kenneth okonkwo (Andy) and younger Battle over NA ticket

As the 2015 general election approaches, tension now brews in Enugu North  Senatorial Zone, Enugu State between two biological brothers jostling for one political position, under the same party, to  represent Nsukka/ Igbo Eze South federal constituency in the House of Representative.

It was gathered that the two are of one womb and natives of Echara in Nsukka local government area. One is Kenneth Okonkwo (a.k.a Andy), the famous Nollywood actor, while the other is Luke Okonkwo (a.k.a Aguma). The two were said to be  locking horns for the occupation of Nsukka /Igbo-Eze South federal constituency seat at the national House of Representative under People’s Democratic Party (PDP).

According to investigation, Luke, who is Kenneth’s younger brother, had first indicated interest to vie for the seat. He had sent out his campaign posters  earlier than Kenneth and other  contestants, who later advised Luke to step down for his elder brother, Kenneth,  for peace to reign in the the family.

Rumors are however rife at the University town of Nsukka over the feud between the two brothers. It may be of interest to know that their eldest brother, Peter Okonkwo (Ohamadike), had severally contested  the governorship election under different political  parties from 2007 without  success, and has now allegedly decided to take a shot at again in 2015 under the platform of APC.

In a telephone interview, the famous Nollywood actor, Kenneth Okwokwo, said there was no rift in their family over 2015 general elections, explaining that no other person in his family is running for election to the House of Representative apart from him.

Kenneth said he wants to change the face of the constituency for effective representation, pointing out that he will not speak for any other person from a different political party, but he remains the only one from his family that picked the PDP form for the House of Representatives for the 2015 general elections.

Mr. George Okonkwo, chairman, Nsukka Building Materials Union, who is also a brother to Kenneth and Luke, said that politics is all about interest in any given position. He confirmed it was Luke who first showed interest to contest for election into the House of representatives under PDP.

Later, Kenneth queued in for the same position under the same political party. According to George, Luke has to step down for his elder brother, Kenneth, not minding that he had distributed his posters for the 2015 race. “There is no problem in our family in connection with the way the two showed interests; we are bounded by one blood, one love and one interest.

Luke cannot battle for an elective position with his elder brother. The entire family supports the ambition of Kenneth to reposition honesty, accountability and transparency in Nsukka /Igbo Eze South Federal Constituency,” he said.

A prominent politician in Nsukka, Mr. Festus Omeje, said the emergence of the two brothers from one political party sends danger signal which shows that all may not  be well in the PDP family.

See What Patrick Obahiagbon says about incidence at National Assembly: see the full photos

"The presidential invasion of the National Assembly which was unscrupulously executed by its pursuivant inspector general of police had all the trappings of an entebbe raid and executive rascality which is deservable of an acidic excoriation and corrosive pummeling.The impeachment gambit is however a frankeinstous yoyo with a potency for an erebus prone whirligig," -- Patrick Obahiagbon commenting on the "show of shame" at the National Assembly yesterday.

What is your own take? If you missed the action, find all you need to know

Why I Accepted To Be Ambassador For Jonathan – Yobo

Former captain of the Super Eagles, Joseph Yobo said he became an ambassador for the re-election campaign of President Goodluck in 2015 because his administration has recorded many achievements in the last three and half years.

A political group, PDP Ward 2 Ward Initiative had named Yobo its brand Ambassador to show case the achievements of this administration ahead of 2015 general elections.

The former Eagles captain, while briefing journalists at the national headquarters of the ruling People’s Democratic Party (PDP) in Abuja at the weekend, said youths in the country are not fully aware of the many achievements of the PDP led government.

He highlighted that a youth and community empowerment programmes created by the group was aimed at eradicating poverty and empowering Nigerian youths to be self-employed.

“The programmes are aimed at making a difference in Nigerian communities from ward to federal levels before, during and after the 2015 elections with short, medium and long term plans”, Yobe disclosed.

While he justified his reasons for accepting the task of carrying the transformation agenda of the Federal Government to the grassroots, he however, stated that his professional football career is still on, noting that he is committed to sustainable democracy and peaceful co-existence of Nigerians.

