Tag: Governorship Election

  • BREAKING: Intrigues in Edo as Council vice chairman resigns

    BREAKING: Intrigues in Edo as Council vice chairman resigns

    Intrigues have continued to occasion the Edo State Governorship election as another political office holder in the State has resigned.

    The Vice Chairman of Ovia North East Local Government Area of Edo, Mrs Maureen Ekharagbon, has resigned her position in the council.

    In a letter dated June 10, Ekharagbon said her resignation was on grounds of administrative, governance and political reasons.

    Her resignation letter was copied to Gov. Godwin Obaseki, Local Government Service Commission and All Progressives Congress (APC).

    Ekharagbon said, “I tender my resignation based on administrative, political and governance grounds as politics and governance are inextricably connected.

    “I want to use this opportunity to thank Governor Godwin Obaseki for the opportunity to serve and also the Chairman of the Council, Mr Scott Ogbemudia.

    “I am grateful to the people of Ovia North East Local Government at large and the leadership of the APC under which platform I was elected.”

    Heer resignation brings to three, individuals that have resigned from their various posts in the state within the last few weeks.

    The Chief of Staff to the governor, Mr Taiwo Akerele and the Commissioner for Communications and Strategy, Mr Paul Ohonbamu, had earlier tendered their resignations.

    Edo is preparing for gubernatorial elections that will hold in September.

  • APC places N22.5m fee on gov. aspirants in Edo, Ondo

    APC places N22.5m fee on gov. aspirants in Edo, Ondo

    The All Progressives Congress (APC) says all governorship aspirants in Edo and Ondo States will pay N22.5 million as part of the requirements for contesting in the States’ governorship elections on Sept. 19 and Oct. 10.

    In a timetable released in Abuja on Wednesday, APC National Organising Secretary Emma Ibediro said that the party would begin the primaries with the sale of nomination and expression of interest forms to the governorship aspirants.

    According to Ibediro, the sale of forms to Edo governorship aspirants will begin from May 20 to June 2, while that of Ondo State will be from June 11 to July 1, 2020.

    The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) had in February, fixed the governorship election in Edo for Sept. 19, while that of Ondo State was fixed for Oct. 10.

    The party’s organising scribe said that the forms for each aspirant in both states had been fixed at N22.5 million.

    According to him, this includes N2.5 million for expression of interest form and N20 million for the nomination form.

    “There shall be no separate charge for the deputy.

    “Female aspirants and physically challenged aspirants will pay 50 per cent of the prescribed fees for each position,” he said.

    Ibediro said that all payments would be made into the party’s bank account.

    The party’s Edo governorship primary will hold on June 22, while that of Ondo State is to hold on July 20.

  • Ogboru denies receiving N3bn for governorship election, warns APC faceless group

    Ogboru denies receiving N3bn for governorship election, warns APC faceless group

    *Says Ogboru, Uduaghan, Omo-Agege relationship intact

    Against the rumour making the round that over N3 billion naira was released for the governorship election of the candidate of the Delta state All Progress Congress, APC, the Media Director of the Delta APC Campaign Organization, Mr. Zik Zulu Okafor, has warned in a strong term APC faceless group that Olorogun Great Ovedje Ogboru was not given N3 billion to run his election.

    The Campaign Media Director, who gave this warning while addressing newsmen said the attention of the gubernatorial candidate of the All Progressives Congress, APC, Delta state, Olorogun Great Ogboru, has been drawn to unfounded allegations of over N3b released to Ogboru for his governorship election held on Saturday 9th of March.

    Zulu said since the party’s State Publicity Secretary, Barr Sylvester Imonima, has given robust and caustic response to this mishmash, it wouldn’t have been necessary to further dignify the quislings behind this piece but because of their attempt to mortify the person of Ogboru’s integrity, it became necessary to react so as to expose their diabolic intentions.

    Speaking further, Zulu said, “The author of the fictive press statement, Mr. Daniel Ekiugbo is a mock character and his so called Coalition of Delta APC Support Groups, a pseudo organization that exists nowhere in Delta, except in his bedroom and our investigation had revealed he is a member of the Peoples Democratic Party.

