Metro

APGA Dispute: Court Okays Contempt Charge Against INEC Chairman

Published

2 years ago

November 12, 2023

A High Court of the Federal Capital Territory, FCT, sitting at Bwari, has okayed a contempt proceeding that was initiated against the Chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, Prof. Yakubu Mahmood, over his alleged disobedience to a subsisting court judgement.

Justice Mohammed Madugu gave the INEC boss 14 days to comply with the judgement that recognised Chief Edozie Njoku as the authentic National Chairman of the All Progressives Grand Alliance, APGA, or risk jail.

Equally cited as a Respondent in the committal proceeding (Form 49) marked FCT/HC/CV/4068/2023, is a factional Chairman of the party, Chief Victor Oye.

It was two aggrieved chieftains of the party, Otunba Camaru Lateef Ogidan (the National Vice Chairman, South West Geopolitical Zone of APGA) and Alhaji Rabiu Mustapha (the National Welfare Officer of APGA), who initiated the court action.

The Applicants told the court that they are members of the National Working Committee of APGA who emerged at a convention the party held on May 31, 2019, under the leadership of Chief Njoku.

Justice Madugu, in his judgement, held that from the totality of affidavit evidence that was adduced before him, both the INEC Chairman and Chief Oye were found to have disobeyed a valid court order concerning APGA leadership, saying he was however minded to grant them a 14-day grace period to purge themselves of the said contempt of court.

Specifically, the Applicants had in the committal charge, sought an order of the court to commit Prof. Yakubu to prison for spurning a valid order the court made on May 10, which had restrained Oye and APGA from conducting Ward, Local Government, State Congresses and Convention.

The court had directed the INEC Chairman and Chief Oye, who were joined as parties in the case, “to maintain status quo ante bellum,” pending the hearing of a notice of preliminary objection that was filed before it.

“For the avoidance of doubt and the purpose of clarity, parties herein whether by themselves, agents, privies, assigns, authorized representatives or whosoever acting on their behalf are restrained from holding the planned Congresses, National Convention or any other meetings or gatherings in whatever name called of APGA, pending the hearing of notice of preliminary objection filed on May 9, 2023 by the 1st Defendant/Applicant, Chief Oye,” Justice Madugu added.

However, despite the order, the Chief Oye-led faction of the party went ahead and conducted the Congresses under the supervision of INEC.

They subsequently submitted names of candidates for various elective positions, which were accepted by INEC.

Dissatisfied with the development, the Applicants initiated the contempt charge.

In his judgement last Thursday, a copy of which Vanguard obtained on Sunday, Justice Madugu held that because the order the court made on May 10 was not appealed, the INEC Chairman and Oye, “were in contempt of court”.

“A court does not make an order in vain; a court order must be disobeyed. Disobedience to a valid court order undermines the integrity and sanctity of the court.

“This insanity of flouting court order must stop, and it cannot continue. The disobedience to the order made by this court on May 10, is undoubtedly an affront to the sanctity of the court” Justice Madugu stated.

Consequently, he ordered the 1st Respondent (Oye) and 2nd Respondent (INEC Chairman) to purge themselves of contempt of court within 14 days or face the full wrath of the court.

The court held that Oye’s submission that APGA conducted the Congresses based on the May 12 order of an Anambra State High Court at Otuocha, was not tenable.

Justice Madugu queried if the order of the Anambra State High Court was capable of overriding that of an Abuja High Court made on May 10, noting that both courts are of the same coordinate jurisdiction.

The judge noted that the Respondents had the opportunity to appeal against the court order, but failed to do so.

“Placing reliance on the order of an Anambra High Court, made on May 12, does not absolve the Respondents from the dire consequences of the commital charge,” Justice Madugu held.

Metro

Man Stabs Friend To Death Over Woman In Ilorin

Published

1 day ago

October 23, 2025

Editor

The Kwara State Police Command has confirmed that a 21-year-old Gafar, on Tuesday evening, allegedly stabbed 25-year-old Usman Tunde to death during an argument over a choice of woman in Ilorin.

The state police spokesperson, SP Adetoun Ejire-Adeyemi, said the command received a distress call around 2:30 am on Wednesday and promptly dispatched officers to the scene.

She said the police team that went to the culprit couldn’t find him, as he and the entire extended family in the family compound had fled to an unknown destination.

The Guardian Newspaper reliably learnt that Gafar and Usman, from Ile Olowo in the same area, were close friends in the neighbourhood of Oja Gboro.

According to an eyewitness, the deceased and his alleged killer started the argument over a woman in the Oja Gboro at a sugarcane vendor stand.

A police source (names withheld) later informed that the light argument later degenerated to a violent confrontation with Gafar, allegedly stabbing Tunde in the chest with a knife.

“We heard that they were arguing over a girlfriend they were both interested in, and that before the passers-by could stop them, Gafar had allegedly brought out a knife and stabbed and killed his friend,” the police source added.

Meanwhile, the victim, a resident of Ile-Soro 2, in Oja Gboro, Ilorin, was immediately rushed to a nearby hospital, from where he was referred to the General Hospital, Ilorin, where he was confirmed dead on arrival.

