Kano boils: Violence, controversy as INEC holds supplementary gov polls in five states

Kano boils: Violence, controversy as INEC holds supplementary gov polls in five states

Several people were feared killed and a number of others injured with four ad hoc staff of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) abducted as violence again rocked the supplementary elections held in five states across the country on Saturday.

Though Sunday Tribune could not get the authorities to confirm the number of deaths, unconfirmed reports put the number of fatalities in Kano alone at four.

It was another round of gory tales by voters and electoral officials from Kano to Sokoto, down to Benue and Nasarawa and Plateau states, where the rerun polls held.




Prospective voters could be seen bleeding profusely following violent attacks by fully armed political thugs in Kano State, while four officials of INEC were kidnapped by armed assailants in Jamare Local Government Area of Bauchi State.

This was as controversy has continued to rage in the state between the two leading parties, with the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in Kano State and at the national level already calling for the cancellation of yesterday’s exercise, which it described as a sham, on the ground that the All Progressives Congress (APC) orchestrated violence to prevent its members from voting.

But the APC countered the claims, debunking the reports that it contrived the exercise by sponsoring violence, even as the Kano State government noted that the PDP might have conceded defeat.

In reaction to the situation in Kano, the Nigerian Civil Society Situation Room called on INEC to disregard the results of the supplementary election held in Kano, urging the commission to declare the winner of the election based on the March 9 first ballot in the state.

It added that there was no need to conduct another supplementary election after the Saturday’s rerun.
The group, in a statement from its Situation Room, said the call became necessary in view of what it called serious violence and extensive deployment of thugs, which marred the election.

The group said it was “ironic and curious” that with the level of deployment of security personnel for the rerun, large scale violence, vote buying still characterized the election.

 In Benue, hoodlums believed to be working for one of the two parties in Saturday’s supplementary poll, were on rampage in some of the local governments where the exercise was held, invading polling units and destroying election materials.

Tribune reporter, others escape death, as police arrest Kano commissioner, others
The supplementary governorship election in Kano State became a theatre of violence, deaths and maiming early in the day, as suspected political thugs unleashed mayhem on prospective voters they suspected would not support their party.

In the process, Nigerian Tribune’s correspondent in the state, Mr Kola Oyelere, his counterpart from the BBC, Yusuf Ibrahim Yakasai and Madu Jerry of Authority Newspaper, narrowly escaped death when armed thugs attacked them at Suntulma Primary School of Gama Ward, Nassarawa Local Government.

Oyelere, who escaped attacks by a whisker when the thugs swooped on the Suntulma Ward, beating up voters and journalists, had to take cover in a nearby mosque, where a Muslim cleric hid them and watched developments outside before giving him signal to leave safely.
Madu was, however, not as lucky, as he was manhandled by the thugs, with his car set ablaze by the thugs.

Meanwhile, a member of the Kano House of Assembly and a commissioner in the Kano State government, have been reportedly arrested by the police for electoral violence.

Earlier, the Kano State chapters of the PDP and the ruling APC traded words over the supplementary election, with the acting chairman of the PDP, Alhaji Rabiu Suleiman Bichi, alleging that the party lost “quite a number of party agents and members to political thugs imported by the APC from Zamfara, Katsina, Plateau, Kaduna and other neighbouring states to cause mayhem so that it can win the election at all cost.”

The PDP had also called on INEC to cancel the supplementary election, saying it was characterised by irregularities.

But in a swift reaction, the state chairman of the APC, Alhaji Abdullahi Abbas, said there was no iota of true in the allegation that the APC imported political thugs from neighbouring states.
Bichi had, during a world press conference, on Saturday, accused security operatives of having been compromised, noting that the development was dangerous to the nation’s democracy.

According to him, “today, this charade re-run election was slated to hold in Kano and other states, unfortunately, what we have in Kano is nothing but a sham. Reports reaching us since yesterday indicated that thugs have been mobilised by the APC and the Kano State government to take over all the 208 polling units

“Our agents were denied access to the polling units and most of them were beaten and driven away from polling units.
“As I address you now, we have reports that some of our agents have been killed, vehicles burnt, property destroyed in Doguwa, Nassarawa, Minjibir, Dala and Tudun Wada local governments.

The PDP acting chairman added that “we have instances where the security operatives gave cover to these thugs to unleash mayhem on our people within the vicinity of the polling units.”

But in his reaction to the allegations levelled against the APC and the state government, the Kano State Commissioner for Information, Mr Muhammed Garba, said it was as if the PDP “has conceded defeat,” querying the acting chairman of the opposition party for calling for the cancellation of the on-going election, which had not been concluded.

