Tag: inec

Categories
2023 Elections

2023: Full List Of All 26 Governors-elect Announced So Far By INEC

A total of 26 candidates have been announced as Governors-elect by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) as it concludes the 2023 elections.
INEC had on Wednesday declared Alex Otti of the Labour Party (LP) as winner of the election in Abia State.
Peter Mbah of the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, also emerged the winner of the governorship election in Enugu State.
This indicates that 26 out of 28 governorship elections have been announced. The elections in Kebbi and Adamawa were declared inconclusive.
Two PDP Governors – Seyi Makinde (Oyo) and Bala Mohammed (Bauchi) – secured re-election.
Seven first-term governors were elected on the platform of the PDP. They are: Kefas Agbu (Taraba), Caleb Mutfwang (Plateau), Peter Mbah (Enugu), Umo Eno (Akwa Ibom), Siminialayi Fubara (Rivers) and Sheriff Oborevwori (Delta).
PDP’s Dauda Lawal unseated Zamfara State Governor, Bello Matawalle, while Abba Kabir of the NNPP unseated the APC in Kano State.
The All Progressives Congress, APC won in 15 states, PDP in nine, LP in one. The New Nigeria Peoples Party (NNPP) won in Kano state.
APC had seven Governors re-elected. They are: Inuwa Yahaya (Gombe), Mai Mala Muni (Yobe), Abdullahi Sule (Nasarawa), Babajide Sanwo-Olu (Lagos), Dapo Abiodun (Ogun), AbdulRahman AbdulRazaq (Kwara), Babagana Zulum (Borno).
The ruling party also secured wins for eight new candidates: Uba Sani (Kaduna), Bassey Out (Cross River), Mohammed Bago (Niger), Umar Namadi (Jigawa), Ahmed Aliyu (Sokoto), Dikko Radda (Katsina), Hyacinth Alia (Benue), and Francis Nwifuru (Ebonyi).
Categories
News

Prophet Odumeje Didn’t Say He Will Die Soon – Aide

Controversial Anambra State-based Prophet, Chukwuemeka Cyril Odumeje has said he never made a statement that he will die soon.
His aide made the clarification, according to Leadership Newspaper.
Reports earlier quoted the General Overseer of The Mountain of Holy Ghost Intervention and Deliverance Ministry saying that he has completed his tasks here on earth and will leave soon.
Odumeje in a said viral video spoke on how he told his little son (KingDavid) that he would leave soon.
According to the cleric, he advised his son to take care of his brothers and mother when he leaves.
The controversial cleric stressed that he came to this world for a purpose and the purpose has been fulfilled.
However, speaking with Leadership newspaper on Tuesday, Odumeje’s aide stated that the prophet did not make such a statement.
The lady who gave her name as Amaka Okoye described such news as false.
“It is not true (that prophet Odumeje said during Church service last Sunday that he will die soon).
 
“You know that some people when they want to destroy someone’s image, they will write something with your name and put it in a YouTube and say that you said it,” the news platform quoted Okoye saying on behalf of Odumeje.
She said that the prophet never instructed his son to take care of his house and that he would die soon as reported on news platforms.
Categories
Entertainment News

300bn election budget: For the blatant rigging? Just use finger to point at people you want to select – Simi tells INEC

Nigerian singer, Simisola Ogunleye-Kosoko, simply known as Simi, has described as a joke, the 300 billion Naira budget for the 2023 general elections.

The mother of one stressed that it would have been better for the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to “just used finger to point at the people you wanted to select.”

She made this known via her Twitter handle while calling out INEC on Monday, March 20. Evidently disappointed, Simi said it would have been better if the exorbitant amount was used to fix hospitals and schools in Nigeria. She tweeted:

“300 billion naira budget for this joke of an election. @inecnigeria you might have as well given them back the money to fix some hospitals and schools and just used finger to point at the people you wanted to select.”

“The blatant rigging and nobody in power addressed it. Lol. Giant problem of Africa. Anybody that saw the disenfranchisement and didn’t condemn it better keep their prayers for Nigeria. She doesn’t need prayers from people like you.”

Categories
Entertainment News

Election Budget Should Have Been Used To Fix Hospitals And Schools – Singer Simi Blasts INEC

Singer Simisola Ogunleye-Kosoko aka Simi, has lashed out at the Independent National Electoral Commission, saying the N350 billion wasted on election logistics should have been used to fix schools and hospitals.
She made this known via her Twitter handle while calling out INEC on Monday, March 20.
She tweeted: “300 billion naira budget for this joke of an election. @inecnigeria you might have as well given them back the money to fix some hospitals and schools and just used finger to point at the people you wanted to select.”
She added: “The blatant rigging and nobody in power addressed it. Lol. Giant problem of Africa. 
 
