The Nation Newspaper

Tag: 2015 polls

  • 10 NYSC members, one soldier arrested in Akwa Ibom

    10 NYSC members, one soldier arrested in Akwa Ibom

    Though the governorship and state house of Assembly elections that took place nationwide Saturday was generally peaceful in Akwa Ibom State, 10  corps members and a soldier were reportedly arrested at  the home of a retired General and former NYSC Director, Gen. Edet Akpan, by men of the Department of Security Service for electoral offences.

    The state Resident Electoral Commissioner, Barr Austin Okojie gave this report while taking a break from the election to brief the press in Uyo, the state capital.

    Okojie who reacted to general complains about late arrival of result sheets and compromise by some INEC officials said INEC received sensitive materials on Tuesday, despatched to local government areas on Thursday for early dispatch to polling units.

    He regretted that the issue of late arrival of result sheets is never the policy of INEC, as the commission has no reason to withhold any sensitive material.

    “The issue of late arrival of result sheet should not even arise because we issue all the sensitive materials at once and have trained and warned our electoral officers against dispatching any electoral material to politicians.”

    Okojie who reported cases of violence in Uyo, Ibesikpo, Nsit Ubium and Mkpat Enin, Nsit Ibom and Etinan local government areas said these are basically security issues and commended security agencies for being alive to their responsibilities.

    He further reported prompt replacement of card readers in areas where a few were reported to have malfunctioned.

  • Anyim, Otti, call for cancellation of polls

    Anyim, Otti, call for cancellation of polls

    The Governorship candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Chief Nyerere Anyim and All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA), Dr. Alex Otti have called for a total cancellation of ‎April 11 polls in Abia State.

    Anyim and Otti who spoke to journalists at their Agburuike and Nvosi, Isiala Ngwa residents described the election across the 17 Local Government Areas in the state as a sham, citing cases of electoral irregularities: snatching of ballot boxes, using fake uniformed men among other electoral offences.

    According to Otti, “There no was no election in Abia State. The Governor (T.A Orji) and PDP in collaboration with INEC officials went to various polling units and withdraw the original result sheet which they replaced with a fake one.

    “We have information as I speak with you (journalists) that PDP are thumb printing ballot papers in the official residence of a top PDP member in the state.

    “They are going around using thugs who wield machetes and fire arms, shooting sporadically in the air to harass and scare people away before snatching the ballot papers and result sheets. They are also doing this using fake uniformed men to cart away the election materials.

    “It is the same situation in Umuahia, Aba North and South, Umuahia North and South, Ohafia, Umunneochi. In fact, there is no election in Abia State and I am calling on the chairman of Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), Attahiru Jega to cancel the election in the entire 17 Local Government Areas of the state because what we witnessed is a total sham and cannot in any way be described as an election. We have evidences and genuine reason to call for the cancelation of the poll”.

    The APGA guber candidate however expressed the optimism that he would still defeat the ruling party in the state if the election was reconducted in a credible and transparent atmosphere

    Anyim while appraising the conduct of the polls said it was peaceful in his area and however regretted reported pockets of ballot snatching, intimidation of the opposition by the ruling party, stressing that the act of thuggrey and ballot box stealing as was reported by their agents in the field shows the desperateness of the ruling party.

    According to him, “It was primitive. Nigeria is too big for such a thing to happen; where election materials were being stolen. It shows that they (PDP) have failed the state because if they did well, they wouldn’t have resorted to stealing of ballot boxes and other sensitive materials. It is a total shame and shows how they have failed in giving the people of the state, good governance. It shows that they have badly managed the state and that is why the people need change which APC is going to bring to the state when we come on board as a government that the people of the state is truly yarning for which the PDP has failed to achieve in the last 16years of their administration in the state.”

    Also speaking, a chieftain of APGA and the Abia Central Senatorial candidate of the party‎ in the just concluded National Assembly election, Chief Ahamdi Emmanuel Nweke, corroborating Dr. Otti’s position accused the ruling party of rigging the process and accused the PDP of causing mayhem all over the state.

