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Tag: Election Results

  • Re-run polls: Gunmen abduct election officials with materials in C’River

    Re-run polls: Gunmen abduct election officials with materials in C’River

    Unknown gunmen have reportedly abducted election officials with materials that were headed for the 8 polling units in Afayna/Igoni-Igoni ward under Abi state constituency in Cross River State.

    The Federal Commissioner of Independent National Electoral Commission INEC in charge of South-South region, Dr. Mohammed Lecky told newsmen during election duties that the incident occurred in the middle of the river leading to the community.

    Backed by the state Resident Electoral Commissioner Dr. Alalibo Johnson and the Administrative Secretary of INEC in the state Mrs. Irene Ngozi Oghuma, the Federal Commissioner said the unknown gunmen accosted the Electoral officials with materials and went away with all the voting materials along with the SPO (State Presiding Officer).

    According to him, the security men that accompanied the materials and men of election duties decided to avoid casualty by not engaging the unknown armed men in the middle of the river.

    He expressed sadness over the incident but thanked God that all the NYSC members on duty and other election duty officials have returned safely to office except the SPO, whose phone is ringing but he is not picking.

    He said the total number of registered voters in the affected area where the materials have been hijacked is 5606.

    The Re-run in Cross River State affected 33 polling units covering Ekureku ward one and ward two for Abi/YAKURR Federal Constituency where Dr. Alex Ebona of the APC is aiming to retain the seat he won during the February 2019 elections.

    The Re-run also affected some wards in the Abi State House of Assembly constituency.

    Across many other polling units visited during the voting hours, there was a huge turnout of voters.

    The PDP candidate, Hon. John Gual Lebo, whose petition led to the rerun election refuse to speak to newsmen as he was seen holding meeting with his supporters at the resident of the former governor of the state.

    However, Dr. Alex Ebona, the APC candidate expressed satisfaction over the huge turnout of voters noting that the incident of hijack of material occurred in the area for the state house constituency election.

    According to him, he is told the election in the affected area will be held the next day if the problem was not resolved before close of voting.

    Dr Alex Egbona, said:” The turn out is encouraging and you know that the election is in my community. I am in touch with my community and that is why you see this unprecedented turn out.”

    “I encourage all voters to vote according to their conscience as nobody would molest them. This is democracy so vote according to your choice. But I can tell you with this development I would emerge victorious.”

    The election materials arrived very early just as voters turned out as early as 6: 30 am.

    It was also observed that the INEC officials had initial difficulty in containing the mammoth crowd, especially at Gbagaro Agbara and Egbonyi polling units within Ekureku II ward.

    Speaking on the conduct of the election, the presiding officer for Gbagaro Agbara polling unit, Mr Isaac Oke, said: “I can tell you the election materials arrived at 8:00am and we commended accreditation immediately because the voters were already on ground.

    “There is large turn out of voters as you can see. The card reader is very slow, but we promise to ensure that everybody would vote at the end of the day.

    Also speaking INEC observer, Mr Jubril Isa, commended the voters for their peaceful and orderly conduct but observed that the processes are slow.

    He enjoined INEC to try and improve upon it so that no voter is disenfranchised this exercise.

  • 2019: We’ll collate, transmit elections results manually – INEC

    2019: We’ll collate, transmit elections results manually – INEC

    The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) on Sunday said it will collate and transmit results of the 2019 general elections manually.

    According to the electoral umpire, this is the only system that the law allows. The Commission also said not give Resident Electoral Commissioners (RECs) in the 36 states and the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) powers to recruit collation officers.

    INEC insists that it has enough courage to conduct free and fair elections, but it urged Nigerians to prevail on political parties to comply with the guidelines for the exercise.

    The position of INEC was made known by its National Commissioner and Chairman, Information and Voter Education, Mr. Festus Okoye, at an interactive session with some media homes in Abuja. Okoye said INEC was ready for the conduct of the polls in 1, 558 constituencies and 774 Local Government Areas. He said the commission has concluded the identification and recruitment of over 814, 453 ad hoc staff.

    Okoye spent much time to clarify issues surrounding collation of results. He said: “ For this general election, we are collating results manually and transmitting manually in accordance with the existing laws. Even in some advanced countries, some of them collate and transmit election results manually because in this age of technology, anything can happen. ” INEC has been consistent in following the processes and procedures in collating and transmitting results. If tomorrow the National Assembly changes the laws, we will adopt e-collation and transmission of results.

    “The National Commissioner said INEC will not allow Resident Electoral Commissioners (RECs)to recruit collation officers.

    Okoye added: “ The practice of recruiting collation officers centrally by INEC headquarters has been in practice since 2011. In all elections since 2011, including the 195 off-season elections since 2015, the recruitment of collation officers is centrally done by INEC headquarters.

    “So, since 2011, no REC has been involved in the recruitment of Collation Officers. We will continue to recruit Collation Officers from INEC headquarters, we won’t allow RECs to do that.”

    The commission met with the Committee of Vice Chancellors and agreed on the modalities for recruiting and forwarding the names of Collation Officers to INEC headquarters.

    “Responding to a question, the National Commissioner said: “Collation Officers are not allowed to make phone calls or receive calls during collation.”

    Okoye assured that the commission will be fair to all parties and candidates.

    He said: “INEC has pledged to be neutral and will not pander to the whims and caprices of anybody or party.

