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Tag: APC

  • APC exposes plan to harass party’s financiers

    APC exposes plan to harass party’s financiers

    THE All Progressives Congress (APC) has alleged plans by one of the security agencies, apparently acting at the behest of the President Goodluck Jonathan administration, to harass and intimidate supposed sponsors of the party.

    APC said the move was part of efforts to cripple the party’s activities in the run-up to the March 28 polls.

    Its National Publicity Secretary, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, in a statement in Lagos yesterday, said the agency could only target phantom financiers, “since the APC is, in reality, being financed by Nigerians, and not some money bags”.

    The statement reads: “We made it clear early on that our party, which has now become a people-driven movement, is being bankrolled by ordinary Nigerians, who have contributed generously to the party through the platforms that we published in the newspapers for all to see.

    “Though the Federal Government has used some national institutions to stifle our party’s fund-raising efforts, Nigerians have utilised the available platforms to make their donations. It is, therefore, a futile exercise for anyone to harass some innocent people for supposedly financing the APC.”

    The APC said security agencies should only serve national, rather than partisan, interests, because while governments will always come and go, Nigeria as a country will remain.

    “The information at our disposal about the role of the security agencies in the forthcoming elections is very disturbing, despite the public opprobrium that has greeted the role played by the military in rigging the 2014 Ekiti governorship election.

    “For example, there is a plan for at least 500 security agents to apply to work as ad hoc INEC staff so they can rig for the PDP, while military and police uniforms are being sewn in a PDP-controlled state in the Southwest, with a view to making them available for PDP thugs to wear on election day, so they can harass and intimidate the opposition

    “There is also the disturbing case of four senior officers of the State Security Service (SSS), who are being retained for some ignoble role during the general elections, even though they are already due for retirement. It is interesting that these officers, including three at the states and one at the headquarters of the SSS, are all from the Southeast and the Southsouth, which the Jonathan-led administration considers its stronghold.

    “Equally disturbing is the fact that a section of the security services has been making sensitive information available to certain PDP members, including a loose-lipped governor, just to get at the opposition. This is sad because Nigeria is bigger than any political party,” the party said.

    It, therefore, appealed to the security agencies to be non-partisan, professional and patriotic in carrying out their duties before, during and after the general elections.

    “Put Nigeria first, don’t favour the PDP, don’t favour the APC and don’t favour any party,” the APC told the security agencies.

  • Travails of Niger Deputy Governor

    Travails of Niger Deputy Governor

    Since his defection from the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) to the All Progressives Congress (APC), Niger State Deputy Governor Ahmed Ibeto has suffered persecution from his boss of almost eight years. JIDE ORINTUNSIN chronicles his ordeal.

    Niger State Governor Mu’azu Babangida Aliyu and his deputy, Hon. Ahmed Ibeto, were like Siamese twins. Their cordial working relationship threw them up as a role model in a joint ticket mandate and made them the envy of their counterparts in other states.

    But, on January 19,  the political harmony of almost eight years  collapsed. Just before the governorship primary of the ruling Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), a crack emerged on the wall of brotherhood.

    Ibeto had the ambition to succeed his boss as the fifth governor of the “Power State”, but Aliyu had another candidate in mind, despite the initial encouragement he gave to his deputy.

    Prior to the primary, Aliyu had been telling everyone that it is his wish to have his successor from within his administration. Repeatedly at various fora the governor did not give a chance to anyone “outside” his administration to clinch the party’s ticket. His reason was to ensure continuity of the programmes and policies he painstakingly put in place since 2007.

    The cordial relationship between Ibeto and his boss, coupled with his complete loyalty and dedication to his boss since 2007, had made Ibeto hopeful. This was further re-enforced by the fact that he comes from Niger North Senatorial zone, which is favoured to produce the next chief executive of the state.

    But, alas, Ibeto was wrong. Aliyu had a preferred candidate out of the nine aspirants that jostled for the ticket of the party in the 39-year old Umar Nasko, son of a retired General and former Minister of Federal Capital Territory, Gado Nasko. The governor did everything humanly possible, despite assurances of a level-playing ground for all aspirants, to ensure that his candidate had a sweeping victory over and above other aspirants. To Ibeto and other aspirants, the party primary was nothing but a sham.

