Tinubu Approves N683b As 2024 Intervention Fund For Public Tertiary Schools

 

The Executive Secretary of Tertiary Education Trust Fund, TETFund, Sonny Echono, made this disclosure on Friday at the Fund’s strategic planning meeting with heads of beneficiary institutions in Abuja.

President Bola Tinubu has approved N683,429,268 billion as the 2024 intervention fund for public tertiary schools in the country.

The Executive Secretary of Tertiary Education Trust Fund, TETFund, Sonny Echono, made this disclosure on Friday at the Fund’s strategic planning meeting with heads of beneficiary institutions in Abuja.

According to him, from the total, 90.75 per cent is earmarked for direct disbursement, 8.94 per cent for some designated special projects, and 2.27 per cent is budgeted for response to emerging issues.

He also disclosed that each university shall get for the Year 2024 intervention cycle, the total sum of N1,906,944,930.00, polytechnic N1,165,355,235.00

while each College of Education has N1,398,426,282.00.

The intervention fund is expected to go a long way in addressing the long the decades-long calls for better funding of schools in Nigeria. Lecturers in the country’s public schools have often resorted to strikes to drum home their demands which also included better pay and improved facilities for learning institutions.

In late 2022, university lecturers suspended an eight-month strike over pay, welfare, and crumbling facilities, the latest industrial dispute to hit Africa’s most populous nation.

The strike by the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) had shut down federal government-owned universities since February 14 that year despite talks with the government to find a truce.

That strike was the second longest by ASUU, known for its work stoppages. In 2020, during the Covid-19 pandemic, the university teachers went on strike for nine months.

The demands of the lecturers are the same as in previous strikes — higher pay, improved welfare, increased funding, and upgraded facilities.

Supreme Court Affirms Lawal’s Election As Zamfara Governor

 

The apex court set aside the decision of the Court of Appeal Abuja, which had declared the Governorship Election as inconclusive and ordered a re-run in three Local Government Areas of the state.

The Supreme Court was affirmed the election of Dauda Lawal of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) as Zamfara Governor.

Abuja, which had declared the Governorship Election as inconclusive and ordered a re-run in three Local Government Areas of the state.

Also read: Supreme Court Reverses Sack Of Gov Yusuf, Affirms His Election

The Court of Appeal had in November nullified the election of Lawal’s election.

He was declared the winner of the March 18 governorship election. In a shocking victory that dislodged then-incumbent Bello Matawalle of the All Progressives Congress (APC), he polled a total of 377,726 votes. Matawalle scored 311,976 votes.

The APC candidate, now serving as the Minister of State for Defence, had accused INEC of subverting his victory at the poll by failing to include the results of some ward areas.

In an earlier ruling on September 18, the Zamfara Election Petitions Tribunal held that the petition was devoid of merit. While upholding Lawal’s victory, the tribunal awarded the N500,000 fine against the petitioners.

An unsatisfied Matawalle, as observers expected, took the matter to the Court of Appeal in Abuja, to challenge the decision of the lower court.

Respite came for Matawalle at the appellate court as the three-member panel led by Justice Oyebisi Folayemi, nullified the return of Governor Lawal as the winner of the governorship poll.

Justice Sybil Nwaka ordered INEC to conduct a fresh election in three local government areas of the state, where elections had not been held previously or where results from various polling units were not counted.

But the governor proceeded to the apex court to seek redress.

Supreme Court Reverses Sack Of Gov Yusuf, Affirms His Election

 

Justice Okoro held that the tribunal was wrong in deducting the votes accrued to the governor.

The Supreme Court has upheld the election of Abba Yusuf as Governor of Kano State, reversing the decision of the Court of Appeal and the Governorship Election Petitions Tribunal, which sacked the governor.

Justice John Okoro, who read the lead Judgement, said the Court of Appeal was wrong in affirming the decision of the tribunal, which held that Yusuf did not win the majority of lawful votes cast in the governorship election of March 18, 2023.

