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.

PDP, APC accused each other over Lagos poll results delay

The agent of the Peoples Democratic Party for the presidential election collation in Lagos State, Mr. Wahab Owokoniran, and his All Progressives Congress counterpart, Senator Tokunbo Afikuyomi, on Monday morning hotly disagreed during the collation exercise at the Independent National Electoral Commission Lagos office.
The quarrel began immediately the Collation Officer for Lagos State, Prof. Isaac Adewole, announced the suspension of the collation of the presidential poll till 8am.
Before Adewole suspended the collation of the result at 1.48am, electoral officers of four local government areas had submitted the results of their respective council areas, while the results for the remaining 16 local government areas had yet to be returned to the INEC office.
But immediately after Adewole, who is the Vice Chancellor,  University of Ibadan, announced the suspension of the collation of the result, Owokoniran flared up and protested the decision, asking the state collation officer to explain the rationale behind the shift.
Owokoniran raised issues concerning non-arrival of the result of the election that was conducted on Saturday.
He said the result ought to have been brought to the INEC office.
According to him, result of many polling units, where PDP won, were manipulated in favour of APC.
Owokoniran also alleged that election did not take place in no fewer than 30 polling units in Epe Local Government Area of the state and yet result was declared for them.
“In some local government areas, election had been concluded two days ago. What could have delayed the collation? I suspect there are some discrepancies somewhere.
“We will not accept any result different from the one we have,” he said.
Owokoniran, however, submitted two petitions to the Resident Electoral Commissioner, Mr. Akin Orebiyi, questioning the electoral body’s collation process.
But Afikuyomi dismissed the claim, saying only INEC had the authority to announce the result of any election.
He asked Owokoniran to speak by facts, rather than making issues that could generate controversy.
Describing himself as one of those who framed the Electoral Act, Afikuyomi said, “Before we begin to make allegations about results being tampered with, without any substantial evidence or a single shred of fact, I think we must speak to facts and records.
“For instance, with regard to the result for Apapa Local Government Area, I have issues, but I will wait for us to get there. I think we watch the way we make claims because it can have serious implications.”

Election Collation almost mar with violence in Osun

Femi, Osun: The collation of election result was almost marred on Saturday as corps members had to resort to use their telephone light to collate results of the Presidential and National Assembly elections. Punch correspondent, who observed the collation of result at Salvation Army Middle School discovered that there was no electricity supply to the school as at 11:30 pm when the collation was ongoing. Some of the ad hoc staff of the Independent National Electoral Commission complained that they were not taken care of, saying they had not eaten anything since morning. Some of the corps members threatened to beat Channels Television crew – Bose Sodiq and Oloyede Oyegbenle. They also threatened to smash the camera of the TV station for daring to record them while collating the result in the dark. It took the intervention of some other journalists before the irate corps members were pacified.

Source: The Punch

Tinubu’s in-law, Fayose win at polling units

In Ekiti state, on the eve of election APC leaders in the state were attacked in their various house. So also Ekiti State Governor, Ayodele Fayose, led the Peoples Democratic Party to massive victory in his polling unit at St. David Primary School, Afao Ekiti.

The results indicated that PDP polled 189 to APC 24 in the presidential election. For the Senate, PDP again won by 181 votes to APC’s 25 while it is PDP 185 to APC 21 in the House of Representatives election.

Serving member of the House of Representatives and candidate of the All Progressives Congress for Ekiti Central Federal Constituency II, Oyetunde Ojo, also recorded victory in his polling unit.

Ojo, who is married to Folashade, the daughter of the APC National Leader, Asiwaju Bola Tinubu, won in Ward 004 unit 004 in Erinjiyan.

Presidential election: APC 71, PDP 45; Senate: APC 73, PDP 41 and Rep: APC 80, PDP 32.

The State Publicity Secretary of the APC, Taiwo Olatubosun, also ensured victory for the party in his ward in Igbimo Ekiti with the following result:

Presidential election: APC 115, PDP 73; Senate: APC 114, PDP 74 and Rep: APC 106, PDP 75.

