Tribunal sacks Governor Diri, orders fresh election in 90 days

The Bayelsa State Gubernatorial Petition Tribunal sitting in Abuja, the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) has nullified the election of Governor Duoye Diri.

Bayelsa State Gubernatorial Petition Tribunal passed the judgment on Monday.

The election was nullified based on a petition by the Advanced Nigeria Democratic Party (ANDP), which argued that it was unlawfully excluded from participating in the election.

The three-man panel held that the election was unlawful due to the exclusion of ANDP and its candidate, King George from the governorship election that held in November.

The tribunal, however, ordered the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to conduct a bye-election within 90 days.

According to the tribunal, the INEC has no power to disqualify any candidate for any election.

TNG reports the INEC had in its argument said ANDP’s deputy governorship candidate, David Esinkuma was 34 years old at the time of nomination and therefore did not qualify for the election.

However, the ANDP told the tribunal that David Esinkuma was duly substituted by the party within the allowed time frame, following the notification from INEC that he is under-age.

The tribunal ruled that only a court has the power to disqualify any candidate for any election and that the petition was filed within the 21 days which is the stipulated time for petitions to be filed.

Justice Musa described the action of INEC to exclude the ANDP from the Bayelsa Governorship Election as illegal.

However, the Chairman of the tribunal, Justice Muhammad Sirajo dismissed the petition in its entirety on technical grounds.

We should never allow division among ourselves– Senator Rochas Okorocha SouthEast Governors and other political stakeholders

CHAIRMAN, Senate Committee on Culture and Tourism, Senator Rochas Okorocha, All Progressives Congress, APC, Imo West has said that Igbo leadership and responsibilities  has now  fallen on the Senate Chief Whip,  Senator Orji Uzor Kalu and himself.

According to him, Chief  Chukwuemeka Ojukwu is late , politicians like Jim Nwobodo, Arthur Nzeribe and many others are no longer active as they used to be, hence the responsibilities are now on their heads.

Speaking yesterday at  the home of First Vice National Chairman of All Progressives Congress (APC) South East,  Dr Julius Anyim Nyerere in Abuja State, the former governor of Imo State

said that himself and Kalu have decided to work together, even as he suggested that they need to  dramatize their love and peace so that subsequent generations can emulate them.

In a statement yesterday, Okorocha’s meeting with Kalu which was coincidental, stressed the need for the reunification of Igbo elites.

According to him , ” Dim Chukwuemeka Ojukwu is late , politicians like Jim Nwobodo, Arthur Nzeribe and many others are no longer active as they use to be . Many other great leaders are no more  and  that vacuum must be filled up .So the responsibilities have fallen on other people’s shoulders,  and that shoulder is that of  Dr Orji Uzor Kalu and myself.   So it is important that we gather as brothers and discuss issues that will help the entire Igbo people.  Because if a child knows what killed his father,  he wouldn’t allow himself to die same way.

” I am using this opportunity to tell my brother,  Dr Orji Uzor Kalu that the dance we are dancing now is not for ourselves but to entertain the public and know if they will be happy.  If I dance for you to give me money , that means something is wrong . So the dance now is not for us but to see if there will be a better future for Igbo people.  We have decided to work together.  We are learning on the job on how to work together.  We have  to make a shift from the normalcy.

“The political ideology inherited from our predecessors and political fore fathers are not really the best

. We were taught to maintain political enemies for the rest of your life. That is why the likes of Jim Nwobodo and Alex Ekwueme never agreed until death , Mbakwe and Arthur Nzeribe never agreed until death and so we must carve out a niche so we don’t transfer this to subsequent generation of “Ndigbo”, that is why people like Orji Uzor Kalu and myself must profess love amongst ourselves and not only within us but within our enclave.

“We should never allow division among ourselves.  We must distinguish ourselves in character and at the same time know when to extend our hands of fellowship to our brothers who are not on the same political stand with us . This will help us to know when political war will end and when brotherhood will start . Because in life you need to know when to start and when to stop.  We need to come together to make sure that Igbo people are no longer used as political spare tyres . I saw a protest yesterday in Abuja and Lagos and that protest is a pointer . We need to dramatize our love and peace so that subsequent generations can key in to it.”

In his response,  Kalu who stressed the need for  peace to return to the APC political family in the South East, said that what he needs in life at the moment are limited, adding that he will be very happy  to see the current governor of Imo state,  Hope Uzodimma and Rochas Okorocha on the same page.

Kalu said,  ” I am happy because Owelle has spoken so well, I want peace to return to APC in the Southeast, I am the highest politically elected office holder the Southeast by virtue of my office as the Chief Whip.

