2023: Court sacks PDP candidate for Borno Central senatorial seat
A Federal High Court sitting in Maiduguri, Borno State, on Monday, asked the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to revoke the senatorial ticket of the Peoples Democratic Party’s (PDP) candidate of Borno Central in the 2023 National Assembly election, Mohammed Kumalia.
The court ruled that Mr Kumalia, a two-term House of Representatives member, should be removed as the party’s candidate for the district as he did not participate in the party’s primary to choose its candidate for the election. Mr Kumalia was named the candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party for Borno Central after Jubril Tatabe, who originally won the election was alleged to have voluntarily withdrawn from the race.
Mr Tatabe, however, went to court to challenge his replacement. He claimed that his signature was forged by those who presented his alleged letter of resignation from the race to INEC. Despite Mr Tatabe’s objection to his replacement, INEC went ahead to publish Mr Kumalia’s name as the recognised candidate of the PDP for Borno Central. Mr Tatabe who filed his challenge against the replacement of his name by INEC at the Federal High Court in Abuja prayed to the court to help him retrieve his mandate which he argued was snatched by some powerful member of his party.
Meanwhile, the All Progressives Congress (APC) in Borno State also filed a separate suit at the Federal High Court in Maiduguri to challenge the candidature of Mr Kumalia insisting that he was not part of the primaries that produced the original opponent of their candidate, Kaka-Shehu Lawan, a former Attorney-General of Borno State. The Borno APC and its senatorial candidate specifically approached the court seeking some declaratory relief by evacuating the action of the Borno PDP and INEC ordering the electoral body to cease recognizing Mr Kumalia as the opposition party’s candidate, and also bar him from parading himself as such.
After weeks of hearing the lawsuit, the presiding judge at the Federal High Court, Maiduguri, Jude Dagat, ruled that both INEC and the PDP had grossly violated the Electoral Act by presenting and recognising a person that didn’t participate in the primaries as a candidate for an election. The judge in his ruling said what INEC did was “very wrong” because they don’t have the right to accept a candidate that did not participate in a primary election as a candidate of the party. Mr Dagat said the court is even more appalled that the replaced candidate had, in his defence, alleged that his signature was forged to affect his illegal replacement.
Source: Premium Times
Only rigging can stop Obi from winning -Ex-Anambra gov
A former governor of Anambra State, Dr Chukwuemeka Ezeife, has predicted a total victory for the presidential candidate of the Labour Party, Mr Peter Obi, ahead of the February 25 general election. Ezeife said only rigging can stop Obi from becoming the next president of the country.
He stated this on Monday ahead of Tuesday’s rally by the Labour Party candidate and his running mate, Senator Ahmed Datti, adding that he is of a firm belief that Nigerians know Obi is the best among all the candidates as far as this election is concerned.
He said, “I am earnestly looking forward to the day Obi will be sworn in as Nigeria’s President. That day will mark the beginning of Nigeria’s return to the part of the glory. “Apart from rigging, I would say that nobody else is contesting this election with Obi, inasmuch as I know that some other candidates have so much money at their disposal.
“All powers belong to God. And our God can stop every rigging and I see the hands of God in the ‘Obidient movement’ and I thank all Nigerians for thinking right this time around and I must say that all glory is to our God. “By God’s grace, there will be an election this February. There will be no interim government and the result of the election is predictable.
“In fact, I can’t wait for that day, May 29, this year when Obi will be sworn in. But if I had my way, why not bring the swearing-in date down to March or April, instead of waiting till May which is three months far away from the February election.”
Source: Punch
Iconic Music Star Is Dead
Australian country musician Slim Newton died on January 8 at the age of 90. Friends and family members confirmed his death on Facebook while paying tribute to the singer who had a career spanning 50 years. He was believed to be suffering from dementia in the years before his death.
One fan wrote: ‘I met him on several occasions when he was performing. I will miss him dearly. Goodbye, Slim, and thanks for the memories.’ Another said: ‘I was saddened by the news Slim had passed away. He packed a special lifetime into those nine decades and recorded some incredible music.’ Slim was born Ralph Newton in Western Australia in 1932 and shot to fame in 1972 with his tongue-in-cheek country ballad The Redback on the Toilet Seat.
He once told Woman’s Weekly he was inspired to write the tune after a visiting friend remarked they hoped there were no spiders in the outdoor lavatory. Friends and family members confirmed his death on Facebook while paying tribute to the singer who had a career spanning 50 years. Friends and family members confirmed his death on Facebook while paying tribute to the singer who had a career spanning 50 years
The Redback on the Toilet Seat made it to No. 3 on the Australian charts and became Slim’s signature song. He followed it up with many other popular songs, none of which reached the same heights as Redback, and became a stalwart of the Australian country music scene. Despite his success, Newton never quit his day job as a welder and juggled his manual labour duties with performances for years.
Source: Dailymail.co.uk