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AMID OUTRAGE, NBA DEFENDS POSITION ON POLL, SAYS LAPSES LEFT FOR COURT’S DECISION

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Despite criticism, president of the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA), Yakubu Maikyua, has defended his position on the February 25 presidential and National Assembly election.

Justifying his position that the election was credible, Maikyua said the impact of lapses and challenges recorded during the polls after pronouncement of results can now only be determined by the courts.

He acknowledged that there were challenges experienced by the electoral body, the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) during the last poll, but insisted that since the election results had been declared, it was now left for the court to identify and pronounce the impact of the lapses.

In a statement yesterday, addressed to members of the bar, the NBA president urged INEC to identify issues from the February 25 election and the lessons drawn therefrom, with a view to addressing same in Saturday’s governorship and state Houses of Assembly elections.

Maikyua also called on INEC to ensure that election materials are dispatched on time to the Polling Units so that the accreditation process will commence early.

According to him, this will ensure that registered voters are given opportunity to exercise their right to vote without being unduly disenfranchised.

He further urged INEC to ensure that all bugs or glitches in the Bimodal Voter Accreditation System (BVAS) machines and other election technology are fixed and improved ahead of Saturday.

Meanwhile, candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in the presidential election, Atiku Abubakar, has withdrawn his application for court’s permission to observe the reconfiguration of BVAS machines by INEC.

The Court of Appeal in Abuja, which is the Presidential Election Petition Court, had on March 8, permitted INEC to go ahead with the reconfiguration of the BVAS used in the conduct of the February 25 poll.

The appellate court, led by Justice Joseph Ikyegh, cleared the coast for INEC to reconfigure the BVAS machines to be deployed in the rescheduled March 18 governorship and state Assemblies elections, following assurances that the BVAS information on the presidential polls will be safely stored in an accredited backend Server.

INEC had approached the court to vary its earlier order permitting Atiku and the presidential candidate of the Labour Party (LP), Peter Obi, to inspect election materials including the BVAS machines used for the presidential election. They had anchored the request on the grounds that the same BVAS machines will be deployed in the governorship and state Assemblies election, adding that unless the court’s order is varied to enable the reconfiguration, the elections would not go as earlier scheduled.

Shortly after the permission was granted, INEC had announced a shift of the governorship and state Assemblies polls from March 11 to March 18, due to the reconfiguration of the BVAS machines.

Atiku and his party, the PDP, had in a motion on notice filed on March 13 and marked CA/PEC/13m/2023, requested permission from the appellate court to observe the reconfiguration of the BVAS machines. They had also filed another motion ex-parte praying for an order to serve court documents on the All Progressives Congress (APC) and winner of the presidential election, Asiwaju Bola Tinubu, by substituted means.

However, when the matter was called yesterday, a lawyer who represented Atiku and the PDP, Ifeanyi Iboko, drew the appellate court’s attention to a notice of discontinuance filed in respect of the two cases.

Iboko explained that the discontinuation was predicated on facts that the two motions have been rendered obsolete by recent events.

Following the withdrawal and non-opposition by the respondents, the appellate court subsequently dismissed the two motions.

The withdrawal notwithstanding, Atiku has vowed to ensure that the alleged fraud perpetrated by INEC will be reversed as he vowed to head to court to protest the result and reclaim his mandate in due course.

In a video circulated by his media aide, Paul Ibe, yesterday, Atiku said: “I thank you immensely for your high sense of patriotism in bracing the myriads of odds to perform your civic duty during the February 25 presidential election. I truly appreciate your resilience, tenacity, and courage.

“As attested to by both local and international observers, the result of the February 25 presidential election, as announced by INEC, was grossly tainted and did not reflect the will of the electorate. You all have demonstrated against this blatant injustice through different mediums. And for that, I thank you again for your non-violent conduct despite the provocations.

