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Tag: council poll

  • Rivers PDP promises fair council poll

    Rivers State Chairman of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) Chief Felix Obuah has promised a level-playing field in the June 16 council elections.

    He said aspirants have nothing to fear during the primaries.

    Obuah noted that Rivers PDP has begun re-registration of old and new members in the 23 councils.

    Addressing PDP council chairmen and secretaries in Port Harcourt, he advised them to take the exercise serious.

    He urged them to go into all wards and ensure that defectors from other parties were registered.

    Rivers PDP chairman said: “Even the persons who will be defecting today and wish to join our party must be registered. Do not restrict anyone from becoming a member.

    “We need everybody and we do not want anyone to stop them from registering, due to personal interests.”

    While handing over party registers to the chairmen, Obuah asked them to reach out to ward chairmen and secretaries, while ensuring that the exercise starts immediately.

    He warned against the hoarding of membership cards, stressing that although most cards had expired, arrangements were being made to give the new cards.

    Obuah warned against adoption of candidates, saying he could not be seen to supervise such undemocratic practice.

    “It will be bad of you, as a leader, who is supposed to be an unbiased umpire, to adopt one person and follow him or her to campaign. It is unfair.”

    He said the party would discipline any chairman indulging in favouritism.

    Obuah announced that the sale of forms was still on, and called on interested members to seize the opportunity to realise their aspiration.

    The meeting was attended by PDP state Vice Chairman, Charles Awortu, and state Secretary, Samuel Okpoko.

     

  • Ajimobi to APC members: I won’t impose candidates for council poll

    Ajimobi to APC members: I won’t impose candidates for council poll

    Oyo State Governor Abiola Ajimobi has assured members of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in the state that he will not impose candidates in the forthcoming local government election.

    The governor gave the assurance while addressing thousands of party faithful at the empowerment programme organised by the senator representing Oyo North, Fatai Buhari, in Iseyin.

    The senator distributed 32 vehicles, 300 motorcycles, several electric transformers, grinding machines, sewing machines and scholarship cash of over N100 million.

    Election into the 33 local governments and 35 Local Council Development Areas (LCDAs) is slated for May, 12.

    Scores of APC supporters had protested on Monday at the state headquarters of the party in Ibadan, the state capital, against alleged plan to impose some candidates in the election.

    But Ajimobi said he was not against a primary.

    The governor said he would support the choice of party members in every local government, whether they embrace direct or indirect primary.

    He said: “We won’t impose anyone in the local government election, but each local government should work together to produce acceptable candidates for the election. There will be a primary – direct or indirect. Just make your choice between the two. But my desire is that you work together to produce acceptable candidates. I will support your choice.”

    The assurance is expected to douse tension within the party as it prepares for the election.

    Ajimobi hailed Senator Buhari for always connecting with his constituents, besides representing them well at the Senate.

    He described the senator as the best in the history of the state.

    Buhari urged beneficiaries to use the items well.

    The senator noted that the beneficiaries were capable of transforming their economic capacity.

    He said he did not have the power to make them wealthy but that he could put smiles on their faces.

    At the programme were traditional rulers from Ogbomoso and Oke-Ogun as well as party and religious leaders.

     

     

  • Council poll: Oyo APC warns members against blackmail

    Council poll: Oyo APC warns members against blackmail

    The Oyo State chapter of the All Progressives Congress (APC) has warned its members, particularly aspirants jostling for tickets in the forthcoming local government election and their supporters, to desist from any conduct that can bring the party into disrepute or cause its leadership to lose focus.

    The warning followed a protest rally at the Oke-Ado, Ibadan, state secretariat of the party by a group of persons believed to be APC members and supporters.

    The protesters said they feared that there were plans to compromise the conduct of the party’s primaries for many aspirants eyeing chairmanship and councillorship seats in the 33 local government areas and 35 local council development areas (LCDAs) in the May 12 poll.

    In a statement on Monday by its spokesman Olawale Sadare, APC described the allegations of planned imposition of candidates as a figment of the imagination of the protesters and their sponsors.

    The party urged the public to regard it as cheap blackmail to cause unnecessary tension in the land.

    It said: “We are indeed embarrassed at the level which decorum was thrown into the air by this set of people, some of who we could identify as APC members in the state. Peaceful and purposeful protests are some of the essentials of democracy. But when cheap blackmail is involved, it becomes condemnable.

  • Oyo electoral body lifts ban on campaign for council poll

    Oyo electoral body lifts ban on campaign for council poll

    •Aggrieved APC members protest alleged imposition

    The Oyo State Independent Electoral Commission (OYSIEC) has lifted the ban on campaign by aspirants for chairmanship and councillorship positions in the 33 local governments and 35 Local Council Development Areas (LCDAs) across the state.

