THE Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has declared the March 18 governorship election in Adamawa State inconclusive.
INEC explained that its decision was due to the margin of votes recorded in the election by the contestants. According to the electoral body, the cancelled votes were more than the margin of victory between the top two candidates.
The incumbent governor of the state, who is contesting under the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) Ahmadu Fintiri, polled 421,524 while his closed rival, the candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC) Senator Aishatu Dahiru (Binani) secured 390, 275.
The margin between the two contestants is over 30,000 votes, which according to INEC, is less than the cancelled votes.
Fintiri was declared winner in 13 of Adamawa’s 21 local government areas while Binani won eight LGAs.
The ICIR had also reported the Kebbi State governorship poll was declared inconclusive by INEC.
A clash between the military and police officials has led to the death of two police officers in Taraba State.
The Taraba State Police Command spokesperson, Usman Abdullahi, confirmed the incident.
During a press briefing in Jalingo, Abdullahi said the officers were killed in an early morning shootout between soldiers and police officers in the state.
According to him, the soldiers had stormed the Police Headquarters to retaliate against an alleged stabbing of its personnel by a policeman.
He noted that several casualties were also recorded in the attack.
Abdullahi said the attack crippled business activities in the Jalingo metropolis and compelled the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to temporarily put on hold the ongoing collation of election results in the state.
“The situation started when a female police officer reporting for duty at the INEC state headquarters in Jalingo was stopped by a military man at a checkpoint close to the office and asked for her proper identification.
“While we were trying to settle things and I was personally talking to one of the senior soldiers there, the soldiers suddenly started shooting. We were caught in the crossfire and had to run for our dear lives. The soldiers proceeded to the Command headquarters here and shot two police officers and went away with their rifles.
“One police officer going off duty was shot and killed instantly while another who was just reporting for duty and did not even know what was happening was attacked when they identified him as a policeman.
“As we speak, we have gotten reports that our men escorting election results in various duties have been stopped at military checkpoints and harassed. They strip them naked and harass them even though they know nothing about what happened.
“For now, the Commissioner of Police, Yusuf A. Suleiman and the Commander of 6 Brigade Jalingo have met and discussed and have agreed that a commission of enquiry will be set up to look Into the real cause of this incident,” he said.
CANDIDATE of the All Progressives Congress (APC) Ahmed Aliyu has been declared winner of the March 18 governorhip election in Sokoto State.
Aliyu won with a total of 453,661 votes, defeating Saidu Umar of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), who received 404,632 votes, in a close race.
The State Collation Officer, Bichi Amaya’u, announced the result in Sokoto on Sunday, March 19.
During Aminu Tambuwal’s initial term as governor, from 2015 to 2019, Aliyu, a loyalist of the current Senator and former governor of Sokoto State, Aliyu Wamakko, served as the deputy governor.
Aliyu ran for office in 2019 against Tambuwal of the PDP and lost by a narrow margin of 342 votes following a rerun.
Meanwhile, the Kebbi State gubernatorial election was on Monday, March 20 declared inconclusive by INEC.
The INEC returning officer Yusuf Sa’idu, a Professor at Danfodio University in Sokoto, announced the development at the collation centre in Birnin Kebbi.
He asserted that cancellations occurred across several Registration Areas (RAs) in various voting districts in 20 of the 21 Local Government Areas in the state.
According to him, the declaration of the election as inconclusive was in line with provisions of the Electoral Act, 2022.
“Sub-section three of section 51 states that where the result of an election is cancelled in accordance with sub-section two, there shall be no return for the election until another poll has taken place in the affected polling unit.
“By virtue of these provisions and the powers vested in me as the collation and returning officer of the 2023 gubernatorial election in Kebbi State, I, Prof. Yusuf Sa’idu of the Usman Danfodio University, Sokoto, hereby declare the gubernatorial election in Kebbi State inconclusive,” he said.
THE Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has declared the results of governorship elections in Yobe, Jigawa and Katsina states.
The announcement was made by the INEC returning officers in each state after collating the results from polling units.
In Yobe State, Governor Mala Buni of the All Progressives Congress (APC) was declared the winner of the election.
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According to the INEC returning officer, Buni polled 317,113 votes to defeat his closest opponent, Sherif Abdullahi of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), who scored 124,259 votes. Garba Umar of the New Nigerian Peoples Party (NNPP) came a distant third with 14,246 votes, while Arabi Mohammed of the Action Alliance (AA) polled 3,260 votes.
The INEC returning officer also disclosed that the number of registered voters was 1,485,141, while the number of total accredited voters was 459,492. The number of valid votes was 444,567, while the number of rejected votes was 13,214, and the total votes cast was 457,781.
