Justice James Omotosho of the Federal High Court in Abuja has dismissed the suit filed to invalidate the nomination of Olumide Akpata as the Labour Party candidate for the September 21 gubernatorial polls in Edo State.

In a recent decision, Justice Omotosho affirmed the position taken by Akpata’s legal counsel, Johnson Usman (SAN), who argued that the plaintiffs did not possess the legal standing to initiate the lawsuit.

The lawsuit was initiated by Anderson Asemota, Monday Mawah, a candidate for deputy governorship, and Lamidi Apapa, who was serving as the acting national chairman of the Labour Party at the time.

The defendants in the case were the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), Olumide Akpata, and the Labour Party itself.

Justice Omotosho determined that the plaintiffs had no legal right to approach the court, as they had not participated in the February 23, 2024, primary election from which Akpata was selected as the Labour Party’s candidate.

Furthermore, the judge concluded that the issue at hand pertained to the nomination of a candidate, which falls within the purview of a political party’s internal affairs.

He further asserted that it is the responsibility of the party to decide on its candidate, and as such, the court lacked the jurisdiction to adjudicate on the matter.

Moreover, Justice Omotosho opined that even if the court were to exercise its jurisdiction, the merits of the case needed to be revised.

He also pointed out that, contrary to the plaintiffs’ assertions, the Court of Appeal had previously nullified orders issued by the Federal High Court of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), including an order that restrained the party’s leadership led by Julius Abure.

The judge said, “This means that the third plaintiff (Apapa) and those who were in acting capacity with him immediately had all their decisions nullified and non-existent.

“Thus, any letter written by the said acting executives, or any decisions including the purported consensus primary election which produced the 1st plaintiff (Asemota) are all non-existent, void and of no effect whatsoever.

“It is a trite principle of law that you cannot put something on nothing and expect the same to stand.

“The entire foundation upon which the plaintiff’s claim rests has been thoroughly demolished by the decision of the Court of Appeal.

“The argument that the decision of the high court of the FCT was valid as when the primary election was conducted may be true to some extent, especially if the Court of Appeal had yet to hand down its judgment.

“The judgment, however, destroys this argument and ensures that the first plaintiff, for all intents and purposes, cannot be deemed to be a candidate who emerged from a valid primary election.

“Thus the 1st plaintiff cannot claim that the ist defendant should accept his name as candidate of the 3rd defendant for the governorship elections in Edo state in 2024.”

The plaintiffs had submitted a petition to the court, requesting that it issue orders to various entities, including the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), to officially announce Asemota as the victor of the Edo Labour Party Governorship Primary Election.

This was in light of Asemota’s position as the consensus candidate and the winner of the primary election held on February 22, which was organized by the primary election committee established by the party’s national working committee (NWC) under the leadership of Apapa.

The bill seeking to amend the 1999 constitution to provide for a single term of six years for the Offices of the President, State Governors and Local Government Chairmen scaled first reading at the House of Representatives on Wednesday, July 17.

The private member bill, sponsored by the member representing Ideato North/Ideato South Federal Constituency, Imo State, Ikenga Ugochinyere and 50 other lawmakers, seeks to curb wastages occasioned by four years periodic elections.

The proposed bill seeks to alter Sections 7, 135, 137, 180 and 182 (1) of the 1999 Constitution (as amended).

Clause 2 seeks to amend Section 7 of the Principal Act by inserting a new subsection (5) immediately after the extant subsection 4 and before the extant subsection 5 as follows, “(5) A holder of the office of a Local Government Chairman shall vacate his office at expiration of a period of six years commencing from the date such holder was elected into office.”

Clause 3 of the bill seeks to amend Section 135 subsections (2), (2A) and (3) of the Principal Act by replacing the word “four” with “six” to read:

“(2) Subject to the provisions of subsection (1) of this section, the President shall vacate his office at the expiration of a period of six (6) years single tenure commencing from the date, when – (a) in the case of a person first elected as President under this Constitution, he took the Oath of Allegiance and the oath of office; and (b) in any other case, the person last elected to that office under this Constitution took the Oath of Allegiance and oath of office or would, but for his death, have taken such Oaths.

