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Tag: All Progressives Congress (APC)

  • APC to INEC: Don’t compromise your integrity

    All Progressives Congress (APC) in Kwara state has cautioned the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) against compromising its integrity and neutrality in the deployment of ad-hoc staff in the state, during the forthcoming general elections.

    Kwara state Chair of APC Chairman, Hon. Bashir Bolarinwa said the party has received information that those being posted across Kwara as Electoral Officers (EOs) and Technical Staff were nominated and trained by the People’s Democratic Party (PDP).

    He also cited the case of an EO who was caught hiding boxes of ballot papers in an office in Kwara North by a vigilant Department of State Service (DSS) officer.

    He added that when the EO was forced to open the office by the DSS office he admitted to hiding the boxes, but claimed it was a mistake.

    Read Also: APC demands daily briefing from INEC

    Hon. Bolarinwa said: “We have also been inundated with the information that the technical staff in particular, most of whom are trained ICT experts, are known PDP members and are under strict instructions to manipulate the card readers in favour of the PDP.

    ”It is totally unacceptable that INEC, which is the umpire, will work in cahoots with any political party or even accept a list of ad-hoc staff from the parties. We are therefore calling on the security agencies to put all INEC staffers under strict surveillance to forestall any attempt to compromise them. On our part, we will also ensure that the process is not compromised by tainted staffers.

    ”As we have always said, we want a level playing field for all the political parties contesting the elections in the state. It is only then that the people can most freely exercise their franchise, and the oarty which has the support of the people will emerge victorious.”

    APC chair asked INEC to make available to all the parties the record of the sensitive materials they will be

    deploying to all local governments and wards across the state, ahead of Saturday’s Presidential and National Assembly elections.

    He said that would enable the parties to know what is deployed where, adding that it would forestall attempt by desperate politicians bent on rigging the elections.

     

  • Ballot box snatchers will pay with their lives – Buhari

    ….Insists INEC has no excuse to postpone six hours to election

     

     

    President Muhammadu Buhari on Monday warned that anybody involved in ballot box snatching will pay with his or her live.

    He spoke in Abuja during the opening session of the All Progressives Congress (APC) Caucus meeting at the APC National Secretariat.

    Such act, he said, would be the last unlawful act the person will engage in.

    According to him, he has given the security agencies instructions to ensure free and fair elections in the country.

    He said “I do not expect any body to cause any disturbance. The security agencies have identified hot spots and flash points and should be prepared to move. We have made as much arrangement as possible for them as much as the country can afford.

    Read Also:Two suspected ballot box snatchers lynched in Kogi bye-election

    “Anybody who decide to snatch ballot boxes or lead thugs to disturb the process, may be that will be the last unlawful action you will take.

    “We have directed the military and other security agents to be ruthless. We are not going to be blamed that we want to rig elections.

    “I want Nigerians to be respected and let them vote whoever they want across the parties. I am not afraid of that. I went round the 36 states and the FCT and I think I have enough support across the country to vote for me.

    “So, I want to warn anybody who think he has enough influence in his locality to lead a body of thugs to snatch ballot boxes or disturb the voting system, he will do it at the expense of his own life,” he stated

    The President also explained that the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) had all the time and resources and didn’t have to wait for only six hours to cancel the elections and tell the public it was impossible.

    He said “Definitely, the reason why such incompetence manifested has to be explained to the nation. After the elections, we have to know exactly what happened and who is responsible.

    “Otherwise, our efforts to make sure that this system is acceptable would have been eroded. The constitution and the law protected INEC. But they must not take us for granted.

    “If for example, the National Assembly refused to approve what they wanted, INEC would have had moral reasons why they couldn’t perform. If the time of four years of election was not constitutionally obeyed the government, INEC would have a case.

    “But we don’t understand the reason for this inefficiency and we have to go into details after the election to find out who is responsible,” he said.

    He thanked the party leadership for their commitment.

    He went on “That was why we sat and said we must have committed leaders in all constituencies to be our agents. We also sat down and worked out the least the party should do for our agents so that they will not depend on anybody or say I am going to drink water or I am going to toilet.

    “We made all those arrangements and put it before the governors and Chairmen of the parties. Where the APC has no governors, the governorship candidate and state Chairmen were given that assignment.

    “I am satisfied that this instruction has been passed down. Right now, we have so much to do and so, we should now go back to our loyal members in all constituencies so that if anything happen, we will know who to blame.

    “We have told our constituents to be patient and react in a very matured way by going peacefully and vote and depend on party representatives in the polling unit,” he said.

