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Edo 2020: Gov. Wike lauds INEC, Police

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Edo 2020: Gov. Wike lauds INEC, Police

…Atiku Support Groups congratulate Obaseki***

…As Gov. Diri says Obaseki’s reelection is triumph of democracy***

Gov. Nyesom Wike of Rivers has commended the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), and the Nigeria Police Force on their conduct during the Edo Governorship Election.

Wike, who is the Chairman of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) National Campaign Council, made the commendation while addressing a large crowd of party supporters at the Port Harcourt International Airport, Omagwa on Sunday.

He stated that the conduct of INEC and the Police showed that they were ready to correct the mistakes of the past.

The Governor also commended the people of Edo “for ending godfatherism with the re-election of Governor Godwin Obaseki’’.

“With the re-election of Governor Obaseki, the entire South-South Region is now completely PDP.

“What this means is that the entire South-South can now speak with one voice on issues concerning us,’’ he said.

Wike thanked the people of Rivers for their prayers, which led to Obaseki’s victory in Edo.

Similarly, at a brief reception by PDP leaders at Government House, Port Harcourt, Wike said that with the Edo victory “there is hope’’ for the country’s democracy.

According to him, the neutrality of the electoral body and security agencies will make one to say the election was free and fair.

He thanked the Party Leaders for their solidarity throughout the election period and urged them to maintain the spirit.

Also read:  Edo election: I-G orders restriction of vehicular movement

In his remarks, the Chairman of the Elders Advisory Council of the PDP, Chief Ferdinand Alabraba, commended Gov. Wike for leading a successful campaign.

Alabraba said the victory in Edo had proved that Wike “is always committed to any assignment given to him’’.

Similarly, the All Atiku Support Groups (ASGs), has congratulated Gov. Godwin Obaseki on his re-election as the governor of Edo on the platform of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP).

The group Chairman, Mr Fabiyi Oladimeji, in a statement issued on Sunday in Abuja said Obaseki’s convincing victory was due to the resilience and steadfastness of the people of Edo State who did not give room for any manipulation by undemocratic forces.

“Nothing can be more dignifying than the stance and resolve of the good people of Edo for what they truly believed in.

“The good people of Edo state have demonstrated dexterity and spoken very loudly against godfatherism, against arrogance in power just as they have voted for progress and prosperity.”

Oladimeji commended the courage of Obaseki, his deputy, the State campaign council under the leadership of Chief Dan Orbih and all leaders of note in Edo State, Oladimeji said.

He also commended the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), for maintaining neutrality in the election.

“We understand there cannot be perfection in any electoral process, but INEC by its conduct in the just concluded Edo election has shown that it is possible if we all decided to do what is right.”

Oladimeji said that the group would not take the role played by the security agencies in ensuring the smooth running of the elections for granted.

He said that although there was a full contingent of officers of the Nigerian Police and other security agencies on ground, no recorded cases of intimidation or harassment of voters were recorded during the election.

He also appreciated President Muhammadu Buhari for allowing the good people of Edo to have their say and way.

“Democratic process demands that people should be allowed to freely elect their choices, as democracy is all about the people.”

Oladimeji commended the doggedness of the Chairman, PDP National Campaign Council, Gov. Nyesom Wike, his Colleagues, Gov. Ifeanyi Okowa of Delta, Seyi Makinde of Oyo state and all the National campaign council.

He also commended Atiku Abubakar for his timely intervention and support, as well as the Edo State Chapter of  ASGs for mobilising voters for Obaseki’s re-election.

In the meantime, Gov. Douye Diri of Bayelsa has congratulated his Edo counterpart, Mr Godwin Obaseki, on his re-election, describing the victory as triumph of democracy in the state.

Diri said Obaseki’s resounding victory as declared by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), was a triumph for democracy and, indeed, the people of Edo .

The governor, in a statement issued to newsmen on Sunday by his Acting Chief Press Secretary, Mr Daniel Alabrah, observed that people’s power, as expressed in  Saturday’s governorship election in Edo remained the most potent force in any democracy.

He, therefore, commended the electoral umpire for upholding the will of the Edo people in spite of reported pressure to unduly influence the outcome of the poll.

The governor, noted that Obaseki’s re-election would give greater impetus to development of the state as he remained  the most popular choice of the people.

“This victory belongs to Edo people, who have proved they can make their votes count. People’s power in any democracy is the most potent force.

“I, therefore, congratulate my brother and colleague, Obaseki, on his resounding victory as declared by INEC.

“His re-election has shown and proven that he is, indeed, a man of the people. So, I urge him to be magnanimous in victory.

