The supreme court has affirmed the election of Babajide Sanwo-Olu of the All Progressives Congress (APC) as Governor of Lagos State.

The five member panel in a unanimous judgment delivered by Justices Lawal Garba and Adamu Jauro, affirmed the declaration of the APC’s candidate as winner of the March 18, 2023 governorship election, after dismissing two separate appeals challenging his victory.

Gbadebo Rhodes-Vivour of the Labour Party (LP), who came second and Abdulazeez Adediran popularly known as Jandor of the People’s Democratic Party (PDP), who came third had challenged the election of Sanwo-Olu on grounds of alleged irregularities, malpractices non-compliance as well as non-qualification.

They had specifically argued that the Deputy Governor, who acquired citizenship of the United States of America, is not qualified to contest elective position and as such his nomination as deputy Governor was unlawful null and void.

They also argued that his alleged unlawful nomination affects the qualification of Sanwo-Olu, hence the court should nullify their participation in the governorship election.

However, both the tribunal and the Court of Appeal in their respective decisions dismissed the two appeals for failure to prove allegations made in their petitions.

The apex court in its judgement, held that it has found no cogent reason to deviate from the concurrent judgments of the tribunal and Court of Appeal which held that Sanwo-Olu was lawfully elected as Governor of Lagos State.

The appellate court in a unanimous judgement held that acquisition of a foreign national those not bar any citizen by birth from contesting election.

Justice Lawal stated that the only condition a citizen with dual citizen can lose his right to be elected as governor is when he denounces his Nigerian citizenship by birth.

The apex court subsequently dismissed the two appeals for lacking in merit.

Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu of the APC had polled 762,134 votes to defeat his closest challenger, Rhodes-Vivour, who scored 312,329 votes, with Jandor coming a distant third with 62,449 votes.

The Supreme Court has affirmed the election of Dauda Lawal of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) as Zamfara Governor.

The apex court set aside the decision of the Court of Appeal Abuja, which had declared the Governorship Election as inconclusive and ordered a re-run in three Local Government Areas of the state.

The Court of Appeal had in November nullified the election of Lawal’s election.

He was declared the winner of the March 18 governorship election. In a shocking victory that dislodged then-incumbent Bello Matawalle of the All Progressives Congress (APC), he polled a total of 377,726 votes. Matawalle scored 311,976 votes.

The APC candidate, now serving as the Minister of State for Defence, had accused INEC of subverting his victory at the poll by failing to include the results of some ward areas.

In an earlier ruling on September 18, the Zamfara Election Petitions Tribunal held that the petition was devoid of merit. While upholding Lawal’s victory, the tribunal awarded the N500,000 fine against the petitioners.

An unsatisfied Matawalle, as observers expected, took the matter to the Court of Appeal in Abuja, to challenge the decision of the lower court.

Respite came for Matawalle at the appellate court as the three-member panel led by Justice Oyebisi Folayemi, nullified the return of Governor Lawal as the winner of the governorship poll.

Justice Sybil Nwaka ordered INEC to conduct a fresh election in three local government areas of the state, where elections had not been held previously or where results from various polling units were not counted.

But the governor proceeded to the apex court to seek redress.

THE Super Eagles of Nigeria have confirmed that Umar Sadiq is ruled out of the Africa Cup of Nations in Cote d’Ivoire (AFCON 2023) after sustaining an injury in training.

The Real Sociedad striker was involved in the team’s friendly defeat to Guinea on Monday but has not trained with the group since they arrived in Abidjan on Wednesday.

Trabzonspor striker Paul Onuachu has been called up as replacement for Sadiq, the Super Eagles media team announced this morning.

Sadiq joins a long list on injury-enforced absences for the three-time African champions, with fellow strikers Taiwo Awoniyi and Victor Boniface as well as midfielder Wilfred Ndidi also unable to play in the tournament, which kicks off tomorrow.

Nottingham Forest striker Awoniyi was ruled out with a long-term injury even before the 40-man provisional squad was named, while Bayer Leverkusen hitman Boniface and Leicester City midfielder Ndidi withdrew after being named in the 25-man squad for the continental showpiece.

Boniface has been replaced by Nice striker Terem Moffi, with Royal Antwerp’s Alhassan Yusuf stepping into the big shoes of Ndidi.

The Super Eagles get their AFCON 2023 campaign off the ground on Sunday against Equatorial Guinea before facing hosts Cote d’Ivoire on January 18 in one of the standout group phase fixtures.

