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Tag: Ahmad Lawan

  • REVEALED! No electronic transmission of results in Electoral Act – Senate President

    REVEALED! No electronic transmission of results in Electoral Act – Senate President

    The Senate President, Dr Ahmad Ibrahim Lawan on Tuesday explained that the Electoral Act 2022 did not provide for electronic transmission of election results as being demanded by a cross-section of Nigerians for 2023 election results.

    Speaking while contributing to a motion sponsored by Senator Ibrahim Oloriegbe (APC, Kwara Central) on the controversies trailing the February 25 presidential and National Assembly elections, Lawan said that what was passed by the National Assembly was snapping of election results and transferring to the server of the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC.

    This was even as the motion, which centred on the need for calm and appeal to political parties, stakeholders and Nigerians to abide by the rule of law on the election process in the just concluded election, triggered a heated debate among the senators.

    While senators belonging to the ruling All Progressives Congress, APC, supported debate on the motion, those in the opposition kicked against it.

    The Senate President said: “In the Electoral Act that we passed, there is nothing like the electoral transmission. What we have passed is to transfer all the paper works that we normally do while the agents and everybody there have the papers.

    “INEC will now scan or snap the result sheets and transfer them. We urge INEC to follow the Electoral Act and other laws on their guidelines.

    “In this chamber, we are not going to interpret the Electoral Act. This is not a court of law. We are just to guide this debate and talk about the general principles of how this election and declaration should be done. There is no need to stress ourselves.

    “What we are doing is to urge INEC to follow the law and the citizens should be calm.”

    In his motion, Senator Oloriegbe asked the Senate to urge all political actors, leaders and every Nigerian to remain calm and allow collation and announcement of the Presidential and National Assembly elections result to continue based on the provisions of the Electoral Act.

    Oloriegbe, who moved the motion anchored on Orders 41 and 51, said it was very important for the highest legislative body to look into the controversy surrounding results collation by INEC and bring calm to the raging storm among political parties.

    “The Senate should urge all political actors, leaders and every Nigerian to remain calm and allow collation and announcement of the presidential and National Assembly elections to proceed based on the provisions of the electoral act,” he said.

    But before being allowed to make a lead debate presentation on the motion, Senator Betty Apiafi (PDP, Rivers West), said it was wrong to bring up the issues at such a critical time like this, saying “the Senate wasn’t the place to state what the guidelines of the INEC should be.”

    Senator Emmanuel Orker-Jev (PDP, Benue North West), also kicked against the motion by saying “the best way is to step down this order because if we are already generating this kind of controversy, imagine what will happen out there.”

    Also speaking, Senator Adamu Bulkachuwa (PDP, Bauchi North), noted that the Senate should stay clear of the issues due to the raging controversy on it.

    “Whatever happens in the collation centre and in the social media, the Senate should not involve in it.

    “We passed the Electoral Act and for goodness sake, if we don’t stop this motion down, there will be endless controversy on party lines and God knows what it will generate in the public domain,” he said.

    Senator Biodun Olujimi (PDP, Ekiti South), also kicked against the motion by saying “the process is still an ongoing one and INEC should follow its own guidelines and the Electoral Law. We should not ignite violence and the best way is to ask everybody to maintain peace and order while we go through this process and finish it properly.”

    However, Senator Sani Musa (APC, Niger East ) and others from the ruling party, supported the motion, which paved way for a full debate on it.

    He said: “It is very clear that accreditation and verification are to be done by the BVAS. We are not voting electronically for that real-time transmission to happen.

    “Transmission can only happen after it has been published on BVAS. So it is not real-time. We are not a court to interpret but INEC has a responsibility to stick to guidelines.

    “It is a simple process and that process after publishing, they send it to back-end servers and it is after then that INEC can put it on IREV. INEC has been attacked over 160 times and nobody has been making any issue about that.”

    Senator Opeyemi Bamidele (APC, Ekiti Central), in his own contribution, said Nigerians should be patient for INEC to complete the process while also calling on the judiciary to do the right thing.

    He noted that the judiciary should not allow itself to be dragged into interfering with the elections without passing through the proper process.

    The Senate called on Nigerians to remain calm just as it urges INEC to abide by extant laws in the collation of results of the presidential election.

