Court sacks Edo APC candidate | Nairalaw

The Federal High Court sitting in Benin City has sacked Mr.
Osaro Obaze as the All Progressives Congress (APC) candidate for
Oredo East Constituency in the House of Assembly election scheduled
to hold this Saturday.

Justice Damilola Ajayi in his ruling upheld Mr. Ekhosuehi
Aiguobahi as the legitimate candidate of the APC.

Ekhosuehi has filed the case asking the court to name him as the
duly elected candidate of the APC for Oredo East Constituency.

Justice Ajayi ruled that Ekhosuehi won last year primary of the
party and therefore remains the rightful candidate for the March 9
election.

Reacting to the judgment, Obaze said he was unfazed by the court
judgment as he has put machinery in motion to appeal the
decision.

He said he remained the party’s candidate for the election.

“My supporters should come out enmasse to vote for me on
Saturday. I have the INEC form which was given to me as the
candidate who won the primary. They should remain calm.”

Edo State spokesman of the APC, Mr. Chris Azebamwan, said Obaze
remained the party’s candidate for the constituency.

“We hereby re-affirm Obaze as the candidate of the APC in Oredo
East Constituency, and hereby reassure our teeming supporters to
keep faith and remain steadfast. The leadership of our great party
will do everything necessary, and explore all legal options to
ensure that the mandate which we collectively gave Obaze to fly our
flag in the election of Saturday, March 9 remains inviolate.”

2019 Elections: NAF Deploys ISR Aircraft for
Intelligence Gathering

NAF Air Officers at meeting with CAS

In line with the directives of the Chief of Defence Staff (CDS),
General Abayomi Olonisakin, to all Services on the need to ensure
peaceful conduct of the forthcoming Gubernatorial and States’ House
of Assembly elections, the Chief of the Air Staff (CAS), Air
Marshal Sadique Abubakar, has directed Air Officers Commanding
(AOCs) and field commanders to ensure safety of lives and
properties in their various locations.

This is in addition to the deployment of NAF aircraft, including
Intelligence, Surveillance and Reconnaissance (ISR) platforms, to
various flash points in support of the Nigeria Police and other
security agencies for the peaceful conduct of the elections.

The CAS stated this during his operational briefing to Principal
Staff Officers (PSOs) and AOCs held today, 6 March 2019, at the
Headquarters, NAF Abuja. The meeting also afforded the AOCs the
opportunity to give updates on the level of preparedness and the
security arrangements put in place for the conduct of the elections
in their various areas of responsibilities (AORs).

During the meeting, Air Marshal Abubakar noted that contingency
plans have been emplaced in case of any break down of law and order
while NAF Hospitals and medical centres have been put on alert to
assist in attending to any medical emergencies. The CAS emphasized
that the responsibility of Commanders is to ensure security of
lives and property of Nigerians. He noted that no excuse would be
tolerated for any failure in this regard.

He also reminded AOCs that they must ensure that all NAF
personnel remain professional in the discharge of their duties
whilst ensuring that no individual or group of individuals is
allowed to undermine the electoral process.

He stressed that NAF personnel must endeavour to operate in
accordance with the Code of Conduct promulgated by Defence
Headquarters (DHQ) for members of the Armed Forces during
elections. They must sternly resist any entreaties by unscrupulous
politicians to get involved in partisan politics. Air Marshal
Abubakar therefore urged all eligible voters to come out en-masse
to vote for the candidates of their choice.

The CAS also noted that, as part of its constitutional role of
providing aid to civil authority, the NAF assisted the Independent
National Electoral Commission (INEC) in successfully airlifting a
total of 633,790 Kg of electoral materials to 31 different
locations across the country from 12 February to 3 March 2019. He
highlighted that 8 NAF aircraft were employed in the airlift
operation, flying a total of about 340 hours in 257 sorties with
about 120 crew members involved, comprising pilots, technicians and
other specialties operating on an almost round the clock basis.

IBIKUNLE DARAMOLA
Air Commodore
Director of Public Relations and Information
Nigerian Air Force