Tension in states as outcome of guber/HoA elections spring surprises
…INEC declares Adamawa election inconclusive, PDP kicks as female APC candidate gives seating Gov. tough time
…Omo-Agege loses to PDP candidate in Delta
…Anambra, Yobe join Osun Assembly Speakers lose election
…APC loses to Kwawkanso’s NNPP, Gov. declares curfew
…Other losers cry foul, prepare for court battle
…Mixed reactions as INEC comes under fire of monitoring bodies
…Nnamani dumps PDP after losing election
By Moses Adeniyi & Correspondents
Outcome of the Saturday governorship and State Houses of Assembly (HoA) elections, further declared by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) on Monday were coloured with dynamics and tension across states.
On Monday, INEC declared the governorship election held last Saturday in Adamawa State inconclusive.
The Commission said its decision was due to the margin of votes recorded in the election by the contestants.
The candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in the State, Senator Aishatu Dahiru, who is a female contestant popularly known as Binani, scored 390, 275 while the incumbent Governor of the State and candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Ahmadu Fintiri, polled 421,524.
There was apprehension over the delay in the announcement of the results, particularly as the PDP resonate calls on the INEC to declare the winner.
The State Collation Officer, Prof. Mohammed Mele, stated that there were 69 polling units where elections were cancelled and therefore affected no fewer than 37,016 potential voters with Permanent Voter Cards (PVCs) in those units.
The PDP agent, Dr. Aliyu Idi-Hong, who however kicked against the declaration of the election as inconclusive described it as “criminal”.
He argued that the grounds relied on by the Returning Officer in declaring the results as inconclusive was not tenable.
According to him, those affected were not more than 7,000 registered voters in the areas where elections were cancelled and the cancellation were purely based on over-voting.
He alleged that there had been deliberate collusion by the APC and INEC officials to steal the elections in Adamawa at all costs, saying, “Their notion of inconclusive is criminal. It is deliberate collusion and it also proved one thing that this election result has always been decreed to be stolen.”
…Omo-Agege loses to PDP candidate in Delta
In Delta, there was a major shake as Deputy Senate President, Ovie Omo-Agege of the APC lost the race to the governorship candidate of the PDP, Sheriff Oborevwori, who was declared winner of the gubernatorial election in Delta State by the INEC.
According to the results announced on Monday by the Resident Electoral Commissioner, Mr Monday Udoh-Tom, Oborevwori won 21 out of the 25 Local Government Areas (LGAs) collated in the State to defeat his closest rival, Ovie Omo-Agege.
Oborevwori polled 360,234 votes, Omo-Agege polled 240,229, while the All Progressives Grand Alliance candidate,Chief Great Ogboru, got 11,029 votes.
Out of the 25 LGAs in the State, PDP’s Oborevwori won in 21 of them, while APC’s Omo-Agege won the remaining four LGAs.
The State Returning Officer, Prof Georgewill Abraham, while declaring Oborevwori as the winner of the governorship election at the INEC headquarters in Asaba, the State capital, said the PDP candidate “having met the requirement of the law, is hereby declared the winner and returned as governor-elect.”
Meanwhile, in Ebonyi, INEC on Monday, declared the governorship candidate of the APC, Francis Nwifuru, as the winner of the polls in the State.
Declaring Nwifuru winner of the governorship contest, the State Returning Officer, Prof. Charles Igwe, who is also the Vice-Chancellor of the University of Nigeria Nsukka, said he scored the highest number of votes cast.
As issued by INEC, while Nwifuru secured 199,131 votes; the PDP’s governorship candidate, Dr Ifeanyi Odii, polled 80,191 votes. The third runner-up, the All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA) governorship candidate, Prof. Benard Odoh, scored 52,189 votes.
…Other losers cry foul, prepare for court battle
Dissatisfied by the outcome, Odii, in a statement on Monday, described the outcome of the exercise as “broad day robbery of the peoples mandate,” in the State.
“I thank you for your show of support in coming out to vote en-masse in the March 18 gubernatorial and House of Assembly elections. I remain grateful for your goodwill and belief in our mission to recover Ebonyi state.