As a result of the development, Buni has been reelected for a second term of four years.
Mai Mala Buni
In Jigawa State, Mallam Umar Namadi of the APC was declared the winner of the governorship election.
Namadi scored 618,449 votes to defeat his closest rivals, Mustafa Lamido of the PDP, who polled 368,726 votes, and Aminu Ringim of the NNPP, who got 37,156 votes.
The governor-elect thanked God and the people of the state for their commitment, support and prayers for his victory. He urged them to remain prayerful and committed to the development of the state.
Umar Namadi/PC: Channels Television
Namadi promised to continue with the legacies of his predecessor, Alhaji Muhammad Badaru Abubakar, which are anchored on prudence and good governance.
In Katsina State, Dikko Umar-Radda of the APC was declared the winner of the governorship election. According to the INEC returning officer, Umar-Radda polled 859,892 votes to win the election. Yakubu Lado-Danmarke of the PDP came second with 486,620 votes.
The INEC returning officer also gave details on voter participation in the election. He disclosed that the number of registered voters in the state was 3,516,719, while those accredited for the governorship election were 1,399,291. The number of rejected votes was 20,579, while the total valid votes was 1,365,848, and the total votes cast was 1,386,427.
Dikko Umar-Radda
Elections were cancelled in 88 polling units due to irregularities such as violence and over-voting.
The election results have been received with mixed reactions from the public. While supporters of the APC have celebrated the victories in the three states, the opposition parties have rejected the results, alleging that irregularities marred the elections.
The PDP in Yobe has expressed its dissatisfaction with the outcome of the election. The party’s chairman, Sani Nguru, said the party would challenge the results in court, alleging that there were instances of ballot box snatching and violence during the election.
PDP also rejected the results announced by INEC in Jigawa, alleging that the election was marred by vote-buying and other irregularities. The party’s governorship candidate, Aminu Ibrahim Ringim, said the party would challenge the result declared by INEC in court.
THE Benue State Police Command has arrested 26 suspects over electoral violence during the governorship and state assembly elections held on Saturday, March 18.
This was disclosed in a statement by the Public Relations Officer (PRO) Catherine Anene on Monday, March 20.
She noted that the suspects were involved in political thuggery, illegal possession of firearms, snatching ballot boxes and voter intimidation.
“Exhibits recovered from them include; three (3) locally made pistols, cutlasses, knives and wraps of weed suspected to be indian hemp.
“While condemning these acts, the Commissioner of Police, Benue State CP. Wales Abass ordered detailed investigation into these case and promised to deal with suspects in accordance with the laws,” she noted.
Anene added that the command had specially deployed officials across the state for post election security management.
During the elections held on Saturday, March 18, The ICIRreported at least two people were shot dead in the Gboko Local Government Area (LGA) of the state.
The victims were suspected to be ballot box snatchers, who invaded some polling units in the area.
They had also tried to make away with the Bimodal Voters Accreditation System (BVAS), in the full glare of voters in a bid to disrupt the electoral process.
THE All Progressives Congress (APC) candidate, Francis Nwifuru has emerged the winner of the March 18 governorship election in Ebonyi State.
The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) returning officer in Ebonyi, on Monday, March 20, declared Nwifuru winner after he polled 199,131 votes to edge his closest rival, Ifeanyi Odii of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP).
Odii scored 80,191 votes while the All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA) candidate Prof. Benard Odoh got 52,189.
In the same vein, candidate of the PDP, Sheriff Oborevwori, has been declared winner of the governorship election in Delta State.
Oborevwori polled 360,234 votes to win the election while APC candidate Senator Ovie Omo-Agege finished second with 240,229 votes.
Similarly, the candidate of the PDP in Plateau State, Caleb Mutfwang, has been declared winner of the March 18 governorship election in the state.
The state Returning Officer Idris Amali said that the PDP candidate polled 525,299 votes to defeat his closest rival and the candidate of the ruling APC, Nentawe Yilwatda, who got 481,370 votes.
According to the declared results, the PDP candidate won in 10 local government areas while the APC candidate won in seven LGAs.
A Global rights body, Amnesty International, has condemned the rise in the use of social media to incite inter-tribal violence and hostility among Nigerians.
The human rights organisation, in a tweet on Monday, March 20, said it observed the use of ethnic slurs to incite inter-tribal hatred by journalists, political figures and other influential persons in the country.
“Amnesty International has noted a shocking and significant rise in recent social media posts inciting tribal hatred — using ethnic slurs that have gone unchecked.
“Influential people such as journalists and political figures were among those sharing the inciting posts,” the tweet read.
Amnesty International called on the Federal Government to prohibit inciting hostility, discrimination or violence along ethnic lines.
