Politics
Court Stops Buni As APC Chairman
Delta State High Court sitting in Asaba, Wednesday, restrained Governor Mai Mala Buni of Yobe State along with other members from acting or parading themselves as the All Progressives Congress, APC, Caretaker/ Extraordinary Convention Planning Committee, CECPC until the determination of a substantive suit before the court.
The presiding Judge, Justice Onome Marshal Umukoro stopped the scheduled APC Local Government Congress in Delta State slated for September 4, 2021.
APC Deputy Chairman, Olorogun Elvis Ayomanor leading other officials of the Delta APC had approached the Court to challenge the outcome of the Ward Congress in the State.
In the ex-parte motion by the Claimants/ Applicants, lead counsel Mr Daubry Ebipade Richard prayed the Court to grant the seven-point reliefs sought, adding that going ahead with this Saturday, September 4 Local Government Congress in Delta State, would cause more damage to his clients.
Principal among the reliefs sought by the Claimants/Applicants was “An order of interim injunction of this Honourable Court restraining the 2nd – 14th Defendants/Respondents from further acting or parading themselves as the members of the Caretaker/ Extraordinary Convention Planning Committee (CECPC) of the 1st Defendant pending the hearing and determination of the Motion on Notice already filed and served in the suit;
“Alternatively: An order of interim injunction of this Honourable Court restraining the 2nd – 14th Defendants/Respondents from conducting the Local Government and State Congresses slated for September 4, 2021 or any other date, and other Congresses of the 1st Defendant in Delta State, pending the hearing and determination of the Motion on Notice already filed and served.
“An order of interim injunction of this Honourable Court restraining the 2nd – 14th Defendants/Respondents from further acting or parading themselves as the members of the Caretaker/Extraordinary Convention Planning Committee (CECPC) of the 1st Defendant pending the hearing and determination of the Motion on Notice already filed and served in the suit”.
Lead counsel to the Defendants/ Respondents, Robert Emukpoeruo, SAN, had initially challenged the jurisdiction of the Court to entertain the suit but later on sought that certain parties be joined as co-Defendants/Respondents.
But counsel to the Claimants/Applicants, Mr Richard guided the learned silk to the fact that the matter before the court was an ex-parte motion, which does not require parties consideration.
In his ruling, Justice Umukoro granted seven days order of interim injunction restraining Governor Buni and the CECPC from conducting the Local Government and State Congresses slated for September 4, 2021, or any other date, and other Congresses of the APC in Delta State, or parading as National Caretaker Committee of the party, pending the hearing and determination of the Motion on Notice already filed and served.
Umukoro also granted that Governor Buni and others at the National leadership be served originating summons “by means to wit by serving same on any officer or staff of the All Progressives Congress, at the All Progressives Congress National Secretariat at No. 40 Blantyre Street, Wuse, Abuja, and deeming such service in the circumstances of this case;
While also “granting Leave to the Claimants/Applicants to serve the Originating Summons and all other processes in this suit on the 15th Defendants/ Respondents by substituted means to wit by serving same on any officer or staff of the Delta State Chapter of the All Progressives Congress at the All Progressives Congress Delta State Secretariat, Asaba, Delta State and deeming such service proper in the circumstances of this case”.
The matter was adjourned to September 7, 2021, for further hearing.
The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has insisted on the conclusion of the Continuous Voter Registration exercise yesterday (Sunday) despite calls by some opposition political parties and civil society organisations for an extension over concerns that millions of citizens could be excluded from the 2027 general elections.
In a notice issued on its X (formerly Twitter) handle on Saturday, the commission reminded the public that the exercise would end on Sunday, July 26, with designated registration centres open from 9am to 3pm.
“Your future won’t wait. Neither should you. The Continuous Voter Registration (CVR) exercise ends Sunday, 26 July 2026,” the Commission stated.
INEC also reminded prospective voters that they could complete the registration process online through its dedicated CVR portal or visit designated INEC offices and registration centres nationwide for physical assistance.
The new Electoral Act stipulates that INEC is required to stop voter registration, updating and revision of the voters’ register 90 days before an election to allow for data clean-up, the printing of Permanent Voter Cards and other logistical preparations.
The law also requires the Commission to display the voters’ register for claims and objections within the stipulated period to enable eligible Nigerians to challenge omissions and errors and help ensure the credibility of the final register for the polls.
The INEC National Commissioner on Information and Voter Education, Mr Mohammed Haruna, told The Tide source that the Commission would not extend the deadline, stressing that the registration exercise had to close to allow the electoral body to begin cleaning the data already collected.
