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Tag: Inec

  • INEC presents Certificate of Return to Borno governor-elect, legislators-elect

    The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) on Wednesday in Maiduguri, presented Certificate of Return to Borno governor-elect, Babagana Zulum.

    The commission also presented similar certificates to the 28 elected members of the State House of Assembly.

    AVM Ahmed Mu’azu (Rtd), the INEC Federal Commissioner in charge of Borno, Adamawa and Taraba, assisted by the Resident Electoral Commissioner, Mohammed Magaji, presented the certificates to the elected political office holders.

    Mu’azu called on Zulum and other elected representatives to deliver on their campaign promises and work for the development of the state and country at large.

    “I congratulate eligible voters who voted you into power for being law abiding despite the security challenges facing the northeast region.

    To the elected candidates, it is pertinent on all of you to keep your campaign promises and work hard towards the development of the state and nation at large,” he said.

    Mu’azu also commended election workers, security agencies, political parties; observer groups and other stakeholders, over the peaceful conduct of the elections.

    In his response, Zulum, pledged to consolidate on the successes recorded by Kashim Shettima’s administration.

    Zulum said that he would accord priority to the Rehabilitation, Reconstruction and Resettlement (RRR) programmes to fast-track restoration of peace and resettlement of displaced communities.

    He added that his administration would initiate sound programmes to address the root cause of Boko-Haram insurgency, provide job opportunities to the teaming unemployed youth as well as promote discipline and social rehabilitation.

    The governor-elect called for support of elected members of National and State Assemblies, to enable him move the state forward.

    NAN reports that the event was attended by Gov. Kashim Shettima, his deputy, Usman Durkwa, Senators Ali Ndume and Habu Kyari, as well as members of the National Assembly.

  • Allegations, counter allegations over polls

    The outcomes of the supplementary polls are still generating reactions in different states, report Kolade Adeyemi, Kano; Uja Emmanuel, Makurdi; and Adamu Suleiman, Sokoto.

    Kano govt: no death, violence in supplementary poll

     

    The Kano State government has said there was no death and violence during last Saturday’s supplementary election.

    Addressing reporters in his office yesterday, Commissioner of Information, Youth and Culture Malam Muhammad Garba challenged anyone with proofs of death and violence to produce them.

    Garba, who expressed disgust at what he described as concoction of lies and falsehood on the social media by enemies of the state, said gory pictures of Jos crises and violence in parts of Ghana were presented as scenes from the Kano supplementary election.

    He said: “The increasing negative side of the social media is gradually outweighing its usefulness. As many of you are aware, the supplementary election was very peaceful, despite two incidents at polling units in Dallas and Nassarawa local government areas, which were immediately resolved by security agents.”

    Garba accused the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) and the Kwankwassiyya Movement of spreading falsehood in their bid to discredit the rerun election which he described as peaceful and credible.

    According to him, “the PDP claimed two people were killed in Nassarawa, we went to Nassarawa and asked questions, and there was no trace of such incident.”

    Garba also noted that contrary to rumours that there was protest in Kano after the announcement of the results, “what we witnessed in Kano was jubilations as thousands of people trooped to Government House to identify with Governor Ganduje over his well-deserved victory.

    “Even the so called members of the Conference of Political Parties are all members of the Kwankwasiyya PDP. The day they gathered, we all saw that they wore red caps and red cap as we know is the symbol of Kwankwassiyya PDP.”

    He added: “Kano is peaceful, shops are open, the markets are open. People are going about their business without molestation. We have asked our supporters to remain calm and peaceful. By God’s grace, this government will continue to ensure peace, no matter how hard they try to provoke our supporters and party members.”

     

    ‘Violence, intimidation, thuggery mar Kano rerun’

     

    Contrary to the claim of the Kano State government, a foreign observer from South Africa, the Pan African Women Projects, has said the supplementary election conducted by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) in Kano was marred by violence, intimidation and partisanship on the part of the security operatives.

    The Publicity Secretary of the group, Madam Mphoentle Keitseng, at a news conference yesterday in Kano, said the rerun was conducted with cases of loss of lives and other malpractices. “It is evidence that INEC and security agencies were compromised,” the group said.

    “The observed regulated violence and sponsored thuggery in Nassarawa, Madobi, Dala, Kura, Rimin-Gado and Kibiya local government areas. Women were not found queuing in most polling units we visited. We also observed that the two major political parties APC and PDP tried to undo each other for swift electoral victory, hence the palpable eruption of spontaneous crisis with some loss of human lives.

