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Hold INEC Chairman, Not President Buhari, Accountable If Crisis Erupts Over 2023 General Elections

March 11, 2023

Conference Of Nigeria Political Parties (CNPP) has said that the Chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), Prof. Mahmood Yakubu, not President Muhammadu Buhari, should be held responsible if anything go wrong in the country following its alleged inability to follow its own guidelines for the 2023 general elections.

The CNPP, in a statement signed by its Secretary General, Chief Willy Ezugwu, noted that President Buhari has done everything humanly possible to ensure a free, fair, and credible general elections but the failure of INEC to follow its electoral guidelines.

The CNPP spoke while reacting to the verdict of the Court of Appeal, Abuja granting approval to INEC to reconfigure the Bimodal Voter Accreditation System (BVAS) for the governorship and state house of assembly elections and the eventual postponement of the state elections earlier scheduled for March 11, 2023.

The CNPP noted that “if INEC ends up tampering with the information in the BVAS machines or erases evidence of what actually transpired during the now contentious presidential election, it may lead to a disaster the country should not be allowed to happen to Nigeria and Nigerians.”

According to the CNPP, “INEC should have foreseen the fact that since it the introduced technology in the conduct of the 2023 general elections, litigants would always apply for the inspection of materials used in the conduct of elections.

“For INEC to seek an order of the Court to reconfigure the BVAS machines without due inspection of their raw data and certified true copies (CTC) of them issued to parties wishing to obtain the information is a recipe for avoidable crisis.

“President Muhammadu Buhari has not blame if anything goes wrong as a result of the move by INEC. The chairman of the Commission, Prof. Mahmood Yakubu should be solely held responsible.

“It is strange that INEC, which failed to upload election results from the polling units to the INEC Result Viewing Portal (IReV) would seek to reconfigure the BVAS while litigations are being initiated by disputing political parties that felt cheated by virtue of the failure of the Commission to upload results of the elections in real-time from the polling units”.

On the postponed governorship and state legislative elections, the CNPP wondered why INEC rushed to conduct the presidential and national assembly elections “knowing that it will be unable to upload the results from the polling units.

“We call on Nigerians and the International Community to hold INEC to account for whatever crisis that may emanate from its actions and/or inactions as President Buhari did his part by signing the amended electoral 2022 and deploying all the security agencies to ensure that we held the elections in peaceful environment.

“INEC Chairman’s CHATHAM House lecture expressly assured Nigerians and the International Community of the Commission’s readiness to ensure a free, fair and credible elections but the same INEC has continued to create doubts about its lack of adequate preparations for the 2023 general elections.

“Unfortunately, INEC failed to halt the collation of results of the 2023 presidential and National Assembly elections even when Nigerians complained that the result were not being uploaded to the INEC IREV portal in real-time. The commission went ahead to manually collate and announce the results and took a whole week to slowly upload many mutilated results, creating wide suspension that the outcomes were doctored. And to make matters worse, INEC sought to reconfigure the BVAS amid allegations of rigging”, the CNPP stated.

Abia Governorship: Obi Has No Agreement With Governor Ikpeazu

The Source

March 11, 2023

By Charles Igbo

The Labour Party Presidential Candidate, Peter Obi, has no agreement whatsoever to support Governor Okezie Ikpeazu’s handpicked Candidate for the Governorship Election scheduled for March 18, 2023.

In the wake of the trouncing of the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, in the South-east at the Presidential election of 25th February, 2023, reports emerged that in Abia, Obi had an agreement with Governor Ikpeazu to support him at the Presidential Polls while Obi would reciprocate by supporting the PDP Governorship Candidate. If that is true, it means that Obi would abandon the LP Candidate, Alex Otti, in support of Okey Ahiwe of the PDP.

But not true, said Otti, who emphasised that there was no such agreement between Ikpeazu and Obi. Otti described Obi as a man of honour who would never enter into such an agreement with anybody.

He went on to mock Ikpeazu for his electoral woes, and asked him how he could claim that he delivered Obi in Abia when he was not capable of delivering himself in his Senatorial Zone.

Ikpeazu had aspired to be a Senator, but he failed woefully at the Polls, and took a distant third position behind the Candidates of the All Progressives Grand Alliance, APGA, and that of the LP.

