Politics
Last Fight: Anxiety as Tinubu, Atiku, Obi, APM begin battle at Supreme Court
President Bola Tinubu and his antagonists-Alhaji Atiku Abubakar, Mr Peter Obi and the Allied Peoples Movement, APM, will resume the battle for the presidency, today, at the Supreme Court as Tinubu’s aides and the main opposition Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, expect favourable ruling at the apex court.
The Supreme Court communicated the hearing date through notices sent to all the parties, last Thursday.
Apart from faulting the verdict of the Presidential Election Petition Court, PEPC, which affirmed Tinubu’s election, Atiku also filed for permission to tender a copy of Tinubu’s academic records released by the Chicago State University, CSU, USA, which he said showed that Tinubu submitted a forged CSU certificate to the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC.
The former vice president is also seeking to get a Washington, D.C. court to order the FBI to release documents on President Tinubu’s $460,000 forfeiture case.
We have confidence in S-Court
The PDP, yesterday, expressed optimism that its appeal will succeed at the Supreme Court.
Ologunagba said: “As the Supreme Court commences hearing on the February 25, 2023, Presidential Election Appeal, the PDP is confident that guided by the provisions of the law, the body of evidence, circumstances and facts presented before it, the apex court will deliver justice in the matter.
“The PDP believes that the issues of the February 2023, Presidential election; the bare-faced violation of rules and the laws, the brazen manipulations and falsifications in perversion of our electoral process have put our democracy in a precarious situation.
“Nigerians and indeed the whole world look forward to the Supreme Court for justice in the hope that the court will apply the laws, including the express provisions of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, 1999 (as amended), the Electoral Act, 2022 and INEC Guidelines and Regulations in delivering substantial justice in the matter.
“The earnest expectation of Nigerians and lovers of democracy across the world is that the Supreme Court will use this case to firmly validate the maxim that the Judiciary is the last hope of the common man.
Atiku, Obi engaged in another propaganda — Onanuga
Meanwhile, Mr Bayo Onanugta, Special Adviser on Information and Strategy to President Tinubu, has accused followers of Atiku and Obi of allegedly trying “to stampede the Washington, D.C. court to change its earlier order on FBI to release documents on President Tinubu’s forfeiture case of 1993.”
In a tweet on X(formerly known as Twitter) on October 21, Onanuga said: “The Obidients and Atiku Abubakar’s followers have begun another round of propaganda and campaign of falsehood over the move Friday by Atiku-Obi and David Hundeyin’s contractor Aaron Greenspan, to stampede the Washington DC court to change its earlier order on FBI to release documents on President Bola Tinubu’s forfeiture case of 1993.
“Atiku had wasted tons of dollars hiring Angela Liu to check President Tinubu’s record at Chicago State University. What he got in the main was a confirmation that President Tinubu attended the school, passed out in flying colours and did not forge any certificate. The February 2023 election losers, Peter Obi and Atiku, are now attempting to cling onto another straw, hoping for magic at the Supreme Court.
“On Thursday, Peter Obi forwarded to Greenspan, the Supreme Court notice of hearing for the appeal that will begin on Monday 23 October. We do not know the brief Obi gave Greenspan, but Greenspan rushed to the District Court in the US capital, with an emergency motion asking the court to compel the FBI to produce documents on our President immediately. The FBI had earlier agreed to produce the documents at the end of October. His motion may be heard on Monday 23 October, if all parties agree.
“To support his motion, the American made some allegations against the judiciary in Nigeria, as fed by Hundeyin, Obi and Atiku. He claimed the Supreme Court hearing date which he labelled as sudden, was intended to front-run the release of the FBI documents. To him, the FBI documents are relevant to the case in Nigeria. After reading Greenspan’s motion, one is left with the impression that the guy is very ignorant of our laws and our democracy and he is nothing but an interloper, in a matter clearly outside US jurisdiction.
“To the Obidients, the easily excitable Hundeyin and Atiku followers, I will just implore you to wait until the DC District Court decides on the matter, rather than rushing to the social media space with wild conjectures and extra-judicial trial of Nigeria’s elected President. Mr Greenspan, who is your collaborator in the latest fishing expedition is not so excitable. On his Plainsite-org, he already posted a reply by IRS that it has no FOIA records on President Tinubu’s 1993 civil case. Just like the Chicago case, this one too in DC will lead to nothing.”
Atiku, Obi, APM’s appeal
All the appellants are praying the apex court to set aside the judgment of the Presidential Election Petition Court, PEPC, which affirmed Tinubu of the ruling All Progressives Congress, APC, as the valid winner of the February 25 presidential election.
