Politics
Osun: ‘Aregbesola’s Re-Election, Victory For Rivers, Amaechi’
The All Progressives
Congress (APC), Rivers State chapter, yesterday commended the people of Osun State for re-electing Governor Rauf Aregbesola polled 394,684 to win Saturday’s governorship election in the state.
Governor Aregbesola defeated (PDP) the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) candidate, Senator Iyiola Omisore who scored 292,747 votes, and 17 others to return as the governor-elect of the state.
The APC chairman, Dr Davies Ibiamu Ikanya, in a statement issued by his media assistant, Chief Eze Chukwuemeka Eze, said Aregbesola’s re-election was a victory for River State and the State APC leader, Governor Chibuike Rotimi Amaechi, who directed that the mistake of Ekiti State should not be allowed to play out in Osun.
According to him,’’ the election is a victory over fascism and nepotism represented by PDP.
“I have been exposed to the new tricks of PDP’s rigging machine. Probably, they will like to perfect them during the 2015 general elections but with what we have seen happen in Osun, we will go home to strategise and ensure that PDP’s evil manipulation will never go unchecked again in Nigeria. In short, with what I have observed, PDP cannot win a single State in any part of Nigeria, including President Jonathan’s Bayelsa State, in a free and fair election. With the resolve of most key APC leaders, I am convinced that it is bye-bye to the PDP visionless government under the present leadership at the centre”,he said.
Another APC chieftain and the Rivers State Liaison Officer in Lagos Chief Asondu Wenah, captured the Osun election result in these philosophical words: “Today in Osun State, light has defeated darkness, truth has crushed lies, ideas have defeated mediocrity, political idiocy has given way to political maturity and today hardwork has decimated foolishness and bravado.”
Meanwhile, an excited Chairman of the House Committee on Downstream Petroleum, House of Representatives, Hon Dakuku Peterside, attributed the outcome of the election to the exposure of the Osun people “as very principled and patriotic Nigerians who cannot either be bought or intimidated by tyrants marauding themselves as democrats. “
He went further to state that, “God’s words can’t be broken.Victory is not won through the number of chariots or horses of war, but through wisdom and God’s backing. I see very bright days ahead of APC. Days when God will subdue the pride of the ungodly and honour the mocked, persecuted and rejected and make Governor Amaechi a sought after bride.
“With the result of the Osun’s election, Governor Amaechi has nothing else to prove to Nigerians that he is a true nationalist and patriotic one”.
In Port Harcourt, a victory dance reportedlybroke out immediately Governor Aregbesola’s victory was confirmed. Leading the celebration was the Chief of Staff to Governor Amaechi, Chief Tony Okocha, an APC Chieftain, who threw the gates of his palatial mansion situated at the old GRA, wide open to all comers for good music, as well as assorted food and drinks.
According to Chief Okocha, “Today is the happiest day of my life as the Osun result declares the immediate demise of PDP, whose presence in Nigeria has become a curse and bad luck to Nigeria and Nigerians. Things have gotten so bad that no family in Nigeria can be sure of seeing tomorrow as their lives are no longer secured, apart from the few operating this government that is doomed to be chased out by the Nigerian masses in 2015. Let Nigerians celebrate as their freedom from a visionless, clueless and misguided government is at hand. The Lord is good. It’s confidence restored. Congratulations to all agents and adherents of change”.
He commended Governor Amaechi for the great role he played to ensure that Osun State did not fall into the hands of PDP, whose mission was to wreck the State and take it back to the days of darkness. He also commended Governor Areghesola who he described as the People’s Governor, who has proved that he is truly a lion, a great mobilizer, a political bulldozer, a man of the people and most importantly that he is on ground. I am happy to award the Governor the title of Tiger of our democracy”.
Rivers State Governor, Rt Hon Chibuike Rotimi Amaechi being cheered by a crowd of supporters during his ‘meet the people’ tour of Isiokpo Community in Ikwerre Local Government Area of the state, recently.
The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has insisted on the conclusion of the Continuous Voter Registration exercise yesterday (Sunday) despite calls by some opposition political parties and civil society organisations for an extension over concerns that millions of citizens could be excluded from the 2027 general elections.
In a notice issued on its X (formerly Twitter) handle on Saturday, the commission reminded the public that the exercise would end on Sunday, July 26, with designated registration centres open from 9am to 3pm.
“Your future won’t wait. Neither should you. The Continuous Voter Registration (CVR) exercise ends Sunday, 26 July 2026,” the Commission stated.
INEC also reminded prospective voters that they could complete the registration process online through its dedicated CVR portal or visit designated INEC offices and registration centres nationwide for physical assistance.
The new Electoral Act stipulates that INEC is required to stop voter registration, updating and revision of the voters’ register 90 days before an election to allow for data clean-up, the printing of Permanent Voter Cards and other logistical preparations.
