Politics

Voter Apathy Mars FCT Poll, Despite 1.3 Million Registered Voters

Published

2 years ago

February 12, 2022

There was a low turnout of eligible voters and late commencement of voting during the Federal Capital Territory Area Council election in Abuja on Saturday.

Several polling units sighted by Our correspondent witnessed a handful of people at polling units.

Also, some of the polling units across the FCT recorded crises in the use of Bimodal Voter Accreditation System technology, which led to the delay in the electoral process

Residents of the FCT are to elect chairmen and councillors for the six Area Councils.

The Area Councils are Abaji, Bwari, Gwagwalada, Kuje, Kwali and Abuja Municipal Area Council.

The election will see the emergence of six chairmen – for each area council, and 62 councillors.

1,373,492 registered voters were expected to participate in the elections for Chairmen and Councillors, in 2,229 polling units but it was gathered that about 103,68 voters collected their Permanent Voters Card.

Over 400 candidates drawn from 14 political parties cleared by the Independent National Electoral Commission and their running mates are currently vying for these positions.

Though markets and shops are closed at AMAC, our correspondent observed that the restriction of vehicular and human movements was partially observed.

The FCT Police Command had announced the imposition of a curfew from 8am to 3pm for the safe conduct of the area council elections.

The police, though had relaxed restrictions earlier on Friday, said it had received more intelligence that some elements were planning to disrupt the electoral process.

At Ward 04 Wuse Polling units 26, Maitama Model Primary School visited by our correspondent, INEC officials were seen on ground but voters were absent as at 9.30am.

The PU which has 5,617 registered voters, is probably one of the largest PUs in the FCT. However, as at 10am, voting was yet to commence.

Sources said that many of the registered voters at the PUs stay a little bit far away from the PUs.

The Assistant Presiding Officer, Muhammad Jamal lamented the low turnout of voters.

He said that for almost two hours election officials arrived at the PU, only three voters had approached them.

Also at Ward 04 Wuse PU131 j Maitama model primary school has only one registered voter.

The PO said that the INEC officials would wait until the close of voting whether the voter comes or not.

At PU15 and 16, Area 8 city centre, it takes about 20 to 30 minutes for each vote to be completed.

At PU 018, Post Office, Municipal Area 10, voting commenced at exactly 8.55am.

At 10.30am, about 150 voters out of 3,311 registered voters had cast their voters.

Presiding Officer, AbdulBaki Jato described the BVAS as efficient, saying it takes about five minutes for accreditation and voting to take place.

An agent of the All Progressive Congress, Aposu Samuel, linked voter apathy to citizens’ lack of interest in council elections.

“Right now, people just vote and go. They are not even interested in seeing the final results. Perhaps it is because it is a council election. They wouldn’t have gone if it were governorship or presidential pool,” he said.

The Resident Electoral Commissioner in the FCT, Alhaji Yahaya Bello, after observing the election at PU 018, Post Office, Municipal Area 10, described the process as smooth, noting that there had been no report of violence.

He hailed residents for maintaining a peaceful atmosphere while urging more citizens to come out and exercise their rights.

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Politics

Atiku Hints On Supporting Obi For 2027 Presidential Race

Published

2 hours ago

May 18, 2024

Editor

The 2023 presidential candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party, Atiku Abubakar, has said that if in 2027, the party decides that it is the South-East’s turn and selects Peter Obi as its candidate, he will readily offer his support.

“I have said repeatedly and I even said it before the 2023 general elections that if the PDP decides to zone the presidential ticket to the South or South-East specifically, I won’t contest it. As long as it’s the decision of the party, I will abide by it. But I contested the 2023 presidential ticket because it was thrown open to all members of the party.

“If the party decides that it’s the turn of the South-East and Peter Obi is chosen, I won’t hesitate to support him,” Atiku declared in a recent interview with BBC Hausa Service.

He added that a merger between the PDP and Labour Party is possible.

Atiku added that members of the party would decide his fate in the 2027 general elections.

The former Vice President mentioned that his recent meeting with Obi might indicate a possible alliance leading up to the 2027 general elections.

Responding to questions about the meeting with Obi, Atiku said, “It’s just a normal friendly meeting that we often have, particularly among us in the opposition parties. Such meetings are healthy for Nigeria’s democracy and in the country’s interest.”

On whether this will bring about a merger, he said, “Yes, it’s very much possible. We can merge to achieve a common goal. So, it’s possible, and nothing can stop it if we wish to achieve that.”

The former Vice President, who denied that the choice of presidential candidate might frustrate the merger discussion, said, “That’s not true. That challenge will not arise. I can tell you that the choice of who will fly the flag of the party won’t be an issue.”

On why he’s still in active politics, Atiku said, “Yes, we can’t keep quiet and watch things go wrong. People are suffering and we are committed to making Nigeria a better place.

