By Ismaila Chafe

President-elect, Sen. Bola Tinubu, on Wednesday night met with President Muhammadu Buhari in Daura, hours after collecting his Certificate of Return from the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC).

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that Tinubu was accompanied by Vice-President-elect, Kashim Shettima and the National Chairman of All Progressives Congress (APC), Sen. Abdullahi Adamu.

Others on the trip to Daura were the Governors of Kaduna, Nasir El-Rufai; Kebbi, Atiku Bagudu; Ebonyi, Dave Umahi; Zamfara, Bello Matawalle; Niger, Abubakar Sani-Bello; Lagos, Babajide Sanwo-Olu; Ogun, Dapo Abiodun, Jigawa, Badaru Abubakar and Plateau, Simon Lalong.

NAN gathered that the President-elect used the opportunity to thank President Buhari for his support during the electioneering process.

President Buhari had openly displayed his ballot paper, with thumb print of APC, before casting his vote during the presidential election on Feb. 25.

Tinubu was declared the President-elect in the early hours of Wednesday by INEC, having defeated Atiku Abubakar of the Peoples Democratic Party and Peter Obi of the Labour Party, among other presidential candidates.(NAN) (www.nannews.ng)

===============
Edited by Maharazu Ahmed

Barr Kayode Ajulo, Constitutional Lawyer

By Femi Ogunshola

Dr Kayode Ajulo, a constitutional lawyer, has advised the Labour Party (LP) not to partner the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in seeking legal redress in the just-concluded presidential election.

Ajulo said this on Thursday in Abuja during an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN).

The LP and PDP have alleged irregularities in the conduct of the polls that produced Sen. Bola Tinubu as president-elect and indicated interest in legally challenging it.

“I find it strange that LP is parleying with the PDP, whereas when the PDP was supposed to negotiate with the LP it did not; LP should be wary of this alliance”, he said.

He therefore urged LP to distance itself from PDP and pursue its case alone if it strongly felt that the elections results were not acceptable.

He wondered why LP thought it would get justice through PDP that denied Peter Obi justice during the party primaries.

He, however, cautioned against making statements that could heat up the polity and jeopardise the nation’s democracy.

“No one should incite the youth against the country the court is there for anybody who is aggrieved to see redress.

“We cannot afford violence in this country. This country belongs to all of us; no frivolous application should be taken to court in the name of seeking legal redress”, he said.

He urged the leadership of LP and its presidential candidate to focus and nation building and March 11 governorship election. (NAN) www.nannews.ng

====== ==

Edited by Uche Anunne

Felicitation

By Bolanle Lawal
Mr Yomi Ayorinde, a former Chairman, Association of Local Government of Nigeria (ALGON) in Ekiti, has congratulated the President-elect, Sen. Bola Tinubu, on his victory at the Feb. 25 presidential election, describing it as well-deserved.

Ayorinde, in a congratulatory message in Ado-Ekiti on Thursday, expressed delight that Nigerians had freely given the former Lagos governor and National leader of All Progressives Congress (APC) their mandate.

According to him, Tinubu’s victory is one built on years of hard work of a democrat, with evident credentials in both public and private administrations.

Ayorinde expressed confidence in the ability of the president-elect to turn around the fortunes of the country, as citizens look forward to the implementation of his visions for a new Nigeria.

He noted that Tinubu’s visions were clearly stated in his policy document during the electioneering.

Ayorinde, also the immediate past Chairman, Ekiti State Urban Renewal Agency, prayed God to imbue the president-elect with the desired wisdom in the task of transforming the country.

The former ALGON chief, who is also the party’s House of Assembly candidate for Ido/Osi Constituency II, congratulated the newly-elected National Assembly members in all the senatorial districts and federal constituencies in the state.

According to him, their victory represents the true voice of Ekiti people, who are determined to reward Gov. Biodun Oyebanji for his numerous people-friendly policies.

Ayorinde further appreciated the people of the state for their unwavering support and determination to deliver all the APC candidates at the election.

He also described the development as an attestation to APC’s popularity and acceptability by the people of the state.