     

  • Rivers APC: no elections without our candidates

    The All Progressives Congress (APC) Governorship Campaign Organisation in Rivers State has said there will be no elections if the party and its candidates were not listed in the ballot papers.

    The organisation also accused chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), Prof. Mahmood Yakubu, of working with Governor Nyesom Wike to frustrate the party.

    Read also: APC demands daily briefing from INEC

    A statement by the Director of Strategic Communication, Tonye Princewill Campaign Organisation, said Prof. Yakubu was working with Wike to frustrate the people’s will.

    He said: “Though the election postponement is not a surprise, I still expected the INEC Chairman to stubbornly push on and try to force through the elections regardless. I still see disaster come Saturday. Unless we’re on the ballot, the election won’t be smooth anywhere…”

  • APC to hold caucus meeting Monday

    The All Progressives Congress (APC) is hold an emergency national caucus meeting at the party national Secretariat on Monday, The Nation learnt on Sunday.

    The meeting is expected to be attended President Muhammadu Buhari, Vice President Yemi Osinbajo, serving and former governors who members of the party and members of the National Working Committee.

    Although the agenda of the meeting scheduled to begin at 11am is not known, it may be unconnected with the preparations for the general elections.

    Read also: Facts show APC sabotaging INEC, PDP alleges

    It was not immediately known why the caucus meeting which usually hold at the Villa was shifted to the National Secretariat.

     

  • Facts show APC sabotaging INEC, PDP alleges

     

    The People’s Democratic Party (PDP) has accused the governing All Progressives Congress (APC) and the Presidency of sabotaging the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) in alleged orchestrated plot to engineer a staggered presidential election.

    This, the main opposition party said, was contrary the “simulated” stance by the Presidency and the national chairman of the APC, Mr Adams Oshiomhole in condemning the postponement of the February 16 elections.

    In a statement Sunday by the spokesman for the PDP, Kola Ologbondiyan, the party recalled its ceaseless protests against the continued retention of Mrs Amina Zakari at a strategic post in INEC.

    The PDP reiterated its position that Mrs Zakari is a relation of President Muhammadu Buhari who is seeking re-election on the platform of the APC.

    The statement said, “We have been reliably informed that the same Amina Zakari and another high-ranking INEC commissioner played a pivotal role in assisting the APC and Buhari Presidency in sabotaging the operations of INEC and scuttling the February 16 elections.

    “The reason for this is that President Buhari is determined to have a staggered election where he can use security agencies to subvert the will of the people at the polls.

    “These APC elements in INEC engineered actions that affected the distribution and delivery of INEC sensitive materials to designated locations, thereby frustrating the electoral process.

    “We also have details of how a hired team of data hackers corrupted the voters register, with a view to causing mass confusion and voters suppression on election day.

    “Nigerians would have been shocked that many registered voters in possession of their Permanent Voter’s Cards (PVCs) would have arrived their polling centres on election day, only to discover to their amazement that their names had disappeared from the register in their units”.

    Read Also: No more campaigns, collection of PVCs — INEC

    The PDP said intelligence at its disposal further detailed how agents of the Buhari Presidency allegedly infiltrated the distribution system and ensured that sensitive election materials did not arrive at the designated locations; with the view to stalling elections in several states and paving way for a staggered election.

    “This is in addition to deliberate swapping of sensitive election materials between different states and local governments so as to muddle up the process and stall election in affected areas. In some of states like Edo, sensitive election materials did not arrive at their designated points on APC interruption.

    “The PDP urges Nigerians to continue to be alert in resisting the APC and the Buhari Presidency in their plot to sabotage our elections.

    “Our promise to Nigerians is that we will continue to stand with the people in exposing APC’s rigging plots and stopping them from creating more havoc and destruction of our democratic process.

    “We therefore call on President Buhari to save himself from further disgrace, as the signpost of enemy of democracy, by ensuring that his cabal and their ilk in APC cease forthwith from tampering with our electoral process”, the PDP added.

     

     

  • Election postponement: Okorocha urges Nigerians to be patriotic

    The Chairman of the All Progressives Congress (APC) Governors’ Forum and Imo State governor,  Rochas Okorocha, has enjoined Nigerians to show patriotism over the postponement of the Presidential  and National Assembly elections earlier scheduled to hold Saturday, February 16.

    The Imo governor, noted that though the postponement was regrettable, the Independent National Electoral  institutions (INEC), like every other institution could have challenges.

