TheNewsGuru

Tag: Candidates

  • 18 out of 91 political parties not fielding candidates in Saturday’s presidential poll [Full List]

    18 out of 91 political parties not fielding candidates in Saturday’s presidential poll [Full List]

    Eighteen (18) out of the 91 registered political parties will not be fielding presidential candidates in Saturday’s elections.

    These parties are:

    Congress of Patriots (COP)

    Alternative Party of Nigeria (APN)

    Legacy Party of Nigeria (LPN)

    Modern Democratic Party (MDP)

    Movement for The Restoration and Defence of Democracy (MRDD)

    New Generation Party (NGP)

    New Progressives Movement (NPM)

    Alliance for Democracy (AD)

    Peoples Democratic Movement (PDM)

    Peoples Progressives Party (PPP)

    Socialist Party of Nigeria (SPN)

    United Peoples Congress (UPC)

    United Progressives Party UPP)

    Young Democratic Party (YDP)

    Youth Party (YP)

    Zenith Labour Party (ZLP)

    Democratic Alternative (DA)

    There are 91 registered political parties, out of which 73 parties are fielding presidential candidates, leaving 18 political parties not fielding presidential candidates.

    The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) on January 17 released its final list of presidential candidates.

    Among the 73 candidates, two parties; the Social Democratic Party (SDP) and Allied Congress Party of Nigeria (ACPN) have issues although both parties are listed on INEC’s final list.

    ACPN has its name and the name of its candidate on INEC’s list but the party’s presidential candidate, Oby Ezekwesili, withdrew from the race even though the deadline for withdrawal and substitution had elapsed.

    SDP, on the other hand, has only its party name on INEC’s list because the party failed to send the name of its candidate, due to court cases.

  • 2019: Finally, APC gets court order to field candidates in Zamfara

    The Court of Appeal in Sokoto has dismissed an appeal against the judgment of a Zamfara State High Court asking the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to recognise candidates of the All Progressives Congress (APC) for various offices in Zamfara State.

    The judgment effectively paves the way for the APC to participate in all elections in the state starting on Saturday with the presidential and National Assembly polls.

    A three-member panel of judges unanimously dismissed the appeal following its withdrawal by the appellant, Aminu Jaji.

    INEC had earlier insisted it would not recognise the Zamfara candidates who were produced after the stipulated time for primaries.

    The electoral body also maintained its position following conflicting judgments on the matter by a high court of Zamfara and federal high court on January 25.

    The High Court in Zamfara had on that day ruled that the actually conducted primaries in the state and should be allowed to present candidates for the electoral contest.

    That court specifically directed INEC to accept candidates from the party for Zamfara. Justice Muhammad Shinkafi, who delivered the ruling, said the APC conducted primaries elections on October 3 and 7, 2018.

    The court also barred the national secretariat of the APC from replacing the names of those who won the primary elections of the party.

    In the case with suit number ZMS/GS/52/2018, Sanusi Liman, Dan Alhaji and 37 others vs APC and 143, the plaintiffs had asked the court to compel the APC and INEC to accept the results of the party’s primaries election in the state conducted on October 7, 2018.

    A Federal High Court in Abuja, however, ruled otherwise on a suit filed by some individuals, who said they emerged from a consensus arrangement adopted by the party in Zamfara State.

    The court said INEC acted within its powers by refusing to accept the list of candidates from the Zamfara State chapter of the APC.

    In the judgment, Justice Ijeoma Ojukwu, said it was not the fault of INEC that the APC failed to conduct a valid primary within the period scheduled by the electoral body.

    Ojukwu said INEC’s action was intended to curb impunity among political parties and politicians and ensure that rule of law is adhered to.

    INEC had last October said it would not allow the APC to field candidates in Zamfara because the party failed to conduct primaries before the deadline stipulated.

    Some members of the APC in the state had approached the court challenging the decision of INEC.

    The party said it conducted primaries which produced current governor Abdulaziz Yari as a senatorial candidate and his commissioner of finance, Shehu Idris, as governorship candidate, among other candidates.

  • Rivers APC reacts to Appeal Court judgement allowing it to field candidates

    Rivers APC reacts to Appeal Court judgement allowing it to field candidates

    The Rivers State chapter of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) has officially reacted to a court judgement on Monday afternoon granting a stay of Execution on the Judgement of Justice Kolawole Omotosho of the Federal High Court which nullified all Primaries of the All Progressives Congress (APC) and also restrained the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) from fielding the Party’s Candidates in the forthcoming 2019 elections.

