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.

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.

Crisis in Nasarawa Labour Party after party collapses structure for PDP Candidate Ombugadu – new faction emerges, tries to back APC

In past weeks, the Nasarawa State Labour Party (LP) governorship candidate, Joseph Ewuga, recently stepped down from the race to support his Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) counterpart, David Emmanuel Ombugadu.

Middle Belt Times gathered that Ewuga decided to step down in the interest of the growth of the state and the ‘popularity, general acceptance and track record of Ombugadu’.

However addressing journalists yesterday in Lafia, Rev. Angba Solomon Kuje, the LP’s candidate for the House of Representatives for Akwanga/Nasarawa Eggon/Wamba Federal Constituency in the just concluded National Assembly election, said the the party favoured Governor Sule instead and was quoted as saying the decision of the party to support Governor Sule was arrived at after a series of meetings and consultations.

He said the move by Mr. Ewuga to align with the PDP’s governorship candidate, was a personal one and not a collective party decision.

According to him, the party learnt about Ewuga’s move through the media.

He pointed out that party members had carefully evaluated each candidate from all political parties in the state based on their merits, strengths, and weaknesses with a view to backing only one of them to victory in the conviction that the task of running the state extends far beyond a single person, ethnicity, or religion.

He added that members considered a candidate’s aptitude, capacity, character, experience, temperament, and managerial exposure while deciding which candidate to support.

The ability to maintain the diverse ethnic groups in the state together as one giant family, regardless of religion or cultural background, was crucially examined.

According to him, after careful deliberation, the Labour Party had reached the unassailable conclusion that Engr. Abdullahi A. Sule, the incumbent Governor and member of the All-Progressives Congress (APC), stands taller, bigger, better, and stronger and as such deserves its support in the gubernatorial elections on Saturday.

This is how we feel. This is where we all agree. Come Saturday, this is the way to go,” he stated.

Jang: Elections a referendum on the APC in Plateau State

Governor Simon Lalong’s poor showing in the February 25, 2023 Presidential and National Assembly (NASS) elections, according to former governor of Plateau State Senator Jonah Jang, simply gave the populace the chance to cast a referendum on the All Progressives Congress (APC).

Jang responded to a remark attributed to the state’s information and communication commissioner, where Mangjang was accused of “trying to cover up the poor performance which has led to election loss through such comments.

Senator Jang said in a statement released in Jos by his media consultant, Clinton Odafe Garuba, that the commissioner must recognize that, in contrast to his colleagues, he had etched his name in gold in the hearts of Plateau people and that any attempt by Manjang to disparage a man who has distinguished himself in all of his endeavors would be fruitless.

Jang also stressed that his party’s fear of impending defeat has caused them to latch on to anything at the moment for some face-saving opportunity.

Garuba, the media consultant to Governor Jang advised Mangjang thereafter to express his gratitude to Jang for giving him the chance to succeed in his endeavors before eventually pointing him in the right direction. If he still harbors resentment toward Jang for removing him from his administration, he should take solace in the knowledge that he now lives in a place where mediocrity is seen as a sign of advancement.

He also advised Mangjang to pray to one day emulate previous governor Jang who was contested and won elections and whom the present administration cannot point to achievements which amount to a quarter of those of Governor Jang.

He finally advised him to desist from attempts to gain cheap popularity through shots at Jang

Taraba APC in fresh crisis – suspends gov candidate days to election

With the suspension of the APC’s candidate for governor, Senator Emmanuel Bwacha, due to suspected anti-party conduct approximately a week before the election, the problem in the Taraba State chapter has gotten worse.

As a result, the party warned Bwacha that he would “face severe repercussions” if he didn’t “stop the related illegal activities (campaign) and come before the fact-finding committee on March 13, 2023 to answer the allegations filed against him in a petition.”

Yet when asked for comment on the situation, Bwacha responded, “False news. The signatories are not APC ward representatives. Please confirm with the party once more. It was created by primaries losers who were desperate.

The Middle Belt Times on Sunday was able to receive the letter that contained his suspension, which was dated March 8 and signed by all of the APC’s Mararaba, Donga Local Government ward executives.

