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Supreme Court Ruling: Ortom, Fintiri Emerge Victorious

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By Orkula Shaagee, Abuja

After days of prayers and sleeplessness, the Supreme Court, yesterday upheld the election of Samuel Ortom of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) as the winner of the Benue State governorship election held in March, last year.

In a unanimous judgment delivered by Justice Sylvester Ngwuta yesterday, the apex court agreed with the concurrent findings of the election petition tribunal and the Court of Appeal that Ortom was the winner of the election.

Recall that Ortom as the PDP candidate, secured a total of 434,473 votes against Emmanuel Jime of All Progressives Congress (APC), who scored 345,155, creating a margin of 89,318 votes.

Jime had dragged Ortom to the court over allegations of over-voting and other electoral malpractices during the 2019 governorship elections.

In November last year, the Court of Appeal, Abuja Division upheld the re-election of the Benue State Governor, Samuel Ortom of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) at the 2019 general election.

In a unanimous judgement by a five-member panel at the appellate court, led by A. O. Belgore, the court said the All Progressives Congress and its candidate, Emmanuel Jime, should pay N150,000 for bringing the application.

After the tribunal ruling, Jime vowed to contest the decision and argued that the Benue State tribunal aired in law and treated his petition unfairly.

The APC candidate’s lawyer, Yusuf Ali, had argued that the election did not comply with the provisions of Nigeria’s electoral laws, but Governor Ortom’s lawyers led by Sabastian Hon argued that the petitioners failed to provide credible evidence to back their claims. They also said the arguments by APC regarding the card readers at the said elections had since been settled in various election decisions.

In its decision, the Court of Appeal upheld the judgment of the tribunal and dismissed Jime’s petition for lack of merit.

Not satisfied with the Appeal Court ruling, Jime Mr. Ortom approached the Supreme Court, which eventually nailed the coffin of the matter and retained Ortom as governor of the state.

Ortom, who defected to the PDP after falling out with his erstwhile political God-Father Senator George Akume of the APC, defeated his closest rival, Jime and 31 other contestants to be declared winner by Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC).

We Accept the Verdict in Good Faith – Jime

Reacting to the Supreme Court ruling yesterday, the APC candidate, Emmanuel Jime, said the court decision was acceptable and has brought to a close, the legal quest on the matter, describing it as “sad to me, our party and teeming supporters. We accept the verdict in good faith, and take its implications in our stride”.

In a statement announcing the acceptance of the ruling, Jime stated the decision to pursue the matter at the tribunal to appeal Court and later to the Supreme Court, was not out of place, but to take advantage of the judicial process for the sake of it.

“We took this route all the way to the Supreme Court as part of  our commitment towards strengthening the integrity of our electoral process. It was and remains our firm belief that unless the sanctity of the ballot is guaranteed, self serving politicians will continue to game the system to retain their clutch on power.

“Let me use this opportunity to thank our legal team. They put up a dogged fight and presented a good case with solid evidence. The outcome might not have gone our way but it shows we will never look the other way where we see cases of electoral malpractice. I remain eternally grateful for the efforts of our lawyers and witnesses.

“I also extend my appreciation to the Justices of the Supreme Court, who inspite of a back-breaking workload, gave our petition the thorough attention it deserved. The outcome notwithstanding, we remain highly respectful of their verdict, Jime added.

Sound Dispensation of Justice – Benue PDP

 Reacting, the Benue State Chapter of Peoples Democratic Party said the victory of Governor Samuel Ortom at the Supreme Court, was a “sound dispensation of justice richly deserved”.

State chairman of the party, John Ngbede, commended Justice Sylvester Ngwuata, who, while delivering judgement said: I have agreed with the submissions of the respondents that the concurrent judgments of the Tribunal and Court of Appeal should not be disturbed.”

Ngbede said Ortom’s victory was so comprehensive and solid that no amount of petition could have dislodged it, stating that the people of the state voted for the governor in the election and the supplementary polls.

He commended the Election Tribunal, Court of Appeal and the Supreme Court for their ruling over the victory of the PDP governorship candidate.

The PDP Chairman appreciated the people of the state for their support to the Governor and the party, he assured them that the Governor Ortom’s administration would now settle down to offer them quality service devoid of distractions.

Affirmation a validation of Mandate – Mark

Former President of the Senate, Senator David Mark has congratulated the governor of Benue State, Dr. Samuel Ortom over the validation of his victory by the nation’s apex court in Abuja today.

Reacting to the ruling, Mark noted that the “affirmation is a validation of the mandate given to Ortom by the people of Benue state.

 “The validation of your mandate by SCN is an affirmation of the trust reposed in you by the people of Benue State to serve them; for their development, welfare and security which must not be taken for granted”.

In addition, he urged the governor to be magnanimous in victory by extending hands of fellowship to his major opponent Emmanuel Jime and his supporters in the task of working for the good of Benue people.

To Jime, Senator Mark reminded him that the battle for the plum position of governor of Benue State has been fought and won and implored him to join Ortom in the voyage to develop the state.

According to Mark, “I have always maintained that everybody cannot be governor at the same time because there is only one seat but whichever side of the coin one finds himself, he must remember that the interest, welfare and security of Benue and Nigerian people must be paramount”.

He told the governor to be a father to all irrespective of party affiliation saying, “Your good works, security, peace and unity of the State would be the needed legacies”.

Senator Mark has also sent a message of congratulations to the governor of Sokoto State, Aminu Tambuwal, Bauchi’s Bala Mohammed, his Taraba State counterpart Darius Ishaku, Ifeanyi Okowa of Delta State and Seyi Makinde of Oyo State over their victories at the apex court.

