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Kwara gov warns PDP against misleading public

From Romoke W. Ahmad, Ilorin

The Kwara State government has advised the state chapter of the

Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) to properly educate itself about

government programmes instead of misleading the public.

In a statement issued in Ilorin, the state government described as

misleading, a claim by the state publicity secretary of the PDP, Mr.

Rex Olawoye, that the PDP-led government took up to five bonds in the

last five years.

The state government said the previous administration of Dr. Bukola

Saraki obtained N17 billion bond in 2009 to fund major infrastructure

projects in the state which was paid off in August 2013.

Therefore, the state government wondered where the PDP got the figures

of N23 billion and N30 billion bonds referred to and advised the

opposition party to seek clarification, instead of misleading the

public with phantom figures.

?Accordingly, the state government said its proposed N20 billion

bond, when approved, will be utilised for reviving ongoing projects on

road, education, health, energy, water and sports as well as new ones

that were stalled following the drop in allocation from the federal

government from N3.2 billion monthly to N1.8 billion monthly.

Kogi election must not be militarized -Fayose

From Itodo Daniel Sule, Lokoja

Ekiti State Governor Ayo Fayose yesterday warned the All Progressives

Congress (APC) led federal government not to militarize the November

21 governorship election in the state.

Fayose, who spoke in Lokoja, at the grand finale of the Peoples

Democratic Party (PDP) campaign for the Kogi election, alleged that

APC was plotting to rig the election in its quest to turn Nigeria to a

one-party state.

He said the PDP will resist any attempt to rig the election, stressing

that they are optimistic of winning under free and fair atmosphere

without ‘extraneous influences’.

On his part, Chairman of PDP Governors’ Forum and Ondo governor,

Olusegun Mimiko, urged the people of Kogi to vote for Idris Wada to

enable him complete all the ongoing projects in the state.

Governor Wada expressed happiness for the turnout of a mammoth crowd

of supporters at the rally, saying it was a sign of his victory in the

November 21 election.

He urged the people to continue to mobilise more support for him and

turnout to cast their votes without fear of intimidation.

Daily Trust reports that Lokoja, the state capital was locked up

following the large crowd of supporters that trooped out for the rally

from across the state.

Delta gov candidate, APC head to appeal court

By Adelanwa Bamgboye

Olorogun O’tega Emerhor, a governorship candidate in Delta State in

the April 11 general elections has, alongside his party, the APC filed

a joint petition at the appeal court in the Benin Judicial Division.

Emerhor and his party are appealing the judgment of the governorship

election tribunal that sat in Asaba, which on October 26th ruled

against their petition challenging the declaration of Dr Ifeanyi Okowa

as governor of Delta State.

In the appeal no CA/B/EPT / 2015 filed on 13/11/15, by their legal

counsel, Chief TJ Okpoko SAN, the appellants stated that they were

dissatisfied with the decision of the tribunal.

The appeal went further to establish 11 grounds of dissatisfaction

with the judgment of the tribunal among which were: That the learned

justices erred in law in resolving against the appellants that the

petition was incompetent on the ground of non-compliance with the

procedural rule in paragraph 4 (3)(b) of the 1st schedule to the

Electoral Act 2010 (as amended ).

It added that the learned justices misdirected themselves in law in

holding that the petitioners have not been able to displace the

presumption that the figure of the voters accredited for the

governorship election conducted in Delta State on April 11, 2015 as

stated in the election results declared by INEC are less than the

total number of votes returned in the election.

Kogi PDP aspirant, 14 LG chairmen defect to APC

By Ojoma Akor

Comrade Mohammed Ali, a former gubernatorial aspirant of the Peoples

Democratic Party (PDP) in Kogi State, and national chairman of the

Northern Local Government Chairmen Forum (NLGCF) has defected to the

All Progressives Congress (APC).

He defected along with 14 former local government council chairmen in

the state, their ward councilors, five special advisers, 11 senior

special assistants and 25 special assistants.

The Court of Appeal, Abuja has ordered Kogi State governor, Captain

Idris Wada, to re-instate the 21 local government chairmen of the

state or be found guilty of contempt of court.

The same court had on 23rd October, this year set aside the judgment

of the High Court of Justice, Koton Karfe, Kogi State which had

removed all the 21 Local Government Council chairmen along with the

entire democratic structures from office on December 8, 2014.

However, Captain Idris Wada did not obey the court order to reinstate

the chairman and their ward councilors.

In a statement announcing their defection yesterday, Ali said the

move was an outcome of soul searching and consultations with

stakeholders.

According to him, their aspiration of serving their people and

Nigerians can only be realized in the APC.

He said it was their belief that the current leadership of the PDP in

Kogi State under Captain Idris Ichalla Wada has regrettably destroyed

the ideals developed by the founding fathers of the party.

N11bn virement: Court stops suspension of Adamawa lawmaker

From Kabiru R. Anwar, Yola

A Yola High Court presided over by Justice Ambrose Mamadi, has

granted an interim injunction restraining the state assembly from

suspending the chairman, House Committee on Finance, Budget and

Appropriation, Abubakar Abdulrahman, from the House as well as

dissolution of his committee.

This followed a suit filed by the lawmaker, challenging the three

months’ suspension slammed on him and the dissolution of his

committee, after he criticized the manner in which the House approved

N11 billion virement request from the executive.

The lawmaker had granted interviews to journalists where he accused

the assembly of bypassing his committee to grant the approval.

Delivering the ruling, Justice Mamadi said “from my reading of these

processes, I am of the opinion that the applicant has made a case for

the grant of the application herein. Consequently I grant the

application as prayed.

“I make the following orders: An interim injunction restraining the

defendants from carrying into effect, the pronouncement of the 1st

defendant dissolving the House Committee on Finance, Budget and

Appropriation made on 10th November, 2015 pending the hearing and

determination of motion on notice.”

TSA: Buhari won’t divert public funds – Minister

By Muideen Olaniyi

The Minister of Information and Culture, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, has

dismissed as a contrived distraction the alleged fraud in the Treasury

Single Account (TSA) and the rumoured diversion of the TSA funds to

bankroll elections in Bayelsa and Kogi states.

Mohammed’s reactions followed the allegations raised by the Peoples

Democratic Party (PDP) and Governor Ayo Fayose of Ekiti State that the

TSA was a fraudulent policy from the federal government.

The minister, in a statement issued in Abuja yesterday through his

Special Adviser, Mr Segun Adeyemi, said if those behind the accusation

had allowed themselves some measure of honesty, they would have

realized that there has not and there will be no such impunity under

the administration of President Muhammadu Buhari.

“It is understandable that the psyche of those who are making the

frivolous allegations concerning the TSA has been badly affected by

the impunity that permeated the country under the immediate past

administration, when unappropriated funds were freely used to finance

elections and the public till was seen as an extension of personal

piggy banks.

“But the lies that have been wilfully disseminated by scandalmongers

over the TSA cannot and will not fly, because it was precisely to put

an end to such impunity that Nigerians voted massively for President

Buhari, who has an unblemished reputation for integrity, due process,

transparency and the rule of law,” he said.