PDP to INEC: Declare our candidate winner of Kano gov poll now

In a related development, the national leadership of the PDP, on Saturday, charged the INEC to immediately declare its candidate, Abba K. Yusuf, as the winner of the Kano governorship election, having scored the highest number of lawful votes and secured the statutory 25 per cent in two-thirds of the state.

In a statement issued in Abuja by its National Publicity Secretary and Director, Media & Publicity PDP Presidential Campaign Organisation, Kola Ologbondiyan, the main opposition party insisted that no valid polling held at the March 23 Kano supplementary elections and therefore no figures could be fabricated from the exercise to displace Abba Yusuf’s leading margin of over 26, 000 votes.

It maintained that INEC is already aware that its supplementary election in Kano was completely disrupted by thugs contracted by the APC, who invaded polling units and chased away voters.

“The commission, therefore, cannot accept fabricated figures being bandied by the APC as results from the scuttled rerun,” it said, adding: “The people of Kano State have since made up their minds to have Abba Yusuf as their governor and any attempt by anybody to subvert their will as already expressed in the March 9 substantive poll will surely attract the legitimate anger of the masses.

The PDP called on INEC to “immediately do the needful by respecting the will of the people as freely expressed on March 9 and announce Abba Yusuf, the standard-bearer of the Peoples Democratic Party, as the winner of the election, having fulfilled the demands of Section 179 (2) of the 1999 Constitution (as amended).

However, a Deputy Inspector General (DIG), Anthony Micheal Ogbizi, debunked the reports of killings and violence in Gama, blaming social media for spreading the fake news. According to him, the story was the fabrication of the social media.

“There was no such incident or arrest of some people in the any part of the state because the security arrangement was in order”, he said at a press briefing.
He confirmed the arrest of ten persons for various electoral offences during the re-run governorship election, though he refuted that those arrested were members of the APC and PDP.

He stated that the suspects were in police custody and that investigations on their arrests were ongoing.

Ogbizi, who made the disclosures, in an interview with pressmen, said as far as the command was concerned, the election was successful, as there were no serious clashes during and after the election.
He disclosed that while some of those arrested were found roaming the streets during election, others arrested were found in possession of dangerous weapons.

Commenting on the allegation levelled against the police that they were giving cover to members of the APC to rig election and prevent the opposition party from participating in the election, DIG Ogbizi said the allegation was unfounded allegation and could not be proved.

 
Political thugs destroy election materials in Benue

The rerun election was marred by violence in some parts of Benue State, as some thugs, on Saturday, invaded polling units in Kwande and Ukum  local government areas and destroyed election materials.
In Kwande, youths suspected to be thugs of a political party were said to have invaded the polling unit 012 located at Yaav ward in Jato Aka, destroying election materials.

The hoodlums were said to have snatched ballot boxes while the voter register was taken away.
It was gathered that some of the election materials were later found but the register was still missing as of the time of filing this report.
Also, some youths suspected to be political thugs disrupted election in Azendeshi in Ukum Local Government Area, setting election materials ablaze.

According to sources, youths suspected to be loyal to a political party in the early hours of Saturday, overpowered security officials and disrupted the supplementary election in Chito, the headquarters Azendeshi ward in Ukum local government area of Benue state.

The rampaging youths were alleged to have attacked INEC officials, PDP agents and observers after which they snatched all the electoral materials meant for election and burnt them.
The member representing Ukum state constituency in the Benue State House of Assembly, Mr. Paul Biam alongside the Commissioner for Industry, Trade and Investment, Kachina Merga and the Adviser to the governor on Revenue and Taxation, Mr Jerome Zaye, who were agents of the PDP in the area were reportedly attacked by the hoodlums.

When contacted, the INEC Public Relations Officer, PRO in Benue State, Mr. Andyer Terkaa, confirmed the developments.
Meanwhile, voting went on smoothly in Konshisha Local Government Area of Benue State, an area with the majority of votes being contested in yesterday’s supplementary election.

At Anwuna Market polling 003 centre, with 307 registered voters, voting started late at about 10.30 a.m. though in an orderly fashion even when no security personnel was sighted at the unit.
The situation was not different at the RCM Gungun PU 021 with 764 registered voters.
The two units at Gungun Main 019 with 1,002 registered voters were also calm and relaxed even though voting started late.

The unit also serves as ward collation centre
Security personnel were on hand to monitor the exercise.

