The Nation Newspaper

Category: Election

  • Osun 2018: TMG identifies violence prone areas

    …Group lauds INEC’s readiness for credible election

     

    As Osun State governorship election holds Saturday, an independent civil society election observation organization in Nigeria, the Transition Monitoring Group, has identified some parts of the state with tendency for violence.

    The group listed Ede, Iwo, Ife, Ilesa, Iragbiji, Ikire and Osogbo, the state capital among areas described as flash points that the security agents must pay serious attention to.

    Read Also:NSCDC deploys over 10,000 operatives for Osun guber poll

    At a press conference jointly addressed by the group’s chairperson, Dr. Abiola Akiyode-Afolabi, in Osogbo State on Friday, the TMG disclosed that it has assessed the situation before today’s poll and also sensitized the voters and the other stakeholders about their responsibilities before, during and after the election.

    The TMG chairperson advised the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) and security agencies to be professional in the discharge of their duty during the election.

    Afolabi-Akiyode, who is also the Director, Women Advocates Research and Documentation Center, also urged the stakeholders in electoral process to shun vote buying and selling, saying everybody should work towards peaceful, free, fair and credible poll.

    Also, a non- governmental organization, the Pan African Women Projects, has lauded the Independent National Electoral Commission for its readiness to conduct a free, fair and credible election in Osun State.

    Addressing a press conference during its pre-election assessment report in Osogbo on Friday, the Head of Mission, the Pan African Women Project, Dr. (Mrs.) Eno Udensi noted that the INEC has been transparent in its dealings.

    She said: “We observed a hardworking Independent National Electoral Commission INEC with a mission towards a transparent electoral process.”

    According to Udensi, the Pan African Women Projects consists of fifty-five nations of Africa and the Diaspora with headquarters in Johannesburg, South Africa.

    She disclosed that the NGO recruited no fewer than 150 persons who are indigenes of Osun to form a formidable team with the international observers.

    Udensi, who identified inducement as bane of the current electoral process as it manifested heavily in the last gubernatorial election in Ekiti State, noted that the ugly trend is also rearing its ugly head in Osun through suspicious empowerment programme, distribution of gift items among others by the politicians.

    She endorsed the steps taken by the INEC to curb vote buying from the nation’s politics with measures such as restriction of electorate from carrying hand phones into voting arena and repositioning of polling arena.

    Dr. Udensi, however, described the campaigns and rallies by political parties across the state as expensive, adding however that the rallies were devoid of violence.

    In its contribution, the Director General, Centre For Credible Leadership and Citizenship Awareness Dr. Nwambu Gabriel, called on electorate in Osun to conduct themselves peacefully.

  • NSCDC deploys over 10,000 operatives for Osun guber poll

    The Nigerian Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC) Friday said a total of 10,073 operatives is drafted for election duties in Osun State.

    Deputy Commandant General of the corps, Kelechi Madu stated this during a chat with reporters in Osogbo.

    Read Also:Ogun NSCDC rescues suspected kidnapper from being lynched

    He said 5,500 of the personnel would be deployed to man polling booths with the police, adding that the others would be assigned to other security duties in relation to the election.

    Although some of the operatives had complained of poor remuneration ranging from N580 to N4, 500 as against the N15, 000 per personnel allegedly approved for them; Madu said all the personnel deployed for elector duty got their allowances approved for them by the government.

    He said: “What the government approved was what was paid to them. What if the government said it was not going to pay anything? Would they not do their jobs?”