The law also requires the Commission to display the voters’ register for claims and objections within the stipulated period to enable eligible Nigerians to challenge omissions and errors and help ensure the credibility of the final register for the polls.
The INEC National Commissioner on Information and Voter Education, Mr Mohammed Haruna, told The Tide source that the Commission would not extend the deadline, stressing that the registration exercise had to close to allow the electoral body to begin cleaning the data already collected.
“By midnight on Sunday, voter registration ends. There won’t be any extension. There are so many things that we need to do at the back end. We have to draw a line; otherwise, we won’t be able to produce a clean copy of what has been posted,” he said.
Mr Haruna explained that the commission’s Information Technology team and the Voter Registration Department would begin processing the data immediately after the closure of the registration window.
He said INEC would deploy its Automated Biometric Identification System to detect and remove multiple registrations before the provisional voters’ register is displayed for public scrutiny.
“We have this automatic biometric system that will check whether somebody has registered more than once. They will publish the register for claims and objections. That is, if anybody thinks a name shouldn’t be on the register, or if he has some claims, for instance, that his name has been omitted or some of his details are incorrect,” he said.
According to him, the final number of newly registered voters would only be known after the biometric verification and the claims and objections process.
“So, it’s after all that has been done that we will have a final figure, which we will now add to the existing 93 million or so. That will then become the voters’ register. We are mandated to give every political party a copy ahead of the election,” Mr Haruna added.
Responding to concerns over the number of Nigerians who may be excluded from the 2027 electoral process by the closure, the national commissioner said INEC could only account for eligible citizens who presented themselves for registration.
He added that the commission had recorded registrations through its online platform, physical registration centres and INEC offices across the 774 local government areas.
According to a public announcement signed by Mr Ariyo Rufus, Head of Department, Voter Education, Publicity, Gender and Inclusivity on behalf of Mr Oluwatoyin Babalola, the INEC Osun State Resident Electoral Commissioner (REC), the said exercise is aimed at assessing its operational readiness and testing the efficiency of the Bimodal Voter Accreditation System (BVAS) ahead of the governorship poll.
INEC stated that the exercise would simulate Election Day accreditation procedures but clarified that no voting would take place during the exercise.
The commission explained that “the mock accreditation would be conducted in selected polling units spread across the three senatorial districts of Osun State, covering Osun Central, Osun East and Osun West.
“In Osun Central Senatorial District, the selected local government areas are Osogbo, Olorunda, Ifelodun and Boripe, with designated polling units identified for the exercise.
“For Osun East Senatorial District, the exercise will take place in selected polling units across Ilesa West, Ilesa East, Oriade and Obokun local government areas.”
INEC also listed Egbedore, Ede North, Ede South and Ejigbo local government areas as the selected councils for the mock accreditation exercise in Osun West Senatorial District.
The commission urged all registered voters whose polling units were selected to participate in the exercise, stressing that only holders of valid Permanent Voter Cards (PVCs) would be accredited.
“This exercise is designed to test the functionality and efficiency of the Bimodal Voter Accreditation System (BVAS) under conditions similar to Election Day. There shall be no voting during the exercise,” the Commission stated.
INEC reaffirmed its appreciation to residents of Osun State for their continued cooperation and support throughout the electoral process.
INEC also assured political parties, the media, civil society organisations and other stakeholders of the Commission’s commitment to conducting a free, fair, credible, transparent and inclusive governorship election in Osun State.
Mr Dare made the remark while criticizing Alhaji Abubakar for hiring a United States of America lobbyist with $1.2 million, in preparation for the 2027 elections.
In a statement he personally signed, Mr Dare said the former vice president can’t take Nigeria down the path of self-destruction.
The statement read in part: “Worse still, for a man who presumes to offer leadership to Africa’s most populous nation, his recent resort to grievance offshoring, outsourcing political warfare to Washington and reportedly paying $1.2 million to an American lobbying firm to peddle petitions against a sitting Nigerian President, stands as an affront to Nigeria’s sovereignty and a vote of no confidence in its democratic institutions.
“It is also a stinging slight, an implicit condescension directed at generations of Nigerian journalists, policy analysts, academics, and public intellectuals who have spent decades analysing, critiquing, and carrying the burden of the nation’s democratic evolution.
“The Atiku Abubakar of today cuts a pitiable figure, a grotesque portrait of what a politician becomes when ambition overwhelms judgment and every political faculty becomes programmed for self-destruction.
“No, Atiku cannot take Nigeria down that path with him. He must travel it alone. But first, Nigerians deserve Atiku Abubakar’s report card. Charity, they say, begins at home, not in Washington.
“Nigerians deserve to know whether the Atiku Abubakar who has long presented himself as a democrat is, in reality, a politician of many colours. He has erected for himself a throne built simultaneously on sand and bayonets. It is time to explode the bayonets.”
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