POLITICS
Elections: PDP, LP, Others Walk-out on INEC Over Failure to Upload Results on IReV
By Jude Opara, Abuja
The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and the Labour Party (LP) on Monday staged a Walk-out protest following the inability of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to upload the results of last Saturday’s election to the INEC Result Viewing Portal (IReV).
The agents of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Senator Dino Melaye and former Deputy Speaker of the House of Representatives, Chief Emeka Ihedioha as well as the agent of the Labour Party (LP) and Umar Farouk led some of the parties to walk out at the National Collation centre in Abuja.
Before their dissociation, the INEC Chairman Prof. Mahmood Yakubu, had cautioned Melaye not to be ‘disruptive’ of the collation process at the insistence of the PDP chieftain that the results announced by the State Collation Officer for Presidential Elections (SCOPEs) should have first been uploaded on the INEC results viewing portal (iReV) for transparency and accountability.
The seven parties that walked out are the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), the Labour Party (LP), the Zenith Labour Party (ZLP), the All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA), the Action Congress (AC) and the Action Democratic Party (ADP).
Melaye who led the charge said; “The electoral Act 2022 states that election results will be transmitted directly to the server. We found out that this has not been done because INEC failed in this regard.
“What I said in the morning was that when the State collation officers are making their presentation, we want to have two portals , we want to see the results that were uploaded to the portal as against the manual presentation made by the State Collation officers. This will help us interrogate whatever is being presented because we know that the transmission of the results straight from the BVAS is the most authentic way and that is the reason why the electoral act was amended abinitio .
“It was amended to create transparency, it was amended to give credibility and viability to the process. And if Nigerians have spent hundreds of billions of naira to introduce electronic transmission of results, and if Nigerian Lawmakers have amended the Act to accommodate electronic transmission and distribution of results, and now that is not being done as against the promise by INEC.
“It shows there was foul play, and we insisted that that should be done and the INEC chairman categorically told us he is not going to do it. So because of that we are staging a walkout and we are calling for the outright cancelation of the whole process.
“When I raised this issue today and supported by other party agents, the INEC Chairman vehemently evaded the issue. What section 47(3) emphasis is that where ever the Bimodal Voters Accreditation System (BVAS) failed, if they cannot get a replacement, elections should be cancelled in those areas. We have seen from the presentation of results from Ekiti yesterday that some places were cancelled as a result of bypassing the BVAS.
“The only way to detect that BVAS has been bypassed is for us to see the uploaded results. We insisted that the chairman should show us here and now the uploaded results state by state, just like they are projecting the results they are presenting. That is the only way to test the veracity and authenticity of these results.
“If not, we are only here to endorse the fraud that has been done from unit to the ward to the state. We are not here to rubber stamp infractions and the anomalies that have been done.
“We are here to check them, but the INEC Chairman is not giving us the opportunity to question what they are doing, saying all has been done. What that mean is that we are here to rubber stamp. We are going to prove that we are not here to rubber stamp. We have no other country to call our own than this country.
“We are going to do everything humanly possible to make sure that the right thing is done. We have just met now and we are going to make a presentation by the time we resume. If they insist that they are not going to respond to us, then you will see the action we will take.
“But we want to tell you that we will not allow, having suffered pains in this country, having suffered hunger, killings, we will not allow a continuation of failure. We will ensure that the right thing is done.
“The INEC Chairman is putting his integrity on test. Nigerians are watching, the world is watching. Even the dead are watching to see what INEC will do.”
However at the resumption of collation, the PRP, APM, SDP, Accord, YPP, NRM, AAC, AA, NNPP, APC and Booth party agents dissociated their parties from the protest and that they support the collation of the remaining results.
In the results released today, the APC has won Ondo, Kwara, Oyo, Jigawa and Ogun states while the PDP took Gombe, Osun, Adamawa, Katsina and Yobe states. The Labour Party on the other hand won Lagos, Nasarawa and Enugu states.
However, most of the Returning Officers reported incidents of over voting and cases of violence which resulted in cancellation of some polling units elections.
By Mike Odiakose, Abuja
As Political realignments continue ahead of 2027 general election, the National Youth Leader of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC), Comrade Dayo Israel has raised the alarm that opposition political parties are poaching the party’s youths.To checkmate the tide, Comrade Israel said that the APC has started a process of restructuring and rebranding the party to halt and frustrate plans and efforts by other parties to sway Nigerian youths and divert their votes away from the party.
