The Nation Newspaper

Category: Kogi/Bayelsa 2019

  • A rerun that drew curtains on Melaye’s tenure

    Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) Senator Dino Melaye has lost the Kogi West Senatorial rerun to All Progressives Congress (APC) Senator Smart Adeyemi. Correspondent JAMES AZANIA writes on the lessons of the election.

    What next for Senator Dino Melaye, defeated Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) flagbearer, who lost the Kogi West senatorial rerun to Senator Smart Adeyemi of the All Progressives Congress (APC)?

    He lost the seat by a margin of over 20, 000 votes.

    He was defeated by Adeyemi, a two-term senator, who represented the district in the fourth and fifth Assembly.

    Adeyemi defeated Melaye’s, having polled 88,373 votes while Melaye polled 62,133 votes.

    The Returning Officer, Prof. Olayide Lawal of the Federal University, Oye, Ekiti, noted that the rerun became necessary, in view of the fact that no clear winner emerged in the November 16 rerun.

    He said the margin was less than the cancelled votes, and the exercise was, therefore, inconclusive, according to electoral laws.

    Legal fireworks ensued over who represented the Kogi West in the Senate, with Adeyemi dragging his arch political rival before the Kogi National Assembly and State Assembly Election Petition Tribunal, which sat in Abuja.

    Since 1999, no election into the Senate in Kogi West has gone without litigations.

    The district had produced three senators  Tunde Ogbeha (1999 – 2007), Adeyemi (2007-2015) and Melaye (2015 – ).

    Melaye was declared winner on the platform of the APC, defeating Adeyemi of the then ruling PDP, back in 2015.

    Adeyemi contended among others that Melaye did not win the election and was not validly nominated by his party to run. He however, lost at the Appeal Court level.

    During the last National Assembly elections, Melaye and Adeyemi  squard up again, under reverse political parties, as senatorial candidates.

    Adeyemi contested Melaye’s victory and won up to the Appeal Court, which ordered a supplementary election, after the inconclusive poll.

    Melaye had boxed himself into a corner with series of political conflagrations that he got himself entangled in, the least of which was his rift  with Governor Yahaya Bello, who did not hide his desire to consign him into political oblivion.

    Bello had earlier failed to force Melaye, who was formerly his ally, out from the Senate, with the unsuccessful recall exercise.

    Adeyemi’s political trajectory got on the upswing, when he pictched tent with Bello, defecting to the APC, and securing state backing, to achieve his ambition.

    Read Also: Kogi west senatorial seat: Smart Adeyemi defeats Melaye

     

    Adeyemi emerged as the Director -General of the Bello/Onoja Governorship Campaign Council, at the Kogi poll, a position that worked so well for him during his own election, which held simultaneously on the day of the governership election.

    Following his victory, Adeyemi came out blasting from all cylinders, saying among others, that Mekaye had never won any election in Kogi West.

    Melaye has, however, maintained that his defeat is sure to be reversed, describing his opponent’s victory as a fraud. He vowed to appeal the verdict.

    At a press conference in Lokoja, the state capital, the senator-elect described Melaye’s stay at the National Assembly as a total disaster.

    He described Melaye as his political boy, who became so errant, pouring insults on those that ‘made him.’

    His words: “Dino was insulting everyone that made him. Nobody is too big for him to insult; fighting people. So, I am apologising  to Mr. President Muhammadu Buhari on behalf of Dino to forgive him. I am apologising to former President Olusegun Obasanjo on behalf of Dino, to forgive him. I am apologising to Asiwaju Bola Tinubu on behalf of Dino, to forgive him.

    “I am apologising to Governor Yahaya Bello on behalf of Dino, to forgive him. I am apologising to security agencies, who he has dispatched on several occasions, on behalf of Dino, to forgive him.

    “I am apologising to the people of Nigeria, Kogi State and Kogi West on behalf of Dino to forgive him. He was a disaster when he was at the National Assembly.

    “I will bring development to my state and my constituency by the grace of God. My victory shows that the people of Kogi West want progress and development. Dino never won any election in this state.”

    He thanked the APC for its support and Bello for making the party very strong in the state.

    Melaye said he will challenge the “temporal and evaporative victory” of Adeyemi at the tribunal.

    In a press statement in Lokoja, Melaye said, the vctory attained by violence and fraud is tantamount to defeat, for it is momentary.”

