The Nation Newspaper

Tag: 2019 ELECTIONS

  • Ballot snatching:PDP chieftain to Buhari: explain when soldiers can shoot

    President Muhammadu Buhari has been requested to break down the circumstances that may warrant action by security agents against those assumed to be constituting threat to a smooth conduct of elections.

    Making the request at a media briefing in Warri on Friday, a member of the Campaign Committee of the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) in Warri North council area of Delta state, Chief Newuwumi Omolubi, said he requested for the clarification so as to preserve the lives of his people during the elections.

    Describing the president’s pronouncement as dangerous and disturbing to his people, especially those in his ward where about four military houseboats are already stationed, he said an explanation would help to prevent occasions that could lead to fatality, considering the fact that the people have always helped staff of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) in conveying their materials to polling units.

    He said, “in between the four communities in my ward, there is a military houseboat. Now if the people who most times help the INEC people to convey their materials, at which stage will Buhari want the soldier to shoot.

    “The communities are the ones that help the INEC staff to move these materials because of the distance and the difficult terrain, so at which stage does it become dangerous for my people.

    “I am seeking this clarification to guide my people to know when to stop their services to the Adhoc staff of INEC to avoid killing of innocent civilians whose main concern is to help INEC smooth operation”, he said.

    He used the opportunity to call on the people of the communities and Deltans in general to come out enmasse and vote the PDP and its candidates.

  • Seven arrested for alleged PVCs racketeering in Ekiti

    Seven members of the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) in Ekiti State have been arrested for illegal collection of Permanent Voter Cards (PVCs) from eligible voters in Ikere Ekiti.

    The House of Assembly member representing Ikere Constituency 1, Mr. Wale Ayeni, who allegedly masterminded the voter cards racketeering was said to be on the run.

    Ayeni escaped being arrested by the whiskers when the policemen swooped on his situation office in Oke’kere area of the town where the alleged PVCs racketeering was going on.

    The armed policemen believed to be acting on tip-off stormed the area few minutes before 1pm and recovered unspecified number of PVCs from the suspects.

    Ayeni was said to have blocked the federal highway that passes through the area gathering eligible voters to collect their cards.

    The operation caused confusion as the seven other PDP members allegedly assisting Ayeni to collect the PVCs were apprehended by the policemen.

    Party members arrested are said to be cooling their heels in the custody of the State Criminal Investigation Department (SCID) where they are stating all they know about the incident.

    The lawmaker is the Deputy Director General of PDP Presidential Campaign Council in charge of Ekiti South senatorial district of which Ikere is part.

    Ayeni could not be reached on his mobile phone at the time of filing this report.

    When contacted, Police spokesman Caleb Ikechukwu said the report of the incident was yet to be brought to his office.

  • Ganduje blames Kwankwaso for Kano killings

    Kano state Governor Abdullahi Ganduje has described as unfortunate the attack on a group of All Progressive Congress (APC) supporters by members of the Kwankwasiyya group of the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) while on campaign in Bebeji/Kiru Local Government Area on Thursday.

    He called on security agents to fish out perpetrators of the attack, which left at least five persons dead and other seriously wounded.

    According to him: “The Kwankwassiyya group has continued to brazenly attack members and supporters of the All Progressive Congress (APC).

    “The latest just happened on Thursday when they attacked our members while on a special prayer session in Bebeji local government area which was organised for peaceful conduct of the forthcoming general elections in the country, leaving some party members dead and others with injuries.”

    In a statement by the Commissioner for Information, Youth and Culture, Malam Muhammad Garba, Ganduje accused the Kwankwasiyya PDP thugs of being behind the attack.

    Read Also: Kwankwaso presents staff of office to emir of Kano

    According to him: “They attacked our peaceful supporters under the watchful eyes of their leader, Rabi’u Kwankwaso, who was on a campaign rally in the area, brandishing all sorts of deadly weapons, attacked the prayer session, which is being organised by member representing Kiru/Bebeji constituency, Hon. Abdulmumini Jibrin Kofa for meanness free polls.”

    The attack, the statement, he lamented: “is the latest in series by the Kwankwasiyya ruffians in an apparent attempt to put a clog in the wheel of progress toward ensuring free and peaceful election in the state.”

    The Governor lamented: “The group is superficially venting its anger on members and supporters of the APC, having gotten a sign of defeat at the polls, as part of a calculated attempt to scamper peaceful 2019 elections.”

    He prayed for the departed souls and condoled with the bereaved families, just as he also prayed for the quick recovery of those injured during the heinous attack.

