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Tag: election

  • INEC budgets N600m for Ekiti governorship election

    …as police deploy 20,000 officers

    The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) says it will spend about N600m on the Ekiti State governorship election scheduled for next week Saturday (July 14, 2018).

    The INEC National Commissioner in charge of the Ekiti election, Prince Solomon Soyebi, said this during an interview with newsmen in Abuja on Friday.

    Soyebi, who is also the National Commissioner in charge of Voter Education and Publicity, said over 11,000 officials would take part in the election.

    He said, “For the Ekiti election, the aggregate is much because when we talk about the commission spending on Ekiti, I can assure you that we are spending over N600m.”

    Soyebi noted that about 280,000 Permanent Voter Cards had not been collected, adding that the collection of PVCs would stop on Sunday, July 9 (tomorrow).

    The INEC commissioner said it was likely that once the distribution of PVCs stopped; there would be no fresh registration until after the 2019 general elections.

    He said, “Sunday is the deadline for the collection of PVCs. And for Ekiti, there is not likely to be any other Continuous Voter Registration exercise until after the 2019 elections. So, we have been telling people to go and collect their PVCs.”

    Soyebi rubbished allegations that the smart card readers had been pre-loaded by INEC in order to manipulate the election in favour of the All Progressives Congress.

    The INEC commissioner said the card readers would only be programmed shortly before actual voting and it was not possible for the card readers to be pre-loaded.

    He called on politicians to always provide evidence when making allegations as this would help INEC to make amends if need be.

    Meanwhile, the Resident Electoral Commissioner in Ekiti State, Abdulganiu Raji, has said that the commission is not under any form of threat in the state ahead of the election.

    Raji said this during an interview with journalists at the end of the 2nd regular quarterly consultative meeting with security agencies under the auspices of the Inter-Agency Consultative Committee on Election Security in Abuja on Friday.

    He also said that there was no room for rigging in the election given the kind of structure that has been put in place by the commission.

    On the insinuation that the election may be rigged, Ekiti REC said that the word rigging should be wiped off from the country’s electoral system.

    He said, “I don’t know what you want to rig again with the kind of structure we have put in place in INEC. That is what we have been explaining to the people of Ekiti State.”

    Also speaking, the Commissioner of Police for Ekiti state, Mr. Bello Ahmed, said over 20,000 security personnel would be involved in the exercise.

    The CP said the police would deploy 16,000 of its personnel while other security agencies would make up the remaining number.

    On measures put in place, Ahmed said that all the likely flash points in the state had been identified and robust security measures put in place.

     

  • APC sweeps Nasarawa local government election

    The Nasarawa State Independent Electoral Commission (NASIEC) has declared candidates of All Progressive Congress (APC) as winners of the Saturday’s local government election across the state.

    Mr. Henry Omaku, chairman of the electoral body announced the results of the polls on Sunday at the commission’s headquarters in Lafia.

    He said that three political parties; All Progressive Congress (APC) Social Democratic Party (SDP) and Advanced Democratic Party (ADP) fielded candidates for the chairmanship election across the 13 local government areas, while 21 political parties contested for the 147 councillorship positions in the state, with the APC winning all.

    According to Omaku, the APC chairmanship candidate for Awe local government, Umar Abubakar polled 56, 598 votes to emerge winner, with Mr. Samuel Meshi emerging victorious for Akwanga local government having polled 50, 149 votes.

    Others winners include: Mohammed Iyimoga for Obi local government polling 88, 019 votes, Idris Danlami for Nasarawa Eggon with 79, 789 votes and Mohammed Sani scoring 98, 515 votes to win chairmanship seat for Nasarawa local government area.

    Also elected were: Aminu Maitafa for Lafia local government with 172, 717 votes, Saidu Kazi for Kokona with 69, 043 votes and Adamu Giza for Keana with 13, 658 votes garnered at the polls.

    Abubakar Abass emerged victorious in Wamba local government with 27, 108 votes, Rabo Sani got 77, 003 votes to clinch the chairmanship for Doma, while Samuel Akala and Abdulrahman Sani polled 80, 934 and 14, 817 to emerge winners for Karu and Keffi local government areas respectively.

    Omaku noted that although, the election witnessed low voters’ turnout, it was smooth an rancour-free.

    He explained that the restriction of movement could not be implemented during the election because of the ongoing Universal Tertiary Matriculation Examination (UTME).

    He thanked security operatives, political parties and observers for their contribution towards the peaceful conduct of the elections.

    He advised political parties against boycotting subsequent elections in the state as doing so was capable of denying the people quality leadership at the local level.

