The Nation Newspaper

Tag: 2019 ELECTIONS

  • INEC plans supplementary elections

    The Independent National Electoral Commission ( INEC ) will conduct supplementary elections in areas where elections did not take place last Saturday.

    The elections will come up on the 9th March, 2019 alongside the scheduled governorship, state Assemblies and FCT council polls.

    Read Also: Kalu: We’ve no issues with Abia North result, says INEC

    Besides, the commission has directed the Resident Electoral Commissioners (RECs) to submit comprehensive reports of violence incidents to the Commission for appropriate action.

    The decisions were reached at the meeting between the management team of INEC and RECs of all the 26 states of the Federation and FCT.

    Details shortly…

  • Re-election: AU congratulates Buhari

    The African Union (AU) has congratulated President Muhammadu Buhari on his re-election in the Feb. 23 presidential election.

    In a statement on the AU Commission’s website on Friday, the Chairperson, Moussa Faki Mahamat, welcomed the successful conduct of the presidential and national sssembly elections in Nigeria.

    He stated that “following the announcement made by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) on Feb. 27, AU congratulates President Muhammadu Buhari for winning the presidential election.

    “The union wishes President Buhari and the people of Nigeria success in efforts to build a peaceful, stable and prosperous country.”

    Mahamat reiterated the conclusions of the AU Observer Mission and other international observers on the election process as largely peaceful and orderly and in conformity with Nigeria’s legal framework.

    The chairperson said the largely peaceful conduct of the elections marked another important step in the consolidation of democracy in Nigeria.

    Read Also: Leah’s mother congratulates Buhari, asks him to free her daughter

    He commended INEC for the conduct of the elections, and all the political actors and the Nigerian people for their high participation and maturity.

    He also called on stakeholders to continue “in this exemplary spirit’’ and refer to existing constitutional and legal framework and other peaceful meansto resolve any dispute that may arise.

    Mahamat expressed optimism in the “peaceful conduct of the remainder of the elections’’ and renewed the AU’s commitment to continue working with the Nigerian authorities in support of the efforts and in furtherance of the continental agenda.

  • Elections: US congratulates Buhari, Nigerians

    The United States Government has congratulated Nigeria on a successful presidential election and President Muhammadu Buhari on his re-election.

    In a statement to The Nation titled ‘Nigerian Election Results’, Secretary of State, Michael Pompeo praised “Nigerians who participated peacefully in the election.”

    Buhari, of the All Progressives Congress (APC), beat his main challenger Abubakar Atiku of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) by nearly four million votes in the February 23 polls.

    Read Also: UPU greets Buhari, Omo-Agege on victory

    The US also condemned “those whose acts of violence harmed Nigerians and the electoral process.”

    The statement added: “We note the assessments of international and domestic observer missions affirming the overall credibility of the election, despite localized violence and irregularities.

    “We also congratulate all the other candidates for their peaceful participation in the electoral process. We call on all Nigerians to ensure successful state elections next week.

    “Going forward, the United States remains committed to working together with Nigeria to achieve greater peace and prosperity for both our nations.

  • PDP raises alarm over militarisation of S/South ahead gov polls

    The Peoples Democratic Party ( PDP ) has raised the alarm over what it described as the illegal occupation and provocative besiegement of some states in the South South geopolitical zone ahead of the March 9 governorship and state assembly elections.

    Specifically, the main opposition party cited Bayelsa, Rivers, Delta, Akwa-Ibom and Cross River states as places that have been under military siege.

    At a media briefing in Abuja on Thursday, the spokesman for the PDP, Kola Ologbondiyan, said the alleged siege is to further militarise the South South zone where soldiers will be deployed to suppress voters on March 9.

    “This is meant to re-enact the massive rigging of polls for the All Progressives Congress (APC), as was done in the widely discredited February 23 presidential election.

    “However, the PDP warns, in very unequivocal terms, that those who sow the wind should also be ready to reap the whirlwind”, Ologbondiyan said.

    The opposition party spokesman further said it’s clear that after using military to unleash violence, alter results and muscle out fabricated 25 percent ballot for President Muhammadu Buhari across the South South states and other PDP strongholds, the APC now wants to use the military to fight sitting PDP governors, suppress their members and forcefully take over those states.

    Continuing Ologbondiyan said: “Nigerians already know how APC leaders from the South South are going around boasting that the military will use violence to give them governorship election triumph, the same way it did during the presidential election, where innocent Nigerians were brutalised and murdered.

    “Nigerians are witnesses to how 13 persons were murdered in Akuku-Toru Local Government in Rivers State, in addition to those killed in Ahoada East, Ahoada West and Emohua Local Government Areas during the presidential election.

