Court nullifies candidacy of Delta APC House of Assembly elect

The Federal High Court II in Benin-City, Edo State, has
nullified the candidacy of the member-elect representing Ughelli
Constituency II in the Delta State House of Assembly, DTHA on the
platform of the All Progressives Congress, APC, Olorogun Jaro
Egbo.

The presiding judge, Justice A. A. Demi-Ajayi in her ruling said
the Plaintiff, Moses Anaughe won the APC primary conducted on
October 5, 2018 but his name was “illegally substituted” for Egbo
and awarded a cost of N100,000 in favour of the plaintiff against
the APC and Olorogun Egbo, both of who are 1st and 3rd defendants
respectively.

The judge in her ruling while upholding the report of the
Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, said: “If indeed
the 3rd defendant won the primary, the 1st and 3rd defendants would
have exhibited an INEC report for the election to buttress this
assertion.

“The originating summons of the plaintiff is found to be
meritorious and the court grants its reliefs and declarations and
award a N100, 000 cost to the plaintiff against the 1st and 3rd
defendants.”

Speaking on the ruling, counsel to the plaintiff, Adegho Ochuko,
said: “It is a well-decided judgment because it was an issue of
denial after my client won the primary, went to the appeal panel of
the party, yet the name of another aspirant was sent as the
candidate of the party and in the light of that, he started the
legal struggle.

“There is room for appeal but there is nothing to appeal
against.”

Anuaghe on his part, said: “I have the same view with my lawyer
that there is nothing to appeal against because the facts are there
before the court. I strongly believed before now that this
judgement can only be delayed and cannot be denied. This is a
confirmation of the mandate given to me by the people of Ughelli
constituency II.

“If he is appealing, we would meet there as the issues before
the court are not different. I use this opportunity to thank the
judge for standing firm for truth, and urge every member of the
party to stand with the policies of the party and be transparent
because this is what we get when we lack transparency.”

Speaking on the ruling, Egbo said: “As a lawyer, my first
allegiance is to the law profession and I am duty-bound to obey
whatever the court decides but that doesn’t stop me from seeking
justice in the appellate court and I have already instructed my
lawyer to file a notice of appeal against the judgment because I
know that the court has erred in reaching this discussion.

“So we believe that we will take advantage of the appellate
court to make our case and seek justice and we believe that at the
end of the day, justice will be served.”

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Prison Reforms: Our Focus is on Inmates not Crime-
Dambazau

The Minister of Interior, retired Lt.-Gen. Abdulrahman Dambazau,
has reiterated the commitment of the Federal Government towards a
holistic prisons reform, saying that “our focus is on
rehabilitating the criminal and not the crime he or she
committed.

The minister stated this on Friday at the Nigerian Prison
Headquarters in Abuja, where he commissioned several projects
including the Nigerian Prison multipurpose Conference Centre, which
was named Abdulrahman Bello Dambazau Conference Centre, central
stores and 116 operational vehicles bought through the 2018
Procurement process.

He said prisons reform was necessary to ensure that Nigerian
Prisons conform to the United Nations minimum standard.

According to him, prisons decongestion is one of the most
important and effective ways to ensure effective prisons reform and
regretted that no fewer than 70 per cent of inmates in Nigerian
prisons are awaiting trial inmates.

He noted that most prisons facilities across the country were
accommodating inmates beyond their capacities, stressing that some
of the facilities were built about 100 years ago

He said that the NPS would concentrate on the issue of
rehabilitation of prisoners, to ensure that they were better
reformed before leaving the penitentiary.

The Minister expressed happiness at the meaningful projects
executed by the Nigerian Prison Service under the leadership of
Ja’afaru Ahmed and enjoined other paramilitary agencies under the
Interior Ministry to emulate the exemplary posture of Prison
Service.

Speaking at the occasion, Chairman of the House of
Representatives Committee on Interior, Hon. Adams Jagaban applauded
the Prison service for doing so much with little budget.

According to him, the strides of the prison service motivated
the committee to push for the passage of the Nigerian Correctional
Service bill which is before Mr President for assent.

“I think the service is lucky to have Ja’afaru Ahmed”, he
said.

In his address, the Controller General of Prisons(CGP) Ja’afaru
Ahmed said in the last three years, the service has been able to
embark on the construction of a number of projects such as new
prisons, state headquarters complexes , student hostels, lecture
halls, stores, new cells, barracks, perimeter fences, watch towers,
and several renovations.

According to the CGP, these are in addition to massive
procurement and distribution of inmates’ uniforms, beds/beddings,
assorted drugs and other sundry items.

“Another area of giant strides is in the purchase of vehicles
where the Service was able to procure 217 vehicles in 2016 and 49
in 2017”, he said.

Ja’afaru Ahmed noted that NPS also procured 116 vehicles in 2018
which were being commissioned today and they include big and mini
Green-Maria, ambulances, sewage trucks, water tankers and utility
vans, adding that the vehicles will be used to convey inmates to
courts and ensure speedy dispensation of justice while providing
emergency health services and other operational activities.

By PRNigeria