Category: Lead

The Nigerian Correctional Service (NCoS) yesterday said it had destroyed some seized/confiscated items from various custodial centers across the country.

The service said the items it destroyed at its national headquarters in Abuja were estimated at over N150,000,000.

NCoS Public Relations Officer Abubakar Umar said the prohibited items were seized from inmates over a period of time through the proactive measures and routine search of the cells by officers and men of the service.

Umar listed the destroyed items as cell phones, SIM cards, laptops, hard drugs, power banks and other electronic devises considered as contraband for inmates in custody.

In a statement, the NCoS spokesman explained that the Controller General of Corrections (CGC), Haliru Nababa, said the destruction of the contraband was in fulfillment of sections 51 and 52 of the Service Standing Orders (SO).

The CGC thanked the officers for their display of professionalism and assured the public that the service would not relent in efforts to rid all custodial centres of prohibited items.

Umar said: “Nababa further stressed that searching of cells will be a continuous exercise to ensure that inmates in custody comply with standard operating procedures which give room for rehabilitation and reformatory programmes to thrive.

“According to him, returning the inmates back to the society as self-sustained persons and employers of labour is paramount in the agenda of the service at this time.”

Rivers Governor, Nyesom Wike, has told the National Disciplinary Committee of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) that his Benue counterpart, Dr. Samuel Ortom, will not appear before it to defend his alleged involvement in anti-party activities.

The Governor further described as nullity the suspension of former Ekiti Governor, Ayodele Fayose and others for anti-party activities by the National Working Committee (NWC) of the PDP.

The Governor spoke in Government House, Port Harcourt on Thursday while reacting to NWC’s decision to take disciplinary actions against Ortom, Fayose and other party bigwigs accused of anti-party.

Wike said: “I want to state clearly and let members of the party and Nigerians hear it clearly, the National Working Committee made up of Dr Iyorchia Ayu, who they say is the chairman of the party; Sam Anyanwu, the national secretary and other members of NWC cannot suspend Ayo Fayose, not to talk about referring governor Ortom to national disciplinary committee.”

Wike said the decision of the NWC to refer Ortom to the party’s National Disciplinary Committee was the height of all insults.

He said: “Referring a governor to your so-called national disciplinary committee is the height of all insult, and we will not take it. Therefore, be ready for whatever you see as far as this party is concerned.

“Governor Ortom, who has stood firm for the unity of this country, Governor Ortom who has come out openly to say that Nigeria must be one is not the type you will say you’ll refer to that your kangaroo committee.”

The Rivers Governor said if anyone deserved to be suspended from the party, that person should be Dr. Iyorchia Ayu, whom he accused of contravening the PDP constitution on the zoning of elective and appointive offices.

Wike said: “If there is any person deserving suspension it should be you (Ayu), who played anti-party by refusing to obey the constitution of the party on the zoning of political offices as is required. So, whoever tells you can suspend people, please tell the person that he is not serious.

“if you are talking of anti-party it is you who could not even deliver your unit, deliver your ward that is involved. Because of the fraudulent activities you are involved in, people have lost hope in you. That is why you cannot win your unit, win your ward.”

Wike asked Ayu and the NWC to desist from threatening the G-5 governors and members of the Integrity Group with suspension.

According to him, Ayu has by his recent action opened up a new chapter of political war in the party.

He said: “You cannot cage any of us. Ortom will not appear before any of your so-called disciplinary committees. Ayodele Fayose will also never appear before any disciplinary committee.”

The Minister of Aviation Senator Hadi Sirika has said the proposed national carrier, Nigeria Air will fly before May 29th, 2023.

The Minister also said the project was 98 percent completed.

He stated this in Abuja on Thursday during the 10th Aviation stakeholders forum where he spoke on the status of the roadmap of the ministry.

The Minister, while giving an update on the likely date Nigeria Air would commence operation, said: “All of the roadmap items except perhaps the airline which in my opinion is in 98 percent completion, and we will fly within these remaining two months by the grace of God.

“We will also finish the concessions. So, all those things we said we will do when we came in, we did them.

