The Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board, JAMB, has rescheduled the conduct of the 2019 Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination (UTME) to 11th April.

The board also fixed 1st April for the conduct of its mock examination earlier scheduled for Saturday, 23rd March.

JAMB’s Head of Media, Dr. Fabian Benjamin, disclosed this in a statement on Wednesday, in Abuja.

The statement directed candidates to begin the printing of their UTME notification slips from 2nd April in any part of the country.

The board added that it also reopened its registration portal to 41,063 candidates who have created their profiles and procured either the UTME or DE ePINS till Friday 15th, March.

The statement read: “The Board has scheduled to conduct the 2019 Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination (UTME) from Thursday, 11th April, 2019.

‘’Candidates are to begin the printing of the 2019 UTME notification slips from Tuesday, 2nd April, 2019. Candidates can print their slips anywhere.

“All candidates who registered for the 2019 UTME are to ensure that they print their examination notification slips before the day of the examination as no excuses would be entertained.

‘’The public should note that the Board would not reschedule examination for any candidate.

“Also the rescheduling of the mock examination to April was due to certain circumstances beyond its control.

“Candidates who had indicated interest in taking part in the mock examination during registration and have printed their mock examination notification slips not to reprint another one.

“All the details on the slips remain the same except the examination date which is now 1st April, 2019.

“Nigerians would recall that the Board had closed the sale of its Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination and Direct Entry application document on Thursday, 21st February, 2019.

‘’At the close of the sale and subsequently close of registration portal, it was discovered that 41,063 candidates created profile and procured either UTME or DE ePINS but were unable to complete their registration formalities after initiating the process.

“In view of this consideration the Board has opened the registration portal effective from Wednesday 13th March, 2019 for all candidates with either UTME or DE ePINS to complete their registration formalities.

“The portal would be closed on Friday, 15th March, 2019 by 12midnight.

“This opportunity is for only candidates who had created profile and procured UTME or DE ePINS before the close of registration portal as the sale of ePINS had since been closed.

“Please endeavor to register before Friday midnight if you are holding any of the ePINS (UTME/DE,” it said.

http://dailypost.ng/2019/03/13/jamb-postpones-2019-utme-announces-new-date/

More

At least 50 children have been rescued so far from a three-story building which collapsed in the Itafaji area of Lagos Island.

They were rescued by residents of the area who gathered the site, as well as officials from Emergency rescue agencies.

The number of casualties is, however, yet to be determined.

Officials of the Lagos State Emergency Management Agency (LASEMA), National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA), as well as security personnel including the police, army and National Security and Civil Defence Force (NSCDC) have continued with rescue operations at the scene.

The building, situated at Massey Street at the Adeniji Adele area of Lagos Island caved in at about 9:45 am on Wednesday.

It is said to be about 30 years old.

Details shorlty…

https://www.channelstv.com/2019/03/13/photos-some-children-rescued-at-site-of-lagos-building-collapse/

The Kano election has been declared inconclusive by the State Returning Officer Prof B. B. Shehu the Vice Chancellor of the Federal University Birnin Kebbi. Abba Kabir Yusuf, the Peoples Democratic Party candidate had more votes than the incumbent state governor Dr Abdullahi Ganduje with a slim margin getting 1,014,474 votes, while Ganduje got 987,810, making a difference margin of 26,655 votes.

With 2,211,520 accredited voters, 172 polling units were cancelled making a total of 100,873 votes cancelled and 49,761 rejected votes. With the very slim margin between the two parties and very high cancellations, it is not enough to declare PDP winner in the contest and so the cancelled units will be reviewed by the INEC.

The collation had to be suspended on around 1:30 am on Monday due to the delay in submitting the Nasarawa Local government area result to the collation center at the INEC headquarters.

