[dropcap]F[/dropcap]irstly, his petition was filled with so many contradictions, that for every claim he made, he made another claim that contradicted the first. For instance, in his petition, Atiku said that the card readers used during the election transmitted results that showed he got over 16 million votes. By this, Atiku relied on the optimum working of card readers across the country to establish his claim – yet the same Atiku in the same petition said at some point, that the same card readers were barely used in 11 Northern states.

Secondly, he based his petition on a non-existent server. Atiku claimed that INEC had a server where votes were allegedly transmitted through card readers. This is the most ridiculous claim yet, why? One, the electoral laws do not provide for electoral transmission of results. Two, because there is no such provision, there was no such transmission by any means. The only means by which results were collated and tabulated were through paper forms at polling units. Atiku then claimed that card readers were used to transmit votes tabulated. This is foolish because nobody votes on card readers. For votes to be transmitted via any device, you would have to have voted the party of your choice on that device. Nobody voted on card readers. The card readers were used before voting to accredit voters. Thus, the card readers can only tell you the number of voters and those who voted, but not who they voted for.

Finally, Atiku believes President Buhari does not have the required certificate to qualify to run for president. Now that is really dumb. How did a man rise to become a General in the Nigerian Army if he did not have a certificate? It simply does not make sense. Yet President Buhari has provided from the records of WAEC and Cambridge, the transcripts of his Senior School Leaving Certificate: that is the West African School Certificate. This is the minimum requirement expected by law.

His classmates have also come forward to affirm that he indeed, was their classmate and that they sat for these exams together. Recall that President Buhari has maintained that his certificates got missing during a raid by some Army officers on his residence during the 1985 coup against him?

By : Emeji Kelechi Noble

[dropcap]B[/dropcap]etween 2006  and now,   angry  South Africans had  targeted  Nigerians and other  foreigners in the guise of  Xenophobia attacks in Johannesburg, the  country’s Commercial nerve center, KwaZulu-Natal, Durban and other major Cities and towns  in the country,  destroying vehicles  and looting shops.  The  Xenophobic attacks , was said to have  become pronounced  in 2008 and 2015 as many Nigerians  were forced to close down their businesses to avoid being looted.  Nigerians who fell into the waiting hands of the Xenophobic attackers had  their shops  looted  and vehicles destroyed.

Former Goodluck Jonathan had  the opportunity of talking tough to Oliver Thabo Mbeki, who was the country ‘s President as at 2008  and Jacob Zuma, who was President in 2015 to extract a Commitment from them  to guarantee the  protection and security of Nigerians  living in South Africa.  Perhaps,  his  failure to take up the matter at the highest level of  government with the two South African former Presidents may have encouraged the   Youths to continue the Xenophobic attacks in subsequent years with Nigerians being the major target on alleged Criminality.

Note that  about 70 percent of the foreigners living in South Africa  were said  to have come from the neighbouring Zimbabwe, Mozambique and Lesotho. The remaining 30 percent , according to the country Immigration sources  were  made up of people from Malawi, United Kingdom, UK, Namibia, Swaziland , now Swatini,  India and other countries including Nigeria.

Going by the country’s Statistical  report,  there  an estimated  3.6 million  immigrants in the country, out of an overall population of well  over 50 million. The BBC, in its report revealed that the’’ violence  were often triggered by local disputes , with migrants  being accused of taking jobs away from  South Africans’’.  Indeed, the causes , according  to Ekambaran,   who, runs a the Refugee and Migrant Rights Programme  for Lawyers and Human Rights Organisations are’’ poverty which had its roots in apartheid’’.

Going by Province to Province break down of the Xenophobic attacks  between 1994 and 2018 alone, it was said to have occurred 212 times in Gauteng Province, which includes Johanesburg,  Western Cape 111, KwaZulu Natal 67, Limpo 40, Eastern Cape 33, Mpumalanga 22, North West 20, Free State 19 and Northern Cape 5 incidents.The South African Youths may have been attacking foreigners in the past  and get away with it but thy got it wrong this time around  in attacking Nigerians in Johanesburg and Durban and looting their shops.

The situation was so bad that Yemi Osinbajo , a Professor and Vice President, Federal Republic of Nigeria, described the attacks on Nigerians as unacceptable. ‘’ it is very sad and very unfortunate that the lives and livelihoods of Nigerians living  in South Africa are once again  being destroyed with such carelessness and recklessness’’.