    The party in a statement signed and released by its spokesperson, Chris Finebone said the judgement vindicated the party in the state.

    Read full statement below:

    WE HAVE BEEN VINDICATED – RIVERS APC

    The Appeal Court sitting in Port Harcourt today (Monday, 4th of February, 2019) has granted Stay of Execution on the Judgement of Justice Kolawole Omotosho of the Federal High Court which nullified all Primaries of the All Progressives Congress (APC) and also restrained the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) from fielding the Party’s Candidates in the forthcoming 2019 elections.

    We have always said that the wheel of justice may grind slowly, sometimes annoyingly slowly, but surely justice comes ultimately. We believe that today’s judgment has vindicated APC in Rivers State.

    Now, anyone who has carefully and painstakingly followed our pending matter at the Supreme Court, especially, during the last sitting before the apex court reserved ruling, will easily and safely conclude that our victory at the Supreme Court is only a matter of time. The key issues of REPRESENTATION and JURISDICTION which Justice Chiwendu Nworgu deliberately overlooked in tailoring his judgment to fit into a predetermined purpose, and yet bandy it as a CONSENT judgment, will be completely deconstructed by the excellent legal minds on the Supreme Court bench. In this particular case, the end will justify our dogged efforts as we shall, once again, prevail by God’s grace!

    All Rivers APC faithful should remain resolute as we are set to recover all that Satan has battled so hard to take away from us.

    INEC, by today’s Appeal Court ruling, should by now be reinstating our candidates’ names on the ballot in line with the status quo before the pronouncement by the federal high court of Justice Omotosho.

  • 2019: Rivers APC Candidates will be on the ballot – Dakuku Peterside

    …Calls on APC members to remain calm

     

    The Director General of Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency (NIMASA), Dr. Dakuku Peterside, has expressed the optimism that the governorship and other candidates of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in Rivers State will be on the ballot in the 2019 general election.

    Speaking to journalists on arrival at the Port Harcourt International Airport, Omagwa, Port Harcourt, Saturday, Dr. Dakuku Peterside said that the challenge the APC in the state is experiencing is temporary and will soon be a thing of the past.

    “I am very confident that APC governorship and other candidates will be on the 2019 election ballot. I know that the judiciary is an important component of the political process. You can’t talk about politics without talking about the judiciary or the role of the judiciary. So, my confidence is that ultimately this issue will be resolved, APC candidates will be on the ballot and run the election. And Rivers people will have options and I know that they will choose the candidates of the APC above the other political party.

    “You know that the other political party has disappointed Rivers people on all fronts. What they have done in the past three and half years is that they have made more and more people lose confidence in the institution of government of Rivers State. They have embarked on outright lies, concocted stories and half-truths and Rivers people are indeed tired of the mess. The people cannot wait to get rid of the current government in the state and APC provides them that alternative. But unfortunately, we are going through our own challenges.

    “Let me take advantage of this opportunity to appeal to all members of the APC to remain calm, confident, loyal and keep trusting the Almighty God. That the end of this tortuous journey will come and it will be to God’s glory. All hope is not lost; indeed no hope is lost. One thing I’m pretty sure of is that at the end of the tunnel there is light and it will be to God’s own glory.

    “We have embarked on series of engagements to get all sides of the party, to get different interests in the party to understand that it is in our collective interest to work together. It is in our interest to pursue the path of peace, unity and, of course, working for the common purpose. You cannot have a team if you are not working for a common purpose. If you have persons working at cross purposes you can never achieve results. That makes you a team and we are a team of patriotic and progressive citizens of Rivers State who want the best for our state as against our opponents in the other party who are self-serving and usually pursuing their own narrow opportunistic interests. That is where we are.

    “It is not true that the Honourable Minister is responsible for the crisis in our party. I don’t believe that this is the time for blame game. A lot of things happened and blame game will not help us in any way. Even as a leader of the party, it is wrong for me to join in the blame game,” Dr. Peterside declared.

  • JUST IN: INEC releases final list of candidates for 2019 elections

    JUST IN: INEC releases final list of candidates for 2019 elections

    The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has released the final list of candidates eligible to participate in the 2019 general elections.

    The list contains the names of candidates for the presidential, senatorial, House of Reps and state Assemblies.

    The information was contained on the verified Twitter handle of the Commission, @inecnigeria.

    The presidential candidates’ list features 144 names comprising parties’ presidential candidates and their running mates.