“I am saddened by the numerous reports of loss of lives, damage to property and injury to voters and citizens recorded all over the state.
“The Saturday elections have once again exposed the magnitude of our security and governance challenges in Ebonyi State, which has become a standard under the APC-led regime. Undemocratic forces seeking to capture the soul of our society are afraid to face the people in a free and fair election, so they use violence and intimidation to impose their agenda. We cannot allow this unfolding pattern of ‘governance by violence’ to become our new reality.
“I am a man of peace, and violence is not associated with my personality. Events might not be going the way we would like them to, but we must remain calm and look for solutions within the law. We cannot emulate the tactics of the APC regime,” he said.
Meanwhile, in Abia State, APGA rejected the results of the governorship poll in the State so far declared by INEC as at the time of filing this report.
In a statement signed on Monday by the APGA Chairman Abia State, Rev. Augustine Ehiemere, the party crying foul play, said it would not accept an election “marred by irregularities”.
The statement read partly, “The results so far announced did not in any way reflect the will of the good people of Abia voters as demonstrated at the various polling units.
“We are highly disappointed that the votes cast for our candidate, Professor Greg Ibe, were suppressed and not credited to him.
“Regrettably too, there were brazen irregularities, including snatching of ballot papers, over-voting, unprecedented manipulation and violence against the opposition.
“Most of the results were collated without recourse to BVAS machines, hence, they cannot be relied upon.
“We appeal to our members to remain calm and watch things unfold. We firmly believe that light will triumph over darkness, and Abia emancipated from the chains of undemocratic forces.
“The election was marred with irregularities in all parts of the state, and APGA cannot accept a highly flawed election.”
Results announced so far while filing this report was in favour of the Labour Party.
…Kano under heat as APC loses to Kwawkanso’s NNPP, Govt declares curfew
In Kano, there was a major shake up as the INEC announced the candidate of the New Nigeria Peoples Party (NNPP), Yusuf Abba Kabir, as the winner of Saturday’s governorship election in the State, a development that was trailed with tension when the results was declared early Monday morning.
According to the results declared by the Returning Officer for the Kano State Governorship election, Professor Ahmed Ibrahim, the NNPP candidate polled 1,019,602 votes to defeat his closest rival, Nasiru Gawuna of the APC, who polled 890,705 votes.
The development led to the Kano State Government imposing a dusk to dawn curfew, stating it was in a view to avoid breakdown of law and order, following the outcome of the polls.
The State Commissioner for information and Internal Affairs, Malam Muhammad Garba, made the announcement in a statement issued at the wake of Monday morning, saying the decision was to prevent hoodlums from causing chaos in the already tensed situation.
NNPP is popularly known with former Kano State Governor, Rabiu Kwankwaso, who contested on the platform of the party for the Presidential election. Kwakwanso who left APC for NNPP won only Kano in the presidential race.
…Nnamani dumps PDP after losing senatorial election
Further surprise sprang up on Monday as the senator representing Enugu East Senatotial District, Chimaroke Nnamani, announced his exit from the PDP after he lost his senatorial bid to the Labour Party.
Appreciating his constituents for the unalloyed support over the years, the former Enugu State governor’s whose notice of his formal exit from the PDP was contained in a statement he signed on Monday, said that he had consulted with his associates and constituents alike and had decided to quit the PDP on account of irreconcilable differences with the national leadership of the party.
He noted that he had moved on and hoped that his modest contributions to the development of his constituency would be the building block on which his successors could build on.
While reaffirming his acquaintance with the President-elect, Bola Tinubu, he promised to continue to partner him.
He further expressed optimism that the Tinubu administration would promote good governance, rule of law and human rights for the interest of all Nigerians.
Recall he was expelled by the PDP on February 10, 2023, alongside some other key party members for alleged anti-party activities. This is also as he lost his bid to return to the Senate to his rival Kelvin Chukwu of the Labour Party.
…Yobe Speaker loses to 36-yr-old PDP rival after 20 years in Assembly
Meanwhile, in Yobe, the outome of the Assembly elections sprang surprise as the Speaker of the House of Assembly, Ahmed Lawan, who has been a lawmaker since 2003, was beaten to the Nguru II Constituency seat by 36-year-old candidate of the PDP, Lawan Musa.
