Buhari wins 2019 Presidential Elections INEC announced 

 Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has announced the All Progressives Congress (APC) presidential candidate and incumbent president, Muhammadu Buhari as the winner of the 2019 Presidential election on Wednesday.


Buhari
Buhari defeated the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) presidential candidate, Atiku Abubakar and other presidential candidates with over 15,191,847 votes, winning in 19 of the states.

How Buhari fared, state by state:

Osun State

Total No: Reg Voters: 1,674,729
Total No: of Accredited: 732,984
Total Votes Cast: 731,882
Total Valid Votes: 714,682
Rejected Votes: 17200

AAC: 1,022
ADC: 1,525
ADP: 9,057
APC: 347,634
PDP: 337,377
SDP: 259

Winner:Muhammadu Buhari

Ekiti State

Total No: Reg Voters: 899,919
Total No: of Accredited: 395,741
Total Votes Cast: 393,709
Total Valid Votes: 381,132
Rejected Votes: 12,577

AAC: 400
ADC: 406
ADP: 126
APC: 219,231
PDP: 154,032
SDP: 48

Winner:Muhammadu Buhari

FCT Abuja

Total No: Reg Voters: 1,335,015
Total No: of Accredited: 467,784
Total Votes Cast: 451,408
Total Valid Votes: 423,951
Rejected Votes: 27,457

AAC: 583
ADC: 246
ADP: 145
APC: 152,224
PDP: 259,997
SDP: 410

Winner: Atiku Abubakar

Kwara State

Total No: Reg Voters: 1,401 895
Total No: of Accredited: 489,482
Total Votes Cast: 486,254
Total Valid Votes: 459,676
Rejected Votes: 26,578

AAC: 401
ADC: 456
ADP: 203
APC: 308,984
PDP: 138,184
SDP: 212

*Winner: Muhammadu Buhari

Nasarawa State:
Total No: Reg Voters: 1,509,481
Total No: of Accredited: 613,720
Total Votes Cast: 599,399
Total Valid Votes: 580,778
Rejected Votes: 18,621

AAC: 75
ADC: 339
ADP: 107
APC: 289,903
PDP: 283,847
SDP: 359

Winner: Muhammadu Buhari

Kogi state
Total No: Reg Voters: 1,640,449
Total No: of Accredited: 570,773
Total Votes Cast: 553,496
Total Valid Votes: 521,016
Rejected Votes: 32,480
AAC: 250
ADC: 4,369
ADP: 499
APC: 285,894
PDP: 218,207
SDP: 2,226

Winner: Muhammadu Buhari

Gombe state:

Total No: Reg Voters: 1,385,191
Total No: of Accredited: 604,240
Total Votes Cast: 580,649
Total Valid Votes: 554,203
Rejected Votes: 26,446

AAC: 165
ADC: 248
ADP: 135
APC: 402,961
PDP: 138,484
SDP: 248

Winner: Muhammadu Buhari

Ondo state:

Total No: Reg Voters: 1,812,567
Total No: of Accredited: 598,586
Total Votes Cast: 586,827
Total Valid Votes: 555,994
Rejected Votes: 30,833

AAC:4,414
ADC:6,296
ADP:1,005
APC:241,769
PDP:275,901
SDP:1,618

Winner: Atiku Abubakar

Abia State:

Total No: Reg Voters: 1,793,861
Total No: of Accredited: 361,561
Total Votes Cast: 344,471
Total Valid Votes: 323,291
Rejected Votes: 21,180

AAC: 212
ADC: 336
ADP: 131
APC: 85,058
PDP: 219,698
SDP: 472

Winner: Atiku Abubakar

Yobe state

Total No: Reg Voters: 1,365,913
Total No: of Accredited: 601,059
Total Votes Cast: 586,137
Total Valid Votes: 559,365
Rejected Votes: 26,772

AAC: 137
ADC: 162
ADP: 107
APC: 497,914
PDP: 50,763
SDP: 180

Winner: Muhammadu Buhari

Enugu State
Total No: Reg Voters: 1,935,168
Total No: of Accredited: 452,765
Total Votes Cast: 451,063
Total Valid Votes: 421,014
Rejected Votes: 30,049

AAC: 219
ADC: 348
ADP: 137
APC: 54,423
PDP: 355,553
SDP: 130

Winner: Atiku Abubakar

Ebonyi state

Total No: Reg Voters: 1,392,931
Total No: of Accredited: 391,747
Total Votes Cast: 379,394
Total Valid Votes: 359,131
Rejected Votes: 20,263

AAC: 205
ADC: 213
ADP: 102
APC: 90,726
PDP: 258,573
SDP: 452

Winner: Atiku Abubakar

Niger State

Total No: Reg Voters: 2,375,568
Total No: of Accredited: 911,964
Total Votes Cast: 896,976
Total Valid Votes: 851,937
Rejected Votes:45,039

