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NIGERIA ELECTION 2023: Live Results from Presidential Election Collation

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Collation of the presidential election results from States has commenced at the National Collation Centre of the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, Abuja.

Results have started coming in from the 36 States of the federation and the Federal Capital Territory, Abuja.

The presidential election is keenly being contested by the candidates of the All Progressives Congress, APC, the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP and the Labour Party, LP.

Here are some of the results from state collation centres.

Here are some of the results from state collation centres.

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Live Collation of Presidential Results
State APC PDP LP NNPP
Abia 8,914 22,676 327,095
Adamawa 182,881 417,611 105,648 417,611
Akwa Ibom 160,620 214,012 132,683
Anambra 5,111 9,036 584,621 1,967
Bauchi 146,977 319,123 26,160
Bayelsa 42,572 68,818 49,975 540
Benue 310,468 130,081 308,372
Borno 252,282 190,921 4,626 7,205
Cross River 130,520 95,425 179,917 1,644
Delta 90,183 161,600 341,866 3,112
Ebonyi 42,402 13,503 259,739 1,661
Edo 144,471 89,585 331,163 2,743
Ekiti 201,494 89,554 11,397
Enugu 4,772 15,749 428,640
Gombe 146,977 319,123 26,160 10,520
Imo 66,171 30,440 352,904 1,536
Jigawa 412,390 386,587 1,889 98,234
Kaduna 399,293 554,360 294,494
Kano 517,341 131,716 28,513 997,279
Katsina 482,283 489,045 6,376 69,386
Kebbi 248,088 288,175 10,682 5,038
Kogi 240,751 145,104 56,217 4,238
Kwara 263,572 136,909 31,166 3,141
Lagos 572,606 75,750 582,664
Nasarawa 172,922 147,093 191,361 12,715
Niger 375,183 284,898 80,452 21,836
Ogun 341,554 123,831 85,829 2,200
Ondo 369,924 115,463 44,405 930
Osun 343,945 354,366 23,283 713
Oyo 449,884 182,977 99,110 4,095
Plateau 307,195 243,808 466,272
Rivers 231,591 88,468 175,071
Sokoto 285,444 288,679 6,568 1,300
Taraba 135,165 146,315 146,315 12,818
Yobe 151,459 198,567 2,406 18,270
Zamfara 298,396 193,978 1,660 4,000
FCT 90,902 74,199 281,717 13,247
TOTAL RESULT 8,626,703 6,880,247 6,087,416 1,717,979

Atiku defeats Tinubu with over 150k votes in Kaduna

Atiku Abubakar, candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in Saturday’s election, has emerged winner in Kaduna State.

In the final results collated and declared by INEC at the state collation centre, PDP won in 14 Local Government Areas, Labour Party, 7, while the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) won only two LGAs.

The final result was announced by Prof. Muhammad Zayyan Umar, the returning officer .

According to him, Atiku polled 554,360 votes ahead of Asiwaju Bola Tinubu of the APC who secured 399,293 votes, a difference of 155,067.

Labour Party’s Peter Obi garnered 294,494 votes and Senator Rabiu Kwankwaso of the New Nigerian Peoples Party (NNPP) trailed with 92,962 votes

Out of the 4.3 million registered voters, 1. 4 million were accredited for the election

Igabi LGA

APC: 37,259

PDP: 45,962

LP: 4,839

NNPP: 8,276

Kaduna North

APC: 39,693

PDP: 40,670

LP: 10,330

NNPP: 12,613

Chikun LGA

APC: 9,367

LP: 69,117

NNPP: 2,742

PDP: 32,659

Birnin-Gwari LGA

APC: 17,080

LP: 235

NNPP: 1,143

PDP: 8,774

Kudan LGA

APC: 11,630

PDP: 19,340

LP: 923

NNPP: 6,747

FINAL KADUNA RESULT

APC = 399,293

PDP = 554,360

NNPP= 92,962

LP= 294,494

Tinubu was leading Atiku by a narrow margin but the result from a Local Government Area changed the tide

Tambuwal Local Government Area of Sokoto state Presidential Election Results

Collation officer- Muhammad Abdulkah Sokoto

Registered voters- 127,322

Accredited voters- 37,382

A 04

AA 05

AAC 04

ADC 32

ADP 45

APC 13,814

APGA 29

APN 14

APP 08

BP 04

LP 32

NNPP 137

NRN 61

PDP. 21,708

PRP 10

SDP 01

YPP 11

ZLP 10

Total valid votes- 35,929

Rejected votes- 1,339

Total vote cast- 37,268

Cancellation: 51 PU with 31,268 registered voters and 29,033 collected PVCs.

 

Sabon Birni Local Government Area of Sokoto state Presidential Election Results

Collation officer- Prof Aminu Alhaji Bala

Registered voters- 116,986

Accredited voters- 34,847

A 13

AA 07

AAC 07

ADC 22

ADP 51

APC 17994

APGA 50

APN 30

APP 14

BP 04

LP 23

NNPP 28

NRN 37

PDP. 15,182

PRP 20

SDP 06

YPP 11

ZLP 13

Total valid votes- 33,523

Rejected votes- 1,315

Total vote cast- 34,827

Cancellation: 16 PU with 8,427 registered voters and 8,344collected PVCs.

 

Atiku was on the ballot four years ago. He ran against President Muhammadu Buhari. Let’s look at the states he won that year but before then, did you know that???????

While at it, don’t forget we highlighted the Kwara factor. Will the trend continue or change in this election year? We will know in a matter of hours

Obi held on to Nasarawa and Plateau while Tinubu gained ground in Kogi, Niger,  Benue, and Kwara.

In this election, we projected North Central to be a battleground and that’s clear from the pattern that the leading candidates got votes from there.

Aside from Nasarawa, APC retained its hold of three key North Central States.

APC: 17,080

LP: 235

NNPP: 1,143

PDP: 8,774

KADUNA

Kudan LGA

APC: 11,630

PDP: 19,340

LP: 923

NNPP: 6,747

After a long wait, we have figures from Kaduna State

Ex minister, PDP candidates reject election results in Kwara 

Former Minister of Sports, Mallam Bolaji Abdullahi and other PDP senatorial and House of Representatives candidates have rejected the outcome of Saturday national assembly elections held in the state.

Abdullahi, the PDP senatorial candidate, lost to Mallam Saliu Mustapha, a former APC national chairmanship aspirant.

According to the former minister, the preliminary review of the results “shows substantial irregularities and manipulations that are inconsistent with the provisions of the electoral law.”

APC defeated their PDP counterparts in a clean sweep of all the 9 national assembly seats in the state after the announcement of results by INEC on Sunday.

But in separate statements Monday night, the PDP while urging members to remain calm, promised to challenge the result in court to “reclaim their mandate”.

Candidates who also rejected the results include Rafiu Ibrahim, the party’s Kwara South senatorial candidate.

He said there “were several reported cases of gross electoral malpractice and widespread electoral fraud that marred the process.

“A team of lawyers are already studying the results and would be taking appropriate legal steps”, he added.

Others are Abdulwahab Isa, the party’s reps candidate for Ilorin East/Ilorin South, Dare Bankole and Ibrahim Ajia, Ekiti/Oke-Ero/Isin/Oyun and Ilorin West/Asa house of representatives candidates respectively.

Isa Local Government Area of Sokoto state Presidential Election Results

Collation officer-

Registered voters- 76,029

Accredited voters- 22,549

A 3

AA 2

AAC 3

ADC 7

ADP 22

APC 9391

APGA 20

APN 5

APP 4

BP 4

LP 5

NNPP 20

NRN 14

PDP. 12481

PRP 6

SDP 3

YPP 2

ZLP 5

Total valid votes- 21,997

Rejected votes- 424

Total vote cast- 22,421

Cancellation: 1 PU with 935 registered voters and 876 collected PVCs

Sokoto Presidential Election Result

Goronyo Local Government Area

Registered voters. 85,716

Accredited voters. 21,433

Results

A    3

AA.   0

AAC.  2

ADC.  9

ADP.  20

APC  8892

APGA  16

APM.  4

APP.   5

BP.    2

LP.    16

NNPP.  21

NRM.  19

PDP.  11,614

PRP.  9

SDP.  4

YPP.  3

ZLP.  7

Total valid votes 20,646

Rejected votes. 524

Total votes cast. 21,170

Peter Obi sues for peace, condemns politically-motivated attacks in Lagos

The Presidential candidate of the Labour Party (LP) has condemned what he called politically motivated attacks today on some citizens in parts of Lagos State because they were believed to have voted for the LP.

