Kudos, knocks for rerun elections

A coalition of 18 local and international observers has urged the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to collaborate with the police to prosecute electoral offenders.

The leader of the coalition, Dr. Ibrahim Baba, of the Centre for Intervention, added that punishing a person or group of persons found to be involved in electoral offences would serve as deterrent to others.

Baba said: “We give kudos to the security agencies for maintaining the highest level of professionalism before, during and after the conduct of the supplementary election.”

The group, however, called on the winners and losers to respect the rule of law and caution their supporters to remain peaceful and law abiding.

The coalition called on politicians to refrain from disseminating false information and channel their electoral complaints and grievances through established legal processes.

It congratulated the people of Kano State for their, “resilience, dedication, steadfastness towards this great democratic venture.”

Concerned citizens urge losers to shun violence

Kano Concerned Citizens Initiative (KCCI) yesterday urged aggrieved politicians to shun violence and seek legal redress.

The chairman of the group, Alhaji Bashir Tofa, who was presidential candidate of the defunct National Republican Convention (NRC), in a statement, said: “ Now that the results of the complementary election are officially declared by INEC, those who experienced disappointment over the outcome should take the opportunity of the adequate windows provided by the laws go redress any type of wrong.

“We urge that those opportunities be used. So, there is no whatsoever for anybody to resort to illegalities as means of seeking redress.

“Greater responsibility in ensuring that peace reigns in Kano lies on the shoulders of those who are declared winners. They must shun vindictiveness in whatever in whatever form.

“They must embrace all Kansas as one family and treat all as equals so as to pursue and agenda for development, as such, the need to be magnanimous in victory.

“We, however, acknowledge and appreciate Governor Ganduje in this regard who has already made a call for peace to reign in Kano State.”

He also hailed the Emir of Kano, Muhammad Sanusi 11 for his persistent calls for peace to reign in Kano throughout the election period.

It was license to violence, says Obi

The vice presidential candidate of the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) in the February 23 election, Mr Peter Obi, has described last Saturday’s governorship supplementary election in Kano as scandalous and the height of brigandage.

The conduct of the election, Obi said, was akin to giving official licence that could motivate Nigerians into violent acts and thereby destroying the country’s youths.

In a statement yesterday by his media office, Obi said: “What all democratic watchers saw in Kano State rerun election, amounted to licensing our youths for violence, and setting a very dangerous precedent.

“We are now institutionalising thuggery and rigging as process of coming into power, which is very dangerous precedent for our country”.

The main opposition chieftain added that, “proceeds in the name of results from what happened in Kano make the entire electoral process ridiculous and shameful”.

“They owe Nigerians and election observers a lot of explanations on what happened,” Obi said.

Obi also questioned the integrity of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) for hurriedly recognising and acknowledging election results from a process “where machetes carrying miscreants took charge of the process”.

Obi, whose party lost the election to President Muhammadu Buhari and his All Progressives Congress (APC), described as regrettable the unnecessary loss of lives.

He cited the case of another election in the same category, where a Professor was shot in Benue State, in the course of performing electoral duties. “It’s most painful”, he said.

Making reference to India, Obi said if India, with over 800 million voters, can conduct election without losing such “caliber of people”.

Plateau polls peaceful, say domestic observers

Civil Society Organisations in Plateau State and the Coalition of Domestic Observers have described elections in Plateau State peaceful.

The CSOs and observers made their observations known yesterday at a news conference at the state secretariat of Nigeria Union of Journalists (NUJ) in Jos, the state capital.

The leader of the group, Godwin Okoko, said: “Our observation was collated from the reports of our members stationed at various polling units spread across the 17 LGAs of the state.

“Generally, elections on the Plateau were the most peaceful, orderly and fair from our assessments.

“We commend CSOs, security agencies, the media, observers groups, religious groups, traditional institutions, political parties and other stakeholders for their conducts during the elections.

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“We also commend the electorates for their involvement in the process and peaceful conducts before, during and after the elections. As we look forward to a more peaceful, transparent and credible future elections, we use this medium to once more appeal to the Plateau State Government to ensure the strengthening of peace and security structures in the states through the promotion of peace and strengthening of community cohesion structures, provision of good governance, inclusive participation, accountability, increase youth empowerment programs, employment opportunities and youth/women development.

“We also appeal to the Governor-elect, Simon Bako Lalong, as a leader of the state to begin the healing of wounds, closing of gaps, division and polarization through the processes of reconciliation irrespective of party affiliation We also encourage all good sons and daughters of the state to give a supportive hand to the Governor-Elect towards a stronger, developed, peaceful and united Plateau State.”