AAC: 324
ADC: 588
ADP: 2,582
APC: 612,371
PDP: 218,052
SDP: 239

Winner: Muhammadu Buhari

Jigawa State

Total No: Reg Voters: 2,104,889
Total No: of Accredited: 1,171,801
Total Votes Cast: 1,149,922
Total Valid Votes: 1,106,244
Rejected Votes: 43,678

AAC: 226
ADC: 261
ADP: 107
APC: 794,738
PDP: 289,895
SDP: 5,011

*Winner: Muhammadu Buhari

Kaduna State

Total No: Reg Voters: 3,861,033
Total No: of Accredited: 1,757,868
Total Votes Cast: 1,709,005
Total Valid Votes: 1,663,603
Rejected Votes: 45,402

AAC: 243
ADC: 558
ADP: 227
APC: 993,445
PDP: 649,612
SDP: 1,737

Winner: Muhammadu Buhari

Anambra State

Total No: Reg Voters: 2,389,332
Total No: of Accredited: 675,273
Total Votes Cast: 625,035
Total Valid Votes:605,734
Rejected Votes:19,301

AAC: 124
ADC: 227
ADP: 427
APC: 33,298
PDP: 524,738
SDP: 932

*Winner: Atiku Abubakar

Oyo State:

Total No: Reg Voters: 2,796,542
Total No: of Accredited: 905,007
Total Votes Cast: 891,080
Total Valid Votes: 836,531
Rejected Votes: 54,549

AAC: 4,041
ADC: 40,830
ADP: 25,384
APC: 365,229
PDP: 366,690
SDP: 766

*Winner: Atiku Abubakar

Adamawa State

Total No: Reg Voters: 1,959,322
Total No: of Accredited:874,920
Total Votes Cast:860,756
Total Valid Votes:811,534
Rejected Votes:49,222

AAC: 282
ADC: 3,989
ADP: 329
APC: 378,078
PDP: 410,266
SDP: 978

Winner: Atiku Abubakar

Ogun state

Total No: Reg Voters: 2,336,887
Total No: of Accredited: 613,397
Total Votes Cast: 605,938
Total Valid Votes: 564,256
Rejected Votes: 41,682

AAC: 3,196
ADC: 25,283
ADP: 7,705
APC: 281,762
PDP: 194,655
SDP: 1,374

Winner: Muhammadu Buhari

Lagos State

Total No: Reg Voters: 6,313,507
Total No: of Accredited: 1,196,490
Total Votes Cast: 1,156,590
Total Valid Votes: 1,089,567
Rejected Votes: 67,023

AAC: 8,910
ADC: 2,915
ADP: 1,262
APC: 580,825
PDP: 448,015
SDP: 770

Winner: Muhammadu Buhari

Bauchi State:

Total No: Reg Voters:2,453,512
Total No: of Accredited:1,075,330
Total Votes Cast:1,061,955
Total Valid Votes:1,024,307
Rejected Votes:37,648

AAC: 183
ADC: 296
ADP: 123
APC: 798,428
PDP: 209,313
SDP: 516

Winner: Muhammadu Buhari

Edo State

Total No: Reg Voters: 2,150,127
Total No: of Accredited: 604,915
Total Votes Cast: 599,228
Total Valid Votes: 560,711
Rejected Votes: 38,517

AAC: 3,106
ADC: 850
ADP: 714
APC: 267,842
PDP: 275,691
SDP: 184

Winner: Atiku Abubakar

Benue State

Total No: Reg Voters: 2,391,276
Total No: of Accredited: 786,069
Total Votes Cast: 763,872
Total Valid Votes: 728,912
Rejected Votes: 34,960

AAC: 309
ADC: 554
ADP: 312
APC: 347,668
PDP: 356,817
SDP: 4,927

Winner: Atiku Abubakar

Imo state

Total No: Reg Voters: 2,037,569
Total No: of Accredited: 585,741
Total Votes Cast: 542,777
Total Valid Votes: 511,586
Rejected Votes: 31,191

AAC: 467
ADC: 541
ADP: 421
APC: 140,463
PDP: 334,923
SDP: 772

Winner: Atiku Abubakar

Plateau State

Total No: Reg Voters:2,423,381
Total No: of Accredited:1,074,042
Total Votes Cast:1,062,862
Total Valid Votes:1,034,853
Rejected Votes:28,009

AAC:268
ADC:590
ADP:1,395
APC:468,555
PDP:548,665
SDP:599

Winner : Atiku Abubakar

Kano State

Total No: Reg Voters:5,391,581
Total No: of Accredited:2,006,410
Total Votes Cast:1,964,751
Total Valid Votes:1,891,134
Rejected Votes:73,617

AAC: 416
ADC: 591
ADP: 439
APC:1,464,768
PDP: 391,593
SDP: 635

Winner: Muhammadu Buhari

Katsina State

Total No: Reg Voters:3,210,422
Total No: of Accredited:1,628,865
Total Votes Cast:1,619,185
Total Valid Votes:1,555,473
Rejected Votes:63,712

