A federal high court in Awka has ordered the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to publish the name of Valentine Ozigbo as candidate of the PDP for the November 6 Anambra state governorship election. Ozigbo, a former chief executive officer of Transnational Corporation of Nigeria, secured 62 votes to emerge as the standard-bearer of the party in the primary election which was held on Saturday, June 26, 2021, at Dora Akunyili Women Development Centre, Awka. Ozigbo had approached a federal capital territory (FCT) high court in Maitama seeking an order restraining the PDP from “tampering” with his name as the authentic candidate. He also sought an order “mandating” INEC to publish his name as the party’s candidate. However, the court refused all the orders sort and ordered the electoral commission not to publish the name of any candidate for the PDP pending the determination of the motion on notice. Consequently, INEC, excluded the candidate of the PDP from the list of cleared candidates for the poll. But in a fresh order issued on Monday, Hyeladzira Nganjiwa, the judge in Awka, asked the electoral commission to publish Ozigbo’s name as PDP’s candidate, following the withdrawal of the suit at the FCT high court.

A member of the House of Representatives from Taraba, Rimamnde Kwewum, says there has to be an immediate change in the leadership of the Peoples Democratic Party if it plans to win the 2023 presidential election. Kwewum, representing Donga/Takum/Yangtu Federal Constituency, said this when he spoke with the News Agency of Nigeria in Abuja on Monday. “It is imperative for PDP to be competitive in the next election. There has to be a change now, not later, in the leadership of the party. “Normally, when a party leadership leads a party to defeat, it resigns to make way for people with new ideas to take over. That had been the standard around the world,” he said. Kwewum also faulted claims that the PDP was faced with crisis within its membership. “I don’t think there is any crisis in the PDP. What we have now is that some members such as the Governor of Rivers and some people at the National Assembly and a greater majority of members of the party think that the national chairman has done enough, even though his tenure will not elapse until November. “But we think it is expedient for him to leave the scene for some other people to try so that we can have time to reorganise the party, do a genuine reconciliation of party members. “As you know, the party has some challenges in some states where there are cases in court. We have some state congresses that have not been concluded,” he said. Kwewum added, “We think that it will be good to have somebody that is not part of the crisis to manage the process of reconciliation and the process of reorganising the party to be able to fight effectively during the 2023 general elections. “Some people may feel offended that such a call is coming but I am of the view that this call should have come even before now. “But it is clearly observable that there are frictions, there are some challenges and it will be better for the party for a new leadership to resolve. Not that there is any crisis. The party is not in factions as far as I know. “You know that when PDP had a crisis, we had two parallel chairmen, caretaker committees until the court resolved. We don’t have that situation today, so there really isn’t any crisis.” (NAN)

. The House approved the use of smart card readers for elections by INEC. The electoral umpire may, however, not be able to use any other device in the electoral process. The House placed the restriction in the Electoral Act 2010 (Amendment) Bill 2020 passed on Friday. The House had considered the report by its Committee on Electoral Matters between Thursday and Friday, during which members proposed a series of amendments. Prominent among the amended clauses is Section 49(3), which reads, “Where a smart card reader or any other technological device deployed for accreditation of voters fails to function in any unit and a fresh card reader or technological device is not deployed, the election in that unit shall be cancelled and another election shall be scheduled within 24 hours. If the commission is satisfied that the result of the election in that polling unit will substantially affect the final result of the whole election and declaration of a winner in the constituency concerned.” Speaker of the House, Femi Gbajabiamila, however, prayed the House to remove “or any other technological device” from the clause at the sitting on Thursday. Gbajabiamila said, “The question then remains, what do you mean by ‘any other technological device?’ Do we want to make sure that our Act is watertight and devoid of any kind of manipulation? That word (phrase) is too ambiguous. It could mean anything; it could mean your phone – your smartphone, it could mean a pen or any device.” The Deputy Speaker, Ahmed Wase, who presided over the Committee of the Whole to consider the clauses, however, said, “Other technological devices could come in other forms. Smartphones may not be the only form. Your computer is not a smart phone. So, you could apply a computer, that is why the word ‘any other technological device.’” Wase also argued that the provision would allow the law to capture technological advancements that might come in the future. He also noted that computers are used during polls, which are also devices. Insisting, Gbajabiamila said, “I’m not sure I got you there. What I’m saying is that ‘any other technological device’ has no definition. It can mean anything. We know that we have a smart card reader; that is what we are using. So, why expand it to mean either smart card reader? By this provision, what we are saying is, any other smart card reader…Anyway, let us put the question.” Wase, therefore, put the amendment proposed by the Speaker to voice vote and it was unanimously adopted.

The Minority Leader of the Senate, Senator Enyinnaya Abaribe, has said Peoples Democratic Party members will push for the adoption of the House of Representatives version of the Electoral Act (amendments) Bill 2021. Abaribe, who spoke in an exclusive interview with The PUNCH on Sunday, explained that the version passed by the Senate on the electronic results transmission was against the constitution of Nigeria. Asked for his group’s next line of action, Abaribe said the members of the Minority Caucus that would be among the harmonisation committee would push for the adoption of the version passed by the House of Representatives. Abaribe said, “We are on vacation. The House of Representatives passed a different version from the one passed by the Senate. “There will be a conference committee. Hopefully, the House version will be upheld since the Senate version offends Section 78 of the constitution.” Also, the Minority Leader of the House of Representatives, Ndudi Elumelu, has blamed the leadership crisis at all levels in Nigeria on the lack of political awareness and electoral choices of the electorate. On Thursday, the Senate voted that the Nigerian Communications Commission, with the National Assembly’s approval, would determine whether INEC could transmit results electronically or not. On Friday, the House of Representatives passed the Electoral Act (Amendment) Bill, maintaining the controversial Clause 52(2) as presented amidst protests, especially by members of the minority caucus. The clause gives INEC the discretion to determine when, where and how voting and transmission of results will be done.