The Chairman, Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), Prof. Mahmood Yakubu, says that the results for the Bayelsa, Imo and Kogi governorship elections will be uploaded on its Result Viewing Portal (IReV).

Yakubu stated this while speaking with newsmen at Ward 009, LEA School, Ganaja Village, Ajaokuta LGA, Kogi on SaturdayAdvertorial

Yakubu was in the state to monitor the mock accreditation exercise, ahead of the Nov. 11 governorship election.

He said that the commission would follow the laws for accreditation and results collation during the states’ elections.

“The method is as provided by law, electronic accreditation, electronic upload of results on the IREV portal and that is why we are doing this mock.

“So, please disregard whatever was reported about what the Resident Electoral Commissioner (REC) was said to have said in Bayelsa.

“That’s going to be the procedure and it’s for that reason that I will advise you also for those who are registered on the IREV portal.

“That in the next two hours or so, go to the IREV portal and you will see the result of the mock accreditation from all three states.

“We are uploading, as we have done in previous elections,” Yakubu said.

On the issue of security concerns ahead of the elections in the three states, Yakubu said that the commission was already working with security agencies.

“Next week Friday there is going to be a high-level meeting in Abuja co-chair by myself and the National Security Adviser in which all the security chiefs will be present, no representation to discuss the issue of security.

“For the three states elections, we are on top of the situation in terms of security arrangement and security deployment,” he said.

On how INEC intend to control the crowd at PU 009 in Ganaja, Yakubu said that INEC was taking proactive measures to give voters a pleasant voting experience on Election Day.

He said that INEC chose the PU 009, LEA School, Ganaja Village because it is the largest and most densely populated in Nigeria PU with 13,000 registered voters.

He said that on election day, the Voter register would be broken down alphabetically by the voter surnames to speed up the voting process.

“After the election, the Commission will redistribute the voters to other approximate locations.

“But for now, we’ll have to conduct the elections with the number of registered voters in this polling unit.

“For that reason, we are deploying a minimum of eight BVAS machines on election day, Saturday, Nov. 11 for easy accreditation of voters,” he said.

Speaking earlier, the INEC Resident Electoral Commissioner (REC) for Kogi, Dr Gabriel Longpet, said that all non-sensitive materials for the election had been received and sent to the LGAs.

Longpet said that details of areas of possible flash points in the state had been identified, and would be the basis of security deployment. (NAN)

The Court of Appeal sitting Abuja, on Saturday, upturned the judgment of the National and State House of Assembly Election Petitions Tribunal in Bayelsa State, which set aside the election of the member representing Sagbama/Ekeremor Federal Constituency, Fred Agbedi.

A three-member panel headed by Justice Muhammed Shuaibu upheld the election of Agbedi, who was the candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party in the February 2023 National Assembly polls.

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The panel, which also includes Justice Habeeb Abiru and Justice Abdul-Azeez Waziri, dismissed as unmeritorious the appeal filed by the candidate of the All Progressives Congress, Michael Olomu.

The panel considered cross-appeals filed before it by Agbedi and Olomu, respectively, following the tribunal’s ruling on September 7 in the petition marked EPT/BY/HR/01/2023 that was filed by the APC candidate challenging the election of the PDP candidate.

Apart from nullifying the legislator’s election, the tribunal also directed the Independent National Electoral Commission to withdraw his certificate of return and conduct supplementary polls within 90 days in 17 polling units of wards 10, 11 and 12 of Ekeremor LGA; and six polling units of ward 11 and all the polling units in ward 5 of Sagbama LGA.

The tribunal also went ahead to hold that the total number of registered voters in the affected polling units and wards in both LGAs totalling 26,471 were deemed to have been disenfranchised during the polls as a result of violence.

However, the appellate court in the lead judgment read by Justice Abiru discountenanced the APC candidate’s appeal for lacking in merit.

It upheld the PDP candidate’s election because the court of first instance (the tribunal) ought to have relied on the number of Permanent Voter Cards collected and not the number of registered voters in the federal constituency, to determine the case.

The court, therefore, dismissed the petitioner’s appeal and returned the PDP candidate to the House of Representatives.

Recall that INEC had issued a certificate of return to Agbedi having declared him as the winner of the election, polling a total of 21,430 votes, while Olomu scored a total of 8,899 votes.

In a reaction, Agbedi said the judgment had further validated his victory at the polls and the mandate given to him by the people of Sagbama/Ekeremor to represent them at the National Assembly.

“The verdict of the Court of Appeal today has given further legitimacy to my victory in the election. I’m grateful to my people in the entire Sagbama/Ekeremor Federal Constituency for reposing confidence in me and renewing my mandate. I’m motivated to render more service.

“I urge my opponent to join hands with us in our effort to bring development to our federal constituency because we will achieve much more by working together, irrespective of party affiliation”, he said.

Yobe State House of Assembly has adopted the report of its standing committee on Justice, Judiciary and Religious Affairs on a bill seeking to establish Hisba Commission in the State.

The House adopted the report after extensive deliberation on the 41 recommendations of the committee by the members.

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While offering more explanation on the report after its adoption, the chairman House committee on Justice, Judiciary and Religious Affairs, Hon. Yakubu Suleiman said the Commission when established would assist security agencies to ensure full implementation of Shari’a laws across the State.

The lawmaker added that the Commission would also take necessary measures to sanitize the society from all forms of social vices and crimes.

The chairman further said the existing Hisba Committee members under the Ministry of Religious Affairs would serve as Hisba Corps of the Commission to ensure effective monitoring and compliance to Shari’a laws in the 17 local government areas of the State.

According to the chairman, the Commission would be headed by an executive chairman who must be an Islamic scholar with BSc degree in Islamic or Arabic studies, two permanent members, as well as representatives of Ministry of Religious Affairs, state Council of Chiefs, Nigerian Legal Aid Council, National Human Rights Commission, State Muslim Umma Forum, Civil Society Organizations, among others.

The Speaker of the House, Rt. Hon. Chiroma Buba Mashio commented the House committee for presenting a comprehensive report that would assist the government in ensuring proper implementation of Shari’a law in the State.

The New Nigeria Peoples Party (NNPP) in Bauchi State has described as false, the claim by its defected governorship candidate in the 2023 elections, Senator Halliru Dauda Jika, that the party executives at both state and local government levels as well as other candidates in the 2023 elections had all joined him in the All Progressives Congress (APC).

The NNPP publicity secretary in the state, Ahmed Tijjani Aminu, while speaking at a press conference in Bauchi, said only Jika and a few members loyal to him left the party.

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Aminu said the NNPP was intact in Bauchi State, describing the statement by Jika as a slip of tongue which should not be taken seriously.

He said; “It may be a slip of tongue and in that respect we wish to unequivocally say that the party structure at all levels remain intact with our member in the Bauchi State House of Assembly, though a few members have decided to join the gubernatorial candidate.”

Malam Aminu reaffirmed the membership support and loyalty in the state, including its leadership as well as the leader of the party, Engr. Rabiu Musa Kwankwaso.

He expressed gratitude to all Nigerians and people of the state, especially those who voted for the party at all levels.