The Nation Newspaper

Tag: poll

  • 2015 poll: RECs under probe, says INEC chairman

    2015 poll: RECs under probe, says INEC chairman

    •INEC begins audit of PVCs
    •10m voter cards yet to be collected
    •400,000 PVCs not produced yet by contractors

    The Acting Chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), Mrs. Amina Zakari, has admitted that some Resident Electoral Commissioners are under investigation, but the actual number was still unknown to the electoral body.

    She said the commission is only watching and waiting for the outcome of the ongoing investigations by security agencies.

    She, however, said the agency will give those affected the benefit of doubt in line with the legal framework that they are innocent until proven guilty.

    She also said the commission will soon begin a nationwide audit of Permanent Voter Cards (PVCs) because about 10million PVCs,  out of the 68million produced, have not been collected.

    But she said about 400,000 cards were yet to be delivered by the PVC vendors.

    Zakari, who spoke exclusively with THE NATION in Abuja, said she is not desperate to become a substantive chairman of INEC.

    She said she did not lobby to become the acting chairman of INEC.

    While admitting that some RECs and INEC officials are under investigation over 2015 poll, she was non-committal on the actual number or identities.

    She said: “For the commission, we won’t know the number of those under probe at the moment until the investigations are over. We always know that a person is innocent until proven guilty. For now, we are just waiting and watching.”

    She said upon the completion of her five-year term in office, she had already cleared her desk and was personally driving home when she was appointed as acting INEC chairman based on the fact that she was the most senior National Commissioner.

    “I did not lobby for it. I had packed all my things out of INEC, I wanted to leave on June 30th, I wanted to take a leave for the remaining three weeks. I felt as the commission was being depleted, that I had a sense of responsibility to sit out my three weeks. And then, I was just called on my way home after the chairman (Jega) handed over to Ambassador Wali. I was called that the Head of the Civil Service of the Federation was looking for me and I said, “what for?” and I just continued driving and I was by Bullet House by the time I got the call and I just continued driving; I was almost home when they said “come back, you have a letter to be the acting chairman” and I said ‘but somebody was appointed in the morning’, I said ‘take the letter to INEC’, but they said, ;it’s in your name, you have to come and receive it, just turn around.’ And while I was arguing, my driver decided to turn around and I called the ambassador and I told him and he said, “Go and pick your letter.” I called the former chairman and he said, “Go and pick the letter.”

    “I was confused and worried because it’s an enormous responsibility and I wasn’t really expecting it. I picked the letter and came back to the office the next day in a sober mood. I know the only thing left to do is to consolidate on the gains within this acting period, just maintain an administrative structure, try to keep the commission running administratively and then let’s see what happens, since I know the problems of the commission in terms of business processes, so we are working on communication, we are discussing with the directors, giving them responsibilities and hopefully, everything should be fine.”

    Asked if she was the most senior, she added: “Yes, there were two of us, but one of us turned 80 years and could not be appointed as acting chairman. The lot fell on me. We were the two most senior commissioners and this is not the first time INEC has had an acting commissioner. I understand Prof. Maurice Iwu was a commissioner that became a chairman.

    “When we came, Soyebi was the acting chairman and he handed over to Jega, and he conducted elections. He  had done all the procurement. The commission was running before we came. In fact, with Soyebi and Phillip Umeadi Jr., the same scenario happened. When Iwu left, he didn’t nominate an acting chairman, Umeadi took over, but the Presidency appointed Soyebi as acting chairman.”

    Mrs. Zakari said she has no filial or marital relationship with President Muhammadu Buhari, contrary to insinuations in some quarters.

    She said: “I would say Gen. Buhari did not appoint me as a commissioner; President Jonathan appointed me as a commissioner. Before that, Gen. Obasanjo appointed me as special assistant, posted to FCT where I was secretary for Health, Agriculture and Social Development at the same time.