    According to Nweke, “the actions of the PDP an‎d some corrupt INEC officials is a rape to democracy”.

    The Nation gathered that security agents in the state recovered 2 AK47 and 49 raps of Indian hemp from hoodlums who were yet to name their sponsor.

     

     

  • Two killed as armed men invade poling units in Obio/Akpor, others

    Two killed as armed men invade poling units in Obio/Akpor, others

    • Police officer arrested in Etche with result sheets

     

    Like the Presidential Poll in Rivers State where a lot of INEC materials were hijacked by unknown gun men, the Governorship and State House of Assembly polls in some identified risk areas also witnessed a repeat of what happened during Presidential poll in the state.

    There were shooting and hijack of electoral materials in Obio/Akpor, Ikwerre,Ogba/Egbema/Ndoni, Gokana, Buguma and Asari/Toru Local governments areas of Rivers State.

    In Ikwerre Local government area, the LGA of Governor Chibuike Amaechi where one Mr. Henry Worgu, an APC leader was shot; He was immediately rushed to the hospital and a source from his family said the APC supporter is in a critical condition.

    Under this Local government, INEC officials and materials arrives the various communities and units at about 10:40-10:57 am and accreditation started late including voting.

    Though, elections were peaceful in some of the communities in the area.

    At Igwuruta in Ikwerre Local Government, unit 5 and 6 were cancelled by the INEC due to suspected irregularity.

    Ward 3, unit 5 of Elele community was also cancelled after some unknown armed thugs stormed the unit and hijacked the voting materials.

    Ogba/Egbema/Ndoni Local government had been on negative news of political killing for the past two weeks and voters were not surprise on the turnout of event during the governorship and House of Assembly elections in the area.

    The APC youth leader in the area Hon. Cleaver Orukwowu was murdered by unknown gunmen in military uniforms by 12:01pm.

    He was shot while trying to resist the armed men from carrying the electoral materials.

    INEC materials at Omoku, Egi ward 5 and 6 were also carted away by armed thugs.

    Another APC supporter in Ogba/Ebema/Ndoni Local government whose name was yet to be confirmed when this report was filed was reportedly shot death at Omoku town while arguing with the opponent that the materials sent to their units were fakes.

    The APC chairman in the area, Mr. Felix Ejechi who confirmed the killing of its members in the area said most of the polling units in Ogba/Ebema/Ndoni Local government area witnessed shooting and hijack of INEC materials by armed thugs allegedly suspected to be members of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP).

    He said, “Gunmen have taken hostage of most of the wards and units in the area, for now two persons in the area have been confirmed death.  Most of the materials brought in were fakes; of course, we cannot accept that, but to ensure that those units were cancelled.”

    Reacting on the fake materials, the INEC National Commissioner in-charge of  Akwa-Ibom, Cross Rivers and Rivers State, Thelma Iremiren said the issue of fake materials on the field is a mere rumoure  that should not be considered by voters.

    At Etche Local government area, some wards are not experiencing election while other communities are exercising their civic responsibility. This is was due to a security report that a police officer in the area was arrested with voting material and result sheets belonging to the wards where elections were not taking place.

    In Obio/Akpor Local government area, the home town of the PDP governorship candidate in Rivers State Chief Nyesom Wike, armed men invaded some wards in the area and carted away electoral materials.

    At ward 15 and 16, INEC materials was hijacked but APC in the area mobilized their supporters to ensure that election in the two wards was cancelled. They protested immediately at the INEC office in the area and the wards was canceled and rescheduled for tomorrow.

    However apart from the areas where hoodlums invaded, the elections generally were peaceful in some part of the State.

  • Agbaje loses polling unit

    Agbaje loses polling unit

    The Peoples Democratic Party governorship candidate in Lagos, Mr. Jimmy Agbaje, lost his polling unit to his All Progressive Congress rival, Mr. Akinwunmi Ambode, in Saturday’s governorship poll in the state.

