By Gistflash News

Sept 13, 2021

By Gistflash News

July 7, 2021

Rep. Rimamnde Shawulu (PDP-Taraba), has urged the National Chairman of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Mr  Uche Secondus, to resign following mass  defection from the party to the All Progressives Congress (APC).

Shawulu said this a letter addressed to the chairman and made available to the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Abuja on Wednesday.

He decried the rate at which the party was losing members to the ruling APC in recent times.

Shawulu also urged members of the National Working Committee (NWC) of the  party to resign.

“Today,  unexpectedly, four members of the House of Representatives from Zamfara  defected from  the PDP to APC,” he said.

He said unlike  before, when leaders of the party at the House usually put up a form of protest, not a whisper was heard or a hand raised in protest against the defection.

“Dear Chairman, Sir, events in the last two years call for sober reflection and sacrifices by both the leadership and membership of the party and it is necessary you set the ball rolling, so that the party will come back to life and be seen as a viable alternative to the ruling APC.

“Then, will its doors be seen to be opened to the millions that want to come into the party to mobilise Nigerians to take back the country from the iniquitous forces that have seized it by the jugular.

“This was the obvious wish of opinion of party members and leaders when Dr Adamu Muazu resigned as Chairman of the party. Your good self took over to enable the party regain momentum.

“Presently, without discounting the efforts and sacrifices you have made, it is obvious that our party is in far worse circumstances than when Muazu fled the scene,” he said.

Shawulu also reminded Secondus of the many failings of the PDP under his watch, which he said lend credence to some rumours that high ranking party members had allegedly been settled to make it unelectable in the future.

He pleaded with Secondus to show leadership in the interest of the party and for the future of Nigeria and resign immediately as National Chairman.

NAN

By Gistflash News

July 7, 2021

The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) says 203,497 eligible Nigerians had completed online pre-registration as fresh voters, seven days after the commencement of the exercise.

Mr Festus Okoye, INEC’s National Commissioner and Chairman, Information and Voter Education Committee, disclosed this in an update on the CVR issued on Tuesday, in Abuja.

He said that the figure was recorded as at 7a.m on July 5, as the commission met on Tuesday to discuss the CVR exercise, which commenced on June 28.

“As at 7a.m on July 5, one week after the commencement of the exercise, 203,497 eligible Nigerians have completed the online pre-registration as fresh voters.

“The figure rises to 259,713 if applications for voter transfer, requests for replacement of Permanent Voters’ Cards (PVCs), update of voter information record are included”, Okoye said.

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that of the 203,497 applications received, Osun state had the highest figure of freshly registered voters with 67,772 applications, followed by Lagos with 30,338 and FCT with 12,160.

States with the least fresh voter applications, within the period, were Ebonyi with 350, Kebbi 624, Abia 626 and Jigawa with 679.

NAN also reports that the distribution of the figure by gender, according to INEC, had indicated that of the total registered, males constituted 166, 712 of the number while 93,001 were female.

The age distribution for the first week also showed that the number of newly registered youth (18 to 34 years) was 175,8047; middle age (34 to 49 years) is 64,141; the elderly ( 50 to 69 years) is 17,644; while the old (70 years and above) was 2,079.

The occupation distribution included artisans-15,414; Business-44,478; civil servants-11,022; farming/fishing-7,720 housewives-2,516, traders-18,865; public servants-7,269; students-66,143 and others-83,283.

In the meantime, Okoye stated that the full details of the exercise for the first one week had been uploaded on the Commission’s website and social media platforms.

“For emphasis, the physical or in-person registration is scheduled to commence in all our state and local government offices nationwide on Monday, July 19.

“Eligible Nigerians who wish to register physically and those who have scheduled their appointments to complete their online pre-registration will have the opportunity to do so.

“Both online pre-registration and the physical registration will go on simultaneously, throughout the duration of the CVR.

“Further details of the schedule of activities and locations for the physical exercise will be made available next week”, he added.

He urged every eligible Nigerian to seize the opportunity of the online pre-registration or the in-person option to register as a voter, saying that the update was inline with the commission’s promise to update Nigerians after one week of the exercise.

Henceforth, INEC would be providing weekly updates that would include a detailed breakdown of the distribution of registrants by State, occupation, gender and age, Okoye said.

NAN