Politics

INEC chairman holds meeting with RECs, promises to use BVAS in governorship elections

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The Chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), Prof. Mahmood Yakubu, has assured Nigerians that the Bimodal Voter Accreditation System (BVAS) will be used in the governorship and state legislature elections scheduled for Saturday, March 11.

Yakubu gave the assurance in an ongoing meeting with all Resident Electoral Commissioners (RECs) at the INEC headquarters in Abuja on Saturday, March 4.

According to him, the BVAS machines will be used for the elections, though the devices are being worked on to avoid a repeat of the glitches recorded with the last Saturday’s elections.

The agenda of the meeting was not disclosed to the media, however, journalists were invited to cover the opening.

This meeting is holding exactly one week after the presidential and National Assembly elections, and one week to the governorship and state assembly elections.

In his welcome remarks, the INEC Chairman noted that the meeting is to review performances at the last week’s elections, adding that there are lessons to be learned especially as it relates to logistics management.

Mahmood appealed to the RECs to work harder to ensure that the governorship elections do not experience the same glitches recorded with the last elections while calling for disciplining of staff who err.

Politics

INEC releases results of Rivers National Assembly polls one week after election

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The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) in Rivers has released the winners of the National Assembly election conducted on February 25 in Rivers.

INEC announced the results in a statement issued to reporters by the commission’s Public Affairs Officer, Geraldine Ekelemu, in Port Harcourt on Saturday.

The commission announced the winner of the Rivers South-East Senatorial District as Mpigi Barinada of PDP with 53,734 votes to defeat his closest APC rival, Ngofa Nyimenuate, who polled 24,123 votes.

It stated that Rivers West Senatorial District was won by PDP’s Banigo Harry who scored 67,668 votes to beat APC’s Asita Asita who netted 32,572 votes.

The commission also announced that PDP’s Onyesoh Allwell clinched Rivers East Senatorial seat with 134,283 votes to floor LP’s Benjamin Okwuwolu who scored 74,725 votes.

Similarly, INEC released the list of the House of Representatives members from Okrika/Ogubuolo, Etche/Omuma, Ikwerre/Emohua, Ahoada West/Ogba/Egbema/Ndoni, Akuku-Toru/Asari-Toru, Eleme/Tai/Oyibo, Abua-Odual/Ahoada East, Andoni-Opobo/Nkuru, Degema/Bonny, Obio/Akpor, and Port Harcourt 1, while the result of Port Harcourt 2 is suspended.

The results showed that the All Progressives Congress (APC) won only the Okrika/Ogu Bolo seat, while Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) won nine seats and Labour Party also won only one seat for Port Harcourt 1 federal constituency.

Rivers has 12 members in the Green Chamber of the National Assembly.

The state Resident Electoral Commissioner (REC), Dr Johnson Alalibo, had earlier told reporters that the results of Port Harcourt 2 federal constituency would be suspended and reviewed due to reports of irregularity.

Business, Lifestyle, Politics

Buhari must obey Supreme Court ruling on naira redesign policy- APC chieftain

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Sani Abdullahi Shinkafi, chieftain of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in Zamfara, says the federal government should respect the Supreme Court judgement and allow Nigerians use the old naira notes concurrently with the redesigned notes.

Mr Shinkafi, who made the remarks while addressing reporters in Gusau on Friday, urged President Muhammadu Buhari to respect the rule of the law.

“President Muhammadu Buhari must respect the Supreme Court’s verdict and allow both the new and old naira notes to exist concurrently until December 31 as the court ordered,” Mr Shinkafi asserted.

“Since the Supreme Court has ruled that the old and the new naira notes remain legal tender, there is nobody in the country, no matter how highly placed, can violate the order,” the politician stressed.

He added;

“I am calling on President Muhammadu Buhari to respect the court order and quickly instruct the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) to release the notes back into circulation.”

He also urged the Deposit Money Banks (DMBs) to release both new and old notes as ordered by the court.

