Politics
PDP Screens Aspirants As Atiku Gets Campaign Outfit
The People’s Democratic Party (PDP) has commenced its screening for candidates contesting various positions across the country ahead of the 2011 general elections.
The screening which started on Tuesday was done in the zones and the 36 states, including the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Abuja. This will enable the party to choose those qualified and capable to go for the party primaries slated next January in the states.
At the south-south zonal secretariat, in Port Harcourt, governors, Senate and the House of Representatives aspirants from Bayelsa, Rivers, Akwa Ibom, Delta, Cross River and Edo States were still being screened while state Assembly aspirants were screened at their various state party secretariats.
The on-going screening in Rivers State, both at the south-south zonal PDP secretariat and the state party secretariat has been peaceful and orderly.
Majority of the aspirants have been screened although the screening committee of National Executive Council of the Party have refused to make statements concerning the exercise.
The publicity secretary of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in Rivers State, Mr. Celestine Ebemeri confirmed that the exercise has been peaceful since it started and commended aspirants for their conduct so far.
The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) had in November fixed January 15 for the end of party primaries while December 1, gave room for political parties to commence public campaigns.
The timetable which was released by the commission and signed by the chairman, Prof. Attaihiru Jega also fixed April 2011 for the Senate and House of Representatives Election while the Presidential election comes up on the 9th of April. The Governors and State House of Assemblies will have the elections on the 16th of April.
Former Vice President, Alhaji Atiku Abubakar has restructured his campaign organization in the South/South geo-political zone with Prof Sam Oyovbaire, as the new zonal Coordinator. The reorganisation came two weeks after the South South cordinator and Commisioner of Special Duties, Davies Ikanya Ibiam and Commissioner for Urban and Rural Development in Rivers State Bar.Gna Osima resigned their positions in the campaign structure. Oyovbaire an indigene of Delta State was before the emergence of Atiku as northern consensus candidate the Director of Policy & Strategy of the IBB Campaign Organization. Chief Eze Chukuwuemeka Eze, the South-South Publicity Secretary of Atiku Campaign Organisation said in a statement to our Political Correspondent in Port Harcourt on Tuesday that Oyovbaire accepted the appointment. The Tide recalled that Dr Davies Ibiam-Ikanya and Mr Osima Gina both Commissioners in Rivers State were last month announced as South/South and Rivers State campaign coordinators for Atiku but the two later resigned two days accepting the offer. Three deputy zonal coordinators also named are Prince Tonye Princewill (Rivers and Bayelsa States), Chief Fred Sowho (Edo and Delta States) and Dr. Essien Ibok for Akwa-Ibom and Cross Rivers States. A cleric Bishop Boma Lawson was appointed as South-South Zonal Secretary while Chief Eze Chukwuemeka Eze is the Zonal Publicity Secretary. Eze in the statement said that Dr Edith Wele former Women Leader of Rivers State Action Congress of Nigeria was appointed the State Coordinator for Rivers State with Messrs Onengiye Mbrelolomari as Rivers State Organising Secretary. He noted that members of IBB, Guasu, Saraki teams were fused into five committees to assist the campaign organization in the onerous task of mobilizing support for Atiku. The publicity secretary disclosed that both the south/south and Rivers campaign organizations have been inaugurated to achieve its goals in 2011 election.
King Banigo
Prof. Amupitan gave the warning on Saturday, in Port Harcourt, Rivers State, during the South-South Zonal Readiness Assessment and Interactive Staff Engagement organised ahead of the 2027 general elections.
He said insecurity remained a potential challenge to the electoral process but stressed that the Commission would not allow threats against its personnel to undermine its constitutional responsibilities.
“Insecurity may pose a challenge, but our collective constitutional resolve is far stronger. Let me again send a clear message from Port Harcourt: anyone who attempts to threaten, intimidate, or harm our ad-hoc staff, NYSC members, or permanent personnel will be brought to justice under the full weight of the law,” he said.