“Before the end of this administration, before May 29th, we will fly.”

He also said he had thought Emirate, Lufthansa, Qatar airlines would emerge as the preferred bidder for the Nigeria Air project.

Read Also: Sanwo-Olu best option for Lagos, says Sirika

He however said he was glad Ethiopian airlines group consortium eventually emerged.

He said he reached out to international airlines and domestic airlines except Overland to partner with Nigeria Air.

Sirika said: “When we were setting up Nigeria Air limited, my gut feeling is to partner with airlines that I think will add value, with financial experience and high profile such as Emirate, Qatar, Lufthansa, and the rest of them.

“Those who worked closely with me know that this is my forecast and what I wanted because I believe if you partner with Lufthansa for example, automatically you will have license to fly.

“I thought we would do that and I made attempts to reach them and invite them as I did with all airline owners in Nigeria except overland.

“I reached out to them personally to come and partner to create a strong airline but fast forward, we had a bidder, Ethiopian airline.

“I was very happy that we got them (Ethiopian) to come. It was not my choice but I am happy now knowing what I know.

“They are a household name, strong and they have been in business for 70 years unbroken and they have over 200 aircraft.

“So, I am very glad we are partnering with them and it is a reality.

“Some airlines are in court and their grouse is that it can be any airline in the world but not Ethiopian because, in their own way, they think Ethiopian is a competitor.”

On the potential of the roadmap, Sirika said it can create thousands of jobs.

He said: “Upon completion of the roadmap, it is estimated that 72,300 jobs (9,100 direct jobs and 63,200 jobs within three years and with 20 aircraft) will be created.

“A recent aviation sector study for Nigeria by International Air Transportation Association (IATA) in June 2020, showcases the significant contribution of air transportation to the National economy, through providing 241,000 jobs (direct and indirect) and a contribution of $1.7 billion to the national economy.

“However, with the successful implementation of the roadmap projects, our overall goal is to grow the aviation sector’s contribution from the current 0.6% to 5% approximately $14.166 billion.”

A former Deputy Senate President, Ike Ekweremadu and his wife, Beatrice, have been convicted of organ trafficking in the United Kingdom.

A jury found that Senator Ike Ekweremadu, 60, his wife Beatrice, 56 and medical “middleman” Dr Obinna Obeta, 50, were guilty of a conspiracy to bring a young man to Britain to give his kidney with a view to his exploitation after a six-week trial.

Read Also: I was not part of search for kidney donor, says Ekweremadu’s wife

Their daughter Sonia, 25, wept as she was cleared of the same charge on Thursday.

They were said to have criminally conspired to bring the 21-year-old Lagos street trader to London to exploit him for his kidney, the jury found.

The victim, a 21-year-old street trader from Lagos, was brought to the UK last year to provide a kidney to Sonia in an £80,000 private transplant at the Royal Free Hospital in London.

Details Shortly…

• NLC directs picketing of CBN offices

• Apex bank plans return of old notes

Workers yesterday vowed to stay at home from next week until further notice over the worsening naira scarcity.

They said they can no longer pay for transportation fares to work.

The Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) also directed all its affiliate unions to mobilise for the picketing of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) offices, including its headquarters in Abuja, from next week until cash is made available.

It asked workers to stay at home to enable them to join in the picketing exercise.

But the apex bank hinted yesterday about plans to flood the banks with old naira notes from today

The naira crisis has also worsened gender inequalities and made women poorer, according to Minister of Women Affairs, Dame Pauline Kedem Tallen.

She said as good as the cash-less and naira redesign policy is, the ramifications have meant millions of women have been left behind.

The minister spoke at the 2023 edition of the Development Bank of Nigeria (DBN) International Women’s Day celebration in Abuja.

Tallen said this inequality is exacerbated by “the new monetary policy as we go cashless”.

She said a solution must be found to what she called “growing inequalities which have left women poorer”.

NLC President, Joe Ajaero, gave the picketing and sit-at-home directive during a briefing at the end of the Central Working Committee (CWC) meeting.

Ajaero said the exercise would be “total and till further notice.”

