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The Deputy National Chairman, Peoples
Democratic Party, Chief Uche Secondus, has taken
over as the acting National Chairman of the party.
This followed the resignation of the party
Chairman, Adamu Muazu, who threw in the towel
on Wednesday on health grounds.
The PDP National Publicity Secretary, Olisa Metuh,
who confirmed this to journalists at the Wadata
Plaza secretariat of the party, commended Muazu
for his services to the PDP and love for the
nation.
He said, “I can confirm that we have received the
resignation of the National Chairman, Alhaji
Adamu Mu’azu. I can confirm that the chairman,
who had health challenges, stayed on for the
primaries, for the campaigns and the elections
and after consultations with his family, and in his
personal interest, he had decided to resign.
“This party commends him for his services to the
party and for his love for the nation. We wish him
well. We will not forget him. In line with the
constitution, the Deputy National Chairman,
Prince Uche Secondus, has taken charge of the
affairs of the party as acting national chairman of
the party. The constitution does not recognise a
vacuum.”
Metuh said Secondus would be in charge pending
when a replacement would be appointed from the
North-East.
——————————————–
Embattled National Chairman of the Peoples
Democratic Party, Alhaji Adamu Mu’azu, on
Wednesday resigned from his position.
This was confirmed to The PUNCH by the Deputy
National Publicity Secretary of the party, Alhaji
Abdullahi Jalo, in a telephone interview.
Jalo said, “It is true, Mu’azu has resigned. I can
confirm this to you, he resigned today.”
He however declined further comments.
Details later…
source: http://www.punchng.com/news/muazu-resigns-as-pdp-chairman/

Ok we don hear

The Chief of Staff, Government House, Port
Harcourt, Chief Tony Okocha, raised the alarm on
Saturday morning that a group of policemen
stormed the Olanada Registration Area Centre in
Obio/Akpor Local Government Area of Rivers State.
Okocha alleged that some of the original materials
for the governorship and State House of Assembly
elections have been taken away from the
registration centre when the police stormed the
place at about 3.30am on Saturday.
The original election materials, according to him,
were replaced with cloned ones.
source: www.punchng.com/news/amaechis-aide-alleges-policemen-cart-away-voting-materials/

Nobel laureate, Prof. Wole Soyinka, says the audio file which
purportedly captured some Peoples Democratic Party leaders
giving orders to a general to rig the June 21, 2014
governorship elections in Ekiti State must be investigated by
the Independent National Electoral Commission and the
Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences
Commission.
Soyinka said this in a statement while reacting to a front page
advert in the PUNCH sponsored by Ekiti State Governor,
Ayodele Fayose, in which the governor discredited the
authenticity of the tape based on a report by the US that the
Ekiti governorship poll was transparent.
The playwright said the issue was too weighty to be
dismissed without being investigated.
He said since Fayose had referenced the US report, the
Federal Government could also call on the US to assist in
investigating the tape.
Soyinka said no one would lose anything by investigating the
tape since it was the job of law enforcement agencies to
investigate matters of state.
He said, “For those who have nothing to hide, disrobing lies
and forgeries and reinforcing truth is regarded as part and
parcel of the obligations we owe democracy. The audio could
well be one of such forgeries. We are daily inundated with
allegations, evasions, distortions, image plundering and image
laundering, all under the permissive canopy of electoral
proceeding.
“Once in a while, however, we encounter exposure of an
exceptional dimension that appears to strike at the very root
of democracy, questions the validity of an entire electoral
system and even erodes confidence in the integrity of the
state. Such an event need not be regarded as a repudiation of
the formal mechanics put in place by an electioneering
agency such as INEC, but nonetheless extends the scope of
its responsibilities, including its projection of looming hazards
of future electoral exercises.
“This is why, in the absence of a Constitutional Court or its
equivalent, one is left with no other course than to call on
INEC to also take formal charge of the recorded incident of
this alleged conspiracy to pervert the course of democracy.
For those ‘who have nothing to hide,’ it is a call that deserves
unstinting support. They should not hesitate to assist in
calling on the same US expertise to assist us in exposing a
forgery.
“We are speaking here of a development that implicates not
only products, beneficiaries or would-be constitutional
guardians of the electoral process – that is, an elected
governor, a governorship aspirant, but also state agencies –
the military, two serving ministers – that is, members of the
Executive arm of government, one of them in charge of the
nation’s defence portfolio – and others.
“In addition to the logical role of the police, the nation’s
electoral commission should undertake an independent
investigation and make its findings known to the nation. Is
this perhaps something INEC can undertake while the nation
waits out its suspended electoral sentence? It only requires
repudiation – or validation – of the findings of an already
advanced forensic enquiry.”
source: http://www.punchng.com/news/inec-must-probe-ekiti-rigging-tape-soyinka/

