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Tuesday, March 31, 2015

Breaking News: General Muhammadu Buhari Wins 2015 Presidential Election in Nigeria!




Congratulations to the people's General Muhammadu Buhari for winning the 2015 presidential election.
It is a well deserved victory and we give God and God alone all the glory.
Cheers to our success.
The gruesome murder of members and supporters of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in Rivers State, Edo State, Bauch State, and other states in Nigeria will be investigated and the murderers will be tried and will not go unpunished.
The deaths of all the martyrs of Change have not been in vain.
They will not be forgotten.

ONE GOD.
ONE NIGERIA!
SAI BUHARI!

With the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) announcing collated results for the presidential election from the 36 states and the Federal Capital Territory, and having analysed the state and local government areas' results in the possession of THISDAY reporters from around the country, The Board of Editors of THISDAY calls this presidential elections in favour of the presidential candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Major-General Muhammadu Buhari. THISDAY Newspapers can comfortably project that Buhari has won the 2015 presidential election.
While both Buhari and President Goodluck Jonathan have satisfied the constitutionally required 1/3 in 24 states, General Buhari's current majority is unassailable by any results still to be declared. We congratulate President Goodluck Jonathan for giving Nigeria the legacy of free and fair elections and urge him to immediately concede. We congratulate General Buhari for a hard won victory after four attempts at the presidency, and urge him to not only be magnanimous in victory but give Jonathan's supporters - especially the minorities - comfort. The Editors of THISDAY urge all Nigerians that the the time for healing has begun.
http://www.thisdaylive.com/articles/the-board-of-editors-for-thisday-newspapers-projects-buhari-winner/205569./


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Monday, March 30, 2015

UK To Provide 5 Million Pounds Support To Tackle Boko Haram




LONDON, 27 March 2015 / PRN Africa / --
Foreign Secretary announces 5 million pounds in UK support for regional task force to tackle Boko Haram.
The Foreign Secretary, Philip Hammond MP, has announced 5m pounds of UK support for a new regional Task Force to tackle Boko Haram in northern Nigeria and the Lake Chad Basin area. The Multinational Joint Task Force has been mandated by the African Union and a Security Council resolution is currently being negotiated in New York to welcome the force. The UK is working towards the swift adoption of the resolution.

The Task Force consists of contributions from Nigeria, Chad, Cameroon, Niger and Benin, many of whose forces are already operational on the ground and are making significant progress against Boko Haram. The AU has called on international partners to provide support to enable sustained operation of the force.
The Foreign Secretary, Philip Hammond, said:

"I am pleased that the UK will contribute 5m pounds to support the new Multinational Joint Task Force to tackle Boko Haram. The UK fully supports the efforts of Nigeria, Chad, Cameroon, Niger and Benin to tackle the scourge of Boko Haram. I hope that the international community can send an important message of support through the swift adoption of a Security Council resolution in New York to welcome the force.
"Important gains are already being made on the ground in tackling Boko Haram by the regional partners who will contribute to the Task Force. It will continue to play an important role in fighting this terrorist insurgency. I commend the commitment and bravery of the troops involved. The UK continues to stand strong with Nigeria and its neighbours in tackling this heinous group."

SOURCE UK Foreign & Commonwealth Office

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GTCO Condemns Police Attack On Protesting Rivers Women



GTCO condemns police attack on protesting Rivers women

The police in Rivers State have been condemned for violently attacking thousands of women who assembled on Monday to protest against the conduct of last Saturday’s Presidential and National Assembly elections. The police action has therefore, been described as debasing of womanhood and an affront on motherhood. “The police action debases womanhood and an insult on the African culture of respect for women. All those women tear-gassed by the police were people’s wives and mothers who deserved all respect”, a statement by the Greater Together Campaign Organisation, GTCO, signed by Ibim Semenitari, Director of Communications, on Monday stated in part.

GTCO, which is the campaign outfit for Dr. Dakuku Adol Peterside, the governorship candidate of the All Progressives Congress, APC, in Rivers State, said it was part of the Federal Government’s systematic plan to impose dictatorship on the state. “Those Rivers women had the right to protest, and after all, there were no elections in Rivers State. So, their protest was part of their democratic rights and the clampdown by the police is an extension of the ongoing program to muzzle Rivers State and appropriate her commonwealth. Our people are more civilised to be muzzled as REC Khan and PDP would want. We condemn this, and call for unreserved apologies for this assault on our women”.


The statement blamed the INEC Resident Electoral Commissioner in the state, Mrs. Gesila Khan, for the women’s action, saying that had she carried out her duties impartially, the women would not have had reason to take to the streets. “The REC should be held accountable for all electoral killings and crises so far recorded in Rivers State. Had the REC been professional and impartial in her duties and conducted elections in Rivers State accordingly, our women would not have taken to the streets. But because she abandoned the job she was sent to Rivers to do, by compromising her job, people now have no option than to speak out against her”.

It might interest people to know that thousands of women turned up to protest the alleged irregularities they claimed marred the March 28 Presidential and National Assembly elections. The women led by the Rivers State Commissioner for Women Affairs, Mrs. Joeba West, Hon.  Maureen Tamuno and Hon. Victoria Nyeche, drawn from the 23 local government areas of the state, had intended to march to the headquarters office of the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, in Port Harcourt to present a letter to the Resident Electoral Commissioner, REC, Mrs. Gesila Khan.

The women, dressed in all-black attire and carrying placards with various inscriptions that condemned the alleged malpractices that characterised the polls, and calling for fresh polls, had gathered at the St. John’s Terminus along Aba Road from where they headed to INEC office. However, just a few metres away from the kick-off point, lorry loads of heavily-armed anti-riot policemen, moved in several police vehicles, took positions to abort the movement.

