IYANDA'SBLOG

https://ift.tt/eA8V8J
The husband of the UK teenager who joined the Islamic State group, wants her to return to Holland with him.

The African Action Congress (AAC) has restated its commitment not to give up the movement aimed at rescuing the country from the “failed ruling class”.

The party also said the just-concluded presidential and national assembly elections were marred by irregularities.

A statement issued by Victor Lijofi, the AAC Secretary in Osun State, congratulated all members of the movement, noting that the party has won the battle of ideas and is setting the pace for the future.

The statement read: “We congratulate all #TakeItBackers for their roles during the just concluded presidential and National Assembly elections. As a movement, we won the battle of ideas and have our candidates setting the pace for the future of a New Nigeria for all working people, where the welfare of the majority will matter than the wealth of a few.

“As events unfold and history is made, it is necessary to attempt review of some factors that affect the 2019 presidential and National Assembly elections and the lessons therein for the future of our movement and the people.

“Electoral procedure of a close to 60-year-old country like ours is expected to be conducted under an organized system that is free of bias and fair practice. Looking at the situation that has made this election exclusively aggressive in character and an open robbery in nature: from the failure of the ruling class to organise the electoral process using appropriate accurate data and technology in order to allow ease during the general election.

“Many INEC permanent and ad hoc staff members were also compromised by the major parties to aid and abet electoral malpractices because the President Buhari-led administration is practically corruption-friendly. The whole process was marred with irregularities, such as killings of the electorate and electoral officers officially numbering 275, vote buying and selling, ballot snatching/burning/stuffing, intimidating voters to vote against their conscience, card reader failures and other malpractices. It was also evident that the APC and President Buhari engaged in the highest degree of electoral violence, using the military, paramilitary and political thugs.

“Nevertheless, our movement on the mission to take back our country from these old guards, has successfully waken a sleeping people from their slumber to take their destiny their hands. The AAC/TIB is a party that is designed to mobilize Nigerian people to take back their country using pro-people demands by supporting all unions, groups and individuals’ demands for a just society on the streets, because the present ruling class and their party have failed to build a Nigeria of justice, peace and unity for all.

“Contesting the political space with every present anti-people political party through principles, ideas and programs becomes expedient. As it is, the present situation is such that should inspire change seekers to be more focused and become a part of a strategic move towards reorganizing a focused movement like the TIB and make it rooted in the working class and youths in all the nooks and corners of the country.

“However, as revolutionaries, we must be aware of the lessons and consequences of the process. First, the electoral process is just one means of societal change. It is achievable when the electoral laws and process accommodate all voters and contestants. Hence, we have a duty to be part of various struggles to ensure the electoral system reflects the need for a modern society.

“Also, it is very clear that illiteracy has eaten deep to the bones of our people. Hence, it is our duty to ensure that we give appropriate political education to our people across all walks of life. Furthermore, we must ensure that we reach out to our people from the grassroots of all localities with our programs, while we prepare for the next political years, because all politics are local. We also have a duty to be part of every political process in the next coming years. We have to organize, mobilize and educate.”

#NigeriaDecides Elections Politics News AddThis :  Featured Image :  Original Author :  SaharaReporters, New York Disable advertisements : 
https://ift.tt/2NCJrJ2

Rotimi Akeredolu, Governor of Ondo State, has given a "marching order" to members of the National Union of Road Transport Workers (NURTW) in the state to begin mobilising for the next week state house of assembly election.

SaharaReporters gathered that the essence of the mobilization by the NURTW members is to prepare them for “war” if candidates of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) do not emerge victorious in the House of Assembly election.

The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) rescheduled the state houses of assembbly election in the country for Saturday March 9, 2019, with no less than 250 candidates from the different political parties in Ondo fielding candidates for the 26 constituencies that make up the Ondo House of Assembly.

Many of the candidates have been campaigning vigorously and wooing the votes of the electorate in Ondo State with food stuffs and money.

However, it was exclusively learnt on Thursday that Akeredolu held a secret meeting with the Chairman of National Union of Road Transport Workers (NURTW), Mr. Jacob Adebo, popularly known as ‘Idajo’, where the plan to rig the poll was perfected. 

SaharaReporters can report that Idajo has been a machinery of destruction for Akeredolu’s APC government of Akeredolu led APC in Ondo State.

A source confirmed to our correspondent that the meeting was held inside Government House in Akure, the state capital, and that it held at the instance of the Governor. He added that Kayode Fayemi, Governor of Ekiti State, was also at the meeting.

According to the source, the secret meeting was summoned as a result of the defeat suffered by the ruling party in the Saturday's election in the state.

"Having realised that they lost in the presidential election and with their poor performance in the National Assembly election, Mr. Governor decided to call the secret meeting with the view to plan and also probably strategise ahead of the coming House of Assembly elections in the state.

"In fact, the Governor of Ekiti State Kayode Fayemi and some of the top government officials such as the SSG, Ifedayo Abegunde, were at the meeting, which was held right in the Government House in Akure from about 11am to 12 pm on Wednesday.

"They invited the NURTW Chairman, Idajo, and some executive members of his union to the meeting with the concluded plan that they should go and work for the victory of the APC in the forthcoming election.

“The two governors concluded that it is a 'must' for APC to win the House of Assembly election in all the LGAs and constituencies area so that the ruling party can still have the numbers to control the parliament.

"So, they have instructed ‘Idajo’ to begin mobilise thugs and members of the NURTW for the elections, and their mandate is to cause violence on election day and even snatch or destroy ballot boxes where APC is not popular.

"They even forced ‘Idajo’ to sign a post-dated resignation letter, which would come to effect if his boys do not help APC win next week, and they instructed him to begin clamp down on any stubborn members of the opposition parties in the state. 

"Don't forget that Mr. Akeredolu was not happy about the results of the last week Saturday's presidential and national assembly election in the state because he failed to deliver the state for Buhari despite his promises to the President.

"The Governor and his counterparts in Oyo have been mocked by some Abuja cabals for failing woefully to deliver their state to Mr. President, even when he got to Abuja shortly after the secret meeting, some of the governors were jokingly mocking him for his faliure.

"And since the President has been re-elected for a second term in office, Akeredolu wants to make up and have all his foot soldiers in the Ondo House of Assembly so that it will not be a double loss.

However, a source at the NURTW local branch office in Idanre could not immediately confirm the story when asked by SaharaReporters. But he confirmed that a meeting of chairmen of all local branches had already been summoned by Idajo.

"Well, I cannot really tell if they held that meeting with the Governor but I received a call yesterday night that our State Chairman, Idajo, would be meeting with all the branch chairmen today 

"And as I am speaking with you now, I am in Lagos to attend to my family but I have told my branch Secretary to attend the meeting and give me feedback later in the day. But I know the meeting is about the house of assembly elections in the state because the State Chairman told us on Monday evening that the Governor was not happy over last weekend’s election results."

Elections Politics Exclusive News AddThis :  Featured Image :  Original Author :  SaharaReporters, New York Disable advertisements : 
https://ift.tt/2GPXEBG

The Rivers State chapter of the All Progressives Congress (APC) has mocked the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) despite having the inferior number of votes at Saturday’s presidential election in the state.

