S/Court saves Yusuf, Mutfwang, 6 other govs
Jubilation in Kano, Jos, others PDP, Atiku, govs congratulate victorious members Judgements should serve as rebuke to opposition parties – APC Judgements sound – Lawyers
John C. Azu, Baba Martins, Saawua Terzungwe (Abuja), Dickson S. Adama, Yusufu Aminu Idegu (Jos ), Ahmad Datti (Kano) & Abdullateef Aliyu (Lagos)
The Supreme Court has affirmed the election of governors Kabir Yusuf and Caleb Mutfwang of Kano and Plateau states after they were removed by the Appeal Court in the aftermath of the March 18, 2023 governorship elections, which they won.
Other governors whose elections were affirmed are Babajide Sanwo-Olu (Lagos); Bala Mohammed (Bauchi); Dauda Lawal (Zamfara); Francis Nwifuru (Ebonyi State); Alex Otti (Abia) and Bassey Otu (Cross).
The judgements on Friday attracted increased security presence in and around entry points to the Supreme Court in Abuja.
There was also heightened security presence in the affected states, but our correspondents report that all the precautionary measures fizzled out amidst while jubilation after the judgements.
Lawyers and pundits who spoke to Daily Trust Saturday said the Supreme Court justices had done the right thing by giving superior interpretations to the 1999 Constitution and the Electoral, 2022.
The apex court constituted five-member panels from eight, which were rotated with different justices reading the leading judgements.
Kano
On Kano, the Supreme Court set aside the judgement of the Court of Appeal in Abuja, which nullified the election of Governor Yusuf.
The lead judgement, read by Justice Inyang Okoro, also held that the issue of Governor Yusuf ’s membership was a pre-election matter.
The panel unanimously held that the lower court misunderstood the import of the purported deduction of 165,616 ballot papers in favour of Governor Yusuf.
He said the finding that by the virtue of Section 177(c) of the Nigerian Constitution and Section 134(1) of the Electoral Act, Governor Yusuf was not sponsored by the New Nigeria Peoples Party (NNPP), was not of the electoral tribunal but a mere observation that his name was not contained in the membership list.
“This court has consistently maintained that the issue of nomination or sponsorship of a candidate for an election is completely an exclusive prerogative of the political party,” he said.
Lagos
On the Lagos appeal, the Supreme Court affirmed the election of Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu.
In the lead judgement read by Justice Mohammed Garba Lawal, the panel dismissed the appeal filed by the governorship candidate of the Labour Party (LP), Gbadebo Rhodes-Vivour in the March 18, 2023 election.
In the main issue for determination, RhodesVivour had contended that Kadri Hamzat, deputy governor of Lagos, was not qualified to be sponsored by the APC having renounced his Nigerian citizenship and taken up that of the US.
However, the court held that there was no credible evidence to show that the deputy governor renounced his Nigerian citizenship.
The court held that no provision in the constitution strips a Nigerian citizen by birth of his citizenship, even if he voluntarily takes up the citizenship of another country.
Bauchi
The Supreme Court dismissed the appeal
Governor Mutfwang of Plateau with Governor Abba Yusuf of Kano State at the court yesterday
challenging the election of Governor Bala Mohammed of Bauchi State for lack of merit.
In the lead judgement by Justice Ibrahim Saulawa, the panel found all the six issues raised by the candidate of the APC in the election, Air Marshall Sadique Baba Abubakar to be “entirely unmeritorious.”
The panel found that the APC failed to prove allegations of irregularities and non-compliance with the Electoral Act, 2022.
Plateau
On the Plateau appeal, the Supreme Court set aside the judgement of the Court of Appeal that removed Governor Mutfwang.
The lead judgement by Justice Emmanuel Agim held that the petitions filed by Nentawe Yilwatda Goshwe and the APC against the nomination of Governor Mutfwang was without locus standi as they were not members of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP).
