News
Obi accuses Yakubu, INEC boss of running away from testifying at tribunal
Peter Obi, presidential candidate of the Labour Party (LP), on Wednesday accused the Chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), Mahmood Yakubu, of running away from testifying as one of the star witnesses at the Court of Appeal, Abuja, currently sitting as the Presidential Election Petition Tribunal (PEPT).
Obi, is currently challenging the declaration of President Ahmed Bola Tinubu as the winner of the February 25 presidential election, by INEC on March 1 and has been presenting evidence at the panel to back up his claims.
One of the evidences, he insists lies with the INEC boss, who has been compelled by the tribunal to come and provide his own side of the story, including what led to the inability of INEC to upload the results of the presidential election, at the same time the commission did those for the National Assembly.
At the resumption of proceedings on Wednesday, Obi’s lawyer Livy Uzoukwu (SAN), who had earlier obtained a subpoena to compel the INEC Chairman to appear before the court, told the panel that INEC boss who was summonsed not only testify as a witness but to equally produce and tender in evidence, some sensitive materials that were used for the conduct of the presidential election, had been evading court.
Informing the court that all efforts to serve a copy of the subpoena on the INEC Chairman, failed, he bemoaned the situation, saying: “My lords, I thought that by now, we would have been through with the stage of tendering of documents. I have drawn the attention of the lead counsel to the INEC, Mr. Abubakar Mahmood, SAN, that the office of the Chairman of the Commission has consistently refused to accept subpoenas to produce certain documents, in spite of efforts of Bailiffs of this court.
“The counsel graciously asked me to give him a copy of the subpoena but I didn’t have an extra copy to give to him, so, he asked me to give it to any member of his team. My lords, because I still do not have an extra copy, I intend to get it and send to him once the proceeding of today is over. I am confident that he will do the needful for us to continue our case tomorrow.”
But Kemi Pinhero (SAN), lawyer to INEC, who countered, accusing Obi of always looking for who to blame for his failure, maintained that he was not privy to any discussion that Obi’s lead counsel had with any member of the Commission’s legal team.
He said: “My lords should take note that it has become a habit for the Petitioners, that whenever they want to seek for an adjournment, they must look for someone to blame. I was not privy to any discussion they had with our team leader because all the discussions have been open to members of our group.
“However, it cannot be true that the Chairman of INEC refused to receive the subpoena. In PDP’s case, subpoenas were served, not only on the Chairman but also on some National Commissioners. My lords should equally note that all the avalanche of documents they have tendered so far, some of them were certified as far back as in March.
“Yet, every time, they keep complaining that INEC refused to release documents to them.
“The submission that INEC refused to give documents to them, with due respect to the learned counsel, is not true. If they want to ask for an adjournment, they should do so and not attempt to use the INEC as a weeping board. I want to say for the records that it is not correct that INEC Chairman refused to receive a subpoena. The Chairman of INEC has no interest whatsoever. This allegation against him is most uncharitable.”
But as it appeared that tempers were becoming high when Uzoukwu, maintained his position, urging the court to verify from its Bailiffs, if the INEC Chairman did not refuse service of the subpoena, Justice Haruna Tsammani-led five-member panel, stepped in to urge for restraint from both parties.
“There is no need to quarrel over this issue. If a subpoena was refused, counsel knows what to do. We should remember that after this case, we will still see each other in court. So, let us not allow issues like this to destroy bonds of friendship,” the Chairman of the panel, Justice Tsammani cautioned the senior lawyers.
Following a no-objection stance by Chief Wole Olanipekun (SAN), who appeared for President Tinubu, as well as by counsel for the APC, Afolabi Fashanu (SAN), the court adjourned further hearing on the matter till Thursday.
Vanguard reports that the petitioners had earlier in the proceedings on Wednesday, tendered in evidence before the court, copies of printouts of the results of the presidential election from seven states of the federation, which they downloaded from INEC’s IReV portal, which they claimed were duly certified by INEC.
They included those from 21 LGAs in Benue state, 25 LGAs in Niger state, 17 LGAs in Edo state, 20 LGAs in Bauchi state, 8 LGAs in Bayelsa, 8 LGAs in Gombe state and 21 LGAs in Kaduna state, in addition to bundles of printouts from unlinked or cancelled LGAs in the states.
Though all the respondents in the matter, objected to the admissibility of the documents, the panel admitted them in evidence and marked them as Exhibits, in addition to a certificate of compliance for certified Exhibits from 28 states of the federation, including the Federal Capital Territory, FCT, Abuja.
“The suspect offered ₦500 million to the SPU commander in an attempt to make the team stand down and allow him to contact his associates to move the consignment elsewhere. The offer was rejected immediately and properly documented for further investigation.”
These were the exact words of Olohundare Jimoh Assistant Inspector General of Police (AIG), with which he detailed how operatives of the Zone 2 Command of the Nigeria Police Force (NPF) scoffed at a N500million bribe to turn their eyes off the importation of a huge consignment of drugs imported into the country.
