A former Secretary of the Peoples Democratic Party in Ekiti State, Dr. Tope Aluko, has said that the plot to rig the June 21, 2014 governorship election was perfected inside a hotel seven days before the poll.
Tope Aluko
Aluko alleged that the hotel belonged to a top state government official (name withheld), adding that sensitive materials such as ballot papers and result sheets were delivered to PDP chieftains by the Independent National Electoral Commission at the hotel.
He also claimed that the Governor Ayodele Fayose’s administration had received the refund of the N5.2bn spent on the Ado-Ifaki federal highway by the administration of ex-governor Kayode Fayemi.
The state government has, however, continued to deny receiving the refund.
Speaking on an interview programme on Adaba 88.9 FM, Akure, on Wednesday, Aluko claimed that the electoral materials were delivered through the Akure Airport.
He claimed that INEC ballot papers were forged and result sheets filled by some PDP members, which gave the party an edge long before voters went to the polls.
Aluko explained that the operatives of the Department of State Services led by a female officer stormed the hotel and arrested the PDP members perfecting the rigging but that they were released within three hours, following the intervention of the then President Goodluck Jonathan-led Federal Government.
He disclosed that a lorry conveying some of the electoral materials delivered through the Akure Airport was the one intercepted by soldiers led by the recently retired Brig.-Gen. Aliyu Momoh.
According to him, the materials were later released after the officers received an ‘order from above’.
The former PDP chieftain alleged that the N5.2bn refund had been diverted to the Ado Ekiti flyover project, following an investigation conducted by the Department of State Services, the police and the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission.
Aluko said, “Ask him (Fayose) why did the former Commissioner for Works, Kayode Oso, run away? The Commissioner for Finance, Toyin Ojo, told his interrogators about the finances of the state, including the N5.2bn refunded on the Ado-Ifaki Road project carried out by Fayemi.
“You will recall that Fayose had earlier denied receiving the N5.2bn refund but the revelation by Ojo while in custody now made him (Fayose) to divert the money for a flyover construction because Ojo told them that Oso was in a better position to explain the refund collected on road.”
Aluko said the Attorney General and Commissioner for Justice, Owoseni Ajayi, was liable for his alleged role in an attack on the Ekiti State High Court – to prevent the delivery of a ruling on a perjury case involving Fayose.
Aluko said, “I pity Owoseni Ajayi who is saying that I should be prosecuted because he (Owoseni) was the one who placed a call to Fayose to organise a mob to disrupt the delivery of a ruling by Justice Olusegun Ogunyemi.
“Owoseni told Fayose on the phone that should the judge deliver the ruling on the perjury case, it would go against him (Fayose) and his planned inauguration would be in jeopardy.”
Aluko said he did not fall out with Fayose when he was not made the Chief of Staff, saying he fell out with the governor because he had derailed from delivering the dividends of democracy to the masses.
He said, “Fayose told me that Ekiti people are easy to deceive because by the time you buy them ‘ponmo’ and ‘booli’, you have stolen their hearts’.
It was there that our crisis started, the issue of Chief of Staff was secondary.”
But the Special Assistant to the Governor on Public Communications and New Media, Lere Olayinka, said Aluko should be disregarded.
“Is he an official of the Federal Ministry of Works? Is he an official of the Federal Government? Anybody making such an allegation should come with proof.”
….Accuses INEC of Allocating Votes to PDP Candidates
…..Dismisses Wike’s allegation against Amaechi
The Rivers State Chapter of the All Progressives Congress (APC) said after a careful study of the facts on ground, it has come out to declare that what took place in the State on March 19 was not the expected rerun State and National Assembly elections but the mere allocation of votes to the ruling party in the State, the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to avoid being killed by Wike and his gang of killers.
The party in a statement signed by its State Chairman, Dr. Davies Ibiamu Ikanya, outrightly rejected the results so far announced by INEC, saying that nothing but the total cancellation of the process and the holding of fresh rerun polls would be acceptable to it.
“We wish to put on record our total and uncompromising rejection of the results of the March 19, 2016 rerun elections so far announced by INEC as these do not in any way reflect the current political realities on ground in Rivers State. These results, which indicate a mysterious landslide victory for PDP, were allocated to the ruling party in the State following unrelenting threats by Governor Nyesom Wike to the effect that anybody coming to conduct any election that would not favour PDP should first write their wills before coming to the State. The effect of these threats and their practical demonstration as seen in how people were burnt, beheaded and buried alive during the rerun elections can clearly be seen in the shameful manner INEC is awarding victory to PDP,” Rivers APC said.
The party in the statement issued on Sunday in Port Harcourt said there was nothing different between what happened on March 19, 2016 and during the widely discredited elections of March 28 and April 11, 2015 cancelled by the courts, which also ordered the rerun elections. It said this was not a coincidence considering that the apparatus used for both elections were basically the same. “From the Police leadership to most of the INEC officials and INEC ad-hoc staff, the characters that organised the 2015 general elections were the same characters that organised the March 19, 2016 rerun elections and it will be foolhardy to expect any different result. All these characters were set up by the former disgraced PDP administration rejected by Nigerians during the 2015 polls” Rivers APC said.
It berated Governor Wike for claiming that APC is not in a position to win an election in the State, and for accusing Minister of Transportation, Rt. Hon. Rotimi Amaechi, of sponsoring violence to remain politically relevant. “Everyone knows that Wike is the one who has been sponsoring violence in Rivers State and not Amaechi,” the party said, adding: “If Amaechi did not employ violence as Governor of Rivers State to stop Wike from succeeding him in 2015, is it now that he is far away in Abuja as a Minister of the Federal Republic of Nigeria that he would do so? Rather than the vain attempt to drag his name into the mud, Amaechi should be commended for not encouraging APC members to retaliate the wanton killing of its members by PDP, which would have turned Rivers State into another Somalia.
If Wike feels that he is very popular let him allow free and fair election devoid of his gang of killers and he will see how he is hated in Rivers State. Time will tell the heroic role played by Amaechi in this dispensation. As we watch the macabre dance in Rivers State we expect the APC Government at the centre not to allow PDP to decimate our ranks any further in view of the strategic roles we played in freeing Nigeria from the inept PDP administration that would have completely grounded the country if it was reelected.”
…Congratulates Winners Of State And National Assembly Elections
The Chairman of Rivers State chapter of the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, Bro. Felix Obuah has rejected the purported disqualification of the PDP Candidate for Akuku-Toru Constituency 2, Tonye Awari Alalibo, describing it as not only illegal and mischievous, but highly vexatious, explaining that “no Election Petition Tribunal nor the Election Appeal Tribunal, including the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has the power to disqualify any party candidate (as provided for in the 2012 Electoral Act as amended), and for which the PDP and its candidate for Akuku-Toru State Constituency 2 are already in court.
PDP
Bro Obuah also disclosed that no Election Petition Tribunal or Appeal Tribunal has right to disqualify any candidate, when the issue of disqualification was not part of the subject matter before both the Election Petition Tribunal and Appeal Tribunal”. Accordingly, INEC lacks powers to disqualify the PDP candidate.
Therefore, the purported disqualification of our candidate for Akuku-Toru Constituency 2, when the PDP logo was on the ballot paper and our candidate participated and won the election is preposterous.
The so-called disqualification, according to Bro. Obuah is the handiwork of the APC that is doing everything possible to grab power, calling on Akuku-Toru people to remain calm and watch events as they unfold.
Similarly, Bro Obuah described the ceding of result of Opobo/Nkoro State Assembly Election to the APC as a rape of democracy, adding that the results collated from the polling units in all the wards showed Hon. Adonye Diri of the PDP as the clear winner.
The PDP Chairman accused INEC of colluding with the APC to satisfy the defeated governorship candidate, Adol Dakuku Peterside, who was said to have mobilized soldiers on the day of the election and used them to chase away PDP agents, from the collation centre in Opobo.
Meanwhile, the State PDP Chairman, Bro Obuah, congratulates candidates of the party who emerged victorious in the results so far released and declared by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC).
The PDP chairman said the victory of the candidates of the party once again confirmed the popularity and acceptability of the Peoples Democratic Party in Rivers State.
While also felicitating with the good people of Rivers State who voted for the emergence of the PDP candidates in those State and federal constituencies, Bro Obuah assured that the party would not let them down in the delivery of its campaign promises.
Bro. Obuah reiterated the obvious fact that Rivers State is 100% PDP, adding that the desperation, blackmail and intimidation by the APC and Rotimi Amaechi would not reverse the trend.
The PDP Chairman enjoined Rivers people to remain resolute as they await the release of the remaining results and new date for the re-run election in Local Government Areas were elections were suspended following the distribution of fake result sheets, noting that these delays were deliberate attempt by the APC to buy more time and fashion out strategies to manipulate the results.
President Muhammadu Buhari is conscious he has approximately three years left in office. Even more, he is aware he has so far not quite justified his election or the abundant goodwill and trust reposed in him by those who voted him last year. Addressing the National Executive Committee (NEC) meeting of the All Progressives Congress (APC) last Thursday in Abuja, he promised real and substantial improvement in the circumstances and welfare of his people. He did not quite give a speech, for apparently, he was always hobbled by the gravity of formal occasions. What he gave instead were remarks that came across quite well, and in which he admitted his failings where he needed to, refused to excuse his mistakes, and promised to meet his longsuffering compatriots at their points of need on account of the more than three million naira the Treasury Single Account (TSA) had enabled his government to save.
