Politics
ANPP Assures On Peace, Unity
The National Chairman of All Nigeria Peoples Party (ANPP),
Chief Ogbonnaya Onu, says the party is committed to the unity and peaceful
co-existence of Nigerians.
He made this known in Abuja recently when the Nigerian Youth
Summit Group (NYSG) visited him.
Onu said the party was ready to work with the group to
redeem the image and the lost glory of the country.
He expressed regret that since independence, the country had
faced challenges, which rather than being addressed, became even worse.
He said that Nigeria needed a change which could only be
achieved through the youths who were filled with love, enthusiasm, commitment,
and eager to contribute their quotas to national development.
“ We believe that with the youths, the problem that the
country have today will be solved.
“ We are also happy that you are visiting us today at a time
when the nation is passing through a very difficult time.”
The ANPP chairman assured the group of its total support in
whatever projects the NYSG wanted to embark upon, provided it was for the unity
of the country.
He described Nigeria as a great country that was supposed to
lead not only Africa but the world as a whole.
According to him, this is because of the abundant natural
resources which if properly utilised can make Nigeria one of the best countries
in the world.
He said it was regrettable that virtually all the sectors
had collapsed, especially in the areas of health and education, people now go
abroad for medical treatment and to further their studies.
“ We in ANPP have been calling on all Nigerians to give us
the necessary support, many of the problems confronting the nation are self inflicted
and the problems can be solved.
“ Nigeria can be united and prosperous, that is why we are
calling on Nigerians to give us the support to reposition the country for the
betterment of Nigerians,” he said
In his remarks, the Chairman of the group, Mr Abdullahi
Abdulmajeed, said the group was dedicated to the oneness of Nigeria,
irrespective of the diverse socio-political, ethnic, religious background of
Nigerians.
According to him, Nigeria is faced with challenges ranging
from insecurity, corruption, kidnapping and robbery, which he noted, were not
the case in the past.
He, however, urged the Federal Government to tackle these
menace head long, especially the security challenges.
He said the group’s concern was to rise up and cooperate
with the federal government in its transformational agenda.
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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