated results in the forms EC8A were signed by the party agents and herself as INEC’s Presiding Officer.
In his evidence, Christopher Bulus Ardo told the court that he felt unfulfilled in his assignment with INEC on the election because he could not transmit the presidential election results as required by law.
In her own, Victoria Sani said she could not remember the candidate that won the presidential poll in Katsina State but insisted that all did not end well due to the inability to transmit the presidential aspect of the February 25 election.
Monday’s proceedings were conducted by Eyitayo Jegede SAN for Abubakar Atiku and PDP as petitioners, Abubakar Mahmoud SAN for INEC, Chief Wole Olanipekun SAN for President Bola Ahmed Tinubu and Charles Edosomwen SAN for the All Progressives Congress APC.
Meanwhile, the Presiding Justice of the Court, Justice Haruna Simon Tsammani has fixed June 20 for the continuation of hearing in the petition.
Tribunal Rejects Tinubu, APC Bid to Stop APM Petition
An attempt by President Bola Ahmed Tinubu and the All Progressives Congress (APC) to stop the Allied People’s Movement (APM) in its petition challenging his qualification for the February 25, 2023, presidential election was yesterday rejected by the Presidential Election Petition Court (PEPC).
Tinubu, through his lead counsel, Chief Wole Olanipekun SAN, had sought to use a Supreme Court judgment delivered on May 26, 2023, to terminate the APM’s petition, but the request was turned down.
The grouse of Tinubu was that the Apex Court had resolved the sole issue raised in the petition of the APM in the judgment in a suit filed by the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP).
He sought to move the Court to invoke the spirit and letters of the Supreme Court judgment to halt the hearing into the APM’s petition.
The Presiding Justice of the Court, Justice Haruna Simon Tsammani, however, disagreed with Tinubu and held that the party cannot be shut out in the face of fair hearing.
Justice Tsammani asked Tinubu to keep his objections against the hearing of the petition to the final address stage of the court’s proceedings.
Similar objections raised by APC through its counsel, Charles Edosomwen SAN, against the petition on the same ground were turned down by PEPC for the same reason.
Earlier, the APM, through its lawyer, Mr Gideon Ijiagbonya, had informed the Court of receipt of the Supreme Court judgment being sought to be used to terminate its petition.
The lawyer said that upon perusal of the judgment by the Supreme Court, he and his legal team concluded that there is life in the petition and applied for its hearing.
He, however, sought adjournment till June 26 to enable him to obtain a vital document from the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to establish his case.
Justice Tsammani, in a brief ruling, rejected a week-long adjournment and fixed Wednesday, June 21, for the hearing of the petition.
Group Backs INEC Chairman over Conduct of 2023 Elections
In response to the barrage of criticisms that trailed the conduct of the 2023 general elections, a group under the auspices of Nigeria Youth Network for Good Governance and Sustainable Democracy has come to the defence of the Chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), Prof. Mahmood Yakubu.
Many analysts have called out the INEC Chairman following the inability of the Commission to have posted election results real time using the Bimodal Voters Accreditation System (BIVAS), which is contrary to the numerous assurances given by Prof. Yakubu before the election.
In a statement entitled, 2023 General Election: Unwarranted Attacks on INEC Chairman and made available to newsmen on Monday in Abuja, the group fingered the opposition Labour Party (LP) and the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) as having intensified the attacks on the INEC Chairman.
Chairman of the Board of Trustees of the group, Constantine Ikechukwu who signed the statement further alleged that the action of the two political parties and their supporters is capable of unsettling the peace of the nation.
“We have watched, with great concern, the unfolding events, and an apparent desire of some enemies of progress to plunge Nigeria into chaos since the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) announced the results of the 2023 General Election.
“While the elections produced a President, Vice President, 28 State Governors (minus the six states where elections are off-season), 109 Senators and 360 Members of the House of Representatives, supporters of the Labour Party (LP) and the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) have been inconsolable, employing both conventional and unorthodox means to prove that the 2023 Presidential Election was rigged.