AAC: 186
ADC: 237
ADP: 140
APC: 1,232,133
PDP: 308,056
SDP: 150

Winner: Muhammadu Buhari

Taraba State

Total No: Reg Voters:1,777,105
Total No: of Accredited: 756,111
Total Votes Cast: 741,564
Total Valid Votes: 712,877
Rejected Votes: 28,687

AAC: 116
ADC: 211
ADP: 136
APC: 324,906
PDP:374,743
SDP: 862

Winner: Atiku Abubakar

Cross River State

Total No: Reg Voters: 1,512,915
Total No: of Accredited: 461,033
Total Votes Cast: 446,046
Total Valid Votes: 421,901
Rejected Votes: 24,145

AAC: 242
ADC: 326
ADP: 110
APC: 117,302
PDP: 295,737
SDP: 1,395

Winner: Atiku Abubakar

Akwa Ibom State

Total No: Reg Voters: 2,119,727
Total No: of Accredited: 695,677
Total Votes Cast: 605,140
Total Valid Votes: 578,775
Rejected Votes: 26,365

AAC:222
ADC:230
ADP:88
APC:175,429
PDP:395,832
SDP:92

Winner: Atiku Abubakar

Delta State:

Total No: Reg Voters: 2,719,313
Total No: of Accredited: 891,647
Total Votes Cast: 882,254
Total Valid Votes: 829,762
Rejected Votes: 52,492

AAC: 1,626
ADC: 1,075
ADP: 241
APC: 221,292
PDP: 594,068
SDP: 1,745

Winner: Atiku Abubakar

Borno State

Total No: Reg Voters: 2,319,434
Total No: of Accredited: 987,290
Total Votes Cast: 955,205
Total Valid Votes: 919,786
Rejected Votes: 35,419

AAC: 269
ADC: 301
ADP: 75
APC: 836,496
PDP: 71,788
SDP: 322

Winner: Muhammadu Buhari

Rivers State

Total No: Reg Voters:3,215,273
Total No: of Accredited:678,167
Total Votes Cast:666,585
Total Valid Votes:642,165
Rejected Votes: 24,420

AAC: 372
ADC: 597
ADP: 295
APC: 150,710
PDP: 473,971
SDP: 1,244

Winner: Atiku Abubakar

Zamfara State:

Total No: Reg Voters: 1,717,128
Total No: of Accredited: 616,168
Total Votes Cast: 597,224
Total Valid Votes: 578,439
Rejected Votes: 18,785

AAC: 186
ADC: 186
ADP: 102
APC: 438,682
PDP: 125,423
SDP: 81

Winner: Muhammadu Buhari

Kebbi state:

Total No: Reg Voters: 1,802,697
Total No: of Accredited: 835,238
Total Votes Cast:803,755
Total Valid Votes:756,605
Rejected Votes:47,150

AAC: 276
ADC: 285
ADP: 205
APC: 581,552
PDP: 154,282
SDP: 2,376

Winner: Muhammadu Buhari



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Nigeria elections: PDP chairman meets Buhari, decamps to APC

Current PDP Chairman Sani Inuwa Nguru meets with Buhari on Thursday

With barely 48 hours left before Nigeria’s general elections begin, the chairman of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in Yobe state, Sani Inuwa Nguru, has decamped to the All Progressives Congress (APC).


This was revealed by President Muhammadu Buhari’s Special Assistant on Digital Media, Tolu Ogunlesi.

According to Ogunlesi, Nguru met with Buhari on Thursday before confirming his decision to the State House Press Corps.

“He just finished an interview with State House Press Corps, after meeting with President Buhari

Nigeria elections: Full text of Buhari’s national broadcast

President Muhammadu Buhari

President Muhammadu Buhari, Friday morning urged Nigerians to take part in the general elections.

He said in his national broadcast that Nigeria stands as a democracy and that no worldly hand can deter the country from this wise and fitting path.


“While democracy is the most beneficial way to select a nation’s leaders, it is far from the easiest thing to achieve and maintain.

“It requires a combination of patience, tolerance, compassion, diligence, wisdom and hope. These traits exist in us the Nigerian people. Because of who we are, democracy has the chance to flourish in this land.

“Thus, I commend all of you for your patience and peaceful conduct so far during this electoral season and especially during this intervening week following the postponement of the February 16 elections.

“Many were worried and thought the worst might happen. You proved them wrong by showing that you are a great people with an abiding love for peace, democracy and the unity of our country.

“According to the daily INEC public briefings given this week, the Electoral Commission says it is ready and fully prepared to conduct the election in a free, fair and transparent manner.
“I believe INEC realises the profound and weighty duty that rests upon it.

“We must cast aside doubt and have faith that INEC will rise to the occasion. We must believe and encourage INEC to fulfill and honour this responsibility it owes to our country.

