Jonathan congratulates Buhari

It has been reported that President Goodluck Jonathan has called his major challenger and the likely-winner of the 2015 presidential election, Muhammadu Buhari of the All Progressives Congress, APC to congratulate him.

Vanguard reported that the president spoke with Muhammadu Buhari on the phone and will address the country after rounding off his meeting with his cabinet.

It has been reported that President Goodluck Jonathan has called his major challenger and the likely-winner of the 2015 presidential election, Muhammadu Buhari of the All Progressives Congress, APC to congratulate him.
According to a source, the president spoke with Muhammadu Buhari on the phone and will address the country after rounding off his meeting with his cabinet.
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Jonathan may concede defeat soon

There are indications that President Goodluck Jonathan may soon concede defeat.

Some ministers and presidential aides have been trooping in to the Presidential Villa to consult with him since it became clear that the election has been won and lost.

Punch repoted that some chieftains of the Peoples Democratic Party will be meeting with the President by 6pm.

At the end of the meeting, the PDP is expected to issue a statement on the election and the result while the Presidency will issue a separate statement.

While the PDP might announce its decision to contest the election result in court, Jonathan may concede defeat and congratulate maj. Gen. Muhammadu Buhari (retd.).

The PDP chiefs, led by the national chairman, Alhaji Adamu Muazu, have started arriving for the meeting

APC raises alarm over delayed results in South East, South South

The All Progressives Congress, APC, has said the delay in releasing the results of last weekend’s elections in the South-East and the South-South gives room for concern, given that results are streaming in from other parts of the country.

In a statement issued in Lagos on Monday by its National Publicity Secretary, Lai Mohammed, the party said apart from Rivers and Akwa Ibom, where everyone knows what the situation is, there has been nothing but silence from the remaining states as far as the results are concerned.

It said many concerned Nigerians have called the party to express their concern over the delay, and to share their concerns on whether something sinister is behind the palpable silence.

”The fact that most of the South-East and the South-South resorted to manual accreditation instead of being patient for the card readers has raised real fears on the possible manipulation of the results. It is common knowledge that manual accreditation makes the voting process more susceptible to rigging and manipulation,” APC said.

The party described as very curious the fact that the card readers largely functioned well in other parts of the country, except in the South-East and the South-South, wondering whether this was a mere coincidence.

”Also, credible reports emanating from most of the South-East and the South-South indicate that APC agents have either been harassed, intimidated or chased away from results collation centres, the same treatment they (APC agents) have been subjected to in Adamawa and Taraba States.

”Against this background, we are demanding that our agents in all the affected states be given unfettered access to the result collation centres, and that they must also be allowed to scrutinize any result emanating from there for it to be credible,” it said.

APC renewed its earlier warning that no one should circumvent the will of the people for whatever reason and that only the authentic results of the elections will be acceptable to Nigerians.

The party appealed to its concerned members and supporters to be calm and to continue to eschew violence, assuring that in the end, the will of the good people of Nigeria – which they have freely expressed by turning out in large numbers to exercise their franchise – will prevail.

Tambuwal's Ally, Jagaba, Defeats PDP Candidate In Fierce House of Reps Election In Kaduna

In a fiercely contested election, Jagaba Adams Jagaba, leader of the northern caucus in the House of Representatives and a close ally of Speaker Aminu Waziru Tambuwal, has defeated Danjuma Akuso of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) to claim a seat in the House of Representatives representing the Kachia/Kagarko federal constituency. The Presidency had backed Mr. Akuso heavily in the election, now claimed by Mr. Jagaba, a member of the All Progressives Congress (APC). Jagaba Adams Jagaba

Mr. Jagaba, who chairs the House of Reps committee on Drugs/Narcotics and Financial Crimes, last year defected to the APC from the PDP after clashing with close associates of Vice President Namadi Sambo, who also hails from Kaduna State.

Moses Mamman, the returning officer of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), announced that Mr. Jagaba polled 48876 votes while Mr. Akuso received 44148 votes.