“In the Senate,  I am ranked number four and I have never taken it for granted. The only problem I am facing is resolve the issue between the Governor of Imo State (Hope Uzodinma) and the former Governor (Rochas Okorocha) ; for them to be on the same page , I will be fulfilled politically anyday both of them decide to work together. My dream is to have roundtable discussion with Governor Uzodimma, Yourself ( Okorocha), Senator  Ken Nnamani , Hon Minister Ogbonnaya Onu, Senator Chris Ngige  and Minister Geoffrey Onyeama and others. Once we achieve that, the sky will be our starting point. If we are unable to resolve the political issues in Imo State it will be difficult for us to move forward ”

Kalu who noted that he is very courageous and not scared of speaking the truth, said that he also want to see a larger Nigeria where every citizen will be comfortable and living in unity.

He said, ” I want to see a larger Nigeria where every citizen will be comfortable , where Igbos will be reintegrate into the socio economic and political fabric of our nation, where our people will be more respected.

“There are  two basic factors in democracy; the software and the hardware of democracy, but people are always focused on the hardware and pay less attention to the software , the software talks about strict compliance  to the rule of law governing the society

“People think democracy is only about building infrastructure but it is also about managing people I am talking about participatory democracy, where we create room for dialogue.”

Kalu also advised SouthEast Governors and other political stakeholders to eschew public criticism of one another,  noting that issues should be resolved internally.

INEC Releases Timetable For Ondo Governorship Election Primaries (Photos of the timetable)

The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has released the calendar of congresses/primaries for the Ondo State 2020 Governorship Election.

The timetable which was released by the official twitter account of the INEC shows that All the 17 political parties seeking to field candidates for the Ondo State governorship election slated for October have settled for the indirect option as a mode of their primaries.

See pictures of the timetable below 

Reps Speaker, Gbajabiamila To Face Impeachment Over ‘Infectious Disease Control Bill’

Nigerian Pilot reliably gathered that the recent face-off between the leadership of the House led by Gbajabiamila, the state governors and former Speaker of the House and now governor of Sokoto state, Hon. Aminu Tambuwal may cause Gbajabiamila his seat if not properly handled.

According to the source, the governors who are allegedly not happy with the way the House of Representatives responded to their advice that the Infectious Disease Control Bill be “stepped down” until proper consultations are made, are mobilising against the Speaker who is the lead sponsor of the Bill.

The source further disclosed that the governors at a recent meeting in Abuja had “secretly” agreed to push for the Speaker’s impeachment through their various representatives at the green chamber.

He said some of the governors openly accused the Speaker of being “arrogant” in his approach to “national issues” a development they said should be checked to maintain the cordial relationship between the Legislature and the Executive.

Speaking further, the source stated the governor of Sokoto state, Hon. Aminu Tambuwal’s loyalists who felt slighted that the governor was accused of misleading and misguiding other members of the Governors Forum are also “spoiling for war”.

He said some members of the House already have grudges against the Speaker over allegation of overbearing especially in handling the donation to the fight against the coronavirus also known as COVID-19.

It was also alleged that the Speaker has been making frantic efforts to get his political godfather to rally the governors to shelve their plans and create an avenue for dialogue.

It would be recalled that the governors operating under the aegis of Nigeria Governors Forum, NGF had recently urged the National Assembly to step down the proposed Infectious Disease Control Bill, 2020 introduced by the House of Representatives until an appropriate consultative process is held.

Chairman of the Forum, Dr. Kayode Fayemi who is also the Governor of Ekiti state had in Communiqué at the end of the Forum’s eight teleconference meeting added that the consultation must include a public hearing to gather public opinion and concerns on the proposed Bill.

However, responding to the advice by the Governor’s Forum, the House of Representatives said it does not legislate for the states and therefore should not be “cowed” from doing its Constitutional responsibility.

The spokesman of the House, Hon. Benjamin Kalu in a statement regretted that Hon. Aminu Tambuwal who is a former Speaker of the House stood a better position to rightly inform the Governors Forum but failed to do so.

Hon. Kalu went ahead to call for the disqualification of Tambuwal who is also the Governor of Sokoto state from a proposed consultative meeting with the Nigeria Governors Forum accusing him of being biased towards the Infectious Disease Control Bill insisting that Tambuwal misled and misguided the Forum into asking the House to step down the Bill.

“We assume that his position was informed by his well-known personal and partisan opposition to the emergence of the current leadership of House led by Hon. Femi Gbajabiamila considering his obvious stance in 2015 and 2019,” he stated.