    Agbaje polled 84 votes, while Ambode scored 124.

    Counting of votes is ongoing in most polling units across the state.

  • Umeh calls for cancellation of elections in Abia

    Umeh calls for cancellation of elections in Abia

    Chief Victor Umeh, the National Chairman, All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA), has called for the cancellation of the Abia governorship and the state House of Assembly elections over alleged irregularities.

    Speaking with newsmen at Aguluzigbo in Anaocha Local Government Area of Anambra after casting his vote on Saturday, Umeh described the entire exercise in Abia as a “sham”.

    “From the reports so far gathered, there were no materials on ground and collation officers with result sheets could not be found.

    “There are also reports of fake security personnel moving about in the state intimidating people.”

    Umeh, who is also the Anambra Central Senatorial candidate of APGA, called for the arrest of some officials of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) over the alleged irregularities in Abia.

    He, however, commended the peaceful conduct of the election in Anambra but noted that the exercise in the state witnessed voter apathy.

    Umeh attributed the poor turnout to voters’ discontent with the outcome of March 28 presidential national assembly elections.

    “The fraudulent result announced on March 28 elections affected the morale of the people and resulted to voter apathy in today’s election,” Umeh said.

    The party boss further observed that the card readers again failed in some areas of the state and urged INEC to reschedule the polls in the affected areas including Nri, Agulu and Ichida.

    In a related development, a former governor of the state, Mr. Peter Obi, said the card reader deployed for use in many polling units failed.

    He urged INEC to do the needful to ensure that his people take part in the exercise.

  • 2015 general election one of Nigeria’s best – Abdullahi

    A former Minister of Sports, Mallam Bolaji Abdullahi, has described the 2015 elections as one of the best in the history of Nigeria’s democracy.

    Abdullahi told reporters in Ilorin, Kwara State, shortly after his accreditation at his Anifowose polling unit in the state capital.

    He said the “2015 general election is unprecedented and the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has put in the best performance ever in the conduct of the elections.”

    He hailed the use of card readers, describing the process as a step forward in Nigerian democratic history.

    The former minister commended the peaceful conduct of the electorates and the security personnels, saying that shows the improvement in our democratic culture.

    He joined the league of prominent Nigerians setting agenda for the president-elect , Gen. Muhammadu Buhari. .

    He said, “The expectations of the people are very high, Gen Buhari’ s commitment is very clear.. He wants to create job, he wants to fight corruption and tackle insecurity which were the three cardinals of his campaign and he is committed to achieve those objectives.  The biggest challenge however in moving forward is managing the expectation of the people because sacrifices have to be made and it depends on how we are able to communicate with the people.

    “I suspect that the honeymoon will be short because government will have to take some tough decisions for economic progress, even President Goodluck Jonathan said Nigerian s must be willing to make sacrifices.”

     

  • Violence, electoral malpractices mar elections in Imo

    Violence, electoral malpractices mar elections in Imo

    The governorship and House of Assembly election in Imo State was Saturday marred by violence, shortage and late arrival of electoral materials, among other electoral malpractices in most of the Local Government Areas.

    There were heavy shootings in most of the Polling Units in Owerri North, Aboh Mbaise, Onuimo, Oguta, Oru East and Ohaji-Egbema Council Areas, as well as  ballot box snatching.

    At Okwele, in Onuimo Council Area, no fewer than three persons suspected to be hired thugs were feared dead in a car accident, while trying to escape with ballot boxes and sensitive electoral materials.

    In another place in Aboh Mbaise Council Area, hoodlums dressed in fake Army uniforms and armed with AK47 Riffles, were arrested by Soldiers, while attempting to snatch electoral materials.

    Imo State Governor and governorship candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Rochas Okorocha, condemned the violence that marred the elections, stating that a Panel of Inquiry will be set up to investigate the involvement of some of the politicians.

