The presidential candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party, Atiku Abubakar, has urged the Supreme Court to admit fresh documents against President Bola Tinubu.

Speaking at the court on Monday, his lead counsel, Chris Uche, described the matter as a grave and constitutional matter.

He urged the court to adopt the application and grant their request.

Presenting his argument, he said, “The issue involving Tinubu’s certificate is a weighty, grave, and constitutional one, which the Supreme Court should admit. I urge the court to admit the fresh evidence of President Tinubu’s academic records from CSU presented by Atiku.

The Supreme Court must take a look at Tinubu’s records and reach a decision devoid of technicality.

INEC lawyer, Abubakar Mahmoud, urged the Supreme Court to dismiss Atiku’s application seeking to present Tinubu’s academic records.

Tinubu’s lead counsel, Wole Olanipekun, argued that INEC should have been a party at the deposition proceedings in the US, noting that the CSU depositions are dormant until the deponent comes to court and testify.

He told the court that Atiku cannot seek fresh evidence at the Supreme Court.

In a related development, the Supreme Court reserved judgment on Peter Obi’s appeal seeking to invalidate Tinubu’s  election.

A seven-member panel of the Supreme Court headed by John Okoro made the announcement after taking arguments from lawyers to the parties on Monday.

“This appeal is reserved for judgment until a date to be communicated to parties,” Okoro said.

During the hearing, Obi’s lead lawyer, Livy Uzoukwu, urged the court to allow his client’s appeal.

He prayed the court to set aside the judgement of the Presidential Election Petition Court in Abuja which affirmed Tinubu’s election on 6 September.

However, Tinubu’s lawyer, Wole Olanipekun, argued that Obi’s suit lacked merit.

Olanipekun urged the court to dismiss the appeal.

The All Progressive Congress (APC) through its lawyer, Akin Olujinmi, asked the court to uphold the judgement of the Presidential Election Petition Court affirming Tinubu’s election.

Inyang Okoro is the leader of the panel of seven justices, which include Helen Ogunwumiju, Ibrahim Saulawa, Adamu Jauro, Tijani Abubakar, Emmanuel Agim and Lawal Garba.

Punch/Vanguard/PT

The Supreme Court, on Monday, dismissed the appeal filed by the Allied Peoples Movement (APM) challenging the Presidential Election Petition Court’s judgement affirming President Bola Tinubu’s victory.

“This appeal having been withdrawn without objection (from the respondents) is hereby dismissed,” Okoro said.

The APM appeal challenged the eligibility of President Tinubu and Vice President Kashim Shettima. The contention was based on an allegation of Shettima’s double nomination as a vice presidential candidate and senatorial candidate in the same election cycle.

But the Supreme Court had in May decided a similar case filed by the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) against Tinubu and Shettima.

Okoro had led the court’s panel that dismissed the appeal filed by the PDP, holding that the PDP had no right to challenge the internal qualification of candidates of another political party.

The Supreme Court further held that Shettima properly relinquished his nomination for Borno South Senatorial District ticket before becoming Tinubu’s running mate at the 25 February presidential election.

The Supreme Court panel on Monday drew the APM’s lawyer’s attention to the earlier judgement, and discouraged him from continuing to pursue the appeal on that basis.

After a period of conversation between the lawyer and the bench, the lawyer decided to withdraw the case.

PT

The number of Nigeria’s Supreme Court justices is about to drop to 10, widely coming short of the court’s statutory full complement of 21 justices.

The number, currently 11, will drop to 10 as another justice of the court retires on 27 October.

Within the space of three years, the number of judges on the court’s bench plummeted from 20 to 14 in June 2022, when then Chief Justice of Nigeria (CJN), Tanko Muhammad, abruptly resigned.

Since then, the number has further spiralled down to 10, as Musa Dattijo Muhammad, who joined the bench of the Supreme Court over a decade ago, retires on 27 October.

He is the second most senior judge on the court’s bench.

The jurist’s retirement will bring the number of justices of the court to an all-time low of 10 in the Supreme Court’s recent history.

A statement by the Supreme Court’s Director of Press and Information, Festus Akande, on Sunday, said Muhammad clocks the mandatory retirement age of 70 on 27 October.

