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Tag: Rivers rerun

  • Rivers rerun: INEC urged to conduct hitch-free poll

    Rivers rerun: INEC urged to conduct hitch-free poll

    A group, Coalition of Civil Society Organisations (CCSO), has urged the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to respect electoral laws and conduct a hitch-free rerun in River State this month.

    In a statement in Abuja, CCSO said the electoral body should not be distracted from doing its duty because of what he called the empty threats from certain quarters.

    The statement by its National Coordinator and National Secretary, Comrade Kalu Victor Onyedikachi and Mukhtar Joda, said the coalition took the decision after a careful study of the political and security situation in Rivers State.

    It said the move was meant to ascertain the political and security situation as well as the level of preparedness for the rerun.

    The statement said: “The state is politically and security safe for the conduct of the election.

    “Political stakeholders and the electorate are unanimously calling on INEC to conduct the election and ensure equal representation in the State and National assemblies.

    “No doubt, some enemies of peace and democracy are bent on stopping INEC from conducting the election through their empty threats and distractive activities.”

    CCSO said INEC should stop listening or giving excuses, citing “the empty threat by hoodlums, whose target is to frustrate our democratic values as a nation”.

    It added: “Our various security agencies are ever ready to combat all forms of crime against the state. Security agencies and the media should stop giving negative impression about the state in terms of safety.

  • Rivers rerun: PDP, APC bicker over council results

    Rivers rerun: PDP, APC bicker over council results

    The candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) for Eleme/Oyigbo/Tai Federal Constituency of Rivers State in the March 19 legislative rerun, Dr. Jacobson Nbina, and the state’s chapter of the All Progressives Congress (APC) have disagreed on the results for Tai Local Government Area and what they called the rape on democracy.

    Nbina, who addressed reporters yesterday at the state’s PDP secretariat on Aba Road in Port Harcourt, said President Muhammadu Buhari’s fight against corruption must be holistic.

    The PDP chieftain alleged injustice in the rerun results for Tai Local Government Area.

    But Rivers State APC, through its Publicity Secretary, Chris Finebone, urged the residents and other Nigerians to ignore what it called the ranting of a confused man and other PDP members.

    The March 19 rerun in Tai Local Government Area was suspended by the Resident Electoral Commissioner (REC) of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), Aniedi Ikoiwak, who APC accused of being a contractor to Governor Chief Nyesom Wike when he was the Minister of State for Education.

    Ikoiwak suspended the election in the local government area, said to be one of the strongholds of the APC, following alleged electoral violence and disturbances.

    The development impeded the electoral process.

    But last week, at INEC’s stakeholders’ forum in Port Harcourt, the National Commissioner in charge of Operations, Hajia Amina Zakari, said the commission had approved Tai Local Government Area’s results, having concluded the free and fair poll in the area.

    Eleme/Oyigbo/Tai Federal Constituency is part of the Rivers Southeast Senatorial District, comprising the four Ogoni local government areas – of Khana, Gokana, Tai and Eleme, as well as Andoni, Opobo/Nkoro and Oyigbo.

    The district’s inconclusive election has sparked a battle between Senator Magnus Abe of APC and Olaka Worgu of PDP.

  • INEC to announce Rivers rerun date soon

    INEC to announce Rivers rerun date soon

    •Police chief decries arms’ sophistication

     

    The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) yesterday said the July 30 date for the conclusion of the vacant legislative seats in Rivers State was tentative.

    The electoral umpire said the main date would be announced soon.

    Resident Electoral Commissioner (REC) Elder Aniedi Ikoiwak spoke in Port Harcourt, the state capital, when the Police Commissioner Francis Mobolaji Odesanya visited him.

    Ikoiwak said INEC fixed the July date with the hope that it would work.

    The REC said consultations with political and security stakeholders were on to pick a new date.

    He hailed the police chief for visiting INEC offices in the 23 local governments and his assurance to make the security of life and property a priority.

    Odesanya, who decried the proliferation of weapons in the state, assured INEC of the commitment of the police to recover them from illegal hands.

    The police chief noted that although illegal gunrunning was prevalent across the country, the guns in Rivers State were more sophisticated than in other states.

    He said the police would mop them up.

