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Imo: It Is A Landslide Victory For LP’s Obi; Ihedioha Admits Defeat; Agbaso Rejoices

By
The Source
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Peter Obi and Martin Agbaso and Emeka Ihedioha

By Charles Igbo

Inspite of the alleged manipulation of votes in Imo State, Presidential Candidate of the Labour Party, Peter Obi, emerged the winner in a landslide.

In the result announced by the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC,  Obi polled a total number 352,904 votes to beat the candidate of the ruling All Progressives Congress, Bola Tinubu, and that of the main opposition, Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, Atiku Abubakar to a distant second and third places.

While Tinubu scored 66,171 votes, Atiku surprisingly scored 30,004 votes.

Acknowledging the massive victory of the LP, former Governor of the State, Rt. Hon. Emeka Ihedioha, said, before the announcement: “Everybody knows that the Labour Party won overwhelmingly in Imo. I would have loved PDP to win, but Labour won overwhelmingly and we accepted the result until they (apparently APC) began manipulations.:

Rejoicing over the victories of the Party, especially, in Imo, where he is the Leader of Obi’s Presidential Campaign, Chief Martin Agbaso said: “I rejoice with Imo people. I rejoice with our Party, and I rejoice with our Presidential Candidate, Peter Obi for the myths he has broken. It will never be the same in Nigeria’s political architecture”

An Interloping Former President Is A Present Danger To Democracy

By
The Source
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(Full text of General Alani Akinrinade’s response to the statement by former President Olusegun  Obasanjo)

The recent statement by former President Olusegun Obasanjo over the recently concluded elections must be condemned in the strongest terms by democracy loving Nigerians and those who care about the unity of this country.

His statement coming at a time when the Independent National Electoral Commission was still busy with the conduct and release of the elections results is both unfortunate and a glaring and calculative attempt to game the system. Without any shred of evidence a former President is challenging the integrity of a national elections and calling a seating President to truncate it midway.

As a General who fought for the unity of this country and one that has witnessed the many twists and turns of our Democratic development, I am certain that Nigeria this time is on the right path. I find it most disturbing and objectionable that a former General and President will introduce such a diatribe into the body politic of Nigeria at such a delicate time as this.

Being not neutral, Obasanjo’s intervention falls short of patriotism and fits perfectly into meddling in the affairs of state that is already the constitutional responsibility of INEC.

Nigerians can easily recall the obasanjo years and his democratic antics and many bullish attempts at circumventing the political process.

I call on President Muhammadu Buhari to ignore Obasanjo’s recent interruptions and focus on supporting the lawful institution to do its job by allowing the process to run it’s full course.

The President Buhari i know will let the process run its full course and will not intervene in an undemocratic manner to truncate the ongoing political process.

Luckily, President Buhari is made of finer and more principled democratic stuff. He will not allow Obasanjo to lure him into tainting his democratic credentials in this regard. I recall that in his last trip to the United States, President Joe Biden praised Buhari’s commitment to democratic values and principles. Obasanjo has no such record to be applauded.

The world has not forgotten his fraudulent and undemocratic attempt at a third term agenda in violation of the letter and spirit of the Nigerian constitution.

In 2007, after his botched third term bid, Obasanjo conducted the worst election in the history of Nigeria. The beneficiary of that electoral heist, Late President Umaru Yar’Adua openly admitted that his presidency was a product of  a fraudulent election with a commitment to reform the electoral process.

Nigerians have voted. Their votes have counted.  Let no one disrupt the process.

General Alani Akinrinade CFR, GCON, served Nigeria as Chief of Army Staff and Chief of Defence Staff

National Peace Committee Sues For Patience As INEC Continues With Collation Of Results

By
Ayodele Oni
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National Peace Committee

By Ayodele Oni

The Gen Abdulsalami Abubakar led National Peace Committee, has applauded Nigerians for turning out enmasse to exercise their civic duty by voting in the February 25 elections.