    “There is a visible lacuna in the Electoral Act with regards to the role and responsibilities of the INEC. We call for immediate review of the Act to strengthen the functionalities of the INEC for effective, responsive and coordinating activities in any type of subsequent election”.

    The group, however, hailed the umpire for conducting the supplementary election across the nation despite numerous challenges.

    Read also: Ajimobi to Makinde: shun politics of bitterness

    My victory based on hardwork, says Ganduje

     

    Kano State Governor Abdullahi Umar Ganduje yesterday said his victory at the Kano supplementary election was as a result of hardwork by his team and not through violence.

    Ganduje, who contested under the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC), spoke when the chairmen of the 44 local government areas of the state visited him at the Government House, Kano.

    “It was not breach of peace that gave me the victory but hard work and prayers. We prayed and we worked hard. Peace is paramount,” he said.

    Ganduje urged supporters of the APC not to engage in any form of violence or intimidation of the opposition in the course of their jubilation, saying his government and party is not in conflict with the opposition.

    “We want peace and peace must be given a chance to thrive,” he said.

    “We will come up with new strategy in governance. All as an effort to consolidate this victory and continue with the good things we started. We will continue to do what our people voted us for. That is to further develop all structures of the society.

    “This victory shows that Kano people repose confidence in us since from day one. We will, therefore, not let them down,” Ganduje added.

    He also said he would work with other opposition groups that supported him before the elections.

    “We have other opposition parties that came and worked with us before this election. For the development of our state, we are planning to work with them.”

     

    Benue APC heads for tribunal, confident of victory

     

    The All Progressives Congress (APC) in Benue State has headed for the Election Petition Tribunal to challenge the results of the elections won by Governor Samuel Ortom and other candidates of the People’s Democratic Party (PDP).

    Members of the party reached this resolution during an emergency meeting at the Makurdi residence of their Leader, Senator George Akume.

    The APC said the elections were not transparent and did not reflect the will of the Benue electorate.

    The party said: “It is the party’s position that the victories of its governorship candidate, Emmanuel Jime and many other candidates of the party were brazenly upturned through massive rigging, ballot stuffing, vote buying, intimidation of voters and alteration of results, with abounding evidence.

    Benue APC once again congratulates President Muhammadu Buhari on his re-election and hopes that his second term will be of immense benefits to the state; beginning with the speedy rehabilitation of Makurdi- Gboko road, Makurdi- Naka- Adoka road, Makurdi- Otukpo- Enugu- Road and the Makurdi- Lafia- Akwanga- Keffi- Abuja road, as well as appointment of Benue sons and daughters into key positions at the Federal level.

    “The party has overwhelmingly passed vote of confidence on Senator George Akume for effectively leading with huge success the APC Presidential Campaign Council in the whole of Northern Nigeria, providing quality leadership and holding the party together even in turbulent moments at the state level.

    The party equally commends its National Secretariat under the amiable leadership of the National Chairman, Comrade Adams Oshiomhole, the National Leader of the party, Chief Ahmed Bola Tinubu and other leaders of the party who gave both financial and moral support to the Benue chapter of the party during the electoral period.

    “The party commiserates with those who lost their loved ones during the election and condemns all violent acts that were visited on the voters while they exercised their civic rights, pointing out that the attack on the Gboko Local Government Electoral Returning Officer, Prof. Mrs Dooshima Tuleun was most unfortunate, barbaric and inhuman.

    “Benue APC commends the efforts of Rev. Pastor Frederick Ikyaan, Dr. Stephen Hwande, Hon. Hingah Biem, Ambassador Dr Dickson Akoh, Bishop Sam Zuga, Dr. Stephen Akuma and many other great sons and daughters of Benue who either joined or formed alliances with us to rescue Benue from its current poor state of leadership which has become a textbook example of misgovernance.”

    The party urged its supporters to be steadfast, committed and not be distracted as their “stolen mandates would be in their firm grips within the count of 180 days”.

     

    Sokoto: Coalition of political parties reject results

     

    A coalition of 28 registered political parties in Sokoto State has rejected the outcome of the  governorship election.

    A statement by the coalition said: “The coalition hereby rejects the results and dissociates itself with whatever is related to it.”

    Addressing a news conference in Sokoto yesterday, the Leader of the Coalition and Chairman, Nigerian Elementary Democratic Party, Alhaji Musa Aliyu, said the conduct of the supplementary polls was evidently characterised by violence and contravened the nation’s electoral laws and the constitution.

