The Akwa Ibom State Independent Electoral Commission (AKISIEC) on Monday said 900 candidates would vie for positions in Saturday local government elections in the state.
The Chairman of the commission, Aniedi Ikoiwak, made this known in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Uyo, the state capital.
Mr. Ikoiwak explained that no fewer than 100 candidates were contesting the chairmanship positions in the 31 local government councils while 800 candidates were for the 329 councillorship seats.
He said that all the candidates for the elections were presented by 12 registered political parties.
He said that out of the political parties participating in the polls, only the All Progressive Congress (APC) and Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) fielded candidates for all positions.
Mr. Ikoiwak said that arrangements had been put in place for the conduct of the election in all the 2,980 polling units across the 329 wards in the state.
He said that all the political parties participating in the elections signed peace accord on Friday to guarantee peaceful conduct of the exercise.
Mr. Ikoiwak said that the accord meeting was presided over by the security agencies, adding that the political parties had pledged to abide by the rules governing the election.
“We are ready for the smooth conduct of the council polls across the 31 local areas,” he said.
He said that the 31 area offices of the commission in the state had been equipped with generators and ICT facilities for the election.
The chairman dismissed insinuations in some quarters that AKISIEC had developed a manual to collate election results in favour of a particular political party.
He said that the guidelines governing council election in the state vested the power to announce the results of chairmanship election on the commission’s chairman.
“The guideline is not our own product; nothing in the manual was inserted by the present board. It had been there and had been used by the previous board without protest.
“Any political party or person, who is not comfortable with the electoral guideline should seek for the repeal of the state electoral law,” Mr. Ikoiwak advised.
(NAN)

My dear Akwa Ibomites
Let me start by wishing you Compliments of the Season and God’s blessing in this new month of December! Those of voting age will exercise their suffrage, and choose the people who will represent our interests as Chairmen and Councillors of our Local Government Councils on Saturday, 2nd December, 2017.
Let me remind us that the aim of this exercise is not to divide but to unite us. It is not to destroy our values but to build up the Akwa Ibom Family. Let us note that this election would be over, but the Akwa Ibom project lives on.
I am happy with the peaceful manner we conducted ourselves in the course of the campaigns. This has made it clear to the world that Akwa Ibomites do not have to see eye-to-eye in order to walk hand-in-hand. Similar exercise in other parts of the nation was marred with violence, bloodshed and mayhem, but in this blessed State named after the Almighty God, we proved to our nation our belief that blood is thicker than politics. We proved to the world that Akwa Ibom State is not only God-fearing and peaceful; but mature enough to internalize and accept political differences.
We may have different political opinions and beliefs; we may disagree on the mechanics of achieving a set political goal, but we never differ or disagree with the truth that what binds us transcends political affiliations. We never differ or disagree with our sacred faith and belief in the Akwa Ibom Project and the immutability of its essence. This admirable quality is a legacy we inherited from our fathers who contributed their meager resources to selflessly build community schools and train our deserving children. It is a legacy that is wired into our DNA.
As we go out to vote, let us imbibe that spirit of love and sacrifice. Let us be law abiding, let us eschew violence and let us preserve the awesome testimony of the righteous heritage of our dear State.
I urge our youths to resist the temptation of those who may desire to use them to foment trouble, or cause the breakdown of law and order. I wish to reiterate in clear terms Government’s irrevocable commitment to the maintenance of law, peace and order. Any individual who dares to test our commitment should be ready to face the full weight, wrath and fury of the law.
I urge parents whose wards may have been compromised or may have offered themselves as willing tools of destabilization by misguided political entities, to call their wards to order. I urge parents to again remind their wards that those who take laws into their hands would soon have handcuffs over their wrists. The law enforcement agencies are ready and prepared to maintain the peace. Movements of persons and vehicles across the state will be restricted from midnight on Friday, 1st December to 4pm on Saturday, 2nd December, 2017 except personnel on essential duties who must carry their valid identification.
The Government of Akwa Ibom State stands ready to enforce its sacred responsibility of the maintenance of law and order. Let this word go forth to all nooks and crannies of our State that from this commitment, we would neither retreat nor surrender.
God bless Akwa Ibom State, God bless Nigeria. It is well and will always be well with Akwa Abasi Ibom State.

https://www.facebook.com/aksgovt/videos/782315851969192/

By Dirisu Yakubu ABUJA – The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) has condemned the alleged assassination attempt on the Rivers State governor, Nyesom Wike following a clash with a cabinet Minister, Rotimi Amaechi in Port- Harcourt, the Rivers State Capital.
In a statement signed by the Head, Publicity Division of the party, Chinwe Nnorom on behalf of the National Publicity Secretary, the party described the development as an invitation to anarchy in the State.
“The PDP is once again constrained to draw the attention of President Muhammadu Buhari to another assassination attempt by his Minister of Transport, Rotimi Amaechi on the Governor of Rivers State, Chief Nyesom Wike yesterday being Saturday, November 11, 2017 in Port Harcourt, Rivers State. “The convoy of Governor Wike was ambushed by a contingent of security apparatus led by the commander of Special Anti Robbery Squad (SARS), in Rivers State, Mr. Akin Fakorede and supervised by Amaechi’s ADC, Mr. Debewari. “These constant harrassment and attempt on the life of Governor Wike is an open invitation to anarchy and another plan of the APC to ignite crisis again in Rivers State. “The public is aware that the Minister of Transport has been making attempts on the life of Governor Wike, and in all of the attempts, the Commander of SARS in Rivers State, Mr. Fakorede is ever ready to lead the ill-advised onslaught,” the statement read in part. While calling on President Buhari to order the immediate transfer of the SARS commander, the party noted that failure to do so would translate to an endorsement of same by the Commander-in- Chief. “We condemn this attack in very strong terms and call on President Buhari to order the immediate transfer of Mr. Fakorede of SARS out of Rivers State. “Any delay in effecting this change will be taken that President Buhari is fully in charge of these ugly activities in the State. “We are also calling on the international community to take note of these chains of activities that are carefully planned by the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) and being executed by the Minister of Transport, Rotimi Amaechi,” the statement continued, adding that “If anything happens to Governor Wike or his immediate family and aides, the APC and Mr. Amaechi should be held responsible.” God bless the PDP! God bless the people of Rivers State!! God bless the Federal Republic of Nigeria!!!

