The All Progressives Congress (APC), Rivers State has received the news of the nullification of the duly conducted primary elections for all candidates of the party for the 2023 general elections by a judgment of a Federal High Court sitting in Port Harcourt.
Cole
Ruling Tuesday on a suit instituted by one George Orlu and five other persons in Suit No.: FHC/PH/CS/87/2022 where the Plaintiffs claimed they were unlawfully excluded from the Congresses conducted to elect Delegates to the party primary where candidates to the various elective positions for the 2023 general elections of the party emerged, they sought among other reliefs an Order of the Court to nullify the Ward Congresses and the Primaries emanating from the said Congresses.
They further sought an Order of the Court to restrain INEC from recognizing the candidates of the APC who emanated from the primaries thereby preventing them from contesting the general elections.
In a statement Wednesday by Mr. Sogbeye C. Eli, Spokesman for the Tonye Cole/Innocent Barikor 2023 Gubernatorial Campaign Council, the party noted that the learned trial Judge agreed with the Plaintiffs contrary to the evidence led by the party to prove that the Plaintiffs were not members of the APC.
“The Judge came to his judgment even when the Register of APC members filed with the INEC was exhibited to show that they were not members of APC. The trial Court, in its wisdom, ignored all the evidence adduced and found for the Plaintiffs who are not members of our party neither are they aspirants to any of the primaries conducted by the APC,” the statement reads in part.
“Furthermore, we wish to state that the trial Court came to its conclusions regardless of the Court’s attention being drawn to a recent judgment of the Supreme Court in the case of Hon. Monday Iyare Osagie & Ors. Vs. Victor Engham Charles Egbon where the Supreme Court held that it is only an Aspirant who contested a primary resulting from the Congresses that can challenge any irregularities arising from the said Congresses. To our chagrin, the learned trial Court ignored the said judgment of the apex Court and granted all the reliefs sought by the Plaintiffs.
“We are fully aware of, and appreciate, the intensity of apprehension this judgment has caused our party members given the experience of 2019 and appeal that we all remain calm and keep faith with the Constitution, the Electoral Act 2022, the judicial processes and the party. Party members are further assured that our party immediately began the process of appeal and are confident that the appellate courts would do justice to our case in accordance with the law and judicial precedents by overturning today’s judgment and consequently restore our candidates on the ballot.”
The embarrassing postures of Mr. Dapo Abiodun, the outgoing Governor of Ogun State have assumed a reckless dimension. 𝙈𝙧. 