Ayorinde urged all the newly-elected national assembly members to use their offices to facilitate dividends of democracy to the state and take it to greater heights. (NAN) (www.nannews.ng)

Edited by Remi Koleoso and ‘Wale Sadeeq

By Angela Atabo

Yiaga Africa, a Civil Society Organisation (CSO), has recommended legal timelines for testing new electoral technologies in Nigeria’s electoral legal framework.

The CSO made this suggestion in Abuja on Wednesday in its post-election statement signed by Dr Aisha Abdullahi, the Board Chair, and Mr Samson Itodo, the Executive Director, Yiaga Africa.

According to the group, the testing timeline will equip the commission more to use its adopted technology effectively during election.

It said that for the Feb. 25 presidential election, Yiaga Africa employed the Parallel Vote Tabulation (PVT) methodology.

The CSO explained said that the organisation deployed 3,014 observers in pairs to a representative random sample of 1,507 polling units, 822 mobile observers in all 774 local government areas (LGAs), 36 states and the FCT.

“This deployment strategy enabled Yiaga Africa to provide timely and accurate information on the election day process commencing from the set-up, voter accreditation, voting, counting and to independently assess the official results of the presidential election as announced by INEC.

“This statement is based on reports from 1,454 to 1,507 (97 per cent ) sampled polling units in Nigeria.

“The PVT statistical analysis was based on the number of registered voters and not on the number of PVCs collected.”

It said that Yiaga Africa’s findings on the election included: late arrival of INEC officials at the polling unit, challenges with locating polling units and insufficient election materials.

The organisation listed others as functionality of the Bimodal Voter Accreditation System (BVAS), uploading and transmission of results, among others.

“Yiaga Africa expressed concerns about the delay in uploading polling unit results for the presidential election on the INEC Election Results Viewing Portal (IReV).

“Undoubtedly, the delay in uploading the polling unit-level results cast doubts on the credibility of the results management process resulting in broken public trust in electoral technology.

“Yiaga Africa notes that the delayed upload of the results on the IReV is a flagrant disregard of INEC’s Regulations and Guidelines, and it failed to meet citizens’ expectations.”

It said that Yiaga Africa also condemned the cases of violence and disruption of the voting and results collation process by thugs and hoodlums, especially the violence targeted at National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) members and INEC staff.

The group said that the creation of additional polling units was a positive and long-needed step by INEC, however the implementation failed to address overcrowding.

As a result, there were polling units with fewer than 10 registered voters and others with over 10,000. Some voters who were migrated to new polling units experienced difficulties locating their respective polling units.”

Yiaga Africa also recommended a comprehensive audit and investigation to unravel the factors that led to the delay in the upload of election results on the online portal as critical.

It said that persons found complicit in sabotaging the critical aspect of the election should be sanctioned.

The CSO also advised INEC to provide clarifications on its interpretation of key aspects of the legal framework on issues like results collation and transmission process.

It said that there should also be clarity on the threshold for determining the winner in an election and the commission’s power to review election results declared under duress or in contravention of the Electoral Act, INEC Guidelines and Manual.

Besides, Yiaga Africa urged INEC to sustain the uploads of polling unit results form EC 8A on its IReV portal. (NAN) (www.nannews.ng)

Edited by Muhammad Suleiman Tola

By Patricia Amogu

A coalition of Civil Society Organisations known as the Global Network for Sustainable Development has expressed worry over the current situation in the country while urging Nigerians to remain calm.

The organisation therefore warned individuals, groups or political parties against provocative utterances capable of inciting society to violence

The National Co-ordinator of the group, Amb. Phil Roberts, gave the advice at a news conference  on Tuesday in Abuja.

“We are here in solidarity with the people of our dear Nation in such a historic moment as this, as a coalition of Civil Society Organisation’s, we represent the overall interests of the society.

“We are critical stakeholders in Democracy generally, and in the conduct of elections in particular, the most fundamental feature of democracy is free, credible and fair elections.

“We, therefore, express constructive views and concerns of our people in line with democratic tenets, and in compliance with all applicable provisions for the expression of civil and political opinions,” he said.

According to him, any deviations or departure from these vital elements renders the whole electoral process an exercise in futility.

“To speak out against electoral malpractices and rigging, should not be taken as public incitement to violence.

