The Nation Newspaper

Tag: Peoples Democratic Party (PDP)

  • Elections postponement has not dampened my spirit – Atiku

    The Presidential Candidate of the People’s Democratic Party (PDP), Atiku Abubakar, has condemned the postponement of the general elections by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) but said the development did not dampen his spirit.

    The commission had shifted the Presidential and National Assembly elections from Feb.16 to Feb.23, and moved the Governorship and State Houses of Assembly elections from March 2 to March 9.

    Abubakar, who spoke to newsmen at his residence in Yola on Saturday, said he was shocked by the development, adding that it was not the best of decision to cancel an election few hours to voting time.

    “I received the news with shock; you don’t postpone an election few hours to its commencement,” Atiku said.

    Read Also: Ndigbo endorsed Atiku in error, says Ngige

    He urged Nigerians to be patient and endeavour to come out and vote on the new dates of the polls.

    “I urge Nigerians to be patient and come out en masse to vote,” he said.

    Atiku said he was on his way to Abuja for a PDP emergency meeting over the development, adding that he had no problem with voting materials already distributed for the election as long as they were kept in the “right and secure places”.

    NAN

  • Who wears the crown?

    WHO rules Nigeria over the next four years? That is the major task before voters as they go to the polls today to pick the country’s president in the biggest election ever in its history. Although a  total of 73 candidates are in the presidential race, according to the list released by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), the contest from all indications will be a straight fight between the  incumbent, Muhammadu Buhari of the All Progressives Congress (APC) and Atiku Abubakar of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), the only candidates to have physically gone round the country to canvass for votes. It has been a tough duel; it is the race of their lives. But the odds seem to be in favour of Buhari with projections and poll experts tipping him to win the most votes.

    There are a total of 84 million voters registered for the elections and the March 2 governorship and state assembly elections. Buhari’s APC  is in control of the four states with the largest concentration of registered voters: Lagos 6.8m, Kano 5.4m, Kaduna 3.9m and Katsina 3.2m, and his popularity in the Northwest with 20.1million voters and Northeast with 11.2m voters is unrivalled. Poll projections suggest that in the Northeast,the President will win in Bauchi, Borno, Gombe, Yobe while Atiku is likely to win in Taraba. Adamawa, where Atiku comes from, is generally seen as a battleground between the two leading candidates, although many residents acknowledge Buhari as the brain behind the relative peace being enjoyed in the state now after many years of insecurity unleashed by Boko Haram.

    Most of the states in North Central – Kwara, Kogi, Plateau, Benue and Nasarawa- are regarded as battlegrounds but Buhari is tipped to win in Niger. The Northwest, especially Kano with its enormous votes, has always been Buhari’s comfort zone .His home state – Katsina, Sokoto, Kaduna, Kebbi, Zamfara and Jigawa are all considered safe for him. Same goes for the Southwest where the APC is in control of the six states in the zone:Lagos,Ekiti, Ogun, Ondo, Osun and Oyo. Atiku is projected to win in all the five Southeast states of Abia, Anambra, Enugu, Ebonyi and Imo, although Buhari is tipped to receive more votes in the zone than he did in 2015. Most of the states in the South-South are also projected to vote for Atiku. These are Bayelsa, Rivers, Delta and Cross River while Edo and Akwa Ibom are likely to cast their lot with Buhari. Lagos, Kano, Kaduna, Katsina have largest number of voters With  6,570,291 ,Lagos has the largest number of registered  voters for this year’s elections.It if followed by  Kano with  5,457,747, Kaduna with 3,932,492 and  Katsina  with 3,230,230. The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) said it registered over 84 million voters for the elections .

     

    Following is the breakdown of  how voters were registered  state by state:

    Abia 1,932,892 Adamawa 1,973,083 Akwa Ibom 2,119,727 Anambra 2,447,996 Bauchi 2,462,843 Bayelsa 923,182 Benue 2,480,131 Borno 2,315,956 Cross River 1,527,289 Delta 2,845,274 Ebonyi 1,459,933 Edo 2,210,534 Ekiti 909,967 Enugu 1,944,016 FCT 1,344,856 Gombe 1,394,393 Imo 2,272,293 Jigawa 2,111,106 Kaduna 3,932,492 Kano 5,457,747 Katsina 3,230,230 Kebbi 1,806,231 Kogi 1,646,350 Kwara 1,406,457 Lagos 6,570,291 Nasarawa 1,617,786 Niger 2,390,035 Ogun 2,375,003 Ondo 1,822,346 Osun 1,680,498 Oyo 2,934,107 Plateau 2,480,455 Rivers 3,215,273 Sokoto 1,903,166 Taraba 1,777,105 Yobe 1,365,913 Zamfara 1,717,128

  • PDP accuses INEC of hoarding election result sheets

    The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) has accused the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) of hoarding the presidential and senatorial elections result sheets for undisclosed reasons.

