Politics

A chieftain of Nigeria’s ruling party denies drafting judgment for election tribunal as rumours swirl

Published

1 year ago

August 7, 2023

Nigeria’s former Minister of Works and Housing, and chieftain of the ruling All Progressive Congress (APC), Babatunde Fashola SAN, has denied reports that he was involved in drafting the judgment for the Presidential Election Petition Tribunal (PEPT) judges.

The former Lagos State governor in a statement signed by his Special Adviser, Media, Hakeem Bello, expressed his disappointment with the spread of this false information on social media platforms.

Allegations that Fashola, a senior advocate, was involved in helping to sway the election tribunal’s decision in his party’s favour, went viral on social media last week following the conclusion of hearings on the petitions from opposition challenging APC victory at the presidential poll held in February.

Fashola has started the process of submitting legal petitions to the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) and the operator of the microblogging website, Twitter in response to the insulting tweets and online publications.

He encouraged the appropriate security services to take the matter extremely seriously because it undermined judicial independence.

Tinubu, the standard bearer of the APC, was declared the winner of the February 25 election after scoring 8,794,726 votes, while the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and its presidential candidate, Atiku Abubakar, and Peter Obi, the Labour Party (LP) candidate, are challenging Tinubu’s victory at the PEPT.

Meanwhile, the election tribunal is yet to announce a set date for its pronouncement on the election.

Related Topics:Babatunde Fashola Featured Nigeria

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Politics

Mauritius’ Prime Minister to double as Finance Minister

Published

3 hours ago

November 23, 2024

Ifeoluwa Dada

In an effort to maintain a tight eye on the economy, Mauritius’ Prime Minister, Navin Ramgoolam, who took office this month following a resounding election victory, said on Friday that he would retain the position of finance minister for himself.

“We are doing an audit of the economy to see to what extent the outgoing government has destroyed it,” Ramgoolam told reporters in the capital Port Louis after he presided over the swearing-in of other ministers.

Ten years after he stepped down as prime minister, the seasoned politician returned to the position when his Alliance du Changement (ADC) alliance won 60 of the 62 seats in the national legislature.

The 77-year-old Ramgoolam said earlier this week that he would be auditing governmental finances. Before this, he was prime minister from 1995 to 2000 and again from 2005 to 2014.

Ramgoolam started a campaign in 2006 to streamline taxes and reduce bureaucracy to diversify the $10 billion economy beyond exports of sugar, textiles, and tourism.

Since then, the 1.3 million-person nation, which positions itself as a bridge between Africa and Asia, has developed into a major offshore financial hub and has been rated by the World Bank as the easiest location to do business in Africa regularly.

Politics

Mali’s junta names spokesman Abdoulaye Maiga new Prime Minister

Published

23 hours ago

November 22, 2024

Ifeoluwa Dada

A day after dismissing Choguel Maiga for criticising the government, Mali’s governing junta named its spokesperson, Abdoulaye Maiga, as Prime Minister on Thursday, according to state broadcaster, ORTM.

A source close to Choguel Maiga told Reuters that the ruling generals were incensed by Maiga’s remarks over the weekend denouncing the junta’s inability to hold elections within the 24-month timeframe given for the return to democracy.

After promising to hold elections in February, the military authorities, who took control in two separate coups in 2020 and 2021, have put off the poll indefinitely, citing technological difficulties.

Choguel Maiga’s firing coincides with indications of growing discontent and disarray among Mali politicians, even those who first supported the coup and collaborated with the junta.

As the wait for elections continues, Choguel Maiga, a civilian prime minister who was installed by the military junta in 2021, is the most recent to lose support.

He was cited on Saturday as claiming he learnt of the junta’s decision via the media and that there had been no discussion regarding the delay of the elections inside the cabinet.

“It’s all happening in total secrecy, without the prime minister’s knowledge,” Choguel Maiga told reporters.

Before then, he had frequently stood up for Mali’s junta against criticism from foreign friends and neighbours in West Africa who denounced its repeated election delays and military collaboration with Russian mercenaries.

As government spokesperson, Abdoulaye Maiga, the new prime minister, has also made strong public remarks against France, the previous colonial master. One such speech was demanding French President Emmanuel Macron to stop his “neocolonial” and “condescending” behaviour.

Abdoulaye Maiga and Assimi Goita, the leaders of the junta, announced they had kept all of the important cabinet ministers in their portfolios in the new administration in a statement that was broadcast on state television ORTM.

The announcement said that Abdoulaye Maiga will remain minister of territory administration.