The Returning Officer for the election, Dr Habib Muhammad, said Musa victorious with 6,648 votes, while Lawan of the All Progressives Congress got 6,466 votes.
Also in Kwara State, a 26-year-old Rukayat Shittu of the APC won the Owode/Onire Constituency seat.
The Returning Officer, Prof. Hakeem Ijaya, said Rukayat, scored 7,521 votes to beat her PDP rival who polled 6,957 votes.
Anambra Speaker loses
Also, the Speaker of the Anambra State House of Assembly, Uchenna Okafor, lost his third-term re-election bid to the PDP candidate, Abuchi Udemezue, for the Ayamelum State Constituency.
The Returning Officer, Prof. George Onwudiwe, said the PDP candidate polled 12,993 votes to defeat Okafor, who contested on the platform of the All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA), with 11,445 votes.
Similarly, the Deputy Majority Leader of Anambra State House of Assembly and candidate of APGA for Orumba North, Emeka Aforka, lost in his second-term re-election bid to the candidate of the Labour Party, Paul Obu.
Obu scored 10,212 votes against Aforka’s 7,675 votes.
The PDP candidate, John Nwokoye, lost out to APGA’s Chimezie Ikwunne’s in Awka North.
APC sweeps Ondo
Meanwhile further results on Assembly polls showed in Ondo State, the APC won 22 out of the 26 seats in the State Assembly, while the PDP won the remaining four seats.
Osun Speaker loses, as PDP wins 25 seats
In Osun State, the Speaker of the Assembly, representing Ilesa East, Timothy Owoeye, who ran on the platform of the APC, lost his reelection bid to PDP’s Olatunbosun Oyewole.
The Resident Electoral Commissioner, Dr. Mutiu Agboke, on Sunday, announced that the ruling PDP won 25 out of the 26 seats in the Osun State House of Assembly.
The APC won only Boripe/Boluwaduro State Constituency seat where its candidate, Olufemi Popoola, polled 15,594 votes to defeat PDP’s Adesina Aina, who got 14,817 votes.
The immediate past governor of Osun State, Adegboyega Oyetola, hails from Boripe/Boluwaduro State Constituency.
However in reaction, the APC, in a statement by its acting chairman, Tajudeen Lawal, had said the PDP should not rejoice over the outcome of the election, which it claimed was characterised by violence.
“It is too early for Governor Ademola Adeleke to rejoice over the blood-and-sweat victory of the candidates of his party in yesterday’s elections across the state,” he said.
APC sweeps Ekiti
Meanwhile in Ekiti State, INEC declared that APC won 23 out of the 26 seats in the state House of Assembly, while the Social Democratic Party won two seats.
Election for the remaining one State constituency was declared inconclusive.
Meanwhile, there were further reports of violence on Monday, as the electoral officer in charge of Maradun Local Government Area in Zamfara State, Bashir Shagari, was reportedly kidnapped by unknown gunmen.
It was said he was coming to INEC collation centre in Gusau to deliver the results of the governorship election for Maradun Local Government when he was kidnapped along the road on Monday.
…Mixed reactions as INEC comes under fire of monitoring bodies
Meanwhile, election observers have begun to declare their findings on the management of the Saturday gubernatorial and HoA elections.
On Monday, the European Union Election Observation Mission to Nigeria for the 2023 elections, knocked INEC for failing to live up to expectations, stating that Nigerians were disappointed by such gaps.
The Chief Observer, EU Election Observation Mission, Barry Andrews, in his preliminary statement of the EU EOM on the governorship and State Houses of Assembly elections said Nigerians yearned for democracy and were ready to be involved in the Country’s democratic process, but decried the appetite was lost due to failures by the political elite and INEC.
He said, “Throughout the mission, we saw that Nigerians have a great appetite for democracy and are keen to engage in various civic activities. However, in many parts of the Country, their expectations were not met. Many were disappointed and we witnessed voter apathy that is in part, a clear consequence of failures by political elites and, unfortunately, also by INEC.