The labour leader said the directive became imperative following the expiration of the one-week ultimatum given to the CBN to make cash available to Nigerians last week.

He said the situation had not changed since the ultimatum was issued, forcing the Congress to decide on the picketing of CBN offices nationwide.

He said mobilisation for the picketing would commence on Friday ahead of next week.

The NLC President lamented that despite the Supreme Court order allowing the old N500 and N1,000 notes to circulate with the new notes till December 31, the situation is getting worse as workers cannot access cash to pay fares to work and cannot buy food for their families.

The NLC last week gave the CBN and commercial banks a one-week ultimatum to make naira notes available.

The organisation said it would direct workers to stay at home if the CBN failed to comply.

Ajaero said: “Last week at the end of our CWC meeting, we gave a one-week ultimatum for the Federal Government to address immediately, among other issues, the issue of cash crunch that was caused by the policy.

“As of this morning when the CWC met again to review the situation, we discovered that not much improvement has been made.

“The situation is still almost the same. People are still buying our currency with our currencies.

“People can no longer access the currency and the government seems to be very adamant about this.

“No moves have been made to reduce the suffering of Nigerians.

“Consequently, the CWC-in-session resolved to go into the process of actualising the one-week notice.

“From Friday (tomorrow), there will be mobilisation of all state councils through a NEC meeting.

“All unions have already been directed to mobilise all their organs and their branches. By Wednesday next week, all CBN offices nationwide will be picketed.

“All CBN offices, from the CBN headquarters, will be shut till further notice.

“Workers are directed to stay at home and join in the picketing exercise.

“We call on Nigerians to understand the circumstances we are operating in. People will be telling you about the political situation.

“The political situation is self-inflicted and the economic crisis is worst than the political situation because people cannot eat.

“Workers can no longer go to the office and nothing is happening.

“So, we have been pushed to the wall having given one week and we thought they could address the situation which is not addressed.

“We have decided to take our destiny into our hands. So, comrades, the mobilisation commences immediately and when we talk of action from Wednesday, it’s total, until further notice.”

The NLC president also criticised the pricing irregularities in the petroleum sector, which he said was also a cause for concern.

He said the cash crunch was compounding the petroleum sector crisis as people are being compelled to buy naira with naira at exorbitant costs.

Find a solution for women’s sake, says ministers

Tallen, represented by Director, Gender Affairs in the ministry, Mrs. Friiya Bulus, told the large gathering of women at the Yar’Adua Centre that digital revolution opportunities come with the risk of existing patterns of gender inequality.

She said: “As good as the policy is, in the long run, the immediate concern is the growing inequalities which are becoming increasingly evident in the context of digital skills and access to technologies with women being left behind as a result of this digital gender divide.”

She lamented that the rural and urban vegetable seller who agrees to be paid through transfer would be charged a fee by the banks.

This, she believes, would result in “the devaluation of her goods and loss of income”.

Tallen added: “This explains why the average market woman does not believe in this cashless policy and remains resistant to accepting the change.

“What will you say about the Point of Sale (PoS) operator who controls the economy for want of cash?

“You want N5,000 and you have to pay close to N2,000 as charges.

“The need for inclusive and transformative technology and digital education is, therefore, crucial for a sustainable future.

“We must work together to create access to the use of digital devices, internet and content to mainstream women into the digital space.”

Minister of Finance Budget and National Planning, Mrs Zainab Ahmed, said efforts must be made to end the inequalities.

“We must work to eliminate the gender pay gap and support women entrepreneurs and business owners,” she said.

DBN Managing Director, Dr. Tony Okpanachi, said Nigerians must ensure that technology is used to empower women, not reinforce gender stereotypes.

He lamented that “there is still a significant employment discrepancy in the tech profession, with women accounting for between 28 per cent and 42 per cent of the workforce”.

Okpanachi added: “We must continue to challenge gender biases and promote diversity in all aspects of our lives.

“We must join our hands together to close gender disparity and provide more opportunities for women to gain the skills they need to succeed in the digital economy.”