Deputy Director General/Campaign Manager, Obi-Datti presidential campaign committee (PCC), Oseloka Obaze, in a statement Monday night, also noted that the attacks have been meted out to indigenes and non-indigenes alike.

“It is most regrettable that political thugs would single out citizens who exercised their constitutional rights to vote for candidates or parties of their choice.

“In keeping with its core value of political decorum, the LP thanks its supporters and indeed all Nigerians living in Lagos who have exercised their fundamental rights to vote according to the dictates of their conscience,” Obaze said.

He also said that the party is aware of some egregious irregularities in the elections in several states and that the party will follow due process and use constitutional means to address its grievances thus giving peace a chance.

He said, “It will, however, remain resolute in its mission to change Nigeria, which is after all greater than all of us. We have to protect the peace while defending every vote. Governments at all levels must recommit to the constitutional responsibility to protect citizens within their territories regardless of their political leanings.”

Atiku defeats Tinubu, Obi in Bayelsa

The presidential candidate of Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, Atiku Abubakar has defeated the All Progressives Congress, APC candidate, Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu and Labour Party candidate, Peter Obi in Bayelsa.

The State Collation Officer and Vice Chancellor, University of Benin, Prof Lilian Salami, while announcing the result in Yenagoa on Monday, said Atiku polled a total number of 68818 votes to defeat Peter Obi of Labour Party, who scored 49975 votes to come second.

Bola Ahmed Tinubu of APC scored 42572 votes to come third in the state.

APC wins Bauchi South senatorial seat

The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has declared Hon Shehu Buba of the All Progressives Congress (APC) as winner of the Bauchi South Senatorial Zone election

The Returning Officer, Professor Ibrahim Hassan Garba who announced the results at the collation centre Monday in Bauchi , said that Buba won the election having polled 170,505 to defeat his closet rival Garba Dahiru of Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) who scored

165,727 PDP votes.

The incumbent Senator Lawal Yahaya Gumau comes fourth and scored 3,739 votes

FCT Senate: Labour Party’s Ireti Kingibe rejects Bwari’s results cancellation

The Labour Party (LP) FCT Senatorial candidate, Hajiya Ireti Kingibe, has rejected the cancellation of last Saturday’s Bwari Area Council National Assembly election result.

She told journalists on Monday in Abuja that there was no over voting in Bwari Area council, wondering why the result was cancelled.

PRESIDENTIAL ELECTION RESULT IN KOGI STATE.

20 out of 21 local governments result released.

1) MOPA AMORO LGA

APC…4, 900

PDP…2’319

LP..718

NNPP..14

ADC….555

2) OGORI MANGOGO LGA

APC..2,008

PDP…2,075

LP..784

NNPP…09

ADC..17

3) ADAVI LGA

APC…10,340

PDP…10,612

NNPP..26

ADC…61

LP……897

4) KOGI LGA

APC…..13, 473

PDP……8,825

LP….1040

ADC..55

NNPP..77

5) KABBA BUNU LGA

APC…12, 534

PDP….5,598

NNPP..73

ADC…584

LP….2339

6) IJUMU LGA

APC..11;237

ADC..795

PDP…4503

NNPP..93

LP..920

7) BASSA LGA

APC..7260

PDP…7288

ADC..49

LP..4068

NNPP…62

8) IGALAMELA LGA

APC 9982

PDP…4006

ADC..49

LP…17

NNPP..84

9) YAGBA WEST LGA

APC….8822

PDP….4266

NNPP….23

ADC….95

LP…….1227

10) OLAMABORO LGA

APC ..10670

PDP….5662

NNPP..304

ADC..120

LP..7206

11) OKEHI LGA

APC ..9443

PDP…11459

NNPP.. 36

LP…1099

ADC..40

12) OMALA LGA..

APC..6374

ADC..51

NNPP..315

PDP..6420

LP…2706

13) OFU LGA

APC..16078

ADC….117

NNPP…187

LP…1744

PDP….6593

14) OKENE LGA

APC….22038

ADC….62

NNPP…02

LP….964

PDP…..6403

15) LOKOJA LGA

APC….15642

ADC.. 268

LP.    7,605

NNPP..4007

PDP…11,156

16)ANKPA LGA

APC…18976

ADC..155

NNPP..1559

LP…5918

PDP….14170

17) YAGBA EAST LGA

ADC – 840

APC – 11,635

LP – 1,140

PDP – 2,910

NNPP.. 29

18) IBAJI LGA

APC 5992

LP 5933

NNPP.. 124

PDP..6219

19) DEKINA LGA

ADC – 95

APC – 22,157

LP – 1,661

PDP – 10,704

20) .IDAH LGA

ADC – 112

APC – 9,869

LP – 2,618

PDP – 5,459

APC won in 14 local governments: Mopa /Muro, Kogi, Kabba Bunu, Ijumu, Igala/ Mela, Yagba West, Olamaboro, Ofu ,Yagba East, Dekina, Ankpa, Lokoja, Okene and dah

PDP won in six local governments: Ogori Magogo, Adavi, Bassa, Ibaji, Okehi and Omala

The result of Ajaokuta local government is yet to be released.

Ishaku Loses Taraba South Senatorial Election

Governor Darius Ishaku of Taraba State has lost the election for the Southern Senatorial District of Taraba State to David Jimkuta of the All progressives Congress (APC).

Declaring the results of the election on Monday in Wukari, the Independent National Electoral Commission Returning Officer for the election, Prof. Solomon Adeyeye, said Jimkuta scored 85,415 votes to defeat Gov. Darius of the PDP who polled 45,708 votes.

Isa Local Government Area of Sokoto state Presidential Election Results

Collation officer-

Registered voters- 76,029

Accredited voters- 22,549

A 3

AA 2

AAC 3

ADC 7

ADP 22

APC 9391

APGA 20

APN 5

APP 4

BP 4

LP 5

NNPP 20

NRN 14

PDP. 12481

PRP 6

SDP 3

YPP 2

ZLP 5

Total valid votes- 21,997

Rejected votes- 424

Total vote cast- 22,421

Cancellation: 1 PU with 935 registered voters and 876 collected PVCs.

Obi defeats Tinubu, Atiku in Plateau State

The candidate of the Labour Party (LP), Peter Obi has won the presidential election conducted in Plateau State.

Announcing the summary of the results, the State Collation Officer, Professor Shehu Abdulrahman, stated that the LP candidate scored the highest votes cast in the election to defeat his closest rivals, Bola Ahmed Tinubu of the All Progressive Congress (APC) and Atiku Abubakar, of the Peoples Democratic Party ( PDP).

While giving the summary of the result, Prof. Abdulrahman said the LP candidate scored 466,272, the PDP candidate scored 243,808 and the APC candidate scored 307, 195.

Nigeria’s elections ‘largely peaceful’, room for improvement- Commonwealth observers

The Commonwealth observers’ mission in Nigeria has said that last Saturday’s presidential and National Assembly elections were ‘largely peaceful’, despite administrative and logistical hurdles at many polling units (PUs).

The Chairperson of the Commonwealth Observer Group and former President of South Africa Thabo Mbeki, said this on Monday in his team’s preliminary assessment of the electoral process.

“Nigerians were largely accorded the right to vote. We congratulate all Nigerians for their determination, patience and resilience displayed throughout the electoral process.” Mbeki said.