  • Cash swap has brought hardship to Nigerians – Lawan

    Cash swap has brought hardship to Nigerians – Lawan

    Senate President, Ahmad Lawan, has said that the poor implementation of the Naira swap has brought hardship to millions of Nigerians.

    In a statement he personally signed, Lawan stated that while the policy was laudable but that its poor implementation had beclouded the merits therein.

    In the statement Lawan said: “I sincerely empathise with fellow Nigerians the hardship being experienced across our land in the implementation of the currency redesign policy of the Central Bank of Nigeria.

    “Even though we all agree on the merits of the policy, its implementation gap, unfortunately, brought enormous hardship upon citizens across the country.

    “However, I wish to assure us that with appropriate intervention by the government and the collaboration of all stakeholders, this hardship will soon fade away and normalcy will be restored to our daily livelihoods.”

  • An angry Supreme Court and bolekaja judgments – By Mideno Bayagbon

    An angry Supreme Court and bolekaja judgments – By Mideno Bayagbon

    Chief Justice of Nigeria, Justice Olukayode Ariwoola, was boiling with anger all through last week. And to those who stoke his anger, he issued a stern warning. To them and to those Nigerians, who, he says, want to bring opprobrium on the Supreme Court of Nigerian Justices, he promised them a red eye. No one, he declared, should dare the authority of the Supreme Court and its ability to wield the big gun.

    As we all know, we are in a season of general, overflowing anger; a season of collective pain. It is a season, the authorities, which have made life a living hell for most Nigerians upped the ante and compounded the woes of the people, with an ill-thought-through policy which the politicians and saboteur-bankers latched on to, to wreak havoc on the citizenry. i am of course talking about the instigated hooplas, the fiasco which attended the withdrawal of three denominations of the Nigerian currency. It turned out a week of boiling mischief, anger and frustration.

    Nigerians are hopelessly at their wits end. No Light. No money. No Fuel. They are engulfed in a death-and-life situation. This for a fault traceable to politicians, the CBN, corrupt bankers and the federal government. They are moaning and groaning. Their inability to get the new Naira notes, or at worst the old ones, to buy even groceries or transact ordinary daily chores, has become a death sentence. Politicians are shouting from impure mouths, both in favour and against. All, nonetheless, agree that something needs to be done to ease the pains of the ordinary people on the street. Meaning: “CBN, don’t interfere with our ability to use money to influence the outcome of the proposed elections.”

    Then the Supreme Court attempted an intervention which will either be solidified today or thrown to the dogs when it rules on the objection brought before it by the CBN and the Attorney General. The CBN order came in the form of a rather controversial pronouncement. Almost all were taken unawares. To some pleasantly and to others, a curious, raised eyebrow. This is because not many were aware that a case had been instituted at the Supreme Court or any court for that matter, not to talk of an order emanating therefrom, unexpectedly.

    Attempting to douse the tension in the land, the Supreme Court ruled that the Central Bank of Nigeria and the federal authorities should not implement the then new deadline to roll out fully, and end the use of the old N1000, N500 and N200 notes till the determination of a case brought before it by three northern states All Progressives Congress, APC, governors. The old notes were to cease to be legal tenders since last week Friday, the 10th of February, 2023. A fact the CBN reiterated yesterday.

    Recall that the APC and its presidential flag bearer, Alhaji Bola Ahmed Tinubu, have been up in arms against the Naira Redesign policy which they claimed was specifically targeted at them. They decided to use the services of the Supreme Court in thwarting the full implementation of the policy. Without joining the CBN and other critical stakeholders, they got the Supreme Court to grant them an ex parte order which the opposition parties, especially the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, squirmed at. A potpourri of commentaries have since flooded the media space, coating the Supreme Court in demonic hues of an appendage to certain individuals and party.

    This has prompted a riled CJN to warn that the Supreme Court’s silence, on attacks on its judicial officers, must not be mistaken for weakness or cowardice. Of course, the CJN did not just get angry over the muted criticism of this particular judgement alone. For truth be told, he has not had an easy time with the media and some critics since he went to Port Harcourt and committed a faux pax that needed a massive re-interpretation of what he said and/or did not say. Controversial Rivers State Governor, Nyesom Wike, hosted him to a dinner where he made comments which were widely interpreted to mean that he was in agreement with the G5 Governors. To growing criticism, the Supreme Court came out with a denial. After that there was also the need to issue another rebuttal, a statement to debunk an alleged interrogation of the CJN by the DSS over these comment and other contrived ones.