Metro

Nigerian Military Kills 50 Jihadists During Army Base Raids

Published

1 day ago

October 23, 2025

Editor

Nigeria’s military said on Thursday it had killed 50 armed insurgents using drones to carry out multiple attacks on army bases in the volatile northeast.

The authorities in Africa’s most populous country and one of its powerhouses have been fighting the Boko Haram jihadist group and its Islamic State West Africa Province (ISWAP) splinter for 16 years.

The groups are seeking to establish a caliphate in the northeast.

In the early hours of Thursday, troops aided by fighter jets engaged insurgents who had launched coordinated attacks on bases in the towns of Dikwa, Mafa, and Gajibo in Borno state, as well as in Katarko in neighbouring Yobe state, a military spokesman said in a statement.

The military did not say which faction was behind the attacks, but intelligence sources told AFP that ISWAP militants were responsible.
“The combined ground and air efforts resulted in the neutralisation of over 50 terrorists across all the locations,” Lieutenant Colonel Sani Uba, said in the statement.

Ground and aerial pursuits were still ongoing to track down “over 70 of the wounded” insurgents, Uba said.

Soldiers seized dozens of kalashnikovs, machine guns and rocket-propelled grenades (RPGs) from the militants, he said.

In a post on X, the army shared pictures showing soldiers standing over a row of several dead bodies said to be of jihadist fighters and their weapons at one of the targeted military bases.

Uba said several soldiers were wounded in the fighting, without giving numbers.

“Some vehicles and buildings were also gutted by fire from the terrorists’ armed drones and RPG fire during the battle, especially in Mafa and Dikwa, where a part of the defences were momentarily breached,” he said.

Armed insurgents are increasingly using drones, often commercial models modified to drop bombs or grenades.

A resident in Mafa showed AFP videos and pictures from the area showing the charred carcasses of several trucks and said the militants had set them ablaze during the attack.

Mafa locals said the trucks were mostly laden with cement heading to Chad, whose drivers had parked for the night for fear of militant attacks on the highway.

The conflict has killed more than 40,000 and displaced around two million people in northeastern Nigeria.

It has spilled over into neighbouring countries, prompting the creation of a regional military coalition to combat the Islamist groups.

Earlier this month, at least 14 soldiers were killed in two attacks in Borno state blamed on insurgents — one at an army base, the other when a military convoy was ambushed.

Since 2019, soldiers have shut down some smaller army bases and moved into larger, fortified garrisons known as “super camps” in an attempt to better resist militant attacks.

Metro

Nnamdi Kanu Protest: Court Fixes Oct 29 To Hear Police Suit Against Sowore, Others

Published

1 day ago

October 23, 2025

Editor

The Federal High Court in Abuja has fixed October 29 for the hearing of the suit filed by the police against Omoyele Sowore and other conveners of the #FreeNnamdiKanuNow protest held on October 20.

The suit, originally scheduled for October 20 for the respondents in the ex parte motion to show cause why the interim order made by the court should be vacated, could not proceed.

The hearing was stalled as a result of the protest, which was held on the same day, crippling the court activities at the Federal High Court in Abuja.

Justice Mohammed Umar had issued an interim order restraining Sowore and others from protesting for the release of Nnamdi Kanu in some sensitive areas in Abuja.

Justice Umar barred the protesters from demonstrating around the Aso Rock Villa, National Assembly, Force Headquarters, Court of Appeal, Eagle Square and Shehu Shagari Way, pending the hearing of the motion on notice.

The judge also made an order of abridgement of time “within which the respondents will respond to the application on notice to cause the ex-parte order be set aside on Monday, the 20th of October, 2025 at 9.00am,” before adjourning until Oct. 20 for hearing of the motion on notice.

The order followed the ex parte motion moved by the police lawyer, Wisdom Madaki, on behalf of the Federal Republic of Nigeria (FRN), on Friday.

The Police Force, in the ex parte motion, marked: FHC/ABJ/CS/2202/2025, had sued Sowore, Sahara Reporters Ltd, and Sahara Reporters’ Media Foundation as 1st to 3rd respondents.

The force also joined the Take It Back Movement, TIB, for the Transformation of Nigeria, Or Any Form of Organization or Person (s) acting with Either Express or Implied Instruction, or Any Other Organization or group with a similar intention; and Unknown Persons as the 4th to 5th respondents, respectively.

In the affidavit supporting the ex parte motion, Bassey Ibithan, a police officer attached to the Directorate of Legal Services at Force Headquarters, Abuja, averred that if not granted, the protest might threaten national security.

DAILY POST reports that Sowore had planned to organise the protest for the release of Kanu, the detained leader of the proscribed Indigenous People of Biafra, IPOB.

The 2019 and 2023 presidential candidate of African Action Congress, ACC, had mobilised for what he called a planned peaceful protest against Kanu’s detention on October 20.

A number of persons were reported to have been arrested during the protest, including Kanu’s special counsel, Aloy Ejimakor, who is billed for arraignment on October 24 at a Kuje Magistrate Court in Abuja.