The Pacesetter Frontier Magazine

Tag: Anambra state election

  • INEC, Police declares readiness for Nov 6 Anambra Election

    INEC, Police declares readiness for Nov 6 Anambra Election

    IN SPITE of security challenges, the Police and the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, yesterday, declared their readiness for the November 6, 2021 Anambra State Governorship election, with the Inspector General of Police, Usman Alkali Baba saying that the Police will deploy 34,587 officers, special forces and three helicopters for the poll.

     

    The assurance from the electoral umpire and the police came as the Supreme Court cleared the coast for former Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria, CBN, Professor Chukwuma Soludo, to contest the election as the candidate of the All Progressive Grand Alliance, APGA.

     

    The apex court verdict threw supporters of APGA into celebration, across the country, yesterday.

     

     

    Police to deploy 34, 587 officers, special forces, 3 helicopters

     

    Towards ensuring a peaceful, free, and fair conduct of elections in Anambra State, IGP Usman Alkali Baba said 34, 587 police personnel, three helicopters, and Special Forces will be deployed to the state.

     

     

    Speaking at a meeting with Deputy Inspectors General of Police, Assistant Inspectors General of Police and Command Commissioners of Police in Abuja, he noted that based on an Election Security Threat Analysis conducted by the Force Intelligence Bureau, Force headquarters has developed a “Strategic Election Security Operation Order which will involve the mobilization and deployment of a total of 34,587 police personnel.”

     

    He continued: “This will comprise of conventional police officers, Police Mobile Force (PMF), Counter Terrorism Unit (CTU), Special Forces personnel, Explosives Ordinance Unit (EOD), Force Intelligence Bureau (FIB), INTERPOL, Special Protection Unit (SPU) as well as Police Medical Teams.

     

     

     

    “We will also be deploying three (3) Police helicopters for aerial surveillance as well as detachments of Marine Police Operatives, specially trained Force Animals, and our unique Technical Intelligence capability towards guaranteeing a safe, secure, and credible electoral process in the State.

     

    “Drawing on our previous election security operations, we have also emplaced adequate forward and reverse logistics arrangements for a seamless police operation and have also made requisite arrangements to address the welfare needs of all personnel being deployed for the operation.

     

     

     

    “In assuring law-abiding citizens and stakeholders of their safety during the election, let me warn subversive elements who are bent on employing violence to attempt to threaten our democratic values, as well as any political actors who may want to adopt undemocratic and illegal means to achieve their aspirations to bury such thoughts now or be prepared to face the consequences, as they will be identified, isolated and made to face the wrath of the law no matter how highly or lowly placed they may be,” he said.

     

    Anambra guber: We’re ready for improved poll —INEC

     

     

     

    On its part, the INEC said it is ready to conduct a near-perfect governorship election in Anambra.

     

    Professor Yakubu Mahmood, Chairman of INEC, said this at a Workshop for Journalists on Election Processes and Procedures in Awka, on Thursday.

     

    Mahmood, who was represented by Mr Victor Aluko, Director of Publicity in the Commission said the November 6 election would enjoy the deployment of modern technology which would make it more improved than all previous exercises.

     

    He said the entire process from registration to transmission of results would be fully automated including the use of bimodal, which took care of unimodal identification processes which only verified voters by fingerprints.

     

    The chairman said there were a total of 2,525,471 registered voters in the state after an additional 77,471 generated during the just-concluded Continuous Voter Registration exercise.

     

    He urged journalists to help the Commission disseminate the right information as they were crucial to the success of the election process, noting that sending the wrong information could inflame society.

     

    On his part, Mr Chuwkuemeka Nnaji, Head of Department, ICT, INEC Awka Office said the Commission improved on its system using an indigenous team of engineers.

     

    Nnaji said the process was such that human interference was greatly reduced and that data uploaded online would be highly secured from cyber attacks and hackers.

     

    He said the prospective voter would be identified by various fractures including their faces and that nobody would be able to vote twice as the registration had been cleaned up.

     

    According to him, the Commission’s desire of having credible elections is sacrosanct, technology deployment has proven to be an effective tool in achieving the set objectives.

     

    “They need to have one-person-one-vote is what has necessitated the deployment of a Bimodal Voter Authentication System (BVAS);

     

    “The need to ensure the credibility and openness of the Commission has necessitated the deployment of the IReV Portal, so we ask for the cooperation of all to enable the Commission to meet its set objectives,” he said.

     

    In his opening remark, Dr Nwachukwu Orji, Resident Electoral Commissioner in Anambra said the workshop was to update journalists with the progress made ahead of the election.

     

    Orji, who was represented by Mr Samuel Nimem, Head of Voter Education and Publicity in Awka, urged the media to report facts and not engage in interpreting what they did not understand.

     

    He said the Commission was available to journalists who wished to get clarifications while urging them to endeavour to get accreditation for coverage of the election proper.

     

    Supreme court clears coast for Soludo

     

    The apex court, in a unanimous decision by a five-man panel of Justices, voided the judgement of a Jigawa State High Court, which made a consequential order that sacked the Chief Victor Oye-led National Working Committee, NWC, of APGA, and recognized Chief Jude Okeke as the Acting National Chairman of the party.

