Daybreak, Politics, Entertainment, Sport

Tag: 2023 elections

It Doesn’t Make Sense To Swear-In People When There are Issues In Court – Onaiyekan

The Bishop Emeritus of the Archdiocese of Abuja, Cardinal John Onaiyekan, says it does not make sense to swear in people into office when their electoral victories are being challenged in court.

Onaiyekan shared this opinion during an interview with Channels TV on Thursday, April 4.

While speaking on fairness, Onaiyekan said:

“There are cases in court that have not been disposed of. That is why we are in an anomalous situation. We have a president-elect whose election is being challenged and the court is handling it. I’m still waiting for the court to tell me who won the election. It doesn’t make much sense to be swearing in people when they are still in court. I know it has happened with governors but the outcome has really not been the best of all cases. I think we need to review our election process, so we do have a winner who will be sworn in and whom everybody would rally around.

It is a pity that it is taking longer for the court to come to its decision. My problem is that the whole system of our election must be properly reviewed so that it would be easier for winners to emerge according to the wishes of the people. It is not right to have a system that is constantly contested. We should find out why is every election being contested.”he said

The outcome of the February 25, 2023, Presidential election is currently being challenged in court by Atiku Abubakar of the PDP and Peter Obi of the APC. the presidential election tribunal will begin hearing of the petitions on May 8.

May 4, 2023
2023 Elections: We‘ll Declare Results Speedily – INEC

The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has assured that the results of Saturday’s presidential and National Assembly elections will be declared as quickly as possible.

INEC Chairman, Prof. Mahmood Yakubu, said this at his media briefing in Abuja on Friday.

The 2019 presidential elections result was formally declared after two days of the elections.

But Yakubu said the commission will speed up the process this year.

“I just want to say that we will ensure that it (result declaration) will be done speedily. I can’t put a finger on the number of days or number of hours it will take, but it will be done speedily. We are aware of the anxiety and the need for us to conclude the process quickly, it will be concluded quickly,” he said.

Yakubu also assured that the process will not suffer any encumbrance due to the recent cash crunch triggered by the naira re-design policy of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN).

“It is not all our operations that are paid for by cash. In fact, the bulk of our procurement for both goods and services is done electronically, but we need a small amount of money to pay for the unbanked who render critical services, particularly at the local level.

“We anticipated this challenge and interacted with the Central Bank, they promised us that the little amount we need to pay for services in cash, they will make the funds available to us and they have done so.

“And these funds have already been accessed by our state offices for elections which is why the movement of personnel and materials in the last couple of days has gone on unhindered. So, I must give credit for our relationship with the Central Bank in that regard. So, the process won’t suffer any encumbrance as a result,” Yakubu said.

The INEC boss expressed satisfaction on the progress being made with the movement of materials to the various locations around the country.

He said, “Having deployed these materials to the Local Government Areas, we are today devolving the deployment to the Registration Area Centers (RACs) so that early morning tomorrow the polls will open as planned. These RACs have been activated and election duty staff have started arriving in them.”

February 25, 2023
2023 Elections: Nigeria Immigration Orders 24-Hour Border Closure

The Nigeria Immigration Service (NIS) has ordered the closure of the country’s borders throughout Saturday for the presidential and National Assembly elections.

The Comptroller General, NIS, Isah Jere Idris, gave the directive to command comptrollers across the country in a circular made available to Channels Television on Thursday.

The circular titled ‘Border Closure for the 2023 Presidential and National Assembly Elections’ read: “The Federal Government has directed the total closure of all Land Borders effective from 00:00 hours on Saturday 25th February, 2023 to 00:00 hours Sunday, 26th February, 2023.

“Accordingly, all Command Comptrollers especially those in the Border States are to ensure strict enforcement of this directive.

February 24, 2023
We’re Set for Election Duty – Navy Assures

The Nigerian Navy (NN), has expressed it’s readiness to support the Independent National Electoral Commission(INEC), to conduct peaceful elections across the country from next Saturday.

