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Tag: Nigeria Decides

  • ‘Kwara result sheets mistakenly taken to FCT INEC office’

    Kwara state Resident Electoral Commissioner of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), Mallam Garba Madami, on Wednesday said the results sheets for last Saturday’s rescheduled presidential and National Assembly elections were mistakenly taken to the Federal capital Authority (FCT), Abuja’s INEC office.

    He added the ones for Lagos were inadvertently brought to Kwara while that of Lagos were taken to Nasarawa state.

    Madami added: “The result sheets for kwara was found in our FCT office in Abuja and they are going to be sent today .I will be here (CBN) till they bring it

    “Also the results sheet of Lagos was found here. I have sent it back, that of Lagos was also found in Nasarawa .You can see the reason the election was postponed,” the REC said.

    Madami said this in Ilorin, the state capital while addressing party agents at the commencement of distribution of sensitive elections materials from the Ilorin office of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) to local government areas.

    It was witnessed by representatives of various security agencies including the Police, Nigeria Customs Service, Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps, Nigeria Immigration Service, Nigerian Prison Service and media

    He however said the commission was expecting to take delivery of the results sheets to be used for rescheduled elections before the end of the (Wednesday).

    He informed the commission has taken delivery of other materials needed for the rescheduled polls.

    “The result sheets are not going to be used not until Saturday we would get it before then,” he said.

    Read Also: Buhari, APC arm-twisting security, INEC to rig polls, PDP alleges

    He said the commission began the movement of the election materials to various local government areas in the state to ensure those going to the difficult terrain arrive early enough.

    “We are stating with the local government that are far way, we are moving our materials to Baruten, Kaiama, Patigi where there are riverine communities, “he said.

    Asked whether the materials were secured, Madami said armed security personnel were already at the RAC rack centres to ensure safety of the materials and personnel.

    Speaking on the success of Permanent Voters card PVCS collection in the state, Madami said that the commission has recovered 82 per cent success with only a balance of 257,431 uncollected.

  • Nigeria more important than winner on Saturday, says Ribadu

    The All Progressives Congress (APC) Presidential campaign Council has said that while it is confident that President Muhammadu Buhari will emerge victorious at this weekend’s Presidential election, it also believe that the contest is not a do or die.

    Director, Field Operations of the Council, Mallam Nuhu Ribadu told newsmen that all those involved in the election should be aware that the contest is about Nigeria and should therefore not do anything that will undermine the interest of the country.

    Ribadu said: “The opposition party and those who we are contesting with, they should please understand it is not a do or die affair. It is about Nigerians.

    “Let Nigerians be the winner. If Nigerians are winners, then that is what politics is all about and that is what the future will look like. It is not about them or us, let Nigerians be the winners and the only way Nigerians can be the winner is if they play it fairly, honestly, justly, that is what is needed/required.”

    Ribadu assured that supporters and agents of APC would not be involved in criminal activities during the elections on Saturday, adding that the APC believes that Nigeria is more important than the party that wins the Saturday’s election.

    While saying that the APC was ready for the election, Ribadu said, “We would say we are prepared and we have worked hard. Twenty-four hours day and night we have been on this to prepare our supporters, particularly our volunteers and canvassers. We have over 300,000 of such people across the Country who has formally declared they are working for us.

    “We have given them all the necessary information they need to know that will help to sell our candidate very well and we have told them to do it peacefully in a way that we would have free and fair elections. They are ready and are all out there. We have sent a message across that we must conduct ourselves with all decorum, dignity with the APC/ PMB volunteers.

    “We have received very strong message from PMB and from everybody that no misbehavior will be tolerated. Our people will behave very well, our people will not be involved in any criminal activities, our people are going to conduct themselves according to the law and we believe that victory will be ours because we have prepared and worked hard.

    “I am very happy and excited with our level of preparedness towards the forthcoming exercise on Saturday. We only pray that we would be able to have it from all the players to adopt same attitude of free and fair election and let the winner emerge through a peaceful process.”

    On his trust on the Independent National Electoral Commission readiness, he said, “We hope that INEC is better prepared this time, we have witnessed what happened last weekend. We were all prepared and out then suddenly the got disappointed. We hope and pray that it is not going to happen again that they are fully prepared and everything is on ground for the elections on Saturday.

    “Also, the other players, the opposition party and those who we are contesting with, they should please understand it is not a do or die affair. It is about Nigerians. Let Nigerians be the winner, if Nigerians are winners then that is what politics is all about and that is what the future will look like.

    “It is not about them or us, let Nigerians be the winners and the only way Nigerians can be the winner is if they play it fairly, honestly, justly, that is what is needed/required.