Mr Shinkafi lamented how the new naira notes policy had negatively affected many Nigerians whom he said had been languishing in poverty since the introduction of the cashless policy.

He said the president was not properly advised by the CBN governor, Godwin Emefiele.

“This is not how advanced countries changed their currencies.”

According to the politician, the United States of America, the United Kingdom and the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia used systematic and gradual means to replace their currencies without any expiration date.

“There has been change of currencies in countries like the USA, United Kingdom, Saudi Arabia and other advanced countries but they don’t abruptly stop old notes from circulation.

“What they normally do is that they allow the old notes to go with the new ones concurrently until the old ones finally return to the banks and they never release them again,” Mr Shinkafi said.

He commended governors of Zamfara, Kaduna and Kogi states for their doggedness that would save the country from total collapse.

He advised the governors to return to court in the event that the President, the Attorney General of the Federation (AGF) and the CBN refused to abide by the Supreme Court order.

“The Governors have powers to apply for enforcement of form (48) contempt of court charge and form (49) committal to prison so that all the actors who choose to disregard the decision of the Apex Court can be taken to prison outrightly,” he said.

The APC chieftain admonished Nigerians to continue using both the old and the new Naira notes as legal tenders until December 31 as instructed by the Supreme Court.

The Supreme Court, earlier on Friday in a unanimous judgement, ordered that the old N200, N500 and N1000 notes remained in circulation until December 31.

Justice Emmanuel Agim, who read the lead judgement, held that the preliminary objections by the defendants (the Attorney General of the Federation, Bayelsa and Edo states) were dismissed as the court had the jurisdiction to entertain the suit.

Sixteen states of the federation instituted the suit to challenge the legality or otherwise of the introduction of the policy.

Justice John Inyang Okoro, who led a seven-man panel of Justices of the Court, had on February 22 fixed March 3 for the court to make its decision known on the suit.

The 16 states, led by Kaduna, Kogi and Zamfara, prayed the apex court to void and set aside the policy on the ground that it was inflicting hardships on innocent Nigerians.

Politics

Buhari leaves for Qatar for conference on Least Developed Countries conference

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President Muhammadu Buhari will on Saturday leave for the 5th United Nations Conference on the Least Developed Countries (LDCs) in Doha, the capital city of Qatar.

Garba Shehu, the President’s spokesman in a statement on Saturday in Abuja, said this development followed an invitation by the Emir of Qatar, Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani.

The conference, which is from March 5 to 9, under the theme: “From Potential to Prosperity,” holds once in a decade.

It provides an opportunity to garner the support of the international community for accelerating sustainable development in the LDCs as well as assist them make progress towards achieving prosperity.

According to Mr Shehu, while in Doha, Mr Buhari will reinforce Nigeria’s commitment to support the most vulnerable countries to meet their development challenges.

The presidential aide revealed that the president would also highlight areas through which the Nigerian government had provided them with various forms of assistance over time.

“As most of these countries struggle to find sustainable solutions to challenges of poverty, adverse effects of climate change, food and energy crisis as well as high-debt burden among others, the Nigerian leader will vigorously reiterate the need for sustainable solutions for countries facing these severe challenges.”

The Summit will be attended by world leaders, the private sector, civil society and youth organisations.

It aims to share developmental ideas and mobilise political will, solidarity, action and solutions to transform the LDCs, by finding sustainable solutions to the challenges of poverty, food insecurity, hunger and weak or non-existent infrastructure.

The summit will also address the challenges of inadequate health facilities, climate change among others as they struggle to deliver on the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) by 2030.

The president’s delegation includes some ministers and top government officials who are expected to use the opportunity of the visit to sign some agreements and Memoranda of Understanding with the Qatari government.

The Nigerian leader is expected to return to the country on Monday.

Politics

Six States drags the Federal government before the Supreme Court

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Six States of the federation have dragged the Federal government before the Supreme Court over the conduct, collation and announcement of the February 25, 2023, presidential and National Assembly elections. 

