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Kogi: APC Urges INEC To Stop Inspection Of Election Materials By SDP, INEC Reacts

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Kogi: APC Urges INEC To Stop Inspection Of Election Materials By SDP, INEC Reacts

The All Progressives Congress (APC) has requested the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to stop the scheduled inspection of the November 11, 2023, Kogi governorship election materials by the Social Democratic Party (SDP).

APC also demanded the removal and disciplinary action against the Kogi INEC Resident Electoral Commissioner, Gabriel Longpet, accusing him of being compromised by the SDP and its candidate.

The spokesperson and director of media and publicity for the APC campaign council, Kingsley Fanwo, expressed these concerns in a statement in Lokoja on Wednesday.

The APC criticized INEC’s decision to allow the SDP’s legal team to inspect the election materials, citing an alleged preliminary objection previously raised by INEC’s counsels before the governorship election petition tribunal in Abuja.

The party said, “We hereby call on the Chairman and Management of INEC to immediately halt any inspection of electoral materials used in the Nov. 11, 2023, governorship election in Kogi, pending the determination of the Motion on Notice filed by INEC and others to set the order of inspection aside.

“INEC should commence disciplinary processes against the REC, Dr Longpet, having been heavily compromised by the SDP and its candidate.

“This is because the message from the REC to INEC officials to appear for the inspection on Thursday, Jan. 4, is an admission of graft by him and a final nail on his fraudulent activities in the State.

“He (REC) has clearly misrepresented the integrity and legal interest of INEC. The commission should suspend or redeploy the REC from Kogi pending the outcome of the disciplinary process against him.”

APC noted that the demands were made amidst the alleged move by the REC to aid the SDP in compromising/tampering with and or destroying electoral materials used in the concluded Nov. 11, 2023, governorship elections in Kogi.

It alleged that the SDP and its candidate, Murtala Ajaka, had obtained an Ex-parte Order of the tribunal on Nov. 25, 2023, directing INEC to, among other things, allow an inspection of electoral materials used for the election to assist the SDP and its candidate institute and maintain a petition which at the time had not been filed.

The party further stated, “INEC was given only 48 hours to comply with the said orders which includes all forms, registers, result sheets, ballot papers and BVAS machines.

“Upon being served with the Order on Nov. 27, 2023, INEC filed a Motion before the Tribunal on Nov. 29, 2023, praying the Court to set aside the said Orders contending that the Tribunal lacked the jurisdiction to make the said Orders and for other reasons such as apparent contradictions in the said Ex-parte Order.

“That motion to set aside dated and filed on 29/11/2023 is to our knowledge still before the Tribunal as it has not been heard.

“It must also be noted that till date, the said order for inspection granted on 25/11/2023 has not been served on the winner of that election, Alhaji Usman Ododo and the APC, who are listed as parties in the said Order of Court.

“Most importantly is the fact that the Petition in respect of which the order of inspection was initially sought and granted was filed on Dec. 2, 2023, with the SDP and its candidate admitting at paragraph 92 of the contentious petition that INEC had given them documents contained in the order which included Voters Register, BVAS Accreditation Reports and Result Sheets.

“With the above background in mind, It is therefore shocking to learn that the REC of INEC in Kogi, who works for a body which has asked a Court to set aside the Ex-parte Order for inspection it made, is now organising an inspection exercise in Abuja for the SDP and its Candidate, an exercise which is fully and financially sponsored by the SDP and its candidate.”

APC, therefore, frowned at the messages the said REC sent out to the affected staff of INEC in Kogi to show up in Abuja to inspect the election materials on Thursday.

The party stated, “The messages no doubt show the desperation of the Kogi Resident Electoral Commissioner, who has been heavily compromised by the Social Democratic Party, its Candidate, and their cohorts.”

In his reaction, the Kogi INEC head of Voters Education and Publicity (VEP), Haruna Sule, expressed surprise over the allegations raised by APC, which he said were in agreement with the scheduled Jan. 4 inspection of the election materials.

He said, “APC false allegations can’t hold water because the matter is beyond our Kogi office but that of the INEC Headquarters in Abuja.

“REC is acting based on instructions from the headquarters and shouldn’t be unjustly accused.”

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POLITICS

Female banker reportedly commits suicide over ‘economic hardship’

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Female banker reportedly commits suicide over ‘economic hardship’

A female staff of Globus Bank in Lagos, Ikorodu, Amarachi, has reportedly committed suicide.

The deceased in a suicide note she left behind cited the degenerating economic situation in the country for her actions.

According to reports, the young staff took her last breath after consuming a dangerous chemical.

Reports claim the late banker indicated that nothing was working in her life and her future looked bleak alongside extreme hardship and a depleting economy.