It also said a valedictory court session to mark Muhammad’s exit from the bench would be held on Friday, 27 October.

“With the retirement of Muhammad, the Supreme Court of Nigeria is now left with 10 Justices,” the statement read.

PT

Suspected Boko Haram insurgents have attacked a customs house in Geidam town, Geidam LGA, Yobe State, killing one officer, identified as Usman Gombe.

The insurgents stormed the customs house along Maine Soroa road in a Volkswagen Golf and a Land Rover around 10pm on Saturday and started shooting.

“They struck when they were sure the customs officers had retired home. Panicked by the rain of bullets, the officers scampered for safety, some escaped through the gate, while others scaled the fence.

“Unfortunately, one of the officers, Usman Gombe, was shot dead while attempting to climb the fence,” a security source told our correspondent.

He said the assailants also burnt down the customs patrol van, a generator, and part of the customs house building.

“This is the second time Boko Haram insurgents killed customs officers. Last month, an officer Babalola, and his junior officer, were abducted and later killed by the insurgents,” he said.

Residents of the town told our correspondent that the activities of Boko Haram insurgents on the outskirts of Geidam had increased in recent days.

“They collect taxes from farmers and herdsmen a few kilometers from the town and nobody is doing anything.

“Instead, the security operatives have relocated over 17 checkpoints into the town where they also taxed traders that brought goods through the same route. We are in difficult condition in this town,” one of the traders alleged.

Daily Trust

Israel strikes Gaza, Lebanon overnight; Netanyahu convenes meeting of generals

Israel bombarded Gaza with air strikes early on Monday and its aircraft struck southern Lebanon overnight, as Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu convened a meeting of his top generals and his war cabinet to assess the escalating conflict.

Israel's attacks concentrated on the Gaza Strip's centre and north, Palestinian media reported. A strike on a house near the Jabalia refugee camp, in northern Gaza, killed several Palestinians and wounded others, according to media reports.

Health authorities in Gaza said at least 4,600 people were killed in Israel's two-week bombardment that began after a Hamas Oct. 7 rampage on southern Israeli communities in which 1,400 people were killed and 212 were taken into Gaza as hostages.

Palestinian Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh and Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein Amirabdollahian discussed in a call late on Sunday the means of stopping Israel's "brutal crimes" in Gaza, Hamas said in a statement.

Israel has amassed tanks and troops near the fenced border around Gaza for a planned ground invasion aiming to annihilate Hamas.

Fears that the Israel-Hamas war could mushroom into a wider Middle East conflict rose over the weekend with Washington warning of a significant risk to U.S. interests in the region and announcing a new deployment of advanced air defenses.

The Pentagon has already dispatched a significant amount of naval power to the Middle East, including two aircraft carriers, support ships and about 2,000 Marines, to help deter attacks by Iran-affiliated forces.

"What we're seeing ... is the prospect of a significant escalation of attacks on our troops and our people throughout the region," U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin told ABC's "This Week" program on Sunday.

China's Middle East special envoy Zhai Jun, who is visiting the region, warned that the risk of a large-scale ground conflict was rising and that spillover conflicts in the region were "worrisome", Chinese state media said on Monday.

Iranian security officials told Reuters Iran's strategy was for Middle East proxies like Hezbollah to pursue limited strikes on Israeli and U.S. targets but to avoid a major escalation that would draw in Tehran, a high-wire act for the Islamic Republic.

In neighbouring Syria, where Hamas' main regional backer Iran has a military presence, Israeli missiles hit Damascus and Aleppo international airports early on Sunday, putting both out of service and killing two workers, Syrian state media said.

Along Israel's northern border with Lebanon, the Iran-backed Hezbollah group has clashed with Israeli forces in support of Hamas in the deadliest escalation of frontier violence since an Israel-Hezbollah war in 2006.

Early on Monday, Israeli aircraft struck two Hezbollah cells in Lebanon that were planning to launch anti-tank missiles and rockets toward Israel, its military said. Israel's military also said it struck other Hezbollah targets, including a compound and an observation post.

Hezbollah said on Monday that one of its fighters was killed, without providing details.

With violence around its heavily guarded borders increasing, Israel on Sunday added 14 communities close to Lebanon and Syria to its evacuation contingency plan in the north of the country.

