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Following the declaration of Sokoto, Adamawa, Bauchi, Plateau, and Benue states governorship election inconclusive, the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) has accused the chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), Prof. Mahmood Yakubu, of overtly playing the script of the Buhari presidency and the All Progressives Congress (APC) by declaring states where the PDP was in clear lead as inconclusive.
Addressing newsmen on Monday, in Abuja, the National Publicity Secretary of PDP, Kola Ologbondiyan, warned the commission against result alterations.
Ologbondiyan insisted that INEC, under Prof. Yakubu, had become overtly partisan, surrendered its independence to the APC and carried on as a compromised umpire with obnoxious impunity, thereby sending signals of being heavily bribed by the APC to alter results for its candidates.
The party’s spokesman said the PDP had full intelligence of how INEC was acting on instructions from the Buhari presidency and the APC in orchestrating unwholesome situations and declaring already concluded governorship elections in Sokoto, Adamawa, Bauchi, Plateau as well as other states as inconclusive immediately it became obvious that the PDP was set to win.
The party spokesman said: “This also informs the foisting of unexplainable stoppage and delays in the announcement of already collated results in other states where the PDP is clearly leading the race, from the results so far declared at the polling units.
“Our party has also been informed of how INEC is now seeking ways to use the situation to aid the APC to alter the results and announce APC candidates as winners in the elections clearly led by the PDP just as it did in the 2018 Osun State governorship election.
“In some of the states like Rivers, the PDP has information of plots by APC to leverage on the declaration by INEC to unleash more violence in the state and push for isolated election where they can bring in more security forces to concentrate on forcefully taking over the state.
“Already, in Rivers State, INEC is under heavy pressure from the Director General of the Buhari Campaign Organisation and Minister of Transport, Rotimi Amaechi, to post out and replace the State Resident Electoral Commissioner (REC) as well as the Administrative Secretary.
“This will be totally unacceptable, completely provocative, and shall be firmly resisted by the people even if the totality of our nation’s security is deployed to Rivers State.
“This is more so as results of all the state assembly elections in Rivers State have been declared and winners had emerged,” he said.
The party cautioned Prof. Yakubu and his INEC to perish the thought of altering any figures for the APC and to immediately announce “our winning results in these states and others where our candidates clearly won, going by the results already declared at the polling units, wards and local government areas collation”.
The PDP said anything short of its demand would attract the legitimate wrath of the people.
“This is because Nigerians are already aware that elections have been concluded in these states; results have been collated and declared at the polling units, ward and local government collation centres and all returning officers and political parties conclusively have the figures,” the party said.
Meanwhile, the Coalition of United Political Parties (CUPP) has said that an electoral war in the magnitude of that of 1983 was looming in states like Rivers over the alleged desperate moves by the Nigerian Army and the APC to announce fake governorship election results in army barracks in favour of an unknown party called AAC.
The CUPP, in a statement by its spokesman, Ikenga Imo Ugochinyere, condemned the use of thugs allegedly belonging to the APC and security agents to cause electoral crisis in Rivers State.
The CUPP said: “We hereby say without mincing words that the undemocratic activities of the military and other security agencies in Rivers State are tantamount to treasonable felony and should be viewed and treated that way.
“This is an assault on democratic institutions in the country and should be resisted and condemned by all lovers of democracy within and outside the country.”
INEC had declared the governorship election in Benue inconclusive.
Declaring the results of the election, the returning officer, Prof. Sabastine Maimako, said the PDP candidate, Governor Samuel Ortom, polled 410, 576 votes while his closest rival, Emmanuel Jime of the APC polled 329, 022 votes.
Maimako stated that he had to declare the election inconclusive on the grounds that the total number of votes cancelled were higher than the margin by which the PDP was leading the APC in the elections.
According to him, the margin by which Governor Ortom was leading Jime was 81,554 votes, while the number of votes cancelled in polling units and wards across the states amounted to about 121, 019 votes.
INEC also declared the March 9 governorship election in Sokoto inconclusive.
It said the decision was because 75, 403 votes were cancelled which were higher than 3, 413 margin difference.
The State’s Chief Returning Officer, Prof. Fatima Muktar, made the declaration on Sunday in Sokoto, stating that 51 candidates contested the election.
Muktar, who is the Vice Chancellor, Federal University Dutse (FUD), Jigawa, declared that it was based on the consideration of cancelled votes that emanated from 136 polling units in the state.
