The Independent National Electoral
Commission has said it has no power to cancel the results of the
governorship and state Houses of Assembly elections in Rivers and Akwa
Ibom states.
It made this known to the public
a few hours after the European Union Election Observation Mission to
Nigeria on Monday called for a probe of the “severe problems” that
characterised the polls in the two states.
The Chief Press Secretary to the INEC
chairman, Kayode Idowu, said those calling on the commission to cancel
the results were misdirecting their request.
He explained that once results had
been announced by INEC , only election petition tribunals had the power
to cancel and order fresh elections.
Idowu said, “The law does not allow us to cancel any result after it has been announced. Everyone knows this.
“It is only the election petition
tribunals that can order that or even cancelled the elections. We would
advice anyone who is aggrieved to go to the court. “
Also in Abuja on Monday, EU EOM said the
elections in Akwa Ibom and Rivers states needed to be probed because of
accusations of rigging, intimidation and violence by opponents of the
winners.
Udom Emmanuel won the governorship in
election in Akwa Ibom while a former Minister of State for Education,
Nyesom Wike, triumphed in Rivers.
The Chief Observer of the EU EOM,
Santiago Fisas, said at a news conference that even though the
elections witnessed “more efficient polling, “there were “increased
incidents of violence and interference.”
He added, “On April 12, INEC referred
to 66 reports of violent incidents targeting polling units, INEC
officials, voters and election materials in 19 states in all
geopolitical zones except for the North-East.
“Both the main parties made many
accusations of rigging, intimidation and violence by opponents. Problems
were most pronounced in Rivers and Akwa Ibom states where there are
multiple credible reports of violence and interference, which warrant
further investigation.”
Fisas however encouraged those with grievances to address them through official channels.
The Chief observer also commended President Goodluck Jonathan for conceding defeat before the last result was read.
Fisas, who described the
election-related killings as regrettable, stressed that loss of lives
was unacceptable in election conduct.
He said, “It is very regrettable that so
many people lost their lives during the elections. Election must be
violence-free; loss of lives is not acceptable. Citizens should be able
to express their political will freely without fear for their lives.
“My full condolences go to families and
friends of those who have been killed during this election process; also
to the family of the Resident Electoral Commissioner in Kano, who
perished with his family in the tragic fire.”
Also on Monday, the United States which
congratulated Nigerians and INEC on the successful conduct of the
general elections, said it had “seen the reports of violence and alleged
irregularities, particularly in Rivers and Akwa Ibom states.”
In a statement by its Embassy in
Nigeria, the US callED on those dissatisfied to pursue their
grievances peacefully through the judiciary.
The statement read in part, “The US
Embassy in Nigeria congratulates the people of Nigeria and INEC for an
electoral process on April 11, 2015 that generally went well across the
country and built on the success of the March 28 polling process.
“We have seen the reports of violence
and alleged irregularities, particularly in Rivers and Akwa Ibom states,
and call on those dissatisfied to pursue their grievances peacefully in
the judicial arena. We regret any loss of life and destruction of
property.”
It lauded “the leadership of Nigeria’s
political parties, notably President Goodluck Jonathan and
President-elect Muhammadu Buhari, for urging their supporters to conduct
themselves peacefully throughout the electoral process.”
Presidency, militants rigged elections in Rivers, A’Ibom –APC
But in Lagos, the national leadership of
the APC accused the Presidency and Niger Delta militants of rigging
the elections in two states.
The APC, at a news conference by its
Publicity Secretary, Lai Mohammed, described the elections in the
states as a mockery of democracy.
It therefore called on INEC to cancel the elections.
The party said, “It is clear that the
script for the distortion of the Rivers elections was written by the
Presidency and executed by the PDP, the police and militants
“As you would recollect, our party’s
chapter in Rivers had written a petition complaining of the crass
partisanship of the Rivers State Commissioner of Police in the
presidential and National Assembly elections held on March 28.
“Because of this petition, the
Inspector-General of Police, Suleiman Abba, posted three police
commissioners from the Force Headquarters in Abuja to oversee the April
11 elections in Rivers State.
“As soon as the President learnt of this
development, he directed the IG to reverse the decision and instead
requested that AIG Tunde Ogunsakin be posted to oversee the April 11
elections in Rivers State.”
