Former Senate President David Mark has been declared winner of the Benue South rerun election held on Saturday.
According to the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), Mark,
defeated Daniel Onjeh of the All Progressives Congress (APC) with 84,192 votes to 71,621.
In the result announced by Professor Ishaku Enigi, Mark won in five local government areas, while Onjeh won in four.
Breakdown of the election in each Local Government Council is as follows:
1. Ado LGA
APC – 6370
PDP – 6513
2. Agatu LGA
APC – 3458
PDP – 7986
3. Apa LGA
APC – 4943
PDP – 9191
4. Obi LGA
APC – 8585
PDP – 7043
5. Ohimini LGA
APC – 6192
PDP – 5923
6. Okpokwu LGA
APC – 6830
PDP – 11935
7. Otukpo LGA
APC – 12203
PDP – 18468
8. Oju LGA
APC – 14159
PDP – 10289
9. Ogbadibo LGA
APC – 8882
PDP – 6844
Difference = 12,571 votes
Tag: rerun
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Benue re-run: INEC declares Mark winner
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APC wins Adamawa rerun
The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has declared Mrs. Talatu Yohan of the All Progressives Congress (APC) as winner of Saturday’s Numan, Demsa and Lamurde Federal Constituency rerun.
The INEC Returning officer, Dr. Pascal Timtere, who spoke in Numan, Adamawa State, said: “Talatu Yohana of the APC won the election with 24,126 votes.”
He said Michael Zidon of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) polled 11,513 votes and Dr. P.P. Power of PDM got 6,320 votes.
Others are CPP, 222 votes; KOWA, 400 votes and Labour Party, 154 votes.
Timtere said the number of registered voters was 178,471, while 44,577 voters were accredited.
“The valid votes were 42,735 and total rejected votes were 1,293, while number of votes cast was 44,028,” he said.
Last November, the Court of Appeal in Abuja nullified the election of Mr. Kwamoti Laori of the Social Democratic Party (SDP) and ordered a rerun.
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Lawyers to INEC: allow neutral workers to conduct Bayelsa rerun
Lawyers have said the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) will fail neutrality test if it allows those who conducted the December 5 “inconclusive” election in Bayelsa State to handle the rerun on January 9.
The lawyers, who conducted legal clinic on Bayelsa election with civil society groups, said their findings revealed that the current composition of INEC in Bayelsa State would not guarantee a free and fair rerun.
The report of the clinic was signed by the General Counsel, Legal Clinic for Development and Democracy (LCDD), B. B. Bamigboye.
The lawyers urged INEC to redeploy the state’s Resident Electoral Commissioner (REC), Mr. Baritor Kpagir, as well as other principal officers since they were no longer neutral, as required by the Electoral Act.
Bamigboye noted that the two leading candidates – Chief Timipre Sylva of the All Progressives Congress (APC) and Governor Seriake Dickson of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) – publicly disputed the results in local government areas they allegedly lost.
He said despite the dispute, INEC declared winners in seven of the eight local government areas but aligned with the PDP to cancel the results in Southern Ijaw Local Government Area, citing violence.
He said while the APC and a group of observers opposed the reason for cancelling the election, the PDP continued to defend the INEC officials responsible for the cancellation.
Bamigboye recalled that the REC allegedly issued a statement, claiming he was offered money to rig the election and that his life was under threat.
The lawyer said though the party that offered the REC money had been a subject of speculation, INEC leadership had not upheld the neutrality contained in its enabling statute, following the plethora of petitions, allegations and counter-allegations involving its officials.
He said the statute required INEC to redeploy politically exposed officials and detail new personnel to conduct the supplementary elections in Southern Ijaw and other areas of the state.
Bamigboye said: “Whilst Electoral Act does not confer locus standi on voters in an election tribunal, the right to vote and be voted for is now under threat due to INEC’s inability to demonstrate commitment to neutrality.
“When we juxtapose the foregoing facts with Section 28 of the Electoral Act 2010, we must of necessity demand a reasonable degree of legal rectitude from INEC.”
Quoting Section 18.28 of the Electoral Act, he said: “(1) All staff appointed by the Commission taking part in the conduct of an election shall affirm or swear before the High Court an Oath of neutrality as in the Second Schedule to this Act.
“(2) All Electoral Officers, Presiding Officers, Returning Officers and all staff appointed by the Commission taking part in the conduct of an election shall affirm or swear an oath of loyalty and neutrality indicating that they would not accept bribe or gratification from any person, and shall perform their functions and duties impartially and in the interest of the Federal Republic of Nigeria without fear or favour.”
The lawyer noted that based on admittance of the REC, the neutrality of INEC in Bayelsa State was legally questionable.
