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Edo Guber: Imansuangbon Drags Akpata To Appeal Court Over LP’s Nomination

Published

1 year ago

August 4, 2024

Dissatisfied with the judgements of a Benin High Court and Federal High Court Abuja respectively, Barr. Kenneth Imansuangbon, former governorship aspirant of the Labour Party (LP) has dragged the gubernatorial candidate of the party in the Edo election, Barr. Olumide Akpata, to the Court of Appeal.

Also joined in the suit before the Appellate Court is the Independent National Electoral Commission(INEC).

Recall that Justice Babatunde Quadri of the High Court in Benin and Justice Obiora Egwuatu of the Federal High Court Abuja had dismissed Imansuangbon’s applications on the 15th and 22nd July, 2024 respectively.

Justice Quadri declared in his ruling that Imansuangbon’s lawsuit was premature and without substantial evidence to support its claims.

The Court, therefore, upheld Olumide Akpata’s position as the LP’s gubernatorial candidate for the upcoming election.

But in a notice before the Appellate Court Abuja with suit no:
suit no FHC/ABJ/CS/472/2024, Imansuangbon stated that “the learned trial judge erred in law and arrived at a perverse decision occasioning a miscarriage of justice to the plaintiff/appellant when he dismissed the plaintiff/appellant’s suit on the strength of the 1st defendant/respondent’s contention in his preliminary objection at the lower court.

“That the suit was statue barred, without considering Section 285(13A) of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, 1999(fifth alteration) act, (No. 10), 2023, to which the attention of the lower court was drawn at the hearing of the suit.”

Particulars of the ground being that “the learned trial judge found as a fact in his decision that the letter forwarding the personal particulars of the 1st and 2nd defendants/respondents as in INEC Form EC9 to 4th defendant/respondent(the Independent National Electoral Commission) was received by the 4th defendant/respondent on the 24th of March, 2024.”

Also, that “the learned trial judge further found as a fact that the commencement date of computation thereof, of time allowed for filling of pre-election matters in the circumstance, was the 24th of March, 2024.

“A simple arithmetical computation of the 14 days provided for under the law, from the date of submission of the said INEC Form EC9 of the 1st and 2nd defendants/respondents(that’s 24th of March, 2024), to the 12th of April, 2024, when the plaintiff/appellant filed his suit, reveals a total number of 18 days in between.”

Imansuangbon is seeking for an order allowing the appeal; an order setting aside the decision of the lower court; an order directing the 3rd defendant/respondent to immediately issue certificate of return to the plaintiff/appellant as winner of the primary election organized on Friday, 23rd February, 2024.

Also challenging the ruling by the Federal High Court, Benin in the notice of appeal with suit no. FHC/ABJ/CS/472/2024, Imansuangbon set his appeal on nine grounds which include that “the learned trial judge erred in law when he failed, refused and or neglected to consider, pronounce upon, decide, one way or the other, the 1st defendant’s motion/application for extension of time to file his responsive processes to the originating summons which the plaintiff/appellant ferociously or vehemently opposed on the strength of the constitutional provision prohibiting extension of time in election related cases and thereby breached the plaintiff/appellant’s right to fair hearing.”

Imansuangbon on ground two, stated that “the learned trial judge erred in law and thus occasioned a miscarriage of justice on the plaintiff/appellant.”

On the third ground he asserted that the trial judge misdirected himself when he held that “the plaintiff has argued that since every pre-election matter must be filled not later than 14 days from the date of the occurrence of the event, decision or action complained of in the suit that an aggrieved aspirant need not wait to exhaust the internal dispute resolution mechanism of the second defendant.”

Reliefs that Imansuangbon sought include an “order allowing the appeal; an order setting aside the decision of the lower court; an order striking out all the processes filed by the 1st defendant at the trial court; an order directing the 2nd defendant to immediately issue a certificate of return to the plaintiff as the winner of the primary election organized on Friday, 23rd February, 2024 and an order directing, commanding or otherwise mandating the 2nd defendant to submit, forward or otherwise transmit the plaintiff’s name to the 3rd defendant as winner of the primary election.”

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Sanwo-Olu makes U-turn, Unblocks Lawyer Who Sued Him Over Blocking On X

Published

3 hours ago

September 13, 2025

Editor

Lagos State Governor, Babajide Sanwo-Olu, has unblocked human rights lawyer, Festus Ogun, on X after a meeting with him at Lagos House, Marina, on Friday.

The lawyer, who had accused the governor of rights violations, announced the development in a post on his X account on Saturday.

According to him, Sanwo-Olu personally invited him for a brief meeting to address his complaints.

“Lagos Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu has unblocked me on X (Twitter). I met briefly with him yesterday at Lagos House Marina, on his invitation, to amicably resolve my complaint of human rights violations. We will continue to hold authorities accountable, regardless. Aluta continua!” Ogun wrote.

Tribune Online reports that Ogun had earlier filed a suit against Sanwo-Olu at a Federal High Court in Lagos, accusing him of violating his fundamental rights by blocking him on his verified X account.