• PDP candidate lists grounds against results

People Democratic Party (PDP) presidential candidate Atiku Abubakar has asked the Presidential Election Petition Court (PEPC) to declare him the winner of the Federal 25 election.

Alternatively, he prayed the court to order a rerun between him and the president-elect, Bola Tinubu.

In the alternative, he wants the entire election nullified and a fresh one conducted.

The petition by Atiku and PDP, a copy of which our reporter obtained yesterday, was filed late Tuesday by their team of lawyers, led by Chief Joe-Kyari Gadzama (SAN), and is numbered CA/PEPC/05/2023.

The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), Tinubu and the All Progressives Congress (APC) are the first, second and third respondents.

Tinubu scored 8,794,726 votes to defeat  Atiku, who polled 6,984,520 and Labour Party (LP) candidate Peter Obi, who garnered 6,101,533 votes.

Atiku and the PDP are challenging the result on four grounds: 

•The election of the second respondent is invalid by reason of noncompliance with the provisions of the Electoral Act, 2022.

•The election of the second respondent is invalid by reason of corrupt practices.

•The second respondent was not duly elected by a majority of lawful votes cast at the election.

•The second respondent was, at the time of the election, not qualified to contest the election.

The petitioners stated that they “shall lead oral and documentary evidence at the hearing in proof of the fact that the result of the election, as announced by the first respondent (INEC) and especially the votes wrongly allocated to the second respondent (Tinubu) do not represent the lawful valid votes cast; and that lawful votes were deliberately and massively deducted from the first petitioner’s (Atiku’s) scores by INEC to facilitate the return of Tinubu.”

They further stated that INEC failed to comply with its guidelines and regulations to transmit results and accreditation data directly and in real-time to the INEC Result Viewing Portal (IREV) and its electronic collation system/storage device before the hasty return and announcement of Tinubu as the winner on March 1, 2023.

They said: “The petitioners contend that by the combined provisions of the Electoral Act, the INEC Regulations and Guidelines and the INEC Manual, the votes collated at the polling units are to be electronically transmitted with the Bimodal Voter Accreditation System (BVAS) directly and real-time to the INEC electronic collation system and IReV portal.

“The petitioners aver strongly that the first respondent, having set the parameters, did not ensure compliance with the electronic transmission of accreditation data and results in this election to create opportunity for manipulation of figures to the advantage of the second and third (APC) respondents.”

On their argument that Tinubu did not score the required votes on the FCT, the petitioners are contending that Tinubu, who contested on the APC platform, did not secure at least one-quarter of the votes cast in the presidential election in the Federal Capital Territory, Abuja.

“Out of the total votes of 478,652 cast in Abuja, the second respondent was ascribed only 90,902 (18.99 per cent) of those votes.

“The petitioners shall contend that to be declared duly elected, a candidate, in addition to obtaining not less than a quarter (25 per cent) of the votes cast in at least two-thirds of all the states, must also receive at least one quarter (25 per cent) of the votes cast in Abuja, this being an additional requirement introduced by the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria 1999 (as amended), the said Constitution having clearly distinguished the Federal Capital Territory, Abuja as a separate entity by specific and express mention.”

Obi scored 281,717 votes in Abuja, representing 59 per cent; Tinubu scored 90, 902, representing 19 per cent, while Atiku came third in the FCT with 74,119 votes, representing 15 per cent.

On their claim that the process was marred by corrupt practices, the petitioners are contending that the collation of election results in all the states was manipulated by INEC through the deliberate suppression and discounting of the lawful votes of the petitioners while allegedly inflating the scores by Tinubu and APC.

“The particulars of corrupt practices before and during the disputed election include but not limited to the following, viz, compromised printing/production of electoral materials, manipulation of election material delivery, and compromised printing/production of election materials,” the petitioners said.

They further claimed the commission “manipulated and deliberately ‘managed’ the votes emanating from the polling units in that the first respondent through its officials, suppressed votes of the petitioners and wrongly credited the second and third respondents with the said votes.”