“While same, both parties have filed their respective petitions at the Presidential Election Petition Tribunal (PEPT) which is currently sitting. One would have expected that as law abiding citizens seeking to truly serve the country, the Presidential candidates of the LP, PDP and their supporters would refrain from canvassing the issues raised in their petitions outside the Tribunal.
“Unfortunately, both the petitioners, their lawyers and supporters have continued to make disparaging remarks about the outcome of election in public. In fact, their lawyers, who are Learned Silks, have continued to make unsavory comments to the media about the outcome of the election which they are challenging. Besides, LP supporters, referred to as “Obidients” have turned the social media, especially Twitter, to a battleground where they abuse, curse, and denigrate anybody no matter how highly placed, that disagrees with their position. Supporters of the All Progressives Congress (APC) have sadly joined them in this spectacle of shame”.
The youth group also took a swipe at some foreign and local observer groups as well as the Civil Society Organizations (CSOs) who covered the election for their critical views about its conduct.
“Some foreign observers and local Civil Society Organizations (CSO’s) have also been making subjective and unsubstantiated comments about the election, even when none of them observed up to half of the 176,606 Polling Units where the election took place. Everything is beginning to look like a playbook.
“Also recently, Olisa Agbakoba, a Senior Advocate of Nigeria, in a tweet, congratulated President Bola Tinubu on winning the election, but asked the President to sack the INEC Chairman that conducted the election. We consider his position as self-contradictory, dishonest, and patronizing. You cannot congratulate a man for winning an election and then ask him to sack the person that conducted the same election”.
The group further advised the LP and the PDP to wait for the outcome of the election petition which is currently pending at the Presidential Election Petition Tribunal instead of engaging in what it described as self-help.
“The Federal Republic of Nigeria is greater than any individual or his ambition. In furtherance of our strong belief in one indivisible and prosperous Nigeria, we strongly condemn the continued disregard for the rule of law by the LP, PDP, and their supporters with their unmitigated and disparaging comments on the outcome of the 2023 Presidential Election even when the PEPT is busy hearing their petitions. You cannot seek redress in court and at the same time continue to resort to self-help. We regard the blitzkrieg method employed by the LP and PDP lawyers to use the media to convict INEC in the arena of public opinion as a disservice to the rule of law and the legal profession. We also strongly condemn the blatant threats being made by LP, PDP, their lawyers, and supporters against the Justices of the PEPT hearing the petition, to either give a judgement favourable to them or be damned.
“We also view the incessant virulent attacks on INEC and its Chairman, Prof. Mahmood Yakubu as condescending, emotive, subjective, and irrational. While we agree that the 2023 Presidential Election was not perfect, there is no concrete evidence to show that the INEC Chairman, Prof. Mahmood Yakubu rigged the election in favour of the APC as alleged or broke any electoral law.
“After a careful study of the 1999 Constitution and the Electoral Act 2022, we are convinced that in declaring Ahmed Bola Tinubu as President-Elect at the National Collation Centre, Prof. Yakubu only performed his statutory role and did not break any known law. On the contrary, he would have broken the law with serious consequences if he had failed to make that declaration. Thankfully, the law also gives aggrieved parties the opportunity to challenge the outcome of the election in court, which they have rightly done”.
By Mike Odiakose, Abuja
Immediate past governor of Kogi State, Yahaya Bello will spend the 2024 Christmas and 2025 New Year days in Kuje prison, Abuja, following refusal of his bail application by the Federal Capital Territory High Court.
Justice Maryann Anenih yesterday adjourned the case until Jan.
29, Feb. 25, and Feb. 27, 2025 for the continuation of the hearing.The former governor is standing trial, along with two others, in an N110 billion money laundering charge brought against him by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC).
Justice Anenih had refused to grant a bail application filed by Bello, saying it was filed prematurely.
The judge admitted Umar Oricha and Abdulsalam Hudu, to bail in the sum of N 300 million each with two sureties.
Justice Anenih, while delivering a ruling said, having been filed when Bello was neither in custody nor before the court, the instant application was incompetent.
“Consequently, the instant application having been filed prematurely is hereby refused,” she said.