Before the women commenced the march, the leaders had told journalists that they were embarking on the protest to register their grievances over the manner in which INEC had handled the entire election. “We were denied the chance to vote for candidates of our choice. They used the police and other armed groups to take away election materials”, Hon. Tamuno told the journalists. Hon. Tamuno, who said the women would not accept the elections as conducted in Rivers State last Saturday, and its outcome, showed journalists her wounded Personal Assistant, PA. “You can see the bruised body of my PA(Personal Assistant). She was battered by PDP thugs last Saturday even as they did not allow us to vote. There was no election in my area. That is part of our grievance. We want to make our complaints to INEC and demand fresh elections in Rivers State”, Tamuno added.

The women, who were very peaceful in their conduct, were, however, confronted by the policemen who ordered them to disperse. The police order sort of angered the women who insisted on continuing with the protest. The police detachment, led by two officers in the rank of Deputy Superintendent of Police, DSP, barricaded the Waterlines Junction along Aba Road. The police action angered the women who, however, engaged the officers in an argument.  Not convinced at the reason given by the women, the police officers directed the women to select two of their leaders to go to INEC with their grievances. Police opened tear gas canisters on the women leading to stampede leading to some of the women sustaining injuries.

~
Ibim Semenitari
Director of Communications
Greater Together Campaign Organisation

Monday, March 30, 2015.

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Rivers State APC Demands Suspension of Resident Electoral Commissioner

30-03-15

PRESS RELEASE

RIVERS APC DEMANDS SUSPENSION OF RESIDENT ELECTORAL COMMISSIONER

•Explains Why Gov Amaechi Asked for INEC Results Sheet


The Rivers State Chapter of the All Progressives Congress (APC) has demanded the immediate suspension of the State Resident Electoral Commissioner (REC), Mrs. Gesila Khan, for colluding with the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) to rig last weekend’s presidential and National Assembly elections in the State. “For Mrs. Khan to have removed the INEC result sheets in all the polling units in the State with the intention of rigging the polls is a very serious criminal offence. Mrs. Khan should not only be suspended but should not be allowed to conduct the April 11 Gubernatorial and State Assembly elections, as well as the Presidential and National Assembly elections when rescheduled,” the party said in a statement issued in Port Harcourt by the State Chairman, Dr. Davies Ibiamu Ikanya.

Rivers APC commended INEC Chairman, Prof. Attahiru Jega, for acknowledging the party’s petition on the evil practices associated with the polls in Rivers State. “We are very convinced that if our case is thoroughly investigated it will be confirmed that the State REC, Mrs. Khan, compromised her office and tarnished the good image of INEC,” the party stated.

It defended the action of the State Governor, Rt. Hon. Chibuike Amaechi, in requesting to see the INEC result sheets and other sensitive materials for the conduct of last weekend’s polls, saying: “The Governor took that step as we were aware that the State REC had traded off the result sheets to PDP to write the results as they deemed fit. Amaechi wanted to prevent a situation whereby people would queue to vote while PDP and INEC would write a different result not reflecting the true voting pattern in the State.”

Rivers APC condemned the conduct of soldiers deployed for the election, saying that contrary to court order, PDP not only used the army to intimidate APC supporters and coerce Rivers State voters to vote for PDP.

“It is sad that the PDP leadership in Rivers State could be so callous to arm the youths in order to kill and maim Rivers State people because of election. We know that Rivers people are peace-loving and arming some of the youths at this time does not do anyone any good because it may be difficult to retrieve some of these arms from these youths later, thereby constituting a serious security challenge,” Rivers APC said.

It declared that Rivers PDP does not have any agenda to move the State forward, which informed its rejection by Rivers people. If Rivers State people are allowed to vote, President Jonathan and Chief Nyesome Wike can never secure up to 10% of votes cast in the State in any election based on all the evils the duo have committed against Rivers State. “As a party we will do everything humanly possible to ensure that the verdict and wishes of Rivers State people are honoured and implemented and that they are allowed to vote without any intimidation or coercion,” Ikanya said.



Attached is the copy of our petition to the INEC Chairman, Prof Jega and relevant pictures for your study and action.

Long Live APC!

Long Live Rivers State!!

Chief Eze Chukwuemeka Eze,

SSA Media and Public Affairs to the State Chairman, APC Rivers State.

30-03-15

RIVERS APC CHAIRMAN WRITES JEGA, ASK FOR CANCELLATION OF ELECTIONS IN RIVERS STATE.

The Rivers State chapter of the APC yesterday rejected the National elections held in Rivers State of allegations of impropriety and poor conduct. In a letter submitted to the INEC chairman through the office of the APC chairman Chief Dr. Davies Ibiamu Ikanya, the party outlined it's reasons for cancellation of elections in Rivers State. See   letter below:

28th March, 2015
The Chairman,
Independent National Electoral Commission,
INEC Headquarters,
Abuja.

Dear Sir,

RE: NO ELECTION IN RIVERS STATERE: CALL FOR OUTRIGHT CANCELLATION AND RESCHEDULING
1. INTRODUCTION:
The All Progressives Congress, APC, in Rivers State, wishes to protest vehemently, and bring to the attention of the INEC, the parody of election held in Rivers State on Saturday, March 28, 2015 which was characterized by deliberate non release of Result Sheets to nearly all the centers, active collaboration and collusion of the INEC staff with the People’s Democratic Party in undermining the credibility of the Election, Violence deliberately orchestrated to scare away voters and the deployment and use of the Police to arrest key and notable APC Party faithfuls even during the election with the sole aim of infusing fear and intimidation on APC followers and removing them from circulation so that there will be leeway for the PDP to operate within the political space unchallenged.
The Resident Electoral Commissioner, REC, in Rivers State, Mrs. Gesila Khan, a known associate and friend of President Goodluck Ebele Jonathan connived with the Peoples Democratic Party, to disenfranchise the electorate in Rivers State. In several instances, non Corpers were used as Presiding Officers and several card carrying PDP members were used as SPOs.
The result is that, in substance, there was no election in Rivers State.

