Jeremiah Useni

Jeremiah Timbut Useni (born 16 February 1943) is a retired Nigerian army lieutenant general, who served as minister responsible for the administration of the Federal Capital Territory, Abuja under the Sani Abacha military junta. He served Nigeria in various capacities such as Minister for Transport and Quarter-Master General of the Nigeria Army. Useni also served as Deputy Chairman of one of the significant parties in Nigeria, the All Nigeria Peoples Party. He was elected Senator for the Plateau South constituency of Plateau State, Nigeria in the March 2015 national elections.^[2] Useni was running on the People's Democratic Party (PDP) platform.

Lieutenant general Jeremiah Useni
Senator of the Federal Republic of Nigeria
In office May 2015 – June 2019
Preceded by	Victor Lar
Succeeded by	Ignatius Datong Longjan
Constituency	Plateau South Senatorial District
Minister of the Federal Capital Territory
In office 1993–1998
Preceded by	Gado Nasko
Succeeded by	Mamman Kontagora
Governor of Bendel State
In office January 1984 – August 1985
Preceded by	Samuel Ogbemudia
Succeeded by	John Mark Inienger
Personal details
Born	Jeremiah Timbut Useni (1943-02-16) 16 February 1943 (age 81)^[1] Langtang, Northern Region, British Nigeria (now in Plateau State, Nigeria)
Political party	Peoples Democratic Party
Military service
Allegiance	Nigeria
Branch/service	Nigerian Army
Rank	Lieutenant general

Military service

Useni came to national limelight in Nigeria when he was appointed Military Governor of Nigeria's defunct Bendel State in January 1984. In 1998, Useni then minister for the capital territory of Abuja, was rumored as a successor to General Sani Abacha.^[3] Useni states that the decision to appoint Abdulsalami Abubakar instead was based on protocol.^[4] Ten years later, Useni insisted Abacha died a natural death, contrary to rumors that he died after eating a poisoned apple.^[5]

Speaking in April 2008, the Minister of the Federal Capital Territory, Aliyu Modibbo Umar, blamed problems with the Abuja Master Plan on the administration of Useni as a minister under the Abacha military government.^[6]

Political career

In August 2001, he was appointed head of a delegation from the Arewa Consultative Forum to meet and discuss common goals with Northern state governors and other leaders.^[7] In 2003, he was Deputy National Chairman, North for the All Nigeria Peoples Party (ANPP).^[8] In November 2004, he was locked in an internal ANPP struggle with Chief Donald Etiebet, the National Chairman.^[9]

In May 2006, he left the ANPP to become chairman of a new party, the Democratic People's Party, taking with him other members of the progressive wing of the ANPP.^[10] However, he was suspended indefinitely in December 2008, for saying the death of Ken Saro-Wiwa was a national sacrifice.^[11] He was succeeded by Biodun Ogunbiyi, who criticized Useni's poor leadership, resulting in failure to win any seats in the Senate or House of Representatives in the April 2007 elections.^[12] Useni ran for election as Senator for Plateau South in April 2011 on the DPP platform, but was defeated by Victor Lar of the PDP.^[13] He later on ran for election as Senator for Plateau South In 2015 under the People's Democratic Party which he won.

Governorship run

In October 2018, Jeremiah Useni won the party primaries in the PDP to run for Office Of The Governor Of Plateau state under the platform of the People's Democratic Party. He lost in the general election to incumbent Simon Lalong who polled 595, 582 votes to Useni's 546, 813.^[14][15] Useni challenged the election of Simon Lalong at the plateau State Governorship Election Petition Tribunal on the ground that Lalong was ineligible to assume the position of Governor, having submitted a different certificate to the electoral umpire (INEC) bearing different name to that of the present Governor of Plateau State, Simon Bako Lalong.^[16][17]

The three panel of justices Tribunal led by Justice Halima Salami struck out Useni's petition affirming the election of Lalong for lack of substantial evidence to prove the discrepancy of names in the certificate Lalong submitted to INEC.^[18] Useni appealed the judgement of the tribunal at both Appeal Court and the Supreme Court but lost.^[19][20][21] The disappointing judgment from the courts ended his 2019 ambition to rule Plateau State.

References

1. "Birthdays". Newswatch. Ajah, Lagos, Nigeria: Newswatch Communications. February 2002. Retrieved 2011-07-30.
2. "National Assembly | Federal Republic of Nigeria".
3. "Who will succeed Abacha?". BBC News. June 8, 1998. Retrieved 2009-09-24.
4. . Sunday Trust. 23 August 2009. Archived from the original on 5 September 2009. Retrieved 2009-09-24.
5. . Independent Newspapers. October 28, 2008. Archived from the original on August 9, 2020. Retrieved 2009-09-24.
6. "'Useni Bastardised Abuja Master Plan'". This Day. 27 April 2008. Retrieved 2009-09-24.
7. Steve Nwosu and Tokunbo Adedoja (2001-09-01). . ThisDay. Archived from the original on 2011-03-09. Retrieved 2010-04-02.
8. "RESPONSES TO INFORMATION REQUESTS (RIRs)". Immigration and Refugee Board of Canada. 8 September 2003. Retrieved 2009-09-24.^{[permanent dead link]}
9. "Again, Parallel NEC Meetings Deepen ANPP Crisis". This Day (Nigeria). November 30, 2004. Retrieved 2009-09-24.
10. "Requiem for ANPP". daily Sun. June 19, 2006. Retrieved 2009-09-24.^{[permanent dead link]}
11. . Guardian Newspapers. December 23, 2008. Archived from the original on August 9, 2020. Retrieved 2009-09-24.
12. "Two Party System Best for Country - Ogunbiyi". Daily Independent (Lagos). 14 January 2009. Retrieved 2009-09-24.
13. "Lar beats Useni, Shagaya to Senate...Dariye clinches ticket too". Daily Trust. 29 April 2011. Retrieved 2011-05-10.
14. "BREAKING: Lalong Defeats Jerry Useni To Retain Plateau Governorship". Sahara Reporters. 2019-03-23. Retrieved 2020-05-03.
15. "Lalong defeats PDP's Useni to secure second term". TheCable. 2019-03-24. Retrieved 2020-05-03.
16. Pwanagba, Agabus (2019-06-14). "Plateau guber 2019: PDP, Useni tell court to disqualify Lalong for presenting fake certificate". Daily Post Nigeria. Retrieved 2020-05-03.
17. "Plateau governorship election: Useni rejects result, heads to tribunal". tribuneonlineng.com. 24 March 2019. Retrieved 2020-05-03.
18. "Tribunal affirms Gov. Simon Lalong's election -". The NEWS. 2019-10-02. Retrieved 2020-05-03.
19. "Appeal court affirms Lalong's victory". guardian.ng. 30 November 2019. Retrieved 2020-05-03.
20. "Supreme Court upholds Tambuwal, Ganduje, Lalong, Bala Mohammed's elections". Tribune Online. 2020-01-20. Retrieved 2020-05-03.
21. "Supreme court upholds election of Lalong". TheCable. 2020-01-20. Retrieved 2020-05-03.