    Recalled that opposition parties in Nasarawa state including the Peopes Democratic Party (PDP) and the All Progressive Grand Alliance (APGA) boycotted the May 26 election citing lack of confidence in the electoral body.

    The opposition parties had alleged that the chairman of NASIEC, Mr Henry Omakwu is a card-carrying member of the APC, therefore, not qualified to head the commission.

     

  • 2019: Election spending may affect naira stability – CBN

    The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has warned that the economy faces inflation and financial stability risks over the short-to medium-term if expected huge election spending is not checked.

    CBN Deputy Governor (Corporate Services) Adamu Edward Lamtek explained in his personal statement at the last Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) meeting released yesterday by the CBN that if excess liquidity was allowed to build up, the demand for foreign exchange could shoot up in the second half of 2018 and throw the naira exchange rate out of equilibrium.

    Lamtek said: “Such an adverse scenario must be prevented through a proactive monetary policy. This is justified by the reality that exchange rate stability is critical to the current recovery in economic growth and the gradual disinflation. Added to this is that a stable exchange rate should, in the minimum, prevent further deterioration of foreign currency denominated assets of the banking system and improve the resilience of the industry”.

    He said these concerns surely called for a forward-looking and cautious approach to policy. “I see the need for greater coordination of monetary and fiscal policies and continued engagement of critical stakeholders to address misinformation and better anchor expectations,” he said.

    “In addition, I reckoned that some of the supportive administrative measures put in place since last year by the Bank need more time to work their way fully through the economy. I am equally persuaded by the commitment of the Federal Government to the Economic Recovery and Growth Plan (ERGP), especially in the area of infrastructure development, which continues to be relevant to sustaining and deepening growth and development of the country in the medium to long-term,” he said.

    He insisted that the outlook for domestic liquidity, based on expected fiscal actions and election spending, is worrisome and that with an impending Federal Government budget outlay of over N8 trillion and deficit of about N2 trillion for 2018, the short-term fiscal outlook appears expansive. “The delay in the passage of the budget could result in substantial injections in the second half of fiscal 2018 in an attempt to meet planned commitments. The immediate effect of this, combined with the repayment of local debt by the government and election spending would be a surge in banking system liquidity,” he said.

    He said Nigeria’s stock of external reserves continues to grow on account of reduced imports, improved inflows from more favourable oil prices, and increased autonomous inflows through the Investors’ and Exporters’ Foreign Exchange (I&E) Window.

    He said that confidence in the economy is building as the naira exchange rate continues to be stable and the premium between the bureau de change and interbank market segments narrows.

    “The parallel market premium continues to shrink as legitimate foreign exchange transactions migrate to the formal market. It does therefore appear that the bold reforms of the Central Bank on forex policy and in the foreign exchange market in 2016 and 2017 are paying off. It is gratifying that the benefits of these reforms have stretched beyond the stability of the naira exchange rate,” he said.

    Continuing, he said some manufacturing outfits have resorted to using locally available alternatives as raw materials, just as interest in domestic production of certain classes of food like rice and tomato products is growing. Likewise, capital market indicators have trended upward partly in response to positive market sentiments occasioned by the gradual improvement in the macro-economy.

    “Monetary policy cannot, at the same time, be expansionary. At 14.33 per cent in February 2018, inflation is still significantly higher than the Monetary Policy Committee’s preferred range of 6 –9 per cent. Second, the economic recovery we have seen so far has benefitted partly from improved investment inflows. As a direct consequence, the country’s external reserves’ position has relatively improved, just as confidence in the economy,” he said.

    According to him, rising yields in advanced economies, following the drift towards policy normalization as global inflation picks up, poses a significant risk to in-bound investments. This threat is mitigated by a stable naira exchange rate and competitive yields locally. For this purpose, we will need positive interest rates, as do most emerging markets and developing economies.

    “This means that inflation needs to moderate further. Third, there is still work to be done to fully contain banking system fragilities which increased in the wake of the stagflation in 2015 through 2016. The non-performing loans ratio continues to be in excess of the bank’s desired level”.

    “Among other challenges, banks have had difficulty with their foreign currency denominated liabilities (loans) as the exchange rate moved against borrowers as from 2015. Therefore, from a financial stability standpoint, any threat to the naira exchange rate stability must be viewed seriously and promptly addressed to forestall another exchange rate shock,” he advised.

     

  • Why Buhari can never win 2019 presidential election – PDP

    The Peoples Democratic Party, PDP has said President Muhammadu Buhari is not sincere with himself about his confidecnce to win the 2019 presidential election.

