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INEC
Chairman, Prof. Attahiru Jega
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The Independent National
Electoral Commission has said it has no power to cancel the results of the
governorship and state Houses of Assembly elections in Rivers and Akwa Ibom
states.
It made this known to The
Punch newspaper a few hours after the European Union Election
Observation Mission (EU EOM) to Nigeria on Monday called for a probe of the
“severe problems” that characterized the polls in the two states. The Chief Press Secretary
to the INEC chairman, Kayode Idowu, said those calling on the commission to
cancel the results were misdirecting their request.
The Punch report continues:
Idowu explained
that once results had been announced by INEC, only election petition tribunals
had the power to cancel and order fresh elections.
Idowu said, “The law does
not allow us to cancel any result after it has been announced. Everyone knows
this.
“It is only the election
petition tribunals that can order that or even cancelled the elections. We
would advice anyone who is aggrieved to go to the court. “
Also in Abuja on Monday,
EU EOM said the elections in Akwa Ibom and Rivers states needed to be probed
because of accusations of rigging, intimidation and violence by opponents of
the winners.
Udom Emmanuel won the
governorship in election in Akwa Ibom while a former Minister of State for
Education, Nyesom Wike, triumphed in Rivers.
The Chief Observer of the
EU EOM, Santiago Fisas, said at a news
conference that even though the elections
witnessed “more efficient polling, “there were “increased incidents of violence
and interference.”
He added, “On
April 12, INEC referred to 66 reports of violent incidents targeting polling
units, INEC officials, voters and election materials in 19 states in all
geopolitical zones except for the North-East.
“Both the main parties
made many accusations of rigging, intimidation and violence by opponents.
Problems were most pronounced in Rivers and Akwa Ibom states where there are
multiple credible reports of violence and interference, which warrant further
investigation.”
Fisas however encouraged
those with grievances to address them through official channels.
The Chief observer also
commended President Goodluck Jonathan for conceding defeat before the last
result was read.
Fisas, who described the
election-related killings as regrettable, stressed that loss of lives was
unacceptable in election conduct.
He said, “It is very
regrettable that so many people lost their lives during the elections. Election
must be violence-free; loss of lives is not acceptable. Citizens should be able
to express their political will freely without fear for their lives.
“My full condolences go
to families and friends of those who have been killed during this election
process; also to the family of the Resident Electoral Commissioner in Kano, who
perished with his family in the tragic fire.”
Also on Monday, the
United States which congratulated Nigerians and INEC on the successful conduct
of the general elections, said it had “seen the reports of violence
and alleged irregularities, particularly in Rivers and Akwa Ibom states.”
In a
statement by its Embassy in Nigeria, the US callED on
those dissatisfied to pursue their grievances peacefully through the judiciary.
The statement read in
part, “The US Embassy in Nigeria congratulates the people of Nigeria and INEC
for an electoral process on April 11, 2015 that generally went well across the
country and built on the success of the March 28 polling process.
“We have seen the reports
of violence and alleged irregularities, particularly in Rivers and Akwa Ibom
states, and call on those dissatisfied to pursue their grievances peacefully in
the judicial arena. We regret any loss of life and destruction of property.”
It lauded
“the leadership of Nigeria’s political parties, notably President Goodluck
Jonathan and President-elect Muhammadu Buhari, for urging their supporters to
conduct themselves peacefully throughout the electoral process.”
Presidency, militants
rigged elections in Rivers, A’Ibom –APC
But in Lagos, the
national leadership of the APC accused the Presidency and Niger
Delta militants of rigging the elections in two states.
The APC, at a news
conference by its Publicity Secretary, Lai Mohammed, described the
elections in the states as a mockery of democracy.
It therefore
called on INEC to cancel the elections.
The party said, “It is
clear that the script for the distortion of the Rivers elections was written by
the Presidency and executed by the PDP, the police and militants
“As you would recollect,
our party’s chapter in Rivers had written a petition complaining of the crass
partisanship of the Rivers State Commissioner of Police in the presidential and
National Assembly elections held on March 28.
“Because of this
petition, the Inspector-General of Police, Suleiman Abba, posted
three police commissioners from the Force Headquarters in Abuja to oversee the
April 11 elections in Rivers State.
“As soon as the President
learnt of this development, he directed the IG to reverse the decision and
instead requested that AIG Tunde Ogunsakin be posted to oversee the April 11
elections in Rivers State.”
