Headline

INEC, Political Parties to Meet over Buhari’s Refusal to Sign Electoral Bill

Published

7 years ago

December 10, 2018

Eric

The leadership of the Independent National Electoral Commission will, this week, hold a crucial meeting with the leaders of political parties towards the coming 2019 General Elections.

President Muhammadu Buhari’s decision to withhold assent to the Electoral Act (Amended) Bill 2018, it was learnt, would top the agenda of the meeting.

It is feared that the National Assembly as currently constituted might not get the required number of members to do so. They have therefore resolved to look beyond the parliament in finding a way out.

The first national spokesperson for the Coalition of United Political Parties, Imo Ugochinyere, confirmed these in an interview with our correspondent on Saturday.

He said, “The leadership of political parties will be meeting with INEC this week and top on the agenda of the meeting is that now that the President has refused to sign, it is now left for the electoral commission.

“There are some powers given to the commission under the 1999 Constitution and the Electoral Act to ensure free and fair conduct of elections.

“There are some provisions that INEC can amend the election guidelines with or without the President signing the law. Some of them include the use of card readers like the commission did in Ekiti and Osun states. You can see that the number of voters did not skyrocket in those states because INEC did not use incident forms.”

He added, “INEC can also allow agents to have access to electoral materials, verify them and even do video recording of the materials without any law.

“The issue of ensuring that no result is announced without agents of political parties being present at the spot, stopping the police and soldiers from chasing away party agents so that they can doctor the results, the issue of ensuring that results are announced at every polling unit, the issue of collecting electronic results by INEC to compare, issue of serialising ballot papers for each polling unit, all these the INEC can do with or without the President.

“The first thing the INEC chairman must do, or else all political parties will pull out of the election, is that he has to announce to Nigerians that there will be no use of incident forms.”

He claimed the non-use of incident forms was important to avoid a repeat of what allegedly happened in 2015, when “out of the over seven million votes he (Buhari) got from the North-West, over five million came from incident forms.” He claimed that most of the people that voted for Buhari in the North-West were not accredited.

Ugochinyere added that another area of concern for the opposition parties ahead of the elections was the Inspector-General of Police, Ibrahim Idris.

He said opposition parties were not comfortable with the information that the present administration might extend Idris’ tenure which he said would expire by January.

“Another important aspect is the position of the IG whose tenure is expiring in January. Going by the public service rule, he ought to have proceeded on terminal leave.

“But the two people who have hijacked the President want him re-appointed. Once that happens, what we will be having is no longer an IG but a man who will be willing to deploy security forces to achieve the dastardly act they are planning,” he alleged.

Ugochinyere said one of the steps that would be taken by opposition parties was to mobilise the people to perform the police function of arresting people who had committed electoral offence.

He said such people would be encouraged to resist and disarm political thugs.

That, he said, would be the option left for the opposition.

He said securing two-thirds in the House of Assembly to override the President would be impossible.

“So, we are looking beyond that to engage INEC to make promises and commitments to Nigerians on how the forthcoming elections can be free and fair,” he said.

He said the outcome of the meeting with INEC would go a long way in deciding whether the opposition parties would take part in the elections or not.

The Punch

Headline

Tinubu Seeks Transfer of Jailed Ekweremadu Back to Nigeria

Published

3 days ago

November 11, 2025

Eric

President Bola Tinubu has dispatched a strong delegation to London to address the situation of Ike Ekweremadu, a former Deputy Senate President, who has been imprisoned in the UK since March 2023.

The delegation includes the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Yusuf Tuggar, and the Attorney General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Prince Lateef Fagbemi.

The team arrived in London on Monday and held discussions with officials from the UK’s Ministry of Justice.

Alkasim Abdulkadir, spokesperson for Tuggar, said on Tuesday that the presidential delegation was in London to engage with UK authorities to consider the possibility of Ekweremadu serving the remainder of his prison sentence in Nigeria.

The London Metropolitan Police detained the Ekweremadus in June 2022 after a man was deceitfully presented to a private renal unit at Royal Free Hospital in London as a relative of their daughter Sonia, in what turned out to be a failed attempt to convince medical professionals to perform an £80,000 transplant.

The 21-year-old man, who had allegedly been promised employment in the UK, reported the incident to the police in May of that year, saying that he had been brought to the country for an organ transplant.

In March 2023, the former presiding officer of Nigeria’s Senate was convicted of organ trafficking by a UK court. Beatrice, his wife, and Obinna Obeta, a doctor connected to the case, were also found guilty.