An INEC source in Abuja told a correspondent of SaharaReporters that several associates of Vice President Sambo, led by the Director General of National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA) and Governor Mukhtar Ramalan Yero, had made futile efforts to stop the electoral body from announcing the victory of Mr. Jagaba.

The source added that INEC’s returning officer successfully resisted pressures to falsify the results of the election.

Mr. Jagaba is the only APC member from Southern Kaduna zone of Kaduna State.

Presidential Election: Buhari leads, PDP kicks

Erstwhile Head of State, Major-General Muhammadu Buhari (rtd) was last night sustaining his lead over President Goodluck Jonathan in the declared results of the presidential elections released by the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, last night.

President Jonathan has, however, protested results declared from Kano, Jigawa, Kaduna, Gombe, Bauchi, Katsina and Kogi States, alleging malpractices.

Jonathan’s protest articulated by the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, was, however, followed by another statement late last night in which it claimed it was not perturbed by the results from the North-West, stronghold of Buhari.

Buhari’s All Progressives Congress, APC, has also protested the results submitted from Rivers State on the basis that there was no election in the state.

Main opposition All Progressives Congress (APC) presidential candidate Mohammadu Buhari casts his ballot at a polling station in the "Gidan Niyam Sakin Yara A ward" at Daura in Katsina State on March 28, 2015. Voting began in Nigeria's general election but delays were reported countrywide because of technical problems in accrediting electors. AFP PHOTO

Main opposition All Progressives Congress (APC) presidential candidate Mohammadu Buhari casts his ballot at a polling station in the “Gidan Niyam Sakin Yara A ward” at Daura in Katsina State on March 28, 2015. Voting began in Nigeria’s general election but delays were reported countrywide because of technical problems in accrediting electors.

As at the time the commission suspended announcement of results late last night, Buhari had scored 10,101,497 votes from 21 states and the FCT, to President Jonathan, who has so far polled 6,798,254 votes, to second place.

The results were declared by the returning officers from the states.

Of the 21 states declared, Buhari won the polls in 13 states of Ogun, Kogi, Osun, Ondo, Oyo, Kwara, Kano, Katsina, Kebbi, Gombe, Sokoto, Jigawa and Kaduna.

Jonathan won the polls in eight states namely Ekiti, Enugu, Nasarawa, Anambra, Abia, Akwa Ibom, Imo and Plateau. Jonathan also won the polls in the FCT.

Buhari had so far marshalled more than 25 per cent in 16 states while the president grabbed 25 per cent in 15 of the states so far declared.

The results from Adamawa, Bauchi, Bayelsa, Benue, Borno, Cross River, Delta, Ebonyi, Edo, Lagos, Niger, Rivers, Taraba, Yobe and Zamfara were outstanding at press time and would likely be declared today.

The results earlier submitted from Rivers State, however, turned into a matter of investigation after the APC sent a strongly worded petition rejecting the results. The results returned had given Jonathan 1,487,075 votes, representing 95 per cent of the votes.

Under-aged voters

Addressing journalists, yesterday, in Abuja, Deputy National Chairman of PDP, Prince Uche Secondus, gave the seven states the party has petitioned INEC for the cancellation of the polls to include Kano, Jigawa, Kaduna, Gombe, Bauchi, Katsina and Kogi States.

Jonathan casting his vote

Jonathan casting his vote

Secondus alleged that in the seven states, under-aged children were allowed to vote in contravention of the Electoral Act and he also alleged that voting took place late in the night in the affected states, adding: “In Kano and some of these states in the North, majority of voters were under-aged. Voting also took place in the night, and you know that in the night rigging can take place. We have completed our reports from the Kano State chapter.”

We’ll resist rigging—Fani-Kayode

Also yesterday, PDP Presidential Campaign Organisation, PDPPCO, reiterated its claim that its candidate, President Jonathan, was winning the presidential election.

Addressing journalists in Abuja, Director, Media and Publicity of PDPPCO, Chief Femi Fani-Kayode threatened that any attempt to manipulate figures or rig out the PDP from any quarter would be firmly resisted.

Fani- Kayode said: “We wish to take this opportunity to make it clear to the Nigerian public that according to the figures made available to us, we are ahead in the presidential elections by at least two to three million votes.

