Connect with us

News

Presidential Election Results Falsified -Atiku’s Witnesses

Published

on

Nine witnesses called, yesterday, by the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and its candidate in the last presidential election, Atiku Abubakar insisted that results of the elections were falsified to favour the candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Muhammadu Buhari.
The witnesses, who said they served as local government and state collation agents of the PDP, made sundry allegations of result manipulation, voters’ intimidation and harassment, mutilation and tearing of result sheets, and cancellation of election where the petitioners won.
At cross-examination, majority of the witnesses were however unable to substantiate the allegations as contained in their written statements, which they adopted as their evidence in chief before the Presidential Election Petition Tribunal (PEPT).
Nicholas Msheliza, who said he acted as PDP’s state collation agent for Borno State claimed that virtually all the result sheets from the various local governments in the state were mutilated.
Msheliza also claimed that accreditation of voters did not take place in over 200 polling units out of the 3,933 statutory polling units in the state.
Also alleging over-voting in the state, Msheliza said the 911, 786 declared by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) “was well over the accredited voters across the state”.
But, under cross-examination, lawyer to INEC, Yunus Usman (SAN), the witness said he did not have the true figures of votes actually scored by the parties.
When asked by lawyer to APC, Adeniyi Akintola (SAN), if he visited all the polling units in the state during the election, Msheliza said, “I could not have visited the polling units because of the peculiar security challenges in Borno State.”
The lawyer drew Msheliza’s attention to part of his statement, where he said he “observed in the course of transmitting the results from local government result sheets to the state result sheets wrong figures were being entered by INEC officials.”
Akintola then asked the witness to reconcile his claim that the results were already collated before he got to the collation centre with his assertion, in his written statement, that he observed when the figures were being tendered; Msheilla said: “They were merely announcing the results to the hearing of people present.”
John Makama, who served as the PDP collation agent for Sanga Local Government in Kaduna, claimed that results were wrongly cancelled by INEC officials in some polling units won by his party, with the intention of reducing the votes of the petitioners.
When asked by Usman to produce the actual scores of his party, which he claimed were cancelled, the witness said he did not have them.
Makama said the result sheets containing the actual scores were submitted to his party, but that they were not attached to his statement that was tendered before the tribunal.
When asked by Buhari’s lawyer, Yusuf Ali (SAN) whether he would be surprised to know that cancellation of results is not one of the grounds of the petitioners’ case in respect of his local government, the witness kept mute.
On how he knew that the allegedly cancelled results belonged to his party, the witness said it was generally known that the PDP was popular in most part of his local government, where the results were cancelled and that the APC was only popular in three wards
Bukar Petrola, said he served as PDP’s collation agent in Dambowa Local Government of Borno State.
Petrola claimed that the APC took advantage of the series of bomb explosions carried out by Boko Haram a day before and on the morning of the election to manipulate the election results.
When asked how he knew all that happened in all the 10 wards and 100 polling units in his local government, the witness said the whole election was conducted in the LG Secretariat, because of the problem of Boko Haram.
Under cross-examination by Ali, Petrola said all the ward collation centres were also located within the LG headquarters, which made it easy for him to move around all the voting points and know witness what was happening.
When questioned further, the witness said although devoted after being accredited with card reader, the electoral process was disrupted later when explosions occurred.
He said everyone ran away when bombs exploded, “and the 2nd and 3rd defendants took advantage of the situation, with the alleged collaboration of members of the Civilian Joint Task Force (CJTF).
When asked how he was able to monitor what happened during the election, even when he claimed the explosions chased everyone away, the witness said he hid and watched from a distance.
Yau Yusuf said he was PDP’s collation agent in Dass Local Government Area of Bauchi State.
He said although he was fully accredited and voted, voters were intimidated and harassed.
On why he was able to vote if his claim of intimidation and harassment of voters were that pronounced, the witness said: “the intimidation did not stop me from voting, but it altered the result after the voting process.
“The original result was torn by agents of APC in the office of INEC right at the presence of INEC officials,” he added.
When asked where he kept the torn results, he said they should either be with INEC or the police, who collected the torn results and promised to investigate.
On whether the person, who tore the results has been prosecuted and convicted, the witness said no, “because he is still moving around town.”
When asked why he excluded the information about torn result sheet from the written statement, Yusuf said he did not because the statement was a summary of what happened and that he was at the tribunal to elaborate.
The witness, who claimed to have visited most of the polling units in his local government, said under cross examination, that “there are 116 polling units in my local government. I visited minimum of three in each of the 10 wards in the local government.”
When asked why he signed the result sheet if he was not happy with the results, the witness said he signed to obtain a copy of the result sheet for the purpose of the tribunal.
Jafar Abbas Ibrahim, who said he was a collation agent in Zaria Local Government Area of Kaduna State, also claimed the election process was manipulated against his party.
On whether the alleged vote switching, which he claimed took place in his presence, Ibrahim said he witness some and some were contained in the result sheets passed to him by the party agents at the polling unit and ward levels.

