News

INEC Ends BVAS Reconfiguration Today, Promises Results Transmission

Published

3 years ago

March 13, 2023

Eric

The ongoing reconfiguration of the Bimodal Voter Accreditation System machines used during the presidential and National Assembly elections on 25 February will end on Monday, according to The Punch report.

The Independent National Electoral Commission had postponed the governorship and state Houses of Assembly elections scheduled to hold on March 11 to March 18 in order to be able to reconfigure the BVAS.

Consequently, all activities pertaining to the polls were rescheduled, including inspection of sensitive materials at the Central Bank of Nigeria by the political parties.

INEC took the decision at its management meeting, which was convened on Wednesday after the Court of Appeal gave it the go-ahead to reconfigure the BVAS machines.

The commission said it could not go ahead with the governorship poll as earlier scheduled because it needed time to reconfigure the BVAS machines, which were used for the presidential election on February 25.

The Court of Appeal had dismissed an application by Labour Party challenging the reconfiguration of the BVAS used for the presidential poll, whose outcome LP had rejected.

The appellate court panel held that allowing the objections of the Labour Party and its presidential candidate, Peter Obi, would amount to “tying the hands of the respondent (INEC).”

Speaking with our correspondent on Sunday, an official who spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorised to speak on the issue, explained that BVAS reconfiguration had been completed for some states while others would be concluded on Monday

“Most states have finished the reconfiguration and the remaining ones will all finish on Monday,” the source told our correspondent.

The source also gave the assurance that the governorship and state Houses of Assembly elections election results would be transmitted on INEC’s result-viewing portal, noting that the glitches that delayed the uploading of presidential poll results had been rectified.

He said “The Polling Unit results will be transmitted on the IReV portal. Indeed, the ones for the February 25 election have almost all been downloaded after we fixed the hitch that had made it difficult to do so.”

On materials distribution ahead of the governorship poll, the official said the sensitive materials would be re-distributed on Wednesday.

“We had completed the distribution of non-sensitive materials before we had to shift the March 11 date for the state elections by a week. Some states had started moving the sensitive materials before the change of date. We have had to return them to the Central Bank of Nigeria for safe keeping in consultation with all stakeholders, including party officials and the police.

“We will move them back to the local governments beginning from Wednesday.”

The Punch

News

Appeal Court Affirms Ruling Barring VIO from Impounding Vehicles, Fining Motorists

Published

3 days ago

December 4, 2025

Eric

The Court of Appeal in Abuja on Thursday upheld the judgment that stopped the Directorate of Road Traffic Services and Vehicle Inspection Officers (VIO) from seizing vehicles or imposing fines on motorists.

In a unanimous decision by a three-member panel, the appellate court found no basis to set aside the Federal High Court’s ruling of October 16, 2024, which restrained the VIO from harassing motorists.

The appeal filed by the VIO was dismissed for lacking merit. Justice Oyejoju Oyewumi delivered in the lead judgment.

The high court had earlier ruled, in a judgment by Justice Nkeonye Maha, that no law authorizes the VIO to stop motorists, impound vehicles, or impose penalties for alleged traffic offences.

The case arose from a fundamental rights suit (FHC/ABJ/CS/1695/2023) filed by lawyer Abubakar Marshal.

Marshal informed the court that VIO officials stopped him at Jabi in Abuja on December 12, 2023, and seized his vehicle without lawful reason. He asked the court to determine whether their actions violated his rights.

Justice Maha agreed and ordered the VIO and its agents not to impound vehicles or impose fines on motorists, describing the actions as unlawful. She held that only a court can impose fines or sanctions.

She ruled that the VIO’s conduct breached the applicant’s constitutional right to property under Section 42 of the 1999 Constitution and Article 14 of the African Charter. She further held that the VIO has no legal authority to seize vehicles or penalize motorists, as doing so infringes on rights to fair hearing, movement and presumption of innocence.

Although Marshal, represented by Femi Falana, SAN, requested ₦500 million in damages and a public apology, the court awarded ₦2.5 million.

The Directorate of Road Traffic Services, its Director, its Abuja Area Commander at the time (identified as Mr. Leo), team leader Solomon Onoja, and the FCT Minister were listed as respondents.

They appealed the decision, but the Court of Appeal dismissed the appeal.

News

Tinubu Nominates Ibas, Dambazau, Enang, Ohakim As Ambassadors

Published

4 days ago

December 4, 2025

Eric

President Bola Tinubu has nominated Ibok-Ete Ekwe Ibas, the immediate past sole administrator of Rivers State and a former Chief of Naval Staff, as a non-career ambassador.

Tinubu also nominated Ita Enang, a former senator; Chioma Ohakim, former First Lady of Imo State; and Abdulrahman Dambazau, former Minister of Interior and ex-Chief of Army Staff, as non-career ambassadors.

News

Senate Confirms Chris Musa As New Defence Minister

Published

4 days ago

December 3, 2025

Eric

The Nigerian Senate has confirmed General Christopher Musa, the former Chief of Defence Staff, as the country’s new Minister of Defence.

The announcement was contained in a statement by Bayo Onanuga, Special Adviser on Information and Strategy to President Bola Tinubu.

Musa, who retired from the military just 40 days ago, was nominated by President Tinubu on Tuesday to succeed former Defence Minister Mohammed Badaru Abubakar, who stepped down on health grounds.

According to Onanuga’s statement, the Senate approved Musa’s appointment on Wednesday through a voice vote, following a thorough screening session during which lawmakers posed numerous questions.

“Senate confirms Gen. Christopher Musa as Minister of Defence The Senate has confirmed the former Chief of Defence Staff, Gen. Christopher Musa, as the Minister of Defence. The Senate confirmed Musa on Wednesday via a voice vote after a rigorous screening session in which lawmakers asked him many questions,” the statement read in part.