EU observer team knocks security

The European Union Election Observation Mission (EU-EOM) has faulted the security arrangement for last Saturday’s supplementary polls.

EU deployed observers to the five states where supplementary elections were held for the governorship position.

A statement by the EU Electoral Mission reads: “On 23 March, extensive electoral security problems were observed, particularly in parts of Kano where polling became inaccessible to EU observers in some areas. The environment was intimidating and not conducive to voters’ free participation in the election. Party leaderships locally and centrally did not appear to take any steps to rein in supporters and prevent evident violence, intimidation or other misconduct. Throughout the day, INEC did not comment on electoral disturbances, despite its overall responsibility for the election and security arrangements.

“In Nasarawa local government area (LGA) in Kano, which accounted for approximately one-third of all registered voters for the supplementary governorship election, EU observers witnessed organised intimidation of voters. For example, groups of youths with clubs and machetes patrolled the streets, and people with party agent tags harassed voters. During collation in Kano, EU observers saw that several INEC polling staff had been attacked. Large groups of men with weapons were not contained by the police.

“Due to intimidating crowds and disturbances, EU observers in Kano could not access or continue observation in polling units in Dala and Nasarawa LGAs. The electoral process in Kano was further compromised by the harassment and obstruction of citizen observers, and journalists from BBC Hausa, the Nigerian Television Authority (NTA), and TVC. This compromised scrutiny of both polling and collation of results in the affected areas.

“Isolated violent incidents also disrupted voting and counting in other states. In Bauchi, EU observers witnessed around 50 people with clubs disrupting counting in one polling unit. In Benue, election materials were burnt, resulting in the cancellation of polling affecting 13,000 registered voters, and a collation officer carrying result sheets was shot in the leg.”

The EU electoral team also accused the leading political parties of interference in the electoral as noticed in Kano, Benue, Plateau and Sokoto.

It’s stated, “Party agents were seen interfering more in the process than on the previous two election days. Some polling units in Kano were dominated by controlling party agents and supporters. Of the 40 polling units that EU teams could fully observe, agents were present in all and in five cases were seen interfering in the work of polling officials, in Benue, Plateau and Sokoto. EU observers in all five states also saw party agents trying to influence voters, assisting voters or voting on their behalf. Supporters and agents were sometimes present in polling units in excessive numbers, resulting in overcrowding. EU observers also saw vote-buying in Sokoto by both the leading parties, and indications of vote-buying in Kano. Citizen observers also reported party agents involved in vote-buying, and bribery of polling staff and police.”

On the overall conduct of the polls, EU Mission noted improved logistical arrangements on the part of the electoral body.

“INEC improved logistical arrangements with most polling units observed open within half an hour of the official opening time. In the 40 polling units that EU teams could fully observe, procedures were mostly followed. Smart card readers were used to accredit voters in all polling units observed. However, manual accreditation procedures were not always correctly followed if card readers failed to authenticate fingerprints. The secrecy of the vote was not always sufficiently protected in nearly one-third of polling units observed.

“The collation process was finalised in Bauchi, Benue, Plateau and Sokoto within 24 hours, but in Kano it was suspended for several hours due to concerns over the safety of lower-level collation staff. For security reasons, collation of results in two of 29 LGAs in Kano had to be undertaken at the state collation centre. Similarly, ward collation had to be undertaken at one LGA in Bauchi. Adding to transparency of the process, the media provided live coverage of state-level collation. EU observers visited 12 collation centres and observed party agents present in all. EU observers noted that overall collation procedures were followed and the process was generally transparent,” EU stated.

The EU EOM will continue to observe the results and petitions’ processes, and will remain in Nigeria until early April.

The Chief Observer, Maria Arena, will return in June to present the mission’s final report, which will include recommendations for future electoral processes.

Kwankwaso, PDP instigating violence in Kano, says Buhari group

The Buhari Media Organisation (BMO) yesterday accused the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) of instigating violence in Kano.

The Chairman and Secretary of the group, Niyi Akisiju and Cassidy Madueke, in a statement in Abuja, said the party set the tone for the outbreak of violence with a threat that the state would be plunged into violence if the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) declared the All Progressives Congress (APC) victorious.

BMO said: “Some of the gory pictures posted online were found to have been from a bar brawl in Ghana while at least one showing a machete sticking out from an individual’s shoulder was actually a special effect shot by a make-up artiste.

“Yet another set of gory pictures were taken from previous Jos crises, all in an effort to discredit an election that the Coalition of INEC Accredited Observers said was largely peaceful.”

