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Tag: KWSIEC

  • Govt, KWSIEC urge court to dismiss PDP’s suit against LG poll

    Govt, KWSIEC urge court to dismiss PDP’s suit against LG poll

    The Kwara Government and the state’s Independent Electoral Commission (KWSIEC) have asked a Federal High Court in Abuja to dismiss a suit brought by the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) aiming to stop the Local Government elections scheduled for September 21 in the state.

    The request is contained in two notices of objection and counter affidavits they filed against the suit, marked: FHC/ABJ/CS/1061/2024 now before Justice Peter Lifu.

    They are equally praying the court issue an order either dismissing or striking out the suit for allegedly constituting an abuse of court process and being statute barred.

    Johnson Usman (SAN), lawyer to KWSIEC, hinged his client’s objection on five grounds including the question of territorial jurisdiction as it applies to whether a court in Abuja could hear a case relating to the LG election in Kwara State.

    Read Also: UPDATED: Appeal Court rejects Esene, Ojezua’s case to disqualify Ighodalo

    Usman noted that the suit was predicated on the LG election to be held in Kwara State on September 21 and argued that the Federal High Court in Abuja lacked the territorial jurisdiction to hear and determine the suit “which deals with Kwara State Local Government Election being not election conducted or recognised under the Electoral Act, 2022.”

    He further argued that the PDP lacked the necessary locus standi to file the case, which he also described as being incompetent.

    Attorney General (AG) of Kwara State, Ibrahim Sulyman (SAN), sued as the third defendant, and also raised similar issues in his notice of objection and counter affidavit.

    Other defendants in the suit are the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), the Inspector General of Police (IGP), and the State Security Service (SSS).

  • Belgore: KWSIEC, PDP desperate to win council poll

    Belgore: KWSIEC, PDP desperate to win council poll

    •Party: victory expression of people’s confidence

     

    A chieftain of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in Kwara State, Mohammed Dele Belgore (SAN), has accused the State Independent Electoral Commission (KWSIEC) and the ruling Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) of desperation to win last Saturday’s local government election.

    Also, a former member of the House of Representatives, Bashir Bolarinwa, described the election as falling short of standard and impugning on the integrity of the people.

    KWSIEC, on Sunday morning, declared the chairmanship and the councillorship candidates of the PDP the winners of the election.

    Belgore, who was the governorship candidate of the defunct Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN) in the 2011 governorship election in the state, said: “We watched in amazement the desperation with which the Kwara State Government, the outlawed New PDP in Kwara and KWSIEC held the local government election, whose outcome was already known, even before the election was held.”

    In a statement by his media aide, Rafiu Ajakaye, the APC chieftain added: “The gold prize of utter irresponsibility goes to the KWSIEC for displaying brazen disrespect for the law and decorum by proceeding to conduct an election, when court cases challenging the legality of the guidelines and timetable for the election are still pending.

    “For the record, the guidelines used for the election are non-existent in law, because the law backing it had ceased to exist, following an amendment to it by the Kwara State House of Assembly. The Assembly hurriedly changed the 150-days notice of election, contained in the State Electoral Law, to 90 days, to comply with the constitution of Nigeria.

    “Why did the KWSIEC proceed with the election, whose guidelines had been issued pursuant to a defective law? Why did KWSIEC not issue fresh guidelines, to comply with the new law? What was the rush, knowing it is violating the law and that the whole exercise amounts to a nullity?

    “And where did KWSIEC see the over 800,000 votes it claimed were cast in the sham election that recorded some of the worst voter turnouts in history? For instance, about 18 of the 20 people who responded to a question by Ilorin.info on Twitter and facebook, on Saturday, said they did not vote because they felt it was a one-party affair and that there was no point wasting their precious time.

    “The report of the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) on the election also said enough on the abysmally low turnout of the poll. Funny enough, these over 800,000 votes are those credited to the New PDP candidates alone, because nothing was said of the votes scored by either the Labour Party (LP) or the SDP, the two parties that took part in the mockery of democracy. “The votes credited to the PDP far outweigh the entire votes cast in the 2011 governorship election involving the ACN, ACPN, CPC and PDP!

    “This sham election is an act of desperation by the Kwara State government and they confirm to the world that irrespective of their posturing, they are not champions for the cause of the people or democracy. They are only serving their self-perpetrating agenda. As they lose ground everyday at home and at the national level, the local government poll clearly was a face-saving measure for them to remain relevant. “Such disrespect for the law and public morality can only earn them further ignominy!”

    Bolarinwa noted that the “the absolute neglect and apathy of the electorate to that election speaks volume”.

    The former lawmaker likened the poll to “a typical African setting of the old, where our people considered it the ‘leprous fingers’ of Saraki and co-travellers on a misadventure and therefore stayed away from it”.

    He added: “It baffles the simple logic that the KWASIEC took us many steps backward in Kwara when it declared fictitious, scandalous and outrageous figures in an election where there was no serious contenders.”

    But PDP’s spokesman Alhaji Mas’ud Adebimpe said the party’s victory was an expression of the people’s confidence in its leadership.

    “The massive turnout of the electorate for the elections, despite the absence of strong opposition, was also confirmed by independent local and national observers who participated in the exercise.

    “Having tried in vain to stop the free expression of the people’s will, Belgore has embarked on a vain attempt to discredit the elections,” Adebimpe added.