    “My concern is that I hope they are also going to do exactly how we are doing, very well prepared, go to the field, convince the voters and let the vote count. Let Nigerians be winners in this matter.“

  • Buhari, APC arm-twisting security, INEC to rig polls, PDP alleges

    The Peoples Democratic Party ( PDP ) has accused President Muhammadu Buhari and leadership of the All Progressives Congress (APC) of arm-twisting key stakeholders in the electoral process.

    The main opposition party listed the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) and the security agencies as being arm-twisted to rig the February 23 elections in favour of President Buhari and the APC.

    At a media briefing in Abuja on Wednesday, spokesman for the PDP, Kola Ologbondiyan, accused the Presidency of launching ferocious plots with INEC and security agencies to ambush the rescheduled elections and foist Buhari on the nation.

    The PDP vowed the “evil plots” of the “fear stricken” Buhari and the APC come to naught.

    Commenting on the alleged plots, Ologbondiyan said: “Since the postponement, the Buhari Presidency and APC have been breathing down the neck of the Chairman of INEC, Prof. Mahmood Yakubu, in a desperate and feverish bid to consolidate their control of the operations of the commission and execute their rigging plot.

    Read Also: Buhari will get 80 percent votes, Enang boasts

    “At a meeting held in Buhari Presidency/APC situation room in the Presidential Villa last night, where Minister of Works and Housing, Babatunde Fashola, the Managing Director of Nigeria Ports Authority (NPA), Hadiza Bala Usman, Secretary to the Government of the Federation, Mustapha Boss, among others, were in attendance, Resident Electoral Commissioners (RECs) were directed to issue out result sheets to APC agents to falsify and declare results in favour of the APC.

    “Intelligence at our disposal reveals that the INEC Chairman has succumbed to back channel bullying by the Buhari Presidency and APC to accede to their demand to replace Electoral Officers (EOs) in various critical states with APC agents who will vehemently execute President Buhari’s rigging plans in the February 23, presidential election”.

    The PDP said it is in possession of full details of how the Department of State Services (DSS) has allegedly been interfering with operations of critical departments of INEC, including the ICT department, to do APC bidding.

    The party also claimed to have details of President Buhari’s Tuesday night meeting with some APC northern governors and Service Chiefs where pressure was allegedly mounted on the Service Chiefs in connection with the APC rigging plans.

    Continuing, the PDP spokesman said: “We alert Nigerians that the INEC Chairman has been intimidated with threat of ‘Onnoghen’s treatment’ to accept a list of APC members and agents and post them to serve as EOs in various states including Kano, Kaduna, Rivers, Bauchi, Akwa-Ibom, Zamfara, Benue, Sokoto, Lagos, Plateau, Taraba, Borno, Adamawa, Kogi, Delta, Ebonyi among others.

    “These APC EOs have been briefed to ensure the diversion of sensitive electoral materials from designated polling centres, delay the accreditation process, so as to frustrate voters’ enthusiasm, compromise the collation process to allocate and announce fictitious results for President Buhari and muddle up the process to pave way for result cancellation where it becomes impossible to rig for President Buhari.

    “The PDP stands with Nigerians in directly rejecting this latest arm-twisting of security agencies as well as the nefarious plots to use APC members as INEC Election Officers”.

  • APC to INEC: You must earn the confidence of Nigerians again

    …says asking Yakubu to resign not the solution

     

    The All Progressives Congress ( APC ) Presidential Campaign Council said on Wednesday that asking the Chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), Prof. Mahmood Yakubu to resign is of the solution to delivering a credible election this weekend, saying the commission must work to earn the confidence of Nigerians again that they can deliver a credible poll.

    Director, Election monitoring and Planning, Babatunde Raji Fashola who spoke at a news conference in Abuja said many Nigerians have sacrificed so much for Nigerian democracy, pointing out that their sacrifice must not be allowed to waste, pointing out that any party asking the INEC Chairman to resign does not understand the workings of government

    He said “Election and lack of elections have consequences. Many people have fought hard for this democracy, it has delivered uncomfortable results in the past as well as results we can live with and every effort to continue to improve it is an opportunity we must not turn our back on. Every party is disappointed, every well-meaning Nigerian is disappointed, but that is no reason to throw the baby away with the bath water.

    “So, it is for the INEC Chairman and his team to reclaim the confidence of the people and show us that they can deliver on what they have been asked to do. If you ask him to resign, will that give us an election?

    “If he resigns, will that give us an election? If the person who has been there for four years is having challenges now, who is prepared that will replace him and do what he has not been able to do in three and half years. The party that is thinking that way does not even know how government works. The solution is for all Nigerians to rally round INEC to get it right and that is what we intend to do.”