The petitioners, who further claimed that the election “is invalid on account of corrupt practices,” cited alleged instances of corrupt practices before and during the disputed election, to suppression of votes; manipulation of the ballots and ballot boxes; manipulation of BVAS machines; manipulation of accreditation and collation; manipulation of election material delivery, and manipulation of election material reverse logistics.

Other corrupt practices, according to the petitioners, include intimidation and harassment of voters; massive thumb-printing of ballot papers; destruction of electoral materials; hijack of electoral materials; mutilations, cancellations and overwriting on result sheets, and inflation, deflation of scores, and wrong entries in result sheets.

On the petitioners’ claim that Tinubu was not duly elected by the majority of the lawful votes cast at the election, Atiku and the PDP said they “shall lead evidence at the hearing to show that:-

“(a) The result of the election as announced by INEC and especially the votes allocated to the second respondent do not represent the lawful valid votes cast at the election; and

“(b) The lawful votes cast at the election were deliberately and massively deducted from the first petitioner’s scores by INEC in order to return Tinubu.

“The petitioners shall further contend that the mandatory requirements of the Electoral Act, INEC Regulations and INEC Manual that stipulate for the recording of the quantity, serial numbers and other particulars of result sheets, ballot papers and other sensitive electoral materials to be used in conducting the election were not complied with before and after the election as the first respondent and its officers failed to effect the required entries.”

Atiku and the PDP are praying the court for the following:

•That it may be determined that the second respondent was not duly elected by the majority of lawful votes cast in the election and therefore his declaration and return by INEC as the winner of the presidential election conducted on the 25th day of February 2023 is unlawful, wrongful, unconstitutional, undue, null and void and of no effect whatsoever.

•That it may be determined that the return of the second respondent by INEC was wrongful, unlawful, undue, null and void having not satisfied the requirements of the Electoral Act 2022 and the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, 1999 (as amended) which mandatorily requires the second respondent to score not less than one quarter (25 per cent) of the lawful votes cast at the election in each of at least two-thirds of all the states in the federation and the Federal Capital Territory, Abuja.

•That it may be determined that the second respondent was, at the time of the election, not qualified to contest the said election.

•That it may be determined that the first petitioner having scored the majority of lawful votes cast at the Presidential election of Saturday, 25th February 2023, be returned as the winner of the said election and be sworn in as the duly elected President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria.

 In the alternative, the petitioners prayed for:

•An order directing the first respondent to conduct a second election (run-off) between the first petitioner and the second respondent.

 In further alternative:

•That the election to the office of the President of Nigeria held on 25th February 2023 be nullified and a fresh election (re-run) ordered.

Umahi seeks withdrawal of petitions 

Also yesterday, Ebonyi State Governor David Umahi urged Obi and Atiku to withdraw their petitions and join hands with Tinubu to rebuild the nation.

The governor made the call in a broadcast and during a briefing at the Executive Council Chambers, Government House, Abakaliki.

He urged the litigants to see Tinubu’s victory as God’s will and admonished them against unnecessary litigations.

He commended President Muhammadu Buhari and the INEC Chairman Mahmud Yakubu for the invaluable innovations brought into the electoral process.

Umahi said: “Let me officially congratulate the President-elect, Asiwaju Tinubu and his Vice, Kashim Shettima for the glorious victory God granted them.

“I plead with our brother, His Excellency Peter Obi and His Excellency, the former Vice President of Nigeria, Alhaji Atiku Abubakar, to accept the verdict of God and join hands with the President-elect and his Vice to move Nigeria forward.”

•Northcentral, Northwest join Southeast, Southsouth in race for top office

SEVEN senators-elect from five geo-political zones have thrown their hats into the ring for the 10th Senate President, The Nation has learnt.

All the aspirants are of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC).

Three of them – Barau Jibrin (Kano North, Northwest); Orji Uzor Kalu (Abia North, Southeast) and David Umahi (Ebonyi South, Southeast), have made their interest public to chair the next National Assembly.

The 10th Senate is billed for inauguration on June 13 after the Proclamation of the 10th National Assembly by the President.