    “Also, the public already knows how the Minister of Transport and the Director General of the Buhari Campaign Organisation, Rotimi Amaechi, used soldiers to hold an INEC official hostage, changed the election results and allocated fabricated figures for President Buhari.

    “In Akwa-Ibom state, Senator Godswill Akpabio has been using soldiers to suppress and harass the people, in spite of assurances by INEC Chairman, Prof. Mahmood Yakubu, that the military will not be involved in elections

    “In Bayelsa state, soldiers were freely used against the people. In the process, the photographer to the State governor was murdered. The Deputy Commissioner of Police in the state was even kidnapped.

    “In Brass, East Senatorial district of the state, it was a war situation as the military took over the electoral process and even declared winners. Soldiers were deployed to the remotest villages where the voters were suppressed and results altered in favour of President Buhari.

    “Now that it is clear to all that the 2019 election is not between the PDP and the APC, but a war between the state apparatus of power and the PDP. The PDP cannot continue to fold its hands in the face of these killings and suppression of voters by the APC.

    “On this note, the PDP, ahead of the March 9 elections, cautions the APC and its compromised security agents to note that the people of the Niger Delta are already hurting over the killings of their compatriots during the February 23 election and any further provocation will be a clear recipe for crisis”.

    The PDP restates its commitment to peaceful elections but cautioned nobody has a monopoly of show of strength.

    The party said its incontrovertible the South South is a stronghold of the PDP and that the people are fully mobilised for the March 9 elections.

  • Injured Lagos INEC official undergoes surgery

    An official of the Independent National Electoral Commission ( INEC ) Mr. Ganiyu Ogundipe, who got injured during the attack by hoodlums at Ago Palace Way, Isolo Lagos on Saturday, had undergone surgery.

    The surgery was carried out by an orthopedic surgeon under anesthesia to fix his dislocated right shoulder.

    He slipped while scampering for safety and dislocated the shoulder.

    Ogundipe, who is recuperating at a private hospital TSH Medical Centre, Mushin, Lagos would have to wait till September before his arm heal properly.

    Some thugs during the election stormed polling units on Ago Palace Way and set ablaze cast ballot papers by the electorates.

    According to him, the hoodlums were nine in number and came on three motorcycles.

    Ogundipe, who worked as one of the Residential Area (RA) Technicians, said they were stoned and chased away by the hoodlums before setting ablaze the ballot papers and other materials.

    Speaking with The Nation, he said he returned to the Lagos University Teaching Hospital (LUTH) after the surgery for another X-ray.

    The X-ray, according to him, is to see if the operation carried out to correct the Humero-Scapula dislocation is well placed.

    “The result of the X-ray showed that it was well carried out. The latest development is that the Orthopedic, who fixed the bandage, will have to re-fix it.

    “After fixing it, we later discovered that my body is reacting to the bandage, which means that I’ll have to get another material as recommended by the Orthopaedic.

    “I’m now waiting for him to come around, he’s going to remove this and fix another one that my body can respond well to. This, I learnt, will aid the healing,” he said.

    According to him, the bandage will be on him for three weeks.

    “For now, I might not be able to continue with the INEC work scheduled for March 9 because of the stress that might be involved.

    “The doctor said after removing the bandage that I shouldn’t be bothering the hand for the shoulder to be well fixed.

    “He said it’s going to take around four months for the arm to be firm so that I can use it for whatever work I am to use it for.

    “After the first three weeks, I will wait for around four months for it to be back to its normal position, the way it was before the incident happened,” he said.

    The attack, he said, left him disappointed for trying to serve his fatherland.

    “I feel disappointed with the development. We were not being obstructed on a national assignment, we were attacked. Now, I can’t go about my normal life for now,” he said.

    TSH Medical Centre Medical Director Dr Adeniyi Busari told The Nation that the X-ray result showed that the induction was ok.

    “He will still be in the position for three weeks and after three weeks, he will come back to the hospital.

    “He will be undergoing physiotherapy and gradually he will be using the hand. And the physiotherapy can take three month,” he said.

  • CSOs protest, demand fresh Bayelsa elections

    Civil Society Organisations ( CSOs ) in Bayelsa State protested peacefully in Yenagoa, the state capital demanding fresh presidential and National Assembly elections in some wards in Nembe and Southern Ijaw local government areas.

    The protesters, who marched to the state headquarters of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) displayed placards with various inscriptions.

    They bemoaned the violence that marred the elections and wondered why INEC should declare results in areas where elections could not hold.

