Sunday 10 April 2011

ELECTION RESULTS


KWANDE/USHONGO HOUSE OF REPS

USHONGO LG
ACN- 23 518
PDP- 22 378


KWANDE LG
ACN- 34 288
PDP- 24 477

TOTAL-
ACN (KWANDE+USHONGO)-      57 806
PDP (KWANDE+USHONGO)-      46 239
DIFFERENCE                            -         11 567


SENATE

KWANDE
ACN- 34 421
PDP- 24 447

USHONGO
ACN- 24 322
PDP- 21 792

TOTAL-
ACN (KWANDE+USHONGO)-      58 743
PDP (KWANDE+USHONGO)-      46 239
DIFFERENCE                            -         12 504

We delayed to bring this result because we had to wait for THE WARD RETURNING officers who due to the Kwande terrain came in patches. The last result got to the collation centre at Adikpo 2pm this afternoon , though results were reported to have been tempered with in some council wards in Kwande LG like Liev I, Liev II, some areas in Turan and Usar; Also in Ushongo too, cases were noticed in the Mbagwa area, yet  those activities did not affect the total outcome as is presented above. As we write, the RETURNING OFFICER for KWANDE/USHONGO is on his way to Katsina-Ala to submit the result.

So while Col. Benjamin Aboho  of ACN is returned as the Honourable House of Representive member for Kwande/Ushongo, Sen. Akaagergers victory will be determined’only by the result collected from the other 5 local governments where we are receiving conflicting reports as at this moment.IS

