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Adamawa: Why Binani, REC, Indicted Security Officers, Others Must Be Punished – Falana

Published

3 years ago

April 22, 2023

Human Rights Lawyer, Femi Falana, SAN, has stressed on why the former Resident Electoral Commissioner REC in Adamawa, Hudu Yunusa Ari, indicted security officers among others found complicit in the state governorship election.

Recall that Ari, had defied the Chief Returning Officer, Mele Lamido, and unilaterally announced the All Progressives Congress, APC, Governorship Candidate, Senator Aishatu Dahiru, as the winner, when collation had not been concluded.

But, the National headquarters of the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, acted swiftly by annulling Ari’s action, suspending him, writing the Presidency to get him sacked.

The Commission immediately appointed Mele Lamido to conclude the collation.

Lamido consequently announced Governor Ahmadu Fintiri, the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, candidate as winner, the matter has raised debates on how to safe Nigeria’s democratic process.

Speaking on the issues in an interview on Channels Television, Falana said the Adamawa REC, APC candidate and security personnel involved in the saga must be prosecuted and punished.

On calls for probe of Adamawa governorship and supplementary elections

“It is not a matter of probe; the law is very clear on these matters. One, under Section 120 sub-section 4 of the Electoral Act 2022, anybody involved in any false declaration of elections is liable to be prosecuted and the penalty is three years imprisonment which, for me, isn’t stringent enough.

“Two, there is also Section 121 of the Electoral Act which prescribes 12 months imprisonment for financial inducement with regard to the election. There are allegations that a sum of N2 billion must have changed hands. So, it is not enough for the candidate of the APC, Aishatu Ahmed Dahiru (Binani) to deny. There must be an investigation.

“Would these things have happened in the normal cause of events? Was there inducement? That has to be investigated. The officers, who were at the high table with Mr Hudu Yunusa Ari such as the Commissioner of Police, the Director of State Service and the Commander of the Nigeria Defence and Security Corps, are involved in the criminality that occurred.

“So, they all have to be tried under the law. It is not enough for the Inspector General of Police, IGP, to simply deploy the Commissioner of Police involved or for the Director of the DSS to be withdrawn from that state. We must make an example this time because this is not the first time that it has happened.

“There had been false declarations of results before now in 1983 that plunged the old Ondo State into a major violence eruption. In 2003, many false results were declared. So, we must find out what happened this time so that this terrible experience will not be repeated in the history of our country.

If the REC can be punished in line with the electoral law, what laws would be meted out to the accomplices?

“There is a provision for conspiracy. If you conspire with anybody to make a false declaration of results, you are liable to be prosecuted. The NTA must be brought in. The NTA televised the acceptance speech of the candidate of the APC. The candidate of the APC has to be brought in because she was party to the whole false declaration otherwise her acceptance speech would not have been ready and delivered.

“She has denied allegations levelled against her, particularly that from the DSS official captured in a video…

“The EFCC and the ICPC would have to be brought in to investigate. And I am not accepting the allegations for now. More so, they may be statements he made while being tortured by the crowd. So, we need to investigate and get to the root of the matter.

“However, with regard to the acceptance speech delivered by Madam Binani, she is liable to be prosecuted under Section 120 of the Electoral Act.

“On claims by Alhaji Lai Mohammed that President Buhari did not intervene in the Adamawa saga because it was the job of the INEC chairman

“I don’t want to believe that the president has not taken action because he is currently (while the interview was going on) out of the country on a tour of Saudi Arabia but the statement is not correct.

“Under the constitution and the Electoral Act, the appointment of a Resident Electoral Commission, REC, is made by the president and the nomination will have to go to the Senate for approval. That was what happened in November, last year with respect to the 19 electoral commissioners appointed last year. Unfortunately, some of us cried out with respect to all those who were appointed at that time.

“We made it clear that we wanted the Senate to reject the majority of the nominations because it was published in detail who had nominated who among the 19 RECs and we did say that they were not likely to deliver. So, INEC cannot go beyond suspending him.

