By Angela Atabo

A Coalition of Civil Society Organisations has expressed worry over the slow upload of the Presidential and National Assembly election results.

Mr Hamzat Lawal, Chief Executive, Connected Development (CODE), who spoke on behalf of the Civil Society Organisations on Sunday in Abuja, said that at the INEC result portal currently has only results for 40,000 polling units.

Lawal said, this is most disturbing as we are aware that INEC created over 50,000 new polling units with less than 100 registered voters in each of them.

This is even as elections have since been concluded in most of these polling units at 2:30p.m., yesterday.

One would expect that by midnight of yesterday, all this polling units results should have been uploaded.

This expectation is coming from the experience we observed in the Ekiti and Osun Gubernatorial elections, where we witnessed over 95 per cent of the results uploaded before midnight on election day.

He said that the CSOs were forwarding to INEC some of the reports they were got from the field.

Lawal said that with 20,000 community-driven observers on the ground, CODE and its partners using the Electoral Intelligence tool, Uzabe, noticed a worrisome trend across the nation .

He said that these pointed to the gaps and unpreparedness within the structure of the electoral process and which threaten the credibility of this election.

The coalition said that there were several reports which indicated that in states like Ekiti, Cross River, Imo, and Rivers, INEC had their Local Government Area (LGA) collation centers relocated without adequate information to stakeholders.

In Ekiti especially, we have it on good authority that all LGA collation centres were relocated, and in most cases, accredited observers were outrightly denied access to were results were being collated.

This happened in Oru East, Imo State, where our observers confirmed that no election was held and in fact, some voters were asked to vote in a private residential building of a party chieftain, which is clearly against INEC guidelines and the electoral act.

Yet we have results from that LGA. This is an indictment on INEC and all that our constitution stands for, the group said.

Lawal said that CODE and its partners call on INEC to indeed be independent and serve the people what the constitution has mandated it to serve.

Therefore we are calling on INEC to address these issues immediately. We are also calling on the Nigerian police as the lead agency on election security to monitor, he said (NAN)(www.nannews.ng)

Edited by Bayo Sekoni

Source: NAN News

By Rotimi Ijikanmi

As Nigerians await the outcome of the Saturday general elections, Information and Culture minister Lai Mohammed has lauded his compatriots determination to elect credible leaders for the country.

Mohammed, who voted at his Polling Unit 006 in Oro Ward 2, Irepodun Local Government Area of Kwara, particularly lauded the voting process which he described as peaceful.

He also lauded the massive turn-out of voters.

What struck me the most is the turn-out of the young, old, strong, the physically challenged men and women; they all came out to cast their votes.

You can see the determination and resolve on their faces in an atmosphere of conviviality.

I hope that it will be the same atmosphere and ambience in every other polling unit, the minister said.

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the seat of the President, the 109 slots in the Senate and the 360 seats in the House of Representatives were up for graps on the first election day.

The next election day is March 11 when Nigerians will elect new state governors and members of state houses of assembly. (NAN) (www.nannews.ng)

Edited by Ese E. Eniola Williams and Ephraims Sheyin

DD/Website

PDP Flag

By Gami Tadanyigbe/Ijeoma Olorunfemi

Mr Sunday Zaka, Chairman of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in the FCT, lost his life in an automobile accident in the early hours of Saturday in Kuje.

A close aide of the deceased, Bawa Benjamin, told the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) the accident happened around 2 a.m. along the Gudaba-Arena road on the outskirts of Kuje town.

He said the deceased was returning from a meeting of party officials in Abuja, and his Peugeot car lost control and crashed into a tree.

He was rushed to the University of Abuja Teaching Hospital at Gwagwalada, where he was confirmed dead by the doctors, Benjamin said.

Reacting to the sad event, Mr Abdullahi Sabo, Chairman of Kuje Area Council, while also confirming Zakas death, described it as a great loss to the party. (NAN)(www.nannews.ng)

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Edited by Mr Olawale Alabi

Source: NAN News

Obasanjo voting in an election

By Olawale Jokotoye

Former President Olusegun Obasanjo and Vice-President Yemi Osinbajo, have adjudged the 2023 Presidential and National Assembly elections in Ogun as smooth and credible.

Osinbajo and Obasanjo expressed their views in separate interviews with journalists after casting their votes in Ikenne and Abeokuta respectively.

Commenting, Obasanjo who voted at about 10:32 a.m. at Ward 11, Polling Unit 22, Olushomi Compound, Sokori area of Abeokuta-North, expressed satisfaction at the peaceful and orderly conduct of the polls.

I think we are getting it through in election in our country.

One can see things that are encouraging and giving hope for future as far as election is concern, because there are improvements, he said.

Obasanjo, particularly, commended INEC for the deployment of the Bimodal Voter Accreditation System (BVAS), saying that technology had improved the voting process.

I came in and I was checked. I was asked to remove my glasses and the gadget was placed before my face and my picture appeared.

That is a new one and if that will happen all over the country, I think we are making progress.

