Igbo Corner
Shettima can’t be disqualified; you can’t nullify election because of our failure, INEC tells Tribunal
The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has told the Presidential Election Petition Court (PEPC) not to disqualify the All Progressive Congress (APC) vice presidential candidate, Senator Shettima Kashim and by extension the presidential candidate, Senator Bola Ahmed Tinubu, over double nomination of the former.
INEC made the submission at the Court of Appeal holden at Abuja in the matter of the election to the office of the President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria held on the 25th day of February 2023 with petition no: CA/PEPC/03/2023.
The suit was between Mr. Peter Gregory Obi and his Labour Party (LP), herein referred to as the Petitioners, and the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), Senator Bola Ahmed Tinubu, Senator Shettima Kashim, All Progressive Congress (APC), herein referred to as the Respondents.
INEC also told the Tribunal that it cannot nullify the 2023 general election because it failed to abide by its own rules and regulations guiding the electoral process in the country.
Speaking in its reply address on points of law to the arguments canvassed in the petition written address filed on the 23rd of July, 2023, INEC submitted on the allegation of double nomination of Shettima by the Petitioners in their address, that it is not a qualifying or disqualifying factor in the Constitution, hence cannot be raised or ventilated in the Petition.
INEC stated that the Petitioners had no response to its submission on double nomination and that their silence on the issue is a concession.
It, therefore, urged the court to “discountenance all other arguments of the Petitioners tending to make out a case or disqualification on the basis of multiple nomination” of Shettima.
INEC stated: “It is the contention of the Petitioners in their written address on the alleged disqualification of the 3rd Respondent on the allegation of multiple nomination that the pronouncement of the Supreme Court in the case of PDP v INEC (2023) were made obiter as the main issue determined was the issue of locus standi of the Appellant in that case.
“This Court was urged by the Petitioners not to follow or apply the pronouncement of the Learned Justices of the Supreme Court in that case. We submit that Petitioners’ contention is misconceived.”
According to INEC, the Supreme Court admonished lower Courts not to treat the dictum of the Supreme Court with impunity as no lower Court may treat an obiter of the Supreme Court with careless abandon or disrespect.
It added that the Supreme Court is the final Court of Appeal in Nigeria and that its decisions are therefore binding on every Court below it.
The Commission urged the Tribunal to follow by the pronouncement of the Supreme Court which is directly on same issues ventilated by the Petitioners in respect of the alleged multiple nomination of the 1st Respondent and discountenance all arguments to the contrary by the Petitioners.
It submitted further that the Petitioners misrepresented facts on this issue of multiple nomination of the 3rd Respondent.
“The evidence before the Court is that the matter was received by the 3rd Respondent 0n 5th July, 2022, after he had accepted his nomination as the presidential candidate.
“We invite Your Lordships’ attention in this regard to Exhibit RA1 which is the certified true copy of the letter of the [APC] conveying [Shettima’s] withdrawal to [INEC] and notifying [INEC] of the conduct of fresh primaries to nominate a replacement candidate for the Borno Central Constituency.
“This Letter bears an acknowledgment or the [INEC] indicating receipt of same on the 13th of July, 2022.
“Exhibit RAl sounds a death knell to the entire submissions or the Petitioners on this issue as it completes the process of withdrawal in section 31 of the Electoral Act.
“Therefore, the submission of the Petitioners anchored on the Form EC11C is unavailing to them.
“It must also be stated that Form EC11C is the prescribed form for substitution of candidates and contains in that regard the details and signature of the previously nominated candidate attesting to his voluntary withdrawal and the name of the newly nominated candidate attesting to his nomination.
“To, therefore, rely on the date contained in the Form EC11C as the date [INEC] was notified of the withdrawal of [Shettima] is with due respect to the Petitioners wrong and a misstatement of the true state of affairs.”
On the issue alleging non-compliance of its own rules and regulations with the provisions of the Electoral Act INEC faulted the Petitioners who contended in their address that the provisions of [INEC’s] Regulations have the form of law and can form the basis to question an election.