The group expressed dismay that a former Kano State Governor Rabiu Kwankwaso was at the centre of the call for public disobedience in the state at a time when former Sokoto State Governor Aliyu Wamakkko was in Sokoto urging aggrieved APC supporters to be calm after PDP candidate and incumbent Governor Aminu Tambuwal was declared re-elected for a second term in office.

“Nothing could be more shocking than seeing a high-profile politician like Kwankwaso, a two-time Governor, a Senator  and a one-time defence minister, who had on more than one occasion aspired to be president of the country making comments on national TV that could best be described as inciting public disorder.

“Even while the election was still on, he was reeling out incidents of violence based on social media posts in an interview on Channels TV and he is on record to have told his supporters before Saturday that there was no way PDP could lose the election.

“But somewhere in Sokoto, another former governor, who is also a Senator, did not make any inciting comment even after the APC gubernatorial candidate Ahmed Aliyu lost the election by a slim margin of 342 votes.

“Rather, he called for calm and promised to challenge the outcome of the election at the tribunal. That is what is expected of true statesmen instead of a call for ‘unprecedented crisis’ like PDP leaders did in Kano”, it said.

The pro-Buhari group also acknowledged the statesmanship exhibited by President Muhammadu Buhari, not only during the run-up to the March 23 election, but also during the process.

“In the midst of all these, we are impressed by the dignified and impressive neutrality of President Buhari who did not take any extra-constitutional measure to tilt the electoral scale in favour of his party especially in the states that he won with overwhelming majority on February 23.

“That is the main reason the re-run was a tight contest between the contending candidates in Kano and Sokoto.

“We challenge leaders of the opposition to mention at least one PDP-era President who did not interfere with the electoral process during supplementary elections, with a view to ensuring victory for his party’s candidates.”

Kano rerun: Remain calm, PDP urges supporters

The People’s Democratic Party (PDP) yesterday urged its supporters to remain calm and law-abiding as they await the outcome of the election petition tribunal.

The party, in a statement by Sanusi Bature Dawakin-Tofa, the spokesman of its governorship candidate, Abba Kabir Yusuf, rejected the result of the election.

According to the statement, “the PDP in Kano is proud to be distinctly civil and uniquely peace-loving. We condemn this fraud in its entirety. We have decided to take legal action through the Election Petition Tribunal with overwhelming evidences that has been gathered, and Insha Allah, soonest the mandate of the good people of Kano state shall be reclaimed.

“However, we urge the good people of Kano state and particularly our teaming supporters to be patient and remain calm. Kano state is our only home. We have no other place better than this noble state and no blood of any citizen is worth shedding.”

PDP accused the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) and security agencies of joining forces to rig the election in favour of the APC.

The statement further stated that, “in the political history of Kano, we have undergone the most horrific elections ever where the ruling APC and Kano State Government deployed all mechanisms to orchestrate violence against the citizens.

“Indeed, the good people of Kano state have witnessed a broad daylight robbery of their mandate by the enemies of democracy. It is with tremendous zeal and courage that we joined the 2019 Kano gubernatorial contest, believing in the impartiality of the umpire – the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) and the security agencies, being on a mission to restore the lost glory of our dear state from the hand of political predators who destroy every meaningful programme and policies set by the previous administration of Dr. Rabi’u Musa Kwankwaso.”

INEC worked with PDP, Taraba APC claims

The All Progressive Congress APC in Taraba State has said theý elections in the state did not meet the minimum standard for the conduct of free, fair and credible elections.

The party said the elections were characterised and marred by massive rigging, non-usage of card readers, ballot box stuffing and snatching, outright allocation of votes, intimidation and physical harassment of APC agents.

A resolution at the end of a meeting signed by the Chairman APC Taraba State, Ibrahim Tukur El-Sudi, said ýelections did not properly take place in some local government areas, such as Wukari, Donga, Takum, Kurmi, Ussa and Zing, where APC agents were physically molested and chased away, while votes were fictitiously allocated in favour of PDP and imposed on the INEC Returning Officers, most of whom had already been threatened and compromised.

He said: “Indeed, the Card Reader is not electronic voting but an indispensable part of the accreditation process without which no voting could take place. ýBoth the Returning Officer and the Collation Centre ought to have outrightly rejected all votes not produced through the card reader.

“In virtually all the polling units across the state, PDP had in their possession, thousands of uncollected PVC’s including those of IDP’s and deceased persons, which they freely used to conduct multiple over-voting, in active support by INEC officials. PDP were also in possession of ballot papers, which they freely used in stuffing ballot boxes in some Local Government Areas like, Lau, Bali, and Sardauna Local Government Areas.”