PDP sends APC’s Senator Enagi Home

The candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) for Niger South Senatorial District, Peter Ndalikali, has defeated the incumbent Senator, Mohammed Bima Enagi of the All Progressives Congress in the just concluded National Assembly elections in the state.

Ndalikali floored Bima Enagi with 100, 684 against 97, 453 votes scored by the candidate of the APC.

The Returning Officer for Niger South Senatorial Election, Dr Abubakar Mohammed said Peter Ndalikali had satisfied the conditions of the law having scored the highest votes in the election and declared him the winner.

KANO CENTRAL SENATORIAL DISTRICT RESULT:

KANO MUNICIPAL

Returning Officer – DR. ALIYU IDRIS

RAs -13

Total Registered votes – 325025

Total Accredited votes – 75250

APC – 13451

PDP – 6207

NNPP –  49153

Total valid votes – 71405

Rejected votes – 2181

Total votes cast -73586

Governor Darius Ishaku of Taraba state has lost his senatorial bid. He was defeated by the All progressive congress candidate David Jimkuta.

David Jimkuta polled 85,415 votes to win Taraba’s southern senatorial seat.

The seating governor, Ishaku, who contested for the senatorial seat under the platform of the Peoples Democratic Party polled 45,708 votes and was second in the senatorial race.

BREAKING: Kwankwaso defeats Tinubu, Atiku, Obi in Kano

The presidential candidate of the New Nigeria People’s Party (NNPP), Rabiu Musa Kwankwaso has been declared the winner of the presidential election for Kano state, beating his closest challenger, Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu of the APC with over 479,000 votes.

Kano state, which has about 5.8million voters, had a total of 1,820,272 accredited voters, according to the results announced at the INEC collation centre in Kano by Professor Lawan Suleiman Bilbis, the Vice Chancellor of Usman Danfodiyo University.

Elections: Buhari advises winners to respect voters

President Muhammadu Buhari has advised the winners of last Saturday’s Senate and House of Representatives elections in the Daura zone to respect voters to avoid being sent packing in future polls.

The President gave the advice when he received them in Daura, his country home in Katsina State.

He said: “Respect the voters and make them feel important. If you don’t, they will wait in ambush for you in the next election. Depending on how you deal with them, they will keep you in the office, or they will send you packing.”

RIVERS STATE PRESIDENTIAL ELECTION RESULT UPDATE

PORT HARCOURT LGA

APC 5562

LP 62451

PDP 7203

KHANA LGA

APC 7649

LP 1704

PDP 5483

Etche LGA

APC 8366

LP 11232

PDP 5919

ELEME LGA

APC 8368

LP 7529

PDP 2391

RESULT: Tinubu wins in Benue with 9 LGAs

Below are the details of the results:

1. Tarka LGA:

Coalition officer: Prof. Terfa David

Total registered voters – 54,537

Accredited voters – 19,188

APC – 13,640

LP – 2,038

PDP – 2, 642

Total valid votes – 18,669

Rejected votes – 511

Total votes cast – 19180

2. Buruku LGA:

Coalition officer: Prof. Grace Gberikyon

Total registered voters – 128,521

Accredited voters – 42,760

APC – 20,248

LP – 13,466

NNPP – 240

PDP – 6909

Total valid votes – 41,701

Rejected votes – 1,059

Total votes cast – 42,760

3. Ado LGA:

Total registered voters – 83,199

Accredited voters -14,774

APC – 2,271

LP – 9,987

PDP – 1,107

Total valid votes – 13,829

Rejected votes – 724

Total votes cast – 14,553

4. Apa LGA:

Total registered voters- 66,720

Accredited voters- 17,406

LP- 7,421

APC- 3,430

PDP- 3,683

Total valid votes- 15,931

Rejected votes- 1,367

Total votes cast- 17, 298

5. Obi LGA:

Total registered voters- 69,126

Accredited voters- 18,062

LP- 7,949

APC- 4,450

PDP- 4,340

Valid voters- 17,178

Invalid votes- 884

Votes cast- 18,062

6. Makurdi LGA:

Coalition officer:

Total registered voters – 295,203

Accredited voters – 88,389

APC – 28,692

LP – 48,228

PDP – 5,134

NNPP – 674

Total valid votes – 84,492

Rejected votes – 3,523

Total votes cast – 88,015

7. Gwer East LGA:

Coalition officer: Prof.

Total registered voters – 99,175

Accredited voters – 35,040

APC – 15,900

LP – 9800

PDP – 7370

NNPP – 107

Total valid votes – 33,574

Rejected votes – 867

Total votes cast – 34,441

8. Ogbadigbo LGA:

Coalition officer: Prof.

Total registered voters – 72,141

Accredited voters – 18,367

APC – 3,129

LP – 10,154

PDP – 3,460

NNPP – 182

Total valid votes – 17,372

Rejected votes – 995

Total votes cast – 18,367

9. Guma LGA:

Coalition officer: Dr. Austin Adikwu

Total registered voters – 114,054

Accredited voters – 34,572

APC – 10,481

LP – 21,796

PDP – 9,099

NNPP – 94

Total valid votes – 33,668

Rejected votes – 805

Total votes cast – 34,473

10. Okpokwu LGA:

Coalition officer: Akirga Ezekiel

Total registered voters – 76,389

Accredited voters – 20,055

APC – 3,409

LP – 10,470

PDP – 4,641

NNPP –

Total valid votes – 19,105

Rejected votes – 802

Total votes cast – 19,907

11. Gwer West LGA:

Coalition officer: Ahembe Iorkyaa

Total registered voters – 74,579

Accredited voters – 26,612

APC – 7,332

LP – 17,417

PDP – 838

NNPP –

Total valid votes – 25,949

Rejected votes – 632

Total votes cast – 26,581

12. Ushongo LGA:

Coalition officer:

Total registered voters – 117,469

Accredited voters – 38,048

APC – 20,060

LP – 7,324

PDP – 7,264

NNPP –

Total valid votes – 36,038

Rejected votes – 1007

Total votes cast – 37,045

13.. Konshisha LGA:

Coalition officer:

Total registered voters – 131,461

Accredited voters – 42,109

APC – 10,742

LP – 26,261

PDP – 3,524

NNPP –

Total valid votes – 41,422

Rejected votes – 621

Total votes cast – 42,043

14.. Katsina-Ala LGA:

Coalition officer: Dr. Jonathan Ikyur

Total registered voters – 168,318

Accredited voters – 37,116

,

APC – 18,632

LP – 7,876

PDP – 8,060

NNPP – 37,116

Total valid votes – 35,665

Rejected votes – 1,451

Total votes cast –

15. Oju LGA:

Coalition officer: Prof Iyortyer

Total registered voters – 110,166

Accredited voters – 28,481

APC – 8,412

LP – 13,192

PDP – 4,920

NNPP –

Total valid votes – 27,246

Rejected votes – 1,044

Total votes cast – 28,290

16. Ukum LGA,

Collation officer: Prof. Rosemary Ahon

Registered voters: 151,923

Accredited voters: 41,589

APC – 20,719

LP – 8,036

PDP – 9,892

Valid votes cast: 39,903

Rejected votes: 1,645

Total votes cast: 41,548

17. Logo LGA:

Collation officer:

Registered voters: 114,100

Accredited voters: 33,911

APC – 8,121

LP – 13,836

PDP – 9,377

Total valid votes: 31,990

Rejected votes: 1,327

Total votes cast: 33,317

18. Otukpo LGA:

Collation officer:

Registered voters: 149,987

Accredited voters: 44,744

APC – 8,471

LP – 23,732

PDP – 6,760

NNPP -332

Total valid votes: 40,526

Rejected votes: 2,118

Total votes cast: 42,644

19. Gboko LGA:

Registered voters : 249, 636

Accredited voters: 71961

APC – 35,149

PDP – 13,901

NNPP – 335

LP – 18,615

Valid votes cast: 69,136

Rejected votes: 2680

Total vote cast: 71,812

20. Kwande LGA:

Registered voters – 172,294

Accredited voters – 45,474

APC – 23,027

PDP – 7,813

NNPP – 437

LP – 11,945

Valid votes cast: 44,150

Rejected votes: 1081

Total vote cast: 45,231

21. Ohimini LGA

Registered voters – 46,713

Accredited voters – 15,458

APC – 3,239

PDP – 4,972

NNPP – 64

LP – 6,545

Valid votes cast: 15,046

Rejected votes: 312

Total vote cast: 15,358

22. Agatu LGA

Registered voters – 64315

Accredited voters – 16548

APC – 3,988

PDP – 4,221

NNPP – 80

LP – 6,302

Valid votes cast: 15,257

Rejected votes: 980

Total vote cast: 16,237

23. Vandekiya LGA

Registered voters – 162,960

Accredited voters – 53,635

APC – 36,926

PDP – 8,255

NNPP – 93

LP – 5,952

Valid votes cast: 52,230

Rejected votes: 1,254

Total vote cast: 53,484

Final results:

Registered voters: 2,772,977

Accredited: 804,189

APC – 310,468

PDP – 130,081

LP – 308,372

NNPP -4740

Total valid votes -770,075

Rejected votes – 27,687

Total votes cast -797, 762

Tinubu wins in Benue with 9 LGAs

The All Progressives Congress (APC) Presidential candidate, Bola Tinubu, has scored to the highest votes in Benue State despite the Labour Party, Peter Obi, wining in majority of the 23 Local Government Area of the state.

Tinubu defeated Obi with a margin of about 2000 and Peoples’ Democratic Party (PDP) Atiku Abubakar with a total of 310,468.

He won in nine LGAs while Obi lead in the remaining 14 LGAs of the state with the total of 308, 372 votes.

Obi wins 12 LGs, as Tinubu wins 6

The candidate of the Labour Party, Peter Obi, won the February 25, presidential election in Edo state by a wide margin.

The Labour Party won in 12 local governments to emerge the winner in the state while the All Progressives Congress (APC), won the remaining six local governments leaving the Peoples Democratic Party with no local government.

Announcing the results, the Edo State Collation Officer, Vice Chancellor, University of Uyo, Prof.Professor Nyaudoh Ndaeyo, said the Labour Party candidate Peter Obi scored a total of 331,163 votes to win the presidential election in the state.

Presidential election: Atiku floors Tinubu in Bauchi

The Presidential Candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Atiku Abubakar has won the presidential election in 18 out of 20 local government areas of Bauchi State.

Announcing the results by the Bauchi State Collation Officer for the Presidential election, Professor Abdulkarim Sambo who is the Vice Chancellor of Federal University Dutse at the INEC office in Bauchi.

Sambo said that Atiku polled 426,607 votes to defeat the candidate of the All Progressive Congress (APC) who scored 316,694 and only won two LGAs including Toro and Itas Gadau local government areas.

INEC declares Yobe South Senatorial Election Inconclusive

The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has declared the results of the Yobe South Senatorial district election inconclusive.  The Returning Officer Of the Zone, Professor Sa’idu Abdulkadir Shetima, stated this to Daily Trust.

He said that the commission has taken the decision, as a result of the cancellation of one polling unit 003, Manawachi Primary School, in Fika Local Government Yobe state.

According to him, the polling unit cancelled has 1,118 Total registered voters, and the total votes cast exceeded the total number of accredited voters in the polling unit.

He, therefore, said the INEC will schedule the election between the two parties, APC that has 69,417 votes and PDP which has 68,800 votes considered the lowest margin.

 

Yobe: Security personnel nabs collation officer bribed to rig elections result

Security operatives have arrested Mr Adamu Ibrahim a INEC ad-hoc staff who was bribed to rig election result in Potiskum Local Government area of Yobe State.

In a video shared by Neptune Prime on Monday, Daily Trust’s Correspondent observed that the staff was interrogated by security personnel in Potiskum Local Government Area..

The suspect who was caught red-handed confessed that one Sisco a resident of Potiskum, has promised to give him 10 million Naira meant to rig Senatorial Election result.

PDP wins Kaduna South Senatorial seat

The candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Sunday Marshall Katung has been declared winner of the Kaduna South Senatorial District election.

The Senatorial Returning Officer, Professor Abdullahi Dalhatu announced Katung as the winner on Monday night in Kafanchan after he secured 138, 246 votes to beat his closest opponent, Eng. Michael Ayuba Auta of the Labour Party (LP), who got 101, 479 votes.

El-rufai’s son wins House of reps seat in Kaduna

Mohammed Bello El-rufai of the All Progressives Congress (APC), the eldest son of Kaduna State governor Nasir El-rufai, has won a House of Representatives seat in Kaduna North Local Government Area of the state.

The returning officer Professor Muhammad Magaji Garba announced said that El-rufai polled 51,052 to defeat the incumbent member Suleiman Samaila Abdu of the Peoples Democratic Party PDP who polled 34,808.

Other candidates defeated were Shehu Mohammed Faisal of the Labour Party who scored 7531. Aliyu Muhammad Ahmad of NNPP scored 10,148.

Kebbi Central: Senator Aliero leading in 6 LGs — NEC

Senator Muhammad Adamu Aliero is leading in the Kebbi central senatorial election.

From the results collated from six local government areas of Gwandu, Bunza, Aliero, Maiyama, Koko Besse and Kalgo by INEC senator Aliero is leading the APC incumbent Governor, Abubakar Atiku Bagudu with 74,336.

Governor Bagudu is trailing senator Aliero with 54,786.

Coalition Warns Parties, Supporters Against Utterances Capable Of Causing Chaos

As the collation of results by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) continues, the National Coalition for Peace and Unity (NCPU) has warned political parties and supporters against utterances capable of destabilising the country.

NCPU in a statement by ex-lawmaker and Protem Secretary General of the coalition, Dr Cairo Ojougboh, said the warning has become necessary following utterances from politicians, who threatened that the #Endsars will be a child’s play if the election doesn’t go their way.

The Coalition warned politicians to be mindful of statements capable of inciting and destroying the prevailing peaceful environment in the country.

Elections: 11 parties disowns walk-out on INEC over results upload on iReV

Eleven of the nation’s 18 registered political parties have dissociated themselves from Monday’s walk-out by some political parties over the procedure for the announcement of collated results of Saturday’s presidential election.

This is after the agent of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Senator Dino Melaye and former Deputy Speaker of the House of Representatives, Chief Emeka Ihedioha led some of the parties to walk out at the national collation centre in Abuja.

Before their dissociation, the INEC Chairman Prof. Mahmood Yakubu had cautioned Melaye not to be ‘disruptive’ of the collation process at the insistence of the PDP chieftain that the results announced by the SCOPEs should have first been uploaded on the INEC results viewing portal (iReV) for transparency and accountability.

 

LP calls for removal of Imo REC

The Labour Party in Imo State has alleged that the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) was compromised in last Saturday’s presidential and National Assembly elections by deliberately disenfranchising voters.

The party, therefore, called for the immediate removal of the state Resident Electoral Commissioner (REC), Prof. Sylvia Agu and all Electoral Officers and SPOs in the state.

So far, Tinubu leads in 10 Zamfara LGAs

The Presidential candidate of the All Progressives Congress, Bola Ahmed Tinubu, leading the PDP’s presidential flagbearer, Alhaji Atiku Abubakar, in election results from 10 out of 14 local government areas of Zamfara state so far announced by INEC

Tinubu scored 214,074, while the candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party, Alhaji Atiku Abubakar scored 104,828. The NNPP and LP are trailing behind with 1,524 and 429 votes respectively.

Ifeanyi Ubah retains senatorial seat, defeats LP, APGA

The senator representing Anambra South Senatorial District Sen. Ifeanyi Ubah has retained his seat after defeating, Hon Chris Azugbogu on the platform of APGA with 73,115.

Ubah was followed by Chris Azugbogu who scored 45,369, votes, While Uzo Obinna of the Labour Party got 28,102 votes

Confusion in Bayelsa collation centre over whereabouts of two LGA collation officers

The Bayelsa State collation centre was thrown into confusion on Monday as two local government collation officers’ for the presidential election got missing.

