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Tag: Governorship Poll

  • PDP releases timetable for Ekiti governorship poll

    PDP releases timetable for Ekiti governorship poll

    The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) has released its timetable and schedule of activities in early preparation for the June 18, 2022 governorship election in Ekiti State.

    PDP in a statement by its National Publicity Secretary, Kola Ologbondiyan, said sales of expression of interest and nomination forms would commence on September 13 and end on September 30.

    Ologbondiyan noted that the party’s National Working Committee fixed the screening of aspirants for October 11, while appeals on the screening exercise are scheduled for October 25.

    “The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) has released its timetable and schedule of activities in early preparation for the June 18, 2022 Ekiti Governorship Election,” the statement partly read.

    “In line with the timetable, the National Working Committee (NWC) has approved the Sales of Expression of Interest and Nomination Forms from Monday, September 13 to Thursday, September 30, 2021, with Tuesday, October 5, 2021 as the last date for the submission of forms.”

    The PDP spokesman stated that the party’s congresses to elect the 3-man Adhoc Ward delegates have been scheduled to hold from January 7 to January 8, 2022, adding that the local government congresses to elect national delegates will take place on January 15, 2022.

  • Why PDP may lose 2022 governorship poll in Ekiti – Senator Olujimi

    Why PDP may lose 2022 governorship poll in Ekiti – Senator Olujimi

    Senator Biodun Olujimi has called on the national leadership of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) to reconcile contending groups in Ekiti State or risk losing the 2022 Governorship election.
    Olujimi, a former Minority Leader in the Senate, gave the warning
    Sunday in Omuo-Ekiti, Ekiti East Council area while commissioning blocks of classrooms and distributing fertilizers and other inputs to farmers in Ekiti South.
    She said the party has no luxury of time and should expedite action to settle the disputes among party members in the state.
    Olujimi maintained that the Uche Secondus-led National Working Committee should commence genuine process of reconciliation as any delay might spell doom for the party in the forthcoming election.
    The lawmaker representing Ekiti South Senatorial District, however, cautioned leaders of the party in the state against placing curse on perceived opponent of their anointed candidates for the election.
    Olujinmi said such action was not only unacceptable, but also condemnable.
    She said that the party leaders in Ekiti are expceted to preach peace, love and reconciliation.
    ”Winning elections require the support of all party men and women.
    “There is no doubt that time is running out for PDP in Ekiti, I believe that we should explore peaceful avenue before we embark on any extraneous steps.
    ”The party leadership must sit down and look at all the issues and resolve amicably, failure to do so will not be palatable for the party and I am sure the party is aware of this.
    “ If they don’t do that, the party may not be able to focus on the task ahead and we don’t want the PDP to be out of the picture in 2022.
    We need to guard against it,” she said.
    “The language of leadership should be peace, love and reconciliation, because political parties operate open door policy, In other words, you are free to join and you are free to leave.
    “This leadership that we laid claim to cannot be conferred by us, It is the people that will confer it on us.
    “That is why we need to always respect our followers and consider them in decision making.
    “ In all of this only one person will be candidate and only one person will be governor, and it is only God that can anoint the person, So, in political participation, there should be decency.
    “We have to be nice to each other and ensure that there is peace,” she said.
  • VIDEO: Edo indigenes in UK beg Buhari not to interfere in guber poll

    VIDEO: Edo indigenes in UK beg Buhari not to interfere in guber poll

    Some Nigerians (of Edo extraction) residents in the United Kingdom have appealed to President Muhammadu Buhari not to interfere in the forthcoming Edo State Governorship Election saying the electorates should be allowed to who governs them amongst the candidates.

    The group made the appeal on Thursday when they visited the Nigeria High Commission in London.

    According to the spokesperson of the group, Deacon Henry Olovba Edo indigenes in UK are disturbed by the heated atmosphere over the governorship election in the state.

    https://www.instagram.com/p/CFCdNZujJN3/?igshid=bwo4qg397snx

    They therefore handed over a petition handed to the British Prime Minister, Boris Johnson with copies sent to the Nigerian Ambassador to the UK at Nigeria High Commission in London demanding for a free, fair, credible and violent free poll.

    Speaking on behalf of the group outside the Nigeria High Commission on Thursday, Olovba said: “This is a call from every well-meaning Edo State indigene across Party divide to think of the lives of their loved ones before politics.

    “No political ambition of any man is worth the blood of another.”