    “At the time President Jonathan came, he was looking for people that have integrity, that’s what I was told and I found myself in the commission and I did my best.

    “For somebody to say Gen. Buhari knew me and gave me the job, obviously he knew I am a hard worker and he is a principled person. I have never known him to be nepotistic, he is a very principled person. If there are familial ties, the principle would have rubbed off on that family. I come from a very principled family, my father survived two regimes that were jailing and sacking people and he survived both and for that, I don’t think I would do anything that would jeopardize that principle.

    “ I can’t say the general is my in-law. I  am not married to his son; my daughter is not married to him, that is what I understand about being an in-law. But obviously in life, you have acquaintances, people you have known. But I think people should not get distracted by this ‘family or no family’. Am I competent? Can I deliver? Can I conduct my affairs with integrity? “The President’s message is for people to be honest and to have integrity.”

    On PVCs, Mrs. Zakari said INEC will soon begin a nationwide audit of the cards.”

    Pressed to talk on whether or not she is determined to head INEC, she said: “I am not desperate. God decides who becomes leader; if God decides I would be the one to continue, I will have to do my best.”

    She continued: “We have about 58million PVCs collected so far, which is about 81 per cent, out of 68million produced. We have about 10million PVCs uncollected.  We still have about 400,000 PVCs not produced. So, we are going to resume the distribution of PVCs, but we cannot just bring out those PVCs and begin to distribute them until we are sure they belong to living human beings.

    “We are planning our modalities for distribution. But before that we are going out to the field to conduct PVC audit in all the states. On Thursday, we had a meeting with all our Resident Electoral Commissioners (RECs) and the topic of discussion was resumption of PVC distribution and Continuous Voters Registration (CVR).

    Asked when INEC will go to the field, she added:  “Like I told the RECs yesterday, the audit will start by next week but as for the PVC distribution we have to come up with a water-tight process so that the PVCs will not get into wrong hands especially as we are having Kogi and Bayelsa elections. We have to scientifically determine how we are going to do the distribution, so that we just don’t go out to the field and it becomes a different story.

    For the CVR, the plan was laid out before RECs on Thursday, but they had reservations on the process and we have to go back to the drawing board and do a proper planning. We don’t mind to plan for six months so that when it takes off, we will ensure we have a plan that can withstand pressure,  except for minor changes,  rather than we just take off because we want to please Nigerians and we end up having complaints and hitches along the way. We have set up a committee to look at the modalities and then we will still call the RECs back and agree on the modalities, because the new direction of INEC is a bottom to top approach and take decisions in an inclusive manner with the people that implement decisions rather than the commission just deciding on the processes.”

  • Delta poll: ‘INEC frustrating inspection’

    An All Progressives Congress (APC) candidate for Sapele in the Delta State House of Assembly,  Felix Anirah, has said Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) officials ara frustrating the inspection of electoral materials.

    The APC candidate sued the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) candidate and Speaker of the House of Assembly, Monday Igbuya, at the Election Petitions Tribunal sitting in Asaba, the state capital.

    He is challenging the declaration of Igbuya as the winner of the election.

    The tribunal Chairman,  Justice A.  A.  I.  Banjoko, granted an order on July 8, for a joint inspection of the ballot boxes and ballot papers used in the ward/polling units in the  constituency.

    The court directed a recount of the votes of the first petitioner/applicant and the first defendant/respondent, following a motion on notice filed by the counsel to the petitioner, Ikhide Ehighelua, on July 6.

    Addressing reporters at the INEC office in Sapele, counsel to the petitioner, represented by Bukola Asema, frowned at the attempt by an INEC official to frustrate the petitioners’ right to inspect the electoral materials, as ordered by the court.

    She said: “We all agreed to meet here at INEC office in Sapele by 9am this morning (yesterday). However, we have been waiting since. Now, it is 3pm and the EO is yet to come. This is a clear case of breach of the court’s order, which directed that all the parties should be in INEC office by 9am on July 21 and 22 for a joint inspection.”