    Add to this the public disbelief, when assumed clear cases of senatorial aspirants under the APC who lost at the lower courts were all given a clean bill by the Supreme Court. Starting with Governor Dave Umayi of Ebonyi state, to Godswill Obot Akpabio of Akwa Ibom state; and recently, Senate President, Ahmed Lawan, who wanted to be president and so didn’t contest in the party’s initial primaries for senatorial candidates. The Supreme Court gave all of them their tickets. This is even against the background that there is already a Governor of Imo State, who the opposition till today calls the Supreme Court governor of Imo State. Recall that in the elections, he came a distant fourth but went to court pleading what not. He had a bullion van of votes which INEC said were not part of the electoral votes on the day. Based on some technicalities, the impossible happened. He was pronounced the elected candidate by the Supreme Court to the utter shock and disbelief of the people of Imo State and the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, whose candidate, INEC had earlier declared as duly elected; and had been sworn in.

    It is getting to a stage that not a few Nigerians are losing respect for some judgements of the Supreme Court. It is from this angle, I think, Justice Ariwoola will do more than just issuing a threat to deal with those who make a mockery of the justices of the court and their judgements. The CJN can always remember that the impression is out there, like Richard Akinnola once pointed out, that Justice Ariwoola should not be seen as trying to muscle and put the press on a leach. That will bring him more odium than he can ever live down. He should work to win the respect of Nigerians.

    That said, Chief Justice Ariwoola is gradually acquiring an unsavoury reputation, swarmed by controversies and rebuttal press releases.

  • NASS to CBN: Allow old, new Naira notes co-exist

    NASS to CBN: Allow old, new Naira notes co-exist

    The Leadership of the National Assembly has again stressed the need for the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) to allow the old and new Naira notes to be used concurrently to cushion the hardship being experienced by citizens.

    President of the Senate, Ahmad Lawan, made this position known when he fielded questions from State House correspondents on Friday in Abuja.

    Lawan stressed the need to have another look at the policy on the redesign of Nigeria’s currency, saying that doing so will reduce the hardship currently being faced by citizens in accessing the new currency notes.

    He said: ”For us in the Senate, initially we felt that this policy is not a bad policy but we are also feeling that there is no need for any time limit; allow the old and the new notes to co-exist until the old is phased out.

    “This is not going to be the first country to do it that way. Other countries have been doing it that way.

    ”To say that in three months it will be okay, it is not okay, especially in a country like ours where 80-90 per cent of the population have no access to banks,”  he said.

    According to the Senate President, now is the time to take a decision on the matter and have a second look at its mode of implementation.

    “We had a private audience with the President after the Council of State meeting where we informed him in detail the resolutions of the two chambers of the National Assembly with respect to the redesign of our currency and the crisis of exchange or swap of the old currency with the new one.

    “It is a known fact to everyone how life has been so difficult for the majority of Nigerians, especially the most ordinary Nigerians across the country.

    ”We felt that this is the time to take a decision that will ease the problems Nigerians are facing with respect to this,” he added.

    Lawan, who was accompanied by the Speaker, House of Representatives, Femi Gbajabiamila, said they advised that any policy that would be introduced must have a human component that will make it friendly to the livelihood of the people.

  • Senate President, Lawan reacts to Supreme Court judgment

    Senate President, Lawan reacts to Supreme Court judgment

    Senate President, Ahmad Lawan has described the Supreme Court’s judgement affirming him as the All Progressives Congress (APC) candidate for Yobe North Senatorial as a victory for the party.

    He stated this while briefing newsmen on Monday in Abuja after the judgment was delivered by Justice Centus Nweze of the apex court.

    Lawan while thanking God for the victory, said: “Let me start by thanking God for his blessing and of course, what had happened today in the Supreme Court.

    “The judgement on Yobe North particularly, is a victory for APC in Yobe and generally APC across the country.

    “What happened was democracy at work and the courts gave their various judgements and of course the supreme court gave the final judgement.

    “I want to at this point, commend the supreme court and of course, the judiciary generally for making this kind of judgment to strengthen our democracy.