    “He also worked for a leader of a factional Delta APC who unabashedly grovels to PDP government’s top hierarchy in Asaba with the treacherous agendum to defeat his own party at the governorship polls to stop Ogboru from becoming the governor of Delta state. And also alleges hostilities between Ogboru and some prominent APC leaders, including Sen. Ovie Omo-Agege and former governor, Dr, Emmanuel Uduaghan when their relationship is intact

    “The inviolable truth is that these names he dropped were part and parcel of all APC Campaign Council meetings. Indeed Uduaghan was at Ogboru’s house several times to attend some meetings and for consultations. In the same manner, the governorship candidate had visited Uduaghan on many occasions at his residence in Warri and had met at several campaign venues.

    “In the same spirit, Omo-Agege and Ogboru were united for APC political cause in Delta state before, during and after the elections. They campaigned jointly on many occasions and engaged in delightful, insightful and awe-inspiring dialogues on the promises and possibilities of Delta State under an APC government.

    “They both agree that the disgraceful and felonious acts of PDP during the just concluded elections must be redressed and together they are working to retrieve the unalloyed mandate given to Ogboru by the good people of Delta state.

    “The cynical quasi-coalition in their jaundiced views claimed that while PDP campaigned in all the nook and crannies of Delta, Ogboru refused to embark on intensive campaign, this is not only ludicrous but the height of absurdity in their fractured quest to deceive Deltans and indeed APC top hierarchy.

    “The truth is that Ogboru’s campaign train touched every part of Delta state like never before and the turn-out at the campaign grounds were record shattering. Indeed the success of his campaign is unprecedented, as captured in his television promos for both the presidential and governorship elections on both Channels Television and local TV stations.

    “The height of Ekiugbo and his coalition’s degeneracy and depravity is the assertion that Ogboru presented a budget of over N3 billion which was funded by his party, but Ogboru is not going to give any account to this apparition called coalition. Worse still, those that gave the Urhobo born business magnate money know his history and are almost certain that he would not spend the money given to him outside the purpose it was meant for.

    “However, to put the record straight, Ogboru was not given N3 billion by the APC leadership for the elections. And we will not yield to the shenanigan of blackmailers by revealing the amount received here. Suffice to say that there was a template attached to the fund released for the elections and the man fondly called the People’s General adhered strictly to this template.

    “Every Local Government Area, LGA, was funded without exception. And to impishly suggest that commissioner positions were sold for N50 million in advance is to descend to the abyss of outrageous infamy. It simply underscores the small-mindedness of Ekiugbo and his ilk, and their intense ignorance of the nobility of character of the man they set out desperately to malign.

    “This is a man who had almost single- handedly financed his elections since 2003 and had expended well over N5 Billion in the process. Yet his net worth today still stands in excess of N10.4 Billion. How could such a man descend to seek some paltry N50 million in advance from some imaginary Commissioners at a time that a good chunk of his campaign fund, for the very first time, was being provided by his party.

    Ekiugbo and his faceless coalition plus their sponsors finally betrayed the spur of their campaign of calumny when they urged the APC National Chairman and leaders not to give any federal political appointments to Ogboru and his supporters.

    “This indeed is the crux of the matter, the object of their toxic press statement. The voodoo venture sponsored by these APC torn-coats and their PDP collaborators is to sustain a smear- campaign against Ogboru so that the APC top team would dump him like some hot potatoes.

    “But Abuja understands this factory of tinkers and traitors. They will ignore and resist them, knowing they are totems of eerie culture and therefore focus their gaze on one critical and more profitable assignment- to retrieve the mandate of Delta people stolen by the PDP with the brazen aid of Okiugbo’s Masters.”

  • INEC declares Plateau governorship polls inclusive

    INEC declares Plateau governorship polls inclusive

    The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has declared the governorship elections in Plateau inclusive.

    Prof. Richard Kimbir, the Returning Officer for the election in the state announced this on Monday in Jos, after collating results from the 17 local government areas of the state.

    Kimbir, who is the Vice Chancellor of Federal University of Agriculture, Makurdi, said the total number of votes cancelled more than the difference in the number of votes the the two major candidates got, “hence was constrained to declare the polls inclusive”.

    The returning officer said Mr Simon Lalong of the All Progressive Congress (APC) scored 583, 255 votes while his closest opponent, Lt. Gen. Jeremiah Useni (rtd) of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) pulled 538, 326 votes in Saturday’s governorship elections.

    Kimbir said the total number of votes cancelled in the state is 49, 347, which is above the total difference of 44, 929 in the votes scored by the two major candidates.

