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  • Benue council polls violence free

    Benue council polls violence free

    Despite the initial pockets of violence witnessed in the run- up to the council polls in Benue State, the election was held yesterday under peaceful atmosphere, throughout the 23 local government councils in the state.

    The turnout of voters was very high in some polling units, while other units witnessed low turnout especially in the state capital Makurdi.

    There was low turnout in Wurkum, Highlevel, Wadata and old GRA, but many voters were seen on the long queue casting their ballots along Ankpa quarters, Agan toll gate and David Mark bypass all in Makurdi metropolis.

    There were, however, complaints by the Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN) chieftain in Gboko, the ancestral home of the Tiv people, Prince Simon Crucial Abua, who told The Nation on phone that materials for the election had found their way into the residence of Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) where they were thumb printing illegally.

    There was voting in Nenge polling unit of Tarka local government, Bernard Nenge, Special Assistant to the Governor on Abuja Liaison cast his vote at 2 pm, and told our correspondent that the process was generally peaceful.

    It was a different ball game in Asunkunya town, Tarka local government as an ACN chieftain Justine Anjembe said even though the election was peaceful, security agents were given cover to PDP members to perpetrate all manners of ringing.

    In Mbalagh, Buruku local government area, voters complain of non availability of materials, but voting was peaceful.

    In Zakibiam, Ukum local government area, there was unconfirmed reports that a former minority leader in the Benue State House of Assembly, Sylvester Atachin, was kidnapped by suspected PDP members as a result of internal wrangling within the party.

    In Kwande local government, those who spoke to our correspondent reported that they have not seen election materials as at press time, while in Logo local government, the country home of Governor Gabriel Suswam, it was a smooth sail for the PDP candidate, Kester Ikyenge, following the disqualification of the ACN flag bearer, Terna Utim.

    On a general note, no incident of violence was witnessed at press time as there were enough combined team of soldiers, police and civil defence officials who ensured the smooth conduct of the process at various polling stations.

     

  • Election not free and fair, says Ilori

    Election not free and fair, says Ilori

    The Special Adviser to the Osun State Governor on Environmental and Sanitation, Bola Ilori, yesterday alleged that the just-concluded governorship election in Ondo State was not free and fair.

    He alleged that the soldiers were biased and molested members of the opposition on the election day.

    He said in a statement that he would continue to champion good governance in the state.

    The statement reads: “For me, the election has been won and lost. It was not a perfect poll because it was not free and fair. However, life must continue. I will stress the need for us to develop Ondo State, irrespective of the party in power. I congratulate the indigenes of the state for the passion shown and sacrifices made. One must not fail to condemn those who perpetrated violence during the campaigns and election.

    “While the police and the State Security Service (SSS) were impartial, the soldiers were biased. INEC would need to be more transparent in the conduct of elections and prevent a situation that was recorded during the poll when people were arrested a day before the election thumb- printing ballot papers for the Labour Party (LP).

    “INEC workers were also arrested and arraigned for selling voter cards to the LP. ACN agents were not supplied tags and there were few tags. That was the modernised rigging introduced into the election, as the majority of ACN agents were denied participation on this technical ground.

    “I am using this medium to draw the attention of Nigerians to these anomalies. On the whole, winning is good if it doesn’t get to the head, and losing is not too bad if it doesn’t affect the brain. A winner is one who remains focused even when the going gets tough. Therefore, I congratulate the people, I congratulate the parties and I congratulate the winner.”

  • INEC ‘ll conduct free, fair poll, says REC

    INEC ‘ll conduct free, fair poll, says REC

    Ondo State Resident Electoral Commissioner, Akin Orebiyi, has assured stakeholders that the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) will conduct a free and fair election on October 20.

    He urged the political class and voters to show patriotism and commitment by cooperating with the electoral body and law enforcement agencies to ensure the success of the exercise in the 18 local governments.

    Orebiyi spoke with our correspondent in Akure on the preparations for the exercise.

    He described the poll as a joint responsibility involving INEC, political parties, candidates, voters, security agents and other stakeholders, adding that success can only be achieved if they work together in harmony.

    The REC said INEC would conduct a free, fair and credible election by avoiding the mistakes of the past, stressing that security agents would be on ground to maintain law and order at every polling unit.

    Orebiyi said: “We can say that INEC is prepared for the governorship election. As we speak, we have been receiving non-sensitive materials from INEC headquarters. We have also held quite a number of meetings with stakeholders. We have finished the voter education forum at the local government level.

    “The essence of the forum is to educate the voters on their responsibilities, their duties and also the procedures for the conduct of the election and the election process on the election day. It has been a useful experience and a unique one. This effort is being sponsored by the International Federation of Electoral System (IFES), a partner of INEC in the last 13 years.

    “The voter education forum involves two major activities. One, there is a stakeholders’ meeting at the local government level, which runs for three hours. There, the electoral process is explained to the stakeholders, political parties, members of the civil society organisations and officials of the National Orientation Agency and INEC officials in the local government. Questions are taken and answers are provided by INEC. After that, we did a road show and distributed flyers and posters. IFES provided 540,000 flyers and nearly 200,000 posters in English, Yoruba and Ijaw languages for the benefit of the electorate. We have been distributing them at the forum and various religious worship centres.

    “We have presented to the political parties and electorate, soft copies of the voters’ register. We have explained to them what to find inside the voters’ register and how the information could help them to muster greater efforts in canvassing for votes in the 18 local governments, 203 wards and 309 polling units across the state. We have trained the party agents, 334 agents of 13 political parties.

     

  • Gwagwalada residents get free health services

    EJAYES Charity Organisation, a non-governmental organisation, has said that more than 1,000 people indigenous to Gwagwalada Area Council of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) have benefited from free medical treatment it organised in the area.

    The Coordinator of the group, Dr Ijeoma Nduka disclosed this in a chat with Abuja Review during a week-long free medical treatment at Gwagwalada Township Clinic.

    According to her, the National Poverty Eradication Programme (NAPEP), in collaboration with the organisation, was carrying out the exercise in different rural communities.

    She said patients who suffer stroke, hypertension, diabetes, asthma, arthritis and other common illnesses were examined and treated.

    Nduka said majority of the patients diagnosed were not aware of the kind of diseases they were suffering from.
    “Health is not a privilege; it’s a right hence being poor does not stop one from having quality healthcare,” Nduka said.
    She noted that the American Medical Volunteers, a group of health workers, were in Abuja with some medical equipment to look into stroke prevention and treatment and to encourage stroke patients.

    “Being a stroke patient is not the end of one’s life; it could be managed. The team has among them experts from different medical fields to assist these patients,” she said.

    Nduka also said that children with neurological problems were taught through their relations, how to exercise themselves at home on daily living.

    She advised mothers, especially the old ones, who engage in too much hard labour, to always engage in physical exercises that are not strenuous.

    She also advised patients who had been examined and treated, to frequently see their doctors for necessary check-ups to ensure complete recovery.

    Also speaking, Hajiya Aishatu Garba, a Chief Nursing Officer of NAPEP said that “the health volunteers were invited from the United States of America by NAPEP to help alleviate health problems among rural dwellers.

    “We discovered that some people will have diseases like diabetes and hypertension without knowing that they have such. It is through this means that they discovered the ailments.”

    She said that an 11-year-old girl was diagnosed with growth in her bladder during the free medical exercise.
    Nduka, therefore, appealed to authorities of the council to assist the girl’s family in the surgery, since the family could not foot the bill.