However, the National Publicity Secretary of PDP Ward 2 Ward Initiative, Zainab Akwanga explained that the decision to appoint Yobe as Brand Ambassador was informed by the fact that the former Super Eagles’ captain is a grassroots person “who in the past has set up the Joseph Yobe Charity Foundation, to help under-privileged children in Nigeria”.

Access Bank’s £654m London Judgment against Akingbola Not Enforceable in Nigeria - COURT

A Federal High Court in Lagos on Monday held that the judgment of a London court ordering the former Managing Director of the defunct Intercontinental Bank, Erastus Akingbola, to pay Access Bank £654 million (N212.2 billion) is not enforceable in Nigeria.

Justice Chukwujeku Aneke, who made the order, dismissed an application filed to that effect by Access Bank.

A Lagos High Court in Igbosere had also rejected a similar application filed by Access Bank. The order of the Lagos High Court had prompted Access Bank to approach the Federal High Court.

The High Court of Justice, Queens Bench in London, had on August 1, 2012, ordered Akingbola to pay Access Bank £654 million over some fraudulent transactions when he was in charge of the defunct bank.

Access Bank acquired Intercontinental Bank on January 31, 2012.
In a bid to enforce the London court’s judgment in Nigeria, Access Bank had approached Justice A.A Oyebanji of the Lagos High Court with an ex parte application.

The bank, in the ex parte application, had sought to register the foreign judgment and the accompanying order of Justice Michael Burton, dated September 13, 2012.

Justice Oyebanji had acceded to the request of Access Bank by registering the London judgment and ordering Akingbola to pay the judgment sum.

But Akingbola, through his lawyer Wole Olanipekun (SAN), filed an application dated September 27, 2013, asking Justice Babajide Candide-Johnson of the Lagos High Court to quash the registration of the foreign judgment for lack of jurisdiction.

Justice Candide-Johnson had discharged the ex parte order made by Justice Oyebanji on the grounds that Access Bank’s move contravened the provisions of the Reciprocal Enforcement of Judgment Act of 1958.
He also declared that the Lagos High Court lacked jurisdiction to register the judgment.

The judge held that the subject matter of the judgment, which was the alleged unlawful share purchase orchestrated by the bank and Akingbola’s breach of statutory duties as director of the defunct Intercontinental Bank, were matters relating to the provisions of the Companies and Allied Matters Act (CAMA), which the British judge admitted he relied totally on, but which only Nigerian courts and specifically the Federal High Courts could properly exercise jurisdiction.

Justice Candide-Johnson had further held that since Federal High Courts alone have exclusive jurisdiction on CAMA-related cases, his court could not have entertained the claims leading up to the judgment and consequently could not register same as that would make it a judgment of the court.

The judge, however, refused Akingbola’s prayer seeking to restrain Access Bank from enforcing the London judgment in any other court.
“Instead of granting such order, the proper order to make in this case is to strike out the entire suit and same is hereby struck out,” Candide-Johnson ruled.

Atiku Returns Presidential Forms To APC

Former vice president and presidential aspirant of All Progressives Congress (APC), Alhaji Atiku Abubakar, yesterday returned his expression of interest and nomination forms seeking for the presidential ticket of his party.

Speaking after the exercise, the presidential hopeful gave an assurance to be a loyal member irrespective of the outcome of the presidential primaries.

He said: “I want to thank you and the party for the opportunity given us first of all as the first to collect this forms, I also want to thank you for the opportunity again to be the first to return the forms.

“Let me assure you, Mr. Chairman, that we will continue to be loyal and dedicated party members, no matter the outcome of this election.”

Earlier in his remarks, the director of Atiku Campaign Organisation, Prof. Babalola Borisade, said his team took time to fill out the forms and obtained the mandatory signatories from all the 109 senatorial zones in the country.

Responding, national chairman of APC, Chief John Odigie-Oyegun, who received the forms, said Atiku had not only been the “first to pick and first to return his forms”, but has always put the nation first.

According to him, Atiku properly exemplifies what APC stands for today.