The States, which include Adamawa, Akwa-Ibom, Bayelsa, Delta, Edo and Sokoto, are asking the Supreme Court to declare that the pronouncement of Bola Tinubu, the candidate of the All Progressives Congress, as the winner of the February 25 presidential election is null and void.

The aggrieved states argued that the entire results of the Presidential Election announced by the Chairman of INEC at the National Collation Centre, Abuja, is in flagrant violation of the provisions of the Electoral Act. 

According to the court papers they want a declaration that the non-uploading of the results of each of the 176,974 Polling Units nationwide, in respect of the presidential election and National Assembly Elections were not in accordance with the provisions of the electoral act.

Politics

We have evidence of electoral violations against Obi’s Labour Party- APC

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The All Progressives Congress says it is ready to meet Peter Obi, the Labour Party presidential candidate in court over his claim of fraud in February 25 presidential election. It said there are evidence of electoral violations against Mr Obi’s party in the South-East.

Bayo Onanuga, the director media and publicity of APC Presidential Campaign Council (PCC) said this in a statement on Thursday, reacting to Mr Obi’s comments at a news conference in Abuja.

“We welcome the decision of Mr Obi to seek redress in court as an aggrieved party if he is convinced of the evidences of electoral frauds he will present before the tribunal as alleged.

Going to court is part of the electoral process and it is the most decent, statesmanlike and civilised course of action to take,“ Mr Onanuga said, noting that it is better than calling supporters to the streets and instigating social unrest.

He, however, challenged some specific claims in Obi`s press address, saying that contrary to his statement, it was not true that the election was not free and fair.

“It is because the process was credible that made it possible for Obi’s Labour Party to record the over six million votes it got contrary to pre-election forecast.

That Labour Party and Obi surprised bookmakers by winning in Lagos, Nasarawa, Plateau, Delta and Edo states where there are sitting governors of either the APC or the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP),” the statement explained.

He added that the Labour Party also swept the five South-East states under the control of either APGA, PDP or APC.

“We believe that the Labour Party presidential candidate contradicted himself and exposed himself by suggesting that the election was only credible in states and places his party won.

We need to forewarn Obi, that when he gets to court he should be prepared to tell the world how his party won over 90 per cent of votes in his region of South-East while other parties got almost nothing,” Mr Onanuga stressed.

“We have evidence of voters’ suppression, intimidation and harassment in South-East, especially of those who came out to vote for our party.

“He pointed out that Mr Obi did not win the presidential election.

“This is because he had no path to winning a national election in a multi-ethnic and multi-religious society like Nigeria. Where a candidate running in a national election must appeal to the cross-section of our pluralistic society,’’ he said.

Politics

Labour Party belongs to us, not politicians- NLC

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The Nigeria Labour Congress says the Labour Party belongs to it and plans to meet elected party candidates to discuss its programmes.

The NLC said it would continue to be involved in politics to bring matters surrounding the welfare of workers to the front burner of programmes and policies of government.

NLC president Joe Ajaero said this during courtesy visits to some unions in Lagos on Thursday.

The unions included National Union of Electricity Employees, National Union of Banks, Insurance, and Financial Institutions, and Nigeria Union of Petroleum and Natural Gas Workers.

Mr Ajaero said the labour movement owned the Labour Party.

According to him, the party has the ideology of the working class movement with its charter of workers’ demands.

“We have an era that we are entering: era of politics, and we will not shy away. The Nigeria Labour Congress will be involved in politics. We are already involved in politics. NLC has a political party: the Labour Party, and LP participated in the recent elections,” said Mr Ajaero.

He added;

“Nigeria must exist before we practise our unionism. Anybody, who emerges as the president of Nigeria will work with us, and the rights and privileges of the workers must be guaranteed. The current wage system, casualisation policy, and outsourcing are anti-worker; with such policies, we can’t be our brothers’ keepers.”

The labour leader encouraged union members to show interest in politics, saying,

“We have not been managing it by ourselves. We have been allowing people from outside to now answer LP.”

He urged members to continue enlightening workers in the country about the Labour Party.