Governor Sule Lamido of Jigawa State on Tuesday described
himself as a betrayer.
But he said he only betrayed his friends in the interest of the
country.
Lamido spoke with journalists in Abuja on Tuesday, when he
visited the national headquarters of the ruling Peoples
Democratic Party.
He was at the party’s headquarters where he had a meeting
with the members of its National Working Committee behind
closed doors.
It was learnt that the meeting centred on the party’s
presidential campaign in the North-West, where Lamido is the
coordinator.
At the end of the meeting, Lamido was asked by journalists
whether he agreed with his Kano State counterpart, Rabiu
Kwankwanso, who described him(Lamido) as a betrayer.
The Kano State governor said the Jigawa State governor
betrayed his fellow governors in six other states who were
aggrieved while in the PDP.
Apart from the two governors, others who were aggrieved in
the PDP then were the governors of Rivers (Rotimi Amaechi),
Kwara (Abdulfatah Ahmed), Niger (Babangida Aliyu), Sokoto
(Aliyu Wamakko) and the then Governor of Adamawa State,
Murtala Nyako.
However, all the other governors except Lamido and Aliyu had
moved to the APC.
Kwankwaso said he expected Lamido to join them and said
without defecting with them, the Jigawa State governor
remains a betrayer.
Lamido said he would not join issues with his Kano State
counterpart, but said that he refused to defect because of
national interest.
He said, “I am a betrayer. I betrayed them. I did. Yes. I am
aligning myself to what he said. Go and find out from him.
But I’m a betrayer in national interest.”
It was rumoured then that Lamido was planning to join the
presidential race and was said to have been establishing
contact in furtherance of this.
However, the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission’s
arrest of two of his sons for alleged corruption was said to
have made Lamido back down on his ambition.
Nevertheless, Lamido said he and some governors who
defected to the APC remain friends.
He specifically mentioned Amaechi, who he described as his
mutual friend.
source: http://www.punchng.com/news/im-a-betrayer-lamido/

The wave of political rivalry in the overheated polity has
assumed a new dimension. Thugs marauding under one
political party or the other have taken advantage of the just
postponed presidential election to unleash mayhem on political
opponents and innocent citizens.
While residents of Ajegunle are still smarting from the
attack, killings and broad daylight robbery last week by
thugs of political opposing parties, a report has reached
Daily Times offices confirming that the peace of the people
of Ipaja Ayobo area of Lagos State on Friday was
shattered as political thugs attacked All Progressive
Congress members pasting posters of their governorship
candidate in the community.
No fewer than 10 persons escaped with various degrees of
injuries while 20 vehicles were vandalized. Daily Tim[es
correspondent reported that even those who returning from
rally were not spared of the attack.
An eye witness in the area told our correspondent the
victim was pasting posters of his party governorship
candidate in the community when thugs numbering about five
came out and pounced on him.
One of the victims who was identified as Disu Babatunde,
alias Paparazzi, spoke with our correspondent on his
hospital bed. “My colleagues and I were pasting posters at
about 6 p.m. on Friday at Olude Compound, along Ipaja
Ayobo road, when the thugs came out and asked me to
stop. I asked why, and they said where we were pasting
our posters fell in the base of their party, the People’s
Democratic Party, PDP.
“An argument then ensued between us, before I knew what
was happening they had pounced on us and beat us
mercilessly; they also stabbed me on my shoulder and
hands, but I was able to escape with some of our party
members from the scene.”
Babatunde said some sympathizers who saw him writing in
pains took him to the home of one of their party leaders
who took him to the hospital where he was admitted.
“When they were beating me, one of them told me that
they have been monitoring our activities in the community,
and now they must deal with us, and they did.”
Though the matter has been reported at Ipaja Police
Station, Babatunde also wants the Lagos State
Commissioner of Police, Mr. Kayode Aderanti to come to
their rescue in Ipaja Ayobo, and Alimosho as a whole.
“We are tired of this political harassments,” he lamented.
Another victim who sustained deep cuts and a broken rib,
Alhaja Risikat Makanjuola told our correspondent that it
was God who spared his life, otherwise by now, he would
have been killed by the thugs.
“My party supporters and I went to Ikotun area to
campaign for our party candidates; when we got to a
place called Boys Town in the community on our way back
to Ipaja-Ayobo, some boys blocked our convoy with their
motorcycles and started threatening us with dangerous
weapons and charms.
“We tried to make a u-turn, but because we were going
on a convoy, the traffic was much, but as God would help
us, we saw a police van coming towards us, but the
presence of the policemen did not scare those thugs.
“Before we knew what was happening they had started
shooting sporadically towards our vehicle, destroying our
campaign bus and some other private cars that were on
the campaign convoy.”
She said further that about ten of her supporter’s
sustained injuries and their vehicles vandalized, “We cannot
sleep with our eyes closed again due to the threat from
these thugs.
When the Lagos State Police Public Relations Officer
(PPRO), Mr. Kenneth Nwosu was contacted for
confirmation his phone rang without respond.
source: www.dailytimes.com.ng/article/political-thugs-go-wild-lagos-ten-seriously-injured-20-vehicles-vandalized