    The governor, who briefed newsmen at his Polling Unit in Ogboko, shortly after casting his vote, blamed the growing violence in some parts of the state, especially Oguta, Ohaji-Egbema, Aboh Mbaise Council Areas, among others on the desperation of some of the politicians.

    He however noted that there was significant improvement in the operations of the security agencies and the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC).

    According to him, “there is a remarkable improvement in the conduct of the security operatives. For instance in this election, there is no Armoured Tank in the front of my house. But the indiscriminate arrest of APC supporters including my Media aide is worrisome.

    “Even though the Card Reader rejected me four times, I will say that there is great improvement in accreditations generally”.

    The People’s Democratic Party (PDP) governorship candidate, Rt. Hon Emeka Ihedioha, expressed satisfaction with the conduct of the exercise, especially the performance of the Card Readers.

    According to him, “the turnout is impressive and peaceful. You can see the people waiting to be accredited”.

    Senator Ifeanyi Araraume, shortly after voting in his Polling Unit at Isiebu in Isiala Mbaise Council Area, noted that there was remarkable improvement in INEC preparations in the governorship election compared to the Presidential and National Assembly elections.

  • Agbaje’s running mate loses at polling unit

    Agbaje’s running mate loses at polling unit

    • Polls 138 against APC’s  252

    Alhaja Safurat Layode Abdukareem, running mate of the Peoples Democratic Party’s governorship candidate, Jimi Agbaje, Saturday lost at her polling unit to the APC. She polled 138 votes against APC’s 252.

    Shortly after casting her vote, she had pleaded that candidates of the leading political parties and their supporters should accept the outcome of the gubernatorial election in the state in good fate.

    She expressed satisfaction with the conduct of the elections.

    She voted at Awhanjigoh Ward B, unit 009 in Badagry Local Government Area at exactly 2:25pm.

    She noted that the election, from what she saw, was free and fair and devoid of malpractices.

    “The election has been going very fine. From what I have seen so far, I can adjudge it to be free and fair.”

    She expressed contrary opinion to claims that the election witnessed low turnout of voters, saying: ” The turnout is very much okay. It is not in any way lower to what we saw penultimate weekend. It all depends on how you see it but for me, the turnout is very impressive.”

    Alhaja Abdukareem lauded the Independent Electoral Commission for improving on the performance of March 28 Presidential and National Assembly elections.

  • Jonathan feigns ignorance of wife’s whereabouts

    Jonathan feigns ignorance of wife’s whereabouts

    President Goodluck Jonathan at about 1:45pm Saturday said he was still expecting his wife, Dame Patience, at his community in Otuoke, Ogbia Local Government Area, Bayelsa State, to participate in the electoral process.

    The President who spoke after casting his vote at his polling unit feigned ignorance of his wife’s whereabouts claiming that the First Lady who was nowhere to be found in her voting unit did not board the same aircraft with him. While Jonathan who jetted out of his community shortly after casting his vote, claimed he was still expecting his wife at Otuoke, there were reports that Patience had spent about two days in Okirika, Rivers State, working to ensure the victory of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) at the polls.

    When asked why his wife was not in Otuoke, President Jonathan said: “Of course, we used different aircraft. She was expected to be here. We have been expecting her and he will still come. “The only thing is whether she will meet up the accreditation period. That is the problem. But she is supposed to be on her way.” On his feeling after conceding defeat, the President said: “I am a Nigerian and I am Goodluck Jonathan and I feel that as a nation, you respect your laws and I am quite pleased in respecting the laws of the land”. The President further expressed satisfaction on the growing democratic ideals of the country. “As a nation, we are quite happy we are consolidating in our democratic efforts. The key thing is that the citizens must directly change government properly. We must do elections every four years”, he said. He reiterated that there was no governorship election in Bayelsa State which he said led to low voter turnout in many polling units.