A statement by Gen Abubakar stated that the committee noted the kind of patience, dignity and enthusiasm which Nigerians displayed in the conduct of the electoral process despite observable challenges in the polling units.

However the challenge now, it noted, lies with the collation of the results.

“The National Peace Committee has along with millions of other Nigerians and the International community, followed developments since the commencement and end of the Presidential and National Assembly elections.

“The Committee, however, is appealing to INEC to heed the grievances being expressed by voters and take the necessary steps to escalate investigations of all allegations of infractions and to ensure that Justice is clearly done to all citizens that went out to vote.

“The committee acknowledged the receipt of reports of a culture of voter suppression in some parts of the country through the application of targeted violence, disruption of processes, inducement of voters, intimidation, deliberate frustration of voters, and the challenges of the election itself.

“All presidential candidates must take responsibility for statements made by their Spokespersons and Agents and urged all citizens to remain calm while INEC sees the process to its conclusion.”

Obasanjo Should Be In Dustbin Of History –  Gemade

By
Ayodele Oni
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Barnabas Gemade

By Ayodele Oni

A former Minister for Works, Barnabas Gemade, has described former President Olusegun Obasanjo’s call for the cancellation of the Presidential election results as “imprudent intervention”

Speaking during a press conference in Abuja on Tuesday, Gemade stated that: “This is a sad moment in the annals of our country’s democracy.

“The people who moved against the wish of our people and annulled a free and fair election in the past are at work again.

“Gentlemen of the press, I invited you here because of an assault on our democracy and rule of law. All leaders of this country and lovers of democracy must rise against this imprudent intervention. Indeed, we must all rise up in defence of democracy.

“After 24 years of unbroken democracy, this is not the kind of thing we want to encounter. We cannot afford to allow the gains we have recorded to be frittered away by a few misguided people who neither worked for democracy nor believed in its principles.

“Unfortunately, this set of people reaped from democracy; they reaped from our sweat, from our Labour for democracy. They reaped bountifully from where they did not sow.

“The call on Monday by former president Olusegun Obasanjo for the cancellation of a validly conducted election is a call for insurrection.

“It’s an attempt to incite our people to take arms against the state. It’s an assault on our collective psyche. We must not allow Obasanjo to have his way.

“We must condemn him and his satanic and unpatriotic call. I strongly condemn his statement and I call on all well-meaning Nigerians and our security agencies to call him to order. Security agents must pay special attention to this man and his antics.

“For the life of me, I find it difficult to understand why Obasanjo thinks he approximates the entire country. Why does he think he can decide for the country, or for the Nigerian people who have voted for a presidential candidate of their choice.

“Does Obasanjo understand what a transparent and credible election mean? Is he even qualified to talk about credibility in an election?

“Someone who corrupted our electoral system and through his protege, Prof Maurice Iwu, organized perhaps the most fraudulent election ever witnessed in this country. This was after he failed in his bid to get an unconstitutional third term in office.

“This former president wants to set standards for other leaders to follow. The truth is he has no standard or quality in his ways.

“What you find in his ways are indecency, dishonesty, deception, double face, treachery and wickedness. No one can give what he does not have.

“Obasanjo has been a thorn in the flesh of many presidents who came after him ostensibly for their refusal to hero worship him.

“Why does Obasanjo want to abort the baby that has already been born? Why does he want to visit violence on the country? Why does he want to plunge the country into anarchy? Because the fact is a winner has emerged from Saturday February 25 free and fair election.

“I urge President Buhari and INEC Chairman Prof. Yakubu to ignore him.The INEC chairman should announce the remaining results of the election and bring the process to a close.

“With this wicked and evil call, Obasanjo has added an inch to his opprobrium. He must be put where he belongs: in the dustbin of history.”

How Obi Defeated Tinubu, Atiku At FCT

By
Ayodele Oni
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0
Peter Obi in Lagos

By Ayodele Oni

The presidential candidate of the Labour Party (LP), Peter Obi, has continued to extend his wining spree to other parts of the country.

