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Presidential Poll: Tinubu, APC Kick As Court Admits EU’s Report In Evidence

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Despite objections by President Bola Tinubu and the All Progressives Congress, APC, the Presidential Election Petition Court, PEPC, sitting in Abuja, on Monday, admitted in evidence, the final report of the European Union, EU, Observation Mission, which impugned the outcome of the 2023 general elections.

The report was tendered before the court by candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, Alhaji Atiku Abubakar, who alleged that the presidential election that held on February 25, was manipulated to favour President Tinubu and the ruling APC.

In a joint petition he filed alongside his party, Atiku, alleged that the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, installed a third-party device that intercepted and allocated votes to Tinubu.

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Even though INEC had in its reply to the petition, denied the allegation, however, at the resumed proceedings of the court on Monday, the Deputy Director of ICT at the Commission, Mr. Lawrence Bayode, mounted the witness box to defend the outcome of the presidential poll.

Bayode, in a bid to puncture Atiku’s claim that Tinubu’s running mate was nominated for two elective positions, produced four documentary exhibits, among which included a letter dated July 6, 2022, which the Vice President, Kashim Shettima, wrote to INEC to notify it of his decision to withdraw as candidate of the APC for the Borno Central Senatorial election.

Led in evidence by INEC’s lead counsel, Mr. Abubakar Mahmoud, SAN, the witness, tendered the letter and its accompanying certification, which was admitted in evidence and marked as Exhibits RA-1 and RA-2.

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While being cross-examined by President Tinubu’s lead counsel, Chief Wole Olanipekun, SAN, the witness, maintained that the presidential election was “free, fair, credible and conducted in substantial compliance with the Electoral Act.”

“Recordings on INEC’s Form EC8A (polling unit results) forms basis for any election result and data or internet is required for Form EC8A captured by the BVAS machines to be uploaded,” the witness added.

He told the court that images captured by the BVAS, whether transmitted manually or electronically, would not affect the integrity of an election.

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READ ALSO: State Of The Nation: Those Commending Tinubu Are Hypocrites – Cleric

In practical terms, election is completed at the polling unit level when the officer conducts, announces results and record the result on the Form EC8A,” Bayode told the court. Also answering questions from APC’s lawyer, Prince Lateef Fagbemi, SAN, the witness admitted that though the electoral body experienced a technical glitch on the day the presidential poll held, he, however, insisted that it did not affect the actual scores of all the presidential candidates, which he said remained intact.

He further told the court that results of the presidential election was not electronically collated, saying it was done manually.

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“INEC does not have an electronic collation system,” he stated, adding that Chairman of the Commission, Prof. Mahmoud Yakubu had two days before the presidential poll was held, announced that electronic transmission of results of the election would not be feasible.

Fagbemi, SAN, tendered a copy of Tribune Newspaper of February 23, 2023, where the INEC Chairman was reported to have waved aside the possibility of real-time transmission of results of the presidential election.

Though Atiku’s lawyer, Uche, SAN, opposed the admissibility of the page containing the said news item from the INEC boss, he urged the court to admit the front page of the newspaper with a banner headline that read: “Atiku, a man whose time has come.”

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The certified copy of the Newspaper was subsequently admitted in evidence and marked as Exhibit RA-5.

When it was his turn to cross-examine the witness, Atiku’s lawyer, Uche, SAN, asked him to confirm before the court, if the EU Observation Mission was accredited by INEC to monitor the 2023 general elections.

After the witness told the court that the EU team was duly accredited to monitor the elections, he was asked if he was aware that EU released its final report on the 2023 general elections.

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The INEC’s witness told the court that though he was aware of that EU recently released a report on the elections, he said he had not seen it.

When he was shown a certified copy of the report and asked to read from a portion of it, both President and the APC, through their respective lawyers, raised objections.

However, notwithstanding the objections, the panel admitted the report in evidence and marked it as Exhibit RA-6.

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READ ALSO: JUST IN: Tinubu Renames Benin Airport, Others After Buhari, Awolowo, Others [See Full List]

Following a request by counsel to the Petitioners, the witness, read in the open court, a paragraph in the report, where EU stated that the 2023 election was not “a transparent and inclusive election” as promised by the INEC.

He also read a portion in the report that stated that “only 31% of results uploaded in I-REV was formally or mathematically correct.”

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The witness, however, maintained that technological innovations that INEC introduced into the electoral process was to guarantee transparency and integrity of the results.

He admitted that both the National Assembly and the Presidential election were conducted on the same day and with the same BVAS machines.

The witness told the court that it was wrong for the Petitioners to claim that because of system failure, all the results of the presidential election were not electronically transmitted.