It was later announced that hoodlums have attacked the local government collation center at Nasarawa and and disrupted the process thereby doing away with the result of Gama ward. INEC was able to regenerate the disrupted results of 10 out of the 11 Local governments but the Gama result was cancelled due to the circumstances surrounding the loss of the result shit by the Local government returning officer Prof Khaleel Abdulsalam of Bayero University Kano.


https://www.vanguardngr.com/2019/03/breaking-kano-election-declared-inconclusive/

This is how each LGA in Akwa Ibom State voted for the re-election of Gov Udom Emmanuel

Graphic

Gov Udom Emmanuel right now...

With 15 out of 16 local government results declared in Kwara State, Abdulrahman Abdulrazak, the governorship candidate of the All Progressives Congress is on course to post a crushing defeat of the candidate of the ruling Peoples Democratic Party.

Already Abdulrazak has polled a total of 304,681 votes, with the candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party, Mr Abdulrazaq Atunwa, polling a distant 107, 664 votes.

Only the result of Baruten local council is being awaited at the INEC office in Ilorin, where the collation is being done.

The results at a glance:

Oyun LG

APC 11,399
PDP 3,728

Offa

APC 22,874
PDP 5,172

Irepodun:

APC 16,155
PDP 7,339

Isin

APC 6,624
PDP 2,588

Moro

APC 18,985

PDP 5,490

Asa

APC 16,246
PDP 8,963

Edu

APC 26,805
PDP – 6,174

Oke Ero

APC 7,423
PDP 4,891

Ilorin South

APC 26,752
PDP 9,489

Ilorin East

APC 31,521
PDP 10,888

Ifelodun

APC 23,734
PDP 7,445

Ekiti

APC 7,938
PDP 3,950

Kaiama

APC 14,829
PDP 3,386

Ilorin West

APC 55,287 P
DP 25,583

Patigi

APC 18,109
PDP 2,578

https://www.nan.ng/news/abdulrazaq-set-to-be-declared-kwara-governor-elect/

No opposition, op. Apt

Obong Nsima Ekere takes his turn at PU2 Edemeya Ward 1, Ikot Abasi LGA

The main gubernatorial candidates in Akwa Ibom State, Gov Udom Emmanuel (PDP) and his main challenger from the APC Obong Nsima Ekere have just cast their votes at their respective units

Gov Udom excercised his franchise at his home unit in Awa ward 1, Unit 1, Onna LGA

A Facebook user has just reported that At Unit 12, St. Nathy's Primary School, Ikot Otu, Nto Edino Ward 4, Obot Akara LGA, materials have been set ablaze by suspected APC thugs while INEC Officials and voters scampered for safety.

All electoral materials for Mbalom ward in Gwer East Local Government Area of Benue, were in the early hours of Saturday, burnt by armed hoodlums.

According to a witness, the hoodlums on arrival fired shots in the air before setting on fire the RCM Primary School Aya, housing the materials.

Mrs Ngunan Yongo, the Electoral Officer for the local government area, confirmed the incident to the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in a telephone conversation.

The EO said the materials were yet to be distributed to polling units in the ward when the attack occurred.

” The entire materials are burnt,” she lamented.

However, no official of the commission including ad hoc staff were hurt.

She explained that final decision over the conduct of the elections in the area would be communicated later.

Mr Thaddeus Ujah, a senior staff of the commission, also confirmed the early morning attack.

“Right now I can’t say anything, I am overwhelmed; we were not expecting anything of that nature. I am short of words. I can’t see some of my people, they ran into the bush, some of them got injured. For me, the most important thing to me now is to get those people and take them back”.

Ujah said he was posted newly in the area and could not ascertain the exact number of ad hoc staff that were missing until he takes a roll call.

https://www.nan.ng/news/just-in-gunmen-burn-electoral-materials-in-benue/

The Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board (JAMB) has fixed Saturday, March 23, for the conduct of the 2019 Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination (UTME) mock exercise.

The board also urged candidates to begin the printing of their mock examination notification slips from Wednesday, March 6.

The board shifted the date of the mock examination because it coincided with the postponed date of the 2019 presidential and National Assembly election.

The 2019 presidential election held on February 23 while the state elections will hold on March 9.

This year, the sale or registration forms to all candidates (UTME/DE) including those outside Nigeria, started January 10 and ended February 21.