Navy says it is ready to provide security to all Nigerians, before, during and after the elections and also escort election materials in the creeks of the Niger Delta , to ensure no one was disenfranchised.

The Executive Officer Nigerian Navy Ships (NNS), Pathfinder, Captain Stanley Umeh, said this during the first quarter Route March exercise in Port Harcourt Rivers State, at the weekend.

Ume said the exercise is a show of Force for next week’s general elections, oil thieves and pipeline vandalism in the country, beginning from the Niger Delta .

He also noted that it is a sign of readiness of Navy personnel for peaceful conduct of the polls on Saturday and other election days in the year.

Ume said: “Route march is a sign of readiness for us. Route March is a routine exercise in the military. This is the first quarter route March for 2023 and it’s done across all Naval formation across the country.

“Route march is a way of enforcing confidence in the general public that members of the Nigerian Navy and the Armed Forces at large, is always ready to be out there in the discharge of our constitutional responsibility to safeguard lives and property. “We’re not contending with anybody, but the show of force is in the direction of protecting the general populace from vandals, miscreants and to build confidence in the populace that they are safe.

“It’s also part of the Chief of Naval Staff, Vice Admiral Awwal Gambo’s strategic imperatives that the Nigerian Navy supports INEC in every way possible in reaching out to the creeks and ensure election materials get to the coastal communities safely and that elections are conducted there without rancour.”

February 20, 2023
ADC Collapse Structure To Endorse Peter Obi as Presidential Candidate

The African Democratic Congress, ADC, has endorsed Peter Obi, Labour Party presidential candidate for the Saturday poll.

The development is sequel to the formation of a grand coalition, which aims at propelling Obi and his running mate, Datti Baba-Ahmed for the nation’s top job.

Details shortly…

February 20, 2023
2023 elections: ASUU, VCs react to FG’s order on nationwide closure of varsities

The Academic Staff Union of Universities has condemned the directive of the National Universities Commissions to the Committee of Vice-Chancellors of Nigerian Universities that universities should be shut to enable students to participate in the forthcoming general elections.

The NUC gave the directive in a letter on Tuesday addressed to vice-chancellors of all universities and Directors of Inter-university Centres.

The commission noted that the directive was based on the instruction of the Minister of Education, Adamu Adamu.

The letter partly read, “As Vice-Chancellors of all Universities and Directors/Chief Executives of Inter-University Centres, we are quite aware the 2023 general elections have been scheduled to hold on Saturday, February 25, 2023, for the presidential and National Assembly election and Saturday, March 1, 2023, for the governorship and states Houses of Assembly elections.

“In view of the foregoing and concerns expressed about the security of staff, students, and properties of our respective institutions, the Minister of Education, Adamu Adamu, has, following extensive consultations with the relevant security agencies, directed that all universities and Inter-University Centres be shut down and academic activities be suspended between February 22 and March 14, 2023.

“As a result, Vice-Chancellors and Chief Executives of Inter-University Centres are requested by this circular to close their respective institutions from Wednesday, February 22, 2023, to Tuesday, March 14, 2023.”

However, the National President, ASUU, Prof. Emmanuel Osodeke, explained that universities had never been shut down because of elections, saying that the closure and opening of universities were the prerogative of universities’ Senates.

He said, “Vice-Chancellors do not have the right to close universities. It is purely the prerogative of the universities’ Senates to either open or close universities.

“Things have gone so bad in this country that they are citing security and for this reason, we, as a union, had to look on. In all the past elections, have we ever closed the universities, polytechnics? So, what has gone wrong? Why the desperation? Why are they punishing Nigerians? We need to ask Nigerian leaders questions because we are trying to meet up with lost time and here you are shutting down universities.”

But the Secretary-General, CVCNU, Prof. Yakubu Ochefu, disagreed with the ASUU President, saying Nigeria had always closed universities during elections.

He said, “It is nothing new, most public universities get closed during elections because many of them housed polling units and universities and their communities always vote on campuses.

“Two reasons why universities are shut down during elections are so as not to disenfranchise the people and to give opportunity to those who registered away from the university to be able to vote. It is something universities have been doing as far as I can remember; so this is not new.

