APA – Lagos (Nigeria)
The report that the Presidential Election Petitions Tribunal Abuja will today begin pre-hearing in the petitions challenging the outcome of the February 25 presidential election dominates the headlines of Nigerian newspapers on Monday.
The Punch reports that the Presidential Election Petitions Tribunal Abuja will today begin pre-hearing in the petitions challenging the outcome of the February 25 presidential election.
The Independent National Electoral Commission declared that Bola Tinubu of the ruling All Progressives Congress polled 8,794,726 votes to win the election.
The commission declared that Atiku came second with 6,984,520 votes, while it announced Labour Party’s Peter Obi as the second runner-up with 6,101,533 votes.
But Atiku, Obi and some other parties rejected the results announced by INEC and had approached the Presidential Election Petition Tribunal to annul Tinubu’s victory.
On what to expect at today’s proceedings, a senior lawyer in Tinubu’s camp, who asked not to be named, told one of our correspondents on Sunday that, “The only thing they will do is to schedule the hearing, the number of witnesses, how many minutes the witness will use, and how to admit the documents; that’s what they call pre-trial.”
The newspaper says that the Federal Government has said all Nigerians fleeing the insurrection in Sudan but got stranded at the Egypt border have been airlifted and brought back to Nigeria.
The Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Humanitarian Affairs, Disaster Management and Social Development, Nasir Sani-Gwarzo, stated this when he received another batch of Nigerian evacuees at the Nnamdi Azikiwe Airport, Abuja on Sunday.
A total of 834 Nigerian evacuees from Egypt and Port Sudan arrived at the Nnamdi Azikiwe Airport, Abuja on Sunday, bringing to 1,471 the number of Nigerians so far evacuated and brought back to Nigeria from Egypt and Port Sudan in five days.
The first batch, comprising 282 evacuees, arrived on Wednesday night from Egypt via an Air Peace flight.
The second batch, comprising 94 evacuees, arrived on Wednesday night from Egypt via CI30; while the third batch, comprising 130 evacuees, arrived on Friday from Port Sudan via Tarco Air.
The fourth batch, comprising 131 evacuees, arrived on Saturday from Port Sudan via Tarco Air; while the fifth, sixth and seventh batches of 876 evacuees arrived Sunday from Egypt and Port Sudan via Max Air (410 evacuees), Azman Air (324); and Tarco Air (102).
According to Sani-Gwarzo, no Nigerian is left at the Egypt border, as all Nigerians at that point
Sani-Gwarzo said, “I am very happy to announce that no single Nigerian is currently at the Egyptian border, we have completed the airlift from the Egyptian side.”
He noted that those in Port Sudan would all be evacuated in a few days.
The Guardian reports that the Petroleum and Natural Gas Senior Staff Association of Nigeria (PENGASSAN) has urged President Muhammadu Buhari to halt disbursement of the $800 million loan facility secured from the World Bank.
The loan was obtained to give succour to the poorest of Nigerians, upon removal of subsidy on petrol by June.
“If our interest is how to protect the workforce, there must be a conversation around things government can do for Nigerian workers to become better. It is also difficult to understand why a government that is exiting in a matter of days will hurriedly disburse $800 million dollars in World Bank loan. We do not know to whom and where the money will go.
“You cannot be spending public funds without accountability. We need to know how the money will be shared to individuals. Where are the bank accounts the money will be sent to? We should let the new government shape conversations around how the country will manage the money, to move the country forward,” said PENGASSAN President, Festus Osifo.
In an exclusive interview with The Guardian in Abuja, Osifo also expressed hope that Phase Five of the Port Harcourt refinery would come on stream in the third quarter of this year.
He blamed high cost of petrol on the multiple exchange rate regime of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), saying upon subsidy removal, petrol should not cost more than N400 per litre, if the official rate is used. However, it could cost over N700, if the unofficial rate window is deployed in sourcing the product.
Also, Civil Society Legislative Advocacy Centre (CISLAC) queried the Federal Government over the World Bank loan.
Executive Director of CISLAC, Auwal Musa-Rafsanjani, in a statement on Friday, lamented nonchalant attitude by the President Muhammadu Buhari administration towards the country’s crippling debt crisis.
He said borrowing to fund post-fuel subsidy removal palliatives is strange, noting: “If the fuel subsidy removal process has been suspended, as announced by the Minister of Finance, after the NEC meeting at the end of April, then the government should return the borrowed money. What are we taking the loan for?”
Rafsanjani said fears of the country getting another $800 million loan from the World Bank sends waves of worries in the minds of Nigerians, as the country’s revenue collection in 2022 stood at N10 trillion, with a debt of about N77 trillion.
The newspaper says that the Social-Economic Rights and Accountability Project (SERAP) has sued the Federal Government and Attorney-General of the Federation/Minister of Justice, Abubakar Malami, for allegedly failing to recover over N40 billion perks from former governors, who are now lawmakers and ministers.
Justice Oluremi Oguntoyinbo of the Federal High Court, Lagos had, in November 2019, ordered the Federal Government to ensure the recovery.
She also directed Malami to challenge legality of states’ life pension laws, permitting ex-governors and others to perpetually draw from the coffer.
But the President Muhammadu Buhari administration has failed to implement the judgment.
The judge, during a valedictory court session in her honour, regretted that the ruling is in limbo.
SERAP, at the weekend, moved to enforce the judgment by filing Form 48 contempt suit at the Federal High Court, Lagos.
It said: “A certified true copy of the judgment of November 26, 2019 by Justice Oguntoyinbo has long been served on Mr. Malami.”
“Unless you obey orders of the court contained on the reverse side of this process, you shall be deemed to have disobeyed orders of the court and shall be liable to prison for contempt.”
However, in a statement, yesterday by deputy director, Kolawole Oluwadare, SERAP said: “It’s unacceptable to take the court, which is the guardian of justice in this country, for a ride. A democratic state, based on rule of law, cannot exist or function if the government routinely ignores and/or fails to abide by court orders.
“Despite the service of the certified true copy of the judgment on Attorney General of the Federation, the Buhari administration has failed and/or refused to obey it.”
GIK/APA