The APC spokesman said as
soon as electoral materials were distributed, a senior police officer in
Akukutoru Local Government Area simply handed over the election materials for
this local government to the militants.
He said upon learning of
this development, Ogunshakin ordered that the materials should be
recovered and handed over to the electoral officer for the LGA within the next
hour.
Mohammed said, “Irked by
A Ogunsakin’s directive, the Presidency ordered him to leave Rivers State
within six hours and a pliant replacement was asked to take over from him.
“From then on,
unimaginative terror was unleashed on the electorate, in particular on APC members
and supporters. It was a straight fight between the police, the militants and
the PDP on the one hand and the APC on the other hand.”
He said in former
Governor Victor Attah’s ward in Ibesikpo Asutan, three contiguous polling units
did not receive election materials.
Mohammed said that
electoral officers even told the APC governorship candidate, Umana Umana, that
the election process was marred by security failure, which allowed PDP thugs to
hijack election materials and take them to private homes for thumb-printing.
The PDP however said it
was wrong for the APC to call for the cancellation of the results
because there was no way it would not have won the polls in the two
states.
APC is wrong, says PDP
The National Publicity
Secretary of the party, Olisa Metuh, told one our correspondents
that the PDP might as well demand that the presidential election be canceled
because of the irregularities it noticed.
He said, “There was no
way we wouldn’t have won the elections in both Rivers and Akwa Ibom states
because they are our stronghold.
“Maybe we should as well
ask that the presidential election be canceled because of the irregularities we
noticed during the conduct of the election.”
Metuh called on the APC
to learn to accept the outcomes of elections
Meanwhile,
THE announcement of the governorship election results by INEC
enetered a second day on Monday with the APC winning additional six
states and the PDP, three.
The states whose results
were announced in APC’s favour are Zamfara, Jigawa, Adamawa, Niger, Nasarawa
and Borno. The PDP had Rivers, Delta and Cross River states.
As of Sunday midnight,
INEC had formally declared the candidates of the APC in 13 states as winners.
The states are Sokoto, Kebbi, Kwara, Oyo, Ogun, Lagos, Katsina, Kaduna, Kano,
Bauchi, Plateau, Yobe and Benue.
It also declared the PDP
candidates in Gombe, Enugu, Ebonyi and Akwa Ibom victorious.
When the results began to
trickle in between 1pm and 7pm on Monday, INEC announced more
APC candidates as winners.
In Nasarawa State,
Governor Tanko Al-Makura scored 309, 746 votes to beat his closest rival,Yusuf
Agasi of the PDP, who had 178, 983 votes.
Abdulaziz
Yari scored 716,964 votes while Mamuda Shinkafi of the PDP in
Zamfara State had 201,938 votes.
Also in Jigawa, Badaru Abubakar
defeated Aminu Ringim of the PDP by polling 648, 045 votes. Ringim had 479,447
votes.
INEC merely confirned
unofficial reports of Jibrilla Bindow, Abubakar Bello and Kashim Shettima’s
victories in Adamawa, Niger and Borno states.
Bindow defeated PDP’s
Nuhu Ribadu by scoring 362,329 votes. Ribadu had 98,917 votes.
While Bello had 593,702
votes, Umar Nasco of the PDP in Niger State had 239,770 votes.
In Borno State, Shettima
scored 649, 913 votes as against 34,005 votes by Gambo Lawan of the PDP.
The PDP candidates
however floored their APC counterparts in Rivers, Delta and Cross River states.
In Rivers State, a former
Minister of State for Education and PDP torch-bearer, Nyesom Wike, trounced
APC’s Dakuku Peterside having polled 1,029,102 votes. Dakuku had 124,896 votes.
In Delta State PDP’s
Ifeanyi Okowa became governor-elect after defeating APC’s O’tega Emerhor by
garnering 724,680 votes. Emerhor had 67, 825 votes.
Benedict
Ayade of the PDP in Cross River also handed defeat to his APC closest rival
Odey Ochicha. He polled 342,016 votes as against Ochicha’s 53,983.
INEC which also updated
the results of the Benue State election, had declared
the Imo, Abia and Taraba state governorship results inconclusive.
As of Sunday night when
the Imo results were announced uncompleted, Governor Rochas Okorocha of the APC
was leading his PDP counterpart and Deputy Speaker of the House of
Representatives, Emeka Ihedioha.
APC’s candidate in Taraba
State, Jummai Alhassan, was also leading other candidates in the state.
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