President Muhammadu Buhari, the APC candidate, secured 150,710 votes in Rivers while Atiku Abubakar, the PDP candidate, had 473,971.

However, Tonye Cole, the Rivers State governorship candidate of the APC, believes the party’s outing is more a victory than a defeat.

“The result of the just concluded presidential election is an indication of a new beginning and trajectory with respect to elections in Rivers State,” he said while addressing journalists in Port Harcourt, capital of the state, on Wednesday.

“All that is required of anyone desirous of the truth is to compare the 2015 electoral figures where total votes cast was 1,584,768 with APC getting 69,238 while PDP got 1,487,075; to that of 2019 where total votes cast was 666,585 with APC getting 150,710 (even after 72,000 votes in Emohua was unconstitutionally removed) and PDP getting 473,971 and the story would clearly unfold.

“APC has withstood a judicial lynching that has long since baffled legal luminaries of how the Justices Nworgu, Yahaya and Omotosho judgements came about. That PDP would interfere with another party’s internal process in a court of law and secure a judgement that prevents their major competitor from campaigning in any form or manner, barring any of their candidates from being on the ballot, is mind-boggling, especially against clear Supreme Court judgements that prevent one political party from interfering with the affairs of another as in the case of Alhassan v Ishaku, PDP v Sylva, PDP v Angodi etc.”

Cole also said he and other candidates contesting for various positions are sure their names will be on ballot paper in the March 9 election.

He expressed confidence that the judiciary would rule in their favour, as the main substantive case to their fate is yet to decided by the Appeal court.

FULL TEXT OF THE MEDIA BRIEFING

TEXT OF APC RIVERS STATE PRESS BRIEFING ON LAST SATURDAY’s PRESIDENTIAL & NATIONAL ASSEMBLY ELECTIONS IN RIVERS STATE.

RIVERS APC; THE TRUE VICTORS OF DEMOCRACY

Good morning ladies and gentlemen of the press, the people, citizens and friends of Rivers State, Nigerians home and abroad, our expatriate community, electoral observers, party faithful’s, ladies and gentlemen. You are all welcome.
Over the past few days, Rivers State has once again been in the headlines globally for all the wrong reasons. In a nationwide election that sought to elect a President for the Federal Republic of Nigeria and members of the National Assembly, our dear state was characterized with armed conflict which unfortunately led to the death of innocent Nigerians that had simply sought to exercise their civic duty of participating in an electoral process.

At this juncture allow me to express my most profound and sincere condolences to the families who lost loved ones last weekend. In particular, we reach out to the family of Miss Ibisaki Amachree who was shot while on duty. One death is one too many and no one has the right to kill in the name of power and politics. May the souls of all those who died this weekend Rest in Peace and the families be rest assured that the Federal Government will seek justice for them, no matter how long it takes.

It has been my personal plea and mantra as well as that of the APC that the violence meted out on our members and citizens of the State in 2015 and immediately thereafter has no place in any modern society, especially one that desperately needs to grow economically and develop for the betterment of her people. We have called for peace and peaceful elections at every stage, but it is unfortunate that there are people hellbent to cling on to power at any cost, even to the taking of human lives.

I have been shocked and saddened by statements and comments attributed to the Rivers State Governor that Prof. Charles Dokubo-Quakers, Prince Tonye Princewill and I are responsible for the carnage and deaths in Abonnema last weekend. These malicious and unfounded allegations are being investigated and our lawyers will advise on possible libel suits to take against those who have peddled these wicked falsehoods.

For anyone willing to expose the truth, the task is relatively easy and the motive particularly clear. Nigerians in their vast numbers were shocked to learn of militant kingpins that were rewarded for their role in the 2015 elections with positions in the State House of Assembly, Local Government Councils and State Government appointments by the Rivers State Government. This is common knowledge and the names of these individuals are known to many.

In Akuku Toru in particular, Hon. Rowland Sekibo, currently at large, is the Chairman of the LGA and under his watch, Abonnema was brazenly under the control of several deadly cult groups. Like in several LGA’s across the state and operating under the cover of the Local Government Authority, militarized cult groups have held Akuku Toru hostage over the past few years and in the run-up to this election, intelligence reaching us was that strict directives had been issued to the Chairman not to permit APC from delivering the Local Government of its gubernatorial candidate and in particular, his polling unit and Ward 12.

We witnessed this playing out in the postponed presidential election on February 16 and again on the 23rd. The amateur videos of what the town looked like on Election Day has gone viral and it is clear that no one who loves life would venture onto the streets under such intense firepower. Of greater importance, I wish to congratulate HE President Muhammadu Buhari GCFR for his re-election as President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria and to address the impressive achievements by Rivers APC at the polls in spite of the many forces that have conspired to hamstring the party from the days of wanton killings and beheadings of APC supporters to the internal battles and court cases of recent times.

The result of the just concluded Presidential elections is an indication of a new beginning and trajectory with respect to elections in Rivers State. Gone are the days when political thugs would hijack electoral materials and allocate hundreds of thousands of imaginary votes to their party. The results from the various units, wards and Local Government Areas confirms this and further highlights the depth of rigging and manipulation of the 2015 elections that APC as a party had complained about.

All that is required of anyone desirous of the truth is to compare the 2015 electoral figures where total votes cast was 1,584,768 with APC getting 69,238 while PDP got 1,487,075; to that of 2019 where total votes cast was 666,585 with APC getting 150,710 (even after 72,000 votes in Emohua was unconstitutionally removed) and PDP getting 473,971 and the story would clearly unfold.
APC has withstood a judicial lynching that has long since baffled legal luminaries of how the Justices Nworgu, Yahaya and Omotosho’s judgements came about. That PDP would interfere with another party’s internal process in a court of law and secure a judgement that prevents their major competitor from campaigning in any form or manner, barring any of their candidates from being on the ballot is mind-boggling, especially against clear Supreme Court judgements that prevents one political party from interfering with the affairs of another as in the case of Alhassan v Ishaku, PDP v Sylva, PDP v Angodi etc.

Our party also had to contend with numerous court battles, a brutal internal conflict with Senator Magnus Abe that disenfranchised members of the party, many of whom have now openly decamped to the PDP, multiple attacks on the party at campaign rallies of the opposition and severe attempts to break the spirit of the party faithful. It was indeed a resounding success to see the turnout of APC voters across the state.

This was in spite of an INEC body that was swift to obeying the PDP sponsored judgement but resolute in its decision not to obey an order of Stay of Execution. Our concerns were further affirmed by Rivers State’s INEC’s refusal to include the over 72,000 votes in favour of the APC from Emohua LGA after being duly collated and announced by the LGA collation officer whose duty it is to so do in accordance with the provisions of the Electoral Act. It therefore means that the Rivers State office of INEC cannot be said to be truly independent as it had no hesitation in allowing the result of Khana, Andoni and other Local Government Areas in favour of the PDP.

In the wake of INEC not affirming the relisting of our candidates, we had promised the people of Rivers State that APC will closely follow every ballot box, every vote cast and every result declared to its final conclusion. We affirmed not to allow the votes of the citizens to be stolen and to ensure the results will be as close to reality as is humanly possible. That was the mandate we gave to our people and that is the mandate we delivered.

