The Nation Newspaper

Tag: Nigeria Decides 2019

  • PDP to Buhari: Atiku’ll soon reclaim his mandate

    The People’s Democratic Party (PDP) has charged President Muhammadu Buhari to stop gloating and showboating on Nigerians with the “stolen” 2019 presidential mandate, saying that its candidate, Atiku Abubakar would soon retrieve the mandate at the tribunal.

    The party described President Buhari’s renewed attack on the PDP’s 16 years administrations as a lame attempt to divert public attention from the overwhelming evidence that he rigged the elections.

    A statement Saturday by the spokesman for the PDP, Kola Ologbondiyan said the President’s statement that the PDP has questions to answer on its 16-year stewardship was part of the plots to obstruct the clear winner, Atiku Abubakar, from going to the tribunal to reclaim the mandate freely given to him by Nigerians.

    The statement said, “It indeed speaks volumes that President Buhari, in his claimed integrity and anti-corruption stance, is grandstanding over the violent rigging of the elections and his attempt to foist himself into a second term in office on the pedestal of stolen votes.

    “President Buhari and his All Progressives Congress (APC) should know that the PDP and Nigerians are focused and will not be distracted by any sort of blackmail in the pursuit of the mandate and we are confident that our justices will never allow an illegitimate government to sit over the affairs of our dear nation.

    “Moreover, if anybody has a question to answer on the administration of the nation’s resources, it is President Buhari, who has not been able to offer any explanation on the looting of over N14 trillion from revenue generating agencies in a space of three years under his direct supervision.

    “We ask; was it the PDP that siphoned over N9 trillion, through underhand contracts, as detailed in the leaked NNPC memo, in the same sector President Buhari directly supervises as Minister of Petroleum Resources?

    “Was it the PDP that stole the over N1.1 trillion worth of crude illegally lifted and diverted with 18 unregistered companies in 2017; the over N1.4 trillion in fraudulent oil subsidy regime and many more scams, including funds meant for the welfare of victims of insurgency in the North East under the Buhari administration?”.

    The main opposition party insisted that its past administrations created wealth and applied national resources on massive infrastructural development in all critical sectors.

    It also claimed credit for paying off the nation’s huge foreign and domestic debts and grew the economy to be one of the fastest growing in the world.

    The party observed that President Buhari on the other hand, ran the economy into recession within a space of three years without being able to point to any development project his administration initiated and completed despite the huge opportunities at his disposal.

    “President Buhari must note that Nigerians are no longer interested in his incompetence and blame game and this is the very reason they voted massively against him on February 23. He should therefore end his diversionary tactics and get ready to meet the people’s candidate, Atiku Abubakar, in court,” the statement added.

  • ‘How INEC staff exposed PDP rigging in Edo’

    Candidate of the All Progressives Congress for Ikpoba-Okha/Egor federal constituency, Hon Ehiozuwa Agbonyinma, has said that God used an Electoral Officer to expose how the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) rigged the February 23rd Presidential and National Assembly election

    Hon Ehiozuwa who lost the election to Jude Ise-Idehen of the PDP insisted that he won the election and President Muhammadu Buhari won in Edo.

    Speaking to newsmen shortly after leading a protest march to the Edo State office of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) Hon Ehiozuwa said the Electoral Officer called him thinking he was talking to the State chairman of the PDP, Chief Dan Orbih.

    Ehiozuwa said the EO told him to pay the balance money since the PDP has won the election in Ikpoba-Okha

    He stated that it was God’s miracle for the EO to reveal details of how the election was manipulated

    He said he was also protesting refusal of the INEC’s Legal Officer to give him access to Certify True Copies of all Units result sheets used for Ikpoba-Okha/Egor Constituency.

    Agbonnayima said there was a hidden agenda by INEC to delay the process of his filing petition at the Tribunal.