𝘼𝙗𝙞𝙤𝙙𝙪𝙣 𝙝𝙖𝙨 𝙢𝙖𝙣𝙞𝙛𝙚𝙨𝙩𝙡𝙮 𝙩𝙝𝙧𝙤𝙬𝙣 𝙘𝙖𝙪𝙩𝙞𝙤𝙣 𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙙𝙚𝙘𝙤𝙧𝙪𝙢 𝙩𝙤 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙬𝙞𝙣𝙙𝙨, 𝙝𝙞𝙨 𝙡𝙞𝙣𝙚𝙨 𝙤𝙛 𝙥𝙪𝙗𝙡𝙞𝙘 𝙘𝙤𝙢𝙢𝙪𝙣𝙞𝙘𝙖𝙩𝙞𝙤𝙣 𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙘𝙤𝙣𝙙𝙪𝙘𝙩 𝙖𝙧𝙚 𝙘𝙡𝙚𝙖𝙧𝙡𝙮 𝙡𝙖𝙘𝙚𝙙 𝙬𝙞𝙩𝙝 𝙞𝙧𝙧𝙞𝙩𝙖𝙩𝙞𝙤𝙣 𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙜𝙧𝙖𝙣𝙙𝙞𝙤𝙨𝙚 𝙙𝙞𝙨𝙜𝙪𝙨𝙩. Few days ago, the Governor, in his usual character, boastfully went to town to announce his return to office as if he made any official communication to the State House of Assembly telling them about his Absence Without Leave (AWOL); nor of his wilful abandonment of his official responsibilities which has robbed the State of direction. The Peoples Democratic Party, PDP in Ogun State is persuaded that Mr. Abiodun is completely overwhelmed with a cloud of desperation to seek for support against his impending loss at the election petition tribunal where none exists. This explains his increasing penchant for jumping on every available flight to join the President and his entourage which he is not invited. 𝙒𝙝𝙖𝙩 𝙚𝙭𝙖𝙘𝙩𝙡𝙮 𝙬𝙖𝙨 𝙈𝙧. 𝘿𝙖𝙥𝙤 𝘼𝙗𝙞𝙤𝙙𝙪𝙣’𝙨 𝙗𝙪𝙨𝙞𝙣𝙚𝙨𝙨 𝙤𝙣 𝙋𝙧𝙚𝙨𝙞𝙙𝙚𝙣𝙩 𝘽𝙤𝙡𝙖 𝙏𝙞𝙣𝙪𝙗𝙪’𝙨 𝙡𝙖𝙨𝙩 𝙩𝙧𝙞𝙥 𝙩𝙤 𝙄𝙣𝙙𝙞𝙖? From available information, 𝙞𝙩 𝙬𝙖𝙨 𝙟𝙪𝙨𝙩 𝙖𝙣𝙤𝙩𝙝𝙚𝙧 𝙖𝙩𝙩𝙚𝙣𝙩𝙞𝙤𝙣-𝙨𝙚𝙚𝙠𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙬𝙖𝙨𝙩𝙚 𝙤𝙛 𝙩𝙖𝙭𝙥𝙖𝙮𝙚𝙧𝙨’ 𝙢𝙤𝙣𝙚𝙮. We challenge all relevant stakeholders to query 𝙬𝙝𝙮 𝙈𝙧. 𝘼𝙗𝙞𝙤𝙙𝙪𝙣 𝙙𝙞𝙙 𝙣𝙤𝙩 𝙖𝙧𝙧𝙞𝙫𝙚 𝙞𝙣 𝙄𝙣𝙙𝙞𝙖 𝙬𝙞𝙩𝙝 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙋𝙧𝙚𝙨𝙞𝙙𝙚𝙣𝙩’𝙨 𝙩𝙚𝙖𝙢 or Mr. President’s Advance team. 𝙄𝙛 𝙝𝙚 𝙬𝙖𝙨 𝙤𝙛𝙛𝙞𝙘𝙞𝙖𝙡𝙡𝙮 𝙞𝙣𝙫𝙞𝙩𝙚𝙙, 𝙬𝙝𝙮 𝙬𝙖𝙨 𝙝𝙚 𝙝𝙪𝙧𝙧𝙞𝙚𝙙𝙡𝙮 𝙨𝙚𝙣𝙩 𝙗𝙖𝙘𝙠 𝙗𝙚𝙛𝙤𝙧𝙚 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙙𝙚𝙥𝙖𝙧𝙩𝙪𝙧𝙚 𝙤𝙛 𝙈𝙧. 𝙋𝙧𝙚𝙨𝙞𝙙𝙚𝙣𝙩 𝙛𝙧𝙤𝙢 𝙄𝙣𝙙𝙞𝙖? Mr. Abiodun’s ill-fated India trip has once again, confirmed his ugly habit of always smuggling himself into Mr. President’s entourage uninvited for no tenable official reason(s) other than ego-massaging and attention seeking. Again, we are bold enough to ask Mr. Abiodun to tell his employers, the Ogun State taxpayers; the very people whose financial resources he has been recklessly throwing around, the kind of investment that has been attracted to the State since he started junketing all over while thousands of pensioners and workers are dying daily from hunger and penury resulting from non-release of their entitlements since 2012. Ordinarily, the current revelations on how the Governor has been diverting Local Government statutory allocations and other funds are enough reasons for any sensible and sensitive public officer to sit back and reflect on the kind of enduring legacies he hopes to bequeath to the good people of Ogun State. Therefore, our great party is 𝙘𝙖𝙡𝙡𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙤𝙣 𝙖𝙡𝙡 𝙖𝙥𝙥𝙧𝙤𝙥𝙧𝙞𝙖𝙩𝙚 𝙨𝙚𝙘𝙪𝙧𝙞𝙩𝙮 𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙛𝙞𝙣𝙖𝙣𝙘𝙞𝙖𝙡 𝙢𝙤𝙣𝙞𝙩𝙤𝙧𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙞𝙣𝙨𝙩𝙞𝙩𝙪𝙩𝙞𝙤𝙣𝙨 to show more than a passing interest and beam their searchlights 𝙩𝙤 𝙢𝙤𝙣𝙞𝙩𝙤𝙧 𝙜𝙤𝙫𝙚𝙧𝙣𝙖𝙣𝙘𝙚 𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙘𝙤𝙣𝙙𝙪𝙘𝙩 𝙤𝙛 𝙜𝙤𝙫𝙚𝙧𝙣𝙢𝙚𝙣𝙩 𝙗𝙪𝙨𝙞𝙣𝙚𝙨𝙨 𝙪𝙣𝙙𝙚𝙧 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙬𝙖𝙩𝙘𝙝 𝙤𝙛 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝘿𝙖𝙥𝙤 𝘼𝙗𝙞𝙤𝙙𝙪𝙣-𝙡𝙚𝙙 𝘼𝙋𝘾 𝙜𝙤𝙫𝙚𝙧𝙣𝙢𝙚𝙣𝙩 𝙞𝙣 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙎𝙩𝙖𝙩𝙚. The Fraud units of all the security agencies should stand on the side of the Ogun State people in these trying times, by taking note of all these reckless expenditures that are in no way impacting the lives of the average citizens bearing in mind that the first line of security is the economic security and the welfare of the citizens. A spendrift leader has definitely compromised the economic prosperity of its citizens, and the people should and must be protected. 𝐀𝐬𝐢𝐰𝐚𝐣𝐮 𝐀𝐤𝐢𝐧𝐥𝐨𝐲𝐞 𝐁𝐚𝐧𝐤𝐨𝐥𝐞𝘚𝘵𝘢𝘵𝘦 𝘗𝘶𝘣𝘭𝘪𝘤𝘪𝘵𝘺 𝘚𝘦𝘤𝘳𝘦𝘵𝘢𝘳𝘺𝘗𝘋𝘗 𝘖𝘨𝘶𝘯 𝘚𝘵𝘢𝘵𝘦.