    The former ruling party said the President must be suffering from what it described as self-deception to think that he could win the 2019 presidential election, in spite of his alleged abysmal performance and widespread rejection by Nigerians.

    The party stated further that it was indeed unfortunate that President Buhari could not read the handwriting on the wall, even as demonstrated by the alleged scanty attendance at his rally in Bauchi on Thursday, where he boasted about winning the 2019 presidential election.

    A statement signed by the National Publicity Secretary of the party, Mr. Kola Ologbondiyan, in Abuja on Friday, alleged that the President and his handlers were banking on manipulating the electoral processes to return to power by depending on their blood relation in the Independent National Electoral Commission to assist in providing data of underage voters in Katsina State, Kano State and some other porous areas of the nation.

    He said what President Buhari had failed to come to terms with was the uncompromising resolve of Nigerians across the country, particularly the youth, to resist any form of rigging in 2019.

    Ologbondiyan said, “It is shocking that on the face of the colossal failure of governance leading to hunger and starvation, ethnic division, bloodletting and killings in our land, Mr. President is more concerned about a selfish agenda of foisting himself on a people who have become despondent of his leadership.

    “By his remarks in Bauchi on Thursday, when he boastfully claimed that he would take power again in 2019, Mr. President has demonstrated an unimaginable disdain for Nigerians, showing that he cares less about the carnage in our nation under his watch, and he is only concerned with winning the election.

    “This is a leader who came into office with the promise to fight insurgency and corruption as well as guaranteeing economic prosperity.

    “Shockingly, Mr. President has not only failed on all fronts, his body language is aiding and abetting corruption, harassment and intimidation of citizens as well as instilling of a siege mentality in our land.”

     

  • Reps suspend 2019 election sequence re-ordering Bill

    The House of Representatives on Wednesday suspended action on the Bill for an Act to amend the Electoral Act 2010 to make provision for sequence of elections.

    This followed a request by the sponsor of the Bill, Edward Pwajok, to withdraw it.

    The bill, which was listed for second reading in the Order Paper of the day, included seven other lawmakers as co-sponsors.

    Following President Muhammadu Buhari’s refusal of assent to the controversial bill, the House vowed to reintroduce it.

    The president had said that the amendment to the sequence of the elections in section 25 of the Principal Act may infringe on the constitutionally-guaranteed discretion of Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to organise and supervise all elections.

    While Pwajok moved for the withdrawal of the bill, some lawmakers opposed the move.

    However, the presiding officer, Deputy Speaker of the House, Yussuf Lasun, intervened and said that the sponsor of the bill had the right to withdraw it.

    “Let us remind ourselves that the mover of the motion has the right to ask the presiding officer to step down his bill and this is what Pwajok has exercised,’’ Lasun said.

    He ruled for the withdrawal of the bill as applied by its sponsor.

  • Ekiti: INEC lifts ban on campaign, releases timeline of election activities

    The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) on Wednesday issued a notice of election for the July 14 governorship election in Ekiti State.

    The Resident Electoral Commissioner in the state, Prof. Abdul-Ganiyu Raji, at a press conference in Ado Ekiti on Wednesday said this was in accordance with Section 30 (1) of the Electoral Act 2010 as amended.

    Raji explained that the section provided that INEC must give a notice of election not later than 90 days to the governorship election.

    According to the notice, campaign by the parties for the election will begin on April 15 and end in the midnight of July 12.

    He advised the parties to submit the names of their agents by June 30, with a warning that any party that failed to meet the deadline would not have agents for the election.

    As part of efforts to ensure that more people register for the election, the REC said 531 registration centres had been created.

    He noted that the continuous voter registration in the new registration centres would run between Wednesday April 11 and 16 simultaneously across 177 registration areas in the state.

    According to him, the exercise became necessary in order to enhance more participation in the election.

    Raji said, “I want to urge members of the public who are yet to register and have attained the voting age to come out and register as we are moving all these centres to them.

    “We want to remove all the bottlenecks people have been complaining of which range from economic, to distance and also some political reasons. We are bringing the registration to their doorsteps.

    “And we are promising and assuring the people that a few weeks after this exercise, the PVCs will be ready for collection till the eve of the election and we expect the people to go to our offices for their cards because no Permanent Voter Card, no election.”

    The REC added that 513,000 PVCs had been distributed in the state, saying 218,000 cards had yet to be collected for those who registered before April 2017.

     

  • Breaking: Cambridge Analytica’s graphic video used to influence Nigeria’s election emerges

    Breaking: Cambridge Analytica’s graphic video used to influence Nigeria’s election emerges

    Whistle-blower and former employee of Cambridge Analytica, Christopher Wylie, has finally released the particular graphic video used to influence Nigeria’s election in 2015.

