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Supplementary Elections: APC, PDP Battle For Two Gov, 94 Legislative Seats

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Political parties, including the All Progressives Congress and the Peoples Democratic Party, are set to battle for 93 legislative seats in federal and state parliaments in Saturday’s supplementary elections.

Supplementary governorship elections will hold in Adamawa and Kebbi states on the same day.

In the general elections, the Independent National Electoral Commission declared winners for 26 governorship, 104 senatorial, 329 House of Reps members and 935 state assembly seats.

INEC had also declared several polls inconclusive, while the electoral umpire cancelled several others due to irregularities and violence.

The commission had scheduled the supplementary polls for April 15 where voters in five senatorial districts, 31 federal and 58 state assembly constituencies will determine the winners.

The senatorial elections will be held in Sokoto, Kebbi and Zamfara. In Sokoto, supplementary elections are to be conducted in Sokoto-North, Sokoto-East and Sokoto-South districts.

The elections will also be held in 389 polling units across all the 23 LGAs of the state. Altogether, about 227,743 eligible voters are expected to participate in the exercise.

In Kebbi and Zamfara, the election would be conducted in one senatorial district each – Kebbi-North and Zamfara-Central.

While the election will be held in 23 polling units in the Kebbi North senatorial district, voters in 83 PUs will be voting in the Zamfara Central senatorial election. They have 13,243 and 47,277 eligible voters, respectively.

Meanwhile, the supplementary election for House of Representatives members will be held in 31 constituencies in 15 states.

They are Akwa Ibom (2), Anambra (1), Bayelsa (1), Edo (1), Imo (1), Kano (2), Kebbi (2), Kogi (1), Oyo (2), Rivers (2), Sokoto (11), Taraba (1), Zamfara (2), Jigawa (1) and Ebonyi state (1).

For the state Houses of Assembly positions, elections will be held in 58 constituencies across 17 states.

Gov poll

The polls will also take place in Adamawa State where Governor Ahmadu Fintiri of the PDP will slug it out with the APC governorship candidate, Aisha Binani in the rerun.

The state collation officer, Prof Muhammadu Mele of the University of Maiduguri, had declared the election in the state inconclusive due to the margin of votes. Fintiri, who is seeking re-election polled 421,524, while Ahmed scored 390,275.

In Kebbi State, the APC, and PDP are also ready to battle it out as they prepare for the governorship rerun.

The electoral commission had declared the election inconclusive citing the cancellation of results in different polling units across the registration areas in 20 of the 21 local government areas of the state.

Speaking with The PUNCH, Deputy National Publicity Secretary of the PDP, Ibrahim Abdullahi disclosed that the party was ready to explore every legitimate option to coast home to victory even as he expressed optimism on the chances of the party on Saturday.

“We are exploring that option (alliance with other parties) because it is the right thing to do. The chances of the PDP are very bright in the governorship supplementary elections in both Adamawa and Kebbi states.

“These are two states where the PDP is the party to beat but we are not taking anything for granted. We worked very hard on the first ballot, and we are prepared to repeat the feat on Saturday,” he said.

Although the deputy publicity scribe did not disclose the identity of the parties in talks with the PDP, he noted that the main opposition party will give a good account of itself in the polls across the board.

“The PDP is the party for all Nigerians. We are everywhere and this Saturday, Nigerians will again demonstrate their support for the party. We will come out stronger. We would like to use this opportunity to call on the umpire and the security agencies to live above board. Neutrality, competence and professionalism should be their watchwords,” he added.

The New Nigeria People’s Party similarly has confirmed its readiness to align with other parties ahead of the election.

In a telephone conversation with our correspondent, Ladipo Johnson, spokesman of the party presidential campaign council in the recently held election said, “The NNPP will always do anything legally permissible to aid us in our bid to bring good governance to the people of Nigeria. Thus, we will welcome with open arms all those who want to work with us to serve the people.”

But the APC leadership insisted the APC remains the party to beat in the polls.

Speaking with our correspondent, the APC Director of Publicity, Bala Ibrahim, stated that the ruling party foresees no obstacle to its victory at the polls as long as the electoral umpire, security agents and other relevant stakeholders play their role without bias.