Nyesom Wike and Romiti Amaechi
Before last week’s APC NEC meeting, President Buhari had given scores of formal and boring speeches, including his inauguration address, and a couple of wisecracks, some of them, especially those given during his foreign trips, misspoken. In none of those speeches and brief remarks did he come across as a politician or conciliator. In one breath, he would speak candidly, forcefully and sometimes unreflectively of how fortune and fate in equal measure dealt him a cruel hand regarding the limiting effects of his age and the falling price of crude oil. And sometimes exhilarated, he would speak wistfully from the hangover of his regimented background, attempting to juxtapose his nostalgic past with what he feels is his unresponsive and frustrating present. On Thursday, however, he spoke as a politician and conciliator. If he can act his newfound speech and press the spirit of his rhetoric, who knows, he may yet save his presidency.
But whatever he does from now on cannot save his party from defeat and humiliation in Rivers State, and indeed in most other Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) states. He will in fact struggle to sustain his party’s hold on some controversial and borderline APC states, many of which he has neither shown commitment to nor displayed affection for. The rerun elections in Rivers were enveloped in violence, with many murdered before, during and after the polls. A party’s defeat may admittedly sometimes be explained in terms of who is the more disposed to violence between two leading political gladiators in any election. But in the case of Rivers, neither former governor Rotimi Amaechi, who is now Minister of Transport, nor APC chairman, Odigie Oyegun, conducted himself in such a manner as to engender victory for their party. However, ultimately, the responsibility for the party’s defeat in that state lies with the party leader, President Buhari.
This column indicated immediately after the Supreme Court validated Nyesom Wike’s election as governor that the APC would have a tough job winning a substantial part of the rerun polls. Except perhaps to the APC, the reasons were clear. Mr. Amaechi may be popular in the state, and may even have governed well, but Riverians are not so stupid as not to recognise that voting for APC lawmakers would prolong and entrench the stalemate in the state and predispose it to more violence. In the opinion of this column, Mr. Wike had not always acted with the maturity and brilliance expected of a governor, but having been installed as governor, it was unlikely that the structure of Nigeria’s unitary and patronage-ridden economy would lead the state’s electorate to repudiate him. They longed for peace, but would not mind submitting to the more practical and debilitating purveyor of evil among their political leaders.
In addition, rather than speak loftily, and perhaps dreamily, of the Rivers State of their vision, the APC chairman and other party officials had spoken deprecatingly and materialistically of the state as that oil-rich state, almost akin to how the president himself later described the Niger Delta as a lucrative part of Nigeria. Together with Mr. Amaechi’s impetuousness and Mr. Oyegun’s materialistic view of politics, it was impossible to imagine that Riverians would be enamoured of the APC, or feel indebted to its misbegotten principles and values. The president should do all in his power to bring to justice all those who fomented violence in Rivers State, including those who inspired it, but he should do nothing to interfere with the composition and inauguration of the state legislature. The civilised world may have reservations about how Mr. Wike conducted himself before and during the polls, but it is not enough to halt or abridge any of the processes leading to the inauguration of the House of Assembly if a quorum is formed.
As crucial to APC’s defeat in Rivers as the widespread violence in the state was, and not ignoring the orientation and conduct of Messrs Oyegun and Amaechi, probably the most important other reason for the debacle is the president’s inattentiveness to politics, in substance and ornamentation. However, it seems the president may just be starting to appreciate politics, if his remarks at last Thursday’s APC NEC meeting in Abuja is anything to go by. He had misrepresented politics when he suggested in his inauguration address that he belonged to everybody and to nobody. He had at the time unbelievably given the impression he became president by dint of his own hard work, appeal and merit, and would therefore not be beholden to anybody. He couldn’t be more wrong. If it were left to him and merit alone, he would have retired from politics long before 2015.
Not only does the president in fact belong to his party and individuals who broke their backs to ensure his victory, he needs them to sustain himself in office, entrench and protect his legacy, and run for a second term, if he desires one. But with a divided party and an apparently disenchanted following, it is not surprising that his party has fared badly in most of the elections that have taken place under his watch. It could get much worse, and not simply because of violence or the Independent National Electoral Commission’s inability to get its act together. The reasons are nuanced. First, since he assumed office, President Buhari has done precious little to instill confidence in the nations laws, constitution and processes. He has dithered badly on the rule of law in his anti-corruption campaign, thereby giving the opposition the impression he had no regard for due process and seemingly suggesting that the fittest could always take the trophy regardless of what the law says. In addition, he has behaved awkwardly and intimidatingly to the judiciary, again convincing Mr. Wike and others like him that whatever they needed should be taken by force, perhaps extrajudicially and remorselessly.
Second, by repudiating and even denouncing the politics of accommodation and consensus, the president virtually told indigenes of the South-South and Southeast geopolitical zones that they should look elsewhere for affiliation and attention. He would not offer them sop on the scale he would give his avid supporters meat and delicacies, he had whined incredibly and paradoxically as a victor. Then he worsened an already bad situation by his unsympathetic approach to the Biafra idea vis-a-vis other rebellious groups in the North, and gave ministerial portfolios considered of little influence to the region. The implication is that with two swift blows to the head, the two regions swore to close ranks and shut down their politics against the APC. The president needed to woo his ‘enemies’; instead he harangued them. Thus APC lost Bayelsa and the rerun polls in Rivers and Akwa Ibom, and had any other poll been called for anywhere else in the two geopolitical zones, the party would have lost woefully. In the circumstance, the best the president can do leading his troops to the next polls is to mitigate the scale of his party’s defeat, for that defeat will surely come. The presidnt must also rue how the momentum the APC carried into the 2015 polls came barely a few months later to a wrenching and agonising stop.
Third, in order to gain in stature and earn respect in hostile states, the president needed to act subliminally as a statesman in almost everything, from elections to judicial proceedings and respect for the laws of the land, and from inter-party politics to inter-ethnic relations. Instead, he seems to have foresworn that sublimeness. He should have acted decisively in arresting the political drift towards the unrelenting parochialism authored by his party in the Kogi governorship election; instead he has merely regretted the inconclusiveness of the poll, thereby giving the impression to the cognoscenti that he has no deep and abiding understanding of the principles of justice and equity. The president’s discomfort with the tenets of justice has emboldened politicians like Mr. Wike and Ekiti State governor, Ayo Fayose, to embrace brinkmanship and flirt with dangerous and cataclysmic propositions. Messrs Wike and Fayose lack principles and political morality, but they will continue to dismiss President Buhari’s efforts as sanctimoniousness, and stiffen their increasingly contagious opposition to his ideas and policies.
Fourth, it was necessary for the president to travel to Rivers before the polls, meet with the gladiators, admonish them on peace and impactful politicking, address a town hall meeting on the values and virtues that must underpin Nigerian politics, engage traditional rulers and the youths, and encourage law enforcement agents to be fair and impartial. Instead, he said nothing to a state like Rivers so unused to the amenities of elections, and mobilised no one who could help to prod the state in the right direction. He is right to vow retribution against those who killed and maimed in the Rivers rerun, but the damage is already done, both to the state as a whole, and to the APC’s image in particular.
Fifth, unfortunately for President Buhari, he has not articulated any lofty idea of the economy, politics, and society. He has spent about one year in office, but it is doubtful whether he has any convert to any great cause, for a convert must embrace an idea or a man of ideas. Though his APC NEC remarks are full of sensible ideas, he nonetheless seems to think once the economy is revamped his job is done. Both the president and his party must begin to come to terms with a different and more sublime reality. They can lose elections even with a growing economy, defeated Boko Haram, and low crime rate. Worse, like the PDP has shown, APC’s legacies (as a party, and as a president) can be subverted and pulverised if they are unable to enthrone enduring and endearing philosophy of government and society. This was why ex-president Olusegun Obasanjo and his successors were a disaster despite growing economy, and their legacies quickly denuded and bastardised. They did not imbue the nation with an identity and character worthy of remark and attention. If President Buhari wishes to attract the respect and reverence of the country, irrespective of political, ethnic and religious affiliations, he must go beyond reforms to treat the legislature, judiciary and other groups in the society with veneration, in the process carefully calibrating the urgent need to midwife reforms vis-a-vis the constitutional obligation of building and strengthening institutions.
States and their leading politicians will not support President Buhari and the APC just because of who they are. They must first see the ruling party and its leaders as embodying inspiring ideas and principles before offering them the respect and support they covet. That Rivers State is PDP today does not mean it cannot be APC tomorrow. But before Riverians will pitch tent with APC they must see in the president and his party unusual and soaring qualities of depth and character, and of poise and carriage, something and everything beyond the mundane and mechanical. The president must learn to woo his enemies and opponents, nurture and retain his friends, exemplify great ideas and principles, build and sustain institutions, rise above his biases and prejudices, transcend his comfort zone, and situate his country firmly and regally not in the restricted confine of his own limited background but in the difficult, expansive, conflict-ridden and boisterous global context that continues to demean the black man and treat many African nations contemptuously.
If despite their towering statures and achievements great historical personages could lose elections, both President Buhari and the APC must acknowledge that their puny statures, poverty of noble and catalysing ideas, poor appreciation of and relationship with national institutions, and general and dangerous parochialisms, make them exceedingly vulnerable. Rather than blame the judiciary and violence for their electoral reverses, they should help Rivers back on its feet. The fault for the political morass in which Nigeria is immersed at the moment lies with the president and his party. The buck stops on their desks. To return to winning ways, the party and president should rise to the occasion by imbibing the skills and discipline necessary to deal with cantankerous foes like Messrs Fayose and Wike, and obstreperous and combative opposition party leaders like Ali Modu Sheriff.