While Atiku, through his team of 67 lawyers comprising of 18 Senior Advocates of Nigeria led by Chief Chris Uche, SAN, filed 35 grounds of appeal to challenge Tinubu’s victory, Obi, through his own team of lawyers, led by Dr. Livy Uzoukwu, SAN, filed 51 grounds of appeal before the Supreme Court.
On its part, the APM, lodged a 10-ground appeal to invalidate President Tinubu’s election.
Both Atiku, who came second in the election and Obi, who came third, are seeking to set aside the judgment of the Justice Haruna Tsammani-led five-member panel of the PEPC, which had on September 6, dismissed their petitions against Tinubu.
Atiku contended that the verdict of the PEPC was not only “against the weight of evidence”, but occasioned a grave miscarriage of justice against him.
He insisted that the PEPC panel erred in law, when it failed to nullify the presidential election on the grounds of non-compliance with the Electoral Act, 2022, even when evidence showed that the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, acted in breach of extant laws and regulations guiding the conduct of elections.
Atiku accused the PEPC of reaching its unanimous decision based on gross misconstruction and misrepresentation of provisions of both the 1999 Constitution, as amended, and the Electoral Act, 2022.
He argued that section 64(4) & (5) of the Electoral Act, as well as INEC’s Regulations & Guidelines for the conduct of the election, which he tendered in evidence, made mandatory, the use of the Bimodal Voter Accreditation System, BVAS, machines for electronic transmission of results of the election directly from the polling units to INEC’s collation system for the verification, confirmation and collation of results before announcement.
Atiku told the apex court that some of the presiding officers that personally handled the BVAS machines at polling units on the election day, had in their testimony before the PEPC, “confirmed the non-transmission of results of the presidential election electronically from the BVAS machines, whereas results of the National Assembly election that held simultaneously, were electronically transmitted without difficulty.
Atiku told the apex court that the non-compliance with the Electoral Act was nationwide, cutting across 176, 846 polling units in the country, a situation he said substantially affected the outcome of the election.
On constitutional requirement of one-quarter of the votes in two-thirds of the states and the FCT, Abuja, Atiku, argued that it was an additional and mandatory requirement to the provisions relating to the highest lawful votes and therefore a condition precedent to a declaration by INEC.
“The said FCT, Abuja, cannot be construed as the 37th state of Nigeria as done by the lower court in the light of the clear provisions of section 2(2) & section 3(1) of the 1999 Constitution. The lower court failed in its duty to interpret the material word ‘AND’ in the said sub-section.
“The provision of section 134(2) (b) of the Constitution is clear on the requirement that a presidential candidate must score at least 25% of the total votes in the FCT, Abuja.”
He prayed the Supreme Court to among other things, hold that Tinubu was not duly elected by majority of lawful votes cast in the election and also declare that he was not qualified to be declared the winner.
Aside from praying the court to declare him as the authentic winner of the election and order his swearing in as President, Atiku, in the alternative, urged the court to order a run-off between him and Tinubu or to nullify the entire poll and order INEC to conduct a fresh one. Cited as respondents were INEC, Tinubu and the APC.
Appeal Court erred —Peter Obi
On his own appeal, Obi argued that the PEPC panel erred in law and thereby reached a wrong conclusion when it dismissed his petition.
He alleged that the panel wrongly evaluated the proof of evidence he adduced before it and occassioned a grave miscarriage of justice when it held that he did not specify polling units where irregularities occured during the election.
Obi and the LP further faulted the PEPC for dismissing their case on the premise that they did not specify the figures of votes or scores that were allegedly suppressed or inflated in favour of President Tinubu and the APC.
They accused the Justice Tsammani-led panel of erring in law when it relied on paragraph 4(1) (d) (2) and 54 of the First Schedule to the Electoral Act 2022 to strike out paragraphs of the petition.
He told the apex court that the panel unjustly dismissed his allegation that INEC uploaded 18, 088 blurred results on its IReV portal.
Furthermore, Obi, alleged that the lower court ignored his allegation that certified true copies of documents that INEC issued to his legal team, comprised of 8, 123 blurred results that contained blank A4 papers, pictures and images of unknown persons, purporting same to be the CTC of polling units results of the presidential election.
“The learned justices of the court below erred in law and occasioned a miscarriage of justice when they concluded that he failed to establish the allegation of corrupt practices and over-voting,” Obi added.
He said it was wrong for the lower court to rely on the legal principle of estoppel to dismiss his contention that INEC bypassed its own regulations when it refused to electronically transmit results of the election from polling units to the IReV.
