Politics

Ondo election: Agboola Ajayi rolls out seven-point agenda, says I’ll win convincingly

Published

3 hours ago

September 28, 2024

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Agboola Ajayi, the flag-bearer of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in Ondo for the November governorship election, says he will win “convincingly”.

Ajayi, who was the deputy governor to late Governor Rotimi Akeredolu between 2017 and 2021, spoke on Friday during a press briefing in Lagos.

The election will hold on November 16, 2024.

Ajayi claimed that residents of the state have been grappling with poverty under the All Progressives Congress (APC) which has displayed a “lack of foresight and defined policy for good governance”.

He alleged that Lucky Aiyedatiwa, governor of the state, lacks foresight and coordination, and is “grossly incompetent in managing the affairs of the state”.

“It is my candid position that Ondo state cannot afford to continue an inch further on this road to perdition,” he said, adding that the election will shape or mar the fortune of the state in the next four years.

The governorship candidate said the people of the state would resist any attempt to buy votes and rig the election.

The former deputy governor reeled out his plans for the state in various sectors, including security, agriculture, education, health, infrastructure, industry and marine economic development, rural development and environment, sports, and civil service.

READ 2023: INEC creates additional 924 polling units in Ondo

SECURITY

Ajayi said if elected, he will enhance the capacity of law enforcement agencies, particularly Amotekun, forest guards, vigilantes and traditional hunters through “advance training” and the provision of appropriate equipment and required legislation.

“We will incorporate and engage traditional rulers, religious leaders and other stakeholders in implementing community policing and neighborhood watch for the safety of our people,” he said.

“We will invest heavily in technology by deploying modern surveillance and intelligent gathering technologies to effectively monitor hotspots and vulnerable areas such as forest reserves and farmlands to prevent and respond to crime appropriately.”

AGRICULTURE

Ajayi said his agricultural policies will be anchored on promoting self-sufficiency in food production to meet the UN food security mandate.

He said this will include providing training and support for farmers to adopt modern farming techniques and incentives to investors to establish an agro-processing industry to add value to agricultural products, reduce post-harvest losses, create jobs for the youth and grow the economy of the state.

READ Six killed as OPC, cultists clash in Ondo

“We shall sustain agricultural practices for long-term productivity by ensuring the availability of fertilizers and agricultural input at subsidized rate. Providing tractors for farmers at a subsidised rate will be encouraged,” he said.

“We would also establish a procurement agency that will provide a ready market for all our agricultural produce which will in turn encourage our farmers to produce beyond their subsistence level.”

EDUCATION

Ajayi said quality education for economic development, social equity, technological advancement and cultural preservation for sustainable development will be guaranteed by his government.

According to him, schools will be built and renovated with the provision of information technology, recruitment of quality teachers and purchase of educational materials.

He said tertiary education will be well funded through an increase in budgetary allocation, adding that affordable tuition fees in the institutions will be negotiated with stakeholders.

HEALTH

The gubernatorial candidate said the health sector in Ondo is in bad shape.

“We shall address this ugly trend by providing at least one primary health centre in each of the 203 wards in the state which will be staffed with trained and dedicated medical personnel,” he said.

READ 2023 Presidency: Saraki, Obasanjo meet behind 'closed doors', says Nigeria needs a bold leader

“The provision of essential drugs, hospital consumables and laboratory services to patients at affordable cost in all public medical facilities across the state will be our priority.

“We will partner with investors to establish pharmaceutical manufacturing industries in the state to produce drugs for sale to government institutions and the general public.

“The welfare of our medical officers and staff in the health sector will be our priority for effective service delivery.”

INFRASTRUCTURE AND MARINE DEVELOPMENT

Ajayi promised to rehabilitate roads, construct waterways, provide rural and urban electrification, and enhance and improve clean and pipe-borne water delivery “for the benefit of our people”.

“We will ensure that the moribund companies in Ondo state are resuscitated and where this is impossible, we will encourage the establishment of new ones,” he said.

“All these will be pursued with the singular purpose of creating massive employment opportunities for the people of the state.

“I will win Ondo guber poll convincingly.”

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Edo guber poll: ‘You’re overreaching your election observer mission’ — APC warns Yiaga Africa

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Politics

Edo guber poll: ‘You’re overreaching your election observer mission’ — APC warns Yiaga Africa

Published

4 days ago

September 24, 2024

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The All Progressives Congress has cautioned Yiaga Africa, a civil society organisation, against undermining the Independent National Electoral Commission by questioning the results of the recently concluded Edo State gubernatorial election.

In a press statement issued by the party’s National Publicity Secretary, Felix Morka, on Tuesday, the APC criticised Yiaga Africa for allegedly attempting to second-guess INEC’s authority.

Morka described the group’s actions as overstepping their mandate as election observers.

