Politics
Supreme Court Upholds Election of Governors Uzodimma, Diri, Ododo
The Supreme Court of Nigeria on Friday delivered a series of landmark judgments, affirming the elections of Governors Hope Uzodimma of Imo State, Douye Diri of Bayelsa State, and Usman Ododo of Kogi State, following the November 11, 2023 off-cycle governorship polls.
Imo State: Hope Uzodimma’s Victory Confirmed
Governor Hope Uzodimma of Imo State, who was declared the winner of the gubernatorial election by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) with 540,308 votes, has had his victory upheld by the Supreme Court.
Uzodimma had defeated Samuel Anyanwu of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), who polled 71,503 votes, and Athan Achonu of the Labour Party (LP), who secured 64,081 votes.
After losing at both the Governorship Election Petition Tribunal and the Court of Appeal, the PDP and LP candidates sought the Supreme Court’s intervention, challenging Uzodimma’s victory.
However, in a unanimous decision delivered by Justice Mohammed Baba Idris, the Supreme Court dismissed the appeals filed by the PDP and LP, citing a lack of merit.
The court held that the petitioners failed to establish their claims of overvoting and electoral malpractices, thereby affirming Uzodimma as the duly elected governor of Imo State.
Kogi State: Ododo’s Election Stands
In Kogi State, the Supreme Court also upheld the election of Governor Usman Ododo of the All Progressives Congress (APC). Ododo had been declared the winner by INEC, having secured 446,237 votes to defeat his main rival, Murtala Ajaka of the Social Democratic Party (SDP), who garnered 259,052 votes.
Ajaka had challenged the election results, alleging substantial non-compliance with the Electoral Act. However, the Supreme Court, in a unanimous judgment, dismissed Ajaka’s appeal, ruling that the allegations were unproven. The court further noted that claims of age falsification and certificate forgery were pre-election matters that should have been addressed at the Federal High Court, which has jurisdiction over such issues.
Bayelsa State: Diri’s Re-election Validated
Similarly, the Supreme Court affirmed the re-election of Senator Douye Diri as the Governor of Bayelsa State. Diri, who won the election with 175,196 votes, had his victory contested by Timipre Sylva of the APC, who polled 110,108 votes. Sylva had filed an appeal against Diri’s victory, but the apex court dismissed the appeal for lacking merit.
A five-member panel led by Justice Lawal Garba ruled that Sylva’s appeal was an abuse of the court process, as he had filed two notices of appeal, which contravened the provisions of the 1999 Constitution that permit only a single appeal against a tribunal judgment. The court thereby upheld the decision of the Court of Appeal, which had earlier dismissed Sylva’s case.
With these rulings, the Supreme Court has brought finality to the governorship elections in Imo, Kogi, and Bayelsa states, reaffirming the victories of Governors Hope Uzodimma, Usman Ododo, and Douye Diri, respectively.
The Omoluabi Progressives, a political faction led by former Osun State Governor Rauf Aregbesola, has formally announced its departure from the All Progressives Congress (APC), citing internal party crises, ostracisation, and expulsions of its leaders without fair hearing.
The group’s decision, announced in a statement by its Organising and Publicity Secretary, Oluwaseun Abosede, followed a consensus reached during its monthly meeting in Ilesa on Sunday.
Members from all 332 wards in Osun State participated in a voice vote affirming their readiness to align with a new political structure ahead of the 2026 governorship election.
Abosede’s statement noted the group’s dissatisfaction with the APC’s handling of intra-party conflicts, which she said contributed to the party’s poor performance in the last election cycle.
In his remarks, former Minister of Interior Rauf Aregbesola praised the group’s unity and commitment to its principles of integrity and good governance.
“I am indeed happy that all of you have spoken with one voice… to further raise the level of prosperity of our dear state through responsible leadership,” Aregbesola said. “We are open to all, regardless of political, religious, or socio-cultural leanings. By the grace of God, we shall succeed.”
Aregbesola assured members that efforts to reposition the group for future political engagements were already underway, with results expected soon.
APC Reacts: “Good Riddance to Bad Rubbish”
In response, the Osun State chapter of the APC dismissed the exit as inconsequential, labeling the Omoluabi Progressives a faction of “political gangbangers.”
Chief Kola Olabisi, the APC spokesperson in the state, stated, “In fact, the preposterous announcement of the so-called Omoluabi Progressives to quit the APC is a good riddance to bad rubbish.”
He described the group as a collection of “political vagabonds” and “agents of the PDP in Osun State,” who, according to him, had already detached themselves from the APC since 2022.
“How would any rational human being who has been suspended or expelled announce his resignation to the whole world again? Is that not an example of superfluity?” Olabisi asked rhetorically.
He added that the APC remains stronger and more unified without the dissidents and predicted that the move would mark the “political funeral” of the Omoluabi Progressives in the 2026 governorship election.
Olabisi concluded by asserting that the APC would continue to grow and overcome what he termed “antics of political renegades,” urging party faithful to disregard the developments.
The impeached Speaker of the Lagos State House of Assembly, Mudashiru Obasa, has described the corruption allegations leading to his removal as “fictitious and unsubstantiated.”
Speaking on Saturday during a welcome rally at his residence in the Government Reserved Area (GRA), Ikeja, Obasa maintained that his impeachment process was fraught with irregularities.
Obasa alleged that his removal was orchestrated during his absence from the country, accusing the Lagos State Commissioner of Police of playing a key role in facilitating the process.
According to him, security operatives led by the police commissioner invaded the assembly complex and his residences in Agege and Ikeja, detaining his family members with over 200 officers deployed.
