The Nation Newspaper

Tag: abia

  • Abia governorship, assembly re-run holds April 25

    The Abia State branch of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), has scheduled the governorship re-run for the state for April 25, to complete the election which had been declared inconclusive.

    The re-run is to take place in the affected polling units and wards in 9 local government areas of the state.

    The areas affected is located in these local government areas; Aba North, Aba South, Bende, Isiala Ngwa South, Isiala Ngwa North, Umuahia South, Bende, Arochukwu, Ohafia and Osisioma.

    In a similar vein, Saturday, April 18, has been slated for a re-run into the Umuahia North state constituency which is the only house of assembly election left for INEC to make the result public.

    It will be held in three wards in Umuahia North state constituency, which as today has not been concluded.

    These re runs are due to the inconclusive elections in the affected areas, which has left the entire state in a political limbo since the governorship election was held last weekend.

  • Abia stakeholders seek release of result

    Abia stakeholders seek release of result

    Stakeholders in Abia State have asked the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to release results of the alleged inconclusive election.

    Speaking with reporters after a meeting in Aba, Dr Emmanuel Adaelu, described the action as a ploy to rob Dr Okezie Ikpeazu of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) of his victory.

    Adaelu said the people would not watch their mandate stolen, adding that the delay is causing undue tension.

    “From booth to booth, local government to local government, election results were made public to the electorate, while party agents signed without violence, under the watch of security agents, so why should the election be described as inconclusive?”

    The elder statesman noted that in the history of election, this kind of development had never arisen before and urged the National Executive of PDP to prevail on INEC to release the results and declare Ikpeazu winner of the election to avoid crisis.

     

  • Abia guber re-run holds April 25

    The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), Abia state has scheduled the governorship re-run for the state for the 25th of April

    The re-run is to take place in the affected polling units and wards in 9 local government areas of the state.

    The local government areas affected are; Aba North, Aba South, Bende, Isiala Ngwa South, Isiala Ngwa North, Umuahia South, Bende, Arochukwu, Ohafia and Osisioma.

    In a similar vein, Saturday the 18th of April has been slated for a re-run into the Umuahia North state constituency which is the only house of assembly election left for INEC to make the result public.

    It will be held in three wards in Umuahia North state constituency, which has not been concluded.

    These re runs are due to the inconclusive elections in the affected areas, which has left the entire state in a political limbo since the governorship election was held last weekend.

  • Abia governorship election result stalemated

    Abia governorship election result stalemated

    The results   of  Saturday’s  governorship election in Abia stalemated midway following the reversal of the cancellation of three local governments results by the Returning Officer, Prof. Benjamin Ozumba.

    Ozumba had announced the cancellation of results from Osisioma, Obingwa and Isialangwa North Local Government Areas on the grounds of “incontrovertible evidence of violence’’ and reports from international observers.

    The returning officer reversed the decision after Gov. Theodore Orji-led chieftains of PDP consulted with the Resident Electoral Officer (REC), Prof. Selina Oko and Ozumba.

    Ozumba said the cancellation was reversed due to fresh information concerning the conduct of the election in the three council areas.

    He said that polling centres with issues would be isolated and decisions taken on them later.

    The polling agent of the All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA), Chief Ahamdi Nweke, had questioned the rationale behind the decision by the returning officer to reverse his earlier pronouncement.

    Nweke insisted that elections did not take place in Osisioma, adding that the party would not accept any result from the area.

    He tendered a hand-written note reportedly signed by the Commissioner of Police, Mr Habila Joshak, indicating that electoral materials recovered from the bush in Osisioma were in the police custody.

    Joshak, who was at the centre, did not controvert the Nweke’s assertion.

    Proceedings were later disrupted after an international observer, Ms Shirle Wilson, from Noble Leadership Initiative, United Kingdom, testified at the centre that “0election did not take place in Osisioma’’.

    Wison said that election in the area was marred by violence and snatching of ballot boxes and other electoral materials by hoodlums.

    The pronouncement heightened tension at the centre, leading to the adjournment of further announcement of results.

    The controversial result from Osisioma, which had earlier been announced, showed that PDP scored 42,442, while APGA polled 1017.

    Meanwhile, results from 10 local government areas have been announced.

    In his reaction, APGA governorship candidate Alex Otti described the governor’s appearance at the collation centre as “an abuse of power, designed to intimidate and exert undue influence on the electoral officials’’.

    The governor was accompanied by the Minister of State for Defence, Rtd. Col. Austin Akobundu, PDP’s National Publicity Secretary, Olisa Metuh, and Chief Onyema Ugochukwu, among others.

  • 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.

     

     

  • 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.

  • Ex-senate president, others woo Abia voters for Ikpeazu

    Ex-senate president, others woo Abia voters for Ikpeazu

    Chief Adolphus Wabara, Nigeria’s Fourth Republican Senate President and other political stakeholders in Old Aba Division have called on Abia indigenes and residents to vote for the governorship candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Dr. Okezie Ikpeazu and other PDP candidates on Saturday’s governorship and House of Assembly polls.

    Wabara in a press conference held at the Aba Town Hall called on both Abians and its inhabitants to see the project of making Ikpeazu the governor of the state as a collective venture than a personal thing if they must achieve their ambition of adopting Ikpeazu as their sole candidate.

