Tribunal declares Obanikoro winner of IkoyijObalende LCDA -----hoJ I..~
T
~tate
L0-
cal G)\ ~rlUnenl El.e<tlon Petitions Tribunal !lilting in Ikeja yesterd2y decfal"ed Mr: Ibrahim n.... baji{ e Oban·
Ikoro of ~e Pe)lles DemocraUc ~t"ly (p ~Hn winner of Ule Il.oyl / l)balende Local CoJlICU Development chnil tnansbJp election The elSction rrcts ron-
A1Jt
ducted 00
5atun3.);
~
ber 22. :JH·1I NulllfY!1I[ the electioo
of MI. Adewale Adenijl Ult} Action Cong11;5S
or ~
Nigena (ACM, Justice Dolapo Aklnsanya ordered the Lagos State Independent Electoral Commission (LASlEC) to reYClke the CerUOcate d Return Issued to him and give same to the PDP candidate. Dell'lering Ute Judgement, the Cbainnan oC the five-man trlbwlal. Justice Aklnsanya. held that the petitioner (Obanlkoro) ought b haw been declan!d
whmer d the election by Ute Retwning ! EIectoraI QffiL'er.
TIle tribunal f'urther held that the rnpcandidate polled the highest number o£ lawful votes
cast at
the
eiection and ought to have been declared the winner: The tribunal held that avallable evktence befon!
It revealed that ObanJkoro scored 3,710 valid ~
while Adenijl scored
3,248
YO....
SubsequenU): the tribu· nal orderod LASIEC to issue 8. CerWkate of Return to Ute petitionl'l' with im-
mediate effect. having
WOIl
the disput.ed eIection.lt also a~"llJ'ded NlDO, CD) as wst in
vested on them as re-
fawur of the petitioner.
proof
11 held that thepetitioner had proven to the tribunal that election results were not wUated at Ule wlit and 'A'ani ~ 85 shown in the LASlEC Forms 9A which were admlued as exhibits. The trIbuna] further held that Section U(2) ol
gards to the coUation d O'le results. It transferred the onus to Ule respondents who did not tender any LASIEC Form 9A ",hlch is the first stage d any ek!ctIon. -rile peUUoners have
IaKldown~
shown thai the non-ailla· lion of the results at the wLits and wrud Ie\'els substantially affected the out· come or the resuJt declared by LASlEC". TIle PDP candidate. had lhrough hls counseL Chief
TIle trlbunal said: -rhe petitioners bm"e been al»e to dIscharge the burden d
BoIaJi Ayorinde (SAN), ooutl!Sted that the Lst respondent the ACN and the 2nd
the Local Gowrrunent Elections E\!t.itions Tribuna) Law 3Jll empow~red it to nullify any election that does not amfonn with the
respondent. MJ: Adewale AdenUI, were notduIy elected by Ole Illl\IOrtty or IawfuJ votes cast at Ole election. Olher grounds in the petition includes that "the Ullth respondent reCused,
faUed and or neglected to declare the swt"eS or the candidates In the eJection held for the offim of Chair· man d UwyVObalende L0cal Council Development Arm in Lagos State. and which scores were nowoon-
tained In the LASlEC Form 9A of which ropl:es had been lawfully given to the Petilioners agents.
Alleged clEfam!ltion: Fayemi ~Jes N~lGE, firmfot j20hn
sacked WOIkers
A810OUN \N~--
K EMt O L.AITAN
CNPP lauds Ajimobi
overreinstatementof IBADN'
AOO eJ<ITI
E
T
k ·tijStat( (iovernor
Ka} " Ie Fa ,'etni has sued lh ~ Nigeria UnIon (If I,oed Govern· mcntEmo1o~ ;l )l1JLGE)
and a m,~j")'Iap'u publish· Ing firn C';:!l':I Ill!WS repo,t fo'ayemi'! '!Clillr foJlm\.'ed tbe expll"Bl u, n fir a 14-day uJUmatumjssueJ Qthetwo
bodies t(I n .>lrncl Ile "boseless and uni>Ul)LE!' I stories" carried Ul t he Iougust 2S and August 26. 21 II I editions of the nevo.1 p3pe::. A stnlr!~nt byheChlef l:.ress ~ tan' tr Lbc Gov· ernor. Mr OIa3 b tM ()yebode. yestf~' t akl Fay. eml wa... Itfmalll ilng NlO billion dtJUBge5 flum each of the tv.Io bod1!!' O\'er the druWlgl! that U", talsehood had doot: to his I ellUlation. It will Ie ~::8Ued that NULGE, in the I 'u ill£ation. accused faj'&lu o · deductr ing Nl bllUhl m n hly from local goo.wnmenl councUs allocations, Acoor'liul>! to ;)yebode, 1'"'aYem1. m tJ~ .su t fiJed at an Ado-Ekllt }-l1lh Coun and markeJ HAD· 1W2D12. joined the '\I'WS1ll per pubUshlng ronlP8D.! ItS 1St de-
lrR: EJUU State QovemQr, Or Kllyode 11rfernI: stata Chairman of ActIon Cong'''' 01 N6geri' (ACN), Chlel Jtd, A_; hit deputy. Chief Dele Falust; and Chairmen 01 Oya l..Dcaf ~I""''' Mr. Adewale AdQ;oy.. during .n. Town Hall muting: In Oya, yesterd3Y·
Mark to Boroffice: Count me out of your problem G EORGE OJt AND E MMANUEL OHANI AHUJA - - - - - s enate President 08.. vld Marlt has distanced himself from Ule nUeKed plol to recall SenAtor Robert Bornffl ce (Ondo NorUt) from Ule Senate and descrIbed the allegation by the Actlon Congress of Nigeria (ACN) as unfounded and
(Boroffice) could l'etaln his seat In the Senate after dumping the Labour Party (LP), on which platfonn he
waselectEd,fortheACNor not. ACN Nuliooal PubUclty SecJ"et.ary. Alhaji Lai Mohammed, had In a signed statement recently QC_ cused the Senate of using "arm.twlsting" tactics to declare Boroffice-s seai va· cant.
