Politics
Rivers: INEC, Wike Accused Of Plotting To Rig Gov Election
A coalition of five opposition political parties in Rivers State has pledged to prevent any effort to manipulate the upcoming governorship and State House of Assembly elections on March 18.
During a joint press conference held in Port Harcourt, the parties accused the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) of collaborating with the state government to sabotage the election.
The political parties include the All Progressives Congress (APC), National Rescue Movement, Labour Party, African Democratic Congress, and Action Alliance.
Tonye Cole, the governorship candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in Rivers State, alleged that Governor Nyesom Wike is planning to suppress opposition parties during the upcoming election.
Cole said, “We demand that INEC should stop all government officials from accessing the collation centres.
“We also demand INEC to restrict the movement of government officials, including the Governor and Local Government Chairmen at the collation centres, as their presence will compromise the electoral process.
“We want a peaceful, free and fair election. Only accredited party agents should have access to the collation centres.
Continuing, he said, “INEC should assure us that the BVAS will work this time and that results will be uploaded at the polling units.
“Then there should be adequate security at the Local Government collation centres on March 18.”
Similarly, the governorship candidate of NRM, Sobomabo Jackreech, accused INEC of colluding with Wike to rig the elections even before March 18th and urged the commission to come out clean.
He stated, “The information we have is that they have perfected plans to rig at the local government collation centres and INEC is in collaboration with them.
On his part, the ADC governorship candidate, Tonte Ibraye, vowed to resist any form of rigging.
When approached for comment, Mr. Mark Usulor, the Head of Voter Education and Publicity in Rivers for the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), refuted the allegations made by the opposition political parties.
According to Mr. Usulor, the accusations are unfounded and lack any basis in truth.
Usulor said, “It is not true and can never be true. It is a false allegation, fake news and misinformation.
“Such allegation should be discountenanced because it is baseless and lack foundation.
“We are a transparent electoral commission even though we had some glitches in the last election.
“But that doesn’t mean we are colluding with any political party or government because it is not in our ethics.
“We are here to conduct a credible and acceptable election for the people of Rivers State.”
Also, the State Commissioner for Information and Communications, Chris Finebone, said the parties were expressing unfounded fears and propaganda.
Finebone said, “In the last election, the governor after several hours was able to vote because of the malfunctioning of the BVAS machine and thereafter he left for his house.
“Whatever you heard about him going around trying to influence people is fake news. Nothing of such happened and I believe you monitored the election.
“What is happening is that they are foreseeing their failure and trying to lay a foundation of a narrative that will explain their failure in the election.” He added.
The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) has rejected the outcome of the Ondo State governorship election, accusing the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) of electoral malpractice, including vote-buying and result manipulation.
This was disclosed during a meeting of the PDP Governors’ Forum on Saturday in Jos, Plateau State.
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The forum, chaired by Bauchi State Governor Bala Mohammed, criticized the conduct of the election, which saw APC’s Governor Lucky Aiyedatiwa secure a landslide victory for another four-year term in Alagbaka, Akure.
“We are still reviewing documents from the Ondo election, where the APC openly bought votes and manipulated results,” Mohammed said.
He urged the judiciary to “save Nigerian democracy” and called on the National Assembly to strengthen electoral laws to prevent what he described as “institutional sabotage of the people’s will.”
The PDP governors also condemned the September governorship election in Edo State, describing it as a “rape of democracy.”
The forum accused the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) of colluding with the APC to declare its candidate the winner despite claims that the PDP candidate, Asue Ighodalo, had secured the majority of lawful votes.
“INEC blatantly manipulated the results in favor of the APC candidate. This undermines the credibility of our electoral process,” Mohammed said.
Beyond electoral grievances, the governors urged the PDP’s National Working Committee (NWC) to convene a National Executive Committee (NEC) meeting by February 2025.
They emphasized the need for broader consultations with stakeholders to resolve the party’s internal leadership crisis and strengthen its position as the main opposition party.
The forum reiterated its commitment to democratic values and vowed to push for electoral reforms that would restore public confidence in Nigeria’s electoral process.
The Ondo governorship election has sparked a renewed call for transparency in the country’s electoral system, with the PDP vowing to challenge what it views as a subversion of democracy.
Following his observations that ‘the momentum was strong’ Matt Gaetz whom 47th POTUS elect, Donald Trump nominated for Attorney General has withdrawn.
Biztellers reports that this follows his meeting with Senate and the feedback, which included two women, represented by their attorneys, who accused him of having paid for sex.
Consequently, Gaetz placed on record his full commitment to seeing “that Donald J. Trump is the most successful President in history.”
His withdrawal according his statement on micro-blogging site, X, was based on his conviction that “There is no time to waste on a needlessly protracted Washington scuffle”.
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In is view, “Trump’s DOJ must be in place and ready on Day 1”.
Gaetz wrote, “I had excellent meetings with Senators yesterday. I appreciate their thoughtful feedback – and the incredible support of so many. While the momentum was strong, it is clear that my confirmation was unfairly becoming a distraction to the critical work of the Trump/Vance Transition. There is no time to waste on a needlessly protracted Washington scuffle, thus I’ll be withdrawing my name from consideration to serve as Attorney General. Trump’s DOJ must be in place and ready on Day 1.
“I remain fully committed to see that Donald J. Trump is the most successful President in history. I will forever be honored that President Trump nominated me to lead the Department of Justice and I’m certain he will Save America.”
His backers have promptly encouraged to take his seat in the House of Representatives, having been elected to the house under the flag of the Republicans to represent Florida.
The Executive Governors from Nigeria’s South West have unanimously nominated Senator Ademola Adeleke as the chairman of the zone on the National Economic Council (NEC).
Adeleke is the Executive Governor of Osun State, southwest, Nigeria.
This, according to the Spokesperson to Governor Adeleke, Olawale Rasheed, transpired on Thursday, at a meeting of the NEC.
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He noted that the meeting reviewed the state of Nigeria’s electricity sector and resolved to engage subnational structures to address current challenges in the sector.
“The meeting particularly sought to build on the devolution of the electricity sector and its movement into the concurrent legislative list which empowers state governments to regulate the sector in their respective areas,” he stated.
Consequently, the NEC, therefore set up an ad hoc committee to review actions in the sector by state governments and explore ways to ramp up activities through coordination, Rasheed highlighted.
The full list of members of NEC’s Ad-hoc Committee on National Electrification:
- Governor of Cross Rivers State, Bassey Out – Chairman, South-South
- Governor of Katsina State, Mallam Dikko Umaru Radda – Chairman, North-West
- Governor of Gombe State, Muhammadu Inuwa Yahaya – Chairman, North-East
- Governor of Osun State, Senator Ademola Adeleke – Chairman, South-West
- Governor of Imo State, Senator Hope Uzodinma – Chairman, South-East
- Governor of Plateau State, Barr. Caleb Mutfwang – Chairman, North-Central
- Hon. Minister of Finance, Wale Edun
- Hon. Minister of Budget and National Planning, Atiku Bagudu
- Special Adviser, NEC and Climate Change, Rukaiya El-Rufai
- Special Adviser, Power Minister, Hon. Bolaji Tunji
- MD/CEO Rural Electrification Agency, Abba Aliyu
- MD/CEO Niger Delta Power Holding Company, Jennifer Adighije
- Chairman, Nigeria Governors Forum, AbdulRahman AbdulRazak
- NEC Secretariat
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