“The directive is coming from our regulatory body, NUC; it is for universities to see how they can manage it and it is the VCs that will internalise it.”

Also speaking, the National President, Academic Staff Union of Polytechnics, Mr Anderson Ezeibe, said the polytechnics regulatory body, National Board for Technical Education, had yet to come up with any directive.

However, he maintained that the closure and opening of institutions were decisions to be taken by institutions’ Senates.

“We are waiting for our regulatory body but they have not made any pronouncement. For NUC, they cited security and they are in the best position to tell us the security information they have. But I still hold the view that the Senate of the universities are to take the decision of closure or no closure, not NUC.”

On his part, the President, National Association of Nigerian Students, Usman Barambu, said the directive by the NUC was welcome.

He said, “That directive is a product of our efforts. We met with the Minister of Education when the speculations were spreading that schools would be opened during the election period. The minister assured us that schools would not be opened and told us that directives would be issued to relevant agencies.

“It is not only universities that would be shut, polytechnic, Colleges of Education and all tertiary institutions of learning would not be opened. Very soon, you would begin to hear from them.”

February 10, 2023
2023 Elections: NCPC boss tasks Nigerians on national unity

By Joyce Remi-Babayeju

The Executive Secretary Nigerian Christian Pilgrim Commission Rev. Dr Yakubu Pam, has tasked Nigerians on the unity of the country as the nation begins it’s electioneering era.

Rev Pam made this known while addressing the 5th batch of the December 2022 intending pilgrims comprising Delta, Borno and Kogi State at the Departure hall of the Nnamdi Azikwe International Airport in Abuja.

He said “the unity of mind and purpose is of utmost importance at such a time as this, hence the need for the spiritual exercise to Israel and Jordan.”

The Executive Secretary emphazied that the unity of the nation is what the Commission stands for, adding that Pilgrimage was the platform through which Nigerians can get more united.

He revealed that the Commission had always recorded huge success in zero tolerance to abscondment, adding that the states always adhere to warnings and implications of such actions.

He commended Nigerians for always showing signs of discipline, patriotism and law abiding in every aspect of our pilgrimage process.

He charged them to be proud Ambassadors and good representatives of the country and Christ as they embark on the spiritual journey.

Also the Delta State Executive Secretary, Apostle Samuel Okoh said nation building was incomplete without the Church, hence the need for the pilgrimage exercise.

Okoh said he was optimistic that the Pilgrims would impact upon the nations and their various families.

Okoh commended the state governor, Sen. Ifeanyi Okowa for approving the journey for 386 pilgrims to the Holy lands, adding that Deltans were not only going on the tour but representing the national front.

Executive Chairman, Kogi State Christian Pilgrims Commission advised them to be of worthy character and pray fervently for the nation and enhance the unity that every Nigerian had longed for.

January 28, 2023
2023: Fuel Scarcity, Naira Redesign Ploy to Sabotage My Victory — Tinubu

The presidential candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Bola Ahmed Tinubu, on Wednesday, alleged that the current fuel scarcity and naira redesign were parts of the plan by some powers-that-be to sabotage the 2023 general election.

Tinubu spoke during the APC presidential campaign at the MKO Abiola International Stadium, Kuto, Abeokuta.

Tinubu declared that the fuel crisis and the scarcity of the newly redesigned Naira notes were artificially created to discourage Nigerians from voting for the APC.

The APC presidential candidate called on the people to remain resolute and resist any attempt by anyone to stop the election from holding.

Tinubu promised that his administration would also introduce a student loan programme that would ensure that no Nigerian student is unable to complete his or her education because of school fees.

“There will be a student loan, nobody will drop out of university because of school fees, I guarantee you that.

“Nobody will have to repeat one class for eight years and not graduate.

“We are too smart, we are brilliant, we are courageous, we will make a four-year course be a four-year course,” he said.

While saying that the forthcoming general election is a revolution that would reshape the country, he noted that his administration would do all it can to ensure that the price of fuel is bearable for all Nigerians.