“I also commend INEC, for upholding democracy and for allowing the will of  Edo people to prevail.

“Democracy in Nigeria will be strengthened when democratic institutions play their stipulated roles without undue interference,” he said.

The Bayelsa governor further congratulated the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), for securing yet another heartwarming victory in Edo.

He said that he was particularly delighted that all the states in the South-South region now belonged to the PDP family.

In another development, the Yiaga Africa, a civil society organisation, on Sunday revealed that the Independent National Electoral Commission’s (INEC), election result in Edo was consistent with its Parallel Vote Tabulation (PVT) methodology.

Mr Ezenwa Nwagwu, Board member, Yiaga Africa who made this known in a statement, said that the group deployed PVT to assess the credibility of the Sept. 19, Governorship poll in Edo.

Nwagwu said that the group, through its `Watching The Vote  (WTV )citizens movement’, had deployed 500 observers to monitor the election.

He said that it was important to highlight that the counting process at polling units was transparent and included representatives from the two political parties that received the most votes.

He said that Yiaga Africa PVT result revealed that INEC’s official results for turnout and rejected ballots were also consistent with its WTV estimates.

He said that  Yiaga Africa was able to estimate that turnout was 27.4 per cent  with a margin of error of ±2.1 per cent (between 25.3 per cent and 29.5 per cent), while INEC’s official turnout was 25 per cent .

He said that Yiaga Africa estimated rejected ballots were 1.8 per cent with a margin of error of ± 0.6 per cent  (between 1.2 per cent and 2.4 per cent) while INEC’s official result for rejected ballots was 2.3 per cent .

According to him, the results are consistent.

 

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NAGAFF Vows to Stop Kwankwaso from Taking Over NNPP

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NNPP inaugurates 2023 Presidential Campaign Council, Aniebonam remains BoT Chairman

…Votes N150m take off professional fees for lawyers to begin litigation warfare!

Members of the National Association of Government Approved Freight Forwarders (NAGAFF) will vehemently resist the taking over of the New Nigeria Peoples Party (NNPP) by the group noted to be loyal to Senator Rabiu Musa Kwankwaso.

It would be recalled that the NNPP was originally founded by the National Association of Government-Approved Freight Forwarders NAGAFF, largely to provide a credible platform for maritime industry stakeholders to make a national impact within the nation’s political space.

It. would also be recalled that the former Governor of Kano, Senator Kwankwaso latched on the NNPP, after his effort to run as the flag bearer of another political party was dimmed by former Vice President Atiku Abubakar who emerged as the PDP presidential candidate.

NNPP inaugurates 2023 Presidential Campaign Council, Aniebonam remains BoT Chairman

Alhaji Rabiu Musa Kwankwaso

Presently, a statement issued by the NNPP National Publicity Secretary, Dr. Clement Iwegbuna, lamented that what started as a child’s play is becoming a reality with the body language and actions of Senator Kwankwaso to highjack NNPP from the original owners, the members of  NAGAFF.

In a swift move, the president of NAGAFF, leading the pack of resourceful young freight forwarders said the original are poised to match money for money and contact for contact to retrieve NNPP from the people tagged ungrateful.

The statement revealed that the sum of N150,000,000 has been contributed as a take-off professional fee for the lawyers to take on the serial litigations upcoming.

NAGAFF accused Kwankwaso of court abuse with the institution of a court case involving INEC at Kano State High Court. “And so what does it take someone who held the position of minister of defence and member of the national assembly of the Federal Republic of Nigeria to know that it is out of jurisdiction to do so.

NNPP is a national party and INEC is a federal commission. “Let Nigerians be told that there is a new order in Nigeria judiciary at the moment. If Senator Kwankwaso likes let him, Elder Buba Galadima and all of them who are the former members of the National Working Committee led by Alhaji Abbah Kawu who was alleged not to be able to write a statement at the state police command, Abuja when he reported a case against Mr Phillip Oyana the Zonal Secretary North Central of New Nigeria Peoples Party.

“Our young, vibrant and informed lawyers shall meet him and his cohorts in court. Once again we hold no malice against any person. All members of NNPP and NAGAFF are children of God and always ready to show love to all manner of people who may come our way,” the statement further said.

The statement directed and appealed to all members of NAGAFF and NNPP to keep the peace of the society and be law abiding and respectful to the constitution of Nigeria.

“Regret to note that Senator Rabiu Musa Kwankwaso had avoidably prided himself to have brought NNPP to relevance and recognition. Tell the American marine that trash for the fact that Senator Rabiu Musa Kwankwaso forgot to note that NNPP is as old as People’s Democratic Party of Nigeria spanning over 24 years in existence. He joined less than 2yrs ago.

