News
Court Sacks Two Fed Lawmakers …Orders Refund Of Salaries, Allowances Collected
An Abuja Federal High Court on Monday sacked two members of the House of Representatives from Enugu State for alleged wrongful emergence as flagbearers of the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, in the 2015 general elections.
The affected lawmakers are Stella Ngwu from Igbo-Etiti and Uzo-Uwani Federal Constituency, and Dennis Agbo from Igbo-Eze North and Udenu Federal Constituency.
Two other members of the party, Gabriel Okafor and Chijioke Ugwu, had approached the court after PDP conducted its primaries in December 2014, ahead of the 2015 general elections.
They argued in separate suits later merged by the court that Stella Ngwu and Denis Agbo’s emergence as flagbearers of the party was wrong, since they were not elected delegates to represent the party at the November 1 congress held in 2014.
The PDP and its National Working Committee were the 1st and 2nd defendants in the suits, while the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) was the 3rd defendant. Ms. Ngwu and Mr. Agbo were the 4th defendants in the two separate suits.
They prayed the court to declare the election of the fourth defendants null and void.
The trial judge, Okon Abang, held that the emergence of Ms. Ngwu and Mr. Agbo was unlawful.
He ordered them to vacate their offices and return to the treasury of the National Assembly all monies they had collected by way of salaries and allowances since they resumed office in the House.
Mr. Abang said the PDP and its National Working Committee had no right nor authority to use any delegate list for the election of its candidate for Igbo-Etiti/Uzo-Uwani and Igbo-Eze North/Udenu Federal Constituencies, respectively, other than the list of delegates that emerged at congresses held on November 1, 2014.
“It is hereby declared that the 4th defendant did not emerge as winner from the primary election conducted for the purpose of electing the House of Representatives’ candidate of the 1st defendant for Igbo-Etiti/Uzo-Uwani Federal Constituency for 2015 general election since the primary election that purportedly produced her as winner was not conducted based on the list of delegates that emerged from ward congresses of the 1st defendant held on 1st November, 2014.
“It is hereby declared that the plaintiff, Dr. Gabriel .A. Okafor won PDP’s party primary election on 6th December,2014 for Igbo-Etiti/Uzo-Uwani Federal Constituency election into the House of Representatives.”
“It is hereby declared that the 4th defendant did not emerge as a winner from the primary election conducted for the purpose of electing the House of Representatives’ candidate of the 1st defendant for Igbo-Eze North/Udenu Federal Constituency for 2015 general election since the primary election that purportedly produced her as winner was not conducted based on the list of delegates that emerged from ward congresses of the 1st defendant held on 1st November, 2014.”
The judge ruled that Mr. Okafor was the rightful winner of the Igbo-Etiti/Uzo-Uwani Federal Constituency seat election, and Mr. Chijioke Ugwu won the Egbo-Eze North/Udenu Federal Constituency, Enugu State in 2015.
He ordered INEC to immediately issue certificates of return to Messrs. Okafor and Ugwu respectively. He also awarded the sum of N100, 000 as cost against the defendants in favour of the plaintiff.
The sacked lawmakers are expected to appeal the ruling and the House of Representatives may not enforce the judgement until appeals are exhausted.
Yesterday’s rulings occur one week after Mr. Abang declared controversial businessman, Jimoh Ibrahim as the rightful governorship candidate of the PDP for the forthcoming Ondo gubernatorial election. He ordered INEC to replace the name of Eyitayo Jegede with that of Mr. Ibrahim.
Last week’s ruling was based on an earlier ruling he gave in June where he barred the PDP from holding its national convention in Port Harcourt after he recognised a faction of the party led by Ali Modu Sheriff. The controversial rulings on the PDP leadership tussle were later investigated by the National Judicial Council, NJC. The judge later told his close friends that he had been cleared of any wrongdoing by the NJC.
Mr. Abang was also berated by the Court of Appeal for sacking the Abia State Governor, Okezie Ikpeazu, and replacing him with Samson Ogar after he ruled that Mr. Ikpeazu had tax clearance problems in a pre-election matter. The Court of Appeal reversed that ruling.
Rivers State Head of Service, Dr (Mrs) Inyingi Brown, has called on rural communities in the State to embrace the Rural Access and Agricultural marketing project (RAAMP) with a view to improving their living conditions.
This follows the ongoing sensitization campaign by the State Project Implementation Unit (SPIU) visits to Degema, Abonnema, Afam headquarters of Degema, Akuku Toru and Oyigbo Etche and Omuma local government areas respectively.
