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Manual Collation Of Results: INEC Laying Foundation For Rigging – Atiku

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The Presidential candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) former Vice President, Atiku Abubakar, has alleged that the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) is laying the foundation for the rigging of the 2023 election through the manual collation of results.

INEC National Commissioner and Chairman of its Information and Voter Education Committee, Festus Okoye in an interview with the Punch on Saturday said the collation of results of the 2023 general elections will be done manually despite the adoption of electronic transmission of results.

Okoye was quoted to have said “Section 60(5) of the Act makes it mandatory that the presiding officer shall transfer the results, including total number of accredited voters and the results of the ballot in a manner prescribed by the commission. Thereafter, the presiding officer shall after recording and announcing the results deliver the same along with election materials under security and accompanied by the candidates or their polling agents, where available to such person as may be prescribed by the commission.

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READ ALSO: PDP Crisis Deepens As Wike Orders Arrest Of Atiku’s Ally In Rivers

“The implication of this is that the collation process of results is still essentially manual, but the collation officer must collate subject to his verification and confirmation that the number of accredited voters stated on the collated result are correct and consistent with the number of accredited voters recorded and transmitted directly from polling units,” he added.

Atiku, reacting through his spokesman, Daniel Bwala, Sunday alleged that with such a statement ” INEC is laying the foundation for the rigging of the 2023 elections”.

The PDP Presidential candidate spokesman examined that “Section 60 is clear. At the close of voting at the polling unit, the voting results will be uploaded, meaning that by the time the officer from the unit goes to the ward, he cannot present a result different from the one that was uploaded, which every voter can have access to it.”

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According to him, the same thing applies to the local government and the state, because there is evidence that results have been sent to a server where they cannot be manipulated.

He said, what Okoye said means they are creating the room and possibility for somebody to manipulate the result without prejudice to the counting and the result as announced at the unit.

The PDP candidate cautioned INEC that Nigerians are not interested in litigation, but in a free, fair, credible election where their votes will count.

According to him, If INEC relies on manual collation, they will be going around the provisions of the Electoral Act to take the country’s electoral system backwards.

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He continued “Sadly, they are trying to find a solution where there is no problem because this same electronic upload and transmission has been done in Anambra, Ekiti, Edo and Osun and they were successful, that procedure has not been challenged.

“If you go to court all the challenges in court were around certificates of individual and whether that individual is qualified or not. But that procedure has worked.

“So why are you trying to fix something that is not broken? It means something is fishy, we smell coffee. And that’s why we’re calling all well-meaning Nigerians and lovers of democracy in Nigeria and beyond to raise their voices and speak with one voice.

READ ALSO: 2023 Election Results Will Be Collated Manually –INEC

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“There must be strict compliance with the provisions of the Electoral Act with respect to electronic upload and transmission of result, without prejudice to what INEC is thinking about bringing”.

He warned that INEC must never try to change the procedure that has worked in these states mentioned.

Emphasising that, the 2023 election must be free and must be transparent.

“We don’t want litigation. We want the voice and the will of the people to prevail in Nigeria,” he added.

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Why Tinubu Didn’t Intervene In Ganduje’s Troubles – APC Leaders

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Following weeks of aborted moves and protests to remove the National Chairman of the All Progressives Congress, Dr Abdullahi Ganduje, concerned chieftains of the party have explained the reason President Bola Tinubu steered clear of the drama.

The embattled chairman was purportedly suspended by the APC executive of Ganduje ward in the Dawakin Tofa Local Government of Kano State on April 15, a move that was quickly thwarted by the state chapters of the party, which suspended the ward executive.

The development resulted in legal tussles with the Kano State High Court granting an ex parte order restraining him from parading himself as a member of the party, leading to Ganduje securing a counter ex parte order from the Federal High Court in Kano presided over by Justice A. M. Liman, who ruled out the purported suspension.

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A few days after the legal fireworks, scores of demonstrators stormed the national secretariat of the APC in Abuja to demand his resignation and allow the seat of the leadership, previously occupied by Abdullahi Adamu, to return to the North Central.

READ ALSO: JUST IN: Protesters Storm APC Secretariat, Demand Ganduje’s Resignation

However, supporters of the APC national chairman have expressed shock over the deafening silence of the president, who political observers believed was his ally and close friend.

Reacting in an interview with our correspondent, the APC Publicity Secretary for North-West, Musa Mada, pointed out that there was nothing suspicious about President Tinubu’s silence.

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He said, “The whole thing (Ganduje’s purported suspension) is just speculation. If we look at it from 1999 to date, no president has proven to be more of a party man than Asiwaju Bola Tinubu.

“His silence does not mean that he is not interested in the party. But he understands that the entire hullabaloo is more of a party affair. One thing people should know is that the moment you find a party so quiet, that party is insignificant.

READ ALSO: BREAKING: Court Orders Ganduje To Stop Parading Himself As APC Member 

“But where you find people agitating or fomenting trouble at a party, they are striving to get attention or seek some form of recognition. Tinubu is now the president of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, even though he is still a card-carrying member and leader of the APC. It is not everything he must react to because he doesn’t have the time. He has more important things to do.”

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The APC chief also slammed the National Leader of the New Nigeria People’s Party, Senator Rabiu Kwankwaso for allowing his feud with the embattled chairman to degenerate into political blackmail and backbiting among Kano party faithful.

Mada claimed that he was aware that the only thing standing between Kwankwaso and his alleged desire to defect to the ruling APC was the presence of Ganduje as the leader of the party.