“That is what we are going to impose on them. Even the ones that have emerged as senators or House of Representatives members, they must, as a necessity, meet with us and we will give them our programmes.

That is the whole essence of thinking of LP in the first place; so that their actions, inaction, and utterances will reflect the affairs of the labour movement, and there should be no pretences about it,” the NLC chief explained.

However, he pointed out that “we are not saying that people cannot belong to any party of their choice, but we have a party where whatever we discuss here, we take it there as workers.”

Mr Ajaero said, “Where, if we want new minimum wage, we take it to the people that represent us there; all these issues concern the workers, and we should no longer shy away from it.”

Politics

Governorship, house of assembly elections will still hold on March 11-INEC

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The Independent National Electoral Commission says the March 11 governorship and state house of assembly elections will hold as scheduled.

INEC gave the assurance in a statement by its spokesman Festus Okoye, in Abuja on Thursday.

The electoral umpire said all the processes and procedures leading to the elections were being finalised.

“The commission held its regular weekly meeting and deliberated on several issues, including the presidential and National Assembly elections,” said INEC.

“It also discussed the governorship and state assembly elections and the pending elections in Enugu East senatorial district and the Esan Central/Esan West and Igueben federal constituencies in Edo.”

INEC also promised to conduct the rescheduled elections in Enugu and Edo on March 11.

“The commission is aware that in some senatorial districts and federal constituencies, declarations and returns were not made. The commission is compiling the list of the affected constituencies. A date for supplementary elections will be fixed after the governorship and State Assembly elections,” the INEC statement added.

Lifestyle, Politics

Over 1m Nigerians receive N5,000 cash monthly – Federal Government

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The Federal Government declared on Thursday that 1,940,004 vulnerable Nigerians were currently receiving N5,000 cash gifts every month.

The Minister of Humanitarian Affairs, Disaster Management and Social Development, Hajia Sadiya Farouq, said this at a One-Day Stakeholders’ Retreat On National Social Investment (Establishment) Bill organised by the Senate Committee on Social Duties.

Farouq was represented by the Permanent Secretary of the ministry, Dr. Nasir Gwarzo.The minister explained that the objective of the National Social Investment Programme Establishment Bill was to provide a statutory and institutional framework for the implementation of the National Social Investment Programme.

She noted that the NSIP was created in 2016 by the President, Major General Muhammadu Buhari (retd.), to address social and economic inequalities and alleviate poverty among Nigerians.

According to her, there are four social support programmes that are meant to empower the poorest and most vulnerable Nigerians to enable them to attain an acceptable standard of living.

She said the NSIP was directly and indirectly impacting the lives of poor Nigerians through its four cluster programmes.

These, she said, included the N-Power Programme, Government Enterprise and Empowerment Programme, the National Home Grown School Feeding Programme, and the Conditioner Cash Transfer Programme.

The programmes, she added, were designed to serve as various forms of social safety nets specifically targeting those at the bottom of the social ladder who require some form of assistance to enable them to become productive members of society and prevent more people from falling below poverty line.

She said;

“A wide range of Sustainable Development Goals including poverty reduction, education, health, social inclusion and empowerment can be achieved through the NSIP.

“Section 17(3) of the constitution provides that the State shall direct its policy towards ensuring that all its citizens without discrimination have the opportunity of securing adequate means of livelihood and ensuring provision is made for public assistance in deserving cases of need among others.

“Contributory social protection schemes such as Social insurance, health insurance, and the pension scheme are all backed by legislation.

The laws are;

The Nigeria Social insurance Trust Fund Act, the National Health Insurance Authority Act, and the Pension Reform Act.

“The NSIP, which is a non-contributory social protection scheme is not backed by any law and this underscores the need for it to also have a piece of legislation.

“Since the inception of the NSIP in 2015, one million youths have been empowered through the N-Power Programme and additional 500,000 others are currently undergoing various training under the programme as approved by the President.