Kalu is the incumbent Senate Chief Whip; Jibrin is the Chairman of the Senate Committee on Appropriation and Umahi doubles as Ebonyi State Governor and Chairman of the Southeast Governors’ Forum.

Other senators-elect eying the position are incumbent Senate President Ahmad Lawan (Yobe North, Northeast); Senate Services Committee Chairman, Mohammed Sani Musa (Niger East, Northcentral); Mohammed Ali Ndume (Borno South, Northeast) and former Niger Delta Affairs Minister, Senator Godswill Akpabio (Akwa Ibom, Southsouth).

Last week, APC National Chairman, Senator Abdullahi Adamu, told aspirants seeking presiding offices to await the party’s zoning arrangement.

It was at a parley with National Assembly members-elect with the president-elect, vice president-elect and members of the APC National Working Committee (NWC).

Jibrin promised to officially declare his intention to lead the Red Chamber in a matter of days.

The second-ranking senator-elect to make to publicly show interest, Jibrin described himself as the most experienced among senators-elect seeking to lead the 10th Senate.

Declaring his intention on Tuesday, Kalu said he will contest the position because ‘it is his turn to be Senate President’.

Governor Umahi, who dropped the hint to run for the position during yesterday’s State Executive Council meeting in Abakaliki, the Ebonyi State capital, urged President-elect Bola Tinubu and the APC leadership to zone the office to the Southeast.

But the Kano North senator dismissed recourse to religious sentiments by some aspirants instead of competence and record of performance as criteria for electing the next Senate President.

Jibrin, who has been in the National Assembly since 1999 and in the Senate since 2015, insisted that the Senate Standing Rule prioritises seniority (ranking) and legislative experience above other considerations.

The senator said: “I intend to seek to be the President of the 10th Senate. In the next few days, I will start my campaign and make a formal declaration.

“The legislature is a distinct arm of government that doesn’t work based on sentiments, it works on your ability to get the job done.

“It is the tradition all over the world and it is also stated there in our rule book and the rules are drafted from our Constitution.

“It is stated there in our Standing Rules that aspirations of elections for the seat of the Senate Presidency shall be in accordance with ranking.

“Among those who are running for the seat of the Senate Presidency, I am the most ranked senator.

“So, it is constitutional and among those who are showing their intentions to run for the Senate Presidency, I am the most experienced.

“The issue is that of competence. You need to be grounded in the residue of the legislature before you become the Senate President. Do you now play against competence based on sentiments?”

Disagreeing with claims that it would not augur well for the next APC’s administration to have a Muslim Senate President, Jibrin said: “Remember that David Mark was a Christian, his Deputy, Ike Ekweremadu, was a Christian and the Speaker, House of Representatives, Patricia Etteh, was a Christian because they were the most experienced and ranking and that is the tradition, so do we now relegate competence for other sentiments?

“Bringing religious sentiment won’t fly. It’s about competence, not sentiment. When we talk about experience, I’m the most experienced.”

Jibrin added: “There is a need to reward performance. The Northwest deserves to produce the Senate President because we gave the President-elect the highest votes.

“We want our President to go for a second term. We saw what he did in Lagos and want him to replicate that across the country.”

On Tuesday, Kalu urged APC national leadership to zone the Senate presidency to his Igbere country home in Abia North Senatorial District, Abia State.

Kalu said: “The question is whether I will run for the position of Senate President. Yes, I am ready to run for Senate President if the party zones it to my region because the party is supreme.

“If they want to zone, they should zone it to my village so nobody would contest it against me. I don’t even want them to zone it to the South…I am hoping that Nigerian people will pray for me to be the Senate President because it is my turn.”

Umahi urged the party to zone the Speakership of the House of Representatives to the Northwest.

The governor noted that zoning the two top positions to the Southeast and Northwest will be in the interest of equity, justice and fairness.

He said it was time to break protocol and bend the rules adding that the focus should be how to redeem the country.

Umahi said: “I plead and request the leadership of APC and the president-elect to please for the sake of equity, Justice and fairness zone the Senate President to Southeast and the Speaker of House of Representatives to Northwest.