  • KWSIEC declares PDP candidates winners of local govt poll

    The Kwara State Independent Electoral Commission (KWSIEC) yesterday declared all the chairmanship and councillorship candidates of the ruling Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) as the winners of last Saturday’s local government election in the state.

    In the 15 local governments, where elections took place, major opposition parties did not participate.

    Former Governor Bukola Saraki attributed PDP’s victory to the choice of the party’s candidates.

    Saraki, who is representing Kwara Central at the National Assembly, said: “What helped us is that we made sure that the candidates were grassroots-oriented. We tried to make it transparent and not based on ‘god-fatherism’ or interest support. We have told the candidates for chairmanship and councillorship positions that they must be grassroots-oriented.

    “We hear that some people get elected, even to pick up a phone and answer to the issues of the people, sometimes some do not do that.

    “We have told you that you do not owe anybody for your election or that special interest for anybody. You were voted by the people and so owe service delivery to everybody in your constituency. You should ensure that there is accessibility; you are there to serve the people and meet their needs.

    “We believe the winners have to look after the grassroots and ensure that they look at the development of the constituency. They have to ensure that health, education, infrastructure, hospitals and road drainages, empowerment programmes are done.”

    The party also cleared all the 181 councillorship seats in the election, adjudged by observers and security operatives as peaceful.

  • Aspirants urge KWSIEC to postpone October poll

    •Ex-Rep urges National Assembly to scrap agency

    The All Progressives Congress (APC) chairmanship aspirants in Kwara State have urged the State Independent Electoral Commission (KWSIEC) to reschedule the October 26 local government election.

    The aspirants noted that anything outside that would amount to a violation of “our inalienable rights under the Nigerian constitution, which we tend to believe your commission will avoid doing”.

    Addressing reporters in Ilorin, the state capital, Oloyin Lateef and Abdulrazaq Amode said: “The fundamental question that agitates the minds of fair-minded individuals in the state of harmony today is: how will the conduct of a local government election, in accordance with the present timetable issued by your commission, will not disqualify, incapacitate and violate the rights of the individuals who would have contested the election under the defunct Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN), the Congress for Progressive Change (CPC) and the All Nigeria Peoples Party (ANPP)? But due to no fault of theirs, they now found themselves in the newly registered party, which cannot sponsor candidates in the election.

    “As at May 28, when your commission issued a 150-day notice of the local government election to different party officials and stakeholders, the APC had not come into existence. In essence, unlike other parties that had adequate notice to prepare, the APC had no notice at all. Besides, a notice is not a formality but a fundamental step towards the conduct of a credible, free and fair election. This, no doubt, is in conflict and inconsistent with the Electoral Act 2010 (as amended).”

    A former member of the House of Representatives, Bashir Omolaja Bolarinwa, yesterday urged the National Assembly to scrap the Kwara State Independent Electoral Commission (KWSIEC).

    The lawmaker premised his reason on the electoral body’s “electoral fraud” following last Saturday’s election in Offa Loc al Government Area.

    Bolarinwa noted that only the scrapping of the KWSIEC would restore peace to the state.

    He said the KWSIEC had demonstrated its failure to align with the popular interests of the electorate.

    The politician said last Saturday’s local government election in Offa should not have generated any controversy, if the electoral body and the other stakeholders in the state had acted as fair umpires.

    He said: “Such a vital election was supposed to expose the real feelings and aspirations of the electorate. But sadly, when the electoral bodies, which should serve the parties and other stakeholders dispassionately and in good faith, failed in that regard, there would be a crisis such as we have been facing after the Offa election of last Saturday.

    “This is why it is important for the National Assembly to scrap the KWASIEC to restore people’s trust in our electoral process…”

     

  • KWSIEC fixes August 31 for Offa rerun

    The Kwara State Independent Electoral Commission (KWSIEC) yesterday fixed August 31 for the rerun of Offa Local Government.

    The KWSIEC chairman, Dr. Uthman Ajidagba, told reporters in Ilorin, the state capital, that the electoral body’s decision was in compliance with the February 22 verdict of the State High Court, which ordered a rerun into the council, following an appeal suit between the Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN) vs Abdulwaheed Segun Olanipekun and 98 others.

    The rerun, Ajidagba said, would also include the councillorship election, as further directed by the same court in the consolidated councillorship election appeal between Rafiu A. Ibrahim vs Musemil Giwa and 10 others delivered on July 23.

    The KWASIEC chairman attributed the delay in the conduct of the rerun to the declaration of emergency rule in Offa Local Government by the state government in February, following a renewed clash between Offa and Erin-Ile communities.

     

  • KWSIEC fixes August 31 for Offa rerun

    The Kwara State Independent Electoral Commission (KWSIEC) yesterday fixed August 31 for the rerun of Offa Local Government.

    The KWSIEC chairman, Dr. Uthman Ajidagba, told reporters in Ilorin, the state capital, that the electoral body’s decision was in compliance with the February 22 verdict of the State High Court, which ordered a rerun into the council, following an appeal suit between the Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN) vs Abdulwaheed Segun Olanipekun and 98 others.

    The rerun, Ajidagba said, would also include the councillorship election, as further directed by the same court in the consolidated councillorship election appeal between Rafiu A. Ibrahim vs Musemil Giwa and 10 others delivered on July 23.

    The KWASIEC chairman attributed the delay in the conduct of the rerun to the declaration of emergency rule in Offa Local Government by the state government in February, following a renewed clash between Offa and Erin-Ile communities.