The panel held that the issue of nomination was an internal affair of the political party, adding that the High Court order for conduct of congresses was complied with by the PDP.
Zamfara
The Supreme Court also set aside the judgement of the Court of Appeal in Abuja, which declared Governor Dauda Lawal’s election inconclusive.
The lead judgement by Justice Agim held that the appellate court judgement was perverse in its verdict in November 2023.
The panel found that the contention by the APC’s candidate, Bello Matawalle that the PDP did not score the number of votes ascribed to it in three local government areas of Birnin Magaji, Bukuyyum and Maradun was unmeritorious.
Justice Agim submitted that the apex court had consistently maintained that any party which disputes the result of an election must tender the correct results.
Abia
On the Abia appeal, the Supreme Court unanimously held that the appeal by the PDP’s Okechukwu Ahiwe and the APC candidate, Ikechi Emenike against the election of Alex Otti lacked merit.
Reading the lead judgement, Justice Uwani Abba-Aji held that the allegation that Otti was not qualified to contest the election, not having his name submitted in the membership list of the Labour Party (LP) 30 days before the primary, having been in the APC, was not the intention of section 177(c) of the Nigerian constitution.
The panel said the membership of a political party was an internal affair of the party and it is “not the appellant (Ahiwe and the PDP) who should cry out about the nomination.”
On the allegation that Otti and the LP did not score the highest lawful votes in the election as the PDP was shortchanged by over 84,000 votes, mainly in Obingwa Local Government Area during the collation of the governorship election results on March 18, 2023, the panel said the evidence tendered was not the Certified True Copies (CTC), which made it inadmissible.
On the appeal by Emenike and the APC, the panel said the appeal was grossly unmeritorious and vexatious.
The panel wondered how a political party that scored 24,000 votes to come third would seek to upturn the 175,467 votes and 88,529 votes of the LP.
Ebonyi
The Supreme Court unanimously held that the appeal by Ifeanyi Chukwuma Odii of the PDP against Governor Francis Nwifuru lacked merit.
The lead judgement read by Justice Tijani Abubakar held that Odii and the PDP failed to prove allegations of non-qualification to contest the election and non-compliance with Electoral Act, 2022 in the election.
The Supreme Court unanimously affirmed the election of Governor Bassey Otu and dismissed the appeal by the PDP candidate, Sandy Onor for lack of merit.
In the lead judgement, Justice Helen Ogunwumiju held that the allegation that Governor Otu was not qualified to contest the election due to false information involving his academic records were not proven.
The panel said the allegation of nonmembership of the APC was not valid as the candidate was accepted and sponsored to contest the March 18, 2023 governorship election.
The Friday Supreme Court judgements ignited wild celebrations across Kano State, and Jos, the Plateau State capital.
In Kano, some supporters thronged the Miller Road residence of the NNPP national leader, Senator Rabiu Musa Kwankwaso, to rejoice.
However, armed security men blocked state roads and others leading to the Government House to stop supporters from taking celebrations there.
A resident and NNPP supporter, Kabiru Makoda, said he was happy over the judgement that upheld the election of Governor Yusuf, calling on his opponents to accept the verdict in good faith.
Another resident, Hafsat Abubakar expressed gratitude to Allah for giving the governor the victory at the apex court.
Some APC chieftains in the state declined comment on the Supreme Court’s verdict when contacted.
Reacting to the judgement, a senior lecturer in the Political Science Department of Bayero University, Kano, Dr Saidu Ahmad Dukawa, said the outcomes from the Supreme Court were not surprising because it is a policy court.
He explained that the court could decide on new laws irrespective of what the lower courts have decided upon.
He said the Supreme Court often considered other factors, including political and social factors, as well as peace and stability in arriving at its decision.
In a similar vein, residents of Jos, the Plateau State capital, also trooped out in their numbers to celebrate the victory of Mutfwang at the apex court.
This is as the governor, while reacting to the judgement dedicated his victory to God and the people of the state.