“(2A) in the determination of the six years term, where a re-run election has taken place and the person earlier sworn wins the re-run election, the time spent in the office before the date the election was annulled, shall be taken into account.

“(3) If the Federation is at war in which the territory of Nigeria is physically involved and the President considers that it is not practicable to hold elections, the National Assembly may by resolution extend the period of six (6) years mentioned in subsection (2) of this section from time to time; but no such extension shall exceed a period of six months at any one time.”

Clause 4 of the bill seeks to amend Section 137 of the Principal Act by deleting paragraph (b) and renumbering appropriately.

Clause 5 of the proposed legislation l seeks to amend Section 180 of the Principal Act by deleting the extant subsections 2 and 3 and replacing it with new subsections 2 and 3.

It reads, “(2) Subject to the provisions of subsection (1) of this section, the Governor shall vacate his office at the expiration of a period of six (6) years single tenure commencing from the date when — (a) in the case of a person first elected as Governor under this Constitution, he took the Oath of Allegiance and oath of office; and (b) the person last elected to that office took the Oath of Allegiance and oath of office or would, but for his death, have taken such oaths.

“(3) If the Federation is at war in which the territory of Nigeria is physically involved and the President considers that it is not practicable to hold elections, the National Assembly may by resolution extend the period of six years mentioned in subsection (2) of this section from time to time, but no such extension shall exceed a period of six months at any one time.

Clause 5 of the bill seeks to amend Section 182 (1) by deleting paragraph (b) and renumbering appropriately.”

Oside Oluwole, a Nigerian biochemist and auto dealer, who is popularly known as Khoded, has emerged the new world record holder for the longest videogame marathon.

The Guinness World Record, GWR, made the announcement in a post on social media.

The 24-year-old Khoded set the record by playing a soccer videogame for 75 hours with over 500 games played.

He surpassed the previous 50 hour record set by Englishman, David Whitefoot, in 2022.

The biochemist embarked on the attempt to raise funds for a local hospital in his hometown, Iejbu-Ode.

Announcing Oluwole’s feat, GWR wrote: “Before no one in the past has broken this record by such a large margin as Oside has.

"It was first set in 2010 with a time of 24 hours and gradually increased to 50 hours after being beaten seven times in 11 years.”

The General Overseer of Mountain of Holy Ghost Intervention and Deliverance Ministry, Chukwuemeka Cyril Ohanaemere, popularly known as Odumeje has vowed to use his powers to bring down the price of rice in the country.

Amid the rising cost of food and hardship in Nigeria, the clergyman vowed to bring down the price just as he once claimed to have crashed the dollar price against the naira.

During a recent service, he highlighted the current inflation in the country.

According to Pastor Odumeje, food prices are becoming too expensive for the common man, citing the exponential shoot in the cost of basic meals.

He also condemned other preachers who are mute of the hardship faced by their congregants in Nigeria while emphasizing his goal as a Man of God.

The Minister of Works, David Umahi has appealed to the people of the Southeast region of the country not to join in the calls for protest against the Tinubu-led administration.

The minister made this appeal on Wednesday, July 17, during the unveiling of President Bola Tinubu's legacy road projects to stakeholders and residents of the state.

Umahi emphasized that President Tinubu is taking significant measures to alleviate the country's hardships and has made difficult decisions for the nation's betterment. "The president is doing everything possible to ameliorate and end the hardship. Let us support him, he is doing everything to unite Nigeria, put food on our tables, and develop the health, education, and other sectors. Pray for him and support him," Umahi stated.

He highlighted the support from governors in the region, confirming that there would be no demonstrations against the President in Ebonyi and the southeast. Umahi pointed out that the southeast has significantly benefited from numerous ongoing road construction projects under President Tinubu's administration, addressing long-standing neglect from previous governments.

"The southeast today under President Tinubu has benefitted from numerous road construction projects ongoing to develop the southeast, which has suffered many years of neglect in previous administrations. So we need to support him," Umahi said.

The Minister also noted a marked improvement in the region's security since President Tinubu took office. "Security has been highly improved in the southeast under President Tinubu. The little security lapses being noticed now are self-inflicted and I commend the governors of the region for what they are doing in this regard," he added.