    Ganduje also directed security agencies “to fish out perpetrators of the monstrous blitzkrieg with a view to ensuring that they are dealt with accordingly.”

  • INEC begins deployment of sensitive materials in A/Ibom

    The Independent National Electoral Commission ( INEC ) has commenced the deployment of sensitive electoral materials to the 31 local governments in Akwa Ibom State.

    Akwa Ibom Resident Electoral Commissioner (REC), Mr. Mike Igini, who disclosed this while addressing to party agents, international observers and security agencies said the commission will everything within its power to conduct a hitch-free exercise.

    Read Also: INEC begins deployment of electoral materials in Ekiti

    Igini said: “We have commenced the continuation of what we have been doing in the last few days in preparation of our re-scheduled elections. What you are seeing here is what is left of the materials for the conduct of the rescheduled elections.”

    He regretted that the commission could not move all the materials as at last Friday, February 15.

  • Lagos CP warns ballot box snatchers, others

    .Says no area will be left unpoliced

     

    Lagos State Commissioner Zubairu Muazu on  Thursday issued stern warning to ballot box snatchers and other electoral offenders to have a rethink or face the wrath of the law.

    Muazu gave the warning at his maiden interaction with reporters since assuming duties at the new police boss in the state.

    According to him, the command would stop at nothing to ensure that offenders are prosecuted and convicted, reminding residents that the earlier deployment of 30,000 security personnel for the exercise would be maintained.

    On the preparedness of the command to deal with such issues, Muazu said: “Our men have the ingredients of the Electoral Act. They have been well trained on what is expected of them before, during and after the elections. So when anyone who snatches a ballot box is caught, they will be tried in court and punished according to the law.

    “I want to assure you that the Police in collaboration with other security agencies under the umbrella of Inter-Agency consultative committee on this election is ready come Saturday.

    “A very robust operation order to cover deployment of security personnel for the elections is on ground, so we will ensure there is a safe and secure environment for electorate in Lagos to go and cast their votes without fear and intimidation.”

    He said the command had emplaced an election plan that covers before, during and after the exercise, stating that intelligence arm of security agencies had been deployed to gather evidence in case of prosecution of arrested suspects.

    Confirming recent cult clashes in the state, Muazu assured residents such clashes would not hamper the peace of the polls, adding that arrests have been made and suspects would be prosecuted.

    “In the last two weeks, we have had cases of clashes between rival cult groups in areas like Oworonshoki, Somolu, Bariga and Fadeyi. We are working round the clock to ensure there is peace. We want to assure Lagosians that we will make sure that these few cases we have had will not surface during the election.

    “I want to assure all Lagosians that this year’s elections are going to be well secured and so, they should come out and vote. There will be constant patrols and pin-down patrol points.
    “Arrests have been made in the cases cited and investigations are ongoing. All suspects would be charged to court soon.“

  • How States stand in PVCs collection

    …Lagos, Kano top list

     

    Ahead of Saturday’s general elections, the Independent National Electoral Commission ( INEC ) has released full list of Permanent Voter Cards collected with Lagos State topping the list.

    According to the list, 5,531,389 people collected PVCs in Lagos State, while 4,696,747 registered voters in Kano State collected their PVCs.

    In Kaduna State, 3,648,831 persons picked up their PVCs followed closely by Katsina State with 3,187,988 million cards collected. Rivers State rounds up the top five with 2,833,101 PVCs collected.

    In terms of percentage of registered voters that collected PVCs, Lagos is not in the top 10 with 84.19 percent of the 6,570,291 registered voters in the state collecting their PVCs. 1,038,902 million voters (the highest for any state) did not collect PVCs in Lagos State.

    According to INEC statistics, Katsina State has the highest percentage of PVCs collected with 98.69 percent of registered voters in the state collecting their PVCs.

    It was followed by Taraba State with 97.30 percent of registered voters getting their PVCs, while 95.76 percent of Nigerians registered to vote in Gombe collected their cards.

    Kebbi State and Bauchi State followed with 95.13 and 94.84 percent of registered voters getting their PVCs in both states, respectively.

    See full list below:

     

     

     

  • Polls: Security agents uncover six flash points in Anambra

    Ahead of Saturday’s Presidential and National Assembly elections, security agencies in Anambra said they had uncovered six major flash points in the state.

    Mr Rabiu Ladodo, Commissioner of Police in charge of security in the conduct of the general elections in Anambra, disclosed this at a news conference on Thursday in Awka.