electoral body's opinion on hls decision to join the ACN, while alleging dlvi· slon bt LP. 1NEe. in its response. saJd 018t "It has no reooni of any division bt the La· hour Party to justify your (Boromce) resignaUon from Ule party". The lNEC response dated SepteJnber13. 3J12 and signed by the secretary m the OJntntisslon. AbdullatLi Kaugama. further stated that "Section ~Xg) ~ the 1999 Constitution as amended does not operate in your favour as there is no division ill the Labour f'arty"
Accordlng to ~iatk, however; It Is wicked and
mtschievotJ!l for the ACN to allege Ulat the Senate leadershlp has a hand in Bonifice's fate when it was the Senator that personally look himself to lNEC_ " Why did Distinguished
Senator BoroOloe write to lNEe if he knew that Ule decision to vacate his seat or otileJ'Wise lies In the c:ourts?" Mark asked. The Senate President noted that the Impon f:L INEC's letter is thal Borof. flee remains a Senator of the Federal Republic of Nigeria elected on the platform of the Labour party.
mlschlpvous. But Mark recalled that Mark noted in a state- Boroffice wrote to the In· menl ytStenlay that Borof- dependent National Bloc. noe was the architect of toral Commission (INEC) ~~~~dtt!~s :::;te~ whatlM!r fate that befeU nOlifying the commission 2nddefendwlt. him in the on·going Im- of his resignntiOIl from brogllo over wheUler he Ule W) and requested the Fa~1 I~~ttlle r.~C7--C-~~~>C~~C&~~~~~--~-C~--------~~~----~~~~~~~
pulJl~""" bad sub~::ted hbn to UIl'A-arranted PI blic ridi· cule. embilrrasfn ent and unprecaler:ted ill ;repute," adding tlvt hI5 Mcreden· Uats and track rB ud as a gentleman :md a man or wlquestion31de I haracter and an ad\'0C8.t:! of goo;:! governance have been ad\tiSely aifeLied 11) the pUblications", "fa1sobood
exposed aBl
FG to train 30,000 Nigerians on cocoa production IBACAN
culture and Rural Qe\'eIopmenL Dr: Aklnwumi AdesJna. spoke at the open..
he Federal Go\'emment yesterday stated its deterllllnaHon to troln 30,000 elltrepreneurs to boost cocoa production, processing and marketing. The Minister u Agrl-
log ceremony of the rU'St International Cocoa Con· ference held at Ule Jogor Events Centre, lbadan, Ule Oyo Stale capliaL He said llie move was parlof theon'goine transformation agenda in the
K EMt O lAfTAN
T
agdculture sub-sector. The mlnlstec who was represented by Ute South-West Regional Di· rector In the Ministry of Agriculture, Dc Talabl OtIeyemi, reiterated the Federal Government's commitment to revamp cocoa production. saying "Time has come for cocoa
revolution with a clear
sense of urgency". While explainlng past
efforts by the government to revamp the agric subsector, he pointed out the plan by the government to cullivate over 200,000 heetres of arable land across the COwttry to enhance lhe production (# cocoa.
he Oyo State chap-
ter of the Confer-
ence of Nigerian PoliUcal Parties (CNPPl hrui praised GovernOi' Ablola Ajlmobi for rein staUng some of Ole workers recently sacked by hls administration ln a statement issued yesterday in lbadan. the stale capita). thP CNPP Chairman, Alhajl 'Cmka Olona. described Ute gDIoUTIor as a listening Icader who has the genuine Interest of the "''Ilrkers at heart. The statement reads: 'This action commg at Ulis time can only point to the fact U18t tile present goYemmelll in ~ Slate mean well for not only the .....wk· ers. but the entire people.. "We beUe\."e that it is nec· essary to ronunend ~w· nor Ablola Ajimobi for having lislening mrs and ....IOUJd not do anything to infilct hanishlpon theelectol-ate." WhUe calling 00 tile reinstated workers to reciprocate Ule good gesture r:L the gm~ through hard ....'OI't and dedication. CNPP blamed Nigeria's }eaders fur the precarious situation of the countrx 52 years afleI' lndcpendence.. Il saki NIt!;!!ria is In great shamble because d the selfish attitude d the natim's
""""'"
CNPP saki. ..It is quite unfortunate that y,-e are
where we are 52 years after Independence s imply because our Jeaders, in their own wl9dom, decided to serve UlCirselflsh Int!!rest.
'1'he nation will only
t:el beUer when OUT leaders decide to change their attitude,"