By Angela Atabo

Chen Education and Development Empowerment (CEDE),a Non- Governmental Organisation has tasked INEC to ensure that  Saturday’s Governorship and Houses of Assembly Election is hitch-free.

Ms Cynthia Anaele, the Executive Director, CEDE, said this in Abuja at a news conference when she presented findings on the Feb. 25 Presidential and National Assembly election.

Anaele said that INEC must address all loopholes and challenges experienced at the Feb. 25 Presidential and National Assembly election.

“At CEDE, we are confident that democracy still remains the best option for governance, therefore the democratic process should not only be transparent, but should be seen to be transparent.

“We call on INEC to investigate the various infractions in the cause of the presidential election and where anybody is found to be culpable, he should be prosecuted.

“Knowing that the integrity of any electoral system is critical to the legitimacy of any government that emerges from it, going forward, INEC must do more to ensure that the governorship and States Houses of Assembly election is free, fair, credible, and transparent.

“INEC must quickly fix the challenges that led to its inability to upload all results to its iRev portal as it promised Nigerians.”

Anaele appealed to politicians to desist from utterances and actions that would further fuel the palpable tension across the country.

She said that CEDE was  an organisation  focused on empowering young people and underserved communities with quality education, entrepreneurial skills, various sector focused issues enlightenment and general well-being .

She added that the organisation supported and helped them actualise their potential and champion sustainable development in the society.

”Hence our interest and commitment to see that credible electoral processes and good governance is institutionalised in Nigeria.

“We understand that there is a huge gap in the educational sector in Nigeria, thus we are dedicated to transforming young people who are the future leaders. “

Anaele  said that  CEDE also  advocated for quality education ,scholarship support, creation of  safe learning spaces, and educating  citizens by creating awareness on various sector issues in Nigeria through an easy to understand approach.

She said that to achieve this, CEDE was open to collaborations with the government, private sector, individuals, civil society organisations and other developmental agencies who were devoted to social reformation.

“Our mission is to empower young people with knowledge and skills to actualize their potentials and lead development in Nigeria while we envision young people as key sustainable development drivers.”

Anaele said that CEDE was ready to partner with the media and other organisations to  achieve its objectives and make Nigeria a country that would  be a pride to citizens.(NAN)(nannews.ng)

Edited by Ali Baba-Inuwa

By Abdul Hassan

The Arewa Community in Southern Nigerian, has endorsed Gov. Babajide Sanwo-Olu of Lagos state for a second term in office, following his numerous achievements.
Alhaji Musa Saidu, the Chairman, Arewa Initiative for Peaceful Coexistence in Southern Nigeria, stated this when he spoke with the News Agency of Nigeria on Wednesday in Abuja.
Saidu said that the community had also endorsed Chief Dumo Lulu, the Rivers governorship candidate of the Accord Party as its preferred candidate for the March 11 poll.
He said the decision was taken at the community’s emergency meeting in Port Harcourt.
Saidu, also a chieftain of Arewa Consultative Forum, added that the endorsement of Sanwo-Olu was based on his style of leadership, which ensured peaceful coexistence among different ethnic groups in the state.
“ Sanwo-Olu has been a friend to all Nigerians residents in Lagos State, he has also demonstrated great love to our people from the North and he has assisted some of them in their growing their businesses in Lagos.
“He is indeed a great friend of our people, we enjoin all people from the North residents in Lagos to come out and to vote for him on Saturday,’’ he said.
The chairman described Sanwo-Olu’s administration as replica of Sen. Bola Tunubu’s administration in terms of focus and human capital development.
“The numerous socio- economic and political challenges facing Nigeria require people with focus and ideas to steer the affairs of the country,” he said.
“ It is an obvious fact that Sanwo -Olu has these qualities and we are convinced the he will double his achievements in office if he secures a second term, ” Saidu said.
He said the decided to endorsed Lulu, of Accord Party following his track record and his etiquette with Northern people residents in Rivers State.

“ We know him very well and we are aware of his love for the people of the state and Nigeria.

“ He respect our elders and businessmen, he is against Gov. Nyisom Wike’s hostility against our people, as such we endorsed him as our preferred candidate,’’ Saidu said.(NAN)

Edited by Ali Baba-Inuwa

By Abujah Racheal

The West African Civil Society Forum (WACSOF) has charged the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), to address Bimodal Voter Accreditation System (BVAS) glitch ahead of the March 11 Governorship and State Assembly election.

The National Executive Director of the forum, Dr Sanwo Olatunji-David gave the charge on Tuesday in Abuja while reviewing the Feb. 25 Presidential and National Assembly election.

He stressed the need for the electoral body to finetune, expand data capacity and all other necessary technical requirements relating to the upload of election results to its portal as stipulated in the election guidelines.

He, however, blamed some of the technical hitches on inadequate training of polling units agent on the effective use of the BVAS.

“Our observation across the polling units monitored identified the following: Late arrival of INEC staff and election materials made the process drag late into the night and brought about frustration on the part of the voters, and thus a fertile ground for electoral malpractices.