The worry of Osinbajo, was that Nigerians had invested  a great deal  in the businesses that had been  destroyed  and pull down by angry South African Youths. Given that South African Security Operatives, particular the police, had watched  while Nigerians  were  being killed may have prompted the  National Association of Nigerian Students , NANS, to take to the streets in Lagos, Ibadan , Kaduna and other major cities in the country to attack  South African owned Companies .

Note that South Africa, has three major multi-million dollar investments in Nigeria:MTN, Multi-choice,  a digital Television and Shoprite , which is scattered all over the country. The aggrieved Nigerian students may have sent a signal to the South African Xenophobic  attackers , that the battle line has been drawn when they shut down Shoprite in Ogun state  on Saturday, August 10, 2019. They were said to have also shut down MTN offices in Kaduna ,north west Nigeria.

Last Tuesday, the protesters  had set fire  to many entrances  leading  into the busy  mall housing  the country’s retail  store, Shoprite , at Lekki, a high brow area of Lagos, the nation’s Commercial nerve center  allegedly looting  the shops. Another outlet belonging to the chain  and  owned by the Country’s  Mobile Company, MTN,  were vandalized in Ibadan, a major city in south  west Nigeria.

Recall that Lai Mohammed, the minister of Information and Culture had  appealed to Nigerians  not to attack  South African Companies operating in the country  in anger over the treatment being meted to Nigerians in school and doing business in South Africa. The appeal may have fallen on deaf ears as the protesters still touched some  South African businesses in Nigeria.

The minister who could not hide his feelings had  said that  targeting  the South African Companies  operating in the country  for attack  was not in the best interest of Nigerians, noting that ‘’it is a classic case of  cutting off your nose  to spite your face’’.

He insists  that the South African Investors have nothing to lose  as  the major Investors in MTN and Shoprite , were Nigerians. Take for instance, Pascal Dozie, a business mogul and Bola Tinubu, a former governor of Lagos state and National leader of the All Progressive Congress, APC, have been linked to the two prominent South African Companies. Dozie, the Imo state –born investor was  said to have invited  MTN  from South Africa to open an outlet in Nigeria  and became one of the major shareholders while Tinubu, allegedly  brought in Shoprite and became one its   major shareholders.

Mohammed who may  have spoken  the mind of President Muhammadu Buhari when he urged Nigerians to exercise restraints  as  majority  of the workers in the Companies  were Nigerians. He fears that many Nigerians would be thrown  into  the  Labour market if the businesses are closed in Nigeria.

Worried at the backlash effect of Xenophobic attacks, on South African  Companies in Nigerian and other  African countries, particular Zambia and Zimbabwe, the Management of Shoprite  has  condemned the violence attacks on Nigerians and other foreigners and their business in South Africa to show that they  were not in support of what the irate South Africans had done.   The Company has vowed with the Ramaphosa government , Industry  and Consumer groups  to ensure that decisive action s are taken against those who were involved in the violent Crime  Crimes  against foreign nationals  in South Africa.

Despite the position taken by Shoprite  Management  against the Xenophobic  atackers in Johanesburg and other major Cities in South Africa,  the Katsina state –born Nigerian President  ,  has given a matching  order  Geofrey Onyeama, minister of Foreign Affairs  to summon  Bobby Moore , the country’s High Commissioner to Nigeria  to get a brief on the situation and also express  the country’s  displeasure over the ill- treatment of Nigerians in their own country and  endeavor to extract a commitment from him  that  Nigerians would no longer be molested.

The President was said to have also  dispatched  a special envoy to convey  to President Ramaphosa,  his counterpart in South Africa about his concerns over the Xenophobic attacks   and also interact  with his South African leader  on the situation. The Envoy was expected to have left the  country , to Pretoria on the Diplomatic assignment.  For the first time since 2008, the government is taking the Xenophobic attack on Nigerians serious that  that it has vowed  to address it once and for all. ‘’Enough is enough’’, Onyeama said.

Recall that  Moore, South African Foreign Affairs minister, had said  last Tuesday, August 3, 2019,  at a  Joint Media briefing  with   the  Ministry of Foreign Affairs  , that the’’ attacks in South Africa  were not Xenophobic   neither were they targeted at Nigerians. Moore disclosed that   ‘’they were only sporadic attacks of violence’’. He noted that businesses  belonging to South Africans were also touched in the violence.

