2023 general election
Ireti Kingibe too old to represent FCT, says Aduda
***vows to challenge outcomes of election
The Senator representing the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) Philip Aduda of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) on Thursday expressed concern for voters in FCT for voting for the Labour Party Senatorial candidate, Ireti Kingibe who is 70 and old enough to be his own mother
The Senator also alleged that the election in FCT was marred with irregularities with over-voting in many units adding that even areas election were canceled and repeat election being awaited were overlooked as results were declared prematurely.
INEC had declared Ireti Kingibe winner with 202,175 votes while Philip Aduda of the PDP came second with 100,544 votes. Angulu Dobi of the APC placed third with 78,905 votes
The Senator who addressed a press conference in Abuja said
“I believe I have done very well and if the FCT residents feel that voting an old woman of about 70 years old and giving her capacity as against a 53 year old young man and bringing in somebody who is old enough to be my mother, I think something is wrong.
“Even the presidential candidate of the Labour Party Peter Obi spoke against old politicians who are supposed to retire at the age of 70 and she is just beginning to represent us at 70
“I am very close to Peter Obi when he was in the PDP,, we share a lot of friendship together, he has assisted me in the past and I have assisted him.
“She rode on the popularity of Peter Obi, ordinarily if she faces me in an ordinary contest I will trash her any day.
“We have had this type of contest before she was in the PDP, we have been contesting against each other, she knows me and I know her, I am not going to join issues with her and dwelling so much on this, because this is all about the representation for the FCT.
“By God’s grace we are still there and this will not deter us in the remaining months that we have to represent the people with the fear of God Almighty and we will continue to do the best that we can.”
While responding to allegation raised by the FCT senator-elect that he lacks capacity to represent FCT, he said rather ‘it is the person coming to represent the FCT that has no capacity because if she has the capacity common Google will show her what he (Aduda) has done.
“It will show you that I led a protest to this place over mayoral status for FCT, “On the floor of the Senate I had raised a motion to discuss about this issue of Naira redesigning and so on.
“I moved that motion and I brought that to national consciousness and discuss. “We have a road we are constructing in Kubwa, Over N1b, another one in Nyanya, over N1b, we have the ones we are doing in Bwari, if I don’t have the capacity and can not represent the people I don’t think I would have been able to attract those projects ro rhe various communities or Area Ciuncils.
“I am not talking of Gwagwalada or Kwali or Kuje, I am only talking about the urban center, the environment here. “Apart from the bills I sponsored and were passed which President has assented to, Like the Federal college of Education Zuba that has been there for over 17 years without graduation until we passed that bill befire they were able to conduct their convocation.
He challenged Kingibe to show any Corporate social responsibility in terms of projects to FCT before now
“If you want to contest election you want to endear people to yourself you will at least build one small borehole here and there, may be she will tell us what she has done as community service to the people but unfortunately or fortunately we had a situation apart from the fact that there was over voting elections were canceled in AMAC and were supposed to be rescheduled, you heard it, you saw it, from nowhere we heard that results were declared.
He raised a fundamental issue that concerned the people of the FCT on the fact that while other Nigerians will be going to their respective states on Saturday to elect their governors and state houses of assembly members, the FCT people will be at home watching them.
“This wouldn’t have been so if the federal government had yielded to calls for the democratization and second tier government for the people of the FCT.
“Over the years, we have made concerted calls and pursued the institution of a second tier government in the FCT so as to address injustices as this but to our surprises, there are still some people who feel that It is not an injustice and this disenfranchisement of the people of the FCT should continue unabated.
“The advocacy for the democratization of the FCT & institution of second tier government has been a call for the improvement of political leadership in the FCT & to cater for the seeming population influx into the city.
“But we are praying that; the judgement of the court of appeal delivered in January 2018 and the recent interpretation and judgement of the supreme court describing the status of the FCT as a state be implemented by the federal government.
“The people of the FCT ought to be treated as an integral part of the nation by allowing them to exercise their right to vote and produce their political leaders at that level.
“This concern forms our periodic advocacy for a mayoral status for the FCT. But unfortunately for us, when the Mayoral Status Bill was presented on the floor of the Senate, some senators voted against it probably because I was the only senator among 108 members advocating for such amendment.
“Despite the FCT ranking as one of the fastest developing cities around the world and naturally ought to be conferred with such status, just like New York City in the US and London in the UK. “Again, that will go down , as another lost opportunity, to make a meaningful impact on the lives of the indigenes and residents of the FCT.”
2023 general election
2023 polls: Abdulsalami Peace Committee opens up on pressure to ask for cancellation
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.
2023 general election
EU reports: LP says FG is feebly adopting face saving measures
***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.”
2023 general election
FG tackles EU over report on 2023 general elections
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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