    The commission announced this in the amended election time table it released yesterday in Ibadan, the state capital.

    In the revised time table, which was signed by its Chairman, Mr Jide Ajeigbe, the commission said campaigns by political parties and conduct of primaries will hold till February 23.

    Candidates for councillorship positions will be screened by OYSIEC between February 28 and March 4 while chairmanship candidates will be screened from March 6 to 10.

    According to the time table, cleared candidates can pick nomination forms from March 25 to 29, while the names of qualified candidates will be published on April 20.

    Electioneering campaigns will end on May 11 while the actual election holds on May 12.

    The commission said it reviewed the time table following complaints by some parties about delineation of wards in the newly created LCDAs, but the date of the election was not changed.

    Also, scores of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) members in Oyo State yesterday protested what they called planned imposition of candidates by Governor Abiola Ajimobi ahead of the May 12 local government election in the state.

    The aggrieved members stormed the Oke-Ado state secretariat of the party, which also doubles as the campaign office of the governor, in the early hours.

    They insisted that there would be no local government election in the party without a free, fair and credible primary.

    The protesters said the primary must encompass all groups within the party and progress from wards to local governments.

    But the party’s State Chairman Akin Oke said there is no reason for some groups in the party to protest an “invisible” list of candidates.

    Oke said those protesting were being misguided by those he called disgruntled elements in the party.

    The chairman said such people do not wish the party well.

    But the aggrieved members said the list of aspirants was being manipulated.

    They said the governor had perfected plans to substitute the delegates’ list with his own people so that only those loyal to him would become the party’s candidates.

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

  • Osun govt hails parties, OSIEC, others for peaceful council poll

    Osun govt hails parties, OSIEC, others for peaceful council poll

    The Osun State government has hailed political parties, the State Independent Electoral Commission (OSIEC), security agencies and the residents for allowing peace to reign before, during and after last Saturday’s local government election.

    The government expressed satisfaction with the outcome of the poll, saying it reflected the minds of the people.

    In a statement yesterday in Osogbo, the state capital, by his Media Adviser, Sola Fasure, Governor Rauf Aregbesola expressed gratitude to residents of the 71 wards where the election took place for electing leaders who will steer the ship of governance at the grassroots.

    The statement reads: “Governor Rauf Aregbesola, on behalf of the state government, will like to thank the good people of the state for the peaceful and successful conduct of parliamentary election into the local government areas, Local Council Development Areas (LCDAs), area councils and administrative offices in the state, last Saturday.

    “Governor Aregbesola expresses profound gratitude to the people of the state for voting for all the candidates of the All Progressives Congress (APC), as they have always done in the past.

    “The pattern of the voting is a demonstration of their unflinching support for the progressive cause. It is a faith that served our fathers, beginning from Chief Obafemi Awolowo and the Action Group (AG) and Unity Party of Nigeria (UPN) in the First and Second Republic respectively.

    “This has served us also through Chief Bola Ige and Chief Bisi Akande to our present administration under which great and unprecedented developments came.”

  • Osun council poll peaceful, turn-out impressive

    Osun council poll peaceful, turn-out impressive

    The local government election in Osun State on Saturday was peaceful.

    Residents observed the vehicular restriction order of the Osun State Electoral Commission (OSIEC) as motorist kept away from major roads in the state.

    At the poll, 318 councillorship candidates were presented unopposed in 318 wards with71 out of 389 wards holding the election.

    Only six political  parties participated in the exercise, including the ruling All Progressives Congress, the Accord Party, meanwhile The People’s Democratic Party boycotted the election.

    The poll held in 6 wards of the Osun Central Senatorial District, 13 wards in the West Senatorial and 52 wards in the East Senatorial District of the state.

    Armed security operatives were stationed across the state to maintain law and order.

    Electoral materials had arrived polling booths across the state as early as 8.00 am except in few places in Ife like Akarabata ward 10 unit 2, where voting exercise did not start until after 9.30 am.

    The Presiding Officer at the polling unit, Mr. Isaac Adewole, who disclosed that the unit has 634 total registered voters, said there was an initial mix up in the materials supplied by the electoral body to the ward with 12 polling units.

    Meanwhile, there was  pandemonium at  Iremo road in Ile Ife,  as men of the Nigerian Police Force arrested an alleged cultist popularly known as Oluremo of Iremo.

    Former Commissioner for Home Affairs, Culture and Tourism, Hon. Sikiru Ayedun, who was at his More ward 1, unit 10 to cast his ballot, said nobody was disenfranchised in Ile-Ife.

    Meanwhile, the Chairman of Osun Independent Electoral Commission (OSIEC), Mr Segun Oladitan, on Saturday said the low turnout at some polling units in the ongoing local government election was due to some mis-information.