    But, efforts to seek redress from the National Working Committee (NWC) of the party by all the aggrieved aspirants have hit the rocks. None of their protests was considered. The injustice and humiliation they experienced at the governorship primary paved the way for their exit from the ruling party, with Ibeto leading the pack of defectors.

    Thus, the political landscape of the state took a new shape when Ibeto and over 300 elected and appointed officers of the ruling PDP from across the 25 local government areas dumped the party for the All Progressives Congress (APC). His defection provided filip for the APC presidential campaign in the state. The reception organised to receive him and other defectors, which was graced by the APC standard bearer, Gen. Muhammadu Buhari, dealt a big blow to the ruling party, which has dominated the state for 16 years.

    Initially, Aliyu took the development with a pinch of salt. He dismissed Ibeto’s defection as a non issue. For him, Ibeto’s “sojourn” was for a while. In what looks like attempt to woo him back, the governor assured his deputy that his rights and privileges will not be denied.

    The governor said: “Ibeto reserves the right to determine who and what group he will want to belong to. As far as I am concerned, Ibeto remains the deputy governor of the state and he will continue to enjoy all rights and privileges due to his office.”

    Ibeto’s travails started weeks after, when the APC profile in the state began to soar. Aliyu resolved that his deputy must be punished. The Chairman of Northern States Governors Forum (NSGF) saw the defection as a big blow to his much-touted iron grip and control of the party.

    The import of Ibeto’s exit dawned on the governor, when he realised that his return to the fold was becoming a mirage. He started looking for constitutional means to punish the recalcitrant deputy.

    On February 11, Aliyu launched his first attack. He hatched the illegal plan to bar his deputy from the weekly Executive Council meetings in the Government House. He accused Ibeto of making derogatory comments against him at APC rallies. Subsequently, the governor walked Ibeto out of the council meeting, with a threat that he would have nothing to do with his hitherto faithful, loyal and dedicated ally.

    In an attempt to cover up the sinister motive, the government, through the Chief Press Secretary to the governor, Israel Ebije, said Ibeto willingly excused himself from the meeting on moral grounds — a claim the Deputy Governor later debunked.

    He said: “It is not true that I excused myself out of the council meeting. When I received notification for the Council meeting of the day, I went as usual. The Governor had in his opening remarks said that people and members of the Executive Council were aware that I have decamped from the PDP to the APC and that we have gone on campaign round the state and that I have been calling him a thief.

    “I explained that I have never referred to him as a thief. The fact is that people wanted to know why I left the PDP for the APC and I have been telling them that I left the PDP because of the injustice and nothing more.

    “I know that the Governor has no constitutional power to stop me from attending legitimate meeting of which I am legally a member and if it means going to court to get an injunction, we will do so.”

    When the governor realised that the deputy cannot be barred, the council sent a three-man delegation led by the Secretary to the State Government (SSG), Sa’idu Idris Ndako to appeal to Ibeto to stay away from council meetings and promised that all his rights and privileges will not be denied.

    With this, one would have thought that truce has finally come, but on the February 18, Aliyu violated the unwritten “ceasefire agreement”, by transmitting a letter to the Speaker of the State House of Assembly, Mr. Adamu Usman, of his intention to travel and appointed him as the Acting Governor, instead of the deputy governor.

    The letter with reference number GHNS/13/72 dated February 17, 2015 reads in part: “I wish to inform Mr. Speaker, that I intend to travel to the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia to perform the Lesser Hajj between Febuary 19 to 26, 2015.

    “In my absence, the Hon. Speaker, Niger State House of Assembly, Rt. Honourable Adamu Usman, will oversee my schedules as the acting governor.”

    This provocative action of the governor was described as “laughable and unconstitutional” by Ibeto.