    Fashola who is also the Minister of Power, Works and Housing, said Nigerians must not allow the action of anti-democratic agents dampen our enthusiasm. Although a week looked like eternity, it has trickled down and is getting closer to the reversed date.

    He said “lots of Nigerians have sacrificed greatly and sometimes supremely with their lives to give us this democracy. We must covert the disappointment 16th February 2019 to an all-time determination on the 23rd of February 2019 that others have made. It is democracy that will preserve our freedom and the vigilance, particularly those appointed to serve as agents of our party must be all time high. The vigilance of those appointed to serve as agents of our party must be all time high.

    Read Also: I remain APC candidate in Enugu east senatorial zone- Ezeh

    “Our agents must know what their rights are and notice the public of our commitment to a free election. The agents have a right to be admitted to polling centres and collation centre in the area where the party is contesting election.

    “They have a right to take notes and statistics in a manner to undermine or impugn the integrity of the electoral process. They have a right to object to a prospective voter if he is suspected to be an impostor or if he has voted earlier and the record shows that if he does not belong to that polling unit. These are steps taken to ensure free and fair election. They also have a right to ask for a recount of the ballot only once at his polling unit after his presiding officer might have counted it in his presence.”

  • Ohanaeze cannot influence Igbo voters -Moghalu

    Chief Kingsley Moghalu, presidential candidate of the Young People’s Party (YPP), says the endorsement of a particular candidate by Ohanaeze Ndi Igbo is in vain.

    Moghalu disclosed this in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria, on Wednesday in Awka.

    He said youths in South East are now wise to know who to vote for and not for Ohanaeze to compel them on what to do.

    “We in the South East now know that our elders in Ohanaeze have been economical with the truth, they tell us what they want us to believe for reasons best known to them.

    “This time around the youth in the region have decided to vote for candidates that appeal to them in terms of development plans for the country,” he said.

    Moghalu said he has done much for Nigerians to deserve their votes in Feb. 23, poll.

    Read Also: Moghalu storms Lagos for presidential campaign

    “I did so much for the country while serving as the deputy governor of Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN).

    “I introduced POS services; the ATM card was also my initiative as well as Bank Verification Number (BVN) for identification of accounts.

    “I did all these to make the economy vibrant, it is also my contribution towards making ease of doing business possible.

    “If given the chance, I will do more for the country to enable it join the league of developed countries where youths will be proud to stay and earn their living,” he said.

  • Breaking: We’re good to go for Saturday’s polls- INEC

    ..Deployment of material to end on Thursday

    The Independent National Electoral Commission ( INEC ) has said that the deployment of voting materials to the 774 Local Government Areas of the country will be completed on Thursday.

    INEC also said that it has completed 100% the configuration of the Smart Card Readers (SCRs) which will be used for the accreditation of voters on the 23rd February and 9th March 2019.

    Updating the media and observers on the preparedness of the commission on Wednesday, Prof. Mahmood Yakubu, Chairman of the Commission said deployment commenced on Wednesday in ten(10) states. This he said will be completed on Thursday.

    Read Also: INEC supporting Emmanuel, says Akpabio

    He also acknowledged that there are reports of missing materials in some states.

    The commission he assured has made good progress in the area of logistics and is good to go.

    He also said that only accredited diplomats will be allowed to move about as there is restriction on movement.

    Details shortly…

  • Group alleges presence of 3000 ‘fake’ soldiers in Taraba

    The Taraba Volunteer Group (TVG) Wednesday alleged that some three thousand soldiers were deployed to Taraba state for the purpose of rigging the elections on February 23 and March 9 in favour of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC).

    The APC has however denied the allegation.

    TVG State Coordinator, Joseph Terence, in his briefing in Jalingo, noted that Taraba is among the 10 (PDP) states the APC-led government has earmarked to “forcefully” wrestle power from, irrespective of the damages and costs involved.

    “The postponement of the presidential and National Assembly elections on February 16 exposed the plot. 3000 fake soldiers were deployed to the state.

    “All the road check points, that were hitherto dismantled, came back alive with strange-looking, unprofessional men in military uniforms taking charge. They were fake soldiers but heavily armed.

    Read Also: Buhari sends SGF, others to console families of 8 dead Taraba supporters

    “The same contingent of fake soldiers is on their way back to their duty posts in Taraba for the election starting on February 23.

    “Their brief is to pave the way for fake electoral materials to have smooth sail in their destinations, and to cause confusion in PDP strongholds. This is to create opportunity for the APC to manipulate the poll,” Terence said.

    The group said the arrangement for rigging is in fulfillment of the request by the Taraba State flag bearer, Sani Abubakar Danladi, that President Muhammadu Buhari should provide him and the APC “adequate security men” to enable him take over Taraba State.