Otti who spoke on Arise Television, Friday morning, warned those carrying and spreading such tales to desist from such as Obi was already set to come to Abia to lead his (Otti’s) Governorship rally.

Otti: “I know for a certainty that there was no such agreement, and I know Peter Obi very well. I have known him for decades, and I know him as a man of honour and he cannot enter into a fraudulent agreement.

“Let’s assume, without conceding that there was such an agreement with Okezie Ikpeazu, the question to ask is: how well did he implement the agreement because for you to deliver somebody, you must deliver yourself first. And, in that election he (Ikpeazu) failed. He came third in his Senatorial race. Abaribe came first, my Candidate, Chinedu, came second. By the result declared by INEC, Okezie came a distant third.

“So, if he could not deliver himself, how can he claim that he was the one that delivered Peter Obi? Mr Peter Obi was delivered by Labour Party and the Obidients In Abia. Barring all problems that have to do with his litigations, he will be in Abia and he will campaign for us.

“So, there was no such agreement. Let me ask them, Okezie is a member of the G5, what happened to their leader, (Nyesom Wike) in Rivers State, who he supported. My understanding is that the G5 supported the APC Candidate (Bola Tinubu). So, to that extent, he cannot come to reap where he did not sow.”

All through the Presidential Campaign period, Ikpeazu never uttered a word of support or encouragement for Obi.

“I Will Fight And Bleed To Death ”, Obi did not say so

The Source

March 10, 2023

The Presidential Candidate of the Labour Party, Mr. Peter Obi has again called on the “Obidient” family and all men and women of goodwill to remain calm, prayerful and alert to the events in the country.

Speaking through his Media Adviser, Mr. Valentine Obienyem, Obi urged Nigerians to ignore the news being circulated where he was quoted as saying that he never lost an election; that he would fight and “bleed to death until” his mandate is restored; that he would drag “INEC until there will be no life left in them”; that he was “looking forward to jailing all that partook in this scam and fraud called election”, among others.

Obi described the news as not only false, but also mischievous, misleading and out of character.

Obi said that insofar as he believed that the election was gravely flawed, as being attested to by everybody that was part of the process, that he would continue to pursue the recovery of the stolen mandate through the legal process.

“I have worked through similar paths in the past and was successful. I shall follow the same path without endangering the relative peace in the country, which is actually what those election riggers are striving desperately to upset”, Obi said.

AFCON Under-20: Flying Eagles Defeat Tunisia To Win Bronze

Akinwale Kasali

March 10, 2023

By Akinwale Kasali

The Flying Eagles of Nigeria ended the Under-20 African Youth Championship in Egypt with a Third Place Match win over the Junior Carthage Eagles of Tunisia to claim Bronze at the continental showpiece.

Having lost its semi final match to Gambia, the Coach Ladan Bosso-led Team knew that it won’t be palatable returning home without a Medal. They went all out to annihilate the Tunisians 4-0.

Ibrahim Muhammad opening the scoring for the Flying Eagles in the 26th minute after tapping in a cross from David Bameyi to give the Nigerian side the lead.

All through the first half, the Flying Eagles dictated the pace and flow of the match, as it failed to convert its chances.

As at the 30th minute of the encounter, the Tunisians had made two substitutions as it was unable to curtail the pressure mounted by the West African nation.

The first half ended 1-0. As the center referee signaled the commencement of the second half, within 30 seconds of resumption, striker, Ahmed Abdullahi added the second goal with a sublime finish to give the Seven Time AFCON Under-20 Champions a two goal advantage.

Three minutes later, a solo run from Jude Sunday gave the Flying Eagles the third goal to take the match beyond the Tunisians who were depleted after coming two goals in quick succession.

After the third goal, the Flying Eagles decided to keep possession of the ball, making the Tunisians chase the ball.

Late in the game, a good interplay by the midfielders gave Jude Sunday is brace of the match to seal the game at 4-0.

With the victory, Nigeria has won the Bronze and qualified for the FIFA Under-20 World Cup slated for Indonesia in few months time.

Senegal and Gambia will jostle for the coveted trophy when they trade tackles at the AFCON Under-20 grand finale slated for tomorrow.