    Irked by the development, former Chief Whip of the Lower Chamber of the National Assembly, Hon. Abubakar Bwari, rebuked the governor, saying he contravened Section 190 of the constitution. He also pointed out that, in the event that a governor is not available to perform his functions, the power to act in his stead automatically rests on the deputy governor.

    The former lawmaker threatened that, “any blatant disobedience of the constitution by a public office holder can be grounds for impeachment. The constitution is not anybody’s plaything and we cannot choose when to obey it and when not to do so”.

    One battle that Ibeto had pre-empted the government was the rumoured move by the House to initiate an impeachment process against him. He ran to court and secured an order of a Minna High Court, presided over by Justice Aliyu Maiyaki. The court restrained pending the hearing and the determination of motion on notice.

    Mayaki also gave an order restraining the House from tempering, violating, withdrawing the rights and privileges of the deputy governor pending the hearing of the substantive suit.

    The trial judge further ordered that the Deputy Governor should not be obstructed from discharging his function and alternatively ordered that all parties in the suit should maintain “status quo ante bellum”.

    Determined to erase every trace or presence of Ibeto around the corridor of power, it was reliably gathered the governor had perfected plans to eject and relocate his deputy from the precinct of the Government House before his return from the Lesser Hajj.

    Though the quit notice was purportedly written by the Secretary to the State Government, the relocation order out of the Government House was contained in a letter from the Office of the Executive Governor dated February 27, 2015 with reference no GHNS/ADM/149/1/26 signed by Zainab K. Ishaku, Director of Administration, for Permanent Secretary to the Deputy Chief of Staff, Government House, Minna directing the relocation of the Office of the Deputy Governor inside the Government House to a structure located at another area of Minna.

    The letter titled: Relocation to Office of Bank of Industry reads in part: “In line with the ongoing renovation exercise of structures and facilities in Government House, I write to inform you that the next exercise will focus on the Deputy Governor’s Office inside the Government House.

    “On the basis of that therefore, I wish to inform you to relocate temporarily to the office of Bank of Industry located at F-Layout, Minna.

    “You will be relocated back to Government House as soon as the renovation is completed. Sorry for the inconveniences the relocation might have caused you”.

    The deputy governor’s aides were served the letter on Friday and were given 48 hours, till Monday March 2 to move to an abandoned facility owned by a Minna-based businessman, Late Labaran Kago, even when their principal, Ibeto, was away in his village.

    The eviction order came as a surprise to many staffers of the Government House and members of the public. It raised many rhetorical questions that may never be answered. How come occupants of Protocol and Administration blocks were not relocated when similar exercise was carried out on their structures? Why are staff of the Government House Clinic currently under renovation not relocated? How secure is the environment and neighbourhood of the new office? Is the neighbourhood ideal to accommodate such a sensitive and sacred office of the deputy governor? Why the hurry to relocate the deputy? What are the economic or social implications of the relocation on the lean economy of the state?

    The latest move to devastate Ibeto through the relocation directive however suffered when on Monday it was discovered by deputy governor’s staff that the abandoned six-bedroom duplex facility was not habitable, conducive and befitting the status of the Office of the Deputy Governor of a state. The building lacked functional electrical and plumbing facilities. No stand-by generator, while the rooms that will serve as offices are without airconditioners.

    Compared to his inherited colonial structure office in Government House, the cockroach-infested structure situated at an obscure location has been cut off from power supply from the Power Holding Company of Nigeria (PHCN). The roofs of some of the rooms are also leaking.

    The reality on ground is that the “new” office and not the one in the Government House is the one that requires renovation.

  • APC candidate advises clerics

    The All Progressives Congress (APC) House of Assembly candidate in Obokun Constituency in Osun State, Olatumbosun Oyintiloye, has urged religious leaders not to yield to financial inducements by desperate politicians.

    According to him, some politicians, in their desperation, were going around the country to induce clerics with money.

    Oyintiloye warned that such money, if accepted, could stain the names and image of religious leaders.

    He spoke at the 40th Synod of the Methodist Church, Nigeria, Diocese of Ilesa, Otan-Ile Circuit in Obokun Local Government.

