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Monday, 6 May 2019

Tribunal To Issue Notice To Hear Atiku’s Petition This Week: The Presidential Election Petitions Tribunal is expected to issue the notice for the pre-hearing session on the petition filed by the Peoples Democratic Party and its presidential candidate in the 2019 general elections, Alhaji Atiku Abubakar, The PUNCH has learnt. The Presidential Election Petitions Tribunal is expected to issue the notice for the pre-hearing session on the petition filed by the Peoples Democratic Party and its presidential candidate in the 2019 general elections, Alhaji Atiku Abubakar, The PUNCH has learnt. The tribunal will, during the pre-hearing session which the Electoral Act provides must be completed within 14 days, fix “clear dates” for the hearing of the petition. The five-man tribunal has 180 days period from the date of filing of the petition on March 18 to hear and deliver its judgment in the case in which the petitioners said they had assembled about 400 witnesses to testify. By our correspondent’s calculation, the 180 days period has been depleted by 50 days as of Monday (today). The PDP and Atiku had on March 18 filed their petition to challenge President Muhammadu Buhari and his All Progressives Congress’ victory at the February 23 presidential election. Sources at the Court of Appeal in Abuja, the court that serves as the PEPT, informed our correspondent that the petitioners had fulfilled all the conditions necessary for the pre-hearing session to begin. Paragraph 18 of the First Schedule to the Electoral Act provides for the petitioners to within seven days after filing and serving their reply to the responses of the respondents to, the petition, apply for the issuance of pre-hearing notice via a form in the format tagged as Form TF 007. The provision reads, “Within seven days after the filing and service of the petitioner’s reply on the respondent or seven days after the filing and service of the respondent’s reply, whichever is the case, the petitioner shall apply for the issuance of pre-hearing notice as in Form TF 007.” Paragraph 18(4) of the First Schedule to the Electoral Act provides that the failure of any of the petitioners or the respondents to a petitioner to apply for the issuance of the notice for the pre-hearing session within the required period earns a summary dismissal of the petition. The PUNCH learnt that the petitioners had since filed their replies to the responses to all the three respondents – the Independent National Electoral Commission, Buhari and the APC, the 1st to the 3rd respondents, respectively. Atiku and his party filed their reply to INEC’s response on April 15, to that of Buhari on April 26, and to that of the APC on April 18. In line with Paragraph 18 of the First Schedule to the Electoral Act, the petitioners were said to have since applied for the issuance of the pre-hearing notice within the period stipulated by the Electoral Act. The Senior Advocate of Nigeria who is defending the APC in the case, Lateef Fagbemi, confirmed this to our correspondent on Sunday. “We have not got a date for the pre-hearing session. But we are expecting that we will get it this week,” he said. Asked if he was aware that the petitioners had, through their lawyers, applied for the issuance of the pre-hearing notice, the senior lawyer said, “I am aware.” The petitioners’ lead counsel, Dr Livy Uzoukwu (SAN), while speaking with The PUNCH earlier on Friday, said his clients had done everything that needed to be done and were only waiting for the tribunal to issue the hearing notice. “We are still waiting for them to issue us with the hearing notice. That has not happened yet, but we have filed all the necessary papers. We have made the necessary application,” he said. Asked on Sunday what was expected to happen at the pre-hearing conference, another senior lawyer in the petitioners’ team, Chief Mike Ozekhome (SAN), referred our correspondent to Paragraph 18(2) of the First Schedule of the Electoral Act, which provides for among others “the disposal of all matters which can be dealt with on interlocutory application”, during the pre-hearing session. The tribunal is also expected to give “directions on order of witnesses to be called and such documents to be tendered by each party to prove their cases having in view the need for the expeditious disposal of the petition,” and fix “clear dates for hearing of the petition.” Source: Punch