“We consider Senator Kwankwaso as someone who is avoidably arrogant and proud for no good reasons. This is because NNPP provided him the opportunity to contest the Presidency of Nigeria 2023 with great men like the current president of Nigeria, Alhaji Atiku Abubakar (PDP) and Mr. Peter Obi of the Labour Party

“Let it be on record that if NNPP were not winning elections for the period under review it would have been deregistered like the one he facilitated which was called Alliance National Party. As a matter of fact, the current headquarters of NNPP in Abuja is the same office used by the defunct Alliance National  Party whose chairman was one Moshood.

“We also know that the current executive Gov of Kano Alhaji Abbah Kabir who was shortchanged in the previous elections took advantage of us as children of God to be protected and today those evil men could not stop him from becoming the Gov of Kano State.

“Therefore senator RABIU MUSA Kwankwaso should be taught the principles of humility and gratefulness to people who have been nice to him.

“In all of these, he may wish to distance himself from elder Buba Galadima if he wants to make headway in politics. The former President, Gen. Buhari did realise and distanced himself to combine with Asiwaju B. A. Tinubu, the grand master to become the President of Nigeria.,” advised.

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Reps. Summon Minister, Perm.Sec. Over $300m Antimalarial Funds

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Following perceived hanky panky, the House of Representatives Committee on Malaria, HIV/AIDS and Tuberculosis has summoned the Minister of Health and Social Welfare, Prof.Mohammed Pate, over alleged misappropriation of 300 million dollars anti-malaria funds.

“The Committee has resolved that the Permanent Secretary be arrested if she failed to honour the summons, having failed to appear three times”, Rep. Amobi Ogah, the Chairman of the Committee who read the resolutions in Abuja on Tuesday, stressed.

Ogah expressed displeasure over the absence of the Permanent Secretary of the Ministry at the resumed sitting of the committee on Tuesday.

“Malaria is now an epidemic in Nigeria. The government has always wanted to help the people but most times the civil servants are our problem.

“This money has been made available since 2021. We have been inviting the Permanent Secretary. This is the third time we are inviting her to come and explain to us what has happened.

“Have they used the money? If they have not used the money, where is the money? It is a matter of simple explanation. But they have been running away, calling all manner of people to talk to us,” he said

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We Didn’t Pad Budget -Adaramodu

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…Senate explains alleged N3trn 2024 budget padding

Senate on Tuesday explained that the N3trillion alleged to be padded in the 2024 budget was actually statutory transfers to first-line charge agencies of government not domiciled in the ministries.

Chairman of the Senate Committee on Media and Publicity Sen.Yemi Adaramodu gave the explanation while speaking with journalists on the suspension of Sen. Abdul Ningi over alleged padding of the 2024 budget.

Adaramodu said the 10th Senate needed to be treasured as a pillar of democracy and would only do what would promote national interest

He said there was nothing like budget padding, saying that the false narrative on N3trillion padding was a demonstration of the error of arithmetic and innocence of procedure by the protagonists of budget padding.

“The N3 trillion is for statutory transfers of government agencies on the first lines charges.”

He listed the agencies to include Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), Universal Basic Education Commission (UBEC)Public Complaints Commission, National Judicial Council, North East Development(NEDC), Commission Niger -Delta Development Commission Commission(NDDC) among others.

$22.7bn: Senate announces new financier of Kaduna-Kano rail modernisation

The Senate

He also dismissed the issue of the provision of N500 million as constituency funds to senators, describing the allegation as a fairy tale.

He urged journalists to study the 2024 budget to investigate allocations to the National Assembly.

He said the issue of budget padding was a negative connotation and a serious crime in budgeting, hence senate didn’t take it lightly.

“It is a matter of integrity, The issue of budget has been put to rest as the protagonist of the budget padding was called to substantiate and they could not prove it but the allegations can not just go without being attended to.

“The Appropriation Act is a public document and when it was done,it was done in the public glare and it was N28.77 trillion and so for some to say N25 trillion was what was approved is scary.

“Statutory transfers for agencies on first line charges, that are not domiciled in the Ministries was what Ningi said was padded, that the allocation can not be traced.”

He reiterated that the N3trillion was not padded, was not missing, but was for agencies of government that were placed on first-line charge.

He also said the allegation that a section of the country was allocated more funds than other regions was not put in the right perspective, saying that allocations were done sectorally.

The Senate image maker said the integrity of the National Assembly was in question, hence the matter was treated with the seriousness it deserved.

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