Television Nigerian

After the 19-day Imo State governorship election, Senator Athan Achononu of the Labour Party (LP) has made grave accusations against the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC).

Senator Achononu made a shocking discovery in a statement when he accused INEC of preventing him from accessing electoral papers that were essential to his case at the Governorship electoral Petitions Tribunal.

Despite a court ruling, the LP candidate voiced anger at INEC’s unwillingness to permit the Bi-modal Voter Accreditation System (B-VAS) to be inspected.

He said that the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) planned the action as a calculated delay tactic to impede the filing of his case, perhaps resulting in its dismissal on procedural grounds.

Senator Achononu demanded that INEC maintain electoral openness, and that President Bola Ahmed Tinubu enforce this demand.

In his own words: “Right now, we went to the Tribunal and obtained an order allowing us to inspect the BVAS. Up till now, INEC has refused to allow us to inspect the BVAS.

“Despite a court order, they are not allowing us to inspect it; lawyers and experts were hired at an extremely high cost per day—N30 million.”

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Senator Achononu reported that the INEC Chairman had promised that wards would be the first to receive election results before the state, but he regretted that no ward had ever seen ward collation. This was during the stakeholders’ meeting.

Even as party representatives expressed doubts about the veracity of the results, he charged INEC of conspiring with the state’s ruling party to declare unsigned results.

“We informed INEC chairman Prof. Mahmoud at the stakeholders meeting that he needed to implement a few measures to ensure a seamless election.

“The first is the REC’s elimination. Second, before collation happens at the state level, it needs to happen at the ward and local government levels.

He agreed when we asked that three officers sign the result sheets: a national commissioner, the REC, and each EO representing his local government. This ensures that the result sheets are not manipulated.

Surprisingly, though, there was no ward-level collation on election day in several local governments. Everything was transferred to the state, and in the areas without elections and with high levels of insecurity, results were tallied and cluster voting took place in Orsu, regretted Achononu.

All hope is not lost, the LP candidate said, expressing a sliver of hope that he will receive justice from the legal system.

The singing of the APC presidential candidate’s campaign song in the National Assembly’s sacred chamber, during the budget estimate for 2024’s presentation to the Legislature, was denounced by the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) yesterday. Bola Tinubu is the current president of the APC.

The PDP called it a deeply dishonorable and unforgiveable attack on the constitutional sovereignty and sensitivity of the Nigerian people as represented by the National Assembly, carried out by President Tinubu and his minions.
A brazen performance of Tinubu’s campaign song by the government’s security band during proceedings in the National Assembly’s chambers, according to PDP national publicity secretary Hon. Debo Ologunagba, further confirmed “the apprehensions by Nigerians of creeping totalitarianism and fiefdom where an individual is being elevated as a Sovereign in clear undermining of the Legislature and the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, 1999 (as amended).”

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Under Tinubu’s leadership, the APC is leading the country dangerously into cronyism and tyranny, and Ologunagba added that the occurrence confirms the PDP’s fears, which they have voiced on multiple times, the most recent of which was on Wednesday, November 15, 2023.
Under whatever pretense or condition, the National Assembly serves as a symbol of the Nigerian people’s collective sovereignty, which cannot be usurped by or ceded to any one person or group.

Additionally, President Tinubu’s characterization of Nigerians as “ordinary people out there” in his budget presentation horrifies the PDP. This comment reveals even more of the APC administration’s contempt and complete indifference for the sensitivity of Nigerians in the development of policies, programs, and execution of these initiatives.

According to reports, this explains why President Tinubu’s 2024 budget mostly funded the opulent tastes of the wealthy and powerful APC leaders and the White House, with no commensurately beneficial plan for the welfare of other Nigerians.

Our party urges Nigerians to be vigilant and protect their democracy by opposing the APC administration’s authoritarian inclinations.

“We cannot tolerate any action that could lead our country toward unconstitutional tendencies, as the APC is demonstrating. Nigeria is a democratic nation governed by the Constitution and the Rule of Law,” Ologunagba stated in a statement.

The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) chapter in Nasarawa State has petitioned the Supreme Court to reconsider the Court of Appeal’s ruling in Abuja, which confirmed Governor Abdullahi Sule’s victory in the 2023 governorship election.

The state election petitions tribunal initially overturned Sule’s victory, pronouncing PDP candidate David Ombugadu the winner.

However, the appellate court later upheld Sule as the legitimate governor, stating that the tribunal erred in its re-computation and declaration of votes.

Stella Oboshi, the PDP’s women leader in Nasarawa, raised alarm about the appellate court’s decision during a peaceful protest in Lafia.

She contended that the ruling violated democratic principles and urged the Supreme Court to conduct a comprehensive investigation, highlighting the significance of democracy in Nigeria.

She also slammed the Independent National Electoral Commission’s first pronouncement of Sule as the elected governor, claiming a lack of openness.

“We wish to highlight specific instances of irregularities that the court overlooked under the guise of technicalities,” Oboshi added. In the Gayam ward of Lafia Local Government Area, for example, the total number of accredited voters was 13,000, with the APC receiving an incredible 33,000 votes.

“Similarly, while the number of accredited voters in the Chiroma ward was documented at 21,000, INEC announced a staggering 59,000 votes solely for the APC.”

“We are firm believers that it is our judiciary’s responsibility to uphold the principles of justice, fairness, and merit in all of its decisions.” The failure to conduct a thorough investigation into the obvious discrepancies in this case is an affront to these principles. It erodes public trust in our legal system.

“It is, therefore, essential that the judiciary, as a pillar of democracy, does not inadvertently provide a platform for the perpetration of electoral injustice.”

Oboshi also expressed his disgust with the state’s security agents who brutalized some female party supporters on Monday.

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As a result, she encouraged security agents to stop persecuting party members and supporters, while emphasizing that the supporters had protested peacefully.

“We have been peacefully demonstrating for over six months since INEC declared Governor Abdullahi Sule the winner of the March 18 governorship election in the state,” she stated. We have never destroyed anything or violated any national laws.

“We believe who we voted for was not the person announced by INEC, and we want justice to be served, but to our greatest surprise, security agents brutalized some of our women on Monday for participating in a peaceful protest.” Those injured are being treated in a hospital.

“I am calling on the security agencies to protect the women and not attack them because their intention for embarking on the peaceful protest is to seek justice, not to foment any form of trouble in the state.”

The Ministry of Interior has been ordered to seize Nigeria’s borders by President Bola Ahmed Tinubu.

Olubunmi Tunji-Ojo, the interior minister, revealed this during a Tuesday night speech on Politics Today on Channels Television.

The ministry was purportedly tasked by the president with coming up with remedies for Nigeria’s ongoing insecurity issues.

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“A secure border is a safe nation,” the minister declared. That is now clear to us, and we cannot go back on it. As the ministry of interior, we have the president’s marching orders to safeguard these borders because he is adamant about it. “Secure these borders, please.”Since this is 2023 and not 2003, technology must obviously play a role.

Therefore, nothing we say can diminish the importance of technology as a solution or as a means of improving delivery.

Since people can only be safeguarded to the extent that they choose to be protected, it is important to examine the human intelligence component. That is the simple reality. What occurred in Afghanistan, Iraq, and Libya was witnessed by all of us. It may be challenging for you to overcome the issue of insecurity if individuals do not encourage you or provide you with the necessary human intelligence.

It also requires technology. However, I don’t want to reveal to you the specific technology that we are examining.