“As your President, I hereby ask all Nigerians with voting cards to participate in defining the future of our nation by exercising your democratic rights tomorrow. I urge you to go out and vote.

“I say this because elections are the cornerstone of representative governance. And voting constitutes the highest and best expression of the sovereign will of the people to choose the government that best represents them.

“It is only upon the freely expressed will of the people that government truly dedicated to the welfare, rights and interests of the people can be founded.

“Do not allow anyone to discourage you from the exercise of your rights as citizens and voters tomorrow.

“To vote means that you believe in Nigeria and the excellent things the future holds for this nation and its people.

“No matter our political leanings, we all believe in Nigeria, in the noble principles for which it stands and in the values we strive for our beloved nation to uphold.

“All who are able, must vote so that we may better perfect this democracy and continue to build the greater nation we seek.

“Do not be afraid of rumours of violence and unrest. Our security agencies have worked diligently to ensure that adequate security measures are in place.

“You will be able to vote in an atmosphere of openness and peace, devoid of fear from threat or intimidation.

“International and domestic monitors and observers are assured of their safety and freedom of movement needed to perform their important functions.

“As we thank domestic monitors and observers for their contributions to our democracy, we also thank the international groups for the friendship and concern they have demonstrated to our nation.

“We appreciate their efforts in encouraging us to further entrench and strengthen our democracy.
“Tomorrow is an encounter with history in which you, the people, shall affirm your collective belief in our national greatness and in our future.

“I ask that you embrace and hold on to the importance of the moment soon to be upon us.
“Honour your civic duty as voters by going to the polls tomorrow to vote for the government of your choice, for the government that will lead Nigeria toward its finest destiny.

“As citizens there is no greater duty than this and no greater honour. Tomorrow, I know you will once again make Nigeria proud of its people.
“May God bless our democracy and forever bless the Federal Republic of Nigeria.” AMEN 

WHAT DO YOU THINK ABOUT THE ADDRESS? YOUR OPPINION MATTERS ALOT,  PLEASE KINDLY LEAVE A COMMENT

Nigeria decides: How Buhari govt plans to ‘cripple’ Atiku before Saturday’s presidential poll – Omokri

Reno Omokri

Former aide to ex-President Goodluck Jonathan, Reno Omokri, has raised the alarm over the arrest of Uyiekpen Giwa-Osagie, lawyer to the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, presidential candidate, Atiku Abubakar by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC.

Omokri alleged that Giwa-Osagie’s arrest was aimed at crippling Atiku before Saturday’s presidential election.

He wondered why EFCC would arrest Giwa-Osagie with 25 heavily armed policemen.

In a series of tweets, Omokri wrote: “The @officialEFCC today arrested @atiku’s lawyer, Uyiekpen Giwa-Osagie with 25 heavily armed policemen. Is this why they postponed the election and implemented their #CoupAgainstNigeria?

“Their plan is to go after those around Atiku to see if they can cripple him before Saturday.

“The @officialEFCC did not need 25 armed men. They detained @atiku’s lawyer, Uyi Giwa-Osagie, for 9 hours in his office. He is a respectable lawyer. Is it a crime to be Atiku’s lawyer? PMB should save his armed men for death squad of #SnatchAtYourOwnRisk and leave Atiku alone!

“The @officialEFCC should tell Nigerians why they have arrested @Atiku’s lawyer? What is his crime? Who is next? Is it Atiku’s wives or his children? Is Atiku now public enemy? Is that why @MBuhari instigated the election postponement #CoupAgainstNigeria? Why is PMB so desperate?”

Nigeria decides 2019: INEC boss, Yakubu under fire for ‘endangering democracy’

INEC Chairman Yakubu Mahmood

As mixed reactions continue to trail the postponement of the 2019 general elections by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), political stakeholders have chided the electoral umpire over the unfortunate scenario.

They warned INEC that the collective wishes of Nigerian people in electing their leaders should not be thwarted

Recall that INEC Chairman, Professor Mahmood Yakubu, while addressing reporters on Saturday morning at the press centre of the commission’s headquarters in Abuja, the nation’s capital, said that the polls would not go on as planned due to some challenges encountered by the commission.

He explained that the decision to postpone the polls followed a careful review of the implementation of the logistics and operational plans put in place for the exercise.

Reacting to the development, in a chat with DAILY POST on Monday evening, the Senior Special Adviser to the Abia State Governor on E-governance, Mr. Obed Nnaji Asiegbu, claimed that the postponement, was a well designed conspiracy orchestrated by INEC and the governing All Progressives Congress (APC) to rig the polls.

According to Asiegbu, the action of the electoral body portend a great danger to the sustenance of democracy in Nigeria

He said, “Postponement of the election is awful and wicked. Inec and APC are working against the people by planning to frustrate and disenfranchise voters. Electoral Materials were purposefully not sent to some States to create situational issues.

