Politics

Voting begins in Ekiti gov poll, row over blind woman seeking support

Published

3 years ago

June 18, 2022

Residents of Ekiti State are beginning to file out in trickles to exercise their franchise as voting has commenced in many parts of the state in the governorship poll.

The people of state are set to elect a brand new governor today that will succeed the incumbent, Dr Kayode Fayemi, and pilot the affairs of the state for the next four years.

The election will be conducted across 2,445 polling units in the 16 local government areas in the state.

Sixteen candidates are participating in the poll, which will be decided by 988,923 registered voters, out of which 51 per cent are women and 38.56 per cent youths (18-34).

The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) said only 749,065 voters collected their permanent voters cards for the election. However, a total of 403,451 votes were cast in the 2018 election, won by Fayemi of the All Progressives Congress (APC), who recorded 197,462 votes against his main challenger, Peoples Democratic Party (PDP’s) Kolapo Olushola, who had 177,927 votes. Thirty-three other candidates had 9,205 votes, while 18,857 votes were declared invalid.

On Saturday morning, the request for help by an elderly, visually impaired electorate, who could not identify the logo of her preferred party led to a shouting march among agents of political parties participating in the governorship poll at Fajuyi House, Polling 007, Ado Ekiti.

The voter had told the INEC’s ad-hoc electoral officer at the polling unit that she could not see the logo of the party she wanted to vote for.

Even though all the party agents present agreed the woman should be assisted, the choice of who would assist her almost led to a brawl among them, as they rejected those that volunteered to assist the voter.

While the matter was being resolved, voting was temporarily put on hold.

Son to the voter, simply identified as Yemi later showed up and was allowed to assist her to cast her vote.

A report by Punch stated that at a newly created polling unit, Unit 45, Ward 9, Ado Ekiti, INEC Adhoc officer on duty, who refused to disclose his name, said only four voters were on the list.

He said one voter had cast his vote, while the other three were being expected.

But at the next polling unit to it, Polling Unit 44, Ward 9, there were several people in the queue waiting to cast their vote.

One of the voters, simply identified as Olatunde, in a chat with our correspondent said “many people were unaware of the existence of the newly created polling Unit 45.

“Whenever the opportunity to transfer registration is created for us by INEC, I will prefer to move my registration to the new polling unit.”

The 2022 election is expected to be a tight race between the candidates of the ruling APC, Abiodun Oyebanji and a former governor of the state, Segun Oni, an engineer, who is the candidate of the Social Democratic Party (SDP). The candidate of the PDP, Bisi Kolawole, is also expected to mount a challenge for the coveted position.

Oyebanji, who is backed by the incumbent governor, resigned as secretary to the state government to contest the poll.

The Ikogosi Ekiti-born technocrat served as the secretary of the group that lobbied the late General Sani Abacha for the creation of Ekiti State in 1996.

He also served as special assistant on legislative matters to the first civilian governor of the state, Otunba Niyi Adebayo, before ending up as his chief of staff.

During Fayemi’s first term, he served as commissioner for integration before he was deployed to the Ministry of Budget and Economic Planning.

Oni of the SDP will be going to the poll with the integrity of the profile he demonstrated when he was the governor of the state. However, he is not expected to have enough financial backing to challenge the two main parties – APC and PDP – in an election that analysts said might be decided by what locals call ‘Dibo sibe ko sebe’ (a form of vote-buying slogan).

Meanwhile, Oni has accused security operatives of arresting his supporters to demoralise them ahead of the election.

He specifically warned the chief security officer to Governor Fayemi not to allow himself to be used to set the state on fire.

Oni, who spoke at the party’s secretariat in Ado-Ekiti, said his supporters were arrested and detained by the chief security officer to the governor.

However, Mr Yinka Oyebode, the chief press secretary to Fayemi, dismissed the claim, describing it as ‘a lie from the pit of hell.’ He argued that the chief security officer had no influence over the security architecture for the election, which he noted was even beyond the commissioner of police in the state.

He claimed that security operatives were picking up any identified threat irrespective of political parties or affiliations.