One should encourage and support anything that will help the credibility, integrity and transparency of the electoral process, because credible election is the begining of good governance of any country, he said

Obasanjo expressed optimism over the outcome of the polls, adding, my expectation is high.

Also, Osinbajo, who cast his vote at Unit 014, Ward 1, Ojurege in Ikenne Local Government area of the state, also described the exercise as peaceful.

He expressed hope that the election would be orderly and peaceful across the country.

This is my polling booth. The Ojurege polling booth is very peaceful.

I hope this is the same all across the state and the country, he said. (NAN)(www.nannews.ng)

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Edited by Olagoke Olatoye

Source: NAN News

BVAS machine operated by an electoral officer

By Ikenna Osuoha

As Nigerians go to the polls on Saturday, a group, Initiative for Leadership Development and Change (ILDC), has urged voters to conduct themselves peacefully in exercising their electoral rights and vote their conscience.

Mr Ugochukwu Nnam, President of the group, gave the advice in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Abuja on Saturday.

He called on the voters to see the election as an opportunity to make statement without fear or favour.

Nnam said: Today is a remarkable day, it is historic in the sense that it is the long expected day for Nigerians to decide their future.

So, I advise voters not to be intimidated but vote whosoever is their choice considering their vote as power to make or mar their future.

The youths leader, who commended President Muhammadu Buhari for promising free and fair elections, urged the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) not to compromise its set standards.

Every hand should be on deck to support INEC deliver credible, peaceful, free and fair elections., Nnam appealed.

He lauded Buhari for signing the Electoral Act which had reduced possible incidents of thuggery and rigging in elections.

The ILDC leader advised voters to resist temptations of vote-buying and other acts capable of undermining a credible electoral process.

Nnam promised that the group was committed to the promotion of good governance in the country for a united and prosperous Nigeria.

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that Nigerians will be going to the polls on Saturday to elect a new President and National Assembly members. (NAN)(www.nannews.ng)

Edited by Funmilayo Adeyemi/Bashir Rabe Mani

Source: NAN News

Sen. Opeyemi Bamidele

By Julius Toba-Jegede

The All Progressives Congress (APC) Senatorial Candidate for Ekiti Central, Sen. Opeyemi Bamidele, has defeated the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) candidate in the race in his polling unit in Iyin Ekiti.

The current Chairman, Senate Committee on Judiciary, Human Rights and Legal Matters, defeated his closest rival Oladimeji Ajijola of PDP with 171 votes.

Ajijola pulled two votes, according to the result confirmed by the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) at Polling Unit 003 of Ward 13 on Saturday.

NAN reports that Bamidele is seeking a re-election to National Assembly where hes the Chairman, Southern Senators Forum.

In the same polling unit, APC Presidential Candidate, Sen. Bola Tinubu scored 155 against his opponent, Atiku Abubukar of PDP who scored two.

Also in the same polling unit the APC House of Representatives Candidate Steve Fatoba polled 165 votes, while his closest opponent from the PDP scored only one vote.

Bamidele appreciated the people of his ward for the overwhelming victory and promised to report his qualitative representative hes offered in the last three years. (NAN)(www.nannews.ng)

JTJ/IAA

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Edited by Isaac Aregbesola

Source: NAN News

Members of the Atunluse Initiatives with representatives of Sen. Rabiu Kwankwaso

By Segun Giwa

The presidential candidate of the New Nigeria Peoples Party (NNPP), Sen. Rabiu Kwankwaso, has solicited the support of Atunluse Initiatives, a Yoruba socio-cultural and political group, ahead of Saturdays presidential election.

This is contained in a statement by the Coordinator of the Atulunse Initiatives, Mr Shalom Olaseni, on Thursday in Akure.

Olaseni said that the NNPP presidential candidate made the plea when the Kwankwaso Inter State Election Committee for Ondo visited the secretariat of the Atulunse Initiatives in Akure, Ondo.

He said the group was very much on ground with members across the communities, villages and towns in Ondo state based on the operational structure of that can be activated within 24 hours.

NNPP appears not to be leaving any stone unturned in ensuring it wins the 2023 Presidential Election as it seeks Atunluse Onitiatives support, he said.

Olaseni said that Kwankwaso was represented at the meeting by the former House of Representatives member from Kano, Ibrahim Yakubu.

He quoted him as saying that the NNPP ideology was in tandem with what Atunluse represents.

The party will be glad to work with the organisation because of what they stand for.

Therefore, we want Atunluse to join hands with Sen. Rabiu Kwankwaso to rescue Nigeria from the shackles of bad and very wicked governance, he said.

The former member of the National Assembly narrated to the leaders of the organisation what Kwankwaso was able to achieve as a former governor, a federal minister and as a senator.

He said: People that are following Kwankwaso are not doing it because of money, but they are following him because they believe in him and his ideology.

Supporting Rabiu Kwankwaso to become president is a support to lift the poor masses from abject poverty.