MORE AID ARRIVES IN GAZA

Palestinian Prime Minister Mohammad Shtayyeh called on the international community to create "a united front" to stop Israel's attacks in Gaza and allow desperately needed aid which has only begun to trickle in.

A second convoy of 14 aid trucks entered the Rafah crossing to the besieged Gaza Strip on Sunday night, and U.S. President Joe Biden and Netanyahu affirmed in a call "there will now be continued flow of this critical assistance into Gaza," the White House said.

The U.N. humanitarian office said the volume of aid entering so far was just 4% of the daily average before the hostilities and a fraction of what was needed with food, water, medicines and fuel stocks running out.

Biden also ramped up his diplomacy, convening calls on Sunday with Netanyahu and Pope Francis and speaking with the leaders of Canada, France, Britain, Germany, Italy and Britain about getting aid into Gaza and preventing the conflict from spreading.

In a joint statement, the leaders voiced support for Israel's right to defend itself. They also called for adherence to international humanitarian law, including the protection of civilians.

Netanyahu also held a phone call with the leaders of France, Spain and the Netherlands late on Sunday, the Israeli leader's office said.

Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte will visit Israel on Monday and French President Emmanuel Macron will visit Tuesday.

Reuters

WESTERN PERSPECTIVE

Russian forces intensify pressure on Ukraine's Avdiivka, Kherson

Russian forces aiming to contain a four-month-old Ukrainian counteroffensive maintained unrelenting pressure on Sunday on the shattered town of Avdiivka in the east and intensified shelling in the southern area of Kherson.

Russia has focused on the industrial east since pulling back from a failed advance on Kyiv at the start of the February 2022 invasion and its forces have tried to maintain positions in Kherson since abandoning the region's main town late last year.

The General Staff of Ukraine's Armed Forces, in its evening report, said Ukrainian forces repelled nearly 20 Russian attacks around Avdiivka, its buildings now largely reduced to shells. Russian air strikes hit nearby villages, it said.

Avdiivka has become a watchword for resistance, viewed as the gateway to recapturing the Russian-held city of Donetsk and the rest of Donbas -- made up of Donetsk and Luhansk regions.

It was briefly seized in 2014 when Russian-backed separatists captured swathes of eastern Ukraine, but was later retaken by Ukrainian forces who, in the ensuing nine years, have built solid fortifications.

"It is true that Avdiivka has significance," Andriy Yusov, spokesperson for the Ukraine Defence Ministry's Intelligence Directorate, told the Espreso TV news outlet.

"This is not the first instance the occupying forces have boosted tension with declarations of taking over all of Donetsk and Luhansk...Their plans have failed, the deadlines pushed back. This is just another episode of tension."

President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said the situation in Avdiivka and the nearby town of Maryinka was "particularly tough. Numerous Russian attacks. But our positions are being held.

"Every day, we need results for Ukraine, to withstand Russian assaults, to eliminate occupiers, to move forward," Zelenskiy said in his nightly video address. "Whether it's a kilometre or 500 metres, but forward, every day."

Russian military accounts made no mention of Avdiivka, but described successful operations against Ukrainian positions to the east in Bakhmut, seized by Moscow in May after months of fighting.

In Kherson, regional governor Oleksandr Prokudin said several villages had been struck in shelling episodes, as had transport and food production sites in the city of Kherson.

Reuters could not independently verify the accounts from either side.

Russian forces routinely shell Kherson and villages on the western bank of the Dnipro from positions on the eastern bank, where they retreated late last year.

The U.S.-based Institute for the Study of War has reported in the past week that Ukrainian forces have crossed the Dnipro to take up new positions of their own and pursue Russian forces.

RUSSIAN PERSPECTIVE

Ukrainians using Russian chips for drones – media

The Ukrainian military is using electronic components salvaged from Russian Geran-2 loitering munitions to assemble their own suicide drones, the online outlet Mash reported on Saturday.

The outlet circulated imagery of a Ukrainian homebuilt suicide drone, apparently containing a navigation module from a Geran-2 (Geranium-2). The large crude-looking UAV, which features two prop motors, was intercepted by Russian forces. It was not immediately clear whether the drone was shot down or forced to land through electronic warfare means.

