Election news ...
Below is what the elections in Nigeria looks like so far...
DPO storms PU, fires tear gass, and absconds with ballot boxes in Niger state.
A Divisional Police Officer attached to Magama Local Government area of Niger State (names withheld) was on Saturday accused of snatching four ballot boxes and papers at the Mungoro central polling unit of the Majin ward.
He was also alleged to have tear-gassed officials of the Independent National Electoral Commission and electorate who were on a queue to cast their votes.
An eyewitness, Mr. Ibrahim Rege, said the accreditation of voters was peacefully conducted and that voting was in progress when the DPO invaded the polling unit, fired tear gas canisters at the crowd and allegedly took the ballot boxes and papers away.
Amaechi refuses accreditation..
RIVERS State Governor, Mr. Rotimi Amaechi, refused to be accredited over the refusal of officials of the Independent National Electoral Commission to produce the result sheet for his polling unit at Omuanwa Ward in the Ikwerre Local Government Area.
The governor, who turned up around 10.00am at his polling unit, was told that there were no election result sheets and that the card readers deployed in the area failed to work.
Amaechi, who is the Director-General of the All Progressives Congress Presidential Campaign Organisation, accused the Peoples Democratic Party of plotting to rig the presidential elections in the state. It is unlikely if Amaechi performed his civic right. His convoy was seen returning back to the State House in Port Harcourt almost immediately.
He later addressed a crowd of voters and declared that there would be no accreditation or voting in the area since the result sheets were not available.
Scores killed in Rivers, Gombe …
Tension heightened in Rivers, Anambra and Enugu states on Saturday following bombings, killings and arrests in some polling units.
In Rivers State, a soldier and two civilians were shot dead by suspected political thugs at polling centres in Ozuoha and Kpite in Ikwerre and Tai Local Government Areas of the state.
Sources said the gunmen opened fire where prospective voters had gathered for accreditation and that a bullet hit the soldier, who died on the spot.
Brigade Commander Commander, 2 Brigade, Bori Camp, Port Harcourt, Koko Essien, confirmed the incident when he spoke with Amaechi in Ubima.
One of the civilians, Sampson Wona, was said to have been shot dead while waiting to be accredited at a polling unit in Ozuoha .
The second civilian, who like Wona, was a member of the APC, was killed in Kpite, Tai LGA.
Jonathan's aide almost got killed in Kano.
The Senior Special Assistant to President Goodluck Jonathan on School Agriculture, Dr. Baraka Sani, on Saturday in Kano escaped death from the hands of suspected political thugs, who prevented her from voting.
The incident happened at Jigriya Ward in Dakatar Quarters, Nasarrwa area of Kano State, when Baraka was attempting to cast her vote but was prevented by the thugs, who hauled missiles at her.
According to an eyewitness account, the thugs on sighting Baraka started chanting: “Ba muayi, ba zaki ye zabe ba,” meaning, “We are not with you and will not allow you to vote.”
In the ensuing fracas, which lasted for over 10 minutes, two of Baraka’s aides sustained injuries and were rushed to a nearby hospital for medical attention.
APC wins in Obasanjo's ward.
The All Progressives Congress won the polling unit of former President Olusegun Obasanjo in Saturday’s presidential election, beating the Peoples Democratic Party to a second place.
At the polling unit, Ward 11, Unit 2, Shokori, Abeokuta North Local Government Area of Ogun State, the APC polled 100 in presidential votes, while the PDP got 16.
In the votes for Senate, the APC got 93, while the PDP got eight. The Social Democratic Party got 15, while the Peoples Party of Nigeria got two.
The majority votes for the House of Representatives also went to the APC, which polled 98, while the PDP got eight. The SDP got 12.
Buhari floors GEJ in Aso Villa..
In Unit 022, APC polled 337 votes while PDP scored 281 votes.
For the House of Representatives election in Unit 022, APC polled 334 to beat PDP to distant second with 241 votes.
For Unit 021 however, it was a close contest between APC that won with 255 votes and PDP that polled 254.
A total of 575 voters were accredited out of the 2,181 registered voters for Unit 021 while 770 voters were accredited out of the 2,278 voters registered for Unit 022.