President Buhari’s remarks at the APC’s NEC meeting last week indicate he may have begun to understand what should be done. If the transformation is real, he owes the amelioration of his stiff and unattractive politics to his critics, not his sycophants. And if the transformation is to endure, he should seek out more critics who will coax him back to nobility and mould him into a statesmanlike stature, a sculpture of him that many, because of his stiffness and intransigence, have long described as an illusion and given up on.
…Says Amaechi, Abe, Dakuku Plan To Destabilize Rivers State
…Calls On Nigerians, Int’l Community To Ignore Ikanya’s APC’s Call
The Chairman, Rivers State chapter of the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, Bro. Felix Obuah has vehemently condemned and rejected call for the cancellation of the entire re-run elections by the Chairman of the All Progressives Congress, APC, Mr. Davies Ibiamu Ikanya.
Rivers PDP Chairman, Bro. Obuah said the Electoral Act, clearly spells out condition for cancellation of results, saying all the results in the re-run election won by candidates of the Peoples Democratic Party substantially complied with all the provisions of both the Nigerian Constitution and the Electoral Act.
Having strictly complied with the provisions of the Electoral Act and results declared, as stipulated by law, it cannot therefore be cancelled by INEC. So, the APC leadership or anybody calling for such cancellation is ignorant of the law and such call amounts to an invitation to anarchy in the State, the State PDP boss noted.
Accordingly, he added, the APC Chairman, Mr. Ikanya, is ignorant of the law, desperate and is a do or die politician who is plotting to destabilize the State.
The State PDP Chairman recalled that a week to the election, Amaechi threatened to flood the State with the Military and he did, thereby arrogating to himself the power of the President and Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces.
Amaechi,who promised that the election will be the freest and most peaceful, also effected the transfer of the former INEC Resident Electoral Commissioner, REC, and all staff, and openly declared same, boasting that he has the Army, Police, Airforce, DSS, etc in his pockets.
It is on record that Amaechi, Dakuku Peterside, Magnus Abe, Barry Mpigi, Ojukaye Flag-Amachree, Ibim Semenitari, Felix Nwaeke moved around on election day with soldiers and used them to harass and intimidate the voters and PDP members, while at most places APC members where pointing and identifying PDP members to the Nigerian soldiers to beat, arrest and harass.
The question that begs for answer is, why will the Nigerian Army be loyal to Amaechi, Abe, Ikanya, Dakuku, Felix Nwaeke, Ojukaye Flag-Amachree, Barry Mpigi and all APC Chieftains and members?
We would expect therefore that Ikanya should be truthful by explaining the content of the vehicle in which he, Dakuku and Asita were travelling at the period when they were not expected to be moving about during the restriction of movement, even as they are not from same electoral ward or senatorial district.
Ikanya should explain to the public the purpose of their journey and their destination.
Rather than accept that the Chief of Staff, Emeka Woke, intercepted the movement of election results from Ikwerre LGA, he (Ikanya) and they attempted to kill him (Woke), Ikanya is alleging assassination attempt. This is a matter for the security agencies to investigate.
The APC is yet to tell the people what they want. It is appalling that while the State Secretariat of the APC is calling for cancellation of the elections, on alleged irregularities, amongst other claims, the APC candidates for Oyigbo and Opobo/Nkoro State Constituencies are already celebrating their purported victories, describing same election as free, fair and peaceful. What a contradiction and confusion?
It is also unfortunate that Mr. Ikanya deliberately twisted and misrepresented facts in the circumstances leading to the cancellation of elections in the affected LGAs, particularly Gokana, Khana, Tai, Andoni and Eleme, when it was evident that the APC, in connivance with Nigerian soldiers and INEC officials, brought in fake result sheets and ballot papers to those areas.
It was on discovery of the fake election materials that the PDP leaders and supporters protested and threatened to boycott the exercise, leading to the condemnable arrest, assault and detention of the PDP leaders and members in those LGAs by the APC controlled soldiers and security agencies.
The PDP calls on Mr. Ikanya to truly explain to the public the circumstances that resulted to the killing of a woman, Baby Nzuugah, mother of four children, in Kpite, Tai, by soldiers escorting diverted election materials meant for the LGA to Mr. Barry Mpigi’s house in Koroma.
Mr. Ikanya should also tell the truth on who abducted the Ward 10 INEC Collation Officer, Mrs. Ekwi Adebisa, as evidence abound that Rotimi Amaechi and other APC chieftains abducted the woman and forced her to falsify election results for the area.
The PDP calls on the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, and the general public to ignore Mr. Ikanya and APC’s call for outright cancellation, as it is clear that the failure of the APC to successfully hijack and manipulate the process and results informed the party’s latest retrogressive decision.
Even though we’re confident that if elections are conducted over and over in the State, the PDP will continue to win, as a popular and grassroots party, our concern is the fact that a wrong precedence would have been set if INEC yields to such ill-conceived, selfish and undemocratic call by the APC.
It is on the strength of this that we unreservedly urge INEC to release the remaining results from the field won by candidates of the PDP, to regain its integrity and confidence of the Nigerian electorate and the International community.
We also call on Mr. Ikanya and his colleagues to stop deceiving the people and Nigerians on issues concerning the re-run elections in the State and to accept defeat.
…arrest Abe, Dakuku, Mpigi, Ibim, Nwaeke, Other APC Leaders
…Condemns Assault, Assassination Attempt On SSG, Govt. Hse COS respectively
…Seeks Justice In Military Killings
…Uncovers Plan to frame Up PDP Leaders
The Rivers State chapter of the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, has calls for an immediate arrest and prosecution of the Minister of Transportation, Rotimi Amaechi, Mr Magnus Abe and Dakuku Peterside, Jukaye Flag Amachree and other APC chieftains for masterminding the spate of violence, killings and various cases of electoral malpractices during the Saturday re-run elections in some parts of the State.
PDP
The PDP chairman, Bro. Felix Obuahalso who demanded the arrest and prosecution of Mr. Barry Mpigi for hijacking electoral materials in Tai LGA to his home town, Koroma, with the aid of the military, and the former Commissioner for Youth in the State, Mr. Felix Nwaeke, who in connivance with an Army captain, also absconded with all electoral materials for ward 2, Obeakpu, in Oyigbo LGA, as well as Mrs. Ibim Semenitari, who he said has shown that she lacks manners and does not possess the honor of a woman, as she engaged in ballot paper hijack and falsification of polls results.
Bro Obuah says it is most disappointing and embarrassing that the APC chieftains preferred to act irresponsibly and undemocratically by engaging in electoral frauds and using the military to intimidate the electorate and INEC officials in some parts of the rather than embarking on intensive campaigns to make the party known and popular in order to be voted for at the polls.
He strongly condemned the involvement of the Army in the elections which heightened tension in the State and emboldened the APC chieftains to carry out nefarious conducts during the exercise in the State, including disrespecting State authorities, Court orders and rule of law.
The PDP Chairman also bemoaned the assassination attempt on the Chief of Staff, Government House, Engr. Emeka Woke, the assault on the Secretary to the State Government, Hon Kenneth Kobani and other PDP leaders, who had been marked for arrest and detention by the APC- federal government, using the Army and the DSS, on spurious allegations to ensure smooth sail by the APC in the elections.
Bro Obuah observed that all suppressive and oppressive actions by the federal authorities, which have been very obvious in the re-run elections, are aimed at getting Rivers State, unfortunately, by all means, and which the electorate have resisted through their votes at the polls.
Our understanding of all of this is that the APC is only trying to create a state of anarchy in this part of the country and then blame it on perceived political opponents, a development we have continued to abhor and will not be allowed to strive in the State.
The PDP is seriously pained by the continued killing of the electorate, innocent and law-abiding citizens of our State by the APC-federal government controlled military and security authorities in the name of politics and election.
“We, as a responsible party will continue to play by the rule, respecting all electoral principles and laws and to ensure strict adherence to the principles of free, fair and peaceful elections in the State.
“We are also aware of attempt by the APC-federal government to arrest some chieftains of the PDP on spurious allegations, following the arrival of a team from the Department of State Security in Port Harcourt, with a list submitted to them on which the arrest would be carried out in the State and the PDP leaders taken to Abuja.
“We therefore, reiterate our earlier and resolute call on the international community and all well-meaning citizens of Nigeria and the world over to impress on the Nigerian government and the All Progressives Congress to obey rule of law and to allow proper and free, fair and peaceful electoral process in Rivers State and other parts of the country.
While calling for thorough investigations into the assassination attempt on the Chief of Staff, Government House, Port Harcourt, and other cases of intimidation and assault on PDP leaders in the State, including killings by soldiers before and during the elections in the State, the party also appeal to President Buhari to call his APC leaders in Rivers State to order to allow peace reign in the State.
Troops of 25 Task Force Brigade ambushed and killed a Boko Haram terrorist suicide bomber at Kumala and Musafanari villages general area last night effectively saving lives and properties of innocent citizens.
The troops who on receipt of information, laid an ambush for the terrorist at suspected Boko Haram terrorists crossing point, engaged the terrorist who was obviously on suicide mission, from Sambisa general area.
The bomber paid the price of his wicked activities as he was dealt with decisively.
The troops recovered a motorcycle, 12 primed Improvised Explosive Devices (IEDs) and a hand bag containing personal effects which included a hijab obviously meant for disguise and concealment of explosives for the intended nefarious act.
The morale of troops remains high as they continue to mop up all surviving terrorists.
The Nigeria Police have confirmed that four people were killed during the re-run elections in Rivers State on Saturday.
The Assistant Inspector General of Police, Zone Six, Calabar, Adisa Bolanta, said four deaths were recorded while 22 persons were arrested during the elections.