She noted that the cash transfer has enrolled 1,975, 381 poor and vulnerable households from the National Social Register into a National Beneficiary Register across the country.

She added that the Cash Transfer supports the poor and vulnerable to improve consumption and develop savings skills to reduce poverty and build their resilience to withstand shocks.

“A total of 1, 940, 004 beneficiaries are currently receiving cash transfers each month.

“Public Primary Schools across the country have witnessed an unprecedented number of new enrollments as a result of the National Home Grown School Feeding Programme.

“The programme is currently feeding 10 million pupils in over 66, 000 public schools across Nigeria. The programme is gradually reducing cases of out-of-school children nationwide,” she added.

According to her, 2,653,333 beneficiaries have accessed the GEEP loans under three categories including Trader Moni, Market Moni and Farmer Moni.

“A total of 1, 142, 783 individuals across the country have registered to benefit from the second round of GEEP under the three loan programmes”

The Chairman of the Senate panel, Senator Yusuf Yusuf, explained that the retreat was aimed at bringing together critical stakeholders from the executive arm of government to be at par with the legislature on the proposed legislation.

Yusuf said, “Information is a very important tool for legislation. Since the government policy emanates from legislation, we invited critical stakeholders from the ministry and other agencies so that they can furnish the committee with vital information that would enable them to come up with a robust legislation for the NSIP establishment.”

Politics

I Am Not Aware Of Any APC Reconciliatory Move -Atiku

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The presidential candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party, Atiku Abubakar, stated that he was unaware of any reconciliatory move by some All Progressives Congress governors.

He made this known on Thursday when a member of the audience asked if he had turned back some APC governors in the reconciliation committee who tried to see him.

The Ondo State Governor, Rotimi Akeredolu, had stated that the APC had formed a reconciliation committee to meet with aggrieved candidates of political parties who ran in the presidential election last Saturday.

Atiku responded saying, “Well, I am really not aware of that. I was home all day today so I was not aware if any governor tried to see me,”

Credit: Punch and Channels Television

Politics

It’s ‘immature, selfish’ for Peter Obi to claim victory in presidential election, says APC chair Adamu

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Abdullahi Adamu, the national chairman of the All Progressives Congress has berated Labour Party presidential candidate Peter Obi as an immature and selfish person, for claiming he won last Saturday’s presidential polls.

“They are gnashing their teeth, you can all see, it shows the level of immaturity, selfishness and lack of sense of judgement,” Mr Adamu said in a news conference on Thursday.

The APC leader advised Mr Obi, and other opposition leaders to accept the outcome of the polls as announced by INEC, saying “it doesn’t make sense” for them to claim victory.

“It is the nature of things. You win some, you lose some and the fact that we lost some major states like Lagos, Kano, Katsina and even Nasarawa, Kaduna,” Mr Adamu argued.

“The fact that we lost these places and we didn’t shed tears, we did not cry foul, makes us the real political party in this country.”

He added;

“With the strategic position of Lagos, strategic in terms of location, population in terms of economy in terms of political history and prestige, we lost and we didn’t run the streets crying, but what is important is we got what we want, we got the presidency.

Mr Obi, declared the second runner up at the presidential polls, addressed a press conference on Thursday where claimed he won the election and would prove it in court.

The LP flag bearer urged his supporters, predominantly young Nigerians to remain peaceful as he explores legal means to reclaim his “stolen mandate”.

INEC chairman, Mahmood Yakubu, on Wednesday declared Bola Tinubu of the APC winner of Saturday’s presidential election at the National Collation Centre, Abuja.

The declaration of Mr Tinubu as the president-elect came amidst huge protests by PDP and Labour Party, who called for the suspension of result collation and outright cancellation of the presidential poll due to INEC’s failure to upload election results on its server in real time.

Mr Tinubu polled 8,794,726 votes to defeat PDP’s Atiku Abubakar, winning 12 of 36 states of Nigeria.

Mr Abubakar came second polling 6,984,520 votes, while Peter Obi of Labour Party came third, polling 6,101,533 votes.