    Citing the alleged bribery of the Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN) leadership with N7 billion by President Goodluck Jonathan and the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), he said the issue had subjected the body to international embarrassment.

    Specifically, he urged Christian leaders to rise above earthly encumbrances and pursue their divine mandate in the spirit of Calvary.

    Describing Christians as the light and salt of the world, he pointed out that those who defies the Holy Spirit cannot be seen as innocent .

    before the Lord because “there are consequences and divine retribution for any act of omission or commission.”

     

  • Beware of Fayose’s antics, APC tells Ekiti workers

    Beware of Fayose’s antics, APC tells Ekiti workers

    The All Progressives Congress (APC) in Ekiti State has warned civil servants not believe Governor Ayo Fayose’s claims that his administration is hampered by lean treasury in fulfilling commitments to employees on government payroll.

    Fayose had on Sunday night made an unscheduled broadcast on the state radio and television bemoaning the financial situation of the state which has seen its allocations from the Federation Account dwindle and recording a low revenue profile.

    The governor’s broadcast which were also aired repeatedly on Monday also saw him emphasizing that he would not be able to pay leave bonuses, September salary arrears and other financial obligations.

    Fayose said in the broadcast that he loved the workers and was willing to make them happy but his administration was hamstrung by huge debt burden expressing hope that things would change for better “very soon”.

    But the state APC in a statement on Monday warned the people of the state not to be taken in Fayose’s “frequent radio and television live broadcasts to paint gloomy financial position of the state.

    The Ekiti APC Publicity Secretary Taiwo Olatubosun said Fayose’s broadcast was devised to deceive and deny workers of their entitlements describing the governor’s action as a “mindless rhetoric and an alibi for his administration’s failure to meet salary obligation to them.”

    Olatubosun claimed Fayose cannot be trusted since hundreds of Ekiti workers had been sacked and bond debts payment suspended for six months while ‎several promotions were reversed.

    He argued that money saved from the losses to workers and cancellation of empowerment schemes should have been enough to pay workers entitlements, particularly as allocations payment was regular while there were no new capital projects being executed by the governor.

    Warning the governor to stop reeling out what he called “his abracadabra debt and payment figures” to the more intelligent Ekiti workers, ‎ Olatubosun said the governor’s antecedents had given him away as he tried to hoodwink the innocent workers.

    “It is good that Ekiti people know the kind of governor they have. In one breath, he said he spends N1.4b to pay salary monthly. The next minute, he said it is N1.6b in the same broadcast‎, which gave him away, as usual, as a man playing games with the lives of Ekiti people.

    “All these mathematical gymnastics are callous demonstration of breach of faith in government and the governed relations.

    “What is the governor doing with full monthly federal allocation to the state when the bond debt repayment has been suspended for six months? 300 members of Traffic Management Agency have been sent packing. 800 members of Volunteer Peace Corps have been relieved of their jobs.‎

    “Social Security scheme for 20,000 old people receiving N5000 every month each has been cancelled. This is apart from the over 20,000 Youth Volunteers earning N10,000 monthly who have also been disengaged by Fayose.

    “Many of the youth who were trained in various skills under the Fayemi administration by Odua Skills Acquisition Centre have been abandoned by Fayose while the programme has been replaced with a pedestrian concept of stomach infrastructure,” Olatubosun explained.

    The APC spokesman also noted that many permanent secretaries had lost their jobs while allowances to traditional rulers had been cut even as running grants to civil servants had also been cut to save costs, wondering why the governor should still be complaining of paucity of funds in the face of savings from these cancellations.

    He added: “‎Teachers’ special allowances for rural postings and core subjects have been abolished while workers, including primary and secondary school teachers, who were promoted since April last year, had their promotions reversed.

    “The security agencies are no longer well-funded, leading to the current armed robbery cases across the state. Streetlights are turned off at 10.00 pm on the excuse of the cost of fuel, thus ‎paralyzing nightlife and causing insecurity as well as putting in jeopardy late night business activities in the state capital,” he explained.