    He added: “It is not about Dino Melaye; it is about Nigeria and our electoral system. I stay the course… not over yet.

    “I want to specially thank God almighty that he preserved my life after five attempted assassination, combined forces of security agencies, INEC, federal, state and LG powers.

    “I was fought on land, in the air and spiritually. It was not about election but my life. God I thank you. The reaction of men and women of goodwill all over Nigeria, especially the wonderful people of Kogi West, who truly voted for me, is a testimony that God is with me and with us all. I won the election and Adeyemi remain my political wife.

    “The forces against me are not beyound God. People should not worry about me. I am fine and will always be. I just thank God that the plan to kill me did not succeed. A living dog is better than a dead lion. I thank God for life. My name is Daniel; I cannot fall or fail.”

    With the situation on ground, it would appear that the last is yet to be heard about the battle of political supremacy between Adeyemi and Melaye.

  • Reconcile with Lyon, APC chieftain urges Lokpobiri

    Agency Reporter

    Mr Yekini Nabena, the Deputy National Publicity Secretary of the All Progressives Congress (APC), has called on one of the party’s governorship aspirant, Mr Heineken Lokpobiri, to reconcile and identify with Bayelsa Governor-elect, Mr David Lyon.

    Nabena, who made the call on Sunday, while speaking with newsmen in Abuja, urged Lokpobiri, to drop his legal action against APC and Lyon in order promote peace and unity in the party and the state.

    It would be recalled that few months ago, Lokpobiri, who is also a former Minister of State for Agriculture and Rural Development, challenged the election of Lyon as APC candidate, after the party’s primary.

    He had approached the court, seeking to be declared declared winner of the poll and therefore the party’s authetic candidate.

    Nabena said: “It is common knowledge that Sen. Heineken Lokpobiri has refused to congratulate and identify with the governor-elect of Bayelsa, Mr David Lyon, after his landslide election victory.

    “Lokpobiri has refused to drop his misplaced and ill-advised legal action taken against the APC and Lyon, with the hope of acquiring the Bayelsa governorship mandate with the support of his sponsors.

    “After the Bayesla governorship election, stakeholders have held several meetings with Lokpobiri’s sponsors, who I am not disposed to name for political reasons.’’

    According to the APC chieftain, some governors are positioning themselves by scheming to control Bayelsa State through Lokpobiri, and then use that as a springboard into other South South states ahead of the 2023 presidency.

    “I will not dwell on the political power play among APC leaders of the South South for the soul of the region ahead of 2023.

    “However, my strong advice for the governors is that they should focus on the development of their states and not meddle in the affairs of Bayelsa State and the South South.

    Read Also: We’ve signed contract with Bayelsa, says Lyon

     

    “Bayelsa and other oil-producing states of the South South enjoy a fragile peace as a result of the commendable efforts of President Muhammadu Buhari’s government to develop the zone and productively engage the youth.

    “We will not allow anybody to disrupt the peace of Bayelsa State in furtherance of their selfish political interests,” Nabena said.

    According to him, Buhari is a stickler for democratic principles and the rule of law, and so everyone must follow these principles.

    “It is Lokpobiri’s constitutional right to approach the court, even if his case has no merit. But I think it is important to let the world know that his actions are sponsored by outsiders in furtherance of their political interests ahead of 2023,” he said. (NAN)

  • Kogi West: Melaye submits another petition to INEC

    Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) candidate for Kogi West Senatorial election, Senator Dino Melaye, has called for the postponement of the supplementary election scheduled for November 30.

    Melaye addressed reporters at the headquarters of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) in Abuja, where he submitted another petition on the election.

    The senator urged INEC to postpone the election until it would be able to address what he called “noticeable infractions” in the November 16 election and concerns over areas the supplementary election would be held.

    Melaye, on November 20, submitted a petition, calling for total cancellation of the election, to which he attached 21 video CDs and other documentary evidence to prove that there was no election in the senatorial district.

    The senator said he was at INEC office because he had not got a reply to his earlier petition, adding that there was also no public announcement that a panel was set up to investigate the issues he raised in the petition.

    Melaye also said he submitted additional facts to those in his earlier petition, which, according to him, were unknown to INEC Chairman Prof. Mahmood Yakubu.