    Wylie handed the material to MPs, and giving testimony last week, he said: “Cambridge Analytica sent AggregateIQ the video after they [CA] got banned from several online ad networks because the graphic nature of the content violated the terms of service.

    “AIQ was quite freaked out about it. It’s a very disturbing video. They told Cambridge Analytica that. They called it ‘the murder video’.”

    The whistleblower told MPs: “[The video was distributed] in Nigeria with the sole intent of intimidating voters. It included content where people were being dismembered, where people were having their throats cut and bled to death in a ditch.

    “They were being burned alive. There was incredibly anti-Islamic, threatening messages portraying Muslims as violent.”

    Cambridge Analytica was hired by an unnamed Nigerian billionaire to run a campaign in support of Goodluck Jonathan, a Christian, and the video was targeted at his Muslim opponent, Muhammadu Buhari, who went on to win the election.

    There is no suggestion that Jonathan was aware of the campaign.

    Click here to read more and watch the full video. Click here to read more about the Cambridge Analytica revelations.

     

  • Egypt’s Sisi wins 97 percent in election with no real opposition

    Egypt’s Sisi wins 97 percent in election with no real opposition

    Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi has been re-elected with 97 percent of votes, the same proportion that the former military commander secured four years ago for his first term but with a lower turnout, official results showed on Monday.

    Turnout was 41 percent, despite efforts to get as many Egyptians as possible to polling stations during last week’s vote. Sisi had been virtually guaranteed a landslide win, confirmed by early tallies as voting ended on Wednesday.

    The election featured only one other candidate – himself an ardent Sisi supporter – after all serious opposition contenders halted their campaigns in January. The main challenger was arrested and his campaign manager beaten up, while other presidential hopefuls pulled out, citing intimidation.

    The election commission said the vote was free and fair as it gave the results in a televised announcement on Monday.

    Sisi won a total of 21.8 million votes compared with 656,534 for his opponent, Moussa Mostafa Moussa, whose tally was less than the 1.8 million spoiled ballots.

    The lower turnout is a potential setback for Sisi, who suggested before the vote that he saw it as a referendum on his presidency rather than a genuine contest. Turnout in the 2014 vote that won him his first term was 47 percent.

    State media had portrayed failure to vote as a betrayal of Egypt. Some voters said they were offered incentives to cast their ballots including money and food, local and international media reported, but did not say who had made the offers.

    Officials said that if any such incidents took place they were not state-sponsored and extremely limited.

    CRITICISM

    Critics say former general Sisi’s popularity has been eroded amid tough economic reforms, which have left most Egyptians worse off, and also an unprecedented crackdown on dissent.

    His supporters say those measures are needed to stabilize the country, which faces a stubborn Islamic State insurgency in the northern Sinai Peninsula and which was rocked by unrest after a 2011 uprising that ousted veteran leader Hosni Mubarak.

    Sisi led the 2013 military overthrow of Egypt’s first freely-elected president, Mohamed Mursi of the Muslim Brotherhood, after protests against Mursi. Sisi swept to victory in an election a year later with 97 percent of the vote.

    The United Nations expressed concern over the crackdown on dissent, including media, which took place before last week’s vote.

    Sisi’s main Western and regional allies have been mostly silent over alleged human rights abuses in Egypt.

    During voting last week, the U.S. embassy in Cairo said on Twitter it was “impressed by the enthusiasm and patriotism of Egyptian voters”.

    Russia congratulated Sisi on his election win ahead of the official results, and regional ally King Salman of Saudi Arabia called Sisi on Monday to express support, saying his victory came as a result of strong efforts to combat terrorism.

    Sisi said he had wanted more candidates to run and that he had nothing to do with the opposition withdrawals.
    Reuters

  • APC vows to take over South-East in 2019

    The All Progressives Congress (APC),says the party will take over the three states in the South-East zone controlled by the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) in the 2019 general elections.

    It said as a result of the achievements of President Muhammadu Buhari since assumption of office, especially the key projects he was executing in the South-East, the job of convincing the people of the area had been made easier.

    The states are Ebonyi, Abia and Enugu.

    Party chieftains spoke on Saturday in Abakaliki, at a ceremony to mark the 5th anniversary of APC Youth League (APCYL)

    National President of APCYL, Mr Solomon Faeren, who spoke, said that the party would fulfilled its mission of winning the entire zone in 2019 to enable it consolidate on its programmes for the region.

    Also speaking, an APC chieftain in Ebonyi, Mr Christian Chukwu, said that the party was determined to dislodge the PDP in the region.

