Politics

20 SANs Line Up For Obi, APC May Hire 12

Published

3 years ago

March 5, 2023

Photo: file copy

The Labour Party said it had engaged the services of at least 20 senior advocates of Nigeria to challenge the outcome of the February 25 presidential election on behalf of its presidential candidate, Peter Obi.

According to sources within the party, the lawyers drawn from different chambers were being furnished with materials that would be used as evidence in court.

The president-elect and candidate of the All Progressives Congress, Bola Tinubu, was announced the winner of the keenly contested election last Wednesday.

Tinubu polled 8,794,726 votes to defeat the Peoples Democratic Party candidate, Atiku Abubakar, and the LP flag bearer, who got 6,984,520 and 6,101,533 votes respectively.

But Atiku and Obi rejected the results announced by the Independent National Electoral Commission, with each claiming at separate press conferences that the election was fraught with violence and massive rigging.

The drama took a twist last Friday when the two major opposition candidates were reported to have approached the court to seek permission for the inspection of election materials used during the poll.

At least six states – Adamawa, Akwa Ibom, Bayelsa, Delta, Edo and Sokoto – had dragged the Federal Government before the Supreme Court over the conduct of the February 25 presidential and National Assembly elections before withdrawing the case last Friday.

But the National Secretary of the Labour Party, Umar Farouk, disclosed some SANs expressed their interest in joining the legal battle to prove Obi’s case.

While disclosing that INEC had lost its independence through its alleged collusion with the ruling APC by giving victory to Tinubu, Farouk said the LP’s hope was vested in the judiciary to do the needful.

“We have more than 20 SANs that are willing to participate and offer their services for the renewal and emergence of a new Nigeria. As I am talking to you, our lawyers are working on it.

“But this is not something we can discuss on the pages of a newspaper. All I can tell you is that we have started ‘trekking’ to the court,” he said,

Asked if the leadership of the party and the candidate had been able to garner concrete evidence other than the alleged isolated incidents the APC claimed the Labour Party was dangling to get public sympathy, Farouk said, “The court is not a polling box that they can smash and put in what they want.

“If the APC thinks they can pre-empt the court, let them do it. They had earlier pre-empted the election that they were going to win by hook or crook and they had claimed they won. Let’s wait and see. Unlike INEC, the judiciary is a different thing.

“We have seen how independent the commission is. But we need to also examine how independent the judiciary also is in a matter of this magnitude. Let’s see the solace it can offer the masses. Let’s see if the judiciary has also shattered the hope of Nigerians just as INEC did.”

Farouk, however, couldn’t give a definite date when the case would be filed.

“We are saying Obi is the winner from the record we have before us. But INEC did something else. They hurriedly carried out the plan of their paymaster.

“Therefore we have every reason to claim victory if it is being denied.

“On the part of Atiku and the PDP, they have the right and data to claim that their mandate was stolen. The only arbiter now is the court.

So many people can claim one thing. It is the judiciary that gives a verdict based on the evidence before it.”

Tinubu camp reacts

But the chief spokesman of the Tinubu-Shettima Presidential Campaign Council, Festus Keyamo, said that the president-elect and his camp were not intimidated by the legal threat of the opposition.

He also confirmed that the legal directorate of the PCC was putting together more than 12 SANs to defend his principal in the alleged case of rigging and stolen mandate.

Although he did not reveal the names of members of the legal team, the legal directorate of the Tinubu Campaign Organisation is led by Babatunde Ogala, who could not be reached for comments.

But Keyamo said, “The number of our advocates is around that figure (12). But I can’t confirm the exact figures at the moment. However, it doesn’t matter the number of SANs the Labour Party is parading. It is not a competition.

“I am a lawyer and can tell you specifically that the numbers don’t matter. It is all about the quality of evidence. But I can tell you that we have enough to nullify more of their votes than theirs to nullify our own.”
PUNCH

Politics

N’Assembly committee Approves New State For S’East

Published

18 hours ago

October 26, 2025

Editor

The Joint Committee of the Senate and House of Representatives on Constitution Review has approved the creation of an additional state in the South-East geo-political zone.

According to a statement by the media unit of the committee, the resolution was reached on Saturday at a two-day retreat in Lagos, where it reviewed 55 proposals for state creation across the country.

The session, chaired by the Deputy Senate President, Barau Jibrin, and co-chaired by the Deputy Speaker of the House of Representatives, Benjamin Kalu, resolved that, in the spirit of fairness and equity, the Federal Government should create another state for the region.

Kalu, who joined other lawmakers to champion additional state creation for the region, argued that a new state would give the people a sense of belonging.

When created, the South-East will be at par with the South-South, South-West, North-Central, and North-East zones, each having six states.

The South-East is the only geo-political zone with five states comprising Abia, Anambra, Ebonyi, Enugu, and Imo.

The North-West comprises seven states: Kaduna, Kano, Kebbi, Katsina, Zamfara, Sokoto, and Jigawa.

According to the statement, Senator Abdul Ningi (Bauchi Central) moved a motion for the creation of the new state, which was seconded by Ibrahim Isiaka (Ifo/Ewekoro, Ogun State) at the retreat.

