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Tag: 2015 polls

  • April 11: APC warns INEC, Security agencies against compromise

    April 11: APC warns INEC, Security agencies against compromise

    The All Progressives Congress (APC) in Abia State has called attention of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), the Abia State Commissioner of Police, the Director, DSS and the military authority in the state to the allegation of widespread manipulation of the March 28 Presidential and National Assembly elections.

    The party said that the personnel of the above mentioned agencies compromised their commitment to providing a level playing field for all candidates and parties in the state, saying the party would not accept a repeat of that in the governorship and House of Assembly elections next Saturday.

    The party however called for the cancellation of all the national Assembly results in the state because it does not reflect the true wishes of the people and called on the Resident Electoral Commissioner for the State to release the authentic result.

    Speaking in Umuahia at a stakeholders meeting chairman of the party, Hon Donatus Nwankpa, said that the party will no longer accept ineptitude of the security agencies and the INEC in the state in the forthcoming election this week.

    Nwankpa said, “The APC condemn the March 28 presidential and National Assembly elections in Abia state, the conspiracy of INEC and security agencies, the connivance of the ad-hoc staff, who are members of PDP.”

    He condemned the action of the local government chairmen who turned the local government headquarters into collation centers and warned that they should be ready to face the wrath of the people of the state if they interfere in the elections again.

    Nwankpa requested for the reshuffling and overhaul of the personnel for the April 11 polls including the presiding officers and assistant presiding officers, adding that the card reader machines be used for the next election in order to ensure the integrity of the elections.

    He said the APC would do everything to resist acts of intimidation and brutalization and called on the people to join in ensuring that the election is acceptable.

    The APC chairman said, “The proper conduct of the next election is the responsibility of everyone, not the exclusive responsibility of APC, we will not allow another manipulation”.

    He disclosed that the party is already discussing with other parties in the state for possible alliance to face the common enemy of the people which he said is the PDP.

    He called on Ndigbo to vote APC candidates and to support the national government of APC so as not to be in opposition with the attendant loss of political relevance.

  • Ohanaeze Enugu drums support for Ugwuanyi

    Ohanaeze Enugu drums support for Ugwuanyi

    The Enugu State chapter of Ohanaeze Ndigbo has endorsed the governorship candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in Enugu State, Hon Ifeanyi Ugwuanyi as its preferred candidate for the April 11, 2015 gubernatorial election in the State.

    In a communiqué jointly signed by the State Chairman and Secretary of the Pan Igbo Association, Chief Eric Ebeh and Chief Fidelis Ojobo respectively, the body disclosed that the endorsement was a fallout of its appraisal of all the gubernatorial candidates of the political parties in the State and further “consultations with Traditional Rulers Council, the Professional Bodies, the Organized Sectors, Market Associations, Civil Society Groups, Student Unions and other Stakeholders”.

    The apex socio-cultural Igbo body also conferred on Ugwuanyi a prestigious title of “Ozo-Igbo Ndu Ndi Igbo/ Grand Patron, Ohanaeze Ndi Igbo, Enugu State Chapter” in recognition of his contributions to the growth and development of the Igbo nation.

    They added that Ugwuanyi’s philanthropic gestures in empowering Igbo sons and daughters through job creation and employment, human capital development and goodwill, coupled with his excellence track records in public service, appealing manifesto and ability to deliver and sustain the good works of the PDP government in the State were among the major reasons why they unanimously resolved to support his gubernatorial bid.

    The Pan Igbo Association appealed to “all eligible voters in the State to go to their respective polling booths on Saturday, 11th April 2015, and vote massively for our anointed candidate (Hon. Ifeanyi Ugwuanyi) to take over the mantle of leadership in the Enugu State Government House come 29th May 2015.”

     

  • INEC to punish erring officials in Edo

    INEC to punish erring officials in Edo

    The Independent National Electoral Commission is to punish any of its officials whose actions caused irregularities in the March 28 Presidential and National Assembly elections in Edo State.

    Resident Electoral Commission in the state (REC), Barrister Mike Igini, who disclosed this Monday said the erring officials must account why result sheets were not present at some polling units during the elections.

    Igini spoke shortly before meeting with Electoral Officers and other management staff of INEC to review the March 28 polls as well as strategies for this Saturday elections.

    The Edo REC said it was worrisome for result sheets not to be available at polling units when he personally handed out the result sheets to the concerned officials.