    “When I received the call, I was shocked. The man thought I was the PDP chairman. He opened up on how he was able to manipulate the system for the PDP and told me to bring the balance payment.

    “The man said he was the Collating Officer for Ward six. He said they gave him the number of Ise-Idehen but he decided to call the PDP chairman first.

    “He has been arrested with others he confessed to have participated in the crime. The security agencies are doing their work and they would soon come out with their findings.

    “I insisted that the election was manipulated in Egor/Ikpoba-Okha constituency. Mr. President won the Presidential election in Edo State. There are so many glaring evidence. The election was rigged and manipulated by PDP leaders in collaboration with some INEC officials.

    “My lawyer wrote to INEC seeking to get access to Certify True Copies of the results all unit result sheets.

    “The letter was approved by the Resident Electoral Commissioner. This is to enable us file our case within the stipulated 21 days. The Legal Adviser is now violating Section 104 of the Evidence Act. He is telling us to wait till after the Saturday House of Assembly election. There is a motive to derail the wheel of progress. This INEC Legal Adviser is frustrating us.

    “Some INEC staff has been arrested and are presently making confession. I will pursue Justice in line with the law. Many of them have confessed how to they colluded to rig us out. I am calling on INEC to do the right thing.”

    Head of Administration of INEC in Edo, Mr. Christian Utong, who received the petition from Agbonnayima said the Legal Adviser had to take permission from the headquarters before releasing the CTC of the result sheets.

    “We are here for you. The REC is away because of Saturday’s election. I will deliver your message to the REC. We will attend to all grievances.”

  • Why we lost to PDP in Edo Central, by ex-Deputy Speaker

    A former Deputy Speaker of the Edo State House of Assembly, Hon Frank Okiye, has said that the All Progressives Congress lost the Presidential and National Assembly election in Edo Central Senatorial district because of the campaign of calumny against President Muhammadu Buhari by some religious groups.

    Edo Central comprising of five local government areas is a stronghold of the Peoples Democratic Party. It was only in Igueben that the APC has been able to overrun the PDP in the February 23 general election.

    Hon Okiye who is the APC House of Assembly candidate for Esan North East constituency 1 said the influence of late Chief Tony Anenih also played a role.

    Okiye noted that the people late Anenih made were still influential and they understand the management of election in a political system.

    He, however, insisted that results declared from the district were manipulated in favour of the PDP as records showed there were compromises in some areas.

    The former Deputy Speaker said many APC leaders in the zone were not committed and argued that the results were not true reflections of what happened in the field.

    On the chances of the APC in Saturday’s election, Okiye said the APC candidates have bright chances of winning the elections.

    His words, “Our chances are very bright. We have a number of things going for us. We have captured the national and our people are conscious of joining mainstream politics.

    “We have the candidates that are credible and have the capacity to win elections. Our candidates have good public relations with people across political divide. Our people have a bigger picture of what we can get in the likely hood of winning the election. Oipnion moulders are involved and the narration has started changing.

    “We have overcome the initial challenges. This election is local. We are facing it ourselves.

    “Our people should understand we are one common people. We mean well for them. They should give us opportunity to demonstrate that we can do better.”

  • Why we’ll contest presidential results, by Obi

    The Vice Presidential candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in the just concluded presidential elections, Mr. Peter Obi on Monday asked those discouraging the party from heading to court to perish the idea.

    He said the party was not going to court to challenge the All Progressives Congress (APC) but the process that brought them to power.

    Obi, who spoke with newsmen in Onitsha, said dissuading the party from contesting the outcome of the poll was allowing impunity to go unchallenged.

    He accused the APC of gross manipulation of the electoral process, describing the act as worse than corruption.

    Obi said he aligned fully with PDP as a party, the Presidential candidate, Atiku Abubakar and well-meaning Nigerians in condemning the exercise.

    He expressed confidence that the party would reclaim its mandate at the court.

    He said: “There is nothing to reconcile because we are not quarreling with them.