This verdict marked the first of its kind under the UK Modern Slavery Act.

On May 5, 2023, Ekweremadu received a nine-year and eight-month prison sentence, while his wife was sentenced to four years and six months, and Obeta was given a ten-year prison sentence.

In his ruling, Judge Jeremy Johnson determined that Beatrice should serve half of her sentence in custody and be supervised for the remainder. However, she was released from prison in January and has since returned to Nigeria.

Headline

Tinubu Congratulates Soludo on Reelection As Anambra Governor

Published

5 days ago

November 9, 2025

Eric

President Bola Tinubu has congratulated Prof Chukwuma Soludo on his re-election as Governor of Anambra State.

Soludo was returned for a second term in office after recording a landslide victory, winning all 21 local government areas in the election, according to results declared by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) on Sunday.

The massive victory makes the professor the third governor in Anambra’s political history to win a second term.

In a statement he personally signed, President Tinubu described Soludo’s re-election as a testament to his visionary leadership and the significant progress recorded under his administration.

“Governor Soludo, the Solution, has demonstrated that knowledge is indeed power and that academic principles can be applied in serving the people, undergirding accountability, transparency, and prudent management of people and resources.

“I visited Anambra State in May this year, where I inaugurated some projects executed by the Soludo administration. I highlighted the good thinking behind the landmark projects embarked upon by Mr Solution. That experience is indeed remarkable and will remain indelible in my mind.

“I commend Governor Soludo for bringing discipline, grace, brilliance, and a fresh perspective to governance in Anambra. Under him, Anambra is living up to its motto as the Light of the Nation.

“I urge Governor Soludo to be magnanimous in victory and to seek the cooperation of his opponents in the just-concluded election.

“I assure Governor Soludo of my unwavering support, and I look forward to continued collaboration between Anambra and the Federal government.

“The victory of the opposition All Progressives Grand Alliance in the election again demonstrates the vitality of our political system and the fact that victory for any progressive and hardworking leader can hardly be encumbered or denied,” the President said.

President Tinubu also commended the new INEC Chairman, Joash Amupitan, and his team for conducting what he described as a credible election, based on reports received so far.

He charged the commission to maintain high standards and continue to improve its performance “so we can strengthen and deepen our electoral system.”

The State Returning Officer and Vice-Chancellor of the University of Benin, Omoregie Edoba, who announced the result, declared Soludo the winner after the collation of results from the local government areas.

“I hereby declare that Soludo Chukwuma Charles of the APGA, having satisfied the requirements of the law, is hereby declared the winner and returned elected,” he said at the State headquarters of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) in Awka, the state capital.

Soludo, the candidate of the All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA), secured 422,664 votes to defeat his closest rival, Nicholas Ukachukwu of the All Progressives Congress (APC), who polled 99,445 votes.

Paul Chukwuma of the Young Progressives Party (YPP) came third with 37,753 votes, while John Nwosu of the African Democratic Congress (ADC) scored 8,208 votes. George Moghalu of the Labour Party (LP) and Jude Ezenwafor of the Peoples’ Democratic Party (PDP) polled 10,576 and 1,401 votes, respectively.

Headline

Soludo in Landslide Victory, Relected As Anambra Governor

Published

6 days ago

November 9, 2025

Eric

Governor Chukwuma Soludo has secured a second term in office until 2030 after he was declared the winner of the November 8 Anambra State governorship election by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC)

According to the results announced by INEC in the early hours of Sunday, Soludo won by a landslide in the 21 local government areas of the South-East state.

The State Returning Officer and Vice Chancellor of the University of Benin, Omoregie Edoba, declared Soludo as the winner of the exercise after the collation of results from the local government areas of the state where the election was held.

“I hereby declare that Soludo Chukwuma Charles of the APGA, having satisfied the requirements of the law, is hereby declared the winner and is returned elected,” Edoba, a professor, told a gathering at the state headquarters of INEC in Awka, the state capital, where the election results were collated.

Soludo, the candidate of the All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA), secured 422,664 votes to trounce his closest rival, the All Progressives Congress (APC)’s Nicholas Ukachukwu, who polled 99,445 votes.

Paul Chukwuma of the Young Progressives Party (YPP) came third with 37,753 votes, while John Nwosu of the African Democratic Congress (ADC) scored 8,208 votes.

George Moghalu of the Labour Party (LP) and Jude Ezenwafor of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) scored 10,576 votes and 1,401 votes, respectively.

Shortly after the results were announced, there was jubilation at the residence of the governor in Isoufia community, Aguata LGA.