The Appeal Court sitting in Abuja affirmed the victory of Governor Bala Mohammed of Bauchi State in the March 18 governorship election.

The three-man panel of justices were unanimous, awarding no cost as the court ruled that each party to the matter should bear their costs.

Politics Nigeria reports that the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) had declared Governor Mohammed of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) as winner of the election which took place in March.

Following the declaration of Mohammed as the winner, the candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Sadique Abubakar, approached the governorship election petition tribunal sitting in the state to challenge Governor Mohammed’s victory.

Chairman of the three-man panel, P. T. Kwahar, in his judgment, affirmed the victory of Mohammed who once served as minister of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT).

However, not satisfied with the tribunal’s judgment, Abubakar filed a petition at the Appeal Court challenging the decision of the lower court.

The Court of Appeal in Abuja, Friday morning, nullified the election of Kano State Governor Abba Yusuf, declaring his rival, Nasir Gawuna of the All Progressives Congress (APC), the winner of the March 18 governorship election.

The judgement was delivered by a three-member panel of justices led by Justice Moore A. Adumein.

The panel based their decision on the fact that Yusuf, a candidate of the New Nigeria Peoples Party (NNPP), was not a registered member of the party and, therefore, not qualified to contest the election.

The court held that according to Section 77 of the Electoral Act, 2022, every political party is mandated to maintain a register of its members.

“The appellant to his own detriment did not submit his NNPP membership registrar or even tendered his statement on oath regarding his membership of the party,” Justice Adumein stated.

The court further emphasised the importance of a membership register, noting that the 1999 Constitution requires political parties to have such a register and submit it to the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) and the Election Petition Tribunal when necessary.

“As rightfully found, Yusuf Abba was not a member of the NNPP at the time he was purportedly sponsored by his party and he was not qualified to contest the March Governorship Election,” Justice Adumein concluded.

Recall that the Governorship Election Petitions Tribunal previously declared Gawuna the winner of the March 18 election.

The tribunal had overturned INEC’s initial announcement of Yusuf as the winner, citing electoral malpractices, including the use of over 160,000 unsigned and unstamped ballot papers.

With Yusuf’s votes reduced by 165,663 due to the invalid ballots, Gawuna’s lead widened.

President Bola Tinubu has succumbed to the cry from different quarters and stopped the 40% deduction from universities’ Internally Generated Revenue (IGR).

Speaking at an ongoing 75th Founder’s Day ceremony at the University of Ibadan (UI), on Friday, the president said 40 per cent automatic deductions from IGR is inappropriate at this period.

Represented by the Minister of Education, Prof Tahir Mamman, the visitor to the nation’s premier president pledged his commitment to the reform of the education sector as the base for national development.

“The 40 per cent IGR automatic deduction policy stands cancelled. This is not the best time for such policy since our universities are struggling,” he said.

Recall that the Federal Government, in a letter dated October 17, 2023, tagged “Implementation of 40% automatic deduction from internally generated revenue of partially funded federal government institutions,’ said it would begin the deduction with effect from November 2023.

The letter, which was signed by the Accountant-General of the Federation, Mrs Oluwatoyin Madein, Director of Revenue and Investment, Office of the Accountant-General of the Federation, Felix Ore-ofe Ogundairo, said the auto-deduction policy of gross IGR was in line with the Finance Circular with reference number FMFBNP/OTHERS/IGR/CRF/12/2021 dated December 20, 2021.

This however generated a lot of uproar by tertiary institutions especially when the institutions have maintained that they are underfunded.

Reacting, President of Colleges of Education Academic Staff Union (C O E A S U) Dr. Smart Olugbeko said, there was no basis to apply this directive to the Colleges of Education because revenues collected in the Colleges are meager charges meant for the discharge of specific services.

“In other words, Federal Colleges of Education do not generate IGR. What they charge are service charges for student identity cards, health clinic services, hostel maintenance, laboratory equipment, teaching practice, consumables, etc,” he said.

He said it is necessary to note that the aforementioned charges cover for government inefficiency as these services are not being funded by the government.

“Following the monetisation policy of 2003, the Government basically stopped paying for outsourced services such as cleaning, grass-cutting, facility maintenance, and security, which are supposed to be government responsibilities.”

“Government only gives the Federal Colleges between an average of N8 million monthly to run the Colleges and this fund is not always made available as and when due, creating serious challenges in running the institutions,” he added.

A male teacher at Mgandani Primary School in Zhombe, Kwekwe District in Zimbabwe has been arrested on charges of molesting 11 schoolgirls.

The Grade Six teacher identified as Mawere Pepukai, was apprehended by the police on Thursday morning following a complaint from the parents of one of the alleged victims who visited the school.