Umahi called on Nigerians to refrain from making divisive statements, stressing the need for a peaceful atmosphere to foster development. "We should stop fanning the embers of division. We are paying for the past years of neglect and mismanagement. We failed to plan properly in the past and we have to accept our past mistakes and find ways to start correcting them, and this is what the President is doing," he concluded.

The Labour Party, LP, has expressed displeasure over the removal of the lawmaker representing Borno South senatorial district, Ali Ndume as the Chief Whip of the Senate.

On Tuesday, July 17, the Senate President Godswill Akpabio read a letter from the leadership of ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) demanding the removal of Ndume as a principal officer in the 10th senate.

The party also asked Ndume, who has been very critical of President Bola Tinubu, to resign and join any opposition party of his choice.

Reacting to Ndume's removal, the National Publicity Secretary of the Labour Party, Obiora Ifoh, said the decision clearly signified that speaking truth to power is now a crime in Nigeria. According to him, the humiliation of Ndume by the senate is portraying dictatorial inclination.

“The crime of Senator Ndume was his bold expression of his concerns regarding the escalating cost of living and food scarcity in Nigeria, and his revelation that President Bola Tinubu has chosen to play the ostrich even in the face of acute starvation being witnessed in Nigeria.

The dimension this administration is taken is grave. Few months ago, Senator Abdul Ningi exposed the rot in the government where the Senate leadership and the executive collaborators allegedly padded the budget. That got him suspended and intimidated out of his lawful representative role as a senator.

It is needless talking about the economic crisis on going in Nigeria even where a few cabal are massively enriching themselves. The National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) recently said that food inflation has risen to 40.66 percent.

Even with all these glaring and scaring challenges, the government is said to have paid about N150bn for a presidential jet, building roads that have no direct bearing with the economic crises in Nigeria,” Ifoh said.

He wondered what could be called democratic about the party in government making decision for an independent legislative arm on who takes up leadership role in the nation’s legislature.

“This is clear a tyranny of a cabal against the legislative autonomy. Nigeria is gradually descending into dictatorship and we are calling on the citizens to be on an alert and put up a defence against the starvation weapon being deployed by this administration.” he said

The main entrance of the Port Harcourt Refinery complex was occupied by aggrieved youths of Alesa and Alode communities in Eleme, shutting down activities at the refinery in demand for employment even as the refinery undergoes rehabilitation.

The youths in their hundreds on Tuesday and Wednesday barricaded the main gate of the refinery complex, with placards bearing different inscriptions, such as “PHRC where did you keep our slots”, and “PHRC obey Nigerian Content Act” among others.

The leader of the protest identified as Hon. Johnson Nwogu, said the community was shocked that an employment of 165 people was carried out by the management of the refinery but only 13 chances were given to the whole of Eleme and less than five to Alesa, the host community.

Engr. Eric Chujor, President of the Eleme Graduates Forum, said;

“It saddens me to imagine how we are marginalized by multinationals, IOCs, and indigenous companies doing business within the confines of Eleme land. Our employment quota and contract chances have been compromised for far too long as against the Nigeria Content Act.

“The behaviour of those managing these firms and our representatives in the over 300 companies doing business in Eleme has impoverished our people. Hence, we must rise to the task of fighting against the injustice meted out to us by these groups of people,” Chujor said.

He continued: “It is heart-wrenching to see that the unemployment rate is on the rise in Eleme, whereas we have people coming into our space to earn massive profits every day. Contract opportunities now belong to a few individuals from the community as against running an open-door policy to all qualified contractors.

“Moreover, Eleme has qualified graduates and professionals who can fill various positions, including managerial roles within these companies, but they tend to look down on our people because our representatives in these firms have failed to project and protect Eleme’s indigenous workers before the top echelon of these companies.

“To prevent these unwanted developments, I request the support of Eleme stakeholders and meaningful people of the soil to rise and put a stop to these menaces for the future growth and development of Eleme land.

“For how long should we remain in silence, fold our hands, and watch all these levels of injustice unleashed on our people? They sack our youths but retain strangers, employ the strangers as direct staff, but our people as support staff, etc.

Take, for instance, Tecnimont has less than six Eleme graduates as their direct staff as against the hundreds of staff engaged. This is a violation of the Nigeria Local Content Act.”

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