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News & Announcements

News & Announcements

INEC postpone governorship, house of assembly elections in 10 Lagos Polling Units

The governorship and house of assembly elections scheduled for this Saturday in 10 voting places in the state’s Victoria Garden City, Lekki region have been postponed by the independent national electoral commission.

Segun Agbaje, the Lagos State resident electoral commissioner for INEC, made this statement to media on Saturday at the VGC.

Members of the National Youth Service Corps who had been stationed in the region as temporary workers, according to Agbaje, were reluctant to approach the VGC estate since they claimed to have been kept captive during the February 25 Presidential and National Assembly elections.

Agbaje claimed that the ad hoc staff had instead set up voting materials outside the estate, but the residents claimed that they were unable to vote because they did not feel comfortable and were worried about hoodlums invading and interfering with the election.

He claimed that the current security personnel were unable to handle the situation, therefore he and his crew had to go to the location.

“We have eight polling units here with 6,024 registered voters and out of which 5,624 people have their PVCs,” Agbaje stated.

He claimed that the current security personnel were unable to handle the situation, therefore he and his crew had to go to the location.

“Eight here (in the estate) and two outside,” he said.

“After due consultation and further directive from the national headquarters that we should remobilise here tomorrow (Sunday) morning by 8:30am to conduct the elections, by 8:30am tomorrow (Sunday) we will reconvene here.”

He claimed that the current security personnel were unable to handle the situation, therefore he and his crew had to go to the location.

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Kano line MD, six other detained by police on suspicion of destroying ballot boxes.

Bashir Nasiru Aliko, the managing director of the state-owned transport company, was detained by Kano State Police Command agents for allegedly interfering with elections and stealing ballot boxes.

The head of Kano Line was detained along with six other people.

The arrest happened in the state’s Dala Local Government Area’s Gwammaja neighborhood.

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INEC confirms kidnap, release of 19 ad hoc staff in Imo state.

On Saturday, the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) revealed that 19 of its ad hoc staff members had been abducted while traveling to the Ideato South Local Government Area of Imo to conduct the House of Assembly election.

Prof. Sylvia Agu, the resident electoral commissioner for Imo at INEC, made this announcement in a statement on Saturday in Owerri.

However, they were reportedly freed after security personnel intervened, but election supplies, including BVAS machines, remain missing.

Agu stated; “The attention of the commission has been drawn to a report from Ugbelle Registration Area (06) in Ideato South Local Government Area of Imo state where thugs carted away all electoral materials and took our staff hostage for some hours during the March 18 House of Assembly election.

“The security forces were informed and a rescue operation was mounted.

“Presently, all ad hoc staff on hostage have been rescued but no trace of the election materials.

“While the commission remains grateful to the security operatives, it condemns such acts of thuggery, intimidation and disenfranchisement of voters and urge the public to continue to have confidence in the electoral process,” Agu stated.

The REC said a full statement on the matter will be issued later.

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2023 Gov Election: Thugs attack voting units in Lekki

On Saturday morning, thugs raided a few voting places in the Ajiran neighborhood of the Agungi, Lekki, and Eti-Osa Local Government Area in Lagos State, stealing vote boxes.

The hoodlums attacked PU 108, PU 007, PU 028, and other nearby PUs, according report.

Our correspondent also noted that a large number of residents returned to their houses out of fear for their safety after the attack, which caused a sharp decline in voter turnout in the neighborhood.

A residents who was assaulted and flogged by the thugs while having blood drip down his head claimed that he felt scared while trying to cast his ballot.

Speaking under the condition of anonymity out of concern for harassment, he told our correspondent, “I was trying to vote when the thugs broke into my polling place. If I don’t vote for the APC (All Progressives Congress), they claimed, I can’t cast my ballot. They began beating and whipping me.

Approximately 20 hoodlums entered the neighborhood, and it was learned that they were made up of both male and female members.

Another resident, identified as Bayo, said, “The violence broke out between 9am and 10 am. The number of voters that came out during the presidential election in our area has dropped significantly. We are still calling our people around to come out and vote as the military has arrived and things have settled now.”

According to reports, the hoodlums slapped the chairman of one of the local estates when he attempted to reason with them and ask them to quit intimidating and threatening the voters.

As at the time this report was sent, three military vans carrying armed soldiers had reached the scene, and order had been reinstated.

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Katsina state Governor’s nephew, two others die in vehicle accident.

Two security officers named Nura Sufyanu and Kabir Ali, as well as Adamu Ali, the nephew of Katsina State Governor Aminu Masari, died in a horrifying car accident.

The incident happened on Friday night in the state’s Musawa Local Government Area in the village of Gadar Tsuntsaye.

