Headlines

The Federal High Court sitting in Abuja, on Thursday affirmed Prince Yusuf Kadari, SAN, as the deputy governorship candidate of the Labour Party, LP, for the forthcoming gubernatorial election in Edo State.

The court, in a judgment delivered by Justice Emeka Nwite, held that the LP was within its rights when it nominated Kadiri as the running mate to its flag-bearer for the election, Olumide Akpata.

Justice Nwite held that the electoral body had no right to reject Kadiri’s nomination since the party acted in line with provisions of both the Electoral Act 2022 and the 1999 Constitution, as amended.

Recall that the governorship candidate of the LP, Akpata, had picked Kadari as his running mate for the election slated for September 21.

Even though Kadiri’s name was forwarded to INEC by the party, however, the electoral umpire published Alufohai Oluyinka Faith as the deputy governorship candidate of the LP.

Realizing the error, the party wrote the electoral body, asking it to replace the name it published with that of the candidate it nominated and forwarded to it.

Following the failure of INEC to comply with the directive, LP brought the case before the court.

The Nigeria Police has declared a British national, Andrew Wynne (also known as Andrew Povich or Drew Povey), wanted for allegedly sponsoring terrorism in the country. Wynne is accused of building a network of sleeper cells aimed at toppling the government and plunging the nation into chaos.

According to Force Public Relations Officer, ACP Olumuyiwa Adejobi, Wynne rented a space at Labour House, Abuja, for an “Iva Valley Bookshop” and established “STARS of Nations Schools” as a cover for his subversive activities. Adejobi stated that documentary evidence and confessions revealed Wynne’s involvement in issuing directives, monitoring progress, and providing finance and operational guidance to achieve unconstitutional regime change in Nigeria.

Wynne allegedly mobilized and deployed several billions of naira to his Nigerian collaborators, urging them to mobilize the public to violently storm police facilities and military barracks. This, Adejobi said, was intended to instigate international condemnation of the Nigerian government. These acts are in clear violation of the Terrorism (Prevention) Act 2011 and other relevant laws.

Since the commencement of investigations, Wynne has fled the country. He and one of his local coordinators, Lucky Ehis Obiyan, have been declared wanted, and a global hunt for them has commenced. Meanwhile, ten suspects allegedly involved in the plot have been arraigned in court for their roles in the alleged plot to topple the government.

The arraigned suspects are Angel Love Innocent, Opaluwa Eleojo Simeon, Michael Tobitoba Adaramoye (aka Leni), Suleiman Yakubu, Buhari Lawal, Mosiu Sadiq, Abayomi Adeyemi, Abdulsalam Zubairu, Nuradeen Hamis, and Bashir Bello. They face charges of Criminal Conspiracy, Terrorism Financing, Treasonable Felony, Subversion, and Cybercrime.

ACP Adejobi clarified that the invitation extended to certain individuals within the NLC leadership has nothing to do with rights advocacy and activities of the Union leadership. Rather, it aims to clear the relationship between the individuals and Andrew Wynne, who is also financing terrorism in Nigeria.

Following the interaction between the police investigation team and the NLC President, there is now a clearer understanding of the focus of the ongoing police investigation and the depth of Andrew Wynne’s subversive network and activities.

An aluminium worker identified as Lawrence Uzor, attacked his wife and gouged out her eyes allegedly for ritual purposes in Abia State.

The incident happened at Adiele Estate in Umueze Ibeku in Umuahia North Local Government Area of the state on Saturday night, August 24, 2024

The suspect, who hails from Umuchieze in Bende LGA of the state, used a knife to remove the victim’s eyes while she was asleep.

Lawrence also attacked his landlady, Madam Lovejane Nwaiwu, as he knocked off some of her teeth and cut off her upper lip.

Madam Nwaiwu, who was also admitted at the Federal Medical Centre, Umuahia, said she heard a noise in the couple’s apartment and went to find out what was happening.

“At about 10 pm on Saturday, I heard the man shouting ‘Odogwu, Odogwu (mighty, mighty)’. I was worried as I had not heard the man and his wife, Amarachi Lawrence praying like that,” she explained.