INEC in Dilemma over Monitoring of Campaign Spending

With the official ban on campaigns for presidential and National Assembly elections lifted, the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) on Monday acknowledged that it was in a dilemma over the tracking of candidates who exceed the stipulated amount fixed for campaign spending.

However, the commission said it had put structures in place to help monitor such campaign expenditures as provided by the law.

According to the guidelines of the 2015 general elections, and in line with the electoral timetable released by INEC as well as in keeping with the 90 days proviso, presidential and National Assembly aspirants have from November 16 been cleared to commence campaigns.

However, governorship and state House of Assembly aspirants would have to wait till November 30 before they can commence campaign.

The Chief Press Secretary to the INEC chairman, Kayode Idowu, stated that while electoral commission was bent on monitoring campaign spending by politicians, it can only do so after the act of over spending has been committed.

He noted that unlike 2011 general election, a specific unit had been created by the commission to monitor candidates’ spending in the 2015 election.

According to section 91 of the Electoral Act 2010 as amended, the maximum expenses to be incurred by a candidate in a presidential election shall be N1billion while the governorship is N200 million.

The Electoral Act also placed a campaign ceiling of N40million and N20million for senatorial and House of Representatives candidates respectively. N10million is the fixed amount for election expenses in the state assembly and chairmanship election in an area council.

Accordingly, sanctions for candidate who knowingly flaunts these campaign spending limits are as follows: For presidential election its N1million fine or 12 months imprisonment or both.

Governorship, N800,000 or nine months or both. 600,000 or imprisonment for six months would be slammed on a senatorial candidate who goes against the Electoral Act while 500,000 or five months imprisonment will be slammed on a House of Representatives candidate who defaults on the campaign spending.

But explaining the situation to some journalists, Idowu, said: “The commission has put structures in place to track expenditure. That structure did not exist in 2011. And we could not do much in that regard. Now we have been able to put structure in place to track expenditure and we are going to continue to do that. But the situation now is that we can’t know whether a person has over spent until he or she has spent it.

“However, what the law anticipates is that we have put a ceiling on spending and we will now monitor it to know whether we can make a case on it.”

He continued: “INEC can only work within the framework of the law. You are absolutely right that INEC does not have the capacity to handle the magnitude of electoral offences. That is given and we have said it over and again. That is why we have always called for election tribunal. But if the law says INEC should do something even within the constraints, INEC will do what is possible within those constraints.

“INEC will do what it has to do within the framework of the law as it exists at the present. For instance, the law says we should publish the audited yearly accounts of the political parties and that is what we have always done. We audit and publish, as the law says we should do. So after we publish it,  what next? There are places where you have offences and you don’t have sanctions stated.”

Jonathan writes National Assembly, requests extension of emergency rule in Borno, Adamawa, Yobe

President Goodluck Jonathan has formally requested the National Assembly to extend the emergency rule in the three northeast states hit by a brutal insurgency.

The Senate confirmed receipt of the president’s letter, Tuesday, seeking extension of emergency rule in Borno, Adamawa and Yobe States, the News Agency of Nigeria, reports.

The National Defence Council had on Monday approved the extension and urged the president to request the approval of the Senate and the House of Representatives as required by the constitution.

The council, chaired by the president, with the vice president and security chiefs as members, has the power to advise the president on security matters affecting Nigeria.

Borno, Adamawa and Yobe States have remained the hotbed of Boko Haram insurgency which has killed more than 13,000 and displaced hundreds of thousands since 2009.

If approved by the lawmakers, the emergency rule will be in its fourth phase following two previous extensions.
The emergency rule was first declared on May 14, 2013 by President Goodluck Jonathan.

Under the constitution, each phase of emergency runs for six months. The third round of emergency rule expires on Thursday.

“The council reviewed the issue of the state of emergency and the government will be requesting the National Assembly to extend the emergency rule. It will go in immediately,” Attorney General, Mohammed Adoke told reporters Monday.

Mr. Jonathan chaired Monday’s meeting which was also attended by Vice President Namadi Sambo service chiefs, the National Security Adviser and the Inspector General of Police.

