Politics – Koode Radio International

INEC cancels Bauchi supplementary elections

The Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, has cancelled the earlier announced supplementary elections in Bauchi State.

In a statement issued on Saturday in Abuja and signed by a National Commissioner, Festus Okoye, the commission said it has approved Tuesday, 19th March 2019 for the resumption, conclusion and announcement of the result of the Tafawa Balewa Local Government in relation to the Governorship election.

INEC also announced the change of the Collation Officer for Tafawa Balewa Local Government who reportedly withdrew due to threat to her life.

The statement reads; “On the 12 day of March 2019 the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) considered a report submitted by the Resident Electoral Commissioner for Bauchi State on the disruption of the Collation process at the Tafawa Balewa Collation Centre which led to the cancellation of results for the entire Local Government.

“The Commission found that there are issues that need further investigation and set up a Committee for that purpose:

“The findings of the Committee are as follows:

“The Governorship and State Assembly Elections were held on the 9th March 2019 in Tafawa Balewa Local Government Area and the votes scored by candidates were announced at the Polling Units and collated at the 11 Registration Areas of the Local Government.

“Halfway into the Local Government collation, armed gangs attacked the collation centre and destroyed the Local Government Result Sheet (EC8C) and some collated results from the Registration Areas. The results of 7 out of 11 Registration Areas for Governorship and 6 out of 11 for State Assembly elections were affected.

“INEC guidelines provide that where violent disruption affects collation in this manner, results should be regenerated from duplicate copies on a replacement result sheet.

Diplomat, protesters to plan Algeria’s future after Bouteflika – source

A veteran Algerian diplomat and protest groups will join a conference planning the country’s future after President Abdelaziz Bouteflika yielded to mass demonstrations and agreed not to run again, a government source said on Tuesday.

Lakhdar Brahimi, a former foreign minister and U.N. special envoy, is expected to chair the conference, the source told Reuters. It will oversee the transition, draft a new constitution and set the date for elections.

Bouteflika, 82, abandoned his bid for a fifth term in power on Monday, bowing to weeks of rallies against his 20-year rule by people demanding a new era of politics in a country dominated by an old guard.

Crowds celebrated late into Monday night and were back on the streets of central Algiers on Tuesday chanting: “We want this system to go”.

“The whole system must disappear immediately. Our battle will continue,” said Noureddine Habi, 25.

After meeting the president on Monday, Brahimi praised protesters for acting responsibly, saying on state television that it was necessary to “turn this crisis into a constructive process”.

Algerians have grown tired of the ailing leader and other veterans of the 1954-1962 war of independence against France who have dominated a country with high unemployment, poor services and rampant corruption.

French President Emmanuel Macron said Bouteflika’s decision opened a new chapter and called for a “reasonable duration” to the transition period.

Algeria’s powerful military is expected to play a behind-the-scenes role during the transition and is currently considering several civilians as candidates for the presidency and other top positions, political sources said.

One of them includes a prominent lawyer and activist Mustafa Bouchachi, who has gained a wide following on Facebook during the protests.

Source: African Reuters

U.S. judge gives Trump ex-aide Manafort leniency: under four years in prison

President Donald Trump’s former campaign chairman Paul Manafort was sentenced on Thursday by a U.S. judge to less than four years in prison – far shy of federal sentencing guidelines – for financial crimes uncovered during Special Counsel Robert Mueller’s investigation into Russia’s role in the 2016 election.

U.S. District Judge T.S. Ellis imposed the surprisingly lenient 47-month sentence on Manafort, 69, during a hearing in Alexandria, Virginia, in which the veteran Republican political consultant asked for mercy but expressed no remorse for his actions.

Manafort was convicted by a jury last August of five counts of tax fraud, two counts of bank fraud and one count of failing to disclose foreign bank accounts.

Ellis disregarded federal sentencing guidelines cited by prosecutors that called for 19-1/2 to 24 years in prison. The judge ordered Manafort to pay a fine of $50,000 and restitution of just over $24 million.