He has been declared  winner Saturday’s presidential election in the Federal Capital Territory (FCT).

Obi polled 281,717 votes to defeat Bola Tinubu of the All Progressives Congress (APC), who garnered 90,902 votes.

Atiku Abubakar of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) came a distant third with 74,199 votes, while Rabiu Kwankwaso of the New Nigeria Peoples Party (NNPP) scored 13,247 votes to occupy the fourth position.

Fresh Election: FG Slams Obasanjo; Says He Is Trying To Sell Candidate To Nigerians

By
Ayodele Oni
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0
Olusegun Obasanjo and Muhammadu Buhari

By Ayodele Oni

The Federal Government has replied to former President Olusegun Obasanjo’s letter urging President Muhammadu Buhari to truncate the current election process.

Federal government described the letter as inciting, self-serving and provocative.

In a statement in Abuja on Tuesday, the Minister of Information and Culture, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, said what the former President cunningly framed as an ‘appeal for caution and rectification’ is nothing but a calculated attempt to undermine the electoral process and a wilful incitement to violence.

The Minister expressed shock and disbelief that a former President could throw around unverified claims and amplify wild allegations picked up from the street against the electoral process.

”Though masquerading as an unbiased and concerned elder statesman, former President Obasanjo is in reality a known partisan who is bent on thwarting, by subterfuge, the choice of millions of Nigerian voters.”

Alhaji Mohammed accused the former President, in his time, organized perhaps the worst election since Nigeria’s return to democratic rule in 1999, “hence he is the least qualified to advise a President whose determined effort to leave a legacy of free, fair, credible and transparent election is well acknowledged within and outside Nigeria.

”As the whole nation waits with bated breath for the result of last Saturday’s national elections, amid unnecessary tension created by professional complainants and political jesters, what is expected from a self-respecting elder statesman are words and actions that douse tension and serve as a soothing balm.

”Instead, former President Obasanjo used his unsolicited letter to insinuate, or perhaps wish for, an inconclusive election and a descent into anarchy; used his time to cast aspersion on electoral officials

who are unable to defend themselves, while surreptitiously seeking to dress his personal choice in the garb of the people’s choice. This is duplicitous.”

The Minister reminded the former President that organizing elections in Nigeria is not a mean feat, considering that the voter population of 93,469,008 in the country is 16,742,916 more than the total number of registered voters, at 76,726,092, in 14 West African nations put together.

”With a deployment of over 1,265,227 electoral officials, the infusion of technology to enhance the electoral process and the logistical nightmare of sending election materials across our vast country, INEC seems to be availing itself creditably, going by the  preliminary reports of the ECOWAS Electoral Observation Mission and the Commonwealth Observer Group, among other groups that observed the election.

”Therefore, those arrogating to themselves the power to cancel an election and unilaterally fix a date for a new one, ostensibly to ameliorate perceived electoral infractions, should please exercise restraint and allow the official electoral body to conclude its duty by announcing the results of the 2023 national elections.

”After that, anyone who is aggrieved must follow the stipulated legal process put in place to adjudicate electoral disputes, instead of threatening fire and conjuring apocalypse.”