That in the midst of such heavy intimidation and array of forces squarely aimed at destroying the Rivers APC, in an election where we had no candidates, APC faithful still turned out with well over 200,000 votes, while the PDP unencumbered by money, full array of candidates, robust campaigns and incumbency power was strictly restricted to the unpleasant reality of recording just over 450,000 votes, the lowest tally of votes they have ever recorded.

This is the true victory and a loud statement of intent that the people of Rivers State are sick and tired of governments that promote fear and intimidation, extol violence as a virtue and only come around during election times to make promises they have no intention of keeping while spreading falsehoods aimed at hoodwinking an electorate with the hope they can steal another election before the people wake up to the truth.

Unfortunately for them, the people are now awake.

Finally, as we head towards the next set of elections, we urge our party members, supporters and Rivers people to remain calm and peaceful. We are confident that INEC would now do the right and proper thing by restoring all our candidates, including those for the National Assembly, back on the ballot and the people will have the choice to come out without fear of further violence and vote for the change they truly desire but up until now have been afraid to express.

Thank You and God bless you.

Elections Politics News AddThis :  Featured Image :  Original Author :  SaharaReporters, New York Disable advertisements : 
https://ift.tt/2Nx1GQ0

Buba Galadima, a chieftain of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), has been released from custody.

Galadima was said to have been arrested by security agents on Monday after a video of him surfaced, making what was considered inflammatory statements.

He was sighted at the Shehu Musa Yar’Adua Centre in Abuja on Wednesday at a press conference addressed by Atiku Abubakar, the PDP presidential candidate.

He was alleged to have been picked up following a video clip where he was speaking on the results of the presidential election released so far by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC).

According to reports, the security operatives said the statement was considered to be inciting and capable of instigating violence.

Politics News AddThis :  Featured Image :  Original Author :  SaharaReporters, New York Disable advertisements : 
https://ift.tt/2TfTWHv

https://ift.tt/eA8V8J
Yannis Behrakis, a Pulitzer-prize winning photojournalist for Reuters news agency, dies at 58.

https://ift.tt/eA8V8J
Estonia's centre-left coalition faces a strong challenge from the Reform party and from eurosceptics.

The above picture is that of a fraudster who is wanted for a series of fraudulent activities in Lagos, Nigeria.

His name is Olawale OLUWATOSIN. He also answers Samson, Ademola and Mac, depending on the occasions, which are usually fraudulent.

He is an indigene of Efon-Alaye in Ekiti State and is married to one Olubukola Oluyemisi. He was based in Lagos and lived around Irawo community after Owode Onirin, along Mile 12-Ikorodu town road.

His regular e-mail was: macoluw@yahoo.com, but he carries out his fraudulent activities through other emails such as doctoroluwatosinolawale@gmail.com and doctorolawaleoluwatosin@gmail.com. He is neither a Ph.D. holder nor a medical practitioner. He is about 43 years of age.

He is a very sly individual and a serial fraudster, who has perfected the act of defrauding his victims of several millions of naira by first gaining their confidence and then hitting them below the belt. He does this by either cooking up lies to draw emotions from people close to him or getting close to them pretending like a natural care giver showing concerns about their welfare. He will then craftily paint a scenario that will persuade them to raise money for him or he will lure them into standing as guarantors for loans, which he will obtain from institutional lenders.

He was a bank employee, working in Access Bank, and latterly Ecobank until December 2017, in the process putting many of his friends and colleagues into a web of debts by deceiving them into standing guarantors for his chains of loans. He ensured the many guarantors did not know one another while he approached lenders under the guise of getting a personal loan to cater to medical intervention being carried out on his wife.

This was his modus operandi as he secured all kinds of loans and disappeared into thin air in December 2017, thus obligating many innocent guarantors to repay the debts. He’s an Advanced Fee Fraud (419) expert, who has mastered various acts of swindling innocent people of their hard-earned money or using other deceptive means such as third-party guarantees.

Sources told SaharaReporters that he escaped to either Canada or USA in December 2017, where it is suspected that he has gone to continue his fraudulent act against unsuspecting Nigerian citizens based abroad. Before his escape, his Nigerian phone numbers were 09098109430 and and 08050990365.

This is to alert the general public to be wary of this fraudster, who could be posing as a friend or acquaintance in your neighbourhood or at work.

Should he be spotted anywhere in Nigeria, Canada or USA, kindly generate an email to this address: olawaleoluwatosinwanted@gmail.com

CRIME News AddThis :  Featured Image :  Original Author :  SaharaReporters, New York Disable advertisements : 
https://ift.tt/2GUFjDt

Ibrahim Babangida, former Military President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, has urged Atiku Abubakar, presidential candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), to close ranks and work with President Muhammadu Buhari.

Babangida stated this in a statement he issued to congratulate Buhari on winning the presidential election.

Atiku had secured 11,262,978 votes and lost to Buhari, who polled 15,191,847 votes on the platform of the All Progressives Congress (APC).

The statement reads: “The 2019 Presidential and National Assembly elections have come and gone. These elections have produced a new president-elect and new elected members of the Senate and House of Representatives. I congratulate the Nigerian electorate who conducted themselves peacefully during the voting process; they were enthusiastic to exercise their democratic rights of electing candidates of their choice. Sadly, due to violence in some part of the country, lives were lost and I would like to extend my heartfelt condolences to their families for the death of their loved ones.

“I wish to congratulate President Muhammadu Buhari GCFR on his re-election to lead Nigeria in the next four years. I have observed that, the electioneering campaign was very strenuous and the contest very keen. That despite the turbulent terrain of politics, the President submitted and subjected himself to this process. Indeed is a clear testimony that he believes in the democratic process and ideals. The newly elected president should heal the wounds of the heated campaign exchanges by embracing those who contested alongside with him. The President must resist the temptation to see them as enemies; not even opponents, but fellow compatriots who merely disagreed with him on how best to move our country forward.

“Now that the President has won his re-election bid, he should confront with renewed vigour the most urgent problem confronting Nigeria: ‘insecurity of lives and property’. The Boko Haram insurgency remains a threat to many Nigerians particularly in the North East sub region, while the twin evils of kidnapping and armed robbery/armed banditry remain a major national menace. The president must pay priority attention to these security issues.

“The economy of the country must also occupy the president’s urgent attention. There is the need to be more creative in formulating policies that will improve the nation’s economy, create employment opportunities and give hope to our teaming youths. The President may wish to heed to the yearnings of reasonable Nigerians for restructuring and seek all constitutional means to devolve some powers presently exercised by the Federal Government to the other tiers of government.”

He commended other presidential candidates, making particular reference to Atiku, and urged him to endeavour to accept the result of the election.

“Let me commend and convey my admiration to the other contestants for the office of president. I was particularly impressed with the gallant and audacious spirit of the main challenger in the presidential race, former Vice President Atiku Abubakar GCON. I was not surprised that even though he lost the most exotic position of the land, his doggedness and pattern of support cut across ethnic, religious and regional lines that earned him the second position of the last Presidential election.