“INEC Chairman on several occasions assured the World of INEC readiness and people traveled from far and near just to caste their votes and only to be faced with a ploy to disenfranchise them, what a shameful thought by the APC led Government of Nigeria and the INEC. This is dangerous for the democracy”.

Also, Ike Anyatonwu, the Transition Committee Chairman of Isiala Ngwa South Local Government Area of the state, in a phone interview with DAILY POST, expressed displeasure with the postponement of the 2019 Presidential/National Assembly elections scheduled to hold February 16, by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC).

He described the postponement as an indication of colossal failure on the part of INEC and called for a review of the activities of the electoral umpire and capacity of the INEC boss, Prof Yakubu Mahmood to conduct a credible 2019 elections.

He queried why INEC will postpone the elections at the wee hours to the elections while expressing his dissatisfaction with the reasons giving by the INEC and further described it as most unfortunate because of the damages and inconveniences it has caused the electorate and Nigerians at large.

Contributing, the factional governorship candidate of the All Progressives Grand Alliance(APGA), in Abia state, Chikwe Udensi, while addressing Abia party faithful in Umuahia, on Monday, expressed disappointment over the postponement, urging them to use the opportunity, and consolidate on their door to door and sensitization campaigns.

Udensi, reassured the party of his commitment to ensure that the votes of the party will be protected at all cost, irrespective of any antique the seating government may bring up to rig the election.

Chuks Ibegbu, the Deputy National Publicity secretary of the apex Igbo socio -cultural organisation, Ohanaeze Ndigbo, in his reaction, expressed rude shock over the shifting of the February 16 polls by the INEC.

He wondered why INEC which told Nigerians it was ready for the election suddenly shifted it .

Ibegbu noted that the world is watching INEC and all parties to the election and warned against further shifting of the election.

The Ohanaeze chieftain however, charged INEC not to allow itself be used as a tool to subvert our democracy, but to ensure credible elections.

Ekweremadu Alleges Result Sheets Missing In Enugu West – Channels Television

The Deputy President of the Senate, Senator Ike Ekweremadu, has raised the alarm over the missing Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) result sheets for Enugu West Senatorial District.

In a statement, media aide to Senator Ekweremadu explained that the Deputy Senate President made this disclosure during a town hall meeting at Oji, the headquarters of Oji River Local Government Area of Enugu State.

According to the statement, it was part of the meetings the Senator organised in his senatorial district to sensitise the people on the need to participate in the rescheduled dates for the general elections.

“Some people intended the Saturday elections for evil, but all things work together for good unto those that love God, those who repose their absolute trust in Him,” the Senator said, adding that he had brought it to the notice of the INEC authorities.

“Don’t forget that some people had earlier boasted how they would overrun us by isolating the state for a staggered election. You must also have read the reports that Enugu State was one of the states that didn’t receive any materials or materials were incomplete.

“They ensured that the result sheets for the entire Enugu West Senatorial District were missing or not delivered. I have lodged the complaint with the INEC authorities, but the result sheets are still missing as I speak.He asked Nigerians to be vigilant.

“Don’t despair. Don’t allow your spirits to be broken. We have come very far in this struggle and we are now at a point of no retreat, no surrender,” he said.

Nigeria’s elections: 7, 000 INEC card readers, 80, 000 PVCs with PDP agents in Igboland – APC alleged 

The All Progressives Congress, APC, has alleged that about 7,000 Card Readers of the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC are with the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP.

Deputy National Publicity Secretary of APC, Yekini Nabena also alleged that about 80 thousand Permanent Voters Cards, PVCs, are with the PDP agents in the South East.

Nabena, who made the allegations in a series of tweets, on Monday maintained that INEC Chairman, Mahmood Yakubu has been compromised.

He tweeted: “Almost @inecnigeria 7,000 Card Readers unaccounted for in the South East are all in the hands of @OfficialPDPNig agents with almost 80 thousand PVCs. And Mammodu Yakubu has not redeployed that incompetent, ethnic bigot from logistics. The inec chairman is compromised.

“Who gave the right to amend our constitution to Mammodu Yusuf Of @inecnigeria, he just confirmed it that the card reader will transmit results. We were busy campaigning, while @OfficialPDPNig we’re stealing Card Readers. @mbuhari should sack him now. This is treason.

“More @inecnigeria sensitive materials with @OfficialPDPNig agents in the North Central. Inec is compromised. [email protected] @USEmbassyAbuja @BBCWorld @theresa_may @UKinNigeria @UN @cnni @AlJazeera

“These are the sensitive electoral materials for the election ,that @inecnigeria claimed that it is secured in the Vault of @cenbank. They are all with @OfficialPDPNig agents.

“Thumb printed sensitive Ballot papers of @inecnigeria . All thumb-printed for @OfficialPDPNig @inec is compromised.”

PDP To Hold Emergency Meeting Tomorrow 

The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) says it will hold an emergency National Executive Committee (NEC) meeting tomorrow, Tuesday February 19, 2019.

