Connect with us

Politics

EDO GUBER: Tribunal Affirms the Election of Okphebholo

Published

on

104 Views

‎‎The Edo State Governorship Election Petition Tribunal sitting in Abuja has affirmed the election of Monday Okphebholo of the All Progressives Congress APC as governor of Edo State.‎‎

A three-member panel headed by Justice Wilfred Kpochi, dismissed the petition filed by the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and its candidate, Asue Ighodalo, against the outcome of the September 21, 2024 governorship election. ‎‎

In its judgment, the panel says Asue Ighodalo and the PDP failed to call competent witnesses to prove the allegations of non-compliance with the Electoral Act.

‎‎In the lead judgment read by Justice Wilfred Kpochi, the Tribunal said non-compliance must be proven convincingly.

The Tribunal says the failure of the petitioners to call polling unit officers, presiding officers or even voters during the election proved fatal to their petition. ‎‎

The Tribunal says most of the 19 witnesses called by the PDP merely gave hearsay evidence during the proceedings. ‎‎Justice Kpochi faulted what he termed as PDP’s realiance of Section 137 of the Electoral Act to dump documents on the Tribunal.

The Tribunal says it’s not for it to scrutinize documents tendered by the petitioners.

‎‎The Tribunal further says the BVAS machines tendered by the petitioners remain dormant, as it’s not the duty of the Tribunal to access the data in the machines.

‎‎In the unanimous decision, the Tribunal thereby restated that to prove overvoting as alleged by Ighodalo and the PDP there’s the need to tender the voters register, BVAS machines and polling unit results or Forms EC8A.‎‎

Following this, the Tribunal dismissed the petition of Asue Ighodalo of the PDP for lacking in merit.

‎‎INEC had declared that Okpebholo of the APC secured 291,667 votes to defeat Ighodalo who got 247,655 votes. PDP are challenging the results from 765 polling units of the 4,519 units in Edo State.‎‎

The PDP candidate faulted the outcome of the election on grounds non-compliance with the Electoral Act and the failure of Monday Okphebholo to secure majority of the lawful votes cast.

Putting that in context, the PDP governorship candidate alleged improper computation of votes by INEC, non serialization of electoral materials and overvoting. ‎

Politics

Anambra House of Assembly suspends Hon Bernard Udemezue ; What’s his offence?

Honourable Udemezue had accused the house of marginalising his constituency over the allocation of constituency allowances and revealed details about the allowances, which sparked controversy on the floor of the house.

Published

on

By

68 Views

The Anambra State House of Assembly has suspended Bernard Udemezue, the member representing Ayamelum Constituency, for three months over matter bordering on misconduct.

The house took the decision after Udemezue allegedly made social media posts deemed damaging to the legislature’s image.

Honourable Udemezue had accused the house of marginalising his constituency over allocation of constituency allowances and revealed details about the allowances, which sparked controversy on the floor of the house

Continue Reading

Politics

Wike Is Vindicated Over PDP Zoning Of Presidency To South, Chairman To North

But is it not too late already, bearing in mind that the only way the zoning can be justified is for the South to conclude its eight years, while the presidency returns to the North in 2031?

Published

on

By

54 Views

The decision of the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) National Executive Committee (NEC) to zone the presidency to the South, and retaining the National Chairman of the party in the North has been described as another clear vindication of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) Minister, Nyesom Wike and the G-5’s position in 2022.

The Minister’s Senior Special Assistant on Public Communications and Social Media, Lere Olayinka, who reacted to the zoning, asked:

“Now, that the party has realised its mistake of not listening to Wike and the G-5 in 2022, and has chosen to do what they said, three years later, have they not been vindicated now?”

“Recall that the FCT Minister and the G-5 had insisted that the presidential candidate of the PDP and its National Chairman must not remain in the same zone, insisting that since Alhaji Atiku Abubakar, from the North had emerged as the presidential candidate, Senator Iyorchia Ayu, also from the North must resign to pave the way for a National Chairman from the South.

Ayu, however insisted on not resigning, with Atiku and his group backing him.

The aftermath of this was the electoral misfortune the party suffered in 2023, followed by instability after the elections.

“But today, the NEC resolved that since the National Chairman of the party is zoned to the North, the PDP 2027 Presidential ticket be zoned to the South.

“Has PDP not come back to eat its own vomit? “Sadly, they know the truth.

Wike simply said, Take the chairmanship to the South if you want to gain the presidency, but they said no, they must take the two, and the PDP lost!

“They have realised the mistake they made in 2022 and are correcting it in 2025.

But is it not too late already, bearing in mind that the only way the zoning can be justified is for the South to conclude its eight years, while the presidency returns to the North in 2031?

Continue Reading

Politics

PDP Zones 2027 Presidential Ticket to the South

Published

on

86 Views

The national executive committee (NEC) of the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) has zoned the presidential ticket for the 2027 election to the south.

Party leaders took the decision during the NEC meeting in Abuja on Monday.

Presenting a communique issued after the meeting, Debo Ologunagba, the PDP spokesperson, said NEC approved recommendations of the zoning committee after “extensive” deliberation.

He said that the existing zoning arrangement for NWC positions would remain in place for the national convention in November to elect a new national working committee (NWC).

“That all PDP national office positions currently in the northern region of the country remain in the northern region,” he said.

“That all PDP national office positions currently in the southern region of the country remain in the southern region.

“That having retained the position of the national chairman in the northern region of the country, the presidential candidate of the party for the 2027 general election is hereby zoned to the southern region.

“That the regions should immediately micro-zone positions within its region for implementation.”

The NEC expressed satisfaction with the level of preparedness across the party’s organs, chapters, and structures for the 2025 elective national convention, which is scheduled to take place in Ibadan, Oyo state, on November 15 and 16.

The NEC also received update from the PDP constitution amendment committee and directed the committee to circulate the draft to various organs and chapters of the party for further inputs.

Continue Reading

Trending