The Government of Bayelsa State has fixed Saturday for the
burial of the Peoples Democratic Party Women Leaders, who died
in an auto crash along the East-West Road in Rivers State
last week.
The News Agency of Nigeria reports that the
burial arrangement was announced by the Bayelsa State
Government after a closed-door meeting with families of the
victims.
NAN learnt from the Federal Road Safety Commission that
nine of the 11 accident victims were burnt beyond recognition, a
development that compelled the government to take the option of
a mass burial.
The government said a service of songs would hold at the
Bayelsa Cultural Centre along Hospital Road in Yenagoa.
A family source, Cherish Itesi, told NAN that state Governor,
Seriake Dickson, had directed the Deputy Governor, John Jonah,
to meet with the families over the funeral arrangements.
Itesi said the burial venue would be at Ijaw Hero’s Park in
Yenagoa after the Service of Songs at the Bayelsa Cultural
Centre.
He said those expected to attend would include Dickson, Jonah,
members of the State Executive Council, the legislature, party
members, family members and well wishers.
Itesi said the affected families would organise burial ceremonies
for the victims in accordance with the Ijaw tradition after the
burial by the state government.

The Chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission,
Prof Attahiru Jega, on Wednesday, reiterated his preparedness
to conduct the general elections as scheduled but maintained that
only the military could guarantee the sanctity of the March 28
and April 11 dates. Jega, who appeared before the Senate to
explain the level of INEC’s preparedness for the elections,
however, stunned many of the lawmakers when he revealed that
one million Permanent Voter Cards had yet to be received by
the commission from the manufacturers.
The Senators had thoroughly grilled him after he made about
three-hour presentation and demonstrated how the card readers
work.
Responding to a question by the Minority Leader, Senator George
Akume, to give a clear assurance on the dates, Jega replied,
“I think it is a very difficult question to answer.
“I have said consistently that there are things under the control
of electoral commission and there are things that are not under
the control of electoral commission. For things that are under
our control, I can give definite and categorical assurances.
“On what is not under our control, it is futile, it is fruitless
and useless to give a definite guarantee on them. I think that
question should be directed appropriately. The questions of
security, I will leave it, I don’t think I am competent to
answer it sufficiently.”
Asked how he would respond if the security agencies requested
a further delay, Jega said doing so would be illegal.
He then made reference to a constitutional provision that
requires elections to be concluded at least 30 days before May
29, when a new government must be sworn in.
“Every Nigerian knows we want elections to hold… within a
constitutional time frame. The security agencies are (made up of)
patriotic Nigerians. Let’s give them the benefit of the doubt,” he
told the senators.
He added, “We should be fair also to the military. Soldiers are
also patriotic Nigerians. I don’t see how anybody will contemplate
any extension beyond these six weeks.
“There is no constitutional grounds upon which you can do that.
For us, we work by the constitution, by the law . That is
what is guiding us and we should all put the interest of the
nation at heart.
“The human factor is always significant, it is always important
but we believe that working together with security and other
stakeholders, we should be able to prevent negative human
intervention that can create problems.
“I kept saying consistently that INEC is not a security
organisation. We are an election management body; so we rely
a lot on security to be able to ensure that things are done
well and that there is no disruption of the electoral process.
“We have been working very closely with the inter agencies
consultative committee on election security and that is why for
us, if the service chiefs say that we can’t guarantee security,
give us more time, what is the alternative security
arrangements ?
“If we consulted with the stakeholders and we cannot find an
answer, what happens? We are going to use close to 700,
000 ad hoc staff. We can’t send people to the field in that
kind of a situation.
“Our prayer is that in the next six weeks, there will be
significant improvement in the security situation for us to hold
the elections all over this country in a very secure environment.
“There are certain questions that we are not really competent to
answer. Certain questions should be directed to the military; they
can answer them better.”
The INEC boss expressed confidence in the effectiveness of the
card readers, stressing that their use for accreditation during the
elections would not contravene any provision either in the electoral
act or in the constitution.
He also said that anyone who clones and tries to prevent the
use of the card readers would be treated as a criminal.
Jega said, “We have done the functionality and durability tests
on the card readers with a local partner, with their technical
partner in Texas in the United States. There were 13 specific
tests that were done about their functionality, durability and
versatility. The card readers passed all the tests.
“We have done some few tests and the result we have is about
90 per cent successful. We feel comfortable that the card
readers can be used. They will add value to the electoral