The teams that will hoist the continents flag at the World Youth Tournament are; Nigeria, Gambia, Senegal and Tunisia.

Traders Protest Against NLC President, Ajaero For Inflicting More Hardship On Imo Citizens

The Source

March 10, 2023

Market men and women operating under the umbrella of Imo State Amalgamated Market and Traders Association (ISAMATA) have embarked on a protest against the National President of the Nigeria Labour Congress, Comrade Joe Ajaero, lamenting that the Labour Leader is unmindful of the hardship they are currently facing by calling for a strike in Imo State.

The traders have therefore vowed to resist any attempt by the Ajaero-led Labour or any other group for that matter that wants to worsen the excruciating hardship they are passing through as a result of high cost of fuel, cash crunch due to the Naira redesign, lack of power supply, among others.

Leading their members to protest to Governor Hope Uzodimma at the Government House in Owerri on Friday, President of ISAMATA, Comrade Ezeanochie Emmanuel, said that Ajaero was unreasonable to have called for strike in Imo when there was no need for such, insisting that their members would resist any plan to truncate the peace in the State.

Governor Uzodimma who was unavoidably absent but was represented by his deputy, Prof. Placid Njoku, assured the leadership and members of ISAMATA of standing with them in their move towards resisting man-made difficulties they are facing in the State currently that make live unbearable for their members.

The Deputy Governor reminded the traders that “the Government of Senator Uzodimma has the welfare of the people as its primary business and will not stand by to see anybody come to Imo State to impose hardship on her citizens.”

He said that: “The 3R administration is a government that likes to see hardworking people such as ISAMATA get benefit for their hard work. The government will be happy that genuine traders make gains from their businesses, that civil servants get their salaries and entitlements at the end of the month and in the same manner pensioners get their full month pensions at the end of every month.”

Prof Njoku added that the government has been sensitive to the need of the people, reiterating that Governor Uzodimma had asked him to inform ISAMATA that “his government will stand up to resist any directive or order coming from anywhere that will impinge on the freedom and welfare and even livelihood of Imo citizens.”

Prof. Njoku said it was “regrettable and unfortunate that the recent directive for workers to go on strike, that electricity should be cut off from Imo people and that even filling stations should close their business to make things unbearable for Imo people, is coming from an Imo son who stays somewhere and dished out offensive directives.”

He, therefore, warned that wherever Joe Ajero may be hiding, he should be made to understand that there is a Government in Imo State and that Imo people have suffered enough from the time of Covid-19 to End#SARS# to banditry and unknown gunmen and now to the present circumstances, “and as a matter of fact nobody will be allowed to come to Imo State to add more harm to Imo people.”

The Deputy Governor urged the traders to go back to their work and businesses, reminding them that “some of the problems such as the high price of fuel and the Naira redesign were not caused by the Imo State Government, rather by prevailing circumstances all over the federation.”

He urged them to go back and be sure that Government will protect them.

Presenting their case earlier, the President of ISAMATA in Imo State, Comrade Ezeanochie Emmanuel said that “it is unreasonable for Joe Ajero to come to Imo State to inflict more difficulties on Imo people, especially the traders when he asked the Electricity Regulators to shut businesses and has equally directed Filling Stations to close shop.”

According to him, the “Imo traders are suffering so much and incurring a lot of loses in their businesses, starting with the high cost of fuel, that is above N350 in Imo State, the Naira re-design where people buy their own money and now, no light and even the filling stations have been asked to also close down.”

He told the Government that they are “ready to resist Joe Ajero and his cohorts to any level and even meet with him in the court of law.”

Adding their voices, the ISAMATA Chairmen for Orlu zone, Comrade Mgbemere Udoka, that of Owerri zone, Comrade Okoko David and that of Okigwe zone, Comrade Ezeigwe Chikwendu, the leader of Hausa Traders, Abdul Ibrahim and the Secretary of ISAMATA Imo State, Comrade Don Chris Okere, all corroborated what their Chairman said and added that “government should stop Ajaero from playing dirty politics with Imo people because they are ready to resist his antics at all levels.”

They acknowledged that Imo State is peaceful, hence they will not allow anybody to come to the State and cause unnecessary trouble.

