The Nation Newspaper

Category: Election

  • Ondo: Commissioner, LG Chairman arrested – ACN

    The Action Congress of Nigeria has alleged the arrest of a Commissioner and Local Government Chairman in Ondo State and other irregularities during the governorship election holding in the state today.

    According to a statement by the CAN National Publicity Secretary, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, the two state government officials were arrested and stripped naked after they were found with six AK-47 guns in the early hours of Saturday.

    They have been whisked to Akure for interrogation.

    The party also stated that ACN agents in several polling units, including Mr. Kolawole Babawale of Ondo West, Ward 4 Unit 6, are being barred from the polling units because INEC allegedly made a mistake by not inserting ‘ACN’ in the agents’ tags it issued to him. Mr. Babawale is now being threatened with arrest.

     

    On the absence of materials and Insecurity, the CAN stated that at Units 13 and 14, Apoi III in Ese Odo Local Government there were no election materials and no polling clerk as at 9.50 a.m.,

     

    “At Ugbo Ward I, Ilaje – No voting has commenced as at 9.58 a.m. as no materials have been brought to the ward

    “At Idanre ward 1, Aladura polling unit – A notorious thug known as AJAJA is on rampage and he is perpetrating violence in and around the polling unit and the entire Local Government

    “At Irele ward 7, Units 4, 6, 17 and 18 – No security agents and no form EC60M are available in all the polling units of the ward.

    “At Ese Odo LG ward 1 Unit 11 – Election materials are yet to be brought and no election officials as at 10. 45 am.

    “At Okitipupa LG, Ayeka Ward Unit 6 – INEC personnel are nowhere to be seen.

    “At Akoko North-east Edo Ward Unit 4 – An LP supporter came with photo copied voters’ card to be accredited.

    “At Okitipupa LG Ward 2 Unit 6 – ACN members are being denied accreditation.

     

    “At Iramuje Commander Village of Idanre local government – Suspected political thugs have attacked and chased away all the electorates in and a guy was also shot by the hoodlums.

    “At odi olowo in Akure – No voting materials and there are long queues” Mohammed stated.

     

  • Tight security as voting begins in Ondo

    Tight security as voting begins in Ondo

    There was tight security in Ondo North Senatorial District as voting began by 12 noon.

    Police and Air Force helicopters mounted air surveillance in Owo, Oba-Akoko, Akungba, Ikare, Oka, among others.

    As early as 6am, armed soldiers, anti-riot policemen and Department of State Security (DSS) operatives were seen patrolling all major roads.

    Roadblocks were also mounted as vehicles coming Okene, Benin and Abuja axis were stopped at the Ondo State boarder.

    In the towns, vehicles on election duty, including those conveying journalists, were stopped and searched.

    They were only allowed to pass only when they had indentified themselves by their INEC tags.

    In some polling units, security agents were seen scanning voters before being let in.

    Police officers and DSS agents were seen on guard in polling units.

    In Unit 10, Ward V, Afulu in Oka Akoko where Senator Ajayi Boroffice registered, two regular policewomen were on ground.

    Speaking to journalists, Borroffice, who was one of the governorship aspirants on the platform of the Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN), complained about inadequate security personnel in his unit.

    He expressed fears that some people had threatened to disrupt voting there.

    However, he said soldiers who mounted guard about 500 meters away gave assurance that they would respond when called upon.

     

  • ACN alleges irregularities in Ondo poll

    ACN alleges irregularities in Ondo poll

    The Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN) has raised an alarm over acts of thuggery, irregularities and delay in the distribution of election materials during Saturday’s governorship election in Ondo State.

    In a statement issued in Akure, the state capital by its National Publicity Secretary, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, the party t called on INEC officials and security agencies to move fast to rectify the situation.

    According to the ACN cases of irregularities have been reported in many localities in the state, with the worst-hit areas being Idanre and Okitipupa.

    In Idanre, for example, the party said thugs on motorcycles are harassing voters and agents of the opposition.

    “There are also reports of stuffed ballot boxes being moved to polling booths with the protection of Labour Party thugs.

    “In Owo, a state government Commissioner has been arrested by soldiers after he was found with weapons.

    “The widespread insecurity has led to apprehension by voters, and there is the need for security agencies to urgently deploy additional security to the affected areas.

     “Many agents of the Action Congress of Nigeria whose names were forwarded to INEC were not given accreditation tags in several polling units across the state, raising fears that ACN agents may not be able to monitor the election. INEC must immediately remedy the situation.