The governor also said the people stood by him and defended their mandate.
S/Court performed well - Lawyers
Meanwhile, lawyers have described the smooth conclusion of eight governorship judgements as outstanding.
Speaking at the Supreme Court on Friday, Damian Dodo, a Senior Advocate of Nigeria (SAN), said the judgements stood the apex court out in the world.
“I don’t know of any Supreme Court in the world where such number of cases were determined in one day,” he said.
Also reacting to the decisions, Mike Ozekhome (SAN) said it was democracy in action.
“What the Supreme Court has done is to allow the people’s votes count; that the people matter,” he said.
PDP, Atiku members congratulate victorious
The PDP, former Vice President Atiku Abubakar and the party’s governors forum have hailed the Supreme Court judgements that affirmed the victory of their governors.
The PDP in a statement by its national publicity secretary, Debo Ologunagba, described the affirmation as “resounding victory for democracy and ultimate triumph of the expressed will of the people of the states in their quest for purposeful leadership and good governance under the banner of the PDP.”
Also, Atiku in a statement from his media office, congratulated the PDP, other opposition party governors for their victory, insisting that only a united opposition force can salvage Nigeria.
Judgements should serve as rebuke to opposition parties – APC
Meanwhile, the ruling APC has said the Supreme Court judgements on 8 states of the federation should serve as a “rebuke to opposition figures” in the country.
It said opposition parties had consistently accused the APC of influencing the judiciary to deliver judgements in its favour in order to foist a one-party state on the country.
“Following Friday’s judgements in which opposition parties retained their states as declared in the March 18 governorship elections by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), the APC national publicity secretary, Felix Morka, a lawyer said, “While the apex court’s decisions will undoubtedly elicit mixed reactions and reviews, the decisions are final and binding on all parties to the legal contests. The decisions today provide a strong affirmation of the authority, vibrancy and independence of the judiciary.”
The attackers, it was gathered, usually sneak into the communities through river or bush paths from neighbouring Niger and Kaduna states, where they have established camps, a situation that often leaves little or no chance for the security operatives manning the checkpoints to notice their arrival.
The attacks became rampant from November last year, according to sources, leading to the killing of many people, either at the point of operation or in their camps, where they executed victims who failed to meet their ransom demands.
Communities located on the outskirts of Bwari town, namely, Tukolo, Baran-Goni, Kuduru and Zuma, as well as other remote communities like Igwu, Shere and Kawu, and Mpape, have been worst affected by the rising attacks.
Daily Trust Saturday reports that residents in other areas around Kubwa, Dutse, DeiDei and nearby Zhibi communities are also becoming prey to the marauding elements.
This is coming at a time when many villagers, who either live or own farmlands in neighbouring Niger and Kaduna states, have been ransacked by the bandits, who convert the forest around their villages to their operational bases.
Residents sell property to pay ransom
On many occasions, relatives of kidnapped victims are left with one option - selling off their property at giveaway prices to raise ransom to rescue their loved ones.
In some cases, relatives of abducted people were made to supply provision items like cartons of milk, drinks and bits of hemp, Daily Trust Saturday reports.
An abducted chief who was released by the bandits recently after coughing out N11million as ransom, was ordered to provide mobile phone recharge cards of two different networks, amounting to N500,000, even though his three children were still with the captors at the time of his release.
That was after he supplied engine oil worth N250,000 meant to be used by his kidnappers for servicing their guns and vehicles.
It was also learnt that there were cases where the kidnappers demanded that relatives of abducted victims must provide them with special motorcycles, each being sold at N1.5m.
Key government institutions at risk
Bwari Area Council is home to some strategic government institutions in the FCT, including the Nigerian Law School campus, Federal Government Girls’ College (FGGC), Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board (JAMB), which also owns staff quarters around the area, as well as other numerous private and public institutions.
There are concerns that these key institutions are under threat if nothing is done to smoke out these criminal elements.