    “This is because it is not only for politicians to work and strengthen democracy it is all of us and all the institutions have their roles to play. So I commend them.”

    He further thanked the APC for “taking this matter to the supreme court.

    “So today, it is a victory for all of us involved. I am the symbol but the victory is for our party the APC and for democracy.”

    Lawan also thanked his colleagues in the Senate for the support, love and for the partnership.

    He said: “I want to recommit myself that i will lead well.

    “We will always be appreciative of our colleagues who gave us the mandate to lead the ninth National Assembly.

    “We will be looking at Feb. 25 when the Presidential and the National Assembly elections will take place.

    “By the Grace of God, Nigerians will vote APC once again. On the 25th, the Presidential candidate of the APC, Bola Tinubu will be voted in as President of Nigeria by the grace of God along side Sen. Kashim Shettima who is the Vice Presidential candidate.

    “When it comes to the senatorial and House of Representatives, you know what it will be. It will be a landslide majority for the APC and the same thing for the House of Representatives.”

    The supreme court on Monday affirmed Lawan, APC senatorial candidate for Yobe North.

    In a majority judgment delivered by Justice Centus Nweze, the apex court allowed the appeal filed by the APC against Bashir Machina’s candidature.

    Recall that Justice Monica Dongban-Mensen, who presided over a three-member panel of the appellate court, gave the affirmation in an appeal by the APC challenging the decision of Justice Fadimatu Aminu of the Federal High Court Damaturu.

    Justice Aminu of the Federal High Court had on Sept.  28, 2022, declared Machina as winner of the primary election organised by the party on May 28, 2022.

    However, having lost the APC presidential primary to Bola Tinubu, the party opted for Lawan to replace Machina.

    But Machina insisted that he would not withdraw for the Senate President.

    In the face of the controversy, the APC submitted the Senate President’s name to the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) as its senatorial candidate for Yobe North.

    Not satisfied with the decision of his party, Machina headed to court to seek redress.

    Specifically, Machina in his suit, asked the court to declare him as the validly elected senatorial candidate of the APC for Yobe north Senatorial District.

    Justice Aminu had nullified the parallel primary election that produced Lawan on June 9, 2022, insisting that the National Working Committee of the APC conducted a valid primary election on May 28, which was won by Bashir Machina.

    Consequently, the trial judge ordered the APC to forward the name of Machina to INEC as the authentic winner of the primary election for Yobe North.

  • Supreme Court Justices divided over ruling on Yobe North Senatorial seat

    Supreme Court Justices divided over ruling on Yobe North Senatorial seat

    The supreme court on Monday affirmed Ahmed Lawan, senate president, as the All Progressives Congress (APC) senatorial candidate for Yobe north.

    In a majority judgment delivered by Justice Centus Nweze, the apex court allowed the appeal filed by the APC against Bashir Machina’s candidature.

    The lead majority judgment of three justices against two, set aside the judgement of the Court of Appeal Abuja Division, which had on November 28, 2022, affirmed Bashir Sherrif Machina as the authentic APC senatorial candidate for Yobe North in the forthcoming general elections.

    However, Justices Adamu Jauro and Emma Agim disagreed with the lead decision and consequently entered a dissent judgment, by dismissing the appeal of APC and affirming the concurrent findings of fact of the trial and appellate courts.

    Recall that Justice Monica Dongban-Mensen, who presided over a 3-man panel of the appellate court, gave the affirmation in an appeal by the APC (appellant) challenging the decision of Justice Fadimatu Aminu of the Federal High Court Damaturu, which had on September 28, 2022, declared Bashir Sherriff.

    Machina as winner of the primary election organised by the party on May 28, 2022.

    However, having lost the APC presidential primary to Bola Tinubu, the party opted for Senate President Ahmed Lawan to replace Machina. But Machina insisted that he would not withdraw for the Senate President.

    In the face of the controversy, the APC submitted the Senate President’s name to the Independent National Electoral Commission as its senatorial candidate for Yobe North.

    Not satisfied with the decision of his party, Machina headed to court to seek redress.

    Specifically, Machina in his suit, asked the court to declare him as the validly elected senatorial candidate of the APC for Yobe North Senatorial District.