    Aliyu said: “To say the fact, the exercise was undoubtedly characterised by votes buying, intimidation, non-use of the smart card reader device as well perfected duplication of voting in polling units where the polls were earlier conducted. Also certain polling units were left out  as elections were not conducted”, Aliyu pointed out while calling he attention of lovers and protectors of democracy, both home and abroad as well as International Observer Groups and defenders of democracy to what he described as ‘obnoxious’ development which has rendered  the exercise ineffective thus appealing for peace and calm by its supporters and other law abiding citizens of Sokoto State while awaiting the outcome of the litigation on the polls.”

     

    PDP governorship candidate congratulates Yobe  governor-elect

     

    The governorship candidate of the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) in Yobe State, Umar Iliya Damagum, has congratulated Mai Mala Buni of the All Progressives Congress (APC) for emerging the governor-elect.

    The PDP candidate, who spoke with reporters after his party’s review meeting of their performance in the last election, called on the governor-elect to be fair and just to every Yobe indigene irrespective of his or her party affiliation.

    Damagum said the time for politics was over and the business of governance should be put in the front burner instead of petty politics of victimisation.

    He also disclosed that his party would not challenge the APC victory at the tribunal.

    “Even though, there are so many things that have bedevilled the elections but winner has been announced.  We have no option but to accept the will of God, and move forward to do what is important for me and my supporters,” he said.

    Damagum, who though expressed reservation with the electoral body, however, noted that such issues would not stop him from congratulating the winner, and urged the governor-elect to use their mandate for the good of those who elected them.

    “I congratulated our governor-elect, Mai Mala Buni with his deputy, Idi Barde Gubana.  I call on him to look at Yobe as his entire constituency. Knowing that God has given him this opportunity that every other person living in Yobe is his responsibility. He should be just and fair to everyone and should mix petty politics with governance. The time for politics is over. It is now the time to build Yobe.  I wish him all the best.

    “I cannot go into what I am uncertain about. I can’t go to the tribunal. All I know is that I had a good running battle but with what is happening in the country and the judiciary itself, I don’t think I would go into an uncertain venture. I accept the will of God and the wishes of Yobe people.”

     

    Atiku congratulates

    Bala Mohammed

     

    The presidential candidate of the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) ex-Vice President Atiku Abubakar yesterday congratulated Bala Mohammed on his declaration as the governor-elect of Bauchi State.

    “Your victory is a deeply satisfying one. In you, the good people of Bauchi state have rightly reposed their confidence for four years of good governance,” he said.

    Atiku expressed confidence that the state would do well under Mohammed considering his achievements as the minister of the Federal Capital Territory.

    Atiku said: “PDP is now poised to bring progress to Bauchi through him and thereby extend the frontiers of democracy, peace, progress and prosperity. Bala Mohammed’s efforts to provide potable water in the FCT remain unmatched today, and the former Vice President believes that such will be replicated in Bauchi state.

    “By virtue of Bala Mohammed’s election, the Pearl of Tourism in Nigeria, is now poised to be the bastion of good governance in Nigeria and for this, he is grateful to almighty Allah for what he has done for him and the good people of Bauchi State.”

     

    25 elected Kebbi lawmakers get certificates of return

     

    The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has presented Certificates of Return to the 25 newly-elected House of Assembly members in the concluded general elections in Kebbi State.

    The certificates were presented by the state Resident Electoral Commission (REC), Alhaji Muhammad Mahamud, in Birinin Kebbi yesterday.

    Mahamud urged elected lawmakers to provide dividends of democracy to the electorate in the state.

    The members Alhaji Isa Rukubalo representing Yauri constituency and Alhaji Samaila Bui representing Arewa constituency, who spoke on behalf of the others, promised to provide dividend of democracy for their constituencies.

    Rukubalo noted that the victory would provide opportunity to consolidate on the social economic development of Kebbi State.

    The All Progressives Congress (APC) won all the 25 constituencies in the state.

     

    Tribunal orders

    inspection of election materials in Nasarawa

     

    The Governorship Election Petition Tribunal sitting in Lafia has ordered the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to allow the candidates of the Peoples Democratic Movement (PDM) and  Peoples Democratic Party(PDP) to inspect electoral materials used in the March 9 election.