This was part of the details of a major breakthrough by the operatives after bursting a major drug trafficking syndicate in Lagos, which led to the seizure of suspected illicit drugs estimated at ₦7.8 billion and arresting several suspects, including the alleged kingpin.
In the operation, reportedly carried out by officers of the Special Protection Unit (SPU) in collaboration with divisional police detectives, the operatives, were said to have stormed a house in Mende, Maryland area of Lagos, following months of surveillance and intelligence gathering coordinated by the Zone 2 Headquarters.
The recovered drugs consisted of hundreds of bags of suspected Canadian Loud, allegedly stored in the residence of the prime suspect, Jimoh, said disclosing that the suspect was apprehended on May 19 after weeks of strategic monitoring by operatives.
Offering further details, he said the operation was executed with technical support and guidance from the Inspector-General of Police, IGP Olatunji Disu, alongside coordinated efforts between the SPU and divisional police teams.
Jimoh revealed that during the operation, the suspect allegedly attempted to bribe the SPU commander with ₦500 million to compromise the mission and allow the movement of the drug consignment.
The AIG described the development as a reflection of the renewed professionalism and operational discipline being entrenched in the Force under the current policing strategy.
He noted that the success of the operation underscored the importance of deploying specialized police units alongside conventional divisional teams in tackling organized crime.
According to him, the operation demonstrated the effectiveness of rapid containment strategies, intelligence-led policing, and professional conduct among the operatives involved in the raid.
“Rapid containment was achieved as the Special Protection Unit worked with divisional teams to secure the perimeter and prevent escape or interference with evidence.
“The operation was intelligence-driven, following months of surveillance and technical monitoring before the raid was carried out.
“The immediate rejection and documentation of the bribe attempt also reflect the standard expected from redeployed personnel at the divisional level,” Jimoh added.
Reacting to the development, the Inspector-General of Police, IGP Olatunji Disu, commended the operatives for their professionalism, saying the success of the operation validated the ongoing redeployment of personnel to divisions and units across Lagos and Ogun states.
The IGP noted: “Policing must be close to the people, and our specialized units must work side by side with divisional teams on the ground.
“The professionalism shown by the SPU commander in rejecting a ₦500 million bribe and following due procedure is the standard we expect. It shows that when you put your best foot forward at the grassroots, you get results and restore public trust.”
Disu further assured that the Force leadership would continue to reward integrity while holding officers accountable to the highest ethical standards.
Police authorities said exhibits recovered during the operation have been properly documented and will be tendered in court. The suspects are currently in custody while investigations continue to track down other members of the drug trafficking network.
Slavery is a wound on the memory of the Universal Church, Pope Leo XIV, said on Monday, as he issued a fresh apology over the participation of the the Catholic Church in the centuries-long delay in condemning slavery.
The pontiff stressed the position of the church after his predecessors had offered similar apologies, said: “For this, in the name of the Church, I sincerely ask for pardon.”
Writing in a major text that warned about “new forms of slavery” behind the digital economy, the joined John Paul II, who denounced slave trade in 1992 before issuing a sweeping request for forgiveness for historical injustices in 2000 and Pope Francis who also repeatedly denounced contemporary forms of slavery.
In his own vein, Pope Leo, pointed out that the Church owned slaves until the Middle Ages and it also advised European sovereigns on how to justify the enslavement of “infidels.”
He stressed in “Magnifica Humanitas” (Magnificent Humanity), a document focused primarily on the rise of artificial intelligence, that it was only in the 19th century that “a formal, absolute and universal condemnation of slavery was clearly articulated.”
Hear him: “It is true that past events cannot be judged anachronistically, as though the moral criteria that matured over time had always been available. Yet neither can we deny or diminish the delay with which both society and the Church came to denounce the scourge of slavery. This constitutes a wound in Christian memory, one from which we cannot consider ourselves detached.”
Qowiy Oloyede, a resident of Oriya Sokoto road, Atan Ota, is currently telling operatives of the Ogun State Colice command, the reasons that pushed him into making a video suggesting that a part of the state was under attack of terrorists, knowing same to be fake.
Oloyede, reports say, dragged to the police on May 23 by one Ayinla Sodiq, who accused him of creating and sharing a misleading TikTok video falsely claiming that bandits had invaded the Atan Ota community..
Zagazola Makama, a counterinsurgency publication, which broke the news, said on immediately being questioning by the Divisional Police Officer (DPO), Oloyed, allegedly confessed to fabricating the video to gain followers on social media.
Apart from admitting that that he created the fake bandit attack content to gain followers and trend online, said in a video currently on social media the herder featured in the clip was a cattle rearer who usually grazed cows behind his shop and had initially refused to participate before eventually agreeing.
Oloyede, who also claimed he could neither read nor write, adding that his apprentice wrote the caption accompanying the video posted online, maintained that he had only produced and posted two similar videos, one on Monday and another on Wednesday.
The command, said to have recovered photographs and video evidence linked to the fake publication during preliminary investigation, added that the suspect would be transferred to the State Criminal Investigation and Intelligence Department (SCIID), Abeokuta, for further investigation, warning residents against spreading false information capable of causing panic and public disorder, and for the public to verify information before sharing content on social media.
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