Category: 2023 Elections

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2023 Elections

INEC Postpones Governorship And State Assembly Elections To March 18

The governorship and state assembly polls have been postponed by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC).

The elections, initially scheduled to hold on March 11, has been postponed to March 18, 2023.

The postponement is due to the inability of the commission to promptly commence reconfiguration of the Bimodal Voter Accreditation System (BVAS) machines utilized during the February 25 presidential election to enable their use in the state elections.

INEC was earlier restrained from tampering with the information embedded in the BVAS machines until due inspection was conducted and Certified True Copies (CTC) issued to candidates who are challenging the outcome of the presidential election.

The commission had convinced the Abuja Division of the Court of Appeal to vary its order granting Peter Obi of the Labour Party and PDP’s Atiku Abubakar permission to inspect the election materials on the premise that it had to reconfigure the Bimodal Voters Accreditation System (BVAS) for the conduction of the polls this Saturday.

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2023 Elections

Labour Party Denies Endorsing PDP, Drums Support For Its Governorship Candidate In Rivers

Labour Party has drummed support for its Governorship candidate in Rivers State, Comrade Beatrice Itubo ahead of Saturday’s election.
This is as it debunked reports that the party is now supporting the Peoples Democratic Party candidate in the state.
Labour Party also dissolved the party’s executive council in the state.
Read the statement by Labour Party below as shared by spokesperson, Kenneth Okonkwo:
NATIONAL CHAIRMAN OF LABOUR PARTY, COMRADE JULIUS ABURE, DISSOLVES THE LABOUR PARTY STATE EXECUTIVE COUNCIL OF RIVERS STATE
 
Comrade Julius Abure has dissolved the Labour Party State Executive Council of Rivers State with immediate effect, for gross anti-party activities and … corruption in the management of Labour Party funds.
 
The National Chairman believes that it’s in the interest of Labour Party and the Obidient movement in Rivers State that those who were at the helm of affairs in Rivers State when our presidential mandate was openly stolen in Rivers State should step aside until full investigation is completed on what happened on that day.
The National Chairman has lost confidence in the ability of the compromised State Executive Council led by Mr Deinye Pepple to lead the campaign for the gubernatorial and State House of Assembly elections come March 11th. 
 
He urges all Obidients in Rivers State to disregard every comment made by the disgraced State Chairman of the Labour Party, Deinye Pepple, on the election of March 11th and reiterates the full backing of the Labour Party on the candidacy of Comrade Beatrice Itubo of the Labour Party as the next Governor of Rivers State.
 
He therefore enjoins all Obidients to come out massively on March 11th to vote for Comrade Beatrice Itubo of Labour Party. 
 
Thank you and God bless. 
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2023 Elections

Election Result: Allow Cameras At Hearing – Joe Keshi Charges Supreme Court

A retired Nigerian ambassador, Joe Keshi, has made an appeal to the Supreme Court.

He appealed to the Supreme Court to allow cameras into the court for the first time when the hearing for the Presidential election commences.

The Labour Party, LP; the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP; and the New Nigerian Peoples Party, NNPP; have all vowed to approach the court following the outcome of February 25 Presidential and National Assembly elections.

Bola Ahmed Tinubu of the All Progressives Congress, APC, was declared winner of the election amid outcry of rigging, suppression and manipulation of votes by politicians across the country.

Keshi, who had been ambassador to many countries, including Togo, Ethiopia, Belgium, the Netherlands, Namibia, Sierra Leone and the United States, said the Supreme Court should endeavour to make the process transparent this time.

“The Supreme Court should do the right thing and for the Supreme Court to do the right thing, for their own sake,” he said on Arise Television’s The Morning Show.

“For goodness sake, let them allow cameras into the court for the first time so that Nigerian people could follow the process so that at the end of the day whatever judgement they gave, Nigerians would be satisfied that they followed their process and followed all the evidence.

“I’m appealing to the judges to allow cameras into the court for the first time to witness so that Nigerians can listen to the evidence and be convinced that the judges are credible as we want them to be.”

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2023 Elections

IReV: INEC Uploads 92% Of Election Results

The Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, has now uploaded 161,624 results from 176, 846 polling units, eight days after the presidential and national assembly polls.

The figure represents 92 per cent of results from all the polling units.

As of the time of filing this report, the electronic transmission of results was still ongoing.

Nigerians expected that the election results would be uploaded on election day as promised by the INEC Chairman, Prof. Mahmood Yakubu.

However, INEC came under fire for its failure to upload results to its viewing portal which led to the walkout of some party agents on Monday at the National Collation Centre.

Checks on Sunday revealed that the results of all the polling units were yet to be uploaded on the INEC website.

According to the Commission, BolaTinubu, the candidate for the ruling All Progressives Congress, won 8.8 million votes, while main opposition candidates Atiku Abubakar and Peter Obi had 6.9 million and 6.1 million, respectively.