Read more at: https://www.vanguardngr.com/2017/11/anything-happens-wike-family-apc-amaechi-held-responsible-pdp//

… says it will be double tragedy if PDP comes back to power

ABUJA – Minister of Information and Culture, Alh. Lai Mohammed says the Mohammadu Buhari led Administration of the All Progressive Congress, APC is cleaning up rot of the the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP years of misrule and warned against returning the party back to power in 2019. The minister gave the warning on Sunday during a press conference held in Lagos.

He said ‘‘it will not just be a tragedy, but a double tragedy, ‘if we ever allow these same people to preside over our commonwealth.’’

According to him, ‘‘It is a mark of the contempt for the PDP to tell Nigerians that the party is even talking of returning to power, even when the rot it left behind is yet to be totally cleared, adding that ‘‘Never again must Nigeria be bedeviled by a rapacious, impunity-prone and plunderous party like the PDP.’’ The minister had in another press conference held last week, said that ‘‘it will be a tragedy if the PDP is ever allowed to come back, especially because the present Administration has been working round the clock to take Nigeria out of the hell hole where it was dumped by the PDP.’’ Mohammed, who frowned at the recent attacks against present Administration from the opposition party, boasted that the Administration had made progress in the fight against corruption; fight against insecurity and the revamping of the economy. He said: ‘‘Nothing shows the rot of the past more than the level of corruption which this Administration inherited. Our commonwealth was looted with impunity by the same people who now say they want to come back. ‘‘Where do we start? Do we want a Diezani back as Petroleum Minister, after the recovery of at least 43 million dollars and 56 houses from this one person? ‘‘Do we want the 2.9 billion dollars – that’s about one-eighth of the 2018 Budget – that has been successfully traced and recovered from looters by the EFCC since the inauguration of the present administration, to be re-looted? What about the 151 million dollars and N8 billion in looted funds that have been recovered from just three sources as a direct result of the introduction of the whistle-blower policy? Do we want them to be re-looted?’’ Continuing, the minister also questioned the alleged persistent under-remittance of operating surpluses by State Owned Entities under the PDP, in which JAMB was said to have only remitted an aggregate of 51 million Naira, whereas in September 2017 alone, the same JAMB announced its readiness to remit 7.8 billion Naira back to the Government. ‘‘In their time, they lacked the political will to implement the Treasury Single Account (TSA), which they started. We are now fully implementing the TSA. Three trillion Naira, almost half of the estimated revenue in the 2018 budget, has accrued to Government with the enforcement of the TSA policy ‘‘With the elimination of thousands of ghost workers, we have saved 120 billion Naira. We have removed the 108 billion Naira in maintenance fees payable to banks, pre-TSA; and monthly we are saving 24.7 billion Naira with our determined implementation of the TSA. ‘‘We must also never forget the alleged diversion of 2.1 billion dollars earmarked for arms purchase by officials of the immediate-past administration. ‘‘As the pace of politics gradually picks up ahead of 2019, it is important that we let Nigerians know the enormous progress that the Buhari Administration has made in just a little over two years, and to also remind them of where the country was dumped by the PDP when we assumed office on 29 May 2015,’’ he stated. On the allegation that the Administration plans to arrest 50 of PDP members for alleged corruption, Mohammed said, wondered why the party is afraid and urged them to face the music, if they must. he described the anti-corruption as a tough task but said the Administration is determined to wipe away corruption in the system. ‘‘It is a mark of the contempt in which the PDP holds Nigerians that the party is even talking of returning to power, even when the rot it left behind is yet to be totally cleared,’’ he added.

Read more at: https://www.vanguardngr.com/2017/11/apc-cleaning-pdps-augean-years-lai-mohammed//

NgcoboP:

Buhari is the criminal here

Kingsley1000:
we are not blaming but making reference to the past of which Buhari is part of.....all of them contributed immensely to the woes nigerians are going thru now

Kingsley1000:
an adage goes"if you don't know where rain starts beating you,definitely you won't know where it will stop"we are not blaming anybody but making reference to the past,what's the essence of history?we are integrating our inadequacies and flaws we made in the past with how best to forestall it

Mayor21:
Oboi u Sabi Nardin okonna?

fobiflex:
hey bro I was ur senior den, 09 set fgc ik

DimFemmy:
merrybet username : Shankadada Ticket number : 101559369 Number of slots : 1 Total odd : 3.53 Group : 32
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cc.: akraym

Chimourinho:
How do i check the Bundle balance?

quickly:
They need that national stadium in Lagos back to shape that place we dey win anyhow

Myzzyfrazzy:
i see a bright future with this squad and dis manager

Dandeson1:
When she disables the comment, Nigerians walk into her old pic like