Emphatically, they decried that the shutting down of electricity in the last two days in Imo State has led to untold damages to their perishable goods such as fish, tomatoes, onions and all such goods that require electricity for preservation.

The protesters carried and displayed varying posters that read:

“We need Peace in Imo State.”

“Nigeria is Ours, Imo State is ours.”

“We can’t die from this organized sufferings.” “The Traders say EDDC should give us Light.” “NLC please don’t add to our sufferings.”

“Imo Traders say No to Ajero’s Evil Intentions.”

“Traders say no to Economic Strangulations in Imo State,” among others.

The Hon. Commissioner for Information and Strategy, Declan Mbadiwe Emelumba joined the Deputy governor to receive the protesting traders.

Reject Old Naira Notes And Go To Jail – Kogi State Government Sets Up Committee To Monitor Compliance

Ayodele Oni

March 10, 2023

By Ayodele Oni

Kogi state government has set up a high-powered Committee to ensure full adherence and compliance with the ruling of the Supreme Court on continued circulation of old N500 and N1000 notes.

Aside this, the state government has gone further to announce jail terms for anybody or corporate institutions that refused to accept the old notes as legal tender.

A statement on Friday by the state commissioner for information and communications, Kingsley Femi Fanwo stated that members of the Committee are the Commissioner for Finance, Budget and Economic Planning; Commissioner for Information and Communications; Commissioner for Commerce and Industry; the State Security Adviser and the Managing Director, Kogi Enterprise Development Agency.

The statement reads “We congratulate Nigerians on the historic ruling of the Supreme Court, the highest court in Nigeria, to the effect that both the old and new naira notes remain legal tenders until December 31, 2023 when the old notes will cease to be legal tender.

“What this means is that both the old and new naira notes can be accepted for the purpose of transacting business till the end of this year.

“The reason the Kogi State Government joined other State Governments in the country to pursue the case was to ease the hardship occasioned by the unavailability of the new naira notes, which the court fully granted.

“It is therefore unacceptable that some persons and businesses will continue to reject the use of the old naira notes, even after the court judgement validating their use.

“Rejecting the old naira notes is a clear disobedience of the Supreme Court ruling.

“Anyone who rejects the old naira notes should be reported to security and government authorities for immediate action.

“Also, banks that refuse to accept old naira deposits shall be sealed as the State Government will not accommodate financial institutions that willfully disobey court orders, moreso, the orders of the highest court in Nigeria.

“Kogites should note that since the banks are issuing the old naira notes, they are bound to also receive it. We cannot continue to kill our economy after the Supreme Court has granted us freedom.

“The State Government has therefore set up a high-powered Committee to ensure full adherence and compliance to the ruling of the Supreme Court.

Members of the Committee are the Commissioner for Finance, Budget and Economic Planning; Commissioner for Information and Communications; Commissioner for Commerce and Industry; the State Security Adviser and the Managing Director, Kogi Enterprise Development Agency.

“The Committee is to ensure that our people take full benefits of the Supreme Court ruling on the old naira notes and ease the hardship they have been subjected to by the policy that brought so much hardship to the people.”

Obi Boosts Obidients In Enugu, And Abia Pays Condolence/Solidarity Visits

The Source

March 10, 2023

The Coal City of Enugu and the Enyimba City of Abia, Abia State came alive on Friday with the visit of the Labour Party Presidential Candidate, Mr. Peter Obi, to boost the morale of the Obidients ahead of the March 18 Governorship and State House of Assembly elections.

In Enugu, the LP Presidential flag bearer paid a condolence visit to the family of the Labour Party’s senatorial candidate Barr. Oyibo Chukwu, who was brutally murdered along with his Personal Assistant.

Obi at various stops assured the people that a new Nigeria is possible as he urged the people not to be deterred but to come out en masse on March 11, 2023, and cast their votes for the Labour Party candidates all the way.

Due to the dastardly act of killing the candidate, the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, invoked some powers invested in them and shifted the Senatorial Election for Enugu East that was scheduled for February 25 to March 11, 2023, along with the gubernatorial and State Assembly polls.

Obi arrived in Enugu Friday morning and moved straight to Enugu East to give respect and honor to the deceased Obidient as well as to give solidarity to the very vibrant Obidient family in Enugu state whose performance at the last election was outstanding.