  • Uncollected PVCs in safe custody, INEC assures

    The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has said that all uncollected Permanent Voter’s Cards (PVCs) have been kept safely in its strong room.
    The INEC dismissed allegations by some politicians that the commission had released uncollected PVCs to certain political parties and also compromised the card readers.
    The commission, therefore, warned all political parties participating in today’s Osun State governorship election to desist from making unfounded statement about 435,015 uncollected PVCs.
    The State Resident Electoral Commission of INEC, Olusegun Agbaje, at a press conference in Osogbo, the state capital,  assured that the smart card readers have been prepared for optimal performance, adding that 996 have been reserved to serve as backups.
    He said: “Out of 1,246,915 registered voters, a total of 435,015 PVCs, that is 25.86 percent, are yet to be collected by their owners and are being kept in the INEC strong room at the state office here in Osogbo.
    “The commission has no plan whatsoever to give the uncollected PVCs to any political party. The Commission’s Smart Card Readers are not also designed to favour any political party. I therefore strongly advice all stakeholders in the Osun state governorship election, especially the political parties’ leaders and contestants, to desist from making unguarded utterances and unfounded allegations.
    “It should be noted that the commission has perfected plans with the security agencies to decisively deal with anyone engaging in any illicit act, particularly the notorious act of ‘see and buy’ as it is called in the local parlance during the election.”
    However, the REC appealed to newsmen to cooperate with the commission to ensure that the final result is announced by the INEC before circulating it to the public.
    Agbaje also gave out phone numbers for complaints of any kind by the electorate, the media and the general public in  the election.
    According to Agbaje, the situation room of the commission will be receiving complaints through 08168963080, 07057789656and 07086575910.
    The INEC boss, who assured people of the state of the commission’s readiness to conduct free, fair and credible election that will be acceptable to the people, announced that sensitive materials for the poll have been delivered to the commission and moved from the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) to all the 30 local government areas of the state.
    He stated that accreditation and voting will go on simultaneously between 8:00am and 2:00 pm, saying “only those on queue at 2pm will be allowed to vote.

  • Post-UTME: UNILAG closes portal next week

    Candidates who  chose the University of Lagos (UNILAG) have until next Wednesday to complete online registration for the post-Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination (UTME) screening coming up between September 18 and 22.

    To be eligible for the exercise, the candidates must have scored up to 200 in the 2017/2018 UTME, possess five O Level credits, including English and Mathematics achieved at one sitting in the Senior School Certificate Examination (SSCE), be up to 16 by October, and must have selected the university as their first choice in the UTME.

    Registration for the screening will be completed on the institution’s website.

     

  • WASSCE: WAEC warns candidates against patronising fraudsters

    WASSCE: WAEC warns candidates against patronising fraudsters

    The West African Examinations Council on Wednesday warned candidates against patronising fraudsters in the ongoing 2017 May/June West African Senior School Certificate Examination (WASSCE).

    Mr. Damian Ojijeogu, the Head, Public Affairs of the council, said in a statement in Lagos that schools and parents should also warn candidates against patronising cyber criminals, who are out to swindle them.

    According to Ojijeogu, the attention of the council has been drawn to the activities of some fraudulent individuals who are out to extort money from gullible candidates participating in the ongoing WASSCE.

    “These fraudsters try to distract the candidates by posting on the internet cloned/photo shopped images of supposedly WASSCE question papers and answers.

    “We wish to advise candidates to remain focused and shun any form of distraction in order not to ruin their future by participating in the fraud.

    “The council has deployed software that can detect any form of cheating, even in objective tests.

    “In this regard, therefore, we advise candidates to study hard for their examination, as that is the only honourable way to success,’’ he said.

    Ojijeogu also warned parents to discourage their children from patronising fraudsters, but rather encourage them to stay focused and strive for success.

    “We also strongly appeal to school principals, supervisors and invigilators to help the council to enforce the rules and regulations guiding the conduct of the examination.

    “This is especially by preventing candidates from bringing foreign materials such as cribs, cell phones and other electronic devices into the examination hall.

    “The penalty for a defaulter could be as stiff as the cancellation of candidate’s entire results.’’

    Meanwhile, the Head of National Office (HNO) of WAEC, Mr. Olu Adenipekun, told NAN that the council would continue to strive hard to protect the integrity of its examinations.

    He said no amount of blackmail by fraudsters would make the council compromise the pedigree of its examinations.

    “So far, I am happy with the conduct of the ongoing examination nationwide.