    Odesanya said: “Police have always been on ground; police have always been ready for elections. We are on ground and the state is secured. The state will be secured.

    “The problem here is proliferation of arms. What is happening in Rivers is also happening in other states. But the problem of Rivers State is that they have sophisticated weapons. So, my primary assignment, my main focus is how to mop up arms. We must mop up arms. We have started; we have been recovering arms.”

    On Governor Nyesom Wike’s allegation that Inspector-General of Police (IGP) Idris Mohammad planned to redeploy a certain officer, Odesanya said: “The governor did not mention my name or the position of CP.”

    On the crime wave in the state, he said: “The issue of kidnapping has been a recurring decimal here. In fact, kidnapping is much on the decrease now. I assure you that in a short while, people would be free to go about their lawful business without any molestation or fear of being kidnapped.”

     

  • Amaechi, Wike ‘to ensure’ peaceful Rivers election

    The Minister of Transportation, Rotimi Amaechi and Rivers State Governor, Nyesom Wike, on Tuesday agreed to ensure a hitch free and peaceful rerun election in the state.

    The duo made the promise after meeting the Acting Inspector- General of Police, Ibrahim Idris and the Director-General of Department of State Services (DSS), Musa Daura, in Abuja.

    The Force Spokesperson, Don Awunah, stated these in a statement in Abuja.

    The meeting which was said to be held in an atmosphere of mutual respect and cordiality deliberated on the overall need to have peaceful, free and fair election devoid of violence which was the hallmark of previous elections in the state.

    The statement said, “In a concerted effort to guarantee a violent-free and credible rerun Senatorial and House of Representative elections in Rivers State, a crucial meeting to chart the path to peace in Rivers State before, during and after the rerun elections  was held today, 26th July, 2016 between the Inspector-General of Police, Ibrahim K. Idris and the Director-General of Department of State Services, Alh. Musa Daura.

    “The two major players in the politics of Rivers State,  Nyesom Wike, the Governor of Rivers State and the Hon. Minister of Transport, Rt. Hon Rotimi Amaechi were in attendance.

    “The Governor, Nyesom Wike and Minister of Transportation, Rotimi Amaechi resolved to be irrevocably committed to lasting peace and vouched to play the game by the rules in the forthcoming rerun elections in the state.

    “They also agreed to prevail on their teeming supporters to adhere to their commitment to peace and security in the state.”

     

     

  • INEC awaiting directives on Rivers rerun

    INEC awaiting directives on Rivers rerun

    The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) is awaiting directives on the rerun in Rivers State, it has been learnt.

    About three weeks to the election, there were hints from the commission’s office in Port Harcourt, the state capital, that it had not begun preparation for the suspended polls, especially recruitment of ad hoc workers.

    It was learnt at the weekend that the commission was awaiting directives from Abuja to begin preparation for the rerun.

    INEC National Chairman Prof Mahmood Yakubu, late last month announced July 30 as the date for concluding the suspended election.

    Resident Electoral Commission (REC) Elder Aniedi Ikoiwak met with security agencies, party leadership and stakeholders on the need to enlighten their supporters on avoiding violence before, during and after the July 30 poll.

    But it was gathered that the commission had done some preparation though it had to wait till next week to recruit ad hoc workers for the poll.

    Efforts to reach Ikoiwak were unsuccessful last nignt, but INEC spokesman in Rivers State Anthonia Amaimo said the commission was “waiting for directives from Abuja to commence work”, although the date for the rerun had been announced.

    The rerun would hold in the three senatorial districts.

    But politicians and their parties said they had not received details of the rerun and polling units where the poll would hold.

  • Rivers rerun

    Rivers rerun

    •INEC should enforce its own laws

    It is a painful irony that the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has paradoxically become one of the biggest obstacles to the successful conduct of free and fair elections in Nigeria. Under the tenure of Professor Mahmud Yakubu, INEC has not been able to organise a conclusive election. Polls in Kogi and Bayelsa states both required two attempts to finish, and were characterised by violence, allegations of ballot-stuffing and other irregularities.

