Governorship Disputes: “Supreme Court used judicial ‘koboko’ to flog Appeal Court” – Ozekhome 

 Senior Advocate of Nigeria (SAN), Mike Ozekhome, has said the Supreme Court “spared no words” in criticising some of the rulings of the Appeal Court on governorship election disputes. He said the apex court used judicial “koboko” (a flexible whip made with cow skin or horsetail) to “flog” the appeal court while giving verdicts on the matters. Recall that delivering judgment on eight governorship election cases on Friday, the Supreme Court overturned the decisions of the Appeal Court in Kano, Plateau and Zamfara States. Speaking yesterday, during an interview on…

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Enugu: Confusion over Appeal Court’s judgment

Five days after the Court of Appeal, sitting in Lagos, delivered judgment on the conduct of the Enugu State House of Assembly in Nkanu-East during the 2023 general election held on March 18, confusion still abounds as to who is the person declared winner of the appellate court’s judgment. Both the Labour Party (LP) candidate, Michael Okwy Nnaji, a surveyor, and his Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) rival, Okey Mbah, are claiming victory. It was gathered that five days after the Appeal Court delivered its judgment, none of the parties has been…

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Kaduna: Appeal Court nullifies election of Assembly’s Speaker

The Appeal Court in Abuja has nullified the election of Hon. Yusuf Dahiru Liman, of the All-Progressives Congress (APC), representing Makera constituency in the Kaduna State House of Assembly, and ordered a re-run in 5 polling units. Earlier, Hon Solomon Nuhu Katuka, of the People’s Democratic Party (PDP), had filed a petition before the tribunal challenging the election of the speaker, Hon Yusuf Dahiru Liman, of the APC, representing Makera constituency in the House of Assembly. The PDP candidate argued that there were gross irregularities regarding the election of the…

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Kano: “Appeal Court judgment: “Be neutral” – Ohanaeze to Igbos

Apex Igbo socio-cultural organisation, Ohanaeze Ndigbo has urged Igbo residents in Kano State to exercise utmost caution and remain neutral amid the on-going political uncertainties and tensions. With pro and anti-protests surrounding the judgment of the Appeal Court, Ohanaeze advised Igbo residents in the State against participating in any of the protests. Recall that the appellate court had sacked Governor Yusuf and declared Gawuna as the duly elected governor of the State. However, the Certified True Copy of the judgment showed that the court affirmed the victory of Yusuf. However, the…

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Kaduna: Appeal Court affirms Uba Sani’s election as Governor  

The Court of Appeal, Abuja Division, has declared Governor Uba Sani, of Kaduna State, as validly elected governor during the March 18 election. The appellate court affirmed the judgement of the State Election Petitions Tribunal, which earlier dismissed the petition of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and its candidate, Isa Ashiru, against the election of Governor Sani. The court held that the Tribunal was right in dismissing the petition of the PDP and Ashiru because the petitioners abandoned their petition for their failure to apply for issuance of pre-hearing information…

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Nasarawa: A‘Court upholds Gov.’s election after tribunal sack

The Court of Appeal sitting in Abuja, yesterday, affirmed the victory of the Nasarawa State Governor, Abdullahi Sule. Recall that the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) had declared Sule, of the All-Progressives Congress (APC), as the winner of the election, while David Ombugadu, of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) came second. However, the State election petition tribunal, led by Justice Ezekiel Ajayi, in a split judgment held that based on evidence from the various polling units, Ombugadu had the majority of valid votes at the election. But Sule appealed the judgment…

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Kano: Protests over A’Court verdict sacking Gov. Yusuf

…As court admits clerical error in judgments CTC Protests rocked Kano yesterday, following the sacking of Governor Abba Yusuf by an Appeal Court. This was as Police dispersed protesters along the Ɗan-Agundi area of the metropolis yesterday. The fresh protests followed the Certified True Copy (CTC) of the judgement which appeared in public domain and seemed contrary to the verdict of the appellate court. Some of the protesters said they were ready to die, as they demanded justice. There had been several interpretations of the judgment following a discrepancy between what…

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A’ Court verdicts: Obasanjo rejects sacking of Govs.

…Says 3 Judges shouldn’t upturn million voters’ decision Former Nigerian President Olusegun Obasanjo, in his reaction to the recent appeal court verdicts, sacking three governors in the wake of one week, faulted the decision of the Nigerians judges on the electoral disputes. Obasanjo, while speaking at the high-level consultation on ‘Rethinking Western Liberal Democracy in Africa’, which was held at Green Resort Legacy, Olusegun Obasanjo Presidential Library, Abeokuta, Ogun State, faulted what he labelled “cathedral pronouncements” by the judges. According to the former president, three to five judges should not…

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Kano: Confusion, as certified true copy of A’ Court judgement reveals Gov. Yusuf’s election was upheld, awards N1m cost against APC

Contrary to its Friday pronouncement upholding the judgement of the Kano Governorship Election Petition Tribunal, the certified true copy of the Court of Appeal judgment however, revealed that the appellate court had set aside the judgement of the lower tribunal. Recall that the appellate court had, during its Friday judgement, upheld the judgement of the tribunal, declaring the All-Progressives Congress (APC) candidate, Nasiru Gawuna, as winner of the governorship election in the State. However, when the certified true copy of the judgement was released by the court yesterday, it was…

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“Judgments sacking Kano, Plateau Govs. should be reviewed” – Falana

Human rights activist and Senior Advocate of Nigeria (SAN), Femi Falana, has said the judgments of the appellate court sacking Governor Abba Yusuf, of Kano State, and Governor Caleb Mutfwang, of Plateau State, should be reviewed. Falana made this call in an interview on a television programme yesterday. According to him, the Independent National Electoral Commission, (INEC), failed in its duty to conduct proper elections in the country. He said the votes of Nigerians should not be nullified by the courts because of the supposed negligence of the electoral umpire…

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