“From the forgoing, the election is declared inconclusive as I cannot take a decision in recognition of the narrow margin according to electoral law”, Muktar said.
Similarly, INEC on Monday declared as “inconclusive” outcome of the governorship election in Bauchi State.
Prof. Mohammed Kyari, Returning Officer who made the declaration, said that apart from the cancellation of the result from entire Tafawa Balewa Local Government Area because of irregularities, the exercise in some other polling units also suffered the same fate.
“The margin between the winner and opponent is less than the total number of votes cancelled in some polling units.
“By law, since the margin of winner is less than the total number of votes cancelled and registered voters in the areas where the votes have been cancelled, this elections is hereby declared inconclusive,” he said.
He said his decision was in line with section 26 part 53 of the Electoral Act.
Announcing the votes garnered by the two contending parties before declaring the outcome inconclusive, the Returning Officer had given the scores of incumbent governor, Mohammed Abubakar of APC as 465,453 votes and that of Bala Mohammed of PDP as 469,512 votes.
Kyari said that the INEC would conduct re-run election within 21 days in the affected local government area and polling unit which results had been cancelled before the final announcement of the winner.
INEC also on Monday declared Kano governorship election inconclusive.
The state’s Returning Officer, Bello Shehu, a professor, said the election is inconclusive because the number of cancelled votes was higher than the difference in votes scored between the two leading candidates: Abba Yusuf of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and incumbent Governor Abdullahi Ganduje of the All Progressives Congress (APC).
Announcing the results, Shehu said while the PDP candidate polled 1,014,474 votes, Ganduje of the APC scored 987,819 votes leaving a difference of 26,655 votes.
He also said the total number of votes cancelled across 22 local government areas including Gama ward of Nasarawa local government was 141,694 votes.
Meanwhile, Emeka Ihedioha of the PDP was only four local government areas (LGAs) away from becoming the next governor of Imo State as at the time of going to press.
Of the 23 local government areas announced by INEC, Ihedioha has won eight.
His closest rival, Uche Nwosu of the Action Alliance (AA) clinched victory in 10 local government areas, but is a few tens of thousands votes behind Ihedioha.
Ihedioha has polled 212,283 votes while Nwosu, has a total of 133,302 votes to his name.
There are 27 local government areas in the state. The LGAs left are Ihiette Uboma, Ngor Okpala, Ahiasu Mbaise and Ideato South LGA. (Daily Independent)
Addressing newsmen on Monday, in Abuja, the National Publicity Secretary of PDP, Kola Ologbondiyan, warned the commission against result alterations.
Ologbondiyan insisted that INEC, under Prof. Yakubu, had become overtly partisan, surrendered its independence to the APC and carried on as a compromised umpire with obnoxious impunity, thereby sending signals of being heavily bribed by the APC to alter results for its candidates.
The party’s spokesman said the PDP had full intelligence of how INEC was acting on instructions from the Buhari presidency and the APC in orchestrating unwholesome situations and declaring already concluded governorship elections in Sokoto, Adamawa, Bauchi, Plateau as well as other states as inconclusive immediately it became obvious that the PDP was set to win.
The party spokesman said: “This also informs the foisting of unexplainable stoppage and delays in the announcement of already collated results in other states where the PDP is clearly leading the race, from the results so far declared at the polling units.
“Our party has also been informed of how INEC is now seeking ways to use the situation to aid the APC to alter the results and announce APC candidates as winners in the elections clearly led by the PDP just as it did in the 2018 Osun State governorship election.
“In some of the states like Rivers, the PDP has information of plots by APC to leverage on the declaration by INEC to unleash more violence in the state and push for isolated election where they can bring in more security forces to concentrate on forcefully taking over the state.
“Already, in Rivers State, INEC is under heavy pressure from the Director General of the Buhari Campaign Organisation and Minister of Transport, Rotimi Amaechi, to post out and replace the State Resident Electoral Commissioner (REC) as well as the Administrative Secretary.
“This will be totally unacceptable, completely provocative, and shall be firmly resisted by the people even if the totality of our nation’s security is deployed to Rivers State.
“This is more so as results of all the state assembly elections in Rivers State have been declared and winners had emerged,” he said.
The party cautioned Prof. Yakubu and his INEC to perish the thought of altering any figures for the APC and to immediately announce “our winning results in these states and others where our candidates clearly won, going by the results already declared at the polling units, wards and local government areas collation”.
The PDP said anything short of its demand would attract the legitimate wrath of the people.
