The crisis rocking the leadership of the New Nigeria Peoples Party has taken a new twist following a move by the faction of Senator Rabiu Kwankwaso to amend the party’s constitution and logo.

The decision to amend the constitution was confirmed during an exclusive interview with the National Auditor of NNPP, Ladipo Johnson.

The development is coming three days after the faction of the party under the leadership of Major Agbo expelled the presidential candidate of NNPP for alleged anti-party activities and misappropriation of party campaign funds.

Kwankwaso’s expulsion was announced in a statement released on Tuesday by the NNPP’s factional National Publicity Secretary, Abdulsalam Abdulrasaq.

Abdulrasaq affirmed that the decision to expel Kwankwaso with immediate effect was taken after he failed to appear before the disciplinary panel to defend himself over the allegations leveled against him.

The expulsion of the former Kano governor caused disaffection within the party and saw chieftains from opposition camps trading blame.

A few days after the drama, Saturday PUNCH findings revealed that there was a subtle move by the Kwankwaso camp to amend the logo and constitution allegedly to weaken the grip of the NNPP founder, Dr Boniface Aniebonam.

Although the development was confirmed by Johnson who was the chairman of the disciplinary committee that expelled some factional members of the party a few weeks ago, the national auditor, however, denied the move was a response to the emergence of a faction within the NNPP.

“No, it has nothing to do with any faction. It was something we already discussed at the NEC. Unlike them (Agbo faction), we are serious people. But we haven’t changed the logo yet. We are planning to throw it out there for our members to compete and come up with ideas,” he said.

Reacting, the acting National Chairman of the faction, Major Agbo, told our correspondent that they were aware of the subtle move which they believed was directed at removing the immunity of the founder.

He said, “Obviously, the proposed amendment to the constitution and changing of logo they are talking about was deliberate. That was because they discovered suddenly that the man they were after (the founder) had immunity by the provision of that constitution. That’s why they are in a hurry to amend it.”

… Both Obi and Atiku set to challenge the verdict at the Supreme Court.

In the wake of the Presidential Election Petitions Tribunal’s ruling, which solidified President Bola Tinubu’s triumph in the February 25, 2023, presidential election, Vice President Kashim Shettima expressed his gratitude, stating that the judgment is praiseworthy and a reason to glorify God.

Shettima extended his appreciation to the judiciary for their dedication to upholding justice.

The Vice President shared these sentiments during a press conference following the tribunal’s decision on Wednesday in Abuja.

The tribunal dismissed the case brought forward by Atiku, the presidential candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party, and his Labour Party counterpart, Peter Obi, affirming Tinubu’s victory.

Both Atiku and Obi have voiced their dissent regarding the tribunal’s judgment. Kehinde Edun, the Legal Adviser to the Labour Party, declared their intent to challenge the verdict at the Supreme Court.

Furthermore, Chris Uche, SAN, Atiku’s Lead Counsel, disclosed that they have received instructions from their client to file an appeal at the Supreme Court.

He remarked, “The judgment has been rendered, but justice remains elusive in our view. Fortunately, the law allows us to appeal to the Supreme Court, and we have received instructions from our clients to do just that. The pursuit of justice continues.

A political support group in the 2023 Presidential Elections, Bola Campaign Organisation, has lauded the judiciary for validating President Bola Tinubu’s victory and the All Progressives Congress in the February 25 presidential election.

BCO said the judiciary has again identified itself as a true defender of democracy in the country by ruling in Tinubu’s favour as the winner of the presidential election.

This was contained in a communique signed by the group’s National Patron, Alhaji Abdulwahab Quardi; National Coordinator, Mohammed Makinta; and National Women’s Leader, Alhaja Folashade Tinubu-Ojo, and made available on Thursday.

PUNCH reports that a five-member panel of the Tribunal took turns to dismiss the petitions presented by the Peoples Democratic Party and its candidate, Atiku Abubakar; Labour Party and its candidate, Peter Obi; against the declaration of Tinubu as the winner of the presidential election by the Independent National Electoral Commission on March 1, 2023.

The judgment was delivered by the Chairman of the tribunal, Justice Haruna Tsammani, assisted by Stephen Adah, Monsurat Bolaji-Yusuf, Moses Ugo, and Abba Mohammed.

The group maintained that the tribunal’s verdict was an affirmation of the trust reposed in the President by Nigerians, describing the judgment as detailed, articulated, and comprehensive.

It said, “We commend the judiciary for this victory, for demonstrating uncommon will by validating the mandate freely given by the Nigerian citizens to President Bola Tinubu at the February 25 presidential election.

“We are elated that the judiciary has demonstrated bravery that the APC and its candidate were the actual winners of the election through its detailed, well articulated and comprehensive verdicts.

“This verdict was an affirmation of the trust reposed in the President by Nigerians and would serve as a morale booster for the President and his team”.