The choice was made shortly after a contentious ruling by the Federal High Court ordering the independent National Electoral Commission to recognize Bwacha as the APC’s candidate for governor of Taraba State.

Death toll rises to 17 in Southern Kaduna attack

The number of fatalities from last night’s attack on the Ungwan Wakili community in Kaduna State’s Zango Kataf Local Government Area has increased to 17.

Reports counted 14 corpses recovered this morning, aside from the one person killed yesterday and the two people that died in the hospital.

Addressing to reporters, Mr. Francis Sani Zimbo, the council chairman of Zango Kataf Local Government, denounced the brutal assault and reaffirmed that investigations are ongoing to identify the offenders and hold them accountable.

He expressed remorse over the decision to remove all Mobile Police checkpoints from the impacted villages before to last night’s attack.

While protesting, the locals questioned how an attack could endure for almost 40 minutes without a single attacker being shot by security personnel despite the presence of a forward operating base in the communities

Rivers Governor, Wike Vows To Chase Presidential Candidate, Atiku, Ayu, Others Out Of PDP

The People’s Democratic Party (PDP) presidential candidate Atiku Abubakar, the PDP’s national chairman Iyorchia Ayu, and a few other party leaders, according to Rivers State Governor Nyesom Wike, have no role to perform for the party.
Wike swore to expel them from the party and begin its reconstruction.

At the commissioning of a road project in Ikwerre Local Government Area of Rivers State on Thursday, the governor made it known that he placed the blame for the PDP’s defeat in the recently concluded presidential election on those who, in his words, failed to abide by the PDP Constitution.
As the “second phase of the battle,” the governor referred to the action.
“These people left our party in 2014-2015, and our party lost. They returned, and our party lost again,” he remarked. Our celebration has been devastated by them. They will be driven from our party by us. They don’t participate in our celebration in any way.

Wike also criticized the PDP leadership for allegedly refusing to abide by the party’s constitution while accusing Prof. Mahmood Yakubu, the chairman of the Independent National Election Commission, of breaking election rules.

He continued to make fun of the PDP leaders for organizing the demonstration against INEC by referring to them as “student unions.”

PANDEF Worries About Christians’ Fate Under a Muslim-Muslim Presidency

Olorogun Vincent Oyibode, the national deputy youth leader of the PAN Niger Delta Forum, has expressed grave concern over the results of the 2023 presidential election, in which Bola Ahmed Tinubu of the All Progressives Congress was declared the victor. He has warned that with a Muslim-Muslim presidency which has no place for Christians, Christianity may face difficult times in the future.

Olorogun Oyibode, Commissioner for DESOPADEC, Delta State, spoke at a global press conference on Monday in Warri on the subject of “Outcome of 2023 Presidential Elections: Implication for National Unity, the fate of southern Nigeria and Christians,” and expressed concerns about the political and religious “temperament” of Kassim Shetima, the Vice President-elect, as well as his fanatical Islamic identity. This indicates that Nigerian Christians are under significant risk. Oyibode said, “We ought to be prepared for what is to come.

According to him, “We canvassed a position that was against the Muslim-Muslim ticket of the APC and drummed support for the PDP before the general election. But our elders decided to back Peter Obi of the Labour Party, which we counseled against since we thought it was not strategically sound for the nation’s political environment. Today, the Obi movement succeeded in splitting the PDP vote in South-South and South-Eastern Nigeria, resulting in the election of the APC, whose appalling performance caused Nigeria to experience untold suffering.

‘’ In spite of our misgivings, we voted for the Muslim-Muslim ticket, and the results would be disastrous for Nigerian Christianity. The inference is that a Christian would probably not be there when issues regarding religious peace are being discussed in the presidency. Church tax decisions might simply be made by executive order, and our churches should be prepared for tough times in the near future because they will undoubtedly have to start paying taxes.

The Islamist agenda is taking shape, and Nigerian Christians may have a grim future. It may have been avoided if Atiku Abubakar had had complete backing. Sadly, the majority of church leaders served as shills and recruiters for the Peter Obi movement. The center can no longer support the situation as it currently stands, Oyibode continued.