The re-purposed navigation component used in the Ukrainian drone was identified by the outlet as a Kometa (Comet) module that is utilized in Geran-2 drones. The module is said to be located in the wing section of the Russian loitering munition and usually survives impact. The Kometa is said to use the Russian satellite navigation system GLONASS for setting the course of the drone. 

Russia began widely using Geran-2 drones in Ukraine last fall, launching the long-range munitions at targets deep in the country’s territory. They widely became known as “mopeds” during the conflict, thanks to the noise emitted by the engine.

Kiev and its Western backers have repeatedly claimed the drones are actually of Iranian origin, pointing out the striking similarities between the Geran-2 and Shahed-136.

No solid evidence to back up such claims has ever emerged, while both Moscow and Tehran have repeatedly denied the drones had been supplied by Iran to Russia. However, Tehran admitted to sending a sample selection of drones to Russia months before the full-blown conflict between Moscow and Kiev broke out in February 2022.

Reuters/RT

Lea Ypi’s Free: Coming of Age at the End of History has met with a hostile reception in her home country of Albania, and it is easy to see why. Her self-description as a “Marxist Albanian professor of political theory at the London School of Economics” says it all.

Reading Ypi’s book, I was struck by the parallel between her life and that of Viktor Kravchenko, the Soviet official who defected while visiting New York in 1944. His famous bestselling memoir, I Chose Freedom, became the first substantial eyewitness account of the horrors of Stalinism, beginning with its detailed description of the Holodomor (famine) in Ukraine in the early 1930s. Still a true believer at the time, Kravchenko had participated in enforcing collectivization, and therefore knew of what he spoke.

Kravchenko’s publicly known story ends in 1949, when he triumphantly won a big libel suit against a French Communist newspaper. At the trial in Paris, the Soviets flew in his ex-wife to testify to his corruption, alcoholism, and domestic abuse. The court was not swayed, but people tend to forget what happened next. Immediately following the trial, when he was being hailed around the world as a Cold War hero, Kravchenko grew deeply worried about the anti-Communist witch hunts unfolding in the United States. To fight Stalinism with McCarthyism, he warned, was to stoop to the Stalinists’ level.

As he spent more time in the West, Kravchenko grew increasingly aware of its own injustices and became obsessed with reforming Western democratic societies from within. After writing a lesser-known sequel to I Chose Freedom, entitled I Chose Justice, he embarked on a crusade to discover a new, less exploitative mode of economic production. That quest led him to Bolivia, where he invested in an unsuccessful effort to organize poor farmers into new collectives.

Crushed by that failure, he withdrew into private life and ultimately shot himself at his home in New York. And no, his suicide was not due to some nefarious KGB blackmail operation. It was an expression of despair, and further proof that his original denunciation of the Soviet Union had always been a genuine protest against injustice.

Ypi’s Free does in one volume what Kravchenko did in two. When Albania descended into civil war in 1997, her whole world fell apart. Reduced to hiding in her apartment and writing a diary while Kalashnikov shots clattered outside, she made an extraordinary decision: She would study philosophy.

But what is even more extraordinary is that her engagement with philosophy brought her back to Marxism. Her story attests to the fact that the most penetrating critics of Communism have often been ex-Communists, for whom the critique of “actually existing socialism” was simply the only way to remain faithful to their political commitments.

Free grew out of an earlier treatise on how socialist and liberal notions of freedom are interrelated, and it is this perspective that structures the book. The first part, on how Albanians “chose freedom,” provides an eminently readable memoir of Ypi’s childhood in the last decade of communist rule in Albania. While it includes all the horrors of daily life – food shortages, political denunciations, control and suspicion, torture and harsh punishments – it is also punctuated by comical moments. Even under such harsh and desolate conditions, people found ways to preserve a modicum of dignity and honesty.

In the second part, which describes Albania’s post-communist turmoil after 1990, Ypi recounts how the freedom chosen by – or, rather, imposed on – Albanians failed to deliver justice. It culminates in a chapter about the 1997 civil war, at which point the narrative breaks off and is replaced by snippets from Ypi’s diary. The strength of Ypi’s writing is that, even here, she is tackling the big questions, exploring how ambitious ideological projects usually end not in triumph but in confusion and disorientation.