    “We are quarrelling with the process that declared them winners.

    “Every competition has its own rules. You can’t go into a football competition and score from the offside and said it should be accepted.

    “This is even worse than scoring from offside. They went and threw in the ball into the goal post when nobody was there.

    “We can’t continue with election rigging, incompetence and nepotism which are worse than corruption in any society.”

    Obi thanked Nigerians for their support for the party, especially the youth and women, some of who he said were exercising their voting rights for the first time.

    “I was touched by the eagerness with which Nigerians came out to fulfill their civic duties of voting in the over 119,000 polling booths scattered all over Nigeria.

    “I also condole the families of those that lost their lives and those that sustained various degrees of injuries during the election,” he added.

    He appealed to them not to allow their spirit become dampened towards the performance of their civic duties in future.

    According to Obi: “The election was anything but a transparent, free and fair election, which certainly fell far below the standard established by the 2015 presidential election.

    He claimed it was characterised by deliberate voters’ suppression and intimidation throughout the South-East and South-South, actions he described as the highest form of corruption.

    Read Also: Abdusalami peace committee meet Atiku, Obi

    Obi lamented that the two zones under reference witnessed different sets of rule.

    He continued: “While some zones voted strictly using the card readers, other zones, as part of the manipulation orchestrated by the ruling party, APC were allowed to vote without card readers contrary to the guidelines INEC issued before the election.

    “As law abiding citizens, the PDP as a party, its Presidential candidate and himself, had decided to go to court because of their belief in the rule of law.

    “Though elections give citizens a means to hold their leaders accountable by voting incumbents out of office or promising to hold to account those leaders successfully elected, the process is more important than the outcome as the rule of law must always prevail.

    “Thus, the consequences of Nigeria without rule of law will be unimaginable chaos and tyranny.”

  • Polls: Bayelsa govt house photographer dies in hospital

    The Bayelsa State Government House Photographer, Reginald Dei, has finally died in an emergency ward of a private hospital in Yenagoa, the state capital.

    Dei was shot by gunmen in army uniform in Oweikorogha, Southern Ijaw Local Government Area during the last Presidential and National Assembly elections.

    He was shot alongside the leader of the PDP in Oweikorogha community, Mr. Seidougha Taribi, who died on the spot.

    Though the photographer was initially reported dead, he was later said to be unconscious in a Yenagoa hospital, after his colleagues and some government officials paid him a visit.

    But a statement by the Director Corporate Communications, Governor’s Office, Chief Nathan Egba-Ologo, said that the photographer could not survive the lethal wounds from the gunshots.

    He died on Sunday night, a week after the incident.

    Egba-Ologo called on the relevant security agencies to investigate the activities of the various security formations to bring the culprits of the dastardly act to book.

    He, however, lamented that while the state was mourning the unfortunate murder of Taribi and Dei, some suspected thugs were wreaking havoc in Nembe-Bassambiri.

    He alleged that the rampaging thugs sacked the mobile policemen and the operatives of the Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC) on deployment in the besieged community.

    Read Also: Bayelsa elders condemn electoral malpractices, killings

    According to him, the thugs dug military fashion trenches in Bassambiri with barricades to harass PDP members in the community and prevent those, who fled the community from returning.

    He called on the leadership of the Nigerian Army and the other security agencies to prevent brigandage and a breakdown of law and order in the area ahead of the next elections.

    He urged the security agencies to adhere strictly to their constitutional responsibility to ensure the provision of security and indeed the requisite environment in the next election.

  • Elections: US congratulates Buhari, Nigerians

    The United States Government has congratulated Nigeria on a successful presidential election and President Muhammadu Buhari on his re-election.

    In a statement to The Nation titled ‘Nigerian Election Results’, Secretary of State, Michael Pompeo praised “Nigerians who participated peacefully in the election.”

    Buhari, of the All Progressives Congress (APC), beat his main challenger Abubakar Atiku of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) by nearly four million votes in the February 23 polls.