One dies, as vote-buying, violence mar election in Sokoto 

One person was reportedly killed on Saturday, as the supplementary election for the 2019 gubernatorial election in Sokoto held across 22 of the 23 Local Government Areas of the state, with the exercise marred by irregularities.

The dead man, whose cause of death could not be ascertained by Sunday Tribune as of the time of filing this report, was said to have lost his life at a polling unit in Sokoto South Local Government Area.

The election, as witnessed by our correspondent, witnessed an impressive turnout of voters across the state.

However, in most of the polling units visited in the metropolis, there were allegations of vote-buying where some party chieftains were alleged to have been exchanging Permanent Voter Cards (PVCs) for cash as much as N10,000 naira per voter.

At Rijia Akimi, Unit 004, there was pandemonium when Sunday Tribune visited, as a certain political party agent was accused of buying votes at the rate of N10,000 naira, a development that irked supporters of the other party.

But for the timely arrival of the Commissioner of Police in charge of election, CP Muhammad Garba, who restored normalcy, the situation at the unit could have degenerated.
Speaking with Sunday Tribune, the State Commissioner for Basic and Secondary Education, Professor Aisha Maidawaki, who is also one of the PDP agents said, “you can see some rowdy sessions here. I pray they don’t leads to violence.

“We have quite a number of security personnel around here but unfortunately things are taking a different shape. This is because we have heard that someone has been collecting PVCs of electorates and he is giving them N10,000 in exchange.

“You can see that the security people are working on him to really verify and I think in an attempt to get him out of this place. That is why his supporters are resisting and creating a scene,” she stated.
Our correspondent also gathered from a voter at the polling unit that a certain businessman, who is a strong loyalist of one the candidates, had been giving out a bag of rice as well as N5,000 to anyone that voted for his candidate.

At Magajin Garin ward ‘B’ units 005 and 009, a free for all between chieftains of the All Progressives Congress (APC) and PDP by the security agents.

It was reported that a PDP chieftain and two chieftains of the APC almost disrupted the process.
Trouble started when the PDP chieftain was alleged to have displayed his ballot paper to the crowd after casting his vote, a development that generated reactions from a section of the voters, who reportedly started throwing stones and sands at the security agents as well as INEC officials.

In a related development, reports from other areas of the state where the supplementary election took place showed that there were skirmishes in some of the local governments.

A security agent who spoke with Sunday Tribune on a condition of anonymity, confirmed the arrest of a fake DSS officer by the vigilant voters and party agents in Wurno Local Government, adding that a Toyota Hilux vehicle was also intercepted by security agents with fake security officers on the way to Goronyo Local Government.

Reacting, the police commissioner in charge of election, CP Muhammad Danjuma Garba, who also visited the polling units, assured the electorate that everything would be brought under control.
The CP who spoke through the Police Public Relations Officer, PPRO Sadiq Abubakar, assured that with the presence of security personnel, there should be no cause for alarm.

When asked about the alleged killings and arrests of some fake security officials, the police spokesperson promised to get back to Sunday Tribune.


Unknown Armed men kidnap four INEC staff in Bauchi

In Bauchi, though the supplementary governorship election was generally peacefully conducted, four staffers of INEC whose identity could not be ascertained as of the time of this report were kidnapped by armed assailants.

The incident was the subject of discussion in hushed tones among INEC staffers and others within the Bauchi State office of the commission when journalists visited to get updates on the conduct of the election.

It was gathered that the incident took place in the early hours of Saturday, at RA 02 with PU code 010 in Jamare Local Government Area of Bauchi North Senatorial zone.

An INEC staff who escaped the attack narrated that the armed assailants came in seven Toyota Hilux vans and abducted the staff members, who were taken away with voting materials to an unknown destination.

The INEC staffer, who pleaded anonymity while speaking to journalists, said that “four of our officials in Jamare LGA Registration Area 02 with Polling Unit Code 010 have been abducted with voting materials. The place was invaded by heavily armed security operatives who came in seven Toyota Hilux Vans. They took the four INEC officials to Jamare LGA to perfect their plots.”

All efforts to get official reactions to the incident proved abortive as calls put through to the REC, Ibrahim Abdullahi; the Head of INEC’s Department of Voter Education and Publicity in Bauchi State, Ahmed Waziri, as well as its public relations officer, Ishaq Hamza, were not answered.

Similarly, the PPRO of the Bauchi State Police Command, DSP Kamal Datti Abubakar, did not pick up the phone when our correspondent put calls through to him to confirm the incident.