     

    Justice Musa Ubale of the Jigawa State High Court had in the judgement he delivered on June 30, in suit No. JDU/022/2021, ordered the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, to only recognize the Okeke-led faction of the party which conducted a parallel primary election that produced Chief Chukwuma Umeoji as APGA’s candidate for the impending governorship poll.

     

    The high court judgement was however voided on August 10 by the Kano Division of the Court of Appeal, which reinstated the Chief Oye-led NWC of the party that organised the primary election that produced Soludo.

     

    The appellate court, in a unanimous decision by a three-man panel of Justices led by Justice Haruna Tsammani, maintained that the Jigawa state high court lacked the territorial jurisdiction to entertain a matter relating to the leadership of a political party.

     

    It, therefore, voided the consequential order that was issued against APGA leadership under Oye.

     

    Dissatisfied with the verdict, Okeke, who was previously the Deputy National Chairman (South) of APGA, took the matter before the Supreme Court, where he lost on Thursday.

     

    Okeke had in processes he filed before the apex court, insisted that he was duly appointed by the National Executive Committee, NEC, of APGA, to act as National Chairman, pending when the party would hold its convention.

     

    However, the apex court panel led by Justice Mary Odili, in their judgement, held that two separate appeals marked SC/CV/650/2021 and SC/CV/687/2021, which were filed by Okeke, lacked merit.

     

    The panel noted that both appeals bordered on who should be recognized as Acting National Chairman of APGA, as well as, whether Oye was validly removed as National Chairman of the party.

     

    It held that the Deputy National Chairman of the party (North), Alhaji Rabiu Aliyu, who filed the substantive suit at the Jigawa state high court that led to the judgement in favour of Okeke, engaged in “forum shopping”.

     

    The apex court held that Aliyu’s action amounted to gross abuse of the judicial process.

     

    While affirming the judgement of the Court of Appeal, the Supreme Court, held that the high court in Jigawa state should not have entertained a matter that was clearly outside its territorial jurisdiction, stressing that issues in dispute in the case occurred in Awka and Owerri.

     

    More so, the apex court held that the subject matter of the suit was not justiciable, being an internal affair of a political party.

     

    Justice Odili, who read the lead judgement held that the Supreme Court, having resolved issue six in the appeal marked SC/CV/687/2021, against the Appellant, “the entire foundation of the case collapses”.

     

    She, therefore, dismissed the two appeals and awarded a cost of N1million in favour of the 1st and 2nd Respondents (APGA and Chief Oye).

     

    Jubilation greets Supreme Court ruling in Anambra

     

    There was jubilation in various parts of Anambra State yesterday after the news filtered in that the Supreme Court had ruled that Chief Victor Oye is the authentic national chairman of APGA, and therefore had the authority to nominate the governorship candidate of the party for the forthcoming poll.

     

    Shortly after the news of the judgement of the Supreme Court filtered into the state, many people drove round the streets to express joy that the governorship candidate of APGA, Professor Chukwuma Soludo had overcome all the obstacles on his way as the flag bearer of the party ahead of the November 6 election.

     

    With the judgement, Oye has the right to submit the name of the APGA candidate in the election to the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC).

     

    Commissioner for Information and Public Enlightenment, Mr. C. Don Adinuba, who is the director of media for the APGA campaign organization said Oye’s submission of the name of Soludo to INEC as the APGA candidate in the forthcoming election was, therefore, in accordance with the extant laws of the land.

     

    Adinuba said: “The Supreme Court has, once again, demonstrated that the Nigerian judiciary is a temple of justice. It does not just give judgements, but also dispenses justice.”

     

    APGA hails Supreme Court verdict

     

    The APGA, yesterday, commended the judiciary for their doggedness in defending the cause of democracy against those whose activities are inimical to national development and ethos.

     

    National Chairman of the party, Dr. Victor Ike Oye, in a statement entitled, “Thank you all”, called on APGA members all over the country to continue to work together for the growth and development of the party.

     

    He said: “Today the Supreme Court of Nigeria reaffirmed the leadership of APGA under me by unanimously dismissing the twin-suit filed by one Jude Okeke and his cohorts.

     

    “We thank God for his mercifulness and compassion and for seeing us through the intense legal battles. By this victory we have been called to greater service to our great party.

     

    “The November 6, 2021 Anambra State Governorship Election is drawing closer and this places an additional responsibility on us collectively and individually as members of the party.

     

    “We must guard our loins and take up the gauntlet for the task ahead by ensuring that nothing distracts us as we work for victory in the Anambra State Governorship election.

     

    “We use this opportunity to call on all of us to reach out to our members all over the country about the need to continue to work together for the growth and development of our party. We need everybody on board as we work to reposition our party for 2021 and 2023.

     

    “We thank the judiciary for their doggedness in defending the cause of democracy and shutting out those whose activities are inimical to national development and ethos.”

     

    Supreme court confirmation of Soludo brightens APGA chances – Abia leader

     

    Leader of the All Progressive Grand Alliance APGA in Abia State, and member representing Aba South in the state House of Assembly, Hon. Obinna Ichita, hailed the Supreme Court judgement, saying the judgement will brighten the party’s chances at the poll.

