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Ilaje People Ask Court To Stop Buhari From Inaugurating NDDC Board

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Stakeholders in the Ilaje Local Government Area of Ondo State have asked the Federal High Court (FHC) to stop President Muhammadu Buhari from inaugurating the Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC) Board.

The plaintiffs want the inauguration put on hold pending the hearing and determination of the suit.

They are led by ex-Clerk of the National Assembly and Chairman, Board of Trustees of Ugboland Development Congress, Asiwaju Oluyemi Ogunyomi.

Others are Mr. Adebowale Karaki, Dr. Mann Ali, a Trustee and Secretary of Ugboland Development Congress, respectively.

The rest include the Incorporated Trustees of Ilaje Advancement Forum, Messrs Idowu Mafimisebi, Olaniran Obele and Ige Asemudara, all lawyers representing Ilaje Lawyers Forum.

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In the suit filed on January 3 at the FHC Abuja by Ebun-Olu Adegboruwa (SAN), the litigants are seeking an order restraining the President from swearing in Charles Ogunmola as Executive Director of Projects.

They insist Ogunmola is from Owo in the Northern axis of Ondo and not an indigene of the oil-producing area.

Other defendants in the suit are the National Assembly, the Senate, the Attorney-General of the Federation and Ogunmola.

READ ALSO: CSOs Sue NDDC Over 2020 Budget Breakdown

No date has been fixed for the hearing of the suit served upon the President and the Attorney-General, Abubakar Malami (SAN).

Last month, the Niger Delta Development Front (NDDF) condemned the opposition to Buhari’s nomination of Ogunmola.

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The Senate confirmed Ogunmola, presidential aide Lauretta Onochie and other NDDC board nominees on December 20.

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I Was Tied For Three Days, Abducted Lagos Editor Recounts Ordeal

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The abducted Editor of FirstNews Newspaper, Segun Olatunji, on Thursday, recounted his ordeal at the hands of the military personnel who abducted him from his Lagos home.

Military authorities had earlier on Thursday, yielded to pressure and released Olatunji, who was abducted from his home in Lagos State on Friday, March 15, 2024.

The PUNCH confirmed that he was released to some media stakeholders, including Yomi Odunuga of The Nation newspaper and Iyobosa Uwugiaren of Thisday Newspaper in Abuja after sustained pressure from the media.

They were asked to guarantee that they would make Olatunji available if needed again.

The International Press Institute, the Nigeria Guild of Editors, and Olatunji’s employers had in separate statements faulted his incarceration, asking authorities to either release the editor or charge him to court.

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READ ALSO: INEC Disowns LP’s National Convention

Narrating his ordeal after his release at a press briefing organised by the leaderships of the Nigerian Guild of Editors, Nigeria Union of Journalists and IPI in Abuja, Olatunji said he was blindfolded and flown to the Federal Capital Territory where he was moved to a cell in handcuffs and leg chains for almost three days.

He said, “Someone came claiming to be from the military. He identified himself as Colonel Lawal. Immediately, he seized my phones.

“I went to the room to dress up. By the time I got downstairs, I saw soldiers inside the compound taking positions. Outside the gate, I saw about three vehicles with Air Force personnel, Army, Defence Intelligence Agency, and others all fully armed.

READ ALSO:Israel Bombs Gaza, Fights Hamas Around Hospitals

“I was handcuffed and taken straight to the office of the National Air Defence Corps where we waited for three hours. I did not know that they were waiting for an aircraft to pick me up to Abuja.

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“When the aircraft landed, I was blindfolded and moved to the aircraft, and we landed in Abuja shortly. I was leg cuffed also. They removed my clothes and I was left with my boxers. I was taken to Cell 9.

“There, I was left with leg and handcuffs. And at a point, one of the officers came and tightened the right leg and the right hand, and I was there groaning in pain. They did not loosen it until about two or three days after.

“Up till now, I could still feel the pains in my hands and legs.”

READ ALSO: Man Stabs Four To Death In US

Olatunji said those behind his ordeal were close to the government based on the questions he was asked.

He added, “They were asking me questions about certain stories that FirstNews had published.

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“They first told me that I was one of those abusing the Chief of Defence Intelligence (Major General Emmanuel Undiandeye). They did not say much about that.”

He said they also asked him about a story FirstNews had published about the Chief of Staff to President Bola Tinubu (Mr Femi Gbajabiamila), which he described as a “major thing”.

“That is why I told some people earlier that those behind my arrest are people in the corridors of power who are not happy with FirstNews is doing and are bent on taking their own pound of flesh,” he added.

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JUST IN: Secondus, Sekibo, Others Declare Support For Tinubu, Fubara

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A former National Chairman of the Peoples Democratic Party, Uche Secondus; and members of the Presidential Campaign Council of the party for the 2023 general elections in Rivers State have declared loyalty and support for President Bola Tinubu and the state governor, Siminalayi Fubara.

A former Minister of Transportation and the Director-General, PDP-PCC Rivers State, Dr. Abiye Sekibo, made the declaration during a news briefing in Port Harcourt on Thursday.

READ ALSO: VIDEO: Nigerian Lady Set To Drive From London To Lagos

Present at the briefing were Secondus; former Deputy Speaker, House of Representatives, Austin Opara; Celestine Omehia, former deputy governor of the state, Tele Ikuru; Senator Lee Maeba; and former Secretary to the Rivers State Government, Dr. Gabriel Pidomson. among others.

The council supported the PDP presidential candidate in 2023, Atiku Abubakar, in the last elections.

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Details later…

 

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INEC To Publish Edo Gov Candidates’ Credentials Saturday

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Ahead of the September 21, 2024, Edo State governorship election, the Independent National Electoral Commission has said it would publish the particulars of 17 governorship candidates and their running mates on March 30, 2024.

The personal particulars of the candidates would be published by displaying copies of Form EC9 along with all academic credentials and other documents submitted by each candidate at the state headquarters and the 18 local government offices across Edo State.

INEC’s National Commissioner and Chairman, Information and Voter Education Committee, Sam Olumekun, disclosed this on Wednesday.

READ ALSO: [JUST IN] Okuama Killings: Army Declares Eight Persons Wanted [FULL LIST]

Olumekun said, “Following the conclusion of party primaries, 17 political parties have uploaded their candidates’ nomination forms for the Edo State Governorship Election by the deadline of 6 pm on 24th March 2024 when the dedicated portal automatically shut down.

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“The personal particulars of the governorship candidates and their running mates will be published on Saturday 30th March 2024, a week from the last date for the submission of nominations as provided in Section 29(3) of the Electoral Act 2022.

“The commission shall publish the personal particulars by displaying copies of Form EC9 along with all academic credentials and other documents submitted by each candidate at the state headquarters and the 18 local government offices across Edo State.”

READ ALSO: Man Slumps, Dies During Fight In Kwara

The commission appealed to Nigerians to scrutinise the document (particulars of the candidates) when published.

“We appeal to Nigerians to scrutinise the documents. Any aspirant who participated in his/her party primaries with reasonable grounds to believe that the information provided by the candidate is false can challenge the nomination in a Federal High Court as provided in Section 29(5) of the Electoral Act 2022,” the National Commissioner said.

The INEC Chairman, Prof Mahmood Yakubu, had last week expressed the frustration of the electoral body over the rancorous primary elections in various political parties ahead of the September 21, 2024 governorship election in Edo State.

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Yakubu, who spoke in Abuja at the first regular quarterly consultative meeting with political parties, said INEC found the infighting within political parties disruptive of its activities, adding that INEC also wastes funds to defend litigation arising from controversial primaries.

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