2023:INEC lists withdrawal, dead as conditions for running mate replacement of party’s Presidential Flagbearer

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June 25, 2022

The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), listed candidate’s withdrawal, dead as conditions for replacing running mate of partiers presidential flagbearer in the forthcoming elections.

This comes amid reports that some political parties, including the All Progressives Congress (APC) and Labour Party, nominated their vice-presidential candidates as ‘placeholders’, pending the conclusion of talks for a substantive candidate to be picked.

While APC forwarded the name of Ibrahim Kabiru Masari as its vice-presidential candidate, LP had nominated Doyin Okupe for the same position.

Reacting to the development, INEC National Commissioner, Festus Okoye, said the electoral body would take a decision in accordance with the Electoral Act.

Okoye explained further, “There is a provision in the Electoral Act for withdrawal of candidates validly nominated and the law provides that a political party cannot substitute a candidate that has been validly nominated except in two instances; if the nominated candidate dies or if the nominated candidate withdraws from the race.

“And in terms of withdrawal, the nominated candidate shall – in his own writing – write a letter to the political party that nominated him, indicating that he has withdrawn from the race and that must also be accompanied by an affidavit duly sworn to by the said candidate.

“Then the political party that nominated the candidate will now forward same to the Independent National Electoral Commission saying that our presidential candidate has withdrawn, or our vice-presidential candidate has withdrawn, and these are the documents of withdrawal and this is the person we are using to replace.

“But as of today, the political parties nominated their presidential candidates and nominated their vice-presidential candidates, so the issue of withdrawal is at the absolute discretion of the duly nominated candidate and no one else.”

According to Okoye who is also INEC’s Chairman of Information and Voter Education Committee, the political parties submitted forms containing the names of their presidential and vice-presidential candidates, as well as their particulars and sworn affidavits.
He stressed that none of the political parties neither indicate that they were submitting the document or name of a candidate as a placeholder.

“All the political parties that submitted list and particulars of their candidates said they were submitting the list of their presidential candidates and vice-presidential candidates; the issue of submitting a name in lieu, or submitting a name as a placeholder did not even arise,” the INEC official stated.

Liverpool ready to sell Mo Salah over whooping €400,000 new contract demand

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June 25, 2022

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English Premier side, Liverpool are prepared to lose another top forward this summer just a few days after selling off Sadio Mane to Bayern Munich after six years at the Premier League club. The Reds are reportedly frustrated with Mohamed Salah’s new contract demands are willing to receive offers for the Egyptian forward this summer.

According to a report via the Daily Mail, Salah is demanding wages of £400,000 a week if he is to remain at Liverpool as he enters the final year of his present deal with the club.

Salah who currently earns just under the £240,000 a week received by the club’s top earner Virgil van Dijk and wants a significant increase in his take-home pay following his brilliant performances in recent seasons. Last season Salah won the Premier League Golden Boot award and also scored 31 goals and provided 16 assists for Liverpool across 51 appearances in all competitions.

Meanwhile, UEFA Champions League holders, Real Madrid could swoop in to sign Mohamed Salah from Liverpool this summer following the Egyptian’s contract standoff with the Reds.

Liverpool could let Mo Salah leave Anfield for £60million The Sun reports and Los Blancos are among the few clubs monitoring Salah’s delicate situation. The Reds are not willing to shatter their wage structure to keep Salah at Anfield and Real Madrid could take advantage of the contract deadlock to seal a move for Premier League Golden Boot winner this summer.

Why we excluded Lawan, Akpabio, Umahi from APC senatorial list- INEC

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June 25, 2022

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The names of the Senate President, Ahmad Lawan, former Minister of Niger Delta, Godswill Akpabio, and Governor of Ebonyi State, David Umahi have been purportedly excluded from the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) successful All Progressives Party senatorial candidates released on Friday.

For the purposes of claims and objections, forms and particulars of presidential candidates were slated to be published on Friday, at the INEC headquarters in Abuja while those of senatorial candidates were pasted at its offices across the federation.

With the exception of presidential candidates’ particulars missing on the INEC notice board in Abuja as scheduled, names of senatorial candidates nominated by parties were confirmed and published at the state level by Newssphere.

Despite not participating in the senatorial primaries of the All Progressives Congress (APC) held in May, Messrs Lawan and Akpabio, Umahi were controversially nominated as its candidates for Yobe North, Akwa-Ibom North, Ebonyi South ahead of the 2023 poll.