“Those fomenting trouble in Kano are of two factions. There are those of the APC extraction and others from the camp of Kwankwaso. If you have been following what is happening in the so-called Ganduje’s Ward, even we in the North know it was the handiwork of Kwankwaso in Kano.

READ ALSO: [JUST IN] Ganduje: Kano APC Sacks Ward Leaders

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“They are using that avenue to create propaganda. I believe Kwankwaso, as a statesman, should have done better because both of them have been together for about 40 years.”

But another APC chieftain, Sylvester Monidafe, did not share his sentiment.

He stated, “My concern is not about Ganduje himself, but the party and Tinubu’s legacy. I have known Tinubu since 2006 in the ACN days when I returned to active politics.

“We all saw how he stood up to President Olusegun Obasanjo when he tried to undermine the South West states. Basically all the governors except Tinubu fell for his tricks. He stood up to the man and said ‘No way’ before he formed the AD.

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“I have been with this man for that long. We used to call him ‘the last man standing.’ He is politically astute and I don’t think he will allow Ganduje or anybody to soil his name.

“On the talks that the president may be attempting to throw him under the bus for Kwankwaso, I have no idea. But I know Tinubu would like to do the right thing. You may want to ask what the right thing is.”

 

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Edo Labour Party Suspends Youth Leader

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Leadership of the Edo State chapter of Labour Party says it has suspended Youth Leader of the party, Ken Omusi, over an alleged invasion of the party secretariat in Benin City on Thursday.

Omosi, alongside other youths were said to have invaded the party secretariat, sacked the the Kelly Ogbaloi-led State Working Committee and declared himself (Omosi) as the acting chairman of the party.

He further claimed that over the last three months, not less than 350 members had been suspended on the WhatsApp platform of the party by the state chairman without the backing of the party.

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READ ALSO: Edo Guber: Labour Party Names Campaign Council

While announcing the dissolution of the executives of the party, Omusi called on the national leadership of the party in Abuja to ratify their actions and resolutions.

But addressing newsmen in Benin, chairman of the party, Ogbaloi, while condemning the invasion by the Youth Leader, noted that Omusi has since been suspended for anti-party activities.

Ogbaloi added that the State Working Committee, in the spirit of brotherhood ahead of the governorship election, has lifted the suspension earlier slammed on some members.

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READ ALSO: Man Arrested For Raping Four-year-old Girl

According to him, a reconciliation committee would be set up by the state executive to make peace with any of the aggrieved members before the election.

He, however, appealed to members of the party to leverage on the forthcoming new voter registration exercise to expand the voters base as well as ensure broader participation in the electoral process.

“A robust membership drive shall be launched to attract new members and reconcile with the disenchanted individuals who have legitimate grievances”, he added.

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He equally urged all members of the party, as well eligible voters in the state, to rally behind the Labour Party’s governorship candidate, Barrister Olumide Akpata and his running mate, Prince Yusuf Asamah Kadiri, in the election

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Rivers Crisis: Why Gov Fubura Got Into ‘Trouble’ – Secondus

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Former National Chairman of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Prince Uche Secondus, has said Rivers State Governor, Similaye Fubura, was being haunded by his political opponents for daring to prevent the looting of the state.

He explained that the political crisis in the state was orchestrated by those who demand unfettered access to the finances of the state a demand the governor has refused to accept.

Secondus who spoke in Abuja, on Saturday, also accused the immediate past Governor of the state and now Minister of the Federal Capital Territory, Nyesom Wike, of being the brain behind Fubura’s political troubles.

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He explained that Wike’s conduct, utterances and unrelenting fued with the governor, has cast the state in bad light.

READ ALSO: Why I Visited Rivers Assembly Quarters – Fubara

Secondus said, “Wike has been Governor for eight years and is now Minister of the FCT. As Minister, what, has he (Wike) attracted in terms of Federal projects to our dear State since he assumed office? Perhaps misery, grief, and anguish. As Governor he had supervised the exit of investors from the state due to his draconian policies.

“He had on an occasion mentioned that he is capable of causing crisis and he is not far from the truth, as he is causing an unfathomable crisis in Rivers State.

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“Mrs Patience Jonathan and I worked for his emergence as governor, have we ever breathed down his neck? Instead what we get is disrespect and insults.

“ I can attest to Dr. Odili’s performance as Governor being the State PDP chairman then. I hasten to say without any fear of contradiction that he is the best governor of Rivers State in this dispensation.

READ ALSO: Those Disrespecting Me Digging Their Political Grave, Fubara Warns

“Wike claims that our revered Dr. Odili made him but in his characteristic manner, he publicly ridiculed the Odili’s without any justification. He owes them an unreserved apology and he should do so publicly.

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“These media attacks against the political leaders of Rivers State are unwarranted and diversionary.

“For the records you should account for the three hundred million dollars($300m) you collected from the NNPC for the Ogoni Oil well and the cash refund made by the Saipem oil and gas company and subsequently account for your eight-year tenure of over N4Trillion realized, mismanaged and squandered. Rather than trying to cover your inadequacies through media attacks.”

These attacks, he stressed, might dovetail into a national crisis if not properly checked.

While appealing to President Bola Tinubu to reign in the FCT minister, Secondus added, “I call on President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, to prevail on the FCT Minister, Nyesom Wike to stop overheating the Rivers State political atmosphere and allow Fubara to work. Whatever Wike thinks he is It must be stressed that Rivers people made him.”

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