    Musa Nagogo, Governorship Candidate of the  PDM, is challenging the victory of Abdullahi Sule of the All Progressives Congress (APC), citing the omission of his name and party logo in the election.

    Also, David Ombugadu, of the PDP is challenging the March 9 governorship election in the state.

    They also prayed the court for an order compelling INEC to allow them to inspect the register and other vital documents used in the conduct of the election unhindered.

    Ruling in the ‘Motion Ex-parte,’ filed by the two candidates , Abba Mohammed, Chairman of the Tribunal, ordered INEC to avail them access to all the materials used in the election.

     

    Election Tribunal receives 12 petitions in Nasarawa

     

    The National and State Houses of Assembly Election Petition Tribunal sitting in Lafia has received 12 petitions from different candidates in Nasarawa State.

    Mr Bello Mukhtar, Secretary of the tribunal, made the disclosure to newsmen in Lafia yesterday.

    He said the candidates of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) filed five petitions, All Progressives Congress (APC) filed two petitions and the Peoples Democratic Movement (PDM) filed three petitions.

    He said the Zenith Labour Party (ZLP) and the All Progressive Grand Alliance (APGA) each filed one petition.

    Mukhtar stated that the tribunal was still expecting petition from the re-run elections that were conducted on March 23.

    News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that PDP is challenging the three senatorial seats, Lafia/Obi and Awe/Doma/Keana Federal Constituencies, while APC was challenging Akwanga/Nassarawa-Eggon/Wamba Federal Constituencies.

    PDM is challenging Nasarawa South and Northern Senatorial seats, Akwanga/Nasarawa-Eggon/Wamba Federal Constituencies.

    ZLP and APGA are challenging Awe/Doma/Keana Federal Constituencies and Nasarawa West Senatorial seats respectively.

     

  • Our Girls; Success – a girl failed by governors

    Our Chibok girls were kidnapped on April 15, 2014. Leah Sharibu and others are not yet released.

    Study the total votes in Kano, Plateau, Benue and Rivers; where are the voters? They do not exist. Our population is probably around 130-150m as we had under 30million voters. INEC is blameless, not responsible for violence during elections – political parties are. Face the parties, not INEC!

    The Success Adegor story is about a delightful Delta State articulate girl-child sent home for not paying what government quickly labelled an ‘illegal exam levy’.  Her parents, out of penury or protest or pride or ignorance or arrogance or anti-corruption, did not pay.

    Do your research before apportioning blame. Is the acting headteacher an honest soul struggling to educate children with no government grants for running costs? Governments rarely give running cost grants beyond salaries. Parents and governments always misinterpret the slogan ‘free education’ for ‘total free education’. Unfortunately they then refuse to substitute for a negligent government which under-provides equipment and learning environment and is also guilty of lying about its policy desire or ability to provide total education.  This leaves the pupil at an educational disadvantage when compared to pupils in liberal schools and private schools. In the latter, parents are encouraged to add value through donations of funds, magazines, books, sports and other needed equipment, buildings and payment for excursions.

    No school or university anywhere in the world has enough despite fees and good education budgets. It a painful paradox that only Nigerian ‘free education’ schools are not allowed to admit that they need help. Nonsense! Not allowing teachers to request, under supervision, for support is stifling initiative and the quality of education delivery. Allowing them to ask is not an admission of failure of free education policy but a reality check and a required supplement. No budget is ever enough, especially in education. Do not deny parents and PTA their primary responsibility for their children’s education. And stop deceiving teachers. Rather give awards to the best-supporting parents and PTAs and Old Students Associations and corporate bodies. Is the corrupt teacher extorting?

    While we castigate our teachers as the education funds are repeatedly stolen, one Kenyan maths and science teacher Peter Tabichi in a religious brother’s habit has won the Global Teacher Prize of $1m by the Varkey Foundation in Dubai for turning around the fortunes of a similarly neglected school as the one that Success goes to. We saw on TV the accursed pigsty quality of the school facilities making it more dangerous than the private Lagos collapsed school building because it is a government entity, protected from inspection and closure.

    No government has closed its own schools, yet across the country, there are thousands of government schools like the Success school- pigsties. The Delta State school is not ‘Child and Teacher Friendly Learning Environment’. It is a shameful pigsty in a state which is has the 4th highest per capita income in the country and receives 13% derivation and exposes a flaw in governance, repeated nationwide. Shamefully, every state has 500-1000+ such neglected schools. The teacher said the levy was for photocopying etc. The travail of the girl Success is a failure of political and education services.  Free education is often ‘Rubbish Under-funded Education’ with little help beyond delayed salaries provided by government especially at the primary level where there are not even Old Students Associations to help out.