“We have our own Situation Room and we have collated all our figures from the various polling booths, wards, local government areas and states in the federation.

“Despite the propaganda of the opposition, we are confident of victory. They and all other stakeholders can be rest assured that we will accept nothing less than the announcement of an election result that is truthful and that reflects the true will of the Nigerian people.

“Any attempt to manipulate figures or to rig us out from any quarter will be firmly resisted.”

INEC probes Rivers result

Announcing the constitution of a high-powered investigation team to investigate the allegation that voting did not take place in Rivers State, the commission in a statement issued by Mr. Kayode Idowu, Chief Press Secretary to INEC chairman, Prof. Attahiru Jega, said the fact-finding mission would ascertain the veracity of the claims and allegations and advise it and the Chief Electoral Commissioner/Returning Officer for the Presidential election appropriately.

Idowu said the committee of National Electoral Commissioners to handle the investigation included Mrs. Thelma Iremirem, Head and Supervisory National Commissioner for Rivers State, Col. M.K Hammanga and Professor Lai Olurode as members.

He said: “They have departed for Rivers State and it is expected that they will submit their report before the end of the collation of results of the other states and the FCT. Following the consideration of the report, the commission will make its decision known.”

The PDP also suffered significant losses in the Senate elections.

The APC swept the three seats in Kogi, Oyo, Lagos, Kwara, Kebbi and Sokoto. The PDP, however, won in Abia, Imo and Ebonyi.

APC loses six reps seats in Lagos

The All Progressives Congress has lost five House of Representatives seats to the Peoples Democratic Party and a seat to the Accord Party in Lagos.

According to Punch most of the reps lost in Igbo- dominated local government areas.

Sources in the APC said the love the people of the South-East have for President Goodluck Jonathan positively affected the PDP candidates, some of whom had not even been rigorously campaigning.

In Amuwo Odofin local government, which has a very high Igbo population, especially in areas like Kirikiri, Satellite Town and FESTAC, the PDP candidate, Oghene Egboh, who is from the Niger-Delta, defeated Mr. Ganiyu Olukolu of the APC.

In Ajeromi/Ifelodun, which is one of the most densely populated areas in Lagos State and is home to Ajegunle (another Igbo dominated area), the PDP candidate, Mrs. Rita Orji, who also hails from the South-East, defeated Taiwo Adenekan of the APC.

The story was the same in the Igbo-dominated Ojo LG, where the PDP candidate, Mr. Tajudeen Obasa, won the seat.

In Surulere federal constituency 2, which is home to Aguda and a few Igbo settlements, Mr. Tunji Soyinka of the PDP defeated Mr. Hakeem Bamgbala of the APC.

It was learnt that apart from the ‘Igbo’ factor, the incumbent rep, Mr. Aliyu Kazeem, had been in court with Bamgbala over the conduct of the primary.

It was learnt that the division within the party gave the PDP the opportunity to penetrate the community.

An APC leader in Surulere said, “We are still in shock. Haliyu Kazeem, who is the incumbent, lost the primary in December last year and refused to work with Bamgbala. He took Bamgbala to court and they are still slugging it out.

“If they had put things in order, we would not have lost. Bamgbala is a former chairman of Aguda Local Council Development Area and a good grass roots politician.”

In Mushin federal constituency 2, the APC candidate, Yemi Alli, lost to Dauda Kako-Aare of the Accord Party.

Kako-Aare, who is the incumbent, lost at the APC primary last December to Alli and defected to Accord.

In Oshodi/Isolo federal constituency 2, the incumbent, Mr. Akeem Munir, lost to Mr. Tony Nwoolu of the PDP.

Woman stabs husband to death over PDP, APC presidential candidates

Lagos State Police Command has arrested a 26-year-old pregnant woman who allegedly stabbed her husband to death during a quarrel over who would emerge winner between the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and All Progressives Congress ( APC) presidential candidates, while voting was on-going , weekend, at Ejigbo area of the state.

The incident, which threw the densely populated area into disarray, occurred at about 12noon inside the couple’s one room apartment at 81 Military zone junction.

