Politics
Kogi Governorship: Confusion At Tribunal As Witnesses Disown Depositions
Mild drama continued at the Kogi Election Petition Tribunal in Abuja on Monday as some witnesses disowned their depositions before the panel.
Four witnesses from the Adavi Local Government Area of the state gave evidence for the Social Democratic Party (SDP) before the three-member panel of justices led by Justice Ado Birnin-Kudu.
When called, the witnesses gave virtually the same narration regarding what transpired where they voted, even though they were in different polling units during the November 11, 2023, governorship poll.
Like the previous ones, the four witnesses adopted their witness depositions on oath.
However, during cross-examination by the defence counsel, they made claims that were different from those in the witness depositions.
When shown their deposition, they disowned it, saying it was not written by them while also confirming that they were not polling agents but random voters.
One of the witnesses, Rufai Muhammed, who said he was from Adavi Local Government, stated in his deposition that there was no validly accredited voter for the said election.
However, upon cross-examination, he said he was validly accredited to vote, and he did.
When his attention was drawn to his witness deposition on oath, which said there was no validly accredited voter for the election that he witnessed, he denied the deposition, saying he did not write it.
Another witness, Yakubu AbdulAzeez, said he stood at a particular point throughout the voting period on election day, observing the proceedings, and that it was from that point that he saw that there was over-voting.
Mr AbdulAzeez said he stood watching the voting process, but he could not stand during the tribunal hearing.
He told the panel that he had been suffering from a leg problem since 2008, and the panel directed that he should be given a seat.
Claiming that he stood for hours in a spot to monitor an election that took place in November, 2023, thus became an issue of concern.
For his part, Hamza Abdul Azeez said he wrote a letter of complaint to the tribunal about over-voting. But when asked how many votes each political party scored in his polling unit, he said he did not know.
The witnesses said their lawyers wrote their depositions for them but added that they couldn’t remember the lawyers’ names.
The tribunal adjourned the matter until April 2 after Jibrin Okutepa, SAN, sought an adjournment.
While Kanu Agabi, SAN, represented the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), Ibrahim Sani Muhammed, SAN, appeared for Governor Usman Ododo, and AbdulWahab Muhammed, SAN, represented the All Progressives Congress (APC) at the sitting.
The witnesses who testified on Monday were Hamza Abdul Azeez, Said Muhammed, Yakubu Abdul Azeez and Rufai Muhammed, all from Adavi Local Government Area of Kogi State.
The SDP is challenging the victory of Mr Ododo of the APC in the November 11, 2023, governorship election in the state.
On Wednesday, the House of Representatives passed, through a second reading, a bill seeking to retain immunity for the Office of the President and remove immunity from the Vice President, the Governors and the Deputy Governors.
The bill was one of the 42 considered and passed through the second reading stage during plenary presided over by the Deputy Speaker, Mr Benjamin Kalu, in Abuja.
Sponsored by Hon. Solomon Bob (Rivers PDP), the bill is seeking the amendment of Section 308 of the 1999 Constitution to guard against abuse of office and to ensure transparency in governance.
The long title of the proposed legislation read: “A Bill for an Act to alter the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, 1999, to qualify the immunity conferred on the President, remove the immunity conferred on the Vice President, the Governors and their deputies, in order to curb corruption, eradicate impunity and enhance accountability in public office and for related matters.”
Key amendments include changes to Section 308 of the Constitution, which currently grants immunity to the president, vice president, governors, and deputy governors while in office.
The proposed bill will amend subsection 3 to ensure that immunity only applies to the President and the vice president when acting as President under Section 145 of the Constitution.
Additionally, a new subsection 4 will be introduced to make the immunity clause inapplicable if the office holder is acting in an unofficial capacity, engaging in actions beyond the powers of the office, or involved in criminal conduct.
“The bill seeks to foster transparency and strengthen the fight against corruption by making public officials more accountable for their actions, both in and out of office.”
“Section 308 of the principal Act is amended by:(a) substituting a new subsection (3) as follows: “(3) This section applies to a person holding the office of the President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria and the Vice President only when acting as President, in line with Section 145 of this Constitution.
Creating sub section (4) thereto as follows:”(4) The foregoing provisions of this section shall be inapplicable where the person to whom this section applies is acting in an unofficial capacity or where the conduct of the person is beyond the powers of his office or the conduct is criminal in nature.
“This Bill may be cited as the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria (Alteration) Act 2024.
The bill is currently awaiting further debate and consideration by the National Assembly.
The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has written to notify Natasha Akpoti-Uduaghan, the senator representing Kogi Central, about the petition by constituents seeking her recall from the national assembly.
INEC said it has also received the contact details of the petitioners.
“Pursuant to section 69 of the constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria 1999, as amended, I write to notify you of the receipt of a petition from representatives of registered voters in your constituency seeking your recall from the senate.
“The notification is in line with the provisions of clause 2 (a) of the Commission’s Regulations and Guidelines for Recall 2024.
“This letter is also copied to the presiding officer of the senate and simultaneously published on the commission’s website. Thank you”, the letter read.
The letter was signed by Ruth Oriaran Anthony, secretary to the commission.
Meanwhile, in a statement issued on Wednesday, INEC said it has now received the updated contact details from representatives of petitioners seeking to recall the senator.
In the statement, Sam Olumekun, INEC’s National Commissioner and Chairman of Information and Voter Education, said a letter notifying the senator of the petition has been delivered to her official address, copied to the senate presiding officer, and published on the commission’s website.
“The next step is to scrutinise the list of signatories submitted by the petitioners to ascertain that the petition is signed by more than one half (over 50%) of the registered voters in the constituency. This will be done in the coming days.
“The outcome, which will be made public, shall determine the next step to be taken by the Commission. We once again reassure Nigerians that the process will be open and transparent”, Mr Olumekun said.
Sen. Akpoti-Uduaghan had recently accused Senate President Godswill Akpabio of sexually harassing her.
The allegation came in the wake of seating arrangement related altercation between Senator. Akpabio and the Kogi Central senator at the red chamber
She was subsequently suspended from the senate for six months for “gross misconduct” over the incident.
The constituents behind the recall move also accused her of “gross misconduct, abuse of office, and deceitful behaviour”.
The senator has denied wrongdoing and called the recall effort a “coordinated suppression” of her voice.
The House of Representatives on Wednesday passed the second reading of a bill to upgrade the Lagos State 37 Local Council Development Areas (LCDAs) to full-fledged Local Government Areas (LGAs ).
The bill, was sponsored by James Faleke, Babajimi Benson, Enitan Badru, and 19 other lawmakers.
The bill is titled “A Bill for an Act to Alter the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, 1999 (as amended) to Accommodate the Thirty-Seven (37) Development Area Councils of Lagos State as Full-Fledged Local Government Areas, Increasing the Total Number of Local Government Areas in the Federation to Eight Hundred and Eleven (811), and for Related Matters (HB. 1498),”
Once fully enacted, Nigeria’s total number of LGAs will rise from 774 to 811, with Lagos overtaking Kano and Katsina, which currently have 44 and 34 LGAs, respectively.
Proponents of the bill argue that granting full LGA status to the LCDAs would bring governance closer to the people. The 37 LCDAs were created by President Bola Tinubu in 2003 when he was governor of Lagos State.
However, it’s worth noting that the Lagos State House of Assembly has been working on a bill to replace the 37 LCDAs with newly designated administrative areas.