Rivers : Wike votes, says the way military acted discouraged people

Governor Wike votes at Unit 7, Ward 9, Obio/Akpor LGA Rivers State Governor, Nyesom Ezenwo Wike on Saturday voted during the Governorship and State Assembly elections, declaring that he is confident of victory . The Governor who was accompanied by his wife, Justice Eberechi Suzzette Nyesom-Wike voted at about 10.47am after he was duly accredited. The Governor voted at Unit 7, Ward 9 of Obio/Akpor Local Government Area in Rivers State.

Addressing journalists after voting, Governor Wike said despite the attempts to manipulate the election in some Local Government Areas, he is sure of victory. “We are hoping that it will Continue to be like this. Sometimes, the voting goes on smoothly, but the main thing is at the Collation Centres. Polls: Send APC packing, Jennifer Abubakar urges Rivers people “For now, we are satisfied and confident that we will win this election very well. We are not afraid. We don’t know how many Local Government Areas they can manipulate. “But with reports we are getting, even though they are trying to be funny, we shall win”. The Governor noted that the turnout during the election was affected by the illegal activities of the military. “The way the military acted discouraged people from turning up. The role of the military is to provide security. But it is unfortunate that they directly participate.

Police have no role in the elections. The military appears to have taken over police duties” …Two injured as thugs attack APC supporters in Delta By Perez Brisibe TWO persons reported to be supporters of the All Progressives Congress, APC, narrowly escaped death at a polling unit in Afiesere community, Ughelli North local government area of Delta State. One of the injured Afiesere community is the hometown of the State Commissioner for Finance, David Edevbie. The incident, according to witnesses occurred after supporters of a rival party in the area, asked residents of the community to vote for their party after. Meanwhile, Managing Director NEXIM Bank, Stella Okotete, has described the process at her Ekrerhavwen community polling unit as peaceful, saying, “we believe that it will be peaceful till the end of the elections.” She said: “The people came out massively to vote the candidate of their choice, I can assure you that at the end of the election, the most popular candidate accepted by the people, both in the gubernatorial and the house of assembly across the state will be elected.” …

Armed men storm Ngor Okpala, steal voting materials By Ifeanyi Nwoko Voter apathy has been witnessed in the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) as only very few people were seen at polling units for the area council chairmanship and councillorship polls. Our correspondent who visited some of the polling units in Garki – area 2, area 1, area 10, area 3, area 7 and area 8, reported that the voter turnout was abysmally low. At a polling unit in area 7, as at 8:00 a.m. when our correspondent visited, only three voters were sighted on ground and ready to vote.

NAN reports that in all the polling units visited, the ad-hoc staff were on ground and some of them were already set to begin accreditation. At the area 1 primary school which has the highest number of voters, fewer than 50 voters were on ground as at the time of this report, compared to over 2000 voters who were present at about the same time during the Presidential election. Unlike in the Presidential and National Assembly polls, the streets around polling units were not filled up with cars, while the roads were very empty. Some of those at the polling units who spoke to our correspondent said that the voter apathy was not unconnected with the February 23 elections. Some of them said they were disappointed their preferred candidate failed to win the presidential election.

At the area 1 Primary school, Mr Joseph Peter who was seen in night wears just strolling out of his house, said he was only coming to see the situation “not to vote” Peter said he had gone through so much stress during the presidential election and was not happy with the final results hence his decision to boycott voting. At area 2 National Library polling Unit 006, (National Library), an Engineer Mr Uche Alex also said that some people were unhappy with the presidential election results, won by President Muhammadu Buhari, by close to four million plural votes. Atiku Abubakar, the preferred choice of Abuja residents lost the election. However, a party agent at the Ward 005, Area 2 recreational park, attributed the low turnout to lack of interest in local elections. He said that Nigerians were more interested in Presidential and National Elections than the chairmanship and counsellorship elections.

“You know in Nigeria we pick interest in national elections more than local elections, what is going on today is a local election and that is why the parties engage more canvassers to get people to come and vote. “Many of the residents of the FCT do not even know what the chairmen or councillors do. Many people just complain about tenement rates and ground rent. “I believe the time between the national election and local election is too short so there was not enough time to canvass,” he said By Chidi Nkwopara, OWERRI Three armed men in police uniform stormed Ward 6 Ngor Okpala, shot severally into the air and carried away voting materials a few minutes ago. When Vanguard contacted the Control Room of the Independent National Electoral Commissione, INEC, Owerri, a Police officer in the room, who did not identify himself, confirmed that the police has received the report. Enugu Polls: APGA, SDP, PDP deny APC allegation against INEC “The Police Command has received the report and the Commissioner of Police has given specific instructions on the matter”, the officer told Vanguard …

We need military in the Niger Delta – Kokori

By Akpokona Omafuaire OVU – Chief Frank Kokori, former NUPENG Secretary and All Progressive Congress, APC, Chieftain has justified the inclusion of military personnel in election duty. Kokori while speaking on the election feared that the opposition party, Peoples Democratic Party only hope in the day election is massive rigging and as a result only military can curb same. Kokori stressed that PDP has entrenched corruption in the politics of Delta and need to be uprooted to have a new lease of life. He urged INEC to be neutral and conduct a free and fair election as he is optimistic of victory. Vanguard