    Justice Aminu had nullified the parallel primary election that produced Lawan on June 9, 2022, insisting that the National Working Committee of the APC conducted a valid primary election on May 28, which was won by Bashir Sheriff Machina.

    Consequently, the trial judge ordered the APC to forward the name of Machina to INEC as the authentic winner of the primary election for Yobe North.

  • BREAKING: Supreme Court affirms Ahmad Lawan Senatorial candidate for Yobe North

    BREAKING: Supreme Court affirms Ahmad Lawan Senatorial candidate for Yobe North

    The Supreme Court has affirmed Senator Ahmad Lawan as the All Progressives Congress (APC) candidate for the Yobe North Senatorial District election.

    TheNewsGuru.com (TNG) reports the Supreme Court affirmed Senator Lawan as the APC Yobe North candidate on Monday.

    In a majority judgment, the apex court allowed the appeal filed by the APC against Bashir Machina’s candidature.

    The APC challenged the nomination of Machina as the party’s candidate for Yobe North Senatorial District.

    The party insisted that Lawan, Nigeria’s Senate President, was the authentic Senatorial candidate for Yobe North for the forthcoming general election.

    At the last hearing of the appeal, counsel for APC, Sepiribo Peters argued that the primary election held on 28 May 2022, which produced Machina was in breach of the Electoral Act 2022.

    Peters contended that one Danjuma Manga who conducted the said primary election was not nominated by the National Working Committee (NWC) of the party.

    He told the court that the APC cancelled the primary poll on account of the irregularities observed during the exercise.

    He argued that the other primary held on 9 June was conducted by the APC NWC, and produced Lawan as the party’s authentic candidate.

    However, Machina’s lawyer, Sarafa Yusuf prayed the Supreme Court to dismiss the appeal for lacking in merit on the ground that the Senate President did not challenge the suits at both the trial and lower courts.

    He also pointed that Manga who conducted the primary election where Machina emerged, was a member of the NWC-appointed Committee to carryout the exercise.

    The APC had approached the Court of Appeal in Abuja seeking to nullify the judgment of lower court that declared Machina as APC’s candidate for Yobe North, but the President of the Court, Justice Monica Dongban-Mensem led the panel held that the appeal was an abuse of court.

     

    Details shortly…

  • Yobe North ticket: Supreme Court set date to decide Ahmad Lawan’s fate

    Yobe North ticket: Supreme Court set date to decide Ahmad Lawan’s fate

    The Supreme Court on Wednesday fixed February 6th to deliver judgment in the long-drawn legal battle over the authenticity of the candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC) for Yobe North Senatorial District.

    Entangled in the legal battle for the Senatorial ticket are the incumbent Senate President, Ahmad Lawan and Bashir Machina.

    The Apex Court fixed the date after taking arguments from counsel for APC and Machina.

    Justice Centus Nweze who presided over a five-member panel of Justices of the Court fixed the date.

    APC which is routing for Lawan as its Senatorial candidate filed the appeal against the judgments of the Federal High Court and Court of Appeal which held Bashir Machina as the party’s candidate.

    In its arguments presented by Sepiribo Peters, APC claimed that the primary election conducted on May 27, 2022, which produced Machina, is unknown to law because unlawful people conducted it.

    He claimed that another primary election conducted on June 6 which produced Lawan is the authentic election of the party.

    However, Mr Sarafa Yusuff, counsel to Machina asked the Apex Court to dismiss the APC’S appeal for being frivolous and baseless.

    He informed the court that Danjuma Manga Committee was set up by the APC to conduct the primary election on behalf of the National Working Committee of APC.

    Yusuff drew the court’s attention to an affidavit deposed to by Danjuma Manga to the effect that he was mandated along with five others by the APC National Secretariat to conduct the Senatorial primary elections in Yobe.

    The counsel argued that until now, the affidavit of the said Danjuma Manga had not been disputed or denied by the APC and subsequently urged the court to affirm Bashir Sheriff Machina as the authentic Senatorial candidate of APC for Yobe North Senatorial District.

    Recall that the Court of Appeal in Abuja affirmed Machina as the authentic candidate of the APC for Yobe North Senatorial District.

    The court upheld the judgment of the Federal High Court sitting in Damaturu, Yobe, which held that Lawan was not the APC candidate for Yobe North Senatorial District in the 2023 elections.