There were different accounts on how tragedy struck. A version of the account said the couple had divergent views on their choice of presidential candidates. While the husband was said to have decided to vote for the PDP, his wife, simply called Onyiyechi, reportedly voted for the presidential candidate of the APC. An argument which degenerated into a fight over whose choice would hold sway reportedly ensued between them.

In the process, Onyiyechi allegedly stabbed her husband with a kitchen knife in the chest region.

Another version said the deceased, whose identity could not be immediately ascertained, told his pregnant wife to take the okro she was grating inside the room, to the veranda which also served as kitchen , an instruction she reportedly disobeyed, following which an argument which led to a fight occurred.

When visited the scene of the incident yesterday, the couple’s apartment was under lock . Their neighbours however described the suspect as an amiable person who had never quarreled with anyone since she moved into the building.

One of the tenants who spoke on condition of anonymity said that they did not witness how the suspect allegedly stabbed her husband.

But he explained that : “ We were all outside waiting to vote when Onyiyechi rushed out, shouting for help. Out of curiosity, we all ran inside, only to discover blood all over the ground, on entering their apartment.

“On closer observation, we noticed that the blood was from her husband chest region. We met him on the ground. Before we could rush him to the hospital, he gave up the ghost.

Perhaps, he would have survived the attack had Onyiyechi called for help early. From all indications, it was clear that she attempted to manage the situation immediately the incident occurred. It was when she discovered that the situation had overwhelmed her that she raised alarm.

“I do not know the name of her husband. We only know that of his wife, who we fondly call Onyiyechi. The irony of this matter is that she is not cantankerous.

“She has never beaten a little child, let alone to fight with any neighbour. Again on that day, we saw both of them together. They were seen sitting outside, one hour before the incident occurred. Policemen from Ejigbo later came to remove the corpse to the Isolo morgue”.

Lagos State Police Command has arrested a 26-year-old pregnant woman who allegedly stabbed her husband to death during a quarrel over who would emerge winner between the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and All Progressives Congress ( APC) presidential candidates, while voting was on-going , weekend, at Ejigbo area of the state.

The incident, which threw the densely populated area into disarray, occurred at about 12noon inside the couple’s one room apartment at 81 Military zone junction.

There were different accounts on how tragedy struck. A version of the account said the couple had divergent views on their choice of presidential candidates. While the husband was said to have decided to vote for the PDP, his wife, simply called Onyiyechi, reportedly voted for the presidential candidate of the APC. An argument which degenerated into a fight over whose choice would hold sway reportedly ensued between them.

In the process, Onyiyechi allegedly stabbed her husband with a kitchen knife in the chest region.

Another version said the deceased, whose identity could not be immediately ascertained, told his pregnant wife to take the okro she was grating inside the room, to the veranda which also served as kitchen , an instruction she reportedly disobeyed, following which an argument which led to a fight occurred.

When visited the scene of the incident yesterday, the couple’s apartment was under lock . Their neighbours however described the suspect as an amiable person who had never quarreled with anyone since she moved into the building.

One of the tenants who spoke on condition of anonymity said that they did not witness how the suspect allegedly stabbed her husband.

But he explained that : “ We were all outside waiting to vote when Onyiyechi rushed out, shouting for help. Out of curiosity, we all ran inside, only to discover blood all over the ground, on entering their apartment.

“On closer observation, we noticed that the blood was from her husband chest region. We met him on the ground. Before we could rush him to the hospital, he gave up the ghost.

Perhaps, he would have survived the attack had Onyiyechi called for help early. From all indications, it was clear that she attempted to manage the situation immediately the incident occurred. It was when she discovered that the situation had overwhelmed her that she raised alarm.

“I do not know the name of her husband. We only know that of his wife, who we fondly call Onyiyechi. The irony of this matter is that she is not cantankerous.

“She has never beaten a little child, let alone to fight with any neighbour. Again on that day, we saw both of them together. They were seen sitting outside, one hour before the incident occurred. Policemen from Ejigbo later came to remove the corpse to the Isolo morgue”.

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