Also read: Supreme Court Affirms Sanwo-Olu’s Election, Dismisses LP, PDP’s Appeals

In determining the case, the apex court raised two issues: whether the lower court was right in deducting 165,616 from the votes the Independent National Electoral Commission announced for the governor and whether the lower court could determine the issue of party membership.

In the judgement, Justice Okoro held that the tribunal was wrong in deducting 165,616 votes accrued to Yusuf in the election on the grounds that the ballot papers were not signed and stamped by officials of INEC.

According to him, Section 71 of the Electoral Act relied upon by the tribunal to deduct the disputed votes does not apply in the instant case.

The Supreme Court panel of five Justices, subsequently went ahead to restore the deducted 165,616 votes to reinstate the victory of Yusuf in the governorship election.

On the second issue, the Supreme Court again faulted the Court of Appeal for holding that Yusuf was not a member of the NNPP as of the time he contested the election, adding that the issue of nomination and sponsorship is a pre-election matter and outside the jurisdiction of the court.

Justice Okoro observed that contrary to the appellate court, the tribunal never held that Yusuf was not qualified to contest the poll but that his name was not in the NNPP’s membership register submitted to INEC.

The apex court subsequently set aside the judgment of the two lower courts for being perverse and restored the electoral victory of Abba Yusuf.

Gov Yusuf’s Court Of Appeal Sack

A three-member panel of the Court of Appeal led by Moore Adumein, in a unanimous judgement in November,  sacked Governor Yusuf and declared Nasiru Gawuna of the All Progressives Congress (APC) winner of the 18 March election in Kano State.

The Court of Appeal, in addition to that, disqualified Governor Yusuf as a candidate in the election, on the grounds that he was not a member of the NNPP as of the time of the election.

The three-person panel would also deduct 165,663 votes from Yusuf’s total votes claiming the votes are invalid because the ballot papers were not stamped or signed.

In its judgement, the court maintained it acted in the public interest when it permitted the APC to tender papers during the trial since the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) had given the APC access to materials piecemeal to undermine the petitioner’s claim.

It also ruled that the 1999 Constitution did not support Yusuf’s lawyer, Wole Olanipekun’s contention that the APC should have included its candidate Yusuf Ganuwa as a party in the tribunal proceedings because a candidate is allowed to be represented by his political party during legal procedures.

According to the court, political parties are required by the 1999 Constitution to maintain a membership register and provide it to INEC and the tribunal upon request.

AFCON2023: Onuachu Replaces Injured Umar Ahead Sunday’s Opener

 

Umar now joins the likes of Leicester City's midfielder, Wilfred Ndidi and Bayern Leverkusen's, Victor Boniface on the injury list.

Paul Onuachu will replace the Real Sociedad forward Sadiq Umar, who has been ruled out of the 2023 Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) to be held in Cote d’Ivoire.

Umar reportedly suffered a knee injury in Nigeria’s 2-0 loss to Guinea in a friendly game in Abu Dhabi on Monday.

He now joins the likes of Leicester City’s midfielder, Wilfred Ndidi and Bayern Leverkusen’s, Victor Boniface on the injury list.

A post on X by the Suoer Eagles handle revealed this on Friday and It read: Sadiq Umar is out of the AFCON 2023 squad due to injury; Paul Onuachu replaces him.”

Onuachu had been named in the  Super Eagles’ provisional 40-man squad for the AFCON but was dropped for the final 23-man list by Jose Peserio.

Umar  is expected to return to Spain for treatment Peserio’s men will kick start their campaign against Equatorial Guinea in their Group A opening game on Sunday, January 14th.

Supreme Court Affirms Sanwo-Olu’s Election, Dismisses LP, PDP’s Appeals

 

 

The apex court affirms the judgement of the Court of Appeal Lagos, dismissing the appeal of Gbadebo Rhodes-Vivour of the Labour Party for lacking in merit.

