Today's Headlines: We’ve Done Our Calculation Well, Tinubu Won’t Be On Ballot If There’s A Rerun, Labour Party Claims, 2023 Poll: We’ve learned lessons — Yakubu
We’ve Done Our Calculation Well, Tinubu Won’t Be On Ballot If There’s A Rerun, Labour Party Claims
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The Obi-Datti Campaign Organisation on Saturday declared that with the damning evidence before the Presidential Election Petition Court in Abuja against President Bola Tinubu, he would not participate in the rerun election should the poll be annulled.
Also, the Special Assistant on Public Communication to Atiku Abubakar, Mr. Phrank Shaibu, said that there is palpable fear in the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) on the likelihood of the court upturning the election of President Tinubu.
Spokesperson and Head of Media of the organisation, Mr. Diran Onifade, told THISDAY on Saturday that President Tinubu’s legal team did not only mislead him but also effortlessly tried to hoodwink the Justice Haruna Tsammani-led five-man panel.
President Tinubu had last Tuesday appealed to the justices of the court to exclude the presidential candidate of the LP, Mr. Peter Obi, and his party in the event of any rerun presidential election, claiming that only he and the candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Atiku Abubakar, are constitutionally qualified to recontest the rerun election.
Tinubu, through his lawyer, Chief Wole Olanipekun (SAN), and the counsel to the All Progressives Congress (APC), Mr. Lateef Fagbemi (SAN), had argued that should the justices of the court void the February 25, 2023, presidential election, Obi and his party should not be allowed to re-contest.
Olanipekun had while arguing his final written address, declared that Obi should not be allowed to participate in the rerun election because he came third in the race.
But the LP described the claim by Tinubu’s lawyers as an attempt to foist his position on the panel of justices, adding that if there would be any rerun, Tinubu would not be on the ballot based on the evidence before the Court.
Onifade said Tinubu’s appeal for the exclusion of Obi and the LP from participating in the proposed rerun and his last-minute effort to challenge the outcome of the election in Kano State showed that he has lost the votes allegedly stolen from Obi in Rivers and Benue states.
He said: “If there will be a second election, it will be between the top two. Tinubu will not be among the top two because all the issues we raised are enough to disqualify him. The certificate forgery, the drug trafficking forfeiture, the invalid nomination of his vice, etc. All those things would have disqualified him in the first place.
“So, he is not going to be on the ballot. All these things that his lawyers are doing are just to make him comfortable. They have misled him and are also trying to mislead and hoodwink the justices. The justices are not foolish.
“They are claiming that the constitution says that even if it’s true that he has a case of forfeiture, after 10 years, you have been cleared. But that is not true. They are just being clever by half. The section of the constitution they are talking about has so many subsections and only one of them has the 10 years moratorium and it doesn’t cover him.
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2023 Poll: We’ve learned lessons — Yakubu
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The National Chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, Professor Mahmood Yakubu, has said lessons have been learned from the 2023 general elections and that there would be an improvement in the forthcoming circle elections in Kogi, Imo, and Bayelsa states.
He added that the commission is satisfied with the feedback it got during the 2023 post-election review organized by the commission.
Speaking during the just concluded three-day review of the 2023 elections in Lagos, the INEC boss disclosed that most of the issues raised and recommendations made to improve the Nation’s elections would be tested in the coming elections in Kogi, Imo, and Bayelsa.
“We promised Nigerians that we were going to hold the election review meeting and conclude it within one month. We started on the 4th of July, and today is the 4th of August. The response has been overwhelming. Remember, we started with the state-level consultation with the RECs, we had an engagement with the transport unions, we then met with the State collation of the presidential election in Abuja, and then we had engagements with political parties and civil organizations, among others. So overall, we are encouraged by the response of stakeholders across the board and the quality of the contributions they have made.
Asked about the challenges that popped up during the review, he said, The number of challenges that came up, technology for voter accreditation, and result management, have been some of the issues raised, and recommendations made.
“The issue of electoral logistics, so that elections can start promptly, also includes the production and collection of Permanent voter Cards, PVCs, among others. We are harvesting all the issues and all the recommendations, and those that require administrative actions by the commission would be dealt with, but those that require amendment to the existing laws, be it the electoral act of 2022 or the constitution, we will harvest and approach the National Assembly for consideration. “
Three in police net over doctor’s death
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The Police Command in Lagos State has confirmed the arrest of three persons over the death of Dr Vware Diaso at the General Hospital in Lagos.
The command’s spokesperson, SP Benjamin Hundeyin, confirmed the arrest on Saturday to the Agency of Nigeria in Lagos.
Hundeyin, who did not mention the identities of the suspects, said that the police had begun investigation into the case.
NAN reports that a faulty elevator at the General Hospital, Odan, Lagos, claimed the life of a medical doctor, Vware Diaso, who was working at the facility.
APC denies forcing legal adviser to quit NWC
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The National Working Committee of the All Progressives Congress has described as ‘untrue’ the report that the National Legal Adviser of the party, Ahmad El-Marzuq, may have been forced out of the committee.
The development is coming two days after the former legal adviser threw in the towel.
El-Marzuq had tendered his resignation on the eve of the National Caucus meeting of the ruling party held at the banquet hall of the Presidential Villa in Abuja.
Online and social media were awash with reports of how the presidency and APC governors pressured El-Marzuq into quitting the NWC on Thursday.
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