  • Kogi guber poll: PDP at daggers drawn with NWC

    Things seems to be fallen apart for the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in Kogi State ahead of the November governorship election in the state.

    Already, elected delegates in the state are at dagger drawn with the National Working Committee of the party.

    The delegates who were elected in the June 27th, 2015 ad-hoc delegates election across the various wards in the state, have rejected the purported cancellation of their elections.

    They described the action of the party NWC as undemocratic and unacceptable to them.

    A lawyer, Ibrahim Abdullahi, an elected delegate representing Igalamela/Odolu LGA in his address said the party leadership erred by setting up a new committee to conduct fresh adhoc delegates election when the first one was declared to be free and fair.

    He further stressed that there was no justification for the new directive, except if there was a hidden agenda.

    He said: “We state categorically at this juncture that, we totally reject the purported cancellation and plot to conduct a fresh election for the ad-hoc delegates. Information available to us suggests that certain elements in the National Working Committee of the party have colluded with some undemocratic party members to deny the state a transparent process leading to the election of state executives.

    “We therefore wish to warn any of such members of the National Working Committee against undue vested interest they are showing in the matters of our state. We wish to also inform all, that the entire members and leaders of our party in the state will resist vehemently, any form of undue attempt to subvert the process with a view of installing state executives against the interest of the teeming members of the party.

    “We therefore call on our National Leaders, Board of Trustees members, other state governors and opinion leaders in the party to call the misguided members of the National Working Committee to order in the general interest of our party.

    “While we reaffirm our loyalty, commitment and support to our party PDP, we will resist, contest and reject attempt to hijack the party structure through unpopular and undemocratic means.”

  • PDP, APC warm up for Ondo poll

    PDP, APC warm up for Ondo poll

    Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and All Progressives Congress (APC) chieftains are warming up for next year’s governorship election in Ondo State. Correspondent DAMISI OJO writes on the scramble for power in the Sunshine State.

    Although the guidelines for next year’s governorship election in Ondo State are yet to be released by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), the contest for the seat that will be vacated by Governor Olusegun Mimiko has begun in earnest.

    As the dust settled on the general elections, everyone’s attention is gradually shifting to what promises to be a stiff contest between  the All Progressives Congress (APC) and the Peoples’ Democratic Party (PDP), in Ondo State.

    Political observers are already speculating about the kind of candidate that will be acceptable to the people and which senatorial district should produce the next governor.

    Though there is nothing like, rotation of the governorship seat in the 1999 Constitution by convention, the political parties are expected to take this factor into consideration in choosing their flagbearer, for the election.

    Since 1999, after Ekiti State was carved out of the old Ondo State, the governorship  seat has been rotated among the three senatorial districts in the state. For instance, the late Chief Adebayo Adefarati, who was from Ondo North District, emerged the governor in 1999. Nevertheless, the seat was contested with him by the late Governor Olusegun Agagu from Ondo South District and other candidates from the central district.

    Adefarati, an Alliance for Democracy (AD) leader, picked his deputy, the late Afolabi Iyantan, from the South.

    In 2003, the game changed, as the people from Ondo South District clamoured for power-shift.

    This factor helped the late Agagu of the PDP to defeat the Adefarati. Agagu’s deputy, Oluwateru, was from the Ondo Central District.

    In the 2007 elections, it was a similar clamour  by the Central District that worked in Mimiko’s favour. Mimiko served as the Secretary to the State Government (SSG) to Agagu and later as Minister of Housing and Urban Development in Obasanjo’s administration.

    The clamour for power shift to the Central District encouraged Mimiko to take a chance, by defecting to the Labour Party (LP) to enable him contest against Agagu. This was because it was certain that he would not secure the PDP ticket, since the governor would naturally be interested in a second term.

    Mimiko won the election, but he had to wait till 2009 to regain his mandate, after a protracted legal battle.

