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INEC bows to pressure, backdates documents to favour APC, recognises Lawan, Akpabio As Candidates

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INEC backdates documents to favour APC, Lawan, Akpabio

By Paul Eso

Documents being circulated in the social media revealed that the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, has backdated Certified True Copies of reports of the All Progressives Congress (APC) primaries to accommodate Senate President, Ahmad Lawan, Godswill Akpabio and others as candidates in the 2023 general elections.

Bashir Machina won the party’s ticket for Yobe North Senatorial District, while Udom Ekpoudom won the primary election for Akwa Ibom North-West which was monitored by INEC officials.

In Yobe, a certified true copy of the commission’s report from the election of May 28, 2022, revealed Machina polled 289 votes out of 300 delegates. The document was certified by the electoral office on June 23, 2022.

The National Chairman of the APC, Abdullahi Adamu, had warned of severe sanctions if Machina refused to relinquish his ticket to Lawan.

Adamu claimed that the party is supreme and that it reserves the right to decide who gets its ticket in any election.

In Akwa Ibom, Akpabio was declared the winner of another primary, but Mike Igini, INEC resident electoral commissioner (REC) for the state, had said the exercise which produced the former minister as a candidate was not monitored by the commission.

READ ALSO: VOTER REGISTRATION: No More Extension, INEC insists

Recall that Section 31 of the Electoral Act only allows for substitution when a candidate dies or when he or she withdraws from the race and informs INEC in writing.

The section reads: “A candidate may withdraw his or her candidature by notice in writing signed by him and delivered personally by the candidate to the political party that nominated him for the election and the political party shall convey such withdrawal to the commission not later than 90 days to the election.”

There had been reported moves by the INEC leadership to shred the reports of the Resident Electoral Commissioners in the affected states by backdating them to favour Lawan, Akpabio and others.

“INEC has caved in to political pressures and other forces deployed by the outgoing Senate President, Mr Ahmad Lawan and his backers to shred the report of the INEC Resident Electoral Commissioner that supervised the APC primary Elections in Yobe state by doctoring and backdating it to accommodate the Senate president and others in states where they have an interest,” a source had said.

“Shockingly, the Chairman of INEC, Prof. Mahmoud Yakubu is fully part of this plot, making direct telephone calls to state offices.

“Despite the glaring fact that Ahmad Lawan was a principal actor in the APC presidential primary, which saw him lose to Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu, he has since mounted relentless pressures on INEC leadership to obtain a senatorial ticket in Yobe state by all means possible.”

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Politics

Adeleke Applauds Osun People For A-Rating His Admin, Party

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Four gang-killed two in Osun, destroy N8M properties

Osun State Governor, Senator Ademola Adeleke has expressed appreciation to Osun people for their resolute support of his administration in its quest to deliver on his five-point agenda on the platform of the Peoples Democratic Party(PDP)

Gov Adeleke expressed the views while addressing a technical meeting of his Policy Coordination Unit on Saturday, where he reviewed the implementation of his five-point agenda and expressed satisfaction at the delivery so far across the various sectors.

He said, “I am largely satisfied with our programme implementation so far. We have surpassed expectations and targets within one and half years in office. We just need to redouble our efforts as we face mid-term in the next six months.

“The feedback from the public has been quite encouraging. Our people have gladly given us an A-rating in workers’ welfare, infrastructure, health, education and many more. We must express our appreciation to our people

“They are happy we are delivering on good governance. A friend said our approval rating is over 80 percent. I told him I must work harder in some areas, especially that 20 percent gap. The good thing is we are just one and half years in office.

“Our party has also become very entrenched across the local governments. Leaders who were not with me during the guber primaries are now solidly with us. We are gaining more ground as people get pleasant surprises with our performance.

“Feedback shows our people are happy with our dual effort at physical and stomach infrastructure. We will continue to build the road and the people. We will not neglect human development for physical development.

“We must therefore ensure proper coordination in policy design and implementation. Our policy innovation in power, digital economy, agriculture, general economic planning, investment drive, sustainable development, youth development and gender focus must be properly harnessed under the five-point agenda.”

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Igbajo: Adeleke Reads Riot Act, Vows To Deal With Troublemakers

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Four gang-killed two in Osun, destroy N8M properties

Osun State Governor, Senator Ademola Adeleke has warned against attempts to destabilize the peace and security of Igbajo by some group of people led by Prince Gboyega Famodun through conflicting Oroke festival days.

He directed security agencies to deal decisively with any trouble maker.

According to a government statement, issued in Osogbo, reports at the disposal of the government indicated an attempt by a faction belonging to Famodun to create conflict at Igbajo by fixing a different festival date from the one officially announced by the legal and officially crowned king of Igbajo, Oba Ademola Makinde.

An effort, it noted was designed to create violence and crisis in the peaceful town of Igbajo.

As a government, the statement added, we reiterate that the Monarch of Igbajo today is Oba Ademola Makinde and the May 23rd already fixed for the Oroke Day Festival remains the sacrosanct date for the popular cultural and traditionally significant event.

“We note further that the Head of Igbajo traditional institution remains the present Owa of Igbajo, Oba Ademola Makinde and he is therefore empowered and entitled to fix the day for the Oroke festival. Actions of the Famodun faction is therefore against tradition and law and is therefore a nullity.

“In a bid to forestall breakdown of law and order and in line with my responsibility as the Chief Security Officer of Osun state, I direct security agencies to enforce the holding of the Oroke festival on the official date of May 23rd and to ensure no gathering is held on May 19th set by any other faction.

“The above directive and actions are taken to maintain peace and protect the ancient town from those hell-bent on manipulating the traditional institution to destabilize the state”, the Governor was quoted as saying,” he cautioned.

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Court Issues Arrest Warrant For Suspended INEC Official

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Adamawa State High Court’s Justice Benjamin Manji Lawan has issue an arrest warrant for suspended INEC Resident Electoral Commissioner Barrister Hudu Yunusa Ari.

The court instructed the Inspector General of Police to promptly apprehend Barrister Ari and present him in court to face trial on three charges.

This directive followed an application filed by the Adamawa State Government on April 16, 2024.

During the proceedings, Chief L. D. Nzadon, representing the complainant, informed the court that they were seeking an arrest warrant against the defendant.

Referring to Section 20, Subsection (1j) of the Administration of Criminal Justice Law (ACJL) 2018, Chief Nzadon urged the court to utilize its authority and instruct the Inspector General of Police to apprehend the defendant, regardless of his location.

He explained that attempts to serve the defendant were unsuccessful, as the court’s bailiff had been in Bauchi State from May 2nd to May 4th, 2024, but couldn’t locate him.

In his ruling on the application, the judge noted that this was the third instance the case had been mentioned without the defendant present in court.

He acknowledged the complainant’s counsels’ explanation regarding their inability to serve Ari, suggesting that it seemed he was deliberately avoiding

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