Headline

Appeal Court Says No Names of Dead, Retired Judges on Tribunal Panels

Published

6 years ago

January 30, 2019

Eric

The Court of Appeal has debunked reports that names of dead and retired judges are on the list of the newly 250 Judges sworn-in as Chairmen and members of the Election Petition Tribunal.

The 250 judges were sworn on Saturday by the Acting Chief Justice of Nigeria, Tanko Muhammad.

In a statement made available to journalists by the Media Officer, Mrs Sa’adatu Musa Kachalla, the Court of Appeal said the media report was false in its entirety as the list was drawn with input from Chief Judges of states and Nigerian Bar Association.

The statement read, “The attention of the Court of Appeal has been drawn to a malicious publication making the rounds in some portals that the names of 10 dead Judges featured in the list of the 250 Judges sworn-in on 26 January 2019, as Chairmen and Members of the Election Petition Tribunal.

“In view of the above, we wish to state that there was no name of a dead or retired Judge on the list we sent to the Supreme Court for the swearing-in ceremony performed by His Lordship the acting Chief Justice of Nigeria, Mr Justice Ibrahim Tanko Muhammed.

‘The Court of Appeal, therefore, finds this claim to be false, misleading and a total misrepresentation of the good intentions of the Hon. President (Justice Zainab Bulkachuwa) aimed at building not only a vibrant judiciary, but an endearing democratic society.

“The Hon. President had painstakingly through the efforts of the states Branches of the Nigerian Bar Association and the Chief Judges of the 36 states selected these men and women of integrity to become members of the Election Petition Tribunal.

“The Court of Appeal, therefore, craves the indulgence of the members of the public to disregard this fake News in its entirety.”

Headline

Akpabio Relieves Natasha of Committee Chairmanship Position, Appoints Akwa Ibom Senator As Replacement

Published

3 days ago

July 10, 2025

Eric

Senate President, Godswill Akpabio, has replaced suspended Senator Natasha Akpoti-Uduaghan, as the Chairman, Senate Committee on Diaspora/Non-Governmental Organisations.

In her place, Akpabio named Senator Bassey Aniekun Etim (Akwa Ibom -East).

The Senate President, who made the announcement on the floor in Abuja on Thursday, did not give any reasons.

The committee position had remained vacant since March when the Senate suspended the Kogi-Central Senatorial District lawmaker for six months for flouting the Senate’s rule on the seating arrangement and seat allocation.

The suspended lawmaker, at a point, chaired the Senate Committee on Local Content before Akpabio reassigned her to the Committee on Diaspora/NGO, shortly before she ran into trouble with the Senate over her conduct on seat allocation.

Headline

Supreme Court Upholds Election of Monday Okpebholo As Edo Governor

Published

3 days ago

July 10, 2025

Eric

The Supreme Court has affirmed the 2024 governorship election victory of Governor Monday Okpebholo of the All Progressives Congress (APC), dismissing the appeal filed by the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) candidate, Asuerinme Ighodalo.

In a unanimous decision by a five-member panel led by Justice Mohammed Garba, the apex court ruled that the appeal lacked merit. It upheld the earlier judgments of the Court of Appeal and the Edo State Governorship Election Petition Tribunal, which had both declared Okpebholo the validly elected governor.

Headline

‘Overthrow’ Comment: Tinubu’ll Be Removed by Votes, Not Bullets, ADC Replies Presidency

Published

3 days ago

July 10, 2025

Eric

The African Democratic Congress (ADC), on Wednesday, said President Bola Tinubu will be removed through the ballot and not bullets.It dismissed insinuations that the coalition is interested in truncating democracy in Nigeria.

ADC’s Interim National Publicity Secretary, Bolaji Abdullahi, accused Tinubu of laying the foundation for a clampdown on opposition leaders.

He made the remark in response to a tweet by Tinubu’s spokesman, Bayo Onanuga, who alleged that the opposition was planning to overthrow the President.

Onanuga had said the coalition had ganged up to overthrow Tinubu’s administration.Rubbishing Onanuga’s comment, Abdullahi described his remark as reckless and unsubstantiated.

In a statement he signed, Abdullahi said Onanuga’s comment shows that Tinubu’s administration is out to intimidate and repress opposition political leaders in Nigeria.

He noted that ADC would explore Democratic means to ensure Tinubu’s removal from office and not by overthrowing him.

The statement read partly: “ADC condemned the tweet made by an aide of President Bola Tinubu, Onanuga, which alleges that the opposition is planning to overthrow the Tinubu government before 2027.

“If anything, it potentially lays the grounds for systematic clampdown on opposition leaders.

“The ADC is not interested in truncating democracy, we are solely committed to saving the nation from the irredeemable incompetence of this government. We are not soldiers, we are politicians.

“We don’t have bullets; we only have the ballots. When the time comes, we will only present our solutions and an alternative vision of the future to the Nigerian people and leave them to make their choice.”