    Olatubosun said the governor with a three-man cabinet should explain in transparent manner how he is spending Ekiti money, including ‎the N22b refund from the Federal Government and N2b Ecological Fund he later admitted collecting after two months of denial.

  • APC hails INEC on card readers, PVCs

    The All Progressives Congress (APC) has congratulated the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) on its decision to use the card reader for the forthcoming elections.

    In a statement by Dele Alake, Director of Strategic Communications of the party’s Presidential Campaign Organisation, the APC said that with INEC’s decision to use the card readers and its insistence on accepting only the Permanent Voters Card (PVC) for voting, a massive blow has been dealt to the carefully laid out rigging plans of the ruling party.

    The party further disclosed that INEC’s decision has derailed the PDP’s plans to massively deploy cloned voters cards on the days of the elections.

    Alake called on all Nigerians to back INEC in what he called its “patriotic decision” so that the forces of retrogression will not sway the electoral umpire to change its mind.

  • Hate speech: APC reports First Lady to NHRC, ICC 

    Hate speech: APC reports First Lady to NHRC, ICC 

    First Lady Patience Jonathan has been reported to the International Criminal Council (ICC) and the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC).

    The opposition All Progressives Congress (APC) Campaign Organisation accused the First Lady of threatening the lives of members with her pronouncement at a rally in Calabar, the Cross River State capital, when she asked PDP supporters to “stone” anyone who came to the state asking for “change.

    The Organisation’s Director-General and Rivers State Governor Rotimi Chibuike Amaechi said in a letter of complaint is expected to be dispatched to the ICC, NHRC and the Inspector General of Police today: “Change, as the entire country must know by now, is the slogan of the APC – the rallying cry of a political party that wishes to bring hope of greater and better things to come for Nigeria and Nigerians. By her statement, Mrs. Jonathan was clearly calling on PDP supporters in Calabar to attack supporters and campaigners of the APC in the state.”

    He likened some of Mrs. Jonathan’s inciting statements and conduct during the political campaign season, to those of Mrs Simone Gbagbo, wife of the former President of Cote D’Ivoire, Mr. Laurent Gbagbo, prior to that country’s 2010 election. He recalled that the ICC indicted Mrs. Gbagbo for her part in planning to perpetrate brutal attacks,  including murder, rape, and sexual violence, on her husband’s political opponents in the wake of the 2010 election.

    The governor added:  ”Mrs. Jonathan does not occupy any formal office in the Nigerian government, as the position of First Lady is not recognised by the Nigerian constitution. But Mrs. Gbagbo’s case shows the ICC’s awareness of how someone beyond formal governmental and military hierarchies can be identified as responsible for serious international crimes.”

    Mrs Jonathan said at another rally in Lokoja, the Kogi State capital, that Gen. Muhammadu Buhari the APC’s presidential candidate, is “brain dead.” That statement has equally attracted condemnation by many Nigerians.

    Amaechi added that Mrs. Jonathan’s “incontrovertible hate speech” not only contravenes the laws of the land, but also goes completely against the Abuja Peace Accord jointly signed by the two presidential candidates Gen. Buhari and President Goodluck Jonathan – a gesture which is aimed at forestalling violence before, during and after the 2015 elections.

    “PDP supporters in the state who may not know better could easily yield themselves to the First Lady’s admonition and embark on a process of wanton stoning and other attacks against APC members,” Amaechi said.

    He urged the police to plan emergency measures to protect the lives and property of APC members in Calabar and the entire Cross River State.

  • Jonathan’s election-motivated actions can’t save him, says APC

    Jonathan’s election-motivated actions can’t save him, says APC

    Election-propelled acts of governance by President Goodluck Jonathan are “too little, too late” to convince Nigerians to vote for him and his party in the rescheduled polls.

    The All Progressives Congress (APC) National Publicity Secretary, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, said this in a statement yesterday in Lagos.