    Mimiko picked his deputy, Alhaji Ali Olanusi, who was recently impeached, from the North.

    The trend since since 1999 had been such that governors were denied second term because of the clamour for power shift. But, Mimiko broke the second term jinx, when he was re-elected in 2012.  He was re-elected, despite the fact that the two major political parties contesting for the seat strategically picked their candidates.

    The defunct Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN) picked Mr. Rotimi Akeredolu (SAN) from the North District as its candidate, while the PDP decided to allow the slot to remain in the South, by picking Chief Olusola Oke.

    This factor nothwithstanding, the two parties were not able to dislodge Mimiko. Aparently, their strengths were not enough to defeat him. Oke and Akeredolu came second and third respectively.

    This time around, it may be a different ballgame. Though none of the political parties has started making any serious arrangements towards the election, politicians who belong to different political camps have started laying the foundation for the poll.

    In Ondo North, which is likely to produce the next governor, a number of politicians have been showing keen interest in the race. But, they are yet to declare publicly for the contest. There are three federal constituencies in the district. They are Owo/Ose, Akoko South West/East and Akoko North West/East. Prominent politicians within these constituencies have started positioning themselves for the race.

    One of them is Senator Ajayi Boroffice, who secutred his second term seat to the Senate in the just-concluded elections. Boroffice has always denied his interest in the governorship seat, but his body language suggests that he is eyeing the seat. But our correspondent observed that despite his denial different groups have sprung up to advocate that he should join the race to become the next governor when Mimiko’s tenure expires.

    These groups are very active in the social media, trying to convince residents that the senator is the best man for the job. Boroffice is from the Akoko South West Local Government,

    Former Speaker of the State House of Assembly, Rt. Hon. Victor Olabimtan is also eyeing the seat. Olabimtan, who defected from the PDP to the APC just before general elections, have started lobbying party chieftains, particularly those that are likely to be among the delegates of the party. Olabimtan see the APC as the best platform for him to achieve his political aim.

    The former governorship candidate of the defunct Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN), Oluwarotimi Akeredolu (SAN), is also preparing to take another shot at the Ondo governorship race.

    Akeredolu, who is from Owo Local Government Area has boasted that he will be the governor. He still maintains his 2012 structure in the party and it is believed he may be counting on it to get the party ticket.

    Alhaji Jamiu Ekungba, a member of the Board of Trustees of the APC, is also one of those believed to be eyeing the party’s ticket. Ekungba, who is from Owo Local Government, was among the aspirants who contested for the ACN ticket in 2012. Despite the fact that he was denied the ticket, Ekungba has remained loyal to the party. Like other aspirants, his first hurdle is to secure the ticket. He may be backing on the fact that no Muslim has ever ruled the state before.

    Niran Sule, also from Owo Local Government, is equally eyeing the governorship. He was among the defectors who joined the APC from the PDP in 2014, when Governor Mimiko returned back to the fold. Before he decamped to APC, he was one of the close allies of Mimiko; he served as Commissioner for Special Duties in his first term. It was gathered that Niran Sule sponsored about eight state assembly candidates of the APC before he officially joined the party. This was done in readiness for 2016 election. Sule is not relenting on his effort to occupy the seat of power in state. He had commenced building of his political structures across the state.

    Akinfehinwa Awodeyi is also another indigene of Owo Local Government that has shown interest in next year’s governorship election. He utilized the opportunity of the recent general elections to build his political structures ahead of 2016. He was among the aspirants of the defunct ACN. Also in the race is Chief Bukola Adetula.

    It may not be the turn of Ondo Central to produce the next governor, given the fact that the Mimiko, who from Ondo West Local Government, is from the zone. However, Akure, which is the state capital, is agitating to rule the state, based on the fact that, no Akure indigene has ever ruled the state since it was created.

    Indeed, the senator representing the Central District, Chief Tayo Alasoadura, appears to be interested in the governorship. He is from Akure and he may be relying on the fact that Akure kingdom, which has the largest votes in the state, is agitating for their son or daughter to be the next governor.