According to INEC, the Petitioners argued that Section 134(2) of the Electoral Act does not relate to the provisions of the Regulations and Guidelines of the 1st Respondent, adding that the hub of the Petitioners’ contention is that the requirement to transmit results electronically were provided in the Regulations and recognized by the Supreme Court in Oyetola v INEC as part of the electoral process.
It also faulted the Petitioners as alleging that non-compliance with the Regulations can form the basis of a challenge to the outcome of an election.
INEC submitted that this contention by the Petitioner is misconceived for the following reasons:
“Firstly, contrary to the submission of the Petitioners, section 134(2) of the Electoral Act renders ineffectual for the purposes of questioning an election a complaint predicated solely on non-compliance with the provisions of the Regulations and Guidelines of [INEC].”
It noted that “the Supreme Court held that failure to obey the directive or instruction of [INEC] in the said Regulations and Guidelines cannot be relied on as ground for an election petition to invalidate the election of [Tinubu] and [Shettima]because such failure is not contrary to the provision of the Electoral Act, 2010, as amended.
“This is so because S. 138(2) of the Act provides that an act or omission which may be contrary to an instruction or directive of the commission or of an officer appointed for the purpose of the election, but which is not contrary to the provision of this Act shall not of itself be a ground for questioning the election,” it insisted.
It also faulted the reliance placed by the Petitioners on the case of Oyetola v lNEC.
The Petitioners submitted that the finding of the Supreme Court on the interpretation of Clause 38 of the 1 1 Respondent’s Regulation stressing that the IReV forms part of the electoral process.
INEC stated that the interpretation is not an authority in the matter that there is a mandatory requirement to electronically transmit results to the IReV in real time before collation or results and that the apex court quickly stated that “the collation system is made up of centres where results are collated at various stages of the election”.
INEC stated further: “The [INEC’s] Regulations did not in fact make any mandat01y stipulation to electronically transmit results of the election before collation of results or for electronic transmission in real time to be in place before collation of results can be validly carried out.
“To the contrary, [INEC’s] Regulation creates an option for what to do in the event that electronic transmission of results of the election in real time becomes impracticable.
“The options created knocks the bottom off any contention that there is a mandatory stipulation to electronically transmit results before collation.
“Another point which must be made here is in respect of the Petitioners’ contention… that the decision of the Federal High Court… cannot stand in the face of the decision in Oyetola v INEC.
“As earlier demonstrated, the Supreme Court in Oyetola v INEC was not called upon to decide if [INEC] is mandatorily obligated to transmit results of the election electronically, nay, that did not form part of the issues before the Supreme Court for determination in that case.
“The remark of the Supreme Court on the place of IReV in the electoral process was not a remark on any compulsory or mandatory obligation to so do before results of an election could be collated.
“On the other hand, the specific issue decided upon… relates to the determination of whether a mandatory obligation on [INEC] to electronically transmit and collate results exist.
“The Federal High Court decided clearly that no such mandatory obligation exist. It must be noted that by a recent decision of the Lagos Judicial Division of the Honourable Court in Appeal No: CA/L/\G1CY/J3212023AII Progressives Congress v. Labour Party & two Ors. the decision in Exhibit XI as upheld and construed against the Petitioners as issue estoppel.
The Court of Appeal in that case dismissed a similar argument by the 2nd Petitioner contrary to the decision in Exhibit XI as being an abuse of court process.
The attempt to therefore seek umbrage under the pronouncement of the Supreme Court in Oyetola v INEC as validating a mandatory requirement to transmit results electronically is with all due respect a gross misconception of the decision in that case.
“Your Lordships are respectfully urged to so hold and discountenance that submissions of the Petitioners to the contrary,” said INEC.
In conclusion, INEC held: “In view of the foregoing arguments and the fuller arguments canvassed in the written address filed by [INEC], Your Lordships are respectfully urged to discountenance the arguments canvassed by the Petitioners and resolve all issues posited by the Petitioners against them.” Read more.
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There’s something about persecution that does two things to a people: it either breaks them, or it makes them beasts of survival.
For centuries the Jews… they were hunted, hated, and humiliated by empires. But they didn’t vanish.