He said: “Can it be said that in the exercise of its discretion, INEC officials complied with Section 28 of the Electoral Act 2010 (as Amended)? Are we supposed to embark upon a voyage of discovery in order to ascertain the culprits cited by the REC from the outcome of the results so far and that of January 9, 2016?
“Does the controversy surrounding allegation of the REC amount to INEC’s descent into the arena of dispute? What is the rule when an arbiter, such as INEC, is publicly challenged on its acts or omissions occasioning its decent to the arena of dispute?
“If the complainants accuse one another as culprits, are we not bound by the rule of law to give fair hearing to the complainants through neutral parties? Are there no neutral persons in INEC whose decisions will not be fettered by the current encumbrances of bias, prejudice, mistrust and ill-will?
“Is INEC itself conscious of the principles upon which its functions are weighed – whether in the court of public opinion or in courts of justice?
“Where instruments of human rights and democracy which flow from international comity are violated, are citizens entitled to redress through the respective agencies of government?
“We have a pending case in this area at the Federal High Court, Abuja (Bamigboye Vs INEC, PDP and APC…).”
He added: “The foregoing questions point to one fundamental principle, to wit: neutrality. It is settled law that: where the same reasons exist, the same laws prevail, and of things similar, the judgment is similar. (Ubi eadem ratio, ibi eadem lex; et de similibus idem est judicium).
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Rerun: ‘Why Benue South people must reject Mark’
The people of Benue South Senatorial District have been urged to resist an attempt by ex-Senate President David Mark to return to the National Assembly.
The Coordinator of ‘The Idoma Shine Your Eyes’, Comrade Yakubu Onogwu, in a statement to reporters at the weekend in Benin City said the only way to attract development to the zone was for the people to reject Mark at the polls and vote the All Progressives Congress (APC) candidate, Comrade Daniel Onje.
Onogwu, who accused Mark of wasting the opportunity to attract federal presence during the 16 years the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) was in power, said it was regrettable that the Idoma were pauperised despite their kinsman being Senate president.
His words: “It’s a shame that a drive round Otukpo, which is regarded as the administrative headquarters of the Idoma and other communities, will show ruin, with no federal presence. Our people have been deceived for too long.
“Mark is doing everything to manipulate the people with his ill-gotten wealth. He wants to rig himself back to the Senate. We assure him that he will fall as the biblical Goliath fell to David. Benue South people are conscious politically more than before.”
Onogwu said the people must reject the PDP and vote for the APC, adding that it will amount to political suicide if they vote for Mark.
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PDP acting out of fear of rerun in Delta -Emerhor
In this interview with Bolaji Ogundele, Olorogun O’tega Emerhor, the governorship candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in Delta State, talks about his appeal against the decision of the Governorship Election Petition Tribunal, which affirmed Dr Ifeanyi Okowa as winner of last governorship election and the plans to revive the economy of the state under an APC-led government in the state. Excerpts
How ready are you and your party to pursue the appeal of the tribunal’s judgement, delivered in favour of Governor Okowa recently?
Our solicitors have received our instructions to appeal the judgement. They have equally received the certified true copy of the ruling and are already working on the grounds of appeal. They would be more authoritative than me in spelling out the grounds of appeal but I can give you a few indications here: We believe the tribunal erred, when after holding that INEC has powers to issue guidelines, including the use of card readers, nonetheless, failed to find that Okowa/PDP/INEC breached those guidelines through their admitted resort to manual voters accreditation.
We believe the tribunal erred when it ruled a duly certified INEC generated card readers accreditation report that showed total voters accreditation at 715,392, inconclusive based on unsubstantiated oral evidence. We also believe that the tribunal erred when it expunged our star witness, Barrister Ore Ohimor’s analysis that had earlier been admitted as exhibit, on the premise that it was only front loaded during the reply of the petitioners to the respondents’ reply. This analysis was core to our case of over accreditation/voting. It showed over voting in 1,847 polling units or 61% of polling units in Delta State. We believe based on this alone, the elections ought to have been cancelled.
Furthermore, we believe the tribunal erred when it applied the recent case of Balogun v Akpatason (August 2015 ) to dismiss our case on the basis that it was signed by only one of the two petitioners ignoring the subsisting legal authority at the time the case was instituted ie Ibrahim v Sheriff (2002 ) that allowed one signatory! We believe the petitioners couldn’t and were not expected to anticipate the recent Balogun v Akpatason ruling.
These, among others, I believe will form the many grounds of our appeal.
Another issue is this belief that the national leadership of your party rather sees you as not popular enough to execute a campaign that will deliver the state to APC and thus is not in your support, like the cases in Rivers and Akwa Ibom. How true is this?
