Adamu, APC Leaders Visit Tinubu, Consider S’South for Senate President, N’West for Speaker

•Other interests also  pushing north central for speakership 

•Another opposition party asks court to stop Tinubu’s swearing-in 33 days to inauguration 

•US grants Nigerians permission to protest against presidential poll

Chuks Okocha, Emmanuel Addeh  Adedayo Akinwale and Alex Enumah in Abuja

National Chairman of All Progressives Congress (APC), Senator Abdullahi Adamu, and other prominent party leaders, yesterday, visited the president-elect, Bola Tinubu, who returned to the country on Monday after a month stay in France.

Tinubu had gone to take a rest after an exhausting presidential campaign, which culminated in the election on February 25.

Other APC leaders on the national chairman’s entourage during the visit included Speaker of the House of Representatives, Hon. Femi Gbajabiamila; Ekiti State Governor Biodun Oyebanji; Senators Godswill Akpabio, Jibrin Barau, Olamilekan Adeola, Opeyemi Bamidele, Emma Bwacha, and Tokunbo Abiru; and Hon. James Faleke.

Indications, however, emerged from the visit that the party leadership might have decided on the zoning formular for the 10th National Assembly leadership, with the South-south allegedly penciled in for senate president while the North West is being considered for speakership.

Although details of the development have yet to be made public or concluded as discussions were still ongoing, there were other interests said to be pushing the North Central for speakership, based on their support during the presidential poll.

The visit to the president-elect had come amid uncertainty over the contest for principal offices of the incoming 10th National Assembly. The APC National Working Committee (NWC) appeared helpless in the face of an unwieldy number of aspirants jostling for the National Assembly leadership positions.

But it seemed the party has begun to make a headway with the purported agreement to zone the two most import offices – the senate presidency and speakership – to the south-south and north west respectively.

Meanwhile, the presidential candidate of Hope Democratic Party (HDP) in the 2019 general election, Chief Ambrose Owuru, yesterday, filed a fresh suit at the Court of Appeal, Abuja, against the swearing-in of the president-elect, some 33 days to May 29 handover date.

That was as the United States Department of the Interior, through the National Park Service, granted the request of protesters under the Coalition of Nigerian Organisations in the Americas, to demonstrate against the allegedly “flawed” conduct of the February 25 presidential election in Nigeria.

Tinubu returned to Nigeria from France on Monday after a month’s rest ahead of his inauguration on May 29.

Adamu, too, had been out of the country for about two weeks but resumed at the national secretariat of APC yesterday before heading to Tinubu’s house in Asokoro.

The APC national chairman resumed a day to the expiration of the seven days ultimatum given him last week by APC National Vice Chairman, North-west, Dr. Salihu Lukman, who threatened to drag him to court if he refused to convene the National Executive Committee (NEC) meeting of the party.

Although details of the meeting with Tinubu were still sketchy at the time of filing this report, it might not be unconnected with the zoning of leadership positions of the 10th National Assembly.

But the inability of the NWC to streamline the number of contestants by zoning the leadership positions of the 10th Assembly might have made the contest somewhat cumbersome.

At the moment, contestants for Senate President include Senator Barau Jibrin  (Kano State, North-west); former governor of Zamfara State, Abdul Aziz Yari (Zamfara State, North-west); Senator Orji Uzo Kalu (Abia State, South-east);  Senator Osita Izunanso (Imo State, South-east); Senator Godswill Akpabio (Akwa Ibom State, South-south); and  Senator Sani Musa (Niger State, North-central).

Similarly, contestants for Speaker of the House of Representatives include Hon. Ahmed Idris Wase (Plateau State, North-central); Hon. Mukhtar Betara (Borno State, North-east); Hon. Abbas Tajudeen (Kaduna State, North-west); Hon. Sada Soli (Katsina State, North-west); and Hon. Aminu Jaji (Zamfara State, North-west).

Speaking with journalists after the meeting with Tinubu, Akpabio said his record qualified him for the 10th Senate presidency.

“My records will earn me the Senate presidency,” he boasted.

Nonetheless, the NWC of the party is scheduled to meet for its weekly meeting today. It is expected that the zoning of the leadership of the 10th National Assembly would be a key agenda at today’s meeting.

