Buhari Campaign Group Calls for Femi Fanikayode arrest

The Buhari Support Organisations has called for the arrest of Mr. Femi Fani-Kayode, the Director, Media, Peoples Democratic Party Presidential Campaign Organisation, for announcing unofficial results.

The Director, Media and Information of the BSO, Dr. Chidia Maduekwe, made the call on Monday in Abuja at a news conference.

According to Maduekwe, this is the time for security agencies to show their neutrality by arresting Fani-Kayode because the only authority to announce election results is the Independent National Electoral Commission.

The organisation claimed that Fani-Kayode had breached relevant sections of the Electoral Act by announcing on Sunday that the PDP was leading in the presidential election in 23 states of the federation.

“We ask the security agencies to immediately arrest Fani-Kayode for breaching relevant sections of the Electoral Act which forbids any organ outside INEC from officially declaring election results.

“His arrest for further questioning will be a clear indication that the security agencies are truly unbiased participants in this electoral process.

“His declaration is also a breach of both the first and second Abuja Peace Accord signed by the presidential candidates,’’ Maduekwe said.

He called on the international community and observers to note the steps being taken by the ruling party to cause severe breach of peace and call them to order.

He urged APC supporters to maintain the peace as they await the official announcement of authentic INEC results for the Saturday elections.

“We ask Nigerians to join us in saying `No’ to this recent manifestation of habitual impunity.

“We appeal to all our numerous supporters to sustain their calmness in the face of current provocation and abuse of our electoral processes,’’ he said.

Maduekwe said that APC would reject “in its entirety, the use of security to compromise an election process that has been commended as having high quotient of integrity’’.

He urged INEC to adhere strictly to guidelines for elections which protected candidates through active participation of party agents.

“We request INEC to adhere to the guideline which makes it mandatory for polling unit party agents to sign result sheet forming the basis for collation of reslt at collation centres.

Military aid PDP rigging in Imo says Rochas Okorocha

The Imo State Governor, Rochas Okorocha, has frowned on the way the Peoples Democratic Party “rigged” the elections of Saturday and has therefore called for the outright cancellation of the results in six local government areas of the state.

He also said that the election in the state was full of combined conspiracy with military intervention.

The governor, who addressed journalists on Monday at the Government House, Owerri, accused notable chieftains of the PDP in the state of using the military to terrorise voters.

He alleged that such areas as Oru East, Ohaji/Egbema, Ngor Okpala, Aboh Mbaise and parts of Owerri West did not only witnessed unprecedented rigging but also abduction and kidnapping of agents of rival political parties who were manhandled and forced to lie prostrate on the ground by soldiers acting on the orders of the Federal Government.

He said, “Armed soldiers were used by the PDP as aides to the collation officers and there was no collation of results at the ward levels as prescribed by the Electoral Act. All the collating officers and presiding officers were directed to go and submit their results at the LG level, from where they collected all the results from the booths in the presence of soldiers.”

Okorocha also lashed out at security agents who he alleged barred agents of the opposition parties from entering into the INEC office while giving those of the PDP unfettered access to the premises of the electoral commission.

The governor also said that 250 students of the Rochas Foundation College who duly registered for the election and were issued with PVC, were arrested and held hostage at Ogboko on what he called trumped-up charges and were prevented from voting by soldiers working for the PDP.

“Most of these helpless children are orphans and I am their father, they duly registered for the election but soldiers arrested, humiliated and detained them without food and water and they were not released until the following day being Sunday.”

Okorocha insisted that election did not take place in the Isiala Mbano area and parts of Aboh Mbaise. He expressed shock that results were still announced in these areas by INEC.

The governor also denied allegations of tearing result sheets and added that his convoy was shot at by security agents during which one of the boys in his entourage was seriously wounded and immediately rushed to the Federal Medical Centre, Owerri.

APC loses six reps seats to opposition in Lagos

The All Progressives Congress has lost five House of Representatives seats to the Peoples Democratic Party and a seat to the Accord Party in Lagos.

Investigations by our correspondent showed that most of the reps lost in Igbo- dominated local government areas.

Sources in the APC said the love the people of the South-East have for President Goodluck Jonathan positively affected the PDP candidates, some of whom had not even been rigorously campaigning.