In the 1990s, one such project was replaced by another. With communism toppled, ordinary Albanians were subjected to “democratic transition” and “structural reforms” designed to make them more “like Europe” with its “free market.” Ypi’s bitter conclusion in the last paragraph of the book is worth quoting in full:

“My world is as far from freedom as the one my parents tried to escape. Both fall short of that ideal. But their failures took distinctive forms, and without being able to understand them, we will remain forever divided. I wrote my story to explain, to reconcile, and to continue the struggle.”

Here we have an ironic rebuttal to Marx’s 11th Thesis on Feuerbach, which famously observes that, “Philosophers have hitherto only interpreted the world in various ways; the point is to change it.” The counterpoint is that one cannot change the world for the better unless one first understands it. This is where the great initiators of both the Communist and liberal projects fell short.

The conclusion Ypi draws from this insight, however, is not the cynical stance that meaningful change is either impossible or inevitable. Rather, it is that the struggle (for freedom) goes on, and always will. Ypi thus feels that she owes a debt to “all the people of the past who sacrificed everything because they were not apathetic, they were not cynical, they did not believe that things fall into place if you just let them take their course.”

Therein resides our global predicament. If we believe that things will fall into place by just letting them take their course, we will end up with multiple catastrophes, from ecological breakdown and the rise of authoritarianism to social chaos and disintegration. Ypi channels what philosopher Giorgio Agamben called “the courage of hopelessness,” his recognition that passive optimism is a recipe for complacency, and thus a hurdle to meaningful thought and action.

At the end of Communism, there was a widespread, euphoric hope that freedom and democracy would bring a better life; eventually, though, many lost that hope. That is the point where the real work begins. In the end, Ypi does not offer any easy way out, and therein lies the strength of her book. Such abstinence is what makes it philosophical. The point is not to change the world blindly; it is, first and foremost, to see and understand it.

Project Syndicate

People often ask me, TOE, how do I learn leadership. Should I go on a course? Buy a book? Get a mentor? Are leaders born, or can you become a leader?

Just as I say about business success, leadership has many components – luck, being in the right place at the right time.

But I also believe that those talents and those disciplines that you bring, creating a vision and the resilience and focus that delivers that vision, can also forge your own personal leadership.

I was fortunate to work with Ebitimi Banigo, at the start of my career. My leadership philosophy was built working with him. It started with Banigo taking the time to read my application letter and giving me a chance to prove myself at Allstates Trust Bank in 1988.

When my colleagues tell me today, “TOE you respond too fast to our emails”, I laugh because I learnt from the master himself – Banigo. When I sent memos to him, he would respond within twenty-four hours; therefore, why should I not respond even faster in this age of technology?

These are some of the leadership values I learned from my time with Banigo, and I practise them all today.

Leaders must demand excellence: Only by going the extra mile and pushing ourselves, will we truly develop and stand out. Hard work and excellence made my bosses Toyin Akin-Johnson and Banigo notice, and subsequently, believe in me. At twenty-seven, I went from being a trainee to being a boss, when I was appointed a branch manager – the youngest bank branch manager at that time. All the things I learned earlier came into play, and I continued learning.

Good leaders find in people what people did not know they possess – Leaders recognise the talent in their team and then push to unlock the talent. When I work, I work to achieve my goals, but I also work to unlock my teams’ skills. I know everyone I work with has huge potential – for me my success is also about the success of others, growing and nurturing their talent, that is the foundation of our growth at Heirs Holdings Group.

This focus on talent, teams, personal transformation, is why I am so insistent on creating institutions, cultures, and pathways, where human capital can thrive. It is why I am an investor in businesses, but also entrepreneurs across Africa.

Leaders must walk their talk – A leader must be consistent. People want to trust a leader that they believe has integrity. Leadership is not just about telling people what to do, it’s also about setting an example. A good leader must lead by example and practice what they preach, this demonstrates integrity, it builds trust and respect.

Leaders must impart knowledge: I benefited from the mentorship of Banigo at Allstates Trust Bank. He helped me to develop my strategic thinking, my frames of reference and to channel my ideas into concrete actions, so that when the moment of opportunity arrived, at the age of thirty-four, I had the self-belief to gather a small group together to take over and revive a failing bank – take that enormous step, that is still shaping an industry and a continent today.

