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2023 general election

Adamawa is sitting on a keg of gun powder, group warns

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***Blames INEC for awarding contract of sensitive election materials to Binani

A group, Concerned Citizens for Peace and Development has warned against possible breakdown of law and order in Adamawa over an inconclusive election that was allegedly powered by the inordinate desire and power of a woman which ordinarily was a concluded election.
All eyes are on Adamawa State over 2023 Governorship election that had been declared inconclusive which has
a debacle of power tussle between the incumbent Governor, Rt Hon Ahmadu Umaru Fintiri and Senator Aishatu Ahmed Dahiru (Binani), Senator representing Adamawa Central

The national Cordinator of the group Comrade Dominic Ogakwu who spoke in Abuja yesterday indicated that the incumbent governor, Fintiri is facing a battle royale with the fierce desperation of Binani who seems to be powerfully influencing the conduct and the process of the governorship election.”Binani began to fly a kite using unsubmitted Fofure Local Government results where over thirty one thousand votes was recorded in her favor.”The imaginary votes threw confusion in the electoral process as people from all walks of life began to congratulate Binani as the first female Governor in the history of Nigeria, including the international community even without final collation and announcement by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC).”What are the issues? First, how can Binani, being a contestant, be given the contract to print INEC sensitive papers in the same Adamawa State guber polls? By so doing Binani has clearly indicated that she has no moral standing to lead the the State.

“Also, on declaring an inconclusive election after announcing results from twenty one local government areas by the INEC Returning Officer, Professor Mohammed Mele, is not tenable.
“According to Mele, a winner could not emerge because the number of collected Permanent Voter Cards, PVC, in 69 polling units in which elections were not hold and the canceled figures are higher than the winning margin of 31,250 polled by Fintiri.”
Accrding to him, in INEC’s official documents on the affected 69 polling units which is a total of 41,796 registered voters, only 37,016 collected their PVCs which is more than the margin between Fintiri and Binnani which shows that there was no reason to declare the elections inconclusive when the result properly indicated that Governor Fintiri scored 421,524 votes, Senator Binnani 390,274 votes in the 21 local governments of Adamawa state.
“What is the likelihood that all the 37, 000 collected PVCs will vote and all for Binani?
He said his group is speaking as concerned Nigerians who are indigenes of Adamawa State and have followed the political trends.
“We are worried that given the toxic environment being created by Binani who was even receiving congratulatory messages on social media has placed the state on a time bomb.
“She is wielding power, influence and affluence by making it to look as if she must be the Governor of Adamawa state at all cost.
“Adamawa is sitting on a gun powder because the Binani ungodly desire is infuriating the common people whose votes have already counted for a winner to emerge.
“The state is known to be peaceful and rightly labeled as the Land of Beauty. It is in the light of this we urge that urgent attention is paid to the antics of Binani and her co-travellers before they derail the peace in the state by claiming victory that is not theirs to claim.
“One of the annoying part of her game is the fact that Pauline Kedem Tallen, the Minister of Women Affairs and Social Development, who ought to be neutral and play the role of a mother to everyone, but has failed woefully.
He asked rhetorically, why Binani’s penchant desperation to be the next Governor of Adamawa State? Why changing the facts and figures? Why the noise and the feminine support by women outside Adamawa state?