The NGO said the government must “urgently denounce any statements, online or otherwise, which advocate violence against a specific ethnic group”.
Amnesty International also asked social media platforms — Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and Whatsapp — to take “responsibility and scale up their content moderation efforts, and ensure that the algorithms behind their platforms are not fueling advocacy of tribal or ethnic hatred”.
After the presidential and national Assembly elections, tribal bigotry increased on social media and has heightened with cases of voter disenfranchisement and targeted attacks on specific ethnic groups during the governorship and state assembly elections.
Ethnicity was a noticeable weapon deployed in the quest to win elections in Lagos, where Igbos in some areas were openly threatened and attacked over the suspicion that they are supporting an opposition candidate.
The cases of intimidation during the governorship and house of assembly elections across the country has sparked tension among Nigerians on the social media, particularly between Yorubas and the Igbo.
THE Nigeria Police Force, Zone 2 Command in charge of Ogun and Lagos states, has urged politicians to caution their supporters against election violence.
The Zonal Police Public Relations Officer, SP Hauwa Idris-Adamu, issued the warning in a statement on Monday, March 20.
The warning followed reports circulating on social media platforms that supporters of an unnamed politician are planning to cause chaos in the two states.
In the statement, Idris-Adamu stated that the police would not tolerate any breach of public peace and that anyone caught causing violence would face the full wrath of the law.
She advised members of the public to disregard the message making rounds on social media and assured them of their safety and security.
According to her, the Assistant Inspector General of Police, Zone 2 Command headquarters, Abiodun S. Alabi, has reiterated the police’s commitment to ensuring the safety of residents in the two states.
Members of the public were advised to go about their lawful businesses without any fear of intimidation
THE United Nations Children Fund (UNICEF) has alerted that 78 million children in Nigeria face the highest risks from diseases related to inadequate water, sanitation and hygiene (WASH), and climate hazards.
UNICEF raised the alarm through its Nigeria Chief of WASH, Jane Bevan, a medical doctor, preparatory to the UN 2023 Water Conference holding at the United Nations headquarters in New York between March 22 and 24, 2023.
Bevan, in a statement UNICEF mailed to The ICIR on Monday, March 20, urged the Nigerian government to take urgent action to address its water crisis.
“In Nigeria, one-third of children do not have access to, at least, basic water at home, and two-thirds do not have basic sanitation services. Hand hygiene is also limited, with three-quarters of children unable to wash their hands due to a lack of water and soap at home.
“As a result, Nigeria is one of the 10 countries that carry the heaviest burden of child deaths from diseases caused by inadequate WASH, such as diarrhoeal diseases,” the UNICEF chief said.
According to the official, Nigeria ranked second out of 163 countries globally with the highest risk of exposure to climate and environmental threats.
She stressed that groundwater levels were dropping, requiring some communities to dig wells twice as deep as just a decade ago.
Bevan noted that rainfall had become more erratic and intense, leading to floods contaminating scarce water supplies.
She warned that with Nigeria’s present commitment to WASH, it would take the nation 16 years to achieve access to safe water for all.
She said, “I believe we need to rapidly scale up investment in the sector, including from global climate financing; strengthen climate resilience in the WASH sector and communities; increase effective and accountable systems, coordination and capacities to provide water and sanitation services; and implement the UN-Water SDG6 Global Acceleration Framework.”
She argued that investing in climate-resilient water, sanitation, and hygiene services protects children’s health and ensures a sustainable future for future generations.
THE Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has suspended further collation of the gubernatorial election in Abia and Enugu states.
This was disclosed in a statement released on Monday, March 20, by the Chairman, INEC Information and Voter Education Committee, Festus Okoye.
“The Commission met today, Monday 20th, March 2023 and reviewed the conduct of the Governorship and State Assembly elections held nationwide on Saturday, 18th, March 2023.
“Arising from the meeting, the Commission took the decision to suspend forthwith further collation of the governorship election results in some parts of Abia and Enugu states.
“It would be recalled that our office in Obingwa Local Government Area was invaded by thugs yesterday, Sunday,19th March, 2023, and our officials held hostage in relation to the collation of results from the Local Government Area,” the statement said.
INEC added that reports from Enugu State call for a review of governorship election results from the two outstanding local government areas – Nsukka and Nkanu East.
“Consequently, the Commission hereby suspends the collation of results in Obingwa Local Government Area of Abia State and the two outstanding Local Government Area of Enugu State which are yet to be collated.”
A review would be undertaken immediately before the process is concluded, the Commission disclosed.
The statement noted that INEC is pleading for the understanding and patience of all stakeholders in the two states.