Politics

Atiku rejects presidential election results, calls Tinubu drug baron

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Atiku Abubakar, the presidential candidate of the opposition Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), has rejected Saturday’s presidential election results, saying the exercise was the “worst in the history of the country.”

Mr Abubakar, who addressed journalists in Abuja Thursday evening, revealed that the outcome of the election, which favoured Bola Tinubu of the All Progressives Congress (APC), would be challenged in court.

“I have come to the conclusion that the process of the election was grossly manipulated…it is the worst in the history of our country’s democracy and the results must be challenged in court,” Mr Abubakar declared.

Mr Abubakar’s address comes a few hours after Peter Obi, the candidate of the Labour Party (LP), also rejected the weekend exercise.

Mr Obi specifically said that the election exercise was “marred with irregularities”, stressing that he won the presidential election and would provide the evidence for Nigerians to see.

“We won the election, and we will prove it to Nigerians,” Mr Obi told reporters during a world press conference held in Abuja.

The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) had on Wednesday, declared Mr Tinubu the winner of Saturday’s presidential election after he polled 8,794,726 votes to defeat Mr Abubakar.

Mr Abubakar scored 6,984,520 votes to come second, while Mr Obi came third after polling 6,101,533 votes.

INEC Chairman, Mahmood Yakubu, also subsequently issued Mr Tinubu a “Certificate of Return” the same day.

Lifestyle, Politics

Police arrest suspected armed political thugs in Imo State

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Police operatives attached to Imo State Command have arrested suspected armed political thugs said to have been employed to disrupt the just concluded February 25, presidential election in Ohaji/Egbema council area of the state.

A statement released by the spokesperson of the command, Henry Okoye, says the armed thugs were arrested during a raid of the Umorji country home of Hon. Kingsley Uju, representing Ohaji/Egbema/Oguta/Oru West federal constituency in the National Assembly, Abuja.

He gave the names of the suspects as Henry Nwabueze, 40, a native of Umorji in Ohaji/Egbema LGA, Achor David, 45, from Onitsha Mgbara in Ohaji/Egbema LGA and Tochukwu Obiego, 40, a resident at Mgbara in Ohaji/Egbema. Others include Clinton Ezekwe, 49, a native of Ohaji/Egbeme LGA and Onuorah Raphael, 33, who hails from Ngor-Okpala LGA.‘’

Acting on Credible Intelligence that Hon Kingsley Uju, House Member representing Oguta/Ohaji-Egbema/Oru West Federal Constituency at the National Assembly hired mercenaries to heat up Polity and thwart the Presidential and National Assembly Elections schedule for 25th Feb, 2023 in the State, Operatives of the Command’s Tactical teams swiftly embarked on a raid exercise on 24/02/2023 at about 20:00 hrs , in the house of the said Hon Kingsley Uju at Umorji, Ohaji/Egbema, Imo State, heavily suspected to be used as an operational base for the suspected thugs to disrupt the electoral process”

Okoye said items recovered from them include one pump-action gun, three locally-fabricated guns, an HP printer, four laptop computers and documents containing registration details of voters in Oguta/Ohaji-Egbema/Oru West LGA.

Other items recovered incriminating items are 50 live cartridges, one LG remote, a power bank, one walkie-talkie, three Laptop external keyboards, Toyota Camry with Registration number GWA574AZ and Toyota Corolla with Registration no NKK 837GK.Eight mobile phones, a Belushi wristwatch, one ring and N15,000 cash were also recovered from them.

Politics

Ohanaeze Ndigbo Worldwide rejects Presidential election results

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The Ohanaeze Ndigbo Worldwide has rejected the results of the February 25, 2023 Presidential election, declared by the Independent National Electoral Commission. 

On Wednesday, March 1, INEC declared Tinubu as the winner of the election. 

In a statement released, the National Vice President of the organization, Damian Okeke-Ogene, said the results released were marred by “monumental irregularities” and the failure of the commission to follow its guidelines in conducting the election.