Dr Brown who was represented by the Deputy Director, Special Duties in her office, Mrs Dein Akpanah, said RAAMP was initiated by the Federal Government and World Bank to economically empower rural dwellers.s
She said the World Bank understands the plights of rural farmers and traders in the State, and therefore came up with the programme to address them.
According to her, RAAMP will improve the conditions of farmers, traders and fishermen, and therefore, behoves on every rural communities in the State to embrace the programme.
The Head of Service also said the programme would support the youths to be gainfully employed while bridges and roads will be built to link farms and fishing settlements.
Also speaking, the State project coordinator, Mr Joshua Kpakol, said the programme has the potential of creating millionaires among farmers and fishermen in the State.
Kpakol who was represented by Engr. Sam Tombari, said RAAMP would help farmers and fishermen to preserve their produce.
According to him, the project will build cold rooms and Silos for preservation of crops and fishes while access roads will also be created to link farmers and fishermen to the market.
He, however, warned them against any act that will lead to the suspension of the projects by the World Bank.
Kpakol particularly warned against acts such as kidnapping, marching ground, gender based violence and child labour, adding that such acts if they occur may lead to the cancellation of the project by the World Bank.
During the visit to Oyigbo local government area, Mr Joshua Kpakol, said the team was there to let them know how they will benefit from the Raamp.
The coordinator who was personally at Oyigbo said the World Bank introduced the project to check food insecurity in the State.
He said already 19 states in Nigeria are already benefitting from the project and called on them to embrace the project.
Meanwhile, stakeholders in the three local government areas have commended the World Bank for including their areas in the project.
They, however, complained over the incessant attacks by pirates on their waterways.
At Degema, King Agolia of Ke kingdom said land was a major problem in the kingdom.
King Agolia represented by High Chief Alpheus Damiebi said many indigenes of the kingdom are willing to go into farming but are handicapped by lack of land.
Also at Degema, the representative of the Omu Onyam Ekeim of Usokun Degema kingdom, Osoabo Isaac, said Degema has embraced the programme but needed more information on the implementation of the programme.
Similarly, while High Chief Precious Abadi advised that the project should not be narrowed to only crop farming, a community women leader, Mrs Orikinge Eremabo Otto, called for the construction of cold rooms in all fishing settlements in the area.
At Abonnema, Mr Diamond Kio linked the problem of the area to incessant piracy along waterways.
He also expressed fears over the possibility of the project being hijacked by politicians.
Also at Abonnema, a stakeholder, Ikiriko Kelvin, called on the World Bank to design an agricultural project that will suit the riverine environment, while at Oyigbo, HRH Eze Boniface Akawo expressed satisfaction with the project.
John Bibor
The political mudslinging between the Senate leadership and Senator Natasha Akpoti-Uduaghan continued yesterday as the Senate named Senator Aniekan Bassey as the new Chairman of the Committee on Diaspora and Non-Governmental Organisations.
Senate President, Godswill Akpabio, announced the appointment during yesterday’s plenary, confirming Bassey’s replacement of Senator Natasha Akpoti-Uduaghan, who is currently on suspension.
Akpoti-Uduaghan was reassigned to the Diaspora and NGOs Committee in February after she was removed as Chair of the Senate Committee on Local Content during a minor reshuffle.
Bassey is the senator representing Akwa Ibom North-East Senatorial District.
Although no reason was given for her removal yesterday, the change is believed to be connected to her unresolved suspension.
In May, Justice Binta Nyako of the Federal High Court ordered her reinstatement and directed her to tender an apology to the Senate.
However, the Senate has insisted it has not received a certified true copy of the court judgment.
Akpoti-Uduaghan who represents Kogi Central, has yet to resume her legislative duties despite a recent court ruling that voided her suspension.
In a televised interview on Tuesday, Akpoti-Uduaghan said she was awaiting the Certified True Copy of the judgment before officially returning to plenary, citing legal advice and respect for institutional process.
Although the Federal High Court described her suspension as “excessive and unconstitutional”, a legal opinion dated July 5 and attributed to the Senate’s counsel, Paul Daudu (SAN), argued that the ruling lacked any binding directive to enforce her reinstatement.
Akpoti-Uduaghan, one of only three female senators in the current assembly, said the continued delay in allowing her return was not only a denial of her mandate but also a blow to democratic representation.
“By keeping me out of the chambers, the Senate is not just silencing Kogi Central, it’s denying Nigerian women and children representation. We are only three female senators now, down from eight,” she said.