    “What is new in what we have submitted today is that we have attached a copy of form EC8B of Ward A in Lokoja Local Government Area, where INEC, during collation, had cancelled results of nine out of 23 polling units in the local government area,” he said.

    Read Also: Kogi West: As Adeyemi, Melaye go back to the trenches

    The senator added that results were cancelled in other polling units during collation, including Abugi, Ole and other places.

    According to him, these were not captured among the areas where INEC said the supplementary poll would take place on November 30.

    “What we are saying is: how can INEC cancel these polling units during collation process and they will not be captured in places where rerun will take place?

    “We believe this is an aberration, and the INEC chairman cannot know about it and allow it to stay,” he said.

    Melaye said there were also lots of places where elections were supposed to have been cancelled by INEC, but which were not.

    These, he said, included Lokogoma and Adanko in Lokoja, where he said three people were killed during the November 16 election.

    “Unfortunately, results were returned in those places. We are saying that INEC must be neutral and cancel elections in areas where there were violence,” he said.

    Another infraction the senator cited was that in Koko Quarters of Aiyetoro-Gbede Ward 1 in Ijumu Local Government Area, the election was peaceful, result collated, declared and won by the PDP but had been included among areas the supplementary would take place on Saturday.

  • Bayelsa poll: APC, PDP shift battle to court

    Mike Odiegwu, Yenagoa

    The All Progressives Congress (APC) and the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) have shifted their battles for the soul of Bayelsa State to the Court of Appeal and the Federal High Court.

    The Candidate of the APC, Chief David Lyon, won the just-concluded governorship election in the state defeating his counterpart of the PDP, Senator Douye Diri, with a wide margin.

    But investigations at the weekend revealed that both parties have legal hurdles to surmount before the February 14, 2020 hand over date.

    The APC, Lyon and the Deputy Governor-elect, Biobarakumo Degi, were said to be wary of the three court cases challenging their qualifications and the process that led to their emergence as the candidates of the APC.

    It was observed that few days to the election, a Federal High Court sitting in Abuja and presided over by Justice Inyang Ekwo gave a judgment disqualifying Degi following discrepancies in his name.

    The case was instituted by the candidate of the PDP, Senator Douye Diri and his running mate Senator Lawrence Ewrujakpor.

    Read Also: Kogi poll credible, say observer groups

     

    But the APC immediately obtained a stay of execution of the judgment and immediately filed an appeal at the Court of Appeal.

    It was, however, gathered that the party and its national and state leaders were not sleeping over the matter as they had shifted their attention at vacating the judgement of the lower court.

    Investigations further revealed that Lyon and the party have shifted their focus to the Federal High Court Judgement that disqualified Lyon two days to the governorship poll in a case between the party and a frontline aspirant and a former Minister of State for Agriculture, Senator Heineken Lokpobiri.

    In a controversial judgement, the court presided over by Justice Kate Inyang, held that the governorship primary conducted by the APC in Bayelsa was not in compliance with the party’s guidelines.

    The court, which was said to have gone beyond the reliefs sought by the plaintiff thereby acting like a Father Christmas, ruled that both Lyon and Lokpobiri were not qualified to fly the flag of the APC.

    It was gathered that Lokpobiri, Lyon and the APC leadership were set to begin legal fireworks at the Court of Appeal.

    Besides the APC and Lyon were said to be paying attention to a suit instituted by another aspirant, Preye Aganaba challenging the emergence of Lyon.

    Aganaba asked the court to nullify the primary poll that produced Lyon alleging that the internal election fell short of the guidelines of the party.

    It was further observed that the PDP and its candidate, Douye Diri, had its fair share of litigations with a frontline aspirant and former Managing Director, Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC), Chief Timi Alaibe challenging the process that led to the party primary.

    It was gathered that the court would soon pick a date for judgement having adjourned the case sine die.

  • INEC fixes November 30 for Adeyemi, Melaye battle

    By Bolaji Ogundele, Abuja

     

    Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has fixed November 30, 2019 for the supplementary election to conclude the Kogi West Senatorial District by-election.

    INEC, in a statement by its National Commissioner and Chairman, Information and Voter Education Committee, Festus Okoye, also said the Commission would be conducting the re-run election for the Ajaokuta Federal Constituency seat same day.

    According to the statement, areas where the elections will be held will be uploaded on the Commission’s website, adding that collation for both exercises will be according to the usual INEC collation rules.