He said, “People have been sensitized to use their conscience to see to it that they elect people who will give them the representation they want. I don’t see APC victory being hijacked by an alliance of political parties provided everyone including the agency tasked with electoral assignment does what is expected of them according to the book.

“The APC is the party to beat. Any party seeking alliance now is doing so because it doesn’t see itself as doing it alone. Without sounding immodest, the party has demonstrated strength and fairness to the people. It has also shown that it is a party that respects the law. There is no need for us to shout ‘Come for alliance’ for us to win an election, we expect people to use their conscience.”

Ibrahim, however, stated that they are working hard to ensure they carry the day in the rerun.

APC backs Binani

He also believed that the APC governorship candidate in Adamawa State, Binani, would make history on Saturday because the supplementary election is taking place in her stronghold.

He added, “We are not leaving anything to chance, particularly Kano where the election was robbed. But in areas where there will be election re-runs are where we feel we have an edge.

“So, we are maintaining vigil and at the same time sensitizing and mobilizing people to have a massive turnout. Once there is no apathy, we are confident of victory.

“Adamawa case is peculiar in the sense that we are not just looking for an ordinary win. We are working for history because if we succeed in winning, we are to give Nigeria its first female governor ever.

‘’This is something we are not taking lightly and it is something we are doing mostly because the election is holding in her strongest base. These are areas of her strength.

“This is why we cannot allow anything untoward to happen. Our optimism is however hinged on INEC, law enforcement agents and everyone that has a role to play in the elections doing the right thing.

‘’We hope there is not going to be any arm-twisting and no one will bend the rule to favour someone. If the election is allowed to go free and fair, victory for Binani is fait accompli.”

Chairman of the House Committee on Media and Publicity, Benjamin Kalu, in a telephone interview, stated that it would be bad for the Tinubu-led executive arm of the government not to have a cordial relationship with the legislative arm.

The spokesman, who is a member of the APC caucus from Abia State, and aspiring to be the speaker in the 10th Assembly, noted that the outcome of the polls would determine the leadership of the House.

Kalu said, “Another message that what they have done to the majority party – the ruling party – is that we should not ignore those who still have elections to take. The members of the ruling party who are going through this supplementary election should be overwhelmingly supported.

“They should be seriously supported. They should be encouraged so that when they are coming back with victory, it will add to the numbers of the members of the APC in the House and the Senate.

“Why this is important is that national objectives that would be designed by the executive could only be achievable if the Legislature is on the same page with the executive.

“But if the executive is on a frolic of its own and the legislature is running at a different speed, definitely there will be no convergence. And if there is no convergence, achieving a single purpose or objective for the country will be very difficult.

“So, it is important as anything, that the remaining election that is coming up, the ruling party takes it seriously. They should get out of their comfort zone and support every member of the party that is running in this election.”

He added, “So, this is important to Mr President-elect. This is important to the National Chairman (Abdullahi Adamu) of the APC and the National Working Committee of the party. This is important to those who want to become in the House of Reps, like some of us who are looking for leadership positions. We must all support those who still have elections to contest, who are of our party’s extraction.

“It is actually too early now to conclude that we don’t have a strong majority as a party. It is after the supplementary election that we would be able to have a clearer picture of the numbers and the statistics that would be used to do the negotiations or analysis which would help us to take the strategic steps forward in determining the architecture of the government in the country.”

Lending his support to his party, the PDP standard bearer, Atiku Abubakar has asked voters to give the party overwhelming support during the supplementary elections.

Atiku asked voters in the areas where the supplementary polls will take place to “come out in large numbers” to cast their ballot for the PDP.

This was contained in a statement released on Thursday by Paul Ibe, Abubakar’s media adviser.

Speaking in Yola, the capital of Adamawa, the former vice president specifically asked voters in Adamawa and Kebbi to vote “overwhelmingly” for the PDP governorship candidates.

“In both Adamawa and Kebbi where supplementary elections shall be held on Saturday, I wish to make a special appeal to the voters in the respective polling units where elections shall be taking place to make sure that the PDP enjoys overwhelming support through their votes,” Abubakar was quoted as saying.

“It is an established fact that the APC has failed the people of this country and, especially, in Kebbi state, the more reason it is incumbent on the electorate to vote them out and return the PDP,’’ he added.

Presidential candidate

Like his PDP counterpart, the Labour Party presidential candidate, Peter Obi, also asked the voters to cast their ballots for the party’s candidates on Saturday.

He said a new Nigeria is possible if the electorate was committed to electing competent leaders.

Obi made it clear that his party is committed to building a new Nigeria by reversing the prevailing poverty and suffering of the people.

He spoke on Thursday when he embarked on a road show campaign in the Ogbaru Federal Constituency, where a rerun has been scheduled to determine the winner of the federal constituency seat.

Obi, who presented the LP candidate in the federal constituency for the re-run election, Afam Ogene, to the people, urged them to vote for him.

But less than 72 hours to the election, the Social Democratic Party candidate for Khana/Gokana Federal Constituency, Rivers State, Friday Nke-ee has raised the alarm over an alleged plot by the PDP candidate, Dumnamene Dekor to mastermind his arrest in order to prevent him from contesting the poll.

Nke-ee accused Dekor of trying to fabricate trumped-up petitions against him.

Speaking with newsmen in Port Harcourt, the SDP candidate also alleged that Dekor was plotting to hire thugs to attack his supporters on the eve of the poll and during the election proper.

Dekor, a member representing Khana/Gokana Federal Constituency in the National Assembly, denied the allegation.

Dekor, who is the Chairmen of, House Committee on Host Communities accused the SDP candidate of being the one plotting evil during the election.

He spoke on a popular Radio station in Port Harcourt (Classic FM, 91.1) monitored by our correspondent.

In Ekiti, the INEC assured that necessary security arrangements had been put in place to ensure a hitch-free supplementary House of Assembly election in the state.

The Resident Electoral Commissioner, Prof Ayobami Salami, said personnel to be deployed to the three polling units where the election would be held in Ido/Osi Council area had been retrained.

This is as the inter-agency committee on election security assured of safety of lives and property during and after the polls.

Salami, in a statement by the Head, INEC Voter Education and Publicity, Temitope Akanmu, said that the supplementary polls followed the inconclusive election of Ido Osi State Constituency 1 caused by the ‘margin of lead principle’ which indicated a need for supplementary elections to be held in three polling units before a clear winner could emerge.

It said, “This was borne out of violent disruption of the voting process in three polling units of PU 003, PU 012 and PU 014 all in Registration Area (Ward) 01.’’

In a bid to ensure a smooth electoral exercise on Saturday, the Inspector-General of Police, Usman Baba, has ordered adequate deployment of personnel and additional logistics for effective election security management.

According to a statement on Thursday by the Force Public Relations Officer, Olumuyiwa Adejobi, the additional support includes the operational vehicles, non-lethal weapons, personal protective equipment (body armour), and anti-riot equipment, among others.

He also noted that the IGP had directed all supervising senior police officers in charge of jurisdictions where the supplementary elections will be held, particularly, the governorship election in Adamawa and Kebbi States, to ensure the distribution of adequate manpower and other resources for effective policing of the electoral process.

Adejobi said, “The IGP while urging all electorates in the affected states to come out en masse to exercise their franchise and be law-abiding while maintaining peace and orderliness, assured that the police is poised to ensure the emplacement of a proper security arrangement for the supplementary polls to ensure that the elections are conducted in a peaceful and secure environment.”

Also, the Defence Headquarters revealed that it had made adequate arrangements to support the Nigeria Police Force during the election.

The Director, Directorate of Defence Information, Brig Gen Tukur Gusau confirmed the development to our correspondent in an interview on Thursday.

Tukur said, “The DHQ has made adequate arrangements to support the Nigeria Police which is the lead agency for election security in Nigeria. The Armed Forces will support the police for the supplementary elections.”

 

Credit: The Punch

BIG STORY

We’ll Reintroduce Bill Seeking 6-Year Single Term For President, Governors Despite Rejection — Rep

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Ikeagwuonu Ugochinyere, a member of the House of Representatives, says the push for a six-year single term for president and governors will continue despite the bill’s rejection.

The bill, which was slated for a second reading during Thursday’s plenary session, was rejected by lawmakers in the Green Chamber.

Sponsored by Ikeagwuonu from Imo State and 33 other lawmakers, the bill also sought to amend Section 3 of the Constitution to recognize the division of Nigeria into six geopolitical zones.

Briefing journalists on Thursday evening, the lawmaker described the rejection of the bill as a “temporary setback.”

“The struggle to reform our constitutional democracy to be all-inclusive and provide an avenue for justice, equity, and fairness has not been lost,” he said.

The lawmaker added that voting against the bill by the parliament “does not put an end to agitation and hope that we will realise this objective.”

“This is a temporary setback which does not affect the campaign for an inclusive democratic process,” he said.

The Imo lawmaker stated that the sponsors of the bill will review the decision of the House and “find possible ways of reintroducing it after following due legislative procedures.”

“All I can tell Nigerians is that we will continue the advocacy and convince our colleagues to see reason with us. If elections are held in one day, it will reduce cost and rigging,” he said.

“If power rotates, it will help deescalate political tensions, and a six-year single term will go a long way in helping elective leaders focus on delivering their democratic mandate.”

“All hope is not lost, we will continue the advocacy, and we hope that when reintroduced, our colleagues will support it.”

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BIG STORY

65% Of Nigerian Households Can’t Afford Healthy Meals — NBS

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The National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) reports that food scarcity, insecurity, and high prices have led Nigerian households to reduce consumption, with 65 percent unable to afford healthy meals due to financial constraints.

These findings were released in the NBS’s latest General Household Survey Panel (Wave 5) report, conducted in partnership with the World Bank.

The report reveals that 71 percent of households were affected by rising prices of major food items, while food shortages impacted more than a third of households over the past year. These shortages were particularly severe in June, July, and August, worsening the food insecurity crisis.

As a result, 48.8 percent of households reported cutting back on food consumption, according to the NBS data.

“In the past 12 months, more than one-third of households faced food shortages, which occurred more frequently in the months of June, July, and August,” the report states.

“Price increases on major food items were the most prevalent shock reported by households, affecting 71.0 percent of surveyed households.”

“Households’ main reported mechanism for coping with shocks was reducing food consumption (48.8 percent).”

  • ‘62.4% Nigerian Households Secured Less Food’

The report also notes a significant increase in the number of households concerned about not having enough food to eat, with the figure rising from 36.9 percent in Wave 4 (conducted in 2019) to 62.4 percent in Wave 5.

According to the NBS, this surge reflects a rise in food insecurity, with more than half of Nigerian families struggling to meet their dietary needs.

“Approximately two out of three households (65.8 percent) reported being unable to eat healthy, nutritious, or preferred foods because of lack of money in the last 30 days. 63.8 percent of households ate only a few kinds of food due to lack of money, 62.4 percent were worried about not having enough food to eat, and 60.5 percent ate less than they thought they should,” the report adds.

“Furthermore, 12.3 percent reported that at least one person in the household went without eating for a whole day, and 20.8 percent of households had to borrow food or rely on help from friends or relatives.”

“In general, households in the southern zones report more incidents related to food security than those in northern zones.”

“For example, in the southern zones, the proportion of households reporting that they had to skip a meal ranged from 50.1 percent in South West to 62.4 percent in South East, while in the northern zones this share varied from 34.0 percent in North Central to 48.3 percent in North East.”

The report further highlights that residents in the south-south zone experienced the highest rates of food insecurity across five out of eight indicators. In contrast, the north-central zone had the lowest rates in six of the eight indicators.

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BIG STORY

POLITICS: Rest 31-Year Presidential Ambition — Bode George Tells Atiku Abubakar

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A former Deputy National Chairman of the Peoples Democratic Party, Chief Bode George, has advised former Vice President Atiku Abubakar to end his 31-year-long bid to be President.

Noting that Atiku’s bid to be President dated back to 1993, George said it was high time the former Vice President retired from such a contest, especially in the 2027 election.

Addressing a press conference at his Ikoyi, Lagos office, on Thursday, George urged Atiku to assume the position of an elder in the nation and leave his bid to posterity.

“To Atiku, my advice is this, you will be 81 years old in 2027, and you have been contesting for the presidency since 1993. This is the time for you to calm down and act like an elder. I appeal to you in the name of the Almighty Allah, that you serve, to take it easy and leave everything for posterity,” George said.

George decried that the PDP was on the verge of crumbling because people uplifted their personal interests and individual ambitions above national interest.

He criticised the “divisive, arrogant, haughty” members of the party romancing the ruling All Progressives Congress yet failing to defect from the PDP, describing them as cowards.

“We are where we are today because of a self-inflicted crisis; we should bury our individual ambitions now and not allow the PDP to crumble, please. Elders of the party should tell some of these funny characters to cool off and think of our national interest instead of their personal interest.

“Nigerians are angry and hungry. Instead of telling the APC the truth, some divisive, arrogant and haughty members are busy romancing the ruling party and they are quick to refer to themselves as elder statesmen. Instead of instigating a crisis in our party, why are they not bold enough to defect to the APC? Do they really fear God at all? No member is big enough to hold the party to ransom,” George added.

Particularly pointing to the crisis between Rivers State Governor, Siminalayi Fubara, and his predecessor and Minister of the Federal Capital Territory, Nyesom Wike, George urged Wike to immediately “cool off” from wanting to “bring down” Fubara.

George said it was worrisome that some party members, rather than bringing the two parties to mediation, further fuelled the Fubara/Wike crisis for their selfish interests.

“My advice to Wike is very simple. You are my political son. I am therefore appealing to him to cool off immediately. I know he was injured by friends during the last PDP presidential contest, but I am advising him as a father to please take it easy. Nobody is bigger than any party. Forget what happened in the past and let us work together in the interest of this party.

“I want to ask the elders at the helm of affairs of our party today, ‘What exactly is the offence of Governor Siminalayi Fubara of Rivers State?’ What exactly is the offence of this gentleman that some elders of our party are trying to throw him under the bus because of political expediency? What exactly is going on that some party members don’t feel bothered about the happenings in Rivers State? Governor Fubara was helped by Governor Wike to become the number one citizen of the oil-bearing state. The governor himself acknowledged this on several occasions.

“Must the governor now behave like a slave to his predecessor and other characters because of this concept of godfatherism which is a misnomer in our politics? Why are some party members encouraging his predecessor to bring him down? He is in Abuja; he wants to control what goes on in Rivers State.

“Did the governors before him behave this way? Why are the party leaders not eager to mediate and bring both groups to normalcy? The PDP cannot continue like this. Why can’t we learn from our past mistakes? Is our party jinxed? Why can’t we tell all these troublemakers to go and sit down if they don’t want this party to move forward?”

The National Assembly has amended the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency Act, prescribing life imprisonment for drug offenders and traffickers.

This decision followed the adoption of the harmonised report by the Senate and House of Representatives on the NDLEA Act amendment.

Presenting the report, the Chairman of the Senate Conference Committee, Senator Tahir Monguno, explained that the amendment sought to impose stricter penalties to deter illegal drug activities.

The amendment specifically stated: “Any person who unlawfully engages in the storage, custody, movement, carriage, or concealment of dangerous drugs or controlled substances and, while doing so, is armed with an offensive weapon or disguised in any manner, commits an offence under this Act and is liable, upon conviction, to life imprisonment.”

The Senate approved the recommendation through a voice vote during Thursday’s plenary, presided over by the Deputy Senate President, Barau Jibrin.

In addition to the NDLEA amendment, the Senate also passed a bill to empower the Revenue Mobilisation, Allocation, and Fiscal Commission.

The proposed legislation, known as the Revenue Mobilisation, Allocation, and Fiscal Commission Bill of 2024, sought to replace the existing RMAFC Act of 2004.

The updated law revises the commission’s composition and operational framework to ensure federal, state, and local governments receive constitutionally mandated resources to address governance and developmental challenges.

Presenting the bill, the Chairman of the Senate Committee on National Planning and Economic Affairs, Yahaya Abdullahi, highlighted the urgency of reforming the commission in light of Nigeria’s dwindling revenues and growing population.

Abdullahi explained that the bill aims to strengthen RMAFC’s mandate as the constitutionally recognised body responsible for monitoring revenue generation and ensuring its equitable distribution among the three tiers of government.

“The Act, last revised over 20 years ago, no longer reflects Nigeria’s evolving economic realities. This bill proposes additional funding and a restructured operational framework for the commission to improve its efficiency,” he said.

He further emphasised that adequate funding from the Federation Account was critical for RMAFC to perform its constitutional responsibilities effectively, noting that funding challenges had previously hindered its performance.

The Senate endorsed the bill following deliberations and a majority vote.

It now awaits President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s assent to become law.

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