Also, Ramaphosa, the South African President had confirmed some months ago that all the Xenophobic violence was between South Africa against Nigerians  but  most of the times ‘’it was Nigerians against Nigerians ‘’ostensibly to exonerate his country from blame.

But Femi Adesina, Special Assistant to the President on  Media  and Publicity, would not take it.  Adesina  had  told those that cares to listen that the g that there is nothing sporadic about the attack. He assured that  the government would continue  to ‘’demand for  the protection of Nigerians from the South African government’’, noting  that failure to do so may force the government  to adopt stronger measures to deal with the  situation.

Already there have been pressures on the government to withdraw its High Commissioner from South Africa. Ike Ekweremadu, a  Senator of Federal Republic  of Nigeria, said there is no other better time to do it than now  that Nigerians  are constantly been subjected to Xenophobic attacks .

Pressures from different quarters may have forced the government to quickly  recall  Kabiru Bala,  the High Commissioner to South Africa for  Consultations. The government was said to have also stepped down its participation  at the World Economic  Forum to be hosted by South Africa.

The President was said to approved Osinbajo, the Vice President to attend the forum but was said to have asked him to withdraw  at the last minute  following the violent attack on Nigerians. The government was to have made it clear to the Ramaphosa led South African government  that  that the losses suffered by Nigerians in the aftermath of the  recent Xenophobia attack in the country must be fully Compensated.

Meanwhile Buhari  and  Osibajo,  were said to have held a strategic engagement with Onyeama,  the minister of Foreign Affairs, following the renewed  hostilities   against Nigerians in South Africa. There are fears in both official and unofficial circles that the  recall of  Bala, the High Commissioner, may  encourage  the south African  government to also recall Moore, its High Commissioner in Nigeria , which may trigger a Diplomatic war. Between the  two countries.

In apparent reaction to the attack on MTN, Shoprite and Some Multichoice offices  in Nigeria by angry youths in retaliation to the Xenophobia – attack on Nigerians in South Africa, Moore , the country’s High Commissioner has shut down its  offices  and Consulate in Nigeria  for fear of attack. The High Commissioner reportedly said  the  Mission  has no option but to suspend operations  in Nigeria till further notice.

Diplomatic  sources said the closure of the South African Embassy  and Consulate in Nigeria, was at the instance of President Ramaphosa, the country ‘s President called for the recall of Bala, the Nigerian High Commissioner in South Africa by the government.

[dropcap]T[/dropcap]he National Chairman of the All Progressives Congress, Adams Oshiomhole, says the party is ready for the next round of legal battle with Peoples Democratic Party and its presidential candidate, Alhaji Atiku Abubakar.
Oshiohmole made this known when he responded to questions from State House correspondents in Abuja on Thursday.
The PDP had on Wednesday vowed to appeal the judgment of the Presidential Election Petition Tribunal, which upheld the election of President Muhammadu Buhari.
However, the APC Chairman maintained that the same facts that gave President Buhari victory at the election tribunal would suffice at the Supreme Court.
He said: “We as a party, we are confident, if it is within the Nigerian law, for PDP to go even to the World Court, we will meet them there.
“The Supreme Court is Supreme Court of Nigeria not Supreme Court of APC or PDP.
“We are ready to meet them.
“President Buhari is ready to meet defeated Atiku Abubakar at the Supreme Court and the All Progressives Congress is ready to meet PDP at that court.”
The APC chairman urged Abubakar and the entire members of the opposition party to forget about what happened at the polls and support Buhari to move Nigeria forward.
According to him, the matter has been resolved and it is time to queue behind the winner and move on.
“Afterall, our winner is the best example that losing one election is not tantamount to the end of your political life. He lost three and today he is president,” he added.
The APC chairman thanked the judiciary for doing its job diligently, within the confines of the nation’s electoral act and the laws of the land.
Oshiomhole accused the PDP of blackmailing every institution in the country in its bid to take over power.

[dropcap] N[/dropcap]yesom Ezenwo Wike, the Executive Governor of  Rivers State has explained that he congratulated President Muhammadu Buhari after the Presidential Election Petition Tribunal confirmed his election, because it is better to offer public congratulations than visit the President at night.