Meanwhile, the examination was expected to begin on March 16 and end on March 23 at JAMB’s computer-based test centres nationwide. But the postponement of the general election affected the dates.

Although a top source in the examination body has said the examination date has been shifted from March 16 to April 16 because of the general elections, the board is yet to announce the new date for the examination.

JAMB’s spokesperson, Fabian Benjamin, has urged all candidates to guard all their details pertaining to the 2019 Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination (UTME/DE) Direct Entry.

Mock examination was introduced in 2017 to give candidates the opportunity to familiarize themselves with the conduct of Computer Based Test, particularly, candidates who are not conversant with the use of computers.

Mr Benjamin said the board would not want any candidate to be at a disadvantage position, hence the introduction of mock examination and other processes that would help the candidates during the examination.

”The Board equally introduced the nine (9) keys without a mouse for candidates to use the computer with ease,” he said.

He also said the mock exercise was established to ascertain the readiness of its system and to appraise the candidates’ preparedness for the main examination

”This clarification becomes necessary because of insinuations from some quarters that marks from the mock examination would be added to scores obtained in the main examination, ” he said.

He said the public should note that the mock exam as its name implies, would not be used for any assessment process.

This year’s exercise is the third in the series of mock examinations conducted by the board under the leadership of Ishaq Oloyede.

The Chairman, Governing Board of JAMB, Emmanuel Ndukwe, earlier said the board would not extend its registration deadline.

The board is charged with the responsibility of administering examinations for applicants to Nigerian public and private universities, monotechnics, polytechnics and colleges of education.

https://www.premiumtimesng.com/news/more-news/317439-jamb-fixes-march-23-for-mock-examination.html

The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) may redeploy the Resident Electoral Commissioner (REC) in Akwa Ibom State, Mike Igini, before the forthcoming governorship and house of assembly elections across the country, top sources in the commission have told PREMIUM TIMES.

An official in the commission told PREMIUM TIMES on Monday afternoon that the chairman of INEC, Mahmood Yakubu, has been under pressure from the federal government to redeploy Mr Igini from Akwa Ibom.

The official, who did not want his name mentioned in the report, told this newspaper that Mr Yakubu has already succumbed to the pressure.

“He (Mr Yakubu) is working on the (redeployment) plan,” he said. “The announcement will be out few days to the governorship election.

“People in the office (INEC headquarters) are surprised, and are worried at the same time why the chairman could give in to such pressure when he knows the consequences it could have on the commission’s image and on the remaining elections,” he said.

The All Progressives Congress (APC) has been campaigning for Mr Igini’s transfer from Akwa Ibom, weeks before the just concluded presidential and national assembly elections.

The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), which is the ruling party in Akwa Ibom, won the presidential and all the national assembly seats in the state.

The APC has been accusing Mr Igini of being biased, in favour of the PDP in the state.

APC national chairman, Adams Oshiomhole, has repeatedly demanded Mr Igini’s removal from office and restated his position at an APC meeting attended by President Muhammadu Buhari last week.

Apart from Mr Igini denying the accusation, the PDP in Akwa Ibom said the APC was frustrated with the commissioner because “he refused to help them rig the elections”.

Mr Igini is generally regarded as a forthright and respectable public officer within and outside INEC.

Besides Mr Igini, PREMIUM TIMES learnt that the INEC chairman, Mr Yakubu, was also under pressure to redeploy resident electoral commissioners in Rivers, Imo, Benue, and Plateau states.

The APC lost the presidential election in all five states including Akwa Ibom despite governing two of the states, Imo and Benue. The ruling party’s dilemma in Imo is worse as its governor, Rochas Okorocha, is supporting a separate party for the governorship election and has been suspended by the APC.

Another source close to the INEC chairman in Abuja lamented the pressure being mounted on him by the federal government.

“The problem is that while he is a good man, he does not have the conviction of a Jega (Attahiru, ex-INEC chairman),” one source said. “He appears to be caving in.”

But INEC, however, says there is no such plan.