They evolved. They adapted. And today, the Jews are arguably the most powerful tribe in the world economically, intellectually, and politically. Ruthless when necessary.
They are unapologetic about their survival. Now, look at the Igbo. A tribe known for industry, resilience, and brilliance.
A people who just want to live, do business, and thrive. But Nigeria doesn’t want that. Nigeria wants control.
Nigeria wants submission. And the one thing the Igbo have never known how to do is bow. And that’s the real issue.
So what does Nigeria do? It sidelines them. Isolates them. Provokes them. Bombs their villages under the guise of security.
Locks up their agitators. Shuts down their businesses. Mocks their pain. Ignores their history. Prevent them from voting. Play politics with their education. Sponsored bigotry on them.
And then Nigeria pretends to be surprised that there’s growing radicalization in the East?
Let me be clear: The Igbo didn’t start this fire. Nigeria did.
And history, the very same history we keep refusing to learn from, has shown us that when you keep pushing a tribe that knows how to survive, they evolve into something stronger, something unstoppable.
It’s happened before. With the Jews. Europe tried to exterminate them. Instead, they became the backbone of global finance, media, tech, and diplomacy.
You don’t touch a Jew today without consequences. You don’t push them to the wall and expect them to stay quiet.
Now Nigeria is doing the same to the Igbo, pushing, prodding, provoking.
But here’s the warning: when you push an animal to the wall, it doesn’t stay calm. It fights back. It bites. And this time, when it bites, don’t act shocked.
But this isn’t just about the Igbo solely. Nigeria has perfected the art of creating monsters, then acting surprised when they bite.
The Niger Delta? Radicalized. The region was exploited for oil, polluted beyond repair, and ignored until their youths picked up arms.
The Fulani terrorists? Radicalized. Left behind by the same government that claimed to represent them, now manipulated by religion and resentment.
The Almajiri? Radicalized. Abandoned by an elite that used their poverty as a vote bank and then left them to rot.
The Agbero? Radicalized. Uneducated, weaponized, and unleashed as tools of political chaos.
Even the middle class is slowly being radicalized, not with guns, but with hopelessness. That, too, is a ticking time bomb.
A nation cannot continue to marginalize its most brilliant tribe and expect peace.
The Igbo are not docile. They are not quiet. They are not forgetful. They are survivors, and survivors don’t beg for space forever. At some point, they take it.
The Igbo didn’t set out to be radicals. They were made into one by a country that won’t stop seeing their confidence as a threat.
You can’t keep pretending unity means silence. You can’t keep preaching peace while planting injustice.
The Igbo are not asking for too much, they just want to live, build, and grow.
But if you insist on turning their dignity into defiance, their enterprise into enmity, and their survival into sedition, then you are creating a monster.
And if history has taught us anything, it’s this: when a persecuted people decide that survival is no longer enough, when they decide to stop running and start resisting, they don’t just fight back. They win.
Nigeria must understand this: you cannot keep pushing people into a corner and expect submission.
When you back a lion into a wall, don’t expect it to purr. It will roar. It will claw. It will tear through anything standing between it and freedom.
So here’s the final warning, for those who still care to listen: Nigeria is radicalizing the Igbo.
But worse, Nigeria is radicalizing everyone. And it won’t end well.
When the fire spreads, when the rebellion multiplies, when the beast we created begins to fight back, don’t act shocked; no tribe will be left untouched.
Don’t pretend it wasn’t preventable. We all made it happen. You don’t corner a lion and expect peace.
Abolaji Rasaq is a public affairs analyst.
Palpable crisis is brewing in Nnewi over the election of the President General of Uruagu Community in the industrial town of Anambra State, with a business mogul and owner of Organiser Plc., Chief Innocent Okoli, accused of upsetting the apple cart.
The crisis has led to protests and resignation of members of the Board of Trustees (BoT).
One of the resignation letters sighted by News Band was from a legal practitioner, J. N. Obi, Esq.
Barrister Obi, until his resignation served as the Secretary of the Executive Committee and member, Uruagu Board of Trustees.
Tendering his resignation letter, Obi cited brazen violation of the Constitution of Uruagu Nnewi Community Development Union.