In the suit marked FHC/L/CS/1739/25, which he shared on Facebook, the lawyer claimed the governor blocked him over his 2021 “constructive criticisms” and “demand for accountability” on the October 2020 #EndSARS killings.

“In 2021, I noticed that the Governor blocked me on his official X handle @jidesanwoolu owing to my constructive criticisms of his policies and demand for accountability in respect of the October 2020 #EndSARS Massacre.”

Ogun said the action has prevented him from accessing vital government updates and information.

“Blocking me on X has prevented me from accessing public updates and receiving information about policies and governance in Lagos, which constitutes a violation of my right to receive information without interference,” he said.

In his originating summons, he asked the court to declare the move unconstitutional, arbitrary, and discriminatory.

News

Tragedy Deepens As Prime Suspect in Taraba Student’s Death Found Dead

Published

3 hours ago

September 13, 2025

Editor

The investigation into the death of Comfort Jimtop, a 100-level Mass Communication student at Taraba State University, has taken a dramatic turn following the discovery of the lifeless body of Emmanuel Kefas, the prime suspect in the case.

Kefas’s body was discovered on Friday in the Tudiri community, Ardo-Kola Local Government Area, under unclear circumstances, intensifying public concern and adding a tragic dimension to a case that has already gripped the university community and residents across Taraba State.

Confirming the development on Saturday, the spokesperson for the Taraba State Police Command, James Lashen, said the police received a report from the village head of Tudiri about the discovery.

“A lifeless body was found in Tudiri, and a Tecno Android phone was recovered beside it,” Lashen stated.

“Upon charging the phone, investigators found a photograph showing the deceased with the late Comfort Jimtop, suggesting they were in a romantic relationship.”

Lashen added that the body has been taken to the Federal Medical Centre (FMC) in Jalingo for autopsy. At the same time, efforts are ongoing to officially identify the remains through the suspect’s family.

Police have yet to determine whether Kefas’s death was the result of suicide, homicide, or an accident. Investigations into both deaths are continuing.

Comfort Jimtop’s mysterious death had earlier sparked outrage on campus and across the state, with students and rights groups demanding justice. Kefas was named a prime suspect in the case, which remains open.

This latest development has left many unanswered questions and deepened the grief surrounding the case.

Students, residents, and civil society groups are closely monitoring the situation, calling on authorities to ensure a thorough investigation and bring clarity to the tragic chain of events.

News

Ossiomo, Chinese Impasse: This Is Our Story — Management

Published

5 hours ago

September 13, 2025

Editor

The management of Ossiomo Power Plant has cleared the air on the dispute between its Chinese partners and the circumstances surrounding the shutting down of the power plant early this month.

Representative of Ossiomo management, Engineer Festus Evbuomwan, during an interactive session with customers on the impasse between the two partners, said contrary to the rumour making the rounds, the management of Ossiomo Power Plant had paid over ₦2bn to its Chinese partner — Jiangsu Communication Clean Energy Technology (CCETC) — since the power plant started operation.

Recall that representative of CCETC who identified himself as Mr. ‘W’ had, during a telephone phone interview two weeks ago, claimed that “instruction to shutdown was because we lost lots of money and did not get any return on investment,” adding that “all the $20m investment was done by us including the distribution lines.”

But Evbuomwan during the interactive session, said the management was not aware of the $20m investment the Chinese partner claimed, just as he disclosed that “when they generate power, we sell and pay them.”

He disclosed that after shutting down the power plant, the Chinese partners came up with a request of ₦185m to be paid to two Chinese not known to the management, stressing that this was declined.

According to him, the Chinese partner, having seen how lucrative the business is, “went to some quarters and raised some issues probably thinking they can manoeuvre us with the help of some big persons, so that they can use their machines to generate power and sideline us but this is not possible.”

“The Chinese partners also claimed that they borrowed $20m from their native land to invest, we are not aware of such investment, and we do not know where the money was invested up till now.

“They have been also saying they have not been receiving anything, but I want to tell you unequivocally that first, the partners run a joint account where their investment is going into. More so, The Chinese partners have received over ₦2bn so far for the power they generate with their machines. When they generate the power, we sell and pay them.”

Engr. Evbuomwan, while apologising to customers for the power outage caused by the dispute between the two partners, said Ossiomo had started power generation though not in full capacity, assuring that power generation would be fully restored soon.

“We have purchased turbines, and one have started working. They are working on the second one, so, by the time our five turbines start working we will be in full capacity. Even with that, those connected to the government may not be reached immediately. This is because the government bought the poles and contracted the wiring, and we cannot force the government to do our bid. Also, we are making efforts to site 33kva transformer along Airport Road and Lagos Road as soon as possible, so that our customers there will get power.”

He said the Edo State government does not have a stake in the company, just as he appealed to the “government to let us supply power to customers in through their Lines. I want to emphasise that Ossiomo is not completely shut down.”

He further urged the “government to encourage the Nigerian citizens to invest and not to work against local investors.”