INEC Awards processing of election materials to APC’s Aisha Binani’s printing press – Defend action

The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has defended the choice of Binani Printing Press Limited, purportedly owned by Aishatu Dahiru Ahmed Binani, the All Progressives Congress (APC) candidate for governor of Adamawa State, to print sensitive election materials.

The commission stated Tuesday that Binani Printing Press Ltd was one of the security printing businesses that sought to print security papers for the commission. The commission noted that all of its procurement activities go through transparent competitive bidding.

She is stated to be the owner of Binani Printing Press Ltd in the report.

In a statement released by the commission yesterday in Abuja and signed by the national commissioner and chairman of the information and voter education Committee, Festus Okoye, it was stated that the commission uses open competitive bidding for all of its procurements and that one of the security printing firms that applied to print security documents for the commission was Binani Printing Press Limited.

Aishatu Dahiru Ahmed, popularly known as Binani, is a senator from Nigeria serving as the All Progressives Congress’s (9th Assembly) representative for the Adamawa Central senatorial district.

Okoye stated that the Corporate Affairs Commission (CAC) was satisfied that the company is a qualified printer with the necessary technical ability, security consciousness, and skill in printing security papers after reviewing the company’s facilities and performing due diligence there.

He clarified, however, that Aishatu Dahiru Ahmed was not mentioned as one of Binani Printing Press Limited’s directors.

In order to support Nigerian printers and boost the country’s economy, the commission chose to print all the security documents for the 2023 General Election there, he stated.

The Nasarawa Government denies Communiqué on Restructuring of Mada Chiefdom, conversion to Emirates

A statement on the establishment and upgrading of chiefdoms that went viral on social media has been repudiated by the government of Nasarawa State.

According to the aforementioned communication, Barr Muhammad Ubandoma Aliyi, the Secretary to the Government, was the source of the memo regarding the establishment of new chiefdoms.

According to the aforementioned “communique,” which was ostensibly addressed to the commissioner for local government, community development, and chieftaincy affairs, Governor Abdullahi Sule reportedly gave his approval for the establishment, reclassification, and renaming of a number of specific Mada Chiefdoms.

The aforementioned “communique” specifically mentioned the establishment and naming of the Mada Chiefdom in the Kokona local government area, with the Sarkin Tatara as the paramount ruler’s title, as well as the promotion of the Sarkin Akwanga to the position of Emir of Akwanga, who, in accordance with the aforementioned letter, will reside in the completed Chun Mada palace in Akwanga.

However, the purported communique that surfaced two days before the governorship and house of assembly elections was a forged document created in an organized attempt to cause unrest and to mislead the electorates in the state, according to the state government through Abdulkareem Ibn Bala, permanent secretary, political affairs on behalf of the SSG.

He pleaded with the residents of the state, in particular those in the impacted area, to reject the aforementioned communiqué.

For the avoidance of doubt, the aforementioned “communique” that is making the rounds on social media does not come from the Nasarawa State Office of the Secretary. Given that the claimed “communique” surfaced just two days before the Governorship and House of Assembly elections, it is clear that the document was faked in an intentional attempt to sow discontent and mislead the electorate.

“To clear the air, it should be noted that even the most discerning person can see that the ‘communique’ was poorly written and exhibits egregious unprofessionalism, especially given that it was purported to be from the Office of the Secretary to the Government of Nasarawa State, which is renowned for its high level of professionalism.

It should be made very obvious that the government of Nasarawa State never considered establishing, improving, or even renaming the chiefdoms named in the fictitious paper.

He advised the good people of Nasarawa State, especially those named in the bogus communique, to ignore the letter and its contents.

Aduda seeks judicial review, alleging the FCT senatorial election to be inconclusive

Just three weeks after the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) Senatorial District’s 2023 Presidential and National Assembly elections, which resulted in Ireti Kingibe being elected as the district’s senator-elect, Kingibe’s closest rival, incumbent Senator Philip Tanimu Aduda, has vowed to challenge the results of the election at the Election Petitions Tribunal.

This comes at the back of the fact that the result of the FCT senatorial election was announced while collations at the Abuja Municipal Area Council (AMAC) were still pending, as well as with complete disregard to results cancelled in other polling units across the 62 wards of the six Area Councils, Senator Aduda, who is the Minority Leader of the 9th Senate, said to journalists at the National Assembly Complex on Thursday.

“The election, as guided by the extant laws used by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) is supposed to have been declared inconclusive.

“Pointedly in substantial numbers of the polling units, there were over-voting which led to cancellation of results that supposed to have been revisited by INEC through rescheduled election but from nowhere, we heard that results were declared.

“We are going to challenge it,” Aduda said.

Senator Aduda commented on his capacity and service delivery to FCT residents over the years as a lawmaker. “Within my 12 years in the Senate and eight years in the House of Representatives, a lot of development-driven projects have been facilitated by me across the 62 Wards and six Area Councils, many of which are still ongoing,” he said.

“If the winner of the election had the potential, Google would have shown her what I had done, so I think she is the one who lacks it.

You’ll be able to see that I brought a protest to this location. I had to discuss the redesign of the Naira and other measures pertaining to vital national concerns on the Senate floor.

“We have roads worth over N1 billion we are building in Kubwa, another worth over N1 billion in Nyanya, and we have the ones we are doing in Bwari. If I don’t have the capacity and can’t represent the people, I don’t think I can bring those projects to the various communities or Area Councils,” he said. I’m not referring to Gwagwalada, Kwali, or Kuje; all I’m referring to is this area’s metropolitan core and its surroundings.

“Apart from the very significant Laws I sponsored and the National Assembly like the Federal College of Education Zuba bill that has been there for over 17 years without graduation until we passed that Bill.”

He continued by saying that he implemented infrastructure in a number of areas, including the provision of classrooms, Primary Healthcare Centers, portable water, rural electrification, the construction of roads throughout the Area Councils in the FCT, Small & Medium Scale Empowerment Programs, and the provision of student bursaries to more than 3,000 beneficiaries drawn from the sixty-62 electoral wards of the six Area Councils.