Gambian President Loses Presidential Election After 22 Years In Office

Gambian President Yahya Jammeh has conceded to defeat Gambian electoral chairman tells newsmen.

President Jammeh who has been in power since 1994 after a military coup was said to loose against his closest counterpart Adama Barrow, a real estate agent on Thursday poll.

Kogi: Tribunal Dismiss Motions Seeking to Stop Bello’s Inauguration

 

Kogi State Governorship Election Petitions Tribunal sitting in Lokoja, Monday struck out two motions seeking interlocutory injunction to stop the inauguration of the Governor-elect, Yahaya Bello.

Chairman of the Tribunal, Justice Halima Mohammed, said though the tribunal had Jurisdiction to entertain such prayers, the motions were not contained in the original petitions brought by the plaintiffs involved.

She said granting the motions filled by the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, and Labour Party, LP, will definitely affect the life of the original case before the court.

Biafra: We will Teach Nigeria How to Conduct Peaceful Election – Uwazuruike

Ahead of the February 22 election into wards, provinces, districts, regions and zones in the South-East and South-South, the Biafra Independent Movement (BIM), on Thursday declared that it would set a standard for good conduct of elections.

Speaking during a zonal rally at the proposed site of Ojukwu Memorial Library in Enugu Ezike, Enugu State, the leader of BIM, Chief Ralph Uwazuruike said the election would serve as a guide for the Federal Republic of Nigeria to follow.

Uwazuruike, who was represented by Dr. Mrs. Augustina Ugwuoke said, “Our election will not be conducted same way as that of Nigeria; BIM will not give room for election rigging as is the case in Nigeria.

APC Wins All Chairmanship Positions in Niger State

The All Progressive Congress (APC) in Niger has won all the 24 Local Government Areas Chairmanship positions in the election conducted on Saturday in the state.

Chairman of the state Independent Electoral Commission, Alhaji Mohammad Abubakar, made the announcement on Sunday in Minna.

He said that the APC won a clear majority of the votes cast in the area councils.

He said that the reports from the commission across the councils indicated a peaceful conduct of election.

Abubakar urged the winners to be magnanimous in victory and work with those that lost.

The details of the result is as follows:

Kogi: Tribunal Declines to Stop Bello’s Swearing-in

The Kogi State Governorship Election Petitions Tribunal headed by Justice Halima Mohammed in Lokoja, the state capital on Thursday declined to stop the January 27 swearing-in of Alhaji Yahaya Bello as the governor of the state.

The Labour Party had filed a motion exparte seeking to prevent Bello, who was declared by the Independent National Electoral Commission as the winner of the Kogi State governorship election from being sworn in.

Counsel to the petitioner/applicant, Mr. Reuben Egwuaba, had through the exparte motion sought the leave of the court to hear the motion on notice restraining Bello from presenting himself before the Chief Judge of the state, Justice Nasiru Ajanah, for the purpose of the swearing-in.

INEC Commences CVR in FCT Ahead of March Elections

 

 

The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) on Wednesday commenced a five-day Continuous Voters Registration (CVR) across the six Area Councils of the Federal Capital Territory, Abuja.

The CVR exercise will hold between Jan. 13 and Jan. 17 from 9 a.m. to 4 a.m. daily, ahead of the FCT Area Council elections scheduled for March 19.

A correspondent of The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) who monitored the exercise reports that eligible voters came out in large numbers to register at the registration centres.

Mr Segun Adewole, a civil servant, who was at the Government Day Secondary School, Karu, a registration point under the Abuja Municipal Area Council (AMAC), commended the INEC officials for conducting the exercise in an orderly manner.

Bayelsa REC Accused Of Collecting N200 Million Bribe From Dickson

A Supervisory Presiding Officer (SPO) with the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), Mr. Francis Asmakia Ted, has accused the Resident Electoral Commissioner (REC) in Bayelsa State, Mr. Baritor Kpagih, of collecting a two hundred million naira (N200,000,000) bribe from the Bayelsa State Governor, Seriake Dickson.

In an Affidavit of Facts, Mr. Ted alleged that Governor Dickson offered Mr. Kpagih a N1 billion bribe to illegally tilt the December 5th polls in Bayelsa State in favor of Governor Dickson, stressing that the N200 million cash bribe was the initial payment.