Owuru Asks Appeal Court to Stop Tinubu’s Inauguration

Presidential candidate of Hope Democratic Party (HDP) in the 2019 elections, Chief Ambrose Owuru, filed a fresh suit at the Court of Appeal in Abuja against the May 29 inauguration of the president-elect, Bola Tinubu.

Owuru, who participated in the 2019 presidential election on the platform of Hope Democratic Party (HDP), is asking for an order prohibiting President Muhammadu Buhari, the Attorney General of the Federation (AGF), and the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) from swearing-in Tinubu as President on May 29.

In the fresh suit marked CA/CV/259/2023, the plaintiff also wants the court stop Buhari, AGF and INEC from taking any further steps on the 2023 presidential election that produced Tinubu as winner.

Owuru predicated his case against the swearing-in of Tinubu or anybody else as successor to Buhari on the grounds that he was the constitutionally adjudged winner of the 2019 election and had not served his tenure as required by law.

Among others, Owuru insisted that Buhari had been usurping his tenure since 2019 because the Supreme Court had not determined his petition filed in 2019 in which he challenged the purported declaration of Buhari as winner of the poll.

Among the reliefs he sought from the court were an order of prohibitory injunction compelling Buhari, AGF and INEC, their servants, agents and privies to preserve and give due cognisance and abstain from any further undertaking or engaging in any act of usurpation of adjudged acquired constitutional rights and mandate as winner of the 2019 presidential election.

Owuru also prayed for an order directing and placing on notice that any form of handover inauguration, organised and superintended by Buhari on May 29, 2023 outside the adjudged winner of the 2019 presidential election, subject of the pending appeal, remained and was viewed as an “interim place holder” administration pending the hearing and determination of his substantive appeal on constitutional interpretation thereof.

Listed as respondents in the motion on notice were Buhari, the AGF, and INEC as first to third, respectively.

The motion on notice filed on his behalf by Mr Odion Peter, has been served on Buhari and the AGF through their counsel, Mrs Maimuna Lami Ashiru of the Federal Ministry of Justice in Abuja, while that of INEC was served through the Head of Legal Department and Senior Advocate of Nigeria (SAN), Mr S. O Ibrahim.

The motion was supported by an eight-paragraph affidavit praying the Court of Appeal for expeditious hearing before the inauguration of Tinubu.

The affidavit deposed to by an Abuja-based legal practitioner, Adebayo Anafowode, and filed at the Court of Appeal in Abuja, expressed apprehension that Owuru’s suit against Buhari would be rendered nugatory unless given quick hearing.

No date has been fixed for hearing on the matter.

 US Grants Nigerians Right to Protest against Presidential Poll

The United States Department of the Interior, through the National Park Service, granted the request of protesters under the Coalition of Nigerian Organisations in the Americas to demonstrate against the “flawed” conduct of the February 25 presidential election in Nigeria.

The country’s agreement to the appeal and issuance of a public gathering permit followed a letter written by the leader of the group, Franklin Ekechukwu, to the US authorities.

A letter seen by THISDAY indicated that the anticipated number of participants would be about 2,000 and on the conditions that the applicant and all participants authorised must comply with all conditions of the permit and with all reasonable directions of the United States Park Police.

It stressed that all sidewalks, walkways, and roadways must remain unobstructed to allow for the reasonable use of the areas by pedestrians, vehicles and other park visitors.

“In accordance with Park Regulations as contained in C.F.R.. Title 36, Chapter 1, Section 7.96, permission is granted to conduct a public gathering,” the letter stressed.

The Nigerian group, which fixed the demonstration for May 6, at the Lafayette Park-Southwest Quadrant from 9am, had listed part of the reasons for the event as the need to ensure the judiciary did the right thing in examining the various cases before it with regard to the presidential election.

The group said, “The conduct of Nigerian presidential election on February 25th, 2023 did not follow the guidelines, electoral law and the constitution of Nigeria, as the cases are now in the court.

“We Nigerians living in the United States are calling the judiciary to do the right thing by adhering to the constitution and electoral law of Nigeria in adjudicating the cases.

“We are demonstrating to call the attention of US government and Biden administration to the on-going security apparatus harassment, threats, and abuse of human rights of citizens, to hold the judiciary at high standard and uphold its promise of multilateralism.”