    Part of the problem stems from INEC’s inexplicable inability to properly enforce laid-down regulations, especially those relating to the prosecution of individuals deemed to be guilty of election-related violence and other malpractices. Despite widespread misconduct during successive elections and the apprehension of many suspects, the commission has persistently been unable to sanction those whose activities have disrupted its attempts to carry out credible elections.

    Now, INEC appears to be following the same discredited path yet again. As part of its preparations for conducting legislative re-run elections in Rivers State, the commission has been holding a series of meetings with stakeholders aimed at ensuring successful elections which it hopes to carry out before the end of July.

    The meetings are ostensibly aimed at determining the main factors that disrupt elections in the state with a view to finding lasting solutions to them. The Rivers State Electoral Commissioner, Mr. Aniedi Ikoiwak, expressed INEC’s preparedness to conduct successful elections and asked the politicians to “allow” it to do its job.

    There can be no doubt that when it comes to electoral violence and other malpractices, Rivers is in a class of its own. The deep-seated antipathy between the state’s major political figures, the presence of heavily-armed cults, and a tradition of political violence reaching as far back as 1999 have all combined to make its elections a very difficult task indeed. The gubernatorial election in Rivers is widely acknowledged to have been the most violent of all the 2015 governorship polls.

    In spite of this, however, INEC’s approach only seems to aggravate these problems instead of resolving them.  Why doesn’t the commission focus on ensuring that politicians who refuse to play by its rules are sanctioned in line with its own regulations? Is INEC not aware that its own status as a credible umpire of the electoral process is undermined when it seeks to dialogue with individuals who have repeatedly shown utter disdain for peaceful conduct?

    It has become obvious that many Nigerian politicians have adopted the strategy of disrupting the electoral process as much as possible in order to provide grounds for future legal challenges when they lose elections. INEC must counter this by ensuring that such disruptions are not permitted to damage the credibility of their operations. That means efficient logistics, a robust security infrastructure, adherence to the rules at all times, and an absolute refusal to allow political thugs and ballot-box stuffers to get away with their activities.

    INEC can start by identifying the anomalies and shortcomings that characterised previous polls in the state, especially the late arrival of voting materials at polling booths, the inadequacy of security cover for electoral officials and voters, and the commission’s ostensible inability to respond to new developments efficiently. Issues like these are far more important than talking to politicians who have learnt nothing and forgotten less.

    Previous roundtables held across the country have not led to marked improvements in the conduct of elections; there is no reason to believe that the ones taking place in Rivers State will be any different, especially if they are not accompanied by a determination to ensure that political offenders are punished for their crimes.

  • Rivers rerun: INEC testifies in SSG, APC chief’s ‘election violence’ trial

    Rivers rerun: INEC testifies in SSG, APC chief’s ‘election violence’ trial

    •Commission: explosives, guns used in Gokana.

    The Department of State Securities (DSS) yesterday began the trial of the Secretary to the Rivers State Government (SSG), Kenneth Kobani, and the All Progressives Congress (APC) candidate for the House of Assembly, Azubike Wanjoku, in the March 19 Llegislative rerun in the state.

    Kobani was charged with conspiracy, breach of public peace and terrorism during the rerun in Bodo community of Gokana Local Government Area; Wanjoku was charged with obstructing public peace and intimidating electoral officers in his Ikwerre constituency.

    They pleaded not guilty to the charges and were granted bail on self-recognition and N500,000.  The case was adjourned for definite hearing.

    At the resumed sitting yesterday, the DSS, through its prosecuting counsel, Chidi Eze, called two witnesses, one each for each of the accused.

    They were tried separately.

    A Deputy Director in the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) office in Abuja, Emmanuel Asuquo Isong, testified in the SSG case.

    Isong was the Electoral Officer (EO) in Bodo, Gokana Local Government Area, Kobani’s home town.

    The INEC officer told Justice Makhmud Liman of the Federal High Court in Port Harcourt, the state capital, that Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) chieftains in the area, led by the then Local Government Care Taker Committee (CTC) chairman and their supporters, allegedly stopped the distribution of electoral materials on the claim that they were fake.

    He said the SSG, who was also the Minister for Labour and Productivity under former President GoodLuck Jonathan, was said to be at the RAC on that day.

    Isong said after the issue was resolved and INEC was about to carry on with the distribution of the materials, there was resistance from some people, including the party men and their boys, that the materials would not be distributed and that election would not be conducted with the materials.