    “In line with section 179, subsection two of the 1999 constitution as amended I am constrain to declare this election inclusive.

    “This is because the total number of cancelles votes is above the difference that exist in th votes pulled by the two major candidates.

    “So, in line with the electoral act, a supplementary elections will be conducted in the affected areas in 21 days, ” he declared.

    The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that LGAs were votes were cancelled include Shendam, Barkin Ladi, Bassa, Bokkos and Kanam.

    Others affected include Jos North, Langtang South, Mangu and Pankshin.

  • PDP hints on boycotting governorship election in Jigawa

    The leadership of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) has said it may not participate in the March 9 governorship election in Jigawa State unless the state’s police commissioner, Bala Senchi is redeployed.

    The party alleged rigging, vote buying and police intimidation in the state during the presidential and National Assembly elections.

    Mustapha Lamido, a defeated senatorial candidate for the PDP, said this Wednesday night in an interview with Freedom Radio Dutse. Mr Lamido is a son of a former governor of the state, Sule Lamido.

    The ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) won all the elections in the state on February 23, picking all the state’s seats in the National Assembly.

    Lamido was the Jigawa North Central senatorial candidate for the PDP, but lost the election to the APC candidate, Muhammad Sabo. Sabo polled 224,543 votes to defeat Lamido who scored 143,611 votes.

    Lamido said the APC’s sweep of the state happened because the police and other security agencies were partisan during the elections.

    He said police officers escorted APC chieftains to polling units where it said they beat up and intimidated the opposition and engaged in vote buying.

    We will boycott the election if the police commissioner, Bala Senchi, remains in Jigawa because he has already been compromised,” the younger Lamido said.

    We don’t see the reason why the police commissioner is still in Jigawa despite his redeployment from the state,” he said.

    Recall that the acting Inspector-General of Police, Mohammed Adamu on February 6 ordered the redeployment of some senior police officers to zones, formations and commands.

    The commissioner of police in Jigawa State, Senchi, was affected by the exercise. His replacement in the state, Rabiu Ladodo, is yet to report at his new duty post, leading to the speculation of political interference.

    Lamido alleged the police arrested and intimidated many members of the the PDP in the opposition party’s strongholds.

    I personally stood up and defended many innocent voters arrested by the police until they were released,” he said.

    I called the police commissioner five times on different occasions, telling him that a particular person in a particular place snatched a ballot box but he was reluctant about the issue.

    The police and other security agencies colluded with the APC to defraud the people of Jigawa of their mandate through unjust arrest and detention of PDP stakeholders at various wards across the state,” Lamido said.

     

  • Guber candidates, Agbaje, Sanwo-Olu ring in 2019 in unity [Photos]

    Guber candidates, Agbaje, Sanwo-Olu ring in 2019 in unity [Photos]

    Governorship candidates, Babajide Sanwo-Olu of the All Progressives Congress (APC) and Jimi Agbaje of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) ‎rang in 2019 in unity attending New Year’s Day mass together in Lagos state.

    Agbaje and Sanwo-Olu sing along during mass at Holy Cross Cathedral
    Agbaje and Sanwo-Olu sing along during mass at Holy Cross Cathedral

    TheNewsGuru (TNG) reports the two Lagos state governorship candidates attended the 2019 New Year’s Day mass held at the Holy Cross Cathedral, Lagos Island, on Tuesday, January 1, 2019.

    Agbaje and Sanwo-Olu seated at the Holy Cross Cathedral
    Agbaje and Sanwo-Olu seated at Holy Cross Cathedral

    The PDP and APC candidates, who will battle it out for who becomes the next governor of Lagos state in the 2019 elections, were both pictured together at the Holy Cross Cathedral, where they marked the beginning of the year.

    Agbaje and Sanwo-Olu clap during mass at the Holy Cross Cathedral
    Agbaje and Sanwo-Olu clap during mass at Holy Cross Cathedral

    The candidates were also pictured with the Catholic Archbishop of Lagos, Most Rev. Dr. Alfred Adewale Martins; Lady Neta Nwosu, President, Catholic Media Practitioners Association of Nigeria (CAMPAN), Lagos Archdiocese, and Dame Marie Fatayi-Williams, CAMPAN Patron.