process.
“It cannot be 100 per cent perfect. It may not be able to read
every finger and that is why we agree with political parties. We
bought 182, 000 card readers. Some of them did not work.
“Of the total number of card readers that we ordered and
configured, only 503 had failed to work. That is 0.03 per
cent of the total. The agreement is that if a card reader fails
during accreditation, then, we will try and repair it within the
time of accreditation which is between 8am and 1pm.
“If a card reader fails around 10am , before 1pm, we will do
everything possible to replace it but if we are unable to do so,
the time lost will be added to the accreditation period and
extended.”
On the high rate of PVC collection in three states under
emergency rule in the North-East, Jega wondered why Nigerians
were heaping the blame on INEC.
He said, “Why should anyone blame INEC for that? There is
a need for us to have clarity on this matter. In Yobe State,
only two local government areas are under emergency rule and
the state is among the second phase in the distribution of the
PVCs.
“In the state and about 11 others, we distributed cards as far
back as July 2014. So if the rate of collection is very high, I
don’t see why that should be seen as a problem. In Adamawa
State, only four LGAs are inaccessible and we deviced a system
where PVCs were distributed to Internally Displaced Persons.
“So, as many as had been displaced but who had registered
have been able to collect their cards. But when you look at the
way newspapers do their analysis, they tend to project it as if
there is regional slant in the distribution of the cards.
“When we designed the distribution of cards, we did it in such
a manner that we took two states each from each geo –
political zone to make a phase and we did it in three phases
just to avoid being accused of having regional slant in the
distribution of the PVCs.
“It will be wrong to assume that Yobe State or any other
state has higher rate of collection. If people come out to collect
and others did not , why should INEC be blamed for that.
Jega, who said there was no case in court that was capable
of preventing INEC from holding the elections as scheduled,
added, ‘‘As I speak to you, 800,000 to one million cards are
yet to be produced.’’
He however gave assurance that the PVCs would be produced
and delivered to their owners before the days of the elections.
The INEC boss described the purchase of PVCs by some
people, especially politicians, as a criminal offence .
He said, “If we have information on criminal purchase or
cloning of the cards, we will invite the security to investigate.
People can clone our cards but if they are not issued by
INEC, then they would not be read by our own card readers.
“The PVC carries the information of the voter which is in our
database. We refrain from using the card readers for voting
because the constitution is against it. We have cases where
corps members were forced to alter accreditation figure but now
if the number of the votes cast is different from the number
accredited, the entire result of the polling units will be cancelled.
Jega said that if security would be guaranteed in IDPs’ camps,
INEC could make arrangements to take care of them.
He said, “There is an online system where people can find out
details of their registration. Ghana used card readers and it was
relatively successful. Likelihood of card reader’s failure is very
remote.
“Its usage will not violate either the electoral act or the
constitution. There is difference between voting and voting
process. We are well advised we are on solid legal standing on
the issue.”
He added that INEC did not ask for card reader usage in the
Electoral Act because it was not necessary since the existing
law guarantees the arrangement.
He said the PVCs would be permanent because it could last
for 10 years, adding that “by 2019 we hope that the National
Identity Card project would have materialised so that INEC
could draw out the data of people of voter age from the NIMC
database.”
Jega added, “Whereas section 52 of the Electoral Act prohibits
the use of electronic voting, the card reader is not a voting
machine and it is not used for voting, it is merely an electronic
device introduced to improve the integrity of the voting; process.
“It should be remembered that sections 78 and 118 of the 1999
constitution grant INEC powers to register voters and to
conduct elections in Nigeria. Using the card reader has enormous
advantages; first, once it is configured, it can only read PVC
issued by INEC at the polling unit that it has been configured.
Second, it reads the embedded chip card not the back code.
“Third it enables authentication of the identity of the voter by
matching his or her fingerprint with the code on the chip of the
card. Four, it keeps a tally of all cards read and all cards
verified or authenticated with all their details, including the time
when this was done.”
The demonstration of the card readers on the floor of the
Senate was commended by Senators Bukola Saraki and Ita
Enang, who said the development had shown that INEC was
fully prepared for the polls.
Senate President, David Mark, in his closing remarks said the
Senate had confidence in the ability of the electoral umpire to
conduct free, fair and credible elections.
He, however, urged the management of the commission to feel
free to contact the leadership of the National Assembly for any
assistance that would make the elections a huge success.
source: http://www.punchng.com/news/jega-i-cant-guarantee-pollsll-hold-on-march-28/