    “Though election materials have been distributed to many polling units across the states, they are yet to get to several polling units, more than one hour after the election ought to have commenced.

    “Specifically, materials have not been brought to Ese Odo LG Ward 1 Unit 11, as well as Akure South Ward 8 Wofere Unit.

    “Also at both Units, INEC officials have not been sighted while at the Ese Odo LG, Apoi 4, Unit 1, duplicate EC8A was presented”, Mohammed stated.

     

     

  • Ondo: INEC orders more staff for polling booths

    Ondo: INEC orders more staff for polling booths

    An Independent National Electoral Commission National Commissioner, Prof. Layi Olurode, has directed that more electoral staff be sent to polling booths with very large turnout of voters.

    The News Agency of Nigeria reports that Olurode gave the directive in Ondo, Ondo State, when he visited Ondo Ward 7, where Governor Olusegun Mimiko will vote, after he noticed the slow pace of accreditation.

    He also directed electoral officers to accredit voters whose names and photographs on their cards correspond with the names and photographs on the voters’ register.

    The commissioner said that numbers on the voters’ cards might not correspond with the numbers on the register, as the register was not perfect.

    Olurode also directed the INEC staff members to give preference to the elderly and to people with disability in the accreditation exercise.

    Earlier, the INEC ad hoc staff in the polling unit, Mr. Ajayi Alaba, had complained that the numbers on the voters’ cards did not correspond with the numbers on the register.

    He explained that the situation had slowed down accreditation as party agents were disagreeing on the issue.

    Meanwhile, a member of the Ondo State House of Assembly, Mr. Olotu Fatai, has commended INEC officials for coming to the polling booths with the necessary materials on time.

    Fatai, representing the Akoko North Constituency in the house, however, said that many voters could not find their names on the register, and called on INEC to resolve the problem.

    Also speaking, the Deputy Governorship candidate of the Action Congress of Nigeria, Dr. Paul Akintelure, commended the Federal Government for providing adequate security.

    He expressed the belief that the security men were up to the task of containing any outbreak of violence during the poll.

     

  • Voters’ accreditation begins in Ondo

    Voters’ accreditation begins in Ondo

    …Significant turnout in Ondo Central 

    Voters’ accreditation has commenced across Ondo State for today’s gubernatorial election.

    In various polling booths voters turned out early and were being attended to by electoral officers.

    At the Ondo North Senatorial District, there was a significant turnout of voters.

    It was observed that as early as 6.30am, voters were already at the various polling units waiting for materials to arrive.

    In some units, voting materials arrived at exactly 7am.

    Accreditation began in some units promptly by 8am. In others, it began at about 9am.

    In Unit 8, Ward 6, Ayegunle, Oka-Akoko, Akungba, voters were being accredited as at 8am.

    At the polling units were agents of the three major political parties – Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Labour Party (LP) and Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN).

    At Unit O4, in Ward II, the Presiding Officer was calling out names of registered voters as at 9am for accreditation.

    Old women, elderly men and youths gathered at the unit on Victory College, by Jubilee Market, Ugbe-Abuja Road.

    Accreditation was peaceful in the unit, but a Supervisory Presiding Officer (SPO), Oladele Adebisi, who was monitoring activities in Akoko North East, said some of the Presiding Officers did not turn up.

    He said he was trying to send more officers to units with large number of voters.

    “The people are complying, and we’re working hard to meet up with time and finish with accreditation on schedule.

    “The only challenge we have is a shortage of hands in some units. So right now I am looking for more hands for units where there are more people.

    “There is supposed to be an Assistant Poling Officer (APO), APO I and APO II in each unit. But the people we would have used are not available,” he said.

    At Unit 05, Ward 1, CAC Primary School, the Ofua of Ikareland, High Chief Alfred Omotola, described the turnout of voters as impressive.

    He said: “We are peace-loving people. We are orderly here. There is no problem at all. I have come here to do my accreditation and I have been accredited.

    “No one will be forced to vote for a party when voting begins. Everyone will vote for a party of their choice,” he said.

     

  • Ondo Election: Commissioner, LG Chairman arrested

    Ondo Election: Commissioner, LG Chairman arrested

    A Commissioner in Ondo State and Local Government   Caretaker Committee in Ondo North Senatorial District have been arrested with some weapons  by soldiers at a road block.

    The have been reportedly driven to an unknown destination by the soldiers monitoring the gubernatorial election in the state today.

     

     

  • Ondo election:15 youths arrested in Afenifere chieftain’s home for illegal voting

    Ondo election:15 youths arrested in Afenifere chieftain’s home for illegal voting

    Fifteen youths were arrested in Akure, Ondo State capital, on Thursday for illegal voting ahead of today’s governorship election.