2. POLICE ARRESTS AND INTIMIDATION OF APC MEMBERS
On the morning of Friday March 27, Mr Emmanuel Deeyah, the State Party agent of the APC was arrested at the premises of INEC and taken away to the SOS.
Daddy Pokima, the Chairman of Degema Local Government Area and Sokonte Davies, a member of the House of Representatives, were kidnapped and have not been found as at the time of the writing of this petition. The purpose of the kidnap is clear: to remove them from participating in the election and in this regard, several other APC Leaders numbering well over 55 were arrested just before and during the elections. APC members in over 16 LGAS were severely intimidated during the elections including the Chairman of Andoni LGA, Esuku Esuku who is still in hiding till now..

3. INEC COLLUSION WITH PDP TO COMPROMISE THE CREDIBILITY OF THE PROCESS
On Friday night, an anonymous observer reported that cars were seen moving into the Rivers State INEC office to pick up incidence forms. He particularly saw a white Honda Accord vehicle driving into the INEC office and leaving with incidence forms.

 On Friday, the eve of the election, at about 6:30 PM, 40,000 incidence forms were illegally and clandestinely sent to Oyigbo LGA but stopped when the APC Agent complained about it. He was however asked to leave the INEC offices at about11:30 pm and only allowed to return by 6am the next day.
120,000 incidence forms were to be sent to Port Harcourt LGA and 80,000 sent to Obio/Akpor and 50, 000 for Ikwerre LGA. No forms were sent at all in almost all the other LGAs.
It is curious that Incidence Forms which are designed to be used only after an identified voter is unable to complete biometrics identification, could be made available in advance when no incidence had occurred.
4. THE ABSENCE OF RESULT SHEETS IN NEARLY ALL VOTING CENTERS:

Perhaps, the most egregious aspect of the glaring irregularities and breaches in the election is in the area of a willful and deliberate non availability of Results Sheets in nearly all voting centers. This was deliberately made so as to pave the way for the writing of the results thereafter.
For the avoidance of doubts, no result sheets were sent to Emohua, Ikwerre, Omuma, Etche, Akuku Toru, Ogu/Bolo, Okrika, Asari Toru, Ahoada East, Bonny, Khana, Ogba/Egbema/Ndoni, Ahoada West,Abua/Odual, Oyigbo and some parts of Port Harcourt. In Opobo/Nkoro LGA, result sheets were distributed in only 3 out of 11 wards. In fact, in Boms Hall Voting Center, it caused a near total break down of law and order as some enlightened voters and APC faithfuls insisted that unless they were shown and allowed to examine the authenticity of the Results Sheets, they would hold up proceedings. To make matters worse, the Presiding Officer when asked about the Result Sheet, retorted that he would write the result on a piece of paper and give to agents!

It was when the crowd became tumultuous that they communicated the INEC office that rushed in what looked like Result Sheets and by this time, confidence in the process had been undermined.
In almost all the LGAs (about 16 LGAs), there were no incident forms yet voters were illegally accredited normally. Several thousand persons with fake PVCs whose cards were rejected as non-INEC cards by the Card Readers were accepted (in the face of strenuous objection and protests by the APC and other party Agents present) for accreditation even without filling the incident forms. This was worse in Khana, Gokana, Tai-Eleme, Oyigbo, Emohua, Ikwerre, parts of Obio/Akpor, Okrika and Ogu/Bolo. In Gokana for example, the Electoral Officer, Mr. Akpan publicly announced that there were no elections in the LGA. The Presiding Officers in Opobo/Nkoro LGA admitted that there were no elections in the LGA because hoodlums seized the sensitive materials meant for the elections.
Even as this letter is being written, there are reports that thumb-printing and collation of false results are currently going on at the following known places:
  1. Landmark Hotel in D/Line, Port Harcourt owned by Olaka Nwogu the PDP Senatorial Candidate for Rivers South East.
  2. Jora Hotel in D/Line, Port Harcourt.
  3. Senator Lee Maeba’s house in Luwa in Khana LGA of Rivers State.
  4. Emma Anyanwu’s house in Ulakwo in Etche LGA of Rivers State.
  5. Eugene Minimah’s house in Opobo.
  6. Kelechi Nwogu’s house in Omuma
  7. Police Station, Kpor in Gokana LGA in Rivers State.
  8. Hope Ikiriko’s house in Ogbologbolo in Ahoada West LGA in Rivers State.
  9. Krisdera Hotel, Omoku in Ogba/Egbema/Ndoni LGA in Rivers State.
  10. Mike Elechi’s farmhouse in Elele, Ikwerre LGA in Rivers  State.
  11. Barrister Harvey Ideozu’s house in Ahoada, Ahoada East LGA in Rivers State.
  12. Iboroma Kichener’s house in Akuku-Toru LGA in Rivers State.
Also, one Ejoh Orusa the Ward Co-ordinating officer for Port Harcourt LGA took the result sheets for the LGA to Hon. Austin Opara’s house at Nsirim Crescent in GRA, Port Harcourt for thumb printing and collation.

Gokana - Ward 9 Unit 18:
INEC materials were provided but without the original Result Sheet. Community members and voters asked INEC officials to produce the original Result Sheets before accreditation can commence and that was not done resulting in preventing the exercise from taking place. The result is that no voting took place in Gokana.
Still in Gokana, Senator Magnus Abe and the Gokana LGA Council Chairman, Mr. Kadilo Kabari were attacked by policemen and PDP thugs masquerading as INEC officials who were facilitating the thumb-printing of ballot papers by PDP members at the Divisional Police Headquarters Kpor, headquarters of Gokana LGA. Also attacked were  some aides of the Senator. The policemen who threatened to shoot the Senator and his aides, pushed the Senator and hit the Council Chairman leading to his falling on the ground.