Mr. Bolanta disclosed this on Sunday at a joint security news conference in Port Harcourt.
He said the suspects were being interrogated on allegations of criminal or electoral offences.
He said deployments made by the police assisted in reducing election-related offences.
Also, the Commander of 2 Brigade, Nigerian Army, Port Harcourt, Stephenson Olabanji, confirmed the arrest of the Secretary to the Rivers State Government.
Also confirmed to have been arrested is a Special Assistant to the governor.
Mr. Olabanji, a Brigadier General, said both men were arrested in Gokana and Khana Local Government Area on Saturday for allegedly committing electoral offences.
“Many people were arrested yesterday for disrupting the electoral process and the law is not meant for just the lower cadre alone.
“No matter who you are, if you go against the law, you will definitely face the music.
“So, there is nothing like being Secretary to the State Government; many people were arrested as you have been told; a lot of people were arrested,” he said.
Mr. Olabanji denied claims by the state government that some commissioners and other top officials were manhandled by the Army during the re-run elections.
At a separate event, Governor Nyesom Wike said the Peoples Democratic Party, would win Saturday’s re-run legislative elections in the state because it prepared for it.
Mr. Wike told journalists in Port Harcourt that when the elections of the legislators were annulled in December, the party commenced preparations for re-run.
He said that the party began campaigns and started working hard to win the elections because it was on ground.
The governor confirmed that the Secretary to the State Government, Kenneth Kobani, and a Special Assistant, Cyril Wite, were arrested by the Army.
Mr. Wike said the government officials wanted to ensure that election materials were moved to polling units when they were arrested. He said it would be difficult to rig elections in the state because the people would resist the attempt.
According to him, when somebody is not popular and attempts to rig the election, the people will say no to such move.
He alleged that some people were creating problems to make the Federal Government declare a state of emergency in the state.
Mr. Wike said that such ploy would not work, because the PDP was more popular in the state.
He urged the media not to be emotional or sentimental while reporting events in the state, because such stories create wrong impression.
Dakuku Peterside, the Director-General, Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency (NIMASA) narrowly escaped death Saturday afternoon after his vehicle was attacked by gunmen in two utility vehicles on his way from the Port Harcourt International Airport, his spokesperson, Sylvester Asoya, has said.
Mr. Asoya said Mr. Peterside was in his car with Davies Ikanya, chairman of the Rivers State chapter of the All Progressives Congress, and H.O. Asita, Deputy Governorship candidate of the APC in the April 2015 election when the incident occurred.
The officials said they escaped the assassins bullets by a stroke of luck.
Mr. Asoya said, “Two Jeeps belonging to Emeka Woke, Nyesom Wike’s Chief of Staff carrying two unknown gunmen trailed us to UTC Junction and opened fire on my car. Our car however did a detour to first Aba road then old GRA with the two jeeps still trailing us. We drove to the DSS office to seek refuge and on getting to the gate the unknown gunmen opened fire again at the SSS men on guard.
“The exchange of fire between the DSS men and the assailants lasted for more than 30 minutes. In course of exchange of fire my Police detail Cpl Emma Esi was shot at and seriously injured . This is a very ugly experience but I thank God that my colleagues and I escaped unhurt”.
“When the DSS men demobilized the two jeeps we found out that the man at the back of the car who was identifying us to the assailants is Wike’s Chief of staff , Emeka Woke . He has been arrested by the DSS .
“Today’s experience is not only terrifying but also shows the parlous state of security in Rivers State. If I can be engaged openly by gunmen for nearly an hour in the heart of Port Harcourt, only God knows the fate that will befall members of our party and those sympathetic to our predicament. What is happening today in our dear state is not only horrible but also constitutes serious national security risk.”
Mr. Asoya quoted Mr. Peterside, who was Wike’s opponent in last year’s governorship election in Rivers State, as saying it was now evident that the governor wanted to kill him and that he was prepared to do everything possible to eliminate him.
The electorate in Rivers East Senatorial Zone has been urged not to cast even a single vote for the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) as the party has caused enough havoc in the State. The plea is coming from the State Chapter of the All Progressives Congress (APC), which believes that any vote cast for PDP on Saturday can only compound the woes of Rivers State inflicted on it by PDP and Governor Nyesom Wike.
Rivers APC said in a statement issued Wednesday in Port Harcourt by the State Chairman, Dr. Davies Ibiamu Ikanya, “Today, Chief Nyesom Wike, the imposed Governor of Rivers State, has succeeded to make the State a laughing stock throughout Nigeria and beyond. All the great legacies of the administration of Rt. Hon. Chibuike Amaechi are being destroyed and desecrated. Most annoying is the unjustifiable closure of the over 24 model secondary schools which some people have described as being better than some universities in Nigeria. The war against education in Rivers State includes the closure of 500 model primary schools that were operational before Wike became Governor on May 29 last year.
“As if this was not enough, Wike and PDP went ahead to cancel the scholarship scheme set up by the administration of Amaechi, thereby denying the less privileged in Rivers State the opportunity to acquire higher education. They have since withdrawn 1,000 students on scholarship overseas, most of them in their final year of studies
“It is regrettable that most of those affected by Wike and PDP’s anti-education policies are children of the the Eastern Senatorial Zone. This is the right time to punish Wike and his visionless stooges in PDP that he wants to impose on us as lawmakers. There could be no better opportunity to do this than the 19th March, 2016 rerun elections. We appeal to the good people of Rivers East to reclaim their future on Saturday by overwhelmingly voting Hon. Andrew Uchendu as their Senator, together with APC’s candidates for the Federal House of Representatives and the State House of Assembly polls.”
Hon. Andrew Igbonule Uchendu: A 1992 recipient of the Federal Government National Productivity Merit Award. An influential member of the Federal House of Assembly for many years and have to his credit six crucial motions, namely, Ogbakiri crises, Rehabilitation of the East/West Expressway, the Establishment of the Oloibiri Oil Museum, Youth Unemployment and Youth Restiveness in Nigeria, Insecurity in the Niger Delta and the Invasion of the Rivers State House of Assembly by Hoodlums. He has in addition, sponsored three fundamental Bills in the House. They are the Standard Tendering Procedure for the Award of Contracts in the Public Service (popularly known as Due Process), the National Youth Development Programme and the Amendment to the Petroleum Technology Development Fund Act.
This astute politician is the APC candidate for the Senate from the East Senatorial zone
The statement listed APC’s House of Reps candidates for the zone as
1. Elder Wihioka Chidi Frank of Emohua/Ikwerre Federal Constituency
2. Hon. Ogbonna Nwuke of Etche/Omuma Federal Constituency
3. Hon. Maureen Tamuno of Okirika/Ogu-Bolo Federal Constituency
4. Chief Tony Okocha of Obio/Akpor Federal Constituency
5. Hon. Igo Aguma of Phalga I Federal Constituency
6. Collyns A. N. Owhonda of Phalga II
Federal Constituency
As for the State House of Assembly elections, it gave the names of the party’s candidates as
1. Hon. Chief. Barr Lloyd Chidi Julius of Emohua. A true soldier of democracy who if not for his bravery, Wike and his cohorts would have destroyed our nascent democracy.
2. Hon Golden Ngozi Chioma of Etche II
3. Hon. Azubuike Wanjoku of Ikwerre
4. Hon. Collins Ordu of Obio/Akpor I
5. Belief Wali A of Obio/Akpor II
.
6. Leo Anyanwu of Omuma
7. Irene M. Inimgba of Port Harcourt II
With these great and carefully selected leaders, Wike and his fairy tale PDP will be history after the rerun election of March, 2016 in Rivers State. .
FULL TEXT OF PRESS CONFERENCE BY THE RIVERS STATE CHAIRMAN OF APC, CHIEF [DR] DAVIES IBIAMU IKANYA, JP ON MONDAY, MARCH 1, 2016 AT THE APC STATE SECRETARIAT, 43 FORCES AVENUE, OLD GRA, ORT HARCOURT
Gentlemen of the Press,
Good morning and welcome once more to the Rivers State Secretariat of the All Progressives Congress.
We wish to draw your attention and indeed the attention of all Nigerians and the entire world to the unfortunate but State sponsored increasing insecurity, impunity and arm twisting of the Judiciary in Rivers State.
1. GOVERNOR NYESOM WIKE, HIS ATTORNEY-GENERAL, E. C. AGUMA (SAN) AND THE RIVERS STATE JUDICIARY
Nyesom Wike
It is a great irony that Gov.NyesomWike who had boasted on several occasions that if an election was conducted 100 times in Rivers State, he would win it 100 times. In fact, in one such silly boast, he stated that even if the election were conducted by the UN, he would still win.
With the election only a few days away in which the wisdom and veracity of that silly boast shall be tested and instead of allowing the process to commence on an even keel with all the candidates, NyesomWike and his Attorney General have dragged the Rivers State Judiciary, now headed by the Hon. Justice Adama Iyayi-Lamikanra, Ag. Chief Judge, into it with a view to using the Judiciary to disqualify a good number of the APC candidates even before the poll is commenced.
Why desire to use the Judiciary to disqualify people you have bragged about several times you will win any day in any election even 100 times?
Our candidates for the House of Assembly elections, Hon.Chidi Lloyd of Emohua Constituency and Leo Anyanwu of Omuma Constituency, have been sued before the Port Harcourt High Court in which Chinwe Aguma and Co; the Law firm at Ogbunabali belonging to the Attorney-General which filed the action, claiming that these two APC candidates be disqualified from the election. Their ground is that the Primaries of the APC, held since December last year and on which they contested the April 11, 2015 election that was voided by the Court of Appeal, are suddenly, not a valid primary.