    Flanked by heads of other security agencies, Ladodo named the flash points as Ogidi, Obosi, Nnewi, Onitsha, Ajali and Ihiala.

    He said that identification of the black spots were made possible by the cooperation of security agencies with police.

    He, however, announced that adequate security arrangements had been made to ensure that the elections were peaceful in all communities in the state.

    The commissioner called on politicians, especially candidates vying for positions, to play by the rules.

    He also appealed to community leaders to advise their subjects against involvement in any act capable of affecting the exercise negatively.

    ”On our part as security agents, we will be professional in the discharge of our duties”, he said.

    Ladodo also called on the public to massively participate in the elections, adding that enough arrangements had been made by Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) and security agencies to make the polls hitch-free.

    ”On my arrival in Awka Thursday, I went straight to Central Bank of Nigeria where the sensitive materials for the elections were distributed to all the local government areas.

    ”The brief I got from the INEC’s Resident Electoral Commissioner showed that all the 21 local governments have received their materials, and with the support of security personnel we hope to have smooth elections,” he said.

  • ‘No thumb printed ballot papers found in my house’

    A chieftain of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in Ogun state, Otunba Babatunde Onakoya, on Thursday declared that there were no thumb printed ballot papers found in his house in Ijebu – Ode area of the state.

    Onakoya added that neither him nor his son who is the Chairman of Leguru Local Council Development Area, in Ijebu, Ololade Onakoya, is being investigated by security agencies in connection with the 2019 general elections or any other matter.

    The Federal Board member of Benin/Owena River Basin Authority, who made this known to reporters while reacting to news making the round that he and his son were involved in thumb printed ballot papers, also said the Chairman, Odogbolu Local Government, Wale Shittu, was not under any investigation for anything or over thumb printed ballot papers.

    Onakoya described the allegation as baseless, fake and unfounded rumour being purveyed by those threatened by his avid support for President Muhammadu Buhari.

    He also dismissed the allegation as “tissues of lies and a good example of fake news concocted by enemies of democracy.”

    He said: “I have never engaged in any acts of brigandage in the name of politics and will never do.

    “I strongly suspect that this is handiwork of those who are feeling threatened with our total commitment to ensure that President Buhari coast home to victory on Saturday.

    “We are pushing for this within the ambit of the law and we shall not be intimidated by anybody or group of people that want to return us to era of waste and stinking corruption.”

    Onakoya said his attention was drawn to the malicious information on Thursday morning and was surprised to discover that people could resort to destruction of his hard-earned reputation and dignity of his family just because of his unrepentant commitment to actualization of President Buhari’s second term ambition this Saturday.

  • Polls: Police deploy 4,000 personnel in Bayelsa

    The Commissioner of Police, Bayelsa State command, Aminu Saleh Thursday said over 4000 policemen will be providing security for the rescheduled elections on Saturday.

    Saleh, who spoke to the Nation, boasted that the police were fully ready for the elections and warned troublemakers to stay away from the process.

    He said the police in partnership with other security agencies played crucial roles in the distribution of electoral materials.

    On securing the waterways and creeks, Saleh said the command had enough marine equipment, gunboats and marine policemen to ensure hitch-free elections.

    He warned policemen to be professional and adhere strictly to the rules of engagements throughout the process.

    He said: “We are fully ready for the elections with deployment and everything. We have been involved in the escort of necessary materials. We are working closely with other security agencies to do that.

    Read Also: Police reiterate readiness for rescheduled polls

    “We will soon commence deployment to the polling units. Some of them had been deployed within the areas of their operation. We have over 4000 policemen for this exercise. We also have adequate marine equipment and personnel to secure the waterways.

    “We further have adequate gunboats. The policemen should discharge their duties by the rules. We have been trained on electoral law and they know what to do during the electoral process. We are adequately aware and informed.

    “We expect that no thugs should come near to snatch any ballot box. We are working very hard in partnership with other security agencies, parties and their candidates, in fact, everybody in Bayelsa to ensure peace”.

  • Just in: Katsina, Taraba, Kebbi, Zamfara lead in PVCs collection

    Katsina, Taraba, Kebbi and Zamfara states have the most number of collected Permanent Voter Cards (PVCs).

    The PVCs will be used for voting in the 2019 general elections.

    Katsina, according to INEC data, records 98 percent collection of PVCs followed closely by Taraba state with 97 percent.

    Kebbi has 95 percent while Kebbi and Zamfara boast of 94 percent collection rate.

    Also, Yobe recorded 92 percent collection.

    Details shortly…