Governor Wike said that unlike some Governors of the Peoples Democratic Party ( PDP) who visit President Muhammadu Buhari at night, he made his declaration public because it came from the heart.

A statement by Simeon Nwakaudu, Special Assistant to the Rivers State Governor, Electronic Media, issued on Thursday, 12th September, 2019, reveals that Governor made this disclosure when he spoke at the Funeral Service in honour of Late Madam Blessing Awuse, Mother of Onha Sergent Chidi Awuse, at the St Luke’s Anglican Church, Emohua on Thursday.

The Governor said: ” I am sure all of you are surprised that I congratulated Buhari. Is it not good for me to congratulate him, than to go to his house in the night?

“So many PDP Governors go to see him in his house in the night. I have never gone and I will not go. I won’t go.

“We are the only state that the Federal Government refused to pay us our money used to execute Federal projects, because I don’t go to see him in the night and I won’t go. He is not my friend, he is not doing well, but he won in court, should I say that the court did wrong? No.

“President Buhari, congratulations and carry Nigerians along. Unify the country, the country is too divided. I am saying what is right. What I will do, I will do, what I will not do, I will not do”.

Governor Wike said politics is a game of interest, noting that Rivers people in the All Progressives Congress are under obligation to attract Federal benefits to the state.

‘Politics is a game of interest. And my only interest is Rivers State. Anything that is against the interest of Rivers State, I will not agree.

“These people sold us out, thinking that they are doing Governor Wike. It is the State that you are offending, because I am just one person”.

Governor Wike expressed displeasure that Rivers State has key links to President Muhammadu Buhari from the State, yet the East West Road, the seaports and other Federal projects have been completely neglected since 2015.

He said nothing indicates that Rivers State has prominent APC members working with President Muhammadu Buhari.

The Rivers State Governor maintained that Rivers State is a Christian state. He said that the facts of Rivers being a Christian State will not be changed by negative propaganda and falsehood targeted at his person, even as he stressed that he never demolished a Mosque as was falsely circulated by some mischief makers.

He said Rivers State is a major oil producing State that deserves major projects from the Federal Government.

“We produce oil. They should not punish Rivers State because of me. I am just one individual. We have not benefited anything from the Federal Government. The only thing we have benefited is the abuse they heap on me.

“They turned the NDDC into a cash cow to sponsor elections against us. Nobody protested that anomaly. Now they want us to protest because someone did not nominate the management of NDDC this time.

“Since 2015, NDDC has not had its governing board, but nobody protested. I will not be dragged into such protests”, he said.

On the passage of Late Mrs Blessing Awuse, Mother of Ohna Sergeant Awuse, Governor Wike said she lived a fulfilled life and raised disciplined and trustworthy children. He said that her burial is a celebration of life.

Chief Mourner, Ohna Sergeant Awuse thanked the Rivers State Governor for his love and friendship. He said the Rivers State Governor always intervenes at the most critical time.

Anglican Bishop of Ikwerre Diocese, Rt Rev Blessing Enyindah praised the Rivers State Governor for his commitment to the development of the state.

He urged the Rivers State Governor to continue with his good works. He said that Governor Wike should focus on the people in all his programmes.

[dropcap]T[/dropcap]he PDP further challenged the emergence of Mr Buhari as a candidate for the elections on the grounds that he failed to meet educational qualifications to contest the election. The petition was filed on March 18, about 177 days ago. According to section of the electoral act, a petition of this nature must be determined before the expiration of 180 days.  Although the petition was filed on March 18, hearing into the main issues did not commence till July 3.

First objection by petitioners

The hearings had partly been delayed because of an objection raised by the PDP against the leadership of the panel as earlier constituted under the leadership of the Court of Appeal President, Zainab Bulkachuwa.

The petitioners also alleged that a statement made by Mrs Bulkachuwa at the opening session of the tribunal suggested that ”she had taken a stand in favour of the APC when she submitted that elections were bound to result in a dispute no matter how properly conducted.”

Following that objection by the petitioners, Mrs Bulkachuwa recused herself. This resulted in the emergence of Garba Mohammed as the chairman of the tribunal.

Legal fireworks

Subsequently, on July 3, the PDP began its hearing and presented 62 witnesses to support its claim.

Among the witnesses presented by the PDP was the media adviser and spokesperson for Mr Abubakar, Segun Showunmi; a former ally of President Buhari, Buba Gamadima and a former aviation minister, Osita Chidoka who appeared as the last witness among others.