    According to him, “There must be an account why result sheets were not at the polling units. I am compiling areas where results sheet were not accompanied with other materials. When I distributed sensitive and none-sensitive materials, I gave everything to all of you.

    “To say that there was no result sheet is a clear manifest violation of our procedures; and there must be consequences today.”

    Barr. Igini warned INEC officials against any breach of procedures in the April 11th State Assembly elections saying “the outcome of the election must be decided by the people.

    “The will of the people must not be compromised because this office will occupy is under public trust.

    “I don’t have any vote to give to anybody. There are consequences for those who breached our procedure.”

  • April 11 polls: Ogiemwonyi, Benin leaders canvass votes for APC

    April 11 polls: Ogiemwonyi, Benin leaders canvass votes for APC

    Former Minister of State for Works, Engr. Chris Ogiemwonyi, and members of the Benin Leaders of Thought have urged the people of Edo State to reject any monetary offer meant to induce them to vote for the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) during Saturday’s House of Assembly elections.

    Ogiemwonyi alleged that the PDP wants to deploy money to hoodwink Edo people into an unrewarding opposition with the aim to destabilizing the state.

    Speaking at a press briefing Monday, Engr. Ogiemwonyi, noted that a legislature dominated ‘by a poisonous and vindictive opposition is a recipe for strife, instability and retrogression.’

    Ogiemwonyi warned Edo people not to forget how Oshiomhole’s first year in office was dogged by deliberate truncation of enabling laws for development including the non-release of ecological funds to tackle erosion problems in the state.

    According to him, “We cannot afford to be in opposition. The time has come for us to decide. We must have APC in Edo as we have in Abuja.”

    “The politics of inclusion as a panacea for attaining sustainable development is gaining acceptance globally and Nigeria is one being left out. The Yoruba nation, having realized the futility of opposition politics, has keyed into mainstream politicking at the centre.”

    “It is our firm belief that our interest in Edo will be better served within the framework of the APC under the leadership of Gen. Buhari at the centre with APC at the state level. Edo people must support this change.”

    “On April 11, Edo people must jettison the toga of opposition. We must reject the persuasions of those who seek to use an expected numerical edge in the House of Assembly to instigate instability and chaos in Edo State.”

    Prime Minister (Iyase) of Benin Kingdom, Chief Sam Igbe, said he was shocked at the results of March 28 general elections.

    Chief Igbe stated that whoever voted for the PDP was an enemy of the state and urged the people to vote for APC.

    Former Chief of Staff to Governor Oserheimen Osunbor, Isaiah Osifo, said Edo peoples must vote for APC in line with the voting pattern of the people of Katsina State.

    Other speakers at the press briefing included former Vice Chancellor of Ambrose Alli University, Prof. Dennis Agbonlahor, Col. Paul Ogbebor amongst others.

  • Ajimobi to Oyo voters: Don’t waste your votes

    Ajimobi to Oyo voters: Don’t waste your votes

    Oyo State Governor, Abiola Ajimobi, Monday urged voters in the state to vote for him and all the All Progressive Congress (APC) candidates in the Saturday governorship and House of Assembly election, saying a vote for other candidates will be a waste in view of APC’s victory at the centre.

    He made the appeal while speaking on an MITV programme monitored in Ibadan, the state capital Monday.

    The governor said any vote for Accord, Labour Party (LP) or Social Democratic Party (SDP) is a vote for the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) which he said has already crumbled in Nigeria.

    He said having demonstrated their love for change and progressives by voting massively for the APC presidential candidate, Gen. Muhammadu Buhari (rtd) and its National Assembly candidates in the state open March 28, Oyo State cannot afford to opt out and operate as an opposition state again.

    According to him, several initiatives of his administration which required the approval or cooperation of the Federal Government could not succeed because of Federal Government’s refusal to play its role. But now that the APC has taken over the Federal Government, Ajimobi urged voters to repeat the same massive support for him and the party in the April 11 election as demonstrated in the last election.

    Declaring that he was confident of victory in the Saturday election, the governor recalled that his policies have endeared him to the people of the state who appreciate his transformation, reformation and repositioning agenda.

    “We are confident of victory by the grace of God and by the love people have for us as demonstrated in the last election,” he said.

    He recalled that his administration has succeeded in enthroning peace, improving social infrastructure including construction of modern roads and improved water supply in Iseyin, Ayete, Saki, and Ibadan, among others.

    He also pointed out that eight big companies sprang up in the state in the last three years due to the enabling environment created by his administration.