“Public confidence and trust in INEC were severely damaged on 25 February due to lack of transparency and operational failures in the conduct of the federal level polls.
“Up until the postponement, INEC continued to abstain from providing information, limiting its communication to a few press releases and ceremonial statements and hence failing to address public grievances and rebuild confidence in the electoral process.
“From 11 March onwards, despite compressed timeframes, INEC introduced various corrective measures to render a timely delivery of electoral materials, efficient use of election technologies, and ensure prompt publication of result forms, some of which were effective.
“Positively, INEC introduced some corrective measures ahead of Saturday’s polls, allowing a timely delivery of sensitive materials and improved use of election technologies, yet the institution continued to lack transparency.”
He stated further that the March 18 elections did not face the same problems with the use of the Bimodal Voter Accreditation System (BVAS) as on 25 February presidential and National Assembly (NASS) elections.
He said, “Result forms for the governorship polls were uploaded and displayed for public scrutiny. Whereas at the time of the declaration of presidential results, only one-quarter of result forms were visible; by midday on March 19, governorship result forms available online ranged from 62 to 97 per cent depending on the State.”
Although he acknowledged the improvements, he observed that, “Polling on Election Day was disrupted by multiple incidents of thuggery and intimidation of voters, polling officials, observers, and journalists. Lagos, Kano, and other States in the southern and central parts were the most affected. Unfortunately, there were many casualties and fatalities. Vote-buying, also directly observed by EU EOM observers, further detracted from the appropriate conduct of the elections.”
The second preliminary report of the EU EOM Nigeria 2023 supplements the first report issued on February 27. The mission has been present in Nigeria since January 11 and will continue to observe post-election developments.
Also, Pro-democracy group, the Centre for Democracy and Development (CDD) has said that the March 18 governorship and State HoA elections were undermined by acts of violence, vote-buying and citizens’ distrust in the INEC.
The group made this known in a post-election press briefing of election stakeholders by the Chairman of CDD’s Election Analysis Centre, Adele Jinadu, and the group’s Executive Director, Idayat Hassan, on Monday.
In its post-election analysis, the group stressed that despite INEC’s improved performance during this round of elections, the perceived questionable credibility of the conduct of the presidential and NASS polls diminished trust in INEC as an institution.
This, according to them, shaped wider perceptions as to the acceptance of the results returned, particularly in races where narrow margins of victory were recorded, or where presidential results were not replicated at the sub-national level.
CDD said its data showed that there were violent occurrences in 10.8 percent of the polling units observed across the Country, adding that voter suppression and intimidation, as well as the destruction of ballot boxes, were reported across the six geo-political zones of the country.
“10.8 per cent of observed polling units recorded violence and/or fighting. This was most pronounced in the northwest (19.9 per cent) and south-south (11.6 per cent) geopolitical zones with Bayelsa and Zamfara the two states with the most incidents recorded by our observers,” it said.
The analysis also showed that disruptive activities, voter intimidation before and during the election, had also caused major voter apathy in the Country, resulting in the low turnout of voters at the polls on Saturday.
“In the first six hours of polls being open on 18 March, CDD’s war room team came across a flurry of voter intimidation videos, particularly from Lagos State, where it was ensconced in rhetorics about belonging and ethnic identity, an illustration of the ways that voter intimidation took place both online, as well as offline.
“Victims of this violence were first and foremost voters, some of whom were denied the right to exercise their franchise as a result of polling units cancelling results or having their ballot boxes snatched, even though some efforts were made where possible, to hold polls the following day for example.
“But there were also attacks directed at, or threats made toward, ad-hoc INEC staff, with one shot in Cross River and more than ten kidnapped after voting in Imo state, journalists reporting on the election in Lagos, Rivers and Ogun, domestic election observers and other party agents,” the group aded.
CDD, however, noted that the success of candidates who didn’t belong to the ruling APC or the main opposition, PDP, at the polls, could “encourage more splintering and eventual balkanisation of the major parties.”
They further said that with the “scale of violence as seen in the elections, a wave of post-election litigations was likely,” warning that it could lead to the courts deciding and determining the legality of some of the secured mandates, which could further undermine the voters’ sense of electoral value and impact on the election process.