Others in attendance were the Minister of Defence, Aliyu Guasu, and the Minister of Interior, Mr. Aba Moro and Secretary to the Government of the Federation, Senator Pius Anyim.

you destroyed students’ unionism in Nigeria, Bakare Tells Obasanjo

The Convener, Save Nigeria Group,  and General Overseer  of Latter Rain Assembly,  Pastor Tunde Bakare, has  accused  a ex-President Olusegun Obasanjo of destroying  students’ unionism   when he held sway as military Head of State in 1978.

                                                                                          

Governance: Sustainability of Democracy, the Role of Students in the Forthcoming General Election, Bakare traced the history of student unionisn from the colonial days saying the body was dealt a fatal blow in 1978.

He said: “General Obasanjo’s government ordered the brutal suppression of that protest. Live bullets were fired at protesting students.

“As we proceeded outside Unilag’s main gate, I narrowly escaped death as Akintunde Ojo, the young man standing just beside me, was gunned down.

“Through that incident, Obasanjo carved his name on marble as a villain of democracy.

“I did not mince words when opportunity presented itself in November 1978 when I pointed to his face, ‘This government possesses power without compassion, might without morality and strength without sight’.

“Nevertheless, student unionism in Nigeria today is in a sorry  state.”

7 PDP Lawmakers Take over Ekiti Assembly

ADO-EKITI—TENSION is mounting in Ekiti State as the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, lawmakers in the House of Assembly, yesterday, reconvened under the supervision of a Speaker Pro-Tempore, Dele Olugbemi.

Though Olugbemi claimed that those who sat were 10 in number, there are only seven known PDP lawmakers in the House. Governor Fayose has been at loggerheads with the Assembly over its refusal to sit and approve his nominees for different positions.

Early yesterday, two Armoured Personnel Carriers were deployed to the premises of the Assembly, with scores of riot policemen on standby.

The lawmakers were driven to the House in a Toyota Coaster bus marked EKSJ 111. They were heavily guarded.

Some already confirmed special advisers of Governor Fayose were at the premises of the House to monitor proceedings.

The seven members that sat, yesterday, included six lawmakers, who defected from the All Progressives Congress, APC to the PDP during the inauguration of Fayose as governor and one original PDP member.

Samuel Ajibola, a PDP lawmaker representing Ekiti East Constituency 1, performed the role of Leader of Government Business at yesterday’s sitting. He told his colleagues that the House Standing Order empowered the House to appoint Speaker Pro-Tempore (pro-tem) in the absence of the Speaker, Adewale Omirin and his deputy, to preside over the day’s business.

Those who sat, yesterday
Backed with House Order, Dele Olugbemi from Ikole Constituency II, was subsequently appointed Speaker Pre-tempore. The seven PDP members, who sat, included the six former APC members— Ajibola Samuel— Ekiti East II; Adeojo Alexander— Ekiti South West II; Adeloye Adeyinka— Ikole I; Israel Olowo Ajiboye — Oye Constituency II; Fatunbi Olajide J. A —Moba II; Olugbemi Joseph Dele- Ikole II and Olayinka Modupe Abeni— Ado II.

Ajibola read out the names of the three commissioner-nominees which included a former commissioner for Justice and Attorney General in the state during the first term of Mr Ayo Fayose, Mr Owoseni Ajayi; former Commissioner for Finance, Chief Toyin Ojo and former Commissioner for Works, Mr Kayode Osho.
The house screened and ratified the three commissioner-nominees and granted the governor power to appoint 12 special advisers who are to function as members of the cabinet.
Immediately the confirmations were concluded, Olugbemi adjourned sitting.

This illegality cannot stand — Omirin
In his reaction, the Speaker condemned the action of the seven PDP lawmakers saying “this illegality cannot stand.”

According to the statement by his Special Adviser on Media, Wole Olujobi, the seven PDP members also attempted to pass resolutions “to ratify the many illegalities of the governor.”
He said: “We have heard of this reckless abuse of the constitution from other states like stories in the movies, but today before our very eyes, Governor Fayose provided seven members of PDP with 300 armed mobile policemen complete with armoured vehicles to conduct a plenary in the House of Assembly to approve the reconstitution of the council care-taker committees and confirmation of the commissioner-nominees without the 19 members of the All Progressives Congress, APC, in attendance.

