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Rivers By-Election: APC, Govt Trade Blames over Suspension

Published

8 years ago

August 19, 2018

Eric

The All Progressives Congress (APC) and the Rivers State Government have been trading blames over the suspension of Saturday’s by-election for Port Harcourt III Constituency.

The election was meant to fill the vacancy created in the state House of Assembly when the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) member who represented the constituency resigned to contest the for the mayor of Port Harcourt, which he won.

The PDP, which is the ruling party in the state, has been in a fierce, and oftentimes bloody, political battle with the APC which controls the government at the centre.

The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), while announcing the suspension of voting on Saturday, said there was widespread violence and ballot-stealing by “miscreants and hoodlums accompanied by heavily armed security personnel in uniform”.

The commission said many of its officials were manhandled, injured, and held hostage.

Few hours after the suspension, the APC issued a statement blaming the Rivers State Government for the election violence.

“In the full view of the general public, the Chief Security Officer (CSO) to Gov. Nyesom Wike led armed policemen attached to the Government House to assault innocent APC party agents and supporters, snatch electoral sensitive materials and generally disrupt the bye-election with a view to rigging the process in favour of the PDP candidate or in some cases prevent lawful voters from exercising their franchise,” the APC spokesperson in the state, Chris Finebone, said in the statement.

Mr Finebone, however, in another statement said the APC was disappointed with “the hasty decision” of INEC to suspend the election.

He said, “The APC views the wording of the memo suspending the PHALGA 3 bye-election as substantially mendacious, unnecessarily alarmist and generally convoluted with sinister innuendos by the author in a way that does not represent an accurate assessment of the process so far.

“We hope that INEC will not be misled to derail or embark on a line of action that will leave her with a legal bad nose. This will neither be to the benefit of INEC nor the system in any way.”

The Rivers government on the hand is accusing the APC of being behind the election violence.

The state governor, Nyesom Wike, said on Sunday in a statewide broadcast, “while voting was underway, armed thugs from the APC led by the state’s factional chairman, Mr. Flag Ojukaye Amachree moved freely from one polling unit to the other, violently assaulted voters as well as INEC officials and carted away election materials, including smart card readers and ballot boxes.

“Flag Amachree and his gang of thugs successfully disrupted the elections in nearly all the 142 units of the constituency, thereby disenfranchising the electorates.”

Mr Wike alleged that those whom he said disrupted the election were protected by “heavily armed Police operatives from the Federal Special Anti-Robbery Squad (F-SARS) and the Inspector General of Police’s Monitoring Unit”.

He said Rivers people have lost confidence in the ability of the police to stay impartial in future elections in the state.

“If the Nigerian Police cannot secure and guarantee the peaceful and successful conduct of election in a single State Constituency of 8 wards, then what will happen in 2019 when they would be contending with 319 electoral wards and 4442 polling units across 23 Local Government Areas of the state?

“Against the backdrop, it is up to the people of Rivers State to choose the option that will serve their interest,” the governor said.

The Commissioner for Information in the state, Emma Okah, while supporting the governor’s position on the issue, told PREMIUM TIMES that there was no way PDP would have disrupted an election they “vigorously” campaigned and were sure of victory.

The police spokesperson in Rivers State, Nnamdi Omoni, told PREMIUM TIMES, Sunday evening, that the commissioner of police would be issuing a statement on the allegation by Governor Wike that the police aided the APC to disrupt the election.

Meanwhile, the APC is calling on INEC to “swiftly” conclude the election and declare the winner, while the state government is against the release of the results of the suspended election.

“It will be strange for anybody in his right senses to support the release of results in an election that can best be described as broad daylight robbery by the APC and Nigeria police. The INEC and independent observers are all in agreement that there was no election and so there is nothing to declare,” the information commissioner, Mr Okah said.

Premium Times

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Tinubu Nominates Oyedele As Minister of State for Finance, Moves Anite-Uzoka to Budget Ministry

Published

14 minutes ago

March 3, 2026

Eric

A statement signed by the Special Adviser to the President on Information and Strategy Bayo Onanuga, has announced that “President Bola Tinubu has nominated Taiwo Oyedele as the minister of state for finance, replacing Doris Anite-Uzoka.