The affected local governments are Southern Ijaw and Brass local government areas. Officials of the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC and political party agents as well as observers waited for three days for the collation officers to churn in their results but to no avail.

The political party agents, however, protest the abandonment of the two local government collation officers.

Elections: INEC dismisses PDP’s allegations of over-voting in Ekiti

The Independent Electoral Commission (INEC) has dismissed the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP)’s claim of over-voting in Saturday’s presidential election in Ekiti State.

The INEC Chairman, Prof. Mahmood Yakubu, said this during the ongoing presentation of collated results of the presidential election.

The Ekiti State’s results were the first to be officially called at the national collation centre on Sunday in Abuja.

The All Progressives Congress (APC) presidential candidate Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu won the election with Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) candidate Alhaji Atiku Abubakar coming second.

Tinubu Defeats Atiku, Obi, Kwankwaso in Niger

The Presidential Candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Ahmed Bola Tinubu has defeated Atiku Abubakar of the Peoples Democratic Party; Peter Obi of the Labour Party; and Rabiu Musa Kwankwaso of the New Nigeria Peoples Party in Niger State.

Tinubu won in 21 out of the 25 Local Governments while Atiku Abubakar won 3 Local Governments and Peter Obi of the Labour Party won in Suleja Local Government Area of the state.

APC’s Adebule wins Lagos West Senatorial election

The All Progressives Congress (APC) Lagos West Senatorial Candidate, Dr Idiat Adebule, has been declared winner of the Lagos West Senatorial District.

The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) Senatorial District Collation Officer Prof Solomon Akinboye declared the former Lagos State Deputy Governor winner having scored the highest votes.

Adebule polled 361,296 votes to defeat the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) candidate, Segun Adewale, who got 248,653 votes.

APC youth leader to Sanwo-Olu’s appointees, ”Lose your ward, don’t come to Alausa,’

The national youth leader of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Dayo Israel has threatened political appointees in Lagos state who fail to deliver their wards for Babajide Sanwo-Olu not to show up at Alausa.

The ruling APC lost the presidential election to Peter Obi of the Labour Party, despite presenting the former governor of the state, Asiwaju Bola Tinubu as its presidential candidate.

Governorship and state House of Assembly will be held on March 11. Sanwo-Olu, who is seeking a second term, will compete against other candidates.

Police gun down INEC official in Delta

 The Independent National Electoral Commission on Monday said that one of its staff was shot dead by police officers at a checkpoint and others sustain injuries on their way to Asaba at Ukwani Local Government Area of Delta State.

The state Resident Electoral Commissioner Mr. Monday Tom confirmed this to journalists today shortly after the result of Ukwani local government area was taken.

Rep Manu Soro wins second term to House of Reps

The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has announced the candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) Hon Mansur Manu Soro as the winner of the Darazo/Ganjuwa Federal Constituency election in the state.

According to the results announced by Professor Shuaibu M. Ade, the Returning Officer said that Manu Soro polled 36, 596 to defeat his close competitor Bashir Ibrahim Bello of All Progressive Congress (APC) who scored 29, 134.

Manu Soro is the incumbent member representing the Darazo/Ganjuwa Federal Constituency and his reelection for the second term in the house of reps

Collation in Kano (presidency) adjourned to 8:15 pm for the final two LGAs (Kano Municipal & Dala)

RESULT: Presidential election Kano state, Takai LGA

41- Presidential election

Kano state: Takai LGA

Returning Officer:

RAs:

Total registered voters: 121,752

Accredited voters: 38,934

APC – 13,770

LP – 69

NNPP – 19,848

PDP – 3,124

Total valid votes: 37,101

Rejected votes: 687

Total votes cast: 37,888

Results of 17 PUs were cancelled due to violence recorded

42- Presidential election

Kano state: Bala Bukata

Returning Officer: Gwale

RAs: 10

Total registered voters: 249,537

Accredited voters: 60,159

APC – 6,950

LP – 270

NNPP – 42,932

PDP – 7,457

Total valid votes: 58,671

Rejected votes: 1,493

Total votes cast: 60,164

4 incidence of over voting in Mandawari

Jigawa: APC loses senatorial seat to PDP, 3 reps members

The ruling All Progressive Congress (APC), has lost the Senatorial seat of Jigawa Central to the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in the state.

However, APC also lost two members of federal house representatives to PDP and one other Reps member to NNPP.

Senator Ibn Na’Allah loses Kebbi South to PDP candidate, Maidoki

Senator Bala Ibn Na’Allah has lost the Kebbi South Senatorial election to the candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party, Garba Musa Maidoki.

Returning Officer, Professor Ibrahim Muhammed said the PDP candidate, polled 75,232 votes to win the election against Na’Allah who polled 70,785 votes.

Na’Allah, a serving senator was bidding for Senate the third time but lost by about a five thousand margin to the PDP candidate who contested the senate election for the first time.

APC’s Ajiya wins Abuja south Reps constituency seat

The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has declared the candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC) for the Abuja south federal constituency, Alhaji Abdulrahman Ajiya, as the winner of the Saturday, house of the representative seat of Abuja south constituency.

Ajiya, who is the immediate past chairman of the Abaji area council of Abuja, defeated the incumbent House of Representatives Member for Abuja south constituency, Alhaji Hassan Sokodabo Usman Sokodabo of the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) who sought a second term.

The INEC returning officer for the Abuja South election, Prof, Wasiu O. Gabadeen, who declared the result on Monday, said that Ajiya of the APC scored 51,502 votes to beat his closest rival of the PDP, Sokodabo who got 47,376 votes.

Politics

Osun Election: Don’t allow a repeat of 1983 crisis – Adeleke warns Tinubu

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Osun State Governor, Ademola Adeleke
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…Says Osun won’t tolerate rigging

Osun State Governor, Ademola Adeleke, has warned President Bola Tinubu not to allow rigging the August 15 governorship election in the State or risk political violence as witnessed in 1983.

The Governor, who was addressing party supporters at Orita-Sabo in Olorunda local government area of Osun State on Monday, also said the President must wake up to his responsibility of protecting the people from police harassment.

According to him, the President is watching without concern, the political crisis in Osun being perpetrated by his party chieftains despite the fact that Accord has endorsed him as the 2027 Presidential candidate.

“Mr President, I want you to take note of my words, I m the Chief Security officer of Osun, you are a Yoruba man and Osun is Yorubaland, yet, your party chieftains are perpetrating political violence while you look the other way.

“Mr President, all we demand for is a free and fair election, if anybody try to do otherwise, the political crisis of 1983, when some people tried to rig Michael Ajasin in Ondo State out of power, may repeat itself again.

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“Mr President call your people to order, call police chiefs to order, I am the governor here not any other person. Accord has already endorsed you as it’s candidate, why are we suffering again.

“You fought for democracy in Nigeria and you must not allow your people destroy it. Wake up to your responsibility Mr President, stop the shenanigans going on in Osun”, he warned.

Earlier, the Imole Campaign Council Director-General, Senator Lere Oyewumi tasked the people to troop out en masse to cast their votes for the party as the only way to return Adeleke to office again.

He said the good work of the governor is enough to warrant the people to vote for him again, calling on the electorates to votes and protect their vote on election day.

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Editorial

ADDRESS BY THE PRESIDENT OF THE CATHOLIC BISHOPS’ CONFERENCE OF NIGERIA DURING A COURTESY VISIT TO HIS EXCELLENCY, PRESIDENT BOLA AHMED TINUBU, GCFR ON 28 JULY 2026 (FULL TEXT)

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The Catholic Bishops of Nigeria
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PARTNERS IN BUILDING A JUST, PEACEFUL AND PROSPEROUS NIGERIA

Mr. President,

1. Greetings: I bring you warm greetings and prayers from all the members of the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of Nigeria. I am Archbishop Matthew Man-Oso Ndagoso, the Archbishop of Kaduna and the newly elected President of our Conference. I thank you immensely for granting us this audience, which offers us the opportunity to share with you some of our observations and genuine concerns about our country. This ensures the continuity of our collaborative engagement in the task of building a healthy nation that all of us would be proud to belong to: “a nation of justice, love and peace.”