    We all conduct or have participated in exams and know what they take in terms of material and logistics from time-table to question papers. If government does not give exam grant, do we expect no exam or the teachers to take funds from their tiny salaries for the purpose? I can bet you there is no grant from the Ministry of Education for anything including examinations and sports and co-curricular activities. The abysmal and selfishly myopic or ignorant or misguided refusal of Nigerian parents to provide the missing support to the abysmal free education efforts of governments coupled with the rejection of support from willing parents and the absence of primary school  Old Students Associations and the non-accessing the UBEC counterpart funding and of course the refusal of states to give needed grants to schools for running costs culminate in killing the potential of millions of children like Success and the denting and dampening the dedication of any wonderful Nigerian teacher/education leader.

    Saraki’s and senate’s N30,000 minimum wage is a Greek Gift -the Trojan Horse- and a poisoned chalice and is classic Saraki like the forced 1+ year calamitous delay forced on Nigerians by the slashing and diversion of a budgeted N15b Lagos-Ibadan expressway budget to untraceable corruption-driven National Assembly (NASS) constituency projects. It is a parting present which is a financial burden to his enemies currently in power. Who will face dwindling capital budgets from this rising recurrent wage bill above the N27,000 recommended by the federal government. Governors always manage, like Saraki, to forget that their own huge salaries overburden the budget. The extra money will come from huge funds of governance that would otherwise have been stolen. It is a desired parting gift dangled before workers but undeliverable. Now Saraki is in a win-win situation. He will retire laughing as Buhari may not sign it into law. Saraki will be long gone by the 30 days senate needs to override the president as senate seeks to keep their own fat-fat salaries and constituency projects.

  • Lessons of 2019 elections

    The recent general elections underscored a collective progression to political stability and democratic consolidation. Group Political Editor EMMANUEL OLADESU writes on the importance of the exercise and implications for the polity.

    Public consciousness is growing. The electorate is waxing stronger in their capacity for wise choices during elections. Many observers contend that future polls may get better since blind voting may continue to give way.

    The recent general elections were an eye-opener. The presidential election lacked a predictive value in some states. While voters endorsed President Muhammadu Buhari in some states, they turned their back on the All Progressives Congress (APC) governors.

    The candidates were on the weighing scale on poll day. Many of them lost at their polling booths, units,wards and local governments.

    A veteran journalist, Bayo Onanuga, pointed out that the power of social media was over-exergerated during the electioneering. Those who dominated the social media campaigns got fewer votes.

    Also, the endorsement of candidates by ethnic organisations paled into futility. Many big wigs fell as they were rejected by local voters during the parliamentary and governorship elections.

    The poll revealed that President Buhari’s strength lay in the power and influence of local voters from his native North.

    For the first time in Nigeria’s electioneering history, 73 individuals vied for the country’s presidency. For the first time also, Nigerians had to vote not with their thumbs but with any finger; to prevent “ink spilling into the box meant for another party”, according to the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC).

    At the end of the day, just one winner was expected – even if the contest went into a run-off.

    On Wednesday, February 27, Chairman of INEC, Prof Yakubu Mahmood, declared President and candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Muhammadu Buhari, winner of the election, having fulfilled the legal requirement of winning not only the highest number of votes (15,191,847), but also at least 25 per cent of the votes in two-thirds of Nigeria’s 36 states. Indeed, he scaled this hurdle in 34 states. The candidate of the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) and Nigeria’s Vice President from 1999 to 2007, Atiku Abubakar, came second with 11,262,978 votes.

    Atiku has vowed to legally challenge the results because of alleged irregularities; even as local and international observers have affirmed the overall credibility of the elections despite pockets of violence in a few states and, in the words of the European Union Elections Observation Mission (EU EOM), some “operational shortcomings”.

    Without any iota of doubt, this is his right. There is, however, a growing consensus that he should rather concede defeat, for the common good.

    What Nigeria needs now is an intensification of its economic diversification, scaling of its infrastructural drive and fortification of its territories against insurgency.

    Even as several Western media may have concluded that President Muhammadu Buhari’s re-election is as a result of his honesty, integrity, there are evidences that Nigerians believe that there is need for at least four more years for the administration to finish the projects being undertaken across the 36 states and the Federal Capital Territory. As experience has shown, a new government often means abandonment of projects. To the credit of the Buhari Administration, it has been completing many projects abandoned for many years by previous successive governments. And, even so, with much less resources.

