A former member of the House of Representatives Olaka Nwogu is projected to emerge as winner of yesterday’s by-election in Rivers State Southeast Senatorial District as early results from the seven local government areas in the senatorial district appeared to be in his favour.
Nwoku is a member of the Nyesom Wike backed Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and the Rainbow Coalition in the state.
Early results of a similar election in Nasarawa North yesterday seemed to be going the way of the All Progressives Congress (APC) candidate, Danladi Haliru Envulunza.
Bye elections also took place in Ondo South Senatorial district,Enugu North Senatorial district, Dawakin Kudu/Warawa Federal Constituency in Kano State and Zuru for Kebbi State House of Assembly.
Nwogu, who hails from Eleme Local Government Area, faced competition from the
All Progressives Congress (APC), Action Alliance (AA) and the Labour Party (LP) all of which belong to the Rainbow Coalition.
Turnout of voters was low in many polling units following an early downpour.
But it was relatively high at units where leaders of the coalition cast their votes.
One of such was ward 16, Bera, Gokana Local Government Area, where the Chairman of the Board of the Nigerian Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission (NUPRC), Magnus Abe, cast his vote.
Abe praised the process, describing it as free, fair, peaceful and credible.
While acknowledging the impact of the weather in the exercise, Abe hailed voters who defied the rain to participate in the process and encouraged others to be part of the election.
He said: ‘You can see the election is very peaceful. There is really no problem here. The weather is improving. The exercise is going on well across the senatorial district’.
The former senator said he voted for the candidate of the Rainbow Coalition adding that elections were not conducted on the social media.
He said: ‘I want to say clearly that I voted for the candidate of the Rainbow Coalition in the state. It is not happening on radio or Facebook or social media. It is conducted here.
‘I am very happy for the commitment and dedication they have shown by coming out even in the face of rain to come and participate in the exercise. The exercise is transparent, it is very free and fair.
‘There is nothing that we can do if the people themselves do not show fate in the process. My appeal is to all the men and women to come out en masse and participate in this exercise. It is free. It is fair’.
Rivers State House of Assembly Deputy Speaker Dumle Maol voted at Polling Unit 19, Ward 4B. Dere Community in Gokana Local Government Area.
Maol expressed satisfaction at the conduct of the exercise, describing the process as peaceful, free, and fair.
The candidate of AA, Dr Douglas Fabeke, who voted at Unit 15, Luwa, Ward 16, Khana LGA said he was encouraged by the peaceful conduct of voters and the smooth electoral process.
Envulunza in early lead in Nasarawa North
Results announced at many of the polling units showed Envulunza to be having the majority of the votes at press time.
Nasarawa State Governor Abdullahi Sule described the by-election as the smoothest and fastest he has ever experienced as a voter.
Governor Sule spoke to reporters after casting his vote at Polling Unit 002, Gudi Motor Park, alongside his wives, Hajiya Silifat Abdullahi Sule and Hajiya Farida Abdullahi Sule.
He said the entire process, from the moment he was captured by the card reader to the point he thumb-printed and cast his ballot, took barely three to five minutes.
He said this was historic, noting that it was the fastest he had ever witnessed in any election, noting that election materials arrived in Gudi as early as 8 o’clock, which allowed voting to start between 8:15 and 8:30.
The governor said he received this information even before he left for the polling unit, an indication, according to him, that this was one of the earliest and best planned elections held in the state.
‘As a citizen of Nasarawa State and a registered voter, I have just exercised my right by voting for my choice,’ the governor said.
Asked whether the by-election served as a litmus test for the APC and for him as the party’s preferred candidate ahead of 2027, Governor Sule said he saw it differently.
According to him, the election presented an opportunity for the people of Nasarawa State to show appreciation to President Bola Tinubu, noting that it is the first general election since the President assumed office that allows citizens to assess the impact of his economic reforms and the dividends of democracy delivered through the resources made available to the state.
‘This is the first time the people have the opportunity to come out and prove that they want to say thank you to Mr. President, thank you to APC, and thank you to the governor,’ he said.
Labour Party candidate in the by -election, Labaran Maku alleged attempt to manipulate the process in favour of the APC candidate.
Maku,a former Information Minister said that despite the alleged rigging attempt, he was confident of emerging victorious if the process was free, fair and credible.
‘Elections are not a theater of war but should be an avenue where electorate will vote candidates of their choice,’ he told journalists.
Envulunza was confident of winning
‘I am going to emerge victorious. Inshallah,’ he said. He added: ‘I will say with every sense of humility, that all my life, I’ve been rendering services to humanity. And that speaks volume. That is why I am the most favored candidate to win this election because we’ve gone round all the 35 wards.’
Low turnout of voters in Ondo South
The Ondo South Senatorial by-election was marred by low turnout of voters.
The election took place across the six local government areas of Okitipupa, Ilaje, Ese-Odo, Irele, Odigbo and Ile-Oluji/Okeigbo.
It was generally peaceful, with security personnel employed at most of the polling centres.
Speaking after casting his vote at his ward 6 polling unit 5 in Ode Ikoya at LA Primary School in Okitipupa LGA, the candidate of the APC, Prof Dayo Faduyile commended the peaceful conduct of the exercise across the senatorial district.
