The Governorship Election Petition Tribunal sitting in Kaduna has declared the Kaduna governorship election inconclusive.

The petition was filed by the Peoples Democratic Party’s candidate, Isah Mohammed Ashiru against Uba Sani of the All Progressives Congress in the 2023 governorship election held in the state on March 18, 2023.

In a split decision of a ratio of 2:1, the three-man tribunal panel led by Justice Victor Oviawe declared that the election was inconclusive and thus directed that a supplementary election should be held by the Independent National Electoral Commission within 90 days.

The president-elect, Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu is set to travel out of the country once again any moment from now.

TrackNews gathered that his spokeman, Tunde Rahmon, confirmed the travel plans and said “The President-elect, Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu, may travel out. But definitely not tomorrow.”

Tinubu is reportedly running away from all the drama about the zoning of leadership positions of the 10th National Assembly.

This is just as northern youths, under the aegis of Arewa Youths Consultative Forum (AYCF), have called on Tinubu to probe appointees of President Muhammadu Buhari after his inauguration.

Speaking with LEADERSHIP in Kaduna, the president of AYCF, Alhaji Yerima Shettima, said Tinubu should go ahead and probe some of President Buhari’s appointees if they are found wanting.

AYCF said Tinubu as a democrat should fight corruption, follow due process and strengthen institutions of government for democracy to strive. “We can’t preempt the incoming administration of Tinubu but if the appointees of President Muhammadu Buhari are found wanting the new president can probe them.

The lawmaker from Borno State, Muktar Betara, has accused the Speaker of the House of Representatives, Femi Gbajabiamila, of allegedly sponsoring “an unpopular candidate” to succeed him.

Betara stated this while officially declaring his intention to contest the speakership position at the Transcorp Hilton hotel in Abuja on Monday.

TrackNews reports that the National Working Committee of the All Progressives Congress (NWC) on Monday evening officially zoned the position of the Speaker to the North-West, while the Deputy Speaker was zoned to the South-East.

With the official announcement of the zoning formular of the All Progressives Congress, APC for the 10th National Assembly, a frontline candidate for the Office of the Speaker, Honorable Benjamin Kalu has officially withdrawn from the race and has now declared his intention to run for the Office of Deputy Speaker.

Kalu, stated this today via a press statement made available to the members of the press.

In the statement Kalu who represents Bende Federal Constituency, Abia State, extended his gratitude and appreciation to all who supported him while he vied for the Speakership position of the 10th Assembly because he much believed this position was ideal for the Southeast region, as it has not produced a Speaker in the last 40 years but that as a firm believer in the precept of party supremacy, he had no choice than to withdraw his candidacy for that position.

The statement read :

”I wish to extend my gratitude and appreciation to all who have tirelessly supported my candidacy for the Speakership position of the 10th Assembly. I believed this position was ideal for the Southeast region, as it has not produced a Speaker in the last 40 years.

”However, as a firm believer in Party supremacy, I have decided to withdraw my candidacy for the Speakership Position and fully accept the nomination for the position of Deputy Speaker of the 10th Assembly in line with the directives of our Party the All Progressives Congress (APC). This decision aligns with the Party’s commitment to fairness, equity, and inclusiveness in all of its leadership selection processes”

The Labour Party has threatened that it will call on its members to occupy offices of the Independent National Electoral Commission nationwide for allegedly frustrating its petition against the outcome of the 2023 presidential election.

The spokesman for the Presidential Campaign Council of the party, Dr Yunusa Tanko, in a statement obtained Saturday, accused INEC of disobeying the order of the Presidential Election Petition Tribunal directing the electoral umpire to grant the party and its presidential candidate, Peter Obi, access to the certified true copies of materials used in the conduct of the poll.

“It will be recalled that the aforesaid order of the presidential election petition tribunal was duly served on INEC on March 3, 2023, despite the fact that they were present and represented at the tribunal when the Order was made.

“Not minding the service of the said order on INEC, and a reminder letter dated March 6, 2023, and delivered same date at the INEC Headquarters Abuja, the electoral umpire has continued to ignore and or disobey the valid order of such magnitude till now,” Tanko said.

The PUNCH reports that the Court of Appeal sitting in Abuja on March 3 granted the request of the Peoples Democratic Party presidential candidate, Atiku Abubakar, and his LP counterpart, Obi, to inspect the election materials used during February 25 presidential poll.Atiku and Obi had approached the Presidential Election Court to seek permission for the inspection of election materials used during the poll.

Atiku and Obi had approached the Presidential Election Court to seek permission for the inspection of election materials used during the poll.

The PUNCH also reports that Atiku and Obi refused to concede defeat in the February 25 presidential election, vowing to recover their mandate in court.

The two candidates rebuffed the gesture of conciliation made by the President-elect, Bola Tinubu of the All Progressives Congress, who in his acceptance speech after he was declared the winner of the poll asked them to support him in the task of building the nation.

Both the PDP and the LP rejected the election results over alleged rigging, and voter intimidation among other reasons.

Reacting further, Tanko said, “The action of INEC under reference also constitutes for all intent and purposes, an act of judicial insubordination and willful refusal to comply with the order of court.

“As we speak INEC has chosen to obey the court order given to it to reconfigure the BVAS machine, which they doing right now and ignoring the order granted to us to inspect electoral materials.

“We, therefore, call on the general public to note the level of lawlessness and brazen disobedience to a lawful order of a court by an important statutory agency such as INEC, and which is a well-calculated attempt to undermine and frustrate the presentation of the petition by the Labour Party and its presidential candidate before the tribunal in good time.

“We, therefore, want to state that we will not fail to call our supporters to march to INEC offices nationwide in a non-violent protest which is allowed by law.”