    The party also claimed that its agents were being denied the INEC accreditation and identification cards ostensibly to shut them out of the election monitoring process and allow the All Progressives Congress (APC) a field day to manipulate the process.

    In a statement yesterday by the spokesman for the PDP, Kola Ologbondiyan, the party said its monitoring and intelligence showed that INEC had been distributing sensitive election materials in most states of the federation without the presidential and senatorial elections results sheets.

    The statement said: “The development is already heightening tension and suspicion of underhand method by the commission to open the elections for manipulations and allow the APC to enter fictitious results for onward transmission to collation centres.

    “Intelligence available to us indicate that this is part of the plot for which President Muhammadu Buhari’s relation by marriage, Mrs. Amina Zakari, has been retained as the head of the INEC collation centre.

    “The PDP therefore cautions INEC to show its impartiality by immediately releasing the presidential and senatorial elections result sheet as well as the accreditation cards. Any further delay will be a clear recipe for crisis as Nigerians are already highly agitated over the matter.

    “INEC should note that Nigerians are very anxious about this election and any action that in anyway portrays or tends to portray the process as being manipulated is capable of triggering a crisis of unprecedented proportion in our country.”

  • APC stalwart alleges plot to divert materials in Bayelsa

    Former Acting Governor of Bayelsa State and stalwart of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Chief Nestor Binabo has accused leaders of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) of a plot to hijack electoral materials meant for Wards 6, 11 and 12 in Sagbama Local Government Area of the state.
    Speaking in Yenagoa, Binabo called on security agencies especially the police and officials of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to be alert and live up to their responsibilities and prevent what he described as a broad-day robbery in the ward.
    He said they had it on good authority that the PDP leaders in the area arranged with armed thugs and positioned them at strategic areas in the creeks to intercept the boats carrying the materials and hijack them before the got to the wards.
     Binabo, a former acting Governor in the state, said they would not accept any election tainted by hijack of electoral materials and other forms of rigging as was allegedly done in previous elections.
    He said the APC stood for free, fair and credible elections and were relying on security operatives to make it possible by preventing the desperation of the PDP in the state.
    He said: ‘This is to notify security agencies especially the police and officials of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) of ongoing plans by leaders of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) to hijack electoral materials meant for Ward 6, Ward 11 and Ward 12 in Sagbama Local Government Area of Bayelsa state.
    “We have it on good authority that the PDP leaders in the area have arranged with armed thugs and positioned them at strategic areas in the creeks to intercept the boats carrying the materials and hijack them before they get to the wards.
    “We are calling on security agencies and INEC officials to live up to their responsibilities and prevent this broad-day robbery in wards 6, 11 and 12 in Sagbama
    “We won’t accept any election tainted by hijack of electoral materials and other forms of rigging as was done in previous elections.
    ‘We in the APC stand for free, fair and credible elections and we are relying on security operatives to make it possible by preventing the desperation of the PDP in the state”.

  • Police arrest scores of suspected thugs in Akwa Ibom 

    The police in Akwa Ibom have arrested scores of suspected political thugs at various locations and hotels in Uyo metropolis.
    The suspects who are alleged to be thugs sponsored by the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) were picked up in Angelo Hotel, situated close to Ewet Housing Estate and other hotels in the city following a tip off.
    Spokesperson of the 2019 All Progressives Congress(APC) campaign council, Mr. Eseme Eyiboh and other stalwarts of the APC had alleged that the suspects are working for the PDP.
    The state publicity secretary of the PDP, Comrade Iniobong Ememobong said he was not aware of the arrest of any group of persons said to be working for the party.
    But the State Commissioner of police, Mr. Bashir Makama, who confirmed the arrest, the police was still investigating the matter to find out if the suspects were PDP or APC thugs.