On Binani’s case at the court seeking judicial review

“Section 129 presupposes an action taken by the appropriate authority. There was a returning officer, a professor who is saddled with the responsibility to make the announcement, somebody hijacked that position, usurped his authority and made a false declaration. Section 149 does not come in because the whole exercise is illegal.

“What has to happen now is that the Nigerian Bar Association, NBA, has to come in because Yunusa Ari is a senior lawyer. So, the NBA has to write a petition to the Legal Practitioners Disciplinary Committee for immediate sanction to serve as a lesson because this guy has brought the legal profession to disrepute.

“Second, the IG will have to speed up the investigation. By now, we expect him to have been arrested and if he cannot they have to get a court order to declare him wanted. Three, all the security officers that were involved in the charade will have to be investigated and prosecuted. Lastly, the president will have to send a request to the Senate next week, to remove the REC because he has betrayed the Constitution and his oath of office. Unless we do that this time around, we are not going to get out of this crisis.

“What should the process of this retribution be, who does what first and what should the sequence be in order to take these four or five issues?

“They have to be taken together. One, the INEC has done the right thing by suspending him. It is now left for the president to now embark on his removal via the Senate.

“Secondly, the investigation that will have to be conducted, contrary to the request of INEC, the IGP cannot prosecute him because he has committed an electoral offence. By virtue of Section 145 of the Electoral Act, the statutory duty to prosecute all electoral offenders is imposed on INEC.

“So, once the INEC gets the report from the IGP on the investigation, all the suspects will have to be arrested and prosecuted by the INEC. Happily, this time around, the NBA has come in to collaborate with INEC, and the anti-graft agencies are also collaborating with INEC for us to stop this menace, this colossal embarrassment, this national embarrassment.

“Happily, the INEC has decided to ensure that all those who were arrested and some who are yet to be arrested are prosecuted this time around. The police arrested 781 electoral offenders, the EFCC arrested over 100 people inducing voters, ICPC made arrests, and other agencies made arrests including the Armed Forces.

“This time around, they are sitting down to say this level of impunity cannot continue and that is why some of us are collaborating with the INEC and the NBA to ensure that all those who are indicted are brought to book.

“It appears that you disagree with Lai Mohammed, who said the Adamawa REC is a staff of INEC and it is INEC that has the responsibility to deal with him.

“He is not a staff of INEC, he is a public officer. He is an official of INEC and that point will have to be made very clear. It is like a judge if there is a strong petition against a judge the National Judicial Council, NJC, carries out an investigation and the judge is indicted, the NJC will place the judge on suspension and send it’s a recommendation to the president who is the appointing authority.

“So, this time around, the INEC has no power under the law to remove a REC because he was not appointed by INEC. The REC, like national commissioners, are appointed by the president with the approval or endorsement of the Senate. So, if you are going to remove any of them, it has to go through the same process.

“As I said earlier, the police will investigate and turn in a report, the report will have to be forwarded to INEC because INEC is the only authority under Section 145 of the Electoral Act that is empowered to prosecute electoral offenders and this is an electoral offence.

“The last point is on the role of the NTA, which televised the acceptance speech. I expect the NBC to move in speedily and sanction the NTA because, at that time, the collation was still ongoing just like I have requested the NBA to also send a petition to the Legal Practitioner Disciplinary Committee with respect to the conduct or the misconduct of Mr. Ari, who has brought the legal profession into disrepute and unless this action is taken holistically, somebody else or some other people will commit the same offence and that is why people who engage in impunity in our country must be sanctioned with respect to people going to court.

“Again, I will like to advise our judges to behave like the American judiciary. President Donald Trump filed 62 cases challenging the election of President Biden. Within two months, all of them were heard and thrown out. Some of the lawyers who engage in false allegations of electoral fraud were recommended for discipline. Unless we adopt such an approach, we are not going to get it right.