    The Social Democratic Party did not present presidential candidate or running mate for the election.

    There are 28 women on the list as either the candidate or the running mate.

    The youngest candidate is the 30-year-old John Omede, being a vice-presidential candidate of the New Nigeria People’s Party.

  • 2019: 22,643 candidates contesting 1,504 positions – INEC

    2019: 22,643 candidates contesting 1,504 positions – INEC

    The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) National Commissioner for North-central, Mohammed Haruna, has said that 22,643 candidates would contest 1,504 positions during the forthcoming general elections in the country.

    Haruna, who is in charge of Kwara, Kogi and Nasarawa states, made this known on Monday in Ilorin during an interactive session with traditional rulers in the state ahead of 2019 general elections.

    The commissioner said that 73 candidates would contest for the post of the president while 1,158 would slug it out for the governorship positions in 29 states.

    He added that 1,886 candidates would contest the 109 senatorial districts in the country and 4,634 candidates contesting for the 306 House of Representatives seats.

    Haruna said 14,643 candidates would contest for 991 posts in the various State Houses of Assembly.

    “In addition, the elections will hold for the six chairmen and 62 councilors of the FCT Area Councils because the end of their tenures has coincided with this year’s general elections,” he said.

    Haruna said the governorship elections would hold in 29 states, adding it would not hold in seven states: Kogi, Bayelsa, Rivers, Edo, Ondo, Ekiti and Osun.

    He said the elections in those states had been held, based on the court’s order.

    He said INEC would deploy between 750,000 and one million ad-hoc staff to be sourced mainly from NYSC, federal tertiary institutions, and Ministries Departments and Agencies (MDAs).

    The official told the royal fathers that 84,004,084 voters are expected to participate in the general elections.

    “The commission has been diligently implementing the timetable and schedule of activities for the 2019 general elections.

    “We have so far implemented 9 out of the 14 activities. Soon, we shall implement all activities and fulfill the mandate thrust upon us by the Constitution.

    “The commission has made available to each political party a copy of the entire national register of voters.”

    He said the commission had printed and delivered the Permanent Voter Cards (PVCs) to the states for collection by registered voters.

    “We urged registered voters who have not collected their PVCs to pick their cards.

    “For this, INEC has specially arranged for those who are yet to collect their cards to do so from Jan.16 to Jan.21, at the designated centres in their wards.”

    Haruna emphasised that INEC would use the Smart Card Readers (SCR) for the general elections, adding that the commission had procured additional 27, 327 card readers and enhanced the performance of 164, 763 old ones.

    According to him, the performance of readers has improved from the 93.1 per cent in Kogi in 2015 to 99 per cent now.

    The commissioner, who expressed concern on the low turnout of voters during elections in the country, appealed to the royal fathers to always mobilise their subjects to vote during elections.

    Haruna said to discourage vote buying, the commission had altered the configuration of the polling units by moving the ballot boxes closer to the voting cubicles.

     

  • 2019: Rivers APC rules out possibility of adopting candidates from other parties

    2019: Rivers APC rules out possibility of adopting candidates from other parties

    The Rivers State Chapter of the All Progressives Congress (APC) has said that it was not thinking of adopting a candidate from another political party because it does not envisage losing its case at the Appeal and the Supreme courts.

    Recall that the State APC had filed an appeal against the disqualification of its candidates from the 2019 general elections in the state, a ruling that was recently given by a Federal High Court in Port Harcourt.

    State Publicity Secretary of the APC, Mr. Chris Finebone, told our correspondent on Saturday that it was hypothetical to think that the party could lose its matter at both the Appeal and Supreme courts.

    Finebone maintained that the state APC would determine its next line of action by the time it exhausted all the judiciary options available to it.

    He said, “It is too hypothetical for that kind of situation to happen (adopting a candidate of another party if the party loses at the Appeal and Supreme Courts). In such a situation, you will determine what to do when you get there.

    “The ‘ifs’ here are too many and that is why we are saying that it is hypothetical and I can tell you that we don’t envisage that situation (losing at the Appeal and Supreme courts).”

    On whether there are moves by the state APC to assuage the feelings of aggrieved members, Fine explained that the party would first exhaust the numerous issues in court.

    He stated that he was not aware of any peace move between Senator Magnus Abe’s group and the APC in the state.

    “There no situation that I know of to show that there is peace move between us and Abe.

    “These are things that are already in court and we believe that at the stage we are currently, let the issues get exhausted through the court system, especially for some of the issues,” he stressed.