In place of the duo who were then entwined in the race for the APC presidential ticket, Bashir Machina, Udom Ekpoudom and Autin Umahi had emerged for the Yobe North, Akwa-Ibom Northwest and Ebonyi South in primaries respectively supervised by INEC officials.

While there have been some controversies around Mr Akpabio’s ‘backdoor’ emergence, Mr Machina has continuously vowed not to step down for the Senate President, Mr Lawan.

Reacting to the matter on Channels Television’s Politics Today on Friday, an INEC National Commissioner, Festus Okoye, said the commission is not obligated to publish the name of candidates that did not emerge from valid party primaries.

“If a political party submits to the Independent National Electoral Commission the name of a candidate that did not emerge from party primaries or did not emerge from valid party primaries, the commission is not obligated to publish the name of such a candidate,” he said.

However, Mr Okoye noted that INEC has not published the final list of validly nominated candidates.

“The final list of validly nominated candidates will be published by the Independent National Electoral Commission on the 20th day of September, 2022. And that is for presidential and national assembly candidates.

“What the Commission has published, as of today, complies with Section 29(3) of the electoral act which says that the moment political parties comply with the provision of Section 29 (1) of the electoral act in terms of the submission of its validly nominated candidates, that the Commission shall publish the personal particulars of such candidates in the constituencies where the candidates intend to contest election.

“In other words, for instance for a senatorial candidate, if a senatorial district covers four local governments, we will publish the personal particulars of such a candidate in the four local governments.

“So that is exactly what we have done. And we published the personal particulrs of candidates that emerged from valid party primaries. And that’s what the law says we should do.

“So, if the name of any candidate was not published, or if the personal particulars of any candidate was not published today, the implication is that such a candidate did not emerge from valid party primaries.”

Why Supreme Court rejected Buhari’s suit challenging 84(12) of Electoral Act

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June 24, 2022

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The Supreme Court in a unanimous judgement delivered by Justice Emmanuel Agim on Friday struck out President Muhammadu Buhari and the Attorney General of the Federation’s suit challenging Section 84(12) of the Electoral Act.

The case was expunged on the grounds that it lacks the jurisdiction to entertain the suit and is an abuse of court process.

The Court explained that President Buhari who assented the bill on 25th February, 2022 cannot turn around and challenge it.

Earlier, a notice for the judgment delivery was served on President Buhari and the National Assembly on Thursday, inviting them to appear before the court today for the judgment.

The President and his Minister of Justice, Abubakar Malami, had filed a suit at the Supreme Court, seeking an interpretation of the controversial clause in the Electoral Amendment Act 2022.

In the suit filed on April 29, Buhari and Malami, who are the plaintiffs, listed the National Assembly as the sole defendant.

There have been several debates regarding Section 84(12) of the amended Electoral Act 2022 which was assented to in February.
Upon assenting to the act, President Buhari had asked the National Assembly to delete the contended clause, however, the parliament declined the president’s request.

Section 84 (12) of the legislation holds that, “no political appointee at any level shall be a voting delegate or be voted for at the convention or congress of any political party for the purpose of the nomination of candidates for any election.”

In their suit marked SC/CV/504/2022 and filed on April 29, 2022, President Buhari and Malami sought an order of the apex court to strike out the section of the Electoral Act, which they argue was inconsistent with the nation’s constitution.
According to the court document, the plaintiffs contend that the Section 84(12) of the Electoral (Amendment) Act, 2022 is inconsistent with the provisions of sections 42, 65, 66, 106, 107, 131, 137, 147, 151, 177, 182, 192 and 196 of the Constitution of Federal Republic of Nigeria, 1999, (as amended), as well Article 2 of the African Charter on Human and People and Peoples Rights.
The plaintiffs further contended that the constitution already makes provisions for qualification and disqualification for the offices of the President and Vice President, Governor and Deputy Governor, Senate and House of Representatives, House of Assembly, Ministers, Commissioners and Special Advisers.

They urged the Supreme Court to make: “A declaration that the joint and or combined reading of the section 65, 66, 106, 107, 131, 137, 147, 151, 177, 182, 192 and 196 of the constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, 1999, (as amended), the provision of Section 84 (12) of the Electoral Act, 2022 which also ignores Section 84(3) of the same Act, is an additional qualifying and/or disqualifying factors for the National Assembly, House of Assembly, Gubernatorial and Presidential elections as enshrined in the said constitution, hence unconstitutional, unlawful, null and void”.