USE OF NON-CORPERS AS PRESIDING OFFICERS AND REPLACEMENT OF TRAINED AD-HOC PERSONNEL WITH KNOWN PDP THUGS FOR ELECTIONS
In Gokana local government also, trained-INEC ad hoc personnel were replaced with untrained manpower suspected to be PDP members. It was believed to have been done in connivance with the LGA, Electoral Officer, EO.  

These same actions were also replicated in several other LGAs including Khana LGA where in Wards 6, 9, 16 17 and 18, the  Returning Officers, Presiding Officers and Assistant Presiding Officers are all known PDP members. In Okrika LGA, there was a sudden change and appearance of fresh and non-trained INEC ad-hoc personnel. This also happened in Obio/Akpor Local Government Area and other LGAs.

VIOLENCE AGAINST APC MEMBERS
In addition to all the above, the Police, curiously, were also used to inflict violence on our members, sometimes, resulting in death.
In Akuku-Toru Local Government Area, the DPO declined deploying officers and men resulting in materials being distributed without the police accompanying the process to the various units. Soldiers and over 30 officers and policemen posted to Akuku Toru for the election were withdrawn to the residence of Dr. Tammy Danagogo, Nigeria’s Minister of Sports, Abonnema. Armed militia-men were on the streets stopping voters from going out to vote. About 30 APC members have so far been arrested in Abonnema.
In Ward 7 Unit 3, PDP armed militia men have been beating up APC members. Akuku Toru:
Yet no voting took place in these areas. In Abonnema Ward 9/4, there was no voting while INEC officials are seen writing the results.
DPO of Abonemma Kayode Joseph was wounded in the head while escorting Commissioner for Urban Development Isobo Jack to the polling unit while thumb-printing was going on in Iboroma Keitchener’s house in Akuku Toru LGA Ward 17, Unit 11. Keitchener is a former member of the Rivers State House of Assembly. APC agent in Akuku Toru Ward 2, Unit 3 was abducted and remains in the hands of his kidnappers. Those kidnapped were Imaeinoye Tony and Oola Sampson. All materials were also hijacked. In ward 3, unit 3. Voters were chased away after accreditation
In Omuma Local Government Area, materials were snatched by one  Kelechi Nwogu in company of Nigeria Police Special Anti-robbery squard SARS and in the process, shot at one APC supporter, Mr Charles Nwuke while in Okrika,Okrika Local Government Area, hometown of Mrs Jonathan, the PDP had all the result Sheets in their possession. As soon as the materials arrived, they were first taken to the home of Ibibia Walter, the Rivers State PDP Secretary. There were no materials in any unit for a while. When they finally appeared, the original result sheets were missing.
CONCLUSION AND PRAYER:
It will fill a volume should we document ALL the irregularities that characterized this election. We decided to state only the highlights and the obvious but for a detailed understanding of the level of electoral malpractices, we hereby attach a more concise statement of the areas and extent of the irregularities in some of the LGAS as appendix 1 and a list of persons injured and killed as well as properties destroyed and damaged as appendix 2.
IT is now indubitable that had INEC remained Independent as it is statutorily and constitutionally expected to be and not collude with the Police and the rival Political Party of Peoples Democratic Party, the Election would have enjoyed credibility and support whatever the outcome.
A situation, as we have demonstrated here, where voters are made to vote when there is no Result Sheet for obvious reasons, where Police harass, arrest and intimidate voter and party faithful even during election day or even during voting, cannot be said to conduce to free, fair and credible election.
We want to firmly state that there is nowhere in the world where this SHAM AND DEBACLE that happened in Rivers State can be glorified as an election and allowing this to stand is to posit to the entire World that allocation of votes and massive irregularities and malpractices will be allowed as long as the perpetrators are able to carry same out.

We urge the Hon Chairman of the Commission to use your good offices to set aside the sham now described as Election in Rivers State and order another Election if the will and wish of the people to choose a leader of their choice is paramount to the Commission in line with its Statutory and Constitutional mandate.

Yours Sincerely,
Chief Dr. Davies Ibiamu Ikanya (JP)
   Chairman APC, Rivers State

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Sunday, March 29, 2015

Many PDP Leaders in Rivers State Will Be Arrested for Crimes Against Humanity


With the gruesome murder of more than 55 members and supporters of the All Progressives Congress (APC) by hired gunmen of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in Rivers State, the Prosecutor of the International Criminal Court, Fatou Bensouda is investigating reports of violence during the March 28 polls in Nigeria.

Fatou Bensouda, Prosecutor of the International Criminal Court.
Statement : 16/03/2015


Statement by the Prosecutor of the International Criminal Court, Fatou Bensouda, ahead of elections in Nigeria: “I reiterate my call to refrain from violence”
​Following my statement of the 2nd of February 2015, and my Office's subsequent visit to Nigeria from the 3rd to the 5th of February, I reiterate my previous message.

At a time when abhorrent levels of violence already plague parts of the country, I recall that the International Criminal Court ("ICC" or the "Court'" has jurisdiction over Rome Statute crimes committed on the territory of Nigeria. Any person who incites or engages in acts of violence in the context of the upcoming elections or otherwise – including by ordering, inciting, encouraging or contributing to the commission of crimes that fall within ICC's jurisdiction – is liable to prosecution; either by Nigerian Courts or by the ICC.

No one should doubt my Office's resolve to prosecute individuals responsible for the commission of ICC crimes, whenever necessary.

Violence is not a solution. The conduct and outcome of elections in Nigeria, free from violence, will not only prevent further instability in the country, but will also send a clear message that electoral competition does not have to result in violence and crimes that shock the conscience of humanity.