The supreme court has affirmed the election of Babajide Sanwo-Olu of the All Progressives Congress (APC) as Governor of Lagos State.

Also read: Supreme Court Set To Deliver Judgements In Kano, Plateau, Five Gov Disputes

The five member panel in a unanimous judgment delivered by Justices Lawal Garba and Adamu Jauro, affirmed the declaration of the APC’s candidate as winner of the March 18, 2023 governorship election, after dismissing two separate appeals challenging his victory.

Gbadebo Rhodes-Vivour of the Labour Party (LP), who came second and Abdulazeez Adediran popularly known as Jandor of the People’s Democratic Party (PDP), who came third had challenged the election of Sanwo-Olu on grounds of alleged irregularities, malpractices non-compliance as well as non-qualification.

They had specifically argued that the Deputy Governor, who acquired citizenship of the United States of America, is not qualified to contest elective position and as such his nomination as deputy Governor was unlawful null and void.

They also argued that his alleged unlawful nomination affects the qualification of Sanwo-Olu, hence the court should nullify their participation in the governorship election.

However, both the tribunal and the Court of Appeal in their respective decisions dismissed the two appeals for failure to prove allegations made in their petitions.

The apex court in its judgement, held that it has found no cogent reason to deviate from the concurrent judgments of the tribunal and Court of Appeal which held that Sanwo-Olu was lawfully elected as Governor of Lagos State.

The appellate court in a unanimous judgement held that acquisition of a foreign national those not bar any citizen by birth from contesting election.

Justice Lawal stated that the only condition a citizen with dual citizen can lose his right to be elected as governor is when he denounces his Nigerian citizenship by birth.

The apex court subsequently dismissed the two appeals for lacking in merit.

Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu of the APC had polled 762,134 votes to defeat his closest challenger, Rhodes-Vivour, who scored 312,329 votes, with Jandor coming a distant third with 62,449 votes.

Supreme Court Set To Deliver Judgements In Kano, Plateau, Five Gov Disputes

 

The courtroom is quite filled as everyone anxiously wait for the arrival of the five man panel of Justices, in a few minutes.

Governors of Plateau, Bauchi, Kano and Zamfara states have arrived the Supreme Court in Abuja, Nigeria’s capital city, as the apex court delivers verdicts in the governorship election disputes involving at least seven sitting governors elected last March and sworn in on May 29, 2023.

Governors Abba Yusuf (Kano), Caleb Mutfwang (Plateau), Bala Mohammed (Bauchi) and Dauda Lawal (Zamfara) are already seated in the courtroom alongside their lawyers as they await the arrival of justices of the apex court to deliver judgements.

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The courtroom is quite filled as everyone anxiously wait for the arrival of the five man panel of Justices, in a few minutes.

Former Governor of Plateau State, Simon Lalong, is in the court room.

Ebonyi state is also on the cause list and the Ebonyi state Governor, Francis Nwifuru, just arrived the courtroom. Nasarawa State is however absent.

The courtroom is filled with Journalists and accredited political party leaders.

Meanwhile, the Justices are being awaited into the court room for the judgment delivery.

The states where their governors are expected to know their fates on whether to remain in office or not, are Kano, Plateau, Bauchi, Cross River, Abia, Zamfara, Cross River and Ebonyi.

The panel of Justices has being increased to 8 with Justice John Okoro leading.

The Justices have arrived and resumed immediately.

Yusuf VS Gawuna

Late December, the apex court reserved judgement in the appeal filed by the Kano State Governor, Abba Yusuf, challenging the verdict of the Court of Appeal and the State Election Petitions Tribunal, which removed him from office.

The five-member panel led by Justice John Okoro reserved the judgement after the parties adopted their brief of arguments.

In September, the tribunal nullified the victory of Yusuf, the candidate of the New Nigeria’s Peoples Party (NNPP) in the March 18 governorship election.

The tribunal also affirmed Nasiru Gawuna of the All Progressives Congress (APC) as the duly elected governor of Kano.