    Read Also: UPU greets Buhari, Omo-Agege on victory

    The US also condemned “those whose acts of violence harmed Nigerians and the electoral process.”

    The statement added: “We note the assessments of international and domestic observer missions affirming the overall credibility of the election, despite localized violence and irregularities.

    “We also congratulate all the other candidates for their peaceful participation in the electoral process. We call on all Nigerians to ensure successful state elections next week.

    “Going forward, the United States remains committed to working together with Nigeria to achieve greater peace and prosperity for both our nations.

  • God never destined Atiku to be President, says Oshiomhole

    National Chairman of the All Progressives Congress (APC) Comrade Adams Oshiomhole on Thursday said former Vice President Atiku Abubakar was destined never to be President.

    He also said the APC was prepared to meet the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in court.

    Addressing a news conference on the outcome of the Presidential and National Assembly elections and the decision of the PDP candidate to reject the results, Oshiomhole said Atiku was desperate to be President of Nigeria and has been jumping from one party to the other to actualise his ambition.

    He said it smacks of arrogance for the former Vice President to believe that the destiny of Nigerians is tied to his being President.

    He stressed that Atiku and the PDP were never committed to the peace accord, accusing them of only being interested in being winners.

    According to him: “I think it is arrogance for Atiku to think that our future is tied to his Presidency. Atiku is destined never to be President of Nigeria and I ask you to review his character. Leadership is about character.

    “Atiku’s desperation is so obvious. He is so desperate that in 2003, he challenged his own boss, Obasanjo. He decamped to join ACN and we offered him the ticket and he lost the election and returned to PDP.

    “He contested again and lost the nomination and because he has only his interest at heart, he decamped again from PDP.

    “He joined us in Lagos and rolled out the dollars but we voted for Buhari as our candidate. He knew that he cannot defeat Buhari in the primary and went back to the PDP.

    “Do you think that such a political rolling stone, does he think that Nigerians are so insincere as to think that a man who is not stable and whose interest is about himself will be a possible candidate to be elected?

    “What makes him have that sense of entitlement that he must be President of Nigeria? You cannot deny anyone the right to dispute the outcome of an election however free and fair.

    “So, we hope and we are looking forward to meeting Atiku Abubakar in court. We might also choose to also cross petition because there were many areas we can dispute.

    “In Adamawa state, he had already lost the election before he did some magic that gave him that narrow victory in Adamawa state.”

    Oshiomhole said the turnout of voters in the north east especially in Borno state was a reflection of the substantial peace that has returned to the area.

    He argued if the former Vice President does not know about the peace in the area, it could be because he does not go home regularly.

  • Observer: INEC ensured the will of Nigerians prevailed

    One of the accredited observers by the Independent National Electoral Commission ( INEC ) in the just concluded Presidential and National Assembly elections, Connected Development (CODE), on Thursday, commended the commission for ensuring that the will of Nigerians prevailed.

    CODE, a civil society organisation, hailed the commission for remaining firm despite pressures from political actors to truncate the electoral process.

    Head of Mission, CODE Election Observation Team, Hamzat Lawal, stated these in Abuja on Thursday, during the presentation of findings by Uzabe, a real-time web based map situation technology used by CODE to gather real time security intelligence and observed the electoral process during the elections.

    Lawal appealed to opposition political parties and other stakeholders to act responsibly and pursue peaceful and legal resolution of their grievances.

    He said: “We commend INEC for allowing the will of the people to be heard and for remaining firm on her duty regardless of pressure from political actors that want to truncate the electoral process.

    “We urge citizens to support INEC, particularly the Resident Electoral Commissioners and they should come out enmasse to vote their candidate of choice for the gubernatorial elections.

    “CODE hereby calls on opposition parties and other stakeholders to act responsibly, to pursue peaceful and legal resolution of their grievances and to uphold the integrity of the political and electoral process.”