She wrote that rather than continue to struggle, she chose to end things while apologising to her family and friends for her decision.

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Police arrest notorious arm robbery suspect, one fake soldier, recover AK-47 rifle

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Police arrest notorious arm robbery suspect, one fake soldier, recover AK-47 rifle

The Nasarawa State Police Command says its operatives have arrested one suspected notorious armed robber, Kabiru Alhaji Yusuf.

A statement issued on Thursday by the state’s Police Public Relations Officer, DSP Ramhan Nansel said the arrest was carried out on Wednesday by the command’s anti robbery team.

According to the PPRO, the operatives, during an intelligence led patrol along Fadaman Bauna area of the state., intercepted a group of three young men suspected to be armed robbers riding on an unregistered Bajaj Motorcycle.

He said the criminal elements abandoned the motorcycle and took to flight upon sighting the police officers but were given a hot chase leading to the arrest of Yusuf.

The police spokesman said after a search was conducted on the suspect, one AK 47 rifle and a motorcycle were recovered as an exhibit.

In another development, Nansel said one fake soldier identified as Muhammed Haladu of behind Ozas Hotel, Karu Abuja was arrested on full military camouflage at Awe LGA by two army officers and handed him over to the Police at Awe Division.

“The suspect claimed to be a soldier attached to 231 Battalion Biu, Borno State, but investigation proved otherwise. The criminal defrauded unsuspecting members of the public under the pretext of securing employment into the Nigeria Army.

“Preliminary investigation revealed that the suspect attempted to join the military but couldn’t, thus, went to military barracks to purchase the uniform he’s using for his nefarious activities”, the statement added.

The Commissioner of Police, CP Umar Shehu Nadada, while commending the officers, tasked them not to relent in the fight against criminals in the state.

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Court slams police inspector N5m damages over unlawful arrest of keke rider

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Court slams police inspector N5m damages over unlawful arrest of keke rider

An Akwa Ibom State High Court has ordered a Policewoman in the State Police Command, Inspector Iniobong Umoren to pay a tricyclist, Jeremiah Sunday Udo N5m for his unlawful arrest and impoundment of his tricycle, which he bought on hire purchase for the sum of N1.9m.

The Court presided by Justice Ntong Ntong gave the order, Thursday, in a judgment on an application for the enforcement of the fundamental rights brought by the applicant, Jeremiah Sunday Udo, a native of Ikono Local Government Area.

Justice Ntong also ordered the first respondent, Mr. Udoka David, a friend of the keke rider to pay the tricyclist another N5m for instigating the Police to arrest and detain him for five days without food and water.

The Court, however, extricated the Commissioner of Police, Akwa Ibom State Police Command, Mr. Olatoye Durosinmi who was joined in the suit as the third respondent, but advised him to warn his officers and men to always carry out their duties within the ambit and purview of the law.

The tricyclist, who is a resident of Ifa Ikot Idang in Uyo, had told the Court that he has been fulfilling the hire purchase agreement with the owner of the keke, Mr Udoka David from his neighbouring village in Ikono to pay him N20,000 every week until last year when the Naira policy crippled the economy resulting in him owing a week returns of N20,000.

He said he was surprised to be ambushed and arrested on the 12th of February, 2023, after he had so far paid eight hundred and eighty-five thousand Naira (N885,000) out of the N1.9m agreed in the hire purchase for full recovery of the tricycle.

Justice Ntong in a one-hour judgement wondered why “Inspector Iniobong Umoren quickly impounded the tricycle and handed it over to the first respondent without an order of court which has the power to interpret the terms of hire purchase agreements between parties and enforce its terms and conditions.”

He said, “The first respondent, Mr. Udoka David took the law into his hands and lured the Policewoman, who also allowed herself to be led into jettisoning the rule of law using the name of Inspector General of Police and the Commissioner of Police to authenticate her unlawful act” which the Court described as “satanic, nefarious and unwholesome antics against the applicant.”

Justice Ntong said, “Because of greed, Inspector Iniobong Umoren usurped the role of the Court and became a law unto herself, having encroached on the fundamental rights of the keke man, the law is there to protect the tricyclist from heartless people like Inspector Iniobong Umoren and Mr Udoka David.”

The judge said he “read all the processes filed by the parties and discovered that the evidence and documents including the bail bond, the petition and the statements exhibited by the first and second respondents, are doctored and fabricated to mislead the Court.”

The Court therefore ordered “Inspector Iniobong Umoren and Mr. Udoka David in the name of God Almighty, the President and Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces of the Federal Republic of Nigeria and the Inspector General of Police to release forthwith, the applicant’s tricycle pending when a Court of competent jurisdiction will order otherwise under the hire purchase agreement”.

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