The Office of the Prosecutor of the ICC conducts independent and impartial investigations and prosecution of the crimes of genocide, crimes against humanity and war crimes. The Office of the Prosecutor has opened investigations in: Uganda; Democratic Republic of the Congo; Darfur, Sudan; Central African Republic; Kenya; Libya; Côte d'Ivoire and Mali. The Office is also conducting preliminary examinations relating to the situations in Afghanistan, Colombia, Georgia, Guinea, Honduras, Iraq, Nigeria, Ukraine and Palestine.

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APC Condemns Gruesome Murder of Members and Supporters During Polls in Rivers State


 Members of APC murdered by the PDP militants in Rivers State.

BREAKING NEWS - SCORES OF APC MEMBERS SHOT DEAD IN RIVERS •100 MEMBERS ARRESTED 
*Party cries out oveDOMr intimidation, disenfranchisement 
*Rejects the outcome of the elections.

PRESS RELEASE


SCORES OF APC MEMBERS SHOT DEAD IN RIVERS •100 MEMBERS ARRESTED *Party cries out over intimidation, disenfranchisement *Rejects the outcome of the elections.

Today’s presidential and National Assembly elections have turned out to be a big nightmare for the All Progressives Congress (APC) in Rivers State, with the members being killed, attacked and disenfranchised in various parts of the State. “Armed militias working for the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) have intensified their killing of APC members. Scores have already been killed and several others marked for elimination. This morning in Kpite Town, Tai Ward 2 and other areas of the State, five people were shot dead by PDP’s armed militia, and that was before accreditation commenced,” Rivers APC Chairman, Dr. Davies Ibiamu Ikanya, said in a statement in Port Harcourt. Pictures of our killed members are attached.

Lamenting his party’s ordeal, Ikanya said: “It is sad that PDP and its collaborators are targeting APC strongholds and chieftains for attacks and killings. To intimidate our people and contrary to the court ruling forbidding the use of the Army in this election, there has been a massive deployment of soldiers in the State with clear instruction to shoot at sight any APC agent that refuses to comply with the evil plot of PDP to write the results of the election at some designated areas of the State in favour of PDP.”

Chief Ikanya gave the following specific horrifying examples of APC’s travails:

•Hon. Chidiebere Okwuwolu, former Commissioner and currently an APC leader, was arrested by police and taken to Olu Obasanjo Police Station in Port Harcourt along with 99 other arrested APC members scattered in various Police Stations in the State.


•At Ubima, the home town of Governor Chibuike Amaechi, the INEC results sheets are currently with Chief Nyesome Wike, the gubernatorial candidate of PDP in Rivers State. Governor Amaechi has refused to embark upon any accreditation because of lack of result sheets in all the polling units in the State, a situation contrived by INEC and PDP to make room for PDP to rig the election.


•At Andoni, the Local Government Area of Rivers State APC Chairman, Dr. Davies Ibiamu Ikanya, and Chief Uche Secondus, the National Vice Chairman of PDP and his cousin, Engr Tele Ikuru (the Deputy Governor of Rivers State who few days defected to PDP) hell has been let loose; electoral materials have been hijacked by PDP agents in connivance with the Army that has been threatening to arrest and kill any APC chieftains in sight.

•The Caretaker Committee Chairman of Andoni Local Government area, Esuku Esuku, has been ordered out of Ngo, headquarters of Local Government, by the Joint Task Force (JTF)/army personnel deployed to Ngo, or be killed. •At Abonnema, headquarters of Akuku-Toru Local Government, materials are being distributed from the house of Minister of Sports, Chief Tammy Danagogo, instead of the INEC office, without any security personnel. Danagogo has held the policemen that ought to escort these materials to the polling units hostage and injuring DPO of Abonnema, Mr. Joseph Kayode for daring to accompany Hon Isobo Jack the Commissioner for Urban Development to the Polling Unit, relevant pictures attached.


•PDP thugs hijacked materials and INEC personnel meant for Akuku-Toru Wards 15, 16 and 17. The hijacked materials and men were taken to Freetown, a hinterland coastal community. The attack was led by two youths whose identities are known. •In Tombia, in same Akuku-Toru Local Government, PDP had by Friday night filled the community with Ijaw Youth Council (IYC) bouncers who were attacking APC members and, at the same time, preventing those returning home to vote from entering the town. They were doing so in the presence of soldiers who were too few in number. The Caretaker Committee Chairman and others were injured on Friday. The over 30 APC members that were to act as agents were arrested.

Photos of victims.

•In Buguma, which is the Headquarters of Asari-Toru Local government, policemen were busy all day arresting APC chieftains. •In Gokana Local Government, trained INEC ad-hoc personnel were replaced with untrained manpower suspected to be PDP members. This is believed to have been done in connivance with the LGA Electoral Officer (EO).


•At Opobo/Nkoro, the Local Government Area of Dr. Dakuku Adol Peterside, the gubernatorial candidate of APC, the house of Opobo/Nkoro Caretaker Committee Chairman, Loveday Jaja, was torched after he escaped to avoid being killed by the PDP hoodlums. Electoral materials meant for the Local Government Area have been diverted to John Africa/Ada Tom Pepple Compound area where they are thumb-printing in favour of PDP. One Barrister J.B Pepple was caught with stained thumbs and he admitted to thumb-printing. Another person Alafagha Oko-Jaja had his head broken head and he is seriously bleeding. No one is sure if he will survive. The army has been going around the community harassing people while Chiefs in Kalaibiama are compelling them to vote for President Goodluck Jonathan of PDP. This is said to be on the orders of Chief of Army Staff, Major-General Kenneth Minimah, who is also from the town.

Mr. Harold Peterside a PDP Agent in Unit 006 Ward, Oopbo/Nkoro was caught with INEC Register and fake Results Sheet at the Polling Unit.