“I call on the former Vice President Atiku Abubakar to close ranks and work with the winner of the election in an objective and constructive manner so that democracy will continue to thrive in our country at this crucial period of renaissance. I urge him also to endeavour and prevail on his admirers to eschew bitterness and violence. They must be prevailed upon to understand that politics is a game in which there must be only one winner. I pray that the Almighty Allah will continue to guide our democratic steps for peace and progress in our country.”

#NigeriaDecides Elections News AddThis :  Featured Image :  Original Author :  SaharaReporters, New York Disable advertisements : 
https://ift.tt/2tKnPRB

Madam Adiksukti Johannah, Head of Service (HOS), Numan Local Council, Adamawa State, has confirmed that gunmen suspected to be herdsmen, have killed a woman in an attack on Bare village on Friday night.

 She also confirmed that security operatives comprising soldiers and policemen have been deployed to the area and have since quelled the raid.

"But no arrest has been made so far,” she added.

Dominique Yohanna, a resident of Bare, had initially informed SaharaReporters about the late night attack, but could not provide further details.

However, Madam Johannah, Numan Local Council boss, said the woman was allegedly killed on the outskirts of the village on her way back from a local market.

Apostle Huram, another resident of Bare, said: "She was killed by herdsmen who were in possession of dangerous weapons. It is confirmed that the herdsmen used machetes to decapitate her body.”

Huram, who is a local pastor in the area, further lamented thus: "Bare is under siege, all routes linking Bare to other communities around the area have been taken over by herdsmen.”

More disturbing, according to Huram, is how the sustained attacks have threatened academics and other activities in the area.

He noted that all schools, “comprising primary and secondary schools have shutdown in Bare and other adjoining communities". 

"This week alone, several attacks were launched along Bare/Ngbalang axis, on the river bank, which claimed several lives and many sustaining various degree of injuries.”

SaharaReporters can report that Bare has been consistently attacked by herdsmen who have so far unleashed more than five dangerous attacks on the community, with several lives lost. As things stand, the people of Bare are appealing to the Nigerian government to come to their aid as they say, "the dangerous herdsmen are lurking around the bushes ready to strike at the slightest opportunity.”

The police could not confirm the incident, as Othman Abubakar, Adamawa Police Public Relations Officer (PPRO), said "the state command was yet to be briefed on the attack".

He, nonetheless, promised to get back to our correspondent, noting that the "confirmation given by the HOS of Numan may suffice”.

Insurgency News AddThis :  Featured Image :  Original Author :  SaharaReporters, New York Disable advertisements : 
https://ift.tt/2Hgd8OZ

As Gambians await what will come of the truth and reconciliation commission set up by the new administration, more witnesses have come out to directly link former Gambian leader Yahya Jammeh to the horrible crimes he committed against humanity, while Edward Singhateh, another top military leader during Jammeh’s time who went on to hold the position of Vice-President of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS), has been implicated as well.

After seizing power via a coup in July 1994, Yahya Jammeh went on to lead Gambia for 22 years. He lost election to Adama Barrow in December 2016. He initially rejected the election result, but later agreed to step down in January 2017 after pressure from other leaders and threat of a military intervention. He eventually fled into exile in Equatorial Guinea in 2017.

While in power, Jammeh’s administration was accused of crimes against humanity. In fact, a citation by the Human Rights Watch (HRW) read: “The government of President Yahya Jammeh frequenty committed serious human rights violations including arbitrary detention, enforced disappearance and torture against those who voiced opposition to the government.”

In another interesting turn of events, Singhateh has also been directly mentioned in connection with some of the killings that occurred under Jammeh’s regime.

Singhateh has finished his tenure with ECOWAS but he currently lives in Nigeria.

On October 15, 2018, Gambia launched a Truth and Reconciliation Commission to investigate crimes committed under Jammeh and the Armed Forces Provisional Ruling Council (AFPRC). The committee consists of 11 members.

Singhateh, known infamously as the ‘Butcher of Gambul’, is implicated in various crimes against humanity, according to testimonies before Gambia’s Truth, Reconciliation and Reparation Commission (TRRC).

In previous hearings, Jammeh’s name has not been directly mentioned in connection to the testimonies of the horrific crimes of assault on those who opposed his government. However, in recent times, his name has been directly linked to the killings.

Breaking the ice on the matter in his testimony before the TRRC, Demba Njie, Jammeh’s former Chief of Staff, admitted he was present on November 11, 1994, when more than 20 soldiers were killed, after it was alleged they were planning a coup against Jammeh.

Narrating the incident in tears, Njie said: “I heard Yahya Jammeh say kill all the ring leaders and that I did not forget. I realized that they had arrested some people and they were going to kill them. This was the first time I heard an instruction to kill.”

As a result of the weight of the killings committed on the said date, the TRRC dedicated a special section of its hearings to this event. As events began to unfold, according to testimony by Abdoulie Darboe, Edward Singhateh and Alagie Kanyi were named as leaders of the coup.

Also said to have been killed on the orders of Jammeh is Finance Minister Ousman Koro Ceesay in June 1995. Going by Alagyi Kanyi’s account of what happened during the incident, Singhateh masterminded the killing of the Finance Minister. Ceesay was said to have been beaten to death with sticks at the residence of another military leader, Yankuba Touray. His body was found in the wreckage of a burnt car.

In yet another account last Wednesday, February 27, 2019, Demba Njie, a former Chief of Staff and Chief of Protocol at the State House, narrated to the TRRC how Singhateh was present at the meeting in Jammeh’soffice, when they plotted to arrest Sanna Sabally and Sadibu Hydara. In fact, according to Njie, Singhateh wanted it done immediately, but Jammeh delayed the plot till after the christening of Sabally’s son.

“Yahya Jammeh was lying when he said that he tackled the two without his guards.  I watched him on television bragging that he tackled Sabally and Hydara singlehandedly. That was a lie. He would have been dead had his guards not been present in the office,” said Demba Njie.

The duo of Sabally and Hydara were eventually tortured while in custody at the Mile II Central Prisons, and Njie even fingered Singhateh as one of those involved in the torture.

Also mentioned were Peter Singhateh, Musa Jammeh (now late), Almamo Manneh (killed after he was accused of participating in a plot against Jammeh) and Alhagie Martin (the Inspector General of Gambia’s Armed Forces).

Also narrating his experience is a former colonel, Ebrima Ismaila Chongan, who spent three years at the same Mile II Central Prisons. He went into exile in England. According to Chongan, he was a direct victim of torture by Singhateh and members of the junta under the auspices of the AFPRC.

See his account culled from thegambiaecho.com below:

Watching the testimony of former AFPRC junta members, Edward Singhateh and Yankuba Touray, before the Janneh Commission has compelled me to come out and set the record straight.  As much as I do not want to pre-empt the forthcoming TRRC, I believe it is incumbent upon some of us to push back on the revisionist history and lies being perpetrated by criminals and monsters like Edward Singhateh and Yankuba Touray.

The current government sends a wrong signal to us, the first victims of the AFPRC, when torturers and murderers like Edward Singhateh and Yankuba Touray can roam freely in the country; and in the case of the former, I cannot understand why our government still allows him to represent our country at the ECOWAS.

