News
Court rejects APC’s prayer to stop Kano LG council election
A federal high court sitting in Kano has rejected the application by the All Progressives Congress (APC) to stop the State Independent Electoral Commission from conducting local government polls scheduled for October 26.
In a motion exparte filed on September 20 before Justice Simon Amobeda, APC, and one Hon. Aminu Aliyu Tiga against the state electoral commission, Kano State House of Assembly, Attorney General and Commissioner of Justice and 11 other defendants, the plaintiffs urged the court to grant an interim injunction to restrain the conduct of the council election across the 44 local government councils.
The plaintiffs also sought the leave of the court for an interim injunction directing all parties to maintain the status quo and for the electoral body particularly to stay further actions regarding the preparation for the conduct of the poll in Kano, pending the hearing and determination of the motion on notice.
APC had further asked the court to grant leave to the bailiff of the court to service KANSIEC and State Assembly and two other defendants with all the processes in the suit through any staff or officer at the office of the Attorney General of the state.
But Justice Amobeda declined to grant an interim injunction that would stop KANSIEC from perfecting arrangements for the processes of the conduct of the forthcoming council election.
The court, however, granted APC the application to put KANSIEC and other defendants on notice of all processes.
The Presiding Judge adjourned the hearing to October 4, with a commitment to accelerate the hearing on the matter, accompanied by stern caution to parties against any act that will prejudice the hearing and quick determination of the matter.
“That prayers 1 and 2 are refused in the interim to the extent that the defendants shall be put on notice to show the cause why these prayers shall not be granted.
“That prayer 3 is granted. And that the time of hearing of the substantive
Application is abridged to 5 days from the date of service of the originating process and order of this court on the defendants,” the court ruled.
Before APC failed to stop the conduct of the council election, Justice Ado Maaji of the state high court had granted an interim injunction restraining APC, PDP, NNPP, and 16 other recognised political parties from taking any action that will tamper with the statutory responsibility of KANSIEC on the conduct of the local government council election.
Some senior officials of the Kwara State Local Government Service Commission have been kidnapped by gunmen along the Omu-Aran/Ilorin Road.
The victims were abducted on Friday evening.
Those kidnapped are: the Head of the Legal Department of Oke-Ero Local Government, Elizabeth Arinde, and the Head of Personnel Management of the council, whose name could not be immediately confirmed.
It was gathered on Saturday night that the two senior administrators were among seven individuals kidnapped at Corner Eleyin along the Omu-Aran/Ilorin Expressway while returning to Ilorin, the state capital, for the weekend on Friday, April 25, 2025.
The incident occurred at about 5:45pm where five gunmen ambushed the two private vehicles before leading the passengers into the bush.
The Kwara State Police Command has confirmed the incident.
This was contained in a statement signed by the Police Public Relations Officer, SP Adetoun Ejire-Adeyemi, on behalf of the Commissioner of Police, Adekimi Ojo, on Saturday.
The statement added “The Kwara State Police Command confirms a kidnap incident reported at about 5:45 p.m. on Friday, 25th April 2025, at Eleyin village via Isanlu-Isin. It was reported that about five armed men blocked the highway, stopping two private vehicles, forcefully taking all occupants to an unknown location.
“Following the report, the command, in collaboration with the military and vigilantes, launched a swift operation, leading to the successful rescue of two victims, Ganiyu Ajayi and Kolawole Adeyemi.
“Efforts are ongoing to rescue the remaining five victims and apprehend the perpetrators.
“The command has intensified security measures across the area, including aggressive bush combing, strategic patrols, and intelligence-driven operations to prevent further occurrences”
The Chief of Civil-Military Affairs (Army), Major General Gold Chibuisi, has condemned the harassment and assault of civilians unlawfully wearing military uniforms, stressing that while such acts are illegal, the Nigerian Army does not support violence against offenders.
Speaking during a media chat with Defence correspondents on Saturday night in Abuja, Maj. Gen. Chibuisi said that although it is against Nigerian law for non-military personnel to wear military uniforms, soldiers must act professionally and lawfully when handling such cases.
“I’m surprised that in most briefs we give in our programmes, we always talk about this uniform issue because it keeps recurring. It’s against the law of the land. If you are not in the armed forces, please don’t use our uniform, whether you love it or not.
“But that’s one part of it. Let people stop it. The other part is what we do, what our troops do when they see somebody dressed in a military uniform. You’re supposed to just get the person to remove it, arrest, and hand it over to the police, basically for persecution. All these other things that come with it are not right. And we are doing sensitisation on them.”
He said many soldiers had been sanctioned for assaulting Nigerians who wore military camouflage.
” Those that we find and there is evidence that they did that, we always sanction them sternly. And we’ll continue to do that, ” Chibuisi said.
He appealed to citizens to avoid wearing military uniforms illegally, noting that respecting the uniform is an important part of strengthening national security and building trust between the military and the public.
Chibuisi noted that criminals increasingly exploit military uniforms to commit crimes, making it harder for civilians and security agencies to identify genuine soldiers.
“Currently, there are a lot of criminals using military garb to perpetrate crime. If people keep dressing like that, how do you differentiate between a criminal and a genuine soldier?”
He urged families and communities to help with sensitization at the home level.
“If somebody you know is not in the military comes out in the morning, and he wants to jog or drive somewhere wearing our uniform, you should tell him not to, “he said.
Chibuisi also reminded the public that the Army belongs to the people and should be seen as part of their families, not as distant or fearsome figures.
“There is no army that doesn’t want itself to be seen as working for the people. We are the Nigerian Army. The Nigerian people own us.”
As part of efforts to foster better understanding, the Army, he said, is strengthening its sensitisation campaigns both internally among troops and externally to the wider public.
“We are fine-tuning the conduct of our personnel.
“And I believe as we keep interacting, the relationship will continue to improve, ” he said.
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