Tinubu, Atiku, Obasanjo In A Meeting

National leader of APC, Asiwaju Bola Tinubu and former vice president and a presidential aspirant of the party, Atiku Abubakar, were in the Abeokuta-home of the former president, last Friday.

When asked about the purpose of their visits, the source explained that it all centred on next year polls.

“They have been coming and they would keep on coming to Baba and he would not stop them from coming. Governor Kwankwaso has come, Buhari has come, Tinubu has been coming, Atiku too, so also, Tambuwal.

“They would keep on coming and Baba would continue to welcome them. He has said it times without number that he remains in PDP but as an elder statesman, Baba remains the father to all of them irrespective of their political affiliations”, he said.

According to him, “They are all coming to seek Baba’s support for their political ambitions in next year polls. You know, Tinubu is a regular caller, his visit yesterday was one of them. He sees Baba as a factor and Atiku said he was in Abeokuta to meet the APC leaders with a view to asking for their support”.

Another source explained that Tinubu came to give Baba an update on the happenings in the party.

“Tinubu has assured Baba that he would be coming to give him updates on the preparation for next year election by his party. That was why he came. You are aware of the new entrant to the party, the speaker and his interest in the presidential race. This was why Asiwaju came”.

Speaking further, the source, who explained that the visits of both Tinubu and Atiku were coincidental, denied the story making the rounds that Obasanjo had cautioned Tinubu over the ambition of his former vice.

“Remember, I told you the story was not true. Baba Obasanjo did not say anything near that when Tinubu came, but I suspect it was those who feel threatened by Atiku that flew the kite.

“With his visit, Atiku must have sent signals to those who wanted to use the feuds between him and President while in office to think otherwise”.

FG Cuts 2015 Budget Benchmark to $73 as Oil Prices Head South

Addressing the press yesterday, the Coordinating Minister for the Economy and Minister of Finance, Dr. Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, said the 2015-2017 Medium Term Expenditure Framework (MTEF), which was recently submitted to the National Assembly had been revised.

The MTEF, which had proposed a benchmark of $78 per barrel of oil for the 2015 budget, is now revised downwards to $73 per barrel and will be re-submitted to the National Assembly for its approval.

The minister said the federal government had decided on a multi-pronged, strategic response to mitigate the adverse effects of the decline in global oil prices, adding that the Central Bank of Nigeria  (CBN) was working with the ministry to apply appropriate fiscal and monetary measures in managing the economy, assuring Nigerians that there was no cause for panic.

The measures, she said, were a mixture of medium and long-term steps designed to engender economic growth, reassure investors and keep the economy on a stable course through the period, which has culminated in a significant drop in oil revenues for Nigeria and other oil-producing countries since June this year.

It is ‘too late’ for APC to pick consensus presidential candidate – Atiku

One of the presidential aspirants of the All Progressives Congress, Atiku Abubakar, has stated that it is ‘too late’ for the party to adopt a consensus candidate for next year’s presidential election.

Atiku Abubakar, who is also a former vice president, stated this while speaking to journalists in Bauchi on Sunday.

“It is too late for the party to think of holding a consensus forum for its presidential aspirants but rather, it should conduct a delegate conference where we will fight it out,” Mr. Abubakar said.

According to him, it is one of the tenets of best practices in democracy for candidates to be allowed to test their popularity.

Commenting on his relationship with former president Olusegun Obasanjo, Mr. Abubakar said they have a good relationship.

“In spite of my disagreement with Obasanjo on political ground, there is personal cordial relationship between us; I visited him last week at his Ota Farm,” he said.

The former Nigerian vice president held a closed-door meeting with APC stakeholders in Bauchi as the party prepares for its primaries set to hold next month.

Apart from Mr. Abubakar, other aspirants who have indicated interest to run for president on the platform of the party are Muhammadu Buhari, Sam Nda-Isiah, Rochas Okorocha, and Aminu Tambuwal.

jega Receives call to quite INEC Job

The Chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), Prof. Attahiru Jega, has been advised to quit his job as INEC boss rather than take actions capable of destabilising the electoral process ahead of the 2015 general elections over primordial sectional sentiment.