When the TRC commences its proceedings, everything will be clear to the public.  It is a mockery to justice to see the way Edward Singhateh and Yankuba Touray sat at the commission and lied through their teeth. These guys brought the culture of torture, detention without trial, and disappearance to our beloved country. There should be no sacred cows or selective justice. We will confront these criminals and ensure that they do not go before the TRRC and tell blatant lies or plead selective amnesia.  We will ensure that they are held accountable for the heinous crimes they committed against Gambians.  It has been more than twenty-three years, but I have no doubt in my mind that Edward Singhateh and Yankuba Touray are torturers and murderers.  That is because I was tortured by them.  For now, I will only narrate one episode, so people will begin to understand what we are dealing with.

It all started on the night of September 5, 1994.  This was day 45 of my incarceration without being charged with committing any crime or being given any explanation for the detention. The first major activity out of routine was the relocation of detainees in Security Wing No.1. The military officers were transferred to our detention wing — Security Wing No 4. The civilians were taken to the Remand Wing. Just as almost anything that happened at the prison, this was unexpected. It was sudden, confusing and unsettling. One would have thought that by now we would get used to things happening without warning. No, this was a strange place with a permanently bizarre culture that defied all attempts at familiarity.

Security Wing No. 1 barely stood empty when we started endless speculation about reasons for the relocation. Some assumed that former ministers and senior civil servants of the deposed PPP government were going to be held in there. Little did I know that I was going to be among the detainees who would be isolated there incommunicado, without the basic privileges like taking a shower for months.

Captain Singhateh in sunglasses and Yaya Jammeh in Red beret 

That night all the members of the ruling council, except for their leader Chairman Yahya Jammeh, drove to the prison for a “visit.” The four lieutenants — Vice Chairman Sana Sabally, Defence Minister Edward Singhateh, Interior Minister Sadibou Hydara, and Local Governments and Lands Minister Yankuba Touray — however, could not complete their tour of Mile Two that night. Apparently, the keys to our cells were kept in a safe in the main prison yard and the senior officer on duty was not available to grant access to the council members to “visit” us in the Security Wings. The precise reason for the duty officer’s absence remained unclear.  Considering the humane treatment this officer had accorded us, we speculated that he perhaps had prior knowledge of the council members coming purposely to torture us and so he took pity on us and made himself “unavailable.” But before the council members left, Vice Chairman Sabally ordered for the arrest and detention of the officer for not being found at his post.

Regimental Sergeant Major M. Ceesay (Army band), who was in cell No. 25 across from mine, told me that when he peeped through his window he saw Mr. Antou Saidy, the Deputy Commissioner of Prisons, conducting the tour for the council members.

We woke up the following day, September 6, 1994, wondering about the fate of the duty officer. Then in a separate development we learnt that Mr. Pierre Marong, the Commissioner of Prisons, had been fired by Vice Chairman Sabally. The reason given was that the council members had ordered him to report to the prison the night of September 5, but he refused to show up on the grounds, because he felt that it was contrary to prison regulations to open the cells in the dead of the night. Then it became clear to me why Antou Saidy was conducting the tour for the council members the previous night. Vice Chairman Sana Sabally considered the commissioner’s refusal to come to the prison grounds an insubordination and removed him as the Commissioner of Prisons. However, Chairman Jammeh overruled the Vice Chairman and reinstated the Commissioner.

The officer on duty on September 5 was arrested on the following day and locked up in empty Security Wing No.1. This we found out around 9:00 PM on September 5, when Assistant Prison Officers Famara Colley and Thomas Jarju transferred the officer, who had been their senior colleague until that morning, to our wing. The tension and suspense were palpable in the dense, foul air. The only sound we could hear was the unfailing buzz of a million mosquitoes that invaded us nightly from the mangrove swamps. I was very worried and concerned because this was the only officer who had shown sympathy towards us. I sent him mosquito coils and cigarettes that came from my family. That was all I could do under the circumstance to reciprocate his past favours. I was very nervous and could feel the tension in my body that something sinister was about to happen. Around midnight I dozed off to sleep.

In the early hours of the morning, I was awoken by a loud noise. I peeped through the cell door and saw Edward Singhateh clutching an AK 47 and shouting: “Where is Captain M.O. Cham?” Behind him were the other three council members that came with him the previous night, Antou Saidy, who was also dressed in his full uniform, and about forty armed soldiers.  I was able to recognize among them Second Lieutenant Peter Singhateh (the younger brother of Edward Singhateh), Private Njie (the Vice Chairman’s orderly), Private Susso, a former Gendarme, Private Batch (Defence Minister Singhateh’s driver), and Warrant Officer II Bah (alias Baaba Maal), who later became a Brigadier and went to America from his diplomatic post in Nigeria.

Captain Mamat O. Cham (Now Brigadier General of the GNA and currently the Army Commander), who had been appointed a cabinet minister for only 24 hours by the AFPRC, was occupying Cell No 11. He was dragged out with his hands cuffed behind his back and pushed down on the bare concrete floor. He was kicked with the hard-military combat boots, pummelled with fists and hit with gun butts until he nearly passed out. Then he was dragged through the corridor toward Security Wing No.1. Moments later we heard a round of gunfire, suggesting execution-style shooting. In a split second, the dark place took on a macabre sombreness. Kebba Ceasay, the former Director of the National Security Service in cell No. 25, invoked aloud the name of Allah and the Holy Prophet Mohammed. Everyone in their cell was nervous and felt that the much-feared execution already started. Our fate was no longer hanging in the balance. The junta had ended its debate about what to do with us and decided on a firing squad. Even the high-profile visit from the International Committee for the Red Cross to account for us earlier in our detention, I thought, would not deter the ruling council from carrying out their ghoulish wish.

A short while later, the council members and their entourage of armed soldiers came back. The unfortunate target this time was Regimental Sergeant Major Baboucarr Jeng — the most senior non-commissioned officer of the army. RSM Jeng, who had severe neck pain from a car accident during a military training and had to be flown to the United Kingdom for advanced medical treatment, was subjected to the same cruel and inhumane treatment as Captain Cham, before being dragged through the corridor toward Security Wing No.1. Moments later, as expected, we heard another round of gunfire.

When they returned for their third victim, Vice Chairman Sana Sabally started shouting my name. I was wearing a sleeveless shirt and a pair of shorts. (With the help of the mosquito repellent my family smuggled in to me, this became my pyjamas after the summer heat became intolerably humid). Lt. Sabally came up to my door, cell No. 14, and showed me his hand with a red stain on it. I concluded that it was blood from Captain Mamat Cham, who was presumably shot dead.

“Do you know this,” he asked in a fierce attempt at intimidation.

“No,” I replied, already intimidated by what had transpired.

“This is blood,” he said. “And today I am going to see your blood.”

The door was unlocked from the outside. Antou Saidy came in the cell and cuffed my hands behind my back. Then I was pulled out and forced to the concrete floor. Combat boots and gun butts hit me with vengeance. I felt pain on every inch of my body. The beating was gruelling, bestial and senseless. I writhed and groaned and helplessly absorbed the brutal violation of my body as they were dragging me through the corridor to Wing No. 1 and taunting me with promises of my imminent death. At this point, I virtually gave up. This was it. I’m about to die.

“Be careful!” Lt. Sadibou Hydara, the Interior Minister and my former trainee at the Gendarmerie, shouted to the soldiers who were manhandling me.