“This is for inclusiveness, this will assure Nigerians of a total reunion and it will also calm frayed nerves.

“Miracle is when God set aside rules and breaks protocols. I am asking the APC leadership and the National Assembly leadership to set aside the rules so that we can get the best for the leadership of the national assembly.”

“If the APC family zones the Senate presidency to the Southeast, I am indicating interest on the platform that I have been in public service for the past 16 years so you can rightly say that I understand administration,” he said.

The governor insisted that zoning the speakership position to the Northwest will calm frayed nerves in the country.

He declared Ebonyi a complete APC state having given almost all the National Assembly seats to the party, adding that the governor-elect and majority of the state lawmakers are also APC members.

Umahi said: “When you have administered a state, which is more complex than any other position other than that of the presidency, I want to put myself forward and I plead with the National Assembly to amend the rules.

“We should be looking for the best. Anyone elected into the National Assembly is the best but let God be allowed to choose. 

“We need to elect a leadership that will rebuild the nation. I put myself forward without prejudice to whatever is the will of God and the wish of our party leadership, the president-elect and vice president-elect.”

• •Otti, Mbah are governors-elect

Top banker Alex Otti and oil magnate Peter Mbah were last night declared winners of the governorship elections in Abia and Enugu states by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC).

Otti’s hard-won victory makes him Labour Party’s (LP’s) only governor-elect. He polled 175, 467 votes to defeat his closest rival, Okey Ahiwe of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), who got 88, 529 votes.

Mbah of the PDP was declared Enugu governor-elect with 160,895 votes to defeat his LP contender Chijioke Edeoga who garnered 157,552 votes.

The INEC State Returning Officer for Abia, Prof Nnenna Oti, Vice Chancellor, Federal University of Technology (FUTO), Owerri, Imo State, said Otti and Ahiwe were trailed by Enyinnaya Nwafor of the Young Progressive Party (YPP) with 28, 972 votes.

Reacting to the victory, the Director General of Alex Otti campaign, Acho Obioma described Otti’s victory of as triumph of good over evil.

Obioma, while thanking Abia voters for their support, promised that the governor-elect would run an inclusive government.

In his acceptance speech, Otti said: “Before I go on, I must first dedicate this victory to God the Father Almighty, who makes everything beautiful in His own time. I also dedicate it to the millions of Abia citizens who have been the unfortunate victims of bad governance these past decades.

“As I acknowledge this victory, I am fully conscious of the huge expectations of millions of the good people of Abia, who have been denied the dividends of democracy and good governance for such a long time. I want to sincerely thank every Abian and non-indigene alike who participated in this election.

“As you are all aware, this was my third attempt at contesting for this office, in my quest to implement my long-held vision of rebuilding Abia state as truly God’s own state.

“At this third attempt, it pleased God to give us victory. In the words of one LP stalwart, ‘The Siege Is Over’! With our votes and the collective will of the people, we have “broken the gates of hell and cast its bars of iron asunder”. As recorded in the holy book, the kingdom of hell shall not prevail against us.

“I would like to quickly compliment my colleagues in the just-concluded elections, Chief Sir Okechukwu Ahiwe, Engr Enyinnaya Nwafor, High Chief Ikechi Emenike, Prof Gregory Ibe, and a host of other equally qualified governorship candidates. It has been a hard-fought contest and each of you gave his or her best in the quest to serve our beloved State.

“There is no doubt that all of us have very robust ideas as to how to move our dear State forward. I want to assure you that your ideas and dreams that are consistent with building a virile Abia state shall come to fruition under my watch.

“I therefore invite all of you to join hands with our administration in order to serve Abians who have been victims of several years of maladministration and state capture. I have no doubt that you will be available to use the same energy and intellect, to help rebuild our state and develop our people.”

Governor Okezie Ikpeazu sent a message of congratulations to Otti.

In the statement by his Chief Press Secretary, Onyebuchi Ememanka, the governor noted that “Otti has fought a long battle over a very long period of time and deserves commendation for his staying power and resilience.”