“Yiaga Africa is overreaching its election observer mission by second-guessing INEC on the result of last Saturday’s Edo State gubernatorial election.

“INEC is the sole statutory authority for the conduct and declaration of election results. Yiaga Africa is not and must desist from constituting itself as a parallel agency for the declaration of election results,” Morka stated.

The party also accused the civil society organisation of making baseless allegations regarding the manipulation of results, stating that these claims lacked supporting evidence and were based on speculative data.

READ 2023: It’s Too Early for APC to Discuss Zoning, says Shettima

“Alleging that results were manipulated without hard facts and figures, but based on some statistical guesswork, is a clear disservice to the electoral process. Yiaga Africa’s report is a travesty, replete with methodological flaws, politicised observations, inconsistencies, and inaccuracies,” Morka added.

He also stressed that election observers such as Yiaga Africa should respect INEC’s statutory role and refrain from encroaching on the commission’s responsibilities.

Morka further warned Yiaga Africa against sowing confusion by creating the appearance of a “parallel election process” through unverified and questionable statistical parameters.

He warned, “Election observer missions are not election management agencies and cannot usurp INEC’s statutory authority as the sole election management body in Nigeria.

Doing so would constitute a clear breach of the Electoral Act and the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria.

“Declaring or second-guessing the Edo State gubernatorial result based on unsubstantiated, unverified, and highly questionable statistical parameters created by Yiaga Africa is designed to create unnecessary confusion.”

READ Why IReV failed during presidential poll, INEC finally opens up on IReV failure

Meanwhile, the APC expressed gratitude to President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s administration for ensuring a fair electoral process and praised INEC and law enforcement agencies for their professionalism during the election.

He reaffirmed the party’s belief that the election results represented the will of the Edo people, who voted for Senator Monday Okpebholo as their next governor.

Morka stated, “The APC reiterates its immense appreciation to President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s administration for ensuring a level playing field, to INEC for its professionalism, and to law enforcement agencies for their diligence and service during the election.

“By their votes, the good people of Edo State were loud and clear in their choice of Senator Monday Okpebholo as the next governor to lead the state into a new era of peace, unity, people-centred development, and prosperity for all.”

The APC also reminded any aggrieved parties that legal disputes regarding the election results should be resolved through the courts, in accordance with the established electoral process.

READ Tinubu, Shettima hit Kano for Northwest presidential rally

On Monday, Yiaga Africa criticised the conduct of the election, stating that the process and declared results lacked integrity.

The organisation alleged widespread irregularities, including the manipulation of results by collation officers.

Politics

Edo guber poll: Obaseki now politically dead, says Oshiomhole

Published

4 days ago

September 24, 2024

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Adams Oshiomhole, senator representing Edo north, says Godwin Obaseki, governor of Edo, will become politically irrelevant following the outcome of the September 21 governorship election.

The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) declared Monday Okpebholo, candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC), as winner of the Edo governorship poll with 291,667 votes.

Asue Ighodalo of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), who was Obaseki’s anointed candidate, polled second with 247,274 votes.

Speaking on Monday on ‘Politics Today’, a programme on Channels Television, Oshiomhole said Ighodalo’s loss should sound the death knell on Obaseki’s political career.

The former governor of Edo also faulted Obaseki for visiting the INEC office in Benin City in the wee hours of Sunday, as the commission prepared to commence collation of results.

“I was a governor. Once I finish voting, if I like I’d wait at the polling booth for a bit, chat with people and then I go home. If I find that my appearance is attracting more attention, I just quietly head home,” Oshiomhole said.

READ APC postpones launch of campaign council, to expand team

“How can a sitting governor go to a collation centre? To intimidate or possibly influence the results or to change the results? What was he doing there? How can a governor go to a collation centre when collation is going on?”

Obaseki had said his mission to the INEC office was to find out why the electoral umpire had not commenced collation.

Oshiomhole also criticised the outgoing governor for labelling the election a “do-or-die affair” days before the polls.

“Obaseki said the election was a do-or-die affair. He told you that here. He insisted. Now, the people have done it, he’s dead,” the senator said.

“Now the people have done it, I guess he’s politically dead. I know so. The verdict is out.”

‘OKPEBHOLO COMMUNICATED WITH ELECTORATE’

Oshiomhole said Okpebholo should not be judged on the basis of his inability to communicate in fluent English.

The governor-elect shunned a handful of television invitations before the election, with many often referencing his smattering English on the campaign trail.

READ Tinubu, Shettima hit Kano for Northwest presidential rally

“So, if you can speak good grammar because you sit on a board, nobody knew how you became a board chairman… Edo people have spoken,” he added.

“When a man goes to a village and speaks his dialect, he has more impact on those communities than when you speak high profile English that when you finish, people will ask ‘what did he say’?