He urged Nigerians to remain calm, adding that the last might not have been heard of the 2023 presidential election.

“With voting and declaration of results over, other processes will follow. I am sure that many Nigerians will, on their own, go to court to challenge the outcome of the exercise.

Many people have not accepted the declaration and many do not believe that they have a President-elect yet. This is the worst election conducted by INEC.

Imagine our President, Muhammadu Buhari, saying during one of the campaigns that Bola Tinubu is the next president at a time the election had not been conducted, which was an indication that the election was even rigged before it was conducted. 

The INEC chairman, Prof.  Mahmood Yakubu, was busy promising Nigerians that their votes would count and that the votes would be transmitted from the polling units to INEC server, only for the commission to do everything manually with the attendant corrupt practices. As it turned out, many Nigerians voted, but their votes did not count, which was frustrating.”

Politics

INEC acted illegally in presidential poll that produced Tinubu as president- Ahmad Gumi

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Islamic cleric Sheikh Ahmad Gumi says Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has sown distrust and suspicion among Nigerians by failing to follow its guidelines for Saturday’s presidential and federal parliamentary elections.

“The INEC has failed the nation by sowing more distrust and suspicion because it failed to follow its own guidelines in conducting last week’s elections,” Mr Gumi said.

In a post on his Facebook page on Thursday morning, the cleric urged candidates in the just concluded presidential election to seek redress in court and not resort to violence.

“I, therefore, implore the opposition parties as an obligatory national duty to go to the election tribunal and up to the Supreme Court to reestablish the supremacy of law and to teach our younger generation the value of resolving disputes through legal means rather than violence,” Mr Gumi stressed.

In the early hours of Wednesday, INEC chairman Mahmood Yakubu declared Bola Tinubu of the All Progressives Congress winner of Saturday’s presidential election at the National Collation Centre in Abuja.

The declaration of Mr Tinubu as the president-elect came amidst huge protests by PDP and Labour Party, calling for the suspension of result collation and outright cancellation of the presidential poll due to INEC’s failure to upload election results on its server in real-time.

Mr Tinubu, however, dismissed calls for the cancellation, saying few cases of ballot box snatching and violence experienced during the election are “immaterial” to challenge his victory at the polls.

Mr Tinubu polled 8,794,726 votes to defeat PDP’s Atiku Abubakar, winning 12 of 36 states of Nigeria.

Mr Abubakar had 6,984,520 votes, and Peter Obi of the Labour Party polled 6,101,533 votes.

Politics

Tinubu-Shettima Presidency will lead this country into the future our founding fathers envisioned- Aisha Buhari

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Nigeria’s first lady Aisha Buhari has expressed confidence in President-elect Bola Tinubu’s ability to deliver a country where unity, peace and progress are sustained.

In a congratulatory message she signed on Wednesday in Abuja, the first lady expressed optimism that Mr Tinubu would work assiduously to deliver a Nigeria of everyone’s dream.

“It is my conviction that the Tinubu-Shettima Presidency will lead this country into the future that our founding fathers envisioned,” she declared.

Mrs Buhari, however, said the success recorded in the election resulted from the president-elect’s dexterity, foresight and good intentions to carry all Nigerians along, irrespective of their ethnic and religious background.

She thanked all Nigerians, especially women, for their efforts towards the party’s success at the polls.

The first lady congratulated her successor, Oluremi Tinubu, and expressed confidence that Nigerian women would get a good deal during her tenure.

Politics

UN condemns killing of 10 security operatives during presidential poll

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The United Nations on Wednesday condemned the election-related violence, especially the killing of 10 law enforcement agents and security personnel, as well as hate speech in Nigeria.

UN spokesman Stephanie Dujarric said this while fielding questions on the reports of violence in the just-concluded elections.

“We clearly condemn any violence, especially in an electoral period – I mean, violence across the board. It is incumbent on political parties, on civic leaders to work to avoid any violence, to avoid any inflammatory speech. And again, this applies to any electoral process,’’ he said.