The APC spokesman said as soon as
electoral materials were distributed, a senior police officer in
Akukutoru Local Government Area simply handed over the election
materials for this local government to the militants.
He said upon learning of this
development, Ogunshakin ordered that the materials should be recovered
and handed over to the electoral officer for the LGA within the next
hour.
Mohammed said, “Irked by A Ogunsakin’s
directive, the Presidency ordered him to leave Rivers State within six
hours and a pliant replacement was asked to take over from him.
“From then on, unimaginative terror was
unleashed on the electorate, in particular on APC members and
supporters. It was a straight fight between the police, the militants
and the PDP on the one hand and the APC on the other hand.”
He said in former Governor Victor
Attah’s ward in Ibesikpo Asutan, three contiguous polling units did not
receive election materials.
Mohammed said that electoral officers
even told the APC governorship candidate, Umana Umana, that the election
process was marred by security failure, which allowed PDP thugs to
hijack election materials and take them to private homes for
thumb-printing.
The PDP however said it was wrong for
the APC to call for the cancellation of the results because there was
no way it would not have won the polls in the two states.
APC is wrong, says PDP
The National Publicity Secretary of the
party, Olisa Metuh, told one our correspondents that the PDP might as
well demand that the presidential election be canceled because of the
irregularities it noticed.
He said, “There was no way we wouldn’t
have won the elections in both Rivers and Akwa Ibom states because they
are our stronghold.
“Maybe we should as well ask that the
presidential election be canceled because of the irregularities we
noticed during the conduct of the election.”
Metuh called on the APC to learn to accept the outcomes of elections
Meanwhile, THE announcement of the
governorship election results by INEC enetered a second day on Monday
with the APC winning additional six states and the PDP, three.
The states whose results were announced
in APC’s favour are Zamfara, Jigawa, Adamawa, Niger, Nasarawa and
Borno. The PDP had Rivers, Delta and Cross River states.
As of Sunday midnight, INEC had formally
declared the candidates of the APC in 13 states as winners. The states
are Sokoto, Kebbi, Kwara, Oyo, Ogun, Lagos, Katsina, Kaduna, Kano,
Bauchi, Plateau, Yobe and Benue.
It also declared the PDP candidates in Gombe, Enugu, Ebonyi and Akwa Ibom victorious.
When the results began to trickle in between 1pm and 7pm on Monday, INEC announced more APC candidates as winners.
In Nasarawa State, Governor Tanko
Al-Makura scored 309, 746 votes to beat his closest rival,Yusuf Agasi of
the PDP, who had 178, 983 votes.
Abdulaziz Yari scored 716,964 votes while Mamuda Shinkafi of the PDP in Zamfara State had 201,938 votes.
Also in Jigawa, Badaru Abubakar defeated Aminu Ringim of the PDP by polling 648, 045 votes. Ringim had 479,447 votes.
INEC merely confirned unofficial reports
of Jibrilla Bindow, Abubakar Bello and Kashim Shettima’s victories in
Adamawa, Niger and Borno states.
Bindow defeated PDP’s Nuhu Ribadu by scoring 362,329 votes. Ribadu had 98,917 votes.
While Bello had 593,702 votes, Umar Nasco of the PDP in Niger State had 239,770 votes.
In Borno State, Shettima scored 649, 913 votes as against 34,005 votes by Gambo Lawan of the PDP.
The PDP candidates however floored their APC counterparts in Rivers, Delta and Cross River states.
In Rivers State, a former Minister of
State for Education and PDP torch-bearer, Nyesom Wike, trounced APC’s
Dakuku Peterside having polled 1,029,102 votes. Dakuku had 124,896
votes.
In Delta State PDP’s Ifeanyi Okowa
became governor-elect after defeating APC’s O’tega Emerhor by garnering
724,680 votes. Emerhor had 67, 825 votes.
Benedict Ayade of the PDP in Cross
River also handed defeat to his APC closest rival Odey Ochicha. He
polled 342,016 votes as against Ochicha’s 53,983.
INEC which also updated the results of
the Benue State election, had declared the Imo, Abia and Taraba
state governorship results inconclusive.
As of Sunday night when the Imo results
were announced uncompleted, Governor Rochas Okorocha of the APC was
leading his PDP counterpart and Deputy Speaker of the House of
Representatives, Emeka Ihedioha.
APC’s candidate in Taraba State, Jummai Alhassan, was also leading other candidates in the state.
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