    INEC, however, appealed to all political parties and stakeholders to cooperate with its personnel so that it could eventually deliver a conclusive exercise.

    The statement reads: “The independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) met today Thursday 21st of November, 2019 and fixed 30th November 2019 for the conduct of the Supplementary and re-run elections for Kogi West Senatorial District and Ajaokuta Federal Constituency, respectively.

    Read Also: Melaye tenders petition with 21 video evidence at INEC

    “At the conclusion of the court-ordered Kogi West Senatorial re-run election on 16th November, 2019, supplementary polls were indicated by the Collation/Returning Officer for the Senatorial District, affecting 20 Registration Areas, 53 Polling Units and 46,767 Registered Voters, spread across 7 Local Government Areas of the Senatorial District.

    “In addition, the court ordered the conduct of Supplementary re-run poll in Ajaokuta Federal Constituency affecting 22 Polling Units.”

    “Collation procedures shall be in line with extant Guidelines for Collation at the Supplementary polls.

    “The list of affected Registration Areas and Polling Units will be uploaded on our website and communicated to the stakeholders in the respective Registration Areas and Polling Units.

    “We enjoin all the political parties and stakeholders to cooperate with the Commission for conclusive free and credible elections in the affected areas.”

  • Polls: PDP calls for UN, EU, AU sanctions

    By Gbade Ogunwale, Abuja

     

    Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) on Thursday called for the imposition of international sanctions on the national leadership and political office holders in the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC).

    Also, the party is seeking similar sanctions against the leadership of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), the military and the Nigeria Police Force (NPF).

    The party also called on the international community, particularly the United Nations (UN), the European Union (EU), the Commonwealth of Nations, the African Union (AU) and the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) to immediately impose sanctions on the named Nigerian officials and institutions.

    The PDP suggested travel bans on the leadership of the listed institutions for abusing their offices and allegedly aiding or allowing acts that led to electoral fraud and violence in the November 16 governorship elections in Kogi and Bayelsa states.

    Addressing journalists in Abuja, PDP National Chairman, Prince Uche Secondus, said that a wave of terror was threatening “our democracy, our constitutional order, national cohesion and safety of our citizens are now at stake.”

    Lamenting what he described as official conspiracy by the various state actors, the party chairman said: “As the world witnessed, the official conspiracies, bloodletting and mindless killing of innocent citizens by agents of the APC-led administration in connivance with the INEC to aid the forceful seizure of power in the November 16 Kogi and Bayelsa states governorship elections, clearly showed that our democracy is under severe attack.

    “In an apparent organised attack, government-controlled police and military, working for the APC, deployed dangerous assault weapons, including helicopters, to coordinate the violent invasion of polling units with maximum force; shooting, killing and maiming unarmed civilians, who were called out by government to perform their civic responsibilities at the elections.

    Read Also: How PDP can bounce back in Ekiti, by chieftains

    “The world watched with horror as killer security agents brutalised voters and carted away ballot boxes to government facilities, where results were written in favour of the APC and handed to a heavily compromised INEC, which has become part of the crime, to announce.

    “From the report reaching our party, no fewer than 30 innocent compatriots were killed and many more injured in this organised crime against humanity by the APC, the police and INEC.

    “The only crime of the citizens was their expressed determination to vote for the candidates of their choice as governors of Kogi and Bayelsa states as clearly manifested in the results from the polling centres before the forceful seizure of the electoral processes.

    “Most distressing is the gruesome incineration of one of our party’s woman leaders in Kogi State, Mrs. Acheju Abuh, in her home by APC thugs, a crime that was abetted by unscrupulous security agents.

    “Our party holds that this electoral fraud and crime against humanity, including established culpable homicide committed by the APC, security agents and INEC, cannot be allowed to pass.”

    Secondus said the PDP had thoroughly reviewed incontrovertible pieces of documentary evidence, including video clips, graphic pictures, witness testimonies, manipulated results sheets, proofs of compromise of INEC officials and other hard facts to establish the culpability of the police and INEC in the said electoral fraud, as well as the unforgiveable culpable homicide and crime against humanity in the elections.

    The party chair said the PDP was in possession of details of the roles played by the police high command and INEC as well as other security agencies during the elections.