The embarrassing postures of Mr. Dapo Abiodun, the outgoing Governor of Ogun State have assumed a reckless dimension. 𝙈𝙧. 𝘼𝙗𝙞𝙤𝙙𝙪𝙣 𝙝𝙖𝙨 𝙢𝙖𝙣𝙞𝙛𝙚𝙨𝙩𝙡𝙮 𝙩𝙝𝙧𝙤𝙬𝙣 𝙘𝙖𝙪𝙩𝙞𝙤𝙣 𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙙𝙚𝙘𝙤𝙧𝙪𝙢 𝙩𝙤 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙬𝙞𝙣𝙙𝙨, 𝙝𝙞𝙨 𝙡𝙞𝙣𝙚𝙨 𝙤𝙛 𝙥𝙪𝙗𝙡𝙞𝙘 𝙘𝙤𝙢𝙢𝙪𝙣𝙞𝙘𝙖𝙩𝙞𝙤𝙣 𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙘𝙤𝙣𝙙𝙪𝙘𝙩 𝙖𝙧𝙚 𝙘𝙡𝙚𝙖𝙧𝙡𝙮 𝙡𝙖𝙘𝙚𝙙 𝙬𝙞𝙩𝙝 𝙞𝙧𝙧𝙞𝙩𝙖𝙩𝙞𝙤𝙣 𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙜𝙧𝙖𝙣𝙙𝙞𝙤𝙨𝙚 𝙙𝙞𝙨𝙜𝙪𝙨𝙩. Few days ago, the Governor, in his usual character, boastfully went to town to announce his return to office as if he made any official communication to the State House of Assembly telling them about his Absence Without Leave (AWOL); nor of his wilful abandonment of his official responsibilities which has robbed the State of direction. The Peoples Democratic Party, PDP in Ogun State is persuaded that Mr. Abiodun is completely overwhelmed with a cloud of desperation to seek for support against his impending loss at the election petition tribunal where none exists. This explains his increasing penchant for jumping on every available flight to join the President and his entourage which he is not invited. 𝙒𝙝𝙖𝙩 𝙚𝙭𝙖𝙘𝙩𝙡𝙮 𝙬𝙖𝙨 𝙈𝙧. 𝘿𝙖𝙥𝙤 𝘼𝙗𝙞𝙤𝙙𝙪𝙣’𝙨 𝙗𝙪𝙨𝙞𝙣𝙚𝙨𝙨 𝙤𝙣 𝙋𝙧𝙚𝙨𝙞𝙙𝙚𝙣𝙩 𝘽𝙤𝙡𝙖 𝙏𝙞𝙣𝙪𝙗𝙪’𝙨 𝙡𝙖𝙨𝙩 𝙩𝙧𝙞𝙥 𝙩𝙤 𝙄𝙣𝙙𝙞𝙖? From available information, 𝙞𝙩 𝙬𝙖𝙨 𝙟𝙪𝙨𝙩 𝙖𝙣𝙤𝙩𝙝𝙚𝙧 𝙖𝙩𝙩𝙚𝙣𝙩𝙞𝙤𝙣-𝙨𝙚𝙚𝙠𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙬𝙖𝙨𝙩𝙚 𝙤𝙛 𝙩𝙖𝙭𝙥𝙖𝙮𝙚𝙧𝙨’ 𝙢𝙤𝙣𝙚𝙮. We challenge all relevant stakeholders to query 𝙬𝙝𝙮 𝙈𝙧. 𝘼𝙗𝙞𝙤𝙙𝙪𝙣 𝙙𝙞𝙙 𝙣𝙤𝙩 𝙖𝙧𝙧𝙞𝙫𝙚 𝙞𝙣 𝙄𝙣𝙙𝙞𝙖 𝙬𝙞𝙩𝙝 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙋𝙧𝙚𝙨𝙞𝙙𝙚𝙣𝙩’𝙨 𝙩𝙚𝙖𝙢 or Mr. President’s Advance team. 𝙄𝙛 𝙝𝙚 𝙬𝙖𝙨 𝙤𝙛𝙛𝙞𝙘𝙞𝙖𝙡𝙡𝙮 𝙞𝙣𝙫𝙞𝙩𝙚𝙙, 𝙬𝙝𝙮 𝙬𝙖𝙨 𝙝𝙚 𝙝𝙪𝙧𝙧𝙞𝙚𝙙𝙡𝙮 𝙨𝙚𝙣𝙩 𝙗𝙖𝙘𝙠 𝙗𝙚𝙛𝙤𝙧𝙚 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙙𝙚𝙥𝙖𝙧𝙩𝙪𝙧𝙚 𝙤𝙛 𝙈𝙧. 