This newspaper had in July 2022 reported how a captain and two soldiers were killed by bandits in the Bwari area.
The captain and the two soldiers were attached to the 7 Guards Brigade of the Nigerian Army.
The soldiers were reportedly ambushed after they visited the Nigeria Law School in Bwari following a distressed call from the authorities of the school. The school management was said to have alerted that terrorists had dropped a letter indicating an imminent attack on the school.
Bandits have intensified their operations around various communities across the Bwari Area Council in the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), abducting residents and killing others in the process, Daily Trust Saturday reports.
A palace where an Abuja chief was abducted along with his wife and their three kids in Mpape community of Bwari council. They were released after over a month in captivity with first ransom instalment of 11m naira, and un disclosed balance thereafter.
In the last few months, residents and parents whose children are studying in the aforementioned schools are now living in apprehension over their wards’ safety.
Some of them who spoke to Daily Trust Saturday about the recent incidents, called for a special operation against the kidnappers.
They argued that the deployment of security operatives around some strategic locations alone could hardly deal with the issue, adding that a special joint operation be carried out and sustained around the bandits-infested forests, including ground and aerial onslaught.
A resident of Tokulo community, which is the home town of the present serving chairman of Bwari Area Council, cited a recent incident as a case, where kidnappers rained bullets over a parked security van stationed in the area.
“Luckily for the security men, they were not inside the vehicle at the time, otherwise, the chance of their survival was little,” he said.
The resident, however, added that the security operatives had managed to fire back from their nearby hideout, which eventually made the bandits withdraw.
“But that didn’t stop the gunmen from returning to the area within just a week and abducted three residents, who were still with them,” he disclosed.
Just recently, a gang of kidnappers who raided Zuma community on the outskirts of Bwari town, opened fire against a police van on a rescue mission, injuring two policemen, as well as killing a civilian who led them to the area. They went ahead to their target, a family of seven.
Locals abandon farms
Daily Trust Saturday also reports that the activities of the bandits have forced many farmers to stay away from their farms around the affected communities.
The situation, it was learnt, has also forced some residents to relocate, while business owners, such as property developers, their agents, as well as artisans, are losing their means of livelihood.
Some residents interviewed disclosed that the kidnappers, who were hitherto coming only from far locations, now penetrated the forest around Igwu and Runji communities under the Kawu district that shares a boundary with Kagarko Local Government
The abducted Abuja chief, Peter David at his palace in Mpape, FCT, after he was released on 19 December
Area of Kaduna State, as well as Kaima forest, where the Bwari Area Council shares its boundary with Karu Local Government Area of Nasarawa State.
Residents resort to protests
Worried by the surge in bandits’ operations, residents of Gidna, a village under Idah ward in Kagarko Local Government Area, which shares boundary with Tokulo
in Bwari, recently staged a protest, blocking a highway, popularly known as SCC Road, which links Bwari town to Jere in Kaduna State.
The protesters were in the process of extending the exercise to the Abuja-Kaduna highway, “for better attention” when they were made to halt it by their traditional leader.
Speaking on the incident, a community leader, John Alpha Dogo, said the development was coming after seven villagers were abducted from Jidna community in the axis during the early hours of the day.
He said the incident proceeded with a similar one at Godna, a village also around the axis, where kidnappers killed one man and abducted four other residents on December 27, 2023.
“Before that, they raided Poyisma village and chased residents away, demanding that they provide them with N10million as a condition to be allowed back.”
Dogo added that Garam, a village located in Tafa Local Government Area of Niger State around the axis, had also come under a series of kidnapping incidents that led to the killing of a pastor and other residents recently.
He said the bandits equally dislodged the residents of Gadunda around the area in December and converted the community as their base.
He said the bandits first arrived in the area in May 2022 when they abducted 72 people in a single swoop after raiding their church, where they were observing a night vigil.
“They took them to their main base in Kajura Local Government Area in Kaduna State.
