Appeal court affirms Ahmad Aliyu as Sokoto governor, dismisses PDP’s Umar case

Published

5 months ago

November 27, 2023

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The court of appeal in Abuja has affirmed the election of Ahmad Aliyu as governor of Sokoto state.

A three-member panel of the appellate court dismissed the appeal filed by the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and its governorship candidate, Saidu Umar, challenging Aliyu’s victory in the poll.

The panel unanimously held that it found no reason to disturb the verdict of the tribunal that upheld the governor’s victory.

Aliyu, the candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC), was declared the winner of the governorship election with 453,661 votes to defeat Umar who secured 404,632 votes.

But Umar alleged that the governor and his deputy Idris Gobir, forged the certificates they presented to the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to qualify for the election.

The petitioners also alleged electoral fraud during the poll.

The tribunal in its judgment said the petitioners were unable to prove the six grounds contained in their petition.

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The court added that petitioners were unable to prove the allegations beyond reasonable doubt as required by law.

The court noted that 70 percent of the exhibits presented were out of context because they relate to state assembly elections conducted on the same date.

While upholding the decision of the tribunal on Monday, the appellate court held that most of the evidence that the petitioners produced in support of their case, were legally inadmissible.

Related Topics:AHMAD ALIYU Appeal court SOKOTO STATE

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

Published

10 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.

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

Published

12 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

16 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.

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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.