“It’s not true. It is just speculation,” Rotimi Oyekanmi, the spokesperson to the INEC chairman told PREMIUM TIMES.

“The INEC chairman has not told me of any pressure, and I don’t see any pressure on his face, except for the normal pressure of planning for the general elections as we all know, but not pressure from anybody to transfer anybody.

“There is no such plan to redeploy any of the RECs before the elections,” Mr Oyekanmi said.

https://www.premiumtimesng.com/news/headlines/317449-inec-chairman-under-pressure-to-redeploy-recs-in-akwa-ibom-four-other-states.html

…1.8 million candidates registered

The Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board says it has registered over 1.8 million candidates for the 2019 Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination.

The Head, Media and Information of the board, Dr Fabian Benjamin, disclosed this in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria on Thursday in Lagos.

NAN reports that registration of candidates for the Computer Based Test commenced on February 10 and terminated on February 21.

Benjamin said that the registration was a huge success, adding that there were no hitches at all across the various accredited registration centres nationwide.

“We have concluded the registration and we recorded over 1.8 million candidates for the UTME this year.

“Registration closed on February 21, when we stopped the pin vending for the exercise.

“However, some candidates who had acquired the pin but were unable to register before February 21, due to one reason or the other, were allowed to do so till 12 midnight, February 25.

“The registration finally closed on February 25, he said.

The JAMB spokesman dismissed rumours in some quarters that candidates could start printing their examination notification slip from March 2.

“This is misleading and absolutely not correct.

“Let me sound it clearly that the board has not come up with any date for both the examination and the printing of examination notification slip for candidates.

“The board will announce the date for the 2019 UTME soon.

“As it is now, no date has been fixed yet for both the examination and the printing of examination notification slip.

“The examination slips are usually printed, two weeks to the main examination, but that is only after when the examination date has been fixed.

“There is no way anybody can print examination notification slip when the examination date, itself, has not been fixed.”

He, therefore, urged candidates and other stakeholders to remain calm, reassuring them that the board would make an announcement and proper sensitisation about the date for the examination and printing of examination notification slip.

https://www.google.com/amp/s/punchng.com/no-date-for-2019-utme-yet-says-jamb/amp/?espv=1

Defeated presidential candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party, Alhaji Atiku Abubakar has rejected the result of the election won by President Muhammadu Buhari.

Atiku, who had kept mute since Monday, when the results showed that he was going to be the loser, knocked the election as a sham. And he said he will be challenging it in court.

Read his statement:

I thank the Nigerian people who trooped out in their millions to perform their civic duty this past Saturday. The patriotism of Nigerians is heartwarming and affirms my oft-repeated statement that we are brothers and sisters born from the womb of one mother Nigeria.

With regards to the Presidential elections that took place on February 23, 2019, it is clear that there were manifest and premeditated malpractices in many states which negate the results announced.

One obvious red flag is the statistical impossibility of states ravaged by the war on terror generating much higher voter turnouts than peaceful states. The suppressed votes in my strongholds are so apparent and amateurish, that I am ashamed as a Nigerian that such could be allowed to happen. How can total votes in Akwa-Ibom, for instance, be 50% less than what they were in 2015?

How can total votes in Akwa-Ibom, for instance, be 50% less than what they were in 2015?

Another glaring anomaly is the disruption of voting in strongholds of the Peoples Democratic Party in Lagos, Akwa-Ibom, Rivers and diverse other states, with the authorities doing little or nothing and in some cases facilitating these unfortunate situations.

The militarization of the electoral process is a disservice to our democracy and a throwback to the jackboot era of military dictatorship. In some areas of the country, such as, Rivers, Akwa Ibom and Imo states, troops deployed for the elections turned their guns on the very citizens they were meant to protect. This is condemnable and should not be associated with our electoral process in the future.

I am a democrat and there are democratic avenues available to present the truth to the nation and the watching world. Already, many international observers have given their verdicts, which corroborate our observations. I am sure more will come in the coming hours and days.