Why would he caution his underlings to “be careful” with a condemned man on death row only seconds away from a trigger-happy firing squad? I had no idea what prompted him to say that. But it felt like divine intervention for me. His warning to the soldiers was a genuine moment of sympathy that was out of cue of the script, and it betrayed the denouement of the unfolding drama. I was even more scared after he blurted those saintly words. Before that moment I had given up on life and braced myself for death. Now I did not want to die. I wanted to live. My life was back to me before it departed my body. And I did not want to give it up anymore or have it snatched away from me.

The soldiers stopped dragging me at the foreground of Security Wing No 1.  All my body that came into crashing contact with the hard-concrete floor was severely bruised: my ribs, back, legs, knees, and the handcuffed wrist. While still in handcuffs, Vice Chairman Sabally asked me to say my last prayers before they took me to the execution gallows. Even before I could digest that foreboding prompt and say anything, the Minister of Local Government and Lands, Yankuba Touray, shoved a loaded 9mm French Mab Pistol with the safety catch down into my mouth. I was terrified and lost all the little hope I was clinging to only moments ago. Lt. Touray moved the safety catch on and off with the gun still in mouth. As he kept doing this the entourage of soldiers fired indiscriminately at the sky. The multiple thunderous sounds went on and on. I wanted to die again and get it over with. But the lethal sounds seemed to go on forever, making death inviting. Then the Vice Chairman ordered ceasefire and the guns fell into abrupt silence. I don’t know whether I was relieved or regretful that I was still breathing, albeit haltingly. No amount of words could explain this situation. It was the worst act of terror in the world. I merely stared at these midnight terrorists, mum and numbed.

Then Vice Chairman Sabally ordered the Deputy Commissioner of Prisons Antou Saidy to remove the handcuffs. Private Njie pressed an AK 47 on my chest, hauled insults at me to his heart’s content and ordered me to crawl to the cell No. 5 of Security Wing No. 1. After I was locked-up in the poorly-lit cell, he went on to warn me that this was just a mock execution and they would come back at 6:00 PM for the real one in the adjacent gallows chamber. The council members led their entourage of soldiers out of the security wing. Given what could have happened, I was relieved, if not happy, that they abandoned me incommunicado in the cell and left the prison.

In addition to the blood-thirsty mosquitoes, starved rats began to roam about. But the insects and rodents would have to do far more to get my attention. I had another chance to keep my life; at least until they returned the next time, as the private soldier who pressed the gun on my chest drilled the grim premonition into my mind. I sat down on the floor of the cell, trying to collect myself from the shell-shock of my brush with death. The effort was pointless. In the theatre of my mind, the encounter played incessantly like an endless loop of the scariest trailer from a horror movie. The only time I had any sense of time was when I heard the call for fajr prayer. Barely dressed in my sleeveless shirt and pair of shorts (now torn due to the dragging on the concrete floor), covered in dirt and bruises, and broken down both physically and mentally to stand, I prayed the fajr sitting down.

This testimonial can be corroborated by many former detainees:

Mamat Cham currently a Brigadier in GNA

Baboucarr Jeng- UK

Former Captain Ebrima Kambi

Sheriff Gomez (Former Lt and former Minister)

Former Captain Momodou Sonko – USA

Former Captain James Johnson – USA

Former Army Commander Sheriff Sasudeen Sarr

Sheriff Mbye

Alieu Ndure – UK

Benjamin Wilson- UK

CRIME Free Speech Human Rights International News AddThis :  Featured Image :  Original Author :  SaharaReporters, New York Disable advertisements : 
https://ift.tt/2tMuN92

Mike Igini, the Resident Electoral Commissioner for Akwa Ibom State, says politicians can no longer supply ad hoc staff for elections.

He also insisted that he didn’t manipulate the presidential and National Assembly election results in the state.

Speaking in an interview with NAN in Uyo, the Akwa Ibom State, on Saturday, he said he was not present at the polling units during the polls.

“The allegations are incorrect. We have a total of 2,980 polling units. I was not in any these polling units from the opening to the close of the polls. I have no vote to give, nor will I allow anybody to manipulate the election process,” he said.

He said the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) had put in place anti-rigging devices to check election malpractice in the state, adding that the strength of the political parties were determined on election day at the polling units.

Speaking on ad hoc staff for elections, he said: “No politician will know the level of presiding and collation officers in the state. They can no longer be the ones to supply ad hoc staff that function in those categories.

“What they used to do in time past is to write results but it is now that they allow people to vote their conscience. The era of writing results on behalf of the good people of Akwa Ibom is gone forever.”

#NigeriaDecides Elections News AddThis :  Featured Image :  Original Author :  SaharaReporters, New York Disable advertisements : 
https://ift.tt/2Ha3364

https://ift.tt/eA8V8J
Organisers say 200,000 people attended a march in Milan to protest against racism.

Deji Adeyanju, convener of Concerned Nigerians, has reunited with his family and friends.

Speaking in ABuja on Saturday, he described his detention as “Vitamin C that has re-energised and refreshed” him.

He vowed to remain committed to holding government accountable and speaking the truth to power all the time.

Adeyanju arrived Nnamdi Azikwe International Airport at 1:30pm thanked those who stood by him throughout the time he was in prison in Kano. He was received by a large crowd of supporters who thronged the airport bearing banners and placards to welcome him after 78 days in prison.

"For me, I am convinced that when you lock up an activist in prison, what you are doing is that you are just giving him Vitamin C so that he can be refreshed. So, I have gone in, I am refreshed, I am re-energised. So, government should prepare for four more years of activism," Deji added.

Some inscriptions on the placards read ‘Activist Extraordinary’; ‘Welcome Back Our Hero’; ‘Go Harder Deji Adeyanju’; ‘Welcome Back Aluta Continua’.

He wondered why the government singled him out for persecution with no just cause, and expressed gratitude to President Muhammadu Buhari for making him popular during his travail.

The activist said his detention has further spurred him to be more focused, dedicated and resilient, adding that he would continue to expose all forms of injustices, propaganda and lies of the government, irrespective of the intimidation and harassment.

He said he was not afraid of being re-arrested by the government, noting that he would not stop fighting and speaking the truth, which is what he knows how to do best.  He, however, denied insinuations that he was being used by opposition parties.

"If it is PDP, we will still criticise, but if they don't want to be criticised, they should leave and go to Daura. In as much as they are on top of the seat, they should get ready for criticism,” he declared.

Adeyanju was granted bail by a court in Kano last week after he had spent more than two months in prison, following his arrest by the Police over a murder case of which he had been acquitted since 2009 by a Kano High Court.