You have raised two issues here. First, I’m not aware that APC as a party and government are the ones directing the tribunal judges on which elections to cancel or not. The APC and PDP have won and lost a number of tribunal cases all over the country. APC lost Gombe’s judgement even before losing in Delta. Akwa Ibom was only partially won. Rivers is the only clear win by APC so far. This trend cannot be interpreted to mean APC is directing judges on which states to deliver to it. Your inference of APC’s direct intervention is highly untrue and I can only say it falls into the narrative that the PDP national publicity secretary, Chief Olisa Metuh, has been pushing to falsely smear our great party. Secondly, I believe it is the PDP in Delta State that stand to gain by pushing the story that I’m not popular enough to win Delta State or that my national party leaders are not in my support. They are only pushing this out there out of fear for a possible rerun. I’m the candidate of the party. The party supported me during the April 11, 2015 elections and has been supporting me since then. It is the PDP that did not allow an election in Delta State that would have established who was more popular. Instead they resorted to rigging and allocation of votes. They are the unpopular party and candidate that are waiting for embarrassing rejection by Deltans. Their strategy, therefore, is to sow doubt in the mind of Deltans who now know that the federal might is now with APC and no longer with opposition Delta PDP. This is rerun politics already at play and Deltans must be wary. With the spate of defections from PDP to APC already happening in Delta and with more envisaged once a rerun is ordered, the PDP is acting out of fear!
Why then did the minister representing the state in the federal cabinet not picked from the ranks of the party in the state, if not that national body of the party feels indifferent about the Delta APC chapter?
This again is untrue! Dr. Ibe Kachikwu, from what I understand, was targeted as an oil industry professional to manage the petroleum sector, a key sector that President Buhari is serious about revamping. My take is that Kachikwu just happened to come from Delta State. The story would have been the same if he came from any other state. Moreover, Delta is not the only state where the appointee was not from the core APC family. The same issue was protested in Kaduna, Sokoto and Gombe. My further take is that the President in making these appointments placed Nigeria’s national interest ahead of APC local state interest. True, every state wanted one of their own as minister. This definitely empowers the local party and helps it to grow stronger and even win elections. In our case, yes, we would have liked one of us but definitely, national interest comes first. Also, the appointed Minister is a Deltan and it’s only a matter of time and he will identify with us and support the party. Again, those who want to divide the APC family in Delta are the ones eagerly pushing the above narrative.
Should the appeal favour you and a rerun is ordered, how ready is Delta APC to take over the state from PDP?
You only need to seek the opinion of the average Deltan to know that in a one man one vote free and fair election, the PDP does not stand a chance. For 16 years and more, the state has been under PDP’s misrule. The state is crying for change and in April 11, 2015, the PDP again scuttled the people’s opportunity to throw them out by disallowing an election. Instead, they resorted to allotting votes to themselves with the active connivance of a compromised INEC staff and security forces. The Okowa/PDP government has admitted to inheriting over N700 billion in debt. It has in the space of less than 5 months, borrowed over N50billion Naira. At a conservative estimate of N10 billion monthly, the PDP government had received from Federal Revenue Allocation over N1, 970 billion in its 16years and 5 month reign in the state. Now, outside the state’s Internally Generated Revenue, adding funds available from loans/debts plus federal allocations, the PDP government had spent a total of N2.72 trillion in the state in the 16years. The PDP has wasted this colossal amount without any visible development to show for it. The road network is totally broken and dilapidated. Unemployment is at the highest. There are no industries and 90 percent of those in formal employment are government employees who are, ironically, owed several months of salaries. Contractors, mainly with government, are owed billions. The economy of the state is in comatose.
Deltans are looking to APC to liberate them from financial squalor and imposed poverty. Even members of the PDP are in large numbers preparing to bail ship. Deltans see the declaration of a rerun as their day of freedom in the state; they are only looking for an arrow head, which I, as the candidate and the APC, am already providing.
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Enugu APC sure of victory in rerun
Enugu State All Progressives Congress (APC) is hopeful of reclaiming its alleged stolen mandate in a rerun.
The party is sure that the tribunal will nullify the election of Governor Ifeanyi Ugwuanyi, who it said was occupying the Government House temporarily.
APC Chairman Dr. Ben Nwoye addressed reporters yesterday after the party’s stakeholders meeting in Enugu. He said forensic evidence filed by the APC was weighing against the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP).
Nwoye insisted that the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) erred in declaring Ugwuanyi winner of the April 11 poll.
He said: “As far as the Enugu State APC is concerned, Governor Ifeanyi Ugwanyi is enjoying a stolen mandate, and that makes him a temporary tenant at the Government House.”
He said APC was repositioning itself ahead of its expected victory, adding that “those saying we are in crisis are making a big mistake.”
“You can see that all the state executives are here, including party stakeholders. Our National Vice Chairman, Southeast, Emma Enukwu, our governorship candidate, Okey Ezea, and others are here.
“So we dispel speculations in some quarters that APC in Enugu State is in crisis; we are not in crisis, we are one united big family”.
