According to African Action Congress (AAC) presidential candidate Omoyele Sowore, Olusegun Obasanjo lacks credibility when discussing rigged elections.

The politician and activist were responding to Obasanjo’s demand to put off Saturday’s polls in places where the process had been interfered with.

Obasanjo said that the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) had tainted the election’s conduct in a letter to President Muhammadu Buhari on Monday.

He said the results being declared by INEC do not correspond with the wish of the Nigerian people.

Reacting to Obasanjo’s stance, Sowore in a tweet via his verified Tweeter handle accused the former President of laying the ‘foundation for the shambolic election that has become Nigeria’s lot now.’

The Nigeria Police Force has asked candidates from the All Progressives Congress, Peoples Democratic Party, Labour Party, and New Nigerian Peoples Party among others to restrain their supporters from making inciting remarks “capable of unnecessarily heating up the polity and creating undue excitement among the electorates.”

The police also warned all party leaders not to put excessive pressure on the electoral umpire to withhold the results in a statement released on Monday and signed by the Force Public Relations Officer, CSP Olumuyiwa Adejobi.

The statement partly read, “The NPF, having assessed the trend of scaled-up expectations and psychological projections on the ongoing electoral process viz-a-viz collation of results, charges all presidential candidates, as leading and respected figures in their respective political parties, to seize the opportunity of this waiting period to emphasise the rule of law, respect for the Constitution, and constituted authority among their supporters, as we all owe a duty to ensure that the nation does not fall into anarchy on the basis of interests and sentiments.”

Meanwhile, the Force commended voters for their patience and lawful conduct while also charging presidential candidates to caution their supporters in respect of the recently signed peace accord.

The Kaduna State Government has issued a strong warning against engaging in any type of protest in the wake of the state’s Saturday presidential and National Assembly election results.

Samuel Aruwan, Commissioner for Internal Security and Home Affairs, stated that the Independent National Electoral Commission retained sole authority over the release of results and reminded citizens that announcing an unofficial result has consequences.

He said, “As the collation of election results progresses, the Kaduna State Government hereby reminds citizens that protests of any sort remain strictly prohibited across the state.

“The State Government has noted with satisfaction the largely peaceful conduct of elections across the state, and commends residents for exercising their franchise in an orderly manner.

“Citizens must, therefore, avoid street protests over election results – or of any other kind – in order to preserve the atmosphere of calm so far experienced. Actions which may disrupt public peace will be handled decisively by security agencies.

“It must be stressed that the announcement of election results is the exclusive duty of the Independent National Electoral Commission. Individuals and groups involved in unofficial publication of results should be aware that they constitute serious threats to public peace and order.

“Individuals or groups who may have queries over officially announced results are strongly urged to utilise the legal instruments provided by the Electoral Act.

“Governor Nasir El-Rufai continues to monitor closely the security situation in relation to the conduct of the elections, alongside security agencies in the state.”

The compilation of results in the Nkwerre/ Nwangele/ Njaba/ Isu Federal Constituency of Imo State has been halted by the Independent National Electoral Commission.

The suspension came as a result of the disappearance of the ballots and election results for the Njaba Local Government Area.

According to INEC, Ugoing to Ozurigbo, a candidate for the People’s Democratic Party, received 16,846 votes, while Harrison Nwadike, a candidate for the All Progressives Congress, received 6,784 votes.

The Labour Party candidate polled 6, 609 votes to be trailing on a third position.

The returning officer for the election, Roseline Ogechukwu, who suspended the election said that she could not return any candidate with the results of the four LGAs not yet fully collated.

She said all matters relating to the election be transferred to the INEC Headquarters in Owerri, the state capital.

PDP won in the three LGAs collated so far for the constituency’s election.

The governor of Ekiti State, Mr. Biodun Oyebanji, praised the state’s citizens on Sunday for participating peacefully in the presidential and National Assembly elections on Saturday and for casting a large number of votes for Asiwaju Bola Tinubu, the party’s presidential candidate, and all other APC National Assembly candidates.

After receiving 201,484 votes to defeat rival contenders in the state’s 16 local government areas on Saturday, the Independent National Electoral Commission declared Tinubu the victor of the presidential election in Ekiti State on Sunday.

The governor, in a statement by his Special Adviser on Media, Yinka Oyebode, titled, “Presidential Election: Oyebanji thanks Ekiti people for peaceful conduct, APC victory,” described the victory as “a reflection of the love the generality of the people have for the party as well as a reaffirmation of the mandate given to me and the party during the June 18, 2022 governorship election”.

He said, “Special thanks to Ekiti kete for their peaceful conduct during Saturday’s election and for supporting and ensuring victory for our Presidential Candidate, Asiwaju Tinubu and all our senatorial and House of Representatives candidates.

“The Ekiti electorate have continued to conduct themselves in a very peaceful and honourable manner and Saturday was another remarkably peaceful outing. I thank you all for voting massively for Asiwaju Tinubu and all our candidates as promised, even as we look forward to witnessing greater levels of development and prosperity in our state

“We also thank INEC for the remarkable improvement in the conduct of the election. The security agencies were also superb in their conduct and deserve our commendation.