    The National Coordinator, Grassroots For Development Support and Transformation Initiative (GDSTI) Toitoi Newton, said the CSOs sought a cancellation of the purported results from Constituency 4 in Southern Ijaw Local Government Area.

    He said: ‘What happened on election day in my Constituency 4 in Southern Ijaw was a rape of democracy. INEC and the security personnel colluded to hijack our voting materials.

    “We absolutely condemn this and the fraudulent declaration of results in areas election did not hold in our constituency.

    “The security personnel intimidated our people, shooting and hijacked election materials in wards 4, 15 and 16. We say no to this rape of democracy.”

    Tonye Richard of the Onward Restoration Advocacy Movement (ORAM) said elections could not hold in the 7 wards of Nembe-Bassambiri following violence orchestrated by political thugs, who were aided by security personnel deployed in the community.

    “There was no election in Nembe-Bassambiri. Our people came out to vote but they were deprived. They were chased away from their own town by thugs backed by the military,” he said.

    Stephen Seleke of the Advocacy for Peace (AP) noted that what happened in parts of the state during the election negated constitutional provisions and the Electoral Act.

    He said: “The Constitution of Nigeria is the norm, the alpha and omega. It represents the yearnings and aspirations of all Nigerians.

    “The guidelines on how elections are conducted are enshrined in the Constitution and the Electoral Act. So anything that is contrary to the Constitution or the Electoral Act on the issue of election cannot stand.

    “For instance, the military played a role in the election in Southern Ijaw that negated the provisions of the Constitution and the Electoral Act.

    “That is why we came to register our grievances over the conduct of the military. Southern Ijaw and indeed the entire Niger Delta was militarised during the election in order to undermine, frustrate, threaten and intimidate the electorate.

    “We want to sound it clearly to the military and INEC that the youths of Bayelsa State are not cowards.

    “We are also educated and intellectually sound. We will therefore stand against any form of electoral fraud.”

    Seleke however explained that the groups were not interested in promoting any particular political party but that the protest was to register their grievances over the conduct of the elections in the state.

  • God never destined Atiku to be President, says Oshiomhole

    National Chairman of the All Progressives Congress (APC) Comrade Adams Oshiomhole on Thursday said former Vice President Atiku Abubakar was destined never to be President.

    He also said the APC was prepared to meet the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in court.

    Addressing a news conference on the outcome of the Presidential and National Assembly elections and the decision of the PDP candidate to reject the results, Oshiomhole said Atiku was desperate to be President of Nigeria and has been jumping from one party to the other to actualise his ambition.

    He said it smacks of arrogance for the former Vice President to believe that the destiny of Nigerians is tied to his being President.

    He stressed that Atiku and the PDP were never committed to the peace accord, accusing them of only being interested in being winners.

    According to him: “I think it is arrogance for Atiku to think that our future is tied to his Presidency. Atiku is destined never to be President of Nigeria and I ask you to review his character. Leadership is about character.

    “Atiku’s desperation is so obvious. He is so desperate that in 2003, he challenged his own boss, Obasanjo. He decamped to join ACN and we offered him the ticket and he lost the election and returned to PDP.

    “He contested again and lost the nomination and because he has only his interest at heart, he decamped again from PDP.

    “He joined us in Lagos and rolled out the dollars but we voted for Buhari as our candidate. He knew that he cannot defeat Buhari in the primary and went back to the PDP.

    “Do you think that such a political rolling stone, does he think that Nigerians are so insincere as to think that a man who is not stable and whose interest is about himself will be a possible candidate to be elected?

    “What makes him have that sense of entitlement that he must be President of Nigeria? You cannot deny anyone the right to dispute the outcome of an election however free and fair.

    “So, we hope and we are looking forward to meeting Atiku Abubakar in court. We might also choose to also cross petition because there were many areas we can dispute.

    “In Adamawa state, he had already lost the election before he did some magic that gave him that narrow victory in Adamawa state.”

    Oshiomhole said the turnout of voters in the north east especially in Borno state was a reflection of the substantial peace that has returned to the area.

    He argued if the former Vice President does not know about the peace in the area, it could be because he does not go home regularly.

  • Observer: INEC ensured the will of Nigerians prevailed

    One of the accredited observers by the Independent National Electoral Commission ( INEC ) in the just concluded Presidential and National Assembly elections, Connected Development (CODE), on Thursday, commended the commission for ensuring that the will of Nigerians prevailed.

    CODE, a civil society organisation, hailed the commission for remaining firm despite pressures from political actors to truncate the electoral process.