Continue Reading

News

I’m Committed To Community Dev – Ajinwo

Published

on

The Sole Administrator of Emohua Local Government Area, Barr. Franklin Ajinwo, has reaffirmed his unwavering commitment to supporting community development, peace, and progress, describing it as his life’s calling.
Ajinwo made this known on when Okporowo Vanguard—a foremost association dedicated to driving sustainable development in Okporowo community—paid him a courtesy visit at the Council Secretariat, Emohua.

Speaking during the visit, the Emolga  Council boss advised the group to shun internal wranglings and leadership tussles, cautioning that such impediments could undermine their collective goals. He emphasized that unity is strength, and true power comes only from God.

Highlighting his ongoing efforts in repositioning standards within Emohua Local Government, Barr. Ajinwo commended Okporowo Vanguard for initiating plans to conduct large-scale skills acquisition training for young people in Okporowo. He assured them of his steadfast support towards such developmental initiative.

The former Chairman of the National Union of Local Government Employees (NULGE) in Rivers State stressed the need for selfless service, saying it is essential for achieving peace, unity, and development in any community.

He applauded the group’s vision of empowering youths through skills acquisition, aligning it with global best practices aimed at reducing dependency on white-collar jobs.

Earlier, the President of Okporowo Vanguard, Hon. Israel Emeji, outlined Barr. Ajinwo’s numerous and impactful contributions to the development of Okporowo community.

According to him, every family in the community has benefited from Barr. Ajinwo’s dedicated employment initiatives.

Hon. Emeji disclosed that during his tenure as Head of Local Government Administration (HLGA) and as NULGE Chairman, Barr. Ajinwo facilitated the employment of over five hundred (500) individuals from Okporowo community—a record that informed the association’s decision to honour him with the Excellent Leadership Award.

In a vote of thanks, the Secretary of the group, Dr. Okechukwu Godwin Amadi, praised Barr. Ajinwo’s outstanding leadership and unwavering support, both before and after his appointment as Sole Administrator.

He thanked him for the warm reception and appreciated members of Okporowo Vanguard for their strong turnout and continuous support for the present administration.

In their separate remarks, Barr. Kelvin Ajinwo, Chief Polycarp Ndala, and other dignitaries present prayed for God’s continued guidance and protection over Barr. Ajinwo, describing him as a divine gift to the Okporowo community.

They expressed hope that he would be granted even more leadership opportunities to further uplift the living standards of the people.

Continue Reading

News

RSG Tasks Rural Dwellers On RAAMP  …As Sensitization Team Visits Akulga, Degema, Three Others

Published

on

Rivers State Head of Service, Dr (Mrs) Inyingi Brown, has called on rural communities in the State to embrace the Rural Access and Agricultural marketing project (RAAMP) with a view to improving their  living conditions.

This follows the ongoing sensitization campaign by the State Project Implementation Unit (SPIU) visits to Degema, Abonnema, Afam headquarters of Degema, Akuku Toru and Oyigbo Etche and Omuma local government areas respectively.

Dr Brown who was represented by the Deputy Director, Special Duties in her office, Mrs Dein Akpanah, said RAAMP was initiated by the Federal Government and World Bank to economically empower rural dwellers.s

She said the World Bank understands the plights of rural farmers and traders in the State, and therefore came up with the programme to address them.

According to her, RAAMP will improve the conditions of farmers, traders and fishermen, and therefore, behoves on every rural communities in the State to embrace the programme.

