By Vincent Tyosuugh

The suspension of Mr Vitalis Neji, Chairman of Kwande Local Government Area,
has been extended by six more months over allegations of gross misconduct and abuse of office, by the Benue State House of Assembly.

The Majority Leader, Mr Bemdoo Ipusu, on Thursday during plenary in Makurd, moved a motion for the extension and it was seconded by the Minority Leader, Mr Isaac Ochekliye.

Mr Alfred Emberga, speaker, ruling on the motion, directed Mrs Rita Iortsor, to continue in her acting capacity as chairman of the council until the conclusion of the investigation.

Neji was suspended on August 20 for three months based on the interim report by an ad hoc committee set up by the House to investigate allegations against him.

The committee’s report which was presented by the then Majority Leader and committee chairman, Mr Peter Ipusu, said Neji appeared in his appearance was unable to satisfactorily defend himself against the allegations.

Consequently, the House recommended his suspension, with the speaker ruling that it should take immediate effect to allow for further investigation into the allegations.

By Isa Abdul, Abuja

The hurdles for the African Democratic Congress leadership and its presidential candidate, Atiku Abubakar, are certainly multiplying ahead of the 2027 general elections, with a Federal High Court in Abuja invalidating a resignation letter allegedly written by former Deputy National Chairman, Nafiu Bala Gombe.

The development has further complicated the dispute over the party’s leadership, following last week’s judgment which nullified the emergence of the National Working Committee led by former Senate President, Senator David Mark.

Justice Peter Lifu made a consequential declaration rendering every decision taken by the Mark-led NWC null and void, including the nomination and candidacy of former Vice President Atiku Abubakar as presidential candidate of the ADC.

The weight of that decision has sunk deep against Atiku’s ambition to lead Nigeria.

According to the Punch, in the Certified True Copy of the judgment obtained on Wednesday, the court ordered that “…all actions, decisions, and steps taken by the 2nd (David Mark) and 3rd (Rauf Aregbesola) defendants [and other members of the NWC they represent] as national officers of the 1st defendant (ADC), from July 29, 2025, the date of their unlawful and illegal emergence as such officers, are null, void, and without effect.”

Although the court stopped short to declare Gombe the party’s substantive National Chairman, it ruled that the Independent National Electoral Commission should recognise him as the only elected member of the ADC’s National Working Committee whose four-year tenure remained valid.

But holding on a string for survival, the ADC Presidential Campaign Council claimed that Gombe had acknowledged Mark as the National Chairman of the party during a National Executive Committee meeting. It also claimed that Gombe had officially resigned.

But Gombe denied resigning from his position, claiming that the purported letter of his resignation was fake with his signature bring forged to give it validity.

Lifu in his judgment also acknowledged some discrepancy in the signature which gave heft to his decision that it was forged.

Furthermore, Justice Peter Lifu, in the judgment of November 5, held that the invalidation of the process that produced Mark and former Minister of Interior, Rauf Aregbesola, as National Chairman and National Secretary, respectively, did not automatically confer leadership of the party on Gombe.

In the CTC, the judge said the invalidity of the disputed leadership arrangement and Gombe’s claim to a particular office were separate legal issues.

“I must, however, distinguish the invalidity of a process from the plaintiff’s claim to automatic succession,” Lifu held.

He said Gombe’s argument that he was the only elected member of the party’s NWC who had not resigned might entitle him to supervise the party’s affairs. Still, he did not automatically establish his entitlement to a specific national office.

“The validity of the challenged process and the plaintiff’s entitlement to a particular office are related but separate questions,” the judge stressed.

He further stated that any declaration recognising Gombe as entitled to act as a national officer must be supported by the relevant provisions of the party’s constitution, evidence and applicable laws.

“Any relief declaring him entitled to act as a national officer must be supported by the applicable constitutional provisions and evidence, and subject to the internal working arrangements and decisions of the 1st Defendant and the provisions of applicable laws,” he said.

The court, however, declared that INEC was bound to recognise Gombe as “the only elected member” of the party’s NWC “whose four-year tenure remains in effect.”

Gombe had told the court that he was elected Deputy National Chairman on October 12, 2022, for four years.

Meanwhile, ADC has vowed to contest the judgment at the Court of Appeal with the view of upturning Justice Lifu’s rulings.

By Lazarus Oko

The University of Nigeria, Nsukka (UNN) community has been thrown in grief, shock and mourning over the deaths of four students who reportedly participated in an off-campus party.

The deaths were confirmed by the Vice-Chancellor, Prof. Simon Ortuanya, who disclosed in a statement posted on the university’s Facebook page on Thursday that six other students who attended the gathering were receiving treatment at different hospitals.

Ten students from different departments, according to the statement, attended the party organised to celebrate a friend who had completed his final-year examinations. The four reportedly died after consuming substances suspected to be alcohol and drugs.

“Within these three days, all social and academic activities will be suspended in the University,” Ortuanya announced, saying the incident was “death too many”.