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Sacked APC lawmakers: Armed police officers take over Cross River assembly comlex

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4 years ago

March 22, 2022

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Nigeria Police Force officers have taken positions along all routes leading to the premises—and even inside– of Cross River State House of Assembly.

The police units on the ground include the Anti-Kidnapping, Cultism Squad and regular policemen.

Opposite, around the UJ Esuene Stadium Calabar, stood political party supporters, smoking and drinking.

The development came after the judgment delivered at Abuja High Court by Justice Taiwo Taiwo which sacked 18 state lawmakers and two from the House of Representatives for defecting from the Peoples Democratic Party to the All Progressives Congress.

The APC has claimed to have applied to the court for stay of execution of the judgment, while the party proceeded to the Appeal Court.

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Vote-buying remains a major concern One of the strongest warnings from Osun was the continued presence of vote-buying and voter inducement. Yiaga Africa said the results declared by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) were consistent with its independent statistical projections, but cautioned that this did not remove concerns about the integrity of voters' choices amid reports of vote-buying and inducement. The concern is particularly significant ahead of 2027, when political competition will take place nationwide and involve presidential, National Assembly and state-level contests. The International Republican Institute (IRI), following a pre-election assessment mission conducted in August, identified monetised political competition, election-related violence, insecurity and declining public confidence in INEC among the structural challenges facing the 2027 elections. IRI recommended stronger investigation and prosecution of vote-buying and voter inducement, urging INEC, the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission and security agencies to act on credible allegations. Technology improves transparency — but has limits The Osun election also demonstrated how electoral technology can improve transparency. INEC's electronic transmission of polling-unit results through the IReV platform provided observers and members of the public with a mechanism to monitor uploaded results. Yiaga Africa subsequently said the official results were consistent with its independent statistical estimates, describing the outcome as evidence that the announced results reflected the ballots counted at polling units. However, technical problems with BVAS were reported during voting. CDD said difficulties involving biometric verification and slow processing occurred in several LGAs, including Irepodun, Ejigbo, Obokun, Osogbo, Olorunda, Ola Oluwa, Ede North and Ede South. 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With Nigeria's 2027 general elections scheduled for January 16, 2027, the Osun experience provides both a warning and an opportunity: the country has made progress in electoral transparency, but vote-buying, insecurity and declining trust must be confronted before they are magnified across a nationwide election.

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Sacked APC lawmakers: Armed police officers take over Cross River assembly comlex

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