The group, however, called on members of the opposition parties to join hands with President Tinubu for the growth of the nation

“We, therefore, call on members of the opposition, particularly, Mr. Peter Obi of the LP and his PDP counterpart, Alhaji Atiku Abubakar, to join hands with President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, to take Nigeria to enviable heights in terms of economic prosperity and human capital development, ” the group added.

The Federal Government, on Wednesday, announced an increase in the prices of single-phase and three-phase pre-paid electricity meters and declared that the hike takes effect from September 6, 2023.

It announced this in an order released by the Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission with a number, NERC/2023/020, and jointly signed by the commission’s Chairman, Sanusi Garba, and its Commissioner, Legal, Licencing, and Compliance, Dafe Akpeneye.

In the order, the government stated that a single-phase meter would now cost N81,975.16k from the previous price of N58,661.69k, while the price of a three-phase meter was raised to N143,836.10k from N109,684.36k.

This was, however, kicked against by power consumers, who wondered why the Federal Government had continued to hike the cost of various commodities in Nigeria’s energy sector.

But explaining why it hiked the costs of the meters, the NERC said it was to ensure fair and reasonable pricing of meters to both Meter Asset Providers and end-user customers.

It said the hike would ensure MAP’s ability to recover reasonable costs associated with meter procurement and maintenance while ensuring that its pricing structure allowed for a viable return on investment.

“Evaluate the affordability of meter services for consumers, aiming to prevent excessive pricing that could burden end-users. Ensure that MAPs are able to provide meters to end-use customers in the prevailing economic realities,” the commission stated.

It said the closure of the metering gap for end-use customers was fundamental to the financial sustainability of the Nigeria Electricity Supply Industry as end-use meters provide revenue assurance to both the utility and their end-use customers.

“The Meter Asset Provider scheme is one of the four frameworks in the regulations for the provision of meters to end-use customers in NESI.

“Section 8(1)(c) of the regulations provides that the costs of single-phase and three-phase meters issued by MAPs, inclusive of all other associated costs of installation and warranties shall be at the regulated rates approved by the commission.

“The commission notes that significant changes in macroeconomic indicators, such as inflation and changes in the foreign exchange rates have necessitated a review of the regulated rates for MAP meters,” the NERC stated.

It said the commission also considered relevant data on the significant changes in macroeconomic indicators from the Central Bank of Nigeria and the National Bureau of Statistics as benchmarks for the meter price review.

Meanwhile the commission stated that the costs of single-phase and three-phase meters for MAPs, inclusive of all other associated costs of installation and warranties, shall remain at the regulated rates approved by the NERC.

It said the approved meter prices were exclusive of Value Added Tax, but noted that they were inclusive of the revised Nigerian Electricity Management Services Agency sealing cost.

It stated that the sealing cost for a single-phase meter was N842.80 per unit, while that of a three-phase meter was N1,100.80 per unit.

“All MAPs shall adjust their prices to reflect the approved rates. All MAPs shall supply meters previously paid for by end-use customers prior to the commencement of this order at the prevailing rate when payment was made by the customers without additional increase in cost.

“All Discos and MAPs are to develop/implement customer enlightenment campaigns on the price review along with a schedule on the implementation of their meter rollout plans. All MAPs shall continue to file monthly sales and meter installation returns with the commission,” the industry regulator stated.

Consumers react:

Power users opposed the hike in the prices of meters, as they called on the government to consider the plights of Nigerians and reverse the increase.

“They (government) have talking about this since the unification of the foreign exchange rates, but we warned against it due to the plights being faced by Nigerians currently,” the National Secretary, Nigeria Electricity Consumer Advocacy Network, Uket Obonga, stated.

He said the hike was due to pressure from Meter Asset Providers on the government, as some of the MAPs threatened to pull out from the provision of meters if the cost of the equipment remained the same.

The Presidential Election Petition Tribunal PEPT has dismissed certain paragraphs in the case brought by Peter Obi, the Labour Party Presidential candidate, due to their inclusion of vague and generic allegations.

Justice Abba Mohammed, a member of the tribunal’s five-member panel, delivered the lead judgment.

In the petition marked CA/PEPC/03/2023, Obi and the Labour Party (LP) contested the validity of the election that saw Tinubu assume office on May 29.

The European Union Election Observers Mission report from the February 25th presidential election, submitted by Peter Obi and the Labour Party, was also rejected.

The tribunal affirmed INEC’s authority and discretion in results transmission, stating that the 25% requirement for the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) was no different from that of other states.

Regarding LP’s attempt to prove Tinubu’s conviction in the United States, the tribunal found insufficient evidence. Additionally, the court struck down the Allied Peoples Movement’s petitions against President Bola Tinubu and Vice President Kashim Shettima, citing a lack of merit.

The rejection of the report was based on the fact that it was not presented by an official from the organization responsible for its creation and custody.

The court also declined to admit 18,088 blurred results sheets submitted by the petitioners, as they were not clearly tied to specific polling units mentioned in the petition.

It’s worth noting that the actual copy of the report had been previously submitted by Atiku Abubakar and the Peoples Democratic Party during their petition before the tribunal, as reported by The PUNCH.