The sorting and counting of the votes ran ended at 11.30pm, necessitating some voters to illuminate the venue with the headlamps of their cars.
Suspected PDP thugs snatch ballot boxes
Hoodlums believed to be agents of the Peoples Democratic Party on Saturday snatched ballot boxes at Nungudoe Itak, Ikono, in the Ikono Local Government Area of Akwa Ibom State.
The hoodlums, our correspondents learnt, had pretended to be engaged in a fight only to swoop on the electoral officers and snatched the ballot boxes. Some of them were also seen thumb-printing the ballot papers, allegedly in favour of the PDP candidates in the area.
According to a voter, who asked not to be named, the entire area is dominated by the All Progressives Congress. The female voter noted that accreditation of voters went on smoothly, but when the time for voting began, a certain man from the area came with the thugs and upturned the pattern the actual voting would have taken.
Meanwhile, the APC senatorial candidate for Ikot Ekpene Senatorial District, Mr. Inibehe Okori, said the party’s agent in Ward 6 in the Etim Ekpo Local Government Area of the state, Mr. Charles Udoetuk, had been arrested by the police.
“The police seized Charles Udoetuk for asking questions about the election materials,” Okori said.
When contacted, the Commissioner of Police in the state, Mr. Gabriel Achong, said he was not aware of the arrest.
Chris Ngige refuses to vote-Says card readers are faulty..
Senator Chris Ngige representing Anambra Central Senatorial District refused to vote on Saturday, claiming that the electoral process had been compromised.
Ngige, who is contesting for a re-election in the Senate, said he chose to waive his right to vote in the on-going elections when our correspondent met him at Alor ward 1, in his home town.
According to him, the poor working conditions of the card readers and the eventual usage of the manual system would lead to manipulations and other fraudulent electoral practices.
“When I came here, they just wrote my name in a piece of paper with some other names. My fingers were not marked with accreditation ink also. I complained to the INEC officials and they told me they were directed not to do so,” Ngige lamented, saying he was not going to be a part of a faulty election.
Majority of the card readers deployed by INEC did not work for hours into the election.
He said the elections should have been postponed after INEC realised that majority of the card readers were not working.
Two bomb explosions cause panic
Voters who came for accreditation in the morning at Ayom na Okpala Primary School 00 1 polling unit, Amenyi Ward 1, Awka, Anambra State scampered for safety following a bomb explosion at the polling unit.
Earlier, an explosion was said to have occurred at another unit in Onitsha South. Eyewitness accounts described the blast as a dynamite explosion. However, there was no loss of life
It took the timely intervention of the anti-bomb squad to rescue the situation.
An eyewitness, Mr. Chinenye Ibe, who confirmed the incident, said voters who came out for accreditation were shocked by the explosion which nearly disrupted the exercise.
The roof of one of the classroom blocks was demolished as a result of the explosion.
Some of the residents of the area attributed the incident to desperation on the part of some aggrieved politicians in the area.
Voters abandon Jonathan, Buhari
After a close monitoring of the elections in three senatorial zones of Ebonyi State on Saturday, our correspondent observed that the voters, especially in Ebonyi North and Ebonyi Central senatorial zones, hardly cast their votes for any of the presidential candidates.
A voter in Ezza South Local Government Area (Ebonyi Central senatorial zone), who pleaded not to be mentioned, said they were compelled to cast votes for only candidates seeking election into the National Assembly.
“The candidates of the Peoples Democratic Party, the All Progressives Congress, the Labour Party and All Progressives Grand Alliance were busy urging us to cast votes for them and leave.
“They kept telling us that we could get confused if we tried to vote for presidential candidates, the Senate and House of Representatives at the same time,” he said.
At a polling booth in Ngamgbo-Nwelle, Ezza South Local Government Area, a lawmaker, Tobias Okwuru, was seen urging the voters to cast their votes for him and other candidates in his party and leave the scene.
Okwuru is of the Labour Party and represents Ezza South/Ikwo federal constituency in the House of Representatives.
DPO storms PU, fires tear gass, and absconds with ballot boxes in Niger state.