In Amuwo Odofin local government, which has a very high Igbo population, especially in areas like Kirikiri, Satellite Town and FESTAC, the PDP candidate, Oghene Egboh, who is from the Niger-Delta, defeated Mr. Ganiyu Olukolu of the APC.

In Ajeromi/Ifelodun, which is one of the most densely populated areas in Lagos State and is home to Ajegunle (another Igbo dominated area), the PDP candidate, Mrs. Rita Orji, who also hails from the South-East, defeated Taiwo Adenekan of the APC.

The story was the same in the Igbo-dominated Ojo LG, where the PDP candidate, Mr. Tajudeen Obasa, won the seat.

In Surulere federal constituency 2, which is home to Aguda and a few Igbo settlements, Mr. Tunji Soyinka of the PDP defeated Mr. Hakeem Bamgbala of the APC.

It was learnt that apart from the ‘Igbo’ factor, the incumbent rep, Mr. Aliyu Kazeem, had been in court with Bamgbala over the conduct of the primary.

It was learnt that the division within the party gave the PDP the opportunity to penetrate the community.

An APC leader in Surulere said, “We are still in shock. Haliyu Kazeem, who is the incumbent, lost the primary in December last year and refused to work with Bamgbala. He took Bamgbala to court and they are still slugging it out.

“If they had put things in order, we would not have lost. Bamgbala is a former chairman of Aguda Local Council Development Area and a good grass roots politician.”

In Mushin federal constituency 2, the APC candidate, Yemi Alli, lost to Dauda Kako-Aare of the Accord Party.

Kako-Aare, who is the incumbent, lost at the APC primary last December to Alli and defected to Accord.

In Oshodi/Isolo federal constituency 2, the incumbent, Mr. Akeem Munir, lost to Mr. Tony Nwoolu of the PDP.

Despite Rigging from South/South and Southeast, APC still leading

Muhammadu Buhari, the presidential candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC), continues to lead incumbent President Goodluck Jonathan of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) with a comfortable margin, even as controversial election results from Rivers and Akwa Ibom states were added to the national tally, giving a boost to Mr. Jonathan. 

Election observers as well as Governor Rotimi Amaechi of Rivers State had declared that last Saturday’s elections in the state turned into a fiasco, marked by intimidation and shootings of APC members and widespread manipulation by security agents. Even so, the Independent National Electoral Commission in the state declared that Mr. Jonathan polled more than 1.48 million in the state, leaving Mr. Buhari with a little more than 69,000 votes. 
Despite this figure and results from Akwa Ibom that gave the incumbent president 953,304 votes, the APC presidential candidate maintains his lead. 
It seems like several top APC politicians have already arrived in Abuja in preparation to declare victory in the presidential polls. 
The delay in announcing polling results from the South South and South East zones had caused apprehension within the country and heightened allegations that President Jonathan’s associates were surreptitiously attempting to inflate the incumbent president’s vote tally from the two zones.
The Results are as follows:
EKITI STATE
APC - 120, 331
PDP - 176, 466
OGUN STATE
APC - 308, 290
PDP - 207, 950
ENUGU STATE
APC - 14, 157
PDP - 553, 003
KOGI STATE
APC - 264, 851
PDP - 149, 937
OSUN STATE
APC - 383, 603
PDP - 249, 929
ONDO STATE
APC - 299, 889
PDP - 251, 368
FCT
APC - 146, 399
PDP - 157, 195
OYO STATE
APC - 528, 620
PDP - 303, 376
NASARAWA
APC - 236, 838
PDP - 273, 460
AKWA IBOM STATE
APC - 58, 411
PDP - 953, 304
IMO STATE
APC - 133, 253
PDP - 559, 185
PLATEAU STATE
APC - 429, 140
PDP - 549, 615
KANO STATE
APC - 1, 903, 999
PDP - 215, 779
JIGAWA STATE
APC - 885, 988
PDP - 142, 904
KADUNA STATE
APC - 1, 127, 760
PDP - 484, 085
KWARA STATE
APC - 302, 146
PDP - 132, 602
KATSINA STATE
APC - 1, 345, 441
PDP - 98, 937
ABIA STATE
APC - 13, 394
PDP - 368, 303
ANAMBRA STATE
APC - 17, 926
PDP - 660, 762
KANO STATE
APC - 1, 903, 999
PDP - 215, 779
          

Dino Melaye floors former NUJ president Smart Adeyemi for Senate

the former federal house of representative member, Mr Dino Melaye have defeated former president of the NUJ, Mr Smart Adeyemi.
Details later...