If I had lost in a free and fair election, I would have called the victor within seconds of my being aware of his victory to offer not just my congratulations, but my services to help unite Nigeria by being a bridge between the North and the South.

However, in my democratic struggles for the past three decades, I have never seen our democracy so debased as it was on Saturday, February 23, 2019. 2007 was a challenge, but President Yar’Adua was remorseful. In 2019, it is sad to see those who trampled on democracy thumping their noses down on the Nigerian people.

Consequently, I hereby reject the result of the February 23, 2019 sham election and will be challenging it in court.

I want to assure my supporters and the entire Nigerian people that together, we will not allow democracy to be emasculated.

I hope and pray Nigerians will someday summon the courage to defend democracy. That is the only way we can move away from being the world headquarters for extreme poverty.

https://www.nan.ng/politics/just-in-atiku-rejects-the-result-heads-to-court/

Oh No

The Independent National Electoral Commission is set to announce President Muhammadu Buhari president-elect, following the collation of results of the 23 February election.

President Buhari crossed the 15 million mark in votes scored in 36 states and the Federal Capital Territory.

He polled 15,191,847 votes, winning in 19 of the states, after the result of Rivers was added.

His main challenger Atiku Abubakar of the Peoples Democratic Party scored 10,782, 007 votes and won 17 states and Abuja.

Buhari also satisfied the constitutional requirement of making 25 per cent in 34 states and the FCT. He missed the cut in Enugu and Anambra states.

In 2015, Buhari scored 15, 424,921 votes to beat the PDP incumbent Goodluck Jonathan who scored 12,853,162 votes.

It means Abubakar performed worse than Jonathan.

https://www.nan.ng/news/breaking-inec-set-to-declare-buhari-president-elect-with-over-15m-votes/

President Buhari: coasting home to victory
President Muhammadu Buhari of the All Progressives Congress has taken an early lead over main challenger, Atiku Abubakar of the PDP, in the collated result of the presidential election by the Independent National Electoral Commission.

In the results declared on Monday, Buhari won in Osun, Kogi, Gombe, Ekiti, Nasarawa, Yobe and Kwara states, while Atiku took FCT Abuja, Ondo and Abia. More results are still expected.

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

https://www.nan.ng/news/buhari-leads-atiku-in-results-declared-by-inec/

Imo State governor, Rochas Okorocha has been declared Senator-elect for Imo West Senatorial zone.

The Collation Officer, Professor Ibeawuchi Francis, announced Okorocha winner, after he polled a total of 97,762 votes to defeat his closest rival, Jones Onyereri of the PDP who scored 63.117 votes.

http://thenationonlineng.net/okorocha-wins-imo-west-senatorial-seat/

The Peoples’ Democratic Party (PDP) presidential candidate Atiku Abubakar has won in seven Local government Areas (LGAs) of Rivers state while the All Progressives Congress (APC), won in one.

Results of eight of the 23 LGAs in the state have been collated by the returning officer for the state, Professor Aniefiong Essien, Vice Chancellor, University of Uyo, Akwa Ibom state in the company of the state Independent National Electoral commissioner(INEC), Dr. Effanga Obot and security chiefs.

The exercise was conducted in INEC office in Port Harcourt the state capital on Sunday night.

The LGAs: are Oyibo, Omuma, Ogba/Egbema/Ndoni, Obio/Akpor, Eleme, and Gokana and Etche while APC won in Asari-toru LGA.

The results presented to Prof. Essien by the LGA collation Officers and the Electoral Officer(EO) showed the PDP won in Oyigbo with a total of 16,102 votes while the All Progressives congress(APC) scored 3, 520 votes.

It was further revealed that a total of 109, 095 voters were registered and 22, 787 accredited.

At the end of the poll, 20, 087 votes were validated, 1, 102 were

In Asari-toru area, President Muhammadu Buhari scored overwhelming 18, 180 leaving Atiku with 3, 175 votes.

It was however reported that election took place in 10 out of the 13 wards in the areas while election did not hold in three wards.

In Governor Nyesom Wike’s Obio/Akpor LGA, a total of 600, 622 voters were registered for the polls but 81, 562 only accredited.