    Vowing to make public details of the party’s findings in the two state elections anytime soon, Secondus expressed regrets that the Federal Government had failed to investigate the killings during the polls or brought the perpetrators to justice.

    Secondus continued:“In this regard, the PDP calls for the outright cancellation of the governorship elections in Bayelsa and Kogi states as they are products of bloodshed and do not reflect the true wishes and aspiration of the people of the states.

    “We also demand the immediate cancellation of the Kogi West Senatorial election. This is the biggest fraud of the century.

    “The PDP, standing with millions of Nigerians, also holds that the INEC and the police high commands must be made to answer charges of electoral fraud and crime against humanity at the appropriate quarters.”

    “The PDP therefore calls on the international community as well as international organisations, including  the United Nations (UN), the European Union (EU), Commonwealth of Nations, the African Union (AU), ECOWAS to immediately impose sanctions, including travel bans, on the INEC and the police high commands for abusing their offices and allegedly aiding or allowing acts that led to electoral fraud and violence in the elections.”

    Saying that the primary duty of INEC and the police is to ensure free, fair and credible elections, Secondus said this duty was observed in the breach.

    According to him, reports of violence, rigging and intimidation during the two elections were documented by party agents, voters, stakeholders and independent observers in the elections.

    He said that perpetrators must be made to face the consequences to serve as deterrent to others.

    The party chairman commended the people of Kogi and Bayelsa states for their resilience and resistance against oppressive forces during the elections, saying that their patriotism would never be in vain.

    He said: “Our leadership also condoles with the families of compatriots who were murdered by the APC. Indeed, their death can never be in vain as the mandate for which they were killed will be surely retrieved.

    “Moreover, somebody someday will bear the full sentence of guilt at the appropriate quarters, be it within the ambit of our domestic laws or those of the international laws.

    “In the meantime, we urge all members of the PDP to remain strong and undeterred as we collectively exert ourselves in the defence of our nation’s democracy.”

  • ‘My victory buried ethnic politics in Kogi’

    By Augustine Ehikioya, Abuja

     

    Kogi State Governor, Yahaya Bello, Thursday said his victory in the November 16 governorship election in the state has buried the issue of ethnic politics in the state.

    He spoke with State House correspondents after presenting his Certificate of Return to President Muhammadu Buhari at the Presidential Villa, Abuja.

    According to him, ethnicity issues have over the years held the state down.

    He said: “Ethnicity is a monster that has held the country down. My victory has buried ethnicity.”

    Read Also: INEC presents Certificates of Return to Lyon, Bello

    He boasted that he was sure that he was going to win the election with a wide margin

    “I won with landslide. I said the issue of winning was not the issue but the margin,” he said.

    Governor Bello called on those, who contested against him in the primaries of the All Progressives Congress (APC) and the opposition political parties in the election, to join him in the Next Level government “so that we can together do more.  We have a lot of task ahead of us, the journey has just begun.”

    Speaking earlier, APC National Chairman, Comrade Adams Oshiomhole, said the party was proud of the victory of Governor Bello, adding that President Buhari was also pleased with the victory and had congratulated him.

  • INEC presents Certificates of Return to Lyon, Bello

    By Mike Odiegwu, Yenagoa

     

    Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) on Thursday presented Certificates of Return to Bayelsa State Governor-Elect, Chief David Lyon and Kogi State Governor, Yahaya Bello.

    The commission also presented Certificates of Return to Deputy Governor-elect, Senator Biobarakumo Degi and a member of the Bayelsa State House of Assembly representing Brass Constituency 1, Charles Daniel, whose supplementary election was concluded on November 16.

    Lyon described the Certificate of Return presented to him by INEC as a social contract between him and the people.

    The Bayelsa governor-elect, who received the certificate from INEC National Commissioner in charge of Bayelsa, Edo and Rivers states, Mrs. May Agbamuche, said he would not disappoint the people of the state, who came out en masse to vote for him in a free, fair, credible and peaceful election.

    Describing November 16 as a historical day, he said the people trooped to their polling units with pains in their hearts to vote out the current government and usher in a new administration under the APC.

    Lyon, who was in company with APC leaders and crowd of residents, including drummers, at the INEC office in Yenagoa, where he received the certificate, reiterated that he would treat the state’s revenue as the people’s money meant for development.