    Read also: Man, 44, faces unlawful damage of property charge

    Makama said the police acted on intelligence report hence carried out raids on suspected black spots in Uyo and its environs to forestall any breakdown of law and order during the Presidential election on Saturday.
    The CP, who also silent on the number of suspects arrested in the sting operation, also said he was not aware of any vehicle caught with cache of money.

  • PDP accuses INEC of hoarding presidential, senatorial election result sheets

    The People’s Democratic Party (PDP) has accused the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) of hoarding the presidential and senatorial elections result sheets for undisclosed reasons.

    The party also claimed that its agents were being denied the INEC accreditation and identification cards, ostensibly to shut them out of the election monitoring process and allow the All Progressives Congress (APC) a field day to manipulate the process.

    In a statement on Friday by the spokesman for the PDP, Kola Ologbondiyan, the party said its monitoring and intelligence showed that INEC has been distributing sensitive election materials in most states of the federation without the presidential and senatorial elections results sheets.

    The statement said, “The development is already heightening tension and suspicion of underhand method by the commission to open the elections for manipulations and allow the APC to enter fictitious results for onward transmission to collation centers.

    Read Also: APC kicks as PDP plans its own results collation

    “Intelligence available to us indicate that this is part of the plot for which President Muhammadu Buhari’s relation by marriage, Mrs. Amina Zakari, has been retained as the head of the INEC collation center.

    “The PDP therefore cautions INEC to show its impartiality by immediately releasing the Presidential and senatorial elections result sheet as well as the accreditation cards. Any further delay will be a clear recipe for crisis as Nigerians are already highly agitated over the matter.

    “INEC should note that Nigerians are very anxious about this election and any action that, in anyway, portrays or tends to portray the process as being manipulated is capable of triggering a crisis of unprecedented proportion in our country”.

     

     

  • APC kicks as PDP plans its own results collation

    PDP to deploy 40m for votes tabulation  It’s plot to cause anarchy, says govt

    With a plan to collate results of tomorrow’s presidential election, the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) yesterday set the stage for a dispute – according to the Federal Government.

    The opposition party said it had put in place a Parallel Voting Tabulation (PVT) system to collate results. It is deploying 40 million of its members for the job.

    But the All Progressives Congress (APC) said it was all a plot to rig the election.

    The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) is the only authority for the collation and announcement of results.

    The PDP’s campaign spokesman and chairman of its Strategy Committee, Osita Chidoka, told a news conference in Abuja described  PVT as a “scientifically proven and a best-practice technique” designed to keep umpires on their toes.

    Chidoka, specifically said the PDP would be transmitting the results as certified by the party’s National Executive Committee (NEC) officers at the polling units.

    “The PDP has pivoted from recruiting first-time polling agents to recruiting high quality, educated individuals, whose maturity and experience will help them manage and mitigate against challenges on election day,” Chidoka said.

    Reacting, Information, Culture & Tourism Minister Lai Mohammed said the PDP was planning to create chaos by creating a parallel electoral umpire.

    The PDP’s plan is a flashback to the June 14, last year governorship election in Ekiti State. Former Governor Ayodele Fayose was announcing results from the Government House on the state-owned television and radio stations. He claimed to be relying on results collated by PDP agents from the polling units.

    The National Broadcasting Commission (NBC) shut down the stations and penalised them. They were re-opened after paying fines.

    The Minister said the opposition resorted to the tactic, having realised that it could not win free, fair and peaceful elections. He spoke in Ilorin, the Kwara State capital, after an interactive session with retirees and pensioners.

    Mohammed added that the alarm “is in line with the warning we have been issuing all along, that the PDP, jittery at the fate that is about to befall it and desperate to grab power at all costs, will seek to scuttle the elections, failing which it will work to discredit the results”.

    The latest manifestation of this desperation was revealed at a news conference by the PDP on Wednesday, during which the party said it would set up a parallel electoral body, under the tag of Parallel Voting Tabulation (PVT) system.

    “The PDP said clearly that PVT is a tool that will determine whether or not it accepts the results of the elections. Now, this is anarchy.

    “Yes, it is standard practice for political parties to have their own monitoring systems during elections. What is not standard is to set up a pseudo electoral commission and imbue it with the power to collate and announce results. That’s precisely what the PDP is doing under the guise of PVT. And this is totally unacceptable.

    “Whereas the PDP’s presidential candidate says his ambition is not worth the life of any Nigerian, his party has been doing everything possible to instigate anarchy and in turn put the lives of Nigerians in danger.