    In the midst of the confusion, an explosive, suspected to be dynamite, was allegedly detonated in the INEC RAC office. The INEC officer said after a short while, another was detonated, followed by sporadic shootings.

    He said the EO and other ad hoc officers could not move in or out of the premised.

    Isong said security men rescued INEC officials and the ad hoc workers from the melee.

    The deputy director said they were returned to Port Harcourt without conducting the election.

    He said: “My name is Emmanuel Asuquo Isong. I am a Deputy Director in INEC’s Abuja office.”

    Recalling what happened on March 19, he said: “March 19 was a date fixed by INEC for the conduct of the rerun into the vacant seats of the Rivers State national and state legislative Assemblies.

    “In that election, I was posted to Gokana Local Government Area as the Electoral Officer. In the morning of the Election Day, before the distribution of electoral materials started, the local government chairman came and said that the electoral materials to be used for the election were fake.

    “When I looked closely, I discovered that the watershed logo of INEC on other materials was not on the House of Representatives result sheet. After much arguments and confusion, I, by the directive of the Resident Electoral Commissioner (REC), the party stalwarts and their agents present, agreed that I countersign on every result sheet, after which all the party agents countersigned on them.

    “After that, we announced that the distribution of materials was about to begin; so, we could go to the field. Then came an uproar, saying no, no, no. Before we knew it, one explosion had gone off in my office, gun shots sounding here and there. The environment became tense. After a while, another explosion went off. Somebody came and told me that they were after me and that I should not come out.

    “We were held hostage in the office by the sounds, until security operatives evacuated us, including the ad hoc workers and returned us to Port Harcourt office.”

    During cross-examination, the EO said: “I saw the accused person on the scene of the explosion (INEC office) and in the armoured vehicle in the place.”

    On APC chieftain Wanjoku, an INEC Administrative officer, Kingsley Osaze Osifo, said the accused disrupted the collation in Ikwerre Local Government Area.

    He said: “My name in Osifo Osaze Kingsley. I am an Administrative Officer of INEC. I work in the Benin office of the commission. But I was posted to Ikwerre Local Government Area as EO during the March legislative rerun. I was collating results at the council’s secretariat on Sunday, March 20, after the election of the previous day.

    “At 2 p.m, I saw the accused walk into the office in company of three other persons. He asked me a few questions on the whereabouts of my other colleagues and the party agents, who were supposed to be in the collation office. I answered him to the best of my knowledge.

    “The next thing he did was to ask me of his money. I told him that I did not understand what he meant. He held the materials I was collating, which were on the table, and held me, still asking for his money. I kept telling him that I did not understand him. I began to struggle with him until other people, including those he came with, appealed to him to leave me and took him away. Then, I continued with my job and there was no more trouble until I concluded my work.”

    Under cross-examination, led by the defence counsel Emenkie Ebete, the witness averred that he had seen the accused in one or two voter education and security meetings of INEC at the Port Harcourt office and on the council premises.

    But he said he had not had any close contact with him to warrant any exchange of money.

    The court adjourned the matter till October 28 for continuation of hearing.

     

  • Rivers rerun: PDP wins more Federal seats, one state

    Rivers rerun: PDP wins more Federal seats, one state

    • Other results are being probed, says INEC

    The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has declared the candidates of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) for Port Harcourt Federal constituencies 1 and 2 and that of Obio/Akpor winners of the March 19 rerun National and State Legislative Assemblies elections in Rivers State.

    INEC also declared the party’s candidate for Port Harcourt state Sonstituency 2, Adoki Tonye Smart, winer of the election.

    The national electoral umpire announced the All Progressives Congress (APC) candidate, Benibo Fredrick Anabraba, winner of Akuku-Toru state Constituency 2.

    The results were announced last night in Port Harcourt, the state capital, by the Resident Electoral Commissioner (REC), Aniedi Ikoiwak.

    Ikoiwak said PDP’s candidate for Port Harcourt Federal Constituency 1, Kenneth Anayo Chikere, got 18, 904 votes to defeat his closest rival, Igo Aguma, of the APC, who polled 6, 035 votes.