Curiously, this is the same point the PDP canvassed at the election petition tribunal and at the Court of Appeal which roundly rejected the argument and dismissed it.
The Supreme Court has also, in several Decisions, dismissed such arguments. But, because NyesomWike and his Attorney-General have never ever loved merit nor believed in fair play but rather, embrace underhand methods of competition, they have now approached the Rivers State Judiciary to sit on appeal against the decisions of the Court of Appeal which also ordered the reruns.
They have been putting pressures on Judges of the Rivers State Judiciary to truncate democracy and put the scheduled rerun elections in jeopardy by disqualifying our candidates before the rerun election.
We have it on good authority that following the rejection of the pressure by three Judges who refused to handle the matter and returned the case files, they have continued shopping with huge cash inducement for a ready and ethically-challenged Judge who will accept the brief and quickly disqualify Chidi Lloyd and Leo Anyanwu before the rerun election so as to pave way for a cheap PDP victory.
We have it also on good authority that other suits are on the way against other candidates of the APC for disqualification on the same dubious ground of not 21 days notice to the INEC before the APC primaries.
Already, several suits filed by Wike and his Attorney General have been assigned to Justice Omereji, the same Justice Omereji and some other Judges, to obtain a blanket injunction against the Police and all the security agencies restraining them from arresting any PDP member before and during and after the election. Clearly, the state judiciary has been enlisted against the election rerun.
We ask: what manner of Judge and justice is that, which, in such a blanket manner, prevents security agencies from doing their statutory work? So, if the PDP members are committing any crime especially in relation to the election rerun, they should not be arrested. The security agencies should not do their duty.
Surely, only a person who has pre-planned to commit crime goes to shop for such judicial cover before the act.
We remind all honest-hearted people of our not-too-palatable-past in which the judiciary was shut down for over a year. Sincere persons know that it was Wike’s untamed appetite for political power that led to the hostilities which eventuated to that shut down of the judiciary. The same Wike now would not give the judiciary and his politics a wide berth: He is actively enlisting the same judiciary to his politics with the aim of using court orders obtained from unscrupulous judges to cause another round of humiliation of and crises in the justice sector.
Why don’t you leave the judiciary alone and out of the election and allow anyone who wins to be challenged at the Election Tribunal set up for that purpose instead of seeking for a disqualification from ethically-challenged judicial persons when, clearly, such disqualification should have been sought before the main election of which the March 19 election is only a rerun?
Governor Wike’s merit-averse Government and his equally merit-averse Attorney General should be held responsible should another crisis befall the state judiciary or any Judge gets the Akanbi treatment.
As a responsible Political party, the APC hereby assures its teeming supporters that it shall not stand idly bye and watch a hapless and conscienceless Judge, no mater his or her connection in the NJC, allow him or herself to be a hand maiden to Wike’s style of politics of corruption and lack of merit. We shall resist that with every ounce of our strength.
2. INSECURITY AND CRIMINAL KILLING OF APC MEMBERS IN RIVERS STATE
You will recall that the All Progressives Congress has since last year been calling the attention of the whole world to the killing of its members by agents of the PDP in Rivers State. This criminal activity has continued and has reached an alarming proportion.
We hereby draw your attention to the killings in Ogba/Ebema/Ndoni, Abua/Odual, Ahoada East, Andoni, Khana and Ikwerre LGAs amongst others.
The recent incidence in Bori was planned and executed by the Governor of Rivers State in order to stop Senator Magnus Ngei Abe from winning the forth coming Rerun Elections seeing that the entire Ogoni people have accepted the candidature of the Distinguished Senator.
The same Governor Wike who approved the Military action against criminals in Yeghe particularly Solomon Ndegbara alias Osama Bin Laden who has killed many people including the ones Wike is showing on television, is the same person who leaked the information to Solomon. The same Governor Wike set the stage for the violence by calling on his PDP members in Ogoni to stop Magnus Abe by all means. The word “ALL MEANS” speaks of violence and the people responded by bombing the Senatorial Office Building belonging to Senator Magnus Abe.
Solomon and his cultists ambushed the soldiers and shot at them. Definitely Solomon must have been aware that the Military Operation will take place that day.
Information has it that the notorious criminal, Solomon Ndegbara, has been meeting with Governor Wike even in Government House Port Harcourt. Governor Wike visited Bori in company of Solomon Ndegbara who has been previously declared wanted by the Police many times. What will such a person be doing on the entourage of a Governor?
Apart from planning the ambush of the soldiers, Governor Wike has continuously carried out media war against the Nigerian Military.
The All Progressives Congress, Rivers State was shocked to see the quantity of arms recovered by the Military in Solomon Ndegbara’s residence in Yeghe alone and the number of criminals arrested. That quantity and quality of arms is enough to start a war.
Governor Nyesom Wike in his wicked outburst against the Military refused to mention it, just as his Government has refused to hand over Sobomabo Jackreece to the Police. The Police had raided Sobomabo’s house in Buguma and recovered arms and ammunition and hundreds of PVC. So far the Police and Military operations have revealed that there are so many illegally acquired arms in Rivers State and this is a security risk to the nation. Also Governor NyesomWike and his team have refused to hand over the notorious Charles Ejima Igwedibia alias Donwani who has killed over 100 persons in ONELGA.
Governor Nyesom Wike and his PDP have planned a Black Day Procession in Bori, What a Shame! A Government is sponsoring a procession against itself. By the planned procession, Governor Nyesom Wike has shown without any doubt that he, his State Government and the PDP are truly the sponsors of cultisim, criminality and terrorism in Rivers State.
We commend the Police and the Military for the raids so far carried out on the criminals and urge them not to be deterred by the wicked and irresponsible outburst of Governor Wike which is only aimed at instituting criminality and causing terror in the State by hoisting cultists on the State. Governor Nyesom is turning Rivers State into another North East. Nigeria cannot fold its arms and allow that.
Governor Wike on many occasions threatened to kill Electoral Personnel who will conduct the Rerun Elections in Rivers State. The position of the All Progressives Congress, Rivers State is that Governor Wike and the PDP be called to answer questions on that statement. They should be held responsible for any violence before, during and after the Rerun Elections in Rivers State.
Governor Nyesom Wike must stop abusing President Muhammadu Buhari. Governor Nyesom Wike must stop challenging the Federal Government of Nigeria. Governor NyesomWike cannot run a State Government as if the State is a Country within the Country.
We call on all Nigerians to rise in defence of Democracy in Rivers State. We call on the National Assembly and the Federal Government to call Governor NyesomWike to order. We call on the Nigerian Police Force and the Military to continue to protect lives and property of people living in Rivers State and to bring criminal and terror activities in Rivers State to an end so that citizens will be free to exercise their rights and privileges as enshrined in the constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria.
3. INSECURITY AND CRIMINAL KILLING OF APC MEMBERS IN RIVERS STATE
You will recall that the All Progressives Congress has since last year been calling the attention of the whole world to the killing of its members by agents of the PDP in Rivers State. This criminal activity has continued and has reached an alarming proportion.
We hereby draw your attention to the killings in Ogba/Ebema/Ndoni, Abua/Odual, Ahoada East, Andoni, Khana and Ikwerre LGAs amongst others.
The recent incidence in Bori was planned and executed by the Governor of Rivers State in order to stop Senator Magnus Ngei Abbey from winning the forth coming Rerun Elections seeing that the entire Ogoni people have accepted the candidature of the Distinguished Senator.
The same Governor Wike who approved the Military action against criminals in Yeghe particularly Solomon Ndegbara alias Osama Bin Laden who has killed many people including the ones Wike is showing on Television, is the same person who leaked the information to Solomon. The same Governor Wike set the stage for the violence by calling on his PDP members in Ogoni to stop Magnus Abbey by all means. The word “ALL MEANS” speaks of violence and the people responded by bombing the Senatorial Office Building belonging to Senator Magnus Abbey.
Solomon and his cultists ambushed the soldiers and shot at them. Definitely Solomon must have been aware that the Military Operation will take place that day.
Information has it that the notorious criminal Solomon Ndegbara has been meeting with Governor Wike even in Government House Port Harcourt. Governor Wike visited Bori in company of Solomon Ndegbara who has been previously declared wanted by the Police many times. What will such a person be doing on the entourage of a Governor.
Apart from planning the ambush of the soldiers, Governor Wike has continuously carried out media war against the Nigerian Military.
The All Progressives Congress, Rivers State was shocked to see the quantity of arms recovered by the Military in Solomon Ndegbara’s residence in Yeghe alone and the number of criminals arrested. That quantity and quality of arms is enough to start a war.
Governor Nyesom Wike in his wicked outburst against the Military refused to mention it, just as his Government has refused to hand over Soboma Jackreece to the Police. The Police had raided Soboma’s house in Buguma and recovered arms and ammunition and hundreds of PVC. So far the Police and Military operations has revealed that there are so many illegally acquired arms in Rivers State and this is a security risk to the nation. Also Governor Nyesom Wike and his team have refused to hand over the notorious Charles Ejima Igwedibia alias Donwani who has killed over 100 persons in ONELGA.
Governor Nyesom Wike and his PDP have planned a Black Day Procession in Bori, What a Shame! A Government is sponsoring a procession against itself. By the planned procession, Governor Nyesom Wike has shown without any doubt that he, his State Government and the PDP are truly the sponsors of cultisim, criminality and terrorism in Rivers State.
We commend the Police and the Military for the raids so far carried out on the criminals and urge them not to be deterred by the wicked and irresponsible outburst of Governor Wike which is only aimed at instituting criminality and causing terror in the State by hoisting cultists on the State. Governor Nyesom is turning Rivers State into another North East. Nigeria cannot fold its arms and allow that.