    According to him, “APC, as the ruling Party, is ready for elections any day and any time”, stressing that “no political party should be blamed for the Postponement especially when it is remembered that this is not the first time such development could take place in the nation’s elections”.

    Okorocha who was reacting to the postponement in Owerri, weekend, added further  that, “the Postponement of the election by INEC is an unfortunate development and also regrettable. But, it is important to note that no Political Party should be blamed for the Postponement, but rather on the Challenges of INEC”.

    Read Also: Okorocha to Ndigbo: vote Buhari or forget 2023

    He continued that  this is also not the first time the nation could witness such development during elections. It happened in 2011 and in 2015 respectively. It happens. I only want to urge INEC to use the week of Postponement to resolve all the Challenges it has and ensure that Nigerians have a smooth, free and fair elections.

    “APC as the ruling Party is ready for the elections and it will be absurd to accuse the ruling Party of being responsible for the Postponement. I call on all Nigerians to show patriotism by maintaining peace and understanding at this trial time in our democratic growth”.

  • Election postponement won’t stop APC’s victory, says Egbeyemi

    Ekiti State Deputy Governor, Chief Bisi Egbeyemi, on Sunday expressed confidence that the postponement of the general elections by one week will not stop the All Progressives Congress (APC) from winning the polls.

    The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that, Egbeyemi made the remark during a meeting with APC members at his residence in Ado-Ekiti on the heels of the postponement of the general elections.

    He urged party members not to be discouraged by the shift, saying that victory is sure for President Muhammadu Buhari and other APC candidates in the general elections.

    The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) in the early hours of Saturday shifted the Presidential and National Assembly election to February 23 and the Governorship and State House of Assembly election to March 9 citing logistic challenges.

    The deputy governor gave assurance to the APC members that the Party was poised for victory on the new dates announced by the electoral umpire noting that the poll shift would only delay celebration of victory by its members.

    Egbeyemi explained that the APC, as a law-abiding party, had campaigned vigorously across the length and breadth of Ekiti and Nigeria and was confident of achieving victory at the polls before the shift was announced.

    While noting that although the postponement of the elections was painful, Egbeyemi described it as a price to pay for a long-awaited victory by the APC, which he described as a party to beat at the polls.

    The deputy governor said party members in Ekiti State has sold the candidacy of President Buhari and other APC candidates to the electorate whom he said are waiting to speak with their votes.

    Describing the poll shift as ‘blessing in disguise,’ the Ekiti deputy governor recalled that similar postponement in the 2011 and 2015 general elections resulted in overwhelming victory for the party.

    “I want to appeal to our teeming party members not to be discouraged by the sudden postponement of the elections by INEC.

    “APC members should see the postponement as an opportunity to plan better, re-strategize and work harder to ensure victory for our party on the new dates of February 23 and March 9 announced by INEC,” he said.

    Egbeyemi expressed optimism that APC would coast home to victory and the postponement would not stop APC’s victory, but only delay it by a week. (NAN)

  • ‘Saraki, PDP masterminded polls postponement’

    The All Progressives Congress (APC) South West Youth Forum has accused the Senate President, Bukola Saraki and the opposition Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) of orchestrating series of events that eventually led to the postponement of the Presidential election earlier schedule for this weekend.

    In a statement issued in Lagos, by its spokesperson, Mr. Olutunde Mayowa, the Forum reminded Nigerians that the opposition created the chain of events that led to the postponement when the Senate President deliberately delayed the passage of the INEC budget thereby denying the agency funds its needed to kick start the preparations.

    “Though INEC has its blame for shoddy preparation but we should be clear headed in tracing both the remote and immediate cause of this postponement and the embarrassment it has caused our nation.

    “Saraki’s National Assembly has become nothing but a clog in the wheel of progress by making it impossible for agencies to access funds they need to function, that much they did when for months Saraki and his hatchet men failed to pass the INEC budget. The result of that is what we are seeing now.

    “We were expecting INEC to perform miracles, but truth must be told, the opposition created this scenario for their selfish benefits,” the Forum said.

  • No more campaigns, collection of PVCs — INEC

    The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) says  there is no more room for political campaign or collection of the Permanent Voter Cards (PVCs) in spite of the postponement of elections dates by one week.

    The Chairman of INEC, Prof. Mahmood Yakubu, made the disclosure while fielding questions at the commission’s meeting with stakeholders, on Saturday in Abuja.

    Yakubu said that the deadline for the collection of PVCs and elections campaign by political parties according to election timetable has passed.