Jose Peseiro’s side round off the group stages with a clash against Guinea-Bissau on January 22.

The tournament will end on February 11.

PHOTO: Umar Sadiq.

 [NaijaTimes]

Kano State citizens, particularly in the capital, are in anxiety as they anticipate the Supreme Court ruling on the Kano Governorship election today.

According to reports, financial institutions and schools are shut in anticipation of the violence that may erupt after the verdict.

The Supreme Court is expected to deliver a ruling that would determine if the governorship candidate of the New Nigeria Peoples Party’s (NNPP) at the 2023 governorship election in Kano, Abba Yusuf, will continue in his role as state governor.

The embattled Governor is seeking a ruling from the Supreme Court that will overturn the ruling of the Kano Election tribunal and the Court of Appeal that sacked him and declared the candidate of the ruling All progressives Congress (APC) winner of the governorship poll.

However, the highly anticipated ruling has created a noticeable sense of unease in the city due to audible indications of unrest prompted by statements made by APC and NNPP members.

Due to increased tension and security risks, private schools in the city have already halted their regular operations. Our reporter has received communications from private schools verifying the closure of schools on Friday, even though the government has not yet declared the shutdown.

Naija News recalls that the state’s Police Command has, however guaranteed the safety of people and property both during and after the ruling.

Commissioner of Police (CP), Mohammed Gumel, told reporters at the Bompai Police Headquarters on Thursday that the state’s security apparatus had put in place measures to preserve peace and serenity.

The police chief allayed residents’ concerns and asked them to go about their legitimate business without fear of harassment or molestation.

[NaijaNews]

Gunmen said to number around 40 stormed the Kawu community in Bwari Area Council of the FCT in the early hours of Thursday and abducted 23 people.

Kawu shares boundaries with two states: Niger and Kaduna.

The Councilor representing the area, Abdulmumini Zakari, who is the deputy speaker in the council, said the gunmen arrived around the community on Wednesday from the Kuyeri Forest in Kaduna State.

He explained that “They divided themselves into groups and some went into the palace of the district head, Alhaji Abdurrahman Danjuma Ali, where they abducted his son, Lukman, and his wife, who he married two weeks ago. Others attacked the compound of Alhaji Alhassan Sidi Kawu, the Marafa of Kawu and a former PDP Chairman of Kawu Ward. They abducted him along with his four children.”

The bandits also went into the compound of Sarkin Pawan Kawu, Gambo S Pawa, and abducted him alongside his two wives and some children.

The FCT Police Command spokeswoman, S.P Josephine Adeh, confirmed the incident in a reply to our reporter yesterday.

“Some unknown hoodlums stormed Kawu village, a bordering community with Kagarko LGA, in Kaduna State, and kidnapped people. The truth is that the miscreants raided that general area and escaped into Kaduna State,” she said.

[DailyTrust]

Ebonyi State government, led by governor Francis Nwifuru has decried the death of two residents at the flyover located opposite the Chuba Okadigbo International Airport, Onueke Ezza South Local Government Area.

DAILY POST reports that two persons were recently killed by a tanker explosion that occurred at the airport flyover.

It took the intervention of the ministry of aviation and transport technology to quench the fire.

The state commissioner for aviation and transport technology, Mrs Ngozi Obichukwu, who spoke with newsmen during the inspection of Chuba Okadigbo Airport Runway, at Onueke Ezza South LGA, revealed the preparedness of the state government to avert a repeat of such incident.

She noted that: “if not for the grace of God, and by the way the flyover was constructed, many lives would have been lost.

“We are still praying God to give eternal rest to those that were killed- the driver and the conductor.

“We won’t want such to be happening at the runway; we are getting it right this time around; some of the things we omitted before have been done right now.”

Obichukwu reiterated the commitment of the state government to ensure that the airport commenced flight operation by May, 2024.

“The Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria, FAAN, requested us to change the runway pattern from concrete to asphalt.

“And the runway is being asphalted now.

“We thought that the project will be ready by August, but the way it is now, we are ready to start operation by May,” she stated.

[DailyPost]

The Federal Government, on Thursday, said it settled for N800 to dollar exchange rate in the 2024 Appropriation Act after considering the average performance of the naira.

It said it avoided basing the foreign exchange benchmark in the 2024 budget on a spot rate, to avoid eventualities and uncertainties.

