Headline

Ekweremadu Wins Fifth Senate Seat

Published

7 years ago

February 25, 2019

Eric

The deputy president of the Senate, Ike Ekweremadu, has been declared the winner of his Enugu West Senatorial District for the fifth consecutive time.

Mr Ekweremadu’s political party, the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), also won the two House of Representatives seats in the district.

The district has five local governments’ areas of Oji River, Aninri, Ezeagu, Awgu, and Udi.

Announcing the result at about 12:10 a.m. on Monday, the Returning Officer for the senatorial district, Douglas Nwagbo, a professor, said Mr Ekweremadu polled 86,088 ahead of his closest rival, Juliet Ibekaku-Nwaugwu of the APC who polled 15,187.

Other political parties that presented candidates in the senatorial election included APGA, ADC, UPP, PPN, among others.

While APGA scored 6,881, ADC polled 838; UPP scored 202 with MMPN scoring 127.

According to the returning officer, the district has a total of 461,517 registered voters; 118,023 accredited voters while 109,929 votes were recorded as valid votes.

Mr Nwagbo said; “I must add that a total of 4,960 votes were rejected, making the total votes cast in the senatorial district to equal 114,889.”

Shortly after the announcement of the result, Mr Ekweremadu thanked the people of his district, his political party and his family, including friends and well-wishers.

He said the circumstances leading to his election makes it unique, being the first man to be elected five consecutive times in the entire South East.

“I am not taking this election for granted, especially by the unprecedented nature of my election,” said Mr Ekweremadu.

“This is the first time within this part of Nigeria that someone would be elected consecutively for five times into the Senate of the Federal Republic of Nigeria. It has never happened and I am not taking it for granted. I indeed feel very humbled and I give all the glory and thanks to the Almighty God who has made it possible.

“Recall that about a year ago, we went through a lot of storm for the major part of 2018 so nobody believed that a day like this will come where I will stand for an election and be declared winner. So, only God can make that possible.

“I must also thank my friends and associates, the great people of Enugu West, very industrious people, highly civilized people, highly accomplished people, very educated people, who in spite of the fact that I am just a little boy from Mpu, have given me this unprecedented opportunity.

“I would like to thank my family members for supporting me all the time and if you look at the last 48 hours, a lot of people have made a lot of commitment to ensure that this process is accomplished. So, I would like to thank the INEC officials for their commitment to our democracy, the security agents for their patience and professionalism.

“I would like to thank members of the press who have stood behind us to ensure that there is reportage for all that is going on in different parts of the country, it is not a small investment in our democracy.

“I believe that what is expected of us this time is to give back to the society that has given us this opportunity and those that have given us this confidence to ensure that this confidence is not misplaced. So a lot is lying on our shoulders. I would like to say clearly that we will not disappoint you.”

Mr Ekweremadu also spoke about the general elections across the country, saying the challenges within the last few hours are avoidable.

“We have had challenges in different parts of the country but we thank God that Enugu State is different because the governor has built a peaceful atmosphere over the past three and half years and this has manifested in the peaceful conduct of the elections in the State. So I can say that elections in the state were quite successful.

“We didn’t have many challenges as such, in terms of security or casualties. I am not sure we witnessed any casualty in any part of Enugu State. This is exactly what we looked for, what we prayed for, what we expected and this is what democracy should look like. I believe that other states should come to Enugu State and learn how to conduct themselves in elections.”

Premium Times

Headline

Supreme Court Fixes April 22 for Hearing in ADC Leadership Crisis

Published

7 hours ago

April 14, 2026

Eric

The Supreme Court has scheduled hearing for April 22 in the appeal filed by the National Chairman of the African Democratic Congress (ADC), Senator David Mark, in relation to the leadership dispute in the party.

Mark’s appeal is against the March 12 judgment of the Court of Appeal, which dismissed his appeal against the September 4, 2025 ruling by Justice Emeka Nwite of the Federal High Court in Abuja refusing to grant some injunctive reliefs contained in an ex-parte application filed by a chieftain of the party, Nafiu Bala Gombe.

A five-member panel of the Supreme Court, led by Justice Mohammed Garba chose the date on Tuesday after granting accelerated hearing in the appeal marked: SC/CV/180/2026.

The court ordered Mark’s lawyer, Jibril Okutepa (SAN) to file the appellant’s brief and serve on Wednesday.

It ordered the respondents to each file and serve on the appellant, a respondent’s brief within three days of being served with the appellant’s brief.

The appellant, according to the court, is to file a reply brief, if needs be, within one day of being served with the respondents’ briefs.

Headline

Amid Denials, ADC Reportedly Secures Rainbow Event Centre As Venue for National Convention

Published

1 day ago

April 13, 2026

Eric

Baring any last minute change, the leadership of the African Democratic Congress (ADC) under Senator David Mark and Rauf Aregbesola as National chairman and National Secretary respectively will hold the party’s National convention at the National Rainbow Event Centre in Garki on Tuesday, 14 April 2026.

The African Democratic Congress (ADC) has being denied two venues without any cogent reasons despite early arrangements, according to sources.

First, it was alleged that the Abuja Transcorp Hilton Hotels, which was initially approached, turned down the ADC request to use it’s facility.

The ADC, having sensed sabotage, has kept the Rainbow Event Center under rap as it’s definite venue.

The last National Executive Committee (NEC) of the party was held at the same venue.

Located adjacent the Nigerian Police Force Headquarters, the event centre will host the second NEC meeting of the ADC and it’s forthcoming national convention.

According to The Guardian’ report, the ADC leadership has communicated the venue to state chapters with the caveat not to escalate it.

The ADC is in a battle of survival against the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) and has approached the Supreme Court for intervention.

The INEC national chairman Prof Joash Amupitan has suspended recognition of the David Mark-led ADC rendering a leadership vacuum in the party.

INEC said it’s decision was on the basis of an Appeal Court pronouncement that ordered statusquo ante-bellum be maintained.

Reports say that why the venue is being quietly decorated moderately for the event, the ADC intends to fully move in the early hours of Tuesday.

The Guardian

Headline

Shettima Lacks Respect, I Won’t Engage Him, Atiku Responds to VP’s Challenge

Published

1 day ago

April 13, 2026

Eric

Former Vice President, Atiku Abubakar, has hit back at incumbent Vice President Kashim Shettima over the latter’s poser over achievements in office, saying he won’t take the challenge because Shettima was disrespectful.

Shettima had reportedly challenged Atiku to provide details of eight projects he executed for the development of Northern Nigeria during his tenure as vice president for eight years, as well as name eight individuals he empowered while in office.

But, speaking in an interview with GTA Hausa podcast, Atiku said he would not engage the vice president on the matter.

“I will not respond to Kashim Shettima because he is disrespectful. I am older than him and I have more experience in governance than he does, so I will not respond to him,” he said.

The former vice president further argued that cultural values in Northern Nigeria discourage younger individuals from publicly challenging their elders in such a manner.

“It is not part of our tradition in the North to disrespect elders. You cannot look at someone who is above you in both age and accomplishments and start taunting him. That is not our tradition, so I won’t engage with him,” Atiku emphasised.