Election peaceful in Plateau

The supplementary election in different polling units across the nine local government areas of Plateau State was generally peaceful and devoid of hiccups, as voters trooped out to cast their votes.
It would be recalled that the INEC had declared the governorship election in the state inconclusive following the cancellation of 49, 000, which were higher than the margin between the results of the APC and PDP candidates in the March 9 governorship election.

The APC had initially led with 44,929.

While speaking with newsmen, the Plateau State Commissioner of Police , Isaac Akinmoyode, said that the supplementary election in the state was going on in a peaceful atmosphere, adding that there was no case of violence.

SDP candidate wins Keffi East Assembly

Following the rerun election conducted in Keffi East Constituency of Nasarawa State, the Social Democratic Party (SDP) candidate, Abdullazi Sule, has emerged winner of the poll.

Sule polled 7,527 votes to defeat his closet rival, Mohammed Wada of the APC, who got 7503 votes.
It would be recalled that INEC had on March 10, declared the result of Keffi East Constituency inconclusive following the cancellation of 1052 votes.

Sunday Tribune observed the re-run elections in four constituencies affected in the state, with the exercise witnessing massive turnout in all the areas visited.

APC wins state assembly supplementary election in Lagos

INEC has declared the APC candidate for Ibeju-Lekki State Constituency I, Mr Fatai Mojeed, winner of the supplementary election in the area.
NAN reported that INEC conducted supplementary election in nine polling units of the state constituency on Saturday.

The commission had declared the March 9 election in the constituency inconclusive, because of over-voting in the nine polling units, covering two Registration Areas (Ward).

The Returning Officer for the election, Professor Rasheed Ojikutu, announced the result for the election at the Collation Centre located in INEC office in Ibeju-Lekki council at about 6:30 p.m.
Ojikutu, of the Department of Actuarial Science and Insurance, Faculty of Business Administration, University of Lagos, first read out scores of each political party on March 9 election, before announcing the total votes in the supplementary poll.

According to him, on March 9 election, APC polled 8,525 votes and PDP scored 1, 786; SDP got 63; ADP scored 54 votes; Accord got 50 votes, AD polled 59 votes while other political parties scored less than 40 votes each.

INEC puts supplementary election on hold in Bayelsa constituency

In Bayelsa, INEC could not go ahead with the supplementary elections in Brass Constituency I following a court order to include omitted units in the area.
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reported that the Federal High Court in Yenagoa had, on Friday, ordered the electoral commission to include omitted polling units in the supplementary elections in the constituency.

In a statement on Saturday, Mr Monday Udoh, the Bayelsa State Resident Electoral Commissioner announced that out of the three constituencies earlier scheduled for the polls, election would only hold in two, including Southern-Ijaw IV and Ogbia II.

Supplementary poll: YIAGA expresses worry over possession of arms by thugs

YIAGA AFRICA ,a Civil Society Organisation, has expressed worry over possession of small and light arms by political thugs during Saturday’s supplementary election in some states.

Dr Hussaini Abdu, Chair, YIAGA AFRICA, Watching The Vote Working Group, said this at a news conference on the outcome of the group’s observation during the supplementary election.

Abdu said that illegal possession of arms posed a threat to political stability and human rights.
He said that there is need to investigate the illegal possession of arms by political thugs and hold their sponsors accountable.

“YIAGA AFRICA condemns the deployment of thugs by the two major political parties in the election.

“In spite of huge deployment of security personnel for the election, political thugs visibly attacked voters and and disrupted election in some polling stations.

“The stations are in Kano and Benue and they did it without any resistance or reprimand from security agencies.
“This is worrisome and raises serious questions on the effectiveness of security deployment for the supplementary elections,” he said.

Abdu said that the group also observed voter suppression and intimidation of the media, and observers.

He said that there were reports of disruption of electoral process, this included destruction of election materials, clash between political party agents and political thugs.

INEC must relieve Nigerians from trauma of inconclusive elections —Pwajok 

The chairman of the House Committee on Business and Rules in the House of Representatives, Hon. Edward Pwajok (SAN), has tasked INEC to relieve Nigerians from the trauma of inconclusive elections, saying it has become an albatross threatening survival of democracy in Nigeria.

Hon. Pwajok, who stated this in an interview with newsmen in Jos, commended the judiciary on the ruling on the Osun State governorship elections petition tribunal, adding that it was a laudable judgment that deserved commendation from all lovers of democracy.

“When we resumed in the National Assembly after the governorship election, we discussed this issue of inconclusive elections in most parts of the country. I call it a sad development on the polity of Nigeria because of the negative phenomenon.”

Source: Nigerian Tribune