The Labour Party has also replaced the late senatorial flag bearer with his younger brother, Bar Kelvin Chukwu who is expected to be elected the Senator-elect for Enugu East next week by the teeming Obidient supporters in the state.

Obi was accompanied on the trip by the National Chairman of the Labour Party, Bar Julius Abure, a Senator-elect from Anambra state, senator Victor Umeh and was received by the top Enugu state leaders led by the former President of Ohanaeze Ndigbo Chief Nnia Nwodo, Labour Party governorship candidate for Enugu, Hon. Barr. Chijioke Edeoga, former Minister of Power, and Prof Barth Nnaji among others.

In solidarity with the governorship candidate and members of the state House of Assembly, Obi had whistle stops at some market squares in Enugu.

From Enugu, the frontline Presidential candidate who is in court challenging his stolen mandate headed to Abia state with his team

In Abia the Labour Party, gubernatorial candidate, Chief Alex Otti was on hand to receive him as he made a few stops in some markets assuring the people that despite the challenges a new Nigeria is coming they must remain focused and vote for Labour Party candidates all the way.

APC: Fresh Crisis As V/ Chair Demands Adamu’s Resignation For A Christian Chairman

James Orji

March 10, 2023

Still smarting from its victory in the just concluded presidential election, the ruling All Progressives Congress, APC, appears set for another leadership crisis, following the call on the National Chairman Adamu Abdullahi, to resign his position.

The call was made on Friday, in a statement by the APC Vice Chairman, North West, Salihu Ibrahim, who said it’s no longer fair for Adamu to remain in his position, in view of the emergence of two Muslims as President-elect and vice President -elect.

Salihu is referencing Bola Ahmed Tinubu and Kashim Shetima who had been declared winner in the February 25 presidential election c inducted by the Independent National Electoral commission, INEC.

The two are Muslims. Salihu believes that Adamu should resign to pave way for a Christian National Chairman..

Salihu who has been known to defer with the party in the past, also demand led the resignation of Iyiola Omisore, the National Secretary of the party for the alleged role he played when the party lost the governorship election to the opposition Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, in Osun state..

He said the resignation of Omisore will unite the party, calling him a divisive politician.

He has called on the party leadership to organise and emergency National Convention to effect these changes.

He stressed that with a National Chairman who is also a Muslim, it would be important that every necessary step is taken to inject a change of leadership in the party so that a new National Chairman who is a Christian can take over.

Lukman explained that part of the advantage of this is that the National Chairman could be retained in North-Central.

He said the current National Chairman has done an excellent job to manage a successful campaign to win the 2023 election with all the attendant challenges, there should be no difficulty in convincing Adamu to resign as National Chairman to create an opportunity for a new National Chairman of APC to emerge who is a Christian.

Lukman said: “For that to happen, it may require an Emergency National Convention because if the hierarchy of the current leadership is to be followed, the successor to Sen. Adamu will be Sen. Abubakar Kyari who is a Muslim from the North-East.”

“For that to happen may require an Emergency National Convention because if the hierarchy of the current leadership is to be followed, the successor to Sen. Adamu will be Sen. Abubakar Kyari who is a Muslim from North-East.”

INEC Debunks Chidi Nwafor Invented BVAS; Says Transfer To Enugu An Elevation

The Source

March 10, 2023

By Charles Igbo

The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has debunked the claims that its former Director of Information and Communication Technology (ICT), Engr Chidi Nwafor invented the BVAS.

It, also, described as laughable the notion that his transfer to Enugu as the Administrative Secretary, was responsible for the crisis with BVAS, and that had he not been transferred, there could have been no breakdown of the Apps during the Presidential Election of February 25, 2023.

Laughable, too, according to INEC, is the erroneous belief that making Nwafor an Administrative Secretary was a demotion. It explained that it was, actually, an elevation, as the Administrative Secretary is INEC’s second-in-command in Enugu State.

Rotimi Oyekanmi, Chief Press Secretary to INEC Chairman, Professor Mahmood Yakubu, explained this on Thursday in Abuja in reaction to claims that Nwafor was the inventor of the Bimodal Voters Accreditation System

Contrary to the claim, Oyekanmi said that BVAS was neither an invention of Nwafor nor that of any single staff member of INEC. BVAS, according to him, is a baby of INEC which created the idea and invented it, just as it did the rested Smart Card Reader (SCR).