The Minister of Budget and National Planning, Atiku Bagudu, who spoke with State House correspondents explained that the FG had earlier chosen the projected exchange rate of N750 to the dollar in the 2024 budget which the National Assembly raised to N800 to the dollar,

Bagudu said, “For budgeting purposes, you don’t use the spot rate of anything. Oil prices can go to 120 today, maybe there is a shortage, or maybe there is a collision between two ships that will block a channel.

“It would be foolish to use that as a reference price, I should take a period maybe six months to one year and say let me observe this average behaviour, so you don’t use spot prices. So even with the exchange rate, it is like that.”

He explained further, “Much as we are hoping that it would soon come below, but at the time you are doing the budget, you will take a view on average performance. And that’s what we took.

“We took an average performance of N750 on the executive side and we proposed it to the National Assembly.”

The minister also said that Tinubu regarded the National Assembly’s decision to raise the rate further considering his respect for institutions and democracy.

“So, he respected democracy that even though it was higher than what he submitted, but the institution that says so has the authority to say so and even at the time they say 100 because it’s not an official rate it’s tidal because, with the deregulated market, you no longer have an official rate, it is much lower than even the way the markets are bidding,” the minister said.

The minister noted that the FG is positive that its current measures would soon yield a significant increase in the supply of foreign exchange in the economy.

Bagudu also spoke on the level of borrowing to fund the deficit in the 2024 budget, saying there is a significant difference between 2024 borrowing compared to last year’s.

“In 2023, the budget anticipated a borrowing of close to N14tn. This year’s budget is N9.1 trillion. So we think that is significant.

“Because it’s 2023 took us to about 6.11 per cent of our GDP as borrowing. This one is  3.8 per cent. So the quantum had decreased,” Bagudu added.

The former Kebbi State Governor said the FG will operate strictly within the dictates of fiscal responsibility law in the new year, which provides for the Central Bank of Nigeria to lend to the government through its Ways and Means window, only 5 per cent of the total budget.

He explained, “We will not go outside the law and borrow from ways and means, what is outside the law. So the fiscal responsibility law says, that every year, the central bank can lend the government up to 5 per cent of its budget for the year.

“So if you go out of that, you’re going outside the lawful limit, and that’s what the minister of Finance and Coordinating Minister of the Economy was very clear we are not going to do. We are not going to resort to borrowing outside the law.

“And secondly, as much as possible, we will even borrow away from the central bank because sometimes it’s even cheaper to borrow. So, those are the two elements. So the quantum has decreased, then we will go by the book.”

[Punch]

Paris Saint-Germain resume their Ligue 1 title bid after the winter break against last season’s runners-up Lens as the focus sharpens increasingly on the future of France captain Kylian Mbappe.

The league’s top scorer for each of the past five seasons, Mbappe’s contract with the French champions runs out at the end of June and he is free to sign an agreement to join a new club for the 2024-25 campaign.

PSG president Nasser Al-Khelaifi reiterated his stance this week that the club is the best place for the 25-year-old amid endless speculation he will join Real Madrid in the summer.

“I’m not going to hide that I want Kylian to stay,” Al-Khelaifi told broadcaster RMC.

“The best player in the world is Kylian and the best club for him is Paris.”

Reports in Spain suggest Madrid want Mbappe to commit by January 15, but he insists no decision has been made, and those around him said he would not be rushed into doing so by any ultimatum.

Liverpool have also been linked with the World Cup winner, who has spoken with the Premier League leaders in the past, notably meeting with them when he was still at Monaco in 2017.

While PSG look well on course for a record-extending 12th league crown, and 10th in the past 12 seasons, any sudden developments in the long-running Mbappe saga could unsettle Luis Enrique’s squad.

“We have a lot of very important matches, I ask for you to leave Kylian alone,” said Al-Khelaifi, adamant that whether Mbappe stays or not “is not a question of money”.

The capital club will lose Morocco’s Achraf Hakimi and South Korea international Lee Kang-in to the Africa Cup of Nations and Asian Cup respectively this month, escaping lightly compared to many others.

They travel on Sunday to Lens, whose 11-match unbeaten run was ended by second-placed Nice prior to Christmas.

The Stade Bollaert is not quite the fortness it was last term when Lens failed to win just twice at home and finished a point behind PSG, but it remains a difficult ground for visiting teams.

Lens have won five of their last six at home to clamber back into European competition but were knocked out of the French Cup last weekend by Monaco on penalties.

