sarafadeen salihu blog

A Federal High Court in Lagos on Monday declared as unlawful, the deployment of soldiers for maintenance of security and order during elections in the country. The declaration was made by Justice Ibrahim Buba in a judgment delivered in a suit filed by a member of the House of Representatives, Mr. Femi Gbajabiamila. Buba’s pronouncement was the third of such declaring as unconstitutional, the use of soldiers during elections. The Abuja Division of the Court of Appeal had, on February 16, made a similar pronouncement while ruling on the appeal against the judgment of the Ekiti State Governorship Election Petition Tribunal which upheld Governor Ayodele Fayose’s victory. The appellate court had cited and relied on an earlier judgment delivered by Justice R. M. Aikawa of the Federal High Court in Sokoto ‎on January 29, 2015 barring the use of the armed forces in the conduct of elections. Buba on Monday reiterated that the deployment of soldiers for elections was a contravention of Sectio...

The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) in Zamfara, lost one card reader during the training of ad-hoc staff in Anka Local Government Area, an official has confirmed. Alhaji Garba Galadima, INEC Head of Voter Education and Publicity in the state, who confirmed the incident on Sunday in Gusau, said security agents, were investigating the matter. Reacting on the issue, the Police Public Relations Officer in the state, DSP Sunusi Amiru said the police had already arrested some suspects in connection with the stolen machine. He said investigation had also commenced to unravel the circumstances behind the missing machine. Amiru expressed the command’s readiness to ensure peaceful election in the state, saying that “we will not tolerate any threat to disrupt election process and we have to ensure full protection of INEC materials”. He called on members of the public to cooperate with security agents and the INEC to ensure successful elections.

The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) in Zamfara, lost one card reader during the training of ad-hoc staff in Anka Local Government Area, an official has confirmed. Alhaji Garba Galadima, INEC Head of Voter Education and Publicity in the state, who confirmed the incident on Sunday in Gusau, said security agents, were investigating the matter. Reacting on the issue, the Police Public Relations Officer in the state, DSP Sunusi Amiru said the police had already arrested some suspects in connection with the stolen machine. He said investigation had also commenced to unravel the circumstances behind the missing machine. Amiru expressed the command’s readiness to ensure peaceful election in the state, saying that “we will not tolerate any threat to disrupt election process and we have to ensure full protection of INEC materials”. He called on members of the public to cooperate with security agents and the INEC to ensure successful elections.

Former governor of Kwara State and Senator representing Kwara Central in the National Assembly, Dr Bukola Saraki, has asked if the First Lady of the country, Dame Patience Jonathan will go the way of former First Lady of Ivory Coast, Simone Gbagbo, who was sentenced to 20 years imprisonment for her role in 2010 and 2011 post-election violence in her country. A court in Abidjan on Tuesday found Gbagbo guilty of undermining state security and organizing armed gangs in violence that left 3,000 people dead. She and her husband, Laurent Gbagbo, disputed the 2010 presidential election won by Gbagbo’s challenger, Alassane Ouattara. It will be recalled that the party of Bukola Saraki, All Progressives Congress, APC, and its presidential candidate, Gen. Muhammadu Buhari, have reported Mrs. Jonathan to the International Criminal Court, ICC for allegedly mobilising a hate campaign against Buhari. Buhari in the petition to the criminal court claimed that Mrs. Jonathan, whose husband, Goodluck...