Skip to main content

Presidential Bid-The CBN Governor, Godwin Emefiele Accuses The National Electoral Commission, INEC, Of Plot To Disqualify Him

The governor of Central Bank of Nigeria, CBN, Mr. Godwin Emefiele, has accused the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, of a plot to disqualify him from contesting in the bid for the Presidency of Nigeria.

 Emefiele, approached the Federal High Court sitting in Abuja, yesterday, he filed a suit through his team of lawyers, led by Mike Ozekhome, SAN.

He explained to the court that both INEC and the Attorney-General of the Federation, AGF, Mr. Abubakar Malami, SAN, are “making frantic efforts” to ensure that he does not participate in the presidential primaries he said has been scheduled for May 30 and June 1.

Consequently, he prayed the court to order INEC and the AGF to maintain status quo ante bellum (allow things to remain the way they are) and not compel him to resign from his position as CBN Governor, until 30 days to the general elections.

He urged the court to, in the interim, restrain the two defendants from taking any step that could push him out of office, pending the determination of the suit.

"My lord, by Wednesday, May 11, 2022, the timeline for collecting the form for expression of interest will expire.

The timeline for the congresses and conventions of the political parties for the presidential election, which he is interested in, comes up on the 30th of May.

“This motion, is therefore, seeking that the court should grant an order for maintenance of status quo.

"Let my lord not allow anybody to do anything,” Ozekhome pleaded while moving Emefiele’s ex-parte application that was supported with an affidavit of urgency.

Adducing reasons he would not resign as CBN governor, Emefiele, contended that not being a political appointee, he was not caught up by section 84 (12) of the new Electoral Act, since he is a public servant.

The plaintiff further drew the attention of the court to a subsisting judgement of the Federal High Court in Umuahia, which he said voided section 84 (12) of the Electoral Act, 2022.

He prayed the court to invoke section 318 of the 1999 Constitution, as amended, and bar the defendents from asking him to vacate his office, until 30 days to the presidential election.

Meanwhile, in a bench ruling yesterday, Justice Ahmed Mohammed rejected Emefiele’s ex-parte application, and directed him to go and put the two defendants on notice and also serve them with all the relevant processes in the matter.

Justice Mohammed ordered the defendants to appear before him on May 12 and show cause why the plaintiff’s prayers should not be granted.

Source: The Vanguard

Comments

Post a Comment

Type your comments here

Popular posts from this blog

THE SARKIN BAI AND KINGMAKER MUKTAR ADNAN, IS DEAD.

Kano Emirate’s longest  serving kingmaker and former district head of Dambatta, Mukhtar Adnan, has died.
3 comments
Read more

Video Update - Bianca Ojukwu And Willie Obiano's Wife Saga

The Internet is buzzing, there is a media uproar, the media outlets are now giving a clearer version of what happened between the former beauty queen and wife to the late warlord, Bianca Ojukwu and the wife of the former Governor of Anambra State Ebelechukwu Willie Obiano. Fresh stories indicate that Bianca Ojukwu initiated the slap. She slapped Willie Obiano's wife and it is not the other way round as earlier reported. The moment Bianca slapped Obiano’s wife during Soludo’s inauguration happened thus. The scuffle occurred on Thursday at the inauguration of Chukwuma Soludo as governor of the state. Soludo was sworn in at the government house in Anambra. Dignitaries, including Obiano, were already seated when Ebelechukwu Obiano, Willie Obiano's wife stood up from her seat and moved to where Bianca, widow of Chukwuemeka Ojukwu, was seated and spoke to her. Although Ebelechukwu was inaudible, the video showed how Bianca rose and gave her a slap, leading to a commotion. Whichever w...
3 comments
Read more

Great News! Drug Charges Dropped!-Blessing Okagbare

  There were strong indications yesterday that the United States may have dropped ‘all charges’ against Nigerian sprinter, Blessing Okagbare, who is serving a 10-year ban over drugs offences. Okagbare was provisionally suspended for testing positive for human growth hormone in July 2021, just hours before her 100m semifinals at Tokyo Olympics. She was later handed a 10-year ban by the world anti-doping agency (WADA). Before then, Okagbare was under investigation by an American agency for some other misdemeanours. The U.S. Federal authorities had searched Okagbare’s cellphone on her return to the country from the Tokyo Olympics and found she had frequently communicated with Eric Lira, a kinesiologist and naturopathic doctor, who was said to have brought ‘misbranded’ versions of the drugs to the U.S. from Central and South America before distributing them to athletes. But a source close to World Athletics told The Guardian yesterday that the U.S. has dropped ‘all charges’ against Oka...
1 comment
Read more