    The election results also showed that PDP’s candidate for Port Harcourt Constituency 2, Mrs. Blessing Nsiegbe, polled 6, 968 votes to defeat Collins A. N. Owhondah of the APC, who got 3,154 votes.

    INEC announced that PDP’s candidate for Obio/Akpor state constituency, Kingsley Chinda, polled  27, 895 votes to defeat his closest rival, Tony Okocha, of the APC, who polled 9, 514 votes.

    Thus far,  the PDP has won four Federal and eight state constituency seats in the rerun; APC has won two of the state constituency seats.

    Ikoiwak said the decision to announce the results was reached last Wednesday at the Abuja meeting of the electoral umpire.

    The REC said other constituencies, which had conclusive elections  but with their results yet to be announced, were being investigated.

    He added that they would be released the moment investigations into their conducts were concluded.

  • INEC to use card readers for Rivers rerun

    INEC to use card readers for Rivers rerun

    The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has said card readers will be used in the rerun elections in Rivers State.

    INEC Resident Electoral Commissioner (REC) Aniede Ikoiwak spoke at a one-day interactive session with parties and stakeholders in Port Harcourt, the state capital yesterday.

    The rerun elections for 32 legislative seats, cancelled by the Court of Appeal last December, are to hold March 19.

    Ikoiwak said card reader was the major instrument recommended by INEC for the accreditation of voters, adding that incident forms would complement readers in special situations as approved by the electoral umpire.

    He blamed the reported failure of card readers in the state on dubious people, who deliberately removed the batteries to enable them manipulate the election/results.

    The REC enjoined the parties to conduct themselves properly, and regretted that rerun was only ordered in Southsouth states.

    He said INEC would work with the new modified system in which accreditation and voting would begin by 8 am and end by 2 pm.

    Ikoiwak said: “We are going to use the card reader, the new modified system. The accreditation will commence by 8 am and end 2 pm.  We have to be mature, in  the Southwest, no rerun election was ordered.

    “INEC came with incident forms to complement the card reader but some thought it was to circumvent the card reader. This is wrong, card reader is for peculiar situations where fingers were not authenticated. “  The REC noted that ad hoc workers for the election will be engaged in line with stipulated guidelines.

    The APC and PDP senatorial candidates for Rivers East, Andrew Uchendu and George Sekibo, praised the REC for the session, and called for a level-playing field for contestants, hoping that in free and fair elections losers should congratulate winners.

    Rivers PDP Chairman Felix Obuah assured INEC of the readiness of politicians to do the right thing, but challenged the electoral body on a smooth electoral process.

     

     

  • Rivers rerun: Politicians arming criminals, says Army

    Rivers rerun: Politicians arming criminals, says Army

    •‘Suspected patrons, sponsors closely monitored’

    The 2 Brigade in Port Harcourt, Rivers State, has accused politicians of arming criminals.

    It said any criminal arrested would be prosecuted to serve as a deterrent to others.

    The Assistant Director, Army Public Relations of 2 Brigade, Capt. Eli Lazarus, spoke yesterday in Port Harcourt.

    He said: “Some politicians are arming these groups and encouraging them with inciting comments to breach the public peace. No one should be in doubt of the capacity of the military to deal with such persons. Persons caught breaching public peace, particularly during the elections, will have themselves to blame. Some suspected patrons and sponsors of these criminal groups are closely monitored by security agencies.”

    Capt. Lazarus advised parents and guardians to warn their children or wards against any form of association with criminal groups/sponsors.

    He added: “In the early hours of Sunday, February 7, 2016, pipeline vandals destroyed a gas facility at Akala Olu village in Oshie community, Ahoada West Local Government Area of Rivers State, thereby disrupting the production activities of the Nigerian Agip Oil Company (NAOC). The vandals threatened to carry out further acts of vandalism, unless their demands are met.

    “The vandals are suspected members of Icelander cult group. The group demanded the release of a detained suspect, Emmanuel Odum, undergoing interrogation in connection with pipeline vandalism and cult-related activities.

    ‘’The 2 Brigade will not be cowed into doing the bidding of any criminal group. For the avoidance of doubt, anyone caught vandalising critical national assets will be severely dealt with, in accordance with the law.”