    “The PDP has been building up to this crescendo all along. The party has consistently attacked the two institutions that are pivotal to the elections: the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) and the police. The strategy is aimed at eroding the credibility of the two key institutions as a prelude to discrediting the elections. We warned about this, and we have now been vindicated.

    “At this stage, we believe that INEC is the only body that has the statutory role of collating and announcing the results of national elections. Any attempt by any individual or organisation to usurp this role is a recipe for chaos.

    “We are, therefore, using this occasion to warn the PDP that there will be dire consequences, should it proceed with its plan to usurp the role of INEC. We call on the security agencies to ensure the sanctity of the polls by providing a safe and secure environment for Nigerians to cast their votes.

    “We also appeal to Nigerians to feel free to exercise their franchise without fear. We also wish to alert the international community to the evil plans by the PDP, which has been threatening fire and brimstone, if its candidate fails to win on Saturday. We want to remind all Nigerians that the country’s unity and survival are more important than the ambition of any candidate.”

    Read also: Why Buhari is Nigeria’s best choice, by Tinubu

    Also yesterday, the Buhari Media Organisation (BMO) said that the PVT system could undermine tomorrow’s election.

    Besides, the move is a ploy to rig the election, create a credibility crisis and ultimately spark chaos after the poll, it said.

    Reacting to what the PDP described as its five strategies to checkmate rigging, which includes “a state of the art” Parallel Voting Tabulation System, the pro-Buhari group quoted the PDP as saying that it will reject the 2019 presidential election if the results collated by INEC does not tally with its PVTS.

    In a statement signed by its Chairman, Niyi Akinsiju and Secretary Cassidy Madueke, the BMO said that the template being created by the PDP was borne out of the realisation that its “sham” campaign; “a campaign lacking in strategy and execution, is not going anywhere”. The group says it believes that this strategy will also fail.

    The BMO spokesmen said: “We know that it is the usual template for PDP to create various scenarios in build-up to elections. Sensing defeat, they begin to create imaginary, unsubstantiated and unscientific claims and stories.

    “We urge them to be careful so they do not impose the conclusion of their mental gyration on Nigerians, especially when Nigerians have decided for President Muhammadu Buhari.

    “We find it laughable that just a while ago, Osita Chidoka claimed they – the PDP – have mobilised 40 million people as PDP’s independent election monitors. Now if we may ask, how many voters are there that they need 40 million election monitors? Are they mobilising to rig the election because we do not know anywhere in the world where election monitors are up to 40 million?

    “Who could be more fitting as a rigger than the PDP which, for 16 years, hatched several flawed electoral process that even its former president admitted openly to?

    “We know that it is deeply engraved in the culture of the PDP to be scammers, from the Maurice Iwu days to the employment scam of 2014, to this bogus claim that they have mobilised 40 million election monitors. Such claims ought to be disregarded as Nigerians focus on the polls on Saturday.”

  • PDP to Adamawa crowd: vote your chosen son Atiku

    THE People’s Democratic Party (PDP) yesterday held its last presidential rally in Adamawa State, the home state of its candidate, former Vice President Atiku Abubakar, with a call on the people to vote for him to become the next president.

    PDP National Chairman Uche Secondus told the crowd at the Ribadu Square in Jimeta, Yola, that Adamawa people must vote for Atiku 100 per cent, as they could not afford to reject their own son that Nigerian have chosen.

    Secondus said: “Nigeria has given Adamawa people a free gift. The entire people gathered: eminent personalities from the North, from the West, East, the Southsouth and the Northcentral; they endorsed your own son – the man that has been tested in the public and private sectors. The man that is full of energy and zeal.”

    He asked the crowd to agree with the rest of the country that Atiku is worthy of their confidence and votes.

    Secondus reiterated that apart from Atiku being their son, Adamawa people could rely on him for his capacity.

    He said: “The rest of Nigerians have chosen your son, a very energetic and competent man. He will not leave or give the presidency to a cabal. He will preside over the Villa 24 hours of the day. He will not sleep on duty as some other people are doing. APC is sleeping on duty. That’s why there is hunger in the country. That is why there is insecurity. That is why there is economic hardship and people are not employed.

    “The entire country has come together to place their confidence in your son to lead Nigeria out of hunger, out of deprivation and suffering. We are expecting 100 per cent votes from Adamawa State.”