Recalling the arguments before the court on the bail application, the judge had said, “before the court is a motion on notice, dated and filed on Nov. 22.
“The 1st Defendant seeks an order of this honourable court admitting him to bail pending the hearing and determination of the charge.
“That he became aware of the instant charge through the public summons. That he is a two-term governor of Kogi State. That if released on bail, he would not interfere with the witnesses and not jump bail.”
She said the Defendant’s Counsel, JB Daudu, SAN, had told the court that he had submitted sufficient facts to grant the bail.
He urged the court to exercise its discretion judicially and judiciously to grant the bail.
Opposing the bail application, the Prosecution Counsel, Kemi Pinheiro, SAN, argued that the instant application was grossly incompetent, having been filed before arraignment.
He said it ought to be filed after arraignment but the 1st Defendant’s Counsel disagreed, saying there was no authority
“That says that an application can only be filed when it is ripe for hearing.”
Justice Anenih held that the instant application for bail showed that it was filed several days after the 1st defendant was taken into custody.”
Citing the ACJA, the judge said the provision provided that an application for bail could be made when a defendant had been arrested, detained, arraigned or brought before the court.
Bello had filed an application for his bail on November 22 but was taken into custody on November 26 and arraigned on Nov. 27.
From Jude Dangwam, Jos
Conference of Autochthonous Ethnic Nationalities Community Development Association (CONAECDA) has called on the federal government to intensify efforts in the resettlement of displaced persons in their ancestral homes.
The organization made this call at the end of its conference held in Jos, the Plateau State Capital weekend.
Thirty resolutions were passed covering security, economy, politics, governance, culture, languages, human rights and indigenous peoples’ rights among others.
The Conference President, Samuel Achie and Secretary Suleman Sukukum in a communique noted that the conference received and discussed reports from communities based on which resolutions were reached on securing, reconstruction, rehabilitation and returning communities displaced by violence across the Middle Belt.
“After considering the reports from communities displaced by violent conflicts, conference resolved, and called on government to focus on providing security to deter further displacements.
“Call on government to provide security to enable communities to return. Government and donor partners should assist in reconstructing and returning displaced communities,” the communique stated.
The GOC 3 Armoured Division Nigeria Army represented by Lt Col Abdullahi Mohammed said the Nigerian Army is committed to working closely with communities to achieve a crime-free society, urging communities to support them with credible information.
“Security is a collective effort, and we cannot do it alone, the community plays a crucial role in ensuring safety.
“We urge everyone here not to shield or protect individuals involved in criminal activities. Transparency and collaboration, together, with maximum cooperation, we can achieve peace, security, and prosperity for our society,” the GOC stated.
The National Coordinator of CONECDA, Dr. Zuwaghu Bonat in his address at the gathering noted that the theme of this year’s program, Returning, Resettling, and Rehabilitating Displaced Communities, was chosen as a wakeup call on the federal government.
He maintained that the organization is aware that President Bola Tinubu has expressed a commitment to ensuring that displaced communities return to their ancestral lands.
He said similarly, some state governments, including Plateau State, have set up committees to address the lingering matter.
The coordinator however cautioned, “It is critical that we avoid generalizations or profiling. For instance, Not all Muslims are involved in terrorism. The overwhelming majority of Muslims in Nigeria are peaceful and reject extremist ideologies.
“We also know that some terrorists exploit religion to mobilize support or rationalize their actions. However, their atrocities – slaughtering women, cutting open pregnant mothers, and killing children show a profound disregard for humanity and God. Normal human beings would not commit such acts.
“We must also be cautious about lumping banditry with terrorism. While statistics indicate that many bandits and kidnappers may share similar ethnic backgrounds, kidnapping has now evolved into a profit-driven enterprise. This distinction is vital to address the root causes effectively,” he stated.
The Governor of Plateau State, Caleb Mutfwang represented by his Senior Special Assistant (SSA) on Middle Belt Nationalities, Hon Daniel Kwada noted that the conference was apt to addressed the various underlying issues bedeviling the region and its people.
