TheNewsGuru

Tag: Presidential Elections

  • South Africa: Former president, Zuma excluded from May elections

    South Africa: Former president, Zuma excluded from May elections

    South Africa’s electoral commission has revealed that it has excluded former president Jacob Zuma from standing in the May 29 general election.

    “In the case of former president Zuma, yes, we did receive an objection, which has been upheld,” commission president Mosotho Moepya told reporters, without giving details.

    “The party that has nominated him has been informed” as have those objecting to the move, he added.

    The decision can be appealed if lodged before April 2.

    According to the electoral commission’s statement,   “any person who was convicted of an offence and sentenced to more than 12 months imprisonment without the option of a fine” cannot stand in an election.

    It would be recalled that Zuma, 81, was forced out of office in 2018 under a cloud of corruption allegations.

    He is campaigning for the opposition uMkhonto we Sizwe (MK) party in an attempt to relaunch his career and weaken his former party, the ruling African National Congress (ANC).

    The general election, after which the victor will appoint a president, is set to be tense.

    The ANC is on the brink of dropping below 50 per cent of the vote for the first time since it came to power at the end of apartheid.

    That would force the party once led by Nelson Mandela to form a coalition to stay in office.

    The ANC is bleeding support amid a weak economy and allegations of corruption and mismanagement.

    Zuma was sentenced to 15 months in jail in June 2021 after refusing to testify to a panel probing financial corruption and cronyism under his presidency.

    Besides his 2021 contempt conviction, he is facing separate charges of corruption in an arms procurement scandal in the 1990s, when he was vice president.

  • G-5 is yet to take decision on preferred presidential candidate – Wike

    G-5 is yet to take decision on preferred presidential candidate – Wike

    Governor Nyesom Wike of Rivers State has revealed that the G-5 governors have not taken a decision on who to support for 2023 presidency.

    Wike made this known on Friday in Rivers state during the flag-off of the construction of Eneka-Igbo Etche Road in the state.

    The G-5 include Wike, Ifeanyi Ugwuanyi (Enugu), Seyi Makinde (Oyo), Okezie Ikpeazu (Abia), and Samuel Ortom (Benue). They have been in a running battle with Atiku Abubakar, the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, presidential candidate following the party’s presidential primary.

    Recall that the aggrieved governors are insisting that the National Chairman of the Party, Iyorchia Ayu, must resign from his position.

    But Wike has now explained that the G-5 governors haven’t reached a decision to back any presidential candidate for the forthcoming elections.

    “[They said] Wike had an interview with BBC and he said we have a deal with so and so. Meanwhile, no video, no audio. And some of you waste your time listening to such things.

    “So, my dear people, I just want to tell you that whatever decision I will take, I will let you know. I cannot take any decision without taking advice from you,” Wike said.

  • PDP will lose if they field a southerner-Reno Omokri explains

    PDP will lose if they field a southerner-Reno Omokri explains

    Former president Goodluck Jonathan’s aide Reno Omokri, who is also a socio-political activist has explained why the North would obey President Muhammadu Buhari’s direction that the region should vote for Bola Tinubu, National Leader of the All Progressives Congress, APC, in 2023.

    Omokri explained that president Buhari has well over 12 million Northerners who would obey his command on voting Tinubu in 2023 presidential elections.

    To this end, the former aide to ex-President Goodluck Jonathan warned the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, against fielding a Southerner in 2023.

    Omokri stated via his social media page that the PDP must field a Northerner to contest the 2023 presidential election in order to stand a chance.

    He wrote: “Buhari has always had a captive audience of 12 million Northerners.

    “If PDP fields a Southerner in 2023, his 12 million captive audience will obey Buhari’s command to vote for Tinubu. And he will win. The only way they won’t obey him is if the PDP fields a Northerner!”

    Meanwhile president Buhari is yet to announce his anointed candidate but insinuations are rife that Rotimi Amaechi may get the nod.

    Recently, the President said he would not disclose his preferred candidate because he may be assassinated.

    However baring last minute change, the All Progressive Congress (APC) indirect primary elections holds may 30.

  • 2023: I can’t say whether I will run for president as consultations are ongoing – Jonathan

    2023: I can’t say whether I will run for president as consultations are ongoing – Jonathan

    The former President, Goodluck Jonathan, has said that he can’t disclose whether he is going to declare to run 2023 presidential election as the process is ongoing.

    The former number one citizen made this known on Friday while addressing the protesters who stormed his Abuja office.

    The protesters stormed the Abuja private office of the former President in the early hours of Friday and urged him to declare for the 2023 presidential race.

    A spokesman for the group, Mayor Samuel, who is also the convener of the Youth Compatriots of Nigeria said, “We were deceived and brainwashed by those who claimed they could do it in 2015.

    “Now, we know better, under Jonathan the minimum wage could buy one or two bags of rice. What do we have today? We are begging President Jonathan to forgive us, we have realized our mistakes, and we want him back to complete what he started.

