Politics

BREAKING: Court Orders Service Of Petitions On Tinubu Through APC

Published

3 years ago

March 24, 2023

The Presidential Election Petition Court, PEPC, sitting in Abuja, on Friday, ordered that the President-elect, Bola Tinubu, should be served with copies of petitions seeking to nullify his election, through substituted means.

A three-man panel of the court led by Justice Joseph Ikyegh, directed that the petitions should be served on Tinubu, through his political party, the All Progressives Congress, APC.

The ruling followed separate ex-parte applications that were brought before the court by the candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, Atiku Abubakar and his counterpart in the Labour Party, Peter Obi.

The duo accused the President-elect Tinubu, of deliberately avoiding the service of their petitions on him.

They told the court that several attempts they made to effect service of the petitions on Tinubu, proved abortive.

According to the petitioners, the President-elect deliberately made himself elusive with a view to frustrating their effort to hand him copies of the petition as required by the law.

Consequently, relying on Section 6(6a) and 36(1) of the 1999 Constitution, as amended, Section 15 of the Court of Appeal Act, as well as Paragraph 8 of the First Schedule of the Electoral Act 2022, the petitioners sought the intervention of the Court.

Both Atiku and Obi further supported their ex-parte motions dated March 23, with affidavits of urgency and non-service, even as they persuaded the court to hear the applications, outside the pre-hearing session of their substantive petitions.

While Atiku’s application was moved on Friday by his legal team led by Mr Eyitayo Jegede, SAN, that of Obi and LP was moved by Mr. Ikechukwu Ezechukwu, SAN.

“Having heard the applications by counsel to the petitioners including the affidavit in support, the applications are hereby granted”, the Justice Ikyegh-led panel ruled.

The panel equally granted leave to the Allied Peoples Movement, APM, to also serve its own petition on Tinubu, via substituted means.

It will be recalled that the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, had on March 1, declared Tinubu of the ruling All Progressives Congress, APC, as the winner of the presidential poll, ahead of 17 other candidates that contested the election.

According to INEC, Tinubu, scored a total of 8,794,726 votes to defeat Atiku who polled a total of 6,984,520 votes and Obi of the LP who came third with a total of 6,101,533 votes.

However, both Atiku and Obi rejected the outcome of the election which they insisted was rigged in Tinubu’s favour.

Aside from accusing INEC of acting in breach of its own electoral Regulations and Guidelines, the petitioners equally argued that Tinubu was not legally qualified to participate in the presidential contest.

More so, they argued that he did not garner the highest number of lawful votes cast at the election, adding that votes credited to the APC candidate amounted to wasted votes by reason of corrupt practices that marred the election.

Atiku further alleged that the electoral body deployed a third-party device he said was used to intercept and divert votes to the APC and its candidate.

While both Obi and Atiku separately claimed that they won the election, they asked the court to either declare them winners or in the alternative, order a fresh election.

Both petitioners urged the court to compel INEC to withdraw the Certificate of Return it earlier issued to Tinubu of the APC.

The court had earlier ordered INEC to grant Tinubu, who is currently out of the country, access to all the electoral materials it used for the presidential poll, to enable him to prepare to defend his election victory.

Politics

PDP Crisis: INEC Rejects Turaki-led NWC

Published

5 days ago

December 23, 2025

Editor

The Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, has said it will not recognise the Kabiru Turaki-led National Working Committee, NWC, of the Peoples Democratic Party, citing existing court judgments and unresolved legal processes.

This was as contained in a letter dated December 22, 2025, signed by INEC Secretary, Dr Rose Oriaran-Anthony.

The Commission stated that it could not act on demands to acknowledge or upload on its website the list of national officers said to have been elected at the National Convention held on November 15 and 16, 2025, in Ibadan.

According to INEC, its position was guided by subsisting court decisions and pending litigation relating to the leadership crisis within the PDP.

The electoral body further noted that it would be improper to recognise any factional officers while the matter remains before the courts.

Politics

Govt That Fails To Protect Its Citizens Has No Business Remaining In Office – Kwankwaso

Published

5 days ago

December 23, 2025

Editor

Senator Rabiu Musa Kwankwaso, leader of the Kwankwasiyya Movement and 2023 presidential candidate of the New Nigeria Peoples Party (NNPP), has accused the Federal Government under President Bola Ahmed Tinubu of lacking the political will to tackle Nigeria’s worsening insecurity.

Kwankwaso spoke on Tuesday in Kano while unveiling 2,000 operatives of the Kano State Neighbourhood Security Network.

He urged President Tinubu to “rise to the occasion and truly act as the Commander-in-Chief” in addressing banditry and other security challenges.

According to him, Nigeria’s military “remains one of the most gallant in the world,” having served in international peacekeeping missions in Darfur, Liberia, and other conflict zones.

However, he said the armed forces are not being adequately supported to perform optimally.

“Today, many innocent Nigerians are being killed, while the perpetrators walk freely as if nothing happened. The government must apologise to Nigerians for its laxity in the fight against insecurity,” he said.

Kwankwaso, who once served as Minister of Defence, added: “When I was Defence Minister, I knew the capability of the Nigerian military. They are courageous and professional but need clear direction, support, and political will to do the needful.”

He stressed that Nigeria’s armed forces had historically ranked among the best globally and urged the government to equip them properly to change the current security situation.

Kwankwaso also said that if elected president in 2027, he would recruit over one million additional military personnel to strengthen national security.

“Any government that fails to protect the lives and property of its citizens has failed woefully and has no business remaining in office,” he declared.

He further called on the Federal Government to integrate community-based security initiatives, like the Kano Neighbourhood Security Network, into the national security system to boost morale and improve intelligence-driven operations against criminals.

Politics

ADC Announces Temporary Closure Of Secretariat

Published

5 days ago

December 23, 2025

Editor

The African Democratic Congress, ADC , says it has temporarily closed its National Secretariat as part of the end-of-year break.

A statement by its National Publicity Secretary, Bolaji Abdullahi, said full operations are scheduled to resume in the New Year.

According to the statement, the secretariat will close on December 23, 2025, and reopen on January 5, 2026.

The party, however, said essential skeletal services will remain available throughout the period, while all other official activities at the National Secretariat will be suspended to allow staff and party officials observe the Christmas and New Year holidays.

“This is to inform the public that the African Democratic Congress National Secretariat will close for the year on 23rd December 2025 and will resume full operations on 5th January 2026.

“During this period, only skeletal services will be available, while all other official activities at the Secretariat will be temporarily suspended,” the statement said.

The party thanked its members, partners and supporters for their continued loyalty and cooperation throughout the year, noting that their support remains critical to the growth and stability of the party.

The ADC also said it is committed to its ideals and to democratic engagement as it prepares for activities in the coming year.