He said: “Having decided to invent the BVAS, the Commission gave the assignment to the most relevant Department within the Commission, namely the ICT, to bring the idea into fruition.

“The ICT Department is populated by a sizable number of brilliant Engineers and IT experts, who worked very hard, as a team, for several months to successfully actualize the Commission ’s dream.

“After completing the assignment of designing the BVAS, the ICT Department notified the commission.

“Therefore, it is improper to insinuate that a former Director of ICT, or any other staff for that matter single-handedly designed the BVAS.”

He added that if anyone deserves commendation for the invention of BVAS, it should be Chairman, Yakubu, who makes the final decisions and INEC which conceived the idea.

On the claims that Nwafor’s transfer to Enugu was responsible for the glitches with the INEC Result Viewing Portal (IReV) in the Feb. 25 presidential election, Oyekanmi dismissed it as attempt to mislead and deceive the public.

His words: “First, the IReV and Bimodal Voter Accreditation System (BVAS) are two separate entities, and they are independent of each other.

“The relationship between the two is that the BVAS is used to transmit the picture of Form EC8A, which is the Polling Unit Result Sheet in PDF format, as well as the Voters’ Accreditation Data to the IReV.

“Therefore, the glitches suffered by the IReV for some hours on Feb. 25 could not have affected the functionality of the BVAS, which in any case, performed its duty excellently on election day.

“There’s also a provision for the BVAS to transmit the Polling Unit (PU) results in offline mode if there is no network at the polling unit at the time of the activity.

He said that Nwafor’s presence could not have stopped the glitches.

He noted: “Recently, Facebook, WhatsApp and Twitter had serious glitches that prevented many people, including me, from using those applications for many hours.

“But, eventually, the respective companies surmounted the challenges.

“Now, would you say that the glitches occurred just because one Engineer resigned from, or was transferred, within the company? Of course not.”

Oyekanmi praised Nwafor as brilliant, but pointed out that the Commission also boasts of other brilliant minds.

“While the former ICT Director is indeed a respected, brilliant employee who played his role satisfactorily, there are equally other staff members within the Commission that could effectively play his former role.”

He debunked the claims that Nwafor’s transfer to Enugu State as Administrative Secretary was a demotion. On that, he pointed out:

“Again, contrary to this impression that the position of Administrative Secretary is a demotion, I would say that it is an elevation.

“The administrative Secretary at our State office is the most senior staff there, second only to the Resident Electoral Commissioner (REC).

“It’s like the role of a Permanent Secretary in a Federal Parastatal.

“When the REC is not around, the Administrative Secretary becomes an Acting Rec. That’s how important the position is.”

Not a few Nigerians hold the view that Nwafor invented the BVAS, and was deliberately transferred to Enugu a few months to the election, to give room for manipulation of the App during the General Elections.

Obi Laments Lagos Mishaps, Sympathises With Victims

The Source

March 10, 2023

The Presidential Candidate of the Labour Party, Peter Obi, says the fire outbreak at Akere SpareParts Market and the Ikeja Train/Bus accident are mishaps too many for the good people of Lagos state.

The Presidential flag bearer said his heart goes out to the victims of the various mishaps in Lagos and other parts of the country as he prays for God to supply them with the required fortitude needed at this time.

Obi said that “the sad news of the fire outbreak at Akere Spare Parts Market in Olodi, Apapa, Ajegunle Lagos plus the train-bus accident that left deaths, injuries and loss of properties at this critical time are disheartening, knowing the hardship Nigerians are going through already.

“I commiserate deeply with all those affected by these accidents. I call on the affected government and relevant authorities to investigate the cause of the accidents thoroughly, and forestall future occurrence while finding ways to help the affected victims”

Obi said that there is a need for equal protection under the law, and the Government’s meeting of its responsibility to protect lives and property cannot be over-emphasized

He noted that in a new Nigeria of his dream which is possible, lives of citizens and their property will be better appreciated because the system will work and avoidable accidents reduced drastically.

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