A Divisional Police Officer attached to Magama Local Government area of Niger State (names withheld) was on Saturday accused of snatching four ballot boxes and papers at the Mungoro central polling unit of the Majin ward.
He was also alleged to have tear-gassed officials of the Independent National Electoral Commission and electorate who were on a queue to cast their votes.
An eyewitness, Mr. Ibrahim Rege, said the accreditation of voters was peacefully conducted and that voting was in progress when the DPO invaded the polling unit, fired tear gas canisters at the crowd and allegedly took the ballot boxes and papers away.
Amaechi refuses accreditation..
RIVERS State Governor, Mr. Rotimi Amaechi, refused to be accredited over the refusal of officials of the Independent National Electoral Commission to produce the result sheet for his polling unit at Omuanwa Ward in the Ikwerre Local Government Area.
The governor, who turned up around 10.00am at his polling unit, was told that there were no election result sheets and that the card readers deployed in the area failed to work.
Amaechi, who is the Director-General of the All Progressives Congress Presidential Campaign Organisation, accused the Peoples Democratic Party of plotting to rig the presidential elections in the state. It is unlikely if Amaechi performed his civic right. His convoy was seen returning back to the State House in Port Harcourt almost immediately.
He later addressed a crowd of voters and declared that there would be no accreditation or voting in the area since the result sheets were not available.
Scores killed in Rivers, Gombe …
Tension heightened in Rivers, Anambra and Enugu states on Saturday following bombings, killings and arrests in some polling units.
In Rivers State, a soldier and two civilians were shot dead by suspected political thugs at polling centres in Ozuoha and Kpite in Ikwerre and Tai Local Government Areas of the state.
Sources said the gunmen opened fire where prospective voters had gathered for accreditation and that a bullet hit the soldier, who died on the spot.
Brigade Commander Commander, 2 Brigade, Bori Camp, Port Harcourt, Koko Essien, confirmed the incident when he spoke with Amaechi in Ubima.
One of the civilians, Sampson Wona, was said to have been shot dead while waiting to be accredited at a polling unit in Ozuoha .
The second civilian, who like Wona, was a member of the APC, was killed in Kpite, Tai LGA.
Jonathan's aide almost got killed in Kano.
The Senior Special Assistant to President Goodluck Jonathan on School Agriculture, Dr. Baraka Sani, on Saturday in Kano escaped death from the hands of suspected political thugs, who prevented her from voting.
The incident happened at Jigriya Ward in Dakatar Quarters, Nasarrwa area of Kano State, when Baraka was attempting to cast her vote but was prevented by the thugs, who hauled missiles at her.
According to an eyewitness account, the thugs on sighting Baraka started chanting: “Ba muayi, ba zaki ye zabe ba,” meaning, “We are not with you and will not allow you to vote.”
In the ensuing fracas, which lasted for over 10 minutes, two of Baraka’s aides sustained injuries and were rushed to a nearby hospital for medical attention.
APC wins in Obasanjo's ward.
The All Progressives Congress won the polling unit of former President Olusegun Obasanjo in Saturday’s presidential election, beating the Peoples Democratic Party to a second place.
At the polling unit, Ward 11, Unit 2, Shokori, Abeokuta North Local Government Area of Ogun State, the APC polled 100 in presidential votes, while the PDP got 16.
In the votes for Senate, the APC got 93, while the PDP got eight. The Social Democratic Party got 15, while the Peoples Party of Nigeria got two.
The majority votes for the House of Representatives also went to the APC, which polled 98, while the PDP got eight. The SDP got 12.
Buhari floors GEJ in Aso Villa..
In Unit 022, APC polled 337 votes while PDP scored 281 votes.
For the House of Representatives election in Unit 022, APC polled 334 to beat PDP to distant second with 241 votes.
For Unit 021 however, it was a close contest between APC that won with 255 votes and PDP that polled 254.
A total of 575 voters were accredited out of the 2,181 registered voters for Unit 021 while 770 voters were accredited out of the 2,278 voters registered for Unit 022.