•At Oyigbo LGA, 40,000 incident forms were being given out at 6:30 a.m. but they stopped when the APC Agent complained about it. He was however asked to leave the INEC office at about 11:30 a.m. Already, 120,000 incident forms have been to Port Harcourt LGA, 80,000 to Obio/Akpor and 50,000 to Ikwerre LGA. The incident forms are one of the ways PDP plans to use to rig the elections around the country, especially in the South South and South East.


•In Okrika, there was sudden change and appearance of fresh and inadequately trained INEC ad-hoc staff who tried to persuade voters to undergo manual accreditation, claiming that card readers assigned to Okrika LGA polling booths were not working (even without trying them). In a few units where APC supporters insisted on ‘No Card, No Accreditation’, the card readers mysteriously began to work. But in majority of the places manual accreditation is being undertaken. Also in Okrika, there is insufficient delivery of electoral materials by INEC. Up till now no one, not even party agents, has seen the original result collation sheets. The INEC officials claim it is not everything that they must explain. Meanwhile, INEC delivered incident forms far excess of the number of registered voters.


Meanwhile, PDP stalwarts are openly parading bundles of PVC cards in their possession. Rowland Sekibo, accompanied by police and PDP thugs armed with guns, are going around chasing away APC members from doing accreditation. They had done so in wards 1, 7, 8, 9 and 2. They tore the tags of our agents, beat them and chased them away, injuring scores of them.

“We condemn this brazen rape of democracy by PDP in collaboration with INEC and the security agents. It is unacceptable as this is not what democracy should be. PDP should allow Rivers people to vote without guns pointed at their throats,” Dr. Ikanya said in the statement.


Dr Ikanya passed a vote of no confidence on the State Resident Electoral Commissioner, Gesila Khan, declaring that she has failed woefully as she is bent on carrying out her secret agreement with PDP to return victory to the party at all cost. Whatever trash she will announce as the result of today’s election is not acceptable to us and we ask for her immediate transfer and a new date be set for a proper election in Rivers State than the sham and charade that was calculated to rubbish INEC and democracy.

The pictures of our killed members are attached.

Long Live APC!

Long Live Rivers State!!

Chief Eze Chukwuemeka Eze,

SSA Media and Public Affairs to the State Chairman, APC Rivers State.



28-03-15

Nationwide Reports on March 28 Elections in Nigeria - Nairaland
 
» Senate President David Mark Loses Senatorial Seat «
» Pictures Of Election Result Notices From Various Polling Units (Not Verified) «
» 15 Powerful Images From Nigeria’s March 28 Presidential Polls «
» Bola Tinubu 63rd Birthday Is Today. What Would Be The Ideal Gift? «
» INEC Officials Were Almost Lynched In Anambra «
» Photo: General Buhari Relaxing With His Wife After Voting «
» Pastor Chris Okotie’s Message For Jonathan And Buhari «
» Governor Akpabio Of Akwa-Ibom State Spotted While Casting His Vote (Photo) «
» What Are The Advantages/Disadvantages Of Being A Member Of The AMORC? «
» Card Reader: We’re VindicatedPDP «
» Jonathan’s Exit From Power Seen As Spark Needed To Ignite Stock Market- Thisday «
» 10 Classes Of Christians That Make God Weep. «
» Could A Kiss Be Regarded As A Form Of Cheating? «
» He Is Gay And Depressed: He Needs Help «
» Alleged Massive Rigging In Rivers State Ward 8 Unit 6 Rumuomasi (Video) «
» Jimi Agbaje Pictured Waiting To Be Accredited Earlier Today «
» Photos: INEC Staff Killed Today In Gombe (Viewer's Discretion Strongly Advised) «
» INEC Extends Voting In 300 Polling Units Out 150,000 «
» One Shot Dead In Benin At Election Ground «
» Olu Of Epeland's Son, APC Chairmanship Aspirant Dies In Boat Accident On Way To Vote «
» Umana Calls For Cancellation Of Election In Akwa Ibom «
» Policeman Kills Youth For Insisting On Sighting Election Result Sheet «
» House Of Representatives: APC Defeats PDP At The Presidential Villa - Vanguard «
» Soldiers Surround The Home Of Ex Gombe State Governor, Senator Danjuma Goje «
» Rapper Phyno Shares Very Hilarious Photo Of A Girl Heading To The Polling Unit «
» Elections Must Be Cancelled In Rivers State, Says Amaechi «
» Voters Struggling For Money At A Nairalander's Polling Unit «
» Results From Abuja - Vanguard «
» "The Police Arrested Me, Tied Me To Their Van And Shot Me Over N40" «
» PDP In Early Lead In Ekiti - Vanguard «
» Election Couple: See The Man That Proposed To His Woman At A Polling Unit Today «
» I’m Hopeful Of VictoryJonathan «
» Buhari, Jimi Benson In Early Lead In Ikorodu - PM News «
» Rivers APC Cries Out Over Killing , Arrest Of Members - Graphic Picture «
» Buses & Polling Units Reportedly Burnt, Corps Members Injured In Imo State «
» Buhari Expresses Satisfaction With Conduct Of Polls «
» Photos Of A DPO Who Was Injured In Rivers During Today's Election «
» Photo Of Buhari Casting His Vote In His Polling Unit «
» Boko Haram Beheads 23 People And Sets Homes On Fire In Borno «
» Senator Ndume Breaks Down In Tears After Voting In Maiduguri «
» Soldier, 3 Others Feared Dead In Rivers «
» Military Stops Amaechi From Inspecting Polling Units In Rivers State (Photos) «
» Toke Makinwa Attacked By Fans For Posting Pics Of Her On Tour Today (Pics) «
» Photos: Ini Edo Casts Her Vote «
» Bishop Oyedepo At His Polling Unit (Photo) «
» Elections: Lawmaker, 8 Others Killed By Insurgents In Gombe «
» Ice Prince Hot Girlfriend Reveals Cleavage In New Birthday Photos «
» 117 Year Old Man Goes To Vote (Photo) «
» Graphic Photos: APC & PDP Supporters Reportedly Clash In Ekiti, Man Shot «
» African Richest Man Seen At His Polling Centre (Photo) «
» Photos: Lagosians Defy The Rain To Cast Their Votes «
» Spotted: Patience Ozokwor & Mercy Aigbe Waiting To Vote After Accreditation «
» Photos/Video: President Jonathan And His Wife Finally Cast Their Votes «
» Jonathan's Aide & A Senator Escape Death In Kano As Mob Attacks Them «
» Explosion Rocks Anambra Polling Unit - Punch «
» Nigeria's Elections: Passengers Stranded At Lagos Airport «
» Pictured: This Elderly Man Came Down From The Hospital To Vote «
» 2015 Elections: Jonathan Accredited Using Old Manual System «
» BREAKING: INEC Announces That Elections Will Continue Tomorrow «
» Breaking News: INEC Okays Manual Accreditation Due To Issues With Card Reader «
» Election At Ward 022, Ejigbo, Lagos Is Being Rigged? «
» INEC Stops Use Of Card Readers In Cross River «
» Ballot Box Snatched In Rivers «
» 2face Idibia, Banky W, Mercy Aigbe & More Celebs Troop Out To Vote (Photos) «