Faduyile, who explained that there were no reports of violence throughout the by-election exercise, expressed strong confidence in securing a decisive victory.
‘The assessment is a great one. We have had so much information coming from a lot of the polling units and it has been very favourable,’ he said.
The candidate of the Allied Peoples Movement (APM), Adeolu Akinwumi said that the low voter turnout affected the exercise.
Adewumi also described the election as largely calm and transparent but noted that the participation of electorates in the exercise fell below expectations.
The Resident Electoral Commissioner (REC) in the state, Mr Mutiu Agboke, who spoke while monitoring the exercise, said most polling units opened on time, with electoral officials arriving early to begin the voting process.
He noted that some polling units were fully operational as early as 7:43 a.m., reflecting the commission’s preparedness.
‘We observed early enthusiasm among voters, and our officials were on ground promptly. Largely, most polling units opened as scheduled,’ he said.
He added that security personnel were adequately deployed across the six local government areas involved in the by-election, with no reported cases of violence or casualties.
Agboke acknowledged the network issues that affected the voter accreditation in some areas, describing the situation as a technical challenge currently being addressed by INEC’s support team.
Governor Lucky Aiyedatiwa said that the political atmosphere in the district remained active following the primary election conducted about three weeks ago by the APC.
According to him, the party’s candidate, Prof. Faduyile remained unbeatable in the Saturday’s by-election exercise.
He explained that the APC candidate had already undertaken some extensive mobilisation efforts ahead of the poll.
Conflicting claims trail Enugu North senatorial by-election
Conflicting accounts emerged over the conduct of the Enugu North Senatorial District by-election.
The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) candidate, Barr. Nestor Ezeme, alleged widespread violence and electoral manipulation while the Coalition of Registered Political Parties (CRPP) in the state described the exercise as largely peaceful.
It accused the PDP of deploying forged party agent tags.
Speaking with journalists after monitoring the election, Ezeme expressed confidence that he was heading for victory, claiming reports from across the district showed massive support for his candidacy.
‘So far, from the reports I am getting all over the senatorial district, the people are voting for me massively. It is so massive that it looks like it will be a landslide,’ he said.
The PDP candidate, however, alleged that the electoral process was being undermined by intimidation and interference from government officials.
‘Virtually in all the local governments, you see local government chairmen, commissioners and other government officials moving from one polling unit to another trying to manipulate the system,’ he alleged.
However, the State Chairman of the CRPP Dr. Afam Ani, gave a different assessment, saying the election had been peaceful in most areas visited by election observers.
‘We are here to monitor the by-election going on in Enugu North today and, so far so good, from what we have seen, the election has been going on well apart from one or two incidents here and there. So there is no problem so far,’ Ani said.
While acknowledging isolated incidents, Ani accused the PDP of engaging in electoral malpractice through the alleged use of forged party agent identification tags.
‘In some of the places we’ve gone, we saw party tags being worn by people we don’t know. When you ask them, they will say PDP gave it to them. They forged them and it is fraudulent. If you want to win an election, you campaign and talk to people to vote for you, not by using fraudulent means,’ he alleged.
The Deputy National Chairman (South) of the APC Ben Nwoye, called the by-election peaceful despite early logistical and technical challenges experienced in some polling units.
Nwoye said voter turnout was encouraging.
Reacting to the delayed commencement of voting in some polling units, the APC chieftain said the situation was not unusual and should not affect the credibility of the exercise.
APC candidates declared winners of Kano,Kebbi by -elections
INEC last night declared Shuaibu Rabiu of APC as winner of the Dawakin Kudu/Warawa House of Representatives by election in Kano State with 35356 votes ,and Rabiu Garba Aiki as that of Zuru of the Kebbi State House of Assembly.
Aiki polled 4871 votes as against 168 for his Labour Party opponent.
INEC, security adjudge Kano election peaceful, hitch-free
The Kano State Resident Electoral Commissioner of INEC, Amb. Abdu Zango, adjudged the Dawakin Kudu/Warawa House of Representatives by-election as peaceful and hitch-free.
He spoke to reporters at Warawa, headquarters of Warawa Local Government Area, shortly after monitoring the ongoing election exercise.
The resident electoral commissioner described the exercise as smooth and peaceful devoid of violence and rancour.
He also said it recorded no case of malfunctioning of the Bimodal Voter Accreditation System (BVAS) as the election process went smoothly.
He said three political parties, namely the All Progressives Congress (APC), Labour Party (LP), and Allied Peoples Movement (APM), participated in the election.
‘So far, so good. You have seen things for yourself. The Warawa and Dawakin Kudu bye-election has gone on very well. No violence, no rancour.
‘We witnessed a massive turnout, especially in Warawa. It’s a reflection of the planning and coordination, particularly in terms of security.
‘And I want to thank the lead agency, the police, and other security agencies for meticulous planning. We have not recorded any incidents of violence whatsoever,’ he said.
INEC officials idle, low turnout recorded in Zuru Town
There was also a low turnout of voters for the Zuru Kebbi State House of Assembly by election.
Electoral officers had little to do in view of the situation.