He quoted the governor as saying: “Since we have come to the logical end of this battle, it is appropriate to congratulate the winner, Dr Alex Otti on his hard fought victory.

“In every battle, there will always be a winner and in the spirit of sportsmanship and love for our state, the Governor elect must see his victory as a higher call to service to the people of Abia State.”

In Enugu yesterday, Mbah and Edeoga were trailed by   Frank Nweke Jnr of the All Progressive Grand Alliance (APGA). He got 17,983 votes.

 Chief Uche Nnaji of the All Progressives Congress (APC) scored 14,575 votes to come a distant fourth.

INEC’s Returning Officer, Prof Maduebibisi Ofo Iwe, declared Mbah the winner Wednesday evening at the resumption of the final collation of governorship election results in Enugu, 48 hours after INEC suspended the exercise.

Before the announcement, Prof. Iwe said he was requested to come to Enugu because the commission had concluded the review of the results of Nkanu East and Nsukka local government arears.

He said: “We have come back to conclude the collation of results. We received some petitions particularly against Nsukka and Nkanu East local government areas and these things were taken to Abuja for resolution.

 ”The petition against Nsukka was overruled. That means whatever anybody had against Nsukka was not substantiated.

“However, the petition against Nkanu East was sustained by the commission. Before the review, we had 30,350 votes for PDP from Nkanu East LGA. But after the review, PDP’s votes now reduced to 16,956.

“For LP, the votes they had on Monday was 1855  and after the review, it increased to 1864”.

However, the LP’s collation agent, Eugene Edeoga, objected to the continuation, saying that it was against the provisions of the Electoral Act to still release results from a particular unit after it had been discovered to have been over-voting.

His objections were overruled by Prof Iwe, who claimed that he was under authority “to do what I’m doing here this evening.”

The candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in Enugu State, Dr. Peter Mbah, has won the March 18 governorship election in the state.

He scored 160,895 votes to defeat his closest rival, Chijioke Edeoga of the Labour Party (LP), who polled 157,552 votes.

Frank Nweke Jnr of the All Progressive Grand Alliance (APGA) scored 17,983 while Chief Uche Nnaji of the All Progressives Congress (APC) scored 14,575 votes to come a distant third and fourth respectively.

The Returning Officer of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) in the state, Prof Maduebibisi Ofo Iwe declared Mbah the winner Wednesday evening at the resumption of the final collation of governorship election results in Enugu, the Enugu State capital just 48 hours after INEC suspended the exercise in the state.

Before the announcement, Prof. Iwe had said he was requested to come to Enugu because the commission had concluded the review of the results of Nkanu East and Nsukka LGAs, which were under contention.

He said: “We have come back to conclude the collation of results. We received some petitions particularly against Nsukka and Nkanu East LGAs and these things were taken to Abuja for resolution.

“The petition against Nsukka was overruled. That means whatever anybody had against Nsukka was not substantiated

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“However, the petition against Nkanu East was sustained by the commission

“Before the review, we had 30,350 votes for PDP from Nkanu East LGA. But after the review, PDP’s votes now reduced to 16,956.

“For LP, the votes they had on Monday was 1855 and after the review, it increased to 1864”.

Based on the fact that the petition against Nkanu East was sustained, Iwe invited the collation officer for Nkanu East LGA to call out the results after the review.

However, LP’s collation agent, Eugene Edeoga, objected to the continuation, saying that it was against the provisions of the Electoral Act to still release results from a particular unit after it had been discovered to have been over-voting.

His objections were overruled by Prof Iwe, who claimed that he was under authority “to do what I’m doing here this evening”.

See results by parties:

Registered voters: 2112793

Number of accredited voters: 381971

AA : 330
AAC : 146
ADC : 1160
ADP : 382
APC: 14,575
APGA: 17,983
APM: 358
APP: 158
PP : 319
LP : 157,552
NNPP: 2107
NRM: 854
PDP: 160,895
PRP: 850
SDP: 65
YPP: 397
ZLP: 332

Total Valid Votes : 358463
Rejected votes: 9088
Total Votes cast: 367551