Vanguard columnist, Dr Ugoji Egbujo, in his column 23 November 2024 went down memory lane of how election rigging set the western region on fire soon after independence, bringing down the first republic. The crisis, he argued, wasn’t just frustration and impatience but also a rejection of the courts. According to him, “in the fourth republic, politics degenerated precipitously into …

Renowned economist, Prof Pat Utomi, has claimed that the nation is presently a failure, made worse by the lack of alternative thinking to turn things around. According to Utomi, the lack of alternative thinking was worsened by a total capture of the legislature and the judiciary, as he described the present National Assembly as the worst thing that happened to …

The nation has been agog with news of the ongoing face-off between the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) and the immediate past Governor of Kogi State, Alhaji Yahaya Bello and the others over the commission’s attempt to arrest Bello in connection with alleged official corruption involving the sum of N80.2 billion which he allegedly misappropriated while in office for …

Charges that the judiciary is complicit in the executive rascality that has seized this country since the Fourth Republic began in 1999 never cease to rear its ugly head. The charges are not from aggrieved politicians alone but also from the top echelon of the Bar. Retired judges have also been known to express dissatisfaction at the performance of some …

Ondo State Governor, Hon. Lucky Aiyedatiwa has eulogised the late former governor of the state, Arakunrin Rotimi Akeredolu, saying the late Akeredolu would be remembered for his efforts in strengthening the judicial system in the state. Aiyedatiwa said his former boss did well in using the rule of law to fight against crimes and criminalities while in office. The governor …

The National Chairman, Inter-Party Advisory Council (IPAC), Yabagi Sani has charged the judicial system to show its commitment to the nation’s democratic processes. The call was not unrelated to the judgements surrounding several election petitions tribunals in the country. He stated this during his appearance on Channels Television’s Sunrise Daily programme on Thursday, adding that with the nature of such …

Former Senate President, Dr. Ahmad Ibrahim Lawan, on Thursday said the victory of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu and the Vice President Kashim Shettima at the Presidential Election Petitions Court (PEPC) has restored the confidence of Nigerians in the nation’s electoral processes and the judiciary. Reacting to the outcome of the three petitions filed against the results of the 2023 presidential …

The Governor of Rivers State, Barrister Nyesom Wike has named a block in the newly-inaugurated Justice Iche Ndu Magistrates Court Complex in the state after his wife, Justice Eberechi Nyesom Wike. The governor, who disclosed this during the inauguration of the complex on Thursday, also named other blocks after some top judicial officers in the state. Wike said he decided …

The judiciary has been warned against interfering with the electoral processes in Adamawa State following last Sunday’s false declaration of a winner of the supplementary elections held in the state a day earlier. The state’s Resident Electoral Commissioner (REC), Barrister Hudu Yunusa-Ari had announced Senator Aishatu Dahiru Ahmed (well known as Binani), the governorship candidate of the All Progressives Congress, …

Penultimate Tuesday, I flew from Lagos to Abuja and thereafter travelled by road to Lokoja, the capital of Kogi state, to witness activities marking the retirement of a Kogi State High Court judge, Hon. Justice Alaba Andrew Omolaye-Ajileye, as he attained the age of 65 years. The exit of this quintessential, cerebral, bold, courageous, even audacious, judge from the Bench …