According to other sources, the fatalities and other people were en route to the governor’s hometown of Kafur for the governorship and State House of Assembly elections on Saturday.

The sources stated that the area’s poor road conditions were to blame for the disaster.

One of the sources said, “The victims were about to get to a bridge in the area on Friday night when they ran into bad portions of the road which forced the vehicle they were traveling in to skip and somersault, leading to their deaths.”

Before being sent to the Federal Teaching Hospital in Katsina, three other accident victims received first medical attention at the General Hospital in Malumfashi.

The police official reported that the bodies of the victims had been transported from the scene to a morgue in Katsina, and preparations for their burial had already started on Saturday.

The police spokesman said, “The accident happened on Friday night. The victims were going to Kafur, the governor’s hometown for the governorship and State House of Assembly elections. We have evacuated the bodies of the victims to Katsina.”

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2023 Gov Election: Thugs invade Lagos voting location, scatter voters.

Thugs have encroached on the Adejare Polling Unit in Ilasa, Oshodi/Isolo Local Government Area of Lagos State in large numbers in an effort to scatter voters who were waiting for officials and ad hoc staff of the Independent National Electoral Commission to start voting for the ongoing governorship and state assembly election.

Arome Solomon, an eyewitness, claimed that as of 10:12 am, INEC officials were yet to be seen, leaving many voters stuck till the thugs on the adjacent street broke into the voting place brandishing daggers and other sharp things to scatter them.

“Policemen are also not present. The people have all run away and are not willing to return,” he added.

Another observer who wished to remain anonymous and who also serves as a party agent reported seeing no police officers at Polling Unit 052, Olusoji Street, off Afariogun, Oshodi.

He added, “I was driven out of the area by suspected All Progressives Congress thugs after confirming that I am an agent of the opposition party.

“They seized my phone and checked through it to confirm that I haven’t recorded their activities.

“They also chased away non-indigenes despite registering at many of the polling units threatening to beat them if they resist,” he maintained.

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2023 Gov Election:Soldiers in Ogun capture criminals carrying weapons.

In Abeokuta, the state capital of Ogun, four perpetrators were detained with a gun and a knife as they made their way to voting booths.

On Saturday morning, when voting for the state house of representatives and governorship got underway, the hoodlums were apprehended in Sapon in the Abeokuta-South Local Government Area.

Four people have been caught with hazardous weapons, including a gun and a knife, according to a soldier at the Sapon roadblock who did not want his name published since he was not authorized to comment on the situation.

He said, “When you see soldiers being hard on anyone, he is not just punishing anyone.

“We arrested four people with guns and knives. What are they doing with the gun and knife at the polling unit?

“I ask you, can you tell me what a voter wants to do with a gun and a knife?

“If they escape from the police, they cannot escape from soldiers; we will catch them.”

Another alleged hoodlum was apprehended by security personnel and was afterwards seen performing a frog jump beneath the Sapon bridge.

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2023 Gov Election: Voters enraged as soldiers impose restrictions in Osun

Armed soldiers enforced a restriction order in Osogbo, Osun State, leaving many voters stopped as they attempted to travel to their polling places on Saturday.

For disobeying the restriction order, the affected electorate—primarily those who resided in the Owode, Ede, area—were hauled before the Osun State House of Assembly.

The voters showed their permanent voter cards when TV crews arrived, but the military ignored all of their pleas.

Taofeek Badmus, a lawmaker running for reelection in the Osogbo State Constituency, was seen pleading with the military to let the crowd move.

But, when approached Badmus for a statement, he declined.

Mr. Tajudeen Olajide, one of the voters, stated that he was living in Ede and intended to drive to Osogbo to cast his ballot when the troops halted his car.

He said, “I am living in Owode Area (Ede) and I wanted to move to Osogbo to vote. I wanted to move very early in the morning and despite that, soldiers stopped me there. I have been here since 5 am and yet they won’t allow me to move with my vehicle.

“I was given the option of moving without my vehicle but my polling unit is not nearby. I can’t trek down. Help us plead with them.”

Senior security officials who were also on duty for the state’s elections stated the soldiers had received a thorough briefing on their responsibilities and that the movement restrictions were in place to stop hoodlums from interfering with the voting.

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2023 Gov Election: Deployment of INEC officials delayed by payment in Amuwo-Odofin, Lagos.

Protest broke out in the Registration Area Center of the Independent National Electoral Commission, which is housed in the Amuwo-Odofin Nursery and Primary School in Mile 2, Lagos, over the INEC’s delay in paying its ad hoc personnel.

Ad hoc employees reportedly claimed that they were each guaranteed NGN15,000 before they left the RAC but that they hadn’t received their money as of past 9am.

