Politics
PDP’ II Bring Desired Change In 2023 – Diri
Bayelsa State Governor, Senator Douye Diri, has said the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) would bring about the desired change Nigerians are yearning for in 2023.
Governor Diri also advocated the strengthening of the party from national to the state level in order to wrest power from the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) at the centre in the next general election.
He stated this during a meeting with the executive of the PDP South-South zone in Government House, Yenagoa.
In a press release by his Chief Press Secretary, Mr Daniel Alabrah, the governor noted that PDP was the only reliable alternative party that could provide purposeful leadership at this point in time.
Senator Diri, who decried the worsening insecurity in the country, pointed out that Nigeria was sliding downwards on a daily basis and it behoves on the party to rescue the nation.
“Nigeria is ripe enough for change. We have experienced the change that the APC brought and now it is time to change the change. Today, there is insecurity and killings in almost every part of the country and Nigeria is sliding downwards on a daily basis”, he said.
“PDP is the only veritable and reliable alternative party for now. So, you and I have been given the mandate to rescue this nation. We have the best times to bounce back to the national scene.Our appeal is that the APC should allow the people to determine who becomes their president in 2023. We don’t want Nigeria to go down”, he added.
Senator Diri also cautioned that the party and country’s interest should be placed above personal considerations in the choice of a presidential candidate, noting that political power should be utilised to positively impact lives as it was ephemeral.
On the proposed use of electronic registration for party members, he urged the zonal leadership to prevail on the national leadership to kickstart the process.
While commending the zonal leadership for its role in getting Edo State back into the PDP fold, Diri said South-South would remain a stronghold of the party.
While highlighting some of the key projects being undertaken by his administration, particularly in the area of road infrastructure in the last one year, he assured that they would be ready for commissioning next February.
The projects include, construction of the Yenagoa-Oporoma and Sagbama-Ekeremor senatorial roads, construction of a media complex to accommodate the state-owned radio, television and newspaper outfits, establishment of technical colleges, renovation of schools among others.
In his remarks, the PDP National Vice Chairman, South-South, Chief Dan Orbih, commended the Diri administration for enhancing the state’s security architecture with the provision of operational vehicles.
Chief Orbih, who expressed concern over the security situation in the country, urged the governor to collaborate with his colleagues in the zone to put in place a security network to protect lives and property.
He also applauded the development strides of the governor in the area of infrastructure development, noting that the achievements of the PDP governors would boost the party’s campaign strategies.
Orbih, however, condemned in strong terms the recent nomination by President Muhammadu Buhari of a known APC member as commissioner in the Independent National Electoral Commission, describing the development as a threat to the country’s democracy.
By: Ariwera Ibibo-Howells, Yenagoa
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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