Atiku won with a total of 69, 981 leaving Buhari with 6, 875.

However elections in four of the 17 wards were reportedly cancelled for various reasons, especially in Rukpokwu, Choba and two other wards.

In Senator Magnus Abe’s Gokana LGA, Atiku won with 10, 276 while Buhari secured 9, 328.

More of the results are expected to be ready later today for collation before the result would be finally announced in Port Harcourt.

http://thenationonlineng.net/atiku-wins-seven-rivers-lgs/

24 February 2019

PRESS RELEASE

AKWA IBOM STATE APC CALLS FOR CANCELLATION OF ELECTIONS

The Akwa Ibom State chapter of the All Progressives Congress (APC), having reviewed all the field reports from its unit agents who participated in the Presidential and National Assembly elections of 23 February 2019, hereby states as follows:
1) That the elections purported to have been held in the state on the aforementioned date should be cancelled outright for the following reasons:
a) Failure to, in particular, to deliver election materials to designated RACK Centres as announced by INEC to all political parties in a briefing by the Resident Electoral Commissioner a few days to the elections, thereby misleading party members to wait in vain in those designated centres while the state REC in collusion with his Electoral Officers and the PDP delivered the said election materials illegally to the homes of PDP leaders for illegal thumb printing of the ballots

b) Failure of INEC in Akwa Ibom State to comply with the requirements of the Electoral Act 2010 (as Amended) for the conduct of elections which specifies the use of the card reader for the accreditation of voters, a requirement that was blatantly disregarded.

c) That in light of the above, we hereby state that the said elections were not conducted according to law in the state.

2) That given the above grounds, the purported elections be cancelled and a new date set for fresh Presidential and National Assembly elections in the state.

Signed:

APC State Chairman, Ini Okopido
APC State Secretary, Augustine Ekanem

#NigeriaDecides2019

Akwa Ibom Partial Results In

The People's Democratic Party (PDP)'s presidential candidate Abubakar Atiku has swept the polls in the 12 local government areas so far announced by the INEC collation officer in the State - Dr Augustine Asuquo Umoh

The local governments are Ibeno, Nsit Atai, Obot Akara, Mkpat Enin, Onna, Ikot Abasi, Urue Offong/ Oruko, Mbo, Ikono, Ini, Ikot Ekpene and Eastern Obollo

According to results, while the PDP presidential candidate polled 128,022 votes from the 12 local governments, his APC counterpart, President Muhammadu Buhari polled 41,003 votes

…To prosecute ad-hoc staff who jettisoned Card Readers

The Independent National Electoral Commission INEC has announced the postponement of the elections in some parts of Lagos, Rivers and Anambra States following disruption of the exercise due to violence.

Specifically, INEC said elections in Akuku Toru and Bonny local government areas of Rivers state as well as some parts of Anambra and Lagos would be conducted on a later date, saying mostly affected is the contest for the federal legislative seats.

“The commission has received reports of violence and ballot box snatching in some areas leading to the disruption of the process.

We have asked the Resident Electoral Commissioners RECs and the Electoral Officials on ground to submit their firsthand reports in relation to some of these incidents. We are still receiving reports relating to incidences in some states of the federation but we have received reports relating to incidences in Akuku Toru and Bonny local government areas of Rivers state.

“So long as the commission could not deploy in these areas, the implication is that voting did not take place in those areas and the commission will hold consultations with the relevant authorities and the Resident Electoral Commissioners RECs in relation to these areas and will announce the date when polls will take place in some of these areas, especially in relation to the areas as they affect the House of Representatives and Senatorial elections.

“It is not only in Rivers that we had reports of burning of electoral materials. We have such reports from Anambra and Lagos states as well as some other places”, he added.

To prosecute erring staff

The commission also vowed to prosecute any of its staff who failed to use the Smart Card Readers for purposes of accreditation, saying where the card readers do not work up till 6pm on election day, the standard procedure is to shift the exercise to the next day.