“This is because Nigerians are already aware that elections have been concluded in these states; results have been collated and declared at the polling units, ward and local government collation centres and all returning officers and political parties conclusively have the figures,” the party said.
Meanwhile, the Coalition of United Political Parties (CUPP) has said that an electoral war in the magnitude of that of 1983 was looming in states like Rivers over the alleged desperate moves by the Nigerian Army and the APC to announce fake governorship election results in army barracks in favour of an unknown party called AAC.
The CUPP, in a statement by its spokesman, Ikenga Imo Ugochinyere, condemned the use of thugs allegedly belonging to the APC and security agents to cause electoral crisis in Rivers State.
The CUPP said: “We hereby say without mincing words that the undemocratic activities of the military and other security agencies in Rivers State are tantamount to treasonable felony and should be viewed and treated that way.
“This is an assault on democratic institutions in the country and should be resisted and condemned by all lovers of democracy within and outside the country.”
INEC had declared the governorship election in Benue inconclusive.
Declaring the results of the election, the returning officer, Prof. Sabastine Maimako, said the PDP candidate, Governor Samuel Ortom, polled 410, 576 votes while his closest rival, Emmanuel Jime of the APC polled 329, 022 votes.
Maimako stated that he had to declare the election inconclusive on the grounds that the total number of votes cancelled were higher than the margin by which the PDP was leading the APC in the elections.
According to him, the margin by which Governor Ortom was leading Jime was 81,554 votes, while the number of votes cancelled in polling units and wards across the states amounted to about 121, 019 votes.
INEC also declared the March 9 governorship election in Sokoto inconclusive.
It said the decision was because 75, 403 votes were cancelled which were higher than 3, 413 margin difference.
The State’s Chief Returning Officer, Prof. Fatima Muktar, made the declaration on Sunday in Sokoto, stating that 51 candidates contested the election.
Muktar, who is the Vice Chancellor, Federal University Dutse (FUD), Jigawa, declared that it was based on the consideration of cancelled votes that emanated from 136 polling units in the state.
“From the forgoing, the election is declared inconclusive as I cannot take a decision in recognition of the narrow margin according to electoral law”, Muktar said.
Similarly, INEC on Monday declared as “inconclusive” outcome of the governorship election in Bauchi State.
Prof. Mohammed Kyari, Returning Officer who made the declaration, said that apart from the cancellation of the result from entire Tafawa Balewa Local Government Area because of irregularities, the exercise in some other polling units also suffered the same fate.
“The margin between the winner and opponent is less than the total number of votes cancelled in some polling units.
“By law, since the margin of winner is less than the total number of votes cancelled and registered voters in the areas where the votes have been cancelled, this elections is hereby declared inconclusive,” he said.
He said his decision was in line with section 26 part 53 of the Electoral Act.
Announcing the votes garnered by the two contending parties before declaring the outcome inconclusive, the Returning Officer had given the scores of incumbent governor, Mohammed Abubakar of APC as 465,453 votes and that of Bala Mohammed of PDP as 469,512 votes.
Kyari said that the INEC would conduct re-run election within 21 days in the affected local government area and polling unit which results had been cancelled before the final announcement of the winner.
INEC also on Monday declared Kano governorship election inconclusive.
The state’s Returning Officer, Bello Shehu, a professor, said the election is inconclusive because the number of cancelled votes was higher than the difference in votes scored between the two leading candidates: Abba Yusuf of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and incumbent Governor Abdullahi Ganduje of the All Progressives Congress (APC).
Announcing the results, Shehu said while the PDP candidate polled 1,014,474 votes, Ganduje of the APC scored 987,819 votes leaving a difference of 26,655 votes.
He also said the total number of votes cancelled across 22 local government areas including Gama ward of Nasarawa local government was 141,694 votes.
Meanwhile, Emeka Ihedioha of the PDP was only four local government areas (LGAs) away from becoming the next governor of Imo State as at the time of going to press.
Of the 23 local government areas announced by INEC, Ihedioha has won eight.
His closest rival, Uche Nwosu of the Action Alliance (AA) clinched victory in 10 local government areas, but is a few tens of thousands votes behind Ihedioha.
Ihedioha has polled 212,283 votes while Nwosu, has a total of 133,302 votes to his name.
There are 27 local government areas in the state. The LGAs left are Ihiette Uboma, Ngor Okpala, Ahiasu Mbaise and Ideato South LGA. (Daily Independent)