    Lady Nwosu, Sanwo-Olu, Martins, Agbaje and Dame Fatayi-williams at Holy Cross Cathedral
    Lady Nwosu, Sanwo-Olu, Martins, Agbaje, and Dame Fatayi-Williams at Holy Cross Cathedral

    The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has scheduled the 2019 presidential and National Assembly elections for Saturday, 16th February.

    The Governorship and State Assembly/Federal Capital Territory (FCT) Council elections have been scheduled for Saturday, 2nd March 2019.

     

  • Ebonyi: 2 women, 31 others battle Umahi for governorship seat

    Two women, Perpetual Ogbuekwu and Grace Uduma-Eze, and thirty-one other gubernatorial candidates will slug it out with incumbent Governor David Umahi in the 2019 governorship election in Ebonyi state.

    TheNewsGuru (TNG) reports this according to notices published by the Independent National Electoral Commission (lNEC) at its Head office in Abakaliki, capital of the State.

    While Grace Uduma-Eze, from Afikpo North, represents the Independent Democratic Party (IDP), Perpetual Ogbuekwu, 31 years with Bachelor degree in education, from Ezza South, 2013 BEd EBSU, represents Mass Action Joint Alliance (MAJA) party.

    However, popular among the contestants, is Engr. Umahi, who is seeking for second tenure in office on the Peoples’Democratic Party (PDP) platform, and Sen. Sonni Ogbuoji of the All Progressives Congress (APC), including a former commissioner of education. Chief Chibueze Ndubuisi Onwe.

    The credentials of Gov. Umahi which were pasted yesterday at INEC, proved that he scored 5 Credits (C) which were in English Language, Statistics, Physics, Economics and Biology and 3 Alpha in Maths, Add Maths and Chemistry at Government College, Afikpo in 1982.

    According to the record, the PDP guber candidate was born on 25th, July, 1963, obtained second class honours, bachelor degree in Engineering in 1987 from Anambra State University of Science and Technology, Enugu and did his NYSC from 6th December, 1987 to 5th December,1988.

    On the other side, Sen. Ogbuoji of the APC proved that he was born on 29th Sept. 1954 and had made credits and Alpha in the eight subjects in his O level from Government College Umuahia in 1975.

    He read animal science with second class degree from the prestigious University of Nigeria Nsukka in 1981 after which he did his National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) from 3rd August, 1981 to 2nd August, 1982.

    While that of SDP candidate, spent nearly 8 years to obtain third class honour degree from Enugu state University of Science and Technology from 1996-2004.

    Onwe, from the records at INEC proved that he attended his secondary school from Holy Ghost secondary school, Abakaliki where he failed to credit any subject he undertook including English and Maths in 1992 SSCE.

    Other credentials which Onwe who was said to be born in.1972 and was submitted to INEC indicated that he was called to bar in 13 Nov. 2007.

    Our correspondent who went round some areas in Abakaliki observed that commission has pasted names of voters in some polling units.

     

  • Rivers guber candidate, Tonye Cole picks running mate

    Candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in the 2019 gubernatorial election in Rivers State, Arc. Tonye Dele Cole, has picked his running mate.
    TheNewsGuru (TNG) reports Chris Finebone, State Publicity Secretary of the party made this known in a statement on Friday in Port Harcourt, capital of the State.
    According to the statement, Chief Victor Tombari Giadom will serve as the running mate to Cole for the 2019 governorship election in the State.
    TNG further reports the APC candidate announced the choice of Chief Giadom while briefing the top hierarchy of the APC in a meeting in Port Harcourt.
    Chief Victor Giadom is the incumbent Deputy National Secretary of the APC and a member of the Party’s National Working Committee, NWC.
    He was a former Executive Chairman of Gokana Local Government and later served as Commissioner for Works in the Rt. Hon. Chibuike Rotimi Amaechi administration in Rivers State from 2011 to 2015.
    He also served as the Director-General of the Greater Together Governorship Campaign Organisation of APC in 2015.
    “The choice of Chief Victor Giadom as my Running Mate was arrived at after a careful and exhaustive consideration of an array of equally notable personalities in the party.
    “He came out tops on all considerations especially his unalloyed and untainted loyalty, unrelenting hard work and invaluable experience as a former outstanding local government chairman, former Commissioner for Works, former Governorship Campaign DG and presently a member of the National Working Committee (NWC) of our great party, APC,” Cole stated
    With the choice of Chief Giadom, the APC governorship candidate has commenced to assemble, what the party described as a crack dream team for the 2019 governorship election in Rivers State.
     