On November 13, the Court of Appeal upheld the verdict of the tribunal. In its ruling, the Appeal Court agreed with the judgement 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. But the governor proceeded to the Supreme Court to seek redress.

Mutfwang VS Goshwe

On January 9, 2024, the Supreme Court reserved judgement in the appeal filed by the Governor of Plateau State, Caleb Mutfwang, seeking to overturn the verdict of the Court of Appeal which nullified his election.

A five-member panel of justices led by Justice John Okoro reserved judgement after hearing arguments from parties for and against the appeal.

The governor through his counsel, Kanu Agabi, prayed the court to uphold the judgement of the Tribunal and set aside the judgment of the appellate court because the respondents have no right to question how a party elects its state executives.

He said the respondents (Nentawe Goshwe and the All Progressives Congress) can not plead that the governor did not score the number of lawful votes ascribed to him at the same time say the election was invalid.

In November, the Appeal Court in Abuja sacked Mutfwang and ordered the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to issue a Certificate of Return to Goshwe but the governor proceeded to the apex court to seek redress.

Lawal VS Matawalle

Last November, the Appeal Court nullified the election of Zamfara State Governor Dauda Lawal.

Lawal, of the main opposition PDP, was declared the winner of the March 18 governorship election. In a shocking victory that dislodged then-incumbent Bello Matawalle of the All Progressives Congress (APC), he polled a total of 377,726 votes. Matawalle scored 311,976 votes.

The PDP candidate, now serving as the Minister of State for Defence, had accused INEC of subverting his victory at the poll by failing to include the results of some ward areas.

In an earlier ruling on September 18, the Zamfara Election Petitions Tribunal held that the petition was devoid of merit. While upholding Lawal’s victory, the tribunal awarded the N500,000 fine against the petitioners.

An unsatisfied Matawalle, as observers expected, took the matter to the Court of Appeal in Abuja, to challenge the decision of the lower court.

Respite came for Matawalle on Thursday as the three-member panel led by Justice Oyebisi Folayemi, nullified the return of Governor Lawal as the winner of the governorship poll.

Justice Sybil Nwaka ordered INEC to conduct a fresh election in three local government areas of the state, where elections had not been held previously or where results from various polling units were not counted.

But the governor proceeded to the apex court to seek redress.

Mohammed VS Abubakar

Also in November, the appellate court affirmed the victory of Governor Bala Mohammed of Bauchi State in the March 18 governorship election.

The appeal was filed by the All Progressives Congress (APC) governorship candidate, Sadique Abubakar, following the tribunal judgment upholding Mohammed’s victory.

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

The presiding judge, Justice Chidi Nwaoma Uwa, read the judgment in the order of the appellant’s plea before the appeal court.

On plea number one, the appellant pleaded that the election be nullified because the forms and booklets used in the election were not properly filled. The court ruled that the appellant failed to prove this allegation with the needed evidence.

Sanwo-Olu VS GRV, Jandor

The Appeal Court in Lagos in November affirmed the judgment of the tribunal, confirming the return of Babajide Sanwo-Olu and Obafemi Hamzat as the Governor and Deputy Governor of Lagos state.

The justices of the court of appeal in a unanimous decision dismissed the appeal of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and the Labour Party (LP) for lack of merit.

In March, INEC declared Sanwo-Olu as the winner of the Lagos governorship election.

Sanwo-Olu polled 762,134 votes to defeat his close challenger, LP’s Gbadebo Rhodes-Vivour also known as GRV, who scored 312,329 votes. PDP’s Abdulazeez Adediran popular as Jandor came a distant third with 62,449 votes.

Not satisfied, the LP and PDP candidates approached the Lagos State Election Petitions Tribunal to nullify Sanwo-Olu’s victory.

In its ruling on September 25, the tribunal dismissed Adediran and Rhodes-Vivour’s suit seeking to nullify the victory of Sanwo-Olu at the poll.