Today, when I am faced with an impossible situation, I ask myself, ‘What would Banigo do?’ I worked with Banigo from 1988 – 1995, till this day, he is the one I turn to, when I need advice.

PT

As the Supreme Court gets set to hear appeals seeking to remove President Bola Tinubu from office, the candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, in the February 2023 presidential election, Atiku Abubakar, has said that nothing ought to stop the apex court from accepting his fresh evidence.

Atiku stated this in a reply on the point of law he filed to counter objections that Tinubu, the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, and the All Progressives Congress, APC, raised to query the admissibility of documents that were released to him by the Chicago State University, CSU, in the United States of America.

The former Vice President, who is challenging the outcome of the presidential election that was held on February 25, maintained that the documents he is seeking the permission of the apex court to tender would establish his allegation that Tinubu was not only ineligible to contest the election but was equally involved in certificate forgery.

The documents Atiku is seeking to tender before the apex court are Tinubu’s academic records that the CSU handed over to him on October 2, 2023.

The 32-page documents were released on the orders of Judge Nancy Maldonado of the District Court of Illinois, Eastern Division, Illinois, United States of America.

The US court had ordered the CSU to release the said documents to Atiku, despite Tinubu’s objection.

However, following Atiku’s request to tender the documents, Tinubu, INEC and the APC raised separate objections wherein they argued that the Supreme Court could not admit the evidence at this stage of the case.

They argued that the 180 days allowed by the law for hearing of petitions against the outcome of the presidential election, had since elapsed.

According to them, the apex court, at this stage, lacks the requisite jurisdiction to receive and decide on the fresh evidence since it was not presented within the prescribed 180 days.

In his response to the objections, Atiku, through his team of lawyers led by Chris Uche, argued that, contrary to the position of the respondents, “there is no such constitutional limit of 180 days on the lower court to hear and determine a presidential election petition, such that can rob this Honourable Court to exercise its power in any manner whatsoever”.

“The parties are agreed that the Constitution is the fons et origo and the grundnorm, and supersedes any other legislation,” he added.

Besides, Atiku maintained that while tribunals were established to deal with election matters from Houses of Assembly, National Assembly and Governorship elections, the Constitution gave the jurisdiction to entertain disputes from presidential elections only to the Court of Appeal.

“Thereafter, the Constitution was intentional and deliberate in setting the 180 days limit only for Election Tribunals, and not for the Court of Appeal. On the other hand, when it came to appeals, the Constitution clearly and expressly extended same to the Court of Appeal.

“The Constitution clearly excluded Court of Appeal in the preceding subsection,” he submitted.

Atiku further argued that a cursory look at Section 285 of the 1999 Constitution, as amended, shows that the Presidential Election Petition Court, PEPC, that heard and dismissed his petition, was not an election tribunal.

He contended that the framers of the Constitution limited the application of the 180 days specifically to election tribunals by virtue of section 285(6), excluding the Court of Appeal.

“On the other hand, when it came to the next subsection, namely Section 285(7), they intentionally included and mentioned Court of Appeal. The trite maxim, my Lords, is “expressio unius est exclusio alterius”, meaning that the express mention of one thing in a statutory provision automatically excludes any other which otherwise would have been included by implication.

“Furthermore, when granting jurisdiction to the Court of Appeal to entertain presidential election petitions, the Constitution did not pretend that it was conferring the jurisdiction on a “tribunal”; it clearly gave the jurisdiction to the Court of Appeal. Thus, section 239(1) of the Constitution specifically provides thus:-

“Subject to the provisions of this Constitution, the Court of Appeal shall, to the exclusion of any other court of law in Nigeria, have original jurisdiction to hear and determine any question as to whether – (a) any person has been validity elected to the office of President or Vice President under this Constitution.”

Uche also noted that when conferring on the Supreme Court the jurisdiction to entertain appeals arising from decisions in presidential election petitions, the Constitution limited itself to “Court of Appeal” and made no mention of ‘tribunal’.

He cited Section 233 subsections (1) and (2)(e)(i) of the Constitution which provides that: “The Supreme Court shall have jurisdiction, to the exclusion of any other court of law in Nigeria, to hear and determine appeals from the Court of Appeal.