    The statement reads: “Mr. President, you cannot undo, in six weeks, the glaring instances of cluelessness, incompetence and near total lack of governance that your administration has exhibited in the past six years, even if you move Aso Rock to the Southwest or bribe every Nigerian with the proceeds of corruption.

    ‘’Your administration-sanctioned smear campaigns against APC leaders, your obscenity-laden meeting with youths, your offer of jobs to 167 out of over 40 million unemployed youths, and your temporary relocation to the Southwest, where you believe your naira and dollar rain will translate to votes are all belated and of no effect.”

    The party noted that the President’s latter-day efforts went up in smokes on Saturday when over one million Nigerians marched through the streets of Lagos in support of change, even as “a hurriedly-organised, pretend march led by the President in Abuja failed to distract from the success of the Lagos march, as envisaged by the organisers”.

    APC said its latest opinion poll on the elections showed that Nigerians have already made up their minds regarding which party they would “vote for, even before the six-week postponement of the elections, which was orchestrated to allow the sinking PDP and its candidates at all levels to recover from the dizzying effect of the daily blows being dealt on them by Nigerians”.

    The APC said a president, who was playing dirty politics while over 15,000 Nigerians were being murdered by the Boko Haram, could not expect to reap from a sudden resurgence in the fight against the terrorists.

    The statement added: “Mr. President, you had all of six years to secure the lives and property of Nigerians, provide jobs, improve the economy, give Nigerians constant power supply and curb corruption, but you did none of those things.

    ‘’Under your watch, Mr. President, the economy has virtually collapsed with the United States (U.S.) dollar now exchanging for over N220 – the highest ever, millions of youths are roaming the streets even as your government fleeces them from time to time over phantom jobs, industries are collapsing in droves, Nigerians are more divided than ever, many states and even the Federal Government can’t pay workers’ salaries and corruption is at an all-time high as the looting of the public treasury has become the order of the day while Nigerians have never felt so insecure.

    ‘’It is amazing, therefore, how you can even think that six weeks of unprecedented bribery of individuals, pretend governance, and cash-induced occult-like ‘prayer’ sessions, among others, will turn the tide in your favour. Nigerians are not fooled by your antics, Mr. President. Your efforts are too little, too late.”

    The APC noted that it was glaring that the alleged missing $20 billion, the multi-billion-naira pension scam and the multi-trillion oil subsidy fraud, just to mention a few, all fed into the massive bribery that the Jonathan Administration has engaged in over the past few weeks, hoping to buy the votes of Nigerians.

    It said, however, that such profligate and immoral act would not have been necessary if the administration had done what it was elected to do in the first instance: provide good governance.

    “They thought six weeks constitute an eternity. Well, six weeks are almost over now and Nigerians are ready to give the Jonathan Administration the score-sheet it deserves, because they are more interested in contents than in labels, hence would not be hoodwinked by the contrived acts of governance,” APC said.

    The party thanked Nigerians for their support, both morally and financially, that has seen the APC becoming a people-driven movement.

    “In spite of the massive muckraking by the Jonathan Administration, the use of statistics to dish lies to the public about economic growth and the unprecedented bribery of some citizens, Nigerians are solidly behind us and we thank them for their support. We urge them to continue to eschew all acts of violence even in the face of provocations, and to remain vigilant in the three weeks remaining to the decisive elections,’’ it said.

  • Stop harassing our members, Oyo APC warns PDP

    Stop harassing our members, Oyo APC warns PDP

    The All Progressives Congress (APC) in Oyo State has warned against the illegal arrests and intimidation of its members by security agents on the orders of influential leaders of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP).

    In a statement by its Director of Publicity and Strategy, Olawale Sadare, yesterday,  the party condemned the frequent invitation and detention of some of its members for alleged vandalism of President Goodluck Jonathan’s campaign billboards in parts of the state.

    “For about a month now, the Caretaker Chairman of Oyo West Local Government Area, Adesoji Ojoawo and other members of our party have been regular visitors to the police headquarters in Ibadan for allegedly destroying PDP billboards even after proving their innocence.

    “The council boss was again invited last Friday on the same issue and he has since been detained at the Criminal Investigation Department (CID).