Displeased with the verdict, the duo approached the appellate court but the higher court dismissed their suits. Both men subsequently approached the apex court which is expected to deliver a judgement on Friday.

Nwifuru VS Odii

The Supreme Court had on Tuesday reserved judgement in the Ebonyi State governorship election appeal.

Last November, the Court of Appeal in Lagos had affirmed the election of APC’s Fran­cis Nwifuru as the duly elected governor of Ebonyi State in the March 18 governorship election.

The three-member panel presided over by Justice Jummai Sankey, in its unanimous decision, dismissed the appeal filed by PDP’s Chukwuma Odii and upheld the earlier verdict of the tribunal but the PDP candidate approached the apex court to seek redress.

Fubara Meets With Tinubu In Aso Rock, Keeps Mum After Visit

 

This is Fubara's first visit to the Villa since the signing of the 8-point agreement after Tinubu waded into the controversy between him and his predecessor Nyesom Wike.

President Bola Tinubu on Thursday met with Rivers State Governor, Siminalayi Fubara, at the Presidential Villa in Abuja.

Fubara who arrived at the Presidential Villa at about 5:40 pm went straight to the office of the President where they are currently meeting behind closed doors.

Also read: Israel Denies Bombing Gaza Ambulance, Killing Medics

The reason for the visit is yet to be ascertained at the time of filing the report. He also did not speak to the press after the meeting.

This is Fubara’s first visit to the Presidential Villa since the signing of the 8-point agreement after President Tinubu waded into the controversy between him and the Minister of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) who is also his predecessor, Nyesom Wike.

Rivers State has been embroiled in a crisis falling a fallout between Fubara and Wike.

The rift between Wike and Fubara split lawmakers in the House with 27 of them decamping from the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) to the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC), a party in whose central government Wike currently serves as minister.

The feud also saw the emergence of parallel sittings, an impeachment plot against the governor, the demolition of the Assembly complex, and a gale of resignations of pro-Wike commissioners in Fubara’s cabinet.

In October, the President and some elder statesmen intervened in the crisis but it degenerated into a full-blown fight. Worried by the situation, Tinubu again met with political gladiators in the oil-rich South-South state on December 18, 2023, and a truce was reached.

At the meeting which had in attendance Fubara, Wike, ex-Rivers governor, Peter Odili; and some traditional rulers from the state as well as Vice President Kashim Shettima; and the Chief of Staff to the President, Femi Gbajabiamila, some resolutions were made.

Among these is that the warring parties agreed that all matters instituted in the courts by Fubara, and his team, be withdrawn immediately.

Fubara Absent At Wike’s Luncheon

Despite efforts at resolving the lingering feud between the duo, the crisis seemed to be far from being over with the noticeable absence of Governor Fubara at the luncheon hosted by Wike in Port Harcourt, the state capital, on Sunday.

While Wike was present at the event with many of his allies, Fubara and his men both in the House of Assembly and the two other organs of government were conspicuously absent.

It was not clear whether the Wike camp invited Fubara and his men but the governor and his people were not present and it was not mentioned that they sent in delegates.

Some of Wike’s men present include Speaker of the Rivers State House of Assembly, Martins Amaewhule, as well as 24 other lawmakers who had cross-carpeted with him from the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) to the All Progressives Congress (APC).

Wike, who donned a black shirt and a butter-coloured jacket, was flanked by ex-governors in the PDP G5 — Samuel Ortom (Benue) and Ifeanyi Ugwuanyi (Enugu).

Also, Zacchaeus Adangor, George-Kelly Alabo, and some other commissioners in Wike’s camp who resigned from Fubara’s cabinet last month in the heat of the crisis were at the Sunday luncheon.

Others include the Chairman of Port Harcourt Local Government Area, Allwell Ihunda; Senator Barinada Mpigi from Rivers South East; Kelechi Nwogu from Etche/Omuma Federal Constituency; and ex-Speaker Rivers Assembly, Awaji Igbani.