He disclosed that the Nigeria 1999 constitution mentioned Sharia 73 times, Grand Khandi 54 times, Islam 28 times, Muslim 10 times and no single mention of Christ, Christians, Christianity or Church at all.

‘’The constitution has already skewed the legal identity of Nigeria towards an Islamic state. With the Muslim-Muslim president and Vice President, a full blown Islamic identity for Nigeria is on the way. They will be riding roughshod on the pains of Christians with impunity. The power distribution in the APC presidential ticket does not factor Christians at all. This is a source of worry for us at the PANDEF youth wing’’, he said.

The group also lambasted INEC for failing to deliver a credible election as promised, stressing that the manual collation of results against the transmission of same from the unit level was an aberration that could not guarantee the credibility of the process.

‘’However, we want to demand from Bola Ahmed Tinubu to recognize the secular identity of Nigeria as a nation. The president-elect must take the Niger Delta question as a cardinal agenda of his administration by taking the 16 point agenda raised by PANDEF before the FG in 2016 seriously.

Any failure to attend to our queries can lead to unrest in the Niger Delta area. Our zone harbors the liquid gold which is the mainstay of the Nigerian economy. We are watching as events continue to unfold. We pray and hope for the best for Nigeria’’ the group added.

Gov El-Rufai Suspends Village Head, Threatens Zazzau Emirate Traditional Titleholders, Others For Missing APC Campaign Meeting

The Kaduna State government is threatening traditional titleholders of Zazzau Emirate with suspension for not attending a campaign meeting.

SaharaReporters learnt that Governor Nasir El-Rufai’s government has already suspended a village head, identified as Sarkin Kwangila, under Sabon Gari Local GA, for not attending the meeting the governor organised on Wednesday, March 8, 2023, at Kongo Conference Hotel in Zaria.

A letter from the Zazzau Emirate Council inviting District Heads to Wednesday’s meeting was obtained by Saharareporters.com.

The letter is titled, ‘Invitation to a meeting with the Governor of Kaduna State, His Excellency, Nasil Ahmed El-Rufai at Congo Conference Hotel, Zaria’.

The letter signed by Ahmed D. Abdullahi, Shugaban Ma’aikata, reads, “Greetings and well wishes to you all. I’m directed to inform all District Heads under the Zazzau emirate that the governor of Kaduna state, His Excellency Malam Nasir Ahmed El-Rufai will have a meeting with them at Congo Conference Hotel as follows:

“Wednesday, March 8, 2023; by 11:am; Venue: A. B.U Hotel (Congo Conference Hotel) Gyallesu, Zaria.

It was learnt that El-Rufai and the APC governorship candidate in the state, Uba Sani had compelled the titleholders to campaign for the party in the upcoming elections.

Uba Sani is contesting under a Muslim-Muslim ticket against Isa Ashiru Kudan, a traditional titleholder (Sarkin Bai Zazzau) under the Zazzau Emirate.

One of the titleholders who refused to attend is Madakin Zazzau, Alhaji Munir Jafaru.

SaharaReporters learnt that he has been resolute that he would not sell the APC to the people as they blame the party and the government for their poor living standards.

The protesting titleholders are against the Muslim-Muslim ticket because they feel Isa Ashiru is also a Muslim and a traditional titleholder under the Zazzau Emirate.

It was learnt that they supported the incumbent President, Muhammadu Buhari, who had a pastor as his running mate, Yemi Osinbajo.

The APC government has sacked over 313 district heads and 4,453 village heads in Kaduna since El-Rufai became Governor in 2015, it was further learnt.

Saharareporters

Breaking: INEC postpones governorship election by one week

The Independent National Electoral Commission has postponed the governorship and state assembly elections scheduled to hold on March 11 by one week.

The elections will now hold on March 18, 2023.

A Residential Electoral Commissioner who spoke to punch correspondent on the condition of anonymity confirmed the decision.

Developing story……..

Punch