“We in the Middle Belt have long been standing at the crossroads of Nigeria’s complex history. Despite our tireless efforts to stabilize this nation, we have faced immense challenges, including underdevelopment, security issues, and marginalization.
“Often, we are unfairly maligned, but gatherings like this offer a chance to change the narrative.
“Such conferences set the tone for better discussions. They allow us to drive processes that bring development, ensure security, and elevate our people to greater heights,” Mutfwang noted.
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has called on banks to reinforce their corporate governance principles and risk management frameworks to boost investor confidence during the ongoing recapitalisation exercise.
Dr Emomotimi Agama, Director-General, SEC, said this at the yearly workshop of the Capital Market Correspondents Association of Nigeria (CAMCAN) held in Lagos.
The theme of the workshop is: “Recapitalisation: Bridging the Gap between Investors and Issuers in the Nigerian Capital Market”.
Agama, represented by the Divisional Head of Legal and Enforcement at the SEC, Mr John Achile, stated that the 2024–2026 banking sector recapitalisation framework offers clear guidance for issuers while prioritising the protection of investors’ interests
He restated the commission’s commitment towards ensuring transparency and efficiency in the recapitalisation process.
The director-general stated that the key to bridging the gap between issuers and investors remained the harnessing of innovation for inclusive growth.
In view of this, Agama said, “SEC, through the aid of digital platform, is exploring the integration of blockchain technology for secure and transparent transaction processing to redefine trust in the market.”
He added that the oversubscription of most recapitalisation offers in 2024 reflects strong investor confidence.
To sustain this momentum, the director-general said that SEC had intensified efforts to enhance disclosure standards and corporate governance practices.
According to him, expanding financial literacy campaigns and collaborating with fintech companies to provide low-entry investment options will democratise access to the capital market.
He assured stakeholders of the commission’s steadfastness in achieving its mission of creating an enabling environment for seamless and transparent capital formation.
“Our efforts are anchored on providing issuers with clear guidelines and maintaining open lines of communication with all market stakeholders, reducing bureaucratic bottlenecks through digitalisation.
“We also ensure timely review and approval of applications, and enhancing regulatory oversight to protect investors while promoting market integrity,” he added.
Agama listed constraints to the exercise to include: addressing market volatility, systemic risks, limited retail participation as well as combating skepticism among investors who demand greater transparency and accountability.
He said: “We are equally presented with opportunities which include leveraging technology to deepen financial inclusion and enhance market liquidity.
“It also involves developing innovative financial products, such as green bonds and sukuk, to attract diverse investor segments.
“The success of recapitalisation efforts depends on collaboration among regulators, issuers, and investors.”
Speaking on market infrastructure at the panel session, Achile said SEC provides oversight to every operations in the market, ranging from technology innovations to market.
He stated that the commission is committed to transparency and being mindful of the benefits and risks associated with technology adoption.
Achile noted that SEC does due diligence to all the innovative ideas that comes into the market to ensure adequate compliance with the requirements.
On the rising unclaimed dividend figure, Achile blamed the inability of investors to comply with regulatory requirements and information gap.
He noted that SEC had done everything within its powers to ensure that investors receive their dividend at the appropriate time.
He, however, assured that the commission would continue to strengthen its dual role of market regulation and investor protection to boost confidence in the market.
In her welcome address, the Chairman of CAMCAN, Mrs Chinyere Joel-Nwokeoma, said banks’ recapitalisation is not just a regulatory requirement, but an opportunity to rebuild trust, strengthen the capital market, and drive sustainable growth.
Joel-Nwokeoma stated that the recent recapitalisation in the banking sector had brought to the fore the need for a more robust and inclusive capital market.
She added that as banks seek to strengthen their balance sheets and improve their capital adequacy ratios, it is imperative to create an environment that fosters trust, transparency, and cooperation between investors and issuers.
The chairman called for collaboration to bridge the gap between investors and issuers to create a more inclusive and vibrant Nigerian capital market.She said: “we must work together to strengthen corporate governance and risk management practices in banks, enhance disclosure and transparency requirements for issuers.” NAN
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