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JUST IN: APC, Sylva Lose Bid To Stop Bayelsa Guber Election Petition Tribunal

Published

2 years ago

March 11, 2024

The Bayelsa State Governorship Election Petition Tribunal has dismissed a fresh motion filed by the All Progressives Congress, APC, and its governorship candidate Timipre Sylva, seeking the disqualification of members of the panel from proceeding with their petition challenging the election victory of Governor Douye Diri.

Chairman of the Tribunal, Justice Adekunle Adeleye dismissed the motion after he took arguments from counsel to Sylva, Tunde Falola, Charles Edosanwan for INEC, Chris Uche, SAN, for Governor Diri, Chukwuma Machukwu Ume, for the Deputy Governor and Tayo Oyetibo for Peoples Democratic Party PDP

Justice Adekeye, in a brief ruling, held that a letter from the President of the Court of Appeal on March 5, mandated the tribunal to proceed with the hearing of the petition, irrespective of any application by the parties.

He said the PCA’s letter has overtaken the request by the petitioners for the disbandment of the tribunal.

Sylva’s lawyer, Falola, had argued that his clients filed the fresh application against the tribunal on the ground that the two petitioners were convinced beyond reasonable doubt that they could not get justice from members of the panel.

The two petitioners further claimed the tribunal had exhibited strange circumstances that made them believe that they would be denied a fair hearing.

He then asked the tribunal to, in the interest of justice, step aside from the petition and allow other members to be constituted by the PCA to determine their petition within the little time remaining for the expiration of the hearing of the case.

Meanwhile, all the Respondents, through their respective lawyers, opposed the request for the panel members to recuse themselves.

They argued that the application was an attempt to prevent the respondents from presenting their defence against the petition.

They stated that the motion by APC and Sylva was a calculated attempt to blackmail the tribunal members to do their bidding.

The four respondents claimed that the petitioners closed their case, even when the time allocated to them had not expired, hence, there was no basis for the allegation of denial of fair hearing to them.

Besides, the respondents also stated that APC and Sylva were part of the pre-hearing session and fully subscribed to the schedule of time as agreed upon by all the parties.

The tribunal has fixed March 13 and 14 for INEC, being the 1st respondent, to open and close its defence.

News

Bandits Abduct Kebbi Deputy Speaker

Published

8 hours ago

November 1, 2025

Editor

The Deputy Speaker of the Kebbi State House of Assembly, Samaila Bambu, has reportedly been abducted by bandits suspected to be Lakurawa terrorists.

According to a resident familiar with the incident, Bambu was abducted on Friday evening in his hometown, Bagudo, in Bagudu Local Government Area of the state.

Confirming the incident, the Chief Press Secretary to the Governor, Ahmed Idris, said he had just received the information when contacted by The PUNCH.

News

JAMB Flags 2,658 Admissions As Illegal

Published

8 hours ago

November 1, 2025

Editor

The Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board has flagged a total of 2,658 admissions conducted during the 2024/2025 academic session as illegal.

The illegal admissions were flagged from a total of 17 universities, polytechnics, and colleges of education, according to a breakdown of institutional analysis conducted by the board, which was obtained by our correspondent on Friday in Abuja.

This is as public universities ended the admission processes for the 2025/2026 academic session on Friday.

According to the data, the affected institutions with illegal admissions are: Abubakar Tafawa Balewa University (1,847); Osun State University (492); Abubakar Tafari Ali Polytechnic (148); Federal College of Animal and Health Production (66); University of Calabar (28); College of Education, Oro (12); Michael and Cecilia Ibru University (12); Redeemer’s University (five); Pan-Atlantic University (five); Nigerian Army College of Education (two); Kwara State Polytechnic (one); and Best Solution Polytechnic (one), among others.

JAMB categorises admissions conducted outside its Central Admissions Processing System, popularly known as CAPS, as illegal.

Over the years, the board has issued directives to institutions and candidates on the dangers of issuing and accepting admissions outside CAPS.

During the 2025 policy meeting organised by the board, the Minister of Education, Dr Tunji Alausa, warned that severe sanctions, including withdrawal of assets and punishment of officials, would be meted out to institutions involved in illegal admission racketeering.

CAPS, introduced in 2017, is being implemented to ensure transparency, fairness, and merit-based admissions, according to JAMB.

Candidates can track admission offers, accept or reject admissions, and verify their statuses.

Students who accept admissions outside CAPS risk ineligibility for the mandatory National Youth Service Scheme.

News

Gombe Wins Northeast Quiz Competition On Legislature, Democracy

Published

1 day ago

October 31, 2025

Editor

Gombe State has emerged as the winner at the 2025 North East Zonal Quiz Competition on legislature and democracy organised by the National Institute for Legislative and Democratic Studies (NILDS) for senior secondary schools across Northeast on Friday.

Speaking before the commencement of the 2025 edition of the zonal debate which focuses on the legislature, democracy and governance, the Director-General of NILDS, Prof. Abubakar Sulaiman, said the exercise was to deepen the knowledge of legislative and democratic governance among secondary school students and youth.

According to him, it was also to broaden their knowledge on the history, practice and procedure of the legislature and encourage deeper understanding of civic and democratic governance.

The competition, he added, would stimulate the interest of the young students in politics and make them more proactive in matters relating to the legislature and democracy.

He explained that enhancing the knowledge of young Nigerians in the legislature would not only foster an inclusive and participatory legislature in Nigeria but would also serve as an avenue for citizen engagement in the legislative process.

Represented by Mr Jeremiah Agada, NILDS Northeast Zonal Quiz Coordinator, Sulaiman added that the quiz competition would take place in all the six geo-political zones and the Federal Capital Territory (FCT).

“It is also to inspire young Nigerians to cultivate the interest to participate in legislative governance.

“This 10th edition of the competition is therefore the fourth time the competition has been held at the national level.

“As the 2025 NILDS Zonal quiz competition is declared open, I therefore urge all competing students and their teachers to abide by the rules of the game so that the desired objectives of the competition are achieved,” he said.

Also speaking, the Bauchi State’s Commissioner for Education, Dr Muhammed Lawal, said the exercise was a welcome development in the circle of education, adding that it was a ground where students in the zone could be tested among other students in the country.

“This will enable us to improve the quality of our delivery in our various schools to our teeming students across the zone.

“I want them to take it upon themselves that in an engagement like this, there is no loser. You put in your best, and if at the end of the day, you don’t make it up to the top, your efforts will be crowned.

“I hope this will be well covered because it will stimulate other schools to be part of and perform better so that they can come up to this level as well,” he said.

Mohammed appreciated the commitment of teachers and moderators who coached the students to fully participate in the competition and reaffirmed the government’s commitment to revamping the education sector under Gov. Bala Mohammad’s leadership.

Announcing the winner of the competition, the Quiz Master Mr. Lucky Tongs, announced Gombe State as the overall winner of the debate with 75 points

He also announced Taraba State as the first runner up with 55 points and Yobe State as the third position with 50 points, adding that the winner is expected to represent the Northeast sub-region at the National competition in Abuja.

Other states that participated in the competition included Adamawa and Bauchi.