    On the late arrival of election materials, he said logistics and human factor were responsible for the late arrival.

    “But the fact that election materials arrived at their scheduled destination by 9a.m. was a reasonable time,’’ he said.

  • Osun council poll: Today, tomorrow declared work-free days

    Osun council poll: Today, tomorrow declared work-free days

    • 318 candidates unopposed

    The Osun State Independent Electoral Commission (OSIEC) has said 318 councillorship candidates were presented unopposed by their parties to participate in Saturday’s local government election.

    Also, the state government has declared today and tomorrow work-free days, ahead of Saturday’s poll.

    According to the commission, the election will hold in 71 of the 389 wards in the state.

    OSIEC Chairman Segun Oladitan, who addressed reporters yesterday in Osogbo, the state capital, said 12 parties withdrew their participation from the election.

    He said only six parties would participate in the poll.

    The OSIEC chief also said the election would hold in six wards of the Central, 13 wards in the West and 52 wards in the East senatorial districts.

    Oladitan said: “For the purpose of this election, which is based on the parliamentary system of government, 38 parties registered at the initial stage out of which only 18 signified their intention to participate. I can reliably tell you that 12 political parties have withdrawn from participating in the election, remaining only six political parties in the race.

    “Of all the candidates representing the participating political parties in the 389 wards across the state, 318 councillorship candidates in 318 wards have been presented unopposed. They represent the candidates who satisfied the requirements of the law with reference to Section 41 of the Electoral Act (2011), as amended.

    “Therefore, there shall be elections in only 71 wards of the state.”

    The OSIEC chairman, who spoke about the injunction against the commission, said the State High Court, sitting in Ilesha on Tuesday, dismissed an application restraining the commission.

    He said a Federal High Court in Abuja, also on Wednesday, dismissed the ex parte motion seeking to restrain the commission from conducting the Saturday local government election.

    Oladitan assured all of a free and fair poll, saying there would be vehicular restriction from 7 a.m to 2 p.m.

    Also, a statement yesterday by the Special Adviser to the Governor on Media and Publicity, Mr. Sola Fasure, said the Federal High Court, sitting in Abuja, had vacated its 2017 order restraining the commission from holding elections into the Local Council Development Authorities (LCDAs) and withholding local government allocations in the state.

    Governor Rauf Aregbesola urged Osun eligible voters to come out en masse to perform their civic responsibility in the local government parliamentary election without let or hindrances.

     

  • PDP vows to win council poll

    The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in Edo State has vowed that it will win the local government election.

    Edo State Independent Electoral Commission (EDSIEC), headed by Prof. Stanley Orobator, has not fixed a date for the poll.

    PDP Chairman Chief Dan Orbih said the party would win in the 18 councils.

    He spoke at its secretariat when executives hoisted flags representing the councils.

    Local government election was last held in the state in 2013.

  • Council poll: parties sign peace pact

    Council poll: parties sign peace pact

    Ahead of Saturday’s local government election in Kwara State, political parties have signed an undertaking to ensure a peaceful poll.

    The State Independent Electoral Commission (KWSIEC) and security agencies resolved that the parties would sign the undertaking as part of arrangements to ensure a violence-free election.

    KWSIEC’s Chairman Usman Ajidagba said peace was essential to a free and fair election. According to him, the decision to make the parties sign the undertaking was taken after it was noted that politicians were making inciting utterances.

    Ajidagba, who said the electoral body was prepared to conduct a credible election, urged parties to cooperate with the body..

    The Police commissioner, who doubles as chairman of the election security inter-agencies consultative forum, Lawan Ado, said the forum was committed to the maintenance of peace and order before, during and after the election.

    Ado advised that any party or candidate, who has any security-related issue, should bring it up so it could be addressed to ensure a peaceful poll.

  • APC loses bid to stop Akwa Ibom council poll

    The Federal High Court in Uyo, Akwa Ibom State, has dismissed a suit by the All Progressives Congress (APC) to stop the December 2 local government election in Akwa Ibom State.

    The APC, led by the Chairman, Amadu Atai, faulted the proposed election, arguing that AKISIEC did not comply with necessary processes, including updating voters register and publishing same for public scrutiny within the stipulated 60 days.

    But the court dismissed the suit as “lacking in merit and “having no basis in law.

    Justice Fatun Riman said the case was dead on arrival because “the suit has no basis in law and lacked the backing of the 1999 Constitution, as amended”.

    Justice Riman said: “The APC has failed to present cogent reasons for their suit, which would have been the foundation on which established facts would exist.”

    The argument by APC, that AKISIEC should not use the 2015 voters register, was also dismissed by Riman.

    He agreed with AKISIEC and the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) that the 2015 voter register were used for the polls in Lagos and Benue States.