Dr Umaru Dakwa, a member of the delegation, added that Kwankwaso share same ideology with Atunluse, saying he has the best programme for the masses among all the presidential candidates.

According to him, Atunluse is an organisation with diverse membership and this is the kind of people that we will like to work with.

The Chairman of Atunluse Initiatives, Otunba Akinsola Akinbobola, while reacting said both the Atunluse and NNPP were relative in terms of ideology.

Akinbobola reiterated that the organisation would only work with a mass oriented political party.

If you recognise us, we will recognise you, since you have come here, we will get back to you after our emergency state exco meeting with the members of the organisation.

Atunluse has the mandate to advocate for better life for Nigerians irrespective of where they come from, Olaseni quoted Akinbobola as saying. (NAN)(www.nannews.ng)

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Edited by Chinyere Joel-Nwokeoma

Source: NAN News

Buhari arrives Katsina ahead of Saturdays Presidential election

By Ismaila Chafe

President Muhammadu Buhari has arrived Katsina, Katsina State, for onward trip to Daura, his country home, ahead of Saturdays Presidential election.

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the presidential aircraft conveying the president and members of his entourage landed at Umaru Musa YarAdua Airport, Katsina, on Thursday at exactly 4:40 p.m.

The president, who was received at the airport by Gov. Aminu Masari and other State Government dignitaries as well as heads of Federal Government agencies and departments, would be casting his vote in Daura.

Prior to leaving Abuja for Katsina on Thursday, Buhari had summoned a Security Council Meeting where he met with heads of security agencies to intimate them on the need to protect electorate, ensure hitch-free and fair elections.

The president also met with the Chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) Prof. Mahmood Yakubu in Abuja, where he was assured of the commissions readiness and commitment to conduct free and fair general elections on Feb. 25 and March 11, 2023.

The Nigerian leader was also present at the International Conference Centre Abuja, where candidates participating in the 2023 presidential election signed a peace accord on Thursday.

Buhari had charged all the candidates to accept the outcome of the elections as the choice of the electorate.

In the build up to the elections, Buhari had in Feb. 2022 signed the Electoral Act Amendment Bill into law.

He had also repeatedly vowed to bequeath an electoral process that would be adjudged credible and transparent. (NAN)(www.nannews.ng)

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Edited by Bashir Rabe Mani

Source: NAN News

By Sumaila Ogbaje

The Defence Headquarters says troops of Operation Whirl Punch have apprehended one of the masterminds of the March 28, 2022 terrorist attack on the Abuja-Kaduna Train service.

The Director, Defence Media Operations, Maj.-Gen. Musa Danmadami, made this known at the bi-weekly news briefing on the operations of the armed forces, on Thursday in Abuja.

Danmadami said the suspect was one of thethree terrorists apprehended by the troops at Damba community in Chikun Local Government Area of Kaduna State on Feb. 14.

He said the operation led to the recovery of two motorcycles, mobile phones, the sum of 5,000 dollars, other currencies and some sundry items.

According to him, troops on fighting patrol also neutralised seven terrorists at Ungwan Birni in Kajuru Local Government Area of the state.

He said 83 rounds of 7.62mm NATO, 50 rounds of 7.62mm special, and seven magazines, among other items, were recovered from the terrorists.

Danmadami also said troops of Operation Hadarin Daji, had within the period, neutralised 23 terrorists and arrested nine as well as rescued 23 abducted civilians.

According to him, the air component conduced series of air interdiction operations to decimate and deny the terrorists freedom of action within the period under review.

Specifically, on Feb. 13, an air interdiction operation was conducted based on intelligence report that terrorists had gathered for a wedding ceremony at location within Safana Local Government Area of Katsina State.

Another air interdiction operation was conducted at identified terrorists locations within Kankara and Batsari Local Government Areas, all in Katsina state.

Feedback revealed that several terrorists were neutralised in both air strikes, the defence spokesman said. (NAN) ()

Edited by Maharazu Ahmed

DD/Website

Members of Potters Gallery Initiative

By Bridget Ikyado

The Creative Director, Potters Gallery Initiative, Mr Donald Unanka says the organization will continue to build the capacity of Persons With Disability (PWDs) in the creative industry.

Speaking at a workshop organised for PWDs on Thursday in Abuja, Unanka said the intervention was imperative, in order to provide the PWDs with sustainable business skills.

According to him, the workshop will enable them to explore other potentials in the creative industry.

We do not want PWDs to be left out of trade and businesses just because they are physically challenged, Unanka said.

Promoting the skills of PWDs would also enhance self-reliance and build their career in different fields.

They will also understand the industry properly and the market for successful businesses, he said.

The Director said the three-day workshop, supported by UNESCO, has more than 50 trainees from various discipline.

A beneficiary, Comfort Ekwo said I learnt a lot from this workshop which include how to start and improve my business skills.

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the participants were drawn from different businesses and organisations in the Federal Capital Territory. (NAN)(www.nannews.ng)

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Edited by Abdul Hassan/Maharazu Hamed

Source: NAN News