    APC spokesman, Aaron Artimas, denied planning to rig the election in Taraba state, saying the PDP was only jittery of the election.

    He added he is not aware of fake soldiers’ presence in Taraba state.

    “But I am aware that the federal government was deploying military personnel to flash points in the country, of which Taraba is one of them.”

  • ‘Dickson’s airport ‘ll attract votes to Bayelsa PDP’

    A stalwart of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Reuben Okoya, on Wednesday expressed optimism that projects embarked upon by Bayelsa State Governor, Seriake Dickson especially the airport project would attract votes to the party in the state.

    Okoya, a frontline PDP governorship aspirant in 2015, insisted that PDP had done very well in the state over the years and deserved victory in the forthcoming elections.

    Speaking in Yenagoa, the state capital, Okoya said he was particularly happy that the governor made it possible for the first airplane to land in the state describing it as one of the greatest achievements of the PDP government.

    He said: “I am proud of the work that the governor had done to ensure that we get an airport in Bayelsa state, so we must commend him and the PDP for that achievement.

    Read Also: Polls: No life, property would be lost in C/River, Ayade assures

    “Generally, airports are federal projects but the state government led by Governor Dickson decided to take it upon himself to ensure that we have an airport.

    “The benefits of airports are immeasurable; some are intangible you can not feel them. Driving to Port Harcourt everyday you want to fly, is a tough thing to do.

    “So, those of us who fly to Abuja, Lagos consistently will be able to drive 30 to 20 minutes to our airport and fly. Let us commend the PDP. If for no other reason Bayelsa should vote for PDP just for this airport accomplishment”.

    Okoya said he went round the state to campaign for the candidates of the PDP and appealed to voters not to experiment with a new party in the coming elections.

    “PDP has done very well for Bayelsa state, so PDP needs to keep ruling and running Bayelsa state. The success of the party needs to be rewarded by people coming out to vote for PDP en masse.

    “The record of achievement is all over the state. You can see it everywhere, I don’t want to go into details. But I want to employ the people to please vote for PDP for continuity, for success.

    “Let’s not experiment the new parties because we don’t know them very well. Let’s take what we have and try to make it better because there is no family that is perfect. There are always issues, debates, disagreement but ultimately when family sit down together we can always come together and make progress and success”.

  • Polls shift: Group urges agents to beef up security

    A South African based election observer body, Pan African Women’s Project, has urged the Federal Government to as a matter of urgency beef up its security apparatus, ahead of the rescheduled February 23 March 9, general election, so as to avert a planned bomb attack by political Thugs worshippers in the country.

    The Publicity Secretary of the body, Madam Mphoentle Keitseng,who spoke to reporters on arrival with her team from Abuja last night at Bristol Hotel,said,”following some classified information that reached us,a planned attack/Bomb explosion at some sensitive locations in some areas is targeted at general Mosque and popular market, as well as Churches.

    According to the body,”this is a message to Nigeria government,as we used this medium to speak with the Nigeria government to beef up security on all public areas,such as mosque,churches and markets for protection.

    Keitseng,further said,”following our consultation with various stakeholders with regard to the recent postponement Nigeria 2019 general elections,we observed that the Nigeria government did not release the INEC fund on time which resulted in supply not been made to produce materials as expected for elections.

    For instance, many observers groups are yet to receive their accreditations tags,Jackets and caps.

    When asked,how do they come to know about the non release of fund on time,she said that,they got the information from suppliers that the money was released to them last month as deposit,which brought about the delay in the supply of the sensitive and non sensitive materials normally used during elections.

    She,however,urged INEC to ensure that everything are in order for a peaceful,free,fair and credible 2019 general elections.

    She also advised voters to come out en–mass and exercise their franchise without fear or favour.

    Speaking to the Nation,the spokesman of the Kano state Police Command,DSP Abdullahi Haruna said that Police were not aware of planned attack ,adding that,”the group has not contacted us about the information.”

    According to him,we have taken adequate measures to ensure the conduct of a peaceful election in the state.

  • 2019: Over 10m PVCs collected so far – INEC

    Over 10 million Permanent Voter Cards (PVCs) have so far been collected, the Independent National Electoral Commission ( INEC ) has said.

    Over 14 million new registered voters were added onto the voter register since after the 2015 general elections.

    The PVCs are to be used for voting in the general elections which commence on Saturday with the presidential and National Assembly elections, while the governorship State Assembly and FCT council polls comes up on the 9th of March, 2019.

    Read Also: Polls: Again, FG reads riot act to INEC

    The polls were earlier scheduled for 16th February and 2nd March 2019 but was however rescheduled following the inability of the commission to successfully execute its logistics arrangement.

    Full story shortly…