“Special thanks to all our traditional rulers, religious leaders, political leaders, union leaders, leaders of associations, leaders of professional groups, market leaders, artisan and all political party leaders for ensuring that our state remains peaceful during and after the election. You are the real winners,” the governor said.

The presidential candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC) Bola Tinubu, has defeated his closest rivals, Peter Obi and Atiku Abubakar, in 12 out of 16 Local Government Areas (LGAs) in Ekiti State.

Tinubu so far has a total of 134,503 votes from the 12 LGAs of the state. His closest rival, Atiku of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) got 61,414 votes while Obi of the Labour Party got 5,454 votes.

Tinubu won in all of the 12 local governments so far announced, as of 7 a.m., at the State Collation Centre in Ado-Ekiti.

See the results of the 12 local governments already announced below:

1. Ilejemeje Local Government

APC 4599

LP 97

PDP 2662

2. ISE/ORUN Local Government

APC 11,415

LP 497

PDP 2734

3. EFON Local Government

APC 5873

LP 125

PDP 2521

4. GBONYIN Local Government

APC 11969

LP 245

PDP 4178

5. EMURE Local Government

APC 8159

LP 465

PDP 3035

6. IREPODUN/IFELODUN Local Government

APC 14265

LP 544

PDP 5516

7. IKERE Local Government

APC 11659

LP 910

PDP 7198

8. IJERO Local Government

APC 12628

LP 373

PDP 5731

9. IDO/OSI Local Government

APC 11917

LP 782

PDP 7476

10. EKITI WEST Local Government

APC 14516

LP 391

PDP 4318

11. MOBA Local Government

APC 12046

LP 246

PDP 5847

12. IKOLE Local Government

APC 15465

LP 779

PDP 10,198

Two vote boxes that had been stolen by thugs from the Government Science Secondary School in the state’s Jekadafari region were found by soldiers in Gombe State. The state’s governor, Muhammed Yahaya, cast his vote at the school as well.

The Tinubu/Shettima Presidential Campaign Council’s North-East Coordinator was Yahaya.

When the House of Representatives election count was in progress, thugs with firearms, cutlasses, and other hazardous weapons showed there with the intention of stealing ballot boxes, papers, and other important items.

Out of the four boxes snatched, security personnel retrieved two. The incident happened around 7.20pm.

An eyewitness, Abdulkadir Babangida, stated that the hoodlums arrived at the venue suddenly. He added, “They made away with four boxes, but the security operatives retrieved two from them. It took the intervention of the military to retrieve just two boxes from the four carried by the hoodlums.”

The Independent National Electoral Commission has moved voting in 141 polling units to Sunday.

This was made known by the INEC Chairman, Prof Mahmood Yakubu, on Saturday at the second leg of the situation report on the 2023 election.

Yakubu noted that more Bimodal Voter Authentication Systems were carted away by thugs.

He noted that elections in some local government areas in Edo have been postponed to March 11.

The Economic and Financial Crime Commission (EFCC) reported that it has detained 17 people for vote-buying in the states of Kano and Katsina.

The development was reported to Kano news reporters by the EFCC Zonal Commander, Faruk Dogon Daji.

According to Dogon Daji, who provided a breakdown, six suspects were detained in Tofa LGA and Ungogo LGA with sacks of rice and semovita, ten in Kofar DanAgundi and Kwali in Kano Municipal LGA in Kano State, and one in Bakori LGA, Katsina State, with sixty women’s undergarments.

He explained that the suspects were arrested while trying to distribute the items at the polling unit in the ongoing Presidential and National Assembly election.

The Zonal Commander said the commission succeeded in apprehending the suspects after putting sensitive security measures in place to ensure the arrest and prosecution of all those involved in vote buying in the zone.

Dogon Daji however, said that the suspects will be charged to court after investigation.

The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, or EFCC, undercover agents detained a Kaduna lady in Kaduna on Saturday after discovering her in possession of at least 18 PVCs and other incriminating documents.

The woman, who was allegedly a member of a support organization for a major political party, was apprehended by EFCC agents who purported to have voters cards to sell in the Badarawa neighborhood of Kaduna city.

The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, or EFCC, undercover agents detained a Kaduna lady in Kaduna on Saturday after discovering her in possession of at least 18 PVCs and other incriminating documents.

The EFCC operatives  who pretended to have voters cards  to sell, nabbed the woman said to be a member of the support group of a major political party at the Badarawa area of Kaduna metropolis. 

According to a source, the woman also had in her possession a list containing names of eligible voters, their bank details and phone numbers as accredited under Badarwa/Malali Ward 01 and 08, Kaduna North Local Government Area .

The woman was being questioned  by the anti graft agency in the Kaduna office  of the EFCC, to help provide more information that could lead to the arrest of other members of the voter card buying syndicate. 

Meanwhile, a report on Saturday monitored on the BBC Hausa Service, indicated that 2 police operatives assigned  to provide security at a polling unit in Surulere, Lagos State hid under a vehicle and left voters to scamper for safety , when gunmen shot sporadically and damaged election materials at the polling station on Saturday. 

According to the report, the police operatives were not allowed to carry arms while on duty at the polling station, and the hoodlums damaged the BVAS and stole other items during the raid.