Sigh! Police Panel Recovers N111m Bribe From INEC Officials Over Rivers Re-Run (Photo)

The Nigeria Police Force said it recovered more than N111 million  from electoral officials alleged to have been bribed by Rivers state government to rig the December 10, 2016 legislative rerun elections in the state, The Punch reports.

An investigative panel set up by the Inspector-General of Police which presented its report in Abuja today said the money was recovered from 23 suspects allegedly bribed to rig the polls.

The chairman of the panel, DCP Damian Okoro disclosed that,” the sum total of N111.3 million was recovered from 23 electoral officials out of N360m.

He said that some got N15 million each while three senior electoral officers got N20 million each.

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Ondo Election: Why We Named Jimoh Ibrahim PDP Candidate – INEC

 top INEC official in Ondo State has revealed why the electoral body controversially dropped Eyitayo Jegede of the Ahmed Makarfi-led faction for Jimoh Ibrahim of the Ali Modu Sheriff camp in the PDP.

Jimoh Ibrahim

 

The Independent National Electoral Commission on Thursday evening, stunned Governor Olusegun Mimiko of the People's Democratic Party, PDP, by dropping Eyitayo Jegede - the gubernatorial candidate of the party for another factional candidate, Jimoh Ibrahim.

 

It would be recalled that PDP has overtime being polarized with two factions namely; Ahmed Makarfi-led group and that of Ali Modu-Sheriff laying claim to the leadership of the main opposition party in Nigeria.

Mr. Ibrahim’s name was posted on an INEC notice board in Akure as well as on the commission’s website. This implies that until a superior court gives a contrary judgment, Eyitayo Jegede, the candidate of the Ahmed Makarfi-led faction of the PDP will not be accepted as the party’s candidate.

A court order from an the Ondo State High Court on Wednesday, restrained INEC from recognizing Mr. Ibrahim as the candidate of the PDP pending the determination of the substantive suit before the court.

The Ondo State Resident Electoral Commissioner, Olusegun Agbaje, however, told Premium Times on Thursday night that Mr. Ibrahim was approved as candidate based on an order from the Federal High Court in Abuja presided over by Justice Okon Abang.

Mr. Abang had on October 14 declared Mr. Ibrahim the true candidate of the PDP. On Thursday, Mr. Abang rejected a plea by Mr. Jegede seeking to be allowed to appeal the October 14 court judgement.

It is based on these two court rulings that INEC approved Mr. Ibrahim as the PDP candidate.

“We received a court order from the High Court in Akure and that was yesterday(Wednesday), but there was a subsisting one by Justice Abang today(Thursday), that is what happened,” Mr. Agbaje said.

Asked if another court order can upturn the situation, Mr. Agbaje said INEC would have no choice but to drop Mr. Ibrahim if another superior order comes in favour of Mr. Jegede.

“That is why we put in front of the name ‘court order,’ to show that the name was picked as a result of an order of the court,” he said.

“The situation will continue that way until the matter is decided by the Supreme Court if the parties choose to proceed to the apex court.”

The commissioner said the politicians had brought themselves into a tight corner, noting that instead of going to the Court of Appeal, they were jumping from one high court to the other.

“Now they have to go on appeal at a higher court,” he said. “They are the ones undoing themselves and like I said, we do not have any candidate. We will only abide by the laws guiding the process.”

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Ondo Election: INEC Shocks Gov. Mimiko by Dropping Jegede for Jimoh Ibrahim

Governor Mimiko has stunned by the decision of INEC to drop his candidate, Eyitayo Jegede for Nigerian billionaire, Jimoh Ibrahim.

 

The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) on Thursday evening, shocked Governor Olusegun Mimiko of Ondo State by listing Jimoh Ibrahim as the governorship candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in the November 26, 2016 election in the state.

The choice of the controversial businessman over Mr. Mimiko's choice, Eyitayo Jegede, reportedly came as a shock to the governor’s camp, an aide close to Mr. Mimiko told a correspondent of SaharaReporters.

Mr. Mimiko belongs to the Senator Ahmed Makarfi-led faction of the party. The faction held a primary and adopted Mr. Jegede as its governorship.

However, Mr. Ibrahim, who belongs to a faction of the party led by former Senator Ali Modu Sheriff, emerged the governorship choice of his group.

