Politics
Osun Poll: Group Alleges Open Vote-Buying, Selling
A coalition of over 80 civil rights organisations under the aegis of the Nigerian Civil Society Situation Room, NCCSR, on Saturday raised doubts over the credibility of the governorship election in Osun State following alleged public sale and buying of votes.
The organisation said that although priority voting was given to the elderly and persons with disabilities in most of the polling units, “a few of the polling units were located in places with staircases making it inaccessible for people with crutches.”
The NCCSR raised the issues in its second preliminary statement signed by its Co-conveners, Ene Obi, Asma’u Joda and James Ugochukwu.
The statement read, “There was open negotiation of buying and selling of votes well-coordinated by the polling agents in many of the polling units. There were no complaints from any of them against each other. Codes and coupons were used to extract commitments from voters as opposed to the blatant money exchanging hands observed in the Ekiti State Governorship election.
“From Situation Room’s observations, no violence has been recorded and the number of people who came out was encouraging. We commend the people of the State of Osun for coming out early to cast their votes, especially the elderly who waited in queues patiently.
“INEC’s deployment of materials and personnel should also be commended. Vote trading was recorded in most of the areas observed particularly outside Osogbo. As voting continues, we call on all stakeholders to maintain the peaceful atmosphere recorded so far.”
The organisation also said Osun State has witnessed a high rate of Permanent Voters Cards collection, recording a total of 1,518,303 as reported by INEC.
They added that the voting day started peacefully without any indications of the apprehension that had trailed the days preceding the election.
The NCCSR said it received reports from its network of observers of the early arrival of materials and INEC officials in most of the polling units which led to the early commencement of voting.
“There was adequate presence of security personnel across the State and deployed across most of the polling units visited. Security personnel was friendly and professional in their approach. A number of them complained of not receiving their allowances ahead of the election.
“Some of the polling units were sited in residential spaces and palaces. In the polling units with large registered voters, the voting areas were rowdy implying that polling units with smaller numbers units are more orderly naturally.
“Political party agents were present in most of the polling units observed. A minimum of four party agents and a maximum of six.
“Knowledge of voting procedures and civic education of voters was very poor. Voting cubicles in many of the polling units were not positioned to ensure the secrecy of the ballots making it possible for voters to flash their votes to other people.
“The BVAS were deployed according to the number of registered voters. In polling units with over 1,000 voters, INEC kept to its promise to deploy two BVAS machines. The machines functioned credibly well.
“There were issues with the fingerprint verifications, however, the facial capture worked very well recording approximately one minute for accreditation and voting in Osogbo and in outside areas, it took longer.”
Politics
Alia Denies Calling For Ganduje’s Resignation
Governor of Benue State, Hyacinth Alia, has denied calling for the resignation of the National Chairman of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Alhaji Abdullahi Ganduje.
This was contained in a press statement issued on Wednesday in Makurdi by his Chief Press Secretary (CPS), Mr Tersoo Kula.
The Tide source reports that the CPS was reacting to some media reports that the governor had called for the resignation of the APC national chairman.
Kula said the governor at no time called for the resignation of the APC national chairman.
He said the governor enjoyed a good relationship with the Ganduje-led leadership of the APC.
“It is imperative to clarify that at no point did Governor Alia assembled, attended and sent a representative or participated in any meeting to discuss the removal or call for resignation of Alhaji. Abdullahi Umar Ganduje.
“The Benue State governor remains firm in his support and allegiance to the leadership of the National Working Committee of the APC, under the leadership of Alhaji Ganduje.
“Furthermore, at no point, whether publicly or privately, has the governor advocated or expressed any desire for the resignation of the national party chairman”, he said.
He said the governor was focused on positively changing the fortunes of the state.
“He is alive to his responsibilities as the leader of APC in Benue State and is doing everything legitimate to reposition the party for future victories,” Kula said.
Politics
LP Re-Elects Abure As National Chairman
The embattled national chairman of the Labour Party (LP), Mr. Julius Abure, has been re-elected for a second term by a unanimous affirmation of delegates despite the protests by the leadership of the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC).
The Chairman of the National Convention and Deputy Governor of Abia State, Mr. Ikechukwu Emetu declared him the winner during the party’s national convention that held in Nnewi, Anambra State, on Wednesday.
Other serving officers of the party were also returned unopposed.
Recall that the NLC had called for Abure’s resignation as party chairman and the immediate constitution of a caretaker transition committee to organize an all-inclusive national convention for the party.
Meanwhile, a factional chairman of the Labour Party in Anambra State, Mr Peter Okoye has boasted that the Nnewi national convention will not stand.
Describing the convention as a sham, Okoye said: “This is not a convention. We are on top of the matter. It’s purely illegal.
“There was no ward congress, no local government congress, no state congress, and now who and who are the elected delegates that are electing the National Working Committee, NWC, members?
“The NLC was not there, TUC was not there, the owners of the party and members of the NEC and BOT members were not there too. So, who is holding the convention?”
Politics
Suswam Blames External Forces For Problems In PDP
Former Governor of Benue State, Gabriel Suswam, has said that the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) is being undermined by external forces which have rendered the party ineffective as a viable opposition.
Senator Suswam stated this during a live television interview on Wednesday.
He lamented that the party had since after the 2023 general elections failed to live up to expectations of Nigerians as a viable opposition.
Senator Suswam, who blamed the current PDP leadership for the ineffective state of the largest opposition party in the country, said unless there is an overhaul of its leadership, the party would “go nowhere” because the current leadership has lost focus.
He said, “I think there are subterranean forces inferring in the party and they are determining what is going on in the party. And the leadership is acquiescing to it.
“Subterranean suggests that people are trying to control the party from the outside. They are controlling the party from the outside and they are keeping the party in a comatose state.”
The Benue senator accused the party of refusing to call a National Executive Committee (NEC) meeting to help resolve some of the issues arising in the party.
He regretted the inability of the party to resolve the fallout of the 2022 presidential primary election which saw a group of five governors work against the party’s presidential candidate in the 2023 presidential election.
He added that the inability of the Iliya Damagum-led leadership to discipline erring party members worsened the situation.
Senator Suswam said it was wrong for the party not to have sanctioned the G-5 governors and their allies who openly declared that they would remain in the party and work against its interest.
“They were not sanctioned which made others become emboldened to act anyway they wanted. PDP has been weakened since then,” he said.
He said no serious organisation does that, stressing that, “A serious organisation would apply sanctions” based on the laid down rules as contained in its constitution.
He further accused the acting national chairman of the party, Ambassador Iliya Damagum, of occupying the position which belongs to the North-Central zone, following the removal of the substantive chairman, Senator Iyorchia Ayu, who hails from the zone.
Amb. Damagum, who was the Deputy National Chairman (North), hails from the North-East zone but was, as permitted by the party’s constitution, made acting chairman after Ayu’s removal by a court order.
The party’s law provides that the deputy chairman from the same region as the chairman takes over in the event of the latter’s removal from office.
Senator Suswam further lamented that “PDP is comatose now, and nothing can happen now,” adding that it was regrettable that politicians are now preferring to hold talks with smaller parties and not the PDP.
Noting that the PDP was at the precipice, Senator Suswam said, “Until we provide that leadership, PDP will not be a viable platform. We need to overhaul the leadership of the party. There is no pretence about it, everybody in PDP knows it. Without discipline and reconciliation, the party goes nowhere.”
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