“It means you are not tired of politics of Nigeria? Not at all. I am still in active politics in Nigeria, at least, as long as God permits.

“My age doesn’t stop the young ones from testing their fate. Everybody, irrespective of age, is allowed to aspire to be anybody in the society, politically or otherwise.”

Regarding his 2027 Presidential ambition, the former Vice President said “That would depend on the decision of my party. I can’t make any categorical statement on that. It’s the duty of the party to decide on the way to go in the next election.

“Until that time comes. Let’s just wait and see how it will turn out.

“It must not be interpreted like that. I must not be eyeing elections to have meetings with political friends and associates. Currently, we are practising democracy in this country which we fought for with our blood.”

Last week, Obi held a private meeting with Atiku and some other PDP leaders in Abuja.

Obi also met separately with former Jigawa State Governor Sule Lamido and former Senate President Bukola Saraki, sparking speculation about a possible coalition for the 2027 general elections.

Obi was a PDP member until 2022, when he left to pursue his presidential ambitions with the Labour Party.

He finished third behind Atiku in the February 23 presidential election, which was won by Bola Tinubu of the All Progressives Congress.

Atiku blamed Obi’s departure from the PDP for his loss to Tinubu.

Analysts argued that Atiku’s 6,984,520 votes combined with Obi’s 6,101,533 votes could have secured a win against Tinubu, who received 8,794,726 votes.

Monday’s meeting marked the first public interaction between Obi and Atiku since the election.

Social media and online platforms were flooded with viral photos of Obi’s meetings with the three PDP figures on Monday.

In 2019, Atiku and Obi ran together on the PDP ticket but were defeated by former President Muhammadu Buhari of the APC.

However, due to internal conflicts, Obi, who was Atiku’s running mate in 2019, left the PDP and ran as the Labour Party’s candidate in the 2023 presidential election.

Politics

JUST IN: Ex-PDP Deputy National Chair, Oyedokun Defects To APC

Published

2 days ago

May 16, 2024

Editor

A former Deputy National Chairman of the Peoples Democratic Party, Alhaji Shuaib Oyedokun, has resigned his membership of the party and announced defection to the All Progressives Congress.

Oyedokun, a notable personality within the political circle in Osun State and beyond, said he decided to dump the PDP after consultation with his loyalists.

He said he would be joining APC, where his experience, efforts, and leadership roles would be valued and appreciated.

His resignation letter addressed to the National Chairman of the PDP through the ward, local government and state chairmen of the party obtained late Thursday further read, “As a functional member and leader of PDP (Ward 13, Jagun/ Osi-Bale Ode, Odo-Otin South Local Government, Osun State,) whose high electoral productivity and value have been credibly and positively acknowledged in my ward, across the local council, state and country-wide for the enhancement of the fortune of the PDP, I have the honour (though with pain) in announcing the renunciation of my membership of the party on principle, having observed that the ideals of we, founding members, had been sorely contaminated.

“In taking this step which is not even without due consultation with my teaming loyalists in the PDP, I have consequently decided to shift my allegiance to the All Progressives Congress (APC) where I believe my experience, efforts and leadership roles would be valued and appreciated.”

Oyedokun’s defection to the APC is coming at the time the aspirant he supported during the 2022 Osun governorship primary of PDP, Mr Dotun Babayemi is also moving to the national ruling party.

Osun APC said on Wednesday that Babayemi and his supporters would be dumping PDP and joining the party at a rally scheduled to be held in Osogbo on Friday.
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Politics

Poll: APC Has No Sellable Candidate, Nothing To Campaign On – Edo Govt

Published

5 days ago

May 13, 2024

Editor

The Edo State Government claimed on Monday that the All Progressives Congress, APC, has no credible candidate for the September 21 governorship election.

This was an assertion made by the Edo State Commissioner for Communication and Orientation, Chris Nehikhare, at a press conference in Benin City.

Nehikhare also alleged that the party is using lies and propaganda as its campaign strategy.

According to him: “The only APC strategy for the governorship election is to resort to lies and propaganda. When a party takes lies and propaganda as an election strategy, it means it has nothing to offer the people. The party lacks people with character, capacity, and intellect.”

The commissioner who took journalists through a screened shot WhatsApp chat said: “What we have here is the official APC WhatsApp platform, their own people screenshot their discussion. One of them who has a conscience asks, is this the only thing we have?”

Nehikhare, who said APC is ashamed to campaign for its candidate, noted that, as of today, nobody had heard of what the party has for the state.

“All we heard is how they are going to help their paymaster, lies and propaganda that will not help the state,” he added.

He opined that lies and propaganda are not strategies the opposition party, like APC, can use to win the September 21 governorship election.

The commissioner, who warned against misinformation and fake news ahead of the governorship election, urged media practitioners to be neutral in matters concerning lies and propaganda.

He, however, noted that Governor Godwin Obaseki’s administration has a lot of achievements to market and sell its candidate for the election.