Oduduwa News

The Election Petition Tribunal sitting in Lagos has declared Rauf Olawale Sulaiman of the All Progressives Congress (APC) as the winner of the State House of Assembly, Amuwo-Odofin II Constituency election held on March 18, 2023.

The tribunal court sitting at the Tafawa Balewa Square (TBS), while delivering judgment, ordered the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to present Sulaiman with the certificate of return as the winner of the election.

The court held that the Electoral Act 2022 does not allow a candidate to be declared winner if the candidate did not fully participate in the election process.

The court held that the Labour Party candidate (LP), Olukayode Doherty, that was issued certificate by the INEC did not appear on the ballot, noting that Tunde Fashina, who appeared on the ballot and got the majority of votes, was not qualified to contest.

The APC candidate had filed the petition against INEC, Labour Party, Tunde Fashina and Olukayode David Doherty as the first to fourth respondents respectively.

The INEC had presented the certificate of return for the Amuwo-Odofin Constituency II to the fourth respondent, Doherty.

While delivering judgement, the three-man panel, headed by Justice Ashu Ewah, held that Doherty did not appear on the ballot and that the LP candidate, Fashina, who appeared on the ballot and got the majority votes was not qualified to contest.

Justices Abdullahi Ozegya and M. A. Sambo, who are members of the tribunal, declared INEC’s presentation of certificate of return to Doherty null and void.

The tribunal, in its unanimous decision, overturned the INEC result after considering the evidence presented by the petitioners and the respondents.

The tribunal held that the petitioners filed to disqualify Fashina for not presenting the minimum academic qualification to contest the office, and also that his candidacy was not sponsored by the LP, and he did not win the number of majority votes in the polls held on March 18, 2023.

The tribunal ruled that the second and third respondents, LP and Fashina, failed to provide an academic certificate to prove the LP candidate met the minimum academic requirement of a First School Leaving Certificate or its equivalent.

As a result, the tribunal held that “It is determined that all the votes recorded for the second and third respondents in House of Assembly, Amuwo-Odofin Constituency II election are wasted votes, invalid and void on the grounds of the non-qualification to participate in the election.”

However, the tribunal struck out the APC and Sulaiman’s ground of petition that the LP and its supported candidate, Doherty did not win the highest number of votes, for not sufficiently proving the claim.

The petitioner counsel, Mr. James Ogunyemi had presented 22 witnesses during trial and in his final written address raised five issues for determination before the tribunal but respondents called four witnesses.

Ogunyemi prayed the tribunal to determine whether Fashina was qualified to contest, having not participated in all the sections of the election before March 18 polls.

The petitioner also argued that INEC gave the certificate of return to another LP member, Doherty, who did not participate in the election.

The tribunal, therefore, held that the second respondent (LP), admitted to fact that the fourth respondent, Doherty not participating in the elections, and truly fielding the third respondent, Fashina, and thus needed no further evidence.

“The Electoral Act 2022 does not allow for a candidate to be declared winner if the candidate did not fully participate in the election process,” the tribunal ruled.

According to the tribunal, counsel to the second respondent, told the court that the LP made a decision to swap Fashina with Doherty in accordance with the “judgment in Suit No. FHC/ABJ/CS/2115/2022 and the decision of the Court of Appeal in Suit No. A/ABJ/CV/253/2022.”

The tribunal said it disagreed with the second respondent, as the Appeal Court decision it cited did not authorise for a swap or replacement of candidates, but directed the first respondent, INEC, to open its website and allow political parties to submit their candidate for the purpose of the general election.

The National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA) has confirmed that there was no casualty after a three-storey building collapsed at Surulere, Lagos.

NEMA territorial coordinator, Ibrahim Farinloye, confirmed the incident to journalists in Lagos on Saturday.

The building came down at about 10pm on Friday night at No. 14 Ikpoh Street, Surulere.

An occupant of the building, Gervase Anyanwu, a businessman, said that all the other occupants were able to run out of the building before it came down completely.

Anyanwu said that before the building came down, there was a large sound at one of its wings.

“Immediately we heard the sound, all the occupants of the building gathered at the mustard point, before evacuating for safety,” Anyanwu told NAN.

“No casualty was recorded,” Anyanwu added.

Anyanwu said the immediate evacuation of the occupants was “simply by the grace of God”.

However, it was gathered from another resident of the street that the building had shown serious signs of distress before it came down.

As at the time of this report, excavation of the rubbles from the building was yet to commence, but all the relevant government agencies in charge of emergency had shown their presence at the site.

The Oyo State Government on Saturday, said it is set to regulate the activities of Real Estate Developers in the state, which is part of the second term is agenda for Sustainable Development.

The Commissioner for Lands, Housing and Urban Development, Mr. Williams Akin Funmilayo stated this in a meeting with Real Estate Developers held at Secretariat, Ibadan.