    He said: “Some other states where you have the governorship elections, the stakes will be higher. Elections are going on. You will expect a country as big as Nigeria to have issues in some places. But in overall I think the elections are going on well.” Meanwhile in most polling units in Yenagoa, electoral materials arrived late and accreditation started beyond schedule. Supporters of opposition parties in Gbarain-Ekpetiama in Yenagoa were said to have protested against PDP stakeholders accusing them of bribing INEC officials. But at unit 11, Sagbama Constituency III, accredited started at about 8:20pm, though the card reader failed to recognized many fingerprints.

    There were also reports of diversion of electoral materials in some local government areas. For instance, an agent of the Alliance for Democracy (AD) alleged that materials meant for polling units at Amurukeni community Constituency II were diverted into the home of a government official at Omehia Town. But the elections were marred in Ogbia Constituency 3, following a breakdown of law and order in the area. Violence was said to have erupted at unit 11, Ward 6 in Oruma community, Ogbia Constituency 3, after thugs disrupted the accreditation exercise being conducted by officials of INEC.

    But an APC agent, Adaga Martins, explained that the exercise was disrupted because the electoral officers could not display ballot papers and results when asked to do so by party agents. Already, tension was said to have mounted in the area as supporters of APC and PDP were said to be spoiling for war. It was gathered that some of the youths believed to be APC supporters were chanting “No (electoral) materials, no election” and “No election here”.

    Also at unit 4, Otuasega, in Ward 6, APC candidate for Ogbia 3, Morris Abey, alleged that the Ogbia Local Council Chairman,  Enaye Abah, recruited youths of the community as “Ogbia Ward 6 Government Security”. Some of the youths were seen wearing the tag bearing the inscription “Ogbia Ward 6 Government Security”. But the Ogbia Local Council Chairman, Enaye Abah, denied the allegations, saying he did not print security tags for any youth.

  • Lagos: REC worried over low turnout of voters

    Lagos: REC worried over low turnout of voters

    Mr. Akin Orebiyii, the Resident Electoral Commissioner (INEC) in Lagos State on Saturday said that he was miffed by the low turnout of voters for the April 11 governorship and state House of Assembly elections.

    Orebiyii spoke to the newsmen at the end of his tour of some polling units across different local governments in the state.

    “It is not as we have expected and anticipated, given the efforts we have done going to the grassroots to mobilise people and the media work that we have done.

    “We have advertised a lot, made a lot of announcements on radio and television, even online; posters, banners and flyers too.

    “The only thing we did not do is go to everybody’s rooms to drag them out to come and vote.

    “ I don’t know specifically what else INEC or even the media ought to do that we have not done,’’ he said.

    According to him, after the election, the commission will sit down again to do another assessment.

    He said they would look at why, again and again in the country, we have not got to that satisfactory level of people turning out massively to participate in choosing their leaders.

    He, however, said that the process had been a better experience than it was on March 28.

    “In virtually all the polling units we have visited, I have taken the trouble to ask the voters about their experience.

    “And the voters testified to the fact that INEC officials were able to report to the various polling units as early as 7 am, which was really our target.

    “Apart from the self-assessment we have carried out on our performance of March 28, we also insisted that the Registration Area Centre (RAC) should be open and utilised.

    “And we ensured that we made use of these RACs because they are the closest place to the polling units, some of which are about 10 minutes drive.

    “Since we were able to make use of these RACs, it was possible for us to deploy our men and materials to various polling units in time.

    Orebiyii said that the commission secured maximum support from the transport union and voters.

    “In addition to this, we also got better support, in terms of operational delivery from the transport union.

    “Their vehicles arrived on time and they also slept with our men and materials at various RACs, unlike what happened two weeks ago.

    “I must also put on record the conduct of voters. They came out quite early in a number of places and they were very cooperative.

    “They were also patient all day. They didn’t mind the sun; they were able to queue in the sun, first to get accredited in the morning and then to vote. I could see a very jovial attitude among the voters“.

    The REC appealed to the voters and party leaders to ensure peaceful conduct till the end of the exercise.

    He said: “They should not complicate matters for us as we begin to collate the results later in the day.

