The Labour Party in Imo State has alleged that ruling All Progressive Congress, APC and security agencies have refused to grant it’s party agents access into the collation centers.
According to Imo State, Labour Party Chairman, Comrade Onyekwulisi F.B.I stated that their party agents were refused entry into the collation centers in the 27 Local Government Areas across the State.
He said, “Information reaching our situation Room has it that, the APC led SOLADs in collaboration with their misguided Security personnel and Touts, have refused the LP Agents access into the 27 LGA collation Centres across the State.
“We call on INEC, the Police, CSO and the relevant Agencies to take note and to call them to Order with immediacy. Because, we shall do everything possible to resist them from subverting the overwhelming will of the people, which they did express via the Ballots, today.
Some personnel of the Nigerian Security and Civil Defence Corps under the Nasarawa State command, on Saturday, brutalized the Head of News, Breeze FM, Lafia, Edwin Philip, while doing a live coverage of the Governorship and House of Assembly elections in the state.
Speaking with Journalists shortly after the incident, Philip said he was simply carrying out his constitutional and legitimate role when the NSCDC personnel attacked him with a weapon, leaving a deep injury on his head.
Edwin Philip– Head of News, Breeze FM, Lafia.
He said, “While I was reporting election proceeding live to my station, Breeze fm situation room, I got a call that voters at polling unit 061, Ciroma ward, Lafia East, are asked to come back to vote after being accredited which is against the new electoral law.
“On reaching the venue, I was told by the electorates that they were told to be accredited and go back home to return by 2: 30 pm, and their fingers were already dotted with ink, symbolising that they had voted.
“So, I sighted the Adon Garin Lafia, Ibrahim Abdullahi, who is the Chief of staff to the Emir of Lafia, then I moved away from the polling unit as he became violent and started beaten up some electorates.
“All of a sudden, he left the location only to reappear with some NSCDC personnel and ordered them to beat me up and take me away. They beat me and left a deep cut on my head and my body became swollen.”
Philip said the personnel took his wrist watch, fez cap and his mobile phone and later returned his mobile phone to him, adding that he had reported the matter to the Nasarawa State Command of the NSCDC and the Nigeria Police Force, A Division office, Lafia.
Reacting to the development, Public Relations Officer of the NSCDC State command, Victor Jerry, confirmed the attack while speaking with newsmen in Lafia on Saturday.
He, however, claimed that the personnel who carried out the attack were not deployed from the State Command, but assured that the command would launch an investigation into the matter to bring the perpetrators to book.
Meanwhile, the Nasarawa State Council of the Nigeria Union of Journalist, have condemned the attack of Edwin Philip by the personnel of the Nigeria Security and Civil Defense Corps, describing the act as barbaric and unfortunate.
This was contained in a Press Statement signed by the council secretary, Comrade Sunday John, and made available to newsmen in Lafia.
“The union received with shock and dismay, the attack on its member by officials of the Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps.
“The attack on the innocent Journalist was uncalled for, barbaric and unfortunate. Edwin Philip has been performing his duties in line with the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria and professional ethics.
“The union calls on the Commandant of the NSCDC in Nasarawa State, to investigate the infringement of the fundamental Human Rights of the Journalist and punish the personnel involved to serve as deterrent to others,” the statement reads in part.
Candidates in Nigeria must be at least 30 years old to be eligible for a governorship office.
According to data from the Independent’s National Electoral Commission (INEC), the average age of candidates for the 2023 Gubernatorial/House Of Assembly election is 51, while the average age for incumbents running for re-election is 58 years old.
Data gathered, also shows that 20 of the youngest contenders for Gubernatorial office are 35 years old.
In contrast, Abdulraheem Shuaibu Oba, a candidate for the NNPP in the state of Kwara, is the oldest candidate at age 74.
Only six states now have candidates running for governor who are under 50 on average.
Between 1999 – 2023, female political participation in Nigeria has been on an all time low.
Currently a total of 417 candidates are vying for Governorship positions in 28 states, but only 25 (6%) are women.
Despite strong female candidates like Aishatu “Binani” Dahiru in Adamawa state, there are still incredibly few women in political leadership positions in Nigeria.
As of March 2023, Nigeria is ranked 182nd out of 186 countries by the Inter-Parliamentary Union (IPU), the international association of national parliaments. Even worse, Nigeria trails well behind other African nations like Senegal and South Africa.
Aishatu “Binani” Dahiru would become Nigeria’s first female governor if she were to win, which may pave the way for additional women to enter politics in that country.
The Labour Party candidate in the Lagos State Gubernatorial election, Gbadebo Rhodes-Vivour, has lost his polling unit to the incumbent, Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu of the All Progressives Congress (APC).