He stated that, the development is part of efforts to guard against bad eggs among the developers, adding that one of the components of the present administration, is to ensure the urbanization of the state.

He added that the Oyo State Government has been duly informed by several innocent victims, who have been duped by the bad eggs, among the developers.

Mr. Akin-Funmilayo stressed that, the Oyo State Government is taking the bull by the horn, by registering practitioners, and not letting dubious real estate developers take advantage of its people.

“They cannot be operating in the state without knowing them as a custodian of land in the state, which will equally protect their interest”.

He said, “it is essential for government to know who is who in real estate business in the state, we should work hand in hand to achieve same purpose with Govenor Seyi Makinde’s Agenda”.

“To protect the interest of innocent investors in the state, we have come up with modalities to accredit all real estate developers in the state, in other to have a robust relationship and curb excess of those that have polluted the industry”.

“To this end, they will know where we have designated for housing development not all land in the state are meant to be developed for housing estate, we will provide them with the government land information that is needed to be developed even outside Ibadan”.

“with this our people in the state cannot be duped and if they have a land to be develop into an housing estate they will apply to the state government and they will be profile properly. This will give our people in the diaspora an hope to come home and invest in the state”, he said.

In his remarks, one of the Real Estate Developers, and representative of Ark View Investment Limited, Peter Olutoyese applauded the laudable initiative.

He said, the advantage of free entry has been abused and the industry has been polluted, adding that the regulation will limit the pollution and it will also give credible developers more chance to thrive.

The National Association of Nigeria Nurses and Midwives (NANNM), Lagos State Council has denounced membership of the arrested Nurse said to have injected later Hip Hop singer, Mohbad. The Association tagged the Nurse as a quack in the statement made available to newsmen as reproduced below:

NATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF NIGERIA NURSES AND MIDWIVES (NANNM) RESPONDS TO MISREPORTING ON THE ARREST IN MOHBAD’S DEATH INVESTIGATION

Lagos, 22nd September 2023

The National Association of Nigeria Nurses and Midwives (NANNM), Lagos State Council, expresses its deepest condolences to the family and associates of the late musician, Ilerioluwa Aloba, popularly known as Mohbad, during this difficult time. Our thoughts and prayers are with them as we mourn his tragic passing.

We fully support the ongoing investigation into the circumstances surrounding his death and urge the relevant authorities to leave no stone unturned in the pursuit of justice for him.
However, we must stress the importance of professionalism in reporting and conducting this investigation. NANNM is closely monitoring the situation with keen interest.

Our preliminary investigations indicate that the individual reportedly taken into custody by the police for providing care to Mohbad is not a registered Nurse. We emphasize the critical need to verify the qualifications and professional status of individuals before labeling them as healthcare professionals.

It is regrettable that Nigeria’s healthcare system faces significant regulatory challenges, leading to the presence of unqualified individuals performing medical roles they are not trained for.

In Nigeria, to be recognized as a Nurse, one must complete a rigorous five-year Bachelor of Nursing Science program at a university, followed by an additional year of internship. Alternatively, one can undergo training at an accredited School/College of Nursing and become registered and licensed by the Nursing and Midwifery Council of Nigeria (NMCN).

We wish to clarify that the term ‘Auxiliary Nurse’ has no place within Nigeria’s healthcare system or its laws. An individual is either a qualified Nurse or an unqualified individual performing tasks beyond their competence.

Furthermore, we call on the investigating authorities and the media to exercise caution and accuracy in their reporting during this investigation. We will not tolerate any misrepresentation of Nurses and the Nursing profession. We demand that all media outlets that inaccurately reported the arrest of a Nurse take immediate corrective action to rectify their stories.

Once again, we extend our deepest condolences to the family, friends, and fans of Mohbad. We pray for the strength to endure this irreplaceable loss.

‘Toba Odumosu
State Secretary
NANNM Lagos State Council

The Lagos State Commissioner for Economic Planning and Budget, Ope George has revealed that the state government reported an Internally Generated Revenue of approximately N400 billion in the first half of the year.

George who made the disclosure at the 2024 Budget Consultative Forum, said he was confident that the IGR that will meet its end-of-the-year target.

The state government estimated an IGR of N924.805 billion to finance its N1.768 trillion 2023 budget.
George stressed the need to increase the 2024 target to provide more services. He highlighted the state’s strong credit rating and robust IGR, indicating the potential to attract investments and funding, including through public-private partnerships (PPPs).

He said, “We have a good credit rating and good IGR, which can help us attract the right set of investment and funding. So, we have to be very creative with our funding by ensuring it’s a mix of IGR and all the funding mechanisms. We’re looking at PPPs and being able to get nice concessions at the right rates.

“So I think we’re fortunate because we are going in the right direction and, hopefully, we can continue to build on that to attract the right investments and funding.”