FCT: Kingibe Says INEC Officials Bribed To Write Election Results

By
James Orji
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0
Julius Abure - Labour Party National Chairman
Ireti Kingibe, the senatorial candidate of the Labour Party, LP,  has accused some officials of the the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC of collecting bribes from some unnamed politicians to compromise the February 25 election in the nation’s capital.
The wife of Babagana Kingibe, the running mate to Moshood Abiola in the 1993 presidential election, contesed last week’s election under the Labour Party.
She has now alleged manipulation of the results , warning that she will not allow some unscrupulous officials of INEC to subvert the wil of the voters.
Speaking to journalists on Monday, the senatorial candidate said it was wrong to cancel the electio! Hheld in the district due to some avoidable errors during the voting.
After cancelling the election, Kingible said some INEC officials are now writing the results on the prompting of some politicians who are bent on rigging the election.
She will not allow this to happen, she said saying she will fight to the end.
According to her, “We have watched them, millions have been bribed in this place, even up to millions of dollars have been put in this place to try to take the seat and it is not going to happen.
“I am going to the collation centre to let them know that we are not standing for this; we have watched them, they cancelled polling units where we are strong, thugs go to INEC collation centre, they tore electoral materials.
“Thugs went to Gwarimpa collation centre, they attacked the people there, they tore presidential result sheets, they went away.
“Fortunately, the Returning Officer had most of the results with her. They have been looking for reasons to cancel Osuma, Bwari, those are all our strongholds, they couldn’t, then suddenly they found an error on the total votes, they said it is over voting, the Electoral Officer told them it is not over voting, it is an error on from whoever wrote it, you cannot penalise the candidate for it, look at the result sheet, you will see that there is no over voting on any of them, they said it is not their job to look at result sheets, what kind of a country are we in.
“What the establishment and the people in charge of this country are looking for, if they are not careful they will find it because those of us at the bottom have heard enough.
“When we complain about anything they will say we should go to the polls; we have gone to the polls, they are still insisting that it is not good enough. The will of the people must prevail.”
Meanwhile, the LP has called for the cancellation of the presidential election because it no longer have confidence on INEC.

Election: Obasanjo Is A Danger To Democracy- Gen. Akinrinade

By
James Orji
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0

Genreal Alani Akinrinade (rtd) has described former President Olusegun Obasanjo as a danger to the nation’s  democratic process.

Akinrinade, a former Chief of General Staff spoke following a statement  issued on Monday by Obasanjo where he called on President  Muhammadu Buhari  to rein in the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, for allegedly  trying to compromise the results  of the February 25 presidential and National Assembly elections.

The former president  urged the president to wade in before the country is plunged into chaos due to the anger against the electoral body by Nigerians.

But in a statement, Akinrinade  said Buhari must not listen to the former president, who he described as an “inteloper” who is trying to destroy the nation’s democratic  process.

He appealed to well meaning Nigerians to disregard Obasanjo, saying everything must be done to protect the nation’s unity.

The statement  in full: 

As a General who fought for the unity of this country and one that has witnessed the many twists and turns of our Democratic development, I am certain that Nigeria this time is on the right path. I find it most disturbing and objectionable that a former General and President will introduce such a diatribe into the body politic of Nigeria at such a delicate time as this.

Being not neutral, Obasanjo’s intervention falls short of patriotism and fits perfectly into meddling in the affairs of state that is already the constitutional responsibility of INEC.

Nigerians can easily recall the obasanjo years and his democratic antics and many bullish attempts at circumventing the political process.

I call on President Muhammadu Buhari to ignore Obasanjo’s recent interruptions and focus on supporting the lawful institution to do its job by allowing the process to run it’s full course.

The President Buhari i know will let the process run its full course and will not intervene in an undemocratic manner to truncate the ongoing political process.

Luckily, President Buhari is made of finer and more principled democratic stuff. He will not allow Obasanjo to lure him into tainting his democratic credentials in this regard. I recall that in his last trip to the United States, President Joe Biden praised Buhari’s commitment to democratic values and principles. Obasanjo has no such record to be applauded.

The world has not forgotten his fraudulent and undemocratic attempt at a third term agenda in violation of the letter and spirit of the Nigerian constitution.

In 2007, after his botched third term bid, Obasanjo conducted the worst election in the history of Nigeria. The beneficiary of that electoral heist, Late President Umaru Yar’Adua openly admitted that his presidency was a product of a fraudulent election with a commitment to reform the electoral process.

Nigerians have voted. Their votes have counted. Let no one disrupt the process.

Election Results: Falana Disappointed With INEC

By
James Orji
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0
Femi Falana

Rights activist, Femi Falana, a senior Advocate of Nigeria, SAN has joined other Nigerians expressing anger over the conduct of last week’s presidential and National Assembly election.

The Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC has received criticism from not a few Nigerians who said they are dissatisfied with how the election was conducted across the country, citing cases of rigging, thuggery and intimidation of voters in places like Lagos and Rivers states, amongst others.

Among prominent Nigerians who said they are unsatisfied with the election include former President Olusegun Obasanjo who called on President Muhammadu Buhari to intervene and call INEC to order over, alleging manipulation of results due to the electoral umpire ‘s failure to release election results electronically.

Speaking on Tuesday, Falana, a human rights lawyer said INEC conduct has been most dissatisfactory.
According to him, the Commission has been tainted by some of its staff who allegedly compromised the election, adding that the Prof. Mahmood Yakubu – led body must now go back to the drawing board to prevent it from making future mistakes.

He said: “I expect INEC to go back to the drawing table and review the role of its ad-hoc staff, the role of its staff and ensure that all those who have been arrested by the police for disrupting the election, for announcing fake results or for forging results and for deliberately preventing people to vote must be charged to the relevant court so that those who are going to manage the next election will know that it will not be business as usua.”

He said the refusal of INEC to release results through the BVAS is raising serious suspicion among Nigerians who believe that the election results are being manipulated.

On Monday in Abuja during the final collation of results by INEC, Dino Melaye, a Returning Officer for the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, caused a stir at the International Conference Centre, ICC after he accused INEC of trying to compromise the election.

He later led some other agents out of the Centre in protest.

Cancel Results Where BVAS Were Bypassed, Mass Thump-printing Occurred –  CNPP Urges INEC

By
The Source
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0
Chief Willy Ezugwu

Conference Of Nigeria Political Parties (CNPP) has called on the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to immediately cancel election results in parts of the country where the newly introduced Bimodal Voter Accreditation System (BVAS) machines were bypassed during accreditation.

The CNPP in a statement signed by its Secretary General, Chief Willy Ezugwu, recalled that “the BVAS is an electronic device designed to authenticate voters during accreditation based on the 2023 electoral guidelines.

“The legal framework for conducting the 2023 elections consists of the 1999 Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, as amended; the Electoral Act, 2022; and the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) Election Regulations and Guidelines for the conduct of the elections.

“When the commission introduced the BVAS machines into the Nigerian electoral system, the compact device was intended to serve as the only means of verification of the genuineness of the PVCs through the fingerprint or facial authentication of voters during accreditation. All verifications outside the BVAS are invalid.

“On the other hand, uploading the polling unit results to the INEC Result Viewing Portal (IReV) was intended to be in real-time on election day, which was substantially not the case.

“So, we are afraid that the election results from polling units to the INEC Result Viewing Portal (IReV) were suspiciously delayed because even results from different major cities across the country with good internet connections were not uploaded real-time to the INEC results portal.

“In the same vein, INEC officials were also being accused of paypassing the use of BVAS machines for accreditation in some parts of the country, expecially in the North East and North West, leading to allegations of massive thumb-printing and stuffing of ballot boxes.

“Another very noticeable anomaly is on viral videos where clearly under-aged voters in some states were seen thumb-printing ballot papers in parts of the North.

“The use of violence to scare voters as well as vote-buying persisted in parts of the country throughout the presidential and national assembly elections on Saturday.

“We, therefore, call on the electoral body to exercise its powers under the law to cancel results of polling units where violence, vote buying or mass Thumb-printing of ballot papers took place.

“Polling unit officials deployed by the Commission were accused of bypassing the BVAS machines, which is the only means of accreditation of voters. This is not in compliance with the electoral guidelines for the 2023 general elections as released by INEC and any election result from such polling unit must be canceled and rerun ordered.

“We also call on the international community to note these observations and pressure INEC to do the needful by ensuring compliance to its own guidelines.

“The current delay in announcing the results of the presidential election is even raising more suspicion that INEC has an ulterior motive or is acting a script to produce a particular candidate other than the one voted for by Nigerians”, the CNPP stated.

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