… As SEC warns Nigerians: Shun Ponzi schemes***
The national leadership of the Peoples Democratic Party has said that it has what it called “facts” on how the last Saturday’s governorship election was allegedly rigged in Ekiti State.
It said members of its National Working Committee met in Abuja on Tuesday, where they received and reviewed “all facts relating to the July 14, 2018 Ekiti state governorship election.”
It added that after the NWC members reviewed what was brought before them, they came into a conclusion that the Independent National Electoral Commission allegedly rigged the election in favour of the rival All Progressives Congress.
It will be recalled that the commission on Sunday morning, declared the APC candidate, Dr Kayode Fayemi, as the winner of the election.
However, the candidate of the PDP, Prof Kolapo Olusola and the former ruling party insisted that the votes were doctored in favour of Fayemi.
The National Publicity Secretary of the PDP, Mr Kola Ologbondiyan, in a statement in Abuja on Wednesday, also accused the commission of pulling down the results of the election from its website.
He said, “After a thorough examination of all hard facts, the NWC reconfirms that the Independent National Electoral Commission doctored the result of the election to favour the APC.
“The NWC notes that apart from the huge discrepancies between the actual votes cast at the polling centres and the results released by INEC, there is evidence that INEC pulled down the original result from its database to accommodate the alterations.
“The NWC also has evidence indicating that the original result was in favour of the PDP candidate, Prof. Kolapo Olusola before the figures were altered.
“The NWC, after very exhaustive examination of all facts, confirms the PDP candidate, Prof. Kolapo Olusola, clearly won the July 14, 2018 governorship election.”
He called on INEC to correct what he called the error in the results it announced, warning that if this was not done, the defeated party and its candidate would seek redress at an election petition tribunal.
“The NWC, therefore, calls on the leadership of INEC to immediately correct their results, apologise to the people of Ekiti State and be ready to admit their falsifications before the tribunal so as to return our mandate which was stolen at ‘gunpoint’ on July 14,” he added.
ADP rejects results of Ekiti governorship poll
Also, the Action Democratic Party rejected the outcome of the governorship election and demanded the nullification of the election on account of alleged glaring irregularities.
The National Chairman of the ADP, Mr Sani Yabagi, announced the party’s position in a statement he signed in Abuja, on Wednesday.
He said, “Regrettably, in spite of all the assurances that the processes would be free and fair, in conformity with globally accepted democratic standards, the election was anything far from this, as several issues which marred the election included ballot box snatching and, meddlesomeness by security agents.”
Go to election tribunal, APC dares PDP
In its reaction, the APC said it was prepared to meet the PDP at the election tribunal to defend the mandate freely given to it by Ekiti people.
The National Publicity Secretary of the APC, Mallam Bolaji Abdullahi, said this in response to claims by the PDP that it had evidence to prove that it won the election.
Abdullahi said, “If they (PDP) have any evidence, they should just go ahead and take it to the tribunal.
“We are confident that the results of the election reflect the collective wishes of the Ekiti people. The PDP should show respect to the people and accept the result.
“It does appear that the PDP is driven by a sense of entitlement that is not compatible with democracy.”
INEC denies allegation
When contacted, the Director, Publicity and Voter Education, Mr Oluwole Osaze-Uzzi, denied the allegations that INEC had altered the result posted on its website.
He also said he could not react to PDP’s claim that it had evidence of rigging.
Osaze-Uzzi said, “We did not change results posted on our website. You can go and check for yourself.”
In the meantime, the Securities and Exchange Commission has warned Nigerians to shun fraudsters and Ponzi scheme managers that attract unsuspecting customers with huge, but unrealistic returns.
The Acting Director-General, SEC, Ms Mary Uduk, urged Nigerians to stay away from fake financial experts who would promise to double their money within a short time.
Uduk spoke on Wednesday in Port Harcourt, Rivers State, during a town hall meeting organised by SEC on current initiatives by the apex capital market regulator to enhance investor value.
She explained that the purpose of the meeting with shareholders and other investors was to protect them from the antics of such fraudsters, especially promoters of Ponzi schemes.
The acting SEC DG said, “The purpose is also to ensure that you do not fall victim to the antics of fraudsters who purport to be able to double any amount of money you make available to them as investment value.
“These fraudsters or promoters of Ponzi schemes are the false prophets of the investment environment; they are the ill wind that blows no good and at whose sight you must flee. They are to be avoided. This is one message you must take home to family, friends, relations and acquaintances in order to save them from the agony of loss of their hard-earned money.”
She revealed that the newly introduced e-dividend regime was aimed at reducing constraints usually encountered by shareholders, particularly those bordering on unclaimed dividend.
According to her, SEC is currently leading the entire capital market industry in an effort to migrate all shareholders to an e-dividend regime.
She said, “The essence of the e-Dividend Mandate Management System is to eradicate or reduce to the barest minimum the incidence of unclaimed dividend.
“Unclaimed dividend is an undesirable feature of the Nigerian capital market, which denies investors/shareholders the gains of participating in the capital market. It denies the economy access to the huge amount of money that should have accrued to shareholders and would have gone into circulation to oil the wheel of the economy.
“It is a consequence of the bottlenecks that are inherent in the erstwhile paper dividend warrant regime such as postal system inefficiency, change in investors’ addresses, poor fidelity and human fallibility in dividend payment processes, amongst others.
“The e-dividend regime bypasses these limitations by ensuring that dividends, which do not exceed 12 years of issue, are credited directly to an investors account after declaration by the paying company and within a stipulated payment period through simple interbank transfer.
“The e-dividend registration exercise started on November 23, 2016. Each successful registration cost N150,; however, between that time and March 31, 2018, the commission underwrote the registration cost for all investors that mandated. It is my pleasure to let us know that a total of 2.4 million accounts had been mandated.”
Uduk urged participants at the event and other shareholders to key into the e-dividend registration by visiting the nearest bank branch or registrar.
Punch