    Read Also:

    “The Bayelsa money is not my money. The Bayelsa money doesn’t belong to my deputy.  It is the people’s money and we will use it judiciously to develop Bayelsa State. I am signing a contract with the people of Bayelsa to bring peace to our state so that development will come to Bayelsa,”he said.

    Lyon said though in every election there must be a winner and a loser, in his own case everybody that contested with him should be regarded as a winner.

    He called on other contestants, including the PDP candidate to work with him for the development of Bayelsa.

    The governor-elect said the election was free, fair, credible and peaceful adding that it was the first time in the history of the state such contest was held without any loss of life.

    Read Also: Security agents performed poorly in Bayelsa, say observers

    He said he was particularly impressed that Southern Ijaw, his local government area hitherto notorious for electoral violence, went through Saturday’s poll without violence.

    In Kogi, Bello and his deputy, who is also his running mate, Edward Onoja, were presented with their Certificates of Return in a ceremony at the Professor Mahmoud Yakubu Hall, INEC state headquarters, Lokoja.

    INEC National Commissioner in charge of the North Central, Mohammed Haruna, who presented the certificate to Bello and Onoja, said: “Today marks a new beginning after the election and a call to duty for the governor-elect.”

    Kogi State Resident Electoral Commissioner (REC), Prof. James Apam, said the presentation was in line with the tradition of the commission, which it always looked forward to.

    “We know what we went through to get to this stage and it’s time to settle down for the job ahead,” he said.

    Bello said the day, being the second time he would be receiving certificate of return as a governor, would not be the last time he would get such a document from INEC.

    He said he would continue to pursue those laudable projects he pledged during the electioneering campaigns.

  • Security agents performed poorly in Bayelsa, say observers

    By Emmanuel Oladesu 

     

    Coalition of Civil Society Election Observers Group ((CCSEOG) yesterday said security agencies did not live up to expectation during the Bayelsa State governorship poll.

    The group doubted if the outcome of the exercise reflected the aspirations of voters, adding that the results should be cancelled.

    Its Chairman,  Olufemi Lawson, told reporters in Lagos that thugs and hoodlums were on rampage on poll day, thereby violating the integrity of the process.

    “We are miffed at the inability and failure of security agencies to intervene or try to stop hoodlums from perpetrating violence, especially in the snatching of ballot boxes and disruption of collation process at polling units, as most of the security personnel ran for their lives, leaving voters, INEC officials and observers at the mercy of rampaging mobs,” he said.

    Lawson urged the international community to consider appropriate sanctions, including Visa ban, for perpetrators of election violence and their sponsors.

    He hailed the umpire for what he described as improved commitment towards logistics deployment and poll commencement, saying that they were timely in most voting locations.

    Read Also: Polls: PDP calls for UN, EU, AU sanctions

    Lawson condemned attacks on reporters and electoral observers, vote buying and violence, stressing that these indications underscored the militarisation of the process.

    Chiding security agencies for partiality, he said soldiers and policemen in Ognis prevented agents of some political parties from entering the collation centres.

    He alleged that the council chairman, Ebinyo Turner, and House of Assembly member, Munaleyefa Gibson were arrested by the police.

    “The large presence of security officials did not deter thugs from instigating and perpetrating violence. We witnessed politicians coming to polling stations with masked thugs, who instantly snatched ballot boxes and chased away voters,” Lawson said.

  • IG: fake policemen disrupted polls

    Augustine Ehikioya, Abuja

    Inspector General of Police, Mohammed Adamu, on Tuesday said the police authorities got wind of plans by politicians to dress some of their supporters in police uniforms during last Saturday’s Kogi and Bayelsa governorship elections.

    He also alleged that fake policemen disrupted the November 16 governorship elections in parts of the two states.

    He insisted that they were not part of the personnel officially deployed for election duties by the police force.

    Adamu briefed State House correspondents at the end of a security meeting with President Muhammadu Buhari at the State House, Abuja.

    Read Also: PSC commends police, other security agencies

    He said that investigation was still ongoing to identify those who caused violence during the elections.

    Adamu said 11 arrests had been made.

    According to him, all security personnel, who worked during the elections, were given “special identification tags.”

    He said anyone without the tag was on illegal duty.

    The security situation in the country, he said, remained stable.

    On the alleged police extortion of motorists in the Southeast by police officers at check points, he advised that people should always copy the names of such police officers and report them to the police hierarchy in the area.