“As civil society organisations, we monitored the elections and from what we saw it is obvious that those inciting people to violence are those who  hired armed thugs to intimidate and harass citizens, making it difficult, if not impossible for them to freely exercise their franchise.

‘As watchdogs from the youth fronts, we want to use this medium to urge all politicians, political parties and their stakeholders to be mindful of the way they speak as the polity is already heated up.

”We, therefore, take the statement by one Mr. Dele Alake , Special Advicer, Media and Communication, All Progressive Congress , Presidential Campaign Council, for the apprehension of the cleric, Dr Paul Enenche, the Senior Pastor of Dunamis International Gospel Centre, and others as a direct affront on democracy and freedom of speech in this country.

“As a free citizen of this country, and a major stakeholder in society, Dr Paul Enenche has the freedom to express his opinions in matters of national importance.”

Dr Salihu Dantata, Director of Security, Arewa Youths for Peace and Security, said that everyone had rights to speak and should not be stopped from expressing their views.

“Our fathers of Faith who have been speaking the truth should not be threatened , I see no reason why somebody should call for his arrest.

Pastor Love Sheyin, speaking on behalf of the Youth Wing of the Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN)noted that strategic solutions should be brought forward to solve the issues revolving around the elections to dispel any form of violence among the youths.

They called on all political parties to also be careful in their choice of words in such a time as this because as patriots of this country we believe in  Nigeria. Thus we don’t have any other place to call home(NAN)(www.nannews.com)

=======

Edited by Isaac Aregbesola

By Kingsley Okoye

Deputy Chief Whip of the Senate, Sen. Sabi Abdullahi, has congratulated the President-elect Sen. Bola Tinubu, and his Vice Sen. Kashim Shettima on their victory at the presidential election.

Abdullahi sent his congratulatory message in a statement in Abuja on Wednesday.

He said their emergence spoke so much about the unwavering confidence reposed in them as leaders with the distinct ability to take Nigeria on the next phase of its national journey.

He said the outcome of the presidential poll attested to Tinubu’s democratic credentials which suggested that Nigerians under his watch needed not worry about the independence of their institutions being compromised.

“They also need not to worry about their freedoms and rights being suppressed,” Abdullahi said.

He said he had no doubt that Tinubu’s goodwill had endeared Nigerians to embrace the All Progressives Congress (APC) which insisted on collective prosperity for all, irrespective of ethnic or religious backgrounds.

“It is my firm belief that your vision of “Renewed Hope” would consolidate and deliver on the policies of our great party already initiated by the administration of His Excellency, President Muhammadu Buhari.

Abdullahi, who is the Coordinator, Project 774 for Tinubu/Shettima 2023,a support group, also commended INEC for delivering on free and fair elections, remaining steadfast, in spite of challenging moments that threatened peaceful conduct of the exercise.

“The commission has, indeed, lived up to expectation in terms of improving on Nigeria’s electoral process.

“I wish the President-elect and his Vice President-elect, a fruitful tenure that would bring about unrivaled development, peace and progress to the nation and its people.” (NAN)(www.nannews.ng)

====================
Edited by Modupe Adeloye/Idris Abdulrahman

By Aderogba George
A group, Nigerians in Diaspora for Asiwaju (NDA), on Wednesday advised the President-elect, Sen. Bola Tinubu, to be magnanimous in victory and embrace his opponents in constituting his government.

The Director-General of the group, Mr Akin Badeji, gave this advice in a congratulatory message to Tinubu, in Abuja.

Badeji said that Tinubu had lived to fulfill his dream by emerging victorious in the presidential election.

He lauded the effort of the electorate and the All Progressives Congress (APC) as well as other stakeholders for standing by Tinubu and working for his victory.

He advised other political parties to accept the result in good fate, and not to resort to violence that could cause the loss of lives.

Badeji also commended the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC)
for the good conduct of the election, adding that the new electoral amendment law had helped the process.

According to him, NDA hopes that the President-elect will take Nigeria to a higher level in the course of his administration.

He said that NDA believes that Tinubu would live up to the desire of Nigerians by providing them with good governance. (NAN) (www.nannews.ng)

========

Edited by Ifeyinwa Okonkwo/Folasade Adeniran