According to Okoye, no staff of the commission has discretionary powers on the use or otherwise of the card readers as its usage is not a subject of negotiation.

“With regards to the challenges associated with Smart Card Readers in some polling units, most of these challenges were resolved and were resolved on time.

However, it is to be noted that in the Regulations and the Guidelines issued by the Independent National Electoral Commission INEC it was made very clear that the use of the smart card readers is mandatory.

“Therefore, no staff of the Commission or any ad hoc staff of the Commission is permitted in whatever guise to deliberately refuse to use the smart card readers for the conduct of elections.

According to the Guidelines and Regulations of the Commission, it is negligent conduct for any ad hoc staff to refuse to use the smart card readers for purposes of accreditation and any of them that refused to use the smart card readers or deliberately violated the use of the smart card readers will be subject to prosecution in accordance with the Guidelines and Regulations of the Commission and the Electoral Act”, he declared.

https://www.vanguardngr.com/2019/02/breaking-inec-postpones-elections-in-anambra-rivers-lagos-others/

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Akwa Ibom State Governor, Mr Udom Emmanuel and Wife Martha today Saturday 23rd February 2019 exercised their franchise at Primary School Awa Iman, Awa 1, (Polling Unit Code 03-24-001) , Onna Local Government Area.

Speaking shortly after voting, Governor Emmanuel decried unnecessary interference of security agents in the electoral process, condemning the arrest of his Senior Special Assistant on Security Matters on the eve of the election and sued for a level playing field from the security operatives.

It's 12noon, some election materials, most importantly the result sheets are missing here in Udung Uko and Mbo LGAs, Akwa Ibom State.

In the pic is the Electoral Officer, confused and dumbfounded

The Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board (JAMB) has closed the sale of Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination (UTME) forms.

The board’s Head of Media, Dr Fabian Benjamin told newsmen in Abuja that the sales of the forms, ended on Thursday.

Benjamin however said that online registration was still ongoing. Benjamin said: “This is because some people earlier bought e-pins for the exams but were unable to register before now, so we are monitoring them online and would avail them the opportunity to register.

“Therefore, we cannot give the exact figure of the registered candidates for now until this is over. ”

He added that the registration would continue until the board decides.

The board had commenced the sale and online registration of the 2019 to 2020 UTME forms on Jan. 10 and was scheduled to end on Feb. 21.

On the issue of rescheduled dates for both the mock and main examinations, Benjamin said that the board was yet to decide on a new date but would give updates as soon as possible.

Reports have it that the board considered rescheduling the initial dates for the examination because of the shift of dates for the general elections by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC).

Speaking also on the suspension of 17 Computer Based Test (CBT) centres across the country, Benjamin assured that the suspension would not, in anyway, affect the process of the examinations as the board had over 700 accredited centers nationwide.

The Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board has postponed the mock examination of the Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination slated to start from Saturday, February 23, because of the rescheduled Presidential and National Assembly elections.

The board also said, on Wednesday, that it may reschedule the 2019 UTME if the country’s elections drag until the earlier fixed dates of Saturday, March 16, to Saturday, March 23.

According to the new timetable released by the Independent National Electoral Commission, the Governorship and state Houses of Assembly elections slated for March 2 have been rescheduled to March 9, which fuels fears that the UTME slated for March 16 may be affected.

The JAMB Head of Information, Dr Fabian Benjamin, in an interview on Wednesday, said the board could announce new dates for the UTME if the elections did not conclude by March 9.

Benjamin added that a new date for the mock examination would be announced by the management shortly.

He said, “The elections have been shifted and we are also watching other government programmes. If for any reason they affect our timetable, we will not be averse to shifting. But as it is now, our date stands.

“If they do elections and there is a need to do a run-off and it enters another week, of course, it will affect our programmes, then we will adjust appropriately.

“Our mock examination was supposed to start this weekend. Now that INEC has shifted the presidential elections to this weekend, certainly mock examination will not take place that day.

“A new date for the mock examination will soon be announced to candidates. But for the examination, the date earlier scheduled stands. No date has been picked for the mock. We are still looking at other things.”