“The motion received the unanimous support of committee members and was adopted,” the statement read in part

Similarly, the committee also established a sub-committee to consider the creation of additional states and local government areas across all six geo-political zones, noting that a total of 278 proposals were submitted for review.

Speaking at the event, Jibrin urged members to rally support among their colleagues at the National Assembly and state Houses of Assembly to ensure the resolutions sail through during voting.

“We need to strengthen what we have started so that all parts of the country will key into this process.

“By the time we get to the actual voting, we should already have the buy-in of all stakeholders—from both chambers and the state Houses of Assembly,” the Deputy Senate President was quoted as saying.

Politics

PDP Unveils 13-member Screening Panel For National Convention

Published

2 days ago

October 25, 2025

Editor

According to a statement issued on October 25, 2025, by the National Convention Organising Committee (NCOC) and signed by its Chairman, Ahmadu Umaru Fintiri, who is also the Governor of Adamawa State, the screening exercise will take place on Tuesday, October 28, 2025.

The committee will be chaired by Eyitayo Jegede (SAN), a former Ondo State governorship candidate and respected legal luminary.

He will be assisted by Hon. Mohammed L.S. Diri (SAN) as Deputy Chairman, while Mr. Asue Ighodalo, Esq., will serve as Secretary. Jacob Otorkpa was named Deputy Secretary.

Other members of the committee include: Emmanuel Enoidem (SAN), Prince Olagunsoye Oyinlola, Chief Mrs. Aduke Maina, Iyom Josephine Anenih, Achike Udenwa, Haj. Maryam Inna Ciroma, HM. Felix Hassan Hyat, HM. Zainab Maina, and Chinedu Nwachukwu, who will also serve as Administrative Secretary.

The statement noted that the selection reflected the PDP’s commitment to transparency, integrity, and internal democracy in the build-up to its national convention.

“The NCOC notes and expects that the exemplary conduct and strict adherence to rules and regulations during this very crucial assignment will justify the confidence reposed by the Party in members of the Committee,” the statement read.

Fintiri assured party members that the screening process will be conducted with the highest standards of fairness and impartiality, underscoring the PDP’s resolve to strengthen its democratic institutions ahead of the 2027 general elections.

“This exercise is crucial in ensuring that only credible, competent, and loyal members emerge to steer the affairs of our great party,” Fintiri stated.

Politics

Why I Refused To Endorse El-Rufai As My Successor — Obasanjo

Published

2 days ago

October 25, 2025

Editor

Former President Olusegun Obasanjo has revealed how he turned down a suggestion to endorse former Kaduna State Governor, Malam Nasir El-Rufai, as his successor.

Speaking on Friday in Abeokuta, Ogun State, during the second edition of the annual Ajibosin Platform symposium themed “Importance of Leadership in Governance”, Obasanjo disclosed that former Minister of Aviation, Osita Chidoka, had recommended El-Rufai for the presidency, but he rejected the idea.

Chidoka, who delivered the keynote address at the event, had earlier narrated how El-Rufai introduced him to Obasanjo at the age of 34, an encounter that led to his appointment as the Corps Marshal of the Federal Road Safety Corps (FRSC).

Addressing the audience, Obasanjo took a playful jab at Chidoka for leaving out the El-Rufai story.

“Let him tell you. He didn’t mention that. He was pushing when I was leaving government that his friend, El-Rufai, should be brought in as my successor,” Obasanjo said.

Turning to Chidoka, who was seated among the panelists, he asked, “No be so (Is that not true)?” The former minister nodded in agreement.

Obasanjo explained that he dismissed the suggestion because he believed El-Rufai still needed time to grow politically.

“I did not yield to the pressure. Later, he said, ‘I suggested this person, why didn’t you agree?’ I said El-Rufai needs to mature. You remember?

“When I left government and, many years later, he saw the performances of El-Rufai, he came back to me and said, ‘You’re absolutely correct. El-Rufai needed to mature.’”

The former president, however, commended Chidoka, El-Rufai, and other former aides for their “special attributes,” which he said contributed to the success of his administration.

Speaking further on leadership, Obasanjo emphasised character, exposure, experience, and training as essential qualities of effective governance.

Obasanjo said, “It’s only in politics that I found out there is no training for leadership. Even among armed robbers, I was told there is apprenticeship.

“But it’s only in politics that there is no training in leadership. That’s not good enough.”

El-Rufai served under Obasanjo’s administration as the Director-General of the Bureau of Public Enterprises (BPE) before becoming the Minister of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) between 2003 and 2007. When Obasanjo was leaving office in 2007, he instead backed the late President Umaru Musa Yar’Adua as his preferred successor.

In his address, Chidoka blamed Nigeria’s development setbacks on excuses and what he described as the politics of alibi.

“Leadership finds its true measure not in speeches or charisma but in the systems it leaves behind.

“Moral conviction must translate into the everyday machinery of governance—rules, routines, and institutions that make competence predictable and corruption difficult.

“Nigeria’s problem has never been a shortage of ideas; it is the absence of systems strong enough to outlive their authors,” he said.

He urged leaders to prioritise accountability and measurable results.

“We must therefore make leadership accountable not to rhetoric but to results: measure by building national dashboards and accountability systems that track every promise, every budget, every outcome. Monitor by strengthening the institutions that evaluate government performance and expose complacency,” he said.