The meeting comes a day after the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) caucus met in Abuja, where the party condemned the postponement of the general elections by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) and accused the electoral umpire of colluding with the opposition PDP.

Hours to the commencement of the elections on Saturday, February 16, INEC postponed the Presidential and National Assembly polls to February 23 and the Governorship and Houses of Assembly Elections to March 9, 2019.

Although the agenda was not disclosed in the invitation by the National Publicity Secretary of the party, Kola Ologbondiyan, the PDP NEC meeting which is scheduled to hold at the national secretariat of the party in Abuja at 12 noon, is expected to discuss the fallout of the postponement of the general elections by INEC.

The PDP has expressed outrage over the postponement of the elections, and accused the ruling APC of an attempt to rig the polls by allegedly asking INEC to stagger the polls. But INEC Chairman, Prof. Mahmood Yakubu, had ruled out any form of political influence in reaching the decision, saying it was based on the logistical challenges that cropped up in the run-up to the polls.

While acknowledging that the decision was a painful one, Prof. Yakubu insisted that it was necessary in the overall interest of advancing democracy in the country.Sent on:8:29 pmFrom:Louis Eke Please post the above.

NYSC breaks silence on plight of Corps Members on election duties

The National Youth Service Corps, NYSC, has said it is disturbed by the uninspiring pictures and tales of woes experienced by many corps members assigned for thr Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, duties in several states across the country on the eve of the postponed general elections.

In a statement made to news men on Monday night, by Mrs. Adenike Adeyemi, the Scheme’s Director of Press and Public Relations, the NYSC said the tales of woes by the corps members have been confirmed as true situation report which is at variance with the spirit of the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) between INEC and the Scheme.

The statement reads in part: “While these incidents have been adduced to the logistic challenges which the INEC experienced, the NYSC wishes to note that the unpleasant occurrences are totally at variance with the spirit of our MoU with INEC.

“Therefore, we are currently engaged in discussion with INEC Management towards ensuring that these and all other sundry issues bordering on the welfare and security of corps members are quickly addressed and redressed before the rescheduled elections.

“It will be recalled that in the build up to the participation of corps members as ad-hoc electoral staff, the Director-General of the NYSC, Major General SZ Kazaure and members of Management embarked on nationwide tour to meet with INEC State officials, heads of security agencies, community and opinion leaders to obtain assurances on the welfare and security of corps members before, during and after the elections.

‘In these meetings, NYSC received full assurances on adequate arrangement for transport, accommodation and security, especially at the Registration Area Centres (RACs) throughout the period. We therefore expect improved safety and welfare provisions by INEC in the rescheduled elections.”

Aderemi gave further assurances to the corps members and the general public that the safety, welfare and remuneration shall be provided by INEC as agreed and in accordance with the spirit of the MoU.

“In this regard, INEC has assured Management that it has commenced payment of training and feeding allowances to the corps members nationwide, as well as the election duty allowances.

“Finally, the NYSC Management wishes to thank parents, individuals, groups and other stakeholders for the show of concern for the well-being of our corps members and to assure all Nigerians that our commitments to their welfare is unwavering,” she said.

INEC rules out sabotage, says nobody forced it to postpone elections

The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has said the decision to postpone the 2019 general elections was entirely that of the commission and not due to any external influence.


INEC boss, Mahmood Yakubu
The commission also ruled out the activities of internal saboteurs in the incidences that led to the postponement of the elections.

INEC Chairman, Prof. Mahmood Yakubu, disclosed this, yesterday, in Abuja at a meeting with stakeholders in the electoral process held at the International Conference Centre (ICC) which serves as the National Collation Centre for the polls.

“I want to appeal to Nigerians and all other stakeholders for their understanding in what has been a very difficult decision for the Commission. But we believe that ultimately this is for the good of our democracy and country. I wish to assure you of our commitment to free, fair and credible elections”, Yakubu said.

“As Chairman of INEC, and on behalf of the Commission, we take full responsibility for what happened and we regret any inconvenience our decision might have caused”.

He recalled how the plan for the 2019 general elections was ready in November 2017 and the subsequently issued the timetable and schedule of activities for the elections over a year ago, that is,  January 2018.

“We carefully followed the timetable and implemented 13 of the 14 activities as scheduled. We kept to the time frame and have not missed the date fixed for any single activity”.

Why we shifted the polls

Speaking on how the postponement of the polls became inevitable, the INEC boss said, “In preparing for the 2019 general elections, we have come face-to-face with the realities of conducting such an extensive national deployment of men and materials in a developing country like ours. It is said that elections constitute the most extensive mobilization of men and materials that any country could undertake in peacetime.

The challenges of doing so, even under the best of circumstances, are enormous. Within a period of 16 months, we registered over 14 million Nigerians as new voters, collecting their names, addresses, photographs and their entire ten fingerprints.

Beyond that, we prepared, printed and delivered their permanent voter’s cards for collection. 1 should note that of the 14.28 million Permanent Voters’ Cards (PVCs) made available for collection, about 10.87 million or 76.12% have been collected.