    He expressed his appreciation to the people for the massive support for APC in the last election, stressing that Oyo State contributed most to the success of the APC in the entire Southwest. The party won the three senatorial seats and 12 out of 14 House of Representatives seats.

    “Oyo State people have demonstrated their acceptance of progress and change. They should repeat the same thing on Saturday.

    “Don’t waste your vote, I beg you. If you vote for Accord, it’s PDP. If you vote for SDP, it is PDP. If you vote for Labour. It is also PDP. And PDP has crumbled as you know,” Ajimobi said.

  • Buhari, Jonathan, true statemen -Agbaje

    Buhari, Jonathan, true statemen -Agbaje

    Governorship Candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) for Lagos State, Mr. Jimi Agbaje, has praised President Goodluck Jonathan and General Muhammadu Buhari for displaying true sportsmanship and statesmanship in the presidential election.

    In a statement by Felix Oboagwina, Director of Media and Publicity to Mr. Agbaje, the PDP Governorship Candidate commended President Jonathan for placing the nation ahead of personal and party interests by conceding defeat to Buhari.

    “Many in Nigeria and the international community had feared that 2015 would witness post-election violence and explosion in the nation,” he said. “But the pre-election and post-election disposition of these competing candidates has defused the tension and frustrated all evil prognoses.”

    According to him, the two had shown themselves as true nationalists.

    Agbaje described President Jonathan as a man of history, being not only the first incumbent leader to concede defeat to the opposition, but one of the few African leaders who did not have the sit-tight or do-or-die attitude to politics.

    Congratulating Buhari and the All Progressives Congress (APC) for their victory, Agbaje prayed that their reign would usher in peace and prosperity to every part of Nigeria.

    He said that by the result of the polls in Lagos, Lagosians had demonstrated that they were ready for change in the state.

    According to him, PDP’s commendable performance at the three elections came about as a synergy between indigenes and non-indigenes.

    “The results were a victory for democracy in Lagos State,” he said.

    Agbaje also congratulated Federal legislators emerging from the elections, saying, they must remember that they owed their victory to the people and they should be ready to serve the electorate.

    He urged Lagosians to hold firmly to their resolve to produce change at the April 11 governorship and state house of assembly polls.

    However, Agbaje urged the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to solve the several headaches that bedevilled the polls, including, lateness of polling staff at duty posts, malfunctioning card readers and the unholy alliance between officials and APC.

    “INEC owes Nigerians the duty to deliver free, fair and credible elections and the Commission must do everything humanly possible to check and avoid failure,” he said.

  • Bayelsa Rep hails Buhari, Jonathan

    Bayelsa Rep hails Buhari, Jonathan

    A member representing Sagbama-Ekeremor Federal Constituency in the House Representatives, Dr. Stella Dorgu, Thursday saluted President Goodluck Jonathan for his uncommon show of sportsmanship after losing the Saturday’s election to Gen. Muhammadu, Buhari (retd).

    Dorgu who spoke in Yenagoa, Bayelsa State, further hailed Buhari for his success and appealed to him to be magnanimous in victory.

    She said the President by conceding defeat immediately demonstrated his love and commitment to the unity of Nigeria.

    Dorgu said President Jonathan had made the Ijaw proud and changed people’s negative perception against the ethnic group.

    She said the posture of the President had paved the way for a peaceful transition for the continuity of democracy in the country.

    “I salute his courage and magnanimity. I also salute Governor Seriake Dickson for keeping the Bayelsa PDP family together.

    “We will now enter another phase of political development that will make us stronger strategically. We need to work in unity for good governance in Bayelsa State and Nigeria as a whole,”she said.

  • Fasoranti scores INEC high on polls

    Fasoranti scores INEC high on polls

    Leader of the factional Afenifere, Chief Reuben Fasoranti has described the just concluded Presidential, Senate and House of Representives election as unprecedented in the history of Nigeria politics.

    He affirmed that the elections were transparently clear, free and fair in all the 36 states of the federation, though there were reported cases of the Smart Card Readers (SCRs) malfunctioning in some places.

    The elder statesman who hosted President Goodluck Jonathan during his visit to Ondo state where his group endorsed the PDP Presidential Candidate also lauded the use of the SCRs, as a new innovation in the elections, but said the new system was not perfect and gives room for improvement in the future.