“I started praying for them. After that, I couldn’t sleep up to about 12 am and was restless. At about 1 am, the wife, who is a teacher with one of the foremost private schools in Umuahia and aged 38 years started shouting, ‘Mummy, I have been killed’. I opened my door, came out peeped through their bedroom window and saw the man pressed down on the wife with a knife in his hands

“I started pushing on people’s gates and calling out to Umueze people, but nobody came out or responded. After all, my attempts to call neighbours to come and nobody answered me, I went to their parlour door and started knocking on the door and suddenly, he opened the door while holding the knife and tried giving me cuts on the head but I defended my head with my hand and he cut me at the hand and further slashed the knife at my face that incidentally cut me at the mouth and many of my upper teeth came out.

“I ran into my house and locked the door, while he ran outside, locked our gate and went to a neighbour’s house to tell them that he had killed his wife and his landlord’s wife. While inside my room, I called my mother and my daughter, who then called a church neighbour and the community vigilance team who rushed to the neighbour’s house and apprehended him.”

First Lady of Abia State, Mrs Priscilla Otti, said she was deeply saddened by the case just a few days after signing the compact agreement with the UNFPA on gender-based violence.

Mrs Otti, who spoke at the Federal Medical Centre, FMC Umuahia where the victims are being treated, said she would take immediate action to ensure the victim is well and protected.

Senator Ned Nwoko, representing Delta North senatorial district, has clarified that he has no interest in becoming the governor of the proposed Anioma State.

He emphasized that his support for the state’s creation stems from a deep commitment to the welfare and progress of his constituents at the national level.

Nwoko made this disclosure during the Anioma stakeholders summit in Asaba over the weekend, where he addressed speculations surrounding his alleged gubernatorial ambitions.

He reiterated that his sole interest is in advancing the welfare of his people, not in seeking political power.

The senator emphasized that the pioneer governor of Anioma State should come from the Ndokwa nation, a region that has long been marginalized despite its significant economic contributions through oil production.

He highlighted the Ndokwa region’s neglect, environmental degradation, and lack of development despite being home to three oil-producing local government areas.

Nwoko illustrated the benefits of state creation by drawing a parallel to the establishment of Delta State from the former Bendel State.

He noted that statehood can drive development, citing Asaba’s transformation from a small village to a thriving city once it became the capital of Delta State.

The senator also highlighted the political advantages of creating Anioma State, including increased representation in the Senate, House of Representatives, and state assembly.

He emphasized that statehood would provide a stronger voice for his constituents and foster greater development in the region.

The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has rejected the submissions of polling and collation agents from political parties, specifically the Labour Party (LP) and All Progressives Congress (APC), ahead of the forthcoming Edo State governorship election.

The rejection was due to widespread failure to meet the required digital submission guidelines.

This development was confirmed by INEC Chair­man, Prof. Mahmood Yaku­bu, during a meeting with political parties in Abuja on Thursday.

Prof. Yakubu reiterated the commission’s commit­ment to digitalising the electoral process, stating that the manual method of agent nominations is “gone for good.” He emphasised that political parties must adapt to the digital proce­dure, which has now be­come the standard for sub­missions.

Despite prior training sessions and the availability of a help desk, political par­ties reportedly failed to meet the submission criteria, particularly regarding the quality of images uploaded for Polling Unit, Ward, and Local Government agents. The APC, LP and ADP each have about 3000+ agents disqualified while the PDP had the lowest with only 141 agents disqualified.

Prof. Yakubu highlighted that while observer groups and media organisations have successfully complied with the digital require­ments, political parties must do the same to ensure smooth operations on elec­tion day.

He also stressed that the Commission would only produce accreditation tags for agents whose details meet INEC’s guidelines.

In preparation for the election, INEC plans to con­duct a mock accreditation exercise to test the Bimodal Voter Accreditation Sys­tem (BVAS) and the INEC Result Viewing (IReV) por­tal. The test run, scheduled for September 10, 2024, will take place across 12 polling units in six Local Govern­ment Areas, representing Edo State’s three senatorial districts.

This move underscores INEC’s determination to modernise Nigeria’s elec­toral processes, even as it faces resistance from polit­ical parties unprepared for the digital transition.