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GOVERNOR WIKE TO AMAECHI: RIVERS PEOPLE VOTED FOR ME BECAUSE OF MY OUTSTANDING PERFORMANCE.. Rivers State Governor, Nyesom Ezenwo Wike has declared that Rivers people overwhelmingly voted for him during the 2019 Governorship Election because of his outstanding performance and projects delivery. In a response to false allegations made by the Minister of Transportation, Chibuike Rotimi Amaechi during his appearance on Channels Television Sunrise Daily on Tuesday, Governor Wike said that the Former Rivers State Governor failed in his quest to truncate his second term because Rivers people are happy with his work. He said he wouldn't have responded to the falsehood being peddled by the Minister of Transportation, but he owes the public the duty to set the record straight. He said: "It is unfortunate. I extended the Olive Branch and I meant every word of it. It was on that basis that the State Attorney General filed a nolle prosequi to withdraw the charge against Flag Amachree. "If I did not do well in my first term, PDP wouldn't have given me the party's flag to fly. In 2015, the same man vowed that over his dead body would I emerge victorious. "I have done well for my people . It is for the people of Rivers State to decide. It is not the in the place of Amaechi to decide. "We have over 6million people and over 3million registered voters. Therefore, Amaechi cannot say I cannot go for a second term. He has only one vote. "In the past, he said an Ikwerre man cannot succeed another Ikwerre man. Today, he is saying his grouse is that I cannot go for a second term. At every step, he has one story or the other". Governor Wike said contrary to the story that Amaechi peddled whilst he was on Channels Television, kidnapping raged during his tenure. He said it was so bad that the State Chairman of Rivers State Independent Electoral Commission under Amaechi was kidnapped. The Governor noted that despite the National High-Rate of insecurity, Rivers State is relatively peaceful, with very high ratings. "Our internally Generated Revenue has improved due to the peace and security of the state". Governor Wike said that the political misfortune that befell the APC during the last general elections in Rivers State was principally due to the impunity of Amaechi . He said: "It is because of this impunity that his party was not on the ballot. Because of this impunity he has denied so many people their political future ". He said that the plots by Amaechi to manipulate the Tribunal will fail like other previous plots. The Governor noted that Amaechi's boast that he appointed the members of the tribunal and they would work for him remains one of his empty boasts. Governor Wike said that Amaechi's plot to use the police to illegally certify fake results as he did for Rivers East Senatorial District during the rerun elections tribunal would fail. "The game he played in Rivers East of using the police to certify fake results will not work. During the rerun Police certified fake results. That game will not work again. We have gone beyond that . We are waiting for the police to certify fake results for Amaechi ". He stated that there was no way that the defeated AAC Governorship Candidate, Engr Awara would have been coasting to victory when he neither campaigned or printed posters. He said: "Awara ran for the PDP councillorship in 2018 and lost. For this election, he did not Campaign and never printed posters. "Look at that kind of impunity. He brought a man that the people of Rivers State never knew three days to the election. "The AAC had no House of Assembly Candidates, they had no House of Representatives Candidates and No Senate Candidates for the elections. There is no way that such a party would have been coasting to victory ". He added that the AAC Governorship Candidate couldn't have been coasting to victory and still approach the Federal High Court for the cancellation of the Governorship Election Results. On the allegation that the INEC Chairman , Professor Mahmood Yakubu influenced the suspension of the Collation process because he worked under him at the Federal Ministry of Education, the Rivers State Governor said that the position of Amaechi was baseless. He said that at the Ministry of Education, he superintended basic Education, while the INEC Chairman served as TETFUND Executive Secretary under the Minister of Education. He said that the INEC Chairman was appointed by the APC Federal Government and since his appointment, there has been no links Governor Wike said despite the evil machinations of the Minister of Transportation, he was unable to deliver 25 percent of votes for President Muhammadu Buhari in 2015 and 2019 "In 2015, as a sitting Governor, he failed to deliver 25percent of votes for President Buhari. He claimed that Jonathan helped us. In 2019, with all the security agencies, he still couldn't deliver 25percent for President Buhari. "He sang war songs, but couldn't deliver 25 percent of votes for the President ", he said. On the incident at Obio/Akpor LGA Secretariat, Governor Wike said that the GOC of the 6 Division of the Nigerian Army, Major General Jamil Sarhem sent soldiers to invade the Collation Centre and cart away results . "I went there to stop the Army from carting away results from my Local Government Area ", he said. Governor Wike said that the illegal activities of the Nigerian Army all through the Governorship Election were well documented by the media and the International community. He said that the videos of the Army invading the Rivers State Governorship Election Collation Centre has since gone viral. He said that even the Rivers State Commander of F-SARs has since written him a congratulatory letter on his well deserved victory. He said that his Administration continues to fund all security agencies in the state, including providing needed logistics. He said that the Israelis that Amaechi introduced were only used to siphon State resources . He wondered why Amaechi finds Pleasure in de-marketing Rivers State, when the State made him Speaker, Governor and Minister of the Federal Republic. Governor Wike said after four years as a Minister, Amaechi cannot boast of attracting a single project to Rivers State. He noted that as Minister of State for Education, he attracted several projects to the state. He denied attempting to bribe the GOC, saying that he has never met him at any point. He said by Amaechi's logic, it means that the Minister bribed the GOC 6 Division to subvert the Electoral Process. Simeon Nwakaudu, Special Assistant to the Rivers State Governor, Electronic Media. 7th May, 2019.

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