How should the recruitment process of electoral officers be done?

“We have to go back to the recommendations of the Uwais panel endorsed by the Ahmed Lemu panel, endorsed by the Ken Nnamani panel set up by this regime. The Uwais panel was set up by the late President Yar Adua. The Ahmed Lemu committee was set up by President Jonathan, and the Nnamani committee was set up by President Buhari.

“All the committees were united in demanding a transparent procedure for the appointment of electoral chiefs and that the vacancies should be advertised. At the end of the process, the NJC is recommended to do the short-listing and then recommend three candidates to the president for appointment.

“The president will then take one of them based on different considerations and send the name to the Senate for confirmation. That is the only way to prevent the system from appointing members of political parties or sympathizers of the ruling party.”
VANGUARD

News

UK Court Closes Diezani Trial As Jury Prepares Verdict

Published

11 hours ago

May 13, 2026

Editor

The defence and prosecution have closed their cases in the ongoing trial of former Nigerian Minister of Petroleum Resources, Diezani Alison-Madueke, at the Southwark Crown Court in the United Kingdom, with a jury now set to deliver its verdict later this week.

Alison-Madueke is standing trial alongside oil executive Olatimbo Ayinde and her brother, Doye Agama, on a five-count charge bordering on alleged bribery. All three defendants have pleaded not guilty.

British prosecutors allege that the former minister received bribes in the form of luxury items and high-value properties from oil industry actors seeking favourable treatment in the award of oil contracts during her tenure between 2010 and 2015.

The prosecution maintains that such benefits were improperly received and argues that there is no documentary evidence supporting claims of reimbursement or legitimate financial transactions backing the alleged transfers.

In his closing submissions, defence counsel Jonathan Laidlaw accused the prosecution of failing to charge alleged bribe givers and relying on what he described as incomplete and unreliable evidence.

He questioned the handling of evidence from a 2015 raid on Alison-Madueke’s Abuja residence, alleging procedural irregularities, including the absence of key officials during the operation and lack of photographic records of items in their original locations.

Laidlaw further argued that critical documents that could support the defence case—such as records relating to reimbursements and official ministerial duties—were missing. He also faulted the prosecution’s reliance on evidence linked to Nigeria’s Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), while challenging its rejection of parts of the same material in relation to co-defendant Ayinde.

He also disputed claims that official travel and financial records relating to the former minister were unavailable, describing the prosecution’s position as inconsistent.

Responding, lead prosecutor Alexandra Healy maintained that oil executives provided improper benefits to the former minister while their companies benefited from lucrative state contracts. She argued that such arrangements were incompatible with public office and unsupported by any documentary evidence of reimbursement.

Healy further referenced a £1 million payment linked to businessman Benedict Peters, describing the use of intermediary structures as a deliberate attempt to conceal the nature of the transaction.

She also noted that Alison-Madueke had been aware of the investigation for nearly a decade.

With both sides having completed their submissions, the jury is expected to return its verdict later this week.

News

Sleep Timing Irregularity Could Double Risk Of Heart Attack, Experts Warn

Published

12 hours ago

May 13, 2026

Editor

Experts have warned that going to bed at different times each night, particularly during midlife, could be an early warning sign of future heart problems.

New research from the University of Oulu found a strong link between irregular bedtimes and an increased risk of major cardiovascular events, especially among people who spend less than eight hours in bed each night.

According to the study, individuals whose sleep schedules varied widely and whose time in bed was under eight hours faced roughly twice the risk of serious heart-related events compared with those who maintained more regular routines.

In contrast, irregular wake-up times did not show a clear association with cardiovascular problems.

Major cardiovascular events examined in the study included conditions requiring specialised medical care, such as heart attack and ischaemic stroke.

The research, published in BMC Cardiovascular Disorders, followed 3,231 individuals born in northern Finland in 1966. Their sleep habits were monitored over a one-week period at age 46, while their health outcomes were tracked for more than a decade using healthcare register data.

