Politics
Rivers Protest: Tonye Cole Accuses INEC Of Suspicious Behavior In Tribunal Case
On Friday, a group of influential members from the All Progressives Congress in Rivers State marched to the headquarters of the Independent National Electoral Commission in Port Harcourt to demonstrate against the electoral body’s persistent denial of their access to the Certified True Copies of the documents utilized during the recently concluded elections.
The protesters claimed that INEC was intentionally obstructing their attempts to bring their case before the Election Petitions Tribunal, and highlighted that they only have a limited window of 21 days to submit their petitions.
Tonye Cole, the All Progressives Congress’ governorship candidate in the March 18 election, along with his running mate Dr. Innocent Barikor, state APC Chairman Emeka Beke, and State Publicity Secretary Darlington Nwauju, led the protest at the commission’s office on Aba Road, Port Harcourt.
Cole spoke with reporters at the location, stating that they had gathered there to voice their dissatisfaction with the conduct of the state INEC.
He mentioned that some of the party’s House of Assembly candidates had their declaration forms stamped on the same day as the election, which was March 18th.
He said, “I am not happy at all. We have come to INEC to express our deep frustration at what is going on. Essentially, we are time bound. We have 21 days from the time that the election results were declared, to file our petitions.
“Two weeks have gone, since we wrote to INEC. We requested from INEC to release CTC documents, but nothing was done.
“They have not released one single CTC document. And we have to prepare a brief, we have to go to Court. We have to prepare for Tribunals,” he disclosed.
Cole insisted that INEC had disregarded a court order obtained by the party that required the commission to release the documents, allowing the party to move forward with their case at the Tribunal. He described the commission’s behavior as “suspicious.”
“We have got court orders. They have been ignored. It tells me that something is going on. I believe that at this point in time, the onus is on INEC, as an independent election administrator, to be fair.
“Give us what we need, so that, we can go to court. Let us go to the tribunal and present a case. But if you release documents to us a day before the tribunal, what do we do?” Cole added.
He however disclosed he had spoken with the state Resident Electoral Commissioner, adding, “He has promised that by Monday, something will happen. So, we will be back on Monday.”
Despite the ongoing situation, Cole continued to stand by his claim that there were several irregularities in the March 18th election, specifically pointing to the Asari-Toru area as a clear example where the election results were significantly altered.
He noted, “The DG was at the collation centre, he made a protest against it. It was still accepted. Having been accepted, then, give us the document, let us review what happened. Nobody is answering us. I am very suspicious.”
The state APC Legal Adviser, Dike Iheanyichukwu, who spoke at the protest, claimed that the state INEC may have been compromised.
Iheanyichukwu further threatened that if their demands were not met, the party would shut down the commission’s office on Monday.
He said, “We have made applications, asking INEC, Rivers State, to oblige us of CTC of EC8A, EC8B, EC8C, EC8D and other related EC series, as concerned elections.
“As I speak to you, INEC has not been able to give us a single document. And what we are talking about is going to the tribunal to seek redress. So, what INEC is doing is intentional. I have here a court order compelling INEC to allow us inspect documents, for them to give us a CTC. This order has been duly served on INEC. They have decided to disobey the law.
Iheanyichukwu also revealed that only a few days ago, some Electoral Officers were summoned to the INEC office to review the results they had submitted. The party’s legal adviser questioned why INEC was reluctant to release the National Assembly EC8A document.
He said, “The INEC national chairman should hear this. All security agencies should hear this. INEC should give us what we want, because it is our right to file our petition and we must do so.
“If they don’t do that, by Monday, we will barricade this place. No worker will enter here. They should be ready to kill all of us,” Iheanyichukwu declared.
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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