The National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) dashboard showed three bomb attacks in Anambra, Borno and Rivers.The NHRC recorded two attacks on INEC facilities, two attacks by gunmen, 12 political intolerance, and 15 hate speech reports, including the killing of 10 security operatives, destruction of properties at Gombe and Anambra, political intolerance cutting off roads in Kogi.

It also reported the stoning of Governor Mai Mala Buni at an APC rally in Yobe and the cancellation of a PDP rally in Rivers.

In addition, 55 accounts of voter intimidation and suppression were recorded in the South-West-55, 40 were recorded in the South-South, 25 in the South-East, 12 in North-Central, three in North-West, and two in the North-East.Political violence was also witnessed in an attack on NNPP supporters recorded in Kano and on APC political campaigns in Bauchi.

Similarly, there was an attack on the Labour House of Representatives candidate in Imo.

There was another attack on the wife of the PDP candidate in Zamfara and the attack on the first lady convoy in Nasarawa.

There was also an attack on the PDP campaign director-general, Rivers and Lagos attacks on Labour Party supporters.

Politics

International police observers praise INEC on presidential election

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The Police Chaplains Electoral Observation Mission in Nigeria and eight domestic observers that monitored Saturday’s presidential and federal parliamentary elections have described the poll as a sign of the country’s political maturity.

The mission, which is the arm of the International Police Chaplain Sustainable Development and Law Enforcement (IPCSL) Inc., U.S., said this while presenting their preliminary report on Wednesday in Abuja.

Other groups that monitored the elections were the Grassroots Empowerment Initiative for Positive Change and Development, Voters Awareness Initiative, Society for the Protection of Human Rights, African Civil Society Forum, Africa Youths International Development Foundation, Pan African Leadership League, Centre for Strategic Conflicts Management, and Youth and Public Safety Awareness Initiative monitored the election across the country.

Presenting the preliminary report on the election, the head of IPCSL Mission, Johannes Makouvia, described the exercise as peaceful.

Mr Makouvia said the process conformed with the international standard, adding that the security forces’ discreet presence in most polling centres allowed for the peaceful conduct of the voting process.

According to him, electoral law stipulates that voting is secret and that each polling station has at least one voting booth, saying the mission observed compliance with this provision in the polling stations visited.

He added that it helped to guarantee the secrecy of the vote, adding that voting in the polling stations observed was well attended in the morning, but the pace slowed in the afternoon.

“Overall turnout was orderly and calm, and voters cast their ballots peacefully without major incidents. The mission found that, in general, voting procedures were followed by polling station officials,” stated the group.

It added;

“The IPCSL found that candidate delegates were able to freely exercise their mission in the polling stations observed. This is a sign of political maturity that contributed to the normal functioning of the polling stations.”

The national commandant of the IPSCL in Nigeria, Blessing Akinlosotu, said IPCSL deployed 178 observers on the election day and visited 2,297 polling stations throughout the country, adding that 66 per cent of polling stations opened on time at 8:30 am, while 34 per cent opened late due to late installation of equipment.

Politics

United States congratulates Bola Ahmed Tinubu on his victory

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The United States of America has congratulated Bola Ahmed Tinubu of the APC on his victory at the 2023 presidential election.

Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), on Wednesday March 1, declared Bola Tinubu, of the All Progressives Congress (APC), winner of February 25 presidential elections, over main opposition candidates, Atiku Abubakar of the Peoples Democratic Party and Peter Obi of the Labour Party.

A statement released by United States Department spokesman, Ned Price, read; 

“The United States congratulates the people of Nigeria, president-elect Tinubu and all the political leaders.” 

“This competitive election represents a new period for Nigerian politics and democracy.” Price also acknowledged the discontent among some Nigerians over the validity of the results. 

“We understand that many Nigerians and some of the parties have expressed frustration about the manner in which the process was conducted,” he said.

“Nigerians are clearly within their rights to have such concerns and should have high expectations for their electoral process.”

“We call on all parties to refrain from violence or inflammatory rhetoric at this critical time,” Price added.

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