“What is the interest of women like Paulen Tallen who can’t boast of any electoral value in her home state of Plateau? Are tenets of democracy no longer sacrosanct that a winner should emerge through the popular majority?
We in Adamawa cannot allow someone from Plateau State to come and ruin our beautiful state.
“Is this not the same Pauline Tallen Plateau as Deputy Governor in 2007 that who was removed from office? If she was that good, why was she removed from office and failed woefully when she contested as the governor of Plateau State?
“Probably Mrs Tallen and those on her train should be drawn on few issues that her desire for Binani to be governor by crook is a cancer on morality. It is crass and unfortunate that a supposed Minister of the Federal Republic will be shouting victory and congratulating a candidate that did not win and not declared by the electoral commission. What sort of minister is that? Is she setting the stage for violence in Adamawa state?
“Mrs. Pauline Tallen and those staging those ill-advised rallies should be held responsible if anything untoward happens in Adamawa state owing to their undue influence and agitations for INEC to award the governorship to Binani just like sensitive printing contracts were awarded to her.
“Is it not a shame that under Tallen’s watch as Minister of Women Affairs the representation of women at the National Assembly has fallen miserably flat? It is in her interest to clear her mess at the UN Women and the several alleged contract inflations in her ministry.
According to him, the group is only asking for fairness and justice to save Adamawa state from the claws of crisis. “Because the simple fact is that Binani didn’t win the election, and the INEC must ensure that attempts to compromise it and change the canceled units to favor Binani will be resisted by the people.
“We are not in doubt that about her desperation as Binani in her Fulfulde native language used the word “Wujja Wujja,” severally, meaning she will battle the seat of power even if it means her stealing it. This portends grave danger especially to democracy and good governance.
“The leaked audio conversation where the REC, Barrister Hudu Yunusa trying to coerce the Fufore Collation Officer to manipulate the outcome of the elections was admitted by the REC, it is a crime that no sane society should overlook or remain silent. Binani has continued to display contempt for the people of Adamawa State thinking Abuja can declare her governor by staging all those meaningless solidarity visits. Well, Adamawa is too big to be put in her hand bag, however expensive.
He challenged INEC to demostrate that it is independent and above board by explaining how the units for the rerun increased from 69 to 77 polling units as widely spared on social media. Any action not in tandem with the Electoral Act and its guidelines will not be permitted by the good people of Adamawa.
“It is also pertinent to draw the attention of the local and international community that Binani was never announced the winner of Adamawa Governorship election and as it stands, except by devious manipulations, she cannot win going by the 37, 016 collected PVCs in the area under contestation.
“Our appeal is for the security agencies to take note, for the INEC to demonstrate some modicum of integrity and neutrality and for all those fanning this wildfire of an illusory victory of Binani to desist and not plunge Adamawa into unnecessary crisis because of the Macbeth-like ambition of one woman.”

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2023 general election

2023 polls: Abdulsalami Peace Committee opens up on pressure to ask for cancellation

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Abdulsalami Abubakar

The National Peace Committee (NPC) has opened up on pressure it faced to intervene in the 2023 Presidential Election results. During a report presentation in Abuja, led by General Abdulsalami Abubakar, the committee disclosed that it received numerous requests to push the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to halt results collation or cancel the election due to alleged violations of the electoral act.

Key issues included concerns about the 25% vote threshold requirement for the Federal Capital Territory, with some advocates calling for a runoff.

The NPC emphasized its role as a moral authority rather than a regulatory body, highlighting its mandate to promote peace and compliance with the law, without the power to arrest or punish violators.
The committee acknowledged a gap in public understanding of its functions and the importance of moral persuasion in fostering electoral integrity and peace.

Before presenting the report to the public, the committee had earlier met with the INEC Chairman, Prof. Mahmood Yakubu and other management staff of the commission where it was briefed on the electoral umpire’s preparation for the forthcoming Governorship elections in Edo and Ondo states.

Other members of the committee are Okoh Ebitu Ukiwe (Vice Chairman); Bishop Matthew Hassan Kukah (Convener); Sultan of Sokoto, Muhammadu Sa’ad Abubakar III; John Cardinal Onaiyekan; business icons, Aliko Dangote and Femi Otedola; Vanguard Newspapers Publisher, Sam Amuka Pemu; Ameze Guobadia; Idayat Hassan; Dame Priscilla Kuye; Gen. Martin Luther Agwai; Mahmud Yayale Ahmed; Channels TV owner, John Momoh; Roseline Ukeje; and, Fr. Atta Barkindo, its Head of Secretariat.

Part of the report reads; “As the election day progressed, criticisms and counter criticisms became abundant. The NPC was already being faced with a flurry of phone calls and the need to call INEC to order.

“The Peace Committee was flooded with requests for intervention. Both the Chairman of the Committee, General Abdulsalami A. Abubakar, the Convener, Bishop Matthew Hassan Kukah and the Head of NPC Secretariat, Fr. Atta Barkindo, were inundated with calls, requests, and petitions demanding the intervention of the NPC.

“Some of the requests wanted the NPC to prevail on INEC to stop collating election results because there were gross violations and lack of compliance with the electoral act. Others demanded that the tenets of the Peace Accord signed were not adhered to and therefore the Committee should call for cancellation of the election entirely.

“The most significant call was related to the 25% threshold for Abuja as the Federal Capital Territory. Some of the analysts who reached out to the committee asked that the final election result should not be announced because the resumptive president-elect did not score the required 25% as stated in the electoral act. If anything, there should be a runoff.