“Anybody that saw the disenfranchisement and didn’t condemn it better keep their prayers for Nigeria. She doesn’t need prayers from people like you.”
Categories
2023 Elections

Governorship Election: We Did Not Remove Igbo, South-South Names From Election Duties – INEC

INEC

Ahead of the March 18 governorship and House of Assembly elections in Lagos State, the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has dismissed allegations that it removed Igbo and South-South individuals from the list of ad hoc staff.

This comes following rumours circulating on social media that the electoral body in Lagos had removed all personnel from these regions from participating in sensitive election duties on March 18th.

In response, the INEC Resident Electoral Commissioner in Lagos State, Mr Olusegun Agbaje, issued a statement on Wednesday evening through the Head of Department, Voter Education and Publicity, Mrs Adenike Tadese, refuting the claims as fake news that should be disregarded.

“INEC Lagos State read with great surprise and concern on the social media in respect of the removal of all Igbo and South-South staff in Lagos State from participating as ad hoc staff in the state during the forthcoming governorship and House of Assembly elections on March 18.

“It has become imperative to correct the erroneous accusations in some quarters and put the record straight that the ad hoc staff (collation officers) engaged during the presidential and National Assembly Elections on February 25 in Lagos State were 738 in number, bearing in mind that three elections were held.

“The forthcoming governorship and House of Assembly will only require the services of 427 collation officers because only two elections are involved.

“It is pertinent to state unequivocally that members of staff that are Igbo were all returned to work as collation officers in the forthcoming elections while SPOs (Supervisory Presiding Officers) maintained their positions,” Agbaje said.

Agbaje added that he never had a phone conversation with the ‘Obidients, Sanwo-Olu, and Tinubu’ and emphasized that he did not possess their contact numbers.

He encouraged the public to disregard false news, incorrect information, and deception and to enable INEC in Lagos to concentrate on the upcoming elections to achieve the intended outcomes.

“Whoever has information concerning the day and time of the said telephone conversation should not hesitate to make it public.

“The commission will continue to uphold the fundamental principles of equity, fairness, transparency, credibility and accountability in line with the vision and mission to be a pre-eminent leader in deepening electoral democracy as an unbiased election management body,” he said.

Categories
News

Election: INEC Suspends Abia State REC

The Independent National Electoral Commission INEC has suspended Ike Uzochukwu, its Resident Electoral Commissioner REC in Abia State.

Abia State was one of the states where the February 25 Presidential and National Assembly elections did not commence as scheduled, following a logistical failure.

Vanguard reports that following the suspension, INEC has consequently directed its Administrative Secretary in the state, Clement Ohia to immediately assume office and ensure the smooth conduct of this Saturday’s Governorship and State Assembly election.

The commission had on March 6 suspended its Resident Electoral Commissioner REC in Sokoto State, Dr. Nura Ali, and directed its Administrative Secretary in the state, Hauwa Aliyu Kangiwa, to take over its affairs.

Categories
News

BVAS Configuration: INEC Imputing Wrong Figures – Dino Melaye Raises Alarm

Senator Dino Melaye of the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP has made a new allegation against the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC.
He accused INEC, of imputing wrong figures while transferring results to the backend server.
Melaye, a spokesperson to the presidential candidate of the PDP in the just concluded February 25 election, Atiku Abubakar, disclosed this in a post via his Twitter handle on Monday.
He said his party would expose any wrong imputation and change in figures by the commission as it transfers election results to the backend server.
Recall that the Electoral Commission recently obtained order from the Court to allow it reconfigure the Bimodal Voter Accreditation System, BVAS, for the March 18 gubernatorial election.
However, the former lawmaker said they would shock INEC and its ICT department.
 
“INEC is doing the wrong thing, wrong imputation going on. We will expose any wrong imputation and figures changing as upload and backend transfer is going on. We will shock INEC and the ICT department. Jail loading for many,” he tweeted.
Categories
News

INEC Denies Refusing Aggrieved Political Parties Access To Election Materials

The Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, has dismissed allegations that it disobeyed the Appeal Court order to allow aggrieved political parties to inspect election materials.

INEC National Commissioner for Information and Voter Education, Festus Okoye, made the clarification, when he appeared as a guest on Arise TV on Sunday.

Okoye advised lawyers of the aggrieved parties, to channel their request appropriately, so that, “the issues can be handled expeditiously.”

He added that INEC, at the national level, does not conduct elections, but rather elections are conducted at the state and local government level.

The INEC Commissioner also stated that the commission will direct the parties to the appropriate place where they will find the materials they want.

He said, “The commission will not deliberately or flagrantly disobey the order of a properly constituted court of law, and in this case, the Presidential Election Petition Tribunal sitting at the Court of Appeal.

“I think that what the parties involved in this election should do, is to send lawyers who understand the trajectory of the electoral process and request for some of these materials.

“If you are requesting to scan ballot papers used during the election, ballot papers are not in the headquarters of INEC.

“Some of these ballot papers are still in our local government offices and so the proper place to scan them will be at our local government offices.”