    Prior to the elections, while urging Nigerians to make a “sensible choice” of retaining President Buhari, the Minister of Power, Works and Housing Babatunde Fashola, had said: “Fundamentals of the economy are heading in the right direction. What we need to do is to consolidate on that.”

    Indeed, according to the latest report of the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS), issued a few days to the presidential election, before it was postponed for a week, many of the economic indices showed positive performances. The Gross Domestic Product (GDP) grew at about 2.38 per cent in the fourth quarter of 2018. The growth in real terms (year-on-year) rose from about 1.81 per cent in the previous quarter of the year. Good performance, though, economists warned that more needed to be done to stem unemployment. One good reason why there must be consolidation.

    Read also: Buhari, APC chiefs endorse Lawan for Senate President

    In sectors such as agriculture, which recorded annual GDP growth of about 14.27 per cent, higher than 11.29 per cent recorded in 2017.

    The sector contributed about 23.08 per cent to nominal GDP in Q4 of 2018, as against 21.93 per cent in the corresponding period in 2017.

    Nigeria’s drive to be self-sufficient in the production of rice is being relentlessly pursued. Indeed, according to the Africa Rice Center, Africa’s foremost research organisation on rice, with its production of 4 million tonnes a year, Nigeria now ranks the highest producer of rice in Africa.

    Manufacturing recorded 10.11 per cent in the last quarter of 2018, as against 8.53 in the corresponding period in 2017 and third quarter performance of 2018.

    Manufacturing PMI, according to the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), which had, for many months, recorded expansions rose, to an all-time high of 61.10 in December 2018, although it fell to 57.1 in February 2019.

    In his 2019 State of the Union address President of the United States of America, Mr Donald Trump admonished opposing parties to  rejection “the politics of revenge, resistance, and retribution” and embrace “the boundless potential of cooperation, compromise, and the common good.”

    For all contestants to various elective offices in Nigeria’s political season, this should be the mantra.

    The last words should go to President Muhammadu Buhari: “The new Administration will intensify its efforts in Security, Restructuring the Economy and Fighting Corruption. We have laid down the foundation and we are committed to seeing matters to the end. We will strive to strengthen our unity and in-clusiveness so that no section or group will feel left behind or left out.”

     

  • 25 elected Kebbi lawmakers receive certificates of return from INEC

    The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has presented Certificates of Return to the 25 newly-elected House of Assembly members in the concluded general elections in Kebbi State.

    The certificates were presented by the state Resident Electoral Commission (REC), Alhaji Muhammad Mahamud, in Birinin Kebbi on Tuesday.

    Mahamud urged elected lawmakers to provide dividends of democracy to the electorate in the state.

    Red also: ‘Wike never offered AAC’s guber candidate N3b to drop ambition’

    The members Alhaji Isa Rukubalo representing Yauri constituency and Alhaji Samaila Bui representing Arewa constituency, who spoke on behalf of the others, promised to provide dividend of democracy for their constituencies.

    Rukubalo noted that the victory would provide opportunity to consolidate on the social economic development of Kebbi State.

    The All Progressives Congress (APC) won all the 25 constituencies in the state. (NAN)

  • Coalition of 28 political parties rejects Tambuwal’s victory

    A coalition of 28 political parties in Sokoto State on Tuesday rejected the victory of Gov. Aminu Tambuwal at the governorship election in the state.

    The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) on Sunday declared Tambuwal winner of the election after Saturday’s supplementary polls with a narrow margin of 342 votes,

    The Chief Collation/Returning Officer, Prof. Fatima Mukhtar, said that Tambuwal of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) secured the highest votes of 512, 002, defeating his close rival Alhaji Ahmad Aliyu of APC, who polled 511, 660 votes.

    Addressing a news conference in Sokoto, the coalition leader, Alhaji Musa Aliyu of the Nigeria Elements Progressive Party (NEPP), rejected the declaration.

    Aliyu, the NEPP governorship candidate in Sokoto State, said that the process was flawed with irregularities and characterised by acts of violence which contravened the nation’s electoral laws and the Constitution.

    “Our decision was rightly informed by the glaring fact that the elections were hugely marred by myriad of flaws, which had rendered the result of the polls null, void and unacceptable.