    On security, he said that there were some pockets of misbehavior in some quarters.

    “In one or two polling units somewhere in Epe, we got information that there could not be common agreement among voters.

    “I wouldn’t know precisely what was the cause and the exercise was being held up for some time.

    “Apart from that, there were skirmishes in three places in Ibeju-Lekki the morning.

    “Our people were ambushed on the way; they seized our materials and our people had to go back to the RACs.

    “But eventually, we were able to get some other materials since we have backups and we deployed our men again to these polling units.

    “I have called the security agents to move in so as to support our activities there,’’ he said.

    Earlier, he said that the commission deployed 100 technical officials across the state to take care of problems in the event that there were faulty Card Readers.

    Orebiyii told newsmen that the effort was to ensure smooth accreditation exercise.

    “We have deployed about 100 technical officials to fix Card Readers in all the areas where we will have issues.”

    He said that the commission deployed 12,131 Card Readers to 8,462 polling units in the state.

    The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that in unit 013, Ward 09, Lagos Mainland Local Government, out of the 60 accredited voters as at 10:00am, 10 had issues with thumbprint.

    NAN reports that the turnout for accreditation was low as only 60 out of 614 registered voters in the unit had been accredited as at 10:10am.

    Also in Gowon Estate, Ward 8, units 005 and 006, Alimosho Local Government Area, Card Readers were problematic as they did not authenticate many of the registered voters as at 11:45am.

    NAN reports that only 77 out of 468 registered voters were accredited as at 11:56a.m in polling unit 011 in ward 08 of Somolu LGA.

    The situation was not different in polling unit 012 in ward 8 in Ikeja LGA as only 34 out of 483 registered voters were accredited as at 12:30.

    In Mushin, only 35 out of 339 registered voters were accredited at polling unit 032, in ward 08 at 12.48p.m.

    In another voting point in the same unit, only 88 out of 282 registered voters were accredited as at the same time.

    Also, in polling unit 003 in ward 4 in Mushin, only 90 out of 440 registered voters were accredited as at 12:52pm while only 114 of 389 were accredited in polling unit 02 of the same area as at 1:01p.m.

    In polling unit 001 of Ward 4 of the same LGA, only 56 out of 274 were accredited as at 1:10pm and as at 1:20p.m., only 160 out of 586 were accredited at polling unit 001 in ward 12.

    Meanwhile, voting was underway by 1.30p.m in many polling units in Badagry, Oshodi and Alimosho areas of Lagos State following the end of accreditation.

    The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) correspondent, who was at polling units in Badagry, reports that voting commenced earlier in some units due to early accreditation of voters.

    NAN reports that voting was underway in polling units 15, 16, 17, 21 and 22 in Ward A; polling unit 9 in Ward F; polling unit 11 in Ward E; and polling unit 23 in Ward J.

    NAN also reports that Mrs. Safurat Abdulkarim, Deputy Governorship candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) voted in polling unit 9, Ward B.

    Voting had commenced in some polling units visited in Oshodi, Lagos, as at 1.40 p.m.

    NAN reports that voting was also underway in some polling units visited in Ajao Estate.

    In Alimosho, Mrs. Adejoke Adefulire, the Deputy Governor of Lagos State, cast her vote by 2 pm at Ward E, unit 059 in Egbeda area.

    She lauded the early arrival of the INEC officials and the hitch free accreditation exercise at the various polling units in Egbeda area of Alimosho Local Government Area.

    “Infact, I give kudos to INEC for their early arrival and successful accreditation exercise.

    “During the last elections, it was a funny experience, because the card readers rejected me three times, it finally accepted my finger print after the third time.

    “So I give kudos to them this time around for the development and progress so far,” she said.

    The deputy governor also said that the low turnout of the voters might be as a result of the delay in accreditation and voting in some of the units in the previous election.

    The deputy governor advised the people to always show interest in exercising their franchise in order to challenge any government that performed below expectation.