2. The Visit of Archbishop Gallagher: Your Excellency, may we use this opportunity to express our gratitude to you and the Ministry of External Affairs for the warm reception that you gave to the Holy See’s Secretary for Relations with States and International Organisations, Archbishop Paul Gallagher, during his recent visit on the occasion of the fiftieth anniversary of Diplomatic Relations between the Holy See and the Federal Republic of Nigeria. We, as Nigerians and Catholics, are happy to share the two identities and proud of the healthy and unbroken relations between the two states. We believe that the relations will bear perceptible fruits for Christianity and Christians in our country. This, Mr. President, is a time when many Christians have legitimate concerns about their place in Nigeria, especially regarding the departure from the Christian/Muslim presidency, and we hope that, through deliberate government policies, those concerns will be addressed and Christians will be reassured of their rights as citizens. We expect that you will take steps to soothe frayed nerves and address the concerns.

3. Quality tertiary education and the challenge of limited spaces: Mr. President, Sir, you have shown a commitment to giving hope and succour to our youth through NELFund, the Student Loan Initiative. This deserves commendation. Unfortunately, by global standards, Nigeria does not as yet have enough universities to cater for a bulging youth population. Only a tiny fraction of the persons seeking admission into the university actually get it, owing to limited number of places available. We therefore hope that the recent moratorium placed by the National Universities Commission (NUC) on the establishment of new private universities does not cancel out the gains of NELFund.

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4. Sustaining the gains of the democratic experience: Mr. President, on matters of the state, we are genuinely concerned by fears expressed across the country on the fate of opposition politics. You have a track record of having been in active opposition. Many voices are screaming over what they consider to be the constriction of the political space, with some fearing that a one-party state is being anticipated. Whether these fears are genuine or not, can only be tested by the signals citizens receive from Your Excellency as the leader of the party in power. To this end, we urge you to encourage elected political office holders who are members of your party – Governors, members of the National Assembly, Local Government Chairmen – to ensure that a genuine level playing field is maintained and that focus is placed on making everyone see that the rules and processes are fair to all and respected by all. As a man who risked so much in the struggle for the return of democratic rule in the dark days of military dictatorship, your greatest legacy would be the strengthening of our democratic institutions.

5. Credible elections for the avoidance of disaster: Furthermore, there have been growing concerns about the electoral processes. We note the efforts being made to ensure that the elections are free, fair and credible. Sadly, there is an increasing feeling of disenchantment with the clear manipulation of the electoral processes, and the collective feeling that people’s votes do not count. Lower voter turnouts are a mark of distrust in the electoral processes. It is our hope that you be on the forefront in demanding that the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, delivers credible elections, to ensure that Nigeria is set on the path of national development and integrity. This ought to start with making voters’ cards easily available to all eligible voters and end with election results that reflect the true choice of Nigerians. Adequate and timely funding of INEC is required to ensure that the Agency inspires the confidence of citizens. Anything short of transparent, free, fair and credible elections in 2027 would be an invitation to avoidable disaster against which all well-meaning Nigerians have been praying. We urge that the conduct of the political class should be in tune with the voices we lift to God in prayer.

6. But we need to be alive and secure first: Mr. President, we congratulate you for the recent successful release of the kidnapped school children and their teachers in Oyo State. The arrest of some of the kidnappers and their speedy prosecution is one of the few positive indicators of what a willing government and its agencies could do to protect the life and property of the citizens. We commend you for this and for other such cases in recent times. Unfortunately, these remain few and isolated exceptions. Our nation still remains a favourable destination for terrorism, banditry and high levels of insecurity that threaten our collective existence. Schools, places of worship, homes, farms, rural roads and highways. Nowhere is safe anymore, as bandits and criminals freely carry away scores of worshippers and schoolchildren, even in broad daylight undisturbed, kidnap and butcher simple as well as high profile citizens mercilessly and unapologetically. Our sovereignty is at stake and, even by African standards, our insecurity continues to diminish our standing and our ability to serve as the leader of Africa.

7. Worsening quality of life, suffering and pain: When the security situation in the country is taken together with the deterioration and near collapse of the power sector, the sorry state of our roads, the economic hardship, one wonders how much of the renewed hope agenda flaunted by your administration is being realised. Mr President, our nation is bleeding. The citizens are suffering and crying. Not only on account of the constant threat to their life by criminal elements, but also because of some policies of government whose promised positive effects have been delayed too long before being felt. You have said a couple of times that you hear their cries and feel their pain. But words are not enough. They expect concrete action that engenders some change in their condition.

8. Pope Leo XIV among us will strengthen our collective prayers and efforts: Finally, we believe that the problems and burden of our nation require a sincere commitment to good governance for the common good to the glory of God. We continue to pray for our dear country and appeal to you to take seriously our pleas for greater collaboration between the Church and the State for the overall wellbeing of our people. We believe that Mr President is aware that the Holy Father, Pope Leo holds our country very close to his heart and constantly prays for us. During our visit to him in March this year, he was quite enthusiastic about a visit to Nigeria on a date in the future. As you know, Sir, that will only happen if you invite him. We request that this be done soon. Our land and its people will benefit immensely from his presence and blessing.

9. Two particular requests: Mr. President, we respectfully place two specific requests before Your Excellency. First, we ask that Your Excellency give favourable consideration to the request on the return of mission schools to their original proprietors. We recall that this matter was raised during our meeting with you last year, and we remain hopeful that your Government will take the necessary steps towards its implementation.
Second, in the light of the Supreme Court judgment of 10 February 2026 affirming the constitutional right of Muslim students at Rivers State University to freedom of religion and worship, we respectfully request that Your Excellency direct the appropriate Ministries, Departments and Agencies of Government to ensure that this same constitutional principle is faithfully implemented throughout the Federation. In particular, we appeal that Christians, especially in the northern part of the country, who continue to face difficulties in acquiring land for the construction of churches or in freely exercising their right to worship, should enjoy the same constitutional rights and protection accorded to all Nigerians. Equal citizenship must be reflected not only in law but also in practice.

Once again, we thank you very sincerely for granting us this audience. We pray that the Almighty and merciful God may grant you the wisdom and strength to lead our nation and all its citizens towards that greatness that God has destined for us.

Matthew Man-Oso NDAGOSO
Archbishop of Kaduna
President, CBCN

 

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The Real Ethnic Bigotry Is Ugwuagbo’s Dangerous Ethnic Stereotyping, Not Governor Mbah’s Appointments

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Enugu Governor, Dr Peter Ndubuisi Mbah
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By Dan Nwomeh

There is an obvious irony in a write-up accusing Governor Peter Mbah, an Igbo governing an overwhelmingly Igbo state, of the absurd practice of ethnic bigotry against his own people by favouring Yoruba people over fellow Igbo, while repeatedly reducing Nigerians to their ethnic identities and presenting the presence of a few Yoruba professionals in the Enugu State Government as evidence of “Yorubanisation” of the state. “Since coming into office, Governor Mbah has demonstrated a clear preference to work with Yorubas than with Enugu people” (sic), the author recklessly charged.

The real ethnic bigotry in this disingenuous attempt to contrive a controversy is not in Governor Mbah’s decision to appoint a handful of people from other parts of Nigeria; it is in one Ugwuagbo Chizoba’s dangerous ethnic stereotyping of those appointees and his attempt to turn their Yoruba identity into a reason for questioning their competence or qualification to serve Enugu State.

This is an important distinction, because a governor who searches for the best hands wherever he can find them is not practising ethnic bigotry. He is instead practising the very cosmopolitanism that a modern, ambitious state like Enugu needs. A writer who examines the performance of a public official, regardless of where that person comes from, is doing legitimate scrutiny. But when the principal evidence offered against an appointee is that he or she is Yoruba, and when a few Yoruba professionals serving Enugu State are presented collectively as evidence of a sinister ethnic pattern, the argument ceases to be about competence and becomes an exercise in ethnic stereotyping dressed up as political criticism.

