From Joseph Amedu,  Lokoja

The Governorship Election Petition Tribunal sitting in Kogi State has adjourned pending the completion of inspection of election materials by the Social Democratic Party.

At the resumed hearing, the SDP said the INEC was cooperating with the inspection of materials as granted by the order of the Tribunal, but sought for more time.

Recall that the Tribunal had ordered INEC to issue certified copies of electoral materials on the November 11 off-cycle election in the state to the SDP within 48 hours.

It also ordered INEC to allow SDP’s forensic experts to examine some electoral materials.

The materials include Bimodal Voter Accreditation System and result sheets for Adavi, Okene, Okehi, Ogori-Magongo, Ajaokuta, Lokoja, Kogi and Bassa Local Government Areas.

The tribunal ruled on Saturday in Lokoja that the SDP requested the materials to prove its case in the petition it filed against the victory of the All Progressives Congress (APC) at the election.

Chairman of the tribunal, Justice Ado Birnin-Kudu gave the order following two ex-parte motions filed on Nov. 19 by the SDP and by its governorship candidate, Alhaji Muritala Yakubu-Ajaka.

Justice Birnin-Kudu at the resumed hearing adjourned pending when the inspection of materials would have been completed.

Lead counsel to the petitioners, Mr John Adele (SAN), had earlier told the court that efforts to obtain certified copies of materials used in the six local government areas from INEC had been fruitful, except for some hitch, leading to delay in meeting with the 48hours.

The SDP and Muritala Yakubu are challenging the victory of APC and its candidate, Alhaji Usman Ododo at the election petition tribunal.

Usman Ododo won the election with 446,237 votes, while his closest rival, Yakubu-Ajaka got 259,052 votes. 

From Joseph Amedu, Lokoja

The Governorship Election Petition Tribunal sitting in Kogi State has adjourned indefinitely pending the completion of inspection of election materials by the Social Democratic Party (SDP).

At the resumed hearing, the SDP said the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) was cooperating with the inspection of materials as granted by the order of the Tribunal, but sought for more time.

It could be recalled that the Tribunal had ordered INEC to issue certified copies of electoral materials on the November 11 off-cycle election in the state to the SDP within 48 hours.

It also ordered INEC to allow SDP’s forensic experts to examine some electoral materials.

The materials include Bimodal Voter Accreditation System (BVAS) and result sheets for Adavi, Okene, Okehi, Ogori-Magongo, Ajaokuta, Lokoja, Kogi and Bassa Local Government Areas.

The tribunal ruled on Saturday in Lokoja that the SDP requested the materials to prove its case in the petition it filed against the victory of the All Progressives Congress (APC) at the election.

Chairman of the tribunal, Justice Ado Birnin-Kudu gave the order following two ex-parte motions filed on Nov. 19 by the SDP and by its governorship candidate, Alhaji Muritala Yakubu-Ajaka.

Justice Birnin-Kudu at the resumed hearing adjourned pending when the inspection of materials would have been completed.

Lead counsel to the petitioners, Mr John Adele (SAN), had earlier told the court that efforts to obtain certified copies of materials used in the six local government areas from INEC had been fruitful, except for some hitch, leading to delay in meeting within 48 hours.

The SDP and Muritala Yakubu are challenging the victory of APC and its candidate, Alhaji Usman Ododo at the election petition tribunal.

Usman Ododo won the election with 446,237 votes, while his closest rival, Yakubu-Ajaka got 259,052 votes.

From Kunle Idowu, Ogun

The Oyo State House of Assembly on Wednesday requested the state governor, Mr Seyi Makinde, to grant the State School of Basic Midwifery at Kisi full autonomy for enhanced efficiency.

The House’s request was necessitated by the need for the employment of more medical personnel, particularly in the state’s Oke-Ogun area.

The request followed a motion by Mr Waliu Salami, titled “An appeal to Gov.

Seyi Makinde under Omititun 2.0 to approve Oyo State School of Basic Midwifery Kisi as an autonomous and full-fledged institution in continuation of efforts to fill the medical personnel gaps in Oke-Ogun and Oyo state at large”.

The House noted that available facilities and infrastructure at the institution in Kisi was enough to justify the call to grant the school the required full autonomy.

It added that it has taken cognisance of the qualified and employable graduates produced by the school.

Since its establishment in 2016, the graduates are yet to be productively engaged as trained professionals, the House noted.

The House said the Oyo State College of Nursing and Midwifery was established through the enactment of Oyo State College of Nursing and Midwifery Law, 2005.

This was to, among other things, train student-nurses who provide nursing care for the citizenry in rural and urban areas either at primary, secondary or tertiary levels of healthcare settings in the state.

While presenting the motion, Salami disclosed that since inception the College has trained millions of qualified nurses and midwives in Nigeria to fill the medical personnel gaps experienced in the health sector.

“Since inception, the school has graduated qualified and employable sets of graduates as midwives, making the state proud professionally in places of work nationwide and globally.

“The school trained midwife-students of Oyo State College of Nursing and Midwifery with qualified personnel.

“It is therefore justifiable that with the presence of the facilities and infrastructure on ground, the School of Basic Midwifery Kisi has what it takes to be an autonomous and full-fledged medical institution,” Salami added.

After deliberating on the motion, the House urged the executive arm of government through the Ministry of Health and Oyo State School of Nursing to put the necessary machinery in place.

It said this would be for the metamorphosis of the school into an autonomous and full-fledged medical institution.

The House said this would be in continuation of the institution’s efforts at providing qualified and employable medical personnel in the state and country as a whole.