POLITICS
Edo Election: INEC Releases Results of 13 LGAs
The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) on Sunday released the results of the Edo governorship election of 13 local government areas of the state.
The commission is expecting election results from the remaining five local government areas.
The Resident Electoral Commissioner for Edo, Mr Johnson Alalibo, announced Prof.
Akpofure Rem-Rukeh, Vice-Chancellor, University of Petroleum Resources, Effuru, Delta, as the Returning Officer to announce the results.Alalibo declared that the results from 13 local government were ready for collation.
“This is final stage of the election and I urge you to be calm, if you have any protest we will recognise you to speak,” he said.
The results as declared by the collation officers:
Igueben Local Government- APC 5179, PDP, 7870. Registered voters 46838, accredited 13404, total valid votes 13179, rejected votes 212 and total vote cast 13 382
Esan North East Local Government- APC 6556, PDP 13579. Registered voters 84241, accredited 20825, total valid 20369,rejected 361, total votes cast 20730.
Esan Central Local Government -APC 6719, PDP 10,694. Registered voters 55569, accredited 17931, total valid votes 17672, rejected 242, total votes cast 17914
Ikpoba-Okha Local Government – APC 18218, PDP 41030. Registered voters 310073, accredited 61731, total valid votes 60052, rejected 1378, total votes cast 61430.
Uhumwode Local Government- APC-5972, PDP-10022, ZLP-5 and YPP-2. Registered voters 73416, accredited 16741, total valid votes 16283, rejected 352, total votes cast 16635.
Egor Local Government – APC 10202, PDP 27621. Registered voters 219841, accredited 39709, total valid votes 38396, rejected 955, total votes cast 39351.
Owan East Local Government – APC 19295, PDP 14762. Registered voters 91769, accredited 34819, total valid votes 34246, rejected 515, total votes cast 34761.
Owan West Local Government- APC 11193, PDP 11485. Registered voters 61193, accredited 23294, total valid votes 22849, rejected 404, total votes cast 23253.
Oredo Local Government -AA-8, ADC- 160, ADP-256, APC-18365 and PDP- 43498. Registered voters 309968, accredited voters 64783, total valid votes 62578, rejected 1302 and total votes cast 63,880.
Esan South East Local Government -APC 9237, PDP 10563. Registered voters 73907, accredited 20274, total valid votes 19896, rejected 307, total votes cast 20203.
Ovia North East Local Government -APC 9907, PDP 16987. Registered voters 143009, accredited 28607, total valid votes 27437, rejected votes 934 and total votes cast 28371.
Etsako West Local Government -APC 26140, PDP 17959. Registered voters 158899, accredited 48846, total valid votes 44539, rejected 2828, total votes cast 47367.
Oredo Local Government- APC 18365, PDP 43498. Registered voters 309968, accredited 64783, total valid votes 62578, rejected 1302 and total votes cast 63880.
Esan West Local Government- APC 7189, PDP 17434. Registered voters 99983, accredited 25530, total valid votes 24880, rejected 579 and total votes cast 25459.(NAN)
POLITICS
Edo Lawmaker Dumps PDP for APC
A two-term member of Edo House of Assembly, Mr Ojezele Osesua, has dumped Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) for All Progressives Congress (APC).
Osesua, representing Esan South-East Constituency, announced his defection on Monday in Benin at a news conference held at the APC state secretariat.
The development came less than two months after PDP lost the state to APC in the governorship election.
NAN also reports that the lawmaker was received by members of the State Working Committee (SWC) of the party headed by Jarrett Tenebe.
Osesua said that he decided to dump the opposition party over what he called”irreconcilable crisis.”
He said that his defection was like paying back a debt he owed the ruling when he left the party in 2020, after it had sponsored him to win election in 2019.
“In 2019, I was elected into the assembly on the platform of APC. Due to some challenges, I left the party and joined PDP after one year.
“Though I was elected on the PDP platform in 2023, I have been indebted to APC. It is that debt I have come to pay with my defection,” he said.
On his part, the APC chairman commended the legislator for joining the party.
Tenebe described Osesua as a ‘focused, election-winning’ member, adding: “It’s not APC’s fault that PDP has issues.