The Nigeria Police Force says it will deal with any electoral offenders during the conduct of the governorship election holding today (Saturday).

Deputy Inspector General of Police, Babatunde Kokumo, in charge of the Ekiti election, said this when he visited the Ekiti Resident Electoral Commissioner, Rec, Dr Adeniran Rahmon.

Kokumo said the Force had imposed restriction of movement in and out of the state from the hours of 11:59am on Friday, adding that a strong security arrangement had been put in place to ensure a transparent poll in the state.

Already, the police had embarked on an aerial patrol of Ado Ekiti, the state capital, as part of its confidence building measures.

Politics

PDP crisis: Two ex-Senate presidents lead fresh plot to oust Damagum

Published

2 days ago

December 21, 2024

Trends Admin

Umar Iliya Damagum, Acting National Chairman of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP)

PDP crisis: Two ex-Senate presidents lead fresh plot to oust Damagum

Two former Presidents of the Senate, Chief David Mark and Dr Bukola Saraki are leading a fresh charge aimed at removing Amb. Umar Damagum as the Acting National Chairman of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP).

The push by Mark and Saraki has received the backing of prominent stakeholders, including the Plateau State Governor, Caleb Muftwang and other political office holders elected on the platform of the PDP.

Similarly, former governors from the Northcentral zone who served on the party’s platform have also aligned forces with the group.

Rising from a stakeholders’ meeting in Abuja on Thursday night, the party chieftains resolved to produce a candidate from the zone early 2025 to replace Damagum.

According to them, the move to replace Damagum with a substantive chairman from the Northcentral, has received the endorsement of key party stakeholders from the Northwest and the Northeast zones.

Among those being projected as potential candidates to take Damagum’s seat include Mark; a former Benue State Governor, Gabriel Suswam; and a former House of Representatives member from Nasarawa State, David
David Ombugadu.

A communique issued after the meeting, said the stakeholders
reviewed the festering crisis in the party following the exit of the erstwhile National Chairman, Dr. Iyorchia Ayu.

Ayu lost his seat to the crisis triggered by disagreements over the emergency of Alhaji Atiku Abubakar as the presidential candidate of the PDP in the 2023 general election.

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The crisis has continued to deepen with the apparent overbearing influence of the Minister of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Nyesom Wike on the Damagum-led national leadership.

The Northcentral stakeholders argued that Damagum’s continued occupation of the office breached provisions of the PDP constitution.

The communique states in part, “The PDP’s constitution clearly states that succession of offices in the party at all levels is largely to the extent that any vacant position can be replaced by appointment from the zone, as per Section 47 (6) of the party.

“The party is guided by its constitution at all times. Therefore, the leadership of the party needs to rise up to the occasion to restore goodwill and cohesion in the party by making necessary sacrifices and compromises to restore confidence and cohesion in the party.

“It is in the light of this that the stakeholders of the Northcentral Zone appeal to the conscience and goodwill of our compatriots in other zones of the Northern region to restore the seat of the chairmanship of the party back to the Northcentral Zone to serve out its tenure.

“That the stakeholders must strive to build consensus to get the buy-in to the position of Northcentral zone.

“The Northcentral is united and will strive to preserve the PDP as a veritable platform for good governance in Nigeria.”

The meeting, which was attended by Governor Muftwang, also had former Governors Jonah Jang (Plateau), Babangida Aliyu (Niger), Abdulfatah Ahmed (Kwara) and Idris Wada (Kogi) in attendance.

Others at the meeting included the Senate Minority Leader, Senator Abba Moro; incumbent PDP National Legal Adviser, Kamaldeen Ajibade (SAN); and a former Information Minister, Prof Jerry Gana.

Also at the meeting were former senators Tunde Ogbeha, Philip Aduda, Suleiman Adokwe, Dino Melaye, Mohammed Onawo and Peter Jiya.

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Similarly, former Ministers, Labaran Maku and Sarah Ochekpe also attended the meeting. Other stakeholders like Simon Mwadkwon, Mrs. Margaret Icheen, Mr. Raymond Dabo, Maika Jiba, and Isa Dobi were also present.