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PDP wins Ebonyi rerun
The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) has won all five constituencies in the Ebonyi State House of Assembly rerun.
The constituencies are: Ezza North-East, Ezza North-West, Ohaukwu North, Ohaukwu South and Abakaliki South.
Resident Electoral Commission (REC) Dr Lawrence Azubike confirmed the result.
“We have completed elections in five constituencies and have full roll of members into the 24-member House.
“Elections did not hold in five units in the registration areas but this did not affect the result in those areas,” Azubike said.
The successful candidates are: Chief Christian Oselebe (Ohaukwu South), Mr Frank Onwe (Ohaukwu North), Mr Luke Nkwegu (Abakaliki South), Mr Joseph Nwaobashi (Ezza North-East) and Mr Victor Nwite (Ezza North-West).
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APC demands new INEC team to conduct Imo rerun
The All Progressives Congress (APC) gave indications yesterday that it may not participate in the supplementary election in Imo State if the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) insists in areas where elections have already taken place and results announced.
APC National Chairman Chief John Odigie-Oyegun, in a letter to INEC National Chairman Prof. Attahiru Jega, also accused the commission’s officials in the state, led by the Resident Electoral Commissioner, of being compromised.
Oyegun said the APC will find it difficult to participate in any election organised and supervised by the Imo REC and his team.
In the letter dated April 20, 2015, the APC said it had watched with keen interest the developments in Imo State’s governorship election held on April 11, which was declared inconclusive by the commission.
The letter said “Our position is based on the fact that the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) in Imo State erroneously and perhaps mischiviously included areas where elections took place and results were collated, announced, declared and results sheets (Forms EC8A) issued to party agents, including agents of the PDP who signed the results sheets (see attached).”
Oyegun asked the Commission to remove the polling units where elections were held and results declared by the Presiding officers and signed by the party agents, adding that summary of the expected voters strength of all the units indicated that Oru East has 30,404 voters, Isu has 6,+86 voters and Mbaitoli has 10,072 voters. Ezihite Mbaise has 1,329 registered voters, which brough the total registered voters in the areas affected to 47,891 registered voters.
He said since elections were held in these areas and were certified by the presiding officers and acknowledged by all party agents, INEC does not have the powers to cancel the elections and order a rerun in such areas.
He asked the Commission to exclude the listed areas from the proposed elections of April 25 and restrict itself to areas where elections did not take place which has a total registered voters population of 98,447.
He said it had become necessary for the party to bring to INEC’s notice the manifest desperation of the Resident Electoral Commissioner in Imo State to pervert the electoral will of the people by continuously attempting to add new areas where supplementary elections are to hold to justify his decision not to declare the APC candidate as winner of April 11,2015 gubernatorial elections, hence the decision to declare it inconclusive.
While alleging that the Imo State INEC officials are complicit in the electoral conundrum, which took place in Mbaise, the APC Chairman said: “If not, how can one justify the acceptance of results of Ezihite Mbaise that was above the Permanent Voters Cards (PVCs) collections for the local government?”
He alleged that when the APC agent pointed it out, the Resident Electoral Commissioner and the State Returning Officer directed the Local government Returning Officer, Mrs. Helen Ohanyerem, to go and revise the figures downwards to accommodate the number of the PVCs distributed in the area and thereafter admitted the revised results.
He also alleged that INEC officials aided and connived with the military in Mbaise Local Government Area and Izombe Ward in Oguta Local Government and Egbema Ward A, Egbema Ward B, Ekwuato and Umuagwo Ward in Ohaji/Egbeme Local government Area carted away election materials and write results which were admitted by the State Returning officer.
“In the light of the foregoing, we of All Progressives Congress (APC) have lost faith in the Independent National Electoral Commission(INEC) officials in Imo State in their management of elections and hereby call on the chairman, Prof. Attahiru Jega, to send a new Election Management Team to supervise and conduct the re-scheduled supplementary Imo gubernatorial elections,” the party stated.
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KWSIEC fixes August 31 for Offa rerun
The Kwara State Independent Electoral Commission (KWSIEC) yesterday fixed August 31 for the rerun of Offa Local Government.
The KWSIEC chairman, Dr. Uthman Ajidagba, told reporters in Ilorin, the state capital, that the electoral body’s decision was in compliance with the February 22 verdict of the State High Court, which ordered a rerun into the council, following an appeal suit between the Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN) vs Abdulwaheed Segun Olanipekun and 98 others.
The rerun, Ajidagba said, would also include the councillorship election, as further directed by the same court in the consolidated councillorship election appeal between Rafiu A. Ibrahim vs Musemil Giwa and 10 others delivered on July 23.
The KWASIEC chairman attributed the delay in the conduct of the rerun to the declaration of emergency rule in Offa Local Government by the state government in February, following a renewed clash between Offa and Erin-Ile communities.