ACTIVISM Free Speech Human Rights Politics News AddThis :  Featured Image :  Original Author :  SaharaReporters, New York Disable advertisements : 
https://ift.tt/2Ha7dux

https://ift.tt/eA8V8J
Farah Khaleck has a rare and incurable condition which causes the hardening and tightening of her skin.

https://ift.tt/eA8V8J
North Korea believes the war games are a preparation for a military invasion by the two countries.

https://ift.tt/eA8V8J
Speaking at a conservative summit, the president accuses his opponents of trying to "take me out".

https://ift.tt/eA8V8J
Yolanda Perea explains why she speaks out about the violence she suffered at the hands of Farc rebels.

https://ift.tt/eA8V8J
Depending on who you ask, Yasin Abu Bakr is either a religious leader, a community worker or something like a Mafia godfather.

https://ift.tt/eA8V8J
The demonstration flight of America’s new astronaut capsule will see it dock with the lab.

https://ift.tt/eA8V8J
How one man and his mobile bistro are fighting back against the decline of rural communities.

https://ift.tt/eA8V8J
Family pressure did not stop Cameroonian artist Ajarb Bernard Ategwa from finding success.

https://ift.tt/eA8V8J
Traditional Bhutanese archery is still for men only, but Dorji Dema plans to put this right.

https://ift.tt/eA8V8J
China is the only country to have reduced the rate of increase in Caesareans, bucking a global trend.

https://ift.tt/eA8V8J
Stephon Clark was unarmed when he was shot dead by two police officers in California last year.

https://ift.tt/eA8V8J
Barcelona move 10 points clear at the top of La Liga as Ivan Rakitic's goal all but ends Real Madrid's faint title hopes.

Masked hoodlums have attacked the campaign train of Ebenezer Adeniyan, a candidate of the Social Democratic Party (SDP), contesting the House of Assembly election in Ondo State.

Adeniyan's campaign train was attacked on Friday at Oke Aro area of Akure, the Ondo State capital, during a tour of some wards in the town.

The SDP candidate, who is also the publisher of Trace News Magazine, is contesting to represent Akure South Constituency II at the Ondo State House of Assembly.

It was gathered that the suspected hoodlums damaged some vehicles in the campaign train and also shot sporadically to disrupt the activities lined up for the campaign.

A member of the Adeniyan Campaign Organisation confirmed the attack to SaharaReporters via a telephone chat on Saturday. He told one of our correspondents that the suspected hoodlums were armed with dangerous weapons, including guns and machetes.

"We were on the tour of two wards in the constituency area. And at the end of the tour, we went to Oke Aro to meet a political friend. Unfortunately, on our way back, we made a brief stop at the Abiodun junction to greet some community leaders. However, as we were about to take our leave, three masked men came running towards us from the street, and smashed the windscreen of our music truck.

"They shot into one of our branded cars through the windscreen, but the courageous people in the area gave them a hot chase. Immediately, they fled the area and starting shooting in the air to scare people away and ran back in same direction they came from.”

Speaking on the attack, Adeniyan expressed shock and grief at the damage done to his campaign vehicles by the hoodlums.

According to him, the latest attack on his campaign trains was carried out by members of opposition who are already threatened by his rising popularity in the constituents. He, however, stated that the attack has been reported at the B Division Station of the Ondo State Police Command in Akure.

"I was shocked, to say the least, and there have been lots of attacks on my campaign train for weeks since we started this electioneering process. Our banners are stolen every day and posters torn everywhere in Akure metropolis.

"However, I thank God that no member of my team was injured and I hope the Police in Ondo State will investigate this attack and also get to the root of the matter.”

CRIME Elections Politics News AddThis :  Featured Image :  Original Author :  SaharaReporters, New York Disable advertisements : 
https://ift.tt/2tJGs8m

https://ift.tt/eA8V8J
Bernie Sanders attacks the "dangerous" President Trump as he kicks of his run for the presidency.

Cecilia Olufunke Akintayo, a Professor of Industrial Chemistry, will deliver the first Inaugural Lecture of the Federal University, Oye-Ekiti (FUOYE), the university has announced.

The lecture, to be held on Friday, April 12, at the university’s auditorium, is titled ‘The Place of Plant Oil Derived Products as Sustainable Replacement for Petrochemical Products in Industries.’

“This is a historic occasion for us,” Kayode Soremekun, the Vice Chancellor of the university, said.

Prof. Akintayo started her career as an Assistant Lecturer in 1997 and rose up the ladder as an Associate Professor in 2012. Three years later, she became a full Professor of Industrial Chemistry in Federal University, Oye Ekiti. She undertook postdoctoral work in the Institute of Organic Chemistry, University of Potsdam, Potsdam, and Karlsruhe Institute of Technology, Karlsruhe, Germany between 2009 and 2011 under the auspices of the Alexander von Humboldt fellowship.

Prof Akintayo is also a Schlumberger faculty for the future fellowship and has visited Chemistry Department, Syracuse University, Syracuse, New York, United States of America for a postdoctoral research in collaboration with Professor Daniel Clark. She has published about 30 articles in international peer reviewed journals.

She has won several research grants including: International Foundation of Science Grants (IFS), Third World Academic of Science Grants (TWAS) and Tertiary Education Trust Fund (TETFund) research grants.

She is the University Chairman of the TETFund Committee and the Director of Academic Planning, Federal University, Oye Ekiti.

In another development, the head of the university’s Department of Theatre and Media Arts, Mbachaga Desen Jonathan, has been approved to present a paper at the University of Iceland in May. The NORA conference has the theme: ‘Border Regimes, Territorial Discourses and Feminist Politics.’

Mbachaga’s paper is titled ‘Redefining Female Visibility in Cultural Space: Irene Salami’s ‘The Queen Sisters’ and Ola Rotimi’s ‘Our Husband has Gone Mad Again.’

Education News AddThis :  Featured Image :  Original Author :  SaharaReporters, New York Disable advertisements : 
https://ift.tt/2HevTlV

The Human Rights Writers Association of Nigeria (HURIWA), a pro-democracy and non-governmental body, has described the just-concluded presidential and National Assembly election is a “charade and a monumental travesty of justice”.

The group has also encouraged Atiku Abubakar, presidential candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), to explore the legal option that he has alraedy said he would.

HURIWA accused the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) of manipulating the outcomes of the presidential and National Assembly's polls in favour of the All Progressives Congress (APC), and as such committed “more egregious and satanic crimes than the alleged billionaire kidnapper, Mr. Evans”. 

According to the group, "the double standards show that Nigeria is an unjust community of individuals that support travesty of justice committed by the elite but would very rapidly carry out mob justice on petty criminals".

The group cited instances in which they accused the President of tampering with the rule of law, such as the “unconstitutional suspension of Justice Walter Onnoghen over nebulous charges and his (Buhari's) persistent disobedience of several court orders in the cases of erstwhile National Security Adviser, Colonel Sambo Dasuki, and the leader of Shiites Islamic Movement, Sheikh Ibraheem El-Zakzaky”.

HURIWA also accused Buhari of deploying the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) and the Department of State Services (DSS) to “intimidate and sow fear” in the minds of judicial officers. 

A media statement by the National Coordinator, Comrade Emmanuel Onwubiko, and the head of legal, Barrister Sylvia Nneka Okonkwo, referred to the presidential election as “the most predatory and roguish political enterprise that has ever happened in the twenty century world".

The statement read: “The election was anything but peaceful, transparent, free and fair, just as the collation of results at the national level was choreographed to appear like a scenario whereby a robbery gang took their time to allocate the looted fund to themselves whereas the victims are left to agonise and pass through trauma. The European and so-called observers from ECOWAS, AU and Commonwealth were bribed to endorse the sham elections by INEC.