    He criticised the call from some quarters on Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to cancel the elections due to the technical shortcomings in the use of the cards, saying: “It is clear from what we can see, fair, clear; no problem, no rigging. I hope we shall be able to follow this in future.”

    Fasoranti advised the incoming APC led federal government to play politics that is free from bitterness, rancour and hatred and urged the new government not to jettison the recommendations of the 2014

    He said “Confab is taken and debated that Nigerians should be given what they want because it is the opinion of the people; that is what we want. We want resource control, regional autonomy,” he said.

    The Octogenarian cautioned the incoming government of Gen Muhammadu Buhari not to tamper with the reports of the confab saying “quite a number of people were there to take the decision. The voice of the people, the recommendations should be taken and implemented.”

  • Countdown to new Nigeria begins, says APC

    Countdown to new Nigeria begins, says APC

    The All Progressives Congress (APC) Thursday said with the victory of its presidential candidate, Maj.-Gen. Muhammadu Buhari and his running mate, Prof. Oluyemi Osinbajo, the countdown to new Nigeria “has indeed begun.”

    The party, also, said Buhari’s victory signaled the dawn of a new era for Nigeria, which it said, would definitely guarantee economic breakthrough, social justice, institutional strengthening and the rule of law in all facets of life.

    In a statement by its National Vice Chairman (South West), Chief Pius Akinyelure, the party assured Nigerians across all divides that the beginning of new Nigeria, which he said they all desired and toiled for, “has finally come.”

    Akinyelure noted that Buhari’s emergence in the just concluded presidential election “is no doubt, a defining moment in Nigeria’s recent history. His victory, too, is for all citizens of Nigeria irrespective of party, race and religion.

    “Given what happened during the electioneering, Buhari’s victory signals the dawn of a new era for Nigeria. It, also, indicates the beginning of new Nigeria, which we have all toiled to realise day and night through ballots and which they have long yearned to see after a 16-year reign of impunity in our fatherland.”

    But Akinyelure said the victory at the poll was just a phase in the quest for new Nigeria, noting that the task for new Nigeria “does not end at the poll. We have developed an inclusive manifesto to respond to diverse socio-economic and political challenges, which has defined Nigeria as one of the world’s most troubled countries.”

    The vice chairman, therefore, assured that under the Buhari-Osinbajo administration, the ugly trend of insecurity “will be effectively reverse. Aside, strong socio-political order that guarantee public safety will be established in the North-east and South-south so much so that it will create enabling environment for investments.

    “The surging unemployed population will be meaningfully engaged with a view to creating wealth across divides and reversing trends that lead to the explosion of our fatherland. The unemployment rate currently put at 29 percent will be stemmed with the implementation of different programme we have already developed.

    “Also, there is an assurance that institutions will be strengthened; the rule of law respected; human rights guaranteed; equal opportunities assured irrespective of political affiliation and social justice will ensured in all parts of the country in line with our manifesto. We will all witness the dawn of new Nigeria that we all desire.”

    The vice chairman, however, said nothing much could be done without the support of all Nigerians across all geo-political zones in the country, thereby calling all stakeholders irrespective of political leanings to make constructive and meaningful input “to the forthcoming Buhari-Osinbajo administration for the love of Nigeria.

    “We need the support of all Nigerians to rebuild Nigeria. We need constructive input from different all change agents to paddle the ship of Nigeria. We need prayers of all our fellow countrymen to lift up our fatherland to its deserved place among the black nations in the world and in the comity of nation. We covet the support of Nigerians at home and in diaspora to bring about restoration that will herald new Nigeria.”

  • Buhari to address Nigerians at 11am

    Buhari to address Nigerians at 11am

    President elect, General Muhammadu Buhari is to address his supporters and the nation at 11.000am on Wednesday.

    Party officials announced the decision to cancel the address at about 12.54am after a long wait for the Independent National Electoral Commission to officially announce the winner of the election.

    The supporters who had besieged the party secretariat to catch a glimpse of General Buhari left the party secretariat disappointed, but With great enthusiasm for better things to come.

    All streets leading to the National Secretariat of the party were taken over by youths and other Nigerians celebrating the victory of Buhari as early as 5.00pm, while security was beefed up around the place with men of Department of State Security and the Police on ground.

    The youths holding brooms danced around the secretariat, singing and drumming while others dance around the street. The story was the sad around the Federal Capital Territory.

    Party leaders, governors and members of the National Assembly led by the Speaker of the House of Representatives, Aminu Waziri Tambuwal were also at the National Secretariat.