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Abuja and 25 per cent votes: Arise TV lied, distorted my interview – Aondoakaa

Published

1 year ago

March 8, 2023

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Attorney General of the Federation (AGF) and Minister of Justice, Mike Aondoakaa, has said his interview with Arise TV was highly distorted.

Aondoakaa, in a statement in Makurdi, Benue State, by his Special Assistant, Abdul Kohol, said he decided to make clarifications, following ‘’misconceptions and distortions peddled on social media…’’

“In the March 3 interview, the TV anchor sought Aondoakaa’s opinion on a candidate winning 25 per cent of valid votes of Abuja, Federal Capital Territory (FCT) as a condition, among others, before being declared winner of the presidential election.

“Aondoakaa said the Supreme Court in 2008, gave interpretations as regards the conjunction ‘and’ joining the larger part of the subsection with the smaller part of; which the Supreme Court held to be ‘conjunctive’ in view of the words used in Section 146 (1) of the Electoral Act, 2006, and not ‘disjunctive’; however, Supreme Court has a right to depart from its previous decision, depending on the facts of each case.

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“At no time did Aondoakaa stated that it was wrong for Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to have declared president-elect, Bola Ahmed, winner of the presidential election.

“Aondoakaa said since the matter is in court, it will be sub judice to delve further into it.

“Aondoakaa further clarified during the interview that decisions of Supreme Court are based on facts/merits of the each case before it.

“The TV anchor never asked about validity of the declaration of the winner of the presidential election nor about swearing-in of the winner; and Aondoakaa never alluded to that effect.

“It is mischief and/or ignorance on anyone that tries to introduce untruth in the interview. Such persons should look for another avenue to pour vituperation on the poll processes.

“Aondoakaa could not have said more, being aware of the position of the law, that ‘election results are presumed by law to be correct until the contrary is proved’.

READ Sheath your swords: Media stakeholders wade into Arise TV, APC conflict

“… there is a rebuttable presumption that results of election declared by a Returning Officer are correct and authentic and the burden is on the person who denies the results to rebut the presumption.’ See Omoboriowo vs Ajasin (1984) 1SCNLR 108; Jalingo v. Nyame (1992) 3NWLR (Pt. 231) 538 and Buhari v. Obasanjo (2005) 7 SC (Pt. 1) 1…per Niki Tobi.”

He added: “Aondoakaa holds the president-elect, and the Judiciary in high esteem, and will never comment on matters before the courts…”

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UPDATED: Tinubu appoints Jim Ovia as chairman of education loan fund

Published

2 hours ago

April 26, 2024

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President Bola Tinubu has appointed Jim Ovia as the chairman of the Nigerian Education Loan Fund (NELFUND).

Ajuri Ngelale, presidential spokesperson, announced the appointment of Ovia, chairman of Zenith Bank, in a statement on Friday.

Ngelale said Tinubu believes that Ovia will bring his immense wealth of experience to ensure that no Nigerian student suffers a paucity of funds in the quest for tertiary education.

On April 3, Tinubu signed the student loans amendment bill into law to provide Nigerians with quality and accessible education.

The law will allow Nigerian students in tertiary institutions to access low-interest loans for tuition and other academic needs.

Subsequently, the president appointed Akintunde Sawyerr as the managing director and chief executive officer (CEO) of the fund.

Tinubu also appointed Frederick Oluwafemi Akinfala as the executive director of finance and administration, while Mustapha Iyal will serve as the executive director of operations of NELFUND.

READ NBC fines Arise TV N2m over 'fake report' on Tinubu

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JUST IN: Tinubu appoints Jim Ovia as chairman of education loan fund

Published

4 hours ago

April 26, 2024

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President Bola Tinubu has appointed Jim Ovia as the chairman of the Nigerian Education Loan Fund (NELFUND).

Ajuri Ngelale, presidential spokesperson, announced the appointment of Ovia, chairman of Zenith Bank, in a statement on Friday.

More to follow…

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ICPC detains TETFund boss ‘over questionable N7.6bn project’

Published

9 hours ago

April 26, 2024

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The Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC) has detained Sonny Echono, executive secretary of the Tertiary Education Trust Fund (TETFund).

Demola Bakare, ICPC spokesperson, confirmed the development on Friday.

Bakare said that Echono was invited by the anti-graft agency on Thursday.

“The executive secretary of TETFund is here with us. He has been invited for questioning. He is still in custody. He was invited yesterday.” Bakare said.

“He was invited on Thursday. He has not been released. He’s still with us. Investigation is still ongoing.”

It was earlier reported that TETfund awarded two contracts to Fides Et Ratio Academy and Pole Global Marketing (PGM) within two months at the cost of N3.8 billion respectively without the approval of the federal executive council (FEC), which is required for the contract size.

The contract was to provide capacity building course and learning management systems to about 2 million students across higher institutions in the country.

READ Osun Election: Adeleke forged certificates, Oyetola tells tribunal

In a rejoinder, TETFund said it did not award N7.6 billion contracts to two companies without due process.

The agency said it was wrong to say they were contracts, whereas they were ICT projects implemented under a memorandum of understanding (MoU) which doesn’t require competitive bidding in public procurement.

TETFund further said its disbursement guidelines were approved by the president on the recommendation of the “Fund’s Board of Trustees and concurrence of the Honourable Minister of Education in line with the TETFund Act 2011″.

In an interview with TheCable, Echono said there was no form of irregularity in the N7.6 billion project.