Pepukai reportedly targeted minors in his class, engaging in inappropriate behaviour such as proposing love, fondling their breasts, and forcibly playing with their private parts.

Mgandani Primary School head, Mr Titos Shoko who confirmed the incident, said the teacher is currently in police custody. He added that the issue came to light when one of the victims reported it to their parents.

Shoko said;

"The teacher was picked up by police and is in police custody. The issue came to light after one of the alleged victims reported the matter to his parents who came to the school.”

Kylian Mbappe has reportedly agreed a deal with PSG to forego significant bonuses he is owed.

The French superstar had wanted to leave the Parisians and join Real Madrid upon the expiry of his contract in the summer of 2022. However, he made a late U-turn and penned a new deal with the French giants until 2024, with the option of an extra year to 2025 that only he could activate.

In the summer, Mbappe was exiled from PSG's squad after he informed the club he would not be utilising that extension, and leave on a free transfer next summer. He was subsequently left out of the club's pre-season tour of Japan and South Korea and forced to train with a group.

Later, Mbappe was then reintegrated after missing the first game of the season against Lorient.

According to French outlet RMC Sport, Mbappe was only allowed to return to the squad if he agreed to forego bonuses that he was owed.

The report claims PSG had originally insisted the only way he could rejoin Luis Enrique's first team was if he signed a new deal, something the forward refused to do and a prospect he continues to dismiss.

As a result, they changed tact and Mbappe has now given up approximately €80m (£70m) worth of bonuses after reaching an agreement with the club following his reintegration.

PSG remain desperate to extend the contract of their talisman, who continues to be linked with a move to Real Madrid.

But, despite the constant speculation over his future, Mbappe shows no signs of letting it distract him after scoring 13 goals in 11 Ligue 1 outings this season.

The Court of Appeal in Abuja has upheld the ruling of the Election Petitions Tribunal sacking Governor Abba Yusuf of Kano State.

In its judgment on Friday, the Appeal Court agreed with the judgment of the tribunal, ruling that the fielding of Abba Yusuf was in breach of the Electoral Law as he was not qualified to contest that Election

The verdict comes nearly two months after the Kano Governorship Election Petition Tribunal, on September 20, sacked Yusuf, declaring the All Progressives Congress (APC) candidate, Nasiru Gawuna, as the winner of the March 18 election.

Yusuf, who contested on the platform of the New Nigeria Peoples Party (NNPP), was declared the winner of the election by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) after the poll in March.

The tribunal deducted 165,663 votes from Yusuf’s total as invalid votes, stating that the affected ballot papers were not stamped or signed and therefore declared invalid.

The ruling came about six months after the APC candidate conceded defeat to Yusuf in the wake of INEC’s presentation of the certificate of return to the NNPP candidate.

In a two-minute audio statement on March 29, Gawuna stated that “as a good Muslim”, he was compelled to accept the outcome of the election, whether in his favour or not.

He added that although his campaign team had requested a review of the election results by INEC, upon review, the commission had found Yusuf to be the winner of the election.

Everton have been docked 10 points after being found guilty of breaching Premier League financial rules, plunging the club into the relegation zone.

The punishment, the biggest sporting sanction in the Premier League’s history, leaves the Goodison Park club 19th in the table on a total of just four points after 12 matches.

Everton said they were “shocked and disappointed by the ruling”, announcing their intention to appeal.

The Premier League referred the club, who have posted losses for five consecutive years, to an independent commission in March for an alleged breach of its profitability and sustainability rules (PSRs).

Clubs are allowed to lose a maximum £105 million ($130 million) over a three-year period or face sanctions.

The Premier League said in a statement: “The club admitted it was in breach of the PSRs for the period ending season 2021/22 but the extent of the breach remained in dispute.

“Following a five-day hearing last month, the commission determined that Everton FC’s PSR calculation for the relevant period resulted in a loss of £124.5 million, as contended by the Premier League, which exceeded the threshold of £105 million permitted under the PSRs.

“The commission concluded that a sporting sanction in the form of a 10-point deduction should be imposed. That sanction has immediate effect.”

‘Harsh’ Punishment’

But Everton said the punishment was too harsh.

“The club believes that the commission has imposed a wholly disproportionate and unjust sporting sanction,” the club said in a statement.

“The club has already communicated its intention to appeal the decision to the Premier League.”

The statement added: “Everton maintains that it has been open and transparent in the information it has provided to the Premier League and that it has always respected the integrity of the process.

“The club does not recognise the finding that it failed to act with the utmost good faith and it does not understand this to have been an allegation made by the Premier League during the course of proceedings.

“Both the harshness and severity of the sanction imposed by the commission are neither a fair nor a reasonable reflection of the evidence submitted.”