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2023 Elections

APC Retains Majority Seats In Senate

The ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) has gotten the highest number of senators elected in the recently concluded election.
92 out of 109 senatorial have been declared by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC).
As at Wednesday, the All Progressives Congress has won 51 seats so far.
The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) has 27 seats, the Labour Party (LP) has won five seats, the New Nigerian Peoples Party (NNPP), and the Social Democratic Party (SDP), have two seats each while the Young Progressives Party (YPP) secured a Senate seat.
A party with a simple majority produces presiding officers called President of the Senate and Deputy Senate President.
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2023 Elections

INEC declares Bola Tinubu winner of 2023 presidential election

The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has declared Bola Tinubu as the winner of the 2023 presidential election.

INEC chairman Yakubu Mahmood declared Tinubu the winner of the election and president-elect Wednesday morning at the International Conference Centre, Abuja.

A total of 18 presidential candidates contested the election held across the 36 states of the federation and the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Abuja, on Saturday.

The election was postponed till Sunday in some polling units in different states due to violence, logistical problems, theft of BVAS and other issues.

After collation at state INEC collation centres, the election results were presented by state collation officers for the presidential election (SCOPs) before the INEC chairman at the National Collation Centre.

Mahmood announced that Tinubu, a former Lagos State governor and the candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC) won the election with the majority of votes cast in 36 states of Nigeria and the FCT.

The APC candidate polled 8,794,726 votes to defeat fellow contenders – Atiku Abubakar of the opposition People’s Democratic Party (PDP) who polled 6,984,520 votes, Labour Party’s Peter Obi had 6,101,533 votes to come third and candidate of the New Nigeria People’s Party (NNPP) Rabiu Kwankwaso with 1,496,687 votes.

Of the 36 states and FCT, Tinubu, Obi, and Atiku won 12 states each while Kwankwaso won only Kano State.

The 12 states won by Tinubu are Ogun, Oyo, Osun, Kwara, Benue, Rivers, Borno, Zamfara, Jigawa, Ondo, Kogi and Niger State.

Atiku of the PDP won Taraba, Osun, Akwa Ibom, Adamawa, Kaduna, Sokoto, Yobe, Bayelsa, Kebbi, Bauchi, Gombe and Katsina.

Obi won the following states; Ebonyi, Enugu, Imo, Anambra, Abia, Delta, Edo, FCT, Plateau, Nasarawa, Lagos and Cross River.

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2023 Elections

BREAKING: Cancel Elections Outright, Okowa And Datti Tell INEC

Datti Baba-Ahmed, the vice-presidential candidate of the Labour Party (LP) and Ifeanyi Okowa, the Vice Presidential candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), have sent out a message to the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC).

Datti and Okowa have asked INEC to cancel the general election.

Baba-Ahmed and Okowa are currently addressing a joint press conference at the Transcorp Hilton Hotel in Abuja.

More to follow…

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2023 Elections

2023 Election: Danger Is Building Up In Nigeria – Olusegun Obasanjo Raises Alarm

Olusegun Obasanjo, a former President of Nigeria, has raised an alarm.

He raised alarm that danger is lurking around the country over the alleged compromise of the ongoing election process.

Obasanjo appealed to the President, Muhammadu Buhari, to prevail on the Chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission, Mahmood Yakubu, to stop the process and rectify the allegations raised against it from many quarters.

The presidential and National Assembly elections were held on Saturday and the collation of results was being done at the National Collation Centre in Abuja.

The Peoples Democratic Party and Labour Party have kicked against the process, describing it as compromised.

A former senator from Kogi West, Dino Melaye, and other party representatives walked out of the centre after raising issues bordering on irregularities in the process of the election.

Obasanjo in a personally signed letter titled, “An appeal for caution and rectification,” released on Monday, said some politicians had compromised some electoral officials to make the Bimodal Voter Accreditation System machines not to work.

He said, “I am constrained to speak at this point. I crave the indulgence of the President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, His Excellency General Muhammadu Buhari, to make this statement because I have had opportunity to keep him aware of what I know is happening and the danger looming ahead.

“On many occasions in the past, I have not hesitated to point out lacuna in the action of the President and his government. But as far as the election issues are concerned, the President has proved beyond reasonable doubt that he will want to leave a legacy of free, fair, transparent and credible elections.

“Until last Saturday night, February 25, 2023, the good and noble plan and preparation for the elections seemed to be going well. For the Independent National Electoral Commission, a lot of money was spent to introduce Bimodal Voter Accreditation System (BVAS), and the server for immediate transmission of results from polling units. It is no secret that INEC officials, at operational levels, have been allegedly compromised to make what should have worked not to work and to revert to manual transmission of results which is manipulated and the results doctored.