Manafort, brought into the courtroom in a wheelchair because of a condition called gout, listened during the hearing as Ellis extolled his “otherwise blameless” life in which he “earned the admiration of a number of people” and engaged in “a lot of good things.”

Source:African Reuters.

INEC to hold supplementary presidential elections

The Independent National Electoral Commission has said that it will hold supplementary presidential elections in polling units and local governments where the exercise did not take place.

In a statement, the INEC Commissioner of Voter Education and Public Relations, Festus Okoye, said the Commission reached the conclusion following a meeting it held February 28 to review the presidential and national assembly elections.

Okoye said the Commission considered the cancellation of the exercise in several polling areas to take the decision.

‘The meeting noted a number of cancellations in certain areas due to violence, which prevented the Commission from deploying personnel and materials for the election. In a number of locations, it could not conclude the election due to disruptions and deliberate noncompliance with the use of the Smart Card Reader, contrary to the INEC Regulations and Guidelines for the conduct of elections,’ he said.

‘Consequently, the meeting decided that supplementary elections will be conducted in all areas where election did not take place and/or where returns could not be made Saturday, on 9 March 2019 alongside the governorship and state assembly elections,’ Okoye said.

He explained that the supplementary elections will hold along with the governorship and state assembly elections March 9.

He also added that ‘the meeting assessed the role of security agencies in the election, while acknowledging their professionalism in deployment of the election personnel and materials in a safe and timely manner, the conduct of certain members of the security agencies in some states is a matter of serious concern to the Commission.’

He noted the matter will be discussed directly with the Inspector General of Police.

Similarly in the statement the Commission also said it has received updates on the preparation of the March 9 election and promised to update relevant stakeholders on the progress of preparation ahead.

The statement did not indicate the places where the supplementary elections will be conducted.

Source: Yenlive

Senegal president wins re-election with 58 percent of vote

Senegal President Macky Sall won re-election with 58 percent of votes cast in last Sunday’s poll, according to provisional results announced by the official counting body on Thursday.

The majority win hands Sall a second term without a run-off vote. Opposition candidate Idrissa Seck came second with 21 percent of votes, while Ousmane Sonko placed third with 16 percent.

Sall, whom rights groups have criticized for squeezing out rivals, was tipped to win after a modernising first term that propelled Senegal’s economic growth to more than six percent – one of the highest in Africa.

Since Sunday’s vote, opposition candidates have rejected reports of an out-right victory for Sall, saying their tallies point to a second round of voting.

Seck and Sonko have not yet commented on the National Vote Counting Commission’s results, which are preliminary until validated by the constitutional council. The candidates have 72 hours to register an appeal.

Senegal has long been viewed as West Africa’s most stable democracy, with peaceful transitions of power since it gained independence from France in 1960.

More than 66 percent of 6.7 million registered voters took part in the election.

Source: African Reuters.

Presidential election results: ASUU reacts as INEC declares Buhari winner

The Academic Staff Union of Nigerian Universities, ASUU, has reacted to the victory of President Muhammadu Buhari at Saturday’s presidential election.

ASUU congratulated Nigerians on the choice of their president.

In a tweet via its official handle, ASUU wrote: “The union congratulates Nigerians on their choice of a president.

#NigeriaDecides2019result.”

The Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, had on Wednesday morning declared presidential candidate of the All Progressives Congress, APC, President Muhammadu Buhari as the winner of Nigeria’s 2019 presidential election.

Chairman of INEC, Mahmood Yakubu made the declaration on Wednesday morning at the ICC Collation centre in Abuja.

This follows the official announcement of results from 36 states and the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) by the commission. Buhari polled a total of 15,191,847 votes, compared to the 11,262,978 votes recorded by Atiku Abubakar, the presidential candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP).

While Atiku has gained more votes, winning the incumbent President with wide margins in States in the South East and South-South, Buhari gathered insurmountable strength in the North.

A total of 73 presidential candidates participated in the election which held on Saturday.