Governor Wike on many occasions threatened to kill Electoral Personnel who will conduct the Rerun Elections in Rivers State. The position of the All Progressives Congress, Rivers State is that Governor Wike and the PDP be called to answer questions on that statement. They should be held responsible for any violence before, during and after the Rerun Elections in Rivers State.
Governor Nyesom Wike must stop abusing President Muhammadu Buhari. Governor Nyesom Wike must stop challenging the Federal Government of Nigeria. Governor Nyesom Wike cannot run a State Government as if the State is a Country within the Country.
We call on all Nigerians to rise in defence of Democracy in Rivers State. We call on the National Assembly and the Federal Government to call Governor Nyesom Wike to order. We call on the Nigerian Police Force and the Military to continue to protect lives and property of people living in Rivers State and to bring criminal and terror activities in Rivers State to an end so that citizens will be free to exercise their rights and privileges as enshrined in the constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria.
The commission said that while governorship election would hold on September 10 in Edo State, it said that Ondo would take its turn on November 26, 2016.
INEC’s Deputy Director in charge of Voter Education and Publicity, Mr. Nick Dazang, made the dates known to our correspondent in a telephone interview.
The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), has suspended the conduct of the re-run election in Langtang South Constituency of Plateau State, North central Nigeria.
The Resident Electoral Commissioner for Plateau State, Godwin Kwanga, made it known to reporters in Jos, the Plateau State capital on Friday.
Mr Kwanga told reporters that the Chairman of the Commission gave the directives for the suspension, following an order by a Federal High Court pending the determination of the motion on notice for interlocutory injunction.
He, however, stated that supplementary elections in Pankshin North and Pankshin South would hold as scheduled.
As this year’s Edo State Governorship Election draws nearer, Assistant Editor, Dare Odufowokan, reports that the search for the candidate of All Progressives Congress is becoming more intriguing
Governor Oshiomhole
The governorship election in Edo State holds later this year. For the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) and the opposition Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), the election is all important and neither of them is willing to leave anything to chance in their now very tense struggle to control the state in the post Adams Oshiomhole era.
But for the ruling APC, it appears there are many hurdles to cross on the way to remaining in power beyond this year. This is because a number of factors, largely within the party, are militating against efforts by both the governor and the leadership of the party in the state, to adequately prepare the party for victory in the coming election.
Comrade Adams Oshiomhole, the incumbent governor, will serve out his second tenure next November. Within his party (the APC) chieftains seeking to succeed him are already strategizing and lobbying political stakeholders as they struggle to get the nod of the party as its candidate in the coming election.
While many are touring the nooks and crannies of the state in pursuit of the endorsement of party leaders and members, others are relying on their trusted aides and associates to help them reach out to prominent stakeholders across the state in their bid to get the party’s ticket ahead of the 2016 governorship election.
Those who have already thrown their hats into the ring for the contest of the APC governorship ticket include: current deputy governor, Dr. Pius Odubu; Barrister Ken Imansuagbon; Edo State Commissioner for Works, Barrister Osarodion Ogie and Godwin Obaseki, the chairman of the economic team of Edo State Government.
Others are former PDP governorship candidate, General Charles Airhiavbere, (rtd), former Minister of State (Works), Dr. Chris Ogienwonyi, Blessing Agbomere, Comrade Peter Isele, Pedro Obaseki and former governor, Prof. Oseriemen Osunbor, among others.
But in spite of promises by the leadership of the ruling party to work against any form of imposition by conducting a free, fair and acceptable primary election to nominate its flag-bearer, speculation remain rife that Governor Oshiomhole may have made up his mind as to who the candidate of the party would be.
For this reason and many others, there is unease within the party. While a good number of the aspirants have vowed to resist imposition, some prominent chieftains are determined to ensure that the party’s primary election is not influenced by any person or group.
This is just as chieftains from Edo South and Edo Central senatorial districts remain at loggerheads over which zone of the state should produce the next governor of the state while Governor Oshiomhole insists that he, like any other party member, reserves the right to support any candidate of his choice ahead of the primary election that will produce the candidate of the ruling party.
Zoning war looms
The dilemma over which senatorial district should produce the next governor of the state, according to political observers, though a serious one, is not being taken serious by the leadership of the party. According to a chieftain of the party from Uromi in Edo Central Senatorial District, “the APC in Edo State needs to take the people of Edo Central more serious if it intends to win the next governorship election.”
Julius Enahoro, a chieftain of the ruling party in Esanland, said in spite of the unending agitation of the people of Edo Central to be considered for the governorship of the state in 2016, signals emanating from some quarters are of the opinion that a candidate from Edo South is more favored.
“The incumbent governor, Adams Oshiomhole, who hails from Edo North Senatorial District will serve out his second tenure in November, 2016. Now, the succession battle is between Edo South and Edo Central senatorial districts. But the some people feel Edo Central should not be taken serious. We will resist such notions seriously.
“While we insist it is our turn to govern the state, we warn the party not to renege on its promise to conduct an open primary. Anything short of that would amount to crass injustice to the people of our zone. Edo Central remains the only district which has not had the full opportunity to produce the governor aside the 18 months of Governor Oserheimen Osunbor which was short-lived,” he said.
Similarly, the President, Alliance for Good Governance, (AGG), a political pressure group in the state, Comrade Friday Eromosele, insisted that Esan people in the state remain the most marginalized in terms of producing the next governor.
“What we the Esans are asking for is to be given the opportunity to produce the next governor that will take over from Governor Oshiomhole. We have always supported our brothers from Edo North and South senatorial districts in previous elections. It is only fair that we should be extended the same hand of fellowship. The Esans are saying it is their turn to produce the governor as they have not done so since 1979.
“Former governor Osunbor and Barrister Kenneth Imansuagbon are two of the well qualified candidates we have in the race. Imansuagbon has continued to demonstrate that he is ready to rule Edo State judging by his philanthropic gesture to the needy. His annual free rice donation and scholarship award to pupils and students in tertiary institutions speak volumes.
“All these are from his personal funds which he deplores to the welfare of the down-trodden and that alone is responsible for his intimidating rising political profile. If you can recall, he was a major financier of what has transformed into APC today.
“What we expect is for the governor to ignore pressure on him to impose anybody on the party. He should allow all the aspirants go to the field and test their popularity among the delegates. Whoever emerges in a clean primary will be acceptable to all and not the ego-tripping by some aspirants that they have been anointed,” he said.
Oshiomhole’s turbulent body language
Also worrisome is the now unending rumpus within the party over a rumoured endorsement of one of the leading aspirants, Godwin Obaseki, by Governor Oshiomhole as his preferred governorship candidate of the party. Obaseki is currently the chairman of the economic team of Edo State Government. Although the leadership of the party has strived to debunk the rumor, it has simply refused to go away.
Observers of the politics of the state are of the opinion that contrary to the many explanations of the party leadership, the body language and recent utterance of the governor is fueling the fear of party chieftains and members that the primary election may not be free and fair.
Recently, while putting to rest speculations as to whether his party, the APC, will not conduct primaries ahead of 2016 governorship election, the governor further fueled suspicions about his preference for a particular aspirant amongst those jostling to succeed him.
Oshiomhole said while both himself and his party are open to conducting party primaries for all aspirants, it must be made clear that he has the right just as other party members to support a particular aspirant as his preferred successor. He was speaking at a stakeholders meeting which had in attendance several party leaders.
The governor said he cannot be neutral in what affects what will happen in the state after his tenure. He said, “I will never be afraid to take a position and to explain my position. Let me say clearly that I cannot be neutral in matters affecting my environment. If there is anyone of you who is a father of a house who will be quiet on how his house is organised, I don’t envy him.”
Speaking further, he said “in a democracy, whether mature or growing, endorsement is legitimate and democratic. What I owe Edo people is clear to me. Even people who are not from Edo State, whether anywhere they see you, they ask please Comrade guide us, we don’t want to return to the past.”
But reacting to the development, Bini elders, led by the younger brother of the Oba of Benin and Enogie of Obazuwa, Prince Edun Akenzua, under the aegis of Benin Leaders of Thought, stressed the need for the leadership of the APC to ensure free and fair primaries so as to produce a popular candidate that will be generally acceptable to the people of the state.
In a communiqué by Prince Akenzua and Secretary of the BLT, Tosa Ovonranwe, the group stated that anointing a particular candidate as governor as it was being rumoured in the state, may amount to re-introducing god-fatherism in the state, which according to them, must be discouraged.
“BLT believes that god-fatherism in Edo politics was detrimental to the social, economic and political development of the state. God-fatherism is not acceptable to BLT and the good people of Edo State. It should not be reintroduced under any guise. The people of Edo State should be given free hand to determine their next governor. Popular participation bestows responsibility for governing one’s own conduct, develops one’s character, self-reliance, intelligence and moral judgment.
“In a democracy, there is no substitute for popular participation. Even a benevolent despot, who could govern in the public interest, would be rejected by the classic democrat. Man can only know the truth by discovering it himself”, the group said.
Suspension galore
And as the crisis rocking the party over who should fly the party’s gubernatorial banner deepens, the confusion in the party was further heightened following the recent controversial suspension of some prominent party leaders and chieftains across the state.
The chairman of the party in Orhionmwon Local Government of the state and his counterpart in Ward 1 of Esan Central Local Government Area, are amongst many party executives and leaders currently battling to escape being sent out of the party by forces opposed to their stand on the governorship candidate debate.