    They were caught stuffing ballot boxes with thumb-printed ballot papers.

    Already,six  chieftains of the ruling Labour Party in Ese-Odo Local Government Area of the state are on the run after reports of their rigging ahead of the election leaked.

    Sources told The Nation yesterday that the Akure  suspects were caught in the residence of an Afenifere chieftain who recently endorsed Governor Olusegun Mimiko,  the Labour Party’s candidate  in the  election.

    The Police got wind of the illegal voting and stormed the residence of the Afenifere chief to effect the arrest of the suspects.

     The retrieved items   were the leftovers of  the 2011   electoral materials.

    The intention of the suspects, it was learnt, was to swap the fake ballot boxes with the original ones on the way to the counting centres.

    The suspects are being detained in police custody.

    The Nation gathered that similar illegal voting was taking place in many other places in the state.

    For instance,six chieftains of the ruling Labour Party (LP) in Ese-Odo  and Ilaje Local Government Areas   of the state are on the run from security agents following the leakage of their illegal activities to rig the election.

    The men, including  a member of the state assembly and a local government chairman, were reportedly thumb printing ballot papers ahead of today’s election at Omonira Street, Igbokoda and NDDC village on Igbokoda Road, Okitipupa.

    In a separate incident, a physically challenged person was arrested in Ese-Odo Local Governmebt area also for rigging.

    Security operatives,acting on a tip off, were said to have stormed the areas  to arrest the culprits.

     The affected lawmaker and council chairman reportedly fled through the window, while the legislator sustained serious ankle injury in the process.

     The development which has become the talk of the town in the state was described by residents and political analysts as ridiculous and undemocratic.

     However, a chieftain of LP in the area and former NDDC commissioner Dr Benson Enikuomehin  has denied the arrest of any council chairman for alleged rigging.

    Several  LP Chieftains were said to have gone underground  to avoid arrest.

    In some polling centres in Irele Local Government Area of the state, Labour Party supporters  have been apprehended for being in possession of voting materials (ballot papers and boxes).

    Thugs who claimed to be working for the party  have similarly been arrested.

    Security operatives have been despatched to those places.

    A National Officer of the Niger Delta Youth Movement (NDYM) Mr Bright Ojubuyi urged security operatives to resist any attempt by the  ruling Labour Party to hijack ballot boxes or replace them with thumb printed ballot papers.

     All efforts to get the reaction of INEC did not succeeded as several calls to the mobile telephone of the state Resident Electoral Commissioner (REC), Mr. Akin Orebiyi, went unheeded.

  • Hitches in Ondo poll accreditation

    …Hectic time for election observers, journalists

    The electoral officers expected to supervise conduct of Saturday’s governorship election in Ondo State had a battle securing necessary accreditation on Friday.

    They were still stranded at the Independent Electoral Commission’s premises as at 2pm on Friday, battling tooth and nail for their accreditation and awaiting vehicles to be assigned them.

    So also were journalists who got stuck while processing their accreditation.

    The journalists numbering over 500 said the procedure put in place by INEC were needless roadblocks, meant more to frustrate than facilitate the accreditation.

    Meanwhile, less than 24 hours to the election, the Nigeria Police Force has disclosed that 11,000 police officers had been deployed to man various polling booths in the state.

    Also, the General Officer Commanding (GOC) Zone II, Abubakar Muhammed, has disclosed that there will be 5,300 military personnel on ground for the exercise.

    Muhammed Indabawa, who is leading the police team, has assured that Saturday’s election will be free and fair.

    Ndabawa, who is the Rivers State Commissioner of Police, disclosed that one AIG and one DIG operations would equally be on hand to support the security network.

    He noted that as from 6pm all roads in Ondo State would be manned by heavily armed policemen.

    The Nation gathered that non-sensitive election materials had been distributed to various local government areas since Thursday, while the sensitive ones were deployed on Friday.

    The police had equally deployed six armoured personnel carriers and speedboats to the riverine areas for the election.

    The GOC, Muhammed, warned hunters and fishermen that they would not be allowed to carry out their activities on Saturday.

    He said that anyone caught with any weapon would be arrested and duly prosecuted.

     

     

     

  • Ondo: Rowdy session as journalists besiege INEC for accreditation

    Ondo: Rowdy session as journalists besiege INEC for accreditation

    It was a rowdy session as journalists from various local and international media organisations gathered at the Independent National Electoral Commission office in Akure, on Friday to get accredited for Saturday’s election.