Friday 8 April 2011

GUIDELINES FOR THE GENERAL ELECTIONS APRIL 2011




PRESIDING OFFICER
1. The Presiding Officer is in charge of the Polling Unit.
2. You are to sign for all electoral materials collected on Form EC.25B – Electoral Materials Receipt Form.
3. You are to ensure that the electoral materials issued to your   polling unit are of the right type and quantity. This you will     do by going through the materials one by one.
4. The Voters’ Register given to you should be inspected page     by     page to ensure that all the pages are signed and  stamped    with the INEC stamp and that no page is missing.
5. You shall be assisted by two poll assistants in the discharge  of your responsibilities.
6. Accreditation will be from 8am – 12 noon.
7. As voters arrive at the Polling Unit for accreditation, you   shall check their voter’s card against their names in the   voter’s register. Please note that voters’ waiting in the queue at 12 noon shall be accredited; but any voter coming  after 12 noon shall not be accredited. A temporary voter’s   card only shall be acceptable for accreditation and voting.
8. Voting starts at 12:30pm and ends when the last person on  the queue votes.
9. Once a voter is accredited, the index finger of his/her left  hand will be marked with an indelible ink.
10. You shall next enter in Form EC 8A – Statement of Result form in figures and words,
A. The number of voters on the Register;
And
B. The number of accredited voters.
11. After the accreditation period, you shall introduce the Poll  Assistants, security agents and accredited Party Agents.
12. Explain the voting procedure to the voters as well as all activities that constitute electoral offences and the penalties   for committing such offences as listed in the Electoral Act           2010.
13. Next invite all accredited voters to queue up in front of you  in one single line. Where culture does not allow men and women to mingle in a queue, you shall allow separate     queues for men and women.
14. Next count the number of all accredited voters on the queue and announce loudly to the hearing of all present the number of accredited voters in the queue.
15. Enter in Form EC 8A, the number of accredited voters  waiting in the queue to vote in figures and words. Sign the form in the appropriate section and invite the polling agents       to sign.
16. Then display the transparent ballot box to everyone present   before voting commences.
17. Invite the voters to move one at a time to the Presiding Officer’s table, and issue him/her with a stamped, signed    and dated ballot paper.
18. Next ask the voter to move to the voting cubicle to thumb-  print in the space opposite the symbol of the party of      his/her choice and to drop the ballot paper in the ballot box         in the full view of all present.
COUNTING OF VOTES
1. Empty the contents of the ballot box on the table.
2. Sort out the ballot papers according to party symbols.
3. Using the alphabetical order of name of the political parties,   count loudly the number of votes scored by each candidate.
4. Then enter in Form EC 8A the number of votes scored by  each candidate in the space provided in both figures and         words.
5. Verify the poll result by cross checking;
A. The number of persons registered to vote at the center;
B. The number of accredited voters in the queue before voting    commences; and
C. The total number of votes scored by the candidates.
6. Nullify the result where the total number of votes cast for the candidates exceeds the total number of people accredited to vote at the polling unit, after thorough verification.
7. Where the result is nullified, endorse Form EC 8A for the  polling unit as follows: “Result Cancelled”.
8. Immediately announce the nullification of the result to those present.
9. Next sign Form EC 8A and invite one Party Agent from each of the political parties to sign the Statement of Result Form.
10. Then give a copy of the duly completed and signed Form EC 8A to:
A. Each Party Agent,
B. The security agents.
11. Post a copy of the result at the Polling Unit.
12. Proceed immediately with the original copy and deliver to  the Collation Officer at the Registration Area Center accompanied by security agents and Party Agents.
13. Return all the election materials used during the election to the Electoral Officer (EO) through the Supervisory Presiding  Officer (SPO) for preservation.
COLLATION OFFICER
1.  You shall be responsible for the collation of results either at:
A. Registration Area Center (RAC)
B. Local Government Area level
C. State Level.
REGISTRATION AREA LEVEL
1. The Registration Area Collation Officer is in charge of the  Collation Centre.
2. You shall work in liaison with the security agents to see to the maintenance of law and order at the Collation Center.
3. You shall use Form EC 8B to collate votes entered in Form EC 8A submitted to you by the Presiding Officers, Polling Unit by Polling Unit to get the Registration Area level results by the candidates.
4. Where there has been a cancellation in a polling unit by a presiding officer or where elections did not hold in a polling unit, the fact of that cancellation or non-holding of the         election shall be entered in Form EC40G.
5. You shall then call out loudly the total votes scored by candidates in the Registration Area Center.
6. You shall sign Form EC 8B and invite each candidate or Party   Agent of the political parties to sign the form. The refusal of       the Party agents to sign the results will not however       invalidate the result of the poll.
7. You shall then give a copy of the signed Form EC 8B to:
A. Each party agent
B. The security agents
C. The original copy to the Local Government Collation Officer, and
D. The Electoral Officer.
8. Post a copy of the result at the collation center.
AT THE LOCAL GOVERNMENT LEVEL
1. The Local Government Collation Officer is in charge of the  Local Government Collation centre
2. You are to liaise with the security agents in maintaining law and order at the Collation Center.
3. You shall use Form EC 8C to collate results from Form EC 8B submitted to you by the Registration Area Center Officers,   Registration Area by Registration Area.
4. You shall enter in Form EC 8C votes scored by the candidates as recorded on Form EC 8B to get the results for the  candidates for that Federal Constituency.
5. Where there has been an entry in Form EC40G, details of  such entries shall be collated in Form EC40G1.
6. You shall then loudly announce the total votes scored by all    candidates in the Local Government Area.
7. You shall sign Form EC 8C and invite the Party Agents to sign the form. Their refusal to sign the form will however not        invalidate the result of the Poll.
8. You shall then distribute copies of the signed Form EC 8C as follows:
A. The original copy for the Returning Officer at the State level,
B. Copies for the candidates
C. One copy for the Resident Electoral Commissioner through      the Electoral Officer
D. One copy for the Electoral Officer
E. A copy each for the security agents.
9. Announce and declare the result of the election.
10. Post a copy of the result at the Collation Center.
AT THE STATE LEVEL
1. The State Returning Officer is in charge of the State Collation Centre.
2. You shall liaise with the security agents to ensure that law       and order is maintained at the Collation Center.
3. You shall use Form EC 8D to collate results from Form EC 8C submitted to you by the Local Government Returning         Officers, local government area by local government area, to    get state results for the candidates.
4. Where there has been an entry in Form EC40G1, details of       such entries shall be collated in Form EC40G2.
5. You shall then loudly announce the results scored by all candidates in the state taking into consideration form      EC40G2.
6. You shall then sign Form EC 8D and invite the Party Agents to sign the form. Their refusal to sign the form will however    not invalidate the result of the Poll.
7. You shall then distribute copies of the signed Form EC 8D as follows:
A. The original copy to the Chief Electoral Officer for the Federation,
B. Copies for the candidates,
C. One copy for the Resident Electoral Commissioner, and
D. A copy each for the security agents.
8. Post a copy of the result at the Collation Center.
THE CHARGE
You are called upon to perform a very important national assignment, which calls for seriousness of purpose, honesty and integrity.
You must take both the training and the actual exercise seriously. Master thoroughly the various forms and materials you will handle in the conduct of the elections. Practice as often as possible how to fill the forms as practice makes perfect.
The Independent National Electoral Commission and indeed the entire nation look up to you to act your part well and ensure free, fair and credible elections.
PROF. ATTAHIRU MUHAMMADU JEGA, O.F.R.
CHAIRMAN,INEC.
MARCH, 2011.