    Justice Monica Dongban-Mensen, who presided over a three-man panel, gave the affirmation in an appeal by Lawan, challenging the decision of Justice Fadimatu Aminu of the Federal High Court Damaturu, which had on Sept. 28, 2022, declared Machina as the winner of the primary election organised by the APC in May 2022, while Lawan opted to contest the presidential primary election organised by the APC on June 9.

    The Federal High Court sitting in Damaturu had in September ordered the APC and the Independent National Electoral Commission to recognise Machina as Yobe North senatorial candidate of the party.

  • Senate passes N21.8 trn 2023 budget

    Senate passes N21.8 trn 2023 budget

    The Senate on Wednesday, passed the N21.8 trillion 2023 budget. This followed the adoption of the report of the Senate Committee on Appropriation at plenary.

    Presenting the report, the Chairman of the Committee, Sen. Jibrin Barau said that the commitee did a thorough job by examining inputs from its sub-committees before reaching the final figure.

    “We hereby recommend that the Senate do consider and approve a Bill for an Act to authorise the issue from the Consolidated Revenue Fund (CFR) of the Federation the total sum of N21.8 trillion.

    “Of which N967 billion is for Statutory Transfers, N6.5 billion only is for debt service. N8.3 trillion is for recurrent (Non-Debt) expenditure.

    “While N5.9 trillion for contribution to the Development Fund for Capital Expenditure for the year ending December 2023,” he said.

    He said that the budget was raised from the N20.5 trillion submitted by the Executive by N1.3 trillion.

    Barau said that President Muhammadu Buhari had on Oct. 7, laid before a joint sitting of the National Assembly the 2023 Appropriation Bill christened”Budget of Fiscal Consolidation and Transition”.

    He said that the President had proposed an oil price benchmark of 70 dollars, which was raised to 75 dollars by the National Assembly.

    “The Executive proposed an exchange rate of N435.57 to a dollar while the national assembly approved same,” he said.

    In his remarks, Senate President Ahmad Lawan, said that the passage of the budget was in line with the National Assembly’s pledge to reverse to the January- December budget cycle.

    “This our fourth budget and last before the expiration of our tenure and we have kept that promise,” he said.

    Lawan also urged the executive to strive hard to implement the 2022 supplementary budget.

    “We have also passed the supplementary dudget for 2022. We expect total implementation. No selective implementation,” Lawan said.

    Meanwhile, the Senate has adjourned plenary until Jan. 17, 2023.

  • 2023: Ahmad Lawan’s bid to return to Senate hits rock bottom again

    2023: Ahmad Lawan’s bid to return to Senate hits rock bottom again

    The bid by Senate President Ahmad Lawan to retain his senatorial seat in the upper legislative chamber has hit rock bottom again.

    This is after the Court of Appeal on Monday affirmed Bashir Machina as the authentic All Progressives Congress (APC) senatorial candidate for Yobe North.

    The appellate court, in a judgment that was delivered by a three-member panel led by President of the Court, Justice Monica Dongban-Mensen, dismissed Lawan’s appeal as lacking in merit.

    Senator Lawan filed an appeal challenging the decision of Justice Fadimatu Aminu of the Federal High Court Damaturu.

    Aminu had on Sept. 28, 2022, declared Machina as winner of the primary election organised by the APC in May 2022, while Lawan opted to contest for the presidential primary election organised by the APC in June.

    Aminu nullified the parallel primary election that produced Lawan on June 9, 2022.

    Consequently, the trial judge ordered the APC to forward the name of Machina to INEC as the authentic winner of the primary held in May.

    Lawan, had  picked the presidential form of the APC and participated in the primary election that was won by Sen.  Ahmed Bola Tinubu.

    Meanwhile,  Machina contested and won his bid to takeover as candidate of the party for the senatorial contest.

    However, Machina was asked to step down for Lawan but he insisted that he would not withdraw for the Senate President.

    In the face of the controversy, the APC submitted the Senate President’s name to the Independent National Electoral Commission as its senatorial candidate for Yobe North.

    Aggrieved by the development, Machina  headed to court to seek redress.

    Machina in his suit prayed the court to declare him as the valid elected senatorial candidate of the APC for the 2023 election.