In a unanimous judgement delivered by Justice Emmanuel Agim the court said allowing the suit to have it’s way will amount to approbating and reprobating at the same time and no court of law shall allow that.

The Apex Court unanimously agreed that President Buhari lacked the jurisdiction to bring the suit before it because of the nature of the reliefs sought.

ICPC clarifies on media report of Abuja Property’s raid, seizure

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June 24, 2022

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The attention of the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC) has been drawn to some inaccurate and concocted reports in the media about the seizure of multibillion-naira cash, dollars, Rolex watches stockpiled in an Abuja property.

2. The Commission wishes to state that ICPC operatives raided a property in Wuse 2 of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Abuja, on Thursday, 16th June, 2022 between 5:00pm and 12:00am in suspicion of money laundering . Facts available for the time being indicates that the property is owned by owner of K Salam Construction Company, a military contractor.

3. The Commission recovered money and other items from the property viz. N175,706,500; $220,965; G-Wagon; 2022 editions of BMW and Mercedes Benz cars; customized mobile phones; several designer wrist watches, including three Rolexes, and some property documents.

4. The Commission arrested the Managing Director of K Salam Construction Company Nigeria Limited, Mr. Kabiru Sallau and investigation is ongoing.

5. The Commission is yet to conclude its investigation and prefers not to preempt its outcome and also avoid the frenzy of a media trial.

Document shows Ekweremadu informed UK high commission about daughter’s kidney donor

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June 23, 2022

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…10 Facts about Ike Ekweremadu’s Organ harvest Charge in Uk- Chidi Cali

The former deputy senate president, Ike Ekweremadu, had in December 2021, written a letter to the British high commission about a kidney donation for his daughter.

This is according to a copy of an official letter written by Ekweremadu to the UK high commission, seen by Nigerian NewsDirect Newspaper on Thursday.

In the letter, the former deputy senate president said he was writing in support of a visa applicant who was scheduled for “medical investigations for a kidney donation to Ms Sonia Ekweremadu”.

He said the donor and his daughter “will be at the Royal Free Hospital London”, adding that he would “be providing the necessary funding”.

“I have enclosed a statement of my bank account,” he added.
“Please do not hesitate to contact me if you require additional information.

Please accept the assurances of my highest regards.”

The NewsDirect reports that on Thursday, the UK metropolitan police announced that Ekweremadu and his wife were charged to court over the allegation of bringing a child to the UK for organ harvesting.

10 Facts about Ike Ekweremadu’s Organ harvest Charge in Uk- Chidi Cali

1) UK Authorities Confirmed the Arrest of the Senator and his Wife.

2) Ekweremadu’s Daugther, Sonia has a Kidney problem & undergoing Dialysis in the UK.

3) Ekweremadu contracted a willing organ donor in Nigeria.

4) Donor’s Age on his passport is 21.

5) Visa was processed with the British High Commission and it was reported that the 21-year-old was going to donate a kidney to a UK Resident.

6) Test revealed that the donor’s organ is not a good match.

7) As reportedly agreed, the donor was told that he has to go back to Nigeria and he refused.
😎 The Donor made a complaint that he is a Minor, aged 15 and he promised a better life, but in turn, the Ekweremadu decides to use his organ for their sick daughter.

8) The UK authority is treating the alleged donor as a Minor (15).

9) The donor is being protected based on his age and the nature of the allegation.

10) Ekweremandu and his wife were refused Bail this afternoon as the investigation is ongoing.

Collaboration is success path to 5G deployment in Nigeria, says Danbatta

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June 23, 2022

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Industry collaboration is very essential to successful deployment of 5G Services in Nigeria, so says the Executive Vice Chairman (EVC) of the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC), Prof. Umar Garba Danbatta, who in Lagos earlier today, urged industry stakeholders to stand with the Commission to explore the prospects and potentials of the new technology, which is enormous.

Prof. Danbatta, who spoke at the 90th Edition of the Telecom Consumer Parliament (TCP) hosted by the Consumer Affairs Bureau of the Commission, said the policy framework for the deployment has come into place and will facilitate deployment of services by the recent winners of the 3.5GHz spectrum auction, MTN Nigeria Communications Ltd and MAFAB Communications Ltd.

