POLITICS
TMG Deploys 42 Observers to Kogi Guber Poll
From Joseph Amedu, Lokoja
A Non-Governmental Organization, Transition Monitoring Group(TMG) has deployed 42 observers to monitor the November 11 Governorship election in Kogi State.
The Kogi State Coordinator of TMG, Mrs Racheal Remilekun Akande disclosed this on Saturday during the training of Local Government observers to enhance citizens engagement ahead of the off-cycle election in Kogi State.
Akande noted that the training was part of the organization commitment toward a transparent, hitch free election in Kogi State adding that, it was also targeted at complementing efforts of government, security agencies and INEC in ensuring credible, free, and fair elections.
According to her, the training would help observers to have in-depth knowledge on the modalities in reporting election issues, stressing that, they must always remain neutral on the field.
A facilitator at the training, Success Adejoh noted that the Local Government observers are expected to know their roles and responsibilities in monitoring the election, reporting irregularities, and fostering an environment conducive to citizen participation.
” TMG aims to empower local observers to effectively play their part in ensuring a free and fair election, promoting democracy in the region and strengthening the confidence of citizens in the electoral system” he said.
Zonal Coordinator of TMG, Reuben Joshua expressed optimism that electorates would come out in their numbers to cast votes for Candidate of their choice.
He lamented the high level of disinformation and misinformation across Kogi State, which he said had created fears in the minds of electorates before the election.
“We have been on the field observing a lot of things ahead of this election. Some of the feelers we are getting are hate speeches, disinformation, and misinformation which is going round social media, communities that there will be violence and castigation of Candidate.
“All these are causing fears in the mind of the People and electorates. TMG has been able to counter this misinformation and disinformation that is being peddled around by enemies of democracy. We have gone as far as fact checking all this information to know whether they are true or false” he stated
On his part, the Chief Executive Officer, Teens Educational Development and Information Initiative, Titus Adekunle Alonge lamented that despite the series of sensitization across board for a transparent hitch free election, some individuals are over heating the polity.
Sharing his experience in previous election, Alonge said” I was held hostage in the previous election. The security agencies who always tell us things will go well have always failed us. If you remember 2019, they promised us heaven and earth that there would be no crisis. There was a meeting that was held here in Lokoja where the then Inspector General of Police, top military officers, other security agencies were in attendance. Right there, innocent citizens were still tear gassed, and hurt.
“I won’t blame the Independent National Electoral Commission, (INEC) that much even though they also have their own challenges. Where I observed, a former Deputy Governor was stopped from casting his vote.
” In front of security agencies, supporters of other party where driven out of the polling unit since they are not casting their votes for a party. Some of us have to stand up against such injustice. The security agencies in that area were compromised, including some electoral officials.
“Personally, I have fear. We are on ground. I don’t belong to any political party or a card carrying member of one. I am an independent body. It is worthy to note that this is the most scary election that will be conducted in Kogi State and I pray they get it right. If not, when emotion set in, there will be problem in the State.
He, however, appealed to INEC and security agencies to weed out bad eggs from their system in a bid to have a transparent, free and fair election in Kogi State.
The Abia Chapter of the INEC Staff Welfare Association (ISWA) has warned its members to uphold the integrity of the commission and guard against the culture of manipulating election results.
The Abia Chairman of the association, Mr Collins Eze, gave the advice at the group’s general meeting and end-of-year party in Umuahia.
Speaking in an interview with newsmen on the sideline of the ceremony, Eze said that the staff members were adequately aware of their enormous responsibility and should ensure free, fair and credible elections.
He said: “We have also told our colleagues that anywhere they find themselves they should make sure that they do the needful by ensuring transparency in the conduct of elections.
“We have always told them not to allow anybody to induce them with money to manipulate election results.
“I’m happy that they have been building the capacity of our colleagues on election processes.
“So, in the coming years, we won’t have any problem in ensuring free, fair and peaceful elections.”
He said that the end-of-year party was special as it afforded them the opportunity “to wine and dine together as well as thank God for sustaining them in 2024”.
Eze said that his leadership had introduced various means of assisting members in dire financial needs by providing platforms to solicit suppory for them.
He expressed gratitude to members for their support and cooperation, describing them as the “secret behind the success of this administration”.