Hundreds of party faithful from Ward 1 Esan Central Local Government recently stormed the state party secretariat in protest against the suspension of the ward chairman, Mr. Isaac Ikhine. They described the suspension as unconstitutional and accused the state party chairman, Aslem Ojezua, of persecuting Ikhine unjustly.
In Orhionmwon, an enlarged executive meeting held by 22 members and party executives described the suspension of the party chairman, Mr. Ehigie Matthew, over allegation bordering on high handedness, and financial misconduct as politically motivated.
They alleged that the signatories to the suspension order did not only lack the power to converge a meeting of the local government executive but that they were financially induced.
The events of the past few months have necessitated this question: WHO IS AFRAID OF ODUBU?
Rt. Hon. (Dr.) Pius Egberanmwen Odubu, aptly referred to as the ‘OKAKUO’ is arguably an amiable personality, a fine gentleman, decent character and obviously likeable personae, with a good disposition and undisputable high morals.
Pius Odubu
When in the midst of his contemporaries, you may need to single him out as he easily mixes with his friends. You will be amazed at his humility, humbleness and unassuming posture despite being the Deputy Governor. Same goes with his relationship with his siblings and family members. He completely demystified the office of the Deputy Governor as he interacts equally with everybody, honouring their invitations and visiting their homes to identify with them.
His kindness and response to the needs of those around him has strengthened the bond of friendship between him, most of his followers and the political class, treating every one as his own without tribal bias or Party consideration. No wonder he is liked by both the young and the elders.
His calm disposition and response to burning issues affecting him in the government has earned him the award of the most ‘Loyal Deputy Governor’ by the Nigeria Union of Journalist (NUJ), Benin Chapter, and one of the Best Deputy Governors in Nigeria by Guardian Newspaper.
For a man that posses’ robust credentials and Curriculum Vitae to be humble, and completely loyal to his boss, that in Seven (7) tears, there has not been any visible altercation between them, is commendable. Obviously, this has been one great secret to the success of the Comrade Oshiomhole led Administration for the good governance.
Rt. Honourable (Dr.) Pius Odubu is an Alumnus of the great Southern University, Baton Rouge, Louisiana and the Southern University School of Law, Baton Rouge, Louisiana, U. S. A. He is also an alumnus of the Georgetown University Law Centre, Washington D. C., and Harvard University: Kennedy School of Government, Massachusetts, U.S.A., and Oxford University: Said Business School.
He holds a B.A. Hons in Political Science, B. L. (Barrister and Solicitor at Law), and Master of Law in International and Comparative Law, and Doctor of Jurisprudence (JD). He won several awards in the Schools he attended which earned him a scholarship for the completion of his School Programme in the U.S.A. He was called to the Nigeria Bar in 1986.
RT. Hon. Odubu represented Orhionmwon and Uhunmwode Federal Constituency in the National Assembly from 1999 – 2007, before his nomination as the Deputy Governor candidate to Comrade Adams Oshiomhole in 2007. He excelled in all the committees he served in, and chaired that he was awarded a Certificate of Honour by the Right Honourable Speaker, Federal House of Representative, National Assembly.
In his position as the Deputy Governor, Odubu has been working assiduously complimenting the efforts of the governor, Comrade Oshiomhole in the transformation programme in Edo State. On account of his commitment towards the realization of this feat, one is tempted to say that this great Edo son is like the grease on the wheel of the Vehicle of development in Edo State and the silent co-pilot of the train under the able leadership of Comrade Oshiomhole in Edo State.
This unassuming posture naturally exhibited by Odubu has endeared him to many as a dependable personality. However, the network of events in the last few months has further revealed the character and personality of the Deputy Governor, Rt. Hon. Odubu, thereby soaring his popularity and acceptability by Edo people especially in the wake of the coming Primary election of the APC in Edo State. He is referred to as a LEADER PER EXCELLENCE.
Rt. Hon. Odubu has amongst his official duties; the supervision of the Local Government Councils, the FADAMA – Agric projects and The SEEFOR, a World Bank infrastructure developmental programme. He has at the instance of the Comrade Governor chaired the State EXCO when the Governor is away on official duties. These functions, he has carried out brilliantly. It is not surprising that this cool and lovable leader in the person of Rt. Hon. Odubu would have some salient enemies around him, envious of his unique personality and demeanor, and would stop at nothing to bring him down.
But, he enjoys the cooperation and respect of the larger lots in government, that, it is inconsequential worrying about those few who are threatened by his personality, leadership style, his robust profile and his deep understanding of the Political terrain of Edo State. He Odubu has in over the years built strong network across the three (3) Senatorial Districts in Edo State, beyond Party lines and Political Class. This is evident in the call for him to participate in the forthcoming APC primaries as many prefer a handing over to Odubu by Oshiomhole at the completion of his tenure.
As is always in political corridor, Lies and Blackmail are two common weapon used to bring down and dislodge an opponent. Odubu has been a victim of these by some of his avowed enemies who are determined to truncate his Political ambition. But ironically, he has always overcome. People ascribed this to his good heart and kind nurture and his patience and tolerance.
There have been certain disturbing actions of the Governor that could infuriate a kindergarten, but these the Deputy Governor absorbed and tolerated all the time. Sometimes not questioning decision of the Governor. This has made the working relationship between the two very cordial and allowed the Governor healthy Working Environment to deliver the expected dividends of Democracy to Edo People. Issues like the sack of the Commissioner for Special Duties, Solid Minerals, Oil and Gas from his cabinet by the Governor, the Deputy Governor’s nominee in the first tenure was handled with maturity by the Deputy Governor. Another event, the Chairmanship Ticket for the Local Government Council Election, was as controversial as the nomination of Commissioner during the second term of the Comrade Governor.
As humiliating as some of the Governor’s action was, Rt. Hon. (Dr.) Pius Odubu, Deputy Governor, Edo State never showed any anger or confrontation, as he was more focused on the Development of Edo State, maintaining that the collective interest of Edo people is of more importance than satisfying his interest and ego.
But as we draw near to the end of the Oshiomhole administration, more deliberate offensive actions are being perpetrated by the Governor. In the early hour of on the 9th of September, Edo State received the sack of four serving Commissioners with shock. These were:
Chief Lucky James – Commissioner for Local Government and Chieftaincy Affairs.
Mrs. Blessin Maigida – Commissioner for Women Affairs.
Mr. Patrick Aguinede – Commissioner for Basic Education.
Mr Chris Ebare – Commissioner for Energy and Water Resources.
Their sack was however insinuated to be connected to their loyalty to the Deputy Governor who is nursing an ambition to contest the Governorship position in the forthcoming election, although the Media Aide was quick to dismiss this when asked by reporters, as mere rumours.
It is evidently clear that while Odubu enjoys the support of the majority of the Party leaders and the grass root base of the Party, the Governor has maintained a firm grip on the Organs of the government, and therefore, can hire and fire anyone. He has tacitly kept the power to appoint personnel to his chest, disenfranchising the real Party members who laboured to see the party succeed and victorious in all elections because they are close to some leaders who is not in his (the Governor’s) favour. Those closer to Odubu have been most affected by this act of the Governor. In the hope that they will have their turn, have engendered the relative peace in the party and their patience with the Governor over these years. But this is being threatened now.
The absolute Loyalty and calm disposition of the Deputy Governor to Comrade Oshiomhole has no doubt earned him so much support and followership, borne mostly out of respect and love. The majority of the voters in the forthcoming election have openly declared their support for the aspiration of Rt. Hon. (Dr.) Odubu, which may translate into delegates’ votes. This is the cross of the Matter playing out right now.
But the expectation of these ones being cut short by the purported endorsement and planned imposition of one of the aspirants, Godwin Obaseki, the Chairman of the Economic committee, by the Comrade Governor, is not going down well with party members. This action of the Governor has met with several resistance and opposition by members of the party and the leaders alike. They are insisting on a level field for all aspirants, but the Governor expects a bandwagon for his preferred aspirant.
On the other hand, the Traditional Rulers and some notable Edo State Citizens have in different forum, expressed their wish and desire and has showed their preferences for Rt. Hon. Dr. Pius Odubu as a better option given that the person that wins the APC primaries, may eventually wins the Governorship election.
It is even rumoured that the Crown Prince of the Benin Kingdom has added his voice, admonishing the Governor to allow for a free and fair primary election. Also concerned about the perceived imposition of Obaseki on the Party is the Benin Forum who has maintained that Edo South reserve the right to choose who they can trust with the Administration of the state on the knowledge of their capability and Governance experience among the Benin. But the Comrade Governor has remained adamant to these pleas thereby gradually plunging the party into an avoidable chaos.
The public and the observers are disturbed by this development claiming that the choice of Obaseki by the Governor and the desperation to bulldoze his way through dealing with any perceived oppositions, leaves more to be desired. Some others are of the opinion that the fear of the unknown is the driving force behind the Governor’s action, especially given the manner he, Oshiomhole has treated the Deputy Governor during the last (7) years as one reason he may be uncomfortable to handing over to his Deputy Governor. But another opinion dismissed this view stating that the Deputy Governor’s Loyalty to the Governor is borne out of admiration and respect for Oshiomhole, and that cannot be wished away by the little hiccup happening now; that Odubu remains the best alternative and the one who can best fit into the expectation of the Comrade Governor to protect his interest, and build on the achievements of the Comrade Governor.
Just a few days ago, the Governor sacked the Commissioner representing the Oil and Gas Producing Area Commission from Orhionmwon Local Government Area and the Deputy Governor’s L. G. A., Mr. Osaretin Edoma on ground of incompetence. The public reaction to this was that this was a direct onslaught on the Deputy Governor, especially as the sacked Commissioner was not the Chairman of the Commission. The Governor did not also follow the due process in taking the action.