Thursday 7 April 2011

419 company retreats

A company which recently appeared in Adikpo to undertake savings and mortgaged activities was alleged to be an international 419 syndicate which specialize in carting away unsuspecting would be customer’ monies.
        They had carried public shows and were undertaking skeletal  transactions with people when a source leaked to KSN that the company    lacked the capacity to do its claims: that it was a fake company.
        Our investigations were undergoing when the company retreats into oblivion. Its office located around Aper Aku way in Adikpo has been under key and lock. And the company representatives who had promised to talk to our reporters have failed to do so.
       

Polls: women demonstrate against violence


Ahead of the General elections, Kwande women under the aegis of Catholic Women Organization (CWO) have staged a peaceful demonstration calling on Kwande politicians to shun violence and avoid a situation where in 2004 their houses were destroyed, and children and husband were killed.
        The demonstration which was under t he leadership of Mrs. Judith Yende, President CWO, St. Ann’s Parish Adikpo was carried out by over 5,00 women. The women carrying placards like “Say no to violence, we  want   peace” etc. went round the whole of Adikpo town visiting the Adikpo police station, the Acting Ter-Kwande and the Acting caretaker Chairman of Kwande.
At the police Station, Mrs Yende told the DPO, Mr Moses Aiki, that they were going about on a peaceful demonstration because, they did not want a repeat of what happened in 2004. Responding, Aiki said “it is a very welcomed idea. There is no problem”
From there, they moved to the acting Ter-Kwande’s residence where they registered the same complain to him. In his response, Tyoor Yalu Agbo, the acting Ter-Kwande revealed that what they were doing was a very good thing, that as they moved about, they should go about peacefully. The acting Ter-Kwande who was in company of tyoor Usar, Engr. Tivlumun Ako Dzungwe and Tyoor Menev, Akoso Uban, noted that he had also received a petition concerning the 2011 polls and a meeting was in the offing so the women should be free to express their civil right.
The women, most aged, in their 60’s and 70’s trekked from the Acting Terkwand’s house in Mbaiwen, an out skirt of Adikpo to local government secretariat to register their complaint. After registering their complaint to the caretaker chairman, Hon. Terlumun Akputu, is reported to have told them that Kwande will not go back to opposition. He insisted that, it was only PDP that all Kwande people must vote. To the dismay of the women, he gave them some money which they reluctantly accepted.
In an interview with KSN, one of the mothers (name withheld) noted that “My son, I can not believe what the eyes and tell them such things. We are not politicians, we are Christian mothers, we were only pleading that peace should be held, so what a shame, I felt ashamed of myself”.
This is not the first time that Hon. Akputu will be offering such undemocratic comments; on several occasions, he had been saying that only PDP can be allowed in Kwande, during the Ter-Kwande’s burial he publicly said that all Kwande must vote PDP, he also said same at Ikyogen, during a thanks given mass in honour of the Governor.
Earlier, Hon. Akputu had sent the Editor-in-Chief of KSN out of his way. He alleged that the editor was publishing false information that might cause trouble. With mixed feelings, the women moved to St. Monica’s Hospital where they upsettled the bills of some patients.
In recent times, Kwande has become a political flash point where series of violent crises are noticed.

Aborted polls: Akperashi sues for peace



Mr. Manasseh Akperashi Gum, an ACN chieftain in Kwande has sued for peace among his Usar kinsmen,  because he noted the aborted polls recently had leaked the bad intentions of some politicians.

Akperashi, whose younger brother, Chief John Akperasi Gum is a staunch PDP man, noted in a sober tone as he addressed his Usar people comprising of Traditional rulers, elders, party men and women, youths at his country home recently that he had called  them of the ugly issue because it was capable of brewing violence if not nipped in the bud.

Addressing the crowd, he said “it is wrong to force any political party or candidate on the people. In a democratic setting, political parties are allowed to sell the agenda of their candidates and the people there after choose the candidates whose programmes they like”

He condemned the politics where thugs were either imported or hired to intimidate people or disrupt electoral activities. “I don’t think Usar want violence. What we should expect from politics is development and not destruction, so it is our responsibility to say no to violence and advise others to do same. If we fail to do that, the possibility of retaliation becomes inevitable and I don’t think that will bring development.”

Responding to him, Traditional rulers, elders, women leaders, party men and the youths noted that the major cause of  crises in Usar was PDP. “PDP is intolerant”Mbakuran Wayo noted. Mrs Mary Bagidi said mothers were to be blamed for most of the problems because they were not allowing their husbands to bring up their children properly. Elders like Iorashima Tionkwange, Iornumbe Asawa, and Kerakaa said Usar used to be under different political parties but they nwver resorted to violence, unlike Gboko Sase and Yese Uzege, anybody who was introducing divisive politics in Usar will suffer severe consequences.