Politics

Electorate Would Decide Edo Poll, Not Lagos, Abuja-based Armchair Analysts – APC

Published

1 year ago

August 30, 2024

Editor

The All Progressives Congress, APC, Edo Governorship Campaign Organization, has taken a swipe on some Lagos and Abuja-based analysts who have been apparently predicting the outcome of the September 21st election in the state.

The APC Campaign Council Organisation, in reaction to their analysis, which are apparently in favour of the opposition, said “Edo people have demonstrated their unequivocal decision to take back the state from the present political bandits that have plundered their commonwealth.”

The party said the Edo people’s resolve is strengthened by the “infrastructural decay across the state which has exacerbated the socioeconomic crises, caused by wanton neglect of the rural dwellers.”

In a statement, Comrade Orobosa Omo-Ojo, Director of Publicity, APC Edo Governorship Campaign Organization, said only Edo people know where the shoe pinches them, hence Lagos and Abuja-based analysts cannot decide where the pendulum will swing in the September 21st governorship election.

“Only the wearer knows where the shoe pinches. Only the poor whose rice and other grains were diverted by Obaseki can decide on their life survival strategies,” Omo-Ojo added.

He continued: “Edo people can only score Governor Godwin Obaseki and his People’s Democratic Party with the works done or undone in tangible pillars such as roads, schools, hospitals, agriculture, land administration, culture, and relationship with our treasured traditional institutions when they will be casting their votes for freedom on September 21, 2024.

“They will not be confounded about their difficulties and dangers they are presently facing or be deceived about the prosperity they enjoyed during the eight years of APC administration under the leadership of Comrade Adams Oshiomhole.

“They will rationalize these glaring contrast on September 21, 2024 to reclaim and reset Edo to the past glory that APC attained in state.

“The statement made by our State Chairman, Emperor Jarret Tenebe that Edo State has been pushed below poverty line by Governor Obaseki and as such, majority of the poor rural dwellers are unable to buy Android phones or data, aptly defines the miserable hardship that has been caused by the PowerPoint administration of PDP in Edo State.

“No analysis of junk data coming from any onlooker, observing from his armchair in Lagos, Abuja or anywhere outside Edo State will abort the plan of stakeholders to own their destiny.

“Edo people will not allow rent seekers to peddle plagiarized figures and data that does not reflect the physical conditions in Edo State.

“It is unethical for pseudo-commentators to make spurious judgements on the state of affairs in Edo, except someone who has gone round the 18 local government areas.”

Further speaking on the infrastructure decay in the state, Omo-Ojo said: “We are ready to share the video of Evbueghae Community, where Obaseki’s Commissioner for Communication and Orientation, Chris Nehikhare hails from. The only thing of note standing there are Evbueghae Primary School Three blocks of ‘Red Roof’ classrooms that were built by APC’s Comrade Oshiomhole.

“The tarred road has been washed to over 5-feet deep, especially in front of Nehikhare’s father’s house. The only sign of electricity are strings of lifeless wires and rusty transformers.”

Politics

Edo: Chief Ben Bowei Sworn In As Vice Chairman, Ovia South-West

Published

38 minutes ago

September 29, 2025

Editor

High Chief Ben Bowei (Left) taking oath of office at the council secretariat on Monday

An Activist and politician, High Chief Ben Bowei has been sworn in as Vice Chairman, Ovia South-West Local Government Council of Edo State.

Bowei, chieftain of the All Progressives Congress (APC), deputises Hon. Nosakhare Edobor who happens to be the Chairman of the council.

The Vice Chairman, a committed member of the APC in the local government and state, is expected to bring his wealth of experience to bear on the local government council being a former National Treasurer of the most respected youth body in west Africa — Ijaw Youth Council (IYC) Worldwide.

Bowei, an advocate and promoter of governance, is the founder of Niger Delta Volunteer for Good Governance, said he’s poised in promoting good governance and taking the dividends of democracy to the most interior part of the local government.

The Vice Chairman urged sons and daughters of the local government to cooperate with the council’s leadership in their bid to extend the dividends of democracy to them.

Bowei, while appreciating governor Monday Okpebholo and his deputy, Hon. Dennis Idahosa, for the good work the current administration has been doing in the state, expressed optimism that the current state government would perform beyond expectations.