“Mrs Anite-Uzoka will now move to the Ministry of Budget and National Planning, as the Minister of State, her third portfolio in the administration.

“President Tinubu has today conveyed the nomination of Mr Oyedele to the Senate for confirmation in a letter to the Senate President, Godswill Akpabio.

“Until President Tinubu nominated him as a minister, Mr Oyedele from Ikaram, Akoko, Ondo State, was the chairman of the Presidential Committee on Fiscal Policy and Tax Reforms, which overhauled Nigeria’s tax system.

“Mr Oyedele, 50, is an economist, accountant and public policy expert.

“He attended Yaba College of Technology, where he obtained a Higher National Diploma (HND) in accountancy and finance. He attended Oxford Brookes University and earned a BSc in applied accounting.

“He also completed executive education programmes at the London School of Economics, Yale University, the Gordon Institute of Business Science, and the Harvard Kennedy School.

“Mr Oyedele spent 22 years of his working career at PwC, joining in 2001 and rising to become the Fiscal Policy Partner and Africa Tax Leader.

“Mr Oyedele is also a professor at Babcock University in Ogun State and a visiting scholar at the Lagos Business School.”

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Defection: Atiku’s Son, Adamu, Resigns As Adamawa Commissioner

Published

5 hours ago

March 3, 2026

Eric

Adamu Abubakar, the first son of former Vice-President Atiku Abubakar, has resigned as Adamawa State’s commissioner for works and energy development, days after Governor Ahmadu Fintiri defected from the Peoples Democratic Party to the All Progressives Congress.

Abubakar’s resignation letter, dated 2 March 2026, was addressed to the governor through the Secretary to the State Government. He gave no reason for his departure.

The timing is pointed. Fintiri announced his defection to the APC in a statewide broadcast last Friday, saying his cabinet and the PDP’s state structure had moved with him. Within 24 hours, 22 commissioners and special advisers publicly announced they were following suit. Abubakar, whose father remains one of the PDP’s most prominent national figures, was not among them.

In a statement issued Monday night, Abubakar’s media aide Abdulaziz Jauro said the former commissioner thanked the governor for the opportunity to serve and pledged continued loyalty to the administration’s developmental agenda. He also expressed gratitude to his father “for granting him the moral support and blessing to serve the people of Adamawa State” — a line that, read in context, suggests Atiku was consulted on the decision.

Abubakar said his resignation was not a withdrawal from public life. “This does not mark the end of his commitment to public service,” the statement read, “but rather the beginning of new avenues for developmental collaboration.”

The resignation leaves unresolved the question of whether it reflects a political break with the governor over his defection or a personal decision unconnected to the broader party realignment now reshaping Adamawa’s political landscape.

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DSS Nabs Man over Assassination Attempt on Peter Obi

Published

8 hours ago

March 3, 2026

Eric

Nigeria’s Department of State Services (DSS) has detained a man in connection with the recent attack and alleged assassination threats targeting Labour Party’s 2023 presidential candidate, Peter Obi.

According to AIT, the shooting incident took place on February 24, 2026, in Benin City, Edo State, during a political gathering attended by Obi and several figures from the African Democratic Congress (ADC). The meeting was hosted by former APC National Chairman, John Oyegun. Gunmen reportedly opened fire at the venue, causing panic and forcing attendees to disperse for safety.

According to security sources, shortly after the attack, an individual identified as Udeme Monday Stephen allegedly took to social media claiming responsibility and issuing additional threats against Obi, warning of further violence.

Intelligence officials reportedly initiated swift investigations, employing digital tracing and forensic tools that led to the arrest of the 26-year-old suspect in Rivers State. He is said to be a teacher at a private secondary school in the Eliozu area of Obio-Akpor Local Government Area.

The suspect remains in DSS custody and is expected to face prosecution. The agency reiterated its commitment to responding to credible threats and safeguarding lives and national interests without bias.