That is precisely what the said Ugwuagbo Chizoba does in his write-up with the inflammatory and inciting title, “Ethnic Bigotry: Governor Mbah’s Yorubanization of Enugu and the Questions That Are Becoming Too Difficult to Ignore”. In the write-up, Ugwuagbo tells us that ethnic bigotry means being prejudiced against people because of their ethnic group. Then, almost immediately, he begins identifying the people he considers unfit for public office primarily by their ethnicity; a “Yoruba woman” here, an “incompetent Yoruba man” there, and even “Yoruba girls” allegedly occupying positions around Government House. Their ethnic identities are repeatedly placed at the centre of the narrative, as though being Yoruba is itself a relevant qualification for determining whether they deserve to hold public office in Enugu.

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This is the fundamental contradiction that destroys the entire write-up. You cannot credibly denounce ethnic bigotry while making ethnicity the central basis of your case against public officials and repeatedly highlighting their ethnic origins, yet offering no credible evidence to support the serious allegations of incompetence you make against them, as one would ordinarily expect from a so-called journalist.

If a Yoruba professional is appointed in Enugu, the appointment is presented by Ugwuagbo as evidence of “Yorubanisation.” But he never seriously considers the obvious alternative explanation, which is simply that the governor may have chosen someone he believed possessed the experience or competence required for the job. That is a remarkably convenient way to cobble together a piece of political propaganda. The ethnicity of the appointee becomes the evidence, the conclusion and the accusation all at once.

Beyond the blatant falsehoods, including the false attribution of certain government positions and institutional leadership roles to Yoruba people who do not actually hold them, the write-up is conspicuously devoid of evidence to substantiate the serious allegations it makes.

Take the case of Ladi Akeredolu-Ale, who is described dismissively as an “incompetent Yoruba man.” What is the evidence offered for this sweeping conclusion? Zilch. Yet Akeredolu-Ale came into the Enugu State Broadcasting Service leadership with decades of broadcasting experience, including senior management experience at Channels Television and previous leadership of the Ondo State Radio and Television Corporation.

One may certainly question his performance at ESBS. Public officials should be subjected to scrutiny. But the relevant questions are: What targets were set for him? What resources were available? What did he inherit? What has he accomplished or failed to accomplish? What measurable indicators demonstrate incompetence? His Yoruba ancestry answers none of those questions.

Had Ugwuagbo risen above his clannish insularity and parochial outlook and taken the time to examine the pedigree of these appointees, he might have been far more circumspect, and perhaps even humbled by their credentials rather than scoffing so derisively at their competence and addressing them with such intemperate disrespect.

Adenike Okebu brings formidable professional credentials to her role as Senior Special Adviser on Revenue, including a BSc in Accounting from OAU, Ile-Ife, MSc in Finance from Nottingham Trent University, Fellow of ICAN, Certified Fraud Examiner, Chartered Certified Forensic Accountant, Associate of the Chartered Institute of Taxation of Nigeria and Member of the Institute of Directors. With experience spanning EY Nigeria, Deloitte, BUA Group, Platform Capital and Pinnacle Oil and Gas, she combines Big Four audit experience with expertise in revenue assurance, financial governance and fraud detection. In Enugu, she has been central to efforts to plug revenue leakages, modernise revenue administration and drive the exponential growth of the state’s IGR, while also mentoring accounting students at the University of Nigeria Enugu Campus, helping to bridge academic training and professional practice.

Governor Mbah’s Special Adviser on Health, Dr. Yomi Jaye, is a medical doctor and healthcare-management professional with more than two decades of experience across Africa and the United States, with qualifications including MBBS, MBA and a Master of Public Health from the University of Liverpool, as well as international training at Harvard Medical School and MIT. In his role, he has brought his clinical, public-health and management expertise to Enugu’s healthcare reforms, helping to secure long-delayed accreditation and upgrades for the state’s medical and nursing training institutions, including the Medical and Dental Council of Nigeria’s approval of a 350-student admission quota for Medicine and Dentistry at ESUT (the highest admission quota approved for any medical school in Nigeria at the time), and the Nursing and Midwifery Council of Nigeria’s accreditation of ESUT’s Nursing Sciences programme. Beyond government, his private-sector and philanthropic work includes founding Cecy Health Consult and the Cecilia Oyebola Foundation, which recently supported healthcare interventions including the renovation and re-equipping of the neonatal ward at ESUTH Teaching Hospital, Parklane.

Dr. Akinbayo Olasoji, Commander of the Enugu State Forest Guard, combines advanced academic training with decades of high-level security experience, having retired from the Nigeria Police Force as a Deputy Commissioner of Police just before his appointment, after serving in senior operational positions, including the strategic DCP Operations at the Enugu State Police Command. He holds a PhD and has brought his policing and intelligence experience to the professionalisation of the Forest Guard, strengthening its operational structure, inter-agency collaboration and community-based security strategy. Under his command, the Forest Guard has participated in significant security operations, including the rescue of kidnapped victims from forest hideouts, demonstrating that the organisation is evolving into a serious component of the state’s security architecture.

Captain Tolu Ita, the CEO and Accountable Manager of Enugu Air, is a highly experienced aviation professional whose credentials combine technical expertise, executive leadership and international exposure. She was trained and licensed as a pilot in Nigeria and the United States and has nearly 20 years of professional experience in aviation and business, including a distinguished career at Aero Contractors, where she rose to become Dash-8 Fleet Manager. She has also held other senior executive positions, serving in aviation policy and regulatory advisory roles involving ICAO and AFCAC, and undertaken executive training at Oxford University’s Saïd Business School. As CEO of Enugu Air, she has already overseen a major achievement in securing the airline’s Air Operator Certificate (AOC) in just five months and three weeks, compared with the typical 15–24-month process, with the NCAA commending the airline for meeting the required safety and operational standards.

Taken together, these appointments represent less than three per cent of Governor Mbah’s top-level appointments over the past three years, a statistically insignificant fraction of the administration’s overall appointments, yet each demonstrates its willingness to deploy people with proven professional competence and relevant experience to demanding portfolios.

If then a governor appoints a person from another ethnic group because that person has the required qualification and experience, what exactly is wrong with that? It is called meritocracy, not ethnic bigotry. And Peter Mbah has a particularly compelling personal reason for believing in that philosophy. Mbah is not a man whose worldview was formed within the narrow boundaries of his ancestral community. His business career is a practical demonstration of the benefits of a cosmopolitan Nigeria.

He built Pinnacle Oil and Gas from scratch into a leading energy business in Lagos. The company’s Lekki terminal, inaugurated by President Muhammadu Buhari in October 2022, was described by the Nigerian Investment Promotion Commission as a $1 billion investment and as a strategic national asset. The project was developed as a massive petroleum storage and distribution infrastructure occupying a large expanse of land within the Lekki Free Zone.

Think about it for a moment. An Igbo businessman from Enugu went to Lagos and built a massive oil and gas infrastructure project in Yoruba land. It could not have happened without the accommodating disposition of the Yoruba owners and host communities, Lagos authorities, regulators, financial institutions, and the many Nigerians who worked with him.

The success of Pinnacle is therefore not merely a business story. It is also a powerful demonstration of what is possible when Nigerians are allowed to live, work, invest and build outside the narrow confines of their ethnic homelands. That is the Nigeria Peter Mbah knows. And that is the Nigeria an ambitious Enugu must build. Imagine if Lagos had adopted the parochial logic of Ugwuagbo’s write-up. Someone could have said: Why should an Igbo man be allowed to build a massive petroleum terminal here when there are Lagosians who can do it? Why should an Igbo businessman be entrusted with such a strategic investment? Fortunately, Lagos did not think that way. It judged the investment on its economic value, the company’s capacity, regulatory compliance, financing and the potential benefit to the state and the country. That is precisely how Enugu should work.