Obi insisted that the PEPC overlooked evidence that established that President Tinubu was previously indicted and fined the sum of $460,000 in the USA over his involvement in a drug-related case.
In the now-controversial post shared on his social media page, Osborne wrote: “In a sane clime president Bola Ahmed Tinubu would’ve respectfully and honourably resigned. I’m of APC but truth be told.”
The comment quickly generated reactions online before the Akwa Ibom State Government moved to terminate his appointment.
In a letter dated June 2, 2026, the Office of the Political Adviser to the Governor announced his immediate disengagement.
The termination letter, signed by the Political Adviser to the Governor, Prince Godwin Ntuk Udeh, stated that Osborne Ubong Okon had been relieved of his duties with immediate effect.Politics
According to the letter, the decision was taken over actions the office described as disloyal.
“You are hereby relieved of your engagement as a Media Aide to the Political Adviser to His Excellency the Governor, with immediate effect and from today, 2nd June 2026,” the memo read.
The letter further cited “actions bordering on disloyalty” and the need to keep the office “purified” as reasons for the dismissal.
The office also issued a warning to members of the public and government officials regarding future dealings with the former aide.
“Any person having dealings with the above-mentioned former Media Aide in relation to this office of his former engagement does so on his/her own peril,” the statement added.
The development has sparked fresh conversations about the limits of political expression for government appointees and the expectations of loyalty within public service, particularly when comments are directed at the presidency.
Neither Osborne nor the Presidency had publicly responded to the development as of the time of filing this report.
The decision was taken during plenary on Tuesday at the Assembly complex in Dutse, the state capital, as the party continues to deal with the fallout from recent primaries.
The action comes amid a wave of suspensions across Jigawa APC following the recently conducted primary election.
Several special advisers and special assistants have already been suspended statewide over alleged anti-party activities from state level down to local government level.
Maigari, who doubles as the councillor representing Auyo Ward, was suspended after the House considered a motion by the Majority Leader, Lawan Dansure.
The motion sought disciplinary action against the lawmaker for conduct deemed harmful to party cohesion.
Moving the motion during the Assembly’s plenary session on Tuesday, Dansure urged members to support the suspension.
He said the House must act to protect the integrity of the ruling party ahead of 2027.
According to him, the actions of the Speaker of Auyo Legislative Council are detrimental to the unity, stability, and progress of the All Progressives Congress in the state.
“His actions are detrimental to the unity, stability, and progress of the All Progressives Congress,” Dansure told the House.
He argued that anti-party conduct at the grassroots level could undermine APC’s performance in future elections.
He said the House could not fold its arms while party discipline was being tested.
“Hon. Haruna Maigari is hereby suspended as Speaker of Auyo Legislative Council over alleged anti-party activities,” Dangyatin announced during plenary.
The Speaker also said the House remains committed to party discipline at all levels of governance in the state.
Dangyatin then constituted an investigative committee to look into the matter and report back within two weeks.
“The committee is expected to establish facts and recommend further action based on its findings,” he said.
The Speaker also directed the suspended lawmaker to hand over all official documents in his possession to the Deputy Speaker of Auyo Legislative Council.
He said the handover must be done immediately to ensure continuity of council business.
Meanwhile, the House also received a formal notification from Governor Umar Namadi regarding an official trip.
“The governor is billed to attend a two-day West African Rice Investment Roundtable in Accra, Ghana,” the Speaker said during the plenary session of the Assembly.
Dangyatin, who explained that the governor’s foreign engagement will hold between June 2 and June 3, 2026, added that “the governor’s participation is aimed at attracting investment to Jigawa’s rice value chain.”
By Chinedu Sabastine
Mr. Samson Chukwu Nnamani has declared that he remains the authentic governorship candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in Enugu State ahead of the 2027 election.
Nnamani made this known on Friday during a press briefing held at the Nigeria Union of Journalists (NUJ) Press Centre, Enugu.
Reacting to allegations that he was suspended from the party before the PDP governorship primary election, Nnamani dismissed the claim, questioning how a supposedly suspended aspirant could participate in the exercise and secure votes.
“The purported claim that I was suspended is very funny. If I was suspended as they claim, how can they attribute votes for me during their kangaroo primary,” Nnamani questioned.
Represented by his Media Director, Dr. Buchi Nnaji, the PDP chieftain said his authenticity derives from the present recognition of the Abdulrahman-led faction of the PDP by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), of which he is a member.