    Alasoadura, an APC chieftain, is a former Commissioner for Finance. He defected to the defunct ACN where he declared his interest for the governorship in 2012. But, after he lost the ticket, he was made Akeredolu’s campaign coordinator.

    Ondo South District, which has the second largest voting strength, may not be left out in the race. The district is known to be the political strength of the PDP in the last 16 years.

    Politicians that may likely show interest from the zone include: Chief Olusola Oke, who is from Ilaje Local Government. Oke, was the candidate of the party during the last election. He, however, defected to the APC few days after the presidential election. He based his decision on the way he was treated by the PDP leaders. He said he is joining the APC to help build the party in the state.

    Oke, who is the former National Legal Adviser of the PDP, has structures in all the 18 local governments. He is an experienced politician, with an unprecedented political record since 1999. Oke, who came second during the last governorship poll, may need to work more on the party leaders to enable him get the party ticket.

    Dr. Paul Akintelure, a medical doctor and a prominent member of the APC from Okitipupa Local Government, is also interested in the race. He was the running mate of Akeredolu in 2012. He is a prominent member of the party in Ondo South District, due to his impact on the growth of the party in the area.

    Those eyeing the governor’s seat in the ruling PDP include Hon. Gbenga Elegbeleye, who hails from Akoko North East. He is a former House of Representatives from Akoko North East/West. After he left the lower legislative chamber, he was appointed Chairman of the National Sports Commission (NSC).

    Elegbeleye has already formed a platform, but he is yet to declare officially for the seat. He may be counting on the support of Mimiko to clinch the ticket.

    Former President Goodluck Jonathan State Campaign Coordinator, Tokunbo Modupe is among those who have shown interest in the race. Modupe, who is from Ose Local Government Area, may be counting on the fact that no indigene of Ose has ever ruled the state. But, his hope of governing the state next year may be dashed due to the voting strength of Ose.

    Also in the race is Dr. Olu Agunloye, who is from Akoko North East. He was among the defunct ACN governorship aspirants in 2012. He dumped the party for the LP after the the party’s ticket was given Akeredolu. He was among the party chieftains that went along with Mimiko to join the PDP in 2014.

    Agunloye was initially interested in to the Senate on the platform of the PDP, but his hope was dashed when he was denied the ticket to represent Ondo North District in the Red Chamber.

    He was among those who teamed up with the old PDP group led by Mr. Jimoh Ibrahim to frustrate Mimiko’s return to the fold. It was rumoured then that he had a deal with Ibrahim, ahead of 2016 election. Based on the agreement, Agunloye may emerge as the running mate of Ibrahim, if the latter eventually picks the PDP ticket.

    Business mogul Jimoh Ibrahim is a chieftain of PDP who contested the governorship poll in 2003. Ibrahim, from Okitipupa Local Government, has been nursing the ambition to rule the state for a long time. The rancour between him and Mimiko was all because of the 2016 poll.

    Nevertheless, Ibrahim is yet to declare his intention. But, he has capitalized on the opportunity of the crisis in the PDP before the presidential election to become the leader of the old PDP. Before the general elections, he launched a political association to work towards his emergence as the candidate of the party.

    To checkmate Mimiko’s bid to become the party leader, Ibrahim and his followers formed an alliance with the APC during House of Assembly polls. But, their efforts did not amount to anything, because Mimiko eventually succeeded to secure the majority of the assembly. But, since the old PDP has lost out to Mimiko’s group, it is not certain if Ibrahim will still contest the poll under the PDP platform.

    Another aspirant is the former Special Adviser to the President on Niger Delta Affair, Kinglesy Kuku. The former Special Adviser, who is from Ese-Odo Local Government Area, a riverine community, has invested so much in the growth of the PDP in the zone. He may be counting on the his investment in the party to get the party ticket.