He said that 34 of at least 350 staff members of the commission in the state retired from service in 2024.
According to him, the development has placed a huge financial burden on the association, in terms of their welfare and entitlement as members.
Report says that each member received a carton of tomato paste as Christmas gift from the association. (NAN)
A chieftain of All Progressives Congress (APC), Mr Osita Okechukwu, has told the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) to be thankful to God that its 16-year administration was not probed by the successive APC-led governments.Okechukwu stated this on Tuesday in Abuja, while reacting to a statement by PDP congratulating Ghanaians for the conduct of free, fair and transparent general elections.
Report says that PDP had, in a statement, said that the verdict of the people of Ghana in the presidential election was a signal to the APC that its days were numbered. The party’s National Publicity Secretary, Debo Ologunagba, had said in the statement that the power of the people in Nigeria, just like in Ghana, would ‘surely prevail and end the APC’s oppressive rule’.This, he said, would “return Nigeria to the path of good governance, security, political stability and economic prosperity on the platform of the PDP in 2027.”However, in his reactions to Ologunagba’s statement, Okechukwu said that the PDP clan should thank God that former President Muhammadu Buhari and President Bola Tinubu, out of sheer statesmanship, had refused to probe ‘the 16 locus years of PDP administrations’.Okechukwu, a former Director-General of Voice of Nigeria (VON), described the 16 years of PDP administrations as ones full of squandering and lack of plan.He said that Nigeria had yet to recover from the humongous culture of impunity and trust deficit planted by PDP on the Nigerian soil.Okechukwu said corruption was among the culture of impunity, saying it governed the privatisation of Nigeria’s electricity value chain, a key element in the country’s industrialisation drive.“Another is the blatant rigging of the 2007 general elections which the foremost beneficiary, President Umaru Yar’Adua, out of good conscience and noble magnanimity, publicly acknowledged the malfeasance which characterised his victory,” he said.Okechukwu also mentioned what he called conscienceless sale of the legislative and ministerial quarters, the annual rentage of which, he said, was bleeding the country’s treasury.“Another one is the neglect of $23 billion Greenfield Refinery, which could have saved over $70 billion expended on importation of refined petroleum products and which simulated the economic hardship of today,” he said.On why, for nine years, the APC administration could not fix those challenges, he recalled the efforts made by the Buhari administration to reopen talks on the Greenfield Refinery which, according to him, the Chinese regrettably rebuffed.The former VON director-general said that Nigerians were not in a hurry to forget the deliberate breach of the rotational convention of president from the north to the south.He said that the country could not also forget the utter disregard for Section 7 of the PDP’s constitution which expressly mandated zoning.Okechukwu advised the PDP not to insult the sensibilities of Nigerians by assuming that citizens would easily forget how they were put in the harms way.He said that PDP should thank God that Buhari and Tinubu did not want to probe them, adding “that’s why Nigerians cannot decipher the difference between the two political parties.” (NAN)
Sen. Ned Nwoko (PDP-Delta) says that Local Government Administration is central to democracy in Nigeria as it ensures grassroots governance and service delivery at the local level.This is contained in a statement signed by Dr Michael Nwoko, the Chief of Staff to the lawmaker in Abuja on Monday.Nwoko said this on the occasion of the presentation of an award “Icon of Hope” to him by the Association of Local Government Vice Chairmen of Nigeria (ALGOVC).
He was represented by his Chief of Staff. He said that the importance of local government administration in the country could not be overemphasised, as it was the bedrock of democracy.According to him, local governments in Nigeria play key roles in the country’s democracy by promoting participatory democracy, providing services, and representing citizens.“Local Governments help determine local needs and how to meet them. They also act as a link between the centre, state, and local people.“They are created to decentralise power and bring the government closer to the people. They perform both mandatory and concurrent functions.“It is in view of this that I took it upon myself to enhance the viability of local governments through the Paris and London club loan refunds,”he said.Dr Folashade Olabanji-Oba, ALGOVC National Chairman, while presenting the award at its 7th Annual National Conference, said the award was in recognition of the lawmaker’s significant contributions to strengthening local government administration.She highlighted Nwoko’s critical role in ensuring the Paris and London Club loan refunds, a financial breakthrough she said enhanced the capacity of local governments nationwide.(NAN)
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