    In what many considered a wrong decision, INEC left the accreditation till Friday when it could have taken place earlier in the week.

    Journalists were required to send in a prior application on a duly signed letter-headed paper.

    This, The Nation learnt, is to weed out fake journalists, said to have filled the town.

    Most applications from unknown news organisations were turned down by INEC officials.

    The accreditation, which commenced at about 12pm, was rowdy and largely unorganised.

    Some journalists engaged officials in a shouting match over conflicting methods of application.

    The room provided for the accreditation exercise was too small to contain the pen-pushers.

    Some journalists insisted their identity cards were enough to identify them, but officials said they must bring their company’s introduction letters and passport photographs.

    At the end, no photographs were attached to the tags for those who finally got theirs at the time of filing this report.

    Meanwhile, at INEC headquarters, a large detachment of armed policemen were seen huddled together in a meeting in the morning.

    Others stood by the gate, frisking and searching those coming in.

    Several men of the Department of State Security Services (DSS) were also at INEC’s office, clutching automatic machine guns.

    A police anti-bomb squad stood guard at the gate.

    At the main road leading to INEC office, armed soldiers mounted a blockade, turning vehicles back except those on election-related duty.

    They were only allowed in after a thorough search.

     

  • Ondo: Soldiers to shoot hoodlums

    Ondo: Soldiers to shoot hoodlums

    SOLDIERS yesterday got a shoot-on-sight order against hoodlums at tomorrow’s Ondo State governorship election, if they resist arrest.

    The General Officer Commanding (GOC) Nigeria Army 2 Division, Major Gen. Mohammed Abubakar, gave the order while addressing soldiers to be deployed for election duties in Akure.

    He spoke to them at the 32 Artillery Brigade in Ondo State capital.

    Akume, the General, who said nobody would be allowed to carry arms to polling centres, also ordered his men to arrest anybody who violates the order.

    He said soldiers were deployed for the election from various formations to ensure that the state has a free and fair poll, but refused to disclose the specific number of soldiers deployed.

    Gen Abubakar said: “Nobody will be allowed to move around on that day, except for those on essential duties and those on election duty. No hunting on the Election Day. I am happy that the Inspector General of Police (IGP) has said that there will be no fishing during the poll. I don’t want to hear that I am going to the bush to hunt. Anybody with arm must be arrested. If he resists arrest, shoot him. I give you the order,” he said.

    The GOC added: “Movement will be restricted from 6pm to 6am, but motorists travelling across the state to other parts of the country will be allowed passage after they must have proved that they are not going into the state.”

    Gen. Abubakar hinted that he had received a petition from one of the candidates who accused another standard bearer of inducing some soldiers with money to allow his party to win.

    While warning soldiers not to compromise with any politician, he said any soldier caught in such act would be dealt with.

    The GOC cautioned his men: “No amount of money they promise you will turn you to Abiola or Dangote. These people worked for their money. So, be satisfied with what the Nigerian Army gives you.

    “On election day, there will be a dress code for the troops so that we identify the real soldiers from the fake ones.”

    Soldiers and riot policemen have taken over major parts of Akure, Ifon, Owo, Ondo town, Akungba and other urban areas of the state.

    At entry points to the towns, especially the state capital, security check points mounted by soldiers are strategically-located to check vehicles coming in and going out.

    The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) office located at Alagbaka area in Akure was fully secured.

    Police anti-bomb squad and operatives of other security agencies took over the premises.

    Journalists, civil society groups and other local and international observers were having a hectic time getting accredited for the governorship at the INEC office.

    Head of Media Department of INEC, Aisien Odaro, said journalists will be accredited by 4 pm today.

    Inspector-General of Police Mohammed Abubakar yesterday deployed Rivers State Commissioner of Police Mohammed Ndabawa, to take charge of security matters in tomorrow’s governorship election.

    State Police spokesman Adeniran Aremu told the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) that the commissioner assumed duties on Thursday.

    He said Ndabawa held a meeting with some top police officers on election matters with a view to achieving success in his new assignment.

    The CP will stand in for the state’s Commissioner of Police, Mr Danladi Mshelbwala, for the period of the election.

    Aremu said the command was fully prepared for the election, and urged the electorate not to entertain fears but come out to cast their votes.

    He said adequate security measures had been made to ensure the protection of lives and properties during the polls.

    Some political parties had called for the replacement of the INEC Resident Commissioner and the Commissioner of Police as part of measures to ensure free and fair election.