The clarification followed the emergence of multiple claimants to the PDP governorship ticket in Enugu State.
Nnamani insisted that the party was no longer factionalised following INEC’s recognition of the Abdulrahman-led PDP leadership, noting that the panel which declared him winner where sent from their headquaters, Abuja.
Nnamani expressed gratitude to PDP leaders and supporters whom he said turned out massively on Sunday, May 24, 2026, to elect him as the party’s governorship candidate.
He pledged to reposition Enugu State through infrastructure development, job creation and people-oriented policies.
“As the Peoples Democratic Party governorship candidate in Enugu State, I remain committed to the ideals of good governance, inclusive leadership, economic development, youth empowerment, quality education, improved healthcare and enhanced security for all residents,” he said.
He added that his aspiration was to build “a greater Enugu State where opportunities abound for every citizen, irrespective of political affiliation, religion or social status.”
According to him, his administration would prioritise infrastructure development, industrialisation, support for small businesses and welfare programmes aimed at improving the lives of the people.
“We shall also review and remove policies and practices that are truncating the wellbeing, economic survival and social advancement of the citizens,” he stated.
Nnamani further called on stakeholders, party faithful, youths, women, traditional rulers and the people of Enugu State to join hands in building “a united, peaceful and progressive state.”
“Together, we can achieve the Enugu of our dreams,” he added.
The Presidency has reacted following the circulation of an alleged WhatsApp voice note in which President Bola Tinubu reportedly claims he begged opposition figure Peter Obi to step down ahead of the 2027 presidential election.
The reaction came on Wednesday from Bayo Onanuga, the Special Adviser on Information and Strategy to the President.
Onanuga condemned the audio file, labeling it a fabrication and called for legal action against popular social media critic VeryDarkMan who shared it.
“This VDM needs to face the weight of the law for being the conveyor and disseminator of a fake audio of President Tinubu. This is a clear case of an egregious abuse of the social media platform.,” Onanuga tweeted.
In the viral video, VeryDarkMan used the alleged leaked audio to urge Nigerians to vote against President Tinubu’s reelection bid in the upcoming 2027 polls.
Recall that just days ago, on Saturday, May 23, 2026, President Tinubu secured the presidential ticket of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in a landslide nationwide direct primary election.
During that contest, Tinubu faced a lone challenger, Edo State businessman and APC chieftain Stanley Osifo. The President won with 10,999,162 votes from the 12,643,306 registered party members, while Osifo secured 16,503 votes.
Meanwhile, Peter Obi, who finished third in the 2023 election, is widely expected to fly the flag for the Nigerian Democratic Congress (NDC). Both Obi and Tinubu hail from the southern region of Nigeria and are set to face last year’s runner-up, Atiku Abubakar, who is expected to lead the ticket for the African Democratic Congress (ADC).
The governorship candidate of the People’s Democratic Party in Ebonyi State, Ifeanyichukwuma Odii, has accused Governor Francis Nwifuru of running the state like a personal family business.
Odii made the remark shortly after emerging as the PDP governorship candidate for the 2027 election following the party’s primary election conducted across the 13 local government areas of the state.
Speaking to party supporters in Abakaliki, Odii said the 2027 election would be about rescuing Ebonyi from poor governance and restoring economic growth and public welfare.
“Ebonyi can never be consumed. Ebonyi can never be conquered. Ebonyi can never become a personal family business, and we are here for the rescue of our dear state,” he stated.
The PDP flag bearer pledged to improve the welfare of civil servants and teachers while promising policies aimed at reviving the state’s economy.
Odii also dismissed fears over political opposition ahead of the election, insisting that his focus remained the development and progress of Ebonyi State.
-
Crime4 days agoNigeria’s Army General, wife kidnapped by gunmen
-
Foreign4 days agoNigerian Catholic priest convicted in US for sexual assault
-
Crime3 days ago
Oyo abduction: Teachers begin strike as Tinubu sends 1,000 forest guards to rescue victims
-
Education3 days agoEnugu East Chairman Celebrates Children’s Day with St. Ann’s College, Reaffirms Commitment to Education
-
Crime3 days agoUS Announces $3.5m Religious Freedom Initiative, Questions Nigeria’s Response to Attacks
-
News3 days agoDSS Detains Novelist Okey Ndibe at Lagos Airport, Awaits Clearance from Abuja
-
EverydayNews Telescope4 days agoThree Years On the Saddle : The Governor Peter Mbah score card that is a tall order
-
Crime3 days ago2 Police Officers Shot Dead as Gunmen Attack Anambra Chief of Staff’s Convoy