The PDP also showed a video clip where an INEC resident electoral commissioner from Bayelsa State, Mike Igini, made comments related to the central server which the petitioners believed was in support of their claim.

The APC reacted to the deposition of the video evidence by producing a similar video clip where the INEC Chairman, Mahmood Yakubu, debunked claims regarding the server.

The PDP had named INEC, Mr Buhari and the APC as respondents in the suit. Consequently, the respondents made several applications also challenging the petition by the PDP.

The first respondent, namely INEC, questioned the validity of the PDP petition ”because it did not include Vice President Yemi Osinbajo whom INEC described as a necessary party to the matter”.

But in a ruling on the issues, the tribunal said section 137 (2) of the constitution does not imply that Mr Osinbajo is a necessary party to the suit.

According to the court, the section mentioned above was specific in its mention of those to be categorised as parties to a petition.

They include: “the candidate in an election, the political party who participated in an election,” among others.

“It is the conclusion in the judgement that running mates to an election are not a necessary party,” the court ruled.

The tribunal then dismissed the application filed by INEC. The court also dismissed an application by INEC suggesting that the PDP petition was not properly attested to, by the lead counsel, Levi Uzoukwu.

Buhari’s ‘qualification’ saga

The five-member panel then decided against a submission by the APC that the claims concerning President Buhari’s certificate were pre-election in nature and should not have been raised as part of the PDP’s petition.

According to the court, section 138 which focused on the educational requirements for contesting ”did not refer to the issues raised in the section as pre-election in nature”.

Regarding the allegation that Mr Buhari was not qualified to contest in the first place, the court ruled that there was sufficient evidence before it to conclude that President Buhari ”was not only qualified but that he was eminently qualified to have contested the election”.

 

The PDP challenged Mr Buhari’s results on the grounds that the Cambridge University and the West African Examination Council copies of the result contained a number of discrepancies including the spellings of Mr Buhari’s name.

“There is no doubt the second respondent is not only qualified but is also eminently qualified.”

The court also said Mr Buhari ”is not the maker of his certificate, and there is nothing to show that the errors in the names of Buhari as indicated on the certificates from Cambridge and WAEC implied that the certificate did not belong to Mr Buhari”.

“I am of the opinion that whether it is Muhammadu Buhari with a U and Mohammed Buhari with an O, they relate to the same person,” the court ruled

‘Security operatives not named’

In another application by INEC challenging the PDP’s failure to name the security operatives as parties to the election, the court ruled that INEC was right in submitting that the PDP ought to have included the security officers mentioned in the petition. The PDP had argued that the government rigged the election by deploying security operatives to disrupt the proper conduct of the elections.

Central server

Reading through the section of the petition regarding the controversies surrounding the alleged use of a central server, the court noted that the PDP had said that Section 9 of the Electoral Act was amended in 2015.

“The issue is: Can it truly be said that the section amended actually empowered INEC to transmit election results electronically?

“The court only has a duty to interpret the law. The court has no power to amend the law.”

The court read out the import of the provision. It stated that Section 22 (a) does not provide for electronic transmission of results. The court then read through other sections of the law.

“It is undeniable that the transmission of election result is manual at different and all levels of the elections at different stages from the states to the national level.

“There is no provision authorising the first respondent or any of its officers to transfer election results to any of the servers. There is also nothing allowing the first respondents to use the smart card reader for the collation of results.

“I’m not aware that the card reader machine has replaced the voters’ register,” the court ruled.

‘Non- compliance with Electoral Act

Regarding the allegation that the election was marred with widespread irregularities, the court said the petitioners pleaded ”that so many of their agents were situated in various polling units and that members of the first respondents connived with security agents to conduct massive rigging”.

“They also alleged that no real voting took place in Dekina Local Government Area, among others,” the judge said.

The judge, however, added that the ”PDP failed to call the polling unit agents who would have testified that they were arrested harassed or affected by the violence pictured by the petitioners.”

“There is no admissible evidence on record to support the petitioner’s allegations,” the court ruled.

Subsequently, the court decided that the PDP had failed to satisfactorily prove its allegation and dismissed the petition in its entirety.

All the panel members agreed with the lead judgement. For Mr Abubakar and his party, the next option will now be to head to the Supreme Court for legal redress.

By: Emeji Kelechi Noble