    The former Senate President who described politics as dynamic said that making any other person the governor of the state apart from the PDP gubernatorial flag bearer would be a wasteful venture and counter-productive for the state.

    He called on Abians to come out en mass and vote massively on Saturday, April 11 governorship and House of Assembly elections and vote massively for the PDP candidates.

    Earlier in his speech, the leader of Old Aba Division, Elder Emmanuel Adaelu said that they have consulted other senatorial districts of Abia Central and Abia North who also affirmed their support for the candidature of Dr. Ikpeazu, adding that they would consider it a serious disservice to “this land, if any person or group decides to work against us on this particular issue.”

    Adaelu however expressed optimism that electing Ikpeazu as the governor of the state would restore dead medium and small industries in Aba, “rebuilding of our hospitals, Roads, Markets, take the security of our people and property to the next high level, including electricity, give agriculture its appropriate priority in the scheme of things.

    “We appeal to our brothers in Abia North and Abia Central zones to support the people of Abia south to produce the next governor, it will be wrong for them not to support us after we have supported them for the past 16 years.  We supported Abia North to produce Dr. Ogbonnaya Onu as governor of Abia state and Dr. Orji Uzor Kalu as governor for eight years. We also supported Abia central to produce Chief Theodore Orji who is concluding his second term as governor. In Aba North and south, we have done a lot of work. Anambra state alone has 170 unions in Aba, we have reached them all, the market unions and town unions of various communities. So, let this be a chance for payback time. It is time to show grand appreciation to the people of Old Aba Division. We are very optimistic that residents of Abia state will vote for our son, Dr. Okezie Ikpeazu will be vote in as governor on April 11.”

    He assured that the bond and relationship which has been existing between the people of Old Aba Division and the various communities living in Aba would blossom to greater heights when Ikpeazu is elected governor.

  • Women protest ‘manipulation’ of poll’s results in Abia

    Over one thousand Abia State women, dressed in black clothes, protested in Umuahia on Tuesday against what they described as the falsification of the March 28 National Assembly election results in favour of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP).

    They alleged that the election, which was peacefully conducted, was rigged by the PDP in connivance with the officials of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC).

    Operating under the aegis of Abia Women For good Governance, the protesters demanded that “our votes must count.”

    They said the results of the poll were not the reflection of the people’s votes.

    The leader of the group, Ms Jenifer Ukaobasi, said: “We freely voted for the candidates of the All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA) in the National Assembly election, but we were surprised that our votes did not count.

    “We are tired of the status quo. We want a change in Abia and we voted APGA.”

    Ukaobasi, who led the women to the INEC office in Umuahia, said: “Enough is enough.”

    A 75-year-old woman, Madam Patience Eleleme, the leader of grassroots women, who were part of the protest, said: “We stood under the scorching sun to vote APGA, but INEC declared PDP candidates as winners.

    “Our grouse is that we voted for APGA, but the PDP government rigged the results in connivance with INEC officials.

    “What we are asking is that our votes must count.”

    The Resident Electoral Commissioner (REC), Prof. Selina Oko, expressed worry over the protests, which have trailed the results of the elections.

    She said she was disturbed because the protests portrayed her as having not done well, “despite my efforts to ensure that the exercise is credible.”

    Prof. Oko urged the protesters to assist her with the documented evidence of the alleged malpractices, including the one involving her officials, to enable her take the matter to the highest level.

  • Abia to face Enyimba FA Cup semi-final

    Abia to face Enyimba FA Cup semi-final

    Abia Warriors Youth Team will have to wait a little longer to face Enyimba in the Semi final of the 2015 Abia State FA Cup due to the 2014 Federation Cup champions assignment on the continent this weekend.

    The Youth Team of Nigerian Premier League campaigner, Abia Warriors FC made it to the last four edging city rivals, Diamond International Football Academy 7-6 on penalties after scores stood 1-1 at the end of regulation time.

    However the senior team, Abia Warriors FC have already reached the final this year’s Abia State FA Cup competition following a 3-1 victory over Enyimba Feeders of as they wait for the winner between Enyimba and Abia Warriors Youth Team in the second semi-final.

    The encounter between Abia Warriors FC and Enyimba Feeders, which took place at the Umuahia Township Stadium, saw homeboy, Chisom Chikatara score two goals in the first half including a penalty while Ndifreke Effiong netted the third after Louis Okoro had pulled one back for the Enyimba boys.

    With the victory, Abia Warriors also qualified for the National Federation cup contest as the two finalists in the state FA Cup will represent each state at the National Federation Cup competition.

  • Jonathan defeats Buhari in Abia

    Jonathan defeats Buhari in Abia

    The standard-bearer of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), President Goodluck Jonathan, defeated the All Progressives Congress (APC) candidate, Gen. Muhammadu Buhari, in Abia State.

    Jonathan polled 368,303 votes against Buhari’s 13,394.

    The Returning Officer and the Vice Chancellor, University of Nigeria, Nsukka, Prof. Benjamin Chukwuma Ozumba, announced the result. He said he would send it to Abuja.

    The Campaign Coordinator of Gen. Buhari, Dr. Emmanuel Aguzie Ndukwe, has rejected the result, describing it as a sham.

    He said that there were alterations on the result sheet.

    Ndukwe said the credibility of the result was in doubt.