Politics

PDP RAISES SERIOUS ALARM THAT APC IS RECRUITING FAKE INEC STAFFS.

Published

1 year ago

September 1, 2024

Aziegbemi while addressing journalists in Benin City on Friday insisted that APC could not be trusted with the governance of the state following its failure to upload the required number of agents at the 3037 polling units in the state.

The Edo State Chairman of People’s Democratic Party (PDP) Dr. Tony Aziegbemi, has claimed that the All Progressive Congress, APC, has plans to rig the election by recruiting and employing fake INEC technical personnel to tamper with the Bimodal Voter Accreditation System (BVAS).

He said, “We wish to draw the attention of INEC and Edolites to the sinister plan of the APC which has been uncovered by our intelligence unit.

“APC has perfected a plan to use fake INEC staff posing as Technical Staff to temper with the BVAS machine on the day of election to beef up the number of accredited voters on the BVAS machine.”

He therefore demanded that INEC publish the names and pictures of all appointed RTECs for the election and their posting in good time.

“APC knowing that they cannot win the election has resorted to rigging plans which will terribly fail, by the grace of Almighty God,” Aziegbemi added.

Commenting on INEC’s requirement from all participating parties to upload the namedls and photographs of their polling agents, Aziegbemi disclosed that none of the 17 parties was able to meet the requirement 100 percent, PM News Reports.

He however disclosed that the APC could only upload 1,482 polling units in one local government area, instead of agents in the 3,037 polling units.

He therefore said that the APC should not be trusted with governance, if it could not perform such simple task.

“You will recall that INEC had issued a timetable and schedule of activities in Edo State for the governorship election. There are 13 items on that document. I draw your attention to item 9 “submission of names of political agents, to be uploaded on INEC portal.

“INEC created a portal for political parties to upload their agents and access codes were given to the political parties. INEC portal for uploading Polling Agents opened on the 17th of July and automatically shut down on the 30th of July at midnight.

“On the 29th of August, 2024, INEC invited the National Chairmen and National Secretaries for an emergency meeting in Abuja.

“To our amazement, the APC did not meet with the requirement in 3,037 polling units and in 17 local government [areas], which means APC has polling agents in only 1,482 polling units and 1 local government agent.

“PDP uploaded polling agents in 4,378 polling units. A party that cannot upload its polling unit agents in two-thirds of the polling units cannot be trusted with power in our State.

“We demand that no political party be allowed to correct this anomaly,” the PDP chairman said.

Reacting to the allegation, the APC Campaign Council Media Director, Prince Kassim Afegbua, said the PDP is coming up with these allegations to distract attention.

He said: “The PDP has just told the public what they are planning to do, but the bad news is that we are monitoring them bumper to bumper. There is no escape route for Governor Obaseki and his godson, Asue Ighodalo.

“We have told the world before now that Governor Obaseki brought hackers and cloners to Edo, with the aim of ensuring that the BIVAS are tampered with, while also cloning our candidate’s voice.

“Now, they saw that is not working, they now want to device another method. By Monday and Tuesday, they have perfected plans to stage protest across the state asking that their criminal elements should not be arrested.

“Those who were fingered in the killing of Inspector Onu Akor are running away from investigation. They are afraid of facing the consequences of their action, hiding in Edo state Government House for fear of arrest.

“We get details of their meeting everyday. We exposed the voice notes of their so-called Edo Security Network directive to their armed personnel, telling them to hide their guns.

“The game is up for them. Tell them to go and face their campaigns,” Afegbua added.

Politics

Accord Party Crisis Deepens As Another Governorship Candidate Emerges For Osun Polls

Published

2 hours ago

December 14, 2025

Ekwutos Blog

A faction of Accord Party has held its own governorship primary, where Mr. Clement Bamigbola emerged as the faction’s governorship candidate for the 2026 Osun State election.

This is coming just four days after the emergence of Governor Ademola Adeleke as the party’s flag-bearer.

Recall that the party under the leadership of Maxwell Mgbudem, on Wednesday, held a similar exercise which produced Governor Ademola Adeleke as the party’s candidate.

However, a faction of the party rejected his emergence, insisting that Barrister Maxwell Mgbudem is not the legally recognized national chairman of the Accord Party.

In a fresh development on Sunday, about 300 delegates of the Accord Party from across Osun State elected Bamigbola as the factional candidate during a primary held at Regina Suite, Osogbo.

Bamigbola emerged through a voice vote conducted by the delegates, after which the Chairman of the Primary Committee, Hon. Olufemi Ogundare, declared him the party’s candidate for the 2026 Osun State governorship election.

Politics

Tinubu, ECOWAS leaders meet in Abuja over Benin coup, regional stability

Published

2 hours ago

December 14, 2025

Ekwutos Blog

President Bola Tinubu and leaders of ECOWAS countries are currently meeting in Abuja.

The 68th Ordinary Session of the ECOWAS Authority of Heads of State and Government is taking place at the State House Conference Centre, in Abuja.

Leaders of West African countries at the meeting include President Julius Bio (Sierra Leone, ECOWAS Chair), President Patrice Talon (Benin), José Maria Neves (Cabo Verde) and Alassane Ouattara (Côte d’Ivoire).

Others are Adama Barrow (The Gambia), John Mahama (Ghana), Umaro Embaló (Guinea-Bissau), Joseph Boakai (Liberia), Bassirou Faye (Senegal) and Faure Gnassingbé (Togo).

The meeting is coming against the backdrop of five turbulent years for West Africa, which saw coups in Mali (2020, 2021), Burkina Faso (twice in 2022), and Niger (2023).

The latest incidents include an attempted coup in Benin on December 7, 2025, and renewed instability in Guinea-Bissau.

At the time of filing this report, details of the meeting are yet to be disclosed.

Politics

Breaking: Diri Orders Autopsy on Bayelsa Deputy Governor’s Death, Warns Against Politicisation

Published

12 hours ago

December 14, 2025

Ekwutos Blog

Bayelsa State Governor, Senator Douye Diri, has ordered an autopsy to determine the cause of death of the state’s Deputy Governor, Lawrence Ewhrudjakpo.

Governor Diri gave the directive on Saturday while receiving former President Goodluck Jonathan at the Government House in Yenagoa.

Ewhrudjakpo reportedly collapsed in his office on Thursday and was rushed to the Federal Medical Centre (FMC), Yenagoa, where he was pronounced dead on arrival.

Reacting to the incident, the governor condemned what he described as widespread misinformation and speculation on social media, warning against any attempt to politicise the deputy governor’s death.

“I want to make an appeal. I have seen people politicise his death. In Ijaw land, there is no enmity in death. Let nobody politicise the passing of our dearly beloved deputy governor,” Diri said.

“If anyone truly loves him, this is the time to show it. I have directed that an autopsy be carried out to reveal the cause of his death. There is a lot of nonsense going on on social media.”

The governor further urged the public to focus on mourning and honouring the late deputy governor, noting that the state government had declared three working days of mourning in his honour.

“If anyone is issuing statements to eulogise him, let it end there. Let us mourn him because Bayelsa State is in a mourning mood,” he added.

Governor Diri also called for unity and love among the people, reminding them of the inevitability of death.

Speaking during the condolence visit, former President Goodluck Jonathan described the late Ewhrudjakpo as a committed and dedicated individual who played a key role in the activities of his foundation.

“For me, he was someone my foundation and I will never forget. He represented the governor in all our programs,” Jonathan said, adding that Ewhrudjakpo worked tirelessly in that role, even more than when he served as deputy governor.