    “It has been established that the billboard, in question, may have been damaged by heavy winds. These same security agents have failed to act on formal reports of damage done to billboards of Gen. Muhammadu Buhari (rtd), Sen. Abiola Ajimobi and other APC candidates.

    “As part of their usual practice, some PDP elements in the state would not spare any effort to intimidate, harass and witch-hunt APC members perceived to be a thorn in their flesh.

    “Having failed to utilise the chances at its disposal in the last 16 years, the PDP is faced with the threat of monumental defeat at the polls.

    “Some of their notable members are there sponsoring violence against the opposition but there is nobody to checkmate them. On this note, we call on the PDP power mongers as well as their willing security agents to desist from further abuse of privilege and stop heating up the polity.”

  • Ekiti APC urges improvement on card readers

    Ekiti APC urges improvement on card readers

    The All Progressives Congress (APC) in Ekiti State has urged the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to address the non-recognition of fingerprints recorded at last Saturday’s test-running of card readers.

    The party said the call became necessary to enhance the credibility of the general elections.

    Its Publicity Secretary, Taiwo Olatubosun, said in a statement yesterday that though the verdicts showed that the exercise gave hope for credible polls, there were areas that needed to be amended to remove doubts about the credibility and reliability of the device.

    According to him, these include reported lapses in the functioning of the machines and inability of the device to recognise the fingerprints of some prospective voters, owing to dirty fingers.

    Olatubosun said the exercise demonstrated evidence of INEC’s readiness to conduct fraud-free polls.

    “If the result achieved at the weekend is improved upon, we can safely say that the technology marks the end of over-voting and impersonation,” Olatubosun said.

    Describing the time saved during the exercise as incredible, he said the use of card readers will eliminate spending long hours in the queue while also removing the fears of health issues that might arise from staying long hours in the sun.

    “It is incredible that accreditation took less than a minute instead of about five minutes in past exercises.

    “Apart from eliminating multiple voting, it will encourage voters to vote for the candidate of their choice, without any fear of result manipulation.

    “We praise this innovation by INEC. From what we have seen in the exercise, INEC has demonstrated that it is ready to create a legacy of credible elections in our country.”

    Former Deputy Governor Sikiru Lawal criticised INEC for waiting few weeks before the elections to test-run the card readers.

    Speaking with reporters yesterday, Lawal expressed fears that the March 28 elections might become chaotic as a result of what he called “INEC’s alleged untidy preparations”.

    The former deputy governor, who participated in the mock accreditation exercise at Oloja Ese Polling Unit in Ado-Ekiti Ward 9, said the card reader captured his fingerprints on the seventh attempt.

    He claimed that 10 others of the 64 verified by the machine suffered a similar fate, wondering how INEC would manage the 764 registered voters in the ward  on election day.

  • I‘ll win in Enugu, says APC candidate

    I‘ll win in Enugu, says APC candidate

    The governorship candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in Enugu State, Mr. Okey Ezea, has said he will win the election on April 11, if it is free, fair and transparent.

    He claimed that he failed in the past because of rigging.

    Briefing reporters in his Enugu office at the weekend, Ezea, a lawyer, popularly called “Ideke”, said the election would be between him and the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) candidate, Mr. Ifeanyi Ugwuanyi.

    He said: “I can tell you that  Ugwuanyi is not a popular candidate, but was imposed on the people by the governor. But in a fair, free and transparent election, I will carry the day.”

    The APC candidate alleged that his confidence was based on the fact that Ugwuanyi was not popular.

    He said he has a well- articulated manifesto. ‘’As an individual, I employed over 256 workers. I have the capacity and passion to provide better service for our people.”

    Ezea said: “If I come into office on May 29 by the grace of God, I will declare free and compulsory education up to the senior secondary level. I will pay WAEC and JAMB fees for our children, reduce fees payable at the tertiary institutions, give scholarship to brilliant but indigent students, look after teachers and civil servants, prioritise agriculture and revive dead industries, to create jobs for the unemployed.”