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Many Shut Out As INEC Ends Voters’ Registration

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2 years ago

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Nigerians waiting at one of the INEC centres

Despite spirited efforts, many Nigerians were unable to register for Permanent Voters Cards (PVCs) as the exercise ended yesterday.

The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) had ruled out the possibility of extending the exercise, saying it needs time to scrutinise the voters’ register to clean up possible incidents of double registration, print permanent voters’ cards (PVC), among others.

Some state governments had declared work-free days to enable residents to complete their voter registration exercise before the July 31 deadline.

However, our correspondents, who visited different registration areas yesterday, reported that many centres were crowded with many waiting in queue as of 6:00pm.

In the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), one of our correspondents, who monitored the exercise in Bwari, Dutse and some parts of Kubwa as well as Garki Area 10 in the city centre, reported that several people were unable to register as of 4pm yesterday.

Mr Martins Abah, a teacher in one of the secondary schools in Bwari, said if the electoral body stood by its July 31 deadline, many willing residents would not be able to exercise their civic right.

He appealed for the extension of the exercise.

Another resident in Kubwa, Mohammed Isah, said he came to the registration centre around 10am thinking many people might have gone to church but to his surprise, there were close to 300 people in queue when he arrived.

“I have been here since then, this is 2:17pm now and not more than 20 people have been attended to,” he said.

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But a man, who said he was attended to at Area 10 in Garki, blamed Nigerians for their rush hours attitude, adding that even if they extend the exercise, many will still complain.

Traditional rulers in the FCT had, at the weekend, pleaded for the extension of the exercise, claiming that many rural dwellers in the territory had not been captured.

Kaduna

Usman Suleiman, a resident of Kinkinau, Kaduna lamented that he couldn’t find a registration centre in the whole of Sabon Gari ward, which made him to give up.

Zayyana Surajo, a fairly-used cloth dealer at Sabon Garin Tudun Wada in Kaduna South local government area, said he was not happy that the exercise ended without him getting registered.

Muhammad Shehu Bakura, another resident, said: “I went to two centres at LEA Tudun Wada and Kaduna Polytechnic on Friday but nobody was there to attend to us.” 

Khadija Shehu Kakura said the crowd at some of the centres visited discouraged her from registering.

Kano

In Kano, many prospective registrants were still in the queue as of the time our reporter visited one of the registration centres at Tarauni Local Government Area of the state.

Many of those spoken to, however, expressed doubt that they would be able to register before the close of the registration.

At the Tarauni Local Government INEC office, Daily Trust observed that hundreds of people were still in the queue in anticipation to get registered.

It was the same situation at other registration centres in Kano metropolitan areas.

Prospective registrants said based on the pace of the exercise, it was practically impossible to register more than 10% of those still in the queue before sunset.

Speaking shortly after his registration, Abdulrahman Bala Kawu, said he was able to register after six hours of waiting in the queue. 

Amina Ibrahim, who was still waiting to register, said she had spent three days in a row without success.

A group of young women, who spoke to our reporter, complained that the process they went through was tedious.

“This is the fifth day we have been here, spending the whole day. We have gone to different registration centres. In some places, security men even beat us and shot teargas at us. We spent N500 everyday each for transport to come here. Honestly, we have really suffered and we still may end up not getting registered,” one of them said.

Lagos

Visit to some centres in Lagos revealed that party chieftains hijacked the process as they colluded with some INEC staff to manipulate the process.

At Oluwole centre in Ogba, Ikeja local government area, it was gathered that party chieftains gave out numbers to people.

A prospective registrant, Oreoluwa Phillip, who visited the centre on Friday, said she left in annoyance owing to the manipulation.

“I got there as early as 6:32am but I was given number 107 while some people who just arrived got number 5. We learnt that party members have taken the number 1-100, so we were left with numbers from 101. Sadly, there is only one computer and the process was slow,” she said.

Daily Trust gathered that some of the approved centres in Lagos were not open to the public yesterday.

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When our correspondent visited one of the centres on Agu-Are street, Ijanikin, INEC staff were not on ground.

Hundreds of people, who stormed the place with the hope to beat the deadline, were disappointed and went back home disappointed.

One of the residents, who identified himself as Emeka said: “No INEC staff was on ground to attend to people. Ago-Are is among centres approved by INEC for PVC registration.”

Imo

In Owerri Municipal Council, many prospective registrants forgo their church services as they thronged registration centres as early as 5am.

Ngozi Nweke, a resident, said she had been visiting the centre since last Monday, but had not been able to get registered.

In Nwangele local government area, a staff of INEC, who spoke anonymously, blamed the slow pace of the exercise on network failure.

He said, “Another problem is that most people who are here don’t have any business being here. They would’ve done theirs online, especially those who want to change registration points or areas.”

Residents of Port Harcourt in Rivers State also expressed concern over their inability to register for PVC.

A Port Harcourt resident, Chuks Nwama, told our reporter that all efforts to obtain the voters’ card were unsuccessful.

“Since last week, I have been making efforts to obtain the card but it was very difficult. On Monday and Tuesday, I left my house about 5.00am to the INEC office located at Aba Road. I was there from 5.am to 5.00pm, I couldn’t get registered,” he said.

Another resident, Pastor Emmanuel Chukwu, said he could not stand the pressure of standing in a long queue to obtain the card.

A public affairs analyst, Toyin Ajayi, reminded Nigerians that INEC has to work with its scheduled time table for proper planning, adding that frequent extension of such exercise might interrupt the arrangement.

He advised INEC to assess their schedule time table and take appropriate decisions regarding the requested extension by some Nigerians in the overall interest of the country.

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

Published

2 days ago

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December 21, 2024

By

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

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

Published

4 days ago

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December 19, 2024

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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

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INEC recognises Sylvester Ezeokenwa as APGA national chairman

Published

5 days ago

on

December 18, 2024

By

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.

INEC recognises Sylvester Ezeokenwa as APGA national chairman

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