     

    Hon. Ichita who was addressing newsmen after assuming the role of Leader of APGA in Abia, said the judgement had once again confirmed the judiciary as the last hope of the common man.

     

    The lawmaker who predicted a landslide for APGA at the forthcoming Anambra election described Solu do as the man with the economic blueprint to consolidate the foundation and legacies of APGA-led administration in the state.

     

     

     

     

     

    Source: www.vanguardngr.com

  • It is the turn of Anambra South to produce the next Governor of the state-Oseloka Obaze

    Oseloka Obaze

     

     

    In Nigerian politics, oftentimes expediency trumps morality. Honour is also a scarce commodity. Sadly, this norm has gained toehold. As the 6 November 2021 Anambra State Governorship election approach, the issue of zoning is now front and centre and fraught with controversy for most parties. This is more so for my party, PDP. It should not be, for anyone who expects a modicum of morality in politics.

    At issue, is whether it is the turn of Anambra South senatorial zone to produce the next Governor; that is after Anambra North senatorial zone would have governed for eight years – 2014 to 2022 and Anambra Central senatorial zone for eight years,before that. Without any ambiguity, my position is that we should let Anambra South be and enjoy their turn in 2022.I am from Anambra North. In 2013 and again in 2017, I campaigned for the governorship of Anambra State to go North. I did so while in APGA and later, in PDP. To avoid any ambiguity, in 2013, I wrote an op-ed piece, titled, “Understating Why Anambra Has to Go North.” In 2017, as the PDP candidate, I campaigned on the premise that I will only serve one four-year term, if elected and allow the position to revert to the South. That position was implicit in the understanding/agreement that power will shift to the South in 2022. Those who now conveniently repudiate that understandingare being clever by half.

    Yet, the fact remains that while as the PDP 2017 candidate, I got some support from the Anambra South, a majority of the Anambra South power brokers and moneybags did not support my candidacy. Their rationale; simply, they could not contemplate honour in politics and therefore, did not believe that I would honour my four-year service commitment once elected. They were totally wrong and Anambra State is worse off for it.

    I did not win the hard fought 2017 gubernatorial elections despite picking Lady Chidi Onyemelukwe, a female from the South as my running mate: and despite her political pedigree. Still, that fact does not negate my principled position and my commitment to honour that implicit –and to some explicit -rotational understanding, which explains why I am not running for Anambra State Governor in 2021. My decision not to run, mirrors that of Senator Ben Bruce in 2018, not to run for another senate term in order to respect extant rotation and “as a man of honour interested in the well being of my people,” or in my case, my State.

    That I’m not running in 2021 does not mean that some qualified aspirants from Anambra Central and North will not run. It’s their call. It’s a matter of personal choices and values. We cannot chastise them for running, since they will point correctly to several aspirants from the Anambra South running when it was the turn of Central and South.

    Those who argue that the three Anambra Senatorial zones have respectively had their turn of governorship and that the process should be thrown open, also have a valid argument. That point of view is further buttressed, by the fact that when it was the turn of the North, some aspirants from the South and Central zones also ran. These views are in tandem with my broad position that political zoning in any form is meant to ensure equity. Once equity is achieved, the premise ought to shift to purposeful leadership and the capacity to lead and deliver good governance. The forgoing point has been eloquently buttressed by someone; “Zoning is a desirable tool that when followed carefully can successfully address political imbalances, until a country (or State) matures democratically to the point that such things are no longer needed.”

    Nonetheless, the present debate is made possible, especially within the PDP; because the Party did not take a firm position on zoning in Anambra State. Yet for those of us from the SouthEast geopolitical zone, it would be near dubious to be fighting for zoning of the Nigerian Presidency to the South East zone, while repudiating intra-state zoning, when it comes to the governorship.

    I don’t argue glibly against superior logic. And on this zoning issue, superior logic exists on both sides. Consider this observation: “Coming from Anambra State, I cared very little if all our successive governors came from one town. I am more interested that we receive good governance, and that should be the standard in most states, especially tribally homogeneous states. Once this last cycle is completed, it would be in the interest of all political parties to open up their nomination process to the whole state and allow the best candidate to emerge. Or these parties risk putting themselves at a disadvantage, especially in states that share the same tribe, culture, religion, and so forth as is the case in most Igboland.”

    While morality in politics, most times, seems more of an aberration, it ought not to be so. My position is ably guided by a sense of honour and by the fact that I should not repudiate a position I took voluntarily and publicly, just for the sake of convenience. My children, their peers and the many young people I mentor would never understand nor accept such volte-face. And what they think of me and my generation is important to me.

    Concluding this piece for me is easy. I will use the exact words, which I used in 2013, when canvassing for Anambra North to be given a chance, to wit: What indeed we look for in a leader for Anambra, is someone who will take the state from good to great. Their zonal origin, pedigree and political sophistication ought not to be an issue. Anambra South can boast of a few of such good men and women. Anambra South and their choice must be given the opportunity to tender their provenance.

     

    Obaze was the Anambra State PDP governorship candidate in 2017.