    But, he may need to do a lot of work to get acceptability in all the local government, based on the fact that his is from Niger Delta community.

  • NUJ poll: The Nation man solicits Akwa Ibom NWC’s votes

    A top contender for the Nigerian Union of Journalists (NUJ) presidency, Waheed Odusile, yesterday solicited the votes of members of the Akwa Ibom State NUJ Council.

    Odusile, who addressed reporters at the State Press Centre in Uyo, the state capital, promised that if given the opportunity to lead the union, he would propose that journalists in the employ of federal and state governments be treated as professionals and placed under a special media salary structure.

    Odusile, The Nation Managing Editor and columnist, was accompanied by the leadership of the NUJ Lagos State Council, led by its Chairman Deji Elumoye.

    The Nation man said if elected, he would propose a law that would make it illegal for media owners to owe journalists salaries.

    He said: “We will propose to the government that all journalists in the employ of governments, either in the state or Federal government, should be treated as professionals. They should be accorded a special salary structure to take care of what they are doing.

    “What we are asking for is simple: we are saying, ‘let us have a minimum salary structure that should be paid to the Nigerian journalists’. Once we are able to achieve that with the government, we will be able to negotiate in our private organisations.”

    Odusile also vowed to fight quackery, if given the mandate to lead the union.

    The member of the Nigeria Guild of Editors (NGE) said there is need to correct the image of the profession in the eye of the public.

    He said: “We will eradicate quackery. Journalism should not be an all-comers’ affair. For you to become a journalist, we are saying come and train. We are saying journalism is a profession. Let it so be recognised as a profession. There is need for us to restore our dignity.”

  • APC’s far-reaching poll win

    APC’s far-reaching poll win

    With 19 states already in its kitty out of 29, and a handsome win in the presidential election far in excess of predictions, the All Progressives Congress (APC) appears set to make history, or more accurately, to build history on the ashes of its main rival and former ruling party, the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP). If it would win, no one expected the APC to win on the scale it has managed to do just two years or so after its founding. So far, too, the intrepid challenger has managed to win about 64 Senate seats out of 109, and about 214 House of Representatives seats out of 360. In short, roles are being reversed, and it remains to be seen how responsibly the new ruling party will use the enormous power and influence the voters have entrusted into their hands, or how smartly and adequately they can interpret the repudiation the PDP has just suffered.

    Had polling been free and fair in Delta, Rivers and Akwa Ibom States, the APC plurality would have been far larger, and its dominance of the National Assembly more overwhelming. But notwithstanding its great win, the APC must prioritise the reform of the electoral process in view of its implication for peace, progress and stability. The kind of brazen and humiliating thievery that characterised polling in the three states must not be allowed to go unanswered, as if nothing happened, as if no one died. The dead must be avenged, and the criminals who perverted the electoral process and orchestrated the openly violent subversion of popular will must be held accountable. As it is also evident, even the Permanent Voter Card and Card Reader innovations are neither immune to tampering nor are they infallible. To kick-start the process, and quite apart from any legal option the APC might wish to take, the Muhammadu Buhari government, once sworn in, must institute an inquiry into what went violently wrong in the three troubled states.

    Overall, the APC must help itself with a comprehensive analysis and understanding of its momentous win on March 28 and April 11. Embedded in the victory are countless lessons with far-reaching implications for Nigerian politics, ethnic groups and religions. These lessons must be deconstructed and disaggregated in order for the winning party to proceed more sure-footedly into the future, consolidate on its win, for it is not an accidental win, and understand the kind of reforms the country needs, the tempo required to sustain them, and the amperage with which the party must pursue its revolutionary and transformative agenda. The country is famished for change; and the APC has made change its credo. Both should now meet substantially and creatively on the national continuum, and knit a tight and inspiring national fabric worthy of the trust reposed in the party during balloting.

