December 11, 2023
The National Secretary of New Nigeria Peoples Party, Olaposi Oginni, has described the purported coalition involving the party and six other political parties tagged “
Coalition of Concerned Political Parties” as fake and untrue.
Oginni insisted that the party has not authorised any coalition with any political party, urging the public to disregard the involvement of NNPP in the purported coalition with the People’s Democratic Party and the other six parties.
He said this in a letter addressed to the Board of Trustees Chairman of PDP and made available to newsmen on Sunday evening.
The party secretary cautioned the PDP to stop dealing with people who did not represent the interests of the NNPP
He further said, “
I have the collective instruction of Dr. Boniface Okechukwu Aniebonam, the Founder and Life Member of the Board of Trustees of the NNPP, Dr. Temitope Aluko, the Chairman of the Board of Trustees of the NNPP, and Engr. Abdullahi Babayo, the Secretary of the Board of Trustees of the NNPP and The National Chairman, Dr Agbo Gilbert Major, all of the NNPP’s National Secretariat, Winlands Plaza, Wuse Zone 4, FCT Abuja.
“This letter therefore serves as a formal caveat to your party (PDP) and others by notifying you that the NNPP has not, and is not authorising any coalition with your party or any other political party for that matter as is being speculated and published.
“In the circumstance, to do otherwise and proceed with the purported coalition in any matter with Sen. Kwankwaso in the name of the NNPP, will be serious hypocrisy on your part and feigning ignorance of a glaring and well-established fact that Sen. Kwankwaso is not a member of the NNPP, and he has no locus or authority to engage in any form of negotiation and/or coalition on behalf of our great party (NNPP).
“The relevant regulatory agency, security agency of the Federal Government and the general public will be notified immediately to ensure that your party and Sen. Kwankwaso do not cause any further damage to our party and to prevent any avoidable breakdown of law and order, besides needless litigations.
He urged the PDP leadership not to get entangled in the “manipulating scheme or illegal plans being sold out by some expelled members in the likes of Sen. Rabiu Musa Kwankwaso under the guise of being a former Presidential Candidate of NNPP which is laughable”.
The Court of Appeal in Abuja, yesterday, sacked the governor of Plateau State, Caleb Mutfwang.
The court, in a unanimous decision by a three-member panel of justices, held that Mutfwang was not validly nominated and sponsored by the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) to participate in the March 18 gubernatorial election.
The appellate court held that all votes credited to him and the PDP after the election amounted to a waste.
The Justice Elfrieda Williams-Dawodu-led panel ordered the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to withdraw the Certificate of Return it issued Mutfwang as winner of the governorship poll.
It also ordered that the candidate that had the second majority lawful votes should be sworn in as governor.
The case followed an appeal against Muftwang’s election by the governorship candidate of All Progressives Congress (APC) in the state, Nentawe Goshwe Yilwatda.
INEC had declared that Mutfwang won the gubernatorial contest with 525,299 votes, ahead of Goshwe, who polled 481,370 votes.
Dissatisfied with the outcome of the election, Goshwe had approached the Plateau State Governorship Election Petition Tribunal. He contended, among others, that the PDP lacked a political structure in the state and was, therefore, incapable of validly nominating or sponsoring any candidate for the poll.
He also argued that the election of Mutfwang was not conducted in compliance with the Electoral Act, insisting that the PDP candidate did not win the majority of lawful votes cast during the election.
Mutfwang had, earlier, appealed to people of the state to remain calm in the face of the oncoming ruling.
October 16, 2023
The secretariat of the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) was in the early hours of Monday barricaded by security operatives in the state over the move by members of the party to protest the continued absence of Governor Oluwarotimi Akeredolu from the state.
The security agencies comprising the Nigeria Police Force (NPF), the Department of State Services (DSS), and the Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC) arrived at the party secretariat as early as 6:00 am.
The secretariat was cordoned off with barricades of no fewer than 13 patrol vans and one armoured personnel carrier (APC) with stern-looking security operatives mounting the entrance of the secretariat.
The youth wing of the party had vowed to protest the prolonged absence of the governor from the state.
According to the youths who were prevented from accessing the secretariat, there has been a vacuum of leadership in the state without anyone seen piloting its affairs
According to one of the leaders of the youth wing of the party, Tayo Oluyi, the protest was aimed at drawing attention to what they perceived as the governor’s negligence and the resultant negative impact on the state.
Meanwhile, the forceful intervention by the security agencies has sparked outrage among residents of the city, who claim that democratic rights to peaceful assembly and freedom of expression have been violated.
However, the party alleged Akeredolu and the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) of orchestrating the security forces’ intervention to suppress dissent and prevent their members from airing their grievances.
July 25, 2023
Delta State National Assembly Election Petitions Tribunal sitting in Asaba, yesterday, sacked the lawmaker representing Aniocha/Oshimili Constituency in the House of Representatives, Ngozi Okolie on grounds of anomaly in the National Assembly election held.
The tribunal nullified the election of Okolie, who contested on the platform of the Labour Party, and instead declared the candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party, Ndudi Elumelu, winner of the February 25 National Assembly election.
In a 107-page judgment that lasted over five hours, the three-member tribunal, headed by Justice A.Z. Mussa, declared that the LP candidate was wrongfully declared the winner by the Independent National Electoral Commission.
The PDP candidate, Elumelu, who was the Minority Leader of the 9th House of Representatives, had, in his petition marked EPT/DL/HR/06/2023, urged the tribunal disqualify Okolie because he was not properly sponsored by the Labour Party, and that he did not resign his position as a public office holder.
The tribunal upheld the prayer of the petitioners that Okolie was not duly sponsored by the LP as he was not a member of the party as of May 28, 2022, when the primary was purportedly held.
The tribunal also held that Okolie did not properly resign from public office to contest the elections.
Elumelu’s lawyer, Andrew Osemenem, in an interview with journalists, described the tribunal’s verdict as “a correct exposition of jurisprudence and the law.”