The elder-statesman reminded them of the need to make a difference in the lives of their citizens by working assiduously for the development of their States reiterating “you must continue to do only those things that will bring peace, unity and progress to the nation”.

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Bandits Invade Niger Local Market,  Village  Head, 20 Others Killed

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From Dan Amasingha,  Minna

After relative  peace since the start of the Ramadan fast,daredevil Bandits  invaded a Niger local market and killed the Village head and 20 traders in Madaka, Rijau local government areas of Niger State.Rijau Local Government which borders  neighbouring Kebbi State, has experienced consistent banditry attacks in the past one year.

Eye witnesses inform our Correspondent that the suspected bandits riding on motorcycles stormed the market  on Thursday  afternoon  around 3.
30- 4pm  when activities at the market  were  at its peak.According  to the source,  the invading  bandits who shot sporadically  into the air to scare away traders later started ransacking big time traders by carting away food stuffs  and Cash.
Villagers who had the pandemonium at the market square fled into nearby bushes to take cover and the Village head who attempted  to find out  what was happening was shot dead at close range.”At the end of the confusion, we discovered that twenty one persons  including our Village  head were wasted,The Source  maintained that, the bandits before leaving  later set about 50 houses  including commercial shops on fire, and a  number of cars and motorcycles were burnt down during the incident.”After  killing innocent victims and burning down the market they also went away with an unspecified number of the villagers to an unidentified destination”Confirming  the incident,  Madaka District Head, Alhaji Isah Bawale  said  it was a black Thursday evening in a telephone interview on Friday morning.He further recounted that the Community  had come under similar attack some times ago when his predecessor  was killed without any resistance from security agencies.When contacted, Niger State Command of Police Public Relations Officer PPRO SP Wasiu Abiodun assured to verify and get back but he couldn’t revert at the time of filing in the report.Meanwhile, the Niger state government, especially the commissioner for security, General Bello Abdullahi Mohammed (retired) is yet to speak on the incident.

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Women Are Nation Builders, Bayelsa NAWOJ

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From Mike Tayese, Yenagoa

The Nigerian Association of Women Journalists, NAWOJ, Bayelsa State chapter has described women as society builders hence they should be empowered to harness their potentials for nation building.

Chairperson of NAWOJ Bayelsa, Mrs Grace Orumieyefa handed down this during a one day program to commemorate the 2024 International Women Day held at the Nigerian Union of Journalists, NUJ Press Centre in Yenagoa, the state capital.

Mrs Orumieyefa noted that NAWOJ has over the years been at the forefront of advocacy for women rights as the empowerment of women brings empowerment for everyone around her which makes a better society.

Also speaking, Chief Executive Officer, Eunice Nnachi Women Advocacy Foundation, ENWAF, Lady Eunice Nnachi urged women to take advantage of technological advancement to improve their learning and training in order to empower themselves.

“You can learn almost anything using the internet, through YouTube, women should use this medium to learn many things and train themselves.”

While responding to questions, she said, women should not be desperate to get life partners but should ensure that they have partners who can help them to achieve their dreams.

The Keynote Speaker, Mrs Ebi Kakandar who delivered a lecture on “Harnessing the Prospects and Potentials of Women” called on women to shun all forms of laziness, be determined and courageous to pursue their life ambitions.

Mrs Kakandar pointed out that factors such as building a growth mindset, improving your emotional mindset, developing willpower, cultivating strong social support, aspiring for greatness and setting achievable goals are some of the keys to achieving success as a woman.

She encouraged women to seek more knowledge and inspire themselves to be self-reliant.

Various organizations such as NUJ, FIDA, NLC, MWAN, Starzz Initiative, DO Foundation, POWA and other women organizations as well as NGOS delivered Goodwill messages for women advising to aspire for higher achievement.

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Students Loan: FG Explains Delay in Take-off, Sets New Date

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The Federal Government has set the month of March for a definite opening of the Nigeria Education Loan Fund (NELFund) portal for eligible students.

Dr Akintunde Sawyerr, Execute Secretary NELFund, who disclosed this in an interview with newsmen on Thursday in Abuja urged eligible students to register to access the fund.

President Bola Tinubu on June 12, 2023, signed the Access to Higher Education Bill into law to enable indigent student access interest-free loan to pursue their education in any Nigerian tertiary institutions.

The scheme was slated to commence between September and October 2023, but because of unforeseen circumstances, there was a revised timeline to January.

Giving reasons for the delay in starting the scheme as earlier scheduled, Sawyerr explained that the process is technically driven and necessary measures needed to be put in place for proper execution.

“The take-off date is this month (March) and the reason for the delay is that we are trying to get it right.

“This is not a political programme where we say, oh! we are just going to do it, it doesn’t  matter how it works.

“This is a programme that will, probably run beyond me as a human being, not even as a Secretary. This is something that we want to run adequately, so we have to get it right,’’ he said.

Sawyerr, reiterated President Tinubu’s commitment to ensure that lack of finance should not be a reason for any student in Nigeria to halt education at a tertiary level.

According to him, the scheme was designed for indigent Nigerian students in tertiary institutions and applications would be done online.

“We have decided that, all applicants should be able to access this scheme regardless of where they are, who they are and who they know.

“We want this to be a process that is fair to all and we will advertise the portal widely so that applicants will be able to go to the website to fill series of forms and answer certain questions.

“Base on the data they input and their answers to the questions, the system will be able to determine appropriately, whether they are eligible to apply or not,’’ Sawyerr explained. (NAN)

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