    By now, even to the most optimistic and idealistic proponent of ethnic politics, the formulaic approach to presidential elections, which began nervously with the election of former president Olusegun Obasanjo, is fast receding. Gen Buhari was elected, not because he is a northerner, but because by geopolitical alliances and the creative engineering of public impressions both in the North and elsewhere, he came across as the desperately needed antidote to President Goodluck Jonathan’s serial political malfeasances, governmental impotence, general lethargy, and personal weakness. Nigerians were tired of President Jonathan’s economic management style and exasperated with his undignified and uninspiring habit of cavorting with militants and all sorts of ethnic and religious bigots. They needed change, and they believed Gen Buhari best approximated their definition of change.

    Closely leashed to the receding formulaic approach to presidential polls is the somewhat less evident lesson implicit in the electoral behaviour of the Southeast and South-South. Both zones seem at odds, perhaps culturally, with pluralism, preferring as they do the paradoxically unitary approach in which one person or party is supported for mostly sentimental reasons. Some south-easterners have argued that the zone consciously supported President Jonathan for the same contradistinctive and countervailing reasons most northerners supported Gen Buhari, and does not regret it. But consequent upon the way the last polls were decided, the Southeast will have to figure out, in a political world where the presidency is no longer vouchsafed to any zone simply because that had to be done, how to produce a candidate that will resonate with the nation, build or utilise a party that can capture popular imagination, and construct a winning alliance. Having shot itself in the foot, as it were, by being unimaginatively close-minded in not producing a ranking senator for the winning party in the Eighth Senate, it makes the job of producing a nationally acceptable Southeast politician and presidential material doubly difficult. There are no shortcuts.

    Surely, the Southeast and the South-South must recognise the need to ponder why they voted the way they did: insularly, fanatically, unrealistically and coercively. The North, despite the popularity of Gen Buhari, gave substantial votes to President Jonathan in some states. And the Southwest, whose son was on the presidential ticket, gave huge votes to a man and party that alienated the zone for more than five years and insulted them with tokens shortly before the fateful March and April elections. There was little voting in the South-South and Southeast. Both zones, which are unfamiliar with life in opposition, now have a responsibility to play politics more responsibly if they are to produce a president anytime soon. If they do not, but so that the nation is not destablised by deliberate or inadvertent politics of exclusion, they must be compelled to play politics the right way.

    The APC, judging from its recent antecedents, is now intrinsically liberal and democratic. It knows what to do to effectively police the next elections and leave no one in doubt that electoral malpractice will be punished most severely. It should diligently proceed in that right direction.

  • Presidential poll: Group demands detained APC members’ release

    A non-governmental organisation, Coalition for Change and Good Governance, has demanded the release or prosecution of four All Progressives Congress (APC) members allegedly arrested before the March 28 presidential and National Assembly elections.

    In a statement yesterday by its coordinator, Rasaq Olasunkanmi, the group listed those allegedly arrested as Ismail Abiodun, Sakiru Abiola, Olalekan Akin Taiwo and Yemi Taiwo.

    It alleged that they were arrested about three days to the elections, adding that they are being detained at the State Security Service (SSS) facility in Shangisha, Lagos.

    Olasunkanmi said more than a week after the elections, the APC members had neither been released nor charged to court.

    He claimed that they are being denied access to their family members, adding: “Their continued detention has put their families in psychological and emotional turmoil.”

    The statement reads: “By this token and in the spirit of national healing, we call on the security agents that arrested these APC members in Bariga area of Somolu Local Government during the build up to the March 28, 2015 election to release them immediately.

    “We also call on the President to prevail on the SSS to effect the release of these people immediately as their only offence is choosing to support a particular candidate. We implore the leadership of APC not to abandon these people to their fate but to engage the relevant agencies to facilitate their freedom.

    “Democracy goes beyond voting. Deepening our democracy is not limited to change of political baton but include all pre-and-post election best practices. Hence, releasing the arrested persons for supporting some candidates or party will put our democracy on the path of greatness.”