𝙋𝙧𝙚𝙨𝙞𝙙𝙚𝙣𝙩 𝙛𝙧𝙤𝙢 𝙄𝙣𝙙𝙞𝙖? Mr. Abiodun’s ill-fated India trip has once again, confirmed his ugly habit of always smuggling himself into Mr. President’s entourage uninvited for no tenable official reason(s) other than ego-massaging and attention seeking. Again, we are bold enough to ask Mr. Abiodun to tell his employers, the Ogun State taxpayers; the very people whose financial resources he has been recklessly throwing around, the kind of investment that has been attracted to the State since he started junketing all over while thousands of pensioners and workers are dying daily from hunger and penury resulting from non-release of their entitlements since 2012. Ordinarily, the current revelations on how the Governor has been diverting Local Government statutory allocations and other funds are enough reasons for any sensible and sensitive public officer to sit back and reflect on the kind of enduring legacies he hopes to bequeath to the good people of Ogun State. Therefore, our great party is 𝙘𝙖𝙡𝙡𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙤𝙣 𝙖𝙡𝙡 𝙖𝙥𝙥𝙧𝙤𝙥𝙧𝙞𝙖𝙩𝙚 𝙨𝙚𝙘𝙪𝙧𝙞𝙩𝙮 𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙛𝙞𝙣𝙖𝙣𝙘𝙞𝙖𝙡 𝙢𝙤𝙣𝙞𝙩𝙤𝙧𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙞𝙣𝙨𝙩𝙞𝙩𝙪𝙩𝙞𝙤𝙣𝙨 to show more than a passing interest and beam their searchlights 𝙩𝙤 𝙢𝙤𝙣𝙞𝙩𝙤𝙧 𝙜𝙤𝙫𝙚𝙧𝙣𝙖𝙣𝙘𝙚 𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙘𝙤𝙣𝙙𝙪𝙘𝙩 𝙤𝙛 𝙜𝙤𝙫𝙚𝙧𝙣𝙢𝙚𝙣𝙩 𝙗𝙪𝙨𝙞𝙣𝙚𝙨𝙨 𝙪𝙣𝙙𝙚𝙧 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙬𝙖𝙩𝙘𝙝 𝙤𝙛 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝘿𝙖𝙥𝙤 𝘼𝙗𝙞𝙤𝙙𝙪𝙣-𝙡𝙚𝙙 𝘼𝙋𝘾 𝙜𝙤𝙫𝙚𝙧𝙣𝙢𝙚𝙣𝙩 𝙞𝙣 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙎𝙩𝙖𝙩𝙚. The Fraud units of all the security agencies should stand on the side of the Ogun State people in these trying times, by taking note of all these reckless expenditures that are in no way impacting the lives of the average citizens bearing in mind that the first line of security is the economic security and the welfare of the citizens. A spendrift leader has definitely compromised the economic prosperity of its citizens, and the people should and must be protected. 𝐀𝐬𝐢𝐰𝐚𝐣𝐮 𝐀𝐤𝐢𝐧𝐥𝐨𝐲𝐞 𝐁𝐚𝐧𝐤𝐨𝐥𝐞𝘚𝘵𝘢𝘵𝘦 𝘗𝘶𝘣𝘭𝘪𝘤𝘪𝘵𝘺 𝘚𝘦𝘤𝘳𝘦𝘵𝘢𝘳𝘺𝘗𝘋𝘗 𝘖𝘨𝘶𝘯 𝘚𝘵𝘢𝘵𝘦.