“The election witnessed the most brazen acts of deprivation of the right to vote technically and systematically implemented by INEC against the southern voters and most especially, voters bearing Christian names because of the widespread perception that Christians would normally not vote for a government that did nothing to stop the genocide against them by armed Fulani herdsmen.

“HURIWA condemned the electoral violence that trailed the polls in Kogi, Rivers, Bayelsa, Lagos and the deliberate disenfranchisement of Igbo voters in Lagos and Sabon Gari, Kano by the political godfathers of those states in collusion with INEC. HURIWA stated that the pains of the manipulation of the election may take years to heal but the group has called on like-minded ideological citizens to organize themselves and champion the cause of achieving total electoral reforms to make the electoral body truly independent.

“HURIWA has therefore called on the police to arrest and prosecute all those who disrupted the polls as captured by the vigilant cameras of patriotic Nigerians which are circulating on verified accounts of several credible statesmen and women of truth.

“Sweeping the organized crimes that happened during the elections behind the carpets of impunity is no longer an option. We condemn all those who are gloating and celebrating over the results of the election which, in all honesty is worse, than the crimes ascribed to the Evans, the billionaire kidnapper.”

#NigeriaDecides Elections News AddThis :  Featured Image :  Original Author :  SaharaReporters, New York Disable advertisements : 
https://ift.tt/2H6kynH

Members of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in Okitipupa/Irele Federal Constituency, Ondo State, have accused the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) of colluding with the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) to “rig” the just-concluded presidential and National Assembly elections.

A statement by Agbajuni Oluwafemi, APC's Publicity Secretary in Okitipupa Local Government Area, noted that the election which held on February 23, 2019, was marred by irregularities.

In the statement obtained by SaharaReporters, the party asked INEC to declare Albert Akintoye, the APC candidate, winner of the election.

The party gave instances of happenings during the election, which was characterised by violence and irregularities, “purportedly organised by PDP in connivance with the electoral umpire (INEC) and security agents”.

The statement read: “Below are parts of the evil perpetrated in Okitipupa/Irele Federal constituency. In Okitipupa, the National Vice Chairman South-West of PDP, Olorogun Eddy Olafeso, led thugs who carried dangerous weapons and charms to Okitipupa.

“They chased voters away and manipulated the results of various units. For instance, card readers were not allowed to be used in Okitipupa ward 2 units 002, yet they recorded 66 for APC, 102 for PDP, and in unit 019, they recorded 54 for APC and136 for PDP without the use of card readers.

“Same thing happened to the entire three wards in Ilutitun, the home town of the PDP House of Representatives candidate, Mr. Ikengboju Gboluga, where voting materials for units 14 and 15 were burnt down by PDP thugs. As if that was not enough, card readers were not allowed to be used in virtually all the three units in Ilutitun. Yet, votes were unjustifiably awarded to PDP, which culminated into unwarranted allotment of the highest number of votes to PDP by INEC in the entire federal constituency.

“In Ode Aye ward 1, unit 002, thugs beat up APC members and did not allow the use of card readers. This incident led to the cancellation of the result of the unit. Also, Igbotako was not left out of this ill act as thugs invaded unit 001 of Igbotako ward 2. The unit is situated in the homefront of erstwhile deputy governorship candidate of ACN, Otunba Paul Akintelure. The thugs beat up whoever they sighted and set ablaze the election materials in the place. Also in Akinfosile unit, men in Army uniform snatched away already counted ballots and whisked away the corps member, who was the INEC ad hoc staff on duty for hours.

“Card readers were also not used in unit 011of Iju Odo/Erekiti ward where thugs casted all the votes, but then INEC still awarded votes at will to that unit. In Irele LG, virtually the elections in all the units were marred with various forms of irregularities ranging from no usage of card readers, ballot snatching, use of dangerous weapons and charms, to burning of electoral materials in the full glare of security personnel.

"Our prayer Sir, is that Honourable Albert Akintoye, the APC's flagbearer in Okitipupa/Irele federal constituency, should be declared the winner of the election more so that the candidates of other political parties concurred that Albert Akintoye genuinely won the election.

“Not this alone, there were series of protests on the streets of towns and villages in Okitipupa and Irele local governments against the conduct of the election.”

#NigeriaDecides Elections News AddThis :  Featured Image :  Original Author :  SaharaReporters, New York Disable advertisements : 
https://ift.tt/2H4fFeZ

Borno State recorded the highest voter turnout, with 41.18% of its registered voters trooping out to vote during the presidential election despite the insecurity endured by its inhabitants since 2009.

Residents of Maiduguri, the Borno State capital, were not deterred by the early-morning explosions on election day, as the voter turnout increased in the state from 28.62% in 2015 to 41.18% in 2019, making it the state with the highest increase in voter turnout compared to what held in 2015.

In Zamfara, which has suffered high levels of violence like Borno, there was an increase in the number of registered voters when 2015 is juxtaposed with 2019. However, there is an 18% decrease in voter turnout.

Besides Borno, only Ekiti and Kogi states recorded increase in voter turnout in 2019, when compared to the figures from 2015, although with a difference of 1%. Kano had a decline in the number of voter turnout from the usual over two million votes to 1,964,751 votes.

    

Data provided by Civic Media Lab showed that voter turnout was markedly low in the South-South and South-East geopolitical zones of the country.

There was a reduction in the number of voters between 2015 and 2019 from a range of 11% to 47%. In Rivers State, where several incidents of violence were recorded, the number of voters in 2015 was 47% less than in 2019.

There was also decline in the number of those who voted in the northern states of Kebbi, Taraba, Katsina, Yobe, Nasarawa, Abuja, Niger, Jigawa and Kaduna, with all of them recording reductions of 5% and below in comparison to 2015’s presidential polls.

In the South-West region, Lagos State had a low turnout of voters despite the very high number of persons who registered to vote – 6,313,507. However, Oyo State had the highest depreciation in voter turnout, dropping 8% from 39% in 2015 to 31% in 2019.

Ogun State had the lowest percentage of voter turnout in the South-West, with only 25.92% of its registered voters going to the polling booth. Overall, there is an increase in the number of votes cast in the three northern geopolitical zones.

The North-East had 4,786,248 votes compared to that of 2015 which was 3,783,929 votes. The North-Central increased by 487,417 votes when compared to that of 2015. The North-West had an increase from 5,699,105 votes in 2015 to 5,879,091 votes in the 2019 general election. Unlike the Northern area, the Southern area had a decline in the number of voter turnout.

In the South-South, voter turnout reduced from 3,465,109 votes in 2015 to 2,815,348 votes in 2019. In the South-West, there was a drop in people casting their ballots at the presidential and National Assembly elections from 4,539,447 votes in 2015 to 4,365,996, while the South-East reduced from 2,815,348 votes in 2015 to 2,342,740 votes in 2019.

Compared to 2015 when voter turnout stood at 43.65%, according to data figures from the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), after final count for the 2019 presidential election, voter turnout was 35.6 per cent of registered voters.

#NigeriaDecides Elections News AddThis :  Featured Image :  Original Author :  SaharaReporters, New York Disable advertisements : 
https://ift.tt/2tJ4kcs