 


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HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO ASIWAJU BOLA AHMED TINUBU



HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO ASIWAJU BOLA AHMED TINUBU

One of the greatest Nigerian political leaders and Yoruba leaders of the 21st century. 

I wish you many happier returns of the day with increasing awesome testimonies of the faithfulness, goodness, loving kindness and mercies of Almighty Father JEHOVAH God in your life and family. 

Cheers all the way!

~ Ekenyerengozi Michael Chima
Publisher/Editor of Nigerians Report Online

Common Sense Revolution: The People’s Time Has Come -By Bola Ahmed Tinubu

We have reached the point where we must make a point. History beckons. We must answer it well or not at all. To respond wisely is to open ourselves to a better future.

Elections are set for March 28. They will determine the fate of the nation for years to come. There can be no more fence-sitting because that fence has been torn down by the vast disparity between our current reality and our desired future.

We have a decision to make. We must decide whether wisdom is better than cunning, if bravery is sounder than bribe, if compassion speaks more than corruption, if patriotism is a more worthy vocation than pillage and if love of the nation and its people can overcome the love of power and stolen privilege.
These fundamental questions will be asked of us this Saturday at the polls. Do not try to avoid them. This is the time to believe in something more profound and nobler than the governance we now see.
This is the time to have faith in yourselves and your fellow Nigerians that we can actually realise our hope for change.

Let us believe that we can call forth a better destiny. A new day must stand and the bleak night of injustice must fade into the recesses of the past.
I am filled with the expectation of a more just and rightful future. My conviction has always been this day would come.

Almost a year ago, last April, we held the final Action Congress of Nigeria convention. At that convention, we decided to merge into the APC. At that convention, I told you:

“History is upon us, asking something bold. Those who hear must respond to its call because history is impatient when it has set itself in motion. If we tarry, history will not. If we fail to act as the situation requires, history will still move forward and post its unanswerable verdict against us.

A storm is brewing. Be not afraid. It is a positive storm carried by a positive wind. Those things that have no roots and offer no solution to the plight of the people shall be swept away. This storm shall change the political terrain forever. I am not afraid of this storm. In fact, I welcome it because this storm is us.”
At that time, I said that the convention must be the ACN’s final one. It was. At that time, I said we must join the APC not for ourselves but for the good of Nigeria. We did and were right to do so.

For today, we approach the eve of a moment where, if allowed the freedom to express their sovereign will, the people will cast off the yoke of misgovernance. They will vote for a change that will usher in a new day for a new Nigeria – right before our very eyes.

I already see it. If you have compassion for this nation that gave birth to you, you surely see it too.
Not all Nigerians want a change for the collective good. A powerful, small few benefit from the unjust ways of today.

They profit so much from present inequities. Hence, they view as a personal curse the change most of us would count as a national blessing.

They scoffed at the formation of the APC. They said it would never come to pass. They were wrong. Then dread came upon them. They tried to defraud the public by forming other parties with similar names. They only fooled themselves. We continue building our democratic edifice on a solid foundation of fairness, transparency and merit.

They attacked General Buhari, saying he would not subject himself to a primary. He did and won it as our party held the most open and transparently honest convention ever held in Nigeria.
They said I connived and conspired my way into the VP seat. They lied so easily that it was the price I extracted from General Buhari to support his bid. If not, I would destroy the party on the altar of my ambitions.

They were wrong. I pulled myself out of contention. The very brilliant and capable Professor Yemi Osinbajo became our VP candidate. A man of integrity and impeccable character.
Alas, this sent Jonathan’s henchmen into disarray. In the quiet of their private closet, even they could see clearly enough through the darkness of their own hearts to recognise that our ticket was so much better than theirs.

They could see that our progressive vision for the nation was so much better than their blind one.
They also could see what they did not want to see and dared not admit: that whatever good they might have done had a long time ago vanished.

They hold office yet have abandoned governance. They hold power but have no good idea about the use of it. They lost over 200 of our daughters to Boko Haram. They lost part of our territory also. While they lay a heavy hand on the opposition, the Chibok girls remain lost and Boko Haram continues to terrorise our people.

They are lost because they are blind, and blind because they have already lost. Instead of allowing the nation to choose a leadership that would rescue them and us all, they would rather that all become as lost as they are.
Thus, on the eve of elections last month February, they postponed the exercise. They claimed security as their excuse.

We know better. For Jonathan, an election held on February 14 would have been an election lost.
He would have made history he did not intend: our first incumbent president defeated in an election. He would join the club of wealthy leaders who left no legacy for their people.
I say here and now that the postponement merely gave him a six-week stay of electoral defeat. That is all he accomplished.