“Indeed, what INEC did in announcing the manipulated result was a clear breach of not only the 2022 Electoral Act, but also its own guidelines, which the electoral commission had repeatedly claimed would uphold the standards we had seen in the Osun and Ekiti elections. The INEC chairman further ignored calls for a review of the process in line with the amended law.

“My fellow citizens, all hope is not lost. You must never give in to apathy. I assure you that the electoral fraud perpetrated by INEC will be reversed in due course as I champion the cause to reclaim our mandate.”

ALSO, a lawyer, Bob James, has dragged INEC to court for refusing to electronically transmit results of the presidential and National Assembly election from Polling Units onto its IReV portal.

In the suit filed at the Federal High Court, Abuja, yesterday, the plaintiff listed INEC and the Attorney-General of the Federation (AGF), Abubakar Malami, as defendants.

Setting out the sole issue for the court’s determination, James said INEC was under “statutory duty to upload electronically on its portal the results of the presidential and National Assembly elections immediately from every polling station across Nigeria.”

Citing Section 60 of the Electoral Act 2022 and Section 38 (1) of INEC regulations, the plaintiff urged the court to determine whether the electoral umpire’s “failure or refusal to upload the results from each polling unit on the day of the election to the INEC IReV portal” does not nullify the poll.

The plaintiff urged the court to declare that INEC was under statutory obligation by virtue of the Electoral Act and its own guidelines to upload results from each polling station “immediately after counting and recording on Form EC8A on election day.”

James prayed the court to hold that INEC’s failure to upload the results was a violation of its own guidelines for the conduct of the 2023 general elections.

He contended that more than 90 per cent of the 25 February election results were not uploaded on INEC IReV portal as at 12midnight on the day of the polls.

Meanwhile, the suit is yet to be assigned to a judge for hearing.

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COUP IN GABON: WHY WE SACKED PRESIDENT ALI BONGO – ARMY

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Gabonese army officers under the aegis of the Committee for the Transition and Restoration of Institutions on Wednesday morning announced on national television why they are taking over power from President Ali Bongo in the country.

The soldiers highlighted serious institutional, political, economic and social crises as factors responsible for the coup that they tagged, ‘necessary’ for the progress of the West African country.

In a nationwide address rendered in French but translated to English by AFP, the junta said, “Our beautiful country, Gabon, has always been a haven of peace.

“Today, the country is going through a serious institutional, political, economic and social crisis.

“We are therefore forced to admit that the organisation of the general elections of August 26, 2023, did not meet the conditions for a transparent, credible and inclusive ballot so much hoped for by the people of Gabon.

“Added to this is irresponsible and unpredictable governance, resulting in a continuing deterioration in social cohesion, with the risk of leading the country into chaos.

“Today, 30 August 2023, we, the defence and security forces, gathered as the Committee for the Transition and Restoration of Institutions (CTRI) on behalf of the people of Gabon and as guarantors of the institutions’ protection — have decided to defend the peace by putting an end to the current regime.

“The borders are closed until further notice.

The junta resolved that all of the institutions of the country be dissolved including the Federal Government, the Senate, the National Assembly, the Constitutional Court, the Economic, Social and Environmental Council and the Gabonese Elections Centre.

They therefore called for calm and serenity from the public, the communities of sister countries settled in Gabon, and the Gabonese diaspora.

“We reaffirm our commitment to respecting Gabon’s commitments to the national and international community.

“People of Gabon, we are finally on the road to happiness.

“May God and the spirits of our ancestors bless Gabon. Honour and loyalty to our homeland.”

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UPGRADE OF STS PREPAID METER IS FREE, AT NO COST TO CUSTOMERS – EEDC

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The Enugu Electricity Distribution Company PLC (EEDC) has cautioned its customers against falling victim to fraudsters, stressing that the planned upgrade of STS prepaid meters in its network will be free of charge, and at no cost to customers.

This clarification was made today in Enugu, by the Head, Corporate Communications, EEDC, Mr. Emeka Ezeh.

According to Ezeh, the warning became necessary because of information received by the company about activities of some unscrupulous elements who are extorting unsuspecting customers in the name of upgrading their meters.