Giving the advice yesterday, against the background of a recent query issued some resident electoral commissioners pan-Yoruba socio-political group, Afenifere, in a statement signed by its National Publicity Secretary, Mr. Yinka Odumakin, expresses the views that the query was a vindictive action taken because of the botched additional polling units proposed by Jega.

“The attention of Afenifere has been drawn to the query the chairman of the INEC, reportedly issued to mostly southern resident electoral commissioners over his botched attempt to create lopsided 30,000 new polling units.

“The query dripping with venom was issued the very day Jega announced the suspension of the controversial exercise.  If it was true that the said query was issued on sectional focus on matter in which the INEC chairman betrayed unpardonable primordial insensitivity, we are bound to conclude that Jega is becoming more dreadful to the health of the polity than the murderous Boko Haram.

“Even without its lopsidedness in favour of Jega’s region of the country, the whole idea of creating new polling units a few months to election was a product of inferior scholarship on election for a man from intellectual region hailed across the country in 2010 as a ‘man of integrity’ when he was nominated for the job in 2010.

“It is equally baffling that rather than addressing the glaring incompetence of INEC which have seen it bungling the distribution of PVCs for data captured four years ago, Jega would now be occupied with fighting a war of attrition within the commission.

“Afenifere advises Jega to withdraw the query immediately and concentrate on plans for the elections. However, if he is far too gone into his sectional agenda, he should step aside from INEC and move over to any of the fora promoting what he desires,” Afenifere contended.

FG introduces austerity measures

ABUJA—The Federal Government, yesterday, introduced some austerity measures and scaled down the crude oil bench mark for the 2015 budget.

In a bid to insulate the economy from falling crude oil prices the federal government announced far-reaching policy measures to deal with the crashing crude oil prices, cutting 2015 oil benchmark from $78 to $73 per barrel. Crude oil prices dropped to $77.76 per barrel, some cents below the $78 earlier proposed to the National Assembly as bench mark for the 2015 budget.

The Coordinating Minister for the Finance, Dr. Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala told journalists in Abuja that the decision to cut revenue projection was part of measures designed to maintain economic stability, boost non-oil revenues further, plug loopholes and waste, as well as cut unnecessary expenditures in order to cope with the situation.

Keeping to her earlier warning that the government will soon introduce measures to protect the economy she said: “As part of the response to falling oil prices, the Medium Term Expenditure Framework (MTEF) and the Budget 2015 proposal to the National Assembly have been revised. Government is now proposing a benchmark of $73 per barrel to the National Assembly compared to the earlier proposed benchmark of $78.

“Given the nature of the oil market, we needed to see the extent and trend of the oil price in order to take the right measures. Panic is not a strategy. It’s important that our strategies are based on facts and a clear understanding of both the strengths of the economy and the challenges posed by the drop in oil prices which is currently at $79 for our premium Bonny Light Crude.

“The drop in oil prices is a serious challenge which we must confront as a country. We must be prepared to make sacrifices where necessary. But we should also not forget that we retain some important advantages such as a broad economic base driven by the private sector and anchored on sound policies.”

Jonathan’s Declaration Has Thrown APC into Confusion

The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) on Thursday said Tuesday’s declaration by President Goodluck Jonathan with the mammoth crowd in attendance as well as the catalogue of unprecedented verifiable achievements marshalled out by him, had thrown the opposition All Progressives Congress (APC) into confusion.

The ruling party also said Jonathan remained the candidate to beat at the forthcoming 2015 presidential election.

Meanwhile, President Jonathan will today return his completed presidential nomination form.

It was gathered that the president is to submit the form by noon  through the vice-president, Namadi Sambo.

The PDP National Publicity Secretary, Olisa Metuh, in a statement said the APC in their “characteristic manner, instead of accepting the successes already acknowledged by Nigerians, went into their usual shadow boxing and mischievous propaganda in a failed attempt to score a cheap political point.”