    Head of Mission, CODE Election Observation Team, Hamzat Lawal, stated these in Abuja on Thursday, during the presentation of findings by Uzabe, a real-time web based map situation technology used by CODE to gather real time security intelligence and observed the electoral process during the elections.

    Lawal appealed to opposition political parties and other stakeholders to act responsibly and pursue peaceful and legal resolution of their grievances.

    He said: “We commend INEC for allowing the will of the people to be heard and for remaining firm on her duty regardless of pressure from political actors that want to truncate the electoral process.

    “We urge citizens to support INEC, particularly the Resident Electoral Commissioners and they should come out enmasse to vote their candidate of choice for the gubernatorial elections.

    “CODE hereby calls on opposition parties and other stakeholders to act responsibly, to pursue peaceful and legal resolution of their grievances and to uphold the integrity of the political and electoral process.”

    Lawal said there was need to reform the electoral process in order to allow for diaspora voting.

    He also called for the strengthening of the autonomy of the commission in order for INEC to provide more effective and objective electoral process.

    “CODE suggest that in order to enhance confidence in the electoral process, INEC’s complete autonomy must be strengthened to ensure it provides more effective and objective electoral process.

    “INEC must develop result-management process using competent and secure technology and must provide a more conducive environment for collating results in regions.

    “INEC must introduce reforms that allow for Nigerians in the diaspora to vote the candidate of their choice.

    “Under-age voting is a violation of the Nigerian constitution and it is prevalent in some regions of the country. INEC must work to curb this issue as it serves as an indictment on the credibility of election process and ultimately a threat to our democracy,” he said.

    Lawal condemned election-based violence during the process.

    “Security remain a prevalent challenge confronting the nation’s growth and electorates should not have to die or lose loved ones at the cost of participating in the electoral process.

    “As an accredited observer, we are disheartened at the poor level of preparedness shown by the Independent National Electoral Commission to conduct a violence-free election, despite the week-long postponement of the election to allow for adequate logistics and security readiness,” he added.

  • Nigerians voted in favour of integrity, says Oshiomhole

    National Chairman of the All Progressives Congress, Comrade Adams Oshiomhole has said that Saturday election was a referendum between a man of integrity and a man without integrity, saying Nigerians loudly voted in favour of integrity.

    Oshiomhole also asked President Muhammadu Buhari to order security agents to fish out all those involved, or those who sponsored killing of innocent Nigerians who came out to vote in last Saturday elections.

    Read Also: Buhari thanks Tinubu, Oshiomhole, other Nigerians for victory

    Addressing a news conference at the party Secretariat in Abuja, Oshiomhole said the PDP Presidential candidate Atiku Abubakar who signed a peace accord going into the election knowing that only person will emerge winner of the election, but prefer to stand truth on its head by adducing reasons while he think the elections were rigged.

    Going into memory lane as to the records of votes scored by the PDP in previous election, he said the APC scored less than in the 2019 election than it did in 2015, describing Atiku as a poor student of statistical data.

    Details shortly…

  • ‘SGF votes in Yola North LGA, not Hong’

    The Secretary to the Government of the Federation (SGF), Barr Boss Mustapha, is an indigene of Yola North, not Hong as assumed by many.

    A Principal Special Assistant (PSA) of the SGF), Alhaji Mohammed Danjuma, who made the clarification, said it was necessary to correct reports accusing the SGF of failing to deliver his LGA, said to be Hong, to President Muhammadu Buhari and even not voting there despite.

    The presidential candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in the February 23 presidential election, Alhaji Atiku Abubakar, defeated Buhari in Hong LGA by 23,039 votes to 20,471; but Buhari won big in Yola North where Boss Mustapha voted, with 43,865 votes against Atiku’s 27,789.

    Against the claim that Boss Mustapha’s home LGA is Hong where he should have voted and delivered to Buhari, Alhaji Mohammed Danjuma said Boss is linked to Hong because it is his ancestral LGA where his parents came from more than 80 years ago.

    Danjuma said, “Yola North has been Boss Mustapha’s home. This has been so since he was born and bred in Jimeta (in Yola North) in 1956. He has been known as an indigene of Yola North. It was his home when he contested to be governor of Adamawa State in 1992.”

    He added that in the last presidential election, Boss rightly voted in his polling unit 09, opposite the main gate of New Government House in Jimeta, Yola North LGA; and specified that Boss name is in Number 902 out of 1307 of the list of those registered at the polling unit he usually votes.

    “May I put it on record that the SGF is an indigene of Yola North LGA, not Hong? His political enemies should please go and find better things to do as our principal is a die-hard APC and core Buhari loyalist,” Danjuna concluded.