“You will recall that during the election campaigns, I said our doors were open and the doors are still open,” he said. (NAN)
POLITICS
APC Accuses PDP of Politicising Stampedes
The All Progressives Congress (APC) has accused the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) of politicising the recent stampedes in Abuja, Anambra, and Ibadan, where several lives were tragically lost.
In a statement issued on Monday in Abuja, the APC’s National Publicity Secretary, Mr Felix Morka, condemned the PDP’s actions, calling them “grossly indecent, insensitive, and despicable.
”Morka criticised the opposition party for using the national grief over the stampedes to launch a political attack on the APC-led administration of President Bola Tinubu.
Morka stated, “At a time of national grief over the stampedes that resulted in the deaths of citizens, the PDP seized the moment to engage in callous political chicanery.
“Rather than genuinely commiserate with the victims and their families, the PDP chose to politicise the tragedy, blaming the incidents on the APC government.”
He emphasised that the tragedies had united Nigerians in mourning and reflection, with a collective focus on how the incidents might have been avoided through better planning and organisation.
“Our thoughts and prayers remain with the victims and their families,” Morka added.
Morka also rebuked the PDP for exploiting the stampedes to attack the APC, particularly since the current administration was committed to addressing the challenges inherited from nearly two decades of PDP rule.
He reminded the PDP of the 2014 Nigerian Immigration Service recruitment stampede, which occurred under its administration, where many job seekers lost their lives.
“The PDP’s allegations only serve to remind us of its sordid record of maladministration and incompetence,” Morka said.
He noted that the party’s suggestion that President Tinubu’s administration was not committed to the welfare of Nigerians was “mischievous and out of touch with reality.”
He pointed to the current administration’s efforts to invest in alternative energy sources and the introduction of the Credit Corps scheme and the Nigerian Education Loan Fund (NELFUND).
Morka also highlighted salary reviews for workers and increased allowances for corps members as part of the government’s commitment to improving the welfare of Nigerians.
Morka further highlighted the government’s commitment to provide free and subsidised transportation during the holiday period, approving grants for farmers and Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs), and other humanitarian initiatives.
He asserted that this administration is “the most people-centric in our history.”
He also dismissed the PDP’s claim that the APC’s policies had damaged the economy.
“For years, successive PDP governments operated a phantom economy riddled with distortions and corruption, deceiving Nigerians into believing the economy was thriving.”
Morka commended President Tinubu for suspending his scheduled activities to honour the victims and expressed condolences to the families affected by the tragedies.
He wished a speedy recovery to those injured in the incidents.(NAN)
POLITICS
Journalists Honour Barau for Topping Chart of Private Member Bills Sponsorship in Senate
By Mike Odiakose, Abuja
Journalists covering the Senate have honoured Deputy President of the Senate, Senator Barau Jibrin, with award on highest number of private member Bills sponsorship.
Records on Private Member Bills sponsorship among serving Senators in the 10th National Assembly , obtained from Rules and Business office , indicated that Senator Barau tops with 21 bills within the last 18 months.
One of the 21 private member bills sponsored by Senator Barau was the NorthWest Development Commission Bill which is now an Act of Parliament legalising the creation of North West Development Commission (NWDC) after assented to, by President Bola Tinubu.
Barau in his response to the honour, said it would make him to do more for his constituents in Kano North Senatorial District and Nigerians generally.
”Your recognition of my legislative inputs in the Senate within the last 18 months, particularly on series of development – driven bills sponsored so far, is something that will energize and propel me further to do more.
“Once you are given an award, it’s a kind of telling you to go and do more. To whom much is given, much is expected.
”This to me also is considered as your contribution to making sure that the legislature remains vibrant.
”Once you identify those who are doing well and you honour them through awards of this nature, that will create some kind of competition and will propel others to do more so that they can be recognized at some other time in the future.
”We can’t perform here in the best manner possible, without your contribution to what we are doing. And you are contributing in a very robust way to what we do here, making us as partners in progress for the good of Nigeria and Nigerians .
”So our relationship with you is sine qua non to our success. We can never succeed without you because without you reporting what happens here , Nigerians can’t know what we are doing,“ he said .
Earlier, the Chairman of the Corps, James Itodo, told the DSP that the honour is strictly on performance as contained in the records and not for any other thing.