Buhari thrashes Jonathan in Aso Villa Poll Station

Buhari thrashes Jonathan inside Aso Rock:
Unit 22: PDP 302, APC 348. Unit 21: PDP 293, APC 265. Total: PDP 595, APC 613.

Elections Must Be Cancelled In Rivers State, not Free and Fair Says Amaechi

In an exclusive interview with SaharaTV, Rivers State Governor Rotimi Amaechi says that he believes that today’s presidential elections held in River State were irreparably compromised, and the results must be cancelled.
Amaechi, all All Progressives Congress (APC) leader, alleges that interference on the party of the ruling party, the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), has adversely influenced the result of the contest. Claiming the PDP is working with officials and security agents to rig the contest by withholding result sheets, Amaechi says the results of the election today in Rivers cannot be trusted.
“The police [are] arresting everyone that is arrestable, the police carrying ballot boxes, they are also aiding PDP supporters,” Amaechi said.
He added all the election equipment and materials, especially result sheets, are in PDP agent hands. "I couldn’t vote. In the country, we’re doing very well. In Rivers State, we discovered that all the SPOs (supervising presiding officers) have stolen all the result sheets and disappeared. So we said that there will be no election until we see the result sheets."
Amaechi claims he was accompanied by members of the press, for purposes of documenting the developments there. "I went with cameramen. I went with Channels, AIT and NTA. They did not see anywhere that we went to that you could identify that there were result sheets."
Expressing his disappointment with INEC’s management of the electoral process in Rivers State, Amaechi also listed the names of officials he claims are working for the PDP, and how their affiliations ultimately jeopardize the contest. "Don’t forget that the INEC commissioner here was employed by the president,” he said. “So as far as she’s concerned, she says that there was an election and that all the result sheets are in the field."
The two-term governor stated that voters in Rivers State should be calm, and not resort to violence. His statement comes as reports of violence grow, according to conversations with representatives from the CLEEN Foundation.
At the time of this report, yet another death was reported at a ward in Ogale, Eleme local government area in Rivers State. This joins a string of violent and criminal incidences that have characterized election day in the state.

Source: saharareporters

INEC website hacked

The website of the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC charged with the responsibility of conducting elections in Nigeria have been hacked. Details of the hackers are still unknown.

OPC, SURE-P, Jonathan Campaigners Lead Lagos Anti-Jega Protest

The Oodua Peoples Congress and the Goodluck Jonathan Campaign Organisation in Lagos on Monday morning led other protesters to storm the Lagos-Ibadan Expressway, demanding the sacking of the Chairman, Independent National Electoral Commission, Prof. Attahiru Jega, before the March 28 elections.
The bus of the campaign group and the members of the OPC, who massed at the 7UP/Toll Gate end of the expressway, led the protesters, who were chanting anti-Jega songs, giving reasons why Jega should be sacked.
The OPC members carried guns, cutlasses, pocket knifes among other weapons, occupying one end of the busy highway while some members of the groups harassed some motorists and passers-by plying the road.
Some people, who were clad in black vest, said to be beneficiaries of the SURE-P, also constituted a sizable portion of the protesters.
Heavy traffic built up along the highway as the protesters, who were well protected by heavy police presence, took over one part of the road, grounding movement of other road users.
The protesters took time to distribute leaflets containing seven reasons why the INEC boss should be sacked.
The leaflet also contained what the OPC described as the achievements of President Goodluck Jonathan and why the President should be re-elected.
The protesters are said to be on their way to the National Stadium, Surulere, through the Ikorodu Road, where they will hold a rally.
The Movement for the Actualisation of the Sovereign State of Biafra on Friday protested in Anambra, Ebonyi, Enugu, among other locations in the South-East, calling for the immediate removal of Jega.
On Sunday, the All Progressives Congress alleged that it had uncovered a plot by its Peoples Democratic Party counterpart to fund ethnic militias to protest and demand Jega’s sacking.
It added that such ethnic militias included the OPC.

SOURCE: THE PUNCH