The ruling party said such a lurid epithet on the APC defies the logic of an alternative while exposing it as hypocritical and opportunistic.

It therefore called for objectivity and forthrightness from the political class, especially the opposition as the campaigns for the 2015 general election begin in earnest.

Police Tell Tribunal how APC Agent Snatched Ballot Box During Ekiti Poll

The police on Thursday in Abuja accused one Peter Alabi of Odo Ayedun- Ekiti, who was said to have been an agent of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in the June 21 governorship election of ballot box snatching.

The accusation was contained in the report the police tendered before the Ekiti State Election Petition Tribunal sitting in Abuja through its counsel, Chief Olusola Oke.

The APC had filed a petition challenging the results of the governorship election won by the PDP’ s candidate, Ayodele Fayose.The APC alleged that the election was manipulated by the federal government in favour of the PDP.

The party also challenged the qualification of Fayose for the election, stating that  he  had an ongoing criminal case with the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC).

While opening its defence, the police through a report signed by the Commissioner of Police (Election), Ekiti State Command, Ikechukwu A. Aduba, stated  that there were delays in few areas but it did not affect the timeous commencement of the election process.

The report reads in part, “Result of unit six  Odogo under ward nine in Ikole Local Government Area was cancelled due to the snatching of the ballot box by one peter Alabi of Odo Ayedun-Ekiti an APC agent who pretended to cast his vote and ran into the bush with the ballot box.
When pursued by the security agents, he tore the ballot papers therein and escaped.

“INEC subsequently cancelled the unit result.”

Tambuwa Secures Sokoto Guber Ticket

Speaker of the House of Representatives, Alhaji Aminu Waziri has finally settled to vie for All Progressives Congress’ (APC) Sokoto Governorship and will not seek the party's presidential ticket as announced yesterday by some reporters

 

Most newspapers and online blogs have reported yesterday that the embattled speaker has secretly picked up an APC presidential nomination form on Monday, however Daily Trust has confirmed in its report that Tambuwal did not pick up the form and would not seek it.

 

It was reported that Tambuwal’s decision was made after several rounds of high level meetings of APC’s Northern caucus including the party’s elders, governors, national officials and presidential candidates which met in Kaduna on October 18 and in Abuja, last week.

 

 “The Right Honourable Speaker was present at all those meetings and he fully agreed with the observations made. There was heavy pressure mounted on him from all parts of the country to seek APC’s presidential ticket. Those who were mounting the pressure pointed to opinion polls which found that he is the potential aspirant with the nationwide appeal to defeat President Jonathan in next year’s election. Pressure is also being mounted on him to go home to Sokoto and seek the governorship ticket. He considered all the issues and decided that he must help the process of reducing rancour in the presidential race which could affect the party’s chances of success. Since the party already has four declared presidential aspirants and efforts are being made by elders to prune down the number, the Speaker decided not to compound the problem. He will, instead, consider the call for him to seek the Sokoto governorship ticket.”

 

Vanguard’s driver escapes death as mob burns circulation bus with loads of papers in Makurdi

The driver a of a Toyota bus conveying copies of Vanguard newspapers to Makurdi, Mr. Goddy Ozuagbelu, Tuesday morning, narrowly escaped being killed by a mob who burnt a bus-load of copies of Vanguard newspapers at the Welfare Quaters Area of Makurdi town.

Ozuagbelu was conveying copies of the newspapers from Asaba to Makurdi when at about 7:45 am, he ran into three pupils, while on their way to school.

The accident, which left the children in serious but stable condition, attracted angry youths in the area who set the vehicle and its content ablaze.

Vanguard gathered from an eyewitness that it took the spirited effort of the Police to rescue the driver of the vehicle from the mob who had wanted to burn him with the ill fated bus.

The eye witness said “The driver and his assistant would have been burnt with the vehicle if not for the Police, who gave them cover and also assisted in ensuring that the children were rushed to the hospital.”

At the time of this report, the driver was still in the protective custody of the “E Division” of the state Police command while the accident victims were receiving medical attention at a private hospital in Makurdi.

When contacted, the Police Public Relations Officer, PPRO, Daniel Ezeala said the command was investigating the matter.