    Lawal said there was need to reform the electoral process in order to allow for diaspora voting.

    He also called for the strengthening of the autonomy of the commission in order for INEC to provide more effective and objective electoral process.

    “CODE suggest that in order to enhance confidence in the electoral process, INEC’s complete autonomy must be strengthened to ensure it provides more effective and objective electoral process.

    “INEC must develop result-management process using competent and secure technology and must provide a more conducive environment for collating results in regions.

    “INEC must introduce reforms that allow for Nigerians in the diaspora to vote the candidate of their choice.

    “Under-age voting is a violation of the Nigerian constitution and it is prevalent in some regions of the country. INEC must work to curb this issue as it serves as an indictment on the credibility of election process and ultimately a threat to our democracy,” he said.

    Lawal condemned election-based violence during the process.

    “Security remain a prevalent challenge confronting the nation’s growth and electorates should not have to die or lose loved ones at the cost of participating in the electoral process.

    “As an accredited observer, we are disheartened at the poor level of preparedness shown by the Independent National Electoral Commission to conduct a violence-free election, despite the week-long postponement of the election to allow for adequate logistics and security readiness,” he added.

  • INEC meets to review presidential poll

    The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) is locked in a meeting to review last Saturday presidential and National Assembly polls.

    The meeting which is coming hours after the elections is between the INEC management team and the Resident Electoral Commissioners (RECs)

    In his opening remarks, INEC Chairman, Prof. Mahmood Yakubu said that the processes and procedures deployed will be reviewed in a bit to make amends where necessary.

    He also noted that the meeting will help to finalise arrangements for the forthcoming governorship elections in 29 states of the federation and the council election in FCT.

    Details shortly….

  • NLC to Atiku: accept defeat in good faith

    The Nigeria Labour Congress ( NLC ) has asked all those who lost in the just- concluded Presidential and National Assembly elections, especially Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) presidential candidate Atiku Abubakar to accept defeat in good faith.

    President of Congress, Comrade Ayuba Wabba, in a statement in Abuja told the losers to bear in mind that no candidate’s victory or loss is worth the blood of any Nigerian or their property.

    He told President Muhammadu Buhari his re-election should enable him re-assess his vision, strategy and implementation as well complete pending projects while initiating new ones where feasible.

    The statement reads: “The Nigeria Labour Congress wishes to congratulate Muhammadu Buhari on his re-election as President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, being the second person to get re-elected since the return to civilian rule twenty years ago.

    “We also wish to congratulate other candidates for their participation and urge them to accept the outcome of the election, and adherence to the peace accord they had signed before the election.

    “The electioneering campaign although bitterly fought and the election itself keenly contested, we urge the President-elect and any aggrieved party to put first the interest of the nation. We reiterate that no candidate’s victory or loss is worth the life or property of anyone.

    “Mr. President won in 2015 on his campaign promise to fight corruption, restore security and grow the economy. From his re-election, this may have boded well with the greater majority of the people who voted for him.

    “Nonetheless, his re-election avails him a great opportunity to reflect on and re-assess his vision, strategy and implementation as well as enables him to complete pending projects and initiate new ones where feasible.”

    The Labour body added: “The Nigeria Labour Congress on its part will work with the social partners, government and organised private sector to ensure Nigerians, especially, workers to get dividends of democracy as and when due.

    Read Also: Congratulate Buhari, Tony Momoh tells Atiku

    “Worker-pensioner-issues, especially salaries, pensions and welfare will continue to dominate our engagement with government.

    “We commend INEC for organising the elections in spite of the initial glitches. It should speedily correct the lapses identified so far in order for it to conduct more credible elections in the future.

    “Our most profound commendation goes to the millions of Nigerians who defied all odds to perform their civic duty. Similarly, our deep condolences go to the families of those who lost their lives.

    “We demand that the culprits be brought to book in accordance with our laws.”