Everton said they would monitor “with great interest” the decisions made in other cases concerning financial rules.

Premier League champions Manchester City were charged earlier this year with 115 alleged breaches of financial fair play regulations. That case is ongoing.

Only two other clubs have received points deductions in Premier League history.

Middlesbrough were deducted three points for failing to fulfil a fixture against Blackburn during the 1996/97 season, while in 2010 Portsmouth were deducted nine points after going into administration.

Both clubs were relegated.

Nine-time English champions Everton have been a continuous presence in the top flight since 1954 and have never been relegated from the Premier League but they only avoided the drop by two points last season and have spent years in the shadow of city rivals Liverpool.

Sean Dyche’s side are now level on points with bottom club Burnley on four points after 12 matches — and five points adrift of safety.

Following the conclusion of last Saturday’s off-cycle governorship elections, Governor Douye Diri of Bayelsa State and Kogi State governor-elect, Usman Ododo, have received their certificates of return.

Diri, the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) candidate in Bayelsa, and his running mate, Lawrence Ewhrudjakpo, were presented with their certificates of return on Friday at the state headquarters of INEC, Yenagoa.

Meanwhile, Ododo of the All Progressives Congress (APC) and his deputy, Joel Salifu, received their certificates at the INEC headquarters in Lokoja, Kogi State.

Speaking in Bayelsa, INEC National Commissioner May Agbamuche-Mbu emphasised that both pairs had fulfilled the electoral requirements set forth by the commission.

Expressing gratitude for non-interference in the electoral process, Diri commended President Bola Tinubu.

He also pointed out the importance of understanding the true essence of democracy for its successful implementation in Nigeria.

Diri called for an end to the use of violence, such as guns and machetes as a means of securing electoral victory.

Highlighting the significance of democracy, the Bayelsa governor dedicated his victory to the people of the state and urged those in the diaspora to contribute to the state’s development through investments.

Diri secured a total of 175,196 votes in the 2023 elections, surpassing his closest rival, Timpre Sylva, by 65,088 votes, while the Labour Party’s Udengs Eradiri secured a distant third with 905 votes.

In Kogi, Ododo emerged victorious with 446,237 votes, defeating Murtala Ajaka of the Social Democratic Party (SDP), who garnered 259,052 votes. Dino Melaye of the PDP polled 46,362 votes.

The Federal Government has arraigned the immediate past Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria, Mr Godwin Emefiele, on a six-count charge bordering on alleged procurement.

The original charge, which was 20 counts to the tune of N6.5 billion, has been reduced to six, to the tune of N1.6 billion. Emefiele is the only defendant in the new charge.

The former CBN governor appeared in court on Friday for an application for bail, pleading not guilty to the six-count charge after it was read to him.

Emefiele arrived just in time for the commencement of the day’s proceedings.

According to the amended charge sheet, the charges still border on procurement fraud. The Federal Government alleged that Emefiele illegally bought 43 vehicles between 2018 and 2020 worth N1.2 billion. He was also accused of awarding a contract for the procurement of 37 Toyota Hilux Vehicles valued at N854 million.

Count one read, “That you, Godwin Ifeanyi Emefiele, male, adult, sometime in 2018 within the jurisdiction of this Honourable Court did use your position as Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria to confer a corrupt advantage on Sa’adatu Ramallan Yaro, a staff of the Central Bank of Nigeria by awarding a contract for the supply of 37 Toyota Hilux Vehicles at the cost of N854,700,000 only to April1616 Investment Ltd, a company in which the said Sa’adatu Ramallan Yaro is a director and thereby committed an offence.”

In the second count, Emefiele was accused of using his position to corruptly confer an advantage on Yaro, “a staff of the Central Bank of Nigeria by awarding a contract for the supply of one Toyota Avalon at the cost of N99,900,000 only to April1616 Investment Ltd, a company in which the said Sa’adatu Ramallan Yaro Director and thereby committed an offence.”

He was also accused of conferring corrupt advantage contrary to Section 19 of the Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Act 2000 by awarding a contract for the supply of one Toyota Landcruiser V8 April1616 Investment Ltd., in 2019 at the cost of N73 million.

The fourth count was about a Toyota Landcruiser V8 valued N73,800,000 awarded illegally to April 1616 Investment Ltd.

The Federal Government further accused the former CBN governor of also awarding a contract to Yaro for the supply of two Toyota Hilux Shell Specification Vehicles at the cost of N44,200,000 in 2020.

Justice Hamza Muazu of the Federal Capital Territory High Court adjourned the case till November 22 for ruling on the bail application of Emefiele and November 28 for the commencement of trial.

In the interim, he ordered that Emefiele be remanded at the Kuje Correctional Centre. The former CBN governor was escorted to the centre around 10:40 am.