Low turn out greets Kaduna LG Elections

Voters on queue to vote at a polling unit in the city centre

Delay in the arrival of voter officials and materials as well as voter apathy adversely affected the just concluded Kaduna Local Government elections.

Cubinks' team of reporters, gathered that within the city centre most polling units did not commence voting until about 1:00pm. Voters who spoke to our Correspondent blamed the poor turn out on poor publicity of the voting process, leaving significant information shrouded in secrecy.

Some of the challenges encountered by voters and officials, according to party agents include delay in activating the electronic voter machines, absence of displayed register for voters.

Fundamentally however, remarked Kalu Ndukwe a Supervisor of one of the parties at Barnawa Clinic polling unit: "the processes is unlike the conventional elections, there is no secrecy in the ballot. Some ignorant voters are even being asked which party they want to vote and could be easily misguided.

"At the Federal Housing polling unit in Barnawa, elections closed with only 111 of the 500 registered voters, voting. What is most worrisome is that the ballot papers counted do not indicate which party the voters have voted for" he said.

Another agent speculated that already some chairmanship candidates have already been given official vehicles and security aides as they are already sure to win the day.

In suburban areas like Kafanchan in Jema'a, elections commenced at about 11:00am as voters defied the down pour to exercise their franchise, unlike Jaba and Kaura local government areas where unconfirmed reports indicate that elections never held for no tangible reason. The conduct of the elections have so far been peaceful and free of rancour but voters called for a rethink of the electronic voting process, which in their opinion leaves much to be desired when compared to the card reader.

All efforts by Cubinks to get the reactions of the Chairperson of the Kaduna State Independent Electoral Commission (KADSIECOM) failed. As at the time of going to press the results of the election were being collated.

Comments

When competence matters in leadership recruitment

President Muhammadu Buhari DANGWA Danjuma T he tension that greeted Peter Obi’s walk out on the People’s Democratic Party included the concerns on availability of another competent partyman who will be worthy of the demand for the incorruptible leader to emerge vis a vis deputize when the chips are down. This also has been made easy by governor of Ebonyi, Engineer Dave Umahi’s exit from the party who would have stood out in the event that Obi falled shy of the Vice Presidential slot. This box around the party, underpinned by an outcry for national unity by nominating the South Eastern deputy in the second attempt of Atiku Abubakar, a former Vice President, to dismiss the two term era of the incumbent All Progressive Congress on the premise that a good number of Nigerians will reconsider the PDP as a better alternative. However, viable options exist outside the South East for the PDP, particularly in the Niger Delta where state governors under the party hav...

Coalition urges COP-27 to fast track advocacy against Climate Change

Participants in a group photograph after the event in Kaduna By EDDY OCHIGBO, A coalition of environmental organizations in Kaduna, under the aegis Extinction Rebellion (XR) - a global movement which seeks to persuade governments to act justly on climate change and ecological emergency - has hosted a pre-COP27, in partnership with Bridge-that-Gap Initiative, to galvanize the campaign against climate change, as the the 27th Conference of Parties slated for Sharm El-Sheikh, Egypt kicks off. In an exclusive interview with NATIONAL ACCORD, one the coordinators of the event in Kaduna metropolis, Mr Zinta Akpoko, revealed that COP27, Egypt could become a turning point of the campaign, given that forerunners of the conference have since pledged to relentlessly push to prioritize climate financing for developing nations. "The effect of climate change is very evident and we need to be very frank by telling the truth about the inherent dangers tha...

Outcry over a Woman's Inhumanity

DANGWA DANJUMA F ollowing intense investigation and reports by BREKETE FAMILY a flagship radio programme on Human Rights Radio and Television station focusing on human rights abuse, on how Deborah Babaji Longs, a personal assistant to Mrs Mariam Ahmodu Ali, spent three days in a dog’s cage without food or water, the Federal Capital Territory Police Command has arrested the wife of former People’s Democratic Party National Chairman and Senator of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, Col. Ahmodu Ali (rtd). The story of Deborah Babaji Longs, who worked as Mariam’s personal assistant, featured on Human Rights Radio and Television aka ‘Berekete Family’ on Saturday March 26, 2022 following a report of her alleged imprisonment by Mariam Ahmodu Ali. Narrating her ordeal, Deborah told Brekete Family under oath that Col. Ahmodou Ali, his two daughters and a son-inlaw witnessed the life threatening humiliation and blows meted out to her by Mrs Ali in the middle of their living room in their Abu...

2023: Key stakeholders harp on issues-based campaign in Kaduna

From (L) Hayatudeen Makarfi (PRP), Jonathan Asake (LP), John Ayuba (PDP) & Andrew Duya (APGA) A s the kick-off of electioneering and political activities draw near, members of the electorate and civil society organizations, in collaboration with political observers have emphasized the need for issues-based campaign towards the forthcoming 2023 general elections. The stakeholders made this known at an agenda-setting dialogue with governorship candidates in the state, organized by Partnership for issues-based Campaign in Nigeria (PICAN) supported by Partnership to Engage, Reform and Learn (PERL/FCDO) in conjunction with Legal Awareness for Nigerian Women (LANW We-You Pro). NATIONAL ACCORD reports that the 2023 gubernatorial election in Kaduna state would be critical as citizens through various accountability mechanisms during the week engaged the candidates of four political parties on issues which touch on insecurity, healthcare, poverty alleviation, education, social protectio...

'Terrorists are all over, not only Southern Kaduna'

-Governor Nasir el-Rufai el-Rufai addressing Journalists in Hausa after a security meeting on Southern Kaduna By DANGWA DANJUMA G overnor Ahmed Nasir el-Rufai has admitted that terrorists are everywhere in Kaduna state, not only in the troubled Southern Kaduna, disclosing that miscreants have taken to the social media space to promote what he called disturbing and further aggravating the worsening situation situation with religious and ethnic colouration. Speaking to newsmen in Hausa, after a meeting with security officials, el-Rufai said that miscreants from Abuja, Lagos, Port Harcourt and outside Nigeria are trying to insinuate that the Southern Kaduna killings is ethnic and religious even going as far as asking people to take the law into their hands. While maintaining that these people would be brought to book, he tasked traditional leaders, religious leaders and political office holders in the state to speak the truth about the happenings as failing to do so wo...

Cubinks NEWS

Search This Blog