“Shortage of election consumables such as ink pads delayed voting in some polling units visited.

“Some of the polling unit’s agents were seeing the BVAS for the second time after their hurriedly packaged training and couldn’t operate the device efficiently, this created hitches and voter frustration.

“Election was free, fair and credible up to the point of counting.

“The situation, however, changed after counting and uploading the result was made practically impossible for presidential results.

“Above is at variance to the provisions of INEC regulations for this election and the Electoral Act,” he said

He commended the aggrieved parties for seeking redress in court rather than resorting to violence.

“As a thematic group, our position is that the aggrieved parties did the right thing by approaching the Presidential Election Tribunal to address their grievances rather than heating the system.

“Nigeria cannot afford another crisis now with the tension all over the country caused by the Naira crunch and the vexation emanating from the Feb. 25 elections.

“We believe that approaching the court will add value by enriching and deepening our democratic values.” he said.

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that WACSOF is a regional network of CSOs drawm from 15 West African States. (NAN)(www.nannews.ng)

Edited by Rabiu Sani-Ali

By Emmanuel Oloniruha

A support group, No Alternative To Tinubu 2023 (NATT 2023) has refuted claims that the Feb. 25 presidential election was rigged in favour of the president-elect, Sen. Bola Tinubu.
Mr Vincent Uba, the National Co-ordinator, NATT 2023 stated this in a statement on Monday in Abuja.
Uba described the election as credible, saying it was wrong to accuse the All Progressives Congress (APC) of rigging the election.
He said it was illogical for the opposition parties to accuse the APC of wrong doing, going by upsets and surprises recorded at the election.
Uba said that as the ruling party, with 21 state governors going into the presidential election, the APC was defeated in 12 of those states when the results were announced.
“It therefore, becomes ironical to accuse the same APC of election rigging.The question to be asked then is, where did the APC rig the election, and in whose favour?
“The party candidate lost in his state of Lagos, lost in Katsina, the state of the state of the sitting president, in Nasarawa, the state of the party’s National Chairman and in Plateau, the state of the party’s campaign Director-General.
“What is certain about the election is its competitive nature, which went to the wires.

“Out of the four front-runners in the election, the candidate of the APC was the only one that lost his state,” he said.

Uba added: “Yet, the same party is accused of rigging the election, in which it could not rig for its candidate to win his state.

“Meanwhile, the other three front-runners won their respective states in landslide manners without questioning.

“He who seeks equity must come to justice with clean hands and you don’t live in a glass house and be throwing stones.”

He asked if it bothered anyone that the LP candidate won in the five states of the South East with between 80 per cent and 95 per cent of the total votes.

“How come no other candidate could achieve such a feat in his region in the same election?”

He said that before the election the two opposition parties claimed that they very popular and had strong support bases across the country to win the election convincingly.

Uba said while the APC never argued with them nor took their boasts for granted, going into the elections, the ruling party campaigned vigorously and tirelessly in the nooks and crannies of the country, to call out the votes.

“When the results were announced, the party triumphed, though not without severe bruises arising from the rigging machinery of the PDP and LP respectively.”

He added that the PDP also defeated the ruling party in most states in the North including the states where the APC had sitting governors.

While commending the opposition parties for chosen to seek redress in court, he advised them to be prepared to prove their allegations in court.

“It Is the right thing to do in a democratic dispensation, rather than throw the country into crisis and violence arising from street protests.

“However, it is important to advise the duo to beware of their journey to court so that they do not end up shooting themselves in the foot.”

Uba said the President-elect had since commenced strategic planning and composition of teams that would deliver the dividends of his administration to Nigerians.(NAN)(www.nannews.ng)

Edited by Inuwa Ali-Baba

By Naomi Sharang

Sen. Jarigbe Agom Jarigbe (PDP-Cross River) says he will deploy every legal means to defend his hard-earned reputation and victory at the polls.

He told newsmen on Tuesday in Abuja that after he defeated other candidates at the Feb. 25 Cross River North senatorial election, the All Progressives Congress (APC) in the state had been out to tarnish his image.

He accused the APC in Cross River of alleging that he invited thugs to disrupt the National Assembly election in the Cross River North senatorial district.

“After the defeat of the APC at the polls, the party has gone on overdrive in expressing their pain, disappointment and frustration of their failure to steal the elections.

“They have been expressing their frustration at losing the election; it is pertinent to state that their attempt to rig the last election is not a baseless accusation.

“I will still go to court to sue for defamation of character. A petition has been written by the chairman of my party, the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in the state,’’ he said.

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) sought the response of the APC in Cross River to Sen. Jarigbe’s charges.

Its chairman, Mr Alphonsus Eba said he would not respond until after Saturday’s governorship election as he was busy making arrangements for the party’s victory.

The party’s Publicity Secretary in the state, Mr Erasmus Ekpang also told NAN he would not comment as it was only the chairman that could speak for the party.

Sen. Jarigbe polled 76,145 votes at the election to defeat Gov. Ben Ayade of the APC who polled 56,595 votes. (NAN) (www.nannews.ng)

Edited by Alli Hakeem