  • 2019: We’ll vote candidates with best deal for us – Miyetti Allah

    2019: We’ll vote candidates with best deal for us – Miyetti Allah

    Members of Miyetti Allah Kautal Hore Fulani Socio-cultural Association have promised to encourage their people to only vote for whom they believe will negotiate the best deal for herders in the country.

    The group promised to fight against the anti-open grazing law enacted by the government of Benue, complained of extra-judicial killings and harassments being meted out on them by security and paramilitary agencies.

    National President Miyetti Allah, Alh. Abdullahi Bodejo said that the enactment of the law is the most wicked act any government can do to the economic interest of Fulani pastorialists.

    He said that most of their members have fled their homes and now become refugees in neighboring states of Nasarawa and Taraba.

    Speaking in Abuja at the end of the national delegates meeting of the association, he said that his people unanimously condemn and reject the repressive and oppressive law.

    His words, ” Delegates view the continuous policies of segregation by some state governors seeking to criminalise the economic livelihoods of Pastoralists through the enactment of obnoxious laws ’Anti-open Grazing Law’ as the most wicked act any government can do to the economic interest of Fulani Pastoralists and unanimously condemned and totally reject the repressive and oppressive laws.

    “Consequently, delegates affirmed their support and solidarity for the legal action instituted by the National Leadership to challenge the negative and segregatory Benue anti-grazing law at the Federal High Court Abuja.

    “The situation in Benue as it stands today, our members are totally displaced from their traditional place of earning their livelihoods, we have over three hundred Fulani youths that are in jail because of the law that we are still challenging in court.

    “Our people experience extra-judicial killings by security and paramilitary agencies, harassment, intimidation of herders seen around Benue, which is why we are calling on the abolition of that law.

    “As it stands today in Benue, our members are refugees in neighboring states of Nasarawa and Taraba states and we are hoping that something is done to ameliorate the pitiable situation they find themselves.

    “The Benue issue remains the most vexed issue to pastoralists in Nigeria and the whole of West African sub region because it is a policy that is aimed at destroying pastoralism, which is a means of to millions of pastoralists across sub-Saharan Africa.

    “As for 2019 elections, we are weighing what the two candidates will bring on the table, what they have for the pastoralists that are facing numerous challenges across the country and when we finish our assessment, we will invite the whole world to know our stance but for now, we are asking our members to be ready with their PVC’s and await where we can negotiate the best deal for them particularly on the issue of their economic livelihood because any candidate we support must come out clean on what future plans he has for livestock development in this country and his agenda for farmers and herders in this country, It’s not just the two candidates that are contesting, we have over ninety political parties contesting, it will be unfair to narrow down to two perceived parties.”

    National Secretary of the association revealed that herders in Kogi are dying of a disease they believe to be gastrointestinal, where patients bleed till they die.

    His word “Other problems facing pastoralists is that in Kogi state, there has been an outbreak of a viral disease that have been killing our members in the villages and up till now the centre for disease control or ministry of health is yet to investigate it, this should be investigated before it becomes a national disaster. It is around Dikina and Ayimgba there is an outbreak of a gastro intestinal disease where patients bleed before they die.”

  • 2019: You are free to support candidates of your choice – FG tells Obasanjo

    2019: You are free to support candidates of your choice – FG tells Obasanjo

    The Federal Government has reacted to the claim by former President Olusegun Obasanjo that he would support his former deputy, Atiku Abubakar for the 2019 presidential election.
    The Federal Government said the former President “has every right to support anyone he likes,” adding that such right “is constitutional. “
    However, it said the candidate of Obasanjo will be “roundly and comprehensively ” defeated by President Muhammadu Buhari.
    Minister of Information and Culture, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, stated these at a media briefing in Abuja on Monday.
    Details later…

  • WAEC to issue certificates to candidates after 90 days

    The West African Examinations Council (WAEC) is to issue certificates to candidates whose results have been fully processed and released after 90 days.

    This was announced in Calabar on Wednesday by the Head of the Nigeria National Office of WAEC, Mr Olu Adenipekun, while announcing the release of the results of the West African Senior School Certificate Examination for private candidates.

    This he said was made possible as the five-member country examination body joins the digital race.

    While announcing the results of the 2018-Second Series examination conducted between August 14 and October 4, Adenipekun said, “112,567 candidates registered for the examination in Nigeria, out of which 109,902 candidates sat the examination.”

    Out of this figure, 138 candidates with varying degrees of special needs registered for the examination.