A support group for presidential aspirant, Bola Tinubu, has said it would secure not less than 14 million votes from the South-West geopolitical zone for the aspirant at the 2023 presidential election.

The group, South West Agenda for Asiwaju (SWAGA), expressed optimism that Mr Tinubu would pull a huge percentage of votes in the region not minding the presence of other aspirants from the South west.

The chairman of the group and former senator, Adedayo Adeyeye, stated this when he led some members of the organisation on a courtesy visit to PREMIUM TIMES’ head office in Abuja on Tuesday.

SWAGA, he said, was formed to consolidate Mr Tinubu’s agenda and that of the people of the South-west. He also said membership of the group cuts across party lines.

The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) on Wednesday began the distribution of over 33, 000 Permanent Voter Cards (PVCs) to newly registered voters in the state.

While inaugurating the exercise at the INEC Offices in Somolu and Kosofe Local Government Areas, Olusegun Agbaje, the Resident Electoral Commissioner, told newsmen that the PVCs of those who registered between June 2021 and Dec. 2021 were available for collection.

Agbaje, who urged new registrants within the period to approach INEC offices across the 20 LGAs in the state, said that the collection would be from 9am and 3pm daily with the exception of weekends.

According to him, there is no collection of PVCs by proxy, hence every applicant must appear physically to collect their PVCs.

He said that the commission, in an effort to prevent the PVCs falling into wrong hands was also taking the data and photographs of those collecting them before issuance.

Agbaje said, “What we are doing here today is to symbolically give out the PVCs to those who registered between June and December last year.

“Their PVCs are ready and they have been sent to various states of the federation and for us in Lagos also, our cards are ready and we have symbolically flagged off the distribution of PVCs in Somolu and Kosofe.

“For those who registered between January 2022 and now as well as until the end of the CVR exercise in June, their PVCs will be ready and we are going to announce when they will come and collect theirs also.

“In Lagos State we have received over 33,000 PVCs,” Agbaje said.

The INEC boss, who urged qualified residents to avail themselves of the ongoing Continuous Voter Registration (CVR) before expiration on June 30, said both the CVR and collection of PVCs would continue at INEC offices.

He said PVCs of those who engage in double or multiple registrations would not be printed.

Responding to the need to decentralise the PVCs distribution to the ward level, Agbaje said that people needed to make sacrifice to collect their cards at the INEC offices in each LGA.

“People have to make some sacrifice having taken pains to register and the cards are out for them to vote in the next general elections.

“When the commission decides that we should take the PVCs out from LGAs to Registration Areas (Wards) or other parts of the LGAs, we will also do so in Lagos,” he added

Agbaje urged all stakeholders including the religious leaders, traditional rulers, politics parties and others to mobilise applicants who register between the stipulated period to collect their PVCs.

Nofisat Shobowale, a student of the University of Lagos and first recipient of the card in Somolu LGA, described the PVCs as her power to decide who she would vote to represent her in government.

Edu Oludamilare, a civil servant and first recipient of the PVC in Kosofe LGA said “this is my civic right to vote but I thought this card would come earlier than it came having registered since late year.”

Speaking, Taiwo Waheed, the INEC Electoral Officer in Somolu LGA, assured applicants of seamless collection of their PVCs.

President Muhammadu Buhari, on Tuesday, urged all political parties in the country to keep elections and election-related differences aside and join his administration’s drive to defeat insecurity in the country.

Speaking at an Iftar dinner with members of the business community and the leadership of political parties in Abuja, the President described insecurity as a ‘‘common enemy’’ bedeviling the country.

Correspondents had reported that Buhari will on Tuesday evening host the leader of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) for an Iftar dinner at the Presidential Villa, Abuja.

The President recounted that last week, the National Executive Committee (NEC) of the All Progressives Congress (APC) had a tremendous success at its meeting, ending with a clear message that the party will continue to push for the creation of democratic principles at all levels.

Justice Inyang Ekwo of the Federal High Court, Abuja, yesterday refused to stop the Senate from investigating the Chairman of the Code of Conduct Tribunal (CCT) Danladi Umar over alleged assault of a security guard in Abuja.

Justice Ekwo in a judgment held that since the CCT was a creation of an Act of the National Assembly, the legislature was empowered to invite the chairman to answer to any petition against him.

Following a viral video of an assault of a security guard at the Banex Plaza in Wuse 2 area of Abuja in March 2021, the Senate had summoned Umar to explain the circumstances surrounding the incident.

But rather than appearing before the lawmakers, Umar approached a Federal High Court in Abuja, in a bid to stop them from investigating him over the issue.

Umar had in the suit marked FHC/ABJ/CS/ 671/2021, challenged the powers of the Senate and three others to investigate him over the matter.

The other respondents were the Senate President, Senate Committee on Ethics, Privileges and Public Petitions; and the Attorney General of the Federation (AGF).

Delivering ruling in the suit yesterday, the trial judge said that it lacked merit and subsequently dismissed it.

According to Justice Ekwo, the plaintiff did not show any cogent reason why the court should stop the Senate from undertaking its constitutional duties.

The court also stated that sections 88 and 89 of the 1999 Constitution under which the CCT boss sought to be protected by the court did not confer any protection or refuge on him.

The judge said as a public officer administering law relating to conduct of public officers, Umar had no reason to institute the suit to stop the senate from investigating a public petition seeking justice on moral standard.

A support group, known as Project Nigeria, has bought the expression of interest and nomination forms for Chukwuemeka Nwajuiba, minister of state for education, to contest the 2023 presidential election on the platform of the All Progressives Congress (APC).

The group took the forms for Nwajuiba on Wednesday at the party’s headquarters in Abuja.

The expression of interest form cost N30 million while the nomination form is N7o million.

Abubakar Usman, special assistant on new media to senate president Ahmad Lawan, disclosed this in a tweet on Wednesday.