“We were told that we would get NGN15,000 before we leave here,” said a member of the ad hoc staff who went by the name Matthew. “But they are yet to pay and are even threatening us.”

At the three polling places within the school, voting has already started.

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Meet 28-Year-Old Actor Pushing To Unseat Desmond Elliot At Lagos Assembly

Saturday’s Governorship and House of Assembly will undoubtedly spring surprises and upsets just like what was seen during the February 25 Presidential and National Assembly elections when top contenders lost out in the contest.

In Lagos State, the incumbent governor, Babajide Sanwo-Olu is desperately seeking to retain his seat after the president-elect, Asiwaju Bola Tinubu, was defeated in Lagos by Peter Obi’s Labour Party.

This has sent a wrong signal to the ruling All Progressives Congress ahead of Saturday’s governorship election.

For the House of Assembly election, the race for Surulere constituency (1) in the Lagos State House of Assembly is a political battle to watch.

When voters in Surulere Constituency file out to choose their representative for Lagos State House of Assembly, Veteran actor, Desmond Elliot and his junior colleague, Olumide Oworu, would be on the frontlines.

Oworu, a Nigerian actor, model, and rapper, was born on December 11, 1994. He attended King’s College, Lagos. He graduated from Babcock University in June 2017. 

Oworu commenced his acting career at the age of six with the television series Everyday People. 

He is also known for his role as Tari in the Africa Magic Series The Johnsons. 

He also starred in other television series such as The Patriot, The Men In Her Life, Hammer, Stolen Waters, and New Son. He portrayed the character ‘Weki’ in MTV Base’s Shuga series, seasons 3 and 4.

Oworu has won several awards including the “Mr. Popularity” prize in the Model of Africa 2012 contest, the Nollywood Revelation of The Year award at the Scream Awards 2014, and The Most Promising Youth Actor award at Ping Awards 2014.

 He won the Most Promising actor in the 2015 Best of Nollywood Awards and Best Supporting actor for his role in the Soldier’s Story in the 2016 Africa Magic Viewers Choice Awards.

The young actor recently followed the footstep of his senior colleagues as he unveiled his political ambition having secured the ticket of the Labour Party (LP) to contest for a seat in the Lagos House of Assembly. 

The 28-year-old Mass Communication graduate is vying for Surulere Constituency 1 seat, a position occupied for the last eight years by Elliot.

Elliot of the All Progressives Congress (APC), has been a member of the state House of Assembly since 2015. He defeated Bayo Smith, candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), to clinch the seat.

While unveiling his campaign poster, Oworu, popularly known as Tari in Johnson Series, wrote an account, “It is with a sense of honour and duty that I announce my candidacy for membership of The Lagos State House of Assembly – Surulere Constituency 1 on the platform of The Labour Party.

“The youth of this generation in Nigeria are more politically aware than ever and are now striving to have our voices heard and take part in the government process of this great country.

 “As someone with a passion for youth development, it is on this note that I tender myself in service to playing my part in the actualization of an all-inclusive government, where the young Nigerian intellectuals have a chance to make a change by being a part of the move for the creation of a new Nigeria. Thank you for your support. A new Nigeria is Possible.”

Oworu also shared his thoughts on what he expects from life with his new ambition. In a post via Instagram earlier this week, he said, “50 years from now, I will look back at this period and be proud of myself.”

Oworu is a greenhorn politically, but he is riding on the sweeping and growing acceptability of Obi’s Labour Party in Nigeria’s political space, especially in Lagos State. 

Through his ‘Obidients’ movement, Obi apart from winning Lagos State had influenced the emergence of many Senators-elect and House of Representatives members-elect, many of whom were relatively unknown before the February 25 election.

In the Eti-Osa Federal constituency of Lagos, the Labour Party’s Thaddeus Attah defeated Singer Bankole Wellington, popularly known as Banky W, who contested on the platform of Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), and Babajide, son of Musiliu Obanikoro, a former minister of state for defense, who currently represents the constituency at the green chamber.

Oworu has become a major threat to Elliot’s third-term bid in the Lagos Assembly. 

Also, Elliot has fallen out of favour with many youths due to some comments he made during the #EndSARS protest in 2020.

He has been consistently dragged on social media after referring to Nigerian youths who reacted to the shootings at the Lekki Tollgate as children. He pushed for the regulation of social media after the protest.

However, in a swift response, Elliot had October 2020 issued a statement in which he apologized to those whose toes he stepped on with his comments.

The apology, perhaps, has not been “accepted” as many youths have resumed hostility against the lawmaker ahead of Saturday’s election.

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