I’m paying the price for talking too much before 2015 elections – Lai Mohammed

Minister of Information, Lai Mohammed has said that the only sin he committed against Nigerians was that he talked too much during the All Progressives Congress, APC, campaigns before the 2015 general elections.

This was part of his speech on Thursday at the ongoing inaugural town hall meeting of the holding in Abuja . He said, “I believe that my only sin is talking too much before the elections and I now have to pay the price.”

“The first one was held in Lagos. Any meaningful assessment must be situated within the right context.

“We campaigned on three broad areas, corruption, revamp the economy and security. Have we met our targets? If you ask me, I will say we are on track.

“When we came in, many local governments in the north-east were under the control of Boko Haram. They hoisted their flags, they were even collecting taxes, but today not even a single local government is under the control of Boko Haram.

“We have been able to liberate 16,000 captors from the enclave of Boko Haram.”

The event, termed “Buharimeter” was organized by Centre for Democracy and Development and aimed at assessing the one year in office of President Buhari and his administration.

Other ministers at the event included Ministers of Power, Works and Housing, Babatunde Fashola, Agriculture and Rural Development, Audu Ogbeh, Environment, Amina Mohammed and Budget and National Planning, Udo Udoma .

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Photos: Bayelsa Decides Updates..

Journalists, party agents and observers waiting patiently for the results of the two remaining Local Government Areas. Before announcing the final result. See more photos below...

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Photos: Bayelsa Decides Updates..

Journalists, party agents and observers waiting patiently for the results of the two remaining Local Government Areas. Before announcing the final result. See more photos below...

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Faleke to become APC’s replacement for late Audu – Keyamo

The death of Prince Audu Abubakar, candidate of the All Progressives Congress, APC, at the ongoing governorship election in Nigeria’s Kogi state, has begun to draw constitutional questions. 

Analysing the situation, Festus Keyammo while commiserating with the deceased, cited legal documents to prove that Audu’s running mate in the election, James Abiodun Faleke, would automatically become the candidate of the party as replacement of Audu.

Though he agreed that the constitution never envisaged this type of political situation, the lawyer, who said he was in shock over the incident, gave his opinion: “admittedly, this is a strange and novel constitutional scenario. It has never happened in our constitutional history to the extent that when an election has been partially conducted (and not before or after the elections) a candidate dies. What then happens?

“This is a hybrid situation between what happened in the case of Atiku Abubakar/Boni Haruna in 1999 and the provision of section 33 of the Electoral Act, 2010.

“In the case of Atiku Abubakar/Boni Haruna [which is now a clear constitutional provision of section 181(1) of the 1999 Constitution (as amended)] the Supreme Court held, in effect, that ‘if a person duly elected as Governor dies before taking and subscribing the Oath of Allegiance and oath of office, or is unable for any reason whatsoever to be sworn in, the person elected with him as Deputy governor shall be sworn in as Governor and he shall nominate a new Deputy-Governor who shall be appointed by the Governor with the approval of a simple majority of the house of Assembly of the State’.

“In the case of section 33 of the Electoral Act 2010 it provides, in effect, that if a person has been duly nominated as a candidate of his party and he dies before the election then the political party has the right to replace him with another candidate and not necessarily the Deputy Governorship candidate.

“Now, does the Kogi situation fit into section 181(1) of the Constitution as quoted above or section 33 of the Electoral Act mentioned above?

“My simple position is that the Kogi situation fits more into section 181(1) of the 1999 Constitution (as amended) and as such James Abiodun Faleke automatically becomes the governorship candidate of the APC.

“This is because even though the election in inconclusive, votes have been counted and allocated to Parties and candidates. As a result the joint ticket of Audu/Faleke has acquired some votes already.

“James Abiodun Faleke is as much entitled to those votes already counted as much as the late Abubakar Audu. He has a right to cling to those votes going into the supplementary election.

“There is only one problem, though. Who nominates Faleke’s Deputy? Unlike section 181(1) of the 1999 Constitution, he cannot approach the House of Assembly of the State to approve a nomination by him of a Deputy.

“This is because, in reality, he is not duly elected yet. Therefore it is only reasonable to conclude that it is APC (Faleke’s political party) that should submit the name of a fresh Deputy Governorship candidate to INEC for the supplementary election.

“This is the only position in this situation that accords with reason and good sense.”

-PMNews

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Faleke to become APC’s replacement for late Audu – Keyamo

The death of Prince Audu Abubakar, candidate of the All Progressives Congress, APC, at the ongoing governorship election in Nigeria’s Kogi state, has begun to draw constitutional questions. 

Analysing the situation, Festus Keyammo while commiserating with the deceased, cited legal documents to prove that Audu’s running mate in the election, James Abiodun Faleke, would automatically become the candidate of the party as replacement of Audu.

Though he agreed that the constitution never envisaged this type of political situation, the lawyer, who said he was in shock over the incident, gave his opinion: “admittedly, this is a strange and novel constitutional scenario. It has never happened in our constitutional history to the extent that when an election has been partially conducted (and not before or after the elections) a candidate dies. What then happens?

“This is a hybrid situation between what happened in the case of Atiku Abubakar/Boni Haruna in 1999 and the provision of section 33 of the Electoral Act, 2010.

“In the case of Atiku Abubakar/Boni Haruna [which is now a clear constitutional provision of section 181(1) of the 1999 Constitution (as amended)] the Supreme Court held, in effect, that ‘if a person duly elected as Governor dies before taking and subscribing the Oath of Allegiance and oath of office, or is unable for any reason whatsoever to be sworn in, the person elected with him as Deputy governor shall be sworn in as Governor and he shall nominate a new Deputy-Governor who shall be appointed by the Governor with the approval of a simple majority of the house of Assembly of the State’.

“In the case of section 33 of the Electoral Act 2010 it provides, in effect, that if a person has been duly nominated as a candidate of his party and he dies before the election then the political party has the right to replace him with another candidate and not necessarily the Deputy Governorship candidate.

“Now, does the Kogi situation fit into section 181(1) of the Constitution as quoted above or section 33 of the Electoral Act mentioned above?

“My simple position is that the Kogi situation fits more into section 181(1) of the 1999 Constitution (as amended) and as such James Abiodun Faleke automatically becomes the governorship candidate of the APC.

“This is because even though the election in inconclusive, votes have been counted and allocated to Parties and candidates. As a result the joint ticket of Audu/Faleke has acquired some votes already.

“James Abiodun Faleke is as much entitled to those votes already counted as much as the late Abubakar Audu. He has a right to cling to those votes going into the supplementary election.

“There is only one problem, though. Who nominates Faleke’s Deputy? Unlike section 181(1) of the 1999 Constitution, he cannot approach the House of Assembly of the State to approve a nomination by him of a Deputy.

“This is because, in reality, he is not duly elected yet. Therefore it is only reasonable to conclude that it is APC (Faleke’s political party) that should submit the name of a fresh Deputy Governorship candidate to INEC for the supplementary election.

“This is the only position in this situation that accords with reason and good sense.”

-PMNews

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