The Head of Service also said the programme would support the youths to be gainfully employed while  bridges and roads will be built to link farms and fishing settlements.

Also speaking, the State project coordinator, Mr Joshua Kpakol, said the programme has the potential of creating millionaires among farmers and fishermen in the State.

Kpakol who was represented by Engr. Sam Tombari, said RAAMP would help farmers and fishermen to preserve their produce.

According to him, the project will build cold rooms and Silos for preservation of crops and fishes while access roads will also be created to link farmers and fishermen to the market.

He, however, warned them against any act that will lead to the suspension of the projects by the World Bank.

Kpakol particularly warned against acts such as kidnapping, marching ground, gender based violence and child labour, adding that such acts if they occur may  lead to the cancellation of the project by the World Bank.

During the visit to Oyigbo local government area, Mr Joshua Kpakol, said the team was there to let them know how they will benefit from the Raamp.

The coordinator who was personally at Oyigbo said the World Bank introduced the project to check food insecurity in the State.

He said already 19 states in Nigeria are already benefitting from the project and called on them to embrace the project.

Meanwhile, stakeholders in the three local government areas have commended the World Bank for including their areas in the project.

They, however, complained over the incessant attacks by pirates on their waterways.

At Degema, King Agolia of Ke kingdom said land was a major problem in the kingdom.

King Agolia represented by High Chief Alpheus Damiebi said many indigenes of the kingdom are willing to go into farming but are handicapped by lack of land.

Also at Degema, the representative of the Omu Onyam Ekeim of Usokun Degema kingdom, Osoabo Isaac, said Degema has embraced the programme but needed more information on the implementation of the programme.

Similarly, while High Chief Precious Abadi advised that the project should not be narrowed to only crop farming, a community women leader, Mrs Orikinge Eremabo Otto, called for the construction of cold rooms in all fishing settlements in the area.

At Abonnema, Mr Diamond Kio linked the problem of the area to incessant piracy along waterways.

He also expressed fears over the possibility of the project being hijacked by politicians.

Also at Abonnema, a stakeholder, Ikiriko Kelvin, called on the World Bank to design an agricultural project that will suit the riverine environment, while at Oyigbo, HRH Eze Boniface Akawo expressed satisfaction with the project.

 

John Bibor

 

Continue Reading

News

Senate Replaces Natasha As Committee Chairman 

Published

on

The political mudslinging between the Senate leadership and Senator Natasha Akpoti-Uduaghan continued yesterday as the Senate named Senator Aniekan Bassey as the new Chairman of the Committee on Diaspora and Non-Governmental Organisations.

Senate President, Godswill Akpabio, announced the appointment during yesterday’s plenary, confirming Bassey’s replacement of Senator Natasha Akpoti-Uduaghan, who is currently on suspension.

Akpoti-Uduaghan was reassigned to the Diaspora and NGOs Committee in February after she was removed as Chair of the Senate Committee on Local Content during a minor reshuffle.

Bassey is the senator representing Akwa Ibom North-East Senatorial District.

Although no reason was given for her removal yesterday, the change is believed to be connected to her unresolved suspension.

In May, Justice Binta Nyako of the Federal High Court ordered her reinstatement and directed her to tender an apology to the Senate.

However, the Senate has insisted it has not received a certified true copy of the court judgment.

Akpoti-Uduaghan who represents Kogi Central, has yet to resume her legislative duties despite a recent court ruling that voided her suspension.

In a televised interview on Tuesday, Akpoti-Uduaghan said she was awaiting the Certified True Copy of the judgment before officially returning to plenary, citing legal advice and respect for institutional process.

Although the Federal High Court described her suspension as “excessive and unconstitutional”, a legal opinion dated July 5 and attributed to the Senate’s counsel, Paul Daudu (SAN), argued that the ruling lacked any binding directive to enforce her reinstatement.

Akpoti-Uduaghan, one of only three female senators in the current assembly, said the continued delay in allowing her return was not only a denial of her mandate but also a blow to democratic representation.

“By keeping me out of the chambers, the Senate is not just silencing Kogi Central, it’s denying Nigerian women and children representation. We are only three female senators now, down from eight,” she said.

 

 

Continue Reading

Trending