He said the Commission has set out the regulatory instruments needed for fast deployment of the new versatile technology for the benefit of the consumers and the stakeholders.

Prof. Danbatta, therefore, invited the support of all stakeholders to ensure that 5G technology is deployed in Nigeria in a manner beneficial to all telecom consumers and to support the emergent Digital Economy Policy of the Federal Government of Nigeria.

He highlighted the potential use cases for 5G networks as broadly categorised by the International Telecommunication Union (ITU) to include Enhanced Mobile broadband (eMBB), Massive Machine-type Communications (mMTC), as well as Ultra-reliable and Low-latency Communications (uLLC)

“We will continue to collaborate with stakeholders across sectors to ensure faster deployment of 5G services, and accelerate the growth of Nigeria’s broadband infrastructure,” he said.

He identified some challenges in the deployment to include limited frequencies with the required spectral efficiency, skilled professionals with requisite knowledge of the technology, fewer number of 5G-enabled devices, and cost of deployment but stated that the industry must work to turn the challenges into opportunities rather than seeing them as obstacles.

Prof. Danbatta said the issues that should militate against or slow down the deployment of 5G technology are themselves opportunities that can potentially create new revenue streams or new subsectors in the industry.

In the panel discussion on the presentation titled “5G Networks: Opportunities and Challenges” by Director, Technical Standards and Network Integrity, Bako Wakil, the Executive Commissioner, Stakeholder Management of NCC, Adeleke Adewolu, who chaired the panel session, urged all participants to exploit the opportunities offered by the 90th TCP to contribute to the deployment of 5G Network in Nigeria.

“We must conclude this Telecom Consumer Parliament with solutions to challenges that are associated with 5G deployment in countries that had deployed the services ahead of Nigeria. We must also have a clear roadmap on how the opportunities offered by the technology can be maximized for the benefit of Nigerians” Adewolu said.

The event was attended by representatives of Mobile Networks Operators (MNOs), the Association of Licensed Telecoms Operators of Nigeria (ALTON), Association of Telecom Companies of Nigeria (ATCON), Consumer Advocacy and Empowerment Foundation (CADEF), Association of Telecoms Cable TV and Internet Subscribers (ATCIS), and other key stakeholders in the telecom industry.

Organ Harvesting: Former Deputy Senate President, Ike Ekweremadu, wife nab in UK

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June 23, 2022

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The London Metropolitan Police have charged two Nigerians, Former Deputy Senate President, Ike Ekweremadu and his wife Beatrice Ekweremadu with alleged conspiracy to traffic a child to the United Kingdom in order to harvest organs, the law enforcement said on Thursday.

The police said the charges followed an investigation by the Metropolitan Police’s Specialist Crime team and gave some details of the accused as follows:
[A] Beatrice Nwanneka Ekweremadu, 55 (10.9.66) of Nigeria is charged with conspiracy to arrange/facilitate travel of another person with a view to exploitation, namely organ harvesting.
[B] Ike Ekweremadu, 60 (12.05.62) of Nigeria is charged with conspiracy to arrange/facilitate travel of another person with a view to exploitation, namely organ harvesting.

“The investigation was launched after detectives were alerted to potential offences under modern slavery legislation in May 2022,” the police said.

The pieces of biographical data provided match the publicly available personal data of Mr Ekweremadu, a serving senator and former Deputy Senate President, and her wife.

Nigerian Newssphere gathered that the former DSP came under fire after saying Labour Party President Candidate, Peter Obi will not get Votes from Igbos in the forthcoming presidential elections.

NCC appoints Reuben Muoka as Director Public Affairs

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June 23, 2022

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The Management of the Nigerian Communications Commission(NCC), has appointed Reuben Muoka as its Director of Public Affairs.

This was contained in a statement personally signed by Executive Vice Chairman/Chief Executive, Prof Umar Danbatta on Thursday.

Reuben Muoka takes over from Dr. Ikechukwu Adinde, who has assumed duties as the Director of Special Duties Department of the Commission.

Reuben, an innovative journalist and consummate public relations practitioner, was recently promoted a substantive director, alongside Ismail Adedigba, now Director of Research and Development (R&D); and Gwa-Tobi Mohammed, who has also assumed duties as Director/Secretary to the Board of the Commission.