And many Igbo have been beneficiaries of the cosmopolitan attitude that Ugwuagbo now seems to regard as anathema when applied in Enugu. Let’s consider Ben Akabueze, an Igbo man who served as Lagos State Commissioner for Economic Planning and Budget from January 2007 to May 2015, first appointed by Governor Bola Tinubu and subsequently reappointed for two terms by Governor Babatunde Fashola. This was not a mere decorative position. Economic Planning and Budget is among the most strategically important portfolios in any state government. Were there no competent Yoruba economists and accountants in Lagos? There is also Joe Igbokwe, an Igbo from Anambra who became a prominent political figure in Lagos and rose through the ranks of the Lagos political establishment before being appointed by Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu in 2019 as Special Adviser on Drainage and Water Resources.

Unbeknown to Ugwuagbo and his nativistic fellow travellers, people of South East origin have occupied, and continue to occupy, substantial professional and career positions in Lagos State’s public service, including within the directorate cadre and the education system. A friend from Enugu State who lives in Lagos once told me about his wife’s experience at an interview for recruitment into the Lagos State Local Government Service. He expressed his utter surprise that her ethnic origin was never raised or even discussed throughout the process. She is now serving in the directorate cadre of the Lagos State public service. In the state’s education system, a significant number of people of South-East origin also serve as secondary school principals. Lagos has also repeatedly elected state and federal lawmakers of Igbo extraction since the return to democracy in 1999.

The examples go beyond Lagos. In Ekiti State, Governor Biodun Oyebanji appointed four Senior Special Assistants and Special Assistants of Igbo origin to serve in his administration. In Kaduna, Governor Uba Sani appointed Igbo professionals to senior advisory positions. In Osun, Governor Ademola Adeleke appointed Prof. Chinwe Obuaku-Igwe, an Igbo and United Nations-certified climate-change expert, as the Director-General and Special Envoy to the Governor on Climate Change and Renewable Energy, placing her directly under the governor with responsibility for high-level partnerships, climate action and renewable-energy initiatives. This is precisely the sort of thing that should be happening in every Nigerian state.

Take aviation, which is obviously of new interest to Ugwuagbo. When the Ekiti State Government commissioned the Ekiti Airport in Ado-Ekiti, it entered into a partnership with United Nigeria Airlines, owned by an Igbo businessman, Prof. Obiora Okonkwo, to operate commercial flights linking Ado-Ekiti with Lagos and Abuja. A Yoruba state built an airport and its first commercial airline operator was an airline owned by an Igbo businessman. Did anybody in Ekiti scream “Igbonisation”?

The double standard in Ugwuagbo’s argument is as embarrassing as it is insulting to sensibilities. If an Igbo professional is appointed in Lagos, we celebrate it as evidence that Lagos is open and cosmopolitan. If an Igbo-owned company wins a major commercial opportunity in another state, we call it enterprise and success. When an Igbo professional is appointed to the highest echelons of an institution or elected to a sensitive public position in the United States, Canada or Europe, we celebrate it as proof that merit can transcend racial and national boundaries.

But if a Yoruba professional is appointed in Enugu, suddenly the same principle becomes “Yorubanisation”.

The contradiction becomes even more glaring when we consider the Igbo experience as sojourners. The Igbo are among Nigeria’s most geographically dispersed and commercially mobile populations. Our people live, work and invest in virtually every part of the country and around the world. Igbo-owned businesses operate outside the South-East on an enormous scale.

It is therefore difficult to understand why an ethnic group whose economic success has depended so heavily on moving beyond its ancestral homeland would suddenly become threatened by other Nigerians moving into Enugu. Why should the most travelled major ethnic group in Nigeria become xenophobic about who works in Enugu?

There is an even more disturbing dimension to this campaign of ethnic suspicion and antagonism. At a time when Nigerians, including many Igbo, are once again facing the ugly consequences of xenophobic hostility in South Africa, it should concern every responsible Nigerian that anyone would deliberately promote a similar sentiment against fellow Nigerians at home. We know how deeply unsettling such developments are to us, particularly because Igbo constitute a significant part of Nigeria’s commercial and professional community in South Africa. So we should be extremely careful about normalising the same mentality amongst ourselves. If we condemn South Africans for saying Nigerians do not belong in South Africa, we should be extremely careful about saying Yoruba people do not belong in Enugu.

For context, I want to say something directly to Ugwuagbo Emmanuel Chizoba, a local champion of ethnic and primordial bigotry and sectional hatred, and to those who encourage and amplify his xenophobic rhetoric. I welcome the opportunity to work alongside Yoruba colleagues in government. I have never regarded ethnicity as a barrier to competence, friendship or professional excellence. I am a proud product of the University of Lagos, where I was not only a merit-based Unilag Scholar, but also graduated top of my class, winning the Professor Gabriel Olusanya Prize for the Best Graduating Student in History. I studied in a faculty whose teaching staff was predominantly Yoruba. Yet throughout my years at Unilag, I never suffered discrimination from my Yoruba lecturers because I was Igbo. On the contrary, they taught me, challenged me, encouraged me and helped me become who I am today. I also earned a master’s degree from the same institution.

Without mincing words, if, as has been widely alleged in political circles, this campaign of ethnic profiling is connected to interests aligned with the 2027 governorship ambitions of Chief Uche Nnaji, a factional PDP gubernatorial aspirant currently facing multiple criminal charges, and Ugwuagbo is merely serving as one of their political minions and a hack writer, then every lover of inter-ethnic harmony should be deeply concerned. Whatever the political disagreements in Enugu State, no ambition is worth poisoning inter-ethnic relations or encouraging citizens to view fellow Nigerians through the dangerous prism of ethnicity. It is particularly troubling that anyone whose public and political journey benefited from the openness, accommodation and inclusiveness that have long characterised Yoruba society would now be associated with rhetoric capable of breeding suspicion against the very people who exemplified those values. Nnaji was appointed a minister by a president of Yoruba descent, yet it raised no dust. Politics must never descend into ethnic baiting and scapegoating.

History offers painful warnings. Rwanda did not descend into genocide overnight. It began with persistent ethnic labelling, stereotyping and the gradual dehumanisation of fellow citizens until political competition became an ethnic confrontation. Every responsible political actor must therefore reject language that profiles entire people or seeks to make ethnicity itself a ground for public suspicion. Nigeria has paid too high a price for division to permit such dangerous narratives to gain legitimacy in our democratic discourse. No one should ever seek to incite another civil war by exploiting ethnic sentiments merely to advance selfish political interests.

Yet, there is another inconvenient fact the writer seems not to have noticed. Enugu has never been defined by intolerance toward people of other ethnicities. From its emergence as a major administrative, commercial and industrial centre, the city has attracted workers, traders and professionals from different parts of Nigeria and beyond, giving it a distinctly cosmopolitan character. Its history is deeply intertwined with migration, commerce and national integration. As Governor Mbah would say, many of the non-indigenes living in the city for more than 100 years have the placentas of their forefathers buried here in Enugu.

We are talking about Enugu, the land of Mallam Umaru Altine, a Fulani cattle dealer from Sokoto who, having migrated to Enugu and embraced its cosmopolitan political life, became the city’s first elected Mayor in 1952. His emergence, strongly supported by Nnamdi Azikiwe and the NCNC, was a remarkable demonstration of the openness of Enugu’s political culture. A man from faraway Sokoto was accepted and elected to lead the municipal government of the capital of the predominantly Igbo Eastern Region. Altine went on to win re-election in 1956. Enugu has streets and landmarks carrying the names of prominent non-Igbo Nigerians. There are major streets named after Adegoke Adelabu and Obafemi Awolowo, among others. This is part of the history of a Nigerian city that has always been bigger than its ethnic or village boundaries.

Ugwuagbo is perfectly entitled to oppose Governor Peter Mbah or to continue wailing in frustration and despair as his administration exceeds expectations and becomes harder and harder to challenge ahead of the next governorship election. However, the governor’s responsibility is to continue delivering results for the people of Enugu State.

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