    Read also: Atiku congratulates Tambuwal, Ortom

    “We observed that the elections were characterised by massive vote-buying, intimidation, non-use of card reader machines as well as the duplication of voting in polling units where the polls were earlier conducted.

    “The coalition, therefore, deemed it necessary to unravel these infractions on the Electoral Act 2010 as amended, as well as INEC’s Electoral Guidelines.

    “We are also in total and formidable support of All Progressives Congress (APC) action to seek legal redress,” he said.

    He appealed to supporters and the entire people of the state to remain calm and law abiding, “while we patiently await the outcome of the litigation on the polls”.

    Some of the delegates at the conference included Mujjitaba Aminu of MPN, Muhammad Shehu of GPN, Lawali Haliru of UPP, Dan-Ali Kasarawa of LP and Bello Ibrahim of DPP.

  • Ignore vituperations of defecting Yeeh in Rivers – Tonye Cole

    The governorship candidate of All Progressives Congress (APC) in Rivers State, Pastor Tonye Cole, has urged well-meaning Rivers indigenes to ignore the vituperations of deputy governorship candidate of African Action Congress (AAC) in Rivers, Chief Akpo Yeeh, who resigned on Monday and joined the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP).

    Cole, who spoke in Port Harcourt through the spokesman of his campaign organisation, Ogbonna Nwuke, declared Yeeh’s view was skewed by the N200 million cash given to him by Governor Nyesom Wike of PDP.

    The co-founder of Sahara Group (Cole) said: “It is pertinent to note that neither the APC nor the Minister for Transportation, Rt. Hon. Rotimi Amaechi, has in any way interfered with the internal organisation of the AAC.

    “We are aware that Yeeh, whose appetite for sudden wealth has overtaken reason, is not the author of the script that he read in his Port Harcourt residence on Monday.

    “We sympathise with Yeeh, a self-avowed young politician, whose hunt for a meal ticket has led him to mortgage his conscience for mess of porridge.

    “It is indeed laughable that the crafted statement delivered claims that the Minister for Transportation had insisted that he would appoint 90 per cent of the commissioners, 23 local government council chairmen, in an undated resignation address served to the public.

    READ ALSO: I’ll pursue my case further after Saturday’s poll – Tonye Cole

    “We are not shocked by the lies that Yeeh served the public, in order to put food on his table. It is consistent with the propaganda slant of the PDP, used to deceive the people and deflect the attention of the Nigerian people from the fact that PDP’s candidates lost horribly in the field, because of the resolve of Rivers people to effect a change.

    “Wike and other leaders of PDP are determined to steal Rivers people’s mandate through unparalleled bribery of officials of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) and other institutions.

    “Institutions that Wike and other PDP leaders have been unable to bribe are understandably at the apex of their criticisms. These institutions include the Nigerian Army, Special Anti-Robbery Squad (SARS) and the APC.”

    Cole also stated that he was at a loss on how a coalition between the APC and the AAC could be interpreted to mean an attempt to cause crisis in Rivers, insisting the interest of the state far outstrips the interest of an individual.

    He said: “It is obvious that what is critical at this time is the quest to deliver unto Rivers people, a government that is transparent, accountable, responsible, focused and committed to their welfare.

    “We wish to state unequivocally that political parties in this country and elsewhere in the world enjoy the right to enter into coalition with any party of their choice, for the purpose of forming a government of state or national unity, which will deliver dividends of democracy and serve the overall interest of the people.

    “It is important to observe that Yeeh’s name is already on the ballot. The sponsors of the malicious publication targeted against the Minister for Transportation against the backdrop of the defection of an unserious and hungry politician should take copious note of the decision of INEC to refuse the exit from the presidential race of Dr Oby Ezekwesiele.”

  • Updated: Adamawa supplementary gov poll holds Thursday

    The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) is to conduct the supplementary governorship election in Adamawa State on Thursday, March 28.

    The Resident Electoral Commissioner (REC), Kassim Gaidam, announced this on Tuesday afternoon during a chat with reporters at the INEC state office in Yola.

    He informed the decision was taken after due consultation with the INEC headquarters in Abuja.

    He said efforts were being made with the various security agencies to ensure the violence, which characterised supplementary election in some other states does not repeat itself in Adamawa.

    He added that to facilitate a hitch-free process, only voters with PVCs will be allowed into voting centres in the places where the supplementary election will hold.

    The supplementary governorship election in the state had been scheduled for 44 polling units in 14 local government areas but it could not hold on March 23, which it was originally scheduled following a court injunction against it.