The sorting and counting of the votes ran ended at 11.30pm, necessitating some voters to illuminate the venue with the headlamps of their cars.
Suspected PDP thugs snatch ballot boxes
Hoodlums believed to be agents of the Peoples Democratic Party on Saturday snatched ballot boxes at Nungudoe Itak, Ikono, in the Ikono Local Government Area of Akwa Ibom State.
The hoodlums, our correspondents learnt, had pretended to be engaged in a fight only to swoop on the electoral officers and snatched the ballot boxes. Some of them were also seen thumb-printing the ballot papers, allegedly in favour of the PDP candidates in the area.
According to a voter, who asked not to be named, the entire area is dominated by the All Progressives Congress. The female voter noted that accreditation of voters went on smoothly, but when the time for voting began, a certain man from the area came with the thugs and upturned the pattern the actual voting would have taken.
Meanwhile, the APC senatorial candidate for Ikot Ekpene Senatorial District, Mr. Inibehe Okori, said the party’s agent in Ward 6 in the Etim Ekpo Local Government Area of the state, Mr. Charles Udoetuk, had been arrested by the police.
“The police seized Charles Udoetuk for asking questions about the election materials,” Okori said.
When contacted, the Commissioner of Police in the state, Mr. Gabriel Achong, said he was not aware of the arrest.
Chris Ngige refuses to vote-Says card readers are faulty..
Senator Chris Ngige representing Anambra Central Senatorial District refused to vote on Saturday, claiming that the electoral process had been compromised.
Ngige, who is contesting for a re-election in the Senate, said he chose to waive his right to vote in the on-going elections when our correspondent met him at Alor ward 1, in his home town.
According to him, the poor working conditions of the card readers and the eventual usage of the manual system would lead to manipulations and other fraudulent electoral practices.
“When I came here, they just wrote my name in a piece of paper with some other names. My fingers were not marked with accreditation ink also. I complained to the INEC officials and they told me they were directed not to do so,” Ngige lamented, saying he was not going to be a part of a faulty election.
Majority of the card readers deployed by INEC did not work for hours into the election.
He said the elections should have been postponed after INEC realised that majority of the card readers were not working.
Two bomb explosions cause panic
Voters who came for accreditation in the morning at Ayom na Okpala Primary School 00 1 polling unit, Amenyi Ward 1, Awka, Anambra State scampered for safety following a bomb explosion at the polling unit.
Earlier, an explosion was said to have occurred at another unit in Onitsha South. Eyewitness accounts described the blast as a dynamite explosion. However, there was no loss of life
It took the timely intervention of the anti-bomb squad to rescue the situation.
An eyewitness, Mr. Chinenye Ibe, who confirmed the incident, said voters who came out for accreditation were shocked by the explosion which nearly disrupted the exercise.
The roof of one of the classroom blocks was demolished as a result of the explosion.
Some of the residents of the area attributed the incident to desperation on the part of some aggrieved politicians in the area.
Voters abandon Jonathan, Buhari
After a close monitoring of the elections in three senatorial zones of Ebonyi State on Saturday, our correspondent observed that the voters, especially in Ebonyi North and Ebonyi Central senatorial zones, hardly cast their votes for any of the presidential candidates.
A voter in Ezza South Local Government Area (Ebonyi Central senatorial zone), who pleaded not to be mentioned, said they were compelled to cast votes for only candidates seeking election into the National Assembly.
“The candidates of the Peoples Democratic Party, the All Progressives Congress, the Labour Party and All Progressives Grand Alliance were busy urging us to cast votes for them and leave.
“They kept telling us that we could get confused if we tried to vote for presidential candidates, the Senate and House of Representatives at the same time,” he said.
At a polling booth in Ngamgbo-Nwelle, Ezza South Local Government Area, a lawmaker, Tobias Okwuru, was seen urging the voters to cast their votes for him and other candidates in his party and leave the scene.
Okwuru is of the Labour Party and represents Ezza South/Ikwo federal constituency in the House of Representatives.
Sai Buhari, we are winning
ReplyDeleteI pray GEJ win God please
ReplyDeleteHmmmmm Jega we are waiting...
ReplyDelete