    Atiku , who spoke after Secondus, asked the Adamawa people to prove the acceptance of their own by giving him their votes.

    Atiku said: “Today is my last day of campaign. I have not come here to campaign, but to say I have come home. The rest of Nigeria has campaigned for you by giving your son a ticket. What I want to say on your behalf is that we are grateful to all Nigerians for giving us the opportunity to elect the president from Adamawa State, from the Northeast.”

    Atiku added that when the PDP led the country, there was unity and development and Nigerians lived a better life.

    He said when APC took over, “it is unemployment, hunger, poverty and insecurity”.

    He urged the people to vote for him and bid President Muhammadu Buhari good bye.

    Adamawa State PDP governorship candidate Umaru Fintiri, who also spoke at the rally, urged the people to vote for Atiku, saying the vote would translate into national peace, unity, progress and empowerment for all.

    Two former governors – Boni Haruna and Bala Ngilari – also spoke at the campaign.

     

  • Obi’s candidature is Igbo project’

    •Leaders kick against election boycott

    A group of Igbo leaders rose from a town hall meeting yesterday in Enugu State, with a resolve that the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) vice presidential candidate, Peter Obi, is an Igbo project.

    The meeting, organised by Igbo Improvement Union (Oganiru Ndigbo), was presided over by Chief Emmanuel Iwuanyanwu. Senator Jim Nwobodo and Dr. Okwesilieze Nwobodo also attended the meeting.

    A communiqué issued at the end of the meeting, by the President of Igbo Improvement Union, Ugochukwu Agballah, urged Igbo in the seven states of Anambra, Abia, Enugu, Ebonyi, Delta, Imo and Rivers States to ensure the “effective mobilisation and successful execution of this Igbo Project.”

    The communiqué advised Ndigbo to disregard “calls by anybody or group to boycott the elections as this would hurt the socio-economic and political wellbeing of Ndigbo.”

    “Every Igbo person of voting age should vote for the PDP. The choice of Mr. Peter Obi as the vice presidential candidate of the PDP is a blessing to the nation and should be embraced by every right thinking Igbo patriot.”

    The communiqué, nonetheless, made the following demands of the Atiku-Obi presidency – construction of a railway network to link all state capitals in the Southeast with Lagos and the Federal Capital Territory, Abuja; reconstruction of Enugu-Port Harcourt, Enugu-Onitsha express roads, as well as all dilapidated and abandoned federal roads in Igbo land; completion of the upgrading of Akanu Ibiam International Airport to a work class international airport and the Sam Mbakwe Airport, Owerri to an International cargo airport; dredging of River Niger and construction of a seaport at Onitsha, as well as improving the electricity generation, transmission and distribution in Igbo land.

    The demands also included political and economic restructuring of the country and the construction of an inland dry port in Aba.

     

  • Reject PDP’s candidates, AbdulRazaq tells Kwara voters

    Kwara State All Progressives Congress (APC) governorship candidate, Mallam AbdulRahman AbdulRazaq, has urged the residents to reject all Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) candidates at the poll.

    “They don’t have anything else for you. Go out on Saturday to vote for President Muhammadu Buhari and all our National Assembly candidates. This is the only way out for us,” AbdulRazaq said at a rally in Pakata, Ilorin, the state capital.

    He added: “We must end their misrule this Saturday. Once you vote all our candidates this weekend, we can complete the work on March 2.”

    The Director General of AbdulRazaq’s campaign organisation, Abdulfatai Yahaya Gambari, told the people, especially APC supporters to shun violence and refuse to be provoked.

    “We are for peace. All we have to do is to use our votes to end the tyranny against our people,” he said at the rally attended by thousands of supporters and locals in the area.

    Lukman Olayiwola Mustapha, a former governorship aspirant, said the antidote to misrule and oppression in Kwara State is to vote for all APC candidates.

    At another rally also yesterday in Offa, AbdulRazaq called for massive support for APC in return for quick socio-economic development of the state.

    He said the APC administration would restore public confidence in government and secure the state, a veiled reference to the security crisis that worsened with last year’s armed robbery in Offa where over 30 persons were killed.

    The rallies came a day after AbdulRazaq visited Asa Local Government Area where he promised to fix the perennial water crisis.

    He also promised to tap into the N100 billion Federal Government’s fund to address the constant clashes between indigenous farmers and herders’ communities.