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2023 general election

EU reports: LP says FG is feebly adopting face saving measures

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***EU only hit the nail on the head

The leadership of the Labour Party has countered the Federal Government of Nigeria for discrediting the European Union’s conclusion on the 2023 General Election wherein it faulted the modalities by which the conclusion was reached.
It reiterated what it believed as the accurate testament of the European Union’s conclusion on the 2023 general elections which merely hit the nail on the head.
A statement by the National Publicity Secretary Obiora Ifoh said,
“Eropean Union’s Conclusion on the 2023 general elections are nit Jaundiced but accurate Testament of the outcome of the FG and INEC alliance to change the will of the electorate.”
“We see this face-saving measure by the Federal Government which is coming days after the submission of the report as feeble and medicine after death.

“It will interest the government to note that the European Union’s report is only one out of numerous submissions by other international Observers who have described the outcome of the election as a sham and an exercise that did not reflect the will of the majority of Nigerians.

“Labour Party stands by the position of the EU observation mission. We have always said that this election was massively rigged in favour of the APC and their candidate.
“What the FG is saying is just an afterthought and a shameless effort to mask the obvious. Even the blind can see, the deaf can hear and they know this election was manipulated.
“Huge pieces of evidence abound for even the deaf and the blind to hear and feel. We are only hoping that the judiciary will dispense justice without fear or favour in the interest of the nation and posterity.
“Nigerians already know the true winner of the 2023 presidential election and no amount of slandering, denial, or rebuttal can change the fact that the party in power has no mandate of the electorate.

“We must also note that whatever position the INEC has taken is with active connivance with the Federal Government to deny the electorate and it clearly shows that INEC is not in any way independent.
“The Commission’s action is at the whims and caprices of the government and we know it. But Nigerians looking to the Judiciary for justice. That’s where we stand.”

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2023 general election

FG tackles EU over report on 2023 general elections

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The Federal Government has countered the European Union’s report on the 2023 general elections, describing the conclusions therein as “jaundiced”.
The Special Adviser to President Bola Tinubu on Special Duties, Communications and Strategy gave the indication in a statement on Sunday.

“We urge the EU and other foreign interests to be objective in all their assessments of the internal affairs of our country and allow Nigeria to breathe,”
According to him, the February 25, 2023 presidential election was “clearly and fairly” won by Tinubu, the then candidate of All Progressives Congress (APC).

He also advised that the EU allow Nigeria to breathe and not meddle in the affairs of the country.

“We find it preposterous and unconscionable that in this day and age, any foreign organisation of whatever hue can continue to insist on its own yardstick and assessment as the only way to determine the credibility and transparency of our elections,” he said.

He said the presidency was not unaware of the “machinations of the European Union to sustain its, largely, unfounded bias and claims on the election outcomes”.

Alake further stated that there is no substantial evidence provided by the EU or any foreign and local organisation that is viable enough to impeach the integrity of the 2023 election outcomes.

“We would like to know and even ask EU, how it reached the conclusions in the submitted final report with the very limited coverage of the elections by their observers who, without doubt, relied more on rumours, hearsay, cocktails of prejudiced and uninformed social media commentaries and opposition talking heads,” he stated.

“We have many reasons to believe the jaundiced report, based on the views of fewer than 50 observers, was to merely sustain the same premature denunciatory stance contained in EU’s preliminary report released in March.

“We strongly reject, in its entirety, any notion and idea from any organisation, group and individual remotely suggesting that the 2023 election was fraudulent.”

The media aide said Nigeria has put the elections behind, and Tinubu is facing the task of nation-building.

“As a country, we have put the elections behind us. President Tinubu is facing the arduous task of nation-building, while those who have reasons to challenge the process continue to do so through the courts.”

On June 27, 2023, the EU presented its report on the 2023 elections in Nigeria to the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC).

The EU said the election exposed enduring systemic weaknesses and therefore signaled a need for further legal and operational reforms to enhance transparency, inclusiveness and accountability.

The EU also identified six areas for improvement in Nigeria’s electoral process moving forward.

Some of the key areas listed by the Mission are ambiguities in the law, the establishment of a publicly accountable process for the selection of the INEC members, ensuring real-time publication of results as well as access to election results.

It also highlighted the need for protection for media practitioners while decrying the discrimination against women in elective and appointed positions as well as impunity regarding electoral offences.

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