“Monday communicated with the Edo electorate and it worked.

“The mistake you TV hosts make — many of you — is to assume that anyone who doesn’t appear before you… you exaggerate the importance of television viewers.”

Oshiomhole also described the governorship poll as “free and fair”.

Politics

(UPDATED) Edo election: PDP heads to court

Published

5 days ago

September 23, 2024

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The Peoples Democratic Party has officially rejected the Edo State Governorship election results announced by the Independent National Electoral Commission.

During a press conference in Abuja, PDP acting National Chairman Umar Damagum on Monday called on concerned Nigerians to support the party’s rejection of the election results.

The Independent National Electoral Commission announced on Saturday that Senator Monday Okpebholo of the All Progressives Congress won the Edo State Governorship election.

Okpebholo received 291,667 votes, defeating the PDP’s Asue Ighodalo, who garnered 247,274 votes, and the Labour Party’s Olumide Akpata, who came in third with 22,763 votes.

Out of the 18 local government areas in the state, the APC won 10, while the PDP secured 8.

Damagum claimed that the PDP candidate, Ighodalo, was the legitimate winner of the election and alleged that the election did not meet the necessary democratic standards.

He stated, “The PDP therefore unequivocally rejects the final result of the Edo State Governorship election as declared by INEC as it did not meet the minimum standard for democracy, having not reflected the expressed will and aspiration of the people in line with provisions of the Electoral Act, 2022 and INEC Guidelines for State Governorship Election.

Out of the 18 local government areas in the state, the APC won 10, while the PDP secured 8.

READ Herdsmen can’t continue moving cows from north to south on foot – Akeredolu

Damagum claimed that the PDP candidate, Ighodalo, was the legitimate winner of the election and alleged that the election did not meet the necessary democratic standards.

“The PDP demands that INEC within the time stipulated by Section 65 of the Electoral Act, 2022 review the Edo State governorship election and announce results only as obtained from the genuine votes cast at the Polling Units.”

Damagum announced that the PDP would challenge the results declared by INEC in court and urged the people of Edo to stay strong and steadfast.

He stated, “From unfolding political events in the country, the latest being the brazen rigging of the Saturday, September 21, 2024, Edo State Governorship election by the All Progressives Congress (APC) in connivance with government-controlled agencies, it is clear that our democracy is under threat.

“As you know and widely reported in all segments of the media, the 2024 Edo State Governorship election was barefacedly compromised by the APC in collusion with unpatriotic security operatives and heavily procured officials of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), who viciously trampled on the votes of the people in defiance of the Law and total disregard to the sovereign will of the people of Edo State.

READ Secondus didn’t pay party dues for four years, working against interest of southern Govs – Rivers PDP

“You may recall that the PDP had on several occasions alerted of this sinister plot by the APC to subvert the election, the roles allegedly being played by AIG Zone 7, Benneth Igwe and Edo State Commissioner of Police CP Nemo Edwin-Iwo and the appointment of a known APC apologist and supporter, Dr Anugbum Onuoha, as the Edo State Resident Electoral Commissioner (REC).

“Several demands by our Party for the redeployment of these officials as well as the release of all arrested PDP members and supporters fell on deaf ears and tend to validate PDP’s suspicion of a top-level conspiracy to rig the Edo State governorship election.”

The PDP acting national chairman stated that the people of Edo State selected Ighodalo as their next governor and emphasized that only their will, as expressed at the polling units, should be respected.

He added, “Nigerians and the world watched in horror as the APC-compromised security operatives and thugs unleashed terror, harassed, arrested and detained PDP members and supporters, foisted siege mentality on the people, paved the way for APC agents and procured INEC officials to manipulate the ballot process, substitute genuine results from the Polling Units with fictitious figures and transferred the victory clearly won by our candidate, Asue Ighodalo to the defeated APC candidate, Monday Okpebholo.

READ Cholera outbreak: Ondo reports two cases, activates surveillance for prompt response

“As Nigerians already know, despite the violence, intimidation and manipulations by the APC, results obtained from the Polling Units show that our candidate, Dr. Asue Ighodalo clearly won the election before the figures were altered at the State collation exercise in favour of the defeated APC candidate.

“The PDP calls on all Nigerians and lovers of Democracy all over the world to stand up in solidarity with the people of Edo State in rejecting this assault on the democratic rights of the people as witnessed in the Edo State Governorship election.”

When asked about their confidence in the judiciary, Damagum stated, “In this election, we shall once again test the level of preparedness of the judiciary to deliver justice where it is needed. Therefore, we cannot rule out a situation where justice will be dispensed, but the most important thing is that we shall subject them to greater scrutiny in the eyes of Nigerians. They say that when the judicial system does not work, then you don’t have a country. I don’t know if we will still have a country.”