He said that customers should not fall prey to these elements, as no customer will be charged a kobo to have his or her meter upgraded.

“The process of upgrade will be simply by punching into the meter the Key Change Tokens (KCT), which will be provided to the customers alongside the credit token, when they go to recharge their meters.”

What we just did, as a matter of responsibility was to notify our customers of this exercise and appeal to them to ensure that their prepaid meters are upgraded before 24th November 2024.

It will be recalled that earlier in the month, EEDC notified its customers that by 24th November 2024, all Standard Transfer Specification (STS) prepaid meters will cease to accept credit tokens, unless they are upgraded. An exercise which will be affecting all STS compliant prepaid meters across the globe.

Customers of EEDC are advised to ensure that their meters are upgraded before the set date of 24th November 2024, as Meters not upgraded before the date will no longer accept new tokens, but they will still be working till the credit already loaded in it is used up.

It is important to note that credit tokens purchased and not loaded onto the meters before the upgrade will become invalid after the upgrade.

EEDC appeals to its customers to remain calm, as adequate communication will be made on the process and modalities for the upgrade, while reiterating that the upgrade is free of charge and at no cost to customers.

EEDC advised members of the public who need further clarification or enquiries to call: 084 700 100, SMS/Whatsapp: 0815 082 6060 or 0815 082 6061, or send email to: customerservice@enugudisco.com

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THREE DEAD, 35 RESCUED IN FCT COLLAPSED BUILDING

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*I escaped with only these clothes on me,’ says survivor

Three people have been declared dead after a two-storey building collapsed in the early hours of Thursday in Garki village, Federal Capital Territory, (FCT), Abuja.

According to government officials undertaking rescue operations at the venue, the building came crashing down on unsuspecting residents shortly after midnight while it was raining non-stop, killing two on the spot while one later died in the hospital.

FCT Minister who arrived at the place to assess the situation, ordered the immediate arrest of the owners of the property and an investigation into the remote and immediate causes of the building collapse.

Wike who warned that enough is enough of individuals building without approved building plan and use of substandard materials, said “We will identify and arrest the owners of the building.”

The minister assured that the government will take care of the hospital bill and treatment of those rescued and are receiving treatment for various degrees of injuries in hospitals.

A resident of the collapsed building, Gift Eze, who survived the accident, said they escaped the accident with only the clothes on their bodies. She called on the government to provide immediate relief and support for them.

“I escaped with only these clothes on me, the house, property, everything is gone, please we need immediate help. Where do we sleep tonight and where do we live?

Senator Ireti Kingibe, representing the FACT, who arrived at the venue shortly after the departure of the FCT minister, decried the spare of building collapse in the FCT and the attendant loss of lives and property.

She tasked regulatory bodies to conduct periodic checks on buildings across the FCT to avoid a repeat of the incident.

She said although the area is a local Gbagyi setting, it is important to follow standards when setting up any building structure to avoid building collapse.

“Everyone intending to build should get proper approval before doing so. This is an old building but the agencies should have a process where they go regularly to assess old buildings like this and while they do that, we the public should comply.”

Officials of the FCT Development Control, FCT FERMA, and the Standard Organisation of Nigeria, (SON), among others, all agreed that the about 30-year-old building was already distressed and therefore no longer fit for people to live in.

District Head, Garki, Stephen Yakubu, explained that the owner of the building had already given the occupants quit notice for a while now because the building had already depreciated and was almost collapsing but some of the occupants still stayed back for lack of where to immediately move to and were unfortunately caught up in the disaster.

He said “Based on the information we were told, the owner had already given them quite notice when he realised that the building was depreciating and it was almost collapsing but for over two months now, they have refused to leave perhaps the reason could be that they didn’t have accommodation anywhere.

“We are deeply saddened over the loss of lives there. Nobody is happy because losing a life, even if it is a baby, is something that is quite worrisome. We are working with the authorities to prevent these from happening again,” he said.

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