“By midnight on Sunday, voter registration ends. There won’t be any extension. There are so many things that we need to do at the back end. We have to draw a line; otherwise, we won’t be able to produce a clean copy of what has been posted,” he said.
Mr Haruna explained that the commission’s Information Technology team and the Voter Registration Department would begin processing the data immediately after the closure of the registration window.
He said INEC would deploy its Automated Biometric Identification System to detect and remove multiple registrations before the provisional voters’ register is displayed for public scrutiny.
“We have this automatic biometric system that will check whether somebody has registered more than once. They will publish the register for claims and objections. That is, if anybody thinks a name shouldn’t be on the register, or if he has some claims, for instance, that his name has been omitted or some of his details are incorrect,” he said.
According to him, the final number of newly registered voters would only be known after the biometric verification and the claims and objections process.
“So, it’s after all that has been done that we will have a final figure, which we will now add to the existing 93 million or so. That will then become the voters’ register. We are mandated to give every political party a copy ahead of the election,” Mr Haruna added.
Responding to concerns over the number of Nigerians who may be excluded from the 2027 electoral process by the closure, the national commissioner said INEC could only account for eligible citizens who presented themselves for registration.
He added that the commission had recorded registrations through its online platform, physical registration centres and INEC offices across the 774 local government areas.
According to a public announcement signed by Mr Ariyo Rufus, Head of Department, Voter Education, Publicity, Gender and Inclusivity on behalf of Mr Oluwatoyin Babalola, the INEC Osun State Resident Electoral Commissioner (REC), the said exercise is aimed at assessing its operational readiness and testing the efficiency of the Bimodal Voter Accreditation System (BVAS) ahead of the governorship poll.
INEC stated that the exercise would simulate Election Day accreditation procedures but clarified that no voting would take place during the exercise.
The commission explained that “the mock accreditation would be conducted in selected polling units spread across the three senatorial districts of Osun State, covering Osun Central, Osun East and Osun West.
“In Osun Central Senatorial District, the selected local government areas are Osogbo, Olorunda, Ifelodun and Boripe, with designated polling units identified for the exercise.
“For Osun East Senatorial District, the exercise will take place in selected polling units across Ilesa West, Ilesa East, Oriade and Obokun local government areas.”
INEC also listed Egbedore, Ede North, Ede South and Ejigbo local government areas as the selected councils for the mock accreditation exercise in Osun West Senatorial District.
The commission urged all registered voters whose polling units were selected to participate in the exercise, stressing that only holders of valid Permanent Voter Cards (PVCs) would be accredited.
“This exercise is designed to test the functionality and efficiency of the Bimodal Voter Accreditation System (BVAS) under conditions similar to Election Day. There shall be no voting during the exercise,” the Commission stated.
INEC reaffirmed its appreciation to residents of Osun State for their continued cooperation and support throughout the electoral process.
INEC also assured political parties, the media, civil society organisations and other stakeholders of the Commission’s commitment to conducting a free, fair, credible, transparent and inclusive governorship election in Osun State.
Mr Dare made the remark while criticizing Alhaji Abubakar for hiring a United States of America lobbyist with $1.2 million, in preparation for the 2027 elections.
In a statement he personally signed, Mr Dare said the former vice president can’t take Nigeria down the path of self-destruction.
The statement read in part: “Worse still, for a man who presumes to offer leadership to Africa’s most populous nation, his recent resort to grievance offshoring, outsourcing political warfare to Washington and reportedly paying $1.2 million to an American lobbying firm to peddle petitions against a sitting Nigerian President, stands as an affront to Nigeria’s sovereignty and a vote of no confidence in its democratic institutions.
“It is also a stinging slight, an implicit condescension directed at generations of Nigerian journalists, policy analysts, academics, and public intellectuals who have spent decades analysing, critiquing, and carrying the burden of the nation’s democratic evolution.
“The Atiku Abubakar of today cuts a pitiable figure, a grotesque portrait of what a politician becomes when ambition overwhelms judgment and every political faculty becomes programmed for self-destruction.
“No, Atiku cannot take Nigeria down that path with him. He must travel it alone. But first, Nigerians deserve Atiku Abubakar’s report card. Charity, they say, begins at home, not in Washington.
“Nigerians deserve to know whether the Atiku Abubakar who has long presented himself as a democrat is, in reality, a politician of many colours. He has erected for himself a throne built simultaneously on sand and bayonets. It is time to explode the bayonets.”
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