He alleged that the fuel scarcity was artificially created to sabotage his presidential ambition

He also alleged that there were thick plots against him and clandestine moves to scuttle the 2023 election, stressing that nothing would stop him from emerging victorious on February 25.

He said: “Even if they said there is no fuel, we will trek to vote. They have a lot of mischiefs, they could say there is no fuel.

“They have been scheming to create a fuel crisis, but forget about it. Relax, I, Asiwaju have told you that the issue of fuel supply will be permanently addressed.

“Whoever wants to eat the honey embedded in a mountain won’t worry about the axe. Is that not so?

“And if you want to eat palm kernel, you would bring stone and use it to break it, then the kernel will come out.

“Let them increase the price of fuel, only they know where they have hoarded the fuel.

“They hoarded money, they hoarded naira; we will go and vote and we will win. Even if they changed the ink on Naira notes, whatever their plans, it will come to naught.

“We are going to win. Those in the PDP will lose (won ma lule),” he declared.

He noted that as a homeboy, he had come to Ogun not to put the people to shame, but to win and take over the government.

“I am a homeboy, I have come here, you will not be put to shame, we will take over the government from them, the traitors who wanted to contest with us, they had no experience”, Tinubu said.

“This election is a revolution. They are plotting, but they will fail. They said fuel price will increase and reach N200 per litre. Go and relax.

January 26, 2023
2023: What Atiku promises Bayelsa electorates

The presidential candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party, Atiku Abubakar, has promised the Niger Delta people that his administration will devolve powers from the centre and restructure Nigeria if elected.

Atiku, who spoke at the campaign rally of the PDP in Yenagoa, Bayelsa State, on Monday, noted that the people of the region had been clamouring for resource control and the restructuring of the country and that his government, when elected, would accede to their demands.

He reiterated the implementation of his five-point developmental agenda for the nation, which he listed as the unification of the country, tackling insecurity, the economy, ending the strike in universities, and restructuring.

He said, “I promised to tackle insecurity. Here in Bayelsa State, you have faced a number of security challenges. You have lost so many people due to breaches of law and order. I promise I will restore security in this country.

“We proposed to restructure this country. You people in the Niger Delta need more restructuring than any other part of this country. We will give you more resources and more powers to deal with your problems. You don’t have to always start begging the Federal Government.”

In his remarks, the Bayelsa State Governor, Douye Diri, said Atiku was the only presidential candidate who had pledged to give the Ijaw people, and indeed the Niger Delta, restructuring.

Diri said partly, “Now, the only candidate who has keyed in and who has talked about what the Ijaw people want and what the people of Bayelsa want is Atiku; we have been talking about: resource control, Atiku is the only candidate that has talked about the restructuring of this country. Therefore, Atiku and the PDP are the only candidates and parties for which the Ijaw people will vote.”

Also speaking, the vice presidential candidate of the PDP and governor of Delta State, Ifeanyi Okowa, called on the people of Bayelsa State to give the party no fewer than 700,000 votes, while the geopolitical zone should deliver at least five million votes for the PDP at the presidential polls.

January 24, 2023
2023: G-5 Governors Storm Oyo For Makinde’s Re Election Campaign

The G-5 Governors of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) have stormed the ancient city of Ibadan, the Oyo State capital, for the campaign flag-off for the reelection of Seyi Makinde. the state governor.

Makinde is a member of the G-5 Governors who have vowed not to campaign for the presidential candidate of the party, Atiku Abubakar until the National Chairman of the party, Dr Iyorchia Ayu vacates his seat.

Other members of the group includes the Rivers State Governor Nyesom Wike, Samuel Ortom (Benue), Okezie Ikpeazu (Abia) and Ifeanyi Ugwuanyi (Enugu).

The governors arrived at the venue of the campaign flag-off at exactly 1 pm.

Speaking at the rally, Ikpeazu called on residents of the state to vote for Makinde, adding that what he would do in the next four years if elected will be more than what he has done before.

January 5, 2023