Politics

90% Of Nigeria’s Elections Since Independence Rigged — Ex-lawmaker

Published

22 hours ago

September 28, 2025

Editor

A lawyer and former member of the National Assembly, Senator Ikechukwu Obiorah, has said that over ninety per cent of all elections so far held in Nigeria, from independence to date, have been brazenly rigged or perverted, thus causing the mass poverty and underdevelopment being experienced in the country.

Senator Obiorah, who represented Anambra South Senatorial District between 2007 and 2011 in the National Assembly, blamed the non-existence of honest, transparent, free and fair elections in Nigeria for the mass poverty and gross underdevelopment in the nation presently.

The lawyer and author stated this in his treatise on “The Philosophy of Elections and Nigeria’s Fake Democracy”, made available to newsmen in Abuja on Sunday.

Worried by this development, the erstwhile federal lawmaker has proposed a constitutional amendment that will ensure the power to appoint electoral bodies – Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) and State Independent Electoral Commissions (SIECs) – is taken away from both the President and Governors and vested in a neutral body which would set in motion processes to lift Nigeria out of poverty.

He stated that a proposed bill to that effect had already been sent to both the Senate and the House of Representatives for prompt legislative action.

He pointed out that had the people been allowed to exercise the power to freely elect their leaders since 1960, Nigeria would by now be a fully developed nation by first-world standards and in all ramifications.

According to him, “Since independence, 90 per cent of all elections – Parliamentary, Presidential, National Assembly, Governorship, House of Assembly, Local Government Council elections – have been brazenly stolen or rigged or perverted or altogether thwarted or nullified.

“Nigerians have never really and voluntarily chosen their leaders, nor have Nigerians ever been governed with their proper consent and participation. The absence of honest elections makes ours a fake democracy, period. In Nigeria, the simple but painful cause of stealing and rigging of elections is that those vested with power to appoint the electoral bodies and personnel were themselves or their political parties or their preferred candidates, contestants in the same elections. It is just like making a person a judge in his own case.

“Right from independence, the then Prime Minister, and later the President, was always cloaked with the power to appoint the commissioners and senior officers of the electoral bodies responsible for the conduct of all elections in Nigeria.

“However, by virtue of the 1999 Constitution, the power of appointing the state electoral bodies responsible for conducting local government elections was transferred to the State Governors. Consequently, the world has been witnessing the Soviet Union-style results declared from Nigeria’s local government elections, where the Governor’s political party, in most cases, scores a 100 per cent victory.

“The world has also been hearing loud cries and protestations against rigging and seeing the avalanche of court cases that attend all other elections in Nigeria for which the President appoints the electoral bodies and officers,” he noted.

He added that “it is very important to make the Bimodal Voter Accreditation System (BVAS) and electronic transmission of results via INEC Results Viewing Portal (IReV) legally mandatory in the conduct of Nigerian elections.”

Senator Obiorah pointed out that “these systems cannot solve the problem of election rigging without the electoral bodies’ neutrality and integrity because BVAS and IReV are vulnerable to manipulation.”

As a way out of this problem, Senator Obiorah is proposing that the power for the appointment of electoral bodies be taken away from both the Governors and the President and vested in a neutral body which would set in motion processes to lift Nigeria out of poverty.

According to him, “I do, most humbly, propose a constitutional amendment to provide for the establishment of a new, truly and literally Independent National Electoral Commission (new INEC), charged with the responsibility of conducting all elections for all elected offices in the three tiers of government – the Federal, State and Local Government.

“I do, also, propose that the new INEC be composed and constituted by thirteen commissioners, six of whom would be elected by the underlisted six Nigerian labour and professional organisations, and six commissioners nominated by the United Nations, and one commissioner-observer nominated by Transparency International, totalling thirteen commissioners.

“The new INEC would have the power to elect and remove its Chairman and hire and fire all staff, including the Chief Executive Officer.

“The election of six commissioners by the underlisted Nigerian labour and professional organisations is arranged in a corresponding alphabetical order as follows:

READ ALS:

The Academic Staff Union of Polytechnics would elect one commissioner out of its members from the North Central geopolitical zone;

The Academic Staff Union of Universities would elect one commissioner out of its members from the North East geopolitical zone;

The Institute of Chartered Accountants would elect one commissioner out of its members from the North West geopolitical zone;

The Nigerian Bar Association would elect one commissioner out of its members from the South East geopolitical zone;

The Nigerian Medical Association would elect one commissioner out of its members from the South South geopolitical zone;

The Nigerian Union of Journalists would elect one commissioner out of its members from the South West geopolitical zone.