Researchers measured sleep duration and timing using activity monitors that recorded how long participants remained in bed. The findings pointed to bedtime consistency as a particularly important factor for heart health.

Laura Nauha, a postdoctoral researcher at the University of Oulu, explained that earlier studies had already linked irregular sleep patterns to cardiovascular risks.

However, she noted that this study is the first to show that variability in bedtime, wake-up time, and the midpoint of the sleep period are independently associated with major cardiovascular events.

According to Nauha, everyday routines play a major role in shaping long-term heart health.

“Maintaining a regular sleep schedule is one factor that most of us can influence,” she said.

“Our findings suggest that the regularity of bedtime, in particular, may be important for heart health. It reflects the rhythms of everyday life and how much they fluctuate,” Nauha added.
(Nigerian Tribune)

News

NMA Threatens N1bn Suit Against EFCC Over Alleged Assault On UUTH Professor

Published

12 hours ago

May 13, 2026

Editor

The Nigerian Medical Association, NMA, Akwa Ibom State Council, has concluded plans to initiate a one billion naira suit against the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC, over the alleged assault of its member, Professor Eyo Ekpe, a Professor of Cardiothoracic Surgery at the University of Uyo Teaching Hospital, UUTH.

This was among the 10 resolutions reached by the body at the end of its emergency virtual meeting on Tuesday in respect of the arrest and alleged assault of Professor Ekpe by the commission.

Recall that EFCC operatives, on the grounds of authenticating a medical report presented by a suspect, were said to have invaded the hospital and subsequently arrested Prof. Ekpe under demeaning circumstances.

It was gathered that when the professor was accosted by the official, he told him that the office was already processing the request. However, the official allegedly went outside, mobilised other colleagues, and returned to hound the professor away after allegedly beating him and making him cry in public.

At a press conference held at Doctors’ Mess, Udoudoma, Uyo, on Wednesday, the NMA Chairman, Prof. Aniekan Peter, who also suffered during the crisis, said it was a slap on the integrity of the NMA as a body to allow anyone assault their member, not to talk of a professor who was only carrying out his lawful duties of saving lives and imparting knowledge.

Reading a communiqué endorsed by the chairman and the secretary, Dr Ighorodje Edesiri, respectively, the assistant secretary of the union expressed dismay that there has been a recurring pattern of harassment and assault of medical professionals and members of the association by security agencies within the state, adding that the union would no longer condone such acts.

The union, while observing that there was no formal invitation extended to Prof. Ekpe or the leadership of the NMA before the incident, described the act as barbaric, degrading, inhuman, and a gross violation of the sanctity of the hospital environment, thereby putting staff and patients at risk and undermining the dignity of the medical profession.

The union, which has since embarked on an indefinite strike, said members would not return to work unless the EFCC tenders an apology to the assaulted professor, chairman, and members of the NMA, and identifies and prosecutes the officials who carried out the operation.

The union further stated that it has resolved not to offer any medical services to EFCC officials or their relatives, as they have chosen the path of cruelty against their member.

The communiqué read in part: “We observed that Prof. Eyo Ekpe was apprehended within the premises of UUTH by masked EFCC operatives who physically assaulted him, beat him to the point of bleeding, and handcuffed him alongside other doctors and hospital staff who attempted to intervene.

“Prof. Peter, Akwa Ibom NMA chairman, was shoved and exposed to teargas when he approached the scene seeking clarification from the operatives. Hospitals are sacred environments meant for the preservation of life and should not be subjected to violent invasions by security agencies.

“We shall institute legal action against the EFCC with a demand for damages in the sum of one billion naira (N1,000,000,000) for the physical, emotional, professional, and institutional damages caused. Congress further emphasised that this action shall serve as a deterrent against future harassment, intimidation, or assault of medical practitioners by any security agency. The association reaffirmed its commitment to protecting the welfare, dignity, and safety of all its members.”