Fayose’s deputy should be charged with election violence says APC

The All Progressives Congress in Ekiti State has asked the Independent National Electoral Commission to charge the Deputy Governor of Ekiti State, Dr. Kolapo Olusola-Eleka, for election violence.

It also asked the Commission to cancel the election result in Ire-Ekiti over allegation of violence and ballot snatching.

The opposition party based the call on the reported shooting of an APC member, Jide Owolabi, in Ikere-Ekiti, on the alleged order of the deputy governor during Saturday’s Presidential and National Assembly elections.

It was gathered that problem started when Eleka, who was moving around the polling units in Ikere Ekiti to monitor the accreditation process was accosted by aggrieved youths who saw his action as violating the electoral law.

It was reported that Owolabi was shot on his buttocks by one of the security operatives attached to the deputy governor during the ensued argument.

The APC Publicity Secretary, Taiwo Olatubosun, said in a statement on Sunday that the two incidents were well plotted as strategic plan by the Peoples Democratic Party to have undue advantage to win the ballot.

He said, “What happened in Ikere-Ekiti was a pre-meditated incident to cow the opposition to submission. We had earlier raised the alarm to the plan by top officials of Governor Ayodele Fayose’s administration to employ violence and intimidation to cow our members to enable them manipulate the electoral process.

“We wrote the security agencies, including both local and international human rights organs, about PDP’s plan. Yesterday incident was just a manifestation of the fears we raised.

The APC spokesman said the INEC and security agencies should investigate the incident while also asking the electoral body to charge the deputy governor for electoral violence.

Reacting, the Acting Publicity Secretary of the PDP, Joseph Adaraniwon, said the APC was chasing shadows by demanding prosecution of the deputy governor.

He said, “The Deputy Governor cannot be charged for any electoral violence because he did not carry any arms or attack anybody. Instead, it was the APC’s hired thugs that attacked the gentleman. The APC is only making excuses for its defeat in the whole 16 local government areas of the state.”

APC alleges irregularities in Rivers, Anambra, Edo,

The All Progressives Congress in Anambra State has accused the Peoples Democratic Party of using residential houses, hotels and other secret places for collation of electoral results.

The party also said that most of the legitimate collation centres were left empty without any sign of electoral activities.

The senator representing Anambra Central and who is also seeking reelection, Dr. Chris Ngige, who spoke for members of the party in Awka on Sunday, said powerful persons in the state had held on to the results of the elections, hence the delay in announcement of electoral results.

He also said results sheets were also not made available at the centres.

Ngige, who called for the outright cancellation of elections in the state, said to further compound the situation, the number of people accredited and expected to vote during Saturday’s election at different polling stations were not made public by INEC officials.

“In some places, the accreditation was done alongside the voting proper. People voted as many times as possible,” he alleged.

According to Ngige, the accreditation was done with a view to manipulating the results, adding that in most places, the fingers of voters were not inked.

He said names of voters were being written on fresh sheets of paper during the accreditation, which gave room for serious manipulation.

He said over 200 policemen were accompanied by some PDP stalwarts to some local government areas with the intention of forcing electoral officers to sign blank result sheets.

But speaking to our correspondent in an interview on Sunday, the Residential Electoral Commissioner, Anambra State, Mr. Edwin Nwatarali, said no report had been brought to him showing that fingers were not inked during the elections.

He said the commission had to move collation centres from troubled zones to other collation centres that were peaceful after a clash occurred on Sunday in one of the collation centres.

He said threats to lives of INEC personnel and materials had been reported to him, and the situation was under control.

Meanwhile in Rivers state, governor Amaechi have also shown the public the rigging tricks of the PDP before now that all result sheets were no where to be found during the voting process which lead to the protest that took place yesterday.

So also Edo north LGA who is also the local government of the Edo state government was locked down in order to pave way for voters intimidation and other irregularities.