During the six week interval, his cohorts had hoped to turn public opinion his way. But the way they have acted should only sour the people all the more. He has exposed himself as a man who would rather wreck democracy than to live by it.

He is like the shoeless boy given a complex toy. The more he plays with it, the less he understands the precious thing.
In his desperate drive to hold to power, there is not one national institution Jonathan has left unmolested or untarnished.

To save his post, Jonathan and his team would eagerly corrupt every national institution within reach. Everything is for sale and nothing is left sacred.

Although the nation suffers an economic downswing that will require astute policy to overcome, Jonathan has raided the national coffers as if money were as plentiful as sand. There is no dollar in this nation that his hand has not tried to grab. No Naira that his underlings have not tried to pinch.
Their tactic is one of the most cynical that can be done by a leader to his people. They have decided to squeeze and starve the economy dry. With people desperate for money, they let go a droplet here, a droplet there.

So relieved shall you be of your fear of poverty, that you will think they favoured you by returning a small portion of what they took. The man steals your home that you may act grateful when he returns to you a door knob and a broken window.
That is their game. It is a dark, ancient deception in use since the first moment that man began to oppress his fellow man.

They have thrown money at Christian and Muslim clerics, attempting to buy two great faiths as if they were two cheap commodities. As such, they have attempted to turn our houses of worship into open dens of corruption.

They have dangled money in the face of our traditional fathers believing their conscience is for sale. Many have been brave enough to cohere to the nobility of their office more than worry about the expansion of their bank accounts.

They have corrupted some civil society groups and organisations to engage in violent protest against the electoral process and the use of the card readers. They oppose the card reading machine because the instrument foils their customary avenues of vote rigging.

Jonathan‘s team has already read the writing on the wall should these machines be used. They would be handed a defeat so resounding that they would begin to fight among themselves believing that each betrayed the other.

The reality is that they all have betrayed the nation and now it is time that the electorate merely pays them back in kind.
Thus, they will fight the use of the card reader to the last minute.
As in the Ekiti election, they have also tried to influence and corrupt the security agencies that they may do their bidding.

Credible reports show they are ready to arrest APC leaders.
No one wants to be arrested but neither am I afraid. The threat of arrest will not silence me. I cannot keep silent when I see those who are supposed to lead the nation trying to purchase it on the cheap. The people’s exclusive right to elect the leaders of their own choosing cannot be negotiated away.
You may arrest me and others but you cannot arrest an idea whose time has come.
The time for a common sense revolution has come to Nigeria.

In calling for a common sense revolution, I do not advocate violence. I abhor it. That is not the type of revolution we seek,
This revolution is strong but peaceful. It is a revolution to use our votes to throw out ineffective leaders. It is a demand for a true electoral democracy and the responsive leadership associated with it. It is a revolution to rescue us from violence, injustice and poverty.

This revolution is not a violent one to tear things down. It is a positive one to rescue, repair and restructure the nation and its institutions in ways that further collective prosperity and well-being.
The only violence that is to be done is to violence, injustice and poverty themselves.
At its essence, a common sense revolution is a call to return to a level of decency in the relationship between government and the governed, between each one of us and his neighbour.

This implies that the society in which we live is a far distance from the society that should exist. A revolution in mind, spirit and action is needed to close this gap between what is today and what ought to be.
Common sense Revolution speaks to the need to elect patriotic leaders that can give hope to our best aspirations as a nation and people. It speaks to how we must elect thinkers and doers to work together to bring about a beautiful revival of the national spirit and the good fortune of the people.
It takes us to a place where luck, good or otherwise, is insufficient. We must move forward with conviction, courage and creativity to mould a better nation out of the clay we now hold in our hands.
We must bring forth relief to the hard-pressed among us. For example, we have to finally end the sad chapter that Boko Haram has written in our history.

We must fight them boldly yet wisely. We must rebuild the afflicted area in a way that extremism may never take root again. If this requires revamping our fighting forces, so be it. A few “Buhari Battalions” and “Osinbajo Brigades” will do in months what the whole of Jonathan’s army could not do in six years.
Some say we need a Marshall Plan to rebuild the region. They are correct in approach but mistaken in name. We shall establish a “Buhari/Osinbajo Plan” and it will work.

There is too much poverty in the land. We need a government that will improve the social safety net to help those who, through no fault of their own, cannot help themselves.
Pay the pensioner! Feed the hungry and care for the sickly! And improve the nutritional values of our school children. We will domesticate this economy to bring about recovery.

We must bring recovery to our economy. The austerity this government imposes will visit upon our economy a depression that similar measures brought to Greece.
Our APC Government will use its fiscal and monetary space to jumpstart the economy. Economic history tells us that countercyclical policy is the best remedy to what we face. To the present government, such talk is revolutionary. To me, it is common sense.

Last, we must reform governance. Opaque budgets must be made transparent. NNPC, which today makes more money than we are told and other revenue-making bodies will not maintain two sets of books, one for public consumption and a secret one to show where the money really went. 20 billion dollars – enough to fund government for a year – shall no longer disappear as if by magic!
Briefly, these are the tenets of a common sense revolution. We need this bold approach because too much has gone wrong for too long.

You can help co-author this return to decency by voting wisely on March 28.
We fight no one and hate no one. We are all Nigerians. However, some things we do to each other must stop. We are better than how we seem and how the nation now performs. We must commit ourselves to our better nature that we may enjoy a better nation. This does not require any special genius. All it requires is the common sense to recognise we share a common fate and destiny. In your hands and actions lies so much of my future and in my hands, lies much of yours.

Now is the appointed time to rise up and work together to build a new country. A new day for a better Nigeria is possible.
I thank you all for listening.


Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu is National Leader of the All Progressives Congress (APC).

Delivered at the 7th Annual Bola Tinubu Colloquium at Eko Hotel, Lagos on March 25, 2015.




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