    “Everything has been going on fine as intended, and our supervisors, council members and examiners are all fully on ground to see to the success of the examination.

    “As expected, there have been some cases of malpractice like impersonation among others that have been reported.

    “We want to assure that the culprits will not go unpunished when we conclude investigations on the cases.

    “No amount of malpractice at the ongoing examination will go without being detected.

    “And that is why we are calling on the candidates, their parents and schools to shun activities of fraudsters.

    “The fraudsters are only out to destroy the future of the ones that will fall victims of their game plans,’’ Adenipekun said.

     

  • How to rig elections

    SIR: As Nigerians go to the polls, it is pertinent for us to probe deeply into the election process, its strengths and weaknesses. As an active participant in previous elections, it is duty for me to ask the right questions, so as to prevent mistakes of the past.

    Election rigging has been a tradition in our elections, from the First Republic till date. It is a refuge for politicians and has acquired its own vocabulary and different procedures, from ballot box stuffing, ballot box snatching, and industrial thumb printing with the aid of palm kernels, result sheet manipulation and others. But the introduction of technology by INEC has put paid to this era of election fraud but our bosses need results and we have to apply the hallowed maxim of “Cunning man Die, Cunning Man Bury am” – the former “Cunning man” being INEC and the later us.

    With the introduction of Permanent Voters Card and card readers, it would seem our rigging days are over, but closer examination would show that we have also advanced in technological rigging. Inside the Voter Database are many multiple voters. My polling unit alone has at least four people with double registration and thus double PVCs which have been collected. Other nearby Polling Units also have same predicaments, which casts doubts on the screening system of INEC. This also means our double registrants are already recognized by the card reader so when others are shouting “one man, one vote” our people would be whispering ”one man, two votes” one woman, three votes”.

    Our newest scheme is voter suppression, learned from USA and perfected by us. This involves hoarding or misplacement, misdirection of Voter Cards; 600,000 PVC belonging to Cross River found  in Kebbi; 600,000 PVC belonging to no one found in Ogun. A more effective option is to compromise INEC ad hoc staff to deny PVC to people with questionable political leanings.

    Election Day manipulations would be the icing on the cake. INEC’s directive on voter accreditation provides us a means of using bought PVC as the Senior Polling Officer has some discretion in overruling rejection by the Card reader. As for plans for the card reader, we know they operate via satellite or telecoms signals, such signals can become “Erratic” due to technical issues. For the result collation centres, what happens if in a polling unit of 600 voters, the card transmits 250 actual voters but the result show 500 votes? Would the results be cancelled or would percentages be used to determine the results? Can the ballot papers of accredited voters be identified? Probably not, so INEC might have to cancel some real votes and validate some of our votes. If INEC decides to cancel results from such polling units, what would be the reaction and we know INEC would want to release the results within a specific time frame.

    We hope all these issues would be resolved. We hope that such expectations are not misplaced.

    •Nwachukwu  Ugo,

    dongunno@yahoo.com

  • PVC distribution on Chart

    PVC distribution on Chart

    The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) recently claimed the distribution of a total of 76% of Permanent Voter Cards (PVC) nationwide.  South West

    The commission, through a document made available on its website on February 17, indicated varying figures representing voters’ registration for the PVC as well as the collection figures for each of the 36 states of the country, the Federal Capital territory (FCT) inclusive.

    North East According to the commission, about an approximate 52 million cards have been retrieved out of the about 70 million registered permanent voters’ cards in its possession, while 17.0 million cards remain uncollected.

     

     

     

     

    South South

    It would be recalled that the electoral commission had promised to attain at least 85 per cent distribution before the elections.

    INEC has therefore extended the deadline for the collection of the voter cards till March 8.

    Thus, the number of registered voters as well as the number of cards retrieved, according to the six geopolitical zones as at 17th of February are represented in the chart below:

    North central

     

     

     

     

     

     

    North West

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

  • Minister seeks support for govt

    The Minister of Culture, Tourism and National Orientation, Mr. Edem Duke, has called on Nigerians to support the government in the areas of tourism, education and other sectors of the economy, adding that development should not be left to the government alone.