He clarified that nominations from the United Nations and Transparency International would definitely not violate Nigeria’s sovereignty, because those nominations would not be imposed by any sort of force; rather, it is Nigeria as a sovereign nation that would voluntarily request these nominations.

He stated further that the UN and Transparency International would be positively disposed to acceding to Nigeria’s request because, like other development institutions, they rightly regard stealing or rigging of elections as the worst and most destructive kind of all corrupt practices. He noted that the UN, having directly organised the establishment, manning and management of some anti-corruption programmes and institutions in various countries such as Guatemala and El Salvador, would be pleased to participate in such a liberating effort in Nigeria.

Senator Obiorah also recalled that the President of Honduras, Xiomara Castro, not long ago, dispatched a letter to the United Nations requesting the UN’s establishment and management of an International Commission against Corruption and Impunity in Honduras, for which a memorandum of understanding has been signed by both parties in furtherance of that cooperation.

He added that the United Nations and Transparency International would not nominate any Nigerian citizen or any person indigenous to Nigeria, saying that “It would be the job of the President to receive and collate the names and curriculum vitae of the nominees for transmission to the Senate and House of Representatives for confirmation.

According to him, “No nominee or nominee-elect would be rejected or impeached by the National Assembly except by concurrent resolutions supported by at least two-thirds majority of all Senators and Honourable Members of the House of Representatives, respectively, voting individually in person by a secret ballot and televised in real time. Voice vote for this exercise would be prohibited.

“The tenure of office of a commissioner would not exceed four years. It must be made clear that the establishment of the new INEC would not be a setback in the strides for devolution of powers to the States.”

Politics

Probe Natasha’s Allegations Against Akpabio, Afenifere Urges FG

Published

3 days ago

September 26, 2025

Editor

The pan-Yoruba socio-political group, Afenifere, has urged the Federal Government to investigate sexual harassment allegations levelled by Senator Natasha Akpoti-Uduaghan against Senate President Godswill Akpabio.

The call followed the Senate’s decision to lift Akpoti-Uduaghan’s six-month suspension.

This, Afenifere said should not overshadow the need to establish the truth of her claims.

In a statement issued on Thursday, Afenifere’s National Organising Secretary, Kole Omololu, said the senator’s recall reflected commitment to the rule of law.

“We commend the Senate President, His Excellency Senator Godswill Akpabio, and the Senate leadership for taking a decision that further reinforces the country’s rule of law,” Omololu said.

The group, however, insisted that Akpoti-Uduaghan’s allegations must not be ignored.

“For over six months, where are the facts and evidence of her grave allegations?” Afenifere asked.

It called on the “Nigeria Police, Department of State Services (DSS) and National Intelligence Agency (NIA) to carry out a full investigation into the matter.”

Afenifere also recalled Akpoti-Uduaghan’s past false sexual harassment claims against former presidential aide Reno Omokri, which ended in an out-of-court settlement.

“Does this not suggest that, without proof, her allegations against Akpabio are suspicious?” Omololu asked.

The group further criticised Akpoti-Uduaghan for taking her claims to international media, including BBC, CNN, Sky News and Deutsche Welle, saying the move portrayed Nigeria negatively abroad.

It also queried her participation in a session of the Inter-Parliamentary Union (IPU) in New York.

“If Natasha truly participated in the IPU meeting without due nomination, then it simply revealed her compromise or manipulation of our public institutions for pecuniary ends,” the group said.

In March 2025, Natasha was suspended for six months after a row in plenary and her petition accusing Senate President Godswill Akpabio of sexual harassment.

She claimed the incident happened in December 2023, but the Senate’s Ethics Committee dismissed her petition on procedural grounds. Despite a court order halting disciplinary action, the Senate went ahead with her suspension, which also froze her pay and barred her from official duties.

Akpoti-Uduaghan challenged the suspension in court, insisting it was tied to her allegations. While the Senate said it acted over misconduct, the case attracted global attention after she granted interviews to international media. The matter remains unsettled, with Afenifere now urging federal authorities to investigate her claims.

Meanwhile, Natasha formally resumed her duties at the National Assembly on October 7, 2025, after her six-month suspension ended – and immediately claimed that Akpabio is a dictator.

And almost immediately, Akpabio’s media aide Kenny Okolugbo debunked the claim.