    Chukwu who delivered a keynote lecture titled: “The Role of Nigerian Youths in Nation Building,” urged youths to get involved in partisan politics.

    He said that this would enable them to develop and build leadership capacity.

    Chukwu noted that the future of the country belonged to the youths hence the need to strive to participate in the political process.

    “Youths are agents of progressive change and the future of any country belongs to the youths.

    “The greatness of any nation is directly tied to the vibrancy and resilience of its youths, hence the need to develop and build your capacity to take up leadership roles, ” Chukwu said.

    He alleged that the ruling party was intimidating and harassing APC members, but stressed that no amount of intimidation could deter them from achieving their mission.

    “Our members were being harassed and intimidated but they have not succumbed. The youths of Ebonyi are not going to succumb.

    “When you watch the way they are not succumbing, it is a clear sign that they want to take what belongs to them,” he added.

    APCYL Ebonyi Coordinator, Mr Emmanuel Nweke, said that the league was committed to promoting good governance by mobilising youths to participate in the political process.

    He said that the organisation which has been in existence for five years had engaged youths in active participation in partisan political activities.

    “Our business and concern is to champion, project and promote collective interest of our party, we are not inclined to promoting any particular interest of individual members.

    “All we ask is that every party member should come together as one and form a formidable force to defeat the ruling PDP in the state.

    “The more united we are, the better and easier for us to bring the desired progressive change we clamour for in the state, ” Nweke said.

    The South-East Coordinator of APCYL, Mr Okenwa Uka, said that youths were ready and determined to bring positive change in the political leadership of the country.

    He said that PDP led government in Ebonyi has failed to provide needed political leadership that would lift the people from poverty and under-development.

    “The youths are driving the progressive change being clamoured for in the state, and we are only asking our elders and leaders to support us to achieve our mission.

    “We are committed to positive leadership transformation to redeem the lost glory of our state and we are unstoppable in this resolve,” Uka said.

    Chief Austine Edeze, APC Board of Trustees member, Chief Christopher Omo-Isu, former House of Representatives member, in their separate speeches, charged APCYL to mobilise youths to register in the ongoing Continuous Voter Registration.

    The high point of the event was the presentation of awards of excellence to deserving members of the party.

    Minister of Science and Technology, Dr Ogbonnaya Onu; former Governor of the state, Chief Martin Elechi; Nigeria’s ambassador to Peru, Chile, and Paraguay, Chief Jonah Mkpuruka, and 22 others received the awards.

     

  • ONELGA women endorse Governor Wike for re-election

    Women from Ogba/Egbema/Ndoni Local Government Area (ONELGA) have endorsed the Rivers State Governor, Nyesom Ezenwo Wike for a second term.

    Thousands of the women on Monday marched through the streets of Port Harcourt before converging on Government House Port Harcourt, where they presented their position to the Rivers State Governor.

    Spokesperson of the ONELGA women, Dr Mrs. Grace Akolokwu stated that the main reason for the endorsement of Governor Wike is his restoration of peace in the area.

    She said: “As women of ONELGA, we hereby convey our sincere thanks for successfully initiating the peace process and for rebuilding our LGA as an economic centre of the state.”

    The ONELGA women lauded the governor for key projects in the area, saying that many youths have been employed in the process.

    Leader of hundreds of APC Women who defected to the PDP, Mrs Gladys Ajie noted that the execution of several projects in the area convinced them to join PDP.

    Rivers State PDP Chairman, Bro Felix Obuah stated that the party will cater for the needs of all the ONELGA women because of their support.

    Responding, Rivers State Governor, Nyesom Ezenwo Wike announced the setting up of a fund to assist the less privileged women of ONELGA recover from the ills of prolonged insecurity.

    Governor Wike urged the women to ensure that they invest the funds in small and medium-sized enterprises to uplift the living condition of their families.

    “We are committed to the empowerment of women. We shall therefore set up a fund that will give grants to women of ONELGA because of the security challenges they faced. Please invest the funds wisely”, he said.

    He also directed the State Commissioner of Water Resources to work with stakeholders in ONELGA to set up a water processing plant.

    The governor assured the people of ONELGA that his administration will continue to work towards the improvement of security for the economic stability in area.

    He said: “I will not sit down in Government House and allow criminals to torment the people. Wherever these criminals are, we will track them down”.

    He said that the APC was in power for eight years, but failed to restore security to ONELGA. He said that the APC Federal Government has neglected ONELGA which produces the wealth of the country.

    He urged INEC and security agencies to conduct credible elections during the 2019 General Election.

    The ONELGA women presented a special plaque to Governor Wike in recognition of his wonderful achievements in the local government area.