Nice, who trail PSG by five points, must make do for the next few weeks without top scorer Terem Moffi, who was called up to the Nigeria squad in place of the injured Victor Boniface.

Monaco, in third, have six players on international duty including Japan’s Takumi Minamino. Marseille face a similar headache after finishing 2023 strongly by going six games without defeat.

One to watch: Mohamed-Ali Cho

The France Under-21 international has returned to Ligue 1 with Nice after a difficult 18 months at Real Sociedad. Cho, 19, scored only twice in 40 outings for the Basque club who face PSG in the Champions League last 16.

The former Angers striker, a youth product of PSG and Everton, will look to get his career back on track on the Cote d’Azur and could be brought into the line-up straight away with winger Jeremie Boga at the AFCON with hosts Ivory Coast.

Key stats

6 – games unbeaten for Brest, who have taken 16 of a possible 18 points since late November to climb up to fourth place.

7 – Marseille players away at the Africa Cup of Nations, the most of any Ligue 1 side along with Lorient.

18 – league goals this season for Mbappe, more than twice the total of Monaco’s Wissam Ben Yedder, who is second on the list with eight.

Fixtures (all times GMT)

Friday

Marseille v Strasbourg (20:00)

Saturday

Monaco v Reims (16:00), Rennes v Nice (20:00)

Sunday

Lille v Lorient (12:00), Brest v Montpellier, Metz v Toulouse, Nantes v Clermont (14:00), Le Havre v Lyon (16:05), Lens v Paris Saint-Germain (19:45)

[Vanguard]

…Govt in talk with Boeing, others for cheaper aircraft leases

…Why Nigerian airlines are challenge-Keyamo

The Minister of Aviation and Aerospace Development, Mr Festus Keyamo may have rekindled hope for a national airline for Nigeria, saying the country needs a national airline that befits the status of the country as a giant of Africa.

He disclosed that what he inherited as Nigeria Air was not patriotic enough, maintaining that the project remains suspended until he gets a clear directive from President Bola Ahmed Tinubu on how to go about it to have a national carrier.

The Minister stated this on Thursday while fielding questions from journalists at the end of the in-house inauguration/induction for the newly appointed chief executive officers and directors of the aviation agencies in Abuja.

There are indications that a new national carrier may emerge that will totally be different from Nigeria Air promoted by a former Minister of Aviation, Sen. Hadi Sirika with totally a different name or with the same name but a different structure.

He said, “It is what I have always said. Nigeria Air remains suspended. It remains suspended and very soon, we will get a clear directive on it from Mr. President on how to go about it to have a national carrier. We need a national carrier that befitted the status of Nigeria. What I met on the ground was not patriotic enough”.

The Minister assured that the 18R runway of the Murtala Muhammed Airport, Lagos which had been under repairs for nearly a year would soon be completed, urging airlines to be patient by using the sole runway available for flight operations.

Speaking on the challenges facing the country’s carriers, Keyamo stated that the airlines are challenged by not just a lack of access to loans at a single-digit rate but many other factors such as lack of access to dry-lease at very good terms.

“Our local operators do not have access to aircraft. They are struggling. Most of them do wet leases to meet their local obligations. All over the world, airlines do not on wholesale purchase of aircraft.

“Even the biggest airlines like Emirates, Qatar and British Airways of this world, most of them have access to loans at single digit rate and we are doing 26% interest rate”.

He noted that there is no way the airlines would survive with a Bank interest rate of 26%, explaining that as a government, they have spoken to aircraft giants like Boeing and others to bring in aircraft to the domestic airlines for them to have access to leases at very good terms.

“This is so, so that when we have enough aircraft, there would be competition among the airlines. We can cross that path”, he added.

On the astronomic fares charged by foreign airlines, he said it is so because foreign airlines are complaining about it and were not sure when they would get their money back.

“Most of them open the highest ticket inventory or the most expensive part of the tickets to Nigerian travellers because according to them before now, they did not know whether it would take one year or two years to get their money back. They are raising fares because of the devaluation of their money. They look at the length it takes them to get their money”.

“The government is addressing that issue now. Our airlines do not have enough aircraft to service many of the routes they have been designated under the reciprocal right given to them under the Bilateral Air Services Agreement (BASA) to service many routes”.

“If for instance, BA is doing 14 frequencies to Nigeria every week and United Nigeria and Air Peace are doing 14 flights to the UK, prices will crash. Why can’t they do it? It is because they don’t have access to aircraft while BA has access to aeroplanes at a single-digit interest rate”