Anxiety heightens ahead of makeup polls in states

Politicians were restless yesterday ahead of the supplementary elections scheduled by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) in five states – Sokoto, Kano, Adamawa, Benue and Plateau.

The electoral umpire is to decide whether the polls will go on as scheduled on Saturday in Bauchi and Adamawa states.  Two courts are billed to rule today on seperate suits filed in respect of the makeup elections in the two states.

But the coast seems clear for the elections in Sokoto, Kano and Plateau states.

The military yesterday warned its personnel against unlawful involvement in the supplementary elections.

Maj.-Gen. Hakeem Otiki, General Officer Commanding (GOC), 8 Division of the Nigerian Army, Sokoto, gave the warning while taking over the command of the Division.

In Plateau, Commissioner of Police Isaac Akinmoyede alleged that a group of people planned to disrupt Saturday’s election.

He told reports at a news conference in Jos: “Report reaching us at the Command is to the effect that some people have concluded plans to destabilise the planned supplementary election, which is scheduled to take place in nine local government areas of the state.

“I want to use this opportunity to tell those people that we are aware of their plans and they should better shelve their plan in their own interest.”

But, ahead of the election, Governor Simon Lalong’s  Senior Special Assistant on Media &  Publicity, Mark Longyen, urged the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) governorship candidate , Senator Jeremiah Useni, to concede defeat and save INEC the stress of the supplementary poll.

Longyen said the electoral umpire would save the time and resources it plans to deploy in the conduct of the poll to determine the winner between the incumbent governor/APC candidate and his challenger, Useni.

In Benue State, where Governor Samuel Ortom warned troublemakers to keep off, some youths took to the streets to protest in his support, asking the INEC to declare him winner.

The APC said it had mobilised its members for the election.

Publicity Secretary James Ornguga said the call by the youths has no place in the electoral guidelines.

The protesting youths, members of the Benue Youth Mass Action Alliance (BYMAA), were led by Fanen Zegeor to march on the INEC office in Makurdi.

They said the commission ought to have declared the incumbent winner of the election, based on the votes he polled after the first ballot on March 9.

Zegeor urged INEC to maintain neutrality by conducting the supplementary election in a free and fair manner.

On Bauchi, the PDP petitioned the National judicial Council (NJC) over what it described as the violation of the Constitution and Electoral Act by Justice Ekwo Inyang of the Federal High Court, Abuja.

The party said the Judge erred by sitting on a matter that ought to have been handled by an election petitions’ tribunal, in line with the provisions of our laws.

Justice Inyang had granted an ex parte order stopping the INEC from concluding the governorship election in Bauchi State.

The court will today begin hearing on INEC’s objection to its order, stopping the commission from continuing with collation and announcement of results of Bauchi polls.

To douse the tension in Bauchi, the Gen. Abdulsalami Abubakar-led National Peace Committee (NPC) dispatched its members on a peace mission to the state for a meeting with critical stakeholders.

The NPC members urged political leaders to educate their followers on why they should conduct themselves peacefully as they await the outcome of the court order halting the collation of results.

The NPC members were led by the Deputy Director of the Kukah Centre, Duke Duke Anoemuah.

At the Town Hall meeting,  Anoemuah said: “This initiative is a continuation of our earlier visit to six states in the country (Kwara) before the Presidential and National Assembly elections; followed by Kano , Adamawa, Gombe, Anambra and Imo states, shortly before the gubernatorial and State Assembly elections.

“These interventions were made ahead of the elections by organising a high level dialogue on the need to uphold peace before, during and after the elections.

“This meeting is geared to reinforce peace, the message of peace and to implore actors and their supporters to accept the outcome of the results of various levels of the electioneering process.

“It would help to strengthen mutual confidence among politicians, and to encourage peaceful resolution of all election- related disputes with utmost regard to the rule of law and the due process.”

The atmosphere was tense in the state yesterday as some agitated supporters took to the streets to protest the court ruling.