    :We, the Nigerian citizens of Edo State extraction resident in the United Kingdom are appealing to the British Prime Minister, Rt. Hon. Boris Johnson and other world leaders to appeal to President Muhammadu Buhari to allow Edo State indigenes to determine who governs them.”

    “The interference of at the external agencies in the Edo State Election May be a recipe for disaster and likely loss of innocent lives, which will be a costly mistake.”

    “A taste of how bloody this interference will be was felt on Saturday 25 July when the State ruling party visited the Oba of Benin at the start of their campaign flagged off.”

    “Thugs unleashed mayhem on guests, destroyed vehicles, and shot sporadically in the air. Another bitter scenario was the reported attack on the State main opposition party in Edo North during their campaigns. We don’t want a breakdown of law and order in our State. This is not about party loyalty rather loyalty to life. We are asking the British Government and other world leaders to appeal, on our behalf, to the Federal Government of Nigeria to allow Edo people decide who governs them. Let Edo Decide”.

    TheNewsGuru.com, TNG reports that the governorship election scheduled to hold next Saturday (September 19) is fiercely between the incumbent governor Godwin Obaseki seeking a second term in office on the platform of the Peoples Democratic Part (PDP) and Pastor Osagie Ize-Iyamu on the platform of the All Progressives Congress (APC).

  • Akeredolu lauds LG poll, says voters will turn out more in governorship poll

    Akeredolu lauds LG poll, says voters will turn out more in governorship poll

    Gov. Oluwarotimi Akeredolu of Ondo State on Saturday commended the conduct of the local government poll, describing the exercise as a huge success.

    The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that Akeredolu voted at 10. 44 am in his Ward 5, Unit 6 Polling Uniit in Ijebu, Owo Local Government Area.

    Akeredolu, who was accompanied by his wife, Betty, described the turnout for the election as impressive, adding that the turnout for the governorship election would even be better.

    According to the governor, the local government remains the most important tier because it is the closest to the people and will ensure better delivery of the dividends of democracy.

    He also noted that the electorate complied with the COVID-19 regulations in areas where he monitored, urging them to vote and return to their houses.

    “It is imperative by the constitution that we have democratically elected government at all levels.

    ” What we are doing is not extraordinary, but it is constitutional and I am one of those that want it.

    ” By the grace of God, we pray we will come back and these set of elected chairmen and councillors will be the first that will spend their three years completely.

    “I have made my case for local government autonomy; since I came in, I have not touched local government money, they do their meetings and share their money,” he said.

  • BREAKING: INEC announces dates for collation of Rivers governorship poll results

    The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has outlined activities and timeline to resolve the electoral logjam in Rivers State.

    An INEC spokesperson, Festus Okoye, disclosed this at a press briefing at the commission’s headquarters in Abuja.

    According to him, the activities began on the March 19 when the commission had engagements with major actors.

    This will be followed by an inter-agency meeting between the commission and other relevant agencies on March 29, in Rivers State.

    On March 30, the commission said it will have a meeting with critical actors after which the headquarters of the commission will release a guideline for the continuation of the process.

    Revalidation of observers, the commission said, will be done simultaneously in Abuja and Rivers State between March 25 and March 31.

    From April 2 to April 5, INEC will resume the collation of results in the state.

    The commission also said April 13 has been set should there be a need for a supplementary election after which declaration of the final results would be made between April 13 and 15.

    The issuance of the certificate of return will be done on April 19.

    The collation of the results for the election held on March 9 was suspended due to violence allegedly carried out by soldiers and armed thugs.

  • Finally, INEC reveals what it will do to address Rivers governorship poll impasse

    …says 17 out 23 LG results already in its custody

    The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has said that results from 17 Local Government areas out of 23 in Rivers governorship election are available and in the commission’s custody.

    INEC disclosed this in a statement issued on Friday night by the National Commissioner and Chairman, Information and Voter Education Committee, Festus Okoye.

    Okoye said that the commission made the declaration after its meeting on Friday where it considered the report of the Fact-Finding Committee set up to assess the situation in Rivers where election process was suspended.

    The Commission had on March 10, suspended all electoral processes in Rivers having determined that there was widespread disruption of collation of results of the elections conducted in the state on March 9.

    Subsequently, the Commission set up a Fact-Finding Committee to assess the situation and report back within 48 hours.

    Okoye said that the Commission met on Friday and considered the report of the Committee and established that the Governorship and state House of Assembly elections took place in most of the polling units and results were announced.

    “That the results from 17 Local Governments out of 23 are available and are in the Commission’s custody.