  • Clerics salute Nigerians on successful poll

    The Council of Ulama of Nigeria has congratulated Nigerians on the conduct of what it calls one of the most successful elections in the country’s history.

    This, the clerics, attributed to the way people came out enmasse to vote, and the orderly manner in which they conducted themselves.

    A statement by its Secretary General, Dr Muhammad Sadiq Al-Kafawy praised the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) for its doggedness, transparency and thoroughness.

    The Council appealed to Nigerians to extend similar support to INEC in Saturday’s governorship and House of Assembly elections.

    The council hailed President Goodluck Jonathan for conceding defeat even before the final collation.

    It urged president-elect, Muhammadu Buhari to extend a hand of fellowship to the oppositions.

    The council condoled with the Emir of Katsina, Alhaji Abdul Mumini Kabir Usman, his family and the police on the passage of Alhaji Muhammadu Dikko Yusufu, a former Inspector General of Police.

    “The great statesman had served the country in different capacities up to the time of his death. The council Of Ulama calls all Muslims to remember him in their prayers; we pray Allah to give his (Yusuf’s) soul an eternal bliss,” the statement reads.

  • Oyo candidates flex muscle over governorship poll

    Major governorship candidates in Oyo State yesterday boasted about winning the election.

    Governor Abiola Ajimobi is flying the flag of the All Progressives Congress (APC), his predecessor, Adebayo Alao-Akala, is the Labour Party (LP) candidate.

    Rashidi Ladoja is contesting on the platform of Accord and Teslim Folarin is the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) standard bearer.

    Speaking in Ibadan, the state capital yesterday, the candidates expressed unusual confidence of coming tops in the election.

    Though the APC defeated other parties with a wide margin in the presidential and National Assembly elections on March 28, candidates of the defeated parties insisted that they were only beaten  not defeated.

    APC won the three senatorial seats and 12 of the 14 House of Representatives seats.

    The party also controls the House of Assembly with 18 out of 32 members.

    Opposition parties also believe that the governorship election would not go the way of the March 28 elections because, according to them, voters were carried away by the popularity of the APC presidential candidate, Muhammadu Buhari.

    In separate chats, Ajimobi, who spoke through the party’s State Chairman, Chief Akin Oke, said Oyo people have always chosen light by aligning with the progressives, adding that they also reconfirmed it by their massive votes for the APC in the March 28 elections.

    He said voters will, once again, show their preference for the transformation, reformation and the repositioning of the state being undertaken by his administration by voting for him and all APC candidates in the House of Assembly election.

    Ladoja, who spoke through the Director General of his campaign organisation, Adeolu Adeleke, said Accord remained undaunted, despite the result of the last election.

    He said: “We remain undaunted and psychologically stable with optimism to win the election.”

    Alao-Akala, who spoke through his spokesman, Oludare Ogunlana, said what the party suffered in the last election would be regained on Saturday.

    “Whatever we suffered, people are ready to respond with their votes on Saturday.

    “The way Gen. Buhari was voted for across the country is the way Alao-Akala would gain people’s votes across Oyo State on Saturday,” he said.

    The PDP State Publicity Secretary, Kehinde Salawu, was also optimistic that his party would win the elections.

    He said  the party had embarked on educating its  supporters on how to vote for only the PDP.

  • ‘Use of military for poll illegal’

    The All Progressives Congress (APC) in Edo State has condemned the purported deployment of soldiers for Saturday’s elections, saying it is illegal.

    APC’s state treasurer Alhaji Saliu Momoh, who spoke with reporters in Benin, said the rule of law should be considered in such situations.

    “What we are after is the role of the military in the constitution, because we run a constitutional system of government.

    “We must always ask what the position of the law is concerning the use of the military in elections,” he said.

    Momoh said those clamouring for the use of military have ulterior motives. He said such people continue to yearn for the military even when they know it is not their responsibility.