    The decision by INEC to hold the rerun on Thursday followed the vacation of the order against the election by the Adamawa State High Court at a sitting in Yola earlier in the day.

    Read Also: Court orders INEC to conduct supplementary poll in Adamawa

    After the conduct of the governorship election on March 9, the candidate of the Movement for the Restoration and Defense of Democracy (MRDD), Rev Eric Theman, went to the court to allege omission of the MRDD logo from the ballot paper, and asked the court to annul the election and stop the rerun already announced for units where voting was cancelled.

    The court immediately granted an injunction to stop the rerun and continued proceedings to rule on arguments raised at subsequent sittings, including the court’s jurisdiction over the case.

    At the sitting on Tuesday morning, the Court ruled that it has jurisdiction, lifted its injunction against the supplementary election, and adjourned to Wednesday, March 27, to rule on the motion by the MRDD for the annulment of the March 9 election.

  • Breaking: Court orders INEC to conduct supplementary poll in Adamawa

    The Adamawa State High Court which gave an order restraining the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) from conducting the state supplementary governorship election, has lifted the order.

    In a ruling he delivered Tuesday, Justice Abdulazeez Waziri of High Court 4, also affirmed that his court has the jurisdiction to continue with the case that gave rise to the order.

    The candidate of the Movement for Restoration and Defense of Democracy (MRDD), Rev Eric Theman, had sued INEC immediately after the March 9 governorship election in the state, saying he was deprived of his right to be voted for as the logo of his party was not on the ballot paper for the election.

    He had asked for an order cancelling the election and stopping the supplementary election which INEC fixed for March 26 after it declared the election inconclusive because the margin of lead between the two leading candidates was lower than cancelled votes. The court granted the injunction stopping the conduct of the supplementary election and fixed Tuesday for determination of its jurisdiction over the case, among other things.

    At the resumed sitting Tuesday, Justice Abdulaziz Waziri lifted the order against the supplementary election but fixed Wednesday, March 27 to hear the originating motion by MRDD asking the court to nullify the governorship election conducted on March 9 on the grounds of the logo of his party not being on the ballot paper for the election.

    Reacting to the judgement, the counsel to the MRDD, Bar Mustapha, said it was perfect, as there was no point granting accelerated hearing and an order to restrain conduct of elections.

    “The main substances to our case is the removal of the MRDD party logo from ballot papers, which constitutes the disqualification from the entire election,” he said.

    The counsel to INEC, Bar Stephen Ibian, also expressed satisfaction with the ruling, especially the vacation of the order against the supplementary election.

    “We are happy over the court vacating the earlier order so that we can conduct our supplementary election in the state,” the INEC counsel said.

    The Tuesday court witnessed the joining of Ahmadu Fintiri, the governorship candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) as well as the PDP, in the case as second and third defendants.

    Reacting to the development, counsel to Fintiri, Joe Kerry Gadzama (SAN), said, “Fortunately, we have today been made parties. She, the PDP governorship candidate Ahmadu Fintiri is now the second defendant while PDP is third defendant in the suit. This ruling came in late, it is a swift victory, but at the same time we are going to be vigilant it is not yet over.”

  • 42 parties in Kano reject results of March 23 supplementary election

    Forty-two political parties in Kano under the aegis of Coalition of United Political Parties (CUPP) in the state have rejected the results of the re-run governorship election of March 23.

    They alleged that the process was characterised by gross irregularities.

    The state CUPP chairman, Mohammed Abdullahi-Rahi, made the position of the group known while addressing a news conference in Kano on Tuesday.

    He alleged that the supplementary election conducted by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) was marred by violence, over voting, intimidation and voter disenfranchisement.

    READ ALSO: Kano rerun: Prosecute electoral offenders, observers tell INEC

    According to him, thuggery and voter-intimidation were reported in almost all the polling units where the re-run election was conducted, with reports of loss of lives, open vote-buying and other electoral malpractices.

    ”It was clear that the level of violence recorded during the March 9 election that led to cancellation of results of some polling units is by far less than what was recorded during the March 23 election, yet the electoral body turned a blind eye on the happenings by accepting and announcing the results.

    ”We are at this juncture, debunking the illegitimate declaration of Abdullahi Umar Ganduje as governor-elect in the just concluded March 23 re-run elections in Kano due to gross irregularities and electoral fraud committed before, during and after the elections.”