    Responding to them, Jonathan asked Nigerian youths to show greater interest in the nation’s political process.

    The former President said it was time for youths to take advantage of the Not Too Young To Run Act to participate actively in the electoral process.

    He said he was aware that they were “here to ask me to declare,” but he said, “I cannot declare because some processes are still ongoing.”

    “Yes you are calling me to come and declare for the next election, I cannot tell I’m declaring.

    The political process is ongoing just watch out. The key role you must play is that Nigeria must get somebody that will carry young people along.”

    Recall that the Nigerian Young Professionals in Diaspora, NYPD, yesterday gave Jonathan one week’s ultimatum to declare for the 2023 Presidential race or risk being sued.

    The group which comprises Young Professionals in Diaspora is made up of Nigerians from all over the Country who are based in different countries.

    The convener of the group, Arc. Oladipo Akande in a press release made available to newsmen via email from Los Angeles, United States Of America stated that the former helmsman needed to throw his hat into the ring without further delay.

    Meanwhile, the campaign posters of the former President have flooded the national secretariat of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) in Abuja.

    The posters with a big picture of the former President in his South-South attire and a bowler-hat with the inscription” Goodluck Jonathan You Must Run” are occupying a conspicuous position on the wall of the party secretariat.

    Also posters on the fence of many buildings, especially the uncompleted ones along Blantyre Street where the APC secretariat is located.

  • 2023: Obasanjo denies endorsing South-East for president

    2023: Obasanjo denies endorsing South-East for president

    Former President Olusegun Obasanjo did not endorse the South-East for the presidency ahead of the 2023 election.

    TheNewsGuru.com (TNG) reports the Obasanjo made this known in a rebuttal released by his media aide, Kehinde Akinyemi.

    Obasanjo’s rebuttal follows an online report quoting him to have backed the region to produce the next president for the country.

    According to the report, the former president stated that south-easterners can bring a lot to the table if elected.

    The ex-president speaking via his media aide, Kehinde Akinyemi, stated that while receiving Mao Ohuabunwa, a presidential aspirant, in Abeokuta, Ogun State, words were put in his mouth thus the misrepresentation in the media.

    However, Obasanjo tackled Ohuabunwa as being the brain behind the report, saying he (the aspirant) put words into his mouth.

    The former president through the statement noted that it was a wrong approach by Ohuabunwa.

    Speaking through his Media Aide, Kehinde Akinyemi, in a statement made available to newsmen in Abeokuta, Obasanjo said, “If that was the way the presidential aspirant wanted to approach his ambition; such was a wrong way.”

    He said “He came here and the former President received him as a gentleman and in the spirit of his 85th birthday celebrations only for him to go and put words into his mouth. Baba is not that sort of man and if that is the way he wants to fulfil his ambition that is a wrong way.”

  • La Liga: Barca postpone presidential elections

    La Liga: Barca postpone presidential elections

    Elections to decide FC Barcelona’s new president have been postponed because of coronavirus, the Spanish La Liga club said on Friday.

    The club’s supporters were due to vote on a new president on Jan. 24, but FC Barcelona issued a statement on Friday to confirm they would not take place on that date.

    “Due to the mobility restrictions decreed by the (regional) government in the current context of the pandemic, the date of the elections must be delayed,” said the statement.

    Movement between municipalities is currently restricted in Catalonia up to Jan. 24.

    Temporary president Carles Tusquets will meet with the three presidential candidates Joan Laporta, Victor Font and Toni Freixa Friday afternoon to discuss a new date.

    The meeting will also decide whether the club should move in the transfer market.

    FC Barcelona are interested in signing Manchester City defender Eric Garcia but transfers are beyond the merit of Tusquets and he will need permission from all candidates to proceed.

  • Trump wants November US Presidential election postponed

    Trump wants November US Presidential election postponed

    The US President Donald Trump on Thursday raised the possibility of delaying the nation’s November presidential election despite its date being enshrined in the US Constitution, Reuters reports.

    Trump, without evidence, repeated his claims of mail-in voter fraud and raised the question of a delay, writing: “delay the election until people can properly, securely and safely vote???”

    Representatives for the White House did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

    Trump has cast doubt on the legitimacy of mail-in ballots, which have been used in far greater numbers in primary elections amid the coronavirus pandemic. He has also made unsubstantiated allegations that voting will be rigged and has refused to say he would accept official election results if he lost.

    Democrats, including presumptive presidential nominee Joe Biden, have already begun preparations to protect voters and the election amid fears that Trump will try to interfere with the November 3 election.

  • More voided votes recorded in 2019 presidential elections than 2011, 2015

    More voided votes recorded in 2019 presidential elections than 2011, 2015

    The just-concluded presidential election recorded 1,289,607 rejected votes nationwide, according to the results announced by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) on Wednesday.

    A News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) analysis of the figure shows that it constitutes 4.5 per cent of the total 28,614,190 votes cast in the election.

    NAN observes that the voided votes are more than the total valid ballots cast in each of 34 states of the federation, including the Federal Capital Territory (FCT).