The Labour Party candidate for the Ogun West Senatorial
District in the forthcoming National Assembly election, Mr.
Solomon Olamilekan, died on Wednesday morning.
Details of the death is scanty but it was learnt that Olamilekan
died in an unnamed private hospital on Wednesday, where he
was rushed to after complaining of a problem with his neck.
source: http://www.punchng.com/news/ogun-lp-senatorial-candidate-olamilekan-dies/

The All Progressives Congress on Tuesday demanded the
immediate prosecution of all those involved in what it called the
subversion of democracy during the Ekiti State Governorship
elections.
This was contained in a statement issued at the end of the
First Joint Leadership Meeting of the APC held at Shehu Musa
Yar’adua Centre, Abuja.
The statement, which was made public by the party’s National
Publicity Secretary, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, resolved, among other
things, to declare that it would not tolerate any further shift of
the election date from March 28 and April 11.
It partly read, “(the meeting resolved to demand the) Immediate
and necessary disciplinary action for all individuals that were
involved in the subversion of democracy in the June 21 Ekiti
Governorship Election as revealed by the audio file released by
Sahara Reporters.
“They include: (a)Brigadier General Aliyu Momoh who should be
immediately investigated by the Military authorities.
“(b) The Hon. Minister of Police Affairs, Alhaji Jelili Adesiyan
who should immediately be relieved of his ministerial appointment.
“(c) The former minister of state for Defence Affairs, Senator
Musliu Obanikoro whose name has just been sent to the Senate
for confirmation again as a minister. He must not be confirmed
by the Senate and must be barred henceforth from holding any
public office.”
It also said, in line with the Court of Appeal’s decision on
Monday that upheld an earlier judgment of the Sokoto Federal
High Court that ruled as illegal, the participation of the military
in the electoral process, the military should be kept away from
election duties henceforth.
The party leaders also said, “The reschedule election dates of the
March 28 and April 11 remain sacrosanct as the party will not
tolerate any further shift.
“The use of the card reader for the election is non-negotiable,
as contrary to the misinformation being disseminated that the use
of card reader is not synonymous with electronic voting.”
source: www.punchng.com/news/leaked-audio-apc-demands-prosecution-of-obanikoro-others/

Reno sacked and another Radio Reno appointed!!!!

Muhammadu Buhari – @ ThisIsNotBuhari