    “Campaign closed on Thursday, Feb. 14, and for the period that remain campaign remained closed.

    “All the other process that remain in the main timetable remain closed including the collection of PVC, except the conduct of the elections,” he said.

    On why the commission did not consult party leaders before adjusting the dates of the elections, Yakubu said that it was due to the urgency and that Section 36 of the Electoral Act  empowered the commission to do so.

    “We have to take a decision and communicate because polls were suppose to open at 8a.m. and we took the decision at 2a.m,” he said.

    Yakubu while answering question on why the commission waited till about 3a.m on Saturday before postponing the elections, said that up till 2a.m the commission was still hopeful that elections would hold as scheduled.

    On whether the commission has enough fund should the elections be postponed again, Yakubu said that INEC was not complaining, adding that the commission do not intend to postpone any of the elections again.

    On request that INEC should compensate  political parties for the change in dates, Yakubu said that INEC did not finance parties.

    The National Chairman of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Mr Adams Oshiomole, expressed displeasure that INEC waited till last few hour before announcing the postponement to Nigerians, demanding the apology of Yakubu to Nigerians and political parties.

    He said the postponement entailed huge loss to political parties who had no public fund to fall on like INEC, saying if the postponement was done on time, loss and inconveniences to political parties would have been avoided.

    “Serious inconveniences has been caused, Nigerians have been subjected to rude shock and I fell extremely cold.

    “I think we should be honest. I am shocked, disappointed and disgusted.

    “The real question I will insist, Mr Chairman by all due respect, is to tell us why by Wednesday you did not announce the postponement, since you acknowledged that the weather was bad.

    “You should have taken all these into account and announced this postponement at least 48 hours before the elections time, so that political parties don’t have to mobilise resources across 176,000 Polling units.

    “Observer will stay where they were and a lot of inconveniences would have been saved,” Oshiomole said.

    Representing the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Mr Osita Chidoka, former Aviation Minister and Chairman, Strategy Committee of the PDP Presidential Campaign Council, commended decision of the commission for not allowing the experienced challenges to lead to staggered elections.

    Chidoka, requested for INEC assurance that Activate Technologies Limited, one of the companies producing the Permanent Voter Cards (PVCs), would not be involved in the retrieval and reconfiguration of card readers to be used for the rescheduled elections.

    He said that available information was that the Managing Director of of the company was a senatorial candidate of APC in Niger State.

    He also requested that the commission should allow independent verification that sensitive materials to be retrieved to the CBN had not been opened or tampered with.

    The National Chairman, Progressive People’s Alliance (PPA), Chief Peter Ameh, said initially he was angered that INEC did not consult political parties like it was being done before change of election date in the past.

    Ameh, who is also the National Chairman of the Inter-Party Advisory Committee (IPAC), however, said that with the explanation by INEC Chairman, it was clear that the decision was taken in the interest of the nation.

    The News Agency of Nigeria(NAN) reports that INEC had shifted the Presidential and National Assembly elections from Feb. 16 to Feb. 23 and the Governorship and State House of Assembly elections from March 2 to March 9. (NAN)

  • Remain calm, ignore rumors Sanwo-Olu urges Lagosians

    The governorship candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in Lagos State, Babajide Olusola Sanwo-Olu, has urged Lagos residents to carry on their activities without fear, following this morning’s rescheduling of the presidential and national assembly polls.

    Sanwo-Olu advised the electorate to ignore unverified theories about why the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) postponement the elections.

    He gave the advice in a 10:55 am tweet on his official Twitter handle @jidesanwoolu.

    “Hello Lagos. As we wake up to the news of @inecnigeria’s rescheduling of the elections, I ask that we remain calm and go about our businesses without fear.

    “Amidst all the theories flying around, the safety of your lives and property is paramount,” Sanwo-Olu said.

    Read Also: Sanwo-Olu: Lagos pupils to have unique ID numbers

    INEC chairman Prof. Mahmood Yakubu who announced the polls shift in a five-paragraph statement at about 2:50 am on Saturday, attributed the decision to logistic reasons.

    The commission rescheduled the Presidential and National Assembly Elections to Saturday, February 23, 2019 while the governorship, State Houses of Assembly and Federal Capital Territory Area Council polls earlier fixed for March 2 will now be conducted on Saturday, March 9 2019.

    The announcement took Nigerians, including incumbent and APC flag bearer President Muhammadu Buhari and his main challenger, the People Democratic Party’s (PDP) by surprise, leading to counter accusations and a blame game.