The INEC Chairman, who was accompanied by National Commissioners, directors and technical aides, disclosed that the South-South engagement was the fifth in a series of zonal assessments, following similar exercises in the South-West, North-West, South-East and North-East.
He explained that his physical presence across the geopolitical zones reflected the Commission’s field-first approach, emphasising that electoral integrity must be established through effective operations at the grassroots.
According to him, the assessment would cover operational preparedness across the 123 Local Government Areas in the six South-South states.
On election security, Prof. Amupitan said INEC had moved away from reactive security arrangements traditionally activated around election day to a proactive, intelligence-driven framework known as the “ICCES Tentacle”.
He explained that the framework was designed to extend inter-agency security coordination from national and state headquarters to local government areas and Registration Area Centres, including remote communities.
He identified three critical pillars of the framework as mapping and mitigating security threats, protecting electoral personnel and infrastructure, and guaranteeing safe access to polling units.
The INEC boss said the security arrangement would provide comprehensive protection for electoral personnel, technological infrastructure, including Bimodal Voter Accreditation System (BVAS) devices and server infrastructure, as well as voters.
He added that the framework was intended to ensure that every polling unit, irrespective of its geographical location or history of security challenges, remained safe and accessible for the exercise of democratic rights.
Prof. Amupitan disclosed that the South-South security architecture comprised approximately 60 major operational formations, headquarters and state commands operating under the Inter-Agency Consultative Committee on Election Security (ICCES).
The network, he said, brings together military, naval, air, police and other security and intelligence agencies across the six states.
“Together, this integrated multi-agency network represents the operational backbone that guarantees intelligence-led protection across every riverine creek, coastal axis, and land-based polling unit in the Niger Delta,” he stated.
Providing an overview of the region’s electoral significance, the INEC Chairman said the South-South had the fourth-largest voting bloc in the country, with 15,823,550 registered voters, representing 15.30 per cent of the national register.
Rivers State alone, he said, accounts for 3,736,434 registered voters spread across the 23 local government areas.
Alhaji Abubakar made the demand following revelations that some INEC registration officers allegedly abused their access to the voter registration system to introduce irregular records into the database.
In a statement issued by his Director of Strategic Communications, Mr Phrank Shaibu, the former vice-president described the development as a serious breach of the Commission’s internal safeguards and raised concerns about the integrity of the electoral process.
He urged INEC to identify the officials implicated in the alleged misconduct and explain what disciplinary or legal measures had been taken against them.
Alhaji Abubakar also called for an independent forensic audit of the preliminary voters’ register to establish the scale of the alleged manipulation, identify affected records and determine how the questionable entries were introduced into the system.
He further insisted that INEC preserve all relevant voter records, image files, system access logs and electronic audit trails to prevent the destruction or alteration of evidence before an independent examination could be conducted.
The former vice-president also demanded that the Commission disclose the identities of companies contracted to produce sensitive election materials ahead of the 2027 polls, arguing that transparency was essential to building public confidence in the electoral process.
INEC’s Director of Information and Communication Technology, Dr Lawrence Bayode, had earlier disclosed during a television interview that some registration officers across the country allegedly used their official login credentials to introduce irregularities into the voters’ database.
Dr Bayode explained that the Commission’s Automated Biometric Identification System helped identify questionable records and establish how some irregularities entered the system.
He, however, clarified that not all suspicious photographs were AI-generated, as some resulted from poor registration procedures.
The development followed public concerns over suspected AI-generated photographs, alleged duplicate entries and other inconsistencies discovered in the preliminary voters’ register published online on October 26, 2026.
INEC has maintained that the published document is a preliminary register and that it is reviewing questionable records ahead of the certification of the final Register of Voters.
The controversy has intensified calls for greater transparency and accountability in the management of the voters’ register as preparations gather momentum for the 2027 general elections.
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