  • Why we lost Ekiti governorship election – SDP

    Why we lost Ekiti governorship election – SDP

    The Social Democratic Party (SDP), one of the contending political parties at the July 14 governorship election in Ekiti State has explained why it lost in the contest.

    This was revealed in an interview on Sunday by a former Minister of Education and chieftain of the party, Prof Tunde Adeniran.

    The former PDP national chairmanship candidate said the SDP lost in the just concluded governorship election in Ekiti State because the party did not buy votes like some other parties.

    Adeniran averred that the SDP candidate, Mr Akin Ayegbusi, would have won the election if the All Progressives Congress and the Peoples Democratic Party didn’t resort to vote buying. He added that the SDP didn’t believe in vote buying and didn’t have such money to spend.

    In his words: “If there was no ‘see and buy’, SDP would have won the election, because people were anxious to have an alternative to the two parties (APC and PDP). Ekiti people preferred the SDP.

    The people loved our manifesto and philosophy because they could connect with us, especially with the Abiola experience. We are the only party that is ideological in terms of philosophy, orientation and the policies we intend to pursue.

    We lost because we didn’t have the money to purchase votes like other parties, and the people have been pauperised, so they scavenge for what anyone brings. But we don’t believe in such. We believe in people voting according to their conscience.”

     

  • PDP rejects Ekiti governorship election results

    PDP rejects Ekiti governorship election results

    The People’s Democratic Party (PDP) has rejected Saturday’s Ekiti State governorship election results as declared by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC).

    INEC had declared Dr Kayode Fayemi, a former Minister of Mines and Steel Development and candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC), winner of the election with 197,459 votes.

    According to the result declared by Prof. Idowu Olayinka, the Chief Returning Officer for the election and Vice Chancellor, University of Ibadan, the PDP candidate, Prof. Kolapo Olusola, came second with 178,121 votes.

    The PDP National Publicity Secretary, Mr Kola Ologbondiyan, at a news conference on Sunday in Abuja, described the election result as “a daylight robbery”.

    “The PDP rejects in its entirety the results concocted by the APC, and security agencies, in the governorship election in Ekiti State and declared by INEC.

    He said the PDP was already collating all infractions in the election and would make its next steps public soon in order to reclaim its “stolen mandate”.

    “The party rejects the falsified results and declaration of APC candidate, Dr Fayemi, to be the winner of the election, as a daylight robbery, a brazen subversion of the will of the people and direct assault on our democracy.

    “From the authentic results flowing directly from the polling centres across the state, it is clear that the PDP candidate, Prof. Olusola-Eleka, incontrovertibly won the election, with very comfortable margin over the APC candidate, only for INEC to allow the alteration of results at the collation centres.

    “Painfully, the people of Ekiti State were pillaged; openly brutalized; confronted with the worst form of cruelty and intimidation from security agencies, and their mandate, which they freely gave to the PDP, was snatched at ‘gun point’ by enemies of democracy, who are parading themselves as icons of anti-corruption.

    “Nigerians are witnesses to all manipulations by the APC, aided by security agencies and compromised INEC officials, to rig the election, particularly, the audacious alteration and substitution of election results in favour of the APC at the collation centres amidst the brutalization of our agents.”

    Ologbondiyan said that the PDP had the details of all the polling units where it won, mostly with very wide margin ahead of the APC.

    He alleged that security agencies chased away PDP agents, “then aided the alteration and swapping of such results with those smuggled in by the APC at the collation centres.

    “We have the details of the discrepancies between the authentic results from the polling units and the false figures eventually announced by INEC.”

    Ologbondiyan said that the party also had details of how APC state governors and federal ministers diverted huge sums of money from their states and ministries to bribe INEC top officials.

    He also alleged that the APC bribed security agencies to perfect the brigandage against the people of Ekiti State.

    “The PDP holds strongly that there is no way our democracy can survive with an electoral process as witnessed in Ekiti State under President Muhammadu Buhari and the current INEC leadership.

    “This bare-faced subversion of the will of the people is a clear recipe for crisis.”

    He further described the alleged robbery of the franchise of Ekiti people as “a horrible rape of Nigerian democracy”.

    “Finally, let it be known to all that surely, this electoral banditry will not stand.”

    When asked of the party’s view on Fayose’s alleged declaration of election result on radio before INEC, Ologbondiyan said the party would investigate what led to that.