The national youth leader made these remarks while speaking with newsmen on Wednesday while unveiling the newly constructed Youth Directorate of the All Progressives Congress (APC), a resource center for party youths, located at 8 Ajesa Street, Wuse 2, Abuja.Comrade Israel stated that poor funding from the national secretariat of the party, lack of enlightenment and engagement programmes directed at the youth abd women population have started to have some toll and negative effect on the confidence of the target groups and may affect supporting the party and the president in the future.”We are hoping that when the APC gets a permanent site like the president directed, the youth wing of the party might even be given a whole structure as its office but before that, we have to do a lot to begin to support the youth of our nation.”The Labour Party and others are trying and doing everything possible to hijack the youths for their votes as we head to 2027 general elections. We need to be proactive and start engaging our youths now so that we can deliver their votes in the election to Mr. President. “We have developed a three-year development plan on how we want to engage the youths but we felt that it is only proper to setup this resource centre first where youths can meet and rub minds with policy makers.”Israel outlined several skills and other empowerment programmes that would be offered by the resource centre, and stated categorically that when APC youths are properly equipped and empowered, other parties will not pose any serious threat to the ruling party either before, during or after the general elections. Apart from taking proper inventory of APC youths across the country, he said, the resource centre hopes to immediately commence radical public engagement and enlightenment programmes targeting all sectors of youths including the students in higher institutions to ensure massive votes for President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s reelection in 2027.Education
Varsity Don Advocates Establishment of National Bureau for Ethnic Relations, Inter-Group Unity
By David Torough, Abuja
A university scholar, Prof. Uji Wilfred of the Department of History and International Studies, Federal University of Lafia, has called on the Federal Government to establish a National Bureau for Ethnic Relations to strengthen inter-group unity and address the deep-seated ethnic tensions in Nigeria, particularly in the North Central region.
Prof.
Wilfred, in a paper drawing from years of research, argued that the six states of the North Central—Kwara, Niger, Kogi, Benue, Plateau, and Nasarawa share long-standing historical, cultural, and economic ties that have been eroded by arbitrary state boundaries and ethnic politics.According to him, pre-colonial North Central Nigeria was home to a rich mix of ethnic groups—including Nupe, Gwari, Gbagi, Eggon, Igala, Idoma, Jukun, Alago, Tiv, Birom, Tarok, Angas, among others, who coexisted through indigenous peace mechanisms.
These communities, he noted, were amalgamated by British colonial authorities under the Northern Region, first headquartered in Lokoja before being moved to Kaduna.
He stressed that state creation, which was intended to promote minority inclusion, has in some cases fueled exclusionary politics and ethnic tensions. “It is historically misleading,” Wilfred stated, “to regard certain ethnic nationalities as mere tenant settlers in states where they have deep indigenous roots.”
The don warned that such narratives have been exploited by political elites for land grabbing, ethnic cleansing, and violent conflicts, undermining security in the sub-region.
He likened Nigeria’s ethnic question to America’s historic “race question” and urged the adoption of structures similar to the Freedmen’s Bureau, which addressed racial inequality in post-emancipation America through affirmative action and equitable representation.
Wilfred acknowledged the recent creation of the North Central Development Commission by President Bola Tinubu as a step in the right direction, but said its mandate may not be sufficient to address ethnic relations.
He urged the federal government to either expand the commission’s role or create a dedicated Bureau for Ethnic Relations in all six geo-political zones to foster reconciliation, equality, and sustainable development.
Quoting African-American scholar W.E.B. Du Bois, Prof. Wilfred concluded that the challenge of Nigeria in the 21st century is fundamentally one of ethnic relations, which must be addressed with deliberate policies for unity and integration.
By Mike Odiakose, Abuja
The leadership of the Labour Party has cautioned that if the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) goes ahead to conduct the August 16, 2025 bye-election without publishing the names of its candidates, and ensuring that its logo appears on the ballot, it will seek the nullification of the election in line with the provision of the law.
The party has also called on well meaning Nigerians to prevail on the Prof Mahmood Yakubu led INEC to respect the Nigeria Constitution and the Electoral Law by discharging its duties as specified by the laws of the land and avoid wasting tax payers money. It accused INEC of working for interests that are anti democratic.In a statement by the National Publicity Secretary, Obiora Ifoh, Labour Party said that by the electoral Act 2022, any political party which is excluded from participating in any election is expected to approach the court for remedy.I”NEC is gambling with the huge resources of the country which are being expended in the conduct of the bye-election that is scheduled to hold on the 16 of August, 2025. “We are not going to be helpless as the law has provided adequate remedies for any act or omission by the commission that has shortchanged the political party or put its image in disrepute. “A political party is expected to guard its image and reputation jealously and Labour Party will not take any conduct by any agency or regulatory body intended to rubbish its reputation lightly. “One wonders what interest INEC is protecting that will make it throw the entire country into unnecessary crisis and incurring such a colossal financial waste. “By virtue of the Supreme Court decision delivered on the April 4, 2025, the court stated that the issues of leadership is an internal affairs of the party and going by the internal mechanism of the party, the party has held a convention on the 27th of March 2024 at Nnewi, which produced the current leadership as led by Barrister Julius Abure. One wonders what the problem is with INEC.”INEC under Prof. Yakubu must respect the decisions of both the Supreme Court and the leadership of the Labour Party.”
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