Politics
Kogi Guber: Group Charges Appeal Court President On Transparency, Fairness
As reactions continue to trail the recent judgment by the Kogi State Governorship Election Petition Tribunal, a group known as Nigeria Integrity Movement (NIM), has appealed the leadership of the Court of Appeal to exercise due diligence, transparency and sense of justice in constituting members of the Appeal Panel that will adjudicate in the Kogi Gubernatorial Election case.
It would be recalled that the Kogi State Governorship Election Petition Tribunal delivered it’s split judgement on Saturday, May 23 2020 with two members of the Panel, Justices Kashim G. Kaigama from Yobe State and Baraka Wali from Katsina State ruled in favour of Alhaji Yahaya Bello of All Progressives Congress (APC) while Justice Ohimai Ovbiagele from Edo State stood against the above. The details of the judgement is in the public domain.
As a result of the above, the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) and its candidate in the election, Engr. Musa Wada have vowed to approach the Court of Appeal for enduring justice to be served.
In the light of this, the group in its letter dated May 26 2020, called the attention of the Acting President of the Court of Appeal, Hon. Justice Monica Dongban-Mensem to the alleged travesty of justice in the Kogi State election petitions, adding the recent judgement of the tribunal did not go down well with many keen observer of Nigeria’s Justice System.
Hon. Justice Monica Dongban-Mensem
President, Court of Appeal
“The Acting President, Court of Appeal, Honourable Justice Monica B. Dongban-Mensem, is known for her unquestionable integrity and as we have always told Nigerians, the world is waiting to see the constitution and decisions of the Appeal Panel as the aggrieved parties seek judicial redress,” Mr. Kayode Esan who signed the letter on behalf of the group said.
“We wish to reiterate that it is privy to the surreptitious moves by some persons to undermine and subvert justice in favour of certain party to the case. In this wise, we express our disappointment in strongest terms against the decisions of Justice Kashim Kaigama and his colleague that sacrificed justice on the alter of personal interests at the Kogi State election tribunal.”
The non partisan group also called the attention of the President, Court of Appeal to the subversive activities of Presiding Justice Abdul Aboki of Abuja Divison of the Appeal Court that acted and may still act as a hatchet man for purchase of justice for a certain candidate in the Kogi State Election Petition and who is one of the judicial officers in Nigeria polluting the stream of justice.
“We are aware that his (Justice Aboki) interest in the Kogi State affair stems from his alleged indigenship of Koton-Karfe in Kogi State, even though officially, he claims to hail from Kano State.
“He has enjoyed unmerited largesse from Kogi State Government with the most recent being the rehabilitation of road leading to his personal mosque located between Internal Revenue Road and Lapo Microfinance Bank office in Lokoja,” the group alleged.
The NIM further demanded the extra-judicial murder of innocent citizens during the November 2019 gubernatorial election in the State should not be ignored, more importantly as the Inspector General of Police (IGP) had openly admitted that fake policemen recruited by the APC candidate outnumbered and out-gunned his men.
“An election conducted under such unprecedented violence cannot be said to be free and fair. Allowing such a dangerous precedent to survive through judicial abracadabra portends doom for our tenuous democracy,” the group added.
“We wish to extend her highest level of respect and confidence in the ability of the leadership of the Court of Appeal to countenance the observations of NIM as presented above as it sets out to hear the appeal of the aggrieved party in the Kogi State Election Petition. We are watching!” The group concluded.
By Victor Iko-Ojo
…
Irrespective of the challenges witnessed at the last general election that brought president bola Ahmed tinubu to power, a group known as ‘Good Friends Network for Good Governance’ has called for calm and understanding with the Bola Ahmed Tinubu-led government in the interest of nigeria.
This opinion was expressed by the convener Nwafor Chigbo Fortune in a an interview with our reporter at the recent civil society interactive forum in Abuja.
According to Nwafor, elections and court matters are over, hence the need for everyone to move on, irrespective of party affiliation, without prejudicing the need to ensure the delivery of the dividends of democracy to the populace.
“Nigeria belongs to Nigerians and failure to provide leadership will affect everyone” he said.
Chigbo Nwafor Fortune
Convener, Good Friends Network for Good Governance
Nwafor charged those in power to be magnanimous in victory and run a government of inclusiveness devoid of short changing any region due to political differences.
He reminded Nigerians of their civic responsibilities of holding government accountable at all times.
According to Nwafor, The Good Friends Network for Good Governance has been at the forefront of engagements for the entrenchment of enduring democratic principles and ensuring that the populace gets value for their electoral investment in their leaders
He therefore called on the opposition parties to synergise and not not relent in providing the much desired objective criticism whenever the need arises because a robust opposition is the panacea that keeps the government in check in a functional democracy.
Liberian President George Weah has called his challenger in the presidential race, Joseph Boakai, to congratulate him on his victory.
In an address to the nation he said “the Liberian people have spoken and we have heard their voice”.
The opposition candidate holds an unassailable lead of 28,000 votes with nearly all ballots counted.
A former world footballer of the year, President Weah has been in power since 2018. He will step down in January.
He came into the job on a wave of enthusiasm, especially from younger voters, having won that election – also against Mr Boakai – by a large margin.
But a perception that he had failed to tackle corruption, rising prices and continued economic difficulties tarnished his image.
Mr Weah was magnanimous in defeat, beginning his five-minute address by saying he had “the utmost respect for the democratic process that has defined our nation”, adding that he had spoken to Mr Boakai who he called the “president-elect”.
Earlier the electoral commission announced that Mr Boakai, a 78-year-old political veteran had 50.89% of the votes, while President Weah had 49.11%.
The president referred to the closeness of the race saying it “reveals a deep division within our country” and called on Liberians to “work together to find common ground… unity is paramount for mama Liberia”.
A long period of civil war in which an estimated 250,000 people died ended just 20 years ago.
When the latest set of results were announced earlier on Friday, they sparked celebrations in the capital, Monrovia.
Mr Boakai’s supporters gathered at his party’s headquarters in the city, convinced that he had won the election.
They called for President Weah to go, and chanted “we beat the Buga dancer” – referring to a song that became associated with his campaign.
The electoral commission says it has announced the results from 99.58% of the polling stations following Tuesday’s run-off election.
Image caption,
Mr Boakai’s supporters gathered at his party’s headquarters in Monrovia
The run-off between Mr Boakai and Mr Weah was triggered after neither candidate got more than 50% of the vote in last month’s first round. There were 18 other candidates.
In that vote, the president got the largest share and was just 7,000 votes ahead of Mr Boakai.
The poll was the tightest presidential contest in Liberia since the civil war.
Mr Boakai’s campaigning focused on the need to rescue the nation from what he called “mismanagement” by Mr Weah’s administration.
The president dismissed Mr Boakai’s allegations, saying he had made significant strides, including introducing free tuition for university students.
This is the fourth time a presidential election has taken place since the war ended.
Observers from the regional bloc, Ecowas, deemed the run-off largely peaceful, AFP news agency reports.
But there were isolated incidents that led to “injuries and hospitalisations” in the provinces of Lofa, Nimba, Bong and Montserrado, it quotes observers as saying.
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