    Duke made the call when he visited Elizade University and the Smokin Hills Golf Resort, an 18-Hole Golf Resort, in Ilara-Mokin.

    He said Nigerians should not be quick to criticise the government, but find ways of contributing to the development of the country.

    The Minister praised the Founder of the University and the resort, Chief Michael Ade.Ojo, for establishing the two institutions. He described the university as “beautiful” and the resort, “amazing”, saying both have brought the town to the limelight.  He added that the degree programme in Hotel and Tourism Management by the university would give the students opportunity to use the Golf Resort for practicals.

    Duke, who was conducted round the campus by Chief Ade-Ojo and principal officers of the Institution, urged the students to make use of the quality facilities to acquire quality education that would give them bright future.

     

  • Election was manipulated, says observer group

    The Forum of Independent Election Observers (FIEO) yesterday said Saturday’s governorship election in Ondo State was marred by manipulation, falsification and rigging.

    Speaking to reporters in Akure, Dr. Gabriel Nwambu of the Justice Development and Peace Commission (JDPC) alleged: “At Orimolade Grammar School, Okelisa Okeduke, Ogbodu in Ondo West, Unit 012, Area Code 11, two electoral officers (one of them a youth corps member) were seen thumb-printing for the Labour Party (LP) and N50,000 each was found in their possession.”

    He went on: “The question is, how did they come about the money in a polling unit?

    “In Owo, two LP chieftains were caught and arrested for illegal possession of six AK 47 rifles, which they used to cause mayhem and terrorise voters who are members of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP).

    “This explains the low turnout and victory of the LP in Owo, as thousands of voters were disenfranchised.

    “In Okitipupa and Idanre, thugs working for the LP snatched ballot boxes and harassed voters and supporters of the opposition parties.

    “In Ilaje, a stronghold of the PDP, the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) did not conduct election in two wards and its ad-hoc workers never showed up.”

    The election observers noted that last Thursday, 15 youths working for the LP were arrested in Akure for thumb- printing and stuffing ballot boxes with thumb-printed ballot papers in an LP chieftain’s home.

    They said their reports must be taken seriously to save democracy from collapse.

    Other leaders of the FIEO at the press conference included Rose Akhigbe of the Network of Civil Society Organisations in Nigeria (NCSON), Comrade Sebastine Ekpenyong of the Electoral Rights Monitor (ERM) and Ambassador Iwara Okoi of the Transparency Advocacy Centre (TAC).

  • Ondo PDP decries congratulatory messages to Mimiko

    The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in Ondo State yesterday decried the comments and congratulatory messages sent by its National Publicity Secretary to Governor Olusegun Mimiko.

    The party said the compliments were fraught with irregularities.

    A statement signed by its Director of Publicity, Ayo Fadaka, said: “This flurry of messages, particularly by our kith and kin in the PDP, without consultation with us at the state level to find out what actually went wrong, has the potent tendency to misconstrue our position and the actions we intend to take.

    “We take serious exception to the obvious lack of camaraderie in our party and the indecent haste of certain functionaries to fall on each other in congratulating a man who essentially is a beneficiary of a compromised election.

    “It is important to place on record that the avalanche of the security provided for the election was lethargic and in contrast to what obtained in Edo State. The security men were only present in the urban areas. They were not seen in the rural areas, thereby allowing Mimiko and his goons to compromise the poll.

    “We are still gathering evidence of malpractices perpetrated in this election and what we have gathered so far will shock every apostle of one man one vote to their marrow. We declare that we will contest the result of this election and we assure our supporters that we will get victory and Mimiko will leave government the same way he came.

    “As far as the PDP in Ondo State is concerned, the battle is just beginning and victory is certain. Let whoever so desires continue to congratulate Mimiko, but we will battle him legally. We call on our members to remain undaunted in the face of this abandonment by those who ordinarily should show understanding and care at a time like this.”