Muoka was in 2021, appointed to head the Special Duties Department, which superintends the International Relations Unit; Emergency Communication Centres Unit; the Public Private Partnership Unit; and the Security Services Unit of the Commission. He was promoted as Director of the Department before his current redeployment to lead the Public Affairs Department, the arm of the Commission mandated to manage the image and visibility of Nigeria’s telecom regulator and a leading light of the Nigerian public service.

Muoka is expected to bring his rich and versatile experience in both specialized and traditional journalism, public relations, integrated marketing communications (IMC), corporate communication and people management, to bear on the Commission’s vision to expand the frontiers of its public goodwill and the impact of its reputational assets.

A former Deputy Communications Editor of the Vanguard Newspapers, former Deputy General Manager at MTS First Wireless (Nigeria’s first mobile telephone operator), Muoka joined the NCC in 2007 as a Principal Manager, and was deployed to the Public Affairs Department where he headed the Media and Public Relations Unit. He later rose from the rank of Principal Manager to the position of an Assistant Director in 2010, and by 2015, as a Deputy Director, appointed to head the re-engineered Public Relations Unit of PAD. In 2017, he was redeployed to the Policy, Competition and Economic Analysis Department to head the Economic Analysis unit of department.

Muoka earned M.Sc. degree in Mass Communication from the University of Lagos, specialising in Public Relations and Advertising, where he had earlier successfully completed a Postgraduate Diploma (PGD) in the same field of Mass Communication. Much earlier, he had obtained a bachelor’s degree in Performing Arts at the University of Ilorin.

As a mark of his distinctive journalism career, Muoka received a fellowship of the Egyptian Embassy in Nigeria to undertake a Pan-African training and tour of Egypt in 1999, leading to an award of a continental Diploma Certificate in Journalism at the instance of the Egyptian Ministry of Information, and the African Journalists Union (AJU) in Cairo, Egypt.

The focused, innovative and illuminating coverage and analysis of the Information and Communications Technology (ICT) in the pre and immediate post liberalisation period of telecom industry in Nigeria is credited to the insights of visionary journalists like Muoka, whose pioneering initiative led to the establishment and institutionalisation of the Hi-Tech Desk in Vanguard Newspapers in late 1990s. As the Chairman of the League of Communications Correspondents (LECCO), Muoka led his colleagues to give voice and focus to the advocacy for the liberalisation and deregulation of the telecom industry in Nigeria in the 1990s.

During his active days in journalism at Vanguard Newspapers, Muoka served concurrently as Africa’s contributing editor to the London-based CommunicationsWeek for four years beginning from 1998, during which he undertook copious reportage of the African telecom landscape. The London-based magazine shared Muoka’s work to an enthusiastic global audience in a rare showcase of Africa’s promise as a flourishing point for the emergent converging telecommunications industry.

Between 1995 and 2001, Muoka leveraged his expertise to provide part-time public relations consultancy to notable companies and institutions in the telecommunications industry, including the Nigerian Mobile Communications Limited, Abuja; Multi-links Telecommunications Limited, Lagos; Satellite Telecommunications Limited, Lagos; Pulse Marketing Communications Ltd, Lagos; and the Nigerian Communications Commission, Abuja, years before he joined the Commission as a staff.

Reuben Ejike Muoka is a member of the Nigeria Union of Journalists (NUJ); a full member of the Nigerian Institute of Public Relations (mnipr); and an associate member of the Registered Practitioners of Advertising (arpa), regulated by the Advertising Practitioners Council of Nigeria (APCON).

On behalf of the Board and Management of the Commission, I heartily congratulate Reuben on his new role and look forward to working closely with him and his team in Public Affairs Department, as key internal stakeholders in the Commission’s re-engineering processes to meet and surpass Federal Government’s expectations for a robust telecommunications sector and a remarkably emergent digital economy.

Management of the Nigerian Communications Commission(NCC) has appointed Reuben Muoka, an innovative journalist and consummate public relations practitioner, as its new Director of Public Affairs (DPA).

This was contained in a statement personally signed by Eexcutive Vice Chairman/Chief Executive, Prof Umar Danbatta on Thursday.

Reuben Muoka takes over from Dr. Ikechukwu Adinde, who has assumed duties as the Director of Special Duties Department of the Commission.

The new NCC’s spokesman was recently promoted a substantive director, alongside Ismail Adedigba, now Director of Research and Development (R&D); and Gwa-Tobi Mohammed, who has also assumed duties as Director/Secretary to the Board of the Commission.