Sanwo-Olu won with 29 votes at PU: 045, Anifowoshe, Ikeja LGA while Rhodes-Vivour polled 18 votes and the Peoples Democratic Party’s Olajide Adeniran, popularly known as Jandor, polled 2 votes.
In the House of Assembly elections, at the same polling unit, the APC polled 34, LP 15, while PDP again polled 1 vote
In a bid to counter vote-buying, the CBN had redesigned the N200, N500, and N1,000 banknotes, banning the use of the old.
The Nigeria Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) intercepted four party agents in Ogun who were in possession of multiple credit cards with the intent to buy votes and manipulate the Governorship/State House of Assembly elections.
Each card has a value of 10,000 and is code-activated for cash.
The NDLEA, stated that its Chairman, Brigadier-General Buba Marwa (rtd.), ordered that the suspects be handed over to the police.
The Lagos State candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in the 2023 general elections, Olajide Adediran, popularly known as Jandor, after casting his ballot in Lagos about 11 a.m. this morning, made the above statement and lamented what he described as rampant violence, harassment, and voter intimidation.
Notwithstanding his complaints about voter intimidation and insecurity in different sections of the state, Jandor expressed confidence that he will win the election.
“We are getting reports from everywhere and we have seen widespread violence, voter intimidation which we expected anyway. We call on the security agencies to live up to expectations. We are confident, we will win the entire 245 wards, so we are very optimistic we will win this election,” he said.
When asked if he will congratulate the winner in event of a loss, Jandor responded that the election is a process and he would follow through till the end.
To win the position of governor of Lagos State, he must dislodge the incumbent governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu of the APC and win other candidates, including Gbadebo Rhodes-Vivour of the Labour Party.
Jandor at his Polling Unit, PU: 001, Osolu Secondary School, Irewe, Ojo LGA, Lagos
According to former President Goodluck Jonathan, the choice of the next group of political office holders, should be chosen by Nigerians through the democratic process rather than by the legal system.
He remarked on Saturday after casting his ballot in the contests for Gubernatorial and State House Of Assembly offices. Goodluck Jonathan (who also was a former Governor of Bayelsa State) and his wife Patience, cast ballots in Otuoke LGA, Bayelsa.
He told journalists
“I think Nigerians have decided that they must choose their leaders. Any country whose leaders cannot be chosen by the ballots is doomed. As a result, we must establish a system where voters, not judges, decide who leads us at the levels of president, governor, and parliamentarian. The leaders should be chosen by the ballots.”
Jonathan also praised the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) for conducting the Bayelsa elections on March 18 but frowned at the thugs’ destruction of election materials in four wards of Constituency 2 in the Ogbia LGA.
“In terms of the general security of the polls, everything is calm here, but I am alarmed because, within my local government, I learned that the state constituency 2 had crises and things had been burned.”
The former President urged security forces to bring to justice the perpetrators of the crime right away, stressing that no one should tamper with Nigeria’s electoral process.
Sorting and counting of votes have commenced in different parts of Nigeria for the guber and state assembly elections. Voting ended at exactly 2.30pm at most polling units across the Nation.
Accreditation and voting had commenced in most voting units at 08:30am. According to INEC disclosed stats; Over 87 Million Nigerians registered to Voter. The Bimodal Voter Accreditation System (BVAS) machines were deployed and Security officials including policemen were also seen at several polling units.
With February 25 Presidential and National Assembly elections results declared by the Independent National Electoral Commission, the attention has shifted to the states.
18 political parties fielded candidates for the governorship elections slated to hold in 28 out of the 36 states of the Federation while the remaining 8 states (Anambra, Bayelsa, Edo, Ekiti, Imo, Kogi, Osun and Ondo) are held off-season due to litigations and court judgements.
Notwithstanding, elections for members of state legislature will hold in the 36 states of the Federation.
Thousands of candidates are competing for 993 State Houses of Assembly seats.
Independent National Electoral Commission has uploaded some election results from the governorship and State Houses of Assembly elections.
Recall that opposition parties and some Nigerians had knocked INEC over its failure to upload results immediately on its Result Viewing portal during the presidential and National Assembly elections.
Although the Commission explained that technical glitches marred result transmission which many critics However, a few days to the March 18 elections, INEC said the technical issues had been rectified and assured that election results would be transmitted immediately.
Checks by our correspondent on Saturday, showed that in Ogun State, two results were submitted; Plateau State, 12 results were submitted; Zamfara State, 11 results were submitted; Rivers State, 80 results were submitted, and for Lagos State, 85 results as at the time of filing this report.
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