This follows the insinuation of the complicity of the Governor earlier in the week in the purported suspension of the Senatorial Leader and Vice Chairman, Edo South, Barr Gentleman Amegor by some Party Members led by the Attorney General and Commissioner for Justice, Barr Henry Idahagbon, who according to the Senatorial Leader, have no powers to suspend him in the first case. Amegor was supposedly suspended for his refusal to support the governor’s preferred aspirant when he refused monetary entreaties from the Governor. He was therefore labeled as Odubu supporter, and must be dealt with.
This attitude of the Governor and his avowed determination to frustrate the aspiration of Odubu, and his refusal to obey the party Rules and Regulations is assuming a dangerous dimension as the party is currently fragmented into various groups according to their preferred aspirants.
In the midst of these chaos, the Deputy Governor has maintained his cool and calm, focusing on his Duties as Deputy Governor and consulting with leaders to ensure the ensuing Self Destruct being orchestrated by some elements in the party is not allowed to escalate as the Party heads towards the general election, which is capable of reducing the party chances in the coming Governorship election. This is why the people are worried and are asking this question: WHO IS AFRAID OF ODUBU?
…Emphasizes that those leaving the PDP were not members of the Party
Ahead of the March 19, 2016 Re-run State and National Assemblies Elections in Rivers State, Chairman of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in the State, Bro. Felix Obuah has called on Rivers people to reject all the candidates of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in the coming polls.
PDP
The Chairman stresses that the White Paper Report which indicted the administration of former Governor Chibuike Rotimi Amaechi underscored the fact that members of the APC are looters and fraudulent, and therefore should not be entrusted with public office.
The statement which was signed by Obuah’s Special Adviser on Media, Jerry Needam, emphasizes that Rivers people were yet to come to terms with how billions of Naira belonging to the people were misappropriated by the Amaechi regime with reckless abandon.
Bro. Obuah further notes that the fleecing of billions of Naira of Central Bank loans meant for the development of small scale businesses of Rivers people by the APC administration of Governor Amaechi was still fresh in mind, warning that APC members cannot again be trusted with the management of State resources.
Most worrisome, according to the State PDP Chairman, are the lamentations by the National Chairman of APC, John Oyegun over the resources of Rivers and other Niger Delta States, adding that this development has further exposed the antics of the APC.
The PDP chairman reiterates that what the PDP and the generality of Rivers people deduced from Oyegun’s body language was that the APC are after the resources of Rivers State and not the development of the State.
Bro. Obuah expresses joy that the Supreme Court judgment has engendered peace and tranquility in the State, noting that the only way to sustain the peace was to reject the APC and all their antics.
The PDP Chairman also warns the people to be wary of the APC candidates and leaders, who, he maintains, are aiming to grab the common wealth of Rivers State and destabilize the State.
Similarly, the PDP Chairman reiterates that all those who claim to have left the Party for other political parties are not members of the PDP as there is no record of their membership of the PDP in the State.
Bro. Obuah discloses that apart from the fact that the Secretariat of the PDP does not have such records of the alleged decampees, all those who claim to have defected do not have any value and their leaving is inconsequential to the success of the PDP, adding that they would definitely not be able to make any positive impact in any party they defect to.
He urges the people of the State not to be deceived by those non existing claims by less important and insignificant persons, saying the APC is only a Party with incompatible and combustible elements doomed to finally crash in the re-run elections.
Obuah again thanks all Rivers people for their sustained support and acceptance and further appeals to them to continue to vote for All PDP candidates during the election for the Party to deliver on its electioneering promises.
THE Supreme Court, yesterday, explained why it has not accorded any probative value on reports from Card Reader Machines that were deployed by the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, during the 2015 general elections. The apex court, yesterday, maintained that though the use of the Electronic Card Reader Machine for accreditation of voters was provided for in the Approved Guidelines and Regulations for the conduct of the 2015 general elections, it said the device was never “intended to supplant, displace or supersede” the Voters’ Register.
PVC voters card
It observed that the issue had resulted to various Divisions of the Court of Appeal, giving divergent interpretations on election disputes that were brought before them by appellants. “True, indeed, the Card Reader Machine traces its paternity to the above Guidelines and Regulations. Regrettably, its probative pedestal in the vocabulary of electoral jurisprudence has generated conflicting interpretations from Their Lordships of the different Divisions of the Court of Appeal”, the Supreme Court noted.
A seven-man panel of Justices of the apex court, led by the Chief Justice of Nigeria, Justice Mahmud Mohammed, made the position of the court on the matter known, while adducing reasons why the election of Governor David Umahi of Ebonyi State was upheld. According to Justice Chima Centus Nweze who delivered the lead judgment, “With the intervention of this court, in its recent decision in Shinkafi v Yari (supra), it is hoped that practitioners and all other courts will begin to appreciate the position of the said Card Reader Machine, and the Reports generated therefrom, in election litigation.
“Prior to the authorisation of its use by the Guidelines and Manual (supra), the Electoral Act, 2010 (as amended), in sections 49 (1) and (2), had ordained an analogue procedure for the accreditation process. As a corollary to the procedure outline above, section 53(2) of the said Act (that is, the Electoral Act) enshrined the consequences for the breach, negation or violation of the sanctity of the actual poll sequel to the consummation of the accreditation procedure in section 49 (supra).
“With the advantage of hindsight, INEC, pursuant to its powers under the said Electoral Act, authorised the deployment of the said Card Readers. “Even with the introduction of the said device, that is the Card Reader Machine, the National Assembly, in its wisdom, did not deem it necessary to bowdlerise the said analogue procedure in section 49 from the Act so that the Card Reader procedure would be the sole determinant of a valid accreditation process.
“Contrariwise, from the Corrigendum No 2, made on March 28, 2015, amending paragraph 13(b) of the Approved Guidelines, it stands to reason that the Card Reader was meant to supplement the Voter’ Register and was never designed or intended to supplant, displace or supersede it.
“Indeed, since the Guidelines and Manual, which authorised the use and deployment of the electronic Card Reader Machine, were made in exercise of the powers conferred by the Electoral Act, the said Card Reader cannot, logically, depose or dethrone the Voters’ Register whose judicial roots are, firmly, embedded or entrenched in the selfsame Electoral Act from which it )the Voters’ Register). Directly, derives its sustenance and currency.
“Thus, any attempt to invest it (the Card Reader Machine procedure) with such overreaching pre-eminence or superiority over the Voters’ Register is like converting an auxiliary procedure- into the dominant procedure- of proof, that is, proof of accreditation.
“This is a logical impossibility. Indeed, only recently, this court in Shinkafi vs Yari, confirmed the position that the Card Reader Machine has not supplanted the statement of results in appropriate forms; hence, the appellant still had the obligation to prove petition relating to accreditation of voters and over-voting as enunciated in several decisions of this court”, Justice Nweze added.
More so, using the Ebonyi state gubernatorial dispute as an instance, the apex court panel noted that the Head of Unit, ICT Data Management at INEC headquarters, who testified as the PW-8 before the tribunal, explained that the Card Reader performed two roles, namely, the verification of the Permanent Voters Card, PVC, and the authentication of fingerprint. It observed that the witness, who generated a Card Reader Machines Report for Ebonyi State Governorship Election, had admitted that it was not a complete report covering all the details of Polling Units in the state as some Polling Units were not uploaded and thus not included in the report.
The witness said the report she tendered before the tribunal represented data that were successfully uploaded before the chairman of INEC gave an instruction for the server to be shut down. According to the Supreme Court, “Her trenchant responses, clearly, demonstrate that the Card Reader Machine Reports were neither inviolable nor sacrosanct as a host of intervening mischievous human variables could impinge on their reliability.
“Against the background of the testimonies of PW8, it is, actually, surprising, that learned counsel to the appellant chose not to utilise the Voter’ Register, to show the entire gamut of the voters, but rather built his case on what, in the unanswerable words of the lower court was an exhibit that was not accurate, sufficient and comprehensive enough to be relied upon in proof of the allegation of non-compliance with the Electoral Act, 2010, as amended.
“That is to say that the appellant (as Petitioner) failed to weave his case on the Voters ‘Registers and a fortiori did not produce such registers because if he had produced them, their contents would have been unfavourable to the allegations he made in the petition and hence his decision to withhold them.
“Thus, the appellant laboured in vain in the spirited attempt he made before this court to have the findings of the lower court vacated. He was, indeed, attempting the impossible given the anaemic evidence he adduced. In my view, the lower court, rightly, affirmed the findings of the trial tribunal in this regard”. Besides, the apex court held that the appellant, Edward Nkwegu Okereke, who was the candidate of the Labour Party during the April 11, 2015, governorship election in Ebonyi state, could not lay credible evidence to support his case against governor Umahi of the Peoples Democratic Party.
The court said the case of the petitioner failed owing to “irreparable damage of the testimony of witnesses” that testified for him at the lower tribunal, who it said were “thoroughly discredited in cross-examination”. It will be recalled that though the Supreme Court dismissed Okereke’s appeal on January 27, it however reserved its reasons for doing so till yesterday.
Aside the CJN, other members of the apex court panel that also agreed with the lead judgment were Justices Ibrahim Tanko Muhammad, Kumai Bayang Aka’ahs, Kudirat Kekere-Ekun, John Inyang Okoro and Amiru Sanusi.
The Assistant Inspector General of Police, Zone Six, Calabar, Adisa Bolanta, said four deaths were recorded while 22 persons were arrested during the elections.