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“Some of the results were uploaded on the IReV portal on the day of the presidential election, but not all of them.”

“As of March 1 when a winner was declared, not all of the results were uploaded to the IReV portal,” the witness added.

Asked if INEC filed any formal complaint to Amazon Web Services, AWS, over glitches experienced during the presidential election, the witness, said: “We did not need to file a report to Amazon over the technical glitch and we did not need to do that.

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“I supervised the configuration of the system that was used for the election.

Asked if the system INEC deployed for the presidential election, had in-built mechanism for distinguishing between the Presidential and NASS election, the witness answered in the negative.

There is no human interference. The system is configured in a way that you click a button to upload result of particular election,” he told the court.

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Shortly after the witness was discharged from the box, INEC’s lawyer, Mahmoud, SAN, told the court that his client would not call any other witness in the matter.

Consequently, counsel to President Tinubu and Vice-President Shettima, Chief Olanipekun, SAN, announced that his clients would open their own defence on Tuesday.

It will be recalled that Atiku, who came second in the presidential contest, closed his case after he called a total of 27 out of 100 witnesses he scheduled to testify in the matter.

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READ ALSO: JUST IN: President of Guinea-Bissau Meets Tinubu In Lagos

He is among other things, praying the court to withdraw the Certificate of Return that was issued to President Tinubu by INEC.

Atiku and his party contended that President Tinubu “demonstrated inconsistency as to his actual date of birth, secondary schools he attended (Government College Ibadan); his State of origin, gender, actual name; certificates evidencing Universities attended (Chicago State University).”

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According to the petitioners, “The 2nd Respondent did not disclose to the 1st Respondent (INEC) his voluntary acquisition of the citizenship of Republic of Guinea with Guinean Passport No. D00001551, in addition to his Nigerian citizenship. The 2nd Respondent is hereby given notice to produce the original copies of his said two passports,” they added.

The petitioners equally challenged Tinubu’s eligibility to contest the presidential election, alleging that he was previously indicted and fined the sum of $460,000.00 by the United States District Court, Northern District of Illinois, Eastern Division, in Case No: 93C 4483, for an offence involving dishonesty and drug trafficking.

All the Respondents had in their replies, urged the court to dismiss the petition which they maintained was bereft of merit.

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N’Assembly committee Approves New State For S’East

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The Joint Committee of the Senate and House of Representatives on Constitution Review has approved the creation of an additional state in the South-East geo-political zone.

According to a statement by the media unit of the committee, the resolution was reached on Saturday at a two-day retreat in Lagos, where it reviewed 55 proposals for state creation across the country.

The session, chaired by the Deputy Senate President, Barau Jibrin, and co-chaired by the Deputy Speaker of the House of Representatives, Benjamin Kalu, resolved that, in the spirit of fairness and equity, the Federal Government should create another state for the region.

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Kalu, who joined other lawmakers to champion additional state creation for the region, argued that a new state would give the people a sense of belonging.

When created, the South-East will be at par with the South-South, South-West, North-Central, and North-East zones, each having six states.

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The South-East is the only geo-political zone with five states comprising Abia, Anambra, Ebonyi, Enugu, and Imo.

READ ALSO:American Pilot Kidnapped In Niger Republic – Report

The North-West comprises seven states: Kaduna, Kano, Kebbi, Katsina, Zamfara, Sokoto, and Jigawa.

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According to the statement, Senator Abdul Ningi (Bauchi Central) moved a motion for the creation of the new state, which was seconded by Ibrahim Isiaka (Ifo/Ewekoro, Ogun State) at the retreat.

“The motion received the unanimous support of committee members and was adopted,” the statement read in part

READ ALSO:Reps Move To Regulate Cryptocurrency, POS Operations

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Similarly, the committee also established a sub-committee to consider the creation of additional states and local government areas across all six geo-political zones, noting that a total of 278 proposals were submitted for review.

Speaking at the event, Jibrin urged members to rally support among their colleagues at the National Assembly and state Houses of Assembly to ensure the resolutions sail through during voting.

We need to strengthen what we have started so that all parts of the country will key into this process.

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“By the time we get to the actual voting, we should already have the buy-in of all stakeholders—from both chambers and the state Houses of Assembly,” the Deputy Senate President was quoted as saying.

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PDP Unveils 13-member Screening Panel For National Convention

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According to a statement issued on October 25, 2025, by the National Convention Organising Committee (NCOC) and signed by its Chairman, Ahmadu Umaru Fintiri, who is also the Governor of Adamawa State, the screening exercise will take place on Tuesday, October 28, 2025.

The committee will be chaired by Eyitayo Jegede (SAN), a former Ondo State governorship candidate and respected legal luminary.