The letter was referenced OB/03 /296/2025, dated May 8, 2025, and addressed to His Highness. Obi A. C. Obi (Ogidi IV).
In the letter entitled “Letter of resignation as member, Board of Trustees (B.O. T) Uruagu Nnewi. Obi announced his resignation based on the following reasons:
- Article 8. 9 (a) of the Constitution of Uruagu Nnewi Community Development Union. 2022 (As Amended) states and I quote:
“The Board shall “Ensure the observance of this Constitution”. - Article 14.4 of the Constitution of Uruagu Nnewi Community Development Union 2022 (As Amended) states and I quote:
“Each ward shall submit a list of the Electors In writing to the Secretary General of the Union, one month before any election.
“The submission of the list of the Electors shall be done by the Ward Chairman In consultation with the Ward’s Obi.” - “The election sought to be conducted on Saturday, 10th day of May 2025, did not comply with the above provisious as it was on the Union’s general meeting of the I3th day of April 2025 that the expiration of the tenure of the Executives was announced.”
The legal pratictioner, however, noted that the election to be held on May 10 will not be up to one month.
He, therefore, resigned his membership of B. 0. T for failure to abide by the above provisions of the Constitution as stated above.
On his part, the former President General of Uruagu Nnewi, Chief Ambassador Charles Nwonye, decried series of illegalities in the proposed election championed by Chief Okoli.
He recalled the efforts of past and present stakeholders to ensure that Uruagu Nnewi Community Development Union is recognised as a legal and responsible entity in the state.
He, however, speaking in a voice note obtained by Diaspora Digital Media (DDM), regretted:
“It’s very, very unfortunate that those counsels that instituted Uruagu Development Union are no longer alive.
“They were the ones who were known for speaking out the truth. But at the same time, we will not all keep quiet.
“I, hereby, wish to bring the following to the attention of all Uruagu indigenes, scattered all over Nigeria and in the diaspora that four years ago, a similar thing happened.
“Uruagu Nnewi Constitution was also flagrantly violated four years ago.
“At the end, a lot of stakeholders asked the former Executive Committee to resign and leave en masse.
“The Constitution, however, allowed them to recontest.
“The Executive Committee then honourably resigned and no one of us recontested, ushering in a new Executive Committee.
“They argued that following the election, the Constitution will be amended to correct all the flaws and ensure no such flagrant abused repeats itself.
“They went for the election and what happened there was the same illegality we’re talking about.
“Some of our youths went and connived with mischief makers, disrupted the election and declared the present Executive Committee members winners.
“The youths stood by them in their misguided thoughts that the Executive Committee members enjoy special gains in the office.
“They disrupted the election and ensured that the present crop of Executive Committee members was ushered in.
“The election was heavily flawed and rigged in favour of Eloka Ike and Innocent Okoli, but we let go and left peacefully.
“The new Executive Committee promised to preside for only four years and leave, but we are currently seeing the same illegalities.
“I dare ask: Should Uruagu be known only for illegalities? I thought Ndi Uruagu are smart people?
“I have observed that there are certain individuals who are hell-bent on ensuring that the Uruagu leadership fails.
“They seem bent on destroying all our efforts, acting as agents of chaos and destruction.
“How can one man gather a bunch of Umuezeagu indigenes and take them to the court, claiming that they sued the union to court?
“They deceived the High Court and got a frivolous injunction against Uruagu people, all in the name of election!
“When I got this information, I knew that something was wrong.
“How can someone, after serving a tenure fraught with irregularities, fight his way to a second tenure against the people’s wish?
“I want to make it clear to all the delegates in the so-called election that it will not be possible to make an illegality legal.
“Anyone who casts a vote in that sham election is an agent provocateur, as well as a villain.
“Let it be on record that I denounced the so-called election founded on illegality and fraud and all participants, be it a delegate or participant in any manner is an enemy of the people.”
Chief Okoli and other responsible people of Nnewi leadership could not be reached for comment at the moment of this publication.
More details will follow…
The remains of HRH Eze Stephen Nwabueze Ugorji, Orji Ukwu 1 of Lorji Nwekeukwu Autonomous Community in Aboh Mbaise Local Government Area, will be laid to rest on Thursday, May 22, 2025.
The late Eze Ugorji will be buried in his palace at Orji Ukwu Estate, Lorji, following a Catholic funeral Mass at St. Andrews Catholic Church, Lorji.
News Band was informed that His Excellency the Catholic Bishop of Ahiara Diocese, Bishop Okezuo Nwobi, has been invited to officiate at the ceremony.
Bishop Nwobi, it was learnt, has also accepted the family’s invitation to officiate at the funeral rites of the late grand traditional ruler.
This information was provided to members of the press in Owerri by the Opara Eze (First Son of the Eze), former Commissioner for Homeland Security and Vigilante Affairs, Dr. Ugorji Okechukwu Ugorji.
His Lordship Bishop Okezuo Nwobi, the Catholic Bishop of Ahiara Diocese (Mbaise) and Eze Nwabueze Ugorji’s First Son, Dr. Ugorji Okechukwu Ugorji
“The family is grateful to His Lordship for granting us a rare request to officiate at a funeral on a Thursday,” Dr. Ugorji said.
“Our father will feel honored and appreciated because he was not just a devoted Catholic, he shouldered the building of the St. Andrews Catholic Church at Lorji until his death,” the former commissioner added.
Igbo Corner
EXCLUSIVE: Ngozi Orabueze dissolves Biafra Govt In Exile as Simon Ekpa may spend longer time in prison
Dr. Ngozi Orabueze has abruptly dissolved the Biafra Government In Exile following secret information that his former boss, Simon Ekpa may not be coming out from Finnish detention in a hurry.
News Band reported that Mrs. Orabueze, a former Chief of Staff to Mr Simon Ekpa, the self-acclaimed Prime Minister of Biafra Government In Exile, toppled his principal after he was thrown into prison for promoting violent agitation and terrorism in the Southeast of Nigeria.
Ekpa’s trial is scheduled to start in May 2025.
Ngozi, a former chairperson of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in Atlanta, United States in a statement on Wednesday, announced the dissolution of Biafra Government In Exile.
She said all assets of the Biafra Republic Government In Exile and it’s affiliates shall be transferred to the secretary of the State of the United States of Biafra.
Orabueze also directed all officers of the former exile government to report to their counterpart with the United States of Biafra for reassignment.
The statement reads, “It is resolved that the Biafra Republic Government In Exile (BRGIE) is hereby dissolved as it’s reason for the existence has been superceded by the November 29, 2024 Declaration of the restoration of the Independent United States of Biafra
“All assets of the Biafra Republic Government In Exile and it’s affiliates(BRGIE corporation ID: D237527271) shall be transferred to the secretary of the State of the United States of Biafra.
“All officers of the former exile government shall report to their counterpart with the United States of Biafra for reassignment. All activities of the Biafra Republic Government In Exile shall cease as of February 15, 2025”.
Meanwhile, an insider source in the movement reliably told News Band that Ngozi decided to dissolve BRGIE after receiving intel that Simon Ekpa might spend longer time in prison.
The source also revealed that the Nigerian government is doing everything within it’s power to nail Simon Ekpa for all his atrocious acts in the SouthEast region.
So, the only way to keep the agitation going in the absence of Ekpa is to dissolve BRGIE.
“Yes, Ngozi Orabueze dissolved the Biafra Republic Government In Exile so as to be fully in charge of the assets belonging to the movement. With the way the Nigerian government is going about the case of Simon Ekpa, he may spend longer time in prison”, the source said.
Moreover, before now, Orabueze has been at war with some arrowheads of the separatist movement who refused to acknowledge her authority.
This however, has led to series of fights, accusation and counter accusations among the agitators.
We celebrate the life of Mrs. Roseline Udu Eze, a devoted wife, mother, grandmother, and pillar of strength.
Her unwavering love, kindness, and selflessness left an indelible mark on all who knew her.
Though we mourn her passing, we take solace in the legacy she leaves behind and the cherished memories we hold. Rest peacefully in the arms of the Lord, dear Roseline.
You will forever be missed.
May her soul rest in perfect peace.
Amen.
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