“It is often not appreciated the magnitude of activities that the Commission undertakes during general elections. Not only we have recruited and trained about 1 million young people to serve as ad hoc staff, the magnitude of materials mobilized for our elections is enormous. For instance, the Commission has printed 421.7 million ballot papers for six scheduled elections, as well as 13.6 million leaves of result forms for the Presidential election alone.

Indeed, managing 91 political parties and 23,316 candidates for whom votes will be cast in 119,973 polling units by over 84 million voters is certainly astounding. No doubt. preparations for the 2019 general elections have been extremely tasking for the Commission.

“It is therefore not unexpected that such a tremendous national mobilization of men and materials will encounter operational challenges and we have had our own fair share of such challenges.

There has been delays in delivering ballot papers and result sheets for the elections which is not unusual. However, I must emphasize that all the ballot papers and result sheets were ready before the elections despite the very tight legal timeframe for finalizing nomination of candidates and dealing with the spate of legal challenges that accompany it.

In this regard, the Commission has been sued or joined in over 640 court cases arising from the nomination of candidates. As at today, there are 40 different court orders against the Commission on whether to add or drop candidates.

The net effect of these is that there is usually roughly a one-month window for the Commission to print ballot papers and result sheets and either fly or transport them to several destinations until they finally get to each polling unit. Unfortunately, in the last one week, flights within the country have been adversely affected by bad weather. For instance, three days ago, we were unable to deliver materials to some locations due to bad weather.

We therefore had to rely on slow-moving long haulage vehicles to locations that can be serviced by air in spite of the fact that we created five zonal airport hubs Abuja (North Central), Port Harcourt (South South and South East), Kano (North West), Maiduguri and Yola (North East) and Lagos (South West) to facilitate the delivery of electoral logistics.

“Apart from these logistical challenges, we also faced what may well be attempts to sabotage our preparations. In a space of two week, we had to deal with serious fire incidents in three of our offices in Isiala Ngwa South Local Government Area of Abia State.

 Qu‘an Pan Local Government Area of Plateau State and our Anambra State Office at Awka. In all three cases, serious disruptions were occasioned by the fire, further diverting our attention from regular preparations to recovery from the impact of the incidents.

In lsiala Ngwa South, hundreds of PVCs were burnt, necessitating the recompiling of the affected cards and reprinting in time to ensure that the affected voters are not disenfranchised. I am glad that all the cards were quickly reprinted and made available for collection by their owners.

“In Qu’an Pan Local Government Area, our entire office was razed, destroying all the materials prepared for the elections printed register of voters, ballot boxes, voting cubicles and several electricity generating sets.

 11 Registration Areas and over 100 polling units were affected by the fire. We recovered quickly and have since replaced everything destroyed. In addition, we secured a suitable building from which to conduct the elections.

“Perhaps the most serious was the fire incident in our Anambra State Office at Awka, which destroyed over 4,600 Smart Card Readers being prepared for the elections. These Card Readers take at least six months to procure.

Despite this setback. we have practically recovered from this by mopping up every available spare SCR across the country and within 24 hours delivered them for elections to hold in Anambra State.

No staggered elections

Ruling out staggered elections, Yakubu said: “All these challenges mean that there have been differences in preparations from one State to another. Our overall assessment is that if the elections went on as planned, polls will not open at 8am in all polling units nationwide.

Yet, we are determined that polls must hold at the same time everywhere in the country. In this way, elections will not be staggered. This is very important to public perception of elections as free. fair and credible. We promised Nigerians that we shall be open. transparent and responsive.

“Faced with these challenges, we initially thought that we only require a maximum of 24 hours to resolve the logistics issues involved and complete our deployment for the election.

This would mean shifting the elections to commence on Sunday 17th February 2019. However, given the restriction of movement during elections, that could affect many voters who worship on Sundays.

While the Commission was considering the following Monday 18th February 2019 as an option, our lCT Department advised us that it would require 5 -6 days to reconfigure about 180,000 Smart Card Readers earlier programmed to work only on election day Saturday 16th February 2019.

It is for this reason that the Commission decided to adjust the election dates to Saturday 23rd February 2019 for Presidential and National Assembly elections and a consequential adjustment of Governorship, State Assembly and FCT Area Council elections to Saturday 9th March 2019.

Retrieval of sensitive materials

According to him, some sensitive materials have been distributed ahead of yesterday, saying: “However, all such materials have been retrieved and will be taken back to custody of the Central Bank of Nigeria. I want to assure you that there will be proper audit to account for all materials”, he stated.

APC, PDP regret postponement

National Chairman of the ruling All Progressives Congress APC, Comrade Adams Oshiomhole who spoke at the event, berated INEC for shifting the polls on the day of the elections.

He queried why the commission allowed parties to go the whole hog, expending energy and resources only to be told in the middle of the night “while decent men were sleeping” that the exercise had been shifted.