He will be assisted by Hon. Mohammed L.S. Diri (SAN) as Deputy Chairman, while Mr. Asue Ighodalo, Esq., will serve as Secretary. Jacob Otorkpa was named Deputy Secretary.

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READ ALSO:Jonathan’s Ex-aide Dumps PDP For APC

Other members of the committee include: Emmanuel Enoidem (SAN), Prince Olagunsoye Oyinlola, Chief Mrs. Aduke Maina, Iyom Josephine Anenih, Achike Udenwa, Haj. Maryam Inna Ciroma, HM. Felix Hassan Hyat, HM. Zainab Maina, and Chinedu Nwachukwu, who will also serve as Administrative Secretary.

The statement noted that the selection reflected the PDP’s commitment to transparency, integrity, and internal democracy in the build-up to its national convention.

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The NCOC notes and expects that the exemplary conduct and strict adherence to rules and regulations during this very crucial assignment will justify the confidence reposed by the Party in members of the Committee,” the statement read.

READ ALSO:BREAKING: PDP Dismisses Anyanwu’s Forgery Claim, Says He Signed Convention Letters

Fintiri assured party members that the screening process will be conducted with the highest standards of fairness and impartiality, underscoring the PDP’s resolve to strengthen its democratic institutions ahead of the 2027 general elections.

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“This exercise is crucial in ensuring that only credible, competent, and loyal members emerge to steer the affairs of our great party,” Fintiri stated.

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Why I Refused To Endorse El-Rufai As My Successor — Obasanjo

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Former President Olusegun Obasanjo has revealed how he turned down a suggestion to endorse former Kaduna State Governor, Malam Nasir El-Rufai, as his successor.

Speaking on Friday in Abeokuta, Ogun State, during the second edition of the annual Ajibosin Platform symposium themed “Importance of Leadership in Governance”, Obasanjo disclosed that former Minister of Aviation, Osita Chidoka, had recommended El-Rufai for the presidency, but he rejected the idea.

Chidoka, who delivered the keynote address at the event, had earlier narrated how El-Rufai introduced him to Obasanjo at the age of 34, an encounter that led to his appointment as the Corps Marshal of the Federal Road Safety Corps (FRSC).

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Addressing the audience, Obasanjo took a playful jab at Chidoka for leaving out the El-Rufai story.

“Let him tell you. He didn’t mention that. He was pushing when I was leaving government that his friend, El-Rufai, should be brought in as my successor,” Obasanjo said.

READ ALSO:Four Miners Feared Dead, Others Trapped As Illegal Mining Site Collapses In Plateau

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Turning to Chidoka, who was seated among the panelists, he asked, “No be so (Is that not true)?” The former minister nodded in agreement.

Obasanjo explained that he dismissed the suggestion because he believed El-Rufai still needed time to grow politically.

“I did not yield to the pressure. Later, he said, ‘I suggested this person, why didn’t you agree?’ I said El-Rufai needs to mature. You remember?

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“When I left government and, many years later, he saw the performances of El-Rufai, he came back to me and said, ‘You’re absolutely correct. El-Rufai needed to mature.’”

The former president, however, commended Chidoka, El-Rufai, and other former aides for their “special attributes,” which he said contributed to the success of his administration.

READ ALSO:Nigeria Not Difficult To Govern If… – Obasanjo

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Speaking further on leadership, Obasanjo emphasised character, exposure, experience, and training as essential qualities of effective governance.

Obasanjo said, “It’s only in politics that I found out there is no training for leadership. Even among armed robbers, I was told there is apprenticeship.

“But it’s only in politics that there is no training in leadership. That’s not good enough.”

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El-Rufai served under Obasanjo’s administration as the Director-General of the Bureau of Public Enterprises (BPE) before becoming the Minister of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) between 2003 and 2007. When Obasanjo was leaving office in 2007, he instead backed the late President Umaru Musa Yar’Adua as his preferred successor.

In his address, Chidoka blamed Nigeria’s development setbacks on excuses and what he described as the politics of alibi.

READ ALSO:Provide Evidence Of My Third Term Ambition’, Obasanjo Challenges Nigerians

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“Leadership finds its true measure not in speeches or charisma but in the systems it leaves behind.

“Moral conviction must translate into the everyday machinery of governance—rules, routines, and institutions that make competence predictable and corruption difficult.

“Nigeria’s problem has never been a shortage of ideas; it is the absence of systems strong enough to outlive their authors,” he said.

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He urged leaders to prioritise accountability and measurable results.

“We must therefore make leadership accountable not to rhetoric but to results: measure by building national dashboards and accountability systems that track every promise, every budget, every outcome. Monitor by strengthening the institutions that evaluate government performance and expose complacency,” he said.

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