“It took a long time to return to the community last August. They told the residents that they were back.
“People had managed to stay with them, working in their farms out of fear until early December when the bandits asked members of the community to leave the area for them as the farmers set to start harvesting. That was how the farmers left their farm un-harvested, up till now. The bandits took over the area, operating from several nearby camps,” he lamented.
Bandits have taken over communities under my domain – Dnata chief
Chief Bitrus James is the pioneer ruler of Dnata chiefdom carved out of Kagarko by the immediate past Kaduna State governor, Malam Nasir el-Rufai in 2022.
Responding to inquiries by Daily Trust Saturday during a visit to his palace located in Tafa town along the Abuja-Kaduna highway, the chief lamented that farming, the only profession known by his subjects, was under threat due to the activities of bandits.
He listed six communities currently under the siege of the bandits, with the Gadunda community on the top.
He said bandits had gone there on December 2, 2023 and ordered villagers to leave and only to return if they paid N10m.
He added that some Fulani herders at the nearby hamlet who had initially tried to ignore the order had to flee the community too as the bandits started slaughtering their chickens and other animals for consumption, while forcing their female members to cook food for them, as well as raping them.
Other villages under the siege of the bandits whose inhabitants have been forced to vacate as listed by the traditional ruler include Kwakulu, Jida, Isa, Kuyeri and Mpape.
He said between 300 and 500 kidnappers were running various camps in the area.
The chief said that between December 24 and now, bandits had carried out several operations, moving from one community to another and abducting their victims at will.
“They first went to Gami village and abducted some residents, then Tafa-Pai, Tafa-Gari, as well as Pariga, where they killed three people and abducted 10 others. They
Deserted home of a veterinary doctor shot by kidnappers on the outskirts of Mpape community in the FCT (still being hospitalized) while his abducted three family members including wife are yet to be released more than two months after despite a ransom payment
also killed three people in Mpape, a village under Kagarko Local Government Area, not that of the FCT.
He said N10m ransom was paid in the case of one of the villages named Parigy, only for the kidnappers to kill one of the victims and placed another N10m demand as a new condition to release the remaining 10 victims.
He said that in the case of Mpape, ransom was paid but the bandits still demanded six special motorcycles, each costing N1.5m.
He said the latest incident took place in Jidna in the early hours of Friday, where seven residents were abducted.
He said the bandits seemed to operate in synergy with their counterparts around forests in the FCT, Niger, Kaduna and Nasarawa states, swapping their victims in different directions to make them feel that they had been taken away to far destinations.
“We need a similar synergy among our neighbouring states to achieve a desired goal. I have earmarked 100 hectares of land within my domain and urged the Chief of Defence Staff to use it for military barracks.
“This is a very strategic location next to Abuja. We hope that our governor, Senator Uba Sani, President Bola Ahmed Tinubu and the Chief of Defence Staff would come together to achieve this.
“My people don’t know any profession apart from farming, yet their means of livelihood is being threatened by these bandits who demand up toN10m from a farmer who has never seen such amount of money in his lifetime.
For the sake of our proximity to Abuja, this issue shouldn’t be taken lightly,” the chief added.
Security expert blames informants
A retired military captain who recently escaped from the bandits’ den following his abduction from one of the FCT communities has said that informants living around the people were the major challenge in dealing with kidnapping.
Speaking on the condition of anonymity for security reasons, he said their kidnappers had mentioned their targets, giving their names and professions in detail.
“But I believe they were getting the wrong information about me as there is no way I could have owned the money they mentioned to me as a retired military captain,” he said.
He said the camp where he was taken to, along with other victims, took them about six hours of trekking in the bush without a single community along the way, except one he learnt had been taken over by the bandits recently.
“Although the location is within Kaduna State, from the look of things, it is not far from Abuja due to traffic movement of flights, which you can only have in the Abuja airport,” he said.