Both camps had obtained conflicting court orders and judgments declaring their candidate as the PDP’s legitimate candidate. Each faction had served court orders on INEC in a bid to have their governorship candidate listed as the official flag bearer in electoral documents.

A source at INEC told a correspondent this evening that electoral officials decided to pick Mr. Ibrahim as the PDP’s official candidate following a long meeting and what the source described as “sound legal advice from our [INEC] lawyers.”

Rotimi Akeredolu remains the candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC), while Olusola Oke, who defected from the APC after its rancorous primary, has emerged as the candidate of the Alliance for Democracy (AD).

 

See the final official list of gubernatorial candidates in Ondo below:

 

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Jega’s Remarks On Politicians & Elections

He hardly speaks about them or do we say he tries to avoid questions around them? But at the weekend in a in a lecture to mark the 50th birthday celebration of All Progressives Congress (APC) Legal Adviser Muiz Banire (SAN), the former Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) chairman Prof. Attahiru Jega  condemned the desperation by politicians to win elections at all costs.

He said the commission’s greatest challenge was containing “the disposition and reckless mindset of Nigerian politicians.” Speaking on “Challenges and Prospects of sustainable credible elections in Nigeria”, Jega said:

“I quite often say that Nigeria has a special breed of politicians (‘militicians’). They generally tend to believe that political power through elections has to be ‘captured’, and this has to be done by hook or by crook and by any means necessary. Continue...

“For many of them, winning election is, literally a ‘do-or-die’ affair. That is why the Nigerian political/electoral arena increasingly resemble a bloody battlefield, with maiming, killing, burning, assassinations and unimaginable destruction of lives and property.

“Navigating the ‘minefield’ of ‘do-or-die’ politicians as an impartial electoral umpire required nerves of steel and requisite thick skin, as well as appropriate containment strategies.”

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INEC distributes 1.2m PVCs In Ondo

The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) in Ondo State yesterday said it had distributed a total of 1,201,073 Permanent Voter Cards (PVCs) to registered voters. Its Resident Electoral Commissioner (REC), Mr. Olusegun Agbaje, said this at a stakeholders’ meeting in Akure.

He added that 344,006 PVCs were yet to be collected and urged those yet to collect theirs to do so before the end of distribution.

“It is important to stress at this juncture that only the PVCs would be used to vote during the governorship poll, while the smart card readers would be used for accreditation of voters,’’ Agbaje said.

He added that selling of PVCs or manipulation of the card was a grievous offence punishable under the law with fines and/or prison term.

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BREAKING News: INEC Releases Official Statement on Saturday's Edo State Guber Election

INEC has disclosed that it had reached not less than 97% level of preparation for the conduct of Saturday's gubernatorial election in Edo State, stating that there's no going back despite security warning.

 

In a disclosure made on its Twitter page, the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has explained why it is brushing aside security advisory from the Nigerian Police and the Department of State Security Service (DSS), to continue with Saturday’s Edo governorship election.

 

Below is INEC's official statement regarding Saturday's election in Edo state;

 

INEC TO GO AHEAD WITH CONDUCT OF EDO GOVERNORSHIP ELECTION

 

After carefully weighing all the consequences and parameters of postponing the EDO governorship election as advised yesterday by spokespersons of the Police and Directorate of State Security (DSS), the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has decided to go ahead with the conduct of the election as scheduled for Saturday, 10th September 2016.

 

Addressing press men at the Edo State office of the Commission this afternoon, the National Commissioner in charge of Voter Education and Publicity Committee of INEC, Prince Solomon Adedeji Soyebi, who expressed the determination of the Commission to go ahead with the election disclosed that as at yesterday, the Commission had reached not less than ninety seven per cent level of preparation for the conduct of the election.

 

Except the actual conduct of the election, he explained that the Commission had scrupulously implemented all the items listed in the Timetable And Schedule of Activities for the EDO governorship election which it issued in March this year.

 

Prince Soyebi stressed that the Commission would not be teleguided and that it would not do anything that would mortgage Nigeria’s democracy.

 

He further emphasized that the Commission robustly considered the implications of demobilizing and arrived at the fact that it was more expensive to do so

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