The representative of the National Chairman of the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, Chief Osita Chidoka, said in spite of the inconveniences caused  by the development, the party was taking it in its strides.

He, however, advocated that the bans on campaigns be lifted to allow political parties mobilize Nigerians who are distressed by the postponement to still file out on the new date in order to avoid voter apathy.

Popular Malaysian pastor, Dr Jonathan David, has revealed winner of the 2019 presidential election.

Dr. Jonathan David

The cleric, who made the revelation, prophesied victory for the candidate of the All Progressives Congress, APC, President Muhammadu Buhari.

According to him, God told him that Nigeria is on the path of righteousness and will not return to corruption.

Pastor David also predicted that the ruling All Progressives Congress, APC, will serve for four or five more terms, by which time, Nigeria would have been a force to reckon with globally.

He said, “With what God is doing in Nigeria, it will become the food basket to provide resources, it is going to replenish the land and their money will change nations, their money will rebuild cities, with the resources that they have and the people that they have, God will begin to use them as a model nation,”

“Moving them out of corruption into righteousness, moving them from a place of poverty to a place of wealth, moving them back on the ladders of promotion because righteousness will strike at the heart of every corruption and the world of the enemy is going to cease. I see Nigeria rising, this is a new day in Nigeria, this is a new day and new hour, no more turning back.

“It is not just one term, God is going to extend the term, he is going to push it again and again and again. Righteousness will be the order of the day, the one coming after General Buhari is taking his Presidency to the next level and the next one coming and the next one coming in, God says there are four or five terms.

“God is going to give for or five terms into Nigeria, so that Nigeria will completely turn around. Not just for this general alone, not for this present President alone, there will be another four or five more, they will continue to bring reformation across the earth, they will continue to bring transformation, so that Nigeria will not just rise for a short moment and become like a shooting star and then disappear out of context, God is saying I’m going to build an enduring house in Nigeria.

“He is going to remove the powers of death, corruption and corrupt men are no longer going to work on the soil. God touched the soil and he says it’s fertile, he touched the soil and he says it is holy because he is coming down by the power of the spirit.

“He is going to bring about new change because he is going to give hope back to Nigeria. He is going to give hope to Africa, if Nigeria can change, the whole of Africa can change. God is saying this is the message I am going to send to the whole of Africa and turn things around in a powerful way.”

Tinubu said “The president was just reinforcing the fact that if you are out there snatching ballot boxes, and causing destruction, you are at risk of your own life.”

“It’s okay, emotions are running high these days. Any individual, including myself, can be misinterpreted,” Tinubu added.


“These (interpretation) are not his words. He is a law-abiding person and he understands categorically and clearly what rule of law is and the lives of individual citizens, that he is in that office to protect.”

He said no president will give an order that his own citizens be shot extra-judicially.

The Co-Chair of the APC’s Presidential Campaign Council, Asiwaju Bola Tinubu, spoke with journalists at the party’s secretariat in Abuja, here are some other major topics he spoke about

On Election Postponement…

“By law we should continue to energise our people. It depends on our resources. Because the Electoral Act allows us to continue to campaign and ask us to stop campaigning only 24 hours before the actual election. And once INEC changed the election date to Feb. 23, they have given us the opening to campaign and energise our people. If you have a garden and you don’t nourish it with water, the grass will remain dormant. We don’t want our party to remain dormant.
“This is ability of leadership to convert adversity to opportunity and prosperity and that’s it; that’s what we must do.

On Whether Poll Postponement Will Affect Credibility Of INEC…

“It depends on how it is handled and the new process. How the process is managed? You can convert what appears a crisis, a situation of adversity to an opportunity and progress
The INEC, under the law, is empowered to postpone, cancel and do whatever is necessary to ensure free and fair election.No party other INEC has this power. We can express our anger and disappointment, but no party can reverse what has been done. So, we are ready for Feb. 23.

On President Buhari’s Statement That Those Planning To Rig…

“I was in that meeting; the president was just reinforcing the fact that if you you are out there snatching ballot boxes, and causing destruction, you are at risk of your own life.

“Whatever happens to you, no president will give an order that his own citizens be shot summarily, No! No, its okay, emotions are running high these days. Any individual including myself can be misinterpreted.

“Shoot on sight are not his words; he is a law-abiding person and he understands categorically and clearly what the rule of law is and the lives of individual citizens, he knows that he is in that office to protect.

“Now, let me say this: he has been fighting Boko Haram, kidnappers and all that before this election, did you hear him asking them to be shot and executed summarily?

“If he has gone through that in the last five years, please give him the benefit of the doubt”.

President Buhari’s comments at the APC caucus meeting stirred heated arguments across the country, with many raising concerns that it might encourage violence and jungle justice in the coming polls.

According to Nigeria’s electoral act, the snatching of ballot boxes and destruction of electoral materials leads to a 24-months jail term, not a death sentence.