    “We have the courage and the stamina to provide an enabling environment to guarantee free and fair elections. We have the capacity to conduct elections that all Nigerians will be proud of.”

    Okoye gave details about preparations for the elections. He added: “ As you are aware, in 12 days, INEC will conduct Presidential and National Assembly elections and on the 2nd of March, the commission will conduct Governorship and State Assembly elections.”

    The commission is presently fine-tuning its preparations for the conduct of the two strands of election and National Commissioners are just returning from the states that they supervise where they went to assess the extent and level of preparation for the conduct of elections.

    “It is a matter of common knowledge that the 2019 general elections will involve 91 registered political parties and a total registered voting population of 84,004,084. The election will take place in 1,558 Constituencies and 774 Local Government Areas. The Collation of Results will take place in 8,809 Registration Areas/ Wards and in 119, 973 Polling Units and 57,023 Voting Points nationwide.”The Presidential Election will be contested by a total of 73 candidates while the governorship election will be contested by a total of 1,068 candidates in 29 states of the Federation. The 109 Senate seats will be contested by 1, 904 candidates while the 360 seats in the House of Representatives will be contested by a total of 4, 680 candidates. The 991 State Constituency elections will be contested by a total of 14, 583 candidates. The 68 Area Council seats in the Federal Capital Territory will be contested by 806 candidates.

    The Resident Electoral Commissioner for FCT, Alh. Yahaya Bello, who was also at the session, asked the media to report only facts about the coming polls.

    He said: “Clearly, media reportage of election can mar or make it as the people and international observers look up to them for information. It, therefore, behoves you as media executives to be responsible and circumspect in your reports and coverage of coming elections.

    “This is not to say that you should not report facts but the appeal is to shun sensationalism, fake news and deal with the temptation of declaring the results before the commission does.” Reports capable of causing confusion or igniting rancour and hatred should be avoided. The media is one of the critical stakeholders in the electoral process. So, we seek your continued support in reporting facts in the elections and educating the electorate on their rights to vote and be voted for.”

  • Osun: Tribunal accedes Adeleke’s request, bars INEC from tampering with election results

    The Election Petition Tribunal constituted to hear the petitions arising from the Osun State governorship election has granted an ex parte order to Senator Ademola Adeleke, restraining the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) from altering election results as well as information contained in the card reader machines and other documents used for the poll.
    The tribunal, headed by Justice T.A. Igoche, which also has Justice P. A. Obayi as member, granted this order in Osogbo on Thursday during its sitting before the commencement of pre-hearing session.
    Adeleke, who was the governorship candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party had, through his counsel, Mr. Nathaniel Oke (SAN), filed an ex parte application seeking leave of the tribunal to file the application before the pre-hearing session.
    The applicant also sought leave of the tribunal to inspect and obtain certified true copies of electoral documents and materials in the custody of INEC; an order to conduct physical inspection and verification of electoral materials and machines, as well as used and unused ballots, among others.
    Adeleke also applied for an order to compel the INEC to produce and print out list of permanent voter card distribution statistics per polling units and an order restraining INEC from altering extracted information from card readers, election results from polling unit level to state level, as well as ballot papers used for the conduct of the governorship election in Osun State.
    Adeleke predicated his application on the grounds that he was the candidate that contested the election held on September 22, 2018 and the re-run election held on September 27, 2018 on the platform of PDP.
    Other grounds of the application are: ” That the total votes won by the 1st applicant on the 22nd day of September, 2018 was 245,698 while the 1st respondent scored 245,345.
    “That the 1st applicant was the winner of the election and ought to have been so declared by the 3rd respondent ( INEC). That the 3rd respondent declared the election inconclusive hence a rerun was conducted on the 27th day of September 2018.
    ” That the rerun election was marred by electoral violence, vote-buying, stuffing of ballot papers, multiple thumb-printing and voting and allocation of votes by the 3rd respondent. That by the total actual and valid votes cast on the 22nd and 27th days of September 2018 respectively, the elections were won by the applicants.
    “That an examination of the electoral documents and election materials in the custody of the 3rd respondent is required to determine the actual facts and records of the elections to maintain this petition.
    “That the 3rd respondent wrongfully declared and returned the 1st respondent as being duly elected and winner of the governorship election, Osun State held on 22nd day of September 2018 and the rerun election held on 27th day of September 2018 respectively.
    The 1st and 2nd applicants are dissatisfied with the said result of the election as announced by the returning officer of the governorship election, Osun State. That instant allocation is required for the purpose of instituting and maintaining the petition.”
    The panel, having listening to the application moved by Adeleke’s counsel held in their ruling that the allocation had merit and granted the all,I cation as prayed.
    Igoche, who read the ruling said, “We are of the view that the application has merit. We ahead by grant the application as prayed.”
    Addressing the fear raised by the applicant that INEC might not respect the tribunal’s order except they were armed with a certified true copy of the order, Igoche said there was nothing stopping the panel from issuing the order to the applicant on the same day.
    There was heavy presence of armed policemen and operatives of the Department of State Service on the court presides and outside the court as security operatives were deployed to prevent destruction of the proceedings at the tribunal.
    Those going into the court premises were frisked by policemen from the police anti-bomb unit while vehicles were also thoroughly searched to prevent hoodlums from smuggling weapons into the place.