“An appeal shall lie from decisions of the Court of Appeal to the Supreme Court as of right in the following cases – (e) decisions on any question – (i) whether any person has been validly elected to the office of President or Vice President under this Constitution”.

He added that it was based on the above facts that the Presidential Election Petition Court itself administratively refused to be referred to as the “Presidential Election Petition Tribunal”, but the “Presidential Election Petition Court”.

“The case is not whether 2nd Respondent attended Chicago State University, but whether he presented a forged certificate to the INEC.

“That at the trial, a National Youth Service Corps certificate with serial number 173807 presented by the 2nd Respondent to the 1st Respondent was equally tendered by the Appellants/Applicants at the trial as “EXHIBIT PBD 1A” with the name Tinubu Bola Adekunle, which is annexed herewith as EXHIBIT-J,” Atiku added.

Vanguard

A former Chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), Attahiru Jega, has called for an amendments to the Electoral Act, 2022.

He said though the country’s electoral law could be said to be the best in Nigeria’s history, it is not perfect; and there was the need for further amendments to remove ambiguities, clarify and strengthen some of its sections.

Jega spoke at a two-day retreat organised for senators by the National Institute for Legislative and Democratic Studies (NILDS) in Ikot Ekpene, Akwa Ibom State.

The amendments, he said, should make the electronic transmission of results mandatory from the next general elections in 2027.

He also said the president should be divested of power to appoint the chairman and National Commissioners of INEC to free the commission from partisanship.

He said the law should be reviewed to ensure that all cases arising from the conduct of elections are resolved and judgements made before the date of swearing-in.

Transmission of election results

Many stakeholders had expressed concern that section 64 of the Electoral Act, which states the process of transmission of election results, is susceptible to manipulation and misinterpretation.

But Jega said the section should be clarified by making election transmission of election results compulsory, including uploading of polling unit level results and result sheets used at different levels of result collation.

“INEC would have enough time to prepare for this, if the Act is amended early enough in the ensuing electoral cycle,” he said.

He also called for the introduction of either early voting for eligible voters on election duty, such as INEC staff, observers and their drivers, security personnel, and journalists or special arrangement to enable them vote on election day, especially for presidential elections.

The former INEC boss advocated for diaspora voting, at least for presidential elections, to enable citizens to vote, especially those on essential service abroad.

There is need to enhance inclusion of women, if necessary by up to 35% of elective positions in parliament, and in all political parties’ candidate lists, he added.

Other amendments

Cross-carpeting by elected officials, Jega said, should be proscribed not only for members of the National Assembly but also for elected executives, governors and chairmen of LGAs while INEC should be empowered to prepare for elections to fill the vacancy once it has evidence of the act of cross-carpeting.

He said, “There is need to place stringent conditions for candidate withdrawal and replacement to prevent abuse. Empower INEC to also screen and if necessary disqualify candidates whose credentials show that they are unqualified or in respect of whom it has evidence of forgery and other forms of criminality.

“There is need for the legislation to allow even candidates outside the political parties, as well as tax-paying citizens to file suits against candidates who provide false information to INEC regarding their candidature.

“Although Sections 132(8) & (9) have given timelines within which the Tribunals and courts of appellate jurisdiction should issue verdicts, there is need, particularly in respect of elected executive positions, to ensure that all cases are resolved and judgements made before the date of swearing-in.

“Review the process of appointments into INEC, specifically to divest/minimize the involvement of the President in appointment of Chairman and National Commissioners of INEC, in order to free the commission from the damaging negative perception of “he who pays the piper dictates the tune”.

“The Justice Uwais Committee recommended that the responsibility for advertising, screening, shortlisting and submission to Council of State for recommendation to Senate for confirmation hearings, for this category of officers, should be entrusted to the National Judicial Council (NJC).

“On second thought, and for obvious reasons, I will recommend a joint committee of the National Assembly be given this responsibility, with a criteria, for transparency, non-partisanship and stakeholder engagement for the process. The applicants/nominees for these appointments should be subjected to public scrutiny with regards to knowledge, skills, good character and non-partisanship. Guidelines should be provided for submitting petitions against any nominee during this process.”

Daily Trust