    It was only in Kano, Kaduna and Katsina that valid votes exceeded the rejected votes across the country. The three states recorded 1,891,134, 1,663,603 and 1,555,473 valid votes.

    The 2019 figure is 445,088 or 52.7 per cent higher than the 844,519 votes declared invalid nationwide in the 2015 presidential election.

    Voided votes constituted 2.8 per cent of the total 29,432,083 ballots cast in 2015, representing an increase of 1.7 per cent compared with that of 2019.

    Further analyses by NAN revealed that Saturday’s election also recorded more voided votes compared with that of 2011.

    In 2011, a total of 1,259,506 votes were rejected, making the latest figure higher by 30,101 votes or 2.3 per cent.

    The ratio of rejected to total votes cast is also higher in the 2019 election compared with the 3.1 per cent recorded in 2011, representing an increase of 1.4 per cent.

    This trend, according to political analysts, means that Nigerian voters are getting less educated in the balloting system, hence the need for more voter education in the country.

    On state basis, Kano recorded the highest voided votes in the 2019 polls, accounting for 73,617 or 5.7 per cent of the national total.

    Lagos and Katsina followed with 67,023 and 63,712 or 5.1 and 4.9 per cent of the total.

    Ekiti recorded the least rejected votes with 12,577 or 0.9 per cent of the total.

     

  • Appointment: Festus Keyamo delays official statement as Nigerians react

    Festus Keyamo has delayed official statements on his recent appointment as director and spokesman for President Muhammadu Buhari 2019 presidential campaigns to a “much later” date.

    “I will be making a formal statement on this much later,” the Senior Advocate of Nigeria stated alongside other comments announcing his appointment.

    TheNewsGuru reports Keyamo was appointed the Director of Strategic Communications and as the Official Spokesperson of the President Muhammadu Buhari Campaign Organization, which has Minister of Transport, Rotimi Amaechi as its Director General.

    As part of Keyamo’s duties in his new post in the Buhari’s campaign organization, he will aid in getting the nomination of Buhari as the All Progressives Congress (APC) presidential flagbearer in the 2019 elections.

    He will also serve to ensure the success of the subsequent campaigns for the 2019 presidential election.

    “In your capacity, you are to be the Spokesperson for the Campaign during the nomination process and also at the subsequent campaigns for the 2019 presidential elections,” the letter appointing Keyamo read.

    However, mixed reactions have surrounded Keyamo’s appointment with certain Nigerians questioning the appointment.

    “Ohh. That was your motive all the while? We already knew though so this news is stale. The rest of us have been appointed the spokespersons of the Nigerians. We will see who will prevail,” Nwaegbe Nkem stated on Twitter.

    https://twitter.com/kallfrancis/status/986193081690218496

    https://twitter.com/maziubadire/status/986192766127439872

    https://twitter.com/scarydream2001/status/986232180958474240

    https://twitter.com/temmiloluwa_/status/986199312131502080

    https://twitter.com/temmiloluwa_/status/986205029202833409

    TheNewsGuru reports President Buhari announced he would seek reelection in the 2019 presidential elections before jetting out of the country to London last week.

    The development was made public by the president’s personal assistant on new media, Bashir Ahmad and confirmed by Kaduna State Governor, Nasir Ahmad el-Rufai.

    Ahmad took to his Twitter handle, @BashirAhmaad, to announce the development on Monday, April 9.

    He further disclosed that the president made the announcement during the National Executive Committee (NEC) meeting of the All Progressives Congress (APC).

     

  • Liberia set for presidential elections as Sirleaf prepares to step down

    Voters in the West African nation of Liberia are set to elect a new head of state, as President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf prepares to step down after 12 years in power, an official poll has said on Tuesday.

    Report says Tuesday’s polls are expected to mark the first time in 73 years that a democratically elected president is peacefully handing over power to a successor chosen by the people.

    Twenty candidates are in the race for president, with 72-year-old Johnson Sirleaf, a Nobel Peace Prize-winner often dubbed the “Iron Lady,” retiring after two six-year terms in office.

    The official report said that there are only three contenders who analysts believe have a real chance of winning.

    They are Vice President Joseph Boakai of the ruling Unity Party ( UP ), former international football star George Weah, who leads the main opposition Coalition for Democratic Change (CDC) and Charles Brumskine, the head of the Liberty Party ( LP ).

    Boosting the economy, creating jobs and fighting corruption are high on the agenda of all candidates’ campaigns.

    The last peaceful transfer of power between two democratically elected presidents took place in Liberia in 1944 when former President Edwin Barclay handed over to William Tubman.

    Liberia remains one of the poorest countries in the world and continues to struggle with the aftermath of the 2013-15 Ebola crisis, which killed over 4,000 people nationwide.

    As well as a brutal 14-year civil war that ended in 2003 after having claimed over 250,000 lives and displaced about a million people.

    The roughly 2.2 million registered voters in the country of 4.1 million are also set to elect 73 members of the House of Representatives on Tuesday.