    “That the Declaration and Returns for 21 State Constituencies out of 32 were made prior to the suspension.

    “That collation centres were invaded by some soldiers and armed gangs resulting in the intimidation and unlawful arrest of election officials thereby disrupting the collation process,” he said.

    Okoye said that consequently upon the foregoing, the Commission was committed to expeditious completion of the collation process where results of the elections had been announced.

    The national commissioner said that INEC would issue detailed timelines and activities for the completion of the election on Wednesday, March 20.

    He added that the commission expressed its displeasure with the role played by some soldiers and armed gangs in the state, disrupting the collation process and attempting to subvert the will of the people.

    Okoye said the commission also resolve that it “will engage the security agencies at national level and the Inter-Agency Consultative Committee at the state level to demand neutrality and professionalism of security personnel in order to secure a peaceful environment for the completion of the elections.

    “The commission will also engage with key stakeholders in Rivers State with a view to ensuring a smooth and peaceful completion of the process.”

  • APC speaks on how party will fare at governorship poll without Amosun, Okorocha, others

    APC speaks on how party will fare at governorship poll without Amosun, Okorocha, others

    The All Progressives Congress (APC) says the suspension of governors Rochas Okorocha and Ibekunle Amosun of Imo and Ogun respectively, will not affect the party’s victory in the March 9, Governorship and State House of Assembly election.

    Malam Lanre Issa-Onilu, the APC National Publicity Secretary, gave the assurance while speaking with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) on the development on Friday in Abuja.

    NAN recalls that the APC National Working Committee (NWC) at its Friday meeting, suspended Okorocha and Amosun, alongside the Director General of Voice of Nigeria (VON) Osita Okechukwu and the Minister of Niger Delta Usani Usani.

    “As to the effect it will have in the coming Governorship and State House of Assembly elections, the real negative effect will come when we allow our members who are in position of influence to undermine our candidates.

    “We need to get it clear to every member who supports such actions that the party is watching them, and similar fate may befall them,” Issa-Onilu said.

    He added that the suspension of the governors would not have come to the public as a surprise following their anti party activities over a period of time.

    He recalled that the two governors had been sponsoring candidates against those recognised by the party.

    This, he said, had been ongoing and so the party had to follow the right procedures; taking steps to first get them to see reason why they needed to retract their steps.

    NAN recalls that in Ogun, Amosun is said to be backing AbdulKadir Akinlade, the governorship candidate of the Allied Peoples Movement (APM) against APC’s Prince Dapo Abiodun.

    In Imo, Okorocha is supporting his son-in-law Uche Nwosu, the candidate of the Action Alliance, against Senator Hope Uzodinma, the APC candidate.

    “They occupy the position they are in today, courtesy of the ticket given to them by this party, to now use that opportunity to work against the interest of the party, you do not expect the party to look the other way.

    “More so when you realise that APC is a party of discipline that has come to establish the fact that to deepen democracy, you must subject everybody to the rule of law, and that there must be equality for all before the law,” he said.

    Issa-Onilu stressed that as far as the APC was concerned, no matter what position an individual held, the party would not give him any leverage when he flaunted the rules or the Constitution of the party.

    He added that the party’s leadership had at a point, issued queries to the two governors and cautioned them against their anti party activities.

    He recalled that when the APC presidential campaign train was led by President Muhammadu Buhari to Ogun, they were thoroughly embarrassed by a different party.

    Issa-Onilu said this was done with the support of the governor, who he said, brought in certain elements who were not APC members to the campaign venue to create problems.

    “This actually embarrassed our President, but we thought at that period, we were facing the Presidential and National Assembly Election and that it was not the appropriate time for us to do anything that might be destructive to our course, so we waited,” he said.

    He added that though there was a window for the governors to show remorse and act appropriately to convince the party’s leadership that they would play by the rules, they never did.

    He said rather Okorocha and Amosun came out openly to endorse their choice candidates against the party’s candidates.

    “Which ever way you look at it, that is anti-party activity, it is beyond the limit, and tolerating such, will mean that our change mantra is just a mantra without meaning,” the APC spokesman said.

    He further explained that the VON DG was suspended also, because of his anti party activities in the recent past, which he said had been documented.

    The APC spokesman said that Okechukwu had also engaged in actions that undermined the party’s performance in Enugu, his home state.

    He also explained that the Minister of Niger Delta was also found to have committed the same offence as the others.

    He maintained that it would be injurious for the party to allow such actions to continue, adding that the suspension still stood.