Damagum, who is from Yobe State in the Northeast zone, emerged Acting National Chairman in March 2023 following the exit of Ayu who is from Benue State in the Northcentral zone.

Damagum was the PDP Deputy National Chairman (North) before his appointment as Acting National Chairman.

By virtue of Section 47 (6) of the party’s constitution, he ought to have relinquished the seat for a substantive National Chairman from the Northcentral zone where Ayu hailed from.

The Section reads: “Where a vacancy occurs in any of the offices of the party, the Executive Committee at the appropriate level shall appoint another person from the area or zone where the officer originated from to serve out the tenure of the officer.”

Ayu was elected chairman in 2022 for a four-year tenure that should expire in 2026 before his tenure got truncated in 2023.

Several moves by critical organs of the party, including the PDP Governors Forum, the Board of Trustees (BoT) and the National Caucus to replace Damagum have been thwarted by the Acting National Chairman, allegedly with the backing of Wike.

Miffed by the development, the PDP Governors Forum, led by Governor Bala Mohammed of Bauchi State, had, a few weeks ago, directed the Damagum-led leadership to convene the National Executive Council (NEC) meeting latest by February 2025.

The NEC meeting has suffered four postponements between August and November 2024, as Damagum, who is supposed to convene the meeting has been evasive.

The power to ratify any candidate chosen by the Northcentral zone to replace Damagum is vested only in the NEC.

PDP crisis: Two ex-Senate presidents lead fresh plot to oust Damagum

Politics

PDP expels South-East national vice chairperson over anti-party activities

Published

4 days ago

December 19, 2024

Trends Admin

PDP expels South-East national vice chairperson over anti-party activities

The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in Oguduokwor Ward, Onicha Local Government Area of Ebonyi State, has officially expelled Ali Odefa, the suspended National Vice Chairperson of the party in the South-East, following allegations of anti-party activities.

Odefa had been suspended on September 11, 2024, by the ward executives, a move that was later upheld by the Federal High Court in Abakaliki. In its ruling on November 29, 2024, under suit number FHC/AI/CS/182/2024, the court affirmed the legitimacy of his suspension.

On Wednesday, Onyeka Ovuta, the Acting Chairperson of the PDP in Oguduokwor, announced Odefa’s expulsion in a statement. Ovuta explained that the decision followed recommendations from the party’s disciplinary committee, which confirmed the allegations against Odefa.

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The party announced that Mr Odefa by the virtue of his expulsion, “ceases to be a member of the party.”

Reacting, Mr Odefa laughed off the expulsion, stating that those who announced it were “frustrated charlatans”.

He said the expulsion cannot stand because “it did not take place in the ward but in Abuja”. He said those who made the announcement against him were not ward executives of the party.

“Let them come home come and announce it. Or is our ward now located in Abuja?”

PDP expels South-East national vice chairperson over anti-party activities

Politics

INEC recognises Sylvester Ezeokenwa as APGA national chairman

Published

5 days ago

December 18, 2024

Trends Admin

APGA National Chairman, Sylvester Ezeokenwa

INEC recognises Sylvester Ezeokenwa as APGA national chairman

Sylvester Ezeokenwa has been reinstated as the national chairman of the All Progressive Grand Alliance (APGA).

Ezeokenwa was reinstated by the leadership of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) on Tuesday, December 17.

According to Sam Olumekun, the National Commissioner and Chairman, Information and Voter Education Committee of INEC, the commission had been served with the judgement of the Supreme Court.

The apex court judgement with the Appeal No. SC/CV/824/2024 APGA & ANOR vs OYE & ORS was delivered on November 27, 2024.

The court ruled that Ezeokenwa should be recognised as the national chairman of the party.

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“In compliance with the judgement of the apex court, the Commission has restored Barr. Ezeokenwa as the Chairman of APGA and restored his name on our website accordingly,” the INEC commissioner said.

He also stated that the reisnstatmemt of the new chairman would automatically lead to the withdrawal of the recognition of Njoku as the national chairman of the party.

The court also upheld an earlier judgement of the appeal which did not confer any enforceable rights on Njoku.

If also awarded N20 million each against the appellaants.