He put the number of kidnappers’ camps scattered across the bush at 20, each one under the control of a gang leader. He said his kidnappers had knowledge of his past profession from day one but claimed to set him free if he cooperated.
“They told me that there was a business I was pursuing and that if I had succeeded I would make their ransom demand available,” he said.
He said he spent three weeks in the bandits’ den, during which he saw other victims set free after their family members had paid their ransoms.
He further said that on the night of December 26, a day before he escaped, his kidnappers smoked hemp and drank heavily while making him remain standing as punishment and to get him tired and easily get him to sleep.
“But you know, human beings cannot cheat nature, as such, they eventually slept off. The remaining one among them who remained on guard had to also ask me to lie down and sleep.
“I would hardly get any sleep, and as such, I woke up 30 minutes later, around 12:30 am. I discovered that all of them were sleeping and even snoring. So I got up and decided to march toward the site where they were lying down while avoiding the other sites which had no one around. I kept moving until about two hours later when I noticed a gunshot that I could not understand where it came from.
“But that did not make me change my mission as I kept moving until I arrived at a location where I met some woodcutters around 6am.
“Ahead of that, I climbed about two different mountains and descended. I proceeded with my journey to arrive at a community around the Kaduna-FCT boundary, where I met some villagers who initially made me scared about them as they were bearing the same types of big mobile phones similar to those of the kidnappers I fled from.
“Thereafter, my legs could no longer carry me, but suddenly, I saw a motorcyclist whom I boarded to Bwari town from the community. He was suggesting taking me to Sarki’s palace but I told him that he should rather take me to the military checkpoint.
“There, I introduced myself to the officer in charge, and after a kind of explanation, he presented me with breakfast, accommodated me with some cloths and I said my morning prayers before I was taken to the hospital for check-up,” he said.
No response from FCT police command
Efforts to get the reaction of the FCT police command on the development were not successful as the spokesperson, S.P Josephine Adeh was yet to respond to calls and text messages sent to her.
We have launched offensives
On Thursday, the military high command said they had launched offensive operations against terrorists and kidnappers carrying out abductions in different communities in the satellite areas of the FCT.
In the ongoing operations across different hotspots, according to the authority, no fewer than 10 suspects, including one violent informant cum collaborator, as well as two kidnappers, have been taken into custody for interrogation.
Fielding questions from journalists at Defence Headquarters, Abuja on Thursday shortly after a media briefing, the Director of Defence Media Operations, Major-General Edward Buba, asked the residents of the communities and the FCT in general not to panic.
Buba said the military and other security operatives, particularly the police, were working closely to ensure that the current situation in the country’s capital became a thing of the past.
“The aim of our ongoing operations remains unchanged and clear, even in the new year, 2024. We aim to find and destroy the terrorists wherever they may be hiding. We will ensure their defeat. We will not give them the ability to terrorise or hurt citizens across the country.
“On January 5, 2024, troops with hybrid forces, in separate operations, conducted fighting patrols in the Bwari Area Council of the FCT and Kagarko Local Government Area of Kaduna State respectively. During the operations, troops arrested two suspected informants and recovered one mobile phone.
“On January 6, 2024, troops, in conjunction with hybrid forces, conducted fighting patrols to Bwari Area Council of the FCT and Rijau Local Government Area of Niger State respectively. During the operations, troops arrested three suspected violent sympathizers and rescued kidnapped victims.
“On December 30, 2023, troops, in conjunction with hybrid forces, responded to a kidnap incident in Ajaokuta Local Government Area of Kogi State. Troops rescued 21 kidnapped hostages in the course of the operation.
“On January 1, 2024, following reports, troops, in separate operations, raided suspected violent extremists’ hideouts in Bwari Area Council of the FCT and Tafa Local Government Area of Niger State respectively.
“During the operations, troops arrested 10 suspects, including one violent extremist informant cum collaborator and two suspected kidnappers. The suspects are providing valuable intelligence, which is supporting ongoing operations to make the FCT safer,” Buba said.