In furtherance of efforts at consolidating the subsisting bilateral relations between Nigeria and Haiti, the Federal Government of Nigeria has completed the construction of Benoit Batraville High School located in Saut-D’eau, Haiti.
The project, initiated as Nigeria’s response to the 7.3 magnitude earthquake that devastated Haiti in 2010, was supported by well- meaning Nigerians and the Red Cross Society.
It would be recalled that the project was suspended in 2015 due to unforeseen circumstances but rejuvenated by the Nigerian Government through its High Commission in Jamaica that is concurrently accredited to Haiti in 2022
The mission after satisfying due process requirements, awarded the contract to a Jamaican based Benson Construction Company. Despite all odds including security challenges in Haiti, the project commenced in February 2023 and was completed in record time by 23rd of August, 2023.
The building was handed over to the Haitian Authorities on 29th August 2023, while the handover was ongoing speeches and goodwill messages were delivered via zoom by top Government Functionaries of both countries.
In attendance was Nigeria’s High Commissioner to Jamaica with concurrent accreditation to Haiti, Dominican Republic and Belize; H.E Amb. Maureen Tamuno,
Minister of Education Haiti; Mr Nesmy Manigat,
Director General, Ministry of Foreign Affairs Haiti, representing the Minister of Foreign Affairs Haiti;Mr Azad Belfort, and senior government officials from Haiti
In her remarks, H.E Maureen Tamuno applauded the bilateral relations between both countries, and expressed delight at the delivery of the project. She expressed her thanks to God for seeing her team through and seized the opportunity to thank the President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria H.E. Bola Ahmed Tinubu for his renewed hope agenda and commitment to strengthening bilateral relations, She also thanked the Minister of foreign affairs H. E Yusuf Tuggar and his Haitian counterpart H.E Monsieur Jean Victor GENEUS. Nesmy Manigat, Minister of Education, Haiti, and the Municipal Council of Saut-D’eau for their support and cooperation to the Project. She also enjoined the students and teachers to make good use of the excellent edifice delivered and expressed her willingness to re-visit Haiti soon.
The Nigerian top diplomat used the opportunity to advocate and urge stakeholders, most especially the United Nations, to assist with returning normalcy to Haiti.
The Haiti officials thanked the Nigerian government for this landmark project, they emphasised that without the government of Nigeria it would have been impossible.
The Minister for foreign affairs Haiti represented by the Director of Foreign Affairs, Mr Azad Belfort expressed his gratitude to the Nigerian Government for their benevolence and to Amb Maureen Tamuno, for working tirelessly for the actualization of this Landmark project. He emphasised the close ties Nigeria and Haiti share through descendants of the Igbo community from Nigeria. He stated in his remarks that the establishment of the school will strengthen the diplomatic ties between both countries.
The Minister of Education, Haiti, Mr Nesmy Manigat expressed so much gratitude to Amb. Maureen Tamuno Ph.D and the Nigeria Government for fulfilling their promise. In his words “I was there in 2015 as Minister of Education, Haiti, a lot has happened. We have come a long way , despite the educational and security challenges in my country Haiti including problems of infrastructure despite all today , under Her Excellency Maureen Tamuno, Nigeria has Delivered. We are indeed very thankful for the school project”. He stated that this will go a long way to further strengthen the bonds of co-operation and bilateral relations. He reiterated that it was very important and timely for a small community like Saut -d’eau to have a public building of that level which in his words is the envy of others.
DETAILS OF AREA
The School’s property is 12,500 square meters
(134, 548.9 SQUARE FEET).
BUILDING
The size of the building is IS 9,411 square meters (32,000 square feet) BY 4.5 Meters (15 Feet) High.
FENCE
The Perimeter fence is 1,250 square meters.
The Building consists of the following:
The Administration block (The principal/Vice, Secretary area, Stationary/Printing room and a Restroom
16 nos standard size classrooms.
The Staff Room/Restroom
The Canteen
The Computer Lab.
The Storage room for the school
The Auxiliary workers restroom
The building operations control room (For the Electricals and Plumbing operations)
3# Double Entrance Doors and 2#Double Exits Doors
The school consists of two playground areas:
The standard football field at the back of the building and the area allotted for auxiliary sports like basketball, volleyball, etc
THE AUDITORIUM:
New Four classrooms/Auditorium (These four classrooms are built to accommodate both classrooms and auditorium with mechanically collapsible wooden walls), flooring, walls and roof slabs, and drainages.