According to the SPO, the financial inducement was the reason that Mr. Kpagih ignored the severe violence and irregularities in the Local Government Areas (LGAs) of Ekeremor, Nembe, and Ogbia. Instead, the REC focused on the violence in the Southern Ijaw LGA unilaterally declaring the results there as inconclusive.

Bayelsa Supplementary Election:Youth Group Calls For Removal Of REC, State Police Commissioner

On Sunday, hundreds of indigent youths from the 105 wards of the 8 Local Government Areas (LGAs) of Bayelsa State asked the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) and the office of the Inspector-General of Police to review its strategy for the January 9th supplementary election in Southern Ijaw and other units of the State.

According to the Ijaw Youths, under the aegis of Niger Delta Youths for Democracy, the review of strategies for the January 9th election must include the re-deployment of the duo of the Resident Electoral Commissioner (REC), Baritoh Kpagih, and the State Commissioner of Police.

According to the group, though the security and election strategies may have been adopted,such strategies will not work without the Bayelsa REC and Commissioner of Police over their alleged partisan roles in the cancelled polls in some parts of the State.

The group,in a statement signed yesterday in Yenagoa by its National Coordinator, Mike Olomu, said that the redeployment of the Bayelsa REC is based on his recent confession and allegation of attempted bribe to manipulate the cancelled election against one of the leading political party‎. Meanwhile, the redeployment of the Commissioner of Police is based on his alleged compromise by the ruling party in the state and refusal to provide proper security which led to widespread attacks against members of the All Progressives Congress (APC).

Nullification of my Election a Temporary Setback – Wike

Rivers State Governor, Nyesom Ezenwo Wike has described the nullification of his election as a temporary setback, saying that God’s will and the mandate of the people will prevail at the end of the day.

Addressing thousands of Rivers State people who thronged the Port Harcourt International Airport to receive him on Thursday, Governor Wike urged the people to remain peaceful as the state remains PDP despite the contrived situation at present.

Appeal Court Reserves Judgment in Delta Gov Election Suit

The Appeal Court sitting in Benin, Edo State has reserved judgment in the appeal challenging the ruling of the Delta State Governorship Election Petition Tribunal, Asaba, which upheld the declaration of Dr. Ifeanyi Okowa of the People’s Democratic Party as winner of the April 11 governorship poll by the Independent National Electoral Commission.

Not satisfied with the decision of the October 26 ruling of the tribunal in Asaba, the candidate of the All Progressives Congress, O’tega Emerhor, and the All Progressives Congress had through their counsel, Chief Thompson Okpoko SAN, approached the Appeal Court to set aside the tribunal’s judgment and order a rerun election in the state.

Akwa Ibom Elders Seek Probe Into Election Petitions Judgments

The Akwa Ibom State Elders have called for probe into what they described as contradictory judgements in the election petitions.

In a statement, they expressed concerns over “the clear cases of miscarriage of justice in nearly all of the decided cases so far.”

The statement was signed by leaders of the Uyo Elders Forum, Otuekong Jackson Udoh, Obong Rita Akpan,former minister, Dr Ime Okopido, former minister and Professor Okon Eminue, former chairman, Governing council of Akwa Ibom State University. 

“Our concerns are based on the fact that if the election petitions were

Wike Heads For S’Court As A’Court Upholds Sacking

The Court of Appeal in Abuja on Wednesday affirmed the judgment of the Rivers State Governorship Election Petition Tribunal which nullified the election of Governor Nyesom Wike of the Peoples Democratic Party and ordered the Independent National Electoral Commission to conduct a fresh poll.

The five-man panel of the Court of Appeal, led by Justice M.B. Dongban-Mensen in three separate judgments, dismissed the appeals filed by Wike, the PDP and INEC against the verdict of the Justice Suleiman Ambrusa-led tribunal delivered on October 24.

In the three unanimous judgments, the Appeal Court held that the tribunal was right to have held that the All Progressives Congress and its governorship candidate in the April 11, 2015 election, Dr. Dakuku Peterside, had satisfactorily proved their petition that the poll was conducted in non-compliance with the provisions of the Electoral Act.

In its judgment on the first appeal by Wike read by the presiding justice, Donghan-Messen, the Appeal Court resolved all the seven issues formulated in the appeal against the appellants.