    He, however, said that the duration of their suspension would be determined by the time the report of the investigative committee on the matter was submitted to the party’s National Executive Committee (NEC).

    “I have forwarded the report to NEC, recommending their expulsion, the limit of the powers of the party’s NWC is to suspend; it does not have the power to expel.

    “It is only NEC that can take that action, so we have exercised what the Constitution of the party allows us to do, the report of our investigation will be put in place and passed on to NEC for further action,” he said.

    He added that the APC NWC had also decided to issue a query to Gov. Rotimi Akeredolu of Ondo State for anti party activities, adding that the party already had video evidence against him.

    NAN reports that Akeredolu had earlier been accused by the Ondo Mandate Group, an APC support group, of working against the party and the presidency.

    On the Minister of Communications Adebayo Shittu, Issa-Onilu said the party had noted his comments, but had not seen him working against the party.

    He said the minister had his grievance and had the right to express same within the law, but added that the APC, for now, did not have any evidence that Shittu was involved in any anti-party activity.

     

  • Osun governorship poll: Afenifere suspends Omisore for supporting APC

    The pan-Yoruba socio-political organization, Afenifere, on Tuesday, announced the suspension of the candidate of the Social Democratic Party in the last governorship election in Osun State, Senator Iyiola Omisore for one year.

    Omisore was alleged to have aligned with the All Progressives Congress to win the rerun election in Ife South and North Local Government Areas of Osun State. His action was said to have gone against the position of his party, the Social Democratic Party and the Afenifere.

    Omisore’s suspension was part of the decisions taken at the monthly meeting of the Afenifere, held at the residence of its leader, Chief Reuben Fasoranti, in Akure, the Ondo State capital.

    In a communique issued at the end of the meeting and read by a chieftain of the group, Chief Korede Duyile, the group said Omisore allegedly went against the position of Afenifere during the last governorship election in Osun State.

    The group had earlier decided not to support the All Progressives Congress at the Osun governorship and the forthcoming general elections.

    Afenifere said in the communique, ” The meeting took a decision to suspend Senator Iyiola Omisore for one year for violating Afenifere’s directive which affected the outcome of Osun election.”

  • Ekiti stakeholders in Abuja fault governorship poll result

    Ekiti stakeholders in Abuja fault governorship poll result

    Some Ekiti people in Abuja on Sunday faulted the outcome of Saturday’s Saturday’s governorship election in the state, saying it was against the popular wish of the people.

    They told News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in separate interviews that the result as announced was not the true reflection of the will of Ekiti people.

    The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) on Sunday, declared Dr Kayode Fayemi, the All Progressive Congress (APC) candidate, winner of the governorship poll.

    He defeated current Deputy Governor of the state and candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Prof. Kolapo Olusola, and 30 others in a keenly contested election.

    The APC candidate won in 12 out of the 16 local government areas in the state, polling 197,459 votes to edge out Olusola who got 178,121 votes.

    In his reaction, Mr Bayo Adeyemi, a private sector worker, said that the election was not free and fair.

    He said that information he received from relatives back in Ekiti revealed that the principle of democracy was not followed in the election.

    “Fayemi’s victory is a lie and it will cause trouble. I am not a PDP person, but I heard they chased agents away and I heard that someone even suffered acid bath.

    “This is not democracy; it does not mean well for our people and for our nation as a whole. God save Nigeria in 2019,” he said.

    Miss Ayobami Olusegun said that from discussions among her people and in her neighbourhood in Ekiti, the governor-elect was not popular among the ordinary people in the state.

    “My parents back home and most of the neighbours did not vote Fayemi; they must have rigged the election.

    “Even when you interact with people in Ekiti, you will see that they do not want Fayemi and the discussion among the people reflects it; we are surprised that Fayemi won,” she said.

    Mr Peter Ogulana, a businessman, said “people do not hide their dislike for the governor-elect.

    “What happened is unfair; I know Ekiti people do not like him; this is maximum rigging.

    “If it was in the north or east, there would be fighting by now but the westerners do not easily get into violence,” he said.

    Another indigene, Mrs Fisayo Ogulana, said “Ekiti is in trouble again; let all the teachers be ready for their death.

    “This is death sentence passed on the workers and people of Ekiti.

    “Giving the hard time the state suffered with Fayemi as governor before and they voted him out, our people will not have voted him into office again; something is wrong.

    “I am confident that the result will be contested in court and upturned in favour of the true will of the people,” she said.