“The Chairman of INEC may claim ignorance but he cannot fold his hands and do nothing when he knows that election process has been corrupted and most of the results that are brought outside BVAS and server are not a true reflection of the will of Nigerians who have made their individual choice. At this stage, we do not need wittingly or unwittingly to set this country on fire with the greed, irresponsibility and unpatriotic act of those who allegedly gave money to INEC officials for perversion and those who collected the blood money.

“Let me appeal to the Chairman of INEC, if his hands are clean, to save Nigeria from the looming danger and disaster which is just waiting to happen. If the Chairman can postpone elections four days to the election, he can do everything to rectify the errors of the last two days – no BVAS, no result to be acceptable; and no uploading through Server, no result to be acceptable.

“Whereas, BVAS and Servers have been manipulated or rendered inactive, such results must be declared void and inadmissible for election declaration. Chairman INEC, I have thought that you would use this wonderful opportunity to mend your reputation and character for posterity.

“Your Excellency, President Buhari Muhammadu, tension is building up and please let all elections that do not pass the credibility and transparency test be cancelled and be brought back with areas where elections were disrupted for next Saturday, March 4, 2023, and BVAS and Server officials be changed. To know which stations or polling units were manipulated, let a committee of INEC staff and representatives of the four major political parties with the Chairman of Nigerian Bar Association look into what must be done to have hitch-free elections next Saturday.

“Mr. President, may your plan and hope for leaving a legacy of free, fair, transparent and credible election be realised. Mr. President, please don’t let anybody say to you that it does not matter or it is the problem of INEC. On no account should you be seen as part of the collusion or compromise. When the die is cast, it will be your problem as the Chief Executive of the nation. The Chairman of INEC may sneak out of the country or go back to his Ivory Tower. Your Excellency, thank you for hearing me out.

“Compatriot Nigerians, please exercise patience until the wrong is righted. I strongly believe that nobody will toy with the future and fortune of Nigeria at this juncture.”

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2023 Elections

BREAKING: Obi Wins FCT With Wide Margin

Peter Obi, the presidential candidate of the Labour Party, has won the presidential election in the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Abuja.
Obi polled a total of 281,717 votes while Bola Tinubu of the ruling APC polled 90,902 votes and Atiku Abubakar of the PDP got 74,199 votes.
The Labour Party candidate defeated his closes challenger with 190815 votes.
The Federal Capital Territory has six area councils—Gwagwalada, Abaji, Kwali, Gwagwalada, Bwari and Abuja Municipal.
Out of the six area councils, Labour Party won four, while the APC won two.
Mr Obi’s largest victory was in Abuja Municipal (AMAC), where he secured over 70 per cent of the votes cast and defeated his closest challenger with over 140,000 votes.
In AMAC, the LP candidate polled 170,392 votes to defeat Bola Tinubu of the APC who polled 29,596 votes and Atiku Abubakar of the PDP who scored 26,407 votes.
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2023 Elections

APC Tells DSS To Arrest Enenche, Dino Melaye

The Department of State Services has been urged to arrest the General Overseer of Dunamis Church, Paul Enenche over his ‘inciting sermon’ on the pulpit last Sunday.
All Progressives Congress Presidential Campaign Council made the call Monday.
Also, the APC PCC  asked security agencies to arrest two spokespersons for the opposition Peoples Democratic Party, Dino Melaye and Dele Momodu, for allegedly attempting to heat the polity through their utterances.
The PCC Special Adviser on Media and Strategic Communications, Dele Alake, made the call in Abuja on Monday during a press conference.
He said, “We note with utmost concern those inciting comments and call to violence by some spokespersons for the opposition, especially those from the Peoples Democratic Party. We are particularly concerned and call on the State Security Services and the Nigeria Police Force to immediately restrain persons such as Dino Melaye, Dele Momodu and a certain Pastor Paul Enenche of Dunamis Church from their clear call to violence.
 
“How can a supposed man of God be issuing threat on the pulpit because the person he and his brother endorsed is not winning? How can you desecrate the sanctity of the pulpit on the altar of partisanship? That is an abomination.
 
“Melaye’s tweet threatening violence, Momodu going on the TV to announce a purported winner and Enenche’s hate speech from the pulpit violate every law of the land. They should not go scot-free. The Christians community in this nation should even rise up to call him to order before the invitation by security agencies. We encourage the DSS to do their work by apprehending and restraining these people calling for violence to reduce the tension.”
 
Also speaking, a former Minister of Aviation, Femi Fani-Kayode, described the Dunamis preacher’s action as a disgrace to the Pentecostal mission society.
He said, “I was invited by the DSS for a tweet I made. We are all aware of that. Therefore I see Eneche’s outburst as an insult to so many pastors, particularly Pentecostals like myself. That is because when this violence they are calling for begins, they will run away and leave hapless Nigerians to face it.
 
“What the opposition is doing is trying to heat up the polity and intimidate our supporters.”