Addressing the allegations of misappropriation, including claims that a gate construction cost N16 billion, Obasa dismissed them as baseless. Mocking the accusation, he said, “Is it the wall of Jericho?”
The former speaker clarified that he was not intimidated by his impeachment, stating, “I am not afraid of being removed, after all, it is not my father’s chieftaincy title. I am representing my people, and they have returned me six times. If you want to do anything, do it well.”
Obasa criticized the manner in which the impeachment was carried out, citing precedents where removals within the assembly adhered to established norms.
He referenced the impeachment of former Speaker Rt. Hon. Jokotola Pelumi and former Deputy Speaker Hon. Adefunmilayo Tejuosho, noting that neither process involved police intervention.
“The Lagos State House of Assembly is above the common standard of excellence. An innocent person should not be discredited without clear evidence of wrongdoing,” he added.
Obasa expressed gratitude to the members of the Governance Advisory Council and Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu, whom he described as a brother.
Mudashiru Obasa was impeached on January 13 by over two-thirds of the 40-member legislative house over alleged misconduct and other offences.
His deputy, Mojisola Meranda, was immediately sworn in as the new Speaker, making history as the first female to occupy the position in Lagos State.
Donald Trump was sworn in for a historic second term as president on Monday, pledging a blitz of immediate orders on immigration and the US culture wars as he caps his extraordinary comeback.
With one hand raised in the air and the other on a Bible given to him by his mother, the 47th US president solemnly took the oath of office beneath the huge Rotunda of the US Capitol.
Republican Trump and outgoing Democratic President Joe Biden had earlier traveled by motorcade together to the Capitol, where the ceremony was being held indoors — and with a much smaller crowd — for the first time in decades due to frigid weather.
Earlier, they and their spouses met for a traditional tea at the White House.
“Welcome home,” Biden said to Trump as he and First Lady Jill Biden greeted their successors at the front door to the presidential residence.
Trump, 78, was a political outsider at his first inauguration in 2017 as the 45th president, but this time around he is surrounded by America’s wealthy and powerful.
The world’s richest man, Elon Musk, Meta boss Mark Zuckerberg, Amazon chief Jeff Bezos and Google CEO Sundar Pichai all had prime seats in the Capitol alongside Trump’s family and cabinet members.
Musk, who bankrolled Trump’s election campaign to the tune of a quarter of a billion dollars and promotes far-right policies on the X social network, will lead a cost-cutting drive in the new administration.
While Trump refused to attend Biden’s 2021 inauguration after falsely claiming electoral fraud by the Democrat, this time Biden has been keen to restore the sense of tradition.
Biden joined former presidents Barack Obama, George W. Bush and Bill Clinton at the Capitol. Former first ladies Hillary Clinton and Laura Bush were there but ex-first lady Michelle Obama pointedly stayed away.
– ‘American decline’ –
Unusually for an inauguration where foreign leaders are normally not invited, Argentina’s hard-right president Javier Milei was attending, along with Italy’s far-right Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni.
The bitter cold weather has forced Trump’s inauguration indoors for the first time since Ronald Reagan’s in 1985, missing out on the customary massive crowds along the National Mall.
Behind the pomp and ceremony, the billionaire is kickstarting his nationalist, right-wing agenda with a barrage of around 100 executive orders undoing Biden’s legacy.
Trump will declare a national emergency at the Mexico border, give the US military a key role on the frontier, and end birthright citizenship, as he seeks clamp down on undocumented migrants, an official from his incoming administration
Trump has pledged to start immediate deportations of undocumented migrants.
He will also sign an order for the US government to recognize only two biological sexes and seek to eliminate federal government diversity programs as he takes office.
The announcement of the hardline policies came a day after Trump had promised a “brand new day” and to end “four years of American decline.”
“I will act with historic speed and strength and fix every single crisis facing our country,” Trump told an inauguration eve rally where he danced with the Village People band.
– ‘Ecstatic’ –
Despite promising a new “golden era,” populist Trump also campaigned on often apocalyptic depictions of the country in his victorious election campaign against Democratic Vice President Kamala Harris in November.
At sunrise on Monday, the National Mall, where the inauguration was originally due to be held, was largely empty — save for the Fairchild family, who traveled from Michigan to pay tribute to Trump.
“Ecstatic,” said grandmother Barb, when asked how they were feeling, adding she thought the move indoors was made “to protect our president.”
With minutes left in his presidency, Biden issued extraordinary pre-emptive pardons for his brothers and sister to shield them from “baseless and politically motivated investigations.”
He also pardoned former Covid-19 advisor Anthony Fauci, retired general Mark Milley, and members of a US House committee probing the violent January 6, 2021 US Capitol attack by Trump’s supporters.
Biden said he had also restored the tradition of leaving a letter for his successor — though he said the contents were between him and Trump.
Trump will make history by replacing Biden as the oldest president to be sworn in. He is also just the second president in US history to return to power after being voted out, after Grover Cleveland in 1893.
Another first is Trump’s criminal record, related to paying a porn star hush money during his first presidential run — and a string of far more serious criminal probes that were dropped once he won the election in November.
For the rest of the world, Trump’s return means expecting the unexpected.
From promising sweeping tariffs, to making territorial threats to Greenland and Panama and calling US aid for Ukraine into question, Trump looks set to rattle the global order once again.
Russian President Vladimir Putin congratulated Trump ahead of the inauguration and said Monday he was open to talks on the Ukraine conflict, adding he hoped any settlement would ensure “lasting peace”.
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