Okoye said INEC is only resetting the BVAS, to recognize the new date for the forthcoming election.

He explained that the BVAS will not allow itself to reconfigure until all the data in it has been uploaded to the commission’s server.

Okoye ruled out the possibility of INEC allowing individuals to witness the reconfiguring of the BVAS, saying the device contains sensitive information of biometrics of other individuals.

Categories
News

Labour Party Threatens To Occupy INEC Offices Nationwide For ‘Disobeying’ Tribunal’s Directive To Release BVAS Machines For Inspection

The Labour Party has issued a new threat to the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC.

The party threatened that it will call on its members to occupy offices of INEC nationwide for allegedly frustrating its petition against the outcome of the 2023 presidential election.

The party’s Presidential Campaign Council chief spokesman, Tanko Yunusa, disclosed this in a statement.

According to Yunusa, INEC refused to allow its lawyers and agents inspect the Bimodal Voter Authentication System (BVAS) machines alongside other electoral materials.

He added that the electoral body has decided which court orders to obey and which to disregard.

The spokesman wondered why INEC disobeyed the order of the Presidential Election Petition Tribunal directing the electoral umpire to grant the party and its presidential candidate, Peter Obi, access to the certified true copies of materials used in the conduct of the poll.

The statement read, “The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) with greatest impunity have refused, neglected and failed to obey the Order of the Presidential Election Petition Tribunal sitting in Abuja made on the 03rd day of March 2023, directing it to grant the Labour Party and its presidential candidate H.E. Peter Gregory Obi leave to apply and receive from INEC, certified true copies of materials used in the presidential election held on 25th February 2023.

“It will be recalled that the aforesaid Order of the presidential election petition tribunal was duly served on INEC on the 3rd of March 2023 despite the fact that they were present and represented at the tribunal when the Order was made.

“Not minding the service of the said Order on INEC, and a reminder letter dated the 6th day of March 2023 and delivered same date at the INEC Headquarters Abuja, the electoral umpire has continued to ignore and or disobey the valid Order of such magnitude till NOW.

“It should be noted that in a democracy like ours, rule of law must triumph not only in our legal system but also in our body polity as a whole. Parties to a litigation like in the instant case must accept and obey every order of court in good faith and no party should be seen to employ self-help to disparage or disrespect an order of court which if not checked and curtailed could possibly undermine our democracy, rule of law and constitutionalism.

“The action of INEC under reference also constitutes for all intent and purposes, an act of judicial insubordination and willful refusal to comply to the order of court. As we speak INEC has chosen to obey the court order given to it to reconfigure the BVAS machine, which they doing right now and ignoring the order granted to us to inspect electoral materials.

“We therefore call on the general public to note the level of lawlessness and brazen disobedience to a lawful order of a court by an important statutory agency such as INEC, and which is a well calculated attempt to undermine and frustrate the presentation of the Petition by the Labour Party and its Presidential candidate before the tribunal in good time.

“We therefore want to state that we will not fail to call our supporters to march to INEC offices nationwide in a non-violent protest which is allowed by law. This is to curtail the flagrant disobedience to court orders by INEC.”

Categories
News

Confidence In INEC Now At An All Time Low – Former INEC Director

Oluwole Osaze-Uzzi, a former INEC Director, Voter Education and Publicity, has stated that Nigerians have little or no trust in the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC).

Some Nigerians had criticised the conduct of the February 25 presidential and National Assembly elections as below the expectations of citizens and stakeholders at home and abroad.

“You could not envisage a situation with the tension of the country. With the uncertainty and all that has happened in the last 10, 12 day, I don’t think INEC could afford doing any wrong again,” Osaze-Uzzi, said on Channels Television’s Politics Today on Thursday, March 9.

“Things went awry last time around and confidence, I think, is at an all-time low. Some people may begin to get over it, but I think the vast majority of Nigerians are satisfied.”

“Trust is a fragile thing,” Osaze-Uzzi stated.

“INEC conducted elections in 1998, 1999 – people just wanted to get rid of the military, it wasn’t perfect but it was acceptable. In 2003, people were not happy. 2007 was the epoch of it all. Trust was next to zero,” he said.

Osaze-Uzzi however added that with the changes in personnel and reforms brought into place, trust began to build up, leading up to 2022.

“By the time you brought more technology, by the time you conducted Osun, Edo, Ekiti, Ondo, and then they saw the way technology improved the process, Osun was picture-perfect. People [said], ‘They could really do this.’

“Expectations were now high and people were ready to forgive the sins of the past. I think at that time, INEC became one of the most trusted public institutions,” he said.

“There was a call to be made: Do you delay things and ensure you follow the process to the letter, even if it means delaying this thing for a week or whatever period of time?

“Or do you save time, save tension, just go ahead and bypass some of the processes laid down in your regulations? I think it took the former. This time around, I think process triumphed over timing,” he said.