We’ll bury PDP on March 11 – Abia LP candidate Otti

State in the concluded National Assembly elections conducted by the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, on February 25, 2023.

Describing LP as the leading party in Abia State, he further claimed the PDP in its last ditch effort to hang on to power has gone to town with evil propaganda against him.

His words: “If you listen, you will hear all the things coming out from this sinking state government of PDP. How they would unleash violence, how they would ensure that there won’t be any voting, how they would write results, how they would use money and buy up everybody and all that.”

Continuing, he said: “They have also gone ahead to reappoint some miscreants they had sacked earlier [including a] local government transition committee chairman.

“I think they’re just reacting like a man that is drowning. But they’re already drowned and we are going to bury them on the 11th of March 2023.”

Otti added: “If you check the social media space, all they’re doing now is releasing fake reports purportedly coming from me. One of the things they have said is that I am going to sack most of the civil servants.

“In fact, it is the government appointees that are the ones circulating this on the various social media platforms.”

CNPP urges judiciary to do better than INEC, wants voters not to be deterred

By Christiana Ekpa

Conference Of Nigeria

Political Parties

(CNPP) has called on the Nigerian judiciary to serve justice to all electoral petitions by aggrieved parties in the February 25 presidential and National Assembly elections, urging the Judges and Justices to do better than the electoral umpire, the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC).

In a statement signed by its Secretary General, Willy Ezugwu, CNPP warned that “the current peace of the graveyard in the country must not be abused.”

The CNPP said that it did not want “to rush into joining issues with some selfish individuals and groups who ignored voter intimidation as well as unexplainable failure on the part of presiding officers employed by INEC to transmit election results from their polling units in real-time despite several assurances that electronic transmission of results has come to stay in the country’s electoral system.

“The CNPP recalls that in the build up to the 2023 general elections, INEC had consistently assured that results from the polling units in locations without internet services will automatically be uploaded by the Biometric Voters Accreditation System (BVAS) machines to the INEC IREV servers as soon as the BVAS is connected to internet network.

“But it is shocking that INEC failed to upload the results to its IREV servers even in urban cities where there were sufficient Internet network connections across the country.

“We believe, like most observers of the process leading to the declaration of the winner of the presidential election, that the delay in uploading the results of the presidential election in real-time as INEC did in Edo, Ondo and Ekiti states in previous elections was deliberate to ensure the emergence of a predetermined outcome through manual collation of the presidential election results.

“We therefore call on the international community and lovers of democracy across the world to hold the Chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), Prof. Mahmood Yakubu responsible for the observable manipulations of the collation process, especially the presidential election.

“It is on record that the CNPP stood with INEC leadership during the struggle for the amendment of the Electoral Act 2022 to provide for the deployment of technology to deepen democracy in Nigeria.

“But, it is disappointing to observe that the same INEC, which electronically transmitted results successfully in precious staggered elections, suddenly lost its vigor to do the same during the presidential election, resorting to the old fraudprone manual collation of the 2023 presidential election results.

“We call on Nigerians not to feel frustrated by the observations suggesting the manipulation of the electoral system in the presidential election and come out en masse to vote for the candidates of their choice in the March 11, 2023 governorship and state legislative elections.

“We urge the Nigerian judiciary to do the needful and reject the usual reliance on technicalities to deny litigants justice in election petitions”, the CNPP stated.

2023 presidential election failed to meet expectations of Nigerians – US envoy

By Musa Baba Adamu

The US ambassador to Nigeria, Mary Beth Leonard, has admitted the presidential election conducted on February 25 didn’t meet the expectations of Nigerians.

Leonard, in an op-ed, “The Elections of February 25,” noted that many citizens are not happy with the results of the polls.

She, however, acknowledged that others are celebrating victories they believe were hardfought and well-earned.

Leonard has now called on the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, to promptly address the challenges ahead of the March 11 gubernatorial and House of Assembly elections.

“The people of Nigeria demonstrated their dedication to democracy on February 25, but there are many angry and frustrated Nigerians as well as many who are celebrating victories they believe were hardfought and well-earned,” the statement reads in part.

Bola Tinubu of the ruling

All Progressives Congress, APC, was declared the winner.

But Atiku Abubakar of the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, and Peter Obi of the Labour Party, LP, are heading to court.

Leonard added: “In the coming days, it will be important for the future of this country that Nigerians not let their differences divide them, and that the legally established process for resolving challenges to the election be allowed to take its course.”

Beth Leonard

By Musa Baba Adamu

The Niger State Chairman of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Haliru Jikantoro, has been suspended by his ward for allegedly engaging in anti-party activities.

The notice of Haliru’s suspension was contained in a letter dated March 2, 2023, and signed by the executives of the APC in Kwashini ward, Agwara local government area of Niger State.

Haliru was accused of engaging in anti-party activities before and during the general elections in a way that undermined the success of the party at the just concluded polls.

According to the Chairman of Kashimi ward, Amadu Abdullahi Yagode, the suspension of the Niger State APC chairman became necessary as a result of his flagrant violation of the party’s constitution.

Haliru was accused of using party funds to mobilise and canvass votes for the opposition People’s Democratic Party (PDP) in the state and sabotaging efforts by APC to grow its support base ahead of the elections.

It would be recalled that the state APC chairman had written to members of the party in the state to dissociate the All Progressives Congress from a mega rally organised by lawmaker representing Niger North Senatorial District, Senator Aliyu Sabi Abdullahi, to galvanise support for APC’s presidential candidate, Bola Tinubu.

The letter suspending Haliru was jointly signed by the ward Chairman, Amadu Abdullahi Yagode, the Secretary, Nurudeen Abdullahi and 19 other Exco members of Kashini ward.

It reads, “We the Executive of the Kashini Ward of the All Progressive Congress (APC) under Agwara Local Government Area of Niger State hereby suspend Hon. Haliru Zakari Jikantoro from Kashini.

“This suspension became expedient as a result of the flagrant violation and disregards of the All Progressive Congress Constitution by Hon. Haliru Zakari Jikantoro, the State Party Chairman of the APC, couple with some acts committed by Hon. Haliru calculated to undermine the success of our party during the