An Election Petition Tribunal sitting in Ikeja, Lagos Friday
struck out an application challenging James Abiodun Faleke’s
victory in the House of Representatives election of February
23.
Mr Faleke, of the All Progressives Congress (APC), is the member
representing Ikeja Federal Constituency in the lower chamber.
The tribunal chaired by Justice Kunaza M. Hamidu made the order
following a motion by the petitioner, Mutiu Olakunle Okunola, to
withdraw his application.
Mr Okunola contested the poll against Faleke on May 23 on the
platform of the Peoples Democratic party (PDP).
He dragged Faleke, the APC and the Independent National
Electoral Commission (INEC) before the tribunal, praying for a
reversal of Faleke’s victory and a declaration that he was the
rightful winner of the election.
Okunola, however, recently defected to the APC.
At the resumed hearing of the application Friday, Okunola’s
counsel, Owoyemi Ibrahim, told the panel that his client had
decided to withdraw the application against all the
respondents.
Ibrahim said that in withdrawing the application, he filed a
motion pursuant to Section 145(1) of the Electoral Act, 2010, with
an 11 paragraph-affidavit deposed to by the petitioner,
Okunola.
He prayed the panel to grant the motion.
Responding, counsel to Faleke and the APC, Messrs Kolawole
Salami and Ademola Adefolaju, who held the brief of a Senior
Advocate of Nigeria (SAN), Mr. Gboyega Oyewole, said their clients
would not oppose the petitioner.
Their clients, they added, had filed a nine-paragraph affidavit
in response to the motion.
Similarly, INEC’s counsel, Mr Z. S. Makinde, said despite not
filing any affidavit, his client did not oppose the motion.
Following their submissions, Justice Hamidu held: “Having read
through the petitioner’s motion dated and filed on 30th May, 2019,
with the affidavit and written address, and having gone through the
first and second respondents’ affidavits, leave is granted to the
petitioner to withdraw his motion.
“Consequently, petitioner’s petition against all the respondents
is hereby struck out”.
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NIPR, CCC Collaborate to Improve Security Information
Management
CCC and NIPR
Management
The Nigerian Institute of Public Relations (NIPR) has said that
close working relationship between the Institute and the Centre for
Crisis Communication (CCC) if carefully handled, will improve the
quality of information management in the security sector.
The NIPR President and Chairman of the Governing Council, Mallam
Mukhtar Sirajo, made the disclosure while receiving a delegation
from the Centre for Crises Communication at the NIPR Headquarters
in Abuja.
Sirajo who commended the body for facilitating an integrated
communication process in crisis management in the security sector
stated that NIPR as an Institute chartered by Act of the Parliament
has a duty to ensure that all who indulge in the practice of Public
Relations comply with the law.
He said that security communication is strategic and a sensitive
business which must be professionally done, and expressed the
willingness of the Institute to collaborate with the Centre.
“The NIPR welcomes the support and understanding of key
stakeholder in the task of nation building”, he said, and commended
the efforts and impact of the Centre since inception, pointing out
that it has helped to reduce discordant and conflicting information
from the security sector.
The NIPR boss said it was important that the public knows that
the Institute is chartered.
“NIPR is neither an association nor a trade union. You cannot go
to Corporate Affairs Commission to look for certificate of
Incorporation of NIPR, you won’t get it. The Institute is a
creation of the law of the Federal Republic of Nigeria. Therefore,
we have the backing of the law to act accordingly”, he noted.
He said the Institute as a responsible entity recognized the
fact that some persons are already in the practice by error and
called on those in that category to take advantage of the window of
opportunity created by NIPR (Master Class) to regularize with the
Institute.
He said that the relationship will facilitate the certification
of security information and image managers through the Institute’s
master class and other training programmes which will equip them
for greater efficiency.
He seized the occasion to enjoin those who are not yet on the
right side of the law concerning membership of the Institute to do
so, warning that the Institute will soon take a step further to
publish the list of defaulters in the country.
Earlier, the Executive Secretary of the Centre for Crisis
Communication, Air Commodore Yusuf Anas, Rtd, said that the Centre
has recognized the NIPR as a relevant stakeholder, and sought
partnership in the area of training and NIPR certification for
personnel in critical agencies for effective crises
communication.
He explained that the CCC was initiated to address issues of
conflict and crisis within the Nigerian security architecture,
saying that the body has been successful in its vision by ensuring
synergy in security communication in recent times.
Anas reiterated the need for all and sundry to take public
relations seriously, saying that relationship building is
everybody’s business, and commended the NIPR President for his role
in building the reputation of the country.
“Your vision of repositioning the NIPR has been commendable, and
we have seen that the Institute has been better redirected and
focused to carry out its important role in national development”,
he said.
While specifically congratulating the President for the success
of the Institute’s AGM / Conference, which he described as “well
organized and attended”, he said that the outing has positioned the
Institute as an invaluable stakeholder in the Nigerian project.
The Centre for Crisis Communication is the Secretariat of the
Forum of Spokespersons of Security and Response Agencies (FOSSRA)
which has 18 agencies from military, security, intelligence and
response agencies.
Stanley Ogadigo
Public Relations Officer
NIPR FCT Chapter