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Edo 2024: My lawyers will determine whether to challenge outcome of election-Akpata
The Labour Party guber candidate in Edo State, Olumide Akpata, has said his lawyers and party will determine whether to challenge outcome of election.
stated that his some of his party members sold their votes.
He also faulted the outcome of the September 21 poll, saying it was marred by irregularities.
Akpata stated this during an interview with Channels TV saying his legal team are compiling evidence and will determine whether or not to challenge the election result in court.
“It is a decision that the Labour Party and I will have to take jointly whether or not we will challenge the outcome of the election,” he said.
“I am going to be meeting with my lawyers, the Labour Party will also be meeting with its lawyers and then we will come to a decision whether or not we will be challenging the outcome of the election.
“It is important for me to take a back seat and allow my lawyers based on the evidence that we have and the evidence that is still being collected to make the determination on my behalf.”
Recall on Sunday, the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) declared Senator Monday Okpebholo of the All Progressives Congress (APC) the winner of the keenly contested poll.
Okpebholo raked in 291,667 votes to defeat the candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) Asue Ighodalo, who garnered 247,274 votes. Akpata came a distant third with 22,763 votes.
But the former President of the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA) faulted the process that produced Okpebholo as the governor-elect.
He alleged without evidence that both the PDP and APC were involved in vote buying, adding that what transpired on September 21 was a transaction and not an election.
According to Akpata, some LP members sold their votes.
“I am not saying that we won the election. I am saying there was no election, there was a transaction. It is very difficult to say who would have won or lost.
“300,000 votes by our estimation were bought by the two parties actively participating in that bazaar. That is enough to swing any election.
Some stayed at home but a large number (of voters) came out and sold their votes. What happened was a tragedy. Members of my party sold their votes,” he added.
News
Tinubu Approves Fresh Appointment Amid Cabinet Reshuffle Plan
President Bola Tinubu, on Thursday, reappointed Bitrus Chinoko as the Director General of the Centre for Management Development (CMD).
According to reports, the appointment was disclosed by the Minister for Budget and Economic Planning, Sen. Abubakar Bagudu in a letter dated Aug. 28.
“Further to your letter, CMD/DGO/ABJ/02/2024, I am pleased to inform you that His Excellency Bola Ahmed Tinubu, GCFR, President, Federal Republic of Nigeria has approved your re-appointment as Director General, Centre for Management Development, for a second term with immediate effect,” the letter read.
It should be recalled that former President Muhammadu Buhari confirmed the appointment of Chinoko as substantive CMD DG on April 28, 2020.
The appointment is for a final term of four years.
Chinoko took over from Dr Kabir Usman, whose two terms of four years each, ended at the time.
Meanwhile, NewsPOnline Nigeria reports that his appointment is coming at a time when the presidency has confirmed that a cabinet reshuffle is on the horizon, with indications that up to 11 ministers could soon be relieved of their positions.
This development was shared during a media briefing at the Presidential Villa in Abuja by the Special Adviser to the President on Information and Strategy, Bayo Onanuga.
Joining Onanuga at the briefing, O’tega Ogra, Senior Special Assistant to the President on Digital and New Media, did not provide a specific timeline for the reshuffle but hinted that an announcement could be made later this week.
Insiders who spoke with the Guardian noted that the long-anticipated changes were postponed following the conclusion of the Federal Executive Council (FEC) meeting on Monday.
“It’s true President Bola Tinubu has plans to reshuffle his cabinet, but I can’t say specifically whether that will be done before the Independence celebration on October 1,” Onanuga stated, emphasizing that the President initially appointed his ministers in August of last year.
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FG To Toll Lagos-Ibadan Expressway, Second Niger Bridge, Others
Minister of Works, Dave Umahi, says the Federal Government will toll all major roads in the country upon completion of construction and renovation.
“We have the Lagos-Ibadan (Expressway), we are completing it and we are tolling it,” Umahi said on Thursday in Abuja at an Inter-Ministerial Press Briefing, part of activities to mark Nigeria’s 64th independence anniversary.
He listed some of the roads as Lagos-Ibadan Expressway, Second Niger Bridge, Abuja-Kano Road, and Makurdi-9th Mile, among others.
The former Ebonyi State governor said the tolling of federal roads “is going to bring a lot of money to the Federal Government”.
Umahi said private sector members have been engaged “to bring in funds, construct these roads, work with the Infrastructure Concession Regulatory Commission and the Ministry of Works to toll these roads”.
The minister said the government would start with the Keffi-Makurdi Road that has been completed, stating that his ministry has been engaging with the Ministry of Finance for a paperless mode of payment.
He said, “For example, we are completing the Lagos-Ibadan, we are working on Makurdi to 9th Mile in Enugu State, we are working from Abuja to Lagos. These roads are going to be tolled. But we are not just tolling them, we are bringing confidence in the use of these roads.
“If people can travel at night because we are bringing security, where the response time will be 10 minutes on the entire corridor, where you have solar light permanently there and then reduce travel time, and through the tolling, the roads are maintained, then, there will be confidence